MAYDAY MAYDAY!!

So I'm just the luckiest when it comes to computers. Some of the keys on my keyboard have just decided they don't want to play on my team anymore and totally just up and quit (and when I say some, I mean 78% of them). Way to leave me hangin' there guys. Doesn't help that I'm in JAPAN. The first question is...what do I do now? Buy a new computer? Yikes!! Here I come amazon for a usb keyboard...huge lingering sigh of  absolute disappointment.
Second question is...oh sure Liv, well how did you write this blog when your keys don't work? hmmmm...?
I'm so glad you asked.

Play these two videos at the same time for the explanation...I guess I'll be back when I figure the keyboard situation out.

mytimeconsumingjapanesediaries.blogspot.com

People actually do this for fun?? and my first day on H8F

Friday night I experienced a side of Japan that I'd never seen before: Karaoke at night and the aftermath the following morning. I'm going to have to say I was mostly coerced into going into Fukuoka city Friday night for a night on the town with some hospital staff. We went to a bar in the Tenjin area and I had a great time. The story turns shady when at 1:30am I thought we were going to make the 45 minute drive back into Iizuka....and I was wrong. We moved our party to a karaoke joint to sing our hearts out (including the circle of life - essential) annnnnd we slept there. So I ended up with a nice and cozy spot on the floor of our small room. We also needed to be out at 6am because that's all the time we paid for. So after roughly 3 hours of sleep we walked our sore throats out of there. The best part of all this is that as we made the walk [of shame] back to our car, we weren't the only ones on the street. The city was cluttered with people in their yesterday clothes making the "my head is killing me" face at ungodly hours of the morning. Apparently, this is just a thing that people do in Japan....plain and simply because they're crazy. Obviously. There's no chance I could keep up with that here.

Note to self: do not ever....ever....sleep in a Karaoke room ever again. Or, if you do...bring an emergency sleepover kit.

Actually...maybe just don't do it.

Sunday I went our for sushi with Olga, a previous patient I'd met in the hospital. It was an interesting party made of her unbelievably cute daughter Maria, her 4 month old baby and her mom who is visiting from Russia to help care for the baby while Olga was in the hospital. Watching a blonde haired blue eyed Russian woman ordering sushi in Japanese, arguing with her mom in Russian, speaking both languages to Maria and working on English/Japanese with me was something I'm sure I won't experience again. What craziness. The sushi was UNREAL (how could it not be? Honestly.) and after we went to Aeon, a shopping center to take purikura pictures (my fav!). Maybe sometime in the next two months we'll head to the Fukuoka beach for a picnic :)

My first day in the general surgery ward was pretty crazy. I met the staff including Shinga san, the head nurse, as well as Mizota san and Igeta san, the nurse aids. I worked with Mizota san...and hoLY did this woman put seven extra helpings of "go get em" in her morning matcha or something? She works like the WIND [bullseye (toy story 2....I hope someone got that reference)] and I can barely keep up with her! It's been pretty busy. The highlight of the day, one of the patients there was moved from the High Care ward, where I was last week. She remembered me and gave me an entire mango (which, considering the price of fruit here that's a huge deal). I was the happiest, bless her.

After shodou and English class today I'm seriously exhausted. And after all of this travel commotion working hard to find and book myself a plane ticket from Fukuoka to Tokyo before heading back to Toronto (going home already?! noooo) has left me sitting at my desk at 12:26 am. Yikes. So much for the plan of getting a good nights rest tonight.

Bugger.

Coffee is the answer? Missing my Tim Hortons big times.

Celebrity Status, my last day on High Care 3rd floor.

The ladies I've been working with on the 3rd floor of the high care building have made me feel like an absolute celebrity. Every day when I come in they either mention how nice my hair looks, how cute my headbands are, how different and lovely my eyes are or how my "sta-i-ru ga ii naaaaa". Here, "stairu" is the Japenglish word for "style" and they use it to explain a body shape or figure. They also say "ii na" when expressing envy (I say it every DAY when handing out lunch trays to patients).
So many people that I meet talk about how different I look than Japanese people. "Your nose is big", "You're so tall!", "You have beautiful eyes", "Do you curl your eyelashes?", "You have gold hair", "You have the longest legs!", "You look sporty". Seriously, it's like people have never seen a Westerner before. I feel like a unicorn when I walk around the hospital as people triple check they've actually seen the tall blonde creature walking among them.
Another thing that made me feel like a celebrity is when they asked me for my autograph (seriously!), Kawakami san even bought a special display board for me to sign! This happened when I was helping them work through their English For All tests, a hospital wide program that encourages staff to speak English. As their teacher, I wrote my name on their page and then signed it to make it official. I didn't expect the "woahhhhh, KAKKOII", "COOL!" when they saw my signature or the requests to sign other sheets of paper so they could keep it. Their excitement is because their names are written in Kanji, Chinese characters, and they don't ever sign anything here in "signature" format. If anything needs to be "signed" they simply use a red stamp of their name (which, considering you can buy the stamps at 100 yen shops, I'm surprised forgery isn't HUGE here).
Anyways, this week has been filled with me feeling like a total celebrity. I'm thinking my self esteem is going to take a major punch in the face when I get back to Canada and I'm not so different. So, I think for now I'll enjoy the compliments, why not? :)

Yesterday was also my last day volunteering in the High Care building on 3rd floor. I feel like every time I'm writing a blog entry I say "So today was my last day on..." Time is going by ever so quickly. But I made some really excellent friends on this ward and I'm really happy to have met them and will certainly miss them. Although, I will be back on Monday because a nurse is going to make me lunch! How nice!
The picture on the left is myself with the nurse aids I've been working with for the past two weeks: Aoyagi san, Kawakami san and Takahashi san.

As for an update re the typhoon...it didn't even really happen. We had some rain and a bit of wind but I suppose we were lucky enough to have the storm skip right over us. Excellent! Although I did get an excellent view of the Onga River when it's water level was really high. The water had raised over the small bridges that connect branches of the river. Cray cray.

Japanese food picture of the day: Goboten udon, a Fukuoka specialty. I went to lunch with Kawakami san, her daughter and her daughters friend on Friday to enjoy this delicious meal. Unfortunately enough we went during our lunch break and had to eat like mad women. I've never been so happy to burn my tongue before in my life.

Also, from last weekend: a video of the sushi restaurant and the master chef preparing our lunch. 

Danger, Danger Will Robinson!

Dear Canadian citizen,

You are receiving this email because you are registered with the Government of Canada's Registration of Canadians Abroad Service. Please share the following important information with other Canadian citizens in your area.

As you may have already heard on the news, this season's fourth typhoon (LEEPI) is approaching Okinawa, Kyushu, Shikoku, and coastal region of Kansai, Tokai and Kanto and as such, we are expected to receive very heavy rainfall and strong winds in the next few days.

Please take precautionary measures by avoiding low-lying areas, shorelines of rivers and coastal regions until the storm passes. Also, please be certain to follow any safety instructions issued by your local municipalities, as well as updated news and local weather forecasts.

For additional information please refer to the Japan Meteorological Agency website: http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/.

As this typhoon may receive media coverage by international media outlets, you might consider contacting your family and friends back in Canada to assure them of your well-being.

Love,
Embassy of Canada, Tokyo, Japan.

My CrAzY Weekend!

Soooooo, turns out Matt hadn't had his fill of Fukuoka while in Japan on holiday. He found time to make it back on Friday! We stayed in a Japanese style inn called a ryokan where I felt like I was living in the Edo period (around the 1600s), it was lovely and we slept on traditional tatami mats as well. At dinner, we left the choice up to the restaurant to feed us whatever they thought we'd like. "Omakase onegaishimasu" is my favourite saying ever in Japan, it means "chef's choice" or basically "I'll leave it up to you." Excellent!!
Matt left Fukuoka by indulging in a Fukuoka specialty, Goboten udon! Delishhhh. Bye (again) Matt, thanks for visiting! :D You da besttttt.

Saturday I met with Tahira sensei in Fukuoka for SUSHI lunch at an extremely busy restaurant in the Tenjin area. It was unreal. The sushi was to DIE for and we sat front and center while the sushi chef was making food. He even put on a little show for me when I showed my [intense] interest in the sushi making process! Arigatou Gozaimasuuuu!!! Oishikatta desu yo!

*Video coming soon, it's great!*

After the amazing meal, we made our way to a movie theater to catch The Great Gatsby!


Check out the trailer here: pretty intense.

I'm not Tobey Maguire's biggest fan, but the sound track and the camera work in the movie was absolutely unbelievable. Leo also never fails to impress me (love you). Oh and it was in English with Japanese subtitles; I felt spoiled being the only Westerner in the joint.
Another interesting thing to mention is that Japanese people wait right until the absolute end of the credits before the lights come back on and you're clear to leave...just in case the person behind you is enjoying reading them or listening to the music. Adorable.

Today, June 16th, was the day of the Relay Marathon! It was held at Green Park in Kitakyushu city about an hours drive from Iizuka. It was SO busy. I wasn't expecting so many people! Even better, there were a lot of people that were dressed up, including a super mario and princess peach, spider man, and a famous Japanese character called Kumamon. Peeps are nuts, it was SO hot, their costumes must have been unbearable. Together, myself and 6 other hospital staff, including Ken, ran 42.195 km in just under 4 hours. I've never heard so many "GANBATTE!!!!"'s in my life. Love their encouraging spirit! Despite it being a scorcher outside, we finished the race! I have officially completed my first organized marathon, yay!

Ganbatte マリオ と ピーチ!

Last but definitely not least - a huge birthday shout out to my sister Michelle! Happy 20th birthday girl!  In Japan, turning 20 is huge, it's when you're considered an adult. They even have a festival once a year called Seijin no Hi to celebrate everyone turning 20 that year. Amazing! Enjoy it girl! Missing you from all the way in Japan! xo All de love.

I am le tired.

Just some things...

Here is a list of things:

1. Training for a relay marathon (that is now only 4 days away) at 7am in 30 degree weather with 97% humidity doesn't really make me happy. It makes me sweaty. This morning as I ran past a nearby school, a whole bunch of girls ran up to the fence and as I went by screamed "good morningggggggg!!!" while waving.

2. I sense a serious decline in the excitement of my morning meals as the second of two peanut butter jars comes to it's bitter end. We gather here today...

3. Iizuka is in for a rough ride this weekend apparently. Typhooooooooon. Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, we're in for a ride. I'm mostly excited.

4. In Japanese, the "ring finger" is called the "kusuri yubi"....the medicine finger. Apparently named because it is the finger used to apply medicines like lip balm. But what came first..the name of the finger or the medicine of which it applies? hmmmmm.....I've found my replacement question for "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"

5. Current run goal standing at 43/100 runs. This including a 4km run on Sunday. Comparing with my (REALLY) lazy and weak self only 2 months ago I'd say dat durr is pretty darn impressive!

6. My mother's convocation ceremony (that's right, she just finished her undergraduate degree at the age of.....29.) is today! She's amazing, you rock mom, so proud of you! I'll be watching it on live broadcast tonight at starting 12:30am Japan time (and she's a Shea, I'll be waiting forever through the alphabet!) because I'm the coolest daughter on the planet....also because she promised to wave to me. I can certainly sacrifice sleep for that.

7. My computer charger decided it wanted to call it quits - apparently it's had enough of working for me and wanted a job with a better benefits package. As luck would have it - Samantha's laptop cord works just fine and will serve as a temp until my ordered one arrives. Showed you old laptop charger. No more wiggling the cord until it fits just right for me, have that - one, nill!

8. This weekend I'm going to watch the Great Gatsby with Tahira sensei, one of the anesthesiologists I've met while observing surgery. Now do we go Japanese with English subtitles...or English with Japanese subtitles...? Either way I've decided we're doing this one first date style. P.s she's a woman and looked a little confused when I said "Okay it's a date. Dinner and a movie."

9. When my sister sent me a package from Canada (amaziiiingggg p.s everyone loves the maple tea!) it was accidentally sent to the wrong address! Lucky enough that the man who received it speaks English and was nice enough to walk it over and give it to me directly. It get's weirder...he works at the Iizuka hospital too! Turns out he's a doctor on the new ward I started just this Monday....I saw him at work less than a day after he dropped of my package that was sent to him instead of me...divine intervention? P.s a few patients have already insisted that I marry a Japanese doctor and that our mixed race child would be adorable.

9. Rice fields outside my house are beautiful. The sounds that the frogs gathered there make at night is certainly something worth listening to. It's like they're singing me to sleep and loving it.

First day on H3F and Tsukahara sans goodbye dinner

Welllll...long time no see!! Sorry, I've had the craziest of weeks EVER (do I say that every post? Maybe. Japanlifestyleeee). Anyways, wanted to tell you here that I've written two entries, so scroll down to see what I did before all of this stuff happened :)...

Monday June 10th marked my first day on a new ward, oncology and chemotherapy. At first, I thought I'd have to put away my dancing shoes for the next two weeks and throw on my serious face considering the ward. But I was mistaken. I've already had a great experience watching a picture slide show with music of a patients trip with his wife. This patient had previously had a laryngectomy and his voice box was removed, so he can't speak. Never the less he gestured like crazy and wrote things out for me, he was marvelous. He also calls the nurses by clapping, which I think is rather cute. I also had a chance to listen to him speaking Japanese with the use of an electrolarynx, pretty interesting. I've also had a few fun dance offs with a female patient, she's all about having a good time. :) The nurse aids, Aoyagi san, Kawakami san and Takahashi san are great! They speak really fast though! I don't even understand what on earth they're talking about! We just laugh it off and try gesturing some more. If it's still a no, I just follow them and they show me, or, we look it up in my mini dictionary.

I also forgot to mention! June 8th....3 months into my trip. 3 months in Japan. 3 months left in Japan. My trip is now working towards its conclusion. I can't believe it. Here's to making it last and making it even more unforgettable.

Monday night was also a night of goodbyes. Tsukaraha sensei, the doctor who runs the English classes that I help teach on Tuesday nights, is leaving Iizuka Hospital some time next week to go to work in Okinawa. We're really sad to see her leave. She is a brilliant pediatric physician, an excellent English teacher and always so much fun and filled with energy and since I've known her she's made such a positive impact on my life here in Japan. A couple members of the English class celebrated her going away party at a nearby restaurant for unreal sashimi (including the poisonous-if-not-prepared-properly-it-takes-10-years-of-training-to-work-with blowfish fugu, which I couldn't pass up), pizza, udon, rice dishes, chicken, omurice and killer deserts. We managed to all be there despite the running joke that Tsukahara sensei won't show up if I'm there (she was late, I was nervous she'd call and say "..is she there?....yes? I'm not coming!). We presented her with a card that we all signed, in English, and some gifts.

The group :) Tsukahara sensei in white at the head of the table.
Worth mentioning: the name of the man sitting to the left of me is Yu. I never get tired of "Hey Yu!" or "It's Yu!". He thinks it's funny....I think.

We will miss you Tsukahara sensei! 

Maybe I'll get to visit you in Okinawa before I leave Japan! ;)

What a roller coaster of a week!

The craziest of weeks! To save myself the hours of story telling and blog editing (I can't just be this witty without some serious thought processes and sentence reorganization) and you the hours of reading, I'm going to condense these past few days into a few fun and amazing points! But they must be shared because it's been the best past few days EVER!

Tuesday June 4th, one of my best friends Matt (call me Shoma kun) came to Iizuka to visit me! He was in Japan visiting family and manged to make it all the way to the little city of Iizuka for a few days. KILLER! Amazing how he showed up too - he didn't have internet for a few days so I couldn't contact him while he was in Japan, I just knew he was going to arrive that day. At 6:30pm I get a facebook message from him "I think I'm outside your apartment." And he was!!!! Turns out he got lost trying to find his way here, but a few wickedly nice local Japanese people decided to drive him right to my apartment door. Amazing, or amazing?!

So Matt joined me, Samantha, Ken and Takehiro's friends at Takehiro sensei's house to watch the Japan vs. Australia soccer game. It was an unbelievable time! Japan scored the tying goal via penalty kick (Ken runs around the room sporting the Japanese flag as a cape and then shares a bromance extra lunch hug with Takehiro) with only a few minutes to go, qualifying them for the world cup next summer. We had great food, excellent company and a really marvelous time. Takehiro sensei and his wife are an absolute delight and I would happily take their daughter Mae as my own child if they'd let me, she's unbelievable adorable! They are the sweetest family and we were lucky to be invited into their home.

Wednesday and Thursday for me were normal working days...while for Matt they were "spend all day walking the streets of Iizuka because I'm bored stiff" days. I felt bad, but he said he had a blasty blast. He managed to find the always un-locatable AEON shopping center too - amazing!

Thursday after work we were invited out to kuru kuru sushi (conveyor belt style sushi) with Ihara san, the head nurse from C3F, and other hospital staff to celebrate Nishida sans birthday!
Seriously you guys....I can't believe I've been in Nippon this long and haven't experienced the wonderful and blissful joy that is conveyor belt sushi. I had literally walked into heaven. I also ate...SO...much! AND Matt was there chatting up all the lady nurses in Japanese (first time I'd heard him use his Japanese, the oddest experience). This day was actually the best. In my parents words: WHAT a day to be alive!! If I could remember the location of this place I'd eat there all day every day. I'd skip work. I'd....I'd work there just so I could eat there. Absolutely amazing.

Matt and I also made a cake and card for Nishida san which she certainly enjoyed. :) The cake was delicious too (despite the hasty "OH MY..I bought butter instead of icing whatdowedoooo" freakout 15 minutes before leaving home)! We almost ate the entire cake! And that's after eating all that sushi! BONUS was that the ladies covered the bill for us! What a lovely bunch of women. I was sad to say goodbye to Ihara san because Thursday was my last day on the orthopedics ward. :( I'll be sure to see her around the hospital though, she's one beautiful lady! Plus I owe her a written copy of some English tongue twisters that she finds to enjoyable.


Friday I took the day off of work so Matt didn't have to spend another day wondering the streets sad and alone. He and I decided to go into Fukuoka to explore. We spent the day wandering the streets following our feet and not caring where we ended up. We went to the "Ramen stadium" for lunch, Canal city shopping, Tenjin shopping, Hakata station, Ohori park and more. We soaked up the sun and drank vending machine green tea. We also took some really excellent purikura pictures that I'll never forget! It was certainly an unreal day. We stayed in a hostel in Fukuoka overnight and Matt left for Niigata Saturday morning. :( I was really sad to see him go, but having him visit was such a wonderufl last minute surprise and I'm so grateful he had the opportunity to make it out here. Matt, you're the greatest!! In exchange, I'm working on getting my butt to Vancouver to visit him and Ian, my 2nd high school friend to leave me for the West Canadian Coast.

A view of Fukuoka city from the Castle ruins! From here would could see 360 degrees of city including the Fukuoka Tower and the Yahoo Dome where the Fukuoka Hawks baseball team plays.

Ohori park. Where ambitious walk-runners, children wearing inappropriate English text on T-shirts, dogs wearing clothing and turtles all come to meet.

Was that condensed enough?

Getsuyobyouki

If you've ever seen the movie "Office Space" with Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston you'll understand me when I say I've definitely got a case of the "Monday's".

I was the most tired at work today! I had to explain that it was "a case of the Monday's" to some of my Japanese friends. We came up with the closest translation in Japanese
: "Getsuyoubi byouki" "Monday illness". For added "flare" we smushed the two together to end with "Getsuyobyouki". Pretty cool right? I think it will catch on (but probably not - the Japanese are never tired).

So it's been a while since my last blog. I put the blame on my older sister Aran-Rose (sorry chicka!). Turns out she hasn't read my blogs recently because I write "too much and too often" (when will she see this one?). Well, yikes!! So I've decided to keep my story telling to a somewhat minimum and make my blog entries readable in under 97 minutes.

I will also take this opportunity to declare another realization: this blog is far too one-sided for my liking. I am happy to report on exciting news from all the way in Iizuka, but I'd also like to know what my readers are interested in! If you've enjoyed looking at [omnipresent] pictures of food but are dying to know how the landscape, weather, people, grocery stores, shrines, differences from Canadian life, hospitals, etc are...please shoot me a message! I've enabled comments so please, ask away and I'd be happy to blog about something you're interested in!

Weather status update: Tsuyu (lit. means plum rain), the rainy season has officially begun.
Run update: See above. Literally puts a damper on that one...39/100 with 13 days until the relay marathon.

Also a really exciting piece of information that's funny and totally worth sharing. The other day when I was observing ankle replacement surgery (rare, the head nurse has been there 4 years and this was the first case she'd seen), the anesthesiologist added my name to the operation information as the "assistant anesthesiologist"! He did that after I'd mentioned the patient's heart rate was a little low and he said "good advice" and gave her atropine to being her heart rate up. Amazing!
I'm glad to say that I have managed to retain information from my years at University, success!

And with that in mind....my amazing salad.