GW Part I: Riding School Exam and Art Flea Market

April 29, 2013

This week is Golden Week, so I had a nice three day weekend, and next weekend will be a four day weekend!

今週はGWなので３連休があって、来週も４連休になるよ!

---Riding School Exam---

This weekend was the riding school exam. We were supposed to have the exam several weeks ago actually, but there was a typhoon that day, so it was postponed until this past weekend. I woke up at 2:30 to make it to Chiba and be ready for a 5 a.m. start. This time I rode the A and B test on Holy North and Parco respectively. The riding exam is given sort of like the IHSA or IEA shows where your horse is drawn randomly. The test is judged as a hunter course, but it's set up with jumper elements like combinations and jumps of varied heights.

先週末は乗馬学校の進級入校試験だった。本当は数週間前にあるよていだったけど、ちょうどその日嵐が来て今週まで延長になった。５時スタートに千葉市に着いて準備ができるよう２時半に起きた。AとBの試験でホリーノースとパルコに乗った。試験はIHSAやIEAの試合みたいに馬は適当に選んだ。ハンターコースなんだけどコンビネーションやさまざまな高さがある障害のようなジャンパーコースみたいなところもあった。

The A test went pretty decently. I was a little short in the line between fences four and five because I sort of forgot that it was a five stride and not a four until about two strides in (waking up early does strange things to my head). Also my horse threw out a buck over the last fence—probably out of excitement since it was the last fence and also a big oxer—but we were still clear!

I was last to ride the A test and second to ride the B test so I had literally two minutes to take Holy North back to the cross ties and Parco out to the arena for the B test (*.*)

The B test was on Parco who I used to show, but at this point I hadn't ridden her in about six months. She's not a difficult ride, though, so I figured it would be okay. However, when one of the trainers was schooling her, she seemed really up, and she was over-jumping fence five. I realized later that the sun was still coming up so she probably couldn't see very well in that direction. But then she was refusing the last oxer! Eventually he got her over the fence a couple of times, and then she was fine.

For my ride, we had a really good pace and were getting really good distances. When we came into the diagonal line for fence four and five though, she jumped in, took a look at fence five and pretty much decided that there was no way she would be going over it. We circled back and made it over the second time with no problems, but I could tell she was really looking at both fences of the last line as well.

Needless to say, after having two entertaining rides in a row, I was a little worried about whether I would pass or not. Obviously B was out of the question with my refusal, so I was crossing my fingers that I had passed A despite the interesting last fence. At the end of the day though, I ran into one of the guys who was judging and he called me over to say that he really liked my riding! He said he was impressed that I didn't lose my position at all even though my horse bucked. I hope that means I passed!

Also, I have officially scheduled my first rated horse show in Japan! I'll be gone from May 16^th through the 19^th at Higashi Kanto Horse Park. I'm so excited!!

５月１６日から１９日までは私が日本での始めての試合に行く!どきどき、わくわくしている～

---Art Flea Market---

Melon shaved ice. yum!

On Monday morning, I went with a friend to the Art Flea Market in Chikura. There were all kinds of people selling their hand-crafted art and organic bakery right next to the beach at the roadside station, Shiokaze Oukoku.

月曜日の朝は友だちと千倉にあるアートフリーマーケットに行ってきた。いろんな人々が手芸品や自然料理を海の隣にある潮風王国の外で売っていた。

We met some really interesting people there including this nice old man who spoke really good English, his friend who used to be an Engineer for Nissan but who now makes metal crafts, a few foreigners doing carpentry, and a man who is in charge of running festivals in Tateyama.

面白い人々がいっぱいいた！

Dancing with the mask on

And now there's partial nudity, sake, and fire!

There were also performances given on the patio where they were selling yakisoba and kakigori (shaved ice). The most entertaining part was a man dressed as a kappa (a Japanese demon). At first he was wearing a noh mask while doing some dances, but then he stripped off his clothes, changing into a kappa, and then breathed fire! I tried to get some photos. Unfortunately I wasn't able to time them very well, but I did get an excellent shot of him chugging some sake.

やきそばやカキ氷を売っているパティオみたいなところで大道芸があった。最高に面白かったのは河童を化けている男の人だった。最初は能面を付けて踊っていたけど、すぐ服を脱いで河童になって、なんと火を噴いた！写真を撮ろうとした。残念ながら、タイミングがなかなか合わなかったけど、日本酒を豪快に飲むところはちゃんと撮れた。

Clinic with Olympian Atsushi Negishi, Oni Koroshi, and Osakana Club (restaurants)

April 26^th, 2013

---Atsushi Negishi Clinic---

On March 31^st, I had a clinic with London Olympian Atsushi Negishi who rides at a different branch of my club. Every time we have a clinic, we always have a meeting over breakfast, either before or after the clinic, where the clinician will discuss the main theme of the lesson, and we can ask questions. I found out that he keeps his horses in Saitama (just north of Tokyo, and where I had my Japanese teaching conference). I asked him if he wants to enter in the Olympics again, and he said, “It isn't a matter of if I want to or not. I'm getting old now and there are younger riders. Besides, everything is paid for by the company so the decision is really up to them.” On the one hand, I feel like it's really great that the club will pay for his competition fees, because then people with talent who don't have a lot of money can afford to compete at a high level. In the U.S. If you don't have the money to go to an A show then there's no way you can compete above 3'6” since higher classes are only at rated shows. So in comparison, I like that it affords opportunities to people who wouldn't have them otherwise. On the other hand, the fact that the company gets to choose who from their company is allowed to try out is really too bad. However I would assume that they are going to choose whomever is doing the best since they want to get their name out through employee's wins.

The clinic was alright. It was down-pouring ice cold rain the entire hour and a half so it was a little rough, and the arena got a bit flooded. I was told that I need to make sure to re-balance my horse's forehand after the jump sooner (bad hunter habits!). I still have a tendency to ride too freely which, if the horse gets too heavy on the forehand, can be dangerous for bigger jumps because they can't lift their forehand enough to clear the jump. I'm going to continue working on this from here on out as I finally (mostly) got rid of my ducking habit. Until I got rid of this habit, I never realized how much it really affects your riding. If you duck, you take longer to get back to your original position which means slower reaction time after the fence. In hunters you're going at a nice, relaxed pace so this doesn't matter so much (other than ruining your horses form) but in jumpers when you're flying around a course, if you don't stay in contact and control the whole time, you'll end up having a refusal or wasting time taking a wide turn, so it's really important to keep your two point and use an automatic release rather than ducking on your horse's neck.

---New Restaurants---

-Oni Koroshi-

mabodofu and soup

The other day I planned on going to get Italian with a friend, only to find that the restaurant was closed that day! We then decided to just wander the streets until we found something, and we stumbled upon an izakaya called Oni Koroshi (demon killer). I ordered mabodofu (spicy tofu) since I had never eaten it before, and my friend ordered nikudon (beef rice bowl). The izakaya also had several other offerings like ramen and yakisoba. More than anything I have to recommend this place because it's cheap as hell. Pretty much everything on the menu was only 500 yen and it came with soup on the side. The soup was excellent by the way. This was my first time eating mabodofu so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was pretty good. The flavor was a little plain for me, but it was still good. My friend said that his nikudon was really good. Also, the portion sizes were absolutely huge (aka normal American sized) I couldn't finish my whole dish, and the mama-san came over and offered me a to-go box!!! For those of you that don't know, that is pretty much unheard of in Japan. Generally you can't take anything home, and who would want to with Japan's small portion sizes anyway? I suppose since it was an izakaya it isn't so absurd though; but I've never been able to take anything home when I wasn't at an enkai before. The mama-san was so nice. She was like “it will be so troublesome for me if you don't finish it all!” She even came over to talk to us for a bit, expressing how grateful she was that we speak Japanese, because she had no idea what she was going to do otherwise :P

-Osakana Club-

Sazae Curry

A new branch of the Osakana Club (fish club) restaurant opened this past Wednesday in Tomiura, and I had the chance to take some photos, and later have lunch there. For lunch I ordered the sazae (mollusk) curry. It was my first time having sazae curry, so again, I have nothing to compare it to, but as far as curries go it was just alright in my opinion. The flavor wasn't anything special, but I have to say that the amount of sazae in the dish was quite generous. The restaurant mainly has set meals but it also has some individual items you can order. One lady I ate with ordered namero-don (namero is raw diced fish mixed with various seasonings) which is famous in Minamiboso, so if you want to try a local specialty then you can find it here for sure. The fish are pulled from the harbor just out back of the restaurant as well, so you know they're fresh.

One complaint I do have to make however, is in relation to the layout of the restaurant. The tables are so huge that you feel quite distanced from whoever is sitting across from you, and it's quite difficult to hear what they are saying. Everyone was joking that it would be a horrible place for a date :P

not related to anything but I ate some biwa premium soft serve again **drool**

Dermatologist in Japan

---Chemical Peel---

A couple of weeks ago I finally took the time to go to the dermatologist and get a chemical peel! The last time I had gotten one was during high school back in the U.S. so I had to find a dermatologist here in Japan. Using the Tokyo Embassy website to search for doctors in Chiba and Tokyo (There's a huge list of English speaking doctors across Japan so check it out if you're ever in need of one!), I came across a place in Roppongi's Midtown Center called Noage. Noage English Site They seemed pretty legit and had pricing similar to what I remember paying in the U.S. so I made an appointment there.

They said they have English speakers, so I decided to test this out, and made my appointment via e-mail in English. I was told that they only do glycolic acid peels, so I shouldn't expect a whole lot of visible peeling. When I got my peel done in the U.S., I had some sort of blended peel that was only offered by my dermatologist there, but it had me peeling for several days afterward, so I had to take off work at the time. Because of this, I was a bit concerned as to how my skin would react this time around, so I kept my weekend plans tentative.

Upon arrival to Midtown Clinic (which is connected to the Ritz-Carlton hotel btw :o ), I headed up to the sixth floor and down the back hall to Noage. I was a bit nervous because the place is very upscale, but the woman at the front desk greeted me with a smile. The office was super trendy and had a very relaxing atmosphere. It seemed more like a spa than a dermatologists office, honestly. It was, however, extremely hot in there! It was a bit windy out that day so I had worn a sweater, which I then regretted upon entering. The woman at the front desk had me fill out some paperwork after leading me to my room. The forms were written in both English and Japanese. I filled them out while sipping on some tea, and the doctor came for a consultation. Unfortunately, due to a benzoyl peroxide allergy I can't use topical medications (I'm not sure if they use salicylic acid in Japan?), so we discussed the chemical peel, and then headed straight into it. They removed my makeup for me but left my eye makeup on so I wouldn't have to redo it later. Next, I was taken to a different room so we could take the “before” photos. Then, we headed back to my room for the peel. The chemical application took about fifteen minutes, and afterward they applied a paper collagen mask for another fifteen minutes to keep my skin healthy and soft. The peel itself didn't burn nearly as much as I remember it having done in the U.S. (probably because that one was a lot stronger). This time it was more of a tingling and slight warming of my skin.

After everything was completed, I was taken to a vanity mirror to await my bill with another glass of tea. Many tester products were arranged by the mirror, and I was told to use the time to reapply my makeup if I should so choose. All together, between the consultation fee and the peel, my bill was around 20,000 yen (about 200 USD).

As for visible peeling, there was little to none. It was truly a lunch time peel. I didn't experience any redness afterward either. My skin was pretty bad so I'll have to go back for multiple treatments. I'll probably head back again in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime I've been doing an at-home glycolic peel by REN. The at-home kits aren't nearly as strong as what you'll get at the dermatologist's office, but they're a nice, cheap alternative to getting a full professional peel. Of course, the effects aren't as great as what you will get at the dermatologist's, but it's a nice in-between product. When using the REN peel however, I do keep it on for a lot longer than what the packaging says. You're supposed to leave it on for about 10-15 minutes, but I left it on for about a half hour the first time, and 45 minutes the second time.

Overall, I have to say that my experiences with chemical peels have been excellent. However, I don't recommend doing them at home the first time, because you don't know how your skin will react. Also any at-home kit shouldn't be more than 10% glycolic acid, because you can easily burn your skin. Anything above that and you need a professional. The results that I have seen from this peel here in Japan are a reduction in acne, reduction in pore size, smoothing of the skin's surface, and a slight lessening in scarring. I do wish that it had a greater affect on my scarring than it did, however.

I was given a bunch of product samples from the dermatologist before I left. Upon trying them out I highly recommend all of the muNoage products. The whitening serum stands out in particular. Made with vitamin C and pieces of 24 carat gold, not only did I see a dramatic reduction in scarring after only one use, but I feel like one of those crazy rich people that just swims in a giant pool of money for fun. It is a bit pricey, but you can purchase it cheaper from the doctor's office than you can from online, and with the results I saw, this product is totally worth it. There, of course, will not be pictures of my face on here because that's just embarrassing.

Traditional Music, March Salon, and Trip to Saitama

April 3, 2013

I failed at catching up on everything in the last post. So here is another attempt.

---Aspect Forum---

On March 5^th I attended the “Aspect Forum” in Makuhari at Josai International University to listen to presentations on the difference between lexical aspect in Japanese and English. The presentations were very interesting, but at a graduate research level, so also a bit dry for someone who isn't studying the topic in-depth themselves. Something I found really interesting was the use of the word “in” and “for.” I never considered this about English before, but in phrases like, “John ran in five minutes,” it's usage just doesn't quite make sense. However, if you pair this with a distance such as in, “John ran 500km in five minutes” then the pairing works. But if you use “for,” as in, “John ran for five minutes,” it only works without a distance. So if you were to say “John ran 500km for 5 minutes,” the meaning is completely lost.

３月５日は日本語と英語のアスペクトの違いについてのプレゼンを聞くために幕張の城西国際大学のアスペクトフォーラムに行ってきた。プレゼンは面白かったけど、大学院生の研究レベルだったので、アスペクトを専攻していない人には内容がちょっとつまらないかもしれない。特に面白かったのは英語の「in」と「for」の使い方。今までこの英語について考えなかったけど「John ran in five minutes.」という使い方はあんまり意味がない。が、距離と組み合わせて、「John ran 500km in five minutes」って言ったら意味は理解できる。逆に「for」を使って、「John ran for five minutes.」っていうのは距離なしのほうは意味がある。例えば、「John ran 500km for 5 minutes」っていったら、意味が完全になくなる。

 ---Traditional Music Concert---

That Friday I attended a presentation/concert for Japanese traditional music with instruments such as the koto, biwa, and shamisen. The music was beautiful (if you're into that whole Heian period thing... (I am)), and we even got to see a traditional dance performed to the music as well, on top of getting to try out some of the instruments ourselves. One of the instruments I got to try was like a large cylindrical harmonica with a bunch of tubes coming out the top called the "sho."

金曜日は日本の雅楽（琴、琵琶、三味線等）のプレゼン・コンサートを見に行った。音楽はすごくきれいだった（平安時代のものが好きのなら。。。（ところで、大好き））。そこで音楽に併せた舞いが見えて、自分で楽器を吹てみることもできた。私が吹てみたのは大きい、円筒ハーモニカみたいで筒がいっぱい立ち並んでいる「笙」 という楽器だった。

---March Salon---

The following morning was my third cultural salon. One of the ALTs in my city and myself held a cooking class on how to make American-style breakfast. She taught everyone how to make breakfast burritos (we couldn't find re-fried beans!) and I taught everyone my recipe for french toast. Though I was really tempted to tell everyone to throw in as much of each ingredient as they pleased, I actually did manage to write down a recipe for everyone to use.

City Blog Post みんみんネット

その次の朝は三番目の文化交流サロン。私と同じ市に住んでいるALTと一緒にアメリカの朝ごはんの作り方を教える料理教室をやった。そのALTはブレックファストブリットの作り方で私はフレンチトーストの作り方を教えた。本当は「材料は好きなだけ入れて！」とは言いたかったけど、何とかして、皆が使えるレシピーを自分で書いた。

Biwa Sundae

Afterward we headed to the little shopping center over by Dorakuen to visit an eikaiwa friend who had just gotten a job nearby, and we ended up eating a bunch of loquat icecream sundaes and hanging out in the nice warm sunlight (which I have to mention, today is completely devoid of. It's been pretty much typhoon-ing outside for about three days straight now--said to continue into the weekend...)

英会話からの友達が最近、近くにバイトをやることになったから、その後、道楽園のショッピングセンターにその友だちと会いに行ったけど、日差しに浴びたり(今日は日差しが全然なし。もう三日間ぐらい台風みたいな天気が続いているーー週末にも続くそうだ。）、雑談したり、枇杷ソフトサンデーを食べたりしてしまった。

---Japan Foundation Japanese Instructor Training Course---

On the 20^th I left for a business trip in Saitama, where I spent

View of the cherry blossoms from my room at the center

8 days taking a training course on becoming a Japanese instructor. Participants learned how to take their experiences on the JET program and use them in a classroom setting by incorporating Japanese culture into language learning. I worked with two other girls on a project making a lesson plan that we would then present to the rest of the participants. We decided to make a lesson plan incorporating Japanese television shows into the lesson, so kids can get an idea of what schools in Japan are like, while learning the language at the same time.

二十日は埼玉に行って、８日間をかけて日本語教授法研修に参加した。そこで参加者がJETプログラムの経験を使って、どうやって言語学に日本文化を含めるかを学んだ。二人の女性と一緒に教案を作って、後でほかの参加者にプレゼンをした。私たちが、生徒たちは日本語を学びながら、日本の学校はどんなものかを理解できるような日本のドラマを使った教案を作ることにした。

My group members were the nicest people ever! I'm really glad

Turns out I had a photo of the place!

I got to work with them in particular, because I feel like we have a really similar work ethic, and we were able to prioritize our time really well. After our presentation we had a celebration dinner at an Italian restaurant near the station. I can't remember the name now, but I think it was called Lala? The pasta was absolutely delicious, and they had really yummy deserts too. Afterward we headed back for some karaoke at the international center with the rest of the participants.

There was something seriously addictive in the pasta sauce.

Cake with an Italian name I can't pronounce.

私のグループメンバーはすごくやさしい人たちだった。私たちの労働論理は同じように感じたし、効率性が高かったし、グループメンバーがこの二人になったこそよかったと思う。プレゼンの後、駅の近くのイタリア料理のレストランで食べながらお祝いした。そのレストランの名前は覚えていないんだけど。。。確か「LaLa」といったっけ。そこのパスタもデザートもすごく美味しかった。その後、ほかの参加者とカラオケパーティをするために国際センターに帰った。

 I had a lot of fun and learned a lot, but also was a bit

Final Presentation

exhausted due to having my usual CIR work to keep up with in the evenings after our classes. I'm really glad that I got to meet all of the people that I did at the conference though. The participants were quite diverse, and their home countries were way more evenly dispersed than at a usual JET conference. Most of our conferences have people from all over the world, but there is an overwhelmingly large number of participants from the U.S. This time around though there were probably as many Chinese participants as Americans, and there were also participants from Australia, New Zealand, England, and Korea. I enjoyed talking with everyone and learning a little more about their cultures.

いろんなことを学ぶのは楽しかったけど、授業のあとは毎日CIRの普段の仕事をやらなきゃいけなかったのでちょっと疲れちゃった。でも、研修で沢山の人々と会えてよかった。普段のJET研修より、この研修は様々な人々が集まって、普段の研修より参加者の母国が均等に分散された。いつものJET研修はいろいろな国から来た人たちが集まったが、多くの参加者はアメリカ人だったの。でも、今回は中国人は多分アメリカ人と同じぐらいいて、オーストラリア、ニュージーランド、イギリス、韓国などから来た参加者もいた。みんなと話し合えて、みんなの文化について少しでも学べるのが楽しかった。

Upon returning home, we got to read each others' essays about something that surprised us about living in Japan. I loved reading these because not only did it reaffirm that I'm not the only one who thinks some of these things, but it gave me insight into what things are considered strange to someone who isn't from the U.S. If you want to read more about the conference, feel free to check out my column in May. It won't be published for about another week, but when it does I'll try to remember to link to it on here.

それぞれの県に帰ってきたら、日本の生活でびっくりしたことについてみんなが書いたエッセイが読めた。それを読んで、「こんなことを考えているのは私だけじゃない」と言うことを再確認できただけじゃなくて、アメリカ人以外の人たちにとって、どんなことがおかしく見えるかを洞察することができたから面白かった。もし、この研修についてもっと読みたかったら５月の「キムのつぶやき」を読んでください。あと１週間がたったら出版するんだけど、出版したらここにリンクを入れるのを忘れないようにしておく。

---March Horse Show---

The March circuit show was the last show of the short circuit. I rode Macaron and Fururu both in the 80cm class. Ironically, my times were within .02 seconds of each other! (Ironic because Macaron is super slow and Fururu is pretty fast). And even more irony comes from the fact that I placed higher on Macaron, getting second, and placing third on Fururu. The following weekend was the 90cm class. I rode Fururu, but knocked a rail on the last line when he got lazy with a back leg.