here, there, everywhere

Last Thursday, I think I not only botched a roomful of pre-schoolers' understanding of the words boy and girl, but also deeply traumatized one little boy in particular by referring to him as - you guessed it - a girl. Smooth move. In my defensive, he had long, flowing hair, so I hope he at least directs some of his anger at his hairstylist in addition to me when he's sitting on a therapist's couch years from now.

At any rate, I got mine this morning when I discovered that a) apparently my photo blog was listed as one of 47 Awesome Photojournalism blogs and b) they think I'm a guy. Oh well - I can't pretend it didn't totally make my day, and if that little boy I traumatized knew more than six words of English (bet he's never going to forget the word boy now, though, huh?) I would totally try to explain to him that the same thing happened to me when I was a short-haired little girl, and apparently, has continued well into my long-haired adulthood as well.

One of the things I was the most apprehensive about before this job began was the driving: because we teach all over the place, we have to commute by a variety of means, including driving our boss' improbably tiny van about forty minutes every morning to a big company that lies way out of town, amidst a sea of beautiful rice fields and disconcertingly thin roads which are, even more unsettlingly, slightly elevated above the fields themselves. The first time the previous teachers drove us out there - tiny van unflinchingly plowing forward as every other car on the skinny, un-barrier-ed road rattled by it way too close and way too fast, all I could do was stare at the 2 foot drop on either side of the roads. While driving on the left definitely did my head in a bit are first - particularly since the turn signal and the window wipers are reversed - it turns out that driving on the wrong side of the road is nothing compared to the crash course in spacial perception that is my morning negotiation through the rice paddies. Iain - who grew up in the UK in a town with equally skinny little roads - has had no problems with the driving, but as happy as he is to drive, there are two days a week when I have to head out by myself.



Fortunately, it's been a week, and not only am I getting used to it - my pulse barely races when a bus rattles past me - but I actually am starting to like the drive. There are still a few tricky parts where I have to hold my breath, but in general I just find myself enjoying the route out of town, trundling over and alongside the river (see above), past the cherry-blossom studded Numazu Alps, into the lush fields that surround the office we work at.  I would take it over my subway ride from Fuchu to Shinjuku any day.

After lunch, we walked around the pier and the beach some more - there is a huge stretch of pebbly beach, complete with a bike path, that I am completely in love with now: beach on one side, forest with running paths on the other, Mt. Fuji overhead on clear days.


So this is where we live, apparently: neither of us can believe our good luck at ending up so close to the beach and the mountains and the woods, but we definitely can't wait to start exploring more.

Lots more about the amazingness that is Numazu soon, but for now: Fuji-san, coyly peering through the clouds at dusk. On clear days, especially in the morning, we can see it looming huge over the town; after three weeks, it's still pretty awesome to glance in your rear view mirror or out the window of your classroom and see it.

So, at the moment, we have: tomatoes, strawberries, green onions, two wan-looking pea plants, parsley, mint, and a smattering of flowers, including some marigolds and nasturtiums, which accounts for all the sunny spots of the yard, and about half the patio in general. I'm trying not to get too emotionally attached, but I love looking out our bedroom window and seeing our little garden - it's definitely my favorite part of the new apartment, and probably my favorite thing about life in Numazu in general.

We have a lot of flexibility and freedom in terms of what we actually do in class, which is both exciting and a bit daunting to plan.  It's definitely unlike any of the jobs I've had before, but, the students are super friendly and the schedule so far seems busy without being draining, so, here's hoping for a good year! More soon, now that we have internet and - for the first time ever - our very own table to put the computer on!