Hey Girl.

Frances (the director of the Resettlement program) just walked up to my desk and taped this on the side of my computer. I think every girl in the office has a different one, and I am more or less cackling right now.



This is another one of my favorites…



So for a little background information, the US accepts around 70,000 refugees each year (and before anyone asks, they all have official documents and can apply for green cards a year after they arrive. They also receive loans from the US government for their plane tickets here, which they are expected to pay back over a couple of years.) The UNHCR has three durable solutions for refugees: repatriation to their native country, integration into the country they have fled to, and as a last resort, third country resettlement. Of the 10.5 million refugees worldwide, only about 1% are resettled each year. My agency, Catholic Charities, primarily resettles populations from Bhutan, Burma, Iran, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Cuba – and no, you don’t have to be Catholic to receive our services, or we wouldn’t have any clients!

Alright, so not a very deep entry, but I'm headed to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in a couple of minutes and I felt the need to share something before I left.

hello again!

Well, I hadn’t previously been using this blog for service-related things, but I decided maybe I should start. :) Not sure if I'll make it public or if I'll really write much at all. Old habits die hard I guess.

So, I really have my client "Maya" to thank for inspiring me to write this.

In October Catholic Charities resettled Maya, her mother, and two younger brothers. Maya is a 21 year old Bhutanese midwife. She is incredibly sweet and quiet, but speaks good English. Her mother too old to work in the fast-paced American environment, so responsibility for providing for the family falls on Maya’s shoulders. We were excited to be working with her, because her English skills could open a lot of doors for her, even though she could not return to work in the healthcare field immediately.

We did our best, but in a few weeks Maya will start working at a poultry processing facility. (While jobs there are by no means ideal, workers are paid a reasonable wage and receive health insurance and other benefits. For refugees that speak limited to no English, this is the best job they can hope for immediately after arriving in the US.) Maya speaks English, could have held out a little while longer looking for a better job—but didn’t.

This may not sound extraordinary, except the clear contrast with two sisters we resettled just before Maya nearly struck me in the face. They have about the same English skills at her, but outright refused to work in poultry, even when they were getting desperate and knew they needed to support their parents and siblings. It was very frustrating, but I couldn’t really blame them.

But Maya’s biggest concern isn’t that she’s working a job she's too good for, or that she will come home each day reeking of raw chicken. Her family comes first, and she needs to support them. Despite her skill set and education, at age 21 she is willing to make a huge sacrifice. Even as my heart breaks for her, I truly admire her for her courage. Would I have been able to make that decision? In face of the hardships and struggles refugees endure, both in refugee camps as well as in the United States, I am constantly reminded of just how sheltered and privileged I am.

But I have hope, that with her determination and love her future will be bright. Maya, my heart and prayers go out to you.

three days?!

My last week here is flying by fast (as is my money, ha ha). Don't think I could possibly recap all of it, but I'll try to hit the highlights.

- My last Chunichi Dragons/Nagoya Grampus games - It might just the Japanese twists on baseball games, but I've come to love the sport a lot more than I thought possible. (Maybe it helps that the Dragons actually win games?? Sorry Mets!) And nothing makes me more excited than riding the Dragons-decorated subway! I've also seen the Grampus lose twice now, but again, the crowd atmosphere always makes up for it!

-Discovery and abuse of purikura - what's not to love about taking ridiculous pictures and slapping on a ton of sparkles and random adorable animals?

-Scoring over 100 in bowling for the first time ever! (shh, I know this is a very Japanese experience :P)

-Two visits to the sento (bathhouse) - definitely one of my new favorite activities, it is a shame I didn't discover it earlier. Nothing makes me feel more Japanese than soaking in a hot bath for 2+ hours. Well, more like 10 baths - there are indoor and outdoor, cool and hot options, and even one that runs electric pulses through you (a bit creepy and sometimes quite painful). The lack of clothes threw me for a little loop at first but once you get used to it there is nothing as relaxing as soaking in an outdoor bath with a soft rain falling.

-KABUKI! I had more or less given up on this one but Aaren's host mom gave him tickets to a performance today! The Japanese was more or less impossible to understand but it was really neat to watch, especially because all the actors were male, including the ones playing the lead female roles.

I have a few regrets, but I wouldn't trade my experience for anything. Besides, my sad lack of Japanese friends just means I need to come back soon. :)

the Simons Family (minus Jenn, self-dubbed "coolest member") Takes on Japan!

Jenn protested my facebook album title so I thought I would acknowledge her complaint in my blog post. :)

sorry I haven't written in a while! Things have been incredibly busy here - travel travel travel, study study study. It's hard to believe there are less than 20 days before I leave Japan...I'm trying not to think about it, though it will be nice to go home for the summer.

Anyway, about 2.5 weeks ago (yes I really am that behind, it is only upon Mary's request that I am writing this), my family flew into Narita airport in Tokyo! Jenn is lame and had school. After some escapades in Tokyo, they came to Nagoya on Tuesday evening just in time to have dinner with my host family. That turned out way better and less awkward than I expected it to be, translating wasn't too difficult and dinner was fish/veggies/delicious beef cooked over a charcoal pit so a lot of attention was diverted to food. The fam spent a couple days in Nagoya, where I showed them Nanzan (what little there is to see), Nagoya Castle, and lastly a Dragons baseball games!

I wish I'd thought to post about baseball games here before, because in Japan they really are something special. This was the second game I'd been to, and my host dad bought my family great seats. Anyway, Japanese baseball is awesome because

1. both the home and away teams bring drummers and trumpet players to play while their team is up at bat. And then of course there are the accompanying
2. cheers! The fan section goes crazy for certain players (huge signs, flags, etc), and they have a fair number of songs and chants, which the crowd can get into with their
3. noisemakers! The crowd gets way more into the game than in America, and a lot of people have plastic bats to bang together along with the cheers. I can't even explain how much fun this is.
   

so long story short, after going into extra innings with the score tied at 2-2 vs the Yakults, when no one scored by the bottom of the 12th the game was declared a tie. Interesting, but very practical - it was an exciting game but all the same we were getting a bit tired of watching.

That weekend we went to Kyoto! Kyoto is special because it is one of the few major cities in Japan which was not largely destroyed by air raids during WW2 due to its cultural significance. I'm grateful, because it meant seeing some legit temples and shrines for once! We hit up Kiyomizu Temple (with a beautiful view over Kyoto), the bamboo forest (one of the prettiest places I've ever been), Ryoanji Temple (famous for its simple yet powerful zen rock garden), Kinkakuji (as the name suggests, entirely plated in gold), and finally Ginkakuji, which was carpeted in beautiful green moss and plants.



We stayed in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel, while in Kyoto. A typical room consists of tatami-mat floors with a low table, and you lay out futons on the floor to sleep on at night. The pricier ryokans often have onsens, or public baths, but we made do with our small shower unit. Sleeping on a futon on tatami was a pretty neat experience.



The last night there we went to a very touristy show which demonstrated some of the traditional Japanese arts, like tea ceremony, flower arranging, court dance, Japanese harp, and puppet theater. The puppets used for puppet theater were amazing - rather than being hand puppets they are large and operated by three people wearing black. Their movements are really lifelike and the actors work seamlessly together to tell the story. I wish I was in Japan longer, I would love to see a longer show.



Oysh, sorry for the ramble! Hopefully a post to come about this weekend (my first trip to Tokyo!) in a couple days!

Okinawa!!

I can't even think of a better place for us to have spent spring break! We were lured there by the promise of warm weather (Nagoya's been hoovering around 50 degrees and raining the past two weeks), but it turned out there was a lot more to do than sit around on the beach!

We flew in on Tuesday, but we didn't do much other than check into our hotel, which was on the ocean and we even got a couple of good glimpses of US military aircrafts. The next morning we were up bright and early to rent a car so we could drive around the northern part of the island. It was a bit of a nauseating ride because Aaren seemed to have some sort of a steering/braking problem, but since he was the only one of us who had a Japanese license (not to mention he has actually drives on the left side of the road on a regular basis), we bravely endured it. :P

First stop was the Nago Pineapple Park! We saw this in the guidebook and couldn't resist...what's not to love about all-you-can-eat pineapple?? Activities included a ride in a pineapple cart while an audio told you about the pineapples grown, eating huge $13 pineapple parfaits which had some of the best sorbet I have tasted in my life, and tasting pineapple wine. Not my favorite, but definitely interesting. After the pineapple park we stopped to hike to a waterfall. Everything was so green and beautiful! Then we hit up the most northern spot on the island, located on a particularly pretty little patch of coastline. A short detour also brought us down a very steep path to a lake with a waterfall! Even better, there was a ropeswing which we took full advantage of. The water was freezing but it was a lot of fun!

The next day our two groups split, because the others wanted to relax and hang around Naha and the beach, while some of us wanted to head south and check out some of the historical parts of the island. First stop was the Himeyuri Museum.
It is dedicated to the female students who tended to the wounded during the Battle of Okinawa. The museum was really informative, but the story was incredibly tragic. Nearly as many civilians died in the battle as soldiers, and no one was excused from helping in the war effort. After the museum we caught the bus up the road to see the Peace Park, which is notable because it pays respect to all who died in the battle, soldier, civilian, or even American. Names are carved on large tablets organized by prefecture, and in a separate part of the park each prefecture has its own memorial area. Last up was Shuri Castle, which had a really expensive entrance fee but was pretty cool. The castle reflects the strong Chinese influence in Okinawa, which did not become an official part of Japan until 1879.

The last full day of our trip was spent on the gorgeous Tokashiki Island! It wasn't our first choice of island, but the ferry times were convenient and not too expensive. When we got there we met our incredibly nice cab driver, who had exactly 7 seats in her taxi and drove us to the beach cheaper than the bus, complete with stops along the way where she took group pictures for us. She also recommended us a great place for lunch (bets on some relative of hers working there), where we had Okinawa soba. Okinawa is famous for its pork, and the restaurant did not disappoint!

Nathaniel and I went on a run first thing, following one of the few roads on the small island up a mountain. Best workout I've had in a while, and also a great view! On the way back to the beach we stopped for ice cream (sugar cane = maple flavor = delicious). Next up was some exploration of the beach, because there were these awesome (aka climb-able looking) rock formations at the end. Turns out they were very climbable, and we spent a half-hour scrambling all over them. The views were great, I could have sat up there taking in the feel of the wind and sound of the ocean forever! The later part of the afternoon was spent snorkeling! We rented some cheap fins and a mask from a hotel and hopped right in! The small patches of coral right off the beach were mostly dead, but there were a surprising number of colorful fish to look at! Whole schools of tiny blue fish, a huuuuge white one, and some really curious striped ones which swam up straight to my face! It was really cool but kind of scary! Makes me appreciate that glass panel in aquariums a bit more, haha.

This beach also had the best shells of any beach I've ever been too! I'm sure the fact that since it was March the only people besides us on the beach were approximately 10 other gaijin, but the shells we found were amazing!

so if any of you ever happen to travel to Okinawa, I would definitely suggest Tokashiki Island! Preferably not in the summer with the hoards of Japanese tourists, but it is a beautiful island with great beaches!

List of ice creams I tried: (I gave up ice cream for lent - the only exceptions being flavors largely unique to Japan)
Sesame
Beni-imo
Pineapple
Sugar Cane

Racing in Japan!

okay, longer post about my awesome spring break trip to Okinawa is definitely on its way, but I am lazy...I got back on saturday but only unpacked my suitcase ten minutes ago. :O

anyway, in the past two days I've run two races!! and hitchhiked for the first time ever, haha (shh don't tell my host mom!). I only entered the race on Sunday because it's only ten minutes away from my house and in the park that I run by every weekend. It also happened to be a track race, and we all know how much I loved running the two mile on the track...anywho I was running REALLY late, and the stadium I thought the race was at was the wrong one, so I stopped on the side of the road to ask these two old Japanese men the right direction. After glancing at the paper with the location (and noting I was supposed to be there to check-in in two minutes), one of them gestured to their car and offered to drive me there. (I did know where it was...it was just kind of far - so if he started driving me in the wrong direction I definitely would have known). So I get to the race safe and sound, (he even strikes up a conversation about the large yellow dust clouds blowing in from China), I find Nathaniel, and then find out that (a) I'm one of 3 girls in the 3000, and (b) males and females were running together and I was seeded in the fast heat. Lovely.

Long story short, I ran much better than I expected (first mile was a 6:30, final time 12:30 flat), so that was a happy surprise. Even better, I managed to not finish last in my heat - though I do have to admit that my main rival for that position was around the age of 14. Also, the 10-year old finished about half a lap ahead of me...*sigh*

Today's race was a bit different - for one, much longer! The Japanese really love running, which I at first found really surprising. But whereas in the US the vast majority of races are either 5k's or half/full marathons, in Japan they have all kinds of races. It's actually kind of hard to find anything shorter than a 10k. Anyway, the one I signed up for was a race based on time - basically you could sign up to run for 2,3, or 4 hours, or do an entire marathon. There's a 1.8km course, and you try to finish as many laps as possible within your time frame. Considering the longest run I have been on in the past 2.5 years is probably 4 miles, I was a little worried...but the weather did turn out to be beautiful, as was the park the race was in.

Long story short, it totally pays to be a girl runner in Japan. There were only five females in the 2 hour category, so I placed third! I got a snazzy certificate and some rice seasoning as a prize. :) I was actually in first after the first hour, but the way I decided to run the race was to do four fast miles with Nathaniel and then slow down/walk if need be to save my knee. I ended up running about 75 minutes before I gave up, walked for 25, and then ran the last lap. So I did 6 laps in the first hour and only two in the last, haha. But it was a lot of fun, and we met a Japanese guy who lived in America for a long time (fluent in English), to talk to for the first four miles. Any 'Heroes' watchers out there? Because his name was totally Hiro Nakamura.


sorry, I only have pictures of the awards because I forgot to put an SD card in my camera so the pictures of me running are saved to the internal memory, and of course I didn't bring the cord with me to Japan...

Anyway, sorry if this was long and boring! I was just really excited for my first races in Japan. Hopefully I'll get to do another one over Golden Week in Tokyo, where I will FINALLY get my T-shirt, muahaha.

We are...

Apologies for the long post! I'm going to copy Ashley and just list off some of the stuff I've been doing here over the past two weeks...

LAST WEEKEND:
- Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival)
It's a 1300 year old tradition...basically there's only one naked guy, the hundreds of other lioncloth-clad men fight to touch him. The idea is that he will absorb their bad luck, and then later he is taken outside Nagoya to release all of it and cleanse the city. We were only there for the lead-up to the naked man's arrival, but we got to see them getting ready. And Jenna made a couple of friends...

- Universal Studios!
Okay, so maybe not the most uniquely Japanese experience, but it was fun! Many thanks to Emily's host family for taking me!

- Nara!
It was the capital of Japan for about 70 years in the 700's. There are some very old and very beautiful temples and shrines. Definitely the most cultural place I have been so far in Japan, the recently reconstructed Nagoya Castle just didn't quite do it for me...Nara is also famous for the deer that roam all over the place! You can feed them and everything...though they do get a little pushy sometimes.


THIS WEEKEND:
Three days, two concerts, and my host sister came back from Canada for spring break. Anyway, sadly no concert pictures because I guess Japan has some sort of thing against photography during concerts. :(

- Versailles Concert!! On Friday I went with Brett and a Japanese friend of his to the Bottom Line to see Versailles, a visual kei symphonic metal band. The ticket was a last-minute, completely spontaneous purchase. Visual kei is genre of music that is probably best characterized by elaborate makeup and hairstyles, as well as crazy costuming. It is very artistic -for example Versailles performs Renaissance-era clothing. I saw it as a now-or-never kind of a deal...

On a side note, I'm getting reallyyy good at spontaneous decision making. see: naked man festival. My host mom just shakes her head at me now when I tell her my weekend plans.



...yeah, believe it or not they are all male. You can laugh all you want at the guy dressed like a girl, but damn can he play the guitar. And you have to admit that he does make a rather pretty girl as well. Either way the concert was, in a word, awesome. The music was great, their sound might have been a little harder than what I'm used to, but for the most part it was amazing. Their whole stage presence and the atmosphere was what made the concert, it was completely different from anything I've seen before.

-Motion City Soundtrack with Ore Ska Band! Second concert of the weekend! I can't compare them at all to Versailles, but they were great! And I love Ore Ska Band, their music is so happy you can't help but smile all the time. Plus one girl had a purple trombone - how much cooler can you get??

next weekend: OKINAWA. I can't wait for some beach and NATURE.