And now, I’m back at school, just blogging away. I’m on page 11 now. The students are testing all day so I don’t have anything to do really. I think I will start studying Japanese once I get this posted.
Sorry about the time lapse since the last post. I’m really trying. I just got pretty busy last week.
September 5, 2007
September 4, 2007
First Day of Lessons!
Tuesday was the real deal. My first lesson. I got to school extra early. I actually drove since I knew I would be going to Ninomiya which is at least a 10 minute bike ride and I didn’t want to be stressed about getting there especially with all the posters I had made. Anyway, I didn’t have to do my normal 10 minutes of fanning myself to cool down routine since I didn’t bike to school. So I got out these question word posters I had made and laminated and got them hole-punched and connected them with binder rings. It worked really well. And they magically fit perfectly into this little carrying case that I picked up in Takamatsu. I had also purchased some magnet clips and they were just strong enough to hold up the question words. Then I grabbed my computer and went up to the A/V room and set everything up. Of course, something was wrong and I couldn’t get the sound to work. Then I realized that I had plugged the cord into the microphone jack on my computer instead of the headphone jack. When the class finally did come in, I was a bit nervous. But I greeted them at the door and said good morning to all of them. I had “Georgia on my mind” playing as they sat down. Then, I started right in with my presentation. It was a rocky start. I had been warned, but they were reallllly quiet. Almost totally non-responsive. Even though I was just saying hello and trying to get them to say it back, it took several tries. And then I just had to move on. I didn’t know what they were understanding because there was no response so I just kept repeating and asking questions about what I was saying. But that was pointless as there were maybe one or two people who were trying to answer. When I finished I didn’t have a lot of time for the Jeopardy game. So we didn’t keep score and we didn’t have a winner. We just answered a few of the questions. But it was still fun. I hit my stride about ¾ of the way through the presentation and felt good at the end of it. And then I faltered a bit when I realized the time crunch with Jeopardy, but overall I felt pretty good. The kids left and I said goodbye to them as they walked out.
It was good to finally have taught something. But then I had two periods off. I shut everything down and took my computer back to the office. I thought I would catch up on the blog for an hour and then do a Japanese lesson for an hour since we were supposed to meet Tuesday night for our second study group and I hadn’t completed a single goal we set forth. But the blog ended up taking on a life of it’s own. I typed about 5 pages when it was time to go back up for lesson number two.
This lesson went much more smoothly. I was very comfortable and this class was a bit louder and more engaged with the lesson. I was able to ask questions and actually get answers and move through the presentation more quickly. Occasionally, I would go back and review some of what I explained about myself to check their comprehension and prepare them for the game. We actually had about 20 minutes for the game this time around and it worked a little better. We only did about 7 or 8 questions, but it was good. We had a winning group and I gave them all stickers. Some of them tried to get two stickers which I was surprised at. And also, someone tried to cheat in the game, but I caught them. They tried to change their answer after I revealed the one on the board. But I really liked that class. I felt like they really got what I was saying. The teacher said that she thinks even though the first class was quiet, that they understood most of what I was saying but that they were shy. I’m good with that. It just makes it hard on me to know if I need to slow down or just keep going if they don’t respond.
Afterward we had lunch. Since I had to go the elementary, they served me mine early on my desk. It was curry and rice. Pretty good actually. There was also a bottle of really bad tasting milk. It really tasted rotten even though it wasn’t. And there was a salad of chickpeas, ham, cucumbers, and cabbage. And half a kiwi fruit. I liked everything except the milk. And I’m a big milk drinker.
I had to drive home because at some point during the second Jeopardy game I got some of the red marker they were on the front of my white shirt. So I changed and then went to Ninomiya Elementary. This is my base elementary that I will visit weekly. They are superexcited about English and internationalization. There is another English ALT who comes there (she is actually from Korea but speaks really good English and Japanese. I met her at the barbecue in Nio.). And the 5th grade teacher is a former junior high school English teacher and he has excellent English as well. They have various international connections. One in the US and one in Paraguay that I know of. Anyway, I went there and met with the principal and we went over the schedule. At 1 we went to the gym where the 98 students, grades 1-6 were waiting. First the kochosensei spoke and then I got up and gave my introduction in Japanese. Then I gave it in very simple English using my posters. The 5th grade teacher, Yoshida-sensei, translated most of what I said so they could understand it all. Then they asked questions. I got some about food likes and dislikes, sports, trouble/accidents in Japan, etc. Then we played a game where the students were given a card with a fruit on it and they had to walk around asking “Are you… (peach, apple, etc.) or Do you have…?” to find others with the same fruit until they formed a group of 5 and could sit down. After that, I went back to the kochosensei’s office were we sat and talked in Japenglish over some tea and cookies. Then I went up to the 5th grade class for their English lesson. We did “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” with some Simon Says thrown in there for good measure. It was fun. I also played a game my high schoolers loved for some reason where two students are at the front and you tell them to do something and the fastest one gets a point for their team. At first, they didn’t really understand, but by the end they were in to it.
Oh and I don’t know if I mentioned this. All of these lessons were done with NO AC!!!!! After lesson number 1 at the JHS, my shirt was drenched through. And that was with an undershirt and shortsleeves. By the 2nd lesson, I was completely soaked and if anyone had touched my pants, the would have felt damp. I had to change shirts because of the stain, and I decided to take off the undershirt also. Well, I wasn’t thinking clearly because the new shirt was blue and of course, no AC at the elementary and the sweat was clearly visible as soon as I got out of the car and I just had patches all over for the rest of the day. I guess I’ll get used to it, but it starts feeling really sticky after awhile which is uncomfortable. But I know it’s not just me. One of the teachers was wearing a black shirt and at the end of the day another teacher pointed out the sweat lines on her back. You know how on some fabrics in dark colors you’ll see a whitish line show up where you’ve been sweating? She had a clear one running in a wide circle across her back. So I guess I just need to always remember an undershirt and to get used to it.
When I got back to the JHS, the teachers told me that the kochosensei’s mother-in-law had passed and they were going to visit his home for a few minutes but that I didn’t have to come, but I could if I wanted to. I’ve heard that you get that a lot as a foreigner. “You can do this, but you don’t have to.” And it’s hard to interpret whether they are actually a) asking you to do it, b) suggesting you do it, c) making an exception for you as a foreigner, d) really trying to make your life easier, or e) all of the above. I decided to go. He did come to greet me at the airport for just 10 minutes which was probably a 30-45 minute drive for him one way. I felt even though I don’t know him well, it would be good to pay my respects. After that I went home.
Tye, Matt, and I canceled our study session since none of us had completed our goals and Matt had some trouble with getting his bike on a train to go home with it as well as getting on the wrong train and having to do a lot of work to prepare for his lessons. We will either meet Thursday or just wait until next Tuesday when we’ve had time to complete the goals.
It was good to finally have taught something. But then I had two periods off. I shut everything down and took my computer back to the office. I thought I would catch up on the blog for an hour and then do a Japanese lesson for an hour since we were supposed to meet Tuesday night for our second study group and I hadn’t completed a single goal we set forth. But the blog ended up taking on a life of it’s own. I typed about 5 pages when it was time to go back up for lesson number two.
This lesson went much more smoothly. I was very comfortable and this class was a bit louder and more engaged with the lesson. I was able to ask questions and actually get answers and move through the presentation more quickly. Occasionally, I would go back and review some of what I explained about myself to check their comprehension and prepare them for the game. We actually had about 20 minutes for the game this time around and it worked a little better. We only did about 7 or 8 questions, but it was good. We had a winning group and I gave them all stickers. Some of them tried to get two stickers which I was surprised at. And also, someone tried to cheat in the game, but I caught them. They tried to change their answer after I revealed the one on the board. But I really liked that class. I felt like they really got what I was saying. The teacher said that she thinks even though the first class was quiet, that they understood most of what I was saying but that they were shy. I’m good with that. It just makes it hard on me to know if I need to slow down or just keep going if they don’t respond.
Afterward we had lunch. Since I had to go the elementary, they served me mine early on my desk. It was curry and rice. Pretty good actually. There was also a bottle of really bad tasting milk. It really tasted rotten even though it wasn’t. And there was a salad of chickpeas, ham, cucumbers, and cabbage. And half a kiwi fruit. I liked everything except the milk. And I’m a big milk drinker.
I had to drive home because at some point during the second Jeopardy game I got some of the red marker they were on the front of my white shirt. So I changed and then went to Ninomiya Elementary. This is my base elementary that I will visit weekly. They are superexcited about English and internationalization. There is another English ALT who comes there (she is actually from Korea but speaks really good English and Japanese. I met her at the barbecue in Nio.). And the 5th grade teacher is a former junior high school English teacher and he has excellent English as well. They have various international connections. One in the US and one in Paraguay that I know of. Anyway, I went there and met with the principal and we went over the schedule. At 1 we went to the gym where the 98 students, grades 1-6 were waiting. First the kochosensei spoke and then I got up and gave my introduction in Japanese. Then I gave it in very simple English using my posters. The 5th grade teacher, Yoshida-sensei, translated most of what I said so they could understand it all. Then they asked questions. I got some about food likes and dislikes, sports, trouble/accidents in Japan, etc. Then we played a game where the students were given a card with a fruit on it and they had to walk around asking “Are you… (peach, apple, etc.) or Do you have…?” to find others with the same fruit until they formed a group of 5 and could sit down. After that, I went back to the kochosensei’s office were we sat and talked in Japenglish over some tea and cookies. Then I went up to the 5th grade class for their English lesson. We did “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” with some Simon Says thrown in there for good measure. It was fun. I also played a game my high schoolers loved for some reason where two students are at the front and you tell them to do something and the fastest one gets a point for their team. At first, they didn’t really understand, but by the end they were in to it.
Oh and I don’t know if I mentioned this. All of these lessons were done with NO AC!!!!! After lesson number 1 at the JHS, my shirt was drenched through. And that was with an undershirt and shortsleeves. By the 2nd lesson, I was completely soaked and if anyone had touched my pants, the would have felt damp. I had to change shirts because of the stain, and I decided to take off the undershirt also. Well, I wasn’t thinking clearly because the new shirt was blue and of course, no AC at the elementary and the sweat was clearly visible as soon as I got out of the car and I just had patches all over for the rest of the day. I guess I’ll get used to it, but it starts feeling really sticky after awhile which is uncomfortable. But I know it’s not just me. One of the teachers was wearing a black shirt and at the end of the day another teacher pointed out the sweat lines on her back. You know how on some fabrics in dark colors you’ll see a whitish line show up where you’ve been sweating? She had a clear one running in a wide circle across her back. So I guess I just need to always remember an undershirt and to get used to it.
When I got back to the JHS, the teachers told me that the kochosensei’s mother-in-law had passed and they were going to visit his home for a few minutes but that I didn’t have to come, but I could if I wanted to. I’ve heard that you get that a lot as a foreigner. “You can do this, but you don’t have to.” And it’s hard to interpret whether they are actually a) asking you to do it, b) suggesting you do it, c) making an exception for you as a foreigner, d) really trying to make your life easier, or e) all of the above. I decided to go. He did come to greet me at the airport for just 10 minutes which was probably a 30-45 minute drive for him one way. I felt even though I don’t know him well, it would be good to pay my respects. After that I went home.
Tye, Matt, and I canceled our study session since none of us had completed our goals and Matt had some trouble with getting his bike on a train to go home with it as well as getting on the wrong train and having to do a lot of work to prepare for his lessons. We will either meet Thursday or just wait until next Tuesday when we’ve had time to complete the goals.
September 3, 2007
Opening Ceremony!
Well Monday was the big day. Opening Ceremony. Don’t let the name confuse you. It is just the reopening of school after summer holiday which is the beginning of second semester. The summer holiday marks the middle of the school year. I got to school early so I would be ready. I hadn’t practiced either of my speeches since they too were in that plastic bag I lost and then when I got it back I was pretty busy with… you know… partying and then …. relaxing….. Ok so I procrastinated and whatever.
But everything went well. In the morning, all the teachers were gathered in the office and the kochosensei spoke and then I went up and introduced myself in Japanese (reading the whole thing). It was funny. There is this one teacher, a music teacher who is really outspoken and energetic and all that. When I got to the part about how I was a high school French teacher for three years, she did one of those Japanese “Ehhhhhhhhhh!?”s really loud. It totally threw me for a second and I just stared at her and then the other teachers were like “Please go on” but in Japanese. Apparently, it’s not common for ALTs to have real teaching experience in an actual school. Usually, they are right out of college. I finished and they clapped. Several teachers came up and said it was very good. So that was nice. Afterward was cleaning time. In Japan, they don’t have custodians in schools. The students and teachers clean up. So I was put to vacuuming the teacher’s office. Not that anything ever gets that dirty. Which makes since, because why would the kids make a mess when they have to clean it up later anyway. Hmm… why can’t we do this in the States? Then, we went to the gym for opening ceremony. No, seats or benches or bleachers for the students and teachers. There was a chair for the kochosensei on the gym floor and one for me on the stage for when he was introducing me. The students came in in lines by grade and class (remember in Japan the students don’t move classrooms, the teachers do, unless it’s a special subject, like art, music, shop, home ec, or lab science). They all lined up in columns facing the stage and then put their arms out in front of themselves to give space between them and the person in front of them. And then sat down. They could either sit on their knees or sit on their butts with their knees bent and their hands around their knees. But I guess the arm spacing part is maybe from the old school, because the teacher yelled some stuff in the microphone and they all got up and looked at the floor where there were little dots in rows and they then spaced themselves according to this. Then the kochosensei and I went to the stage where I sat and he spoke about me. And then I got up and gave my speech in English. Which was basically what the kochosensei just said. And then we went down off the stage and an English teacher translated my speech which was basically what both I and the kochosensei had just said. Then came awards time I presume. I didn’t really know, but they were calling names and students would stand up and some eventually went to the stage where they received certificates. Meanwhile, through all of this the students are sitting silently. And I mean silently. I guess some might have whispered or something, but I didn’t hear it. However, a couple teachers saw some things and they walked up to the students and yelled something really loud in Japanese. Right in the middle of the calling of names and awarding of certificates. It kind of scared me because I wasn’t expecting it at all and it was so loud and literally right in the middle of someone talking. But no one reacted. Things just kept moving along. The teachers were kind of spaced out along the walls of the room either standing, squatting, kneeling, or sitting in some fashion. No chairs for us either. Oh and did I mention no air conditioning? Yeah none of that either. So the windows were open which allowed in a mild breeze from time to time, but it was really hot. I did manage to sit near one and stayed relatively cool. One or two of the students, however, got overheated. One of them was actually taken away by a teacher and the nurse. After that, the students went back to their rooms and had a homeroom and then went home for the day.
I went to lunch with some of the guy teachers. We had udon of course. I got a big hot udon (kake dai) and a fried something or rather. I can’t remember if I’ve described udon. But basically they are big thick noodles that are whitish. They are served in a broth that can be either cold or hot. Generally, you have green onion bits on top and possibly a ginger substance. Some places add seaweed and a fish thing (it’s a little white thing that has a pink design on it that looks like it could be a cookie but is somewhat flexible and mushy and is made of fish bits but doesn’t taste like fish… or anything really). You can also add some spice to it as well. You also have the option to buy a tempura vegetable to add on top of it and also some rice on the side. Usually the rice is formed in a triangle or round and possibly wrapped in seaweed (I think this is called onigiri) so you can pick it up with your chopsticks altogether. Anyway, so I got the kake dai udon and a tempura and it still only cost me 360 yen (about $3.30). It’s a pretty filling meal as well.
Anyway, after lunch the teachers had a meeting that I was exempt from. I found out that yes Japanese teachers have the dreaded teachers meeting that lasts for 3 hours (probably unnecessarily so) just like we do in America. I worked on tidying up my powerpoints and also getting pictures set for making posters to take to the elementaries for my self introductions there. I figured powerpoint wouldn’t have the same effect there, not to mention I have no idea what their facilities are like. So I worked on that the whole time they were gone. It gave me the chance to explore the office a bit as well. I found where a lot of the supplies are in the copy room. I also figured out how to print on to A3 sized paper. A4 is about like our regular 8.5x11/letter sized paper. I think it’s a tad longer. And A3 is basically the size of two A4s sitting next to each other. So, I was able to get my pictures in a word document and print them off really big for the posters. I think they turned out rather nicely. I actually ended up staying at the office until around 6 or 6 30. Most of the teachers were still there as well scurrying back and forth looking really busy and stressed. I asked one of the English teachers what time the school would close since I wasn’t quite done and I wanted to finish before leaving since I would have my first elementary self-introduction on Tuesday. She said, “Oh around 7 or 8.” That’s pretty crazy, but I’ve heard that teachers generally work themselves pretty hard. During summer break you wouldn’t know this, but then again, I did see a couple teachers come in to do one or two things and then leave on their vacation day. And they would stay after hours to do their club activities as well though most had moved their club hours to during their work hours. But apparently once school starts they will be here until quite late. Working on lessons and doing club activities. And when I say club activities, it’s really more like our actual teams in the states. Except they don’t get paid extra. Although, when I was talking with Sachie on the train, she mentioned something about bonuses that teachers get.
Well, I did finish and left and I’m learning the appropriate sayings more and more. They have taught me either a colloquialism or a more informal way (or maybe it’s both) to say goodbye. Something like “Hondarana”. Because they laugh when I say it. And then there is “Tsukaresamadeshita” which I think means something like “We worked hard today, didn’t we.”
Anyway, at home I decided to make something half-way decent for myself and I wanted to get stickers to give as prizes. So I went to the grocery store and I got some cucumbers and a tomato and I thought of making a tricolor salad that I’ve had before. You just slice those up with some mozzarella and olive oil and maybe some spices and that’s it, but it tastes pretty good. Then I remembered I was in Japan where cheese is not very common. Especially something like fresh mozzarella. But I gave it a shot anyway. I bypassed the section marked “Dairy” as that is where they have fresh fish. And went to where they have yogurt. And then I found the cream cheese and the cheese products. And lo and behold, they had fresh mozzarella!! I also found an Italian spice mix which was perfect. I couldn’t find any stickers with English on them there or anywhere else, so I went home and made my salad. I thought about making some pasta, but by this time I was too tired to complete the "halfway decent meal" and I opted for ramen because it was easier. I settled in and read Harry Potter and went to bed.
But everything went well. In the morning, all the teachers were gathered in the office and the kochosensei spoke and then I went up and introduced myself in Japanese (reading the whole thing). It was funny. There is this one teacher, a music teacher who is really outspoken and energetic and all that. When I got to the part about how I was a high school French teacher for three years, she did one of those Japanese “Ehhhhhhhhhh!?”s really loud. It totally threw me for a second and I just stared at her and then the other teachers were like “Please go on” but in Japanese. Apparently, it’s not common for ALTs to have real teaching experience in an actual school. Usually, they are right out of college. I finished and they clapped. Several teachers came up and said it was very good. So that was nice. Afterward was cleaning time. In Japan, they don’t have custodians in schools. The students and teachers clean up. So I was put to vacuuming the teacher’s office. Not that anything ever gets that dirty. Which makes since, because why would the kids make a mess when they have to clean it up later anyway. Hmm… why can’t we do this in the States? Then, we went to the gym for opening ceremony. No, seats or benches or bleachers for the students and teachers. There was a chair for the kochosensei on the gym floor and one for me on the stage for when he was introducing me. The students came in in lines by grade and class (remember in Japan the students don’t move classrooms, the teachers do, unless it’s a special subject, like art, music, shop, home ec, or lab science). They all lined up in columns facing the stage and then put their arms out in front of themselves to give space between them and the person in front of them. And then sat down. They could either sit on their knees or sit on their butts with their knees bent and their hands around their knees. But I guess the arm spacing part is maybe from the old school, because the teacher yelled some stuff in the microphone and they all got up and looked at the floor where there were little dots in rows and they then spaced themselves according to this. Then the kochosensei and I went to the stage where I sat and he spoke about me. And then I got up and gave my speech in English. Which was basically what the kochosensei just said. And then we went down off the stage and an English teacher translated my speech which was basically what both I and the kochosensei had just said. Then came awards time I presume. I didn’t really know, but they were calling names and students would stand up and some eventually went to the stage where they received certificates. Meanwhile, through all of this the students are sitting silently. And I mean silently. I guess some might have whispered or something, but I didn’t hear it. However, a couple teachers saw some things and they walked up to the students and yelled something really loud in Japanese. Right in the middle of the calling of names and awarding of certificates. It kind of scared me because I wasn’t expecting it at all and it was so loud and literally right in the middle of someone talking. But no one reacted. Things just kept moving along. The teachers were kind of spaced out along the walls of the room either standing, squatting, kneeling, or sitting in some fashion. No chairs for us either. Oh and did I mention no air conditioning? Yeah none of that either. So the windows were open which allowed in a mild breeze from time to time, but it was really hot. I did manage to sit near one and stayed relatively cool. One or two of the students, however, got overheated. One of them was actually taken away by a teacher and the nurse. After that, the students went back to their rooms and had a homeroom and then went home for the day.
I went to lunch with some of the guy teachers. We had udon of course. I got a big hot udon (kake dai) and a fried something or rather. I can’t remember if I’ve described udon. But basically they are big thick noodles that are whitish. They are served in a broth that can be either cold or hot. Generally, you have green onion bits on top and possibly a ginger substance. Some places add seaweed and a fish thing (it’s a little white thing that has a pink design on it that looks like it could be a cookie but is somewhat flexible and mushy and is made of fish bits but doesn’t taste like fish… or anything really). You can also add some spice to it as well. You also have the option to buy a tempura vegetable to add on top of it and also some rice on the side. Usually the rice is formed in a triangle or round and possibly wrapped in seaweed (I think this is called onigiri) so you can pick it up with your chopsticks altogether. Anyway, so I got the kake dai udon and a tempura and it still only cost me 360 yen (about $3.30). It’s a pretty filling meal as well.
Anyway, after lunch the teachers had a meeting that I was exempt from. I found out that yes Japanese teachers have the dreaded teachers meeting that lasts for 3 hours (probably unnecessarily so) just like we do in America. I worked on tidying up my powerpoints and also getting pictures set for making posters to take to the elementaries for my self introductions there. I figured powerpoint wouldn’t have the same effect there, not to mention I have no idea what their facilities are like. So I worked on that the whole time they were gone. It gave me the chance to explore the office a bit as well. I found where a lot of the supplies are in the copy room. I also figured out how to print on to A3 sized paper. A4 is about like our regular 8.5x11/letter sized paper. I think it’s a tad longer. And A3 is basically the size of two A4s sitting next to each other. So, I was able to get my pictures in a word document and print them off really big for the posters. I think they turned out rather nicely. I actually ended up staying at the office until around 6 or 6 30. Most of the teachers were still there as well scurrying back and forth looking really busy and stressed. I asked one of the English teachers what time the school would close since I wasn’t quite done and I wanted to finish before leaving since I would have my first elementary self-introduction on Tuesday. She said, “Oh around 7 or 8.” That’s pretty crazy, but I’ve heard that teachers generally work themselves pretty hard. During summer break you wouldn’t know this, but then again, I did see a couple teachers come in to do one or two things and then leave on their vacation day. And they would stay after hours to do their club activities as well though most had moved their club hours to during their work hours. But apparently once school starts they will be here until quite late. Working on lessons and doing club activities. And when I say club activities, it’s really more like our actual teams in the states. Except they don’t get paid extra. Although, when I was talking with Sachie on the train, she mentioned something about bonuses that teachers get.
Well, I did finish and left and I’m learning the appropriate sayings more and more. They have taught me either a colloquialism or a more informal way (or maybe it’s both) to say goodbye. Something like “Hondarana”. Because they laugh when I say it. And then there is “Tsukaresamadeshita” which I think means something like “We worked hard today, didn’t we.”
Anyway, at home I decided to make something half-way decent for myself and I wanted to get stickers to give as prizes. So I went to the grocery store and I got some cucumbers and a tomato and I thought of making a tricolor salad that I’ve had before. You just slice those up with some mozzarella and olive oil and maybe some spices and that’s it, but it tastes pretty good. Then I remembered I was in Japan where cheese is not very common. Especially something like fresh mozzarella. But I gave it a shot anyway. I bypassed the section marked “Dairy” as that is where they have fresh fish. And went to where they have yogurt. And then I found the cream cheese and the cheese products. And lo and behold, they had fresh mozzarella!! I also found an Italian spice mix which was perfect. I couldn’t find any stickers with English on them there or anywhere else, so I went home and made my salad. I thought about making some pasta, but by this time I was too tired to complete the "halfway decent meal" and I opted for ramen because it was easier. I settled in and read Harry Potter and went to bed.
September 2, 2007
Crazy Weekend - Pirates vs. Ninjas
Matt was nice and had bought us pizza. And even in my mad dash packing, I thought to grab us beers for the ride. So we had a nice meal on the way. We met Tye who was on the same train when we changed trains at station on the way. When we arrived, Matt suggested putting our things in a locker, but I said since we would just be at a beer garden all night and heading straight to Sam’s, we wouldn’t need one (this is also important.). Well we had a great time eating and drinking (nomihodai and tabehodai, of course). Afterward, as people were deciding what to do, I was thinking it would be better if I just went home, but the mention of karaoke made me forget all that. So I went with a bunch of people to karaoke. We sang and drank a bit more that night. It was fun, but I’m not sure it was worth the hazy morning. Anyway, after we finished karaoke, I grabbed by blue bag and my plastic bag and we ate some food. I don’t really recall what it was, but it was good. Then we got a taxi and headed to Takeshi’s place. He is a guy who met us up at the karaoke place and who is married to a former JET. He was letting us crash at his place, so when we got out I grabbed my blue bag and we went in. (Did you notice it?) Apparently, when Takeshi got out his futon, I laid down on it and fell right asleep. I didn’t realize this until the morning. But the odd thing was, I didn’t wake up there, at some point in the night I went down stairs to go to the bathroom, but never made it back up. I was on this really short couch with my legs over the arm. Anyway, as we were getting ready to leave, I grabbed my blue bag and… (did you figure it out?) my plastic bag was NOT there! Let’s make a list, shall we. It contained my:
digital camera (3rd time misplacing/losing/forgetting it)
cell phone
Nintendo DS
apartment keys
car key (Dan’s car)
1300 yen
an apple
So, that was a downer. I was so off for the day. Morgan (one of the new JETs who was out with us) had a car since he lives way out where no trains reach really and Tye, Iain, Morgan, and I left Takeshi’s and went out in search of ninja-wear. The reason being Angie’s Pirates vs. Ninjas party. Angie lives way out east past Sam in a town called Hiketa. And she has an actual house. Well it’s more like a duplex. But she has an upstairs with two rooms and a downstairs with a toilet, bath, kitchen, and living room. It is pretty big. Anyway, she was having a big bash just to get everyone together and bring some life down to her town. So, we guys were out looking for stuff in the hundred yen shops at the malls. We found some pretty good stuff actually. Also, the other three guys are really into either paint ball or air soft. So they got some air soft guns at the mall as well. I may have to invest in one as well. They seem pretty fun. Sort of like BBs but not as painful. And you don’t have to pump the gun a thousand times to make it shoot. I got a nike shirt that just says BALLS on the front. I thought it was funny. And I picked up a kanji dictionary for my Nintendo DS (that I didn’t have at that point since I had lost it). But I was certain that I would get it back… or I would replace it if I had to. Anyway, we drop Iain off and go to Morgan’s to relax for a bit and shower off the previous night. I tried to nap a little, but it didn’t really happen.
Meanwhile, Morgan has been trying to call my cell phone to see if anyone might pick up, but no one is answering. We are going to leave around 4 to pick Iain up and take him to the train station where we will pick up Dan to head to Angie’s. Of course, everything starts happening around that time. I get up and take a shower, Morgan gets a call from a Japanese person that he can barely understand because it’s hard Japanese and about 3 different people keep trying to call him so his phone is beeping the entire time he is talking to the Japanese guy. He is able to understand that the guy has my phone. Something about police. Something about taxi. But that’s it. Then he tries calling all the fluent Japanese speakers we know to get some help and of course no one is answering. I was pretty relieved though. Even though we don’t know where to go exactly we head out because we are late to pick up Iain and get to the station and we will figure out where to get my stuff when we get back in Takamatsu. Right before we get in the car, Morgan gets another call from the guy and this time he is able to understand him. I left my stuff in the taxi and the driver just dropped it off at the police station right near where she dropped us off. The funny thing is, Iain had seen a bag in the taxi and asked the driver if it was hers (in English) and she nodded or something and then he just left it. She probably thought we were really stupid. I’m just glad she dropped it off. But that’s something that is different about Japan. You can be a bit more trusting with your belongings. Not that you should make it a habit, because theft does exist. It’s just that you’re more likely to come across honest good citizens than people who believe finders keepers is a natural law. I’ve been out shopping a number of times when I realize I need to stop at another store and I feel awkward bringing in my bags from another store into this one and I leave them in my bike’s basket. I come out and they are still there. I’ve seen a few items that people have dropped or forgotten that others have put up somewhere so they can be seen and reclaimed. Other people have lost things that have been returned to them. Someone left a cell phone at a hotel, Sam left her passport in a taxi, someone left a computer at a bar (though I haven’t heard if they got that back or not). Anyway, we went back and the police station was literally right across the street from Takeshi’s place.
Eventually we made it down to Hiketa where we grabbed dinner and then provisions and went to the party. It was pretty fun. About 19 people showed up which is a lot for a gathering at someone’s place considering the size of apartments around here. Everyone dressed up so it was a lot of fun. We had demon masks and black head wraps and those shoes that have the big toe separate and that go up the calf most of the way. Oh and plastic swords and throwing stars and rubber nunchucks. Anyway, the partying and talking and drinking lasted until about 2, but I was pretty exhausted from the night before so I was sleeping off and on in the room where everyone settled from noon until 2 and then we all went to bed eventually. For some reason I felt really good and chipper the next day. I was up at around 7 or 7 30 I think. I took a shower and changed and got ready. Eventually the other guys going in Morgan’s car started getting up as well. He was hoping to get back early for a school event. We ate breakfast and tried cleaning up a bit and headed out.
Back in Takamatsu, I went shopping in the shotengai for a few things I had been wanting to get. That dang book bag that I still haven’t found. I’m not sure what kind I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I see it. I got a kanji game for my DS as well. When I got to the train station I got my ticket and figured out what time I would need to board and then settled on some seats and started to situate all the stuff in my bags because I still had that plastic bag o’ expensive stuff, plus the bags of stuff I had bought in Tak. So I got all that set and was sitting there for a second. I checked the time and it was getting close so I went to grab my ticket….. which was NOT IN MY POCKET. The ticket costs about 9 dollars to get back to Takase. Not a ton, but I didn’t really want to pay it again. So I had to go through all the stuff I had just organized and couldn’t find it. I gathered all my stuff and walked back to the ticket machine and didn’t see it there or anywhere on the way. Then I went back to the seat and decided to grab the bags and trash that I had thrown in the bin and went through those. NO ticket. On the way back to my seat I looked at the ground which was black and barely made out this little square. See the tickets are bright orange on one side with all the info printed on it, and then black on the other side. So it blended in completely. I must have forgotten I had it in my hand when I sat down and just let go of it.
Anyway, I noticed a girl that I thought was someone I had met at the Mexican dinner (actually I met her in Tokushima but I didn’t remember that). I eventually decided it was probably her and called out her name and she looked up. So I sat down over by her and found out that my train was one that would need a transfer whereas if we just sat and waited a bit more then we could take the train that would be direct. So we sat and talked and eventually made it back home. She lives one town over from me in Mino. Her name is Sachie and she has great English. She lived in Colorado for two years working at a university.
Well I made it home where I finally felt tired, but I was resisting napping because I wanted to be on a normal schedule since Monday was opening ceremony. So I watched TV and played the DS and read Harry Potter 7 and cleaned up the place. Oh wait, no I didn’t clean. Ha ha ha. My place is a pig sty right now. Anyway, I did go running though. I made it around this small lake behind the high school near me and then headed over to this small mountain that has a big chunk of it quarried out. I went up it and found this little pond of rain water where they quarried the stone out. It looked pretty cool, like it would be nice for swimming and possibly cliff diving if you could find one low enough (most of them were about 100 feet it seemed which is a bit much) but there was a sign saying not to enter. I made it around and you could look out and see a lot of Takase. I’ll have to go up there again and find a clear view and take a picture so I can point out where I live and where the school is and all that. I swear I’ll start posting pictures soon.
I made it back home and took a nice hot bath, my first since being here. No, I’m not dirty, I’ve just been taking showers. But a hot bath in summer is kind of pointless. Because when you get out, you start sweating right away. So I had to take a cold shower to cool off. But it was actually refreshing all together. I ate some dinner and went to bed after reading Harry Potter for awhile.
So that gets us up to Sunday.
digital camera (3rd time misplacing/losing/forgetting it)
cell phone
Nintendo DS
apartment keys
car key (Dan’s car)
1300 yen
an apple
So, that was a downer. I was so off for the day. Morgan (one of the new JETs who was out with us) had a car since he lives way out where no trains reach really and Tye, Iain, Morgan, and I left Takeshi’s and went out in search of ninja-wear. The reason being Angie’s Pirates vs. Ninjas party. Angie lives way out east past Sam in a town called Hiketa. And she has an actual house. Well it’s more like a duplex. But she has an upstairs with two rooms and a downstairs with a toilet, bath, kitchen, and living room. It is pretty big. Anyway, she was having a big bash just to get everyone together and bring some life down to her town. So, we guys were out looking for stuff in the hundred yen shops at the malls. We found some pretty good stuff actually. Also, the other three guys are really into either paint ball or air soft. So they got some air soft guns at the mall as well. I may have to invest in one as well. They seem pretty fun. Sort of like BBs but not as painful. And you don’t have to pump the gun a thousand times to make it shoot. I got a nike shirt that just says BALLS on the front. I thought it was funny. And I picked up a kanji dictionary for my Nintendo DS (that I didn’t have at that point since I had lost it). But I was certain that I would get it back… or I would replace it if I had to. Anyway, we drop Iain off and go to Morgan’s to relax for a bit and shower off the previous night. I tried to nap a little, but it didn’t really happen.
Meanwhile, Morgan has been trying to call my cell phone to see if anyone might pick up, but no one is answering. We are going to leave around 4 to pick Iain up and take him to the train station where we will pick up Dan to head to Angie’s. Of course, everything starts happening around that time. I get up and take a shower, Morgan gets a call from a Japanese person that he can barely understand because it’s hard Japanese and about 3 different people keep trying to call him so his phone is beeping the entire time he is talking to the Japanese guy. He is able to understand that the guy has my phone. Something about police. Something about taxi. But that’s it. Then he tries calling all the fluent Japanese speakers we know to get some help and of course no one is answering. I was pretty relieved though. Even though we don’t know where to go exactly we head out because we are late to pick up Iain and get to the station and we will figure out where to get my stuff when we get back in Takamatsu. Right before we get in the car, Morgan gets another call from the guy and this time he is able to understand him. I left my stuff in the taxi and the driver just dropped it off at the police station right near where she dropped us off. The funny thing is, Iain had seen a bag in the taxi and asked the driver if it was hers (in English) and she nodded or something and then he just left it. She probably thought we were really stupid. I’m just glad she dropped it off. But that’s something that is different about Japan. You can be a bit more trusting with your belongings. Not that you should make it a habit, because theft does exist. It’s just that you’re more likely to come across honest good citizens than people who believe finders keepers is a natural law. I’ve been out shopping a number of times when I realize I need to stop at another store and I feel awkward bringing in my bags from another store into this one and I leave them in my bike’s basket. I come out and they are still there. I’ve seen a few items that people have dropped or forgotten that others have put up somewhere so they can be seen and reclaimed. Other people have lost things that have been returned to them. Someone left a cell phone at a hotel, Sam left her passport in a taxi, someone left a computer at a bar (though I haven’t heard if they got that back or not). Anyway, we went back and the police station was literally right across the street from Takeshi’s place.
Eventually we made it down to Hiketa where we grabbed dinner and then provisions and went to the party. It was pretty fun. About 19 people showed up which is a lot for a gathering at someone’s place considering the size of apartments around here. Everyone dressed up so it was a lot of fun. We had demon masks and black head wraps and those shoes that have the big toe separate and that go up the calf most of the way. Oh and plastic swords and throwing stars and rubber nunchucks. Anyway, the partying and talking and drinking lasted until about 2, but I was pretty exhausted from the night before so I was sleeping off and on in the room where everyone settled from noon until 2 and then we all went to bed eventually. For some reason I felt really good and chipper the next day. I was up at around 7 or 7 30 I think. I took a shower and changed and got ready. Eventually the other guys going in Morgan’s car started getting up as well. He was hoping to get back early for a school event. We ate breakfast and tried cleaning up a bit and headed out.
Back in Takamatsu, I went shopping in the shotengai for a few things I had been wanting to get. That dang book bag that I still haven’t found. I’m not sure what kind I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I see it. I got a kanji game for my DS as well. When I got to the train station I got my ticket and figured out what time I would need to board and then settled on some seats and started to situate all the stuff in my bags because I still had that plastic bag o’ expensive stuff, plus the bags of stuff I had bought in Tak. So I got all that set and was sitting there for a second. I checked the time and it was getting close so I went to grab my ticket….. which was NOT IN MY POCKET. The ticket costs about 9 dollars to get back to Takase. Not a ton, but I didn’t really want to pay it again. So I had to go through all the stuff I had just organized and couldn’t find it. I gathered all my stuff and walked back to the ticket machine and didn’t see it there or anywhere on the way. Then I went back to the seat and decided to grab the bags and trash that I had thrown in the bin and went through those. NO ticket. On the way back to my seat I looked at the ground which was black and barely made out this little square. See the tickets are bright orange on one side with all the info printed on it, and then black on the other side. So it blended in completely. I must have forgotten I had it in my hand when I sat down and just let go of it.
Anyway, I noticed a girl that I thought was someone I had met at the Mexican dinner (actually I met her in Tokushima but I didn’t remember that). I eventually decided it was probably her and called out her name and she looked up. So I sat down over by her and found out that my train was one that would need a transfer whereas if we just sat and waited a bit more then we could take the train that would be direct. So we sat and talked and eventually made it back home. She lives one town over from me in Mino. Her name is Sachie and she has great English. She lived in Colorado for two years working at a university.
Well I made it home where I finally felt tired, but I was resisting napping because I wanted to be on a normal schedule since Monday was opening ceremony. So I watched TV and played the DS and read Harry Potter 7 and cleaned up the place. Oh wait, no I didn’t clean. Ha ha ha. My place is a pig sty right now. Anyway, I did go running though. I made it around this small lake behind the high school near me and then headed over to this small mountain that has a big chunk of it quarried out. I went up it and found this little pond of rain water where they quarried the stone out. It looked pretty cool, like it would be nice for swimming and possibly cliff diving if you could find one low enough (most of them were about 100 feet it seemed which is a bit much) but there was a sign saying not to enter. I made it around and you could look out and see a lot of Takase. I’ll have to go up there again and find a clear view and take a picture so I can point out where I live and where the school is and all that. I swear I’ll start posting pictures soon.
I made it back home and took a nice hot bath, my first since being here. No, I’m not dirty, I’ve just been taking showers. But a hot bath in summer is kind of pointless. Because when you get out, you start sweating right away. So I had to take a cold shower to cool off. But it was actually refreshing all together. I ate some dinner and went to bed after reading Harry Potter for awhile.
So that gets us up to Sunday.
August 31, 2007
Last Week of Summer Break
For the rest of the week I was actually fairly busy at school. I was helping students with the English speech contest in the mornings and the afternoons. In between, I was finishing up my powerpoint and creating a Jeopardy game on powerpoint to go along with it. Tuesday night was Matt, Tye, and my first Japanese study night. We met and grabbed dinner and then sat down and basically decided what our weekly goals would be. We also shared what resources we had so we might be able to borrow things from time to time. Then I headed home and stayed up late reading Harry Potter 7 which I didn’t get to read before leaving and another JET (Angie, you’ll hear about her in a bit) loaned me at the orientation on Friday. So I was pretty tired from Wednesday on through the week. Oh and I finally got a call from Alana, my friend from UGA whose family lives in Alabama and who is also on the JET programme but placed in Osaka. She didn’t have internet and so we couldn’t communicate that way easily. I had sent her my cell phone number when I got it, but she didn’t get to read her email for 2 weeks and on Tuesday she was at a party where someone had internet and she got it and called me. We didn’t talk too long, but it was good hearing from her. She was supposed to call Wednesday, but when she called at 10pm I had already turned my phone to silent for the night and gone to bed. I was soo tired. Then I didn’t get a chance at school to call her and forgot when I got home. And Friday was equally busy if not moreso. I thought I would have time after school, but I didn’t realize I was going to have to get the train so soon after school. You see, there was aNOTHER event in Takamatsu for us JETs. Not that all these are required, but I’ve heard the outings decrease after school starts back up again and I’d like to get to know these people around me so that maybe we can plan travel together in the future etc. And plus they are pretty cool people. Oh so after school. Yeah I left a bit late around 4 I think. I got home and realized I had left my keys at the school. So I had to truck back. Meanwhile I’m supposed to meet Matt at the train at 4:48. And I haven’t packed yet. I finally get home at 4 25 or so with my keys. I ram a bunch of clothes in my little blue bag and then realize I haven’t packed my electronics etc. And I have all of that in a pile with my pocket stuff (wallet, phone, change, etc.). So I throw that all in a plastic bag (this is important to remember) and head out the door. I make it to the train station. The set up is so that where we park our bikes you can see the platform with tracks on either side where the trains arrive. But you have to head 50 yards away to go through the station building and then go up stairs over the train tracks and then down them to get to the platform in between the tracks. That takes a good 45 seconds at least if you’re running. But I could clearly see the train was there and Matt was getting on. But I also saw the conductor who could clearly see me. I thought I would just run for it the right way, but then I saw him putting the whistle to his mouth. So I jumped the fence and crossed the tracks jumped onto the platform and dashed onto the train. Apparently the conductor just smiled at me. But at least I made it.
August 27, 2007
2nd Orientation and Weekend
Well, let’s see where I left off… it has been awhile.
So, of course I didn’t do any of the things I meant to get done (dishes, etc.). I went home and then went out to an izakaya to wish Andy farewell. (Andy is the New Zealander who was working as a CIR in Mitoyo and helped Tye and I out a whole lot getting settled in and all.) That was pretty fun. A lot of people ended up showing up and we had quite a time. At one point everyone rapped out the entire intro to Prince of Bel-Air. It was pretty cool. Or uncool depending on how you look at it. After that I sort of got ready for Orientation, but not really. So it was another mad dash in the morning trying to get everything set to go. I packed an overnight bag this time, but I only used it to change into something more comfortable after the orientation stuff. The orientation this time was pretty good. They focused on school stuff which gave me some more ideas. My problem is that I get so many ideas that I don’t know which one I want to use and then I end up not using any of them and doing too much work on my own. Too bad I’m not organized. The best part was the video time. One of the Chrises and one of the Dans had some pretty cool videos to show about horror stories and examples of lessons and just some funny stuff.
After, orientation was the pub crawl. We grabbed a bite to eat before hand and then headed for the meeting bar and were divided into teams and began making our way around to the different bars in our teams. The first place we went was totally empty with some OK music and beer that tasted bad. So we left pretty shortly after arriving. We went to a place called Roughhouse after that. It was in a basement and was realllly small, but it was cool. You could tell that when it’s busier it gets realllllly smoky as well. But it was still pretty empty at the time. They had a vast selection of music and you could make requests for just about anything and they would have it. I played darts with Jeremy (He’s the guy also in Mitoyo City but in a secluded town called Nio right on the coast. We had the Mexican dinner at his place.) It was fun. He one once and I one once. It was luck as my aim was severely impaired due to….. ummm… well, you know.
After that we went to the King’s Yaad. It was this funky Jamaican bar. Pretty interesting to find a place like it in Japan I thought. Several of us ordered specialty drinks. They probably aren’t used to having 5 people order one each at the same time. It took a good while before they all arrived. They came in waves and after the last one had arrived and was drunk, we didn’t have time to make it to the fourth bar, but I and most of the others had been there before, so it wasn’t a big deal. So we met all the teams at the World Sports Bar. I didn’t drink anything there. I just used the internet and talked with people. And by that point I had decided I wasn’t going to travel on the weekend. I had heard about a festival in Marugame which is not too far from me on the West side. And the more I thought about it, an actual weekend spent at home would do me a lot of good. I ended up spending less time in my apartment than I had intended but it was good to relax a bit instead of being gone from Friday to Sunday or Monday. So I headed back to Takase on the last train with several others.
Saturday, Matt and I met at the train station and went to Marugame around 1pm for the Basala Dance Summer Festival. It was pretty cool. For this festival, everyone dances a different dance which is different from most of the other festivals. So we walked around for a while watching the different dances. We walked up and down the Shotengai as well. (Shotengai is a covered [mostly] pedestrian area with lots of shops along it. You find them in downtown areas.) And we happened upon a bookstore that had a CD and game section. They had Nintendo DSs which a lot of JETs had been recommending since there is a kanji dictionary cartridge and kanji games as well as lots of other fun games like Mario Kart and Tetris and you can hook up with other Nintendo DSs and play against people. So I decided to go ahead and get one. I decided to wait to get it so I wouldn’t have to carry it around too long. We went to the ATM and then started back for the dancers. We found a drink machine and started sipping on the Chu-hi around 3 or 4 I think and kept at it most of the afternoon. We just walked up and down the streets and by the main stage watching the different groups. Eventually we went back to the bookstore where I got the DS and a game and a case and where Matt completed a rubic’s cube.
Then we went back to the main area in front of the train station where we ran into a group of JETs that had just arrived. They were heading to an Indian place and we were just following along and before we knew it we were sitting at a table trying to decide what to eat, even though we had just had Indian the night before in Takamatsu and hadn’t really wanted it again. Oh I forgot to mention that at one point we bought kazoos. So of course after eating we got out our kazoos and began playing them for the people in the restaurant. Of course, the others hadn’t been drinking chu-hi’s all afternoon and so didn’t find this as amusing as we did. After eating I think we milled around for a bit and then headed down to the waterside to watch the fireworks. They were OK, but it will be hard to beat watching fireworks from the water like we did in Tsuda.
Afterward, we went to the Grasshopper, a bar that foreigners often frequent with a fair sized selection of imported beers and foreign foods. I got some nachos and had a couple of English beers I think they were. And at some point I fell asleep with my head against the wall. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but for some reason, in Japan, so far I’ve fallen asleep three times while I’ve been out with people. I don’t think that I’ve done this before, but maybe so. Of course, there is plenty of photographic evidence and lots of tampering with the sleeping person, but who could blame them. Eventually we hit the last train home. Sam (who had come from way out on the west side with Tye and who had been out in Takamatsu until 6am with Tye the night before after the pub crawl) came back with us to Takase. Apparently, I befriended a guy on the train. At first, I was playing my kazoo and he was yelling something at me. I guess cause we were being so loud. But at some point in the ride, I went over and sat with him and had some sort of conversation with him and we played the kazoo and made up.
Sam stayed over at my place. We got up and had breakfast. She actually helped clean up my place a bit which was still fairly messy. It was really nice of her. We just focused on the kitchen mainly and tidied up the living room a bit. We got Matt up and out and we all went and ate udon together. Afterwards we went to the 100 yen shop and got some useless, unneeded, yet somehow totally necessary junk. Actually, I got a few things I had been intending on getting for a while. A magnetic shelf for my bathroom and some plants and seeds and pots. Dan from Mino called up to say he was on his way to Takase and as we left the shop he was coming up on his bike. He took us down to an Antique store he had mentioned to us before. It was pretty cool. This little shop with tons of stuff from floor to ceiling. They had instruments and records and dishes and clocks and scrolls and books and trinkets. Eventually they brought out iced coffee and crackers and we all sat down and had a conversation mainly via Dan who can speak more Japanese than us of course. I got a few fans and a drawing of a seascape. Afterward, we went back to my place and got in the car to head to Utazu. Matt had been wanting to get guitars, an acoustic and an electric. There’s a used electronics/instrument store called Hard Off. So we went there after picking up Tye from his place. I got to drive, so that was cool. Except we missed a turn and it took about 15 minutes to finally turn around and get back to it. The shopping trip was successful as he found both types of guitars he wanted and a guitar stand and I got a couple of games for my Nintendo DS. While Matt was still selecting his guitars I drove Sam to the train station so she could make it back to her town before it got too late since she was pretty exhausted from the nights out and had her opening ceremony stuff on Monday. That was the first time I drove the car by myself. No accidents. So that was good. We grabbed a bite to eat and then headed home.
Monday I just stayed at home and played with my DS and lounged around avoiding the work that I was supposed to be doing. I actually did eventually work on my desk and got that mostly sorted and I did 3 loads of laundry. I felt good with that.
So, of course I didn’t do any of the things I meant to get done (dishes, etc.). I went home and then went out to an izakaya to wish Andy farewell. (Andy is the New Zealander who was working as a CIR in Mitoyo and helped Tye and I out a whole lot getting settled in and all.) That was pretty fun. A lot of people ended up showing up and we had quite a time. At one point everyone rapped out the entire intro to Prince of Bel-Air. It was pretty cool. Or uncool depending on how you look at it. After that I sort of got ready for Orientation, but not really. So it was another mad dash in the morning trying to get everything set to go. I packed an overnight bag this time, but I only used it to change into something more comfortable after the orientation stuff. The orientation this time was pretty good. They focused on school stuff which gave me some more ideas. My problem is that I get so many ideas that I don’t know which one I want to use and then I end up not using any of them and doing too much work on my own. Too bad I’m not organized. The best part was the video time. One of the Chrises and one of the Dans had some pretty cool videos to show about horror stories and examples of lessons and just some funny stuff.
After, orientation was the pub crawl. We grabbed a bite to eat before hand and then headed for the meeting bar and were divided into teams and began making our way around to the different bars in our teams. The first place we went was totally empty with some OK music and beer that tasted bad. So we left pretty shortly after arriving. We went to a place called Roughhouse after that. It was in a basement and was realllly small, but it was cool. You could tell that when it’s busier it gets realllllly smoky as well. But it was still pretty empty at the time. They had a vast selection of music and you could make requests for just about anything and they would have it. I played darts with Jeremy (He’s the guy also in Mitoyo City but in a secluded town called Nio right on the coast. We had the Mexican dinner at his place.) It was fun. He one once and I one once. It was luck as my aim was severely impaired due to….. ummm… well, you know.
After that we went to the King’s Yaad. It was this funky Jamaican bar. Pretty interesting to find a place like it in Japan I thought. Several of us ordered specialty drinks. They probably aren’t used to having 5 people order one each at the same time. It took a good while before they all arrived. They came in waves and after the last one had arrived and was drunk, we didn’t have time to make it to the fourth bar, but I and most of the others had been there before, so it wasn’t a big deal. So we met all the teams at the World Sports Bar. I didn’t drink anything there. I just used the internet and talked with people. And by that point I had decided I wasn’t going to travel on the weekend. I had heard about a festival in Marugame which is not too far from me on the West side. And the more I thought about it, an actual weekend spent at home would do me a lot of good. I ended up spending less time in my apartment than I had intended but it was good to relax a bit instead of being gone from Friday to Sunday or Monday. So I headed back to Takase on the last train with several others.
Saturday, Matt and I met at the train station and went to Marugame around 1pm for the Basala Dance Summer Festival. It was pretty cool. For this festival, everyone dances a different dance which is different from most of the other festivals. So we walked around for a while watching the different dances. We walked up and down the Shotengai as well. (Shotengai is a covered [mostly] pedestrian area with lots of shops along it. You find them in downtown areas.) And we happened upon a bookstore that had a CD and game section. They had Nintendo DSs which a lot of JETs had been recommending since there is a kanji dictionary cartridge and kanji games as well as lots of other fun games like Mario Kart and Tetris and you can hook up with other Nintendo DSs and play against people. So I decided to go ahead and get one. I decided to wait to get it so I wouldn’t have to carry it around too long. We went to the ATM and then started back for the dancers. We found a drink machine and started sipping on the Chu-hi around 3 or 4 I think and kept at it most of the afternoon. We just walked up and down the streets and by the main stage watching the different groups. Eventually we went back to the bookstore where I got the DS and a game and a case and where Matt completed a rubic’s cube.
Then we went back to the main area in front of the train station where we ran into a group of JETs that had just arrived. They were heading to an Indian place and we were just following along and before we knew it we were sitting at a table trying to decide what to eat, even though we had just had Indian the night before in Takamatsu and hadn’t really wanted it again. Oh I forgot to mention that at one point we bought kazoos. So of course after eating we got out our kazoos and began playing them for the people in the restaurant. Of course, the others hadn’t been drinking chu-hi’s all afternoon and so didn’t find this as amusing as we did. After eating I think we milled around for a bit and then headed down to the waterside to watch the fireworks. They were OK, but it will be hard to beat watching fireworks from the water like we did in Tsuda.
Afterward, we went to the Grasshopper, a bar that foreigners often frequent with a fair sized selection of imported beers and foreign foods. I got some nachos and had a couple of English beers I think they were. And at some point I fell asleep with my head against the wall. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but for some reason, in Japan, so far I’ve fallen asleep three times while I’ve been out with people. I don’t think that I’ve done this before, but maybe so. Of course, there is plenty of photographic evidence and lots of tampering with the sleeping person, but who could blame them. Eventually we hit the last train home. Sam (who had come from way out on the west side with Tye and who had been out in Takamatsu until 6am with Tye the night before after the pub crawl) came back with us to Takase. Apparently, I befriended a guy on the train. At first, I was playing my kazoo and he was yelling something at me. I guess cause we were being so loud. But at some point in the ride, I went over and sat with him and had some sort of conversation with him and we played the kazoo and made up.
Sam stayed over at my place. We got up and had breakfast. She actually helped clean up my place a bit which was still fairly messy. It was really nice of her. We just focused on the kitchen mainly and tidied up the living room a bit. We got Matt up and out and we all went and ate udon together. Afterwards we went to the 100 yen shop and got some useless, unneeded, yet somehow totally necessary junk. Actually, I got a few things I had been intending on getting for a while. A magnetic shelf for my bathroom and some plants and seeds and pots. Dan from Mino called up to say he was on his way to Takase and as we left the shop he was coming up on his bike. He took us down to an Antique store he had mentioned to us before. It was pretty cool. This little shop with tons of stuff from floor to ceiling. They had instruments and records and dishes and clocks and scrolls and books and trinkets. Eventually they brought out iced coffee and crackers and we all sat down and had a conversation mainly via Dan who can speak more Japanese than us of course. I got a few fans and a drawing of a seascape. Afterward, we went back to my place and got in the car to head to Utazu. Matt had been wanting to get guitars, an acoustic and an electric. There’s a used electronics/instrument store called Hard Off. So we went there after picking up Tye from his place. I got to drive, so that was cool. Except we missed a turn and it took about 15 minutes to finally turn around and get back to it. The shopping trip was successful as he found both types of guitars he wanted and a guitar stand and I got a couple of games for my Nintendo DS. While Matt was still selecting his guitars I drove Sam to the train station so she could make it back to her town before it got too late since she was pretty exhausted from the nights out and had her opening ceremony stuff on Monday. That was the first time I drove the car by myself. No accidents. So that was good. We grabbed a bite to eat and then headed home.
Monday I just stayed at home and played with my DS and lounged around avoiding the work that I was supposed to be doing. I actually did eventually work on my desk and got that mostly sorted and I did 3 loads of laundry. I felt good with that.
August 23, 2007
Feeling sick at school
Wednesday, I was feeling the worst I had. Lots of coughing, sore throat, sneezing, etc. I thought it was a cold, but now I’m thinking it’s allergies since all the snot is clear. I didn’t get allergies until my senior year in high school I think was the first time. And since then I get them but not consistently. Sometimes in the spring and fall, sometimes one or the other, or one year I didn’t get allergies at all. So, when I get them, I’m always taken by surprise and think I’m getting sick. I also had to work with the two speech contestants which wasn’t that much fun with the sore throat, but the kids were nice and I did enjoy getting to work with them. They are only 7th graders and they can actually read English. As for understanding it, I don’t think they could read it on their own and get it, but I think the English teacher explained it all to them and they know which parts mean what, but today when I was working with the one who showed up again, I asked him “Who is your English teacher?” and he didn’t know what I was asking. He said, “yes.” I’m still amazed at his ability to even read English with any sort of fluency. After school Wednesday, I just went home and changed, went to the grocery store for a bento and some chips, and went home to rest. After I finished the bento, I fell asleep for about an hour which was nice. When I woke up, there was a soccer game on, Japan v. Cameroon, which the Japanese won. Then I went outside for some internet, and I think I found an area that will be more consistent, but it’s a bit longer of a walk. I did some reading with the Disney book with my dictionary right nearby and went to bed early. Today, I’ve been feeling a lot better, mainly sneezing and a runny nose. So hopefully things will be cleared up tomorrow.
My goal this afternoon is to actually do my dishes, iron my shirts, clean up the apartment and start organizing my desk. I didn’t realize it was so close to the weekend already, I have asked for this Monday off, so I should make some type of plans. We have to go into Takamatsu tomorrow for the 2nd orientation after which a pub crawl for charity has been organized. So, maybe I’ll stay out there again. I still haven’t gotten that bag I’ve been meaning to get. Since, I’ll have Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, maybe I’ll try to get off Shikoku for a destination. Well, school time has been over for about a half-hour, so I need to get out of here.
My goal this afternoon is to actually do my dishes, iron my shirts, clean up the apartment and start organizing my desk. I didn’t realize it was so close to the weekend already, I have asked for this Monday off, so I should make some type of plans. We have to go into Takamatsu tomorrow for the 2nd orientation after which a pub crawl for charity has been organized. So, maybe I’ll stay out there again. I still haven’t gotten that bag I’ve been meaning to get. Since, I’ll have Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, maybe I’ll try to get off Shikoku for a destination. Well, school time has been over for about a half-hour, so I need to get out of here.
August 21, 2007
Meeting the Governor and Shopping at the Mall
Tuesday, we had to meet in Takamatsu for an official meeting with the governor. I got the morning off because I had originally thought I had to go to the city office in the morning and I had already asked to have the day to do that and go to the capital before getting the payslip and didn’t mention anything after getting the payslip. So I took my time getting up and getting ready. I ate breakfast and went to the bank where thankfully the money had been placed into my account. I was so happy I got 5 man (man, pronounced mahn, is 10,000, so 5 man = 50,000) yen, which is about $500. I didn’t want to run short of money again. After that I went to the Joy homestore and got some floor cushions and a floor mat that were all on sale for half price. I got some bungee cords so I could strap stuff to the back of my bike. And I got a couple of foldable outdoor chairs, I thought they would be good for if we do camping like people mentioned and to pull out if I have extra people over. Plus, the “couch” I have is low to the ground and it’s a pain to move the kitchen chairs around, so they will probably be a semi-permanent feature of my living room. I headed home and was going to catch the train at 11:22. Somehow, even though I got a text from Matt asking when I would be leaving to which I responded “11:22” at about 11:10, I failed to realize that I needed to hurry. So I unpacked the stuff I had just bought, and hopped in the shower, and started ironing a shirt, and then I looked at the time again and it was 11:16, which is when I realized I really needed to hurry. The station may only be a couple minutes away, but the trains are incredibly punctual barring a summer festival. Anyway, I managed to leave with 2 minutes to make it to the train. Matt was equally as rushed and we got to the station at the same time and boarded with only 10 seconds to spare. The train luckily was waiting for an express train to go by in the other direction.
We grabbed some udon on the way to the prefectural building which proved to be a mistake for me, one I wasn’t to realize until about an hour later. We made it up to the meeting room and put on our ties and got ready to meet the governor. We all sat on one side of this really long circular table that was open in the middle and there were places for the governor and two other officials on the other side and a table in the middle that had all the flags for the countries we represented. There was a TV crew there as well and a cameraman. The governor came in and gave a short introduction speech that Andy (a different Andy, a prefectural advisor in Takamatsu) translated. The other two officials introduced themselves as well. Then Jenny, another new JET, gave a short speech on the behalf of the rest of us new JETs. Then, we each introduced ourselves in Japanese saying our names, where we were from, and where we work in Kagawa. It was fun listening to everyone speak in Japanese. There are maybe 3 or 4 among us that actually have studied it before and can actually speak it. A couple had prepared longer self-introductions that the governor enjoyed. I just did the basic one. Meanwhile, the udon was playing tricks on my stomach. I thought I was going to explode. Tye kept laughing at me. Part of the meeting was aired on the news that night because a teacher mentioned seeing it the next day. I wish I had thought to ask which station it might be on, but then again, I think the channels differ from place to place and I haven’t figured out how they name stations and where or what the logo might be. We were also in the paper. I think someone said they would bring in a copy for me. Tye said he saw one in his paper and that my head almost completely blocked his. (No comments Alison ;P.)
After that, a few prefectural JETs (High schools are considered prefectural, whereas junior highs and elementaries are considered local and run by cities or towns – I’m a city level JET) had to stay for the official signing of their contracts or something, so some of us went to a book store, where I got a practice test for the yonkyuu or something like that. Basically the lowest level of the official I-know-some-Japanese test. We met up with the prefectural JETs at the train station and caught the bus for the mall. Aeon Town. It was pretty impressive, but not unlike malls in the states. It was 3 stories and all of the store names were either in English or at least romaji. But mostly English. If any of my students remember those pictures of people on the bulletin board and the one with the old guy where it said something about “boo” are reading, I have a picture from the mall to show you, once I get a chance to load up some pictures. It’s kind of funny. Anyway, seeing as I had just gotten paid and I had 5 man burning a hole in my wallet, I of course went on a spending spree. I got a sleeping bag for guests and camping and weekends away, a nalgene bottle for my biking treks to the various elementaries, a couple carabeaners for keys etc., a few more Japanese books for reading (2 manga and 1 Disney story book and 1 book that I had bought in France for my French classes that I absolutely loved and I’ll be happy when I can read it for real in Japanese), some actual bed sheets (the ones I got before ended up being duvet or futon covers or something), a hat for the beach (it’s pretty suave actually, kind of 50s debonair feel, at least I think so), a taco kit and spaghetti sauce from the foreign foods place, and about 6 shirts from Uniqlo that were all 1000 yen or under, which was pretty good. Devin, have you been to uniqlo? You’d probably like it. Some of the t-shirts I got, I would pay about $20 or more for in the States, and I got them for 500 yen (less than $5). My wardrobe took a hit when I moved. I’ve been basically wearing the same rotation of clothes each week. The bad part is I usually change out of my school clothes into shorts each day and maybe another shirt, which means after about 4 days, everything is dirty basically and I have to do laundry. I keep hanging up my shirts to be ironed and I guess I just hope they unwrinkled themselves because I always end up ironing them right before putting them on in the morning instead of ironing them all at once. Anyway, the shirts I got will ease things a bit since I won’t have to do laundry mid-week now. And I definitely wear the pants and shorts multiple times per week, but I did that back home. Of course, I was the last one in a store getting those shirts. I thought I had plenty of time before the bus, but I didn’t and they ended up leaving but Matt stayed. If I wanted, I could have thrown my basket of clothes down, but since I had actually tried stuff on, I was pretty set on getting it and I knew I needed it. I figured I could just wait the half hour for the next bus. It was very nice of Matt to stay though. We ended up seeing Tye back at the train station anyway because there wasn’t another train back before then. Needless to say, my wallet is considerably lighter now. But I mostly got things I’ve been thinking of getting or saw and realized I needed (you know how that goes). I still have a few more fairly big items I’d like to get. I’d like either one or two standing fans, a Nintendo DS, and maybe a small oven. I have a little grill that’s included in the stove, but it fits maybe two pieces of bread and even then, it doesn’t toast both sides at the same time. But maybe I’m not using it right. And I have a microwave. I have to think if I’ll actually use it. In France, we got an oven, and we actually used it. And when I say we, I mean I acted as my roommate’s pseudo-sous-chef. So I don’t know if I would use it as much now that I’m on my own. I need to check out some cookbooks in English here, if I can find some. And I wish I had brought one from home now. I was thinking about it, but it was on the cut-it-if-I’m-at-my-weight-limit list, and I definitely hit that limit, so cut it I did. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else I really want or need. Maybe another futon mat or two and sheets to go with for guests.
We grabbed some udon on the way to the prefectural building which proved to be a mistake for me, one I wasn’t to realize until about an hour later. We made it up to the meeting room and put on our ties and got ready to meet the governor. We all sat on one side of this really long circular table that was open in the middle and there were places for the governor and two other officials on the other side and a table in the middle that had all the flags for the countries we represented. There was a TV crew there as well and a cameraman. The governor came in and gave a short introduction speech that Andy (a different Andy, a prefectural advisor in Takamatsu) translated. The other two officials introduced themselves as well. Then Jenny, another new JET, gave a short speech on the behalf of the rest of us new JETs. Then, we each introduced ourselves in Japanese saying our names, where we were from, and where we work in Kagawa. It was fun listening to everyone speak in Japanese. There are maybe 3 or 4 among us that actually have studied it before and can actually speak it. A couple had prepared longer self-introductions that the governor enjoyed. I just did the basic one. Meanwhile, the udon was playing tricks on my stomach. I thought I was going to explode. Tye kept laughing at me. Part of the meeting was aired on the news that night because a teacher mentioned seeing it the next day. I wish I had thought to ask which station it might be on, but then again, I think the channels differ from place to place and I haven’t figured out how they name stations and where or what the logo might be. We were also in the paper. I think someone said they would bring in a copy for me. Tye said he saw one in his paper and that my head almost completely blocked his. (No comments Alison ;P.)
After that, a few prefectural JETs (High schools are considered prefectural, whereas junior highs and elementaries are considered local and run by cities or towns – I’m a city level JET) had to stay for the official signing of their contracts or something, so some of us went to a book store, where I got a practice test for the yonkyuu or something like that. Basically the lowest level of the official I-know-some-Japanese test. We met up with the prefectural JETs at the train station and caught the bus for the mall. Aeon Town. It was pretty impressive, but not unlike malls in the states. It was 3 stories and all of the store names were either in English or at least romaji. But mostly English. If any of my students remember those pictures of people on the bulletin board and the one with the old guy where it said something about “boo” are reading, I have a picture from the mall to show you, once I get a chance to load up some pictures. It’s kind of funny. Anyway, seeing as I had just gotten paid and I had 5 man burning a hole in my wallet, I of course went on a spending spree. I got a sleeping bag for guests and camping and weekends away, a nalgene bottle for my biking treks to the various elementaries, a couple carabeaners for keys etc., a few more Japanese books for reading (2 manga and 1 Disney story book and 1 book that I had bought in France for my French classes that I absolutely loved and I’ll be happy when I can read it for real in Japanese), some actual bed sheets (the ones I got before ended up being duvet or futon covers or something), a hat for the beach (it’s pretty suave actually, kind of 50s debonair feel, at least I think so), a taco kit and spaghetti sauce from the foreign foods place, and about 6 shirts from Uniqlo that were all 1000 yen or under, which was pretty good. Devin, have you been to uniqlo? You’d probably like it. Some of the t-shirts I got, I would pay about $20 or more for in the States, and I got them for 500 yen (less than $5). My wardrobe took a hit when I moved. I’ve been basically wearing the same rotation of clothes each week. The bad part is I usually change out of my school clothes into shorts each day and maybe another shirt, which means after about 4 days, everything is dirty basically and I have to do laundry. I keep hanging up my shirts to be ironed and I guess I just hope they unwrinkled themselves because I always end up ironing them right before putting them on in the morning instead of ironing them all at once. Anyway, the shirts I got will ease things a bit since I won’t have to do laundry mid-week now. And I definitely wear the pants and shorts multiple times per week, but I did that back home. Of course, I was the last one in a store getting those shirts. I thought I had plenty of time before the bus, but I didn’t and they ended up leaving but Matt stayed. If I wanted, I could have thrown my basket of clothes down, but since I had actually tried stuff on, I was pretty set on getting it and I knew I needed it. I figured I could just wait the half hour for the next bus. It was very nice of Matt to stay though. We ended up seeing Tye back at the train station anyway because there wasn’t another train back before then. Needless to say, my wallet is considerably lighter now. But I mostly got things I’ve been thinking of getting or saw and realized I needed (you know how that goes). I still have a few more fairly big items I’d like to get. I’d like either one or two standing fans, a Nintendo DS, and maybe a small oven. I have a little grill that’s included in the stove, but it fits maybe two pieces of bread and even then, it doesn’t toast both sides at the same time. But maybe I’m not using it right. And I have a microwave. I have to think if I’ll actually use it. In France, we got an oven, and we actually used it. And when I say we, I mean I acted as my roommate’s pseudo-sous-chef. So I don’t know if I would use it as much now that I’m on my own. I need to check out some cookbooks in English here, if I can find some. And I wish I had brought one from home now. I was thinking about it, but it was on the cut-it-if-I’m-at-my-weight-limit list, and I definitely hit that limit, so cut it I did. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else I really want or need. Maybe another futon mat or two and sheets to go with for guests.
August 20, 2007
Payday and Pizza
Monday, I was back at school and I got some work done. I met with the 9th grade speech contestant who was very nice. She did a nice job with the pronunciation. The problem I see is that even if she pronounces it well, is she really understanding it? And then, what’s the point of the contest? It’s not like she actually wrote it. It seems kind of pointless. These contests are a big deal apparently. And I’ve heard it’s equally as pointless to try and change the status quo in your Japanese school as a foreigner.
At one point, I had a nice conversation with one of the female teachers. She doesn’t speak much English, but it’s better than my Japanese. It’s mainly one word utterances to get her point across, which was surprisingly effective. Occasionally, one of the English teachers would step in to clear any problems up. She was asking about the Japanese foods I liked and disliked. This seems to be a popular conversation for Japanese people to have with foreigners. The trouble is I haven’t had the opportunity to try much that I haven’t had before coming here. The main new food is udon which is just another type of noodle. I’ve had a couple new sushi and sashimi items, but that’s not really different. So I mainly talk about what I think I might have trouble eating. Things that people have described to me. One is the whole fish that sometimes gets served with school lunch. It’s small fish with the head and tail and eyes, whole. Sometimes, they are pregnant so you can squeeze it and the eggs come out. And you eat it all. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that. But I promised I would try. Another is natto. Some sort of fermented bean dish that supposedly has a really off-putting smell and less than appealing texture. She ended the conversation by saying we should all have a karaoke night out sometime. Which I would enjoy. When I’m feeling better of course. By Monday, I was dealing with a really sore throat and a bit of a cough. The good news was that I got paid though. They gave me my pay slip at work. I was under the impression that since I didn’t get my bank account until late in the month, that my first direct deposit wouldn’t go through. So I would have to go to the city office to get my money. But they gave me my slip at work. I was sooo happy to finally have money!! (That I didn’t have to get from my American account.) Oh and right before leaving work, another teacher, the one who cooked for some of the teachers before, came to my desk. With the aid of Ms. Hara, one of the English teachers, she told me she had made lots of pizzas and wanted to know if I wanted one. She even offered to deliver it to my house. I said I could wait, but she was going to be at work for a couple hours after I was to leave and then it would take an additional 45 minutes. So she said she would bring it by since she already knew the place from my predecessor. I couldn’t believe it. Homemade pizza. I sent a text to Matt and invited him over to enjoy it with me. Since I knew I had my paycheck, I headed to K’s Denki to see what electronics I might want to get. People have been suggesting a Nintendo DS which you can play games on in addition to having a cartridge with a kanji dictionary that would make reading Japanese a thousand times easier. It has a stylus that allows you to draw it right on the screen. It seems pretty cool. Anyway, I ran into Matt there who was also perusing some of the electronics. We headed to the home store after. I wanted to get some small glasses for cold tea if the teacher wanted to come in when she dropped of the pizza. I wasn’t even thinking and I ended up being about $10 short when I got to the register. I almost looked in my wallet before shopping, but thought for sure that I had about 5000 yen. I only had 3000 and the bill was 4000. Luckily Matt was there and didn’t mind loaning me what I needed. I felt pretty stupid. He bought some trash cans for sorting his garbage so he had to walk his bike home and I took off so I could get a few more things and clean up before the teacher and he showed up. Since I had just run out of money, I knew I needed to stop at the bank. So of course, I went straight to the grocery store, hopped off my bike, and was almost in the store when I realized my blunder. So I got back on and went to the bank where I found out that getting a payslip doesn’t mean the money is in the bank. (It did at my school in Canton, but not here.) So that meant if I wanted to get orange juice and cereal and milk for breakfast and to pay Matt back I had to head back over to the side of town where we just were to get to the post office to draw on my home bank once again. Eventually I made it home and I got things mostly clean, which mean a lot of throwing things into the closet and my bedroom. I didn’t then and have yet to do the dishes completely since being here in Japan. I think I will do them tonight. Anyway, Mrs. Hashimuze, the teacher, came over a bit after six with the pizza and also some fried chicken nuggets (that’s basically what they were). It was so nice. But she really doesn’t speak English, just like I really don’t speak Japanese. So her attempt to explain something to me completely failed. It was really bad seeing as we both had our Japanese-English dictionaries with us. She kept pointing at the pizza or right under the pizza and was saying something about kiji. So I looked it up and it said “textile, fabric, cloth”. I thought she had been referring to the dish and that I needed to bring it back to her. But when I saw that definition I was confused and showed it to her thinking I had heard her wrong. When she saw it, she said “So, so, so, so”, which means “Yes, yes, that’s so” basically. So I was really confused at that point. I invited her in, but she said she had to leave I guess and after about 5 minutes of working on kiji, she just left. When Matt came over and we sat down to actually eat, I realized there was a piece of something like waxed paper between the pizza and the dish. I guess she was saying not to eat that or something. Anyway, It was a pretty good pizza. The sauce was homemade perhaps. It had lots of onions and other veggies in it. It was pretty think with a lot of cheese on top and some basil leaves on top of that. The chicken was pretty good as well. Which reminds me, there were a couple pieces left over that I think I’ll have for a snack today. Matt stayed over for a while and we talked for a bit while listening to music. He’s a nice guy. Comes from England and was in a circus group in college and president of the badminton club. He’s interesting to say the least. I think he will be a good friend to have around. He’s literally 2 minutes from me door to door on a bike.
At one point, I had a nice conversation with one of the female teachers. She doesn’t speak much English, but it’s better than my Japanese. It’s mainly one word utterances to get her point across, which was surprisingly effective. Occasionally, one of the English teachers would step in to clear any problems up. She was asking about the Japanese foods I liked and disliked. This seems to be a popular conversation for Japanese people to have with foreigners. The trouble is I haven’t had the opportunity to try much that I haven’t had before coming here. The main new food is udon which is just another type of noodle. I’ve had a couple new sushi and sashimi items, but that’s not really different. So I mainly talk about what I think I might have trouble eating. Things that people have described to me. One is the whole fish that sometimes gets served with school lunch. It’s small fish with the head and tail and eyes, whole. Sometimes, they are pregnant so you can squeeze it and the eggs come out. And you eat it all. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that. But I promised I would try. Another is natto. Some sort of fermented bean dish that supposedly has a really off-putting smell and less than appealing texture. She ended the conversation by saying we should all have a karaoke night out sometime. Which I would enjoy. When I’m feeling better of course. By Monday, I was dealing with a really sore throat and a bit of a cough. The good news was that I got paid though. They gave me my pay slip at work. I was under the impression that since I didn’t get my bank account until late in the month, that my first direct deposit wouldn’t go through. So I would have to go to the city office to get my money. But they gave me my slip at work. I was sooo happy to finally have money!! (That I didn’t have to get from my American account.) Oh and right before leaving work, another teacher, the one who cooked for some of the teachers before, came to my desk. With the aid of Ms. Hara, one of the English teachers, she told me she had made lots of pizzas and wanted to know if I wanted one. She even offered to deliver it to my house. I said I could wait, but she was going to be at work for a couple hours after I was to leave and then it would take an additional 45 minutes. So she said she would bring it by since she already knew the place from my predecessor. I couldn’t believe it. Homemade pizza. I sent a text to Matt and invited him over to enjoy it with me. Since I knew I had my paycheck, I headed to K’s Denki to see what electronics I might want to get. People have been suggesting a Nintendo DS which you can play games on in addition to having a cartridge with a kanji dictionary that would make reading Japanese a thousand times easier. It has a stylus that allows you to draw it right on the screen. It seems pretty cool. Anyway, I ran into Matt there who was also perusing some of the electronics. We headed to the home store after. I wanted to get some small glasses for cold tea if the teacher wanted to come in when she dropped of the pizza. I wasn’t even thinking and I ended up being about $10 short when I got to the register. I almost looked in my wallet before shopping, but thought for sure that I had about 5000 yen. I only had 3000 and the bill was 4000. Luckily Matt was there and didn’t mind loaning me what I needed. I felt pretty stupid. He bought some trash cans for sorting his garbage so he had to walk his bike home and I took off so I could get a few more things and clean up before the teacher and he showed up. Since I had just run out of money, I knew I needed to stop at the bank. So of course, I went straight to the grocery store, hopped off my bike, and was almost in the store when I realized my blunder. So I got back on and went to the bank where I found out that getting a payslip doesn’t mean the money is in the bank. (It did at my school in Canton, but not here.) So that meant if I wanted to get orange juice and cereal and milk for breakfast and to pay Matt back I had to head back over to the side of town where we just were to get to the post office to draw on my home bank once again. Eventually I made it home and I got things mostly clean, which mean a lot of throwing things into the closet and my bedroom. I didn’t then and have yet to do the dishes completely since being here in Japan. I think I will do them tonight. Anyway, Mrs. Hashimuze, the teacher, came over a bit after six with the pizza and also some fried chicken nuggets (that’s basically what they were). It was so nice. But she really doesn’t speak English, just like I really don’t speak Japanese. So her attempt to explain something to me completely failed. It was really bad seeing as we both had our Japanese-English dictionaries with us. She kept pointing at the pizza or right under the pizza and was saying something about kiji. So I looked it up and it said “textile, fabric, cloth”. I thought she had been referring to the dish and that I needed to bring it back to her. But when I saw that definition I was confused and showed it to her thinking I had heard her wrong. When she saw it, she said “So, so, so, so”, which means “Yes, yes, that’s so” basically. So I was really confused at that point. I invited her in, but she said she had to leave I guess and after about 5 minutes of working on kiji, she just left. When Matt came over and we sat down to actually eat, I realized there was a piece of something like waxed paper between the pizza and the dish. I guess she was saying not to eat that or something. Anyway, It was a pretty good pizza. The sauce was homemade perhaps. It had lots of onions and other veggies in it. It was pretty think with a lot of cheese on top and some basil leaves on top of that. The chicken was pretty good as well. Which reminds me, there were a couple pieces left over that I think I’ll have for a snack today. Matt stayed over for a while and we talked for a bit while listening to music. He’s a nice guy. Comes from England and was in a circus group in college and president of the badminton club. He’s interesting to say the least. I think he will be a good friend to have around. He’s literally 2 minutes from me door to door on a bike.
August 19, 2007
Barbecue
Well Sunday’s barbecue was nice, though I was starting to feel kind of sick, like a cold or something. I was getting the sniffles and a slight sore throat. And by the end of the day, I was not doing so well. We headed out to Nio for the BBQ, which is where Jeremy lives and where we had the Mexican dinner. It was nice. Fewer people than I had expected, but it was nice. The principal of the elementary was there and she is really spunky and totally digs English, even though she doesn’t necessarily have the greatest command of it. Andy and a couple other JETs were there, along with Yukari and Che, Andy’s coworkers, and Yoshida, who is the elementary teacher I’ll be working with at Ninomiya, among others. Andy and I swam out to an island that sits a few hundred meters out. It was a nice swim. He was saying we should do that every day. It’s just that it takes a car or a bit of a bike ride over a mountain.
Oh and as for the Japanese style barbecue, it is a bit different. The set up was similar. They didn't have park grills, so they had brought their own camping style grills. They had charcoal that looked a bit different, but worked the same way. But they had this thing, basically it was a flamethrower that they used to make the coal burn faster so it would get hotter faster. The meat and cooking was where things got different. Think barbecue buffet. In America, if you're grilling as a family, you might cook everything all at once and time it so that it's all done at the same time and you sit down as a family and eat your barbecued meal. Or in a big group, you have your hotdogs and hamburgers going and maybe steaks and corn on the cob and as it's ready you get yours and walk away and put on your condiments and get your chips and drink and sit down and eat. You might go back for seconds if you want. At this barbecue, they threw on the meat which was in little chunks and cooked a bunch at a time and had bowls of sauce. So we went around with our chopsticks and got what we wanted and dipped it in the sauce and they were constantly throwing more meat and veggies on the grill until everyone had eaten enough. It was interesting. I enjoyed it though.
After the barbecue, I just went back home and rested. Dan came over for a bit after a short trip to the neighboring prefecture, Ehime, with some of his adult English class.
Oh and as for the Japanese style barbecue, it is a bit different. The set up was similar. They didn't have park grills, so they had brought their own camping style grills. They had charcoal that looked a bit different, but worked the same way. But they had this thing, basically it was a flamethrower that they used to make the coal burn faster so it would get hotter faster. The meat and cooking was where things got different. Think barbecue buffet. In America, if you're grilling as a family, you might cook everything all at once and time it so that it's all done at the same time and you sit down as a family and eat your barbecued meal. Or in a big group, you have your hotdogs and hamburgers going and maybe steaks and corn on the cob and as it's ready you get yours and walk away and put on your condiments and get your chips and drink and sit down and eat. You might go back for seconds if you want. At this barbecue, they threw on the meat which was in little chunks and cooked a bunch at a time and had bowls of sauce. So we went around with our chopsticks and got what we wanted and dipped it in the sauce and they were constantly throwing more meat and veggies on the grill until everyone had eaten enough. It was interesting. I enjoyed it though.
After the barbecue, I just went back home and rested. Dan came over for a bit after a short trip to the neighboring prefecture, Ehime, with some of his adult English class.
August 18, 2007
Sanuki-Tsuda and Driving
Saturday, I was up at nine and headed into town in search of the other Matt from Takase who had already gone in earlier. I’ve been looking for a lighter back pack for weekend use which I still haven’t gotten by the way. And he was in search of weekend supplies as he hadn’t been planning on staying. I got more cash from the post office to last me for the weekend and we took the train to Tsuda Beach. I don’t like drawing on my American account because I feel like I’m losing money, paying for the exchange and all. At that point I had my Japanese account, but I hadn’t been paid yet. So I ended up having to get more money a couple hours later after we bought provisions for the beach. Sanuki-Tsuda is where a JET named Alison lives. When we got there, several JETs had already rented a shelter for us. So we stowed our stuff and got into our suits. And we had a great time. I opted to not drink as I was not feeling too good after Friday night. I also bought this little elephant float from the store. There wasn’t much of a selection and I thought it would be fun. The trunk inflated in a very erect form which provided much humor throughout the afternoon. It ended up being a very good purchase. Since it was Tsuda’s summer festival there were lots of food stands and music and dancing. They had a stage set up where they had dancers earlier on and Sam and I saw a magician. He kept saying “Amerika” and I wished I could understand the rest of it so I knew what he was saying. And later on, there were the requisite fireworks. What makes this festival cool is that the fireworks are shot from very close to shore on this rickety pier and people will sit on the beach to watch them. Us being the foreigners that we are, we of course took our drinks and our floats and headed for the water. Those were the best fireworks I’ve seen. It wasn’t the biggest show by any means, but they were literally exploding above us. We could see where some of the sparks were actually hitting the water. It was pretty awesome.
Andy had driven from Takase with Dan and Brent, some other JETs from the west side. They said I could get a ride back which I was thankful for since it meant I wouldn’t have to get the early train and I could avoid the cost of the ticket as well. And since I hadn’t been drinking and Andy wanted to drink, they asked if I would drive back for them. So Saturday night was my first driving experience in Japan. They drive on the left side, if you didn’t know. And I didn’t know that before coming here. When I found that out recently (I can’t remember if it was before getting here or just after), I thought that I should have known that somehow. I’m sure Alison back in Canton knew it. So the drive back…. Well, no incidents really. I was really nervous about landing in one of the common roadside gutters, but that didn’t happen. I joked that I did that twice in a text to Sam but that we had pushed it out both times. Apparently, it’s possible to push the car out if you do that, because the cars are so small. Andy said that he did that once. But I was mainly on the highway so I didn’t have anything to worry about. I can’t remember if I mentioned these gutters though. Instead of having a road with curbs on the side that help funnel the water to an eventual drain which takes the water to a pipe under the road, they just have these open gutters on one side or the other or both that collect water. Think mini-canals or concrete creeks. Some of them are maybe a foot deep and a foot wide, but others can be a 12 foot drop… with NO railing. Sometimes these gutters are covered, but sometimes sections of the covered parts are open. Just to make sure you’re paying attention, I guess.
Anyway, I would have preferred to have had my first driving experience during the day, but I guess it’s better this way. I didn’t really have the opportunity to get nervous and over-think it all. I just had to do it. The guys gave me the directions and I followed them. Easy as that. Well mostly. I didn’t have that big of a problem with driving on the left side. It was having the steering wheel on the right and the gear shift on the left and the turn signal on the right and the windshield wipers on the left that got me. I can say that I only turned the wipers on maybe 3 times during the whole trip. And I have to give it to Andy, one section of the highway was JUST like one of those car racing video games, which I guess are largely developed in Japan, so that would make since. It was pretty cool, though. But we did make it home safely. And I now feel more comfortable driving. Though I think I’d still like having a knowledgeable passenger to direct me and remind me to make those wide right turns and close left turns to stay on the right correct side of the road.
Andy had driven from Takase with Dan and Brent, some other JETs from the west side. They said I could get a ride back which I was thankful for since it meant I wouldn’t have to get the early train and I could avoid the cost of the ticket as well. And since I hadn’t been drinking and Andy wanted to drink, they asked if I would drive back for them. So Saturday night was my first driving experience in Japan. They drive on the left side, if you didn’t know. And I didn’t know that before coming here. When I found that out recently (I can’t remember if it was before getting here or just after), I thought that I should have known that somehow. I’m sure Alison back in Canton knew it. So the drive back…. Well, no incidents really. I was really nervous about landing in one of the common roadside gutters, but that didn’t happen. I joked that I did that twice in a text to Sam but that we had pushed it out both times. Apparently, it’s possible to push the car out if you do that, because the cars are so small. Andy said that he did that once. But I was mainly on the highway so I didn’t have anything to worry about. I can’t remember if I mentioned these gutters though. Instead of having a road with curbs on the side that help funnel the water to an eventual drain which takes the water to a pipe under the road, they just have these open gutters on one side or the other or both that collect water. Think mini-canals or concrete creeks. Some of them are maybe a foot deep and a foot wide, but others can be a 12 foot drop… with NO railing. Sometimes these gutters are covered, but sometimes sections of the covered parts are open. Just to make sure you’re paying attention, I guess.
Anyway, I would have preferred to have had my first driving experience during the day, but I guess it’s better this way. I didn’t really have the opportunity to get nervous and over-think it all. I just had to do it. The guys gave me the directions and I followed them. Easy as that. Well mostly. I didn’t have that big of a problem with driving on the left side. It was having the steering wheel on the right and the gear shift on the left and the turn signal on the right and the windshield wipers on the left that got me. I can say that I only turned the wipers on maybe 3 times during the whole trip. And I have to give it to Andy, one section of the highway was JUST like one of those car racing video games, which I guess are largely developed in Japan, so that would make since. It was pretty cool, though. But we did make it home safely. And I now feel more comfortable driving. Though I think I’d still like having a knowledgeable passenger to direct me and remind me to make those wide right turns and close left turns to stay on the right correct side of the road.
Another night in Tak
Friday, I had to go to the board of education. Andy, a New Zealander who works at the BOE for international relations, had taken me and Tye to get our phones Thursday. He has great Japanese and we would have been completely lost without him. He was awesome. Anyway, I had some papers that I thought I might be able to turn into the BOE after we got our phones. But with the excitement of getting a phone, I forgot about that and left the papers in the back of the car he was driving, which is a BOE car used for International Relations stuff. So anyway, I went down there and got the papers with Yukari, a co-worker of Andy’s since he was out. I stayed for tea and conversation with her and a couple other people before heading back to school. When I got back to the school, someone called for me. It was a teacher from Ninomiya, one of my elementaries. He told me that Sunday there was going to be a barbecue for some Ninomiya teachers and some other JETs and invited me to join. So I said yes, even though I had planned on staying in Tsuda for the summer festival. I figured I could stay Saturday night and come back early in the morning on a train. He was picking me up at 10am for some reason.
In the afternoon, I helped another teacher with a different speech for the contest. This one was for a 9th grader (3rd year JHS student). I just helped edit and correct the speech that the teacher had written based on the student’s Japanese version…. I think. That was interesting once again. Sometimes words and phrases just came to me. But other times, it was hard. Once you read in the technically correct English what it is they want to say and you understand what it is getting at, it’s hard to step away and think of how someone would really say it, in the States at least. There are lots of versions of English being taught around the prefecture, so I try to keep in mind that these English teachers may have been exposed to different dialects and accents. I think North American English is favored in general, though.
After school, I went home and got ready for the weekend. This time I was planning on staying over in Takamatsu since there was a beach party on Saturday. A few of us got together to splash in a fountain for a bit. Then we went and had dinner at a thai place that offered a dinner menu for 3000 yen that included nomihodai. So of course we opted for that. Afterwards, us guys went to a sports bar for a bit and then to karaoke. Originally, the idea was either sports bar OR karaoke. But somehow we ended up at karaoke as well. I didn’t have much money so I believe I am still in debt to another JET. And I guess I just have trouble staying awake after a certain point. I actually fell asleep in the karaoke place. Of course the guys had to take pictures. There’s one with them around me holding the mic up to my mouth. I think they said at one point they were moving my mouth for me with the mic next to it. We crashed around 4 I believe.
In the afternoon, I helped another teacher with a different speech for the contest. This one was for a 9th grader (3rd year JHS student). I just helped edit and correct the speech that the teacher had written based on the student’s Japanese version…. I think. That was interesting once again. Sometimes words and phrases just came to me. But other times, it was hard. Once you read in the technically correct English what it is they want to say and you understand what it is getting at, it’s hard to step away and think of how someone would really say it, in the States at least. There are lots of versions of English being taught around the prefecture, so I try to keep in mind that these English teachers may have been exposed to different dialects and accents. I think North American English is favored in general, though.
After school, I went home and got ready for the weekend. This time I was planning on staying over in Takamatsu since there was a beach party on Saturday. A few of us got together to splash in a fountain for a bit. Then we went and had dinner at a thai place that offered a dinner menu for 3000 yen that included nomihodai. So of course we opted for that. Afterwards, us guys went to a sports bar for a bit and then to karaoke. Originally, the idea was either sports bar OR karaoke. But somehow we ended up at karaoke as well. I didn’t have much money so I believe I am still in debt to another JET. And I guess I just have trouble staying awake after a certain point. I actually fell asleep in the karaoke place. Of course the guys had to take pictures. There’s one with them around me holding the mic up to my mouth. I think they said at one point they were moving my mouth for me with the mic next to it. We crashed around 4 I believe.
August 16, 2007
CELL PHONE!!!!
I’ve been meaning to update while at work, but lately I’ve actually had things to do and I’ve been finishing up a few projects that I started earlier this month. So, it’s been about a week since the last update. Let’s see if I can remember what happened… Again, I’m backdating the posts.
Well Thursday was a pretty normal day. Not too much to do. Although, I noticed a lot more teachers and students were at the school. I think the main Obon day was Wednesday. So all the clubs were back in session. Oh wait. This was a big day actually. I can’t believe I almost forgot. I think it was Thursday. I got my CELL PHONE. I mean not having internet is bad enough, but no cell phone means I can’t even communicate with the people around me. After having the same phone for the past three years, I decided it was ok to get a little fancy with this one. It’s a two year plan, which means… maybe.. I’m staying for two years?? Still not sure, but I think people were saying if you have to cut the plan short after a year, when you pay all the penalties it ends up costing you only 100 bucks more than if you had just gotten a one year plan. And if you stay for 2 years, then of course you’re altogether better off. So anyway, the one I got is a bright metallic green. I was leaning towards a calmer blue, but went for the green in the end. It definitely stands out. It flips open and then the top will twist 180 degrees so the screen faces the opposite direction for self-portraits with the camera. Then you can fold it back down so that the screen is still facing out so you can take pictures like on a real digital camera. I’ve taken a few and emailed them to myself. Some were pretty blurry, but the ones where I stabilized the camera on something turned out pretty good. It’s a 3.2 megapixel camera, so that’s pretty good. It also has a TV receiver, so I can watch TV on it in that position. Email, internet, texting, games, music, books, actual cool sounding ring tones, etc. I only ever had calling and texting on my last phone. And I only ever replied to texts… sometimes. I would usually just call the person back. I think I could do internet but never did because I think it would have been hella expensive. So this is all new to me. It’s been quite a learning curve figuring it out. Matt showed me how to check the train schedules and the “last train” feature which is essential when negotiating the rails in Kagawa and planning your evenings and weekends. He somehow miraculously got his phone and bank account on the day after he arrived in Takase. I was a bit jealous. But it’s all good. I’m happy with my bright green phone.
Well Thursday was a pretty normal day. Not too much to do. Although, I noticed a lot more teachers and students were at the school. I think the main Obon day was Wednesday. So all the clubs were back in session. Oh wait. This was a big day actually. I can’t believe I almost forgot. I think it was Thursday. I got my CELL PHONE. I mean not having internet is bad enough, but no cell phone means I can’t even communicate with the people around me. After having the same phone for the past three years, I decided it was ok to get a little fancy with this one. It’s a two year plan, which means… maybe.. I’m staying for two years?? Still not sure, but I think people were saying if you have to cut the plan short after a year, when you pay all the penalties it ends up costing you only 100 bucks more than if you had just gotten a one year plan. And if you stay for 2 years, then of course you’re altogether better off. So anyway, the one I got is a bright metallic green. I was leaning towards a calmer blue, but went for the green in the end. It definitely stands out. It flips open and then the top will twist 180 degrees so the screen faces the opposite direction for self-portraits with the camera. Then you can fold it back down so that the screen is still facing out so you can take pictures like on a real digital camera. I’ve taken a few and emailed them to myself. Some were pretty blurry, but the ones where I stabilized the camera on something turned out pretty good. It’s a 3.2 megapixel camera, so that’s pretty good. It also has a TV receiver, so I can watch TV on it in that position. Email, internet, texting, games, music, books, actual cool sounding ring tones, etc. I only ever had calling and texting on my last phone. And I only ever replied to texts… sometimes. I would usually just call the person back. I think I could do internet but never did because I think it would have been hella expensive. So this is all new to me. It’s been quite a learning curve figuring it out. Matt showed me how to check the train schedules and the “last train” feature which is essential when negotiating the rails in Kagawa and planning your evenings and weekends. He somehow miraculously got his phone and bank account on the day after he arrived in Takase. I was a bit jealous. But it’s all good. I’m happy with my bright green phone.
August 15, 2007
Mexican Potluck
Last night was pretty fun. After work, I went over to Nio. It’s a small town that’s tucked between a small mountain and the ocean. Jeremy, a returning JET, lives there. He invited a bunch of people over for a Mexican potluck. Mexican food, by the way, is difficult to find here. I ended up just getting some chips that had a taco on the front of the bag and which ended up being pretty good and some ground beef because I figured tacos would be involved. We had a good ole time with a nice mix of Japanese and non-Japanese people. Later in the evening, we went down to the seaside and walked around and found a group of Japanese girls who had cooked out and were playing with sparklers. Jeremy had his guitar and the one song they all knew that he could play was “Yellow Submarine” and that was pretty fun. One girl knew Radiohead and he played a song or two. Lots of pictures. We cabbed it back to Takuma and Matt (the other Takase JET) and I hopped the train for home a little after midnight.
I’m not used to all this going out and all. Especially on a school night. Somehow, I managed to make it in and I was only a few minutes late. I’m not sure how things work here, but I’m not sweating me being late, because other teachers mosey in around 9 and the vice-principal came in around 10. I may not be able to resist a nap today, especially if the cloud cover dissipates and the sun steams things up. Yesterday it was 36 degrees here. But I heard back in Georgia it was 40 degrees or so. Yes, this is Celsius. I’m trying to get used to it. I don’t even know the conversion really. I just know that if my AC is on 29, it’s bearable, 30 is too hot, and 26 or 27 lets me sit very comfortably.
I finally got an internet signal on my computer near my apartment sitting on a bench outside around 1am last night. So I was able to transfer some pictures I had emailed to myself from the school computer for my self-intro PowerPoint. It really is a pain. You can’t transfer data from the school internet computer to another computer via a network or dump drive. But it let’s you email attachments. It’s just my home internet isn’t consistent.
Well, I think I will do some Japanese studying.
I’m not used to all this going out and all. Especially on a school night. Somehow, I managed to make it in and I was only a few minutes late. I’m not sure how things work here, but I’m not sweating me being late, because other teachers mosey in around 9 and the vice-principal came in around 10. I may not be able to resist a nap today, especially if the cloud cover dissipates and the sun steams things up. Yesterday it was 36 degrees here. But I heard back in Georgia it was 40 degrees or so. Yes, this is Celsius. I’m trying to get used to it. I don’t even know the conversion really. I just know that if my AC is on 29, it’s bearable, 30 is too hot, and 26 or 27 lets me sit very comfortably.
I finally got an internet signal on my computer near my apartment sitting on a bench outside around 1am last night. So I was able to transfer some pictures I had emailed to myself from the school computer for my self-intro PowerPoint. It really is a pain. You can’t transfer data from the school internet computer to another computer via a network or dump drive. But it let’s you email attachments. It’s just my home internet isn’t consistent.
Well, I think I will do some Japanese studying.
August 14, 2007
Tuesday Work
I had actually asked off for Monday and Tuesday, because I thought we were going to the Awa Odori for two days and then to Takamatsu today. But since I don’t have immediate access to contacting people, I wasn’t able to verify anything before Friday. And then I was gone. I just showed up at work (where there are only 3 other people anyway) and I’m pretty sure things will work out and I’ll get to save that vacation day until later this month. But none of the English teachers are here so I’m not quite sure. And the office lady with the better English is on vacation as well. It’s the week of Obon, so most people are gone all week. Just a couple people to man the office since they aren’t national holidays and the school can’t officially close.
FYI From what I’m told, Obon is the time from August 10th – August 17th when people go home and spend time with relatives and ancestors. So university students and people who are away will make the trip home to visit and the family will go to the cemetery and clean the family headstones and put fresh flowers out. Oh and Sam has this HUUUUUUUGGGGGEEEE cemetery right across from her apartment. So you open the door and it’s a field of gravestones. I took a couple pictures that I’ll post.
Anyway, I’m at work now, and I’m off to get something for lunch.
FYI From what I’m told, Obon is the time from August 10th – August 17th when people go home and spend time with relatives and ancestors. So university students and people who are away will make the trip home to visit and the family will go to the cemetery and clean the family headstones and put fresh flowers out. Oh and Sam has this HUUUUUUUGGGGGEEEE cemetery right across from her apartment. So you open the door and it’s a field of gravestones. I took a couple pictures that I’ll post.
Anyway, I’m at work now, and I’m off to get something for lunch.
August 13, 2007
Takamatsu Festival
For some reason, we were up on Monday at 9:30 or so. We had a lighter breakfast since we ate most of the food the day before. Tye and Emily (a Kanonji JET who is leaving in September) headed back out to the west side around 11. Angela left as well. Sam and I hung around for a bit waiting to hear from Angelina. Eventually we left so I could get some more money from the post office. And we went over to Angelina’s. They were finally up but not showered. Nick (another JET from out west) was there as well. So we chatted for a bit until everyone got ready. Then we went to Joyfull again. It’s pretty good morning after food. I had a couple orders of fries, an order of hotdogs, and a pizza. I know. Not very Japanese. But I needed it.
Monday evening, we went to Takamatsu where they were also having a summer festival. Monday night was fireworks night. 6500 fireworks. We all headed over and found a spot and went off in pairs to get food from the stands. It was an hour long show and pretty good at that. They didn’t turn off the streetlights which would have made things better, but we still enjoyed it. We hung around the port for awhile and then Matt (the other new JET who lives in my town Takase who had joined us in Takamatsu) and I decided to leave and we all went to the train station where I had put my stuff in a locker and we got on a train. According to the schedule on his phone, we should have gotten into Takase around midnight I think. And we were making good time until 2 stops before our town. Literally a 7 minute train ride. And we stopped and waited for 45 minutes because an express train from Takamatsu was running late due to the festival crowds. We had to wait in case there were any transfers since the express doesn’t stop at each stop. That was a bit of a bummer being so close yet so far. And so around 1 we got into Takase and we went to our apartments.
Monday evening, we went to Takamatsu where they were also having a summer festival. Monday night was fireworks night. 6500 fireworks. We all headed over and found a spot and went off in pairs to get food from the stands. It was an hour long show and pretty good at that. They didn’t turn off the streetlights which would have made things better, but we still enjoyed it. We hung around the port for awhile and then Matt (the other new JET who lives in my town Takase who had joined us in Takamatsu) and I decided to leave and we all went to the train station where I had put my stuff in a locker and we got on a train. According to the schedule on his phone, we should have gotten into Takase around midnight I think. And we were making good time until 2 stops before our town. Literally a 7 minute train ride. And we stopped and waited for 45 minutes because an express train from Takamatsu was running late due to the festival crowds. We had to wait in case there were any transfers since the express doesn’t stop at each stop. That was a bit of a bummer being so close yet so far. And so around 1 we got into Takase and we went to our apartments.
August 12, 2007
Awa Odori
Sunday
We got up and had breakfast, Tye cooked for us while Dan, Sam and I picked up the futons. Tye and I donned our Jimbe and we went over to Angelina’s for the girls to put on their yukata. They are similar to kimono, but made of cotton and are worn for summer festivals. Girls can also were jimbe and guys can also wear yukata. The differences for both yukata and jimbe are the patterns on the fabric, bright colors and flowery designs for the girls and darker colors and more masculine designs for the guys. Otherwise they look the same. For the yukata, the sash (obi?) that ties around the waste is tied differently for the guys as well, lower on the waist and without the big bow in the back. I will probably get one of those eventually as well. I think I’ll wait for my first paycheck next week. I think someone mentioned that the kochosensei has a shop or lives near a shop that sells yukata. So I may follow up on that.
With the girls all set in their yukata we set off for the train to Tokushima. Tokushima has a summer festival called Awa Odori (Awa Dance). It’s pretty famous. We saw several other tourists there as well as other groups of JETs. We had a pretty large group ourselves (about 20 I think ended up making the trip from Kagawa to Tokushima – the neighboring prefecture and capital city of the same name). We started off getting some lunch before the festival. After that we just walked around to the different booths. The booths mainly sell food and some have toys and trinkets. The dancing started around 6 I think. And so did the drinking. Chu-hai. It’s carbonated alcoholic drink that resembles a wine cooler but less sweet. It’s flavored by whichever fruit are in season. I had the lemon, grapefruit, and plum flavored ones. We walked around in constantly changing groups of JETs to see different parts of the parades of dancers. I’m not sure how it works, but different groups will form dance teams that all wear the same outfits, but everyone does the same dance, the Awa Odori. Each group might do it a little bit differently though and add some choreography to it, but it’s all the same dance. Eventually things break down and people join the groups as they make their way down the street. I think we actually joined a couple groups that we really weren’t meant to, but it’s all in the festival spirit. A lot of them seemed happy for us to join them. Sometimes they have one person in the group in some sort of costume. One guy was in a cow costume and gave a cow puppet to Sam. She was pretty excited about that. They also have thousands and thousands of fans that they give out. So we had a good time collecting those. Angelina is a master and has quite a collection on her walls. We had a great time and danced our way all back to the station and caught the last train to Sambommatsu. We did well getting a group of seats all together. We were all pretty loud on the train, but I apparently was the loudest.
We got up and had breakfast, Tye cooked for us while Dan, Sam and I picked up the futons. Tye and I donned our Jimbe and we went over to Angelina’s for the girls to put on their yukata. They are similar to kimono, but made of cotton and are worn for summer festivals. Girls can also were jimbe and guys can also wear yukata. The differences for both yukata and jimbe are the patterns on the fabric, bright colors and flowery designs for the girls and darker colors and more masculine designs for the guys. Otherwise they look the same. For the yukata, the sash (obi?) that ties around the waste is tied differently for the guys as well, lower on the waist and without the big bow in the back. I will probably get one of those eventually as well. I think I’ll wait for my first paycheck next week. I think someone mentioned that the kochosensei has a shop or lives near a shop that sells yukata. So I may follow up on that.
With the girls all set in their yukata we set off for the train to Tokushima. Tokushima has a summer festival called Awa Odori (Awa Dance). It’s pretty famous. We saw several other tourists there as well as other groups of JETs. We had a pretty large group ourselves (about 20 I think ended up making the trip from Kagawa to Tokushima – the neighboring prefecture and capital city of the same name). We started off getting some lunch before the festival. After that we just walked around to the different booths. The booths mainly sell food and some have toys and trinkets. The dancing started around 6 I think. And so did the drinking. Chu-hai. It’s carbonated alcoholic drink that resembles a wine cooler but less sweet. It’s flavored by whichever fruit are in season. I had the lemon, grapefruit, and plum flavored ones. We walked around in constantly changing groups of JETs to see different parts of the parades of dancers. I’m not sure how it works, but different groups will form dance teams that all wear the same outfits, but everyone does the same dance, the Awa Odori. Each group might do it a little bit differently though and add some choreography to it, but it’s all the same dance. Eventually things break down and people join the groups as they make their way down the street. I think we actually joined a couple groups that we really weren’t meant to, but it’s all in the festival spirit. A lot of them seemed happy for us to join them. Sometimes they have one person in the group in some sort of costume. One guy was in a cow costume and gave a cow puppet to Sam. She was pretty excited about that. They also have thousands and thousands of fans that they give out. So we had a good time collecting those. Angelina is a master and has quite a collection on her walls. We had a great time and danced our way all back to the station and caught the last train to Sambommatsu. We did well getting a group of seats all together. We were all pretty loud on the train, but I apparently was the loudest.
August 11, 2007
Sambommatsu
Saturday, I just wore the same clothes as Friday. They didn’t smell too bad, but by the end of the day, my shoes were pretty rank. No one said anything, so maybe my feet weren’t too bad. And we did have to take our shoes off when inside. We woke up kind of early considering our night out. Tye and I needed money and we were also in search of jimbe, traditional Japanese summer festival wear. And of course food. We headed out and met Angelina, another JET in Sambommatsu, and went to Joyfull, a diner with some American-ish food. It was pretty good. I’m not a fan of their White Water drink or the melon soda. It’s a bit sweet. Afterwards we went to a store for the jimbe (or jimbo, Tye kept changing the word on us). They only had women’s clothes at that store, but they offered to call another place and check. They gave us directions and sent us on our way. We went to a post office to get money and then on to the other store.
It ended up being this really small mom and pop place. We walked in and they were waiting on us. They had the boxes down and were unwrapping and unfolding the jimbe for us. They only had three sets and luckily they weren’t too expensive. One was about $200 dollars, but the one I ended up getting was only $80 and Tye’s was $50. There were trade offs between the sets. Mine was a bit better quality, but Tye’s had shorts and pants in the combination. Mine was a bit thicker too, and Tye’s was a bit stiff. But I was happy with mine and Tye with his. We looked pretty cool. Once I get my camera charged and internet access figured out, I’ll be posting pictures and videos much more regularly. You’ll have to wait until then.
Oh and the couple who owned the store were really happy to see us and help us. The woman was walking around us telling us to try things on and asking us about the clothes. Luckily Angelina is a 3rd year JET who has a very good handle on Japanese and was able to translate for us when we needed. Which was all the time. The woman even gave us these little pouches. In traditional wear, the men and women carry purses. The women’s purses are little pouches with round baskets at the bottom and the men’s are just little pouches. They both have drawstrings at the top to cinch it closed and carry it. The pouches were about $25 each and they just gave them to us. We stood and talked with them and then got pictures with them. And then they showed us their picture album with a dance event and the foreigners that they knew before. And then they gave the girls linens and then they gave us socks. The longer we stayed the more they gave us. Right before we left, they gave the girls t-shirts. Sam said she will print off one of the pictures and go back and give it and a gift to them. They really were very nice. When we left, the woman followed us out of the store and saw us on our way down the street.
On our way back, we spotted a shrine and went to it for a look around. They are tucked in everywhere around here. We stopped at the grocery store for provisions for breakfast the next day. We went back to the apartment and hung out for a bit before heading to dinner at this little restaurant that is a JET staple in Sambommatsu. Every year the JETs that leave sign the wall after their last dinner there. I think it’s the daughter of the owner who speaks very good Japanese and who has a daughter who lives in London. They were very nice. We had a nice time. It was Tye, Sam, and I and we met Angelina, Megan (4th year JET from the west side of Kagawa, like me), and Angela (new JET in Hiketa, one town over from Sambommatsu). We took it pretty easy since were just out the night before and had a festival the next night. Another new JET, Dan from the west side joined us after dinner to crash at Sam’s. Angela stayed with us as well.
It ended up being this really small mom and pop place. We walked in and they were waiting on us. They had the boxes down and were unwrapping and unfolding the jimbe for us. They only had three sets and luckily they weren’t too expensive. One was about $200 dollars, but the one I ended up getting was only $80 and Tye’s was $50. There were trade offs between the sets. Mine was a bit better quality, but Tye’s had shorts and pants in the combination. Mine was a bit thicker too, and Tye’s was a bit stiff. But I was happy with mine and Tye with his. We looked pretty cool. Once I get my camera charged and internet access figured out, I’ll be posting pictures and videos much more regularly. You’ll have to wait until then.
Oh and the couple who owned the store were really happy to see us and help us. The woman was walking around us telling us to try things on and asking us about the clothes. Luckily Angelina is a 3rd year JET who has a very good handle on Japanese and was able to translate for us when we needed. Which was all the time. The woman even gave us these little pouches. In traditional wear, the men and women carry purses. The women’s purses are little pouches with round baskets at the bottom and the men’s are just little pouches. They both have drawstrings at the top to cinch it closed and carry it. The pouches were about $25 each and they just gave them to us. We stood and talked with them and then got pictures with them. And then they showed us their picture album with a dance event and the foreigners that they knew before. And then they gave the girls linens and then they gave us socks. The longer we stayed the more they gave us. Right before we left, they gave the girls t-shirts. Sam said she will print off one of the pictures and go back and give it and a gift to them. They really were very nice. When we left, the woman followed us out of the store and saw us on our way down the street.
On our way back, we spotted a shrine and went to it for a look around. They are tucked in everywhere around here. We stopped at the grocery store for provisions for breakfast the next day. We went back to the apartment and hung out for a bit before heading to dinner at this little restaurant that is a JET staple in Sambommatsu. Every year the JETs that leave sign the wall after their last dinner there. I think it’s the daughter of the owner who speaks very good Japanese and who has a daughter who lives in London. They were very nice. We had a nice time. It was Tye, Sam, and I and we met Angelina, Megan (4th year JET from the west side of Kagawa, like me), and Angela (new JET in Hiketa, one town over from Sambommatsu). We took it pretty easy since were just out the night before and had a festival the next night. Another new JET, Dan from the west side joined us after dinner to crash at Sam’s. Angela stayed with us as well.
August 10, 2007
1st Kagawa Orientation
Well it has been awhile since I last updated. Last week I had tried sending my posts via a posting address, but they just became drafts instead of being published for people to see. I just got those published today (Tuesday 14th) but I backdated them to when I actually wrote them.
I just got back home after 1am last night from a really long weekend. I’m not actually sure what I did Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week, it seems so long ago. I went out to eat a couple of times. Once with Tye, Chris and Dan at a Korean style restaurant where we cooked the meat ourselves on a table with a grill in the center. It was pretty good. We drank a little and ended up back at my place sitting around talking for a bit. Another night, Dan was in Takase for his adult English class. So we went to an Italian restaurant. It was pretty good. They used a bit too much olive oil though. I learned that his adult English class should actually be mine. My predecessor didn’t want to do it and Dan wanted to. I’m going to ask if they can start another one. I’ve heard that it’s a good way to meet people in the town that you might not otherwise meet. A lot of people have spoken very highly of their adult classes.
Friday was our first prefectural orientation in Takamatsu, the capital of Kagawa. I left Takase at 7:30am. And I actually haven’t been back until last night after 1am. And I hadn’t planned on that. I knew I was going to a festival in Tokushima on Sunday, but when we went to orientation I found out the other guy in Mitoyo City was just crashing at Samantha’s (another Atlanta JET who is in Sambommatsu a town on the east side past Takamatsu from Takase) to make a weekend of it. Even though I had no change of clothes, no bookbag, no toiletries, I finally decided to just tough it out and make the best of it. It costs about 20 dollars for a round trip from my town to just the capital and additional 30 or so to the festival city. So it just made sense to stay on the east side for everything. I had already requested Monday and Tuesday off. So I figured I could make things work.
Friday night after the orientation, all the JETs went to a beer garden for nomihodai (all you can drink) and somethingelse-hodai (all you can eat). It was about $35 from 5 30 to 9 30. So not too bad a deal I guess. One of the JETs has an economic philosophy that’s hard to argue with after you’ve had a few. According to it, if you consider a drink is about 500 yen and you pay 3800 yen for the night, then you need to drink 8 drinks to break even and your food is free. And anything you drink after that, you’re making money. I think I made a couple bucks that night. We actually went to another bar after that. Then a group of us went back to Sam’s place by train around 11 or midnight I think. We all crashed on her futons all across the floor. I think the first night was just Sam, Tye, and I.
I just got back home after 1am last night from a really long weekend. I’m not actually sure what I did Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week, it seems so long ago. I went out to eat a couple of times. Once with Tye, Chris and Dan at a Korean style restaurant where we cooked the meat ourselves on a table with a grill in the center. It was pretty good. We drank a little and ended up back at my place sitting around talking for a bit. Another night, Dan was in Takase for his adult English class. So we went to an Italian restaurant. It was pretty good. They used a bit too much olive oil though. I learned that his adult English class should actually be mine. My predecessor didn’t want to do it and Dan wanted to. I’m going to ask if they can start another one. I’ve heard that it’s a good way to meet people in the town that you might not otherwise meet. A lot of people have spoken very highly of their adult classes.
Friday was our first prefectural orientation in Takamatsu, the capital of Kagawa. I left Takase at 7:30am. And I actually haven’t been back until last night after 1am. And I hadn’t planned on that. I knew I was going to a festival in Tokushima on Sunday, but when we went to orientation I found out the other guy in Mitoyo City was just crashing at Samantha’s (another Atlanta JET who is in Sambommatsu a town on the east side past Takamatsu from Takase) to make a weekend of it. Even though I had no change of clothes, no bookbag, no toiletries, I finally decided to just tough it out and make the best of it. It costs about 20 dollars for a round trip from my town to just the capital and additional 30 or so to the festival city. So it just made sense to stay on the east side for everything. I had already requested Monday and Tuesday off. So I figured I could make things work.
Friday night after the orientation, all the JETs went to a beer garden for nomihodai (all you can drink) and somethingelse-hodai (all you can eat). It was about $35 from 5 30 to 9 30. So not too bad a deal I guess. One of the JETs has an economic philosophy that’s hard to argue with after you’ve had a few. According to it, if you consider a drink is about 500 yen and you pay 3800 yen for the night, then you need to drink 8 drinks to break even and your food is free. And anything you drink after that, you’re making money. I think I made a couple bucks that night. We actually went to another bar after that. Then a group of us went back to Sam’s place by train around 11 or midnight I think. We all crashed on her futons all across the floor. I think the first night was just Sam, Tye, and I.
August 7, 2007
Georgia
The kocho-sensei just walked by. He was wearing the Georgia pin. He pointed at it and said "Georgia people."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
