Would you like some NYAN with your coffee?

Japanese people love cats: Fact. 

There is even a cute sculpture known as Maneki Neko/ Lucky Cat who is beckoning with his paw for good luck and fortune to come inside.

Finding an apartment that allows pets of any kind is akin to searching for the Holy Grail: Fact.

Since most apartments are decidedly NOT pet friendly, the enigmatic Cat Café was born.

Cats will sleep where they are most disruptive: Fact

Cat Cafes are exactly what they sound like-a café filled with cats. I’ve been to several but my new favorite is in Omiya, just 5 stops down the train line. At Neko Café, you spend 1000 yen to get a beverage like juice or coffee or tea and an hour’s worth of time in the café. There are tons of books, manga, and even a computer and massage chair surrounded by fluffy comfortable couches and, oh yes, cats. There are about 15 in this particular café. Some are precious and some are so ugly they border on adorable.

So ugly he was adorable!

 I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss my cat like crazy, as nice as it is not having to be responsible for a pet over here. The past few weeks have taken a toll on my blood pressure, so petting some cute kitty-cats was almost exactly what the doctor ordered.


There is even a special package price if you want to stay 3 hours! I’m thinking that it would be a good place to go on a rainy day just to relax.


The staff was friendly, the café was clean and didn’t smell at all, and the cats were stinkin’ adorable! I mean, have you ever even seen a Munchkin Cat? They look so goofy with their tiny legs that you can’t help but laugh at them!

O-Town

It crept up on me again. The insatiable wanderlust I’ve had for as long as I can remember. Even if doctors find a cure for it one day, I will refuse any and all treatment. Traveling and exploring and experiencing are when I feel most alive.

For St. Patrick’s Day weekend I flew down to Osaka to meet up with some friends. I hadn’t seen Meagan since our India experience (there’s no other way to describe that trip), and I hadn’t seen Joey since Tokyo Orientation and the Los Angeles Pre-Departure hotel party in a bathroom that had a tub full of ice and alcohol.

Almost the instant Meagan and I were reunited at the airport we started acting like our normal, ridiculous selves. Poor Joey had to put up with it for the next 4 days, but in the end he joined the Dark Side and participated in the ruckus!

Osaka is a crazy city. To quote, albeit with some minor changes, “you will never find a more wretched hive of hedonism and debauchery”. Osaka made its mark as a merchant city. As such, back in the day money changed hands quickly and the city grew to be one that took pleasure in earthly delights-namely food. Nowadays it’s well known for delicious street food, dance clubs, business, host clubs, hostess clubs and being a great stepping stone into the Kansai region. It’s bright, it’s loud, it’s dirty (by Japanese standards) and its atmosphere is gloriously laid back and fun in comparison with snooty, uptight Tokyo to the north.

I loved it, yet I wouldn't want to live there.

Throwing salt to purify the ring

Are you not entertained?!

 Our first day, our trio went and saw Sumo with a big group of JETs from Wakayama. This was my second time viewing the sport, and I definitely liked it better this time around. I was very surprised to see that there were quite a few foreign wrestlers in the ring. It’s been a trend over the past few years that the top wrestlers have been Mongolian, but at this particular event there were at least 5 in the more serious matches. 

The evening was spent getting dressed up, coordinating with Meagan’s Kagoshima JET friends and going in search of an Irish bar for St. Patrick’s Day. Eventually, we found a place where we could have a few drinks, then stumbled our way to late night karaoke.

Interesting Teigan Trivia: I do not pride myself on my math skills, but apparently a little alcohol and a lot of sleepiness make me gifted. We took a taxi home early Sunday morning and I was sleeping for most of it. The moment the car stopped moving and the driver told us our total my head snapped up and I spouted out what each of us owed individually. Then promptly went back to sleep.

Sunday was spent sleeping in and slowly exploring the city. We managed to drag ourselves through the rain and go to Osaka Castle, which is very beautiful on the outside but, in my opinion, lacks a certain authenticity inside. I wasn’t keen on paying to go inside, so we ended up meandering around the grounds and eating Sakura (Cherry Blossom) flavored ice cream. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon!

Osaka castle

I put on my Tour Guide Teigan glasses on Monday and herded the gang into Kyoto. Although the sakura weren’t blooming, we still found the place lovely. As we strolled through the old entertainment district, Gion, we spotted several maiko and Geisha. Their kimono, hair, and make up are all simply breathtaking.

Entrance gate to Kiyomizudera

A maiko on her way to work in Gion

The highlight of the trip for me personally was the quick visit we made to the Human Rights Museum in Osaka. Understand that no country is perfect (the United States in particular has yet to own up to several events that I personally find abhorrent), but sometimes Japan comes off as this blessedly perfect nation rich in cultural heritage and history.

To put it bluntly, denial, apathy and cultural nationalism are largely responsible for this. It’s a long discussion to get started with, and I doubt anyone really reads this anyway so I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty. Suffice to say Japan has a legacy of discrimination against ethnic minorities, indigenous groups, women, homosexuals, the physically and mentally handicapped, people living with HIV/AIDS, Atomic Bomb survivors (possibly the biggest WTF moment), Hansen’s Disease sufferers, and the homeless.

As such, this museum is probably the only one of its kind in Japan dedicated to discrimination. I had wanted to visit the past 2 times I’ve been in Osaka, but the timing never worked out.

Unfortunately, we were rather rushed because we had made lunch plans. However, the volunteers who staffed the exhibits were incredibly knowledgeable and kind, and despite most of the plaques having only Japanese explanations, there were subtitled videos and an English audio guide. Overall, it was really worth it to at least glean a little bit more information about how some of the aforementioned groups live in Japan and what steps they are taking in order to be seen as equals within society.

Our long weekend adventure had perfect timing to cheer me up after a stressful few weeks. I met new people, reconnected with others, ate some scrumptious food, and had a memorable time in the den of debauchery known as Osaka.

Graduation

Today was Graduation Day for Iwatsuki High School. This meant that Sabina and I had to dress smart, so I pulled out my reliable pinstriped suit and prayed that my hair would behave. Sadly, the weather decided to be rainy, so not only were we forced to walk to school in the rain, but my hair also poofed out something awful. Luckily, my headband tamed the worst of it.

Being that this was my first high school graduation I didn’t really know what to expect. True, I figured it would be a somber and serious occasion- all the more so because today also marks the one year anniversary since the Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami- but I didn’t realize quite how serious it was.

You know it's serious when students start sleeping

Honestly, I almost thought I was at a funeral. There wasn’t anything that screamed “fun”, “excitement” or “congratulations” at the event whatsoever.

For starters, the entire student body was made to sit in on the ceremony, which was full of speeches so full of honorific language that I could barely understand what the humble person was honorably speaking about to the honorable guests that humbled the humble person by honorably arriving with honor.

Afterward, every student in the graduating class was called out by name but…There was no cheering. No cries of happiness from the parents. No diplomas handed over nor walks across the stage. The students simply stood, bowed, and waited for the rest of their classmates to have their names read. In short, it felt incredibly anticlimactic and boring.

Class of 2006 baby! With Gram and Grandma

I can remember the screams of friends and family and the airhorn-yes, the airhorn- that my father brought in when my name was called and I walked across the stage. I remember a crappy, clichéd speech by our undeserving valedictorian and an amazing speech by Nayely. I remember being so ecstatic that I leaped out of my chair and bear hugged one of my best friends because it was over, we were finished, we were so grown up, there was so much waiting for us, and the world was at our fingertips!

The only truly moving part of the graduation was the closing song. I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called, but it was really depressing and nostalgic. No wonder the students filed out with tears in their eyes.

Still, some of them perked up when I went to their homerooms to visit them one last time. I ended up getting photos with several of my favorite students. As wonderful as it would be to keep in touch, I know it probably won’t happen. Life happens. They will grow up and move on. The best I can hope for is that they didn’t leave with a bitter taste in their mouths from my English class!

Mingling and munching

After the ceremony, Sabina, her friend Gillian and I mingled a bit with some of the parents and snacked on some finger foods. Unfortunately I either still have the Cold from Hell or I have developed a mad case of Hay fever, because I could not breathe whatsoever. I ended up excusing myself back to the staffroom where I was able to mouth breathe and sniffle to my nose’s content.

Let’s hope that these sniffles clear up because I’m flying down south to visit some awesome friends next weekend. I need to be healthy so I can party my way through Osaka!