Trash talk

I am awake right now (or I guess I'd be sleep-blogging) but it's kind of strange. It's 7 a.m. and I normally don't get up for a few more hours. I have energy right now and I thought, Heck, why not tell everyone about it? So here I am.
NO clue what to write at the moment. That's rare, too. Guess I'll find a picture to post and see what comes out of that...

Garbage. :) Some of you may not know this, but Japan is kinda crazy, in the smartest possible way, about garbage. I live in Toyonaka City, and when we moved into our apartment, we found out that there are about 15 different ways to sort trash.

You've got flammable trash (food and paper goods), and then you have to remember to bag the food that might smell into a separate trash bag. That goes out Monday and Thursday. You then have non-recyclable stuff, which goes out on Friday. Paper items go out on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month, and glass goes out on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. You also have to bundle large amounts of cardboard with a certain type of plastic. Oh, and I can't forget about the "Toyonaka City Designated" Trash bags. *We also had to have a few of Casey's labmates translate the sheet of paper with all of the rules for us... yikes!*

So this brings up a few questions for me. When the hell do people learn how to do this correctly? I hope they teach this early on in life, and I assume they do. Don't get me wrong, I respect it! I am all for recycling, and also making life a little easier for the people who have to sort through the trash (because honestly, how enjoyable could that possibly be?). But do they have a class on this somewhere that I can take? As a foreigner, I am pretty sure I have managed to screw this up a few times. And what if they know that? Do they look through the trash and say, "Stupid foreigners must of done this"? Is it obvious to them that someone who was less educated on the subject may have accidentally put paper in the non-recycleable trash? (Gasp!) I understand why they do it, but I feel like I need a Trash Sorting for Dummies book.

This sounds like a bad episode of Seinfeld. I think I'll shut up now. Thanks for letting me rant this early in the morning. You'll probably hear from me again later- we are actually doing things this weekend so I'll try to keep you up to date. I am sure you are hanging on every word as it is!! LOL... too much sarcasm for one morning.

-Ashley

Japan Ashley vs American Ashley...

It is certain that life in Japan is drastically different than life at home. I never questioned this. But I am realizing a few things lately that are kind of neat/weird/disturbing in, well... me. :)
First of all, America Ashley (we'll call her AA from now on...lol) was terrified to speak or sing in public. In fact, AA wouldn't even sing in front of Casey (except singing 'Mr. Jones' a few times, but that's about it). However, Japan Ashley (JA, of course) is now sort of craving some more karaoke. I guess that would fit into the weird/disturbing category. Oh, and AA also swore that the first and only song 'she' would sing would be Mr. Jones... and well... about 12 songs later, Mr. Jones is still MIA. :) (The picture cracks me up... Casey and I look pretty intense. We were singing "Paradise City" by Guns 'N Roses. That obviously wasn't the part with air-guitar.)
Next, JA cleans. AA barely knew how. Now Casey would probably have a few words on this subject, but for now, you get my version. :) AA was pretty cluttered. JA, while still a little cluttered, is significantly less cluttered than AA. Also, JA doesn't mind doing the dishes. Is it because we have maybe 5 dishes in this place? Probably. But it's so much less annoying. You would practically have to bribe me to do the dishes in America. Not sure why I hated it so much, but either way, I don't mind doing it now. (We'll see if JA will fit in the suitcase back to America...) :)
JA eats a lot more. And I am also eating things I NEVER would have tried in my life. I always said Casey was the only one that would eat food that had a face. I was always weirded out by it, I think mainly because it was staring back at me and making me feel guilty. There is something about looking in the eyes of something you are about to eat... it's all mental, I know. But this has been a lifelong thing with me (or AA, if you will). I remember being a kid and catching my first fish with my Grandpa. We took it home, and Mom cooked it up and set it in front of me to eat. And I started bawling.
In Japan, I have tried quite a few things (like the one thing in the entry about Gopal's farewell party) that I never would have before. Shrimp with eyes and tail, raw beef, chicken cartilage, raw egg, etc. By the way, eggs and beef are a lot fresher here, so please don't worry (Mom)... I wouldn't eat it otherwise. :)
Other differences are: JA rides a bike. JA sleeps a lot and sometimes doesn't get dressed until 5 p.m. (and I work from home so I don't have to! Yay!) JA's bed is the size of a Tic-Tac. JA wears 5 layers of clothing to stay warm, and sits in front of a space heater most of the day. JA knows how to knit! (AA never had the patience...)
AA would have totally freaked out about moving to another country for 4 months. AA probably would have cried a lot (and not necessarily at Japanese soap operas!) and been really homesick. AA wouldn't have tried absinthe (for obvious reasons!) and would not have stayed out all night. AA could also drink a lot less than JA, if you can believe it. (Now it's two drinks instead of one!! Haha just kidding...)
So what happened to me? Maybe it's the MSG (JUST KIDDING AGAIN!), maybe it's the mountains, maybe it's all this time I have to think. But I think either way, JA will be nice to have in America in a few months. Hopefully she'll decide to come back to the US, even though the flight is excruciatingly long.
Okay, so that's enough of my attempting to write in 3rd person (or 2nd?)... I'm confusing myself. Either way, Japan is changing me, and I hope it's for the better. :)
Here's another picture, just because I feel one isn't enough. :) I took this on Wednesday evening... we have a really good view from our apartment! And I love sunsets, so I couldn't help myself.

-Ashley

Charley and my Topeka friends

Hello again! So I just got off the phone with my parents. They are watching our Boxer, Charley, at their house in Kansas until I go back to South Carolina in March. I enjoy hearing stories about how smart Charley is and how Dad is teaching him new things. He also got to enjoy some snow in Kansas, which is something he will probably not experience much of in South Carolina. He loves it! I sure miss that guy. He is such a dork... which is why he fits in perfectly with Casey and I. :) He apparently likes taking baths now. He never did when I gave him one! I have a lot to learn. But it's cool that my parents are enjoying their "grandpuppy". :)
So I was thinking about how cold it is here and how bundled up I get in the attempt not to get sick (again)... I normally wear tights, pants, heavy socks, and 2-3 shirts, and then throw on my coat over that. Then I add a scarf, gloves, and a hat. When I was all bundled up the other night, riding my bike with Casey to the grocery store, I had this thought about how weird I must look. Then I had this random flashback to sledding at Quinton Heights hill with Sara Liezert back in the day... I can't remember how old we were, but I believe it was in high school (THS!!!). Sara was bundled up to the point where she had to turn her whole body just to look in a general direction. Well, Sara saw a cute guy standing nearby, and then she looked at me and said, "He probably doesn't even know what sex I am!" I still get a good laugh out of that to this day... good times.
I also realized that my friends from Topeka might be reading this at some point, so it's a good time to give shout outs! Or I could just add a picture. :) This was one of the only pictures we took as a group where just about everyone was looking at the camera. Our parents were taking a bunch of pictures but they were standing next to each other and we never knew where to look. I had a lot of fun the last time I was home. I got to see a bunch of family (and even meet a few on Casey's side that I had never gotten to meet in 7 years!) so that was fun. I got to hang out with friends quite a bit, too. They are a crazy bunch! :) Sara, Jeremy, Ben, and I have all been friends since the middle school days back at Jardine. Lindsey and Kyle (in between Casey and I in the picture) have been the friends I have had longest in my life. I met Lindsey when I was 5, and Kyle when I was 6. I consider myself lucky to still have all of them in my life after all of these years. So much has changed since our high school days. Now Sara is in Vet Tech school in Kansas City and kickin' a$$, Jeremy is pimpin' at UPS (What can Brown do for you? Pay you a bunch of money!!) (Love ya, bud!! ;)) Lindsey is doing all kinds of stuff.. working at KDOT, being the best freaking Jazzercise instructor (and probably the hottest too, of course!!), dating a super awesome guy named Craig, going to school, and pretty much being the busiest person I know at this point. :) Well then you have Kyle and Ben who are both going to Med School. Talk about being busy! I look forward to seeing where they end up. I am proud of all of them- they have all been successful and it's always fun to hear about what's going on in their lives.
So that's about enough for now. Like I said earlier, I am addicted to this thing. It will be hard to get away from it and be somewhat productive today, but I will try. :) Hopefully you will not hear from me again until tomorrow. Hahahaha...
-Ashley

Alright, so I'm addicted...

Alright people. No one said how addictive this thing is. Casey spent a good bit of time on the computer tonight and it was driving me nuts because I wanted to write more. However, now I am glad that he took so long, because I got to watch this TV show that I am now addicted to.
Keep in mind the show is completely in Japanese. I have no idea what the title even is. That doesn't give you much to work with, but please take my word for it. These people must be great actors or something, because 3 out of 3 times of watching this show, I have cried. Okay, so I have also cried during commercials before. Nonetheless, the plot has totally sucked me in to the point where at about 9:45 tonight when I realized it was Wednesday AND the show would be on at 10:30, I got pretty excited. I don't know if I can easily sum up the plot for you, but the fact that I even know the plot is kind of a miracle in itself. Simply put, the main male character is this older man, and he finds out he is dying. It goes through the process of his family and friends finding out. The kicker is that he and his oldest daughter have apparently just found each other after a long time of being apart. (Heck, maybe he's not really her dad, but it sure seems that way!) It seems like she had a pretty bad childhood, and he wasn't around, so now that they've found each other, they are trying to 'repair' their relationship. She helps him with his three younger children. So blah blah blah, people find out he is dying, everyone cries. In comes the sappy music. Ashley cries once again. In this episode, the guy finds out that this will be his last Christmas (or maybe he won't make it much past Christmas, I'm not sure). The guy and his daughter walk by a church and see a wedding and the daughter is dreaming about getting married, and I think probably having her dad walk her down the aisle. At the end, the girl goes to the church to pray for her dad, and then he walks in and ends up walking her down the aisle. And you probably guessed it... at the end -sob- the guy died. Multiple tears, guys. :*(
So how sad is that? Or is it more sad that I got so wrapped up in something that I can't even understand verbally? I will just say that I think they were that good of actors and it has nothing to do with how incredibly sensitive I am. :P
In other news, I thought I would update on the past weekend since I have a little more patience at the moment. It was the last weekend for the REU students to be in Japan, so there were a bunch of farewell parties. I went to 2 of them, so I'll sum them up as best I can.
Karen, one of the Grad students from the University of South Carolina (who also works with Casey and will be watching our house until I come back in March) had a farewell party that was pretty funny. First of all, they found the coolest animal crackers I have ever seen. They were very detailed and had the animal name in English. I have got to find some of these!! But the best part was when... wait for it... we found one that said Cock! (For the Gamecocks, of course!)
Another funny moment happened when one of the guys from the lab walked into the party when Karen was hugging everyone and saying goodbye, and he didn't know what was going on. Karen said something to the effect of "I think they want you to say something" so after this long, awkward silence, he said, "I had a meeting..." :) Poor guy. But it gets worse. Karen had made soap (when she was in America) and handed them out with candy as gifts. The tardy guy mistook what it was and ended up taking a big bite out of the soap! I just remember walking into the room and he was rinsing out his mouth in the sink and everyone was laughing. I really felt for the guy!! Kind of a bad night, don't you think?
Casey and I attended Gopal's farewell party (or at least we went out with he and a few of the guys from his lab). They were really funny and knew quite a bit more English that most of the people I have met here. Turns out that Gopal had taught them a lot... and it was stuff you probably wouldn't say to your mother (although I'm sure they probably asked him... he wouldn't volunteer all of that information, right??)... but Friday night consisted of going out with these guys, drinking, and saying funny words in Japanese and English. Oh, and trying strange food. I ate something and I don't know if they ever figured out what the actual word was for it in English. It was really difficult to bite through and kind of salty, and it's amazing that I not only ate it, but sort of liked it. What's happening to me?! :)
So the bad part of the weekend comes on Saturday. Casey and I were supposed to meet the REUs at a train station close to our apartment around 9:30 a.m. to say goodbye to them before they flew to America that day. Well, at 9:00 a.m., Yanagi-san (my Japanese teacher whose picture is in my last entry) called the apartment. She was lost looking for Gopal's dorm because she had wanted to drive him to the station. She said she was close to our apartment, so Casey and I crawled out of bed and went down the street to find her. (Keep in mind also that we got maybe 2 hours of sleep the night before.) She pulled up, and we both ended up getting in the car. I had a feeling that I shouldn't have, because we were supposed to meet the students so soon. Well, we ended up driving to Gopal's dorm, and he had already gotten a ride with someone else because they only had a small window of time before the limo bus would take them to the airport. We turned around and went to the station, only to see the bus pulling away and some students from Kuboi-sensei's lab (where Gopal and Angel worked) waving at the bus. We tried to turn the car around and follow the bus, but we got stuck in traffic. When we finally got to the airport, Yanagi-san parked illegally and we went running down the street to try and catch the bus. We never made it- the students got out before we arrived. So, I didn't get to say goodbye to them at all. :( I'm still sad about that. Yanagi-san felt terrible! She called me later that evening and was very apologetic, and the next thing I know she's at my door with a bunch of amazing bread from a bakery. She gave me fruit today at my Japanese lesson because she still feels so bad. Of course I wasn't mad at her, just disappointed that I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone. There is a chance I won't get to see a few of the students again, and if you know me, I am pretty big about goodbyes, so that was rough. However, we do have e-mail, and as long as they still answer, it is all good! :)
I guess that's about it. I have written a bunch already. I feel like I should apologize, but then again, what else is a blog for, really? SO heck. I wrote a lot. Deal with it. You didn't have to read it all, now, did you? ;)
I'm slap happy now and need to go. I'll probably write more today. :P
-Ashley

Catching you up to speed...

Wow, there is so much to write! The last month of my life has been insane. Sometimes it will hit me randomly that I am living in Japan. So far, I haven't gotten too homesick, although Thanksgiving was a little rough. I anticipate the same with Christmas. This will be the first Christmas that neither of us will see our families. Hopefully e-mail will help out with this. E-mail is such a blessing to me right now. I enjoy reading something in English!!
I am going to attempt to account for the last month of my life. I don't think this will be easy. Here goes nothing...
The first week here (November 10th-17th) was very busy. I arrived at the airport, and Casey was nowhere to be found. After about 25 minutes of waiting, I started to rationalize what was going on. Okay, I freaked out. I had clothes and a pillow, so I started thinking about what my options were. I couldn't speak Japanese, so I didn't know how to ask for a hotel. Luckily, after almost 45 minutes, Casey showed up. His bus to the airport was extremely late. I cried mad and happy tears all at once- it was strange! :) We stayed in a hotel that night, and the next day we went to our apartment. I love it! My dad has seen pictures and thinks it looks like a hospital room. I disagree! The pictures don't do it justice. It is small, but for Japan it seems pretty big. The shower is the biggest I have seen in Japan yet! Japanese hotels tend to have really tiny bathrooms. Our shower and bathtub are separate from each other, which is nice.
We acquired a bunch of things for our house from various people. One woman in particular hooked us up with a washing machine, refrigerator, microwave, desk, chair, TV (and we bought rabbit ears so we can watch some quality Japanese TV... the commercials are hilarious!!)... anyway, she is very generous and made us feel at home. Sadly enough, I don't think I ever learned her name. There are quite a few women, like her, that volunteer in the International Student office in the same building that Casey is doing his research. Many of them donate their time (and obviously their household items) to help international students and families. They also teach Japanese, and one of the ladies is teaching me for one hour each week. Her name is Asako Yanagi, and she was also Gopal's teacher while he was here. She is very nice, and so far I have learned quite a bit from her. (She is with Gopal and I in the picture below at the International Student Year-End party last week.)
So the first week was basically spent moving into the apartment and getting settled. I went out a few times with Casey, Gopal, and Jeff. On Saturday evening, we went to Bar Orugan, which was a favorite bar of the Osaka boys last year. Casey introduced it to the Osaka boys this year, and the rest is history. We hung out there Saturday night. At midnight, it was officially my 24th birthday (although Gopal would tell you otherwise... he says I'm either 13 or 36). :P It was a fun night, with a lot of funny events that Gopal details in his blog. A few I will not mention, mainly because I am embarrassed. Long story short, I tend to say really idiotic things when I have had a bit to drink (because I am the size of a 13-year-old), and this night proved that point. When midnight hit, the guys started singing "Happy Birthday" to me. The bartender came over and asked to see my passport. All I heard him say was "13", so I, being slightly intoxicated, mistook him for thinking that I was 13. :) I got kind of mad... (sigh). Yeah. It's funny now, but at the time, I remember thinking, "I get this all of the time in America... how the heck am I getting it here?!" Yikes.
Another funny moment of the evening was when we were walking with Gopal and Jeff on the way home. They both had bikes with them. I was getting tired of walking, and for some reason I said, "You should put me in the basket of your bike, you know, like E.T.?" I was also wearing a white coat with the hood up, so it probably would have looked a lot like E.T. with the sheet over his head. Gopal laughed so hard he had to stop walking. :) Since that night, E.T. has been everywhere. Jacob, one of the REU students, even bought me a keychain with E.T. on it. Maybe I'm reading into this a bit, but it does seem like I see it quite a bit now. We even saw a painting in downtown Osaka with E.T.! I'm going to go crazy! :)
Moving on. Sunday (the 13th) we went to Kobe with Gopal and Jeff. We saw the Earthquake Memorial, and also got to go up a mountain and see fragrance gardens and some neat glass houses. Jeff had to leave early, but Gopal stayed with us and we ended up going to a crab restaurant for my birthday dinner. It was really expensive! But it was nice to sit down and relax after all of that walking.
Monday I went in to school with Casey and got the bike we were borrowing from the International Student office. I also got sick this week. Our apartment is really cold and I'm not used to that anymore (South Carolina is spoiling me!) so I think since we are on the 8th floor and we are up in the mountains, somehow I am catching cold easier here than before. It is frustrating. But we stocked up on medicine and vitamins, so hopefully it'll help when winter really sets in. (It is hard for me to think that it could somehow get colder than it has been here... ahhhh!!!) I can't remember much that happened the first week here. We basically shopped a lot and went out to eat every night. I have attempted to cook 3 times, and so far, only the first one was a disaster. Translating food in a Japanese grocery store is harder than you might think. Casey bought me a book about buying food in Japan, which helped a lot. I did fine until it came to buying the main ingredient; salmon. I bought ham instead, on accident. It was terrible. I can't believe Casey ate it. Oh, and to top it off- it was salted ham. YUCK! On a lighter note, the other two meals have taken a long time to cook, but they've gone well. :)
The next event I remember was Thanksgiving. We invited all of the REU students from Osaka to dinner at a restaurant that served some American-style food (but no turkey, of course). Everyone showed except Karen. We had a nice time and ate pizza, hamburgers, french fries, and topped it off with Coca-Cola. :) It was nice to have a small touch of home.
On Friday night, Casey, Gopal, Jeff, and I decided to go karaoking. Anyone that knows me probably knows that I am terrified of speaking- let alone singing- in public. However, it turned out to be a lot of fun! I even did some air-guitar to Aerosmith and Guns 'N Roses! I think I sang about 5 songs. I will never do this in America!! It is so much less competitive here. We also had our own room, so I didn't have a bunch of strangers staring at me. The guys were very supportive, and made me feel at ease. I have done karaoke 3 times now, and each time has been a blast!
Saturday, Casey, Jeff, Gopal, his friend Reiko-san, and I decided to go to a bar called Cafe Absinthe. Casey went there last year and really enjoyed the atmosphere. I think we all did as well. Gopal ended up getting 4 absinthe drinks! What a guy! :) I, on the other hand, did not care for the taste. It's much like black licorice, so I will pass on that the next time. I would love to go back to that bar again, though, just to hang out.
We also met a DJ there named Matt who is from Chicago. He has been living in Japan for quite a long time, and knew where some good clubs were. He directed us to a place called Club Pure. It was crazy! You basically pay $30 for the entire night, and get free drinks. It was definitely worth it! We stayed there until 5 a.m.. The thing about getting around in Japan is that the trains stop around midnight, so if you are out after that time and are not in walking distance from where you live, you can either find a hotel somewhere, or stay out until the first train starts in the morning. We chose the later. We met a bunch of Japanese girls who spoke English and ended up hanging out with them for awhile. The club was full of non-Asians, too, so we got to speak English pretty much the entire night. It's refreshing to get a dose of English every once in awhile!
Speaking of that, I had a random thing happen at our apartment that was a little awkward. The first week I was here, a lady rang the doorbell, and when I came to the door, she started saying something in Japanese that I of course didn't understand. Then she busts out a Bible and turns to the English section which explains how I should know Christ and have Him in my life, etc. (I thought this was mainly something that happened in America, but I was wrong!) So after scanning through the paper, I tried to assure her that I knew what it was talking about, and then I thanked her and gave it back to her, and she said something else to me in Japanese. She could have said "Have a nice day" or even "You are going to Hell" but I had no clue. I think we both just gave up and I waved at her and shut the door. It's so frustrating when I have no idea what they are saying, or how to respond!!
Moving on. We have taken a few other trips here including Nara (we got to feed wild deer) and Kyoto (my favorite place in Japan so far... it's beautiful!). Also, last week I got to travel with the REU students to Tokyo. There were 3 students studying there with our REU program, and there was a symposium to showcase all of the REU students' research over the last 12 weeks. I am pretty proud of what they have done, although I think a few of them were a little discouraged. It is tough to get high-quality results by doing research in such a short amount of time. If it weren't at least a little difficult, would it really be worth it? Not everyone can publish a paper during 12 weeks of research.
Anyway, enough about that. I got to see a ton of things in Tokyo, most of which I will not detail at the moment. Gopal and I went to Tsukiji, the huge fish market, which was crazy! We woke up at 4:45 a.m. to go there, but it was worth it. We had the best sashimi tuna I have ever had, and probably ever will have, in my life. (How much fresher can you get it, really?) It was fun taking pictures and seeing how serious the fish industry is here. Not that I ever questioned it!!
So much for the detailed version of the previous month... I don't have the patience right now. And in fact, if you are still reading this, you deserve some kind of reward. This is quite the novel! And it's not even half of what has happened so far. I guess I will try it again next time. It would have been much easier if I could have started this a month ago, then you would definitely be 'up to speed'. However, I hope this give you at least a little insight as to what has been going on. I will try to be a bit more organized next time. :)
-Ashley

Minoh and the beginning of my blog

I will start out by saying that I do not know if "Minoh" is actually spelled that way. It could be "Mino" or "Mino-o". I have seen it spelled all of these ways, on various maps and signs. You can choose for yourself. :)

So I finally bought into doing this blog thing. I think it will be a nice way to update the things that are going on here, so I don't have to send out mass e-mails or write everyone. I started going cross-eyed after trying that the first few weeks.

I can't believe I have been living in Japan for a month now. Time has gone by fast, and I am starting to settle down now because the REU students went back to America on Saturday. I had a fun time exploring Japan with them and getting to know them better. So much has happened, in fact, that I think I need to start from the beginning. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to do so at the moment, but I plan to sometime this week. It will be nice to look back at this and keep a decent record of what's going on here. So, I suppose I will leave the first entry short and sweet, since the rest will probably not be as short... or sweet for that matter. :)