Smell ya later!

In recent times, I've spent my Sunday mornings cruising around Motomiya in my little kei-car. My favourite discovery has been a little gazebo sitting at the end our downtown area's main drag. This little wooden nook offers sweeping views of Mt. Adatara and the Abukuma River. Last week, I sat there for a few minutes to soak in the snow-capped mountains and a pelican-like bird soaring over the river. I will never get tired of the countryside's picturesque views.

But last Sunday, I was in Koriyama with some friends. After a night of drinks and good fun on Saturday night, we woke up with hunger pains and ended up at a ramen shop. There, we were served dericious ramen which we topped with the obligatory garlic.

I was too lazy to brush my teeth for a second time that morning, and hopped back into my car for the drive home. I ended up going to the grocery store in my neighbourhood, wanting to pick up all the necessary embellishments for taco night.

Of course, I had to run into my students. Now, I'm totally getting used to being recognized at the grocery store whenever I go out. Even when I'm simply rocking ol' jogging pants and no make-up, I don't have a problem greeting my students. But this time, I ran into a grand total of 10 kids.

Seven of them are my 3年生 boys, who awkwardly stopped as I yelled "Hello!!!" to them. Y.-kun is pretty good at understanding English, so he was the one who explained that they were buying ramen. (I saw them fill their "cup ramen" with hot water, then eat it in the seating area near the baked goods section. I've seen a few of my kids congregate at those tables. I guess it's the place to be, especially since our town doesn't have any movie theatres or big shopping malls nearby!) When I was exiting the store, two first-years and one second-year boy came over to say herro as well.

I love basking in this sliver of celebrity, but I hope they didn't tell their friends that I smelled like garlic-laced ramen!! The kids already look at me funny during school lunch, since I'm not that great at eating ramen noodles with chopsticks. (I often bring my cute blue chopsticks, shaped like pencils, to keep the distracted from my lack of chopstickery skills).

Getting the warm fuzzies...

It's miserably cold. Inside. Outside. Everywhere.

I caved last week, and bought a new kerosene fan heater. Basically, it's a space heater fueled by kerosene. A fan circulates the warm air, causing the room to heat up quickly. I'm pretty sure that swirls of carbon monoxide permeate my apartment, so I leave my windows open a crack. Sadly, living in an apartment building without central heating means that any heat trumps carbon monoxide.

Add to that, I'm also the proud owner of an electric heater, an air-conditioner system which also spits out warm air, as well as an old-skool kerosene heater that I bought last year.

At school, I also face a cold situation. The hallways are unheated, so the thermometer read six degrees Celsius. The classrooms are heated, but use large space heaters. These "stoves" are filled with kerosene. When it's in use, the noxious gases float up big, cylinder pipes that lead outdoors. The kids who sit in the front row stay toasted, while those in the back hardly feel the warmth.

But amidst this ridiculous chill, I'm still getting the warm fuzzies. And it's all thanks to little moments shared with my students.

***

There's little S-chan, from one of my elementary schools. After class, she slipped me a note penned in English: "Miss Llama daisuki." ("I love Miss Llama.") I'm pretty sure she meant "Gemma." I was really touched, because this is probably the first year she's practiced writing in English characters. (In Japan, I think most kids start practicing romaji in Grade 4). Cute!

At recess this week, I had two of my eighth-grade girls reveal which boys they liked. I had a feeling that A-chan liked a certain boy, since all three of us got on the same train last month. (They also happened to be wearing matching pink plaid that day. KAWAII!!) M-chan happens to like T-kun, who is my landlord's son. He's a good kid! Aww. Maaaan, I'm way too nosy when it comes to my students.

It also doesn't hurt that my 1-4 class specifically told Yoshida-sensei that they miss me. They were wondering why I haven't visited their class in so long. Darlings.

First day back...

Getting back to where this adventure all started took 23 hours.

Two planes, one Skyliner train, one shink ride, one local train ride to Gohyakugawa Station, capped with a taxi ride with a familiar face. (I gave my friendly taxi driver, "Smokes-A-Cigarette-When-Possible-San," a small Canadian pin).

It was a long journey. I looked and felt gross. The nine-year-old girl sitting beside me on the planed had asked, "Are you tired? You looked tired." She also asked if I was in high school. (Go, Asian genes. I look soooo youthful. Ha.)

I'll write more about my time back home in a future blog. It was filled with my family, food, friends and more food.

But right now, I wanted to jot down that it's nice to see the comforting parts of Motomiya. I drove past my fave baseball boys, surprisingly dressed in their civvies, riding their bikes around the neighbourhood this morning. (I thought it was interesting how S-kun was wearing a hot pink plaid shirt, and pulls is off. In Canada, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't see dudes in that colour scheme, haha). The snack bar near my house now has a big lantern glowing in the front yard. The Pooh corner in the dollar store has moved. R., one of my fashion-forward fifth-graders, was once again dressed to the nines at the grocery store. These are all little things that only I can appreciate!

Ah, the first day back...