Kamagari Island and a Tour of My Apartment

I’m trying to post a bit more regularly after the long summer break. Since September has finally rolled around, school is finally in full gear. Classes have been going well and I’m getting back into the grove of things. My grade 3’s at JHS are still the best students any teacher can ask for, as there are always smiling and friendly. (Picture above: Vicki, Beth, Rob and other Brandon at a dart bar in kure) (Picture below: Shion, Aoi and my former host daughter Kanon)

I just spent last weekend attending a birthday party for Rob’s host family son, Shion. A lot of JETs went and we had a good time playing with the kids and having a good lunch. Rob and I got the little boy micro machines and he is a super sweet kid that speaks really good English. His parents and a few of the other host families put their kids in an international English school, so almost all the kids have better English then my Junior High school students- it’s pretty amazing to say the least. My former host daughter was also there and she didn't burst out crying this time and I was actually able to chat and play with her for a bit. (Picture below: Rob on the soccer pitch)

I also made may way to Rob's Island, Kamagari the other weekend. We went to the local beach there and just spent the afternoon playing Football, Soccer and throwing the frisbee around. The beach is called kenminohama and has a really nice soccer pitch. We took the bus to the beach from his place, but we ended up missing the last bus to take us back. So we had to hike back along the shoreline back to his house. It took close to 2 hours to walk back and was gruelling after playing sports for the past 4 hours.(Picture below: Took this as the sun was going down before our hike back home)I spent the past weekend heading to this cowboyish American themed steak restaurant called Rocky Bear. I’ve wanted to go all last year, but never got a chance to. However, I finally made my way this year with a few other JETs and actually managed to go 3 times in the past week. One thing about Japanese restaurants is that they go all out in aesthetics, the inside of the restaurant looks like a barn and the waiters wear cowboys hats. It’s pretty cool and even has a large wooden slide at the top of the entrance.

My Irish friend Vicki has matches my enthusiasm for the place and we went with a few other JETs on the weekend. We also went bowling and had a good time at this super complex.Well it’s been a year since I got here and here finally are the pictures of the place I live in. I gotta say I was really lucky to get a brand new place with a great view when I arrived in Japan. The apartment is actually made for a family and has two rooms and a large living. So here is a tour of my place. Starting with the front door of my apartment on the third floor of the Saski Biru (Building).When you open the door on your right side is our guest room/laundry room/ hockey storage room.

The spare room is normal size, the basic six tatami room measurement used in Japan. It does have a nice balcony that overlooks the east side of Kawajiri though.

On the left side is the largest room in the apartment and it has the kitchen, dinning room and living room in one.The bedroom is connected through the living room and has two large closets and my bed. Since the place was brand new, it really didn’t have much furniture when I got in. But the past year I’ve managed to buy a couch, table and a desk for my laptop.

If you turn left from the entrance you enter a hallway that leads to a bathroom. There is a sink and beside that is our washing machine.

On the other end is our shower room, it has a bathtub and a pretty roomy circular shower area.So that's it, I gotta say it really feels like home since I know that no one has everyone been there before me. Even though I have a year left, I’m already feel a bit sad knowing I’ll have to leave this place.

Japanese Factoid #30: One of the biggest contrasts in Japan that you will see if you come here is the toilets. In a lot of establishments there are still squatter toilets, which are essentially a hole in the ground. Like this: However, there is also, what I call the “Super Toilet.”I was lucky enough to get one of these in my apartment when I moved in. There is a faucet at the top of the toilet for you to wash your hands. The toilet also has automatic flushing when you get up and the toilet seat heats up in the winter to keep your tush warm. When you are done your business there is also a washing mechanism in place that sprays water and then dries it with air. I tried it once, but ..umm.it got too ticklish and I had to stop it with my hand. Some people like it, but to me, it just feels like a midget is down there tickling my ass. Here is a picture of the remote control. The three buttons on the left are Stop, Butt wash, Bidet and the click control allows you to adjust the intensity. There is also a big flush and small flush button at the top of the controller.