Mary Newton

Japan: The Honeymoon Series

Hello Blogosphere! It has been a while since I last blogged (or a long time since I really blogged at all); but given that I just got back from an amazing three week honeymoon in Japan with my new husband, I thought it would be appropriate to blog on what this blog has really been about: JAPAN!

[Edit: I wrote this back in July and never posted it because I didn't have access to the pictures. That was dumb... I'm going to post it even with limited photos. :)]

Tim and I got married on June 13th and it was an absolutely beautiful ceremony! Two days later we were off to the Land of the Rising Sun to celebrate and see everything from Tokyo to Nagasaki together. With the help of a three week rail pass, we were able to see and do everything we wanted to experience while in Japan. A rail pass is really the best and cheapest way to get around the country!

We visited many cities, so I will highlight each one with things that we especially enjoyed and enhance the stories with pictures. I hope you enjoy!

Tokyo

Tokyo was the natural choice for our first stay because it is the closest metropolitan area to the airport. It takes about an hour to get to Tokyo station by express train from Narita airport. Once we arrived at our hotel we passed out, as we were jet lagged and tired. Even though we woke up around 4am, we didn't venture out until after 6 and we were disappointed to realize that even in the big city many things don't open until 10 or 11 am (and many places close early in the evening too). Once we passed the time mark for businesses to open, we were in business. We visited Akihabara - Japan's "electric town" and had a lot of fun going through stores and reminiscing over old video game systems and games.

We also went to Ueno Park, Tokyo's biggest park area. We saw a street performer and stray cats (they are more plentiful than squirrels and in fact, it is rare to spot a squirrel).

Lastly for the day, we went to the park and had so much fun with our new Nikon D90 (fabulous camera, by the way). Check out this picture of this hippo! [still don't have the pictures on my computer, sorry!]

Takayama

The next day we got on a train and rode a few hours to a small mountain town called Takayama. It was absolutely gorgeous! The train had facts about the area as we went by and because we reserved our seats we almost had the whole train car to ourselves to enjoy the scenery. While we were there we splurged and stayed in a very nice ryokan (Japanese Inn). Our room was on the top floor (5th), had 2 seperate rooms, and our own private bath on the deck overlooking the city. Gorgeous! The food was pretty good too and they even gave us a free bottle of wine because they knew we were on our honeymoon (I told them ;)). The next morning we walked around the quaint little town. It had a lot of Kyoto influence and was straight from the Edo period, not to mention charm.

Wedding Webpage!

Hi everyone!!

I am the throws of my hell week -- I've completed three exams and have two more to go. I'm so looking forward to finally get to properly plan my wedding after Saturday, but for now I have to keep focusing on school.

Tim has been beyond amazing in helping and he created and got our website up. You can see it here:

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/TimWingfield&MaryNewton

:) Back to studying!

First Edition!

Tales From The...

By Mary Newton

Book Preview

An Engagement Story

Well folks, after five years, he finally asked me! :)

Last Friday (December 19, 2008), Tim and I went to Austin for a couple of days to visit with friends and family, and to celebrate my 24th birthday. We woke up at 6 am so we could get to Austin in time for Tim to play in the annual Tuba Christmas concert on the steps of the capital. This was his 6th year in a row to play! The concert was a lot of fun, as always. Afterward, we got Rudy's BBQ and had a picnic on Mt. Bonnell, walked around in a park, had dinner at Uchi (an upscale Japanese restaurant), went to the Trail of Lights (like every year!), and then he took me to a special spot of ours. For my 19th birthday he took me to a quiet area on Town Lake and played Christmas songs on his baritone for me. We went back (5 years later) and I got to pick a few songs for him to play for me. The little picnic table we sat was the perfect spot for us to have a moment to ourselves. After, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! :) Of course I said yes! :D The ring is a gorgeous round solitaire that glistens in any amount of light. I'm very excited and oh so happy that I get to marry my best friend!

Now I have wedding planning to do on top of writing my massive paper for the journal I am on (Houston Business and Tax Law Journal), but I can't stop smiling anyway!

I promise I will start writing about law school and business school, but I had to share my story. :)

I'm Baaaack!

Hello readers (if you are still out there)!

As you can tell, it has been one year (to the date) since I last blogged. Dad was kind enough to renew my account so I am going to make use of it. For all of you who are interested in my time in Japan, never fear -- all of my posts are still on here. The posts from June 2006-July 2007 contain all my ramblings from my adventures. From this point forward my posts will mostly be about the world of a JD/MBA student.

A lot of things have happened in the past year. I finished my first year of law school, got accepted and started business school, worked at the Texas Department of Insurance (over the summer), helped Tim move to Houston, got a puppy (Molly, Tim's miniature Dachshund), started writing on the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal, applied to and attended Power Pipeline (an emerging women leadership group), and mourned the loss of Mandy (my family's beagle :( :( :( ). Now I am in the midst of final exams and trying to retain composure.

Expect more in the future, but for now I must get back to studying.

Mandy -- Rest in Peace :(

Molly! She's a cutie.

Another Exercise English Learning Video

Z, Meg, Ana -- other people will enjoy this, but yall will understand probable more than others. Dad showed me this. It's pretty good. Ha!

http://view.break.com/411110 - Watch more free videos

A Kyushu Hitchhiking Story

One day last week I got an email from a fellow Texan and Longhorn living in Kyushu asking me about my hitchhiking experience and the routes I took because he was about to embark on a mini-trip for the weekend. For those of you who are interested, he wrote about it and I think it's worth the read:

http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com/2007/10/hitchhiking-in-kyushu.html

Just goes to prove how generous and caring the Japanese are -- humbling, really. :) Thanks for sharing your story, Turner!

Fashion Passion 2007

Zara and Meg made this video showcasing the dances and costumes they will be wearing at Yosakoi Sasebo 2007!!! I love it, ladies! This is what I'm missing out on because I left Japan -- it's fun to see the dances we learned at Yosakoi boot camp so fantastically performed!

Miss yall!!!

Bottom Biting Bug

Zara introduced me to this amazingly silly video. Oh Japan :D

The realities of law school

Working close to 24 hours over the course of two days and only getting the tip of the iceberg. I wish that it would go quicker, but don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy the studying and learning -- and eventually accomplishing what I set out to do (it will be accomplished by finals, right???)

:) Back to work.

Chicken Scratch

Over the past 6 weeks I have been enlightened with the answer to the perplexing question:

Why do all doctors have such terrible writing?

It's because they don't have time to write, resulting in lines, scribbles, and random dots.

My handwriting has gone nothing but downhill since I started school -- I guess I could also blame that on all the typing I do. I better start working on making my handwriting look legible again.

I'm Sorry, What Does THAT mean?

Pi signs, triangles, squiggly S's, COWS???

What do all these symbols mean? Why do they end up on the board as if the professor thinks I understand what they are?

This is what I felt like the first week or so of classes. It didn't take me too long to understand, but when I saw pi signs and triangle/delta signs written all over the board for the first time, I was puzzled, to say the least. I thought I was done with math (in high school...). I soon figured out the the PI sign stands for Plaintiff and the triangle stands for Defendant. The squiggly S? "Section." The cow? Well, it's just a cow -- and it comes up in just about every contracts class. At least my professor makes me them look adorable.

Hey, I'll sell you my cow someday... ;)(Don't think we have a contract, because we don't. :) )

When you start law school, most of your teachers will expect you to understand and know things that well, you just don't or won't know. It can be very frustrating, but if you stick with it and ask questions (don't worry, they don't bite -- or at least they shouldn't), you'll be fine. :) Three out of four of my professors do not use the Socratic Method, which is a relief and actually encourages me to speak up in class. However, I find that because I sit in the front of my contracts class and often look the professor in the eye (the one that teaches by the Socratic Method), I get picked on more frequently than most of the class. Even if I say something stupid, at least I'm getting the experience of being embarrassed in front of a lot of people. It can only make me stronger...at least, that's how I see it.

Speaking of which, it's time for some more COW stories! Happy weekend to everyone!

Gross...

Nasty... There is a guy sitting next to me in the library that put chewing tobacco on his gums and is now picking up an empty water bottle every 5 second to spit it out. It's grossing me out and distracting me. And contracts is actually getting quite interesting, despite the 30 some pages we have to read every night.

Back to studying. I'm just going to turn the other way, now.

Two Weeks in and...

I was thankful for my labor day weekend because I was able to spend a little more time enjoying life and being with my boyfriend (and watching UT beat Arkansas State).

But, after two weeks of law school, I have had some time to get into a routine and figure out exactly what it is I'm doing and what I'm getting myself into.

I was talking to one of my classmates this morning before Torts class and ended up asking her if she wanted to be my study buddy. I made a promise to myself this weekend that I would find someone to talk to about class lectures and materials so that I know I'm not totally in the dark on some of this stuff. In the midst of our conversation, I said that since I was "this tall" (meaning very young), I have been told that the first year of law school is, in the words of my father, "the worst year of your life." I've been told this for as long as I can remember because both my parents are lawyers. Now, to this, she said, "Wow, I'm surprised to see you here. I'd think that after knowing what it's like, most people wouldn't want to go through this kind of hell."

I agreed, but I told her that something about the prospect of law school (and the fact that I enjoy learning and being challenged) really intrigues me. Something about the demand the occupation puts on you, the fact that it will rarely (if ever) ask me to sit idly at my desk for an extended amount of time (which, from my experience last year, I learned that I really don't like at all), and the excitement that the law is always changing, which means that I will always be learning something new.

Law school is extremely demanding -- I won't deny that. I'm taking 14 hours, with three core courses (torts, civil procedure, and contracts) and a legal writing class. The writing hasn't started yet and I'm already spending my days reading, outlining, and briefing -- I can only imagine how busy I will be when the writing and researching does start. But you know what? Bring it on because, like my Mom always tells us, "you gotta start in order to finish."

Now, back to work on civil procedure. Dad tells me to bring a pillow and a bottle of wine to class. I don't have either, so I'm better off arming myself with knowledge of Rules 11 and 15 of Civil Procedure. :)

Oh, and here's my favorite picture from the weekend (which I spent in Austin): HOOK 'EM!

Straight from the O'Quinn Law Library

Hello all! I haven't written in...over a month it seems. I apologize. Yes, I really have been that busy.

The flight back from Japan went really well and I was lovingly welcomed home by my whole family (minus Mandy, but she was very happy to see me when I made it back to the house). I was in the Woodlands for a week, buying books, getting ready for school, and semi-preparing my stuff for the Houston house. It was a nice semi-down time back at home.

Me and my parents. What on earth are we looking at? And yes, we did get Tex-Mex (from Adobe) my first day back.

That weekend I went on a weekend getaway to San Marcos/Austin with my parents. This is around Texas State. Woohoo! TEXAS!

Awww MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDY! I can't stand it. :D

Exactly one week from when I got off the plane, I got on another one -- I was headed for Michigan where Tim was living this summer working an internship for Dow. We had a blast. The day I got there we went to Detroit and stayed the night there. We went to a Tiger's game, got seriously thick Chicago-style deep dish pizza in Greek Town, and I walked through my first casino.

(happy!)

Not the best picture, but you get the idea. That was...a lot of cheese.

The next day we went to the Ford Musuem, which should have its own post full of pictures it was that good. Actually, the rest of our trip really deserves more attention than I can give it right now because I have so many good pictures to post! Look for that soon.

Now on to law school...

I am a week and a half into my first year as a law student (or 1L). I LOVE it so far! There are so many things that make me happy about being in the States, Houston, and school again. I have some advice and thoughts to write about, but with my first class of the day being in less than an hour and a half and still having to prepare some work for it, I better stop procrastinating.

I really want this blog to be as successful as it was as my Japan blog, so I will try to dedicate some time to it from now on.

That said, I must dive right back into the world of Contracts. Good bye!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane!

HELLO! I'm still alive, don't worry! I have been MECHA busy this past week or so.

On Friday at 8 am I am boarding my plane from out of Nagasaki. From there I will fly to Tokyo and then directly from there to Houston. I will get home at 2 pm on Friday (I love going back because you gain a day instead of lose a day). I'm going home -- I can't believe it! It has been an amazing year here in Japan!

I have a lot to post about from my past week, but I will get that as soon as I can.

Meg just left. I am so sad, but we know we will see each other again. :)

In the HAPPI for our taiko group -- more on that later! M&M Forever! :D

Time to finish packing and start scrubbin'!!!

See yall SOON!

No Yosakoi No Life

Finally, 6 months in the making, we have finished our Yosakoi video. This video is a compilation of the four of us (Meg, Zara, Ana, and myself) dancing our various Yosakoi dances all around Japan. Locations include Omura, Hirado, Okinawa, Yakushima, Kyoto, Osaka (or, over Osaka, rather), Hiroshima, Miyajima, the waterfall, karaoke boxes, a train, Sasebo, mikan fields, and a salsa dancing club in Fukuoka.

We made this as a gift for our two Yosakoi dance sensei. We're silly, but what's new? :) Enjoy!

Typhoon = Plan B

We (ZAMM) were supposed to go to the Goto Islands this weekend, but the "typhoon" foiled our plans. I put typhoon in quotes because all we got were strong winds -- it was a rather pleasant day, actually. Sunshine and no rain, for once...which reminds me that TSUYU (the rainy season) is over! Shiyay!

With grounded planes, we had to pull out plan B. Our weekend turned out to be just as fun as a beach getaway to the Gotos would have been (and not to mention a lot cheaper).

On Saturday, Meg, Zara, Ana, and Jared came over to my place for a dinner get together. We had SOUMEN NO KAWA (Soumen -- a popular summer noodle -- "RIVER") and a lot of other yummy foods. But Sunday was where it was. We drove just south of Nagasaki to Nomozaki to enjoy the beaches -- and that we did. Check out these pictures! The beach was beautiful, we couldn't have asked for better weather, the water was welcoming, and the company (as always) was terrific.

The lighthouse of Nomozaki. The clouds (what little of them there were that day) looked to be painted on. I love this picture!

The water is gorgeous!

What a view!

FIGHTO!

The waves were huge and overpowering at times...they knocked M and Z down!! GANBARE!

We made a sand demon (砂の鬼！）

Drying off and OCEAN CRUNCHIES! :)

Oh so happy! :)

This, my friends, is GUNKANJIMA or "Battleship Island" -- as it looks like a battleship from afar. (The link is Zara's post on it -- it's interesting, you should read it.) It used to be a densely populated island coal mining city, but when the residents were told to evacuate in the 1970s, they picked up and left, leaving behind homes, household goods, and large buildings. I would LOVE to go explore this ghost town of an island, but it is illegal to go there (unless you have fisherman connections...), so pictures will have to suffice. We sat and looked at it for a good 10 minutes -- so cool!

On the way back home, we stopped at ZENZERO for one last round of delicious pizza. I came home and packed some more, but the next day, being a holiday, held more adventures in store!

Monday was "UMI NO HI" or "Marine Day." We definitely celebrated the ocean by going to it the day before, but our fun with the water wasn't done yet. First we had a delicious VIKING (buffet) at the beloved SHUSHU (the place with the tomato ice cream) and were even greeted by the owner and allowed to walk around their melon nursery. He showed us how they write words in melons to make the veins grow in letters -- he even wrote YOSAKOI 「ヨサコイ」　on a baby one for us -- it will be reattached and when it matures it will read YOSAKOI. You can pay 2,000 yen to get one made just for you (right, I refuse to pay 20 bucks for a melon, but it's still cool nevertheless).

Despite the rainy weather, we decided to go to the waterfall for a dip. My jaw dropped once we reached the bottom -- the rainy season did not let us down on this one. I have only seen the waterfall look like this:

So, you can imagine my astonishment to see THIS:

sugoi! :)

The water was much too cold for me to swim in, but that did not stop Meg, Zara, Ana, and Ryusaku. In the meantime, I was busy taking pictures of chouchou:

It was just chillin' with us...

How cute are they?! :)

Afterwards we went to PEACE CAFE where the owners LOVE Z and M. He let us go down to his basement to sing with his karaoke machine (for free!). I am always impressed by all the hospitality we get!

We even had an audience half way through! This is us doing YMCA! :)

What a weekend! And, いつのまにか、it's already Tuesday night! We went to an オススメ UNAGI (eel) restaurant tonight where we totally blew away the two little ladies that worked there with our Japanese (they were so cute!). Oh, and I love eel -- why don't we have it in the States? :)

I have a very exciting post I'm going to post within the next 10 hours, so stay on the edge of your seat!

Typhoon Woes

Thanks Ana for the reminder. It really has been a while since I last updated. I've been really busy lately and otherwise lazy when it comes to updating this. I apologize!!

So, this weekend the girls and I were supposed to go to the Goto islands for a long weekend getaway of beautiful beaches, summer sun, and fresh fish. But, of course, there has to be a typhoon headed straight for Kyushu this weekend and as of right now, our original flight is canceled. I hope we get to go, but safety is also important.

On a happier note, I'll just post some pictures from my life the past 13 days. Enjoy!

Fourth of July party GRILL AMERICANA turned dinner party at my place. We had 「流しそーめん」 ("Soumen river!" as Zara calls it) instead of BBQ chicken -- because we could and because it's fun to eat noodles with no effort. :) That was Meg and my birthday present to Zara (the Soumen river).

Happy Birthday to you, ZARA!!! We had a very fun get together at Yotoko and Ana made that amazing carrot cake! :) That does indeed deserve a SHIYAY!

Last weekend, the four of us girls (and Max and Alan -- the guy in the red shirt) went to Fukuoka to celebrate Z's birthday by going salsa dancing! We had a blast! We also went to Canal City for dinner and a couple of fantastic rounds of purikura. We stayed the night in a really clean and CHEAP hostel and caught an early train back because we met our dance teacher, her husband, and two other ladies from our Yosakoi group for an amazing lunch at the restaurant that Z and I went to over a month ago (bagel-glasses place!) -- where her boyfriend works! All four of us were treated to a delicious multi-course meal. :)

Last night I had dinner with these lovely four ladies -- all teachers at the Deaf School (the one on the left is my first JTE and the one to the immediate left of me is my new JTE) -- look what I taught them! Hook 'em! :D (By the way, whatever that white dot is on me, it's from the camera and not from my clothes.)

I'm going to go back to bed now -- Update on the plane status: we are scheduled to fly at 5 pm instead of 10 -- if that falls through, it's on to plan B.

浴衣 YUKATA

Today I had the opportunity to get professionally dressed in a beautiful blue yukata (cotton kimono) with Meg and Zara. What a fantastic experience and great company. The teacher is an amazing woman with the biggest sense of humor I have ever seen in any Japanese person (totally unexpected). The process of dressing in yukata is really like an art (like most things in Japan) -- especially the tying of the obi (sash). Our Sensei is quiet talented at making her own special ties. I loved what she did with the obi on me! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Sensei had us laughing the entire time we were together -- as you can easily tell.

My beautiful friends!

Sensei's original obi design -- I love the way she tied it! And what a beautiful obi and yukata! She let me borrow it today and she commenting on how it looks so much better on me than it does on her. hahahaha.

I learned today that in the olden days, people wore yukatas IN the bath and that's why the kanji for bath is in the name -- 浴衣. It later just turned into a more informal "bath robe" / cool summer wear. Also, dark blue is a traditional and popular color for yukata because it apparently keeps the mosquitoes away. Come to think of it, I did NOT get bit for once while walking around in it today.

Action shot!

Hydrangeas -- the flower of Omura. I match!

Sensei was showing us how to pose for all sorts of pictures -- in these we are pretending to fix the obi. :)

A huge thanks to Tamana and Zara for setting all of this up! :) I had a lot of fun today with you ladies, as always!

Scaredy Cat!

Literally.

Yesterday when I was sitting at the computer, preparing for class, I heard a few girls in the hallway scream. I just figured they were getting excited about something or other; but then a couple of girls that were in the teachers room also screamed. I looked to my left and I see this blur of golden fur fly by me and into the closet room at the end of the staff room.

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

Turns out a cat got into the school and was desperately trying to find its way out. It came out of the room, ran behind the computer desk, and jumped onto the filing cabinets on the other side of the room. There are big, regular windows on either side of the staff room. There are also windows above those. The cat was trying to jump to where the top window was -- I guess he thought it was open, but of course there wasn't anything to grab onto and it just fell each time (and knocked off rulers, books, etc.) The cat then proceeded to meow the most horrified meow I have ever heard -- as if it were screaming bloody murder.

One of the teachers opened the bigger window and after a second of getting it's bearings, it jumped...two floors down to the gravel parking lot. I guess they say cats always land on their feet. I am assuming the cat is okay, but I didn't hear about it or see it after that.

So yes, that's my second cat story from this school. Last year there was this cat that would always come into my International Understanding Class and just kinda hang out with us. Cute.

On a totally unrelated note: Why do I get laughed at for eating a whole apple? Is it just some weird Western thing? I don't get it.

New PAGE!

I decided to have a page solely dedicated to pictures. A new picture a day. Check it out!!!

http://marynewton.typepad.com/shashinstories/

Bookmark it now!:)

(Of course I will continue to have pictures in my posts, don't worry!)

Hirado Roadtrip!

Last Friday, Meg, Zara, and I went out to eat pizza at a restaurant I recently found here. It was alright -- soooo cheesy! After dinner, Zara suggested that we go up to the island of Hirado (northern Nagasaki) for a fun Saturday trip. We got lucky with the weather and it didn't rain on us -- and we even got about an hour of sunlight!

Not a good picture, but here's the bridge to Hirado. Sorta remenescent of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our lunch!!! But really, it wasn't the best sashmi I've ever had. Kinda chewy...but it looks good!

So, we drove around and found this random sign to somewhere (an unknown destination) -- of course we had to go! The walk down there was...difficult for these two. :) How do my 3 dollar Old Navy flip flops have better traction than nice sandals? :)

THIS is what we were walking down a mountain to see. Too bad the beach was kinda gross.

The sign was for this little shrine. Zara is being Japanese and souji-ing. :)

After that, we drove some more. We were REALLY in the inaka (countryside). We saw cows, lots of green, and little old ladies driving huge farming equipment (cutest thing!!). Ah yes, and this sign. It says CAUTION!! (CHUI!)

On our drive, we came across this hippy dippy little cafe and we had to check it out.

It had some set-up! I'm sure they have some hard core jams!

We enjoyed a piece of sweet potato (?? maybe, that's what it tasted like) bread...err, cake. :)

We found a lighthouse! And check out the lushish green from up there!...

Ah yeah, and we were in the clouds too...except for this time when the sun came out.

Thought I would throw this in here to disgust some of you. They do a lot of octopus fishing in the water (there are also whale sightings there too!)...here are some dried baby octopus's for your eating enjoyment! No, I did not buy these.

Lastly, we went to Hirado castle, which was rebuilt in the 1960s.

Oh Yosakoi...

Yes, we danced in this thing. It looks cool!

And this has to be my favorite picture of the day! Taken by yours truly! DHOOM!!!!

They had a shrine on the grounds and a shop with these Samurai uniforms in them! Sweet.

On our way home, we stopped at MIKE'S TEX-MEX restaurant in Sasebo. Needless to say, this made me very happy!

Thanks for the pictures, Z! And HECK YES I have Texas pride. And I am PROUD of it, too! Hook 'em!

Ladies, I had a fabulous time with you on Saturday! Next is SUNDAY'S YOSAKOI! Oharu!!

Welcome to the Rainy Season!

June 11th marked the first official day of the rainy season here in Japan. It didn't rain until the next day, but there's plenty more where that came from.

The forecast for just about everyday:

"scattered thunderstorms"

 

Here's to staying dry!!

Pepsi Ice Cucumber

What a week I have had! I will get to that tomorrow (probably), but for now, let me share with you Pepsi's newest flavor: ice cucumber. Zara made this sweet video of us trying it today. Haha...it has a weird after taste. Bring back Crystal Pepsi!

Enjoy!