Updated pictures....

So below are more recent pictures of my apartment. First, is the Toilet Room. Didn't want that one to be first but, alas, there is no getting around it. If anyone is taller than 5'8", good luck with this Toitlet Room. It is sooooo tiny. But the good news, there is a handwashing faucet right in that room w/towel. The soap I had to rubberband it to the wall because it doesn't stay upright very easily on that ledge. So...there's the toilet.....

This is my kitchen. In fact, this is all the kitchen I have. I am working on getting a narrow table to put in here, against the wall opposite this area, so that I can use it for a counter. Otherwise, this is all the counter space to be had. The microwave/toaster oven/oven is pretty cool - small but cool. They need to make these available in the States.

Behold, my living room/bedroom part 1. I like it. It is cozy but everything matches. There are a lot of windows and I like it. That is all that matters.

My living room/bedroom part 2.

Below, the Friend's Club office and teachers. I just thought I would compare their space to ours. We've got it good! Kevin is the only one interested in looking at the camera. Everyone else is too shy.

For preschool graduation, the teachers dress in Kimonos. They lookes really nice. I will have the opportunity to dress in a Kimono. When that happens, there will be pictures! Watch out!

Meysen Academy - Takamori Campus -On Location

This is going to be my second grade class come April. They are such a wonderful, fun-loving, happy group of children. One is missing but altogether there are 15 students.

This is going to be my classroom. I will have to share it with the K5 teacher but she and I will work something out. It will be okay. In the corner, we work on curriculum books/songs/chants. At the tables, the students write in journals and work on worksheets daily. The one wall is a full width of window looking out onto a stream. The white board is double and can flip open the sides so that multiple uses can occure on a single plane. Pretty cool!

This is the other classroom next door to mine. I have been helping the teacher of this class on and off again throughout training.

This is the hall going to my classroom. As you can tell, there are windows on one side. The Penguins room is going to be my classroom. Right now, the graduating K5 class has the bulletin board. In April, it will be a new group of students.

This is the hall looking away from my room. The aquarium is one of several on campus. This one contains Tetra Neons and all live plants. The area around it is the reading/sitting room.
This is the front playground. It is very different from anything you would find in the States.
This is the Immersion Friend's Club building where I work. Upstairs on the right is the teachers' work room. It is full of tools and equipment to help make it easier for us teachers. There is a full kitchen, workbench, computers, supplies, everything you could possibly need. If it is not there, there is always the Flying Pig. (Makes me laugh everytime I hear that, it is the foreigner supply website. You can order anything and everything)
This looks on the the remaining campus. The building upfront is where the K4 & K5 Japanese Teachers have offices, the Friend's Club teachers, and the computer room. On the other side is the buisness office, principle's office, conference room, etc. The building in the far back of pix is the Friend's Club building. Talk about a nice piece of architecture. I will take some more pictures to show you. There are two sets of fireplaces - natural wood burning - multiple classrooms, multiple animal exhibits including saltwater aquariums and Iguana's and Camillions. These animals live the good life - no doubt about it. I have often sat in front of the fireplace working on stuff just enjoying it's warmth and comfort. It is a very nice extra.
This is the Gorilla Slide. About 30 feet in length. First day here, we were all challenged to a slide race by a 42 year old man. Run from the bottom of the hill, up the stairs, down the slide, and first at the bottom won. That 42 year old man beat us all. This guy has like 25 year old energy. Craziness. But most of the older staff are like that. They all have incredible amounts of energy and work to our shame. It is amazing. I wish I had that amount of energy and ability now.
This looks out on the barn which houses a horse, two mini-ponies, and an ornery goat. The goat tried to take a bite out of my shirt. I had no idea that they nibble like that. I thought that he was sticking his head out for a little pet. I was wrong. It was my shirt he wanted to eat. I was fortunate enough to get it out of his mouth before any damage was caused. In the summer time, there is a river that flows past the barn on down the hill. It is beatiful and is used for water playtime for the children. Then on down the trail is another playing field. There are two more buildings out of site from this location that are a part of Meysen.

Fish Market @ The Cabin

The fish market is located right on the Pacific bay of Sendai. It is very large and very diverse. One thing is common throughout the entire market - nasty fish. That's right, I said it. Nasty fish. I tried many of them, too. They had these little bitty fish that reminded me of plankton, seasoned to choice. Tasted like salt. They had little squid and big squid - Iki is what they are in Japanese. They don't taste too bad as long as they are cooked. Someone bought Blue Sperm Whale steak. It was okay. I tried a little, little piece. I told them I didn't want them to waste such goodness on me, as I knew I would not want a lot of it. It was raw because they insisted that that is the only way you eat whale. I think I can go my whole life through without ever eating a piece of whale again. But that's just me.

I bought Tuna at 800 yen for both pieces - original price 1600 yen (approx. $16). This is my "catch". Tasted so good seared. I enjoyed sharring it with others, too, who ate it raw. Below is Tuna caviar. They are huge pearl-like eggs. Sold for approx. $8 a piece. See if you can find that deal in the States. : P
This poor, poor fish. He was suffocating and everyone was laughing at him. I asked the people to chop his head off, to put him out of his misery, but they laughed and indicated they had plenty of fish with no heads but only one still breathing. Po'baby! He really is ugly, too. It's hard to tell but he had a blue mouth - I'm sure he's dead now.
These are hairy crabs covered with a little dirt. I know they look like they are ready to be chicken-fried crabs but they still are alive. Again, made my heart hurt because these poor crabs were sooooo cold on ice but still twitching. My friends bought one for about $18 and that was a deal. Some were going for around $36 a piece.
We came upon this lady at the end of her day. She was cleaning up a tuna. It was nasty.
This man was making a type of octupus donut. It smelled good and looked good until he sliced an octupus in half and stuck him in it. Nasty. Then he covers the donut in soy sauce and puts cabbage or something on top and people love it. It sells eight per pack and you would think that it was Krispy Kreem or something the way those octopus donuts disappear. Nasty!
That's the octopus. Cute, huh?

Surpise Donkey!

This man was taking our orders for the meal. Suprise Donkey is a chain of restaurants all around Sendai. They feature unique decoration motiffs, and a button to call your waiter when you are ready to order. The decorations remind of all the leftover Cracker Barrell props placed willy-nilly. They try to get it to look like a Old Southern Country Style Restaurant but it doesn't quite hit the mark. The attempt and effort is worth notating. Many love this restaurant, I am not one of them. It made me a little sick. Not so much fun after all. However, the highlight was the little button to pust when you are ready to summon your waiter. It rings out a very pleasant bird song. Very original. This gentleman is oblidgingly showing me his electronic order form. It's all so very high tech! Below was our menu, framed in wood. The entire table shares this guide. I ordered a tasty hamburger w/ curry sauce & rice, a side of cole slaw, and something I didn't even try. It looked weird and it smelled weird. I had had enough of weird at that point and time. I gave it to James and he ate it. Basically, he is Mikey, literally. Anyways, I got a drink, too, for 650 yen. That 's not so bad in Sendai.

Below is the shopping are that is approximately 5 blocks in length, it extends three roads in depth. Lots of stores, very expensive to very cheap. It just depends on what you want and how bad you want it, I think.
This is the local "Dollar Store" also known as the Yen Store. Everything is 100 yen. This particular store is 5 floors tall. It wears a body out going up and down. Must be organized when shopping in this particular Yen Store. I had no clue. I was tired by the end of the shopping trip, no doubt there! By the way, they get all their stuff from China too. I think China is taking over the world via Dollar/Yen Stores!


This picture was taken because of it's unique qualities. We are shopping in an open mall area. There is a glass ceiling but the sides are open and the mall has been built between skyrises. This particular part of the mall features live organ music. At the top of this picture sits a litttle man playing organ ballads all day for local Sendai shoppers. Here we are on the bus. On the right side, closest to me, is Rumi, Laura, Melissa, Jo & William. On the left side, Paula & James and Kim, then some Japan guy trying to ignore us crazy Americans. The train is similar to that found in US cities with the exception that the seats are very toasty warm! Man these Japanese like their bottoms well warmed. : )
Here is Rumi buying us tickets for all the public transportation requirements of the day. The ticket goes in the machine when you pass through the departing turn-style, then is spit out for you to give to the arriving turn-style. Don't forget to get that ticket! I did and some sweet Japanese lady was calling to me to stop me so that she could give it to me. I had no idea what was going on because I tune out Japanese. I can't understand it so why bother to pay attention to it. That's my thinking.

The above pictures were taken on Saturday, February 21, 2009. That was our first big venture into Sendai. Melissa and Rumi were going to show us around town and highlight all the "must sees" of the city. It was pretty fun. We all met at Starbucks in a shopping mall, then took the train to go downtown, about a 20 minute ride. Sendai is probably about the size of Boston. Ironically, history is not saved, in a country older than 4000 years, as it is in the States. Primarily because of post-WW2 rebuilding requirements and the modernization of the country.