Oh my god.

I hope that no one is expecting a super exciting blog because of the title I chose.

My junior high students occasionally use the phrase "oh my god" which is sometimes weird to hear, but I much prefer it to the random swear words they like to use.

However, now my elementary students have started throwing it around. In particular, I was teaching a class, and then all of a sudden a tiny grade 1 student exclaims "oh my god!" This kid can't even understand English conversation, and she uses the phrase "oh my god" perfectly. It's weird to see...

Welcome to Japan.

My return to Japan wasn't as smooth as I would have hoped. Customs was fine, but I kept filling in the wrong forms, which didn't impress the customs guy. I also barely made my connecting flight in Tokyo, because I had to change airports, and got to my gate as they were doing final boarding. I finally got to Sapporo at 10pm, and then had to drag my 2, 50 pound suitcases, to my hotel in Chitose. The next morning, I went and checked out at decided that even though it was only 3 blocks to the station, I didn't want to drag my bags there, so I asked for a cab. The hotel clerk helped me out to the cab, and the the cab driver asked where I was going. I said the station. Which obviously didn't make the cab driver very happy, I guess they assumed I should just drag my two giant suitcases through snow and uneven ground by myself. Then hotel clerk apologized to the cab driver profusely, on my behalf, reminding me of how over apologetic they are in Japan, and that I was most definately not in Canada anymore. It's funny, Canadians are known for being overly polite and apologetic, but it is nothing compared to Japan. I get out of the cab at the station, apologize a few times, and then all of a sudden, a clerk from the hotel, out of breath, runs up to me holding a key. He thought it was mine, and ran the three blocks to the station. Can you believe that? I don't think that would happen back home. Unfortunately for him, it was not mine, and you could just see his face fall when I told him. Poor guy...

I was riding the train back to Nayoro, and my supervisor told me that her and two men from my office were going to pick me up from the station and take me to my house to check my water. When it comes to things like this, I really don't have a choice. So they took me to my house, where I found out that one of the guys from my office had shoveled all of the snow from in front of my house, and off my car. Which was a LOT.

My house was below zero inside. My plant died completely, and my brita filter, which I had left water in, was frozen solid. I found this out when I wanted a glass of water, and pulled this out of my fridge.

Isn't my poor plant the saddest thing you have ever seen? I obviously should have given it to a friend... Ooops...

Well, the fun didn't stop there. My pipes had frozen, a couple of them burst, and sprayed water all over my house. My BOE had to call in some guys to help me out. At the moment I am without warm water, and I only have running water in my toilet. Hopefully it will all be fixed today, but you never know.

As annoying and difficult as this all was, it would have been 10 times as difficult and annoying without my BOE. I honestly can't express how lucky I am to have the BOE that I have. They are the kindest, most helpful people, and I am grateful to be working with them.

YVR

Well, I am heading back to Japan after a 1o day visit to Canada. I am sitting in Vancouver airport at the moment, not looking forward to my 9 hour flight to Tokyo. Unfortunately, Air Canada would not let me check in to this flight in Calgary, and I had to wait until I got to Vancouver to get my boarding pass. This resulted in no more window or aisle seats left on the plane, and therefore I am bracing for a cramped and uncomfortable flight. yay.

Being back home was wonderful, and seeing my family and friends again is something I definately needed. It was great being able to understand everything and be in a comfortable environment. I take for granted so many great things about my country, things which may seem really trivial to others, but I really miss. Things such as being able to walk and eat/drink at the same time. Or being able to read labels on products. Or completely understand what store clerks are saying to me. *sigh. I love Canada.

Switching back to driving on the right side of the road was a bit weird, and resulted in me occaisonally driving on the wrong side of the road, just ask my sister. Probably scared the crap out of her a few times... Lucky for me this only happened when there were no other cars around. Now I have to go and switch back again once I get to Japan. Hopefully that goes well...