Not So Awesome Kids

This week of campers left quite a bit to be desired. If constant biting, pushing, hitting, and screaming isn't enough, it was topped off by the lack of a common language. English is not a first language for most of the campers, but now we are getting campers who don't know a single word of it! How do you stop someone from screaming and hitting when you can't tell them "no"?! ... Especially when (s)he is 3! Oh well. Tomorrow is Friday, and we'll all be ready for next week after a couple days' rest.
Tonight was pretty fun. The day camp counselors went to Disney Sea after work, so the CDC (those of us who work with kids under 5) counselors stayed after work to swim for a while, and when we got back to the hotel, I had a date! We eat a lot of our meals at a restaurant downstairs at the hotel, and I have spoken with one of the chefs a number of times in passing. Yesterday he asked if I would like to join him for coffee sometime, so tonight we went for a walk and had some coffee. Ronald (that's his name) is from Mauritius, a small island country I was embarrassed not to have known about. Since my date I have been researching the country and am absolutely fascinated! ... I hate to say that I have two web browsers open right now, one for my blog and the other for plane tickets to Mauritius. Anybody up for a vacation this fall?
I am off to bed - 11:30, and still not tired... perhaps a late night double shot of espresso wasn't the best idea?

Week 2: Said and Done.

Whew! What a week. Our first week of camp with kids went wonderfully. We had thirteen campers (all 3-4 years old) in my classroom for the morning sessions, and only 6 in the afternoon. I think that was the perfect break into camp so we could establish what we’d be doing and really get to know each other in a work setting before we get into the big numbers (We’ll be up to about twenty in a couple weeks). We take the kids swimming and to the park every day (morning and afternoon switch between the two) and between that and art projects and snacks the day is pretty full. There are only a few really spoiled kids (the ones that cry about everything we do because it’s not their idea or they’re afraid to get dirty), which is nice as I expected a lot more (I figured Embassy kids would be spoiled). The girl I work with in my classroom, Lora, is a very good worker and the two of us keep the classroom running pretty well.
(These are pictures of our room - I am pretty proud of my tree idea most of all)

I certainly have not let the weekend slip away. We walked around town Friday night, and I met some cool skateboarders – of course I asked if I could borrow a board and made a fool of myself trying to do tricks on the brick street, but I felt pretty cool when would even try a trick. A bunch of us had a slumber party in one of the girls’ hotel rooms and after three hours of sleep, we got up at 4:30am to go to a fish market. Supposedly, 90% of the fish bought in Japan is sold at that market between 3am and 8am every morning. I think we missed the real rush since we didn’t arrive until about 5:30 or 6, but it was REALLY cool to see how fast everyone was moving, and all of the different fish, and the whole backstage of where my food comes from! Only four of us were brave enough to stick around afterward for breakfast. I had raw cuttlefish tentacles, egg sushi, a snow crab hand roll, and a tuna hand roll for breakfast. I was a little disappointed because I think it was yesterday’s fish, not fresh from the fish market as we had hoped, but it was still pretty good. After breakfast we walked around the outside of the market where a whole farmers market of fish was set up for blocks around. We tried tons of free samples - a lot of completely unidentifiable things… some of which were better than others. After a nap we headed out to Shibuya, the largest intersection in the world (woo hoo…?) to do some shopping. It was not the highlight of my week, but it was fun. Then, after some dinner (yay oatmeal!) a few of us headed back to Shibuya for some clubbing, which turned into our first night of karaoke! I was a little sad because, apparently, karaoke in most Japan is all private. You pay for a room for a certain amount of time, and your group all just sings to one another. So, we didn’t get to see any Japanese karaoke, and we didn’t get a chance to publicly embarrass ourselves, but we did have a really good time. Hopefully we’ll be able to find a public karaoke sometime.
Today they say a tropical storm is moving in, so it is all rain all day. This works out well for me so I do not feel bad about having to spend the whole day inside doing programming for camp. Yes, I came all the way to Tokyo to do more Camp Adventure homework. Oh well. It’ll be nice to just stay in for once, I suppose.
I hope everyone is well – thanks for keeping up with me! Please enjoy this video I made of the fish market yesterday!

Whoa! Just heard a huge crack of thunder! This is our first Tokyo thunderstorm... I think it sounds a little different over here... maybe.

So this is the first week with the kids. Monday was... well, it as good after the first fifteen minutes or so when I got kicked in the face twice and punched in the eye. Luckily that girl is not in my room, so I didn't have to deal with that any more. All of the kids (3 and 4 year olds) in my room are SO cute and they are really good. I am extremely impressed with how independent they all are! Everyone gets their food and cleans up from snack/lunch completely on their own, they all keep their bags, bathing suits, extra shoes and clothes and lunch bags organized, and they even get dressed into and out of their bathing suits on their own! They're three!

More later, I have to program a couple weeks of camp before Friday, and I am a little behind...

What A Weekend!!

This weekend was fantastic!! It started with an evening walking around the Roppungi area (VERY huge party area) on Friday night - we didn't get wild, or even stop for a tea, but we did some good exploring and got a good idea of what to do Saturday.
We got up bright and early (9:00 we took off, but that's pretty early for a bunch of college kids/grads) and navigated the train station to the Imperial Gardens. We walked around the whole palace and had a blast walking the gardens and learning about the construction and history of the area. Most of the group got tired and wanted to head home, but a few of us (Hank, Alena, Lora, and myself) had to keep going.
After a few hours we came upon the boats Hank had read about, and decided to take them for a spin - at 5 yen per boat for a half hour we couldn't pass it up!
We enjoyed a relaxing paddle boat ride and headed back to Hero-o to get ready for the night.

Saturday night was not quite as calm as Friday. We checked out the party scene in Roppungi and did a little partying of our own. We were careful though to not miss the last train (12:14am) of the night, as we didn't want to buy a cab and needed to get up early to be on the road again Sunday!
Sunday we went to Harajuku. Girls dress up REALLY crazy and just walk around and pose on this bridge... I don't think there is really any rhyme or reason to it, but I guess Sundays that's just the thing to do. Harajuku is also a VERY huge shopping area - like hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people crowd onto one street and.... shop. I don't really know what all the hub-bub is about, but it was really cool to see (albeit a little clausterphobic).

Then tonight (Sunday) after we got back I went out to dinner with Toyoko (my second cousin once removed). I was SO excited to meet her, and we had a fantastic time! We went to a restaurant called Gonpachi. It was WAY swanky! I guess that is where the past prime minister took George W. Bush. If that doesn't tell you how nice it was, then maybe the fact that I sat next to Hinano Yoshikawa, a very big television and movie star in Japan, at the sushi bar will give you a hint. It was the most delicious food I think I have ever had, and I tried so many new things that I absolutely LOVED! The only thing better than the food and the atmousphere was the company! Toyoko was absolutely delightful!! She was so much fun, and I cannot wait to hook up with her again!

Ah! I need to get to bed! Tomorrow is the first day of camp with the kids. In case I don't make it, thanks for keeping up with me!

Working Hard

This is my roommate, Jordan, and I being extremely cool in our hotel room.








On Tuesday we went down to the Roppongi district for sushi, which was phenomenal! Japanese sushi definitely has something on Iowa sushi. I was surprised at how different the ginger was too! The ginger was SO good! I thought I liked pickled ginger, but this stuff is in a whole new league. After dinner we went to "Vortex". It was a big arcade, but we were the youngest people there... and we're all between 19 and 28. Most of the people there were older men, one of whom I showed here. He was wearing the face mask that many Japanese wear while he played a crane game - attempting to catch a teddy bear.







This is the garden in the US Embassy housing compound where we work. It is SO beautiful! There are tons of perfect shrubs and flowers. This is one of the two ponds. It has a ten foot waterfall and two little fountains. It's really nice because it is right outside of the classroom I am in, so it's a beautiful view for me!



This is the "before" shot of the room we are working in. This is the dress-up/ kitchen area. There are about five different centers that we set up (reading, building, arts and crafts, and puzzles). We have totally redone the room and are in the process of decorating it with posters and fun stuff now. Yesterday (Wed for me) was our "painting party". We spent 12 hours painting posters to decorate our rooms, and I think we may need to dedicate today to the same thing.
This is my super cool US Embassy ID. It lets me onto any embassy or military site in the world!!! (Until August 31st). The Japanese people who took the picture thought it was pretty funny... I guess maybe people don't give the camera a thumbs-up every day?



A beautiful shot of our lovely hotel room. Jealousy is a natural reaction upon seeing this.







This is part of the gang posing in front of a giant pot sticker/wanton outside the first Japanese restaurant at which we ate called Osaka Osho.










This is right after we landed in Tokyo. On the left is Jeff, one of the only three Iowans, and on the right is Lena, a sweet Californian girl.

Sorry these are so out of order. This Blogspot thing is not the easiest to work... it's actually kinda' annoying.

Day 2

Today we began setting up our rooms for camp next week. The 3-5 year olds that I will be working with will be split up into two rooms. We will have about 20 kids in each room - mine will be 3-4 year olds and the other will be 4-5 year olds. I am a little nervous to have SO many young children in one room with only two adults to contain them... but I am sure it will be fun.

Last night was our first dinner out. We found a cheep little restaurant down the street about a half mile - maybe a mile. I would say it was the Japanese equivalent of a greasy spoon. It was small and had a counter, where most people sat, along with a few tables. It was fun guessing what the menu items were, and my sweet-and-sour-ish fish was DELICIOUS! Tonight we found a sushi restaurant and I had my first real Japanese sushi!! It was SOOO good! We went into the Rapungi district (one subway stop away from where we live) and found a really nice little place. I got one octopus, one squid-leg, one tuna, and one salmon nigiri sushi along with this really cool seaweed wrap with some sort of fish I had never heard of. The wrap was really cool; it looked like a flower bouquet. 

Today was also my first experience on a crowded Tokyo subway. We rode one last night, but it was not crowded at all. This morning, however, it was crazy!! The train pulled up and people's faces were literally smashed to the doors it was so packed. We crammed ourselves on, and it was absolutely incredible! Besides our American banter (which my coworkers seised once they got enough dirty looks) the subway was completely silent. I mean, there were no cell phones (they are actually not allowed on the subway- there are signs saying so), no ipods, no nothing. Just thousands of silent people smashed together.

I really need to download some pictures. Sorry I am so slack on that, but thanks for keeping up with me!!

Day 1 in Tokyo

Today we went to the US Embassy and got our official ID's. It is fun to see all of the securities the US implements here to enter the grounds. Once we got our ID's we went to the living compound where we went through the classrooms where we would be working. They kinda smell like pee, but I really can't complain when I look at how wonderful my own accommodations are.
I was unable to sleep past 4:15 this morning and have hardly been able to keep my eyes open all day. Darn time differences.
I hope everyone is well, and I promise to write an entry with more substance once I can fully comprehend my surroundings and produce a cohesive thought. In the mean time, take care!

Touch Down In Tokyo!

Hey Everybody!
I made it to Tokyo with no delays and no surprises. We drove in to Tokyo after dark, and this city looks beautiful at night! We drove by Tokyo Disney World, which was gorgeous, and drove across the "Rainbow Bridge" into Tokyo. The bridge was great because it was way out in Tokyo bay and wrapped across. We could see the whole city totally lit up!
I just got all settled into my hotel (New Sanno, if you want to Google it or anything) where I am rooming with a really nice girl named Jordan from UNI. There is, unfortunately, only one bed, but we will take turns sleeping on the pull-out couch.
It is actually getting pretty late at night here, so I'd better get to bed - have to get up and start work in the morning!
Thanks for checking up on me, and I can't wait to show you all what I'm up to here!

Don't Stop Checking In!!!

Hey friends, family, and any strange people I don't know who have somehow found this blog!!

Don't stop checking my blog! I know I never really update you much, but that is about to change!! In just a few short days I will be taking off for Tokyo where I will be spending the summer on the American Embassy working as a camp counselor for Embassy kids! The program through which I am going is called Camp Adventure. It is based out of the University of Northern Iowa. I am getting all geared up and excited to go, so I hope you will all join me via blog on my next adventure!