Things I've done since the last time I was home

Most of the time, I take for granted the lifestyle that the job here allows me to live. As I look back on the fact that its been a full year since I've been to America. I thought it would be interesting to see the places and events that God has allowed me to see.

• I went skiing with high schoolers at Mt. Zao

March

• I completed my first full year as a teacher at MeySen even though I wasn't sure about coming back after the earthquake.
• Visited Malaysia and Singapore, where I walked across the Langkawai Sky Bridge, went up the Petronas Towers, and visited the southernmost point in  continental Asia.

May

• Climbed Tokyo Tower, then visited South Korea (for a 4 day weekend).
• After always saying we would go to the Philippines together, I went to one of my best childhood friend's wedding in the Philippines.

June/July

• Went camping near Fukushima (yes that Fukushima) where I went canoeing and park golfing. 
• Surfed for the first time and fell in love. I can't wait to try it again next year!
• My brother and his wife moved here to teach at MeySen!
• 
  

August

• Went to Europe for the first time. I got to be a part of the Olympic atmosphere.  I watched the Summer Olympics live during the marathon and race/walk. I visited Dublin, Ireland and got to drink Guinness straight from the factory. I saw Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower. I stayed with a great family out in the French countryside and felt like I was home. 

September/October

• Went back to Misawa, where we stayed right after the Earthquake, to watch an Airshow. 
• climbed Yamadera, the mountain temple
• Experienced Disney magic in Japan at Tokyo Disney
• Ran a 5k in Matsushima

November/December

• Dressed up like Santa and passed out candy canes to random people at the Ichibancho (shopping district). 

I know I'm forgetting a lot of awesome things that have happened. I get lost in it all and don't take enough time to think about  all the really cool things that God has allowed me to experience through this job and life here in Japan. 

So in less than a week, I will come back to America, older, skinnier, balder, grayer, wiser(?). Its been interesting to look back at where life has taken me since my last visit home.

3rd Time's the Charm: Outsourced Again!

Though I have yet to officially sign the contract, I have made the decision to stay here a 3rd year. Even in college, I would have never expected that I'd ever move to Japan let alone be contemplating a 3rd year here. To be perfectly honest, deciding to stay for a second year was a lot easier than deciding to stay for a 3rd year. I can see myself falling into being here for 30 years doing the same thing mindlessly, which scares me. On the other hand, I've seen a lot of change within me over the almost 2 years I have been here.

The experience here in Japan has forced me to learn a lot about myself. What I like and don't like. Sometimes its good sometimes its bad. Its kind of like trying sushi for the first time. You eat a couple and its like an eye opening explosion of wonderfulness. Then you try that Sea Urchin that just sits in your stomach for a while and you just want it to pass through.

Ultimately, I feel like I've grown a lot in the time I've been here. I don't think I am the same person that I was when I came here. My passions and outlook on many things have changed. Most importantly, my relationship with God has grown. I've basically went from "christian" to Christian. Someday I'd like to be CHRISTIAN but that's still a work in progress. I feel fully confident that God put me in Japan for a reason. It wasn't just to try the sushi either.

There were so many coincidences that led to me even getting this job. Its amazing how little I actually knew about MeySen before going all-in for the job. Then within weeks of being here one of the biggest earthquakes hit right by me and a nuclear meltdown happened two hours away. Many will take that as a sign that its time to get out. When I went back to America, I don't know of a single person there that thought it was a good idea to go back. People were even trying to line up jobs for me. But God had other plans for me, I felt compelled to go back.

Coming back, I was just looking to finish my job and move on. Things went back to normal a lot quicker than expected. Last summer was one of those moments where I had to reflect on it. I was sitting on the ocean at 5AM watching the sunrise. It all kind of hit me, I was sitting in the water that caused so much damage and destruction yet here it was so peaceful. It also made me reflect on my decisions. What if I never came back?  Would I have learned how to surf? Would I understand the beauty of seeing the sunrise on the Pacific Ocean or the countless memorable experiences? Many people will think to themselves, well if you never knew you wouldn't care that you missed it.

In choosing to stay here another year, I've realized that's just not how I want to live my life. For me, life is meant to be a verb not a noun. Its something you gotta do. I still have that hunger to explore the world and see all God has to offer. When it comes down to it, I want to say I lived instead of I was alive. Honestly, I don't know when or if I will want to just "settle down". When the time comes, hopefully it will feel right. Its just not in God's plans today. I barely know what I'm doing for next week so I don't have any plans for the next step in my life. BUT I'm very excited in the unknown.

So Kompai (cheers!) to the interactions and adventures of the next year! The hardest part about making this choice is that I miss all of my family and friends back home. It never gets easier but we all have our own lives to live. Just know I still care about all of you and can't wait to see as many people as I can December 23-January 7th!

5K and Tokyo Disney

First of all, for my avid readers (Read: mom and dad) I apologize for not really blogging much lately. I think of random things I want to talk about but then get too lazy. Well last weekend we had two extra days off but it was super busy.

Sunday, I woke up at 6 AM to head down to Matsushima to run a 5K. To be honest, I trained about as much as the guy sitting on his couch with a box of donuts reading this right now.  I was a little nervous that I'd just fall down and get trampled by thousands of athletic Japanese grandmas. There were about 10 or so other teachers that came out to race as well so I had a good support group if those grandmas got the best of me.




When we got there, there were thousands of runners all over the place. Of those thousands, probably 50 were American. You'd think we'd clearly stick out until you saw how people were dressed. There were costumes ranging from Mario and Luigi to an Eggplant.

We finally got to our turn at the race with several hundred people on the starting line. As you start running, it becomes more of please don't trip me than how fast can I go. I ended up turning it into more of a game of Frogger, hopping in and out around people.

I finished in just over 27 minutes which I felt pretty good about. I was just hoping to be under 30 minutes. Once the race was over,  my legs felt like I was doing the "stanky leg" everywhere I walked (youtube it if you're brave). In the end, I was happy I raced and would do another in a heart beat.

DISNEY:

MeySen, where I work, has been doing lots of cool things for us foreign staff lately. Most recently, it was setting up a trip for us to go to Disney. So about 20 teachers and I headed to Tokyo on Monday afternoon. We then had the next day to spend at Disney.

Disney has always had this special grip on me since I was younger, just like most people. I never actually made it to Disney World in Florida until after I graduated college. Its still got that atmosphere that just makes you happy to spend $20 for a bucket of popcorn.

In Japan, Disney is broken down into Disney Land and Disney Sea. From what I hear, Disney Land is much like all the other Disney Lands but Disney Sea has better rides.  All my students were telling me Disney Sea is much better than Disney Land so I chose it. At first, it looked like everyone else was choosing Disney Land. I was kind of nervous I would be wandering the park by myself. Luckily, a few great friends decided to join me at Disney Sea.

We got there 20 Minutes before the park opened and there were thousands of people waiting outside already. It was pretty crazy for a random Tuesday. Once we got in, everyone is racing all over the place to try to get fast pass tickets to rides. We were planning on booking it to the new Toy Story ride, unfortunately so was everyone else. Within 5 minutes of the park opening, there was a 2 hour wait there. Instead, we decided to wait for the Indiana Jones ride.

The interesting thing about the park is though it feels like Disney, most of the rides are in Japanese. I can now say I've heard Indiana Jones speaking Japanese. However, the actual Disney Character actors are usually American who only speak in English. They also love when Americans come. You get the celebrity treatment because you can actually hold a conversation with them.

The sad part of the day was that it had to end at 4:30 because we needed to get back to Sendai that night. I only got to ride a few rides but would definitely go back!

Next Adventure...AMERICA FOR CHRISTMAS??!!

Summer Vacation: Paris

After 4 days in both London and Dublin, we hopped over to France for the last part of the vacation. Ever since Mrs. Schramski's French 1 and  2 class in high school, I've had this urge to go to France.  The funny thing is college hit and I decided to stop taking French, take Spanish until I realized it would take forever. Then I moved to Japan and am now learning Japanese. Moral of the story, I don't really remember French.

My first reaction getting out of the Airport was that, compared to Japan, Korea, Singapore, and now London the rails are more complicated and the trains are much older and dirtier looking.  Still with the rail pass, its the cheapest way to get around town. When we first got on the train, we were bombarded by a panhandling, accordion player. He gets off and all of a sudden a lady pops on exploiting her baby singing some French song. Honestly, she didn't even sound good but then went around trying to get a tip.  I'm starting to think what did I get myself into.

After leaving Dublin at 7 in the morning we get to our hostel at around noon. We stayed at the St. Christopher. The place was nice and the people were friendly but they tried to nickle and dime everything out of you. Of all the hostel's I stayed at, this was the first place that charged you to keep your bags until you could go in your room. It was 4 euros for a few hours. Also, you couldn't get wifi ( Travel tip: this is the only way you should use your iphone traveling abroad) anywhere but down in the lobby.

After waiting and wandering for a few hours to check in, we went to the Louvre to meet up with my families former exchange student from Finland. We had no way to actually get a hold of her so we figured we'd just wander around looking American until she found us.

The Louvre was pretty awesome. You could probably spend days in there alone and not see anything. Knowing we had only two days in Paris we headed straight for the Mona Lisa. She's much smaller in person.

From here we went on and walked to the Champs Elysee. This is where tons of really expensive shops are and street performers are. There was this huge guy who was doing all kinds dances from OutKast to  Bollywood. He was pretty entertaining.

*Tangent Time:
France was just plain hot and no I'm not talking about the French girls. It was near 100 degrees everyday I was there. On top of that, French don't seem to believe in AC. Our hostel had none and the trains were pretty stuffy. The Saturday we went to the Eiffel Tower was probably the hottest I've ever felt outside of playing basketball in  the Philippines.

Tangent Over

The Eiffel Tower was that moment where I just had to stand back and say "Wow I'm in Paris looking at the Eiffel Tower." When people think of France, this is the first thing they picture and there I was. Unfortunately, about a million other people were thinking the same thing so we didn't get to actually climb the tower.

That night, we went to see a movie which has turned into a thing for me on vacations. It started as a way to watch movies that Japan doesn't get until months later and generally waay more expensive. Now I've been to a movie theater in  Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, Ireland, and  Paris, France. It's interesting to see the random differences between places. For example, you salute the king before the movie in Thailand. In Malaysia, people talk through the whole movie. In Japan, they stay until the credits are over. In Paris, its pretty much the same as the U.S. except they've got a few more candy options and less English movies. We saw "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," its pretty interesting if you're into biographies (jk).

Sunday, we finally headed into the country. If you ever visit France and only see Paris you're missing out. The countryside is beautiful. My family happened to have an exchange student from France last year, so I thought it would be cool to spend a few days out there with her family. I was really looking forward to getting a feel for how French people really live. From the moment, we met them we were welcomed like family. It was a welcome relief from bouncing from hostel to hostel sharing rooms with 8-12 random strangers and constantly being conscious of your possessions.

The town they lived in, Ernee,  was this beautiful town you'd picture out in the French countryside. Stone walls and rustic buildings were everywhere. Sunday evening, we hung out with the whole family and grand parents. They were all great people. They did not speak much English (which I'm used to) but really tried to say a few random words. I attempted French at times with my thick American accent. We played a game that reminded me of Boccie ball, which my team won! ;) Then we had dinner.

One thing I've learned is that dinner is usually after 8 or 9 and lasts into the night. The food was delicous. The first course seems to always be bread, then the meal, then cheese, then dessert, then coffee. I made the mistake of putting cheese on my bread at the beginning. Apparently, you don't each cheese until after the meal.

On Monday, we went to Mont St. Michel which was pretty much a huge church/castle in the Middle of nowhere. I had never heard of it before but it was beautiful especially as you drive up to it. Its also very famous in Japan. As we toured the castle, there were tons of Japanese people there and directions were even in Japanese. Nowhere else during the entire vacation did I see that many Japanese people or signs. It was the last place I had expected to see so many. It was a clear reminder that my vacation was soon coming to a close.

We then went out to the beach out by Normandy on our way home. I had thought it was going to be my first  big vacation outside the US without going to the beach. Luckily, the streak is still alive. The beach and its surrounding town was very nice and kind of reminded me of Grand Haven back in Michigan.

That concluded our vacation. We headed out the next morning and plowed right through China without any problems this time and caught our flights all on time.

All in All a great European Vacation. Now the question is...WHERE NEXT?

Summer Vacation: London and Dublin 2012

For summer vacation, I went to Europe with a friend from work, Matt. We spent 4 days in London Dublin and Paris. This was my first time to Europe
...
 After an 8 hour flight delay in Shanghai, on top of a 7 hour layover and a 2 hour train ride from Paris to London. I finally made it. The first thing that was evident in London was the Olympic atmosphere. I don't think you could walk 2 inches without being aware of London 2012 or the Olympics. Secondly, people spoke ENGLISH!! I love it here in Japan but its a beautiful thing when you can understand what people say (albeit British English).

The train station when we got in.

We got there on a Friday evening but honestly were so exhausted by the time we made it to the hostel it we basically just ate pizza and went to bed. The hostel was pretty nice and above a bar like every other one in London. The people there were very friendly. Honestly, most places were price gouging for the Olympics so this one was pretty cheap. It was also in a great location in Greenwich. The most important thing you'll want for a hostel in London is its location by a train station. This one was less than a block away.

The town across the river

The tunnel under the river

Saturday morning, we were up and rollin by 8AM. Unfortunately nothing seems to open that early, so we walked around town. From our hostel, there was this cool tunnel that went under the Thames River to this historic section. All the old building were just amazing to see and a breath of fresh air from boring Japanese architecture (excluding temples and pagodas). Also, this section had a nice park that you could watch the Olympics from any time of the day. They also did all the equestrian events here.

Speaking of the Olympics, let me just go off on a tangent here. When I realized that my break coincided with the Olympics, I knew I had to try to get to London just to say I did it. I kinda figured it would be super crowded but how can I pass up the atmosphere? I had looked into getting tickets but most games were in packages. The cheapest I found was around $200 (were talking about 3rd round badminton losers bracket). Closing ceremony tickets were going for over $1000.

The Olympics actually turned out to be the best weekend to go to London in all honesty. There were volunteers at every train station that were very friendly and could help you find anything you needed. Public transportation is pretty easy anyway. Also, the Olympics were so spread through out the surrounding areas that it wasn't too crazy. There definitely a few trains that were super crowded at certain times but it wasn't as crazy as I thought it'd be.

Tangent over...

Buckingham palace, during the racewalk

Big Ben and Parliament

Saturday, we also met up with a friend that Matt had met in a hostel in Tokyo. Hostels are all about connections. The guy lived in London and worked for some opera company. He took the day off to show us around. It was really great to have a person that knew the lay of the land to show us around. We made it to Buckingham palace first, where we bumped into the 15k Race/walk.  The other interesting thing about the Olympics is that you just random find yourself at an event without trying. We couldn't really get close to the palace but it was cool seeing the countries all cheering on their competitors live.

After the palace, we bounced over to the Parliament building for a tour and then went to check out Westminster Abbey. Both places are pretty awesome. Westminster Abbey is where the big wedding took place. Its also where Churchill, Darwin, Newton and several other famous people were buried (outside of the royalty). It was also interesting hearing how they run things in England compared to America.

From here, we went to the Globe theater for Shakespeare. To be completely honest, I was pretty tired for this and couldn't even tell you what play it was. Some king did something and killed people, the end.

Sunday, we went and checked out Olympic stadium...from a distance. You couldnt get within 500 feet of the buildings without a ticket. There was a nice mall there though and had quite a few athletes just wandering around. I didn't see any Americans but there were tons of beautiful Spanish athletes signing autographs.  We also went to see the Tower of London (where the crown jewels are held). On the way, we got caught in the middle of the Marathon. Luckily, I didn't pull a Kramer (Seinfeld reference Fastforward to 5:12). We also went to check out this Rock experience museum and happened to stumble upon the basketball arena where USA was about to beat Spain for Gold at the Olympics. I almost thought Spain had won when I got there because they were all dancing around cheering right at the entrance to the arena.

For closing ceremony, we went to the park from the day before and watched it with about 10,000 British people. It was an atmosphere that you just had to soak in to believe. There was such a great sense of pride in the air because of the success of the Olympics.

Monday was our final day in London. We also had to change hostels. It turned out to be pretty inconvenient though it was right downtown. It was further from the train stations. Monday just happened to be the day of the Summer Opening of the State Rooms in Buckingham palace. Apparently, once a year they open the state rooms to the general public to check out. Naturally, we felt called to check it out. It was actually pretty interesting to check out.

Tuesday it was off to Dublin.

The beauty of the vacation is just when we kinda felt settled in a location we picked up and started a brand new one. I'd highly recommend it if you've got a short time in Europe and want to see many places.

Dublin was probably the most friendly and welcoming city. People seemed to be genuinely nice and enjoyed their Guinness and music. Our hostel was awesome. If you stay in Dublin, I highly reccommend   Barnacles. We had our own bathroom in a 8 bed room. They were also super friendly and cheap: $19 a night right in the heart of the Temple Bar district (basically where you should be).

Dublin was a bit more relaxing compared to London. We didn't have a ton we wanted to see. We just wanted to soak in the life and wander around. There are a lot of cool historic buildings set right in the middle of the town. Christchurch Cathedral was amazing and a definitely must see. We were also really close to both Trinity University and Dublin castle. We never had to take a cab anywhere.

We also checked out the Guinness factory and Old Jameson Distillery. Both were interesting if you like beer or whiskey. They also give out free samples with your tour which is great.

All in all, Dublin was a good laid back visit. I'd definitely go back again.

I took hundreds of photos. I know my blog doesn't do it justice but if we're facebook friends you can check them all out!!

Tanabata Videos

Tanabata is Sendai's most busy time of the year. Apparently, its like Romeo and Juliet if Romeo and Juliet were stars. People here generally dress in Yukata (tradition dress) have a huge party. It starts with fireworks that last about an hour and a half . Literally the longest fireworks of my life. Then, there are hundreds of oversized windsocks that people put out on the street. Its a pretty great time. Here are some pictures from walking around today.

The Zietlow's Take Over Japan

What do you think is the hardest part about teaching abroad? Is it cultural differences? the job itself?... the language barrier? I think many people that have spent time teaching in other countries would agree that the hardest part about working in another country is being away from family and friends. Of course, if you're lucky like me you develop your own work family while here but there's always something missing. Being here for over a year, its worn me down at times realizing that it will be months before I can make it back home. You start to miss those little things, like the smell of mom baking cookies, Little Caesars Pizza,  or that random bum on the corner giving you the finger just because.

...

A few months ago, I was talking with my brother Ryan about applying to work here at MeySen. Both he and his wife, Sarah, were looking to make a change. I thought they would be a great fit for the school but  I figured there would be no way on God's green earth that they would actually even apply let alone accept a position. They had a house, jobs, loans to pay, cars, and a 2 year old child. It doesn't exactly sound like a recipe for new adventure. They seemed to be on that path of Date-marriage-job-house-kid-retire. All of a sudden, its 30 years later. Basically, they were set on the path that 99.9% (gross exaggeration) of people  fall into, in the 1950s. Its the kind of life that frightened me, which is probably why I'm sitting on a computer in Japan right now. 

Anyway, I figured there was no chance that things would work out, that they would actually decide to come out here and join this adventure. Wellll God showed me a thing or two about making things work. Literally all the chips fell so perfectly for them to come here. Right after they applied, they got interviews set up. I knew that MeySen liked them but also knew that most hires are for the next year which is in February. Having Zachary, their son, it would be really difficult trying to make ends meet until they came in February. They needed to come in the summer for it to work out right. They also needed at least one full-time position (most summer hires start as subs) and to sell their house within a month.

Around the time they interviewed, MeySen just happened to need a kindergarten teacher to fill ASAP and could use a good sub to go into the fall. Ryan and Sarah were hired just like that! Because of all the paper work, they had just time to sell away their house, cars and most everything they needed. It all just fit right into place like they were supposed to be here. 

Leading up to them coming, people seemed to ask me everyday about them or when they were getting. To be completely honest, I was still kind of in disbelief that they would actually be coming here. I've been out here on my own little adventure for a year and a half. All of sudden, I had family coming to not only visit but work alongside me. It was something I'd maybe picture growing up but I don't think I ever pictured our lives intersecting in Japan. I couldn't wait for them to arrive, I had been thinking of a million things I wanted to show them and teach them from my year of experience. 

Zachary looking down from my loft.

Last week, they finally got here after a little flight trouble (it runs in the family). Saturday morning, I brought Ryan to show him my class and campus. I told my kids he was my grandpa and they didn't even second guess it. Most guessed his age around 50 to 60 :)! 

Zachary falling asleep at T-Rolls

For the rest of the weekend, I became their tour guide of Sendai, Japan. It was kind of a cool perspective for me. It wasn't so long ago that everything here was so foreign to me. We were running all over so much, that I was starting to feel their jet lag. Zachary got it the worst. He fell asleep at dinner time both Saturday and Sunday. He also would wake up around 3 in the morning. Not sure why they decided to put a 2 year old on the second floor of an apartment haha! 

"Wait for me Greg! I'm coming!"

Sarah has been jumping right into her job and seems to really like it. Ryan is playing house husband everyday because he technically doesn't start until September and somebody has got to watch Zachary. It will be interesting to see how they think of everything as they all get into the full swing of it. I know I love the job!


So what's it like having some of your family move to Japan? For me, tonight kind of sums it up. I get to go to work and then come home and stop by my brother's house for dinner and be with family. 







P.S. Be on the look out for a Japanese sitcom called "American Kazoku." Its about a loud family that moves to Japan and their brother lives across the street. They make many cultural faux pas and anger the neighbor living below them, hilarity ensues. 

Drunk parade leader dancing with us at the corner.

Camping in Fukushima

Last weekend, we took the high school students to camp at Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture. The first thing most people think about when they hear the word Fukushima is the nuclear disaster that devastated    Japan and sent panic across the ocean. What most people don't know is that Fukushima is a beautiful prefecture with a rich history and breathtaking landscapes (cue the Japanese pipe music). Last year, we were supposed to go to Bandai for 3rd grade summer camp but the widespread fear of anything Fukushima kept us away. Even today, most people are hesitant to buy fruit that was grown in the prefecture. Where we were was far out of the exclusion zone and had nuclear readings at or below normal levels.

Saturday after waving off the buses and cleaning our rooms, we jump right on a bus with 30 high school students for a 3 hour journey to Bandai. I had one of the biggest groups with 8 of my 11 8th grade boys coming. Our first activity was to go canoeing down the river. All went well until one of the students riding with me thought it would be smart to stand up while splashing the girls on the river. Luckily we didn't tip. There were several others that did.

at the hostel

From there, we went headed to our hostel up in the mountains. The view all weekend was amazing. We were right up among the clouds. The hostel itself was, much like any other in Japan, is about as inviting to look at as a prison cell. Saturday night was full of marshmallow roasting and basketball. I had one of my smallest student eat 11 hot dogs. I called him Kobayashi  for the rest of the weekend. 


Sunday, we woke up at 6 AM, did our morning stretches (cracks me up everytime) and headed to a nature hike and park golf. We hiked with our kids through the woods to this beautiful waterfall and at the end of the hike was our golf course.


Park golf is a pretty big deal in Japan. Its basically chipping with a smaller club shaped like a driver and a big ball that almost looks like it belongs on a pool table.  Its pretty tricky to get the right power to  make it in the whole. I ended up +5 for 9 holes and got beat by kobayashi, who claimed to be left handed only to dominate right handedly.

the ball and club

the course

All in all, it was a great weekend to bond with my students and see a little bit more of Japan. I'll be heading out again at the end of the month with my 3rd graders.