Trisha--Yeah, I wish I could have done that, but I think I could have said goodbye to my job. Or maybe not. It costs the town around $5000 to replace an ALT so maybe they would have docked my pay or something.

Angel Spun--I'm glad someone thinks it was sexual harassment. I thought it was, but given everyone's (the teachers, Nurse A-though perhaps she was actually offended and didn't show it) non-reaction to what was going on, I wondered if I was being melodramatic. Thanks for the suggestion about what to do. Some other guy tried to feed me later that month so I'm sure there's going to be another opportunity to use what you told me. I'm so sad that I had to write that. What is it with this country and sexual harassment?

La Diosa--That's what I thought as well. I knew about women getting groped on packed trains, but I wasn't prepared for such blatant perviness. I wondered about the tart thing too, except it was after I ate it. But for me it's not so much a germ thing (since I've been here I've had to try raw horse meat, raw whale meat, deep fried fish intestine, sea squirt mixed with raw egg, baby fish with the head still on, etc.) as a power issue.

I've been wondering about the picture taking and feeding issue and I think guys are under the impression they can get away with being perverts because it seems like inappropriate behavior is excused if you're drunk, and no one talks about what happens at parties so they don't have to worry about people bringing it up later on.

After the second instance when some guy tried to feed me, I asked a teacher I'm friends with if that's culturally acceptable here (that and the incident with Nurse A). She asked if he had been drinking and I said yes. She got a look that read "yeah, that explains it" and nodded, but didn't seem particularly disturbed at what had happened. She did say, though, that even here feeding near strangers is "dirty". I'm not sure if she meant dirty as in unsanitary or inappropriate. At any rate, at least I know it's not okay.

And it seems like sexual harassment in general isn't taken that seriously. I mean, Nurse A and the teacher sitting next to her laughed about the dad trying to take pictures of her cleavage. Perhaps Nurse A was hiding her true feelings, but outwardly it didn't seem like she had a problem with his behavior. And when the dad tried to feed me, the school councilor was standing between us, but she didn't try to stop him or say "what do you think you're doing?" It doesn't help that the school treats the parents with kid gloves so I don't think the guy would have been thrown out if I had complained (the school hosted the party). Gah, this country, I swear... But I must say this, not every guy I've met here is a pervert. Most are normal and not given to such inappropriate behavior.

And now for something completely different: I want to take ballet again when I move back home so I've been trying to improve my ankle and foot strength. It's only been a week or two, but I can already feel and see an improvement. Each day I write the alphabet from A-G several times with my feet and much to my surprise it actually works. I think if I keep this up and continue to do the NYCB ballet workout, I'll be in good shape when I finally get to resume ballet lessons. Maybe after a year or two I'll get to go on pointe again. woo!

I'm going to be gone for a few days. It's Golden Week and I'm going to Iwate and Akita prefectures. I'll be back next week. Have a good weekend!

Angel Spun--I didn't know you took ballet. Neat! How long did you do it? About the other issue, too true. From an incident at a PTA and teachers' party this past weekend that involved a parent pressuring a teacher to do something she didn't want to do, I noticed that both here and back home people tend to side step issues to avoid confrontation, myself included. I really need to learn how to put my foot down and just give a direct "no". Sorry to be so vague and abrupt when you wrote such a fabulous post, but I'm trying not to think about this too much at the moment. 

Trisha--lol! I wish I had your guts. I know I'd have the urge to do those things, but wouldn't because I'd feel guilty after. yeesh

Lisabelle--Thanks for the hug. Please don't feel sorry, it's not as if you were responsible. Eww, I'm so glad I've never seen any of my students reading hentai. I think I'd probably shout "OMGwhatdoyouthinkyou'rereading???!!!!" and then have an aneurysm. 

Citrine--Hullo! I'm not sure if we've "met," but nice to have you here! Yeah, no kidding. I kind of knew things would be different here, but actually experiencing those differences is something else entirely. I try not to judge some events from an American standpoint, but it's hard to do that in situations like this.

Sorry to have been away so long. I had just expected to be away for a few days during Golden Week, but it obviously ended up being a lot longer than that. I blame laziness and an addiction to YouTube.

Well, I have a fun trip. On the first day I went to Hirazumi to see their spring festival that honors Minamoto Yoshitsune and the Fujiwara clan. Yoshitsune's an extremely famous person in Japanese history and he had fled to Hiraizumi in Iwate prefecture to escape from his older brother who wanted to kill him. I had learned about Yoshitsune in my pre-modern Japanese history class and was able to see the parade that recreates his procession to Hirazumi. Amazingly, Hirazumi was the northern seat of power of the Fujiwara clan (the most powerful family in the Heian period, about 1000 years ago), but now it looks rather like my own sleepy little town. In fact, I was walking down one street and thought, "Man it's like I never even left N----- town."

On the second day I went to Geibikei gorge to go on its famous boat ride, but a lot of other people had the same idea and I didn't feel like waiting in line. I just took some pictures of the area, ate zunda (some sort of plant) soft ice cream, and bought more Hello Kitty cell phone charms that are exclusive to Iwate. Then I took the train to Morioka and checked into my hotel.

On the third and last day I went to Kakunodate in Akita prefecture. Kakunodate is an old samurai town and is one of the best places to see cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, the cherry blossoms bloomed early this year so by the time I got there, there weren't any in bloom. Still, it was a really nice place and I took a lot of pictures. And bought more Hello Kitty charms.  

I'll post pictures from my trip and write more about what I did in another post. Until then!

Hair--Don't have a rant or anything for this post. Just an update on my current regimen.
-CWC every 3-4 days
-shampoo: Shiseido's Tsubaki. It works well, but has SLS
-conditioners: Lush (not sure what the American equivalent is, but the Japanese version translates to something like "South Island Coconut") and Ichikami. The Lush condish is REALLY thin compared to what I'm used to. I don't think I'll buy another bottle when this one is gone. The Ichikami works very well, but I'm concerned about all the cones in it.
-leave in: my own batch of shea and cocoa butter whipped with camellia and rosehip seed oil.
-deep conditioning: none because I'm too lazy to do it.

Health and Fitness--Couldn't exercise as much as I would have liked this week because I had a fever last Sunday and am currently fighting off a sinus infection. The sinus infection is nearly gone so yay. I hope tomorrow I can get back to doing my full core and upper arm routine.

It's kind of frustrating being in this country because so many of the women are so friggin' skinny. I try to exercise 5 days a week and I think I look good the way I am, but when I look at the other women--argh. I don't feel like I'm fat, but I definitely feel large-ish compared to other women my age. Intellectually, I know I'd rather be muscular and fit (which I'm trying for) than just skinny with no muscle tone. But when I go out, a stupid part of my brain shouts, "Good grief, look at that girl! Does she eat? Does she exercise 10 hours a day? Her waist is so tiny!...Why can't I look like that?" I'm repulsed/annoyed at how extremely thin women are in Japan, but at the same time I'm envious that they are so tiny. I don't know. I'm just rambling now.

On the positive side, after months of almost daily stretching, I can do this:

Not me (obviously), but you get the idea. I could never do this before, even when I had four ballet classes a week, so I'm extremely pleased at how flexible I've become. Still can't to the splits, though.