Just a Girl and Her Karuma

Alright, so I have a love/hate relationship with my car. Actually, I think it may have those feelings toward me. And let's pretend we're in a world where all cars have feelings. Okay, so I have named my car Brunhilda!

When I think of a Brunhilda, I think of a strong and robust person that doesn't take shit from anyone. That's my car. I gotta be thankful to this car. Since I'm still adjusting to driving it, I have been giving the transmission some stress. I amazed that it's still running amazingly! But Brunhilda has endured 15 years of the Iki streets. She can surely handle me!

Pictures of Brunhilda coming very soon!

Driving Standard

Ganbare!

"Do your best!" I tell myself as I am stalled on the incline of the hill with my supervisor right next to me. He's saying something in Japanese, but by that point in the driving lesson I'm too tried and frustrated to translate what he's saying. I just do the Japanese grunt, "un" and say "hai" after he finishes his sentence. That was driving lesson number 2.

Before moving to Japan, I bought my predecessor's old car for a great price-I didn't have to pay the additional tax included in Japanese vehicles for maybe another year. Only downside of paying such a low price was learning how to drive a standard car. I learned how to drive on an automatic, but deep down I always wanted to learn how to drive a manual. Well, my wish came true. Before my predecessor left the island, she gave a couple of lessons and was impressed by how quickly I picked up standard driving. I think I may have gotten a little cocky because when I had lessons with supervisor he sprung some challenges on me...the uphill start. The first lesson was fine and it was obvious that I needed to starting on a hill. There are no excuses or ways around this; I have to learn because Iki is just one great big hill after another. Driving lesson 2 was just a disaster. I slipped into the stage 2 of culture shock quite easily after it was over. I cursed at myself for buying a manual car and was thinking of ways I could switch the little Toyota Starlet for an automatic. I was able to drive home that day, but could hardly pull a smile when my supervisor said goodbye. I ran upstairs to my apartment and broke down crying. At a lost of what to do and definitely in need of someone to talk to, I logged onto facebook and did the obvious cry for help....update my status. I searched the sidebar for close friends I could message and pour my soul to, but there was none at that point. Well, there was one person, but I wasn't sure if he wanted to be bothered by problems. However, two wonderful people replied to my status and one my good friends logged on. I then called my mother and whined for an hour. I love my mother because she has this tender way of telling me to suck it up, but at the same time encouraging me to be the best.

The next day was driving lesson number 3. I was so nervous about it, I had dreams the night before. More like nightmares. I watched youtube videos for most of the day and practiced with my feet in my living room. My friends gave more words of encouragement, but I realized I needed to encourage myself. It was me who was getting in the way of mastering the uphill start. After my supervisor picked me up, I drove to the hill. It was like David staring down the giant. I wonder if my supervisor noticed the intense glare that I gave to the hill.

I messed up a couple of times, got it and then messed up again. But I remember what my mother and friends told me, 1)keep my composure and 2) I don't have to be perfect. Things take practice, which is something I struggle with being a perfectionist. I want to be perfect right away and skip the practice part. Whenever I stalled, I just laughed it off and tried again. When it seemed that I wasn't getting it on one of the hills, I pictured one of the youtube clips that I watched. The voice of an Irish guy filled my head with the steps on making an uphill start. And from there it worked. I took my time.At one point, I went away from stop sign on a hill so smoothly, my supervisor yelled out "yatta! Yosh," which is Japanese for....well it doesn't translate well into English. But it was like he was saying, "YEAH! Alright!"

I was proud that I didn't walk away from the challenge and faced it head on.

I'm going for another driving lesson and yes I'm nervous, and I will most likely stall on the hill, but I'm not letting a car get the best of my emotions. But I find it funny the challenges God throws at you and what forms they come in. So far mine has been in the shape of a little silver car with a stick and giant hills.

I guess this is growing up, yeah?

Iki Photo Series

Here are some photos of my new island home! More to come...I just gotta master driving my car so I can explore!

Iki Island Sound

Sunday, I went to my first reggae concert! Iki Island Sound!

I can't drive my car because I'm still learning how to drive it and I don't have car insurance yet. The owner of the bar was kind enough to give me a ride. An old Japanese man with swag. He's so freakin' cool! As a result, I was about thirty minutes early for the concert. Meeeh! I was totally nervous about being one of the first people to show up. My Japanese isn't that great so I was worried about communicating with people. But hey! This is reggae. One love! I had no reason to be worried or nervous. Everyone was so friendly. So I'm meeting all these people and it didn't hit me till I looked at that poster again that I was actually meeting the artists. Sugoii(amazing)!!! The venue was tiny; it was just a little bar and there seemed to be about thirty people including the artists. Oh and a couple of toddlers and a baby. The music was great, but the djs talked a lot. I'd be in the groove and shaking my tail feather and they'd lower the music to talk about something. But there was never a dull moment! People just kept getting crazier as the night went on. 


I got shout-outs throughout the night from the djs(I'm the new kid in town) and the main singer Ninety-U pleaded me to stay with him. Awwww. He was quite cute actually. Eh...there were a lot cuties. =) And everyone kept buying me drinks to the point I had to say no because I was almost three sheets to the wind. Afterwards I went to the after-party with the artists and some Iki locals and of course they bought me more drinks. I held myself pretty well considering I had nothing to eat for dinner! Of course, I was obliged to sing karaoke. Bah! After the party, I went to a ramen shop with two of the dudes. Squished in between them in the taxi, I was hoping that they dropped me off near my apartment, but then they asked me to the ramen place. Watev! The ramen shop ended up being a five minute walk from my apartment. Felt like 3 in the morning, but it was barely midnight. When I got home, all the alcohol hit me. I went in between chatting with my friend on FB to being sprawled all over my tatami mat cursing Japanese sake.

So how was your Sunday?    

Life on Iki

I've been in Japan for almost a week now and on Iki island for three days. So far everything is going really well. My first day or rather evening here, my supervisor(U-san), predecessor(C-san) and one of the other ALTs took me to a restaurant for a welcome dinner. So much food! Sushi, sashimi and Iki beef (the best beef in the world). After that, my supervisor dropped me off at Marina Hotel where I stayed for the night. It was still early in the night and I planned to read a little and watch some t.v. Hah! None of that happened. I passed out...with my glasses still on. -_____-

Still a little jet lagged, but I didn't wake up every hour. The first full day in Iki was cray cray! I checked out of the hotel around 10am and afterwards my supervisor drove me from place to place. I met the Board of Education(BOE) and applied for my foreigner card. Actually I felt kinda bad about that. We went to the city hall first to apply, but I didn't have any photos. We drove to the BOE, took my pictures there only to realize that the BOE didn't have a photo printer and then we drove to U-san's house where his printer wasn't working, so we had to drive to the photo store...and finally got some decent pictures. We drove back to the city hall and I filled out my application. In the midst of all that, I picked up my luggage and had this amazing beef lunch meal.

I swear the cows here are raised with love and from what I hear...lots of beer. I digress! If you want, I'll dedicate a post to Iki Island beef.

Finally, after all of that hustling around the island, I moved into my new apartment. C-san took me grocery shopping and then I went home, unpacked and passed out.

Friday and Saturday

Lunch at Cafe Wiz. Meeting more people!

I had my first driving lessons in a standard transmission. AHHHHHHHHHHH! C-san says I'm doing pretty well. Actually, I'm starting to feel more comfortable in it now. The hardest part for me is going from stop to 1st. I have to use my left foot now when I drive and my left side of body is spazing out! I'm so totally right handed.

I went to the beach for the first time on Friday. It's so amazing! The water is clear and blue with little waves. And it's clean!!! I went swimming on Saturday and I freaked out because I could see the bottom. Unheard of in California!

Later Friday night I went to a dinner with the Flamenco gals! I met a lady who speaks Spanish and another lady who speaks French. I insisted that we be language partners. We'll see how practicing three languages while teaching English goes. Eek! The food was great. The company was just wonderful. We arrived at 7pm and left around midnight. Time just flew! Before I knew it, we had to go home.

Saturday, I went to the local pharmacist's home for dinner. Schan is auhmazing! He's lived on Iki all his life and he is the ichiban (No.1) golfer here. He loves music from the 50s and 60s and has the most incredible music collection. A bunch of us gathered at his place for dinner; there was sushi, tenpura, pizza, fried chicken(Japanese style) and pasta. 50s pop played in the background and he even played the piano for us. He showed us his old family pictures. What a gem! These photos go back before the war started! He isn't that old, but he has kept all the pictures of his family. And, he tells the best stories. I asked him if he liked Ella Fitzgerald and Motown and he called me old. Bleh. But yes, he likes the Motown sound and the sweet ballads of Ms. Fitzgerald. We even did the twist at one point! It was another successful and fun night on Iki!

Tokyo Orientation

Alrighty, let's back track. More on Iki very soon! Ah, but first let's recall the blur that was Tokyo Orientation. In a nutshell, all the new JETs go to workshop after workshop on being an ALT or a CIR, living in Japan, and teaching. I was completely overwhelmed by all the information. Thank God, I took down notes because most of what I heard went straight over my head. While trying to process this info I was also fighting jet lag. I would fall asleep with no problem at 11pm only to wake up an hour or two later thinking it was 7 in the morning. The first couple of days I had a hard time getting a good nights sleep. On Tuesday, I woke up around 4:00am and decided to iron my clothes because my body refused to go to sleep! The highlights though were meeting with some old friends from Chiba and meeting new friends!! They're some pretty amazing people in this programe and I feel honored to be working alongside them even if we're sprinkled throughout Japan.

And it is official. Haitians always find each other!! At JFK, I heard an all too familiar language and looked over to the kiosk next to me. A fellow JET was with her family checking in and right after we struck up a conversation. So you see, Haitians are everywhere and we'll always find each other in some way.

I'm excited for the year to come and what I'll learn. I'm determined to work hard and become part of the community here on Iki. I really can't believe I'm back. It still feels surreal. When approaching the Japan coast I almost cried. So much hard work and stress went in to getting here. And I certainly couldn't have made it without the support of family and friends. Ah! I'm scared, nervous, overwhelmed, but most importantly happy.

Final Destination: Iki

I'm finally on Iki island! What a journey....

Let's start from the beginning...the very beginning.

Leave California for NYC at 6:30a.m. Arrive in NYC at 7:35p.m.

Pre-departure orientation for only an hour. -____- Got to meet up with my friends though!

Saturday July 23rd I leave at 4:15 a.m. for JFK airport and left for Japan at 8:30 a.m.

13 Hours later.......

Arrival in Tokyo, July 24th at 11:00 a.m.

In Tokyo for orientation till the 27th.

On the morning of the 27th I leave for Nagasaki Airport at 11am. However I had to wake up at 5:30am so I could check-out of my room and get breakfast. After that, we met with our prefecture group and left for Haneda airport.

Arrival in Nagasaki around 1pm. Maybe 2pm...it's all starting to become a blur.

Leave for Iki at 4:00 and arrived at 4:30pm.

I cannot even begin to describe how tired I felt. Somehow by the time I got to Iki I was still standing and looking damn good in my suit. Now I am settled in my new temporary apartment. The official apartment is still being renovated, so I'm in my predecessor's apartment until late September. I finally feel rested and I'll be having a little break until Monday.

Today, I learn how to drive stick-shift. Oh. boy.