Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Information
Blogger is in Japanese right now and it took me forever to figure out how to get this far!
just wanted to give people an update who didn't know what was going on.
My grandmother had knee surgery last week. From the messages I have been getting she is doing well, but needs a lot of physical therapy.
The other news is that Julie had to make the decision to put Ted (Ted E Bear- the family dog that we've had since junior high and she was incredibly attached to) down. He had some better days in his life, like when he was attacked by a raccoon. We loved him and he was a great dog.
Please just keep those people (mostly my whole family) in your thoughts and prayers. I want to tell me grandma to get better and Julie that I understand how shes feeling and I am very sad too. He was a great loyal dog.
just wanted to give people an update who didn't know what was going on.
My grandmother had knee surgery last week. From the messages I have been getting she is doing well, but needs a lot of physical therapy.
The other news is that Julie had to make the decision to put Ted (Ted E Bear- the family dog that we've had since junior high and she was incredibly attached to) down. He had some better days in his life, like when he was attacked by a raccoon. We loved him and he was a great dog.
Please just keep those people (mostly my whole family) in your thoughts and prayers. I want to tell me grandma to get better and Julie that I understand how shes feeling and I am very sad too. He was a great loyal dog.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Finally saw it
I forgot to say that last week (Saturday-when I went to get Danny) I saw my first Japanese snow. I've been dying waiting for a real winter and although it didn't stick, I was still happy to see it. Of course if I was home I would be tired of seeing it by now!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
The difficult things
I have a lot of time to think as I am walking home from the train station, usually after a lesson. I don't like to think about the things I just did so I spend the 20 minutes or so letting my mind wander. Today I was thinking about why it is hard living in Japan. There many things that make it more difficult than moving to a new US city. The one I was thinking about today was standing out.
There are military bases in Spain, England, Germany, Italy and so on. The people that live there are mostly caucasian. Americans may look or act a little different, but no one may know for sure until they speak. For those living in Korea, Japan, or other majority non-caucasian countries it is a little different. You try your hardest to go about life as normal as possible, but you know you stand out like a giraffe in Antarctica! People know (or asume) that you don't speak the native language and stare at you like you are the wierdest thing they have ever seen. Some people don't like you and some people are just curious. Don't get me wrong, they are nice about it, but you know you look like a big idiot just trying to fit in. Even buying lunch is hard. Especially when you can't read the language. But that is a whole other topic!!
My point is, the next time you think life is hard, imagine being a very obvious foreigner struggling to do normal, everyday things. That should make you feel better!
There are military bases in Spain, England, Germany, Italy and so on. The people that live there are mostly caucasian. Americans may look or act a little different, but no one may know for sure until they speak. For those living in Korea, Japan, or other majority non-caucasian countries it is a little different. You try your hardest to go about life as normal as possible, but you know you stand out like a giraffe in Antarctica! People know (or asume) that you don't speak the native language and stare at you like you are the wierdest thing they have ever seen. Some people don't like you and some people are just curious. Don't get me wrong, they are nice about it, but you know you look like a big idiot just trying to fit in. Even buying lunch is hard. Especially when you can't read the language. But that is a whole other topic!!
My point is, the next time you think life is hard, imagine being a very obvious foreigner struggling to do normal, everyday things. That should make you feel better!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Hardly made it to Jan. 17th
Things never work out quite the way you want them to. I had a decent day yesterday. Danny made it home kind of late and was so tired that he had to go to bed early. We don't usually go to bed until 9, but last night I think he was asleep before then.
My phone rang at about 10 o'clock. It was my boss for English teaching. He just wanted to tell me that my last student wanted to continue regular lessons in about two weeks. So, I was happy about that but mad he called me at 10 pm. When my phone rang, Danny sat straight up in bed. I told him it was just my boss and he laid back down. I don't even think he woke up to begin with. He is pretty scary and disoriented when he is startled while sleeping!
Anyway, we both were asleep and this time Danny's phone rang at about 11:45. Neither of us realized it was his phone ringing. I assumed it was his alarm for 430 until I heard a man's voice. Danny realized it was someone on his ship. There was a recall (everyone had to come back to the ship). I'll explain more later about why this really sucks. So, we got up and dressed and had to drive to Yokosuka at midnight last night. I drank a bunch of coffee and couldn't get back to sleep until about 330. I ignored my alarm when it went off at 830 and finally woke up at 930. I have a lesson today and my back is increadibly stiff.
Well, on the "bright" side I went to the Elementary school yesterday. Mr. Fisher (the principal) told me he wanted me to work as the school nurse while she was on maternity leave (about 6 weeks). Holy crap. I'm not qualified, but I'm doing it anyway. I can handle the little injuries so I think I will be okay. I am pretty scared and nervous, but I will get a few days of paid training before I start. I will work full 6 hour days from the beginning of February until the middle of March.
Wish I had more to tell about Danny, but most of what I want to tell I can't. He is working as Communication Officer now though I think he is technically still in the transition stage between his old job and his new one. His new job is pretty tough, but I think he will enjoy it. It is hard to say while they are in port. I'll try to see what kind of information I can pry out of him and try to share it with you.
Heres to another Wednesday...
My phone rang at about 10 o'clock. It was my boss for English teaching. He just wanted to tell me that my last student wanted to continue regular lessons in about two weeks. So, I was happy about that but mad he called me at 10 pm. When my phone rang, Danny sat straight up in bed. I told him it was just my boss and he laid back down. I don't even think he woke up to begin with. He is pretty scary and disoriented when he is startled while sleeping!
Anyway, we both were asleep and this time Danny's phone rang at about 11:45. Neither of us realized it was his phone ringing. I assumed it was his alarm for 430 until I heard a man's voice. Danny realized it was someone on his ship. There was a recall (everyone had to come back to the ship). I'll explain more later about why this really sucks. So, we got up and dressed and had to drive to Yokosuka at midnight last night. I drank a bunch of coffee and couldn't get back to sleep until about 330. I ignored my alarm when it went off at 830 and finally woke up at 930. I have a lesson today and my back is increadibly stiff.
Well, on the "bright" side I went to the Elementary school yesterday. Mr. Fisher (the principal) told me he wanted me to work as the school nurse while she was on maternity leave (about 6 weeks). Holy crap. I'm not qualified, but I'm doing it anyway. I can handle the little injuries so I think I will be okay. I am pretty scared and nervous, but I will get a few days of paid training before I start. I will work full 6 hour days from the beginning of February until the middle of March.
Wish I had more to tell about Danny, but most of what I want to tell I can't. He is working as Communication Officer now though I think he is technically still in the transition stage between his old job and his new one. His new job is pretty tough, but I think he will enjoy it. It is hard to say while they are in port. I'll try to see what kind of information I can pry out of him and try to share it with you.
Heres to another Wednesday...
Saturday, January 13, 2007
There is no way to describe this one!
So, this is my life:
I officially start regular lessons for English starting next wednesday. I have two regular students so far, and hopefully a third one soon. I had a trial lesson with her today and although we didn't get to really "lesson stuff", we did get to know each other and I found out where she wants to improve. She is a very nice woman. The regular one I start on wednesday really surprises me. After the trial lesson, she was not sure if she wanted to continue. She was looking for an experianced teacher, but I was honest and told her she was my first student. She wants to go to nursing school in the states, so I hope I can prove to her that I am a good teacher by researching good schools for her.
This is where things get exciting though. For the last month or so, I have been getting civilian LES (leave and earning statements- you understand this if you've worked for the department of defense) in the mail. At first I thought it was for the family SGLI (servicemembers' group life insurance) Danny has for me. Then I thought maybe DODDS (Department of Defense Dependents Schools- sorry for all the "military talk") made a mistake and put me in the system as employed even though I wasn't. THEN, I checked the mail today. In there was a letter from Byrd Elementary. It said this:
"Dear Lori Kohlbeck:
Congratulations! You have been appointed to a subsitute position within DODDS Yokosuka, Japan effective Dec 11, 2006."
How nice of them to tell me this a month later!! It is a good thing they didn't try to call me because, for the last four weeks I had no idea I was employed. Its all news to me!
Dumb government.
Anyway, I am not sure how I feel about it, but I am going to accept. Since school is closed monday for holiday (and Danny FINALLY gets to spend two consecutive days at home) I'll have to wait until tuesday.
This is all weird cause I never even had to do an interview.
Well, tell me what you all are thinking...
I officially start regular lessons for English starting next wednesday. I have two regular students so far, and hopefully a third one soon. I had a trial lesson with her today and although we didn't get to really "lesson stuff", we did get to know each other and I found out where she wants to improve. She is a very nice woman. The regular one I start on wednesday really surprises me. After the trial lesson, she was not sure if she wanted to continue. She was looking for an experianced teacher, but I was honest and told her she was my first student. She wants to go to nursing school in the states, so I hope I can prove to her that I am a good teacher by researching good schools for her.
This is where things get exciting though. For the last month or so, I have been getting civilian LES (leave and earning statements- you understand this if you've worked for the department of defense) in the mail. At first I thought it was for the family SGLI (servicemembers' group life insurance) Danny has for me. Then I thought maybe DODDS (Department of Defense Dependents Schools- sorry for all the "military talk") made a mistake and put me in the system as employed even though I wasn't. THEN, I checked the mail today. In there was a letter from Byrd Elementary. It said this:
"Dear Lori Kohlbeck:
Congratulations! You have been appointed to a subsitute position within DODDS Yokosuka, Japan effective Dec 11, 2006."
How nice of them to tell me this a month later!! It is a good thing they didn't try to call me because, for the last four weeks I had no idea I was employed. Its all news to me!
Dumb government.
Anyway, I am not sure how I feel about it, but I am going to accept. Since school is closed monday for holiday (and Danny FINALLY gets to spend two consecutive days at home) I'll have to wait until tuesday.
This is all weird cause I never even had to do an interview.
Well, tell me what you all are thinking...
Who doesn't love pictures?
I didn't take many while Ryen was here, but here they are anyway!
PS. A lot I took didn't come out because they were taken at night.
PS. A lot I took didn't come out because they were taken at night.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Yuck, wednesday
Blah. Its the middle of the week. Nothing going on. Danny has duty again, so here I am; alone.
Since there is nothing happening here now to write about, I thought I'd tell everyone about the last two weeks esp. when Ryen was here.
She came in on the 28th I believe. I told her I would meet her at baggage claim before I realized that it was before customs. I think she sat in there for a while before she realized that I couldn't get in there! :)
The train ride home was long and in the dark, so she couldn't see a whole lot, but things here can be bright and flashy at night so there were lots of signs for Pachinko parlors and whatnot. Anyway, it is quite different from the states. The next day we walked to the park near the house. It was a really clear day and the view of Mt. Fuji was great.
Well, I can't remember what we did minute-by-minute, day-by-day, but I tried to find lots of things for us to do. Danny had very few days off while she was here so we tried to do things he hadn't done before while he was available. We went to the Landmark at night, which was a beautiful view and tried to see the big Buddah in Kamakura, but didn't find it. We did visit a shrine though. I don't know if my pictures came out.
The rest of the time we went to Chinatown, a racetrack in Kawasaki, down to Yokosuka (Danny gave Ryen a tour of the ship), lunch in Yokohama, Tokyo- both the Akihabara (Electronics town) and Shibuya (the cool/hip part of Tokyo), and lots of other little places here and there. She got to ride the train a lot and even started learning the train route.
All in all, we had a great time. It was nice to get out of the house and see a few things I hadn't seen before. Of course it was sad to go back to my normal life, but its okay. I have Danny around a bit for now and even more so starting next week so I am pretty excited.
Well, that is my life...
Since there is nothing happening here now to write about, I thought I'd tell everyone about the last two weeks esp. when Ryen was here.
She came in on the 28th I believe. I told her I would meet her at baggage claim before I realized that it was before customs. I think she sat in there for a while before she realized that I couldn't get in there! :)
The train ride home was long and in the dark, so she couldn't see a whole lot, but things here can be bright and flashy at night so there were lots of signs for Pachinko parlors and whatnot. Anyway, it is quite different from the states. The next day we walked to the park near the house. It was a really clear day and the view of Mt. Fuji was great.
Well, I can't remember what we did minute-by-minute, day-by-day, but I tried to find lots of things for us to do. Danny had very few days off while she was here so we tried to do things he hadn't done before while he was available. We went to the Landmark at night, which was a beautiful view and tried to see the big Buddah in Kamakura, but didn't find it. We did visit a shrine though. I don't know if my pictures came out.
The rest of the time we went to Chinatown, a racetrack in Kawasaki, down to Yokosuka (Danny gave Ryen a tour of the ship), lunch in Yokohama, Tokyo- both the Akihabara (Electronics town) and Shibuya (the cool/hip part of Tokyo), and lots of other little places here and there. She got to ride the train a lot and even started learning the train route.
All in all, we had a great time. It was nice to get out of the house and see a few things I hadn't seen before. Of course it was sad to go back to my normal life, but its okay. I have Danny around a bit for now and even more so starting next week so I am pretty excited.
Well, that is my life...
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Help me please
I can't talk to a vet about this because he is backed up and can't figure out what Mocha's problem is.
She is 6 months old and hasn't been fixed yet. Since she started adjusting to our house, she has been a vocal cat. She meows if I look at her, call her name, or if I am in the kitchen. At night it is the worst. The last few days have been especially bad. She roams around the house at about two in the morning and howls like someone is killing her. It is very load and very obnoxious. She also likes to stand right outside our door and whine.
I let her in the bedroom when I am in there, but the door is closed throughout the day and during the night. I do not let her in the bed because of Danny's allergies.
We've considered getting a second cat so she would have a companion. PAWS is full too and I would love to help out, but we can't bring two cats back to the states when we travel and we couldn't have a dog as long as we were living in military housing.
Does anyone know a lot about cats? I have done research, but I just can't understand what she does and I REALLY want it to stop.
She is 6 months old and hasn't been fixed yet. Since she started adjusting to our house, she has been a vocal cat. She meows if I look at her, call her name, or if I am in the kitchen. At night it is the worst. The last few days have been especially bad. She roams around the house at about two in the morning and howls like someone is killing her. It is very load and very obnoxious. She also likes to stand right outside our door and whine.
I let her in the bedroom when I am in there, but the door is closed throughout the day and during the night. I do not let her in the bed because of Danny's allergies.
We've considered getting a second cat so she would have a companion. PAWS is full too and I would love to help out, but we can't bring two cats back to the states when we travel and we couldn't have a dog as long as we were living in military housing.
Does anyone know a lot about cats? I have done research, but I just can't understand what she does and I REALLY want it to stop.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Hey everyone
No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Ryen has been here the last week, so I have been showing here around Japan and haven't spent as much time sitting at the computer. Danny is still in three section duty, so I will be home a lot and will have time to update you on everything that has been happening.
Sorry if you have been writing you email and I haven't written back. I will be better about it now, so please write to me. I don't feel like sitting at the computer tonight, so I'll update everyone later.
Sorry if you have been writing you email and I haven't written back. I will be better about it now, so please write to me. I don't feel like sitting at the computer tonight, so I'll update everyone later.
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