Gotochi - my new collection

As many of you may know, I'm an avid collector of cheap, plastic, made in China snowglobes from places I visit worldwide. However, something I noticed on my last trip to Japan was that snowglobes are about as common as fairy dust.

So alongside decorating my apartment, I came up with a super fun way for me to do a similar thing, but in a very Japanese fashion. Unless you live under a rock, you'll know I have a huge, sometimes concerning, Hello Kitty obsession.

I've bought a map of Japan, and I'm starting to collect Gotochi Hello Kitty's. You can learn more about them here http://www.itoyoshi.net/kitty.html, but they're basically small charms that are themed, usually to local tourist attractions or regional delicacies.

Disclaimer: The Rilakkuma one from Tokyo is a special exception.
It's from the limited edition Yamanote line Rilakkuma-themed train.

There are so many to get, but I'm aiming to get one for each of the 47 prefectures at least. It's nice to be able to put them on my map at home; to remember where I've travelled, and something that makes that area unique.

1. Fukuoka - Hakata strawberry

2. Kumamoto - Kumamon (prefectural mascot)

3. Kagoshima - Satsuma Sakurajima daikon (radish)

4. Kyoto - Kiyomizu dera (temple)

5. Okinawa - Chinsuko (sugar cookie)

I still need to get ones from Osaka, Nara, Tokyo and Yokohama, all of which I visited before I started this. If anyone wants to help out on that front, that'd be great!

Okinawa - A much needed tropical break

This past week, I went to Okinawa for 5 days with Sheridan, Clare, Ellen and Devin; fellow ALT’s in Kumamoto. It was honestly so needed, since I’d had a pretty crap week prior to going. I was getting super irritated at having no proper schedule, since I’m in a different school almost every day. That, combined with living alone, made me feel my life consisted of school, cooking dinner, doing chores, lesson planning for the next day, and being asleep by 10pm, day in and day out. I knew I needed a holiday when the fact I’d done laundry on Sunday, but it was stuck outside in torrential rain for 4 days and I couldn’t bring it inside because I have bamboo floors, pushed me over the edge.

Yet another typhoon was on its way, so we were praying our flight wouldn’t be cancelled. Thankfully it wasn’t, and even during our time there it barely felt like a huge typhoon was in the area. Kouri Island was beautiful, where we discovered a small café amongst the sugar cane fields. Miyagi Island was also another highlight, and I LOVED Makishi Public Market. We stayed in Naha, and the only way I can compare it to somewhere is that it is Japanese Miami. Parts of Chatan, with so many Americans everywhere, honestly made you forget you were in Japan at all.

I’ve been converted to loving vegan foods, something I thought I’d never say. I always overlooked those restaurants in the past, but we practically lived in them during our time in Okinawa. The food there was fabulous on a whole, and I ate at the best Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to in my life. Go figure that’d be in Japan.

I’m also practically famous now too; after meeting some random Japanese guy, he introduced us to one of his friends who raps. Turns out he’s actually quite good and won some freestyle rap competition that was on Japanese TV, and even has a music video to speak of. Fast forward to him posting a photo on Instagram with me and 700 likes later, I’m now getting followed by all sorts of Japanese rap fans. Let’s just hope they don’t actually think I have any talent, it’s only drunk Caitlin who thinks she could challenge Nicki Minaj if the opportunity ever arose.

I wouldn’t say I’ve been fully rejuvenated after the trip to Okinawa, but it was a welcome break from work for a little while. Don’t get me wrong, I love the kids, but I could feel myself losing enthusiasm by the second. I’ll definitely be heading back to Okinawa at some point, hopefully going to some of the other more secluded islands closer to Taiwan. Now, back to the grind that is prepping for the speech contest my students have in a few weeks. Wish me luck and pray the children don’t develop Scouse accents!

A week of firsts: salon edition.

I’m going to go all girly for once, since I thought it was necessary to describe two firsts that were inevitable since I’m living in Japan now.

Haircut: Last weekend I spontaneously decided to bite the bullet and get my first haircut in Japan. It’s proven to be difficult to find a salon that is able to deal with non-Asian hair, but mine is nothing too difficult. I ventured into a quieter area of downtown Kumamoto and stumbled across the salon, which I’d recommend to anyone.

Although English wasn’t really spoken, I got my point across with pictures and limited Japanese, all helped by the friendliness of the staff there. It was hands down not only the best experience I’ve had, but also the most precise. The poor girl doing my hair was on her tiptoes and kneeling because my hair is so long, but nevertheless, she spent forever going over it to perfect it. I’ve never had anyone use 3 different types of scissors on me, and I have no idea what they did, but my hair feels fabulous! She also did magical things with a curling wand I’d never seen before in my life, and I’m actually contemplating getting a perm over here. I’ll keep you updated if it goes wrong from the mermaid waves I envision and I end up looking like a poodle.

Nail Salon: I’ve wanted Japanese gel nails for the LONGEST time, and for some reason never bothered to get any done when I was in Japan the last time. They’ve got a distinctive look to them, basically very “kawaii”, but I am totally in love.

On my last day in Okinawa (a trip I’ll describe in another post), I decided to have some ‘treat yo’self’ time and get them done. After some major Instagram stalking, I found Litomo Nail Salon and gave them a call. The girl I spoke to was lovely, and once I arrived she told me how she can’t speak English, but is learning from Coldplay songs. The girl is going to sound so poetic I’m actually a little bit jealous. But anyway, we went for a ‘teacher appropriate’ style, and off she went.
I was there for two hours, being treated to a massage both before and after. I was also given a little pot of Earl Grey to enjoy while I was dozing off. My nails even have real flowers on them now, which the girl meticulously picked out from a pot of water, dried and selected each petal individually.

The salon itself was adorable, hidden away on the top floor of a building, with random stuffed polar bears dotted around the place. I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting Naha as it’s easily accessible, Ayame is the sweetest and by how nail salons go, it was pretty damn cheap.

Visit litomo.jindo.com or check out their Instagram: litomo.nail. You can even see the super adorable post Ayame wrote after I left. The translation is hilarious, but you get the jist of it.

Now it’s time for me to find somewhere in Kumamoto to enjoy too, and I have no shame in admitting when I’m not in schools, I will be having themed nails because when in Japan, anything goes. I say that while sitting here at school wearing pink Rilakkuma crocs (that I’m not admitting how comfortable they actually are) and clashing pink Hello Kitty socks with pineapples from Okinawa. They really set off my cankles.