I really wish the blog menus weren't in Japanese

I didn't think I'd be able to get back on to my blog. Well, it's been many moons since I last posted and I haven't had much time to go into detail. I guess there were a lot of weird small things that I wanted to remember for my first blog that never really stuck with me. Fewer things are around to strike me as strange then when I first came here. I don 't think it's just me getting used to the culture because I swear fewer things are talking to me. But I guess part of that is what part of town I wander into.

I promise to have some great pictures when I get a working camera (the one Dad sent with me is wonky at best), and trust me, there's some weird thing's you'll want to see.

Classes are going well though my first couple weeks where a little discouraging. I feel very confident that they're not going to fire me and that I'm getting much better as a teacher. Let me explain. Before I could teach I had to take On-The-Job training in Sapporo (a rather large city). I liked teaching but I still lacked confidence and at the end of the first three days they told me I needed another day. Then after that day they told me I'd be training more when I got back to Obihiro. Now I harbour a little resentment to the guy who told me this, but really he's a good guy. He's just the messenger is all, and I appreciate his honest and fair criticism. But it always feels so negative when he does. My roommate tells me thats just the way it is in Japan and that I shouldn't worry too much. Anyway, I feel that I'm getting better with each lesson and the students generally seem to like me. I do enjoy teaching and watching them learn, but I still need to refine my skills in the department of saying things in a concise and simple manner as possible. Not easy for a chatty cathy like myself, but I'm getting better.

I'm getting used to the food, which for the most part is noodles. Seriously, I'm eating a lot less rice than I expected. But part of that is that I didn't see rice at the grocery store (probably looking in the wrong place) and our rice cooker is really nasty dirty. I'm scared to clean it. I try to cook for myself, but only a few stir fries and a spaghettini (like thin spaghetti) dinner turned out well. I liked Tako Yaki at first but slowly I realised I liked everything about except a certain goop inside (the octopus part and the coating where great). Butadon is good (an Obihiro specialty), and I find that pretty much anything with noodles is enjoyable. Still, I will miss some of the food from back home, like decent pizza and anything with cheese (the cheese here is generally not good)

On work days I eat out (since I usually work nights) and generally get something from the food court downstairs, which is pretty OK. I also find that obento is a a somewhat decent price in the day but gets really cheap in the evening. Like 30% off stuff that's only about 6 bucks anyway. At the end of the evening you can see that there's quite a few discount stickers on them. Still, since the bento boxes have things crammed with preservatives (like, more than is legally allowed in Canada) it's better to go light on them.

At this point I am attempting to save this blog. Unfortunately, the blog site I'm on has a hiragana menu, so I might be posting this early. For that I'm sorry.

Edit: Dammit, I knew this would happen.

Anyhoo, I guess this post will end prematurely and I'll have a post with much juicier details than lunch sometime within the next few days.