Reflections on packing

I’m in the process of going through all the stuff I’ve collected over the past few years and deciding on the very few items that I’m keeping. Transporting things back to America is going to be expensive and a hassle, so I’m really being vicious about the selection and chucking out A LOT of stuff (or giving the good stuff away to folks around here).

I can’t believe how many “memories”—in the forms of letters, pictures, notes, etc., I have tucked away in boxes and folders and drawers. Cleaning out and packing is taking forever because every 5 minutes I’m stopping to read something and drift off for a while to another time and place. Calendar books are especially powerful because I can see the dates of birthdays, parties, and events and remember who I was then, what I was doing, and what I was planning.

Heaven forbid I find an old love note…those launch me into a kaleidoscope of sensations and a feeling of forgotten joy and a little sadness. So much has happened in 3 years…I have become a different person in many ways…all of them positive.

A few more adventures await…and one more week of work. I’m going to miss my students do much!!!

Departure!

DundundaDUN! I’m leaving Japan!!

Holy geisha ninjas! Yes, after 3 years and 3 months, I’m counting down the days until I depart these fair shores and head back to America. Of course my head and heart are full of emotions and thoughts and dreams and memories (more related blog entries to come), but today’s post is just to let folks know my plans for the next month:

Saturday, November 8^th: Depart Beppu from the Starbucks/Kitahama bus stop (where I’ve said a lot of good byes). Please come down if you need to confess your secret and undying love before I board the bus. I’ll be heading to Fukuoka next!

Monday, November 10^th: Depart Fukuoka for Tokyo!

Monday, November 24^th: Depart Tokyo for America.

I only have 2 more weeks of work left—totally crazy, my English teaching career is about to finish! All the insane and revolutionary lessons plans I’ve always been dreaming about but always too timid to do are on the board for these two weeks. Going out with a bang!

Monster Burger!

Ask any Japanese person, “What is a famous food in America?” and I bet 4 out of 5 times you’ll get, “hamburger” as the answer. There is this idea in Japan that Americans eat massive burgers as a part of our national diet. I guess there is some truth to this…but I must say that the biggest burger I’ve ever eaten was in Japan.

Behold the Yufuin Burger!

Yufuin is a cute little mountain town in Oita-ken that has grown considerably as a popular tourist destination in recent years. The main street is filled with folks on the weekends and like all towns/cities in Japan, Yufuin has its own famous food items that MUST be eaten when you visit. Up until recently, I think the most popular confectionary was the roll cake, but as times move forward, new items are popping up. The massive Yufuin burger is one of these and let me tell you, it is delicious.

I went to Yufuin with two of my students, Chi and Miyo, on a quest to eat the Yufuin burger. We waded through the crowds of people and found the burger joint where the man working there didn’t want to give us 3 of the big size burgers. “Women can’t eat a whole one!” he said, “The guy, sure, but maybe you ladies should get the smaller sized one.”

In the end, we got two special big ones and one medium (which was still large). We complimented the meal with bottles of coke (just like an American family would) and ate ourselves silly. Hooray!