Today was another eye opener. I suddenly see things from a new angle, or I think about something that never had before entered my mind.
I got my new refrigerator today! I can actually store a pitcher of water in there now. My tap water isn’t very cold and it comes out with tiny bubbles in it, so it will be really nice to have my britta pitcher of cold water whenever I need it. Got the air conditioner going now, so it’s a bit cooler in my living room as I’m writing this. I’m actually wearing clothes right now. I had to wait around my house for about 2 hours for the delivery men to come after work. Then I wanted to get to the library to see if they had the second Harry Potter book in English before I was meeting Sarah at the Bunka Center to shadow her Japanese language lesson. I hopped on my bike and made it the 3 or 4 kilometers or so to the library (which is right next to the bunka center) about 5 min. before it closed. This was the first time I had been there, so I walked up to the lady behind the desk and said, “eego no hon ga arimasuka?” which means, “Do you have any books in English?” The lady said to wait a second, then walked out from behind the desk. I followed her until she walked into a back room. I thought, this is funny… About 30 seconds later she came back out with a handful of books and set them back on the desk. There were five books in English. Five. In the entire library. And they were all by Japanese authors. I asked (half sarcastically) if they had Harry Potter in English and she actually got on the computer and checked another library in a bigger city. It looked like the nearest library with any reasonable amount of books in English was Shizuoka City 20 kilometers away. And there were 10 people on the waiting list for the Harry Potter book I wanted. I think I might have to buy all the books I want to read. Books are really expensive here though because they are all imported. Ebay might be the way to go. Or have my parents buy used books for real cheap and then spend $20 to airmail a box. I have purchased one book here “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and it was 1300 yen.
Well, I didn’t have much time to stick around thinking about the five English books, I had to get to the bunka center. I thought I was just going to be hanging out with Sarah and her Japanese teacher, but I was far wrong. Really, I didn’t know what I was going to be doing but afterward it sure set me thinking. After a short ride in the smallest elevator I’ve ever been in Sarah brought me to a man named Hakamada sensei. We briefly met a few pairs of teachers and students who were studying Japanese, then went into a room of our own. It took me a bit, but I pretty much figured out that he was signing me up to take Japanese lessons. There was a 2 page survey sheet that I thought at first was a knowledge gauge because of how the first question was posed. It had the word namae and then in English “fast/middle/last name/nickname.” And I thought, “ok, namae doesn’t mean fast…I think it means name, but is it last name or nickname?” I decided to circle “last name” and move on to question two. This one asked me my age in Japanese and in English so now I was really confused. I asked Hakamada sensei what this meant and he said, “Name. Fast name, middle name, Last name.” “Ohhhh…I thought. First name. K, got it. I didn’t really feel like this was the time for correcting this mistake (or the several other mistakes I ran into- like “Can you lead hiragana?”). After all, I was the illiterate one.
After I finished Hakamada sensei went over the sheet with me. We spent a good 40 min. talking about what I had written. This was really enjoyable because I could tell he really cared about me and my interests and my success living here in Japan. I found out he plays darts and golf as well. He shoots around 90 and is playing on Saturday in another prefecture. That’s neither here nor there really… but this is what struck me: I was in exactly the opposite seat I was in this past fall semester. That semester I had classes on only Tuesdays and Thursdays so I decided to not waste my time and signed up to volunteer Monday and Wednesday mornings at the local literacy center LVCV (Literacy Volunteers of Chippewa Valley). There I worked with people from Mexico, Laos, Germany and the Middle East who were living in Wisconsin and studying English. It was a great experience and I know it helped me get this position teaching English in Japan. But I didn’t ever imagine myself in the student’s position. Yet here I was sitting in the Bunka Center, not even totally understanding what “bunka” meant. I struggled through talking about the worksheet with Hakamada sensei and then struggled through understanding how the classes worked and who my teachers would be and how often and when we would be meeting and how much it would cost and what I should do if I needed to cancel a lesson. I just had to shake my head in wonderment and disbelief at how surreal it felt. And thank Hakamada sensei for his patience.
There’s this exam called the JPLT? I think. It’s a government Japanese Language proficiency exam that can certify people who pass for certain jobs, etc. There’s 4 different levels with 1 being the most difficult. And it’s really difficult. Some native Japanese speakers would have to study to pass it. Hakamada sensei showed me the sheet that explained what kind of preparation one needed to pass the once a year exams. It looked like level 4 required 150 hours of preparation with each successive level doubling the required study time. He wanted to push me and he wanted me to challenge myself to try and pass the level 3 exam next December. If I study 1 hour every day for the next 15 months or 450 hours, I should have no problem passing level Three. Which really does nothing job prospect wise, but it would mean that I know quite a bit of Japanese. I think level three required a solid base of 6,000 vocab words as well (mentioning this Hakamada sensei began rambling off the words for everything in the room).
Do I have the discipline to do this?
Friday, August 31, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Things
To answer your question MoJo, I live quite literally on the ocean, so no, I am not higher that in Minnesota. So I live a lot closer to sea level and a lot closer to the sea! I like to walk out to the sea wall and just sit there for a while watching the waves. It really scares the crap out of me. I think it's mostly the enormous jacks thingys on the beach.
Here are a bunch of my anecdotal photos:
Pics that got lost in the mix:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097072&l=cf9f9&id=59501063
English camp/random:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097078&l=cdfe6&id=59501063
Climbing Mt. Fuji:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097083&l=dd9a7&id=59501063
Climbing Mt. Fuji pt. 2:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097087&l=cc100&id=59501063
I climbed Fuji-san on Saturday/Sunday!
Crazy story- so I got to the place where the bus was picking us up pretty early and decided to go into the grocery store a block away to buy eye drops and some snacks for the climb. As I was about to enter the store this guy walks up to me and says, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" I said yes, and he apologized for his poor English (which turned out to be quite good) and then said this: "I'm want to climb Mt. Fuji tonight, do you know how to get to the mountain?" And I said, "Well ACtually, I'm waiting for a bus to take me there right now!" The AJET chapter in Shizuoka had planned the whole trip out and was coming with a bus for the 25 ALTs who had signed up for the trip. I figured it would be totally cool to add on one more guy, especially a Brazilian named Fernando! So when the bus came he paid his non-membership price of 5500 yen (it was 5000 for the rest of us) and hopped on the bus. We ended up talking for a good part of the ride- he lives in Sao Paulo and is here on a 10 day business trip. He works for Toyota as a customer service engineer. After the trip he thanked me very much for the offer up to Fujisan and gave me his business card. He said if I'm ever back in Brazil to please look him up. I didn't expect to be making international connections while in Japan- funny, but I probably should have. I'm American, he's Brazilian and we're in Japan. I think this is how one makes most business contacts. Or maybe how one should make good business contacts. Just be willing to approach people and then also be helpful and kind.
We climbed at night in order to see the sunrise. I left from station 5 at 11pm and got to the top at 4:45 am. The sunrise was absolutely incredible. There was cloud cover down below with the tops of a few hills emerging above. I have never seen a sunrise over a cloud horizon before- truly a beautiful experience. Here I am watching the sunrise from the highest point in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Total change of subject...I really want to buy a dryer. I didn't at first because they are $400, but... There are these cicada bugs here in Kambara that are not only super loud at 6 am but are super huge as well. And they live in the tree next to my veranda. I can see them crawling around in it from my kitchen table. Several nights ago I was sitting in my living room and I heard someone knocking on the sliding door out to the veranda. I was kind of spooked because you can't easily get to the veranda from the ground, but I went and looked and there was this cicada pounding its body against the glass. The thing was enormous! Then it just sat on the screen for a while. The veranda is where I hang my laundry, therefore this was unacceptable. Unfortunately, him being the monstrous animal that he was, had the upperhand. The next day I went out to claim my clothing. As soon as I slid the door he flew up and started pounding against it again. I quickly hopped back inside while he just sat there. The damn guy was holding my clothes hostage. And it's a $400 ransom.
Speaking of money, this brings me to my next story. The a/c guy came to my house yesterday right after work. I actually left a little early to meet him in time. Ueda sensei also met me there to translate. He tinkered around for a bit, then said it was going to be about $200 to put more gas in it so it would work, I asked how much longer it would work for, and wondered if I should just buy a brand new one for $550 that I knew would last. He ended up saying pretty much, so should I go ahead and do it? And I reluctantly shook my head back and forth. I would sweat it out for another month and think about it when next summer's heat hit hard. But then something happened, he started saying something and Ueda sensei looked really surprised and was covering her mouth and was bowing and apologizing (the Japanese thank you, basically? or being polite?). Apparently he said that he would just do it all right then for free. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't tell if this was really happening or if I just didn't understand. But afterwards I thanked him and bowed. Ueda sensei told me he thought I was in trouble, being a gaijin (foreigner) living in Japan. She said I was lucky. I felt very blessed. Japanese people truly are very kind. I have been helped so much by all kinds of people, and helped greatly by a few.
One last thing I want to do is try and dispel a common belief about Japanese people. I have found that contrary to common stereotype, Japanese people are not that short. Everyday I run into many men who are taller than me, and in the last month I've also seen several women taller than I am. Maybe the national average is smaller than the U.S.'s average, but that doesn't mean EVERYone is shorter. In my everyday life I am never struck by a difference in height. By using facilities, however, one may feel like Japanese people are smaller, but it's really just the facilities. There are a lot of people in a small amount of space, so for that practical reason, as well as efficiency, many things are built smaller or lower to the ground.
Well, I did my duty to make the world a better place, and as the Boy Scouts say, "Do a good turn daily." And I'm flipped upside down.
Here are a bunch of my anecdotal photos:
Pics that got lost in the mix:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097072&l=cf9f9&id=59501063
English camp/random:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097078&l=cdfe6&id=59501063
Climbing Mt. Fuji:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097083&l=dd9a7&id=59501063
Climbing Mt. Fuji pt. 2:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097087&l=cc100&id=59501063
I climbed Fuji-san on Saturday/Sunday!
Crazy story- so I got to the place where the bus was picking us up pretty early and decided to go into the grocery store a block away to buy eye drops and some snacks for the climb. As I was about to enter the store this guy walks up to me and says, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" I said yes, and he apologized for his poor English (which turned out to be quite good) and then said this: "I'm want to climb Mt. Fuji tonight, do you know how to get to the mountain?" And I said, "Well ACtually, I'm waiting for a bus to take me there right now!" The AJET chapter in Shizuoka had planned the whole trip out and was coming with a bus for the 25 ALTs who had signed up for the trip. I figured it would be totally cool to add on one more guy, especially a Brazilian named Fernando! So when the bus came he paid his non-membership price of 5500 yen (it was 5000 for the rest of us) and hopped on the bus. We ended up talking for a good part of the ride- he lives in Sao Paulo and is here on a 10 day business trip. He works for Toyota as a customer service engineer. After the trip he thanked me very much for the offer up to Fujisan and gave me his business card. He said if I'm ever back in Brazil to please look him up. I didn't expect to be making international connections while in Japan- funny, but I probably should have. I'm American, he's Brazilian and we're in Japan. I think this is how one makes most business contacts. Or maybe how one should make good business contacts. Just be willing to approach people and then also be helpful and kind.
We climbed at night in order to see the sunrise. I left from station 5 at 11pm and got to the top at 4:45 am. The sunrise was absolutely incredible. There was cloud cover down below with the tops of a few hills emerging above. I have never seen a sunrise over a cloud horizon before- truly a beautiful experience. Here I am watching the sunrise from the highest point in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Total change of subject...I really want to buy a dryer. I didn't at first because they are $400, but... There are these cicada bugs here in Kambara that are not only super loud at 6 am but are super huge as well. And they live in the tree next to my veranda. I can see them crawling around in it from my kitchen table. Several nights ago I was sitting in my living room and I heard someone knocking on the sliding door out to the veranda. I was kind of spooked because you can't easily get to the veranda from the ground, but I went and looked and there was this cicada pounding its body against the glass. The thing was enormous! Then it just sat on the screen for a while. The veranda is where I hang my laundry, therefore this was unacceptable. Unfortunately, him being the monstrous animal that he was, had the upperhand. The next day I went out to claim my clothing. As soon as I slid the door he flew up and started pounding against it again. I quickly hopped back inside while he just sat there. The damn guy was holding my clothes hostage. And it's a $400 ransom.
Speaking of money, this brings me to my next story. The a/c guy came to my house yesterday right after work. I actually left a little early to meet him in time. Ueda sensei also met me there to translate. He tinkered around for a bit, then said it was going to be about $200 to put more gas in it so it would work, I asked how much longer it would work for, and wondered if I should just buy a brand new one for $550 that I knew would last. He ended up saying pretty much, so should I go ahead and do it? And I reluctantly shook my head back and forth. I would sweat it out for another month and think about it when next summer's heat hit hard. But then something happened, he started saying something and Ueda sensei looked really surprised and was covering her mouth and was bowing and apologizing (the Japanese thank you, basically? or being polite?). Apparently he said that he would just do it all right then for free. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't tell if this was really happening or if I just didn't understand. But afterwards I thanked him and bowed. Ueda sensei told me he thought I was in trouble, being a gaijin (foreigner) living in Japan. She said I was lucky. I felt very blessed. Japanese people truly are very kind. I have been helped so much by all kinds of people, and helped greatly by a few.
One last thing I want to do is try and dispel a common belief about Japanese people. I have found that contrary to common stereotype, Japanese people are not that short. Everyday I run into many men who are taller than me, and in the last month I've also seen several women taller than I am. Maybe the national average is smaller than the U.S.'s average, but that doesn't mean EVERYone is shorter. In my everyday life I am never struck by a difference in height. By using facilities, however, one may feel like Japanese people are smaller, but it's really just the facilities. There are a lot of people in a small amount of space, so for that practical reason, as well as efficiency, many things are built smaller or lower to the ground.
Well, I did my duty to make the world a better place, and as the Boy Scouts say, "Do a good turn daily." And I'm flipped upside down.
Oh, Mistakes…!
These past 3 days I had English Camp for the English Course students in their 1st year at Ihara High School. High school here in Japan is 3 years, so these kids are the equivalent of 10th graders back in the states. Two JTEs, Sarah and I and 8 other ALTs from other schools all hopped on a bus with the 36 kids and headed for Lake Saiko on the north side of Mt. Fuji. It was really an awesome time! Were split up into 10 groups, and I had 3 of the kids in my group for most of the activities. My students’ names in my group were Misaki, Kanami and Toru. Two girls and a boy. It was an important camp for the kids especially as well because they mostly met each other only 6 months ago when their school year began. These 36 kids will all stay in the same class together for the next 2 ½ years. In Japanese high schools the students have the same class with the same kids all day and the teachers change rooms to teach the different subjects. So the kids had an opportunity to spend a lot of casual time together, meals, sleeping in a hotel room, etc., to get to be better friends before second term starts. All the kids are really great and excited and hard-workers. Truly a genki class! It taught me a lot about being more genki too. It reminded me a LOT of Camp Omega and having a group of kids there 3 years ago. I do really miss those times- I absolutely loved the interaction with the kids at camp. Now it is obviously different because I couldn’t/can’t communicate with them on the level I could with native English speaking kids. I often would forget during the 3 days that the kids couldn’t understand everything I was saying. But, I tried to just speak a little more slowly and use a more simplified vocabulary. If they didn’t understand I tried using different words or explaining it using a different example or different hand motions. Some of the ALTs I have noticed will not use complete sentences or will use really odd sounding inflection when speaking to Japanese people. I don’t think this is doing anyone a service because it is not a correct model of authentic English usage.
Sarah put together the curriculum and schedule for the entire 3 days and did a wonderful job. The activities got the students creating a lot of sentences and asking a lot of questions. One of the activities was to write and perform a skit for the end of the last day. Our group got together with Jessie’s (another 1st year ALT living in Fujieda) for the skit. Her student’s names were Yorika, Asuka and Shuma, also two girls and a boy. Right away two of the girls wanted to do magic tricks, and the other 4 really didn’t know what to do, so the first hour or so of our time we had to write was kind of wasted. I was hoping they would jump on it and come up with some ideas, but it was tough for them to work together not knowing each other so much and being 1st year students and being boys and girls together and having to write the skit in English! Jessie had some good ideas from the beginning choosing these robot masks from the prop box and saying we should do something where everyone turns into a robot. For our second writing/practice session Toru and Shuma weren’t really getting on top of things so I sat down with them and Toru said to me, “Luther, this is really hard.” So it wasn’t a lack of trying that was getting them nowhere, it was just a matter of being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. So I wrote a few lines of dialogue for them to try and get the ball rolling. Once we had a general idea of the plot it was time to move on to a new activity, but later Toru came to me and said he had some great ideas for the skit, so the next session had Toru writing his own dialogue until the script was complete. I was really happy to see all 6 of them excited over their skit and I was also very impressed by the extent of their English knowledge already.
In our skit Jessie and I were the MCs for a talent show. Asuka and Misaki did a magic show doing a card trick and the “pulling the rope through the neck” trick that I had taught them early on in the camp. “How does she do it?” Yorika and Kanami did a baton act where they balanced them and tossed them to each other with Kanami purposefully dropping it and hurting Yorika. “Ouch!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Ok, Ok, Ok.”
Next was a dance by Shuma. He came up with it all by himself and involved him wearing Minnie mouse ears while holding a Japanese fan and singing an Okame type song while doing what looked like a traditional Japanese dance. It was completely hilarious!
“I am the dancing Shuma.”
“I will perform a dance for you.”
“I worked VEry HArd.”
“Please enjoy.”
Toru was introduced as Evil Toru (foreshadowing?) and did a pretend experiment where he created a potion. We all tried some (except for Shuma) and turned into robots. I loved Toru’s evil laugh! Shuma said to change us back, so Toru said that if Shuma beat him at a game of poker he would make an antidote, but if Toru won, Shuma would have to drink the potion. He agreed. Shuma got a royal flush but Toru refused to change us back and told us to “Get Shuma!” Shuma took out a sword and said:
“I am the dancing Shuma! Go to Heaven, or go to Hell!” Which was a line Toru wrote and was hysterical. Then he killed us all and got the recipe for the antidote and the skit was over. Our group won the award for most original skit.
Again, all the kids were great fun. Many of them were super pumped to be giving high fives all the time, because this is an “American gesture.” At one time I had raised my shoulders and turned up the palms of my hands to mean “I don’t know” and the kids jumped right on that one too – “Ah! American gesture!” I don’t know in Japanese is putting your hand up at face level and turning your wrist back and forth. Other things we did too were lighting off fireworks or hanabi down by the lake and skipping stones. Megumi was quite good at skipping them.
I got to know the other ALTs better too and enjoyed a couple of nights of relaxing onsen across the street. Like any good Japanese bus ours was equipped with karaoke – 2 tv screens and a microphone that could be plugged into the ceiling – so we sang songs during our 90 min. ride back to Kambara. Friday night 7 of us ALTs and the two JTEs, Yamaguchi sensei and Junko sensei, went out to a really nice tabehodai/nomihodai place in Shizuoka City. It was 4000 yen for all you could eat and drink for 2 hours. The food was phenomenal and the beer came in giant frosted mugs. It was a lot of fun. I got to relate my Friday afternoon story to the other ALTs…
So after the bus stopped at the high school to let some of us off I decided to spend some time in the teachers room before I had to get back home to get ready for the enkai (party) that evening. Ueda sensei was there and had something for me on my desk. Ueda sensei has been helping me the most over the past several weeks getting me to the bank, shopping for a washing machine, taking me shopping for household goods, taking me to the post office, getting my gaijin card, interpreting my mail, talking on the phone to sign me up for internet and translating the whole time. I literally wouldn’t have been able to get settled in here without all of her help. I had given her the boxes of macaroni and cheese on Tuesday and the note she had for me on my desk basically was thanking me for that with the gift. I said the gift was completely unnecessary, but she wanted me to open it so I did (it was just a plastic bag) and inside were 2 sweat towels. Now this isn’t automatically an ominous gift because practically everyone here uses sweat towels to dry themselves out throughout the day (in public) since it is so damn humid all the time. I even had bought some towels at the store and had been using one at school and on the train myself so it is completely normal and very practical to receive one as a gift. But the interesting part comes in the explanation she gave with the gift…
“Luther, you have been using a kitchen towel as a sweat towel.”
“Really? Does everyone know that?”
“Yes, everyone in the office is always saying ‘Why is the new ALT always using a kitchen towel to dry off the sweat?’ Everyone notice. And the towel is pink.”
We laughed and laughed. The towel she gave me had pictures of pigs on it going “boo boo boo” because according to the Japanese that is the sound a pig makes. This was also an inside joke between us. I am so sad that Ueda sensei will be leaving in one week. She was a long term substitute teacher at Ihara, and will be transferring to Fuji City Sep. 1st. I will miss her at school a lot.
Sarah put together the curriculum and schedule for the entire 3 days and did a wonderful job. The activities got the students creating a lot of sentences and asking a lot of questions. One of the activities was to write and perform a skit for the end of the last day. Our group got together with Jessie’s (another 1st year ALT living in Fujieda) for the skit. Her student’s names were Yorika, Asuka and Shuma, also two girls and a boy. Right away two of the girls wanted to do magic tricks, and the other 4 really didn’t know what to do, so the first hour or so of our time we had to write was kind of wasted. I was hoping they would jump on it and come up with some ideas, but it was tough for them to work together not knowing each other so much and being 1st year students and being boys and girls together and having to write the skit in English! Jessie had some good ideas from the beginning choosing these robot masks from the prop box and saying we should do something where everyone turns into a robot. For our second writing/practice session Toru and Shuma weren’t really getting on top of things so I sat down with them and Toru said to me, “Luther, this is really hard.” So it wasn’t a lack of trying that was getting them nowhere, it was just a matter of being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. So I wrote a few lines of dialogue for them to try and get the ball rolling. Once we had a general idea of the plot it was time to move on to a new activity, but later Toru came to me and said he had some great ideas for the skit, so the next session had Toru writing his own dialogue until the script was complete. I was really happy to see all 6 of them excited over their skit and I was also very impressed by the extent of their English knowledge already.
In our skit Jessie and I were the MCs for a talent show. Asuka and Misaki did a magic show doing a card trick and the “pulling the rope through the neck” trick that I had taught them early on in the camp. “How does she do it?” Yorika and Kanami did a baton act where they balanced them and tossed them to each other with Kanami purposefully dropping it and hurting Yorika. “Ouch!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Ok, Ok, Ok.”
Next was a dance by Shuma. He came up with it all by himself and involved him wearing Minnie mouse ears while holding a Japanese fan and singing an Okame type song while doing what looked like a traditional Japanese dance. It was completely hilarious!
“I am the dancing Shuma.”
“I will perform a dance for you.”
“I worked VEry HArd.”
“Please enjoy.”
Toru was introduced as Evil Toru (foreshadowing?) and did a pretend experiment where he created a potion. We all tried some (except for Shuma) and turned into robots. I loved Toru’s evil laugh! Shuma said to change us back, so Toru said that if Shuma beat him at a game of poker he would make an antidote, but if Toru won, Shuma would have to drink the potion. He agreed. Shuma got a royal flush but Toru refused to change us back and told us to “Get Shuma!” Shuma took out a sword and said:
“I am the dancing Shuma! Go to Heaven, or go to Hell!” Which was a line Toru wrote and was hysterical. Then he killed us all and got the recipe for the antidote and the skit was over. Our group won the award for most original skit.
Again, all the kids were great fun. Many of them were super pumped to be giving high fives all the time, because this is an “American gesture.” At one time I had raised my shoulders and turned up the palms of my hands to mean “I don’t know” and the kids jumped right on that one too – “Ah! American gesture!” I don’t know in Japanese is putting your hand up at face level and turning your wrist back and forth. Other things we did too were lighting off fireworks or hanabi down by the lake and skipping stones. Megumi was quite good at skipping them.
I got to know the other ALTs better too and enjoyed a couple of nights of relaxing onsen across the street. Like any good Japanese bus ours was equipped with karaoke – 2 tv screens and a microphone that could be plugged into the ceiling – so we sang songs during our 90 min. ride back to Kambara. Friday night 7 of us ALTs and the two JTEs, Yamaguchi sensei and Junko sensei, went out to a really nice tabehodai/nomihodai place in Shizuoka City. It was 4000 yen for all you could eat and drink for 2 hours. The food was phenomenal and the beer came in giant frosted mugs. It was a lot of fun. I got to relate my Friday afternoon story to the other ALTs…
So after the bus stopped at the high school to let some of us off I decided to spend some time in the teachers room before I had to get back home to get ready for the enkai (party) that evening. Ueda sensei was there and had something for me on my desk. Ueda sensei has been helping me the most over the past several weeks getting me to the bank, shopping for a washing machine, taking me shopping for household goods, taking me to the post office, getting my gaijin card, interpreting my mail, talking on the phone to sign me up for internet and translating the whole time. I literally wouldn’t have been able to get settled in here without all of her help. I had given her the boxes of macaroni and cheese on Tuesday and the note she had for me on my desk basically was thanking me for that with the gift. I said the gift was completely unnecessary, but she wanted me to open it so I did (it was just a plastic bag) and inside were 2 sweat towels. Now this isn’t automatically an ominous gift because practically everyone here uses sweat towels to dry themselves out throughout the day (in public) since it is so damn humid all the time. I even had bought some towels at the store and had been using one at school and on the train myself so it is completely normal and very practical to receive one as a gift. But the interesting part comes in the explanation she gave with the gift…
“Luther, you have been using a kitchen towel as a sweat towel.”
“Really? Does everyone know that?”
“Yes, everyone in the office is always saying ‘Why is the new ALT always using a kitchen towel to dry off the sweat?’ Everyone notice. And the towel is pink.”
We laughed and laughed. The towel she gave me had pictures of pigs on it going “boo boo boo” because according to the Japanese that is the sound a pig makes. This was also an inside joke between us. I am so sad that Ueda sensei will be leaving in one week. She was a long term substitute teacher at Ihara, and will be transferring to Fuji City Sep. 1st. I will miss her at school a lot.
Monday, August 20, 2007
A Festival and a New Connection
Pics with the stories:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095998&l=23961&id=59501063
Part I
Today is Sunday. It is almost 3pm and I haven’t even taken a shower for the day yet. I don’t know how I will be spending my Sundays this period of life in Japan yet, but for now I’m really doing nothing. Today I woke up at almost noon, read Knowing God by J.I.Packer for an hour or so, then started a load of laundry. After hanging my laundry outside (I did not purchase a dryer- they cost over $400 and almost everyone hangs laundry anyway) I started reading a new book I just purchased yesterday. Which takes me to meat of this story.
Friday evening I called Maureen on my new cell phone (which is much cooler than yours, I can assure you) to ask about what our plans were for climbing Mt. Fuji. Or “Mr. Fuji” Fujisan as the Japanese call him. Since Maureen’s friend wasn’t coming down anymore this weekend we decided to climb him next weekend with AJET, the social board of JETs from Shizuoka. I had paid my 1000 yen membership fee at the Kakegawa Orientation, so I was all for it. Plus it’s going to be a night climb so we can be at the top for the sunrise.
This left me with nothing to do yesterday, so I texted Ruth asking her what she was going to be doing Saturday day. Ruth is from Scotland and was in Japan last summer doing the Navigator’s BEST Program in Shizuoka City. This was one of my possibilities for after graduation. I had applied and was accepted, but whole-heartedly chose the JET Program when I found out I had been accepted to this as well. Ruth and I met up in her city of Numazu at 1:00 for lunch and bookstore shopping. We spent some time looking at the crazy shops and decided on a restaurant that had pictures of food in the menu. Outside was displayed dozens of plastic dishes which was what drew us in that direction initially. I asked Ruth if the dishes were real food with a preservative glaze and she said no, that they were entirely plastic and there is a large industry in Tokyo for the production of plastic look-a-like foods. Most of the dishes looked right on with moisture even worked into the textures. The gyoza looked particularly good, and being that I love gyoza already I decided this was an acceptable restaurant. I had to write down the kanji for what Ruth wanted to order because we didn’t know how we were going to pronounce it when we got inside.
The bookstore we visited had a very small English section on the 3rd floor. (I think 3rd floor is mikkai?) It really was only one shelf length and the books were heavily overpriced. I decided on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which was suggested by Ruth. I was looking for Blue Like Jazz but again, the titles were very limited. I think I will buy my books online. This time in Japan I would really like to start reading again. I devoured books as a child; mom took us to the library religiously where we filled a University of Indiana bag and a large plastic box on each visit. Also mom read us books way above our reading levels- The Hobbit, Sir Gibbie, The Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women, just to name a few of the titles. (Mom, would you please remind me of more titles?) And this was when we were in grade school. Earlier she had read probably 25 Boxcar Children books and the Little House on the Prairie series. Oh! Where the Red Fern Grows- this is one of the saddest books of all time. And on my own I read the Magic Bicycle Series several times, Every title by Sid Fleischman, Every Bill Peet book, Practically every Roald Dahl book- and on and on. It’s really sad that I stopped reading once I started getting homework. And of course friend’s consume much more time in high school- and sport activities… Ok, so I’ve resolved to start reading again.
After the bookstore I took a ride on the back of Ruth’s bicycle (quite the event everytime we hit a curb- the insides of my legs are still sore) to “Don Kihote” or this store called Don Quixote where practically everything is sold. It also has a small international food section with Doritos and tacos. I took some video and will attempt to post it on Facebook soon. Meanwhile I will try to describe it for you. Imagine a Casino but with more bright lights and much more noise. There are products stacked high to the ceiling and dense on the shelves. The layout is like an IKEA- maze like. But the aisles are only about 3 feet wide throughout the entire store. Nothing is in order- In a 10 foot length of shelf the store was displaying portable stove tops, light bulbs, jumpsuits and insect tanks. I found dartboards in two different locations, but no other board games. I think things are placed randomly to force shoppers to look through the entire store to get what they need (and discover what they didn’t need but now can’t live without). I left the store with a dart board (really a necessity, tho I don’t know now how I’m going to hang it) Ricola cough drops, beef jerky and fabric softener.
Afterward Ruth had to leave to meet a friend so I decided to stay in Numazu to venture a Pachinko store. I think I may have described this before, but basically gambling is illegal in Japan. So to get around this people purchase little metal balls, say 250 for 1000 yen. Then the little metal balls are put through these machines that may or may not produce more little metal balls. The little metal balls can be traded for prizes, then the prizes are sold for cash. All very shady and irresistibly appealing. I stood for probably over an hour watching people play (whilst going deaf- it is soooo loud in these places- oh, and getting cancer because every third person is smoking) trying to figure out how to play, first of all, and then trying to notice and follow the steps from putting money in to getting more money out. I finally sat down at a machine not knowing entirely what I was doing and put my 1000 yen in the slot. I had to press some buttons, but soon a handful of little metal balls poured into the receiving cup. I turned this handle thing and they started shooting up into the machine. Ten minutes later I was yenless and little-metal-ball-less, if not yet still retaining my own ballsiness. Pachinko is no different than gambling, and I think 10 bucks has been more than enough to satiate my fascination.
Part II (written Monday)
When I got home I decided to bike to Yui to see what I could buy for groceries and ended up stopping at this little Ramen place for dinner. It was kind of shady- the 12 year old son of the lady who apparently owned the shop and did all the cooking was filling beers for people and taking them out into the restaurant. Any garbage or scraps were just tossed on the floor where the lady was cooking. There was a long drain on the floor, but the sanitary conditions still made me a little uneasy. As I was eating my 350 en gyoza I struck up a very limited conversation with the man next to me. I mentioned that I lived in Kambara (the town over) and he said something about a festival in Kambara. I had forgotten! Not that I had been planning on going, but I wasn't doing anything else that evening, so I rushed through dinner and hopped back on my bike for the bunka center in the middle of my city. I arrived just in time for the fireworks that were being set off from a few blocks away. (See pictures)
The festival was very small townish! There were a dozen or so small booths selling drinks and food items and a guy doing chinsey little magic tricks for a crowd of children. Earlier in the day I guess there had been an entertainer on the main stage. All said I'm sure there were over 1000 people there, maybe 2000. The best part was the dancing. There was this 2 or 3 story high tower set up in the parking lot and many people were dancing around it in a circle. They were all doing the same moves at the same time just like the Shimizu street festival! I watched for probably 45 min. right on the edge of the action until an old lady stopped and motioned for me to join in the dance. I hesitated for about 3 seconds and then realized in the first second that I didn't know anybody so no one was going to make fun of me later, the second second I realized this is Japan and I'm not going to pass up any opportunities, and in the third second I decided that it was going to be a lot of fun and that I would do this no matter the circumstances. I just copied everyone's moves around me, and they repeated fairly frequently, so I picked it up alright. We danced about 3 songs and then it was time for the festival to end.
Afterwards I was talking with the older lady and another lady who was there about who I was and where I lived. They called over someone to translate to try and understand each other a little better. Her name was Eri Ogawa, and I remember because she made sure I remembered her name. She was (is?) the daughter of the younger lady I was speaking with and was interested because she graduated from Ihara High School 2 years ago. Eri is at nursing school right now in Fuji City and will be turning 20 in December, a very important age for a Japanese person. This is traditionally the age at which someone is considered an adult and with it comes drinking and smoking priveledges, etc. We discovered that she had been the server at the Chinese restaurant I ate at with my supervisor and a couple of other teachers the first night I was in town. Also in the conversation she asked me if I had any friends in Kambara and I said no, not other than Sarah (the other ALT) and Eri said that she wanted to be friends, so maybe I will have some opportunities to hang out with Japanese "kids" my age?
On Sunday I took a spur of the moment hike up into the green hills behind my city and discovered some magnificent plants and insects (and a quite humid atmosphere). As I climbed higher up the paved road it became narrower and narrower and much more grown over. Surprisingly enough tho, as far as I climbed there were still run down shacks and little gardens in the midst of the thick of the green, so people obviously traveled (or lived?) farther up the road than cars ever did. The path was often crossed by enormous spiderwebs with crazy looking spiders sitting in the middle. I felt like I was playing the spiderweb team building game except for this was real life and I didn't know how much poison the spiders held in their fangs. I was sidestepping and crawling for a good part of the way until finally it got too scary so I picked up a branch and knocked them down as I walked. I hadn't eaten before I charged up the mountain so I didn't make it as far as I wanted, but I will definitely be back for a much further climb.
I ended my weekend with 6 hours of cleaning in my apartment from 7pm-1am. My kitchen is finally finished and the toilet room and the sink/mirror area of my bathroom is in working order. I have yet to purchase a fridge- will be very glad to keep a pitcher of water in my new one, my current one is too small- for it continues to be hot, hot, hot. Luckily today I was asked why I looked so tired and I said it was because I haven't been sleeping very well because it is so hot (which is true- I think I've only slept all the way through the night 1 or 2 times in the past 3 weeks. Usually I wake up half a dozen to a dozen times) and Kenmotsu sensei said this is not ok. I was talking with the office staff today too because I had to have them make copies of my gaijin card and get my insurance card and I was asked about the weather and I said my airconditioner wasn't working. So they called Kenmotsu sensei down to do translation and the office got right on it and called someone to come out free of charge and look at my airconditioner to see if it can be fixed or not. Now I just have to see how much it may cost to get it fixed. If I have to buy a new one, I think I will opt for less quality sleep for awhile longer because a new airconditioner would cost about $600. And it's not going to stay hot forever- it gets quite cool here in the fall and winter so an "ea- kon" won't be needed. It is actually on record as the hottest summer here in Shizuoka in 74 years, so it is the hottest anyone in my school has experienced thus far as well. I do enjoy hot weather, but here's to hoping that record takes it easy soon.
Luther
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095998&l=23961&id=59501063
Part I
Today is Sunday. It is almost 3pm and I haven’t even taken a shower for the day yet. I don’t know how I will be spending my Sundays this period of life in Japan yet, but for now I’m really doing nothing. Today I woke up at almost noon, read Knowing God by J.I.Packer for an hour or so, then started a load of laundry. After hanging my laundry outside (I did not purchase a dryer- they cost over $400 and almost everyone hangs laundry anyway) I started reading a new book I just purchased yesterday. Which takes me to meat of this story.
Friday evening I called Maureen on my new cell phone (which is much cooler than yours, I can assure you) to ask about what our plans were for climbing Mt. Fuji. Or “Mr. Fuji” Fujisan as the Japanese call him. Since Maureen’s friend wasn’t coming down anymore this weekend we decided to climb him next weekend with AJET, the social board of JETs from Shizuoka. I had paid my 1000 yen membership fee at the Kakegawa Orientation, so I was all for it. Plus it’s going to be a night climb so we can be at the top for the sunrise.
This left me with nothing to do yesterday, so I texted Ruth asking her what she was going to be doing Saturday day. Ruth is from Scotland and was in Japan last summer doing the Navigator’s BEST Program in Shizuoka City. This was one of my possibilities for after graduation. I had applied and was accepted, but whole-heartedly chose the JET Program when I found out I had been accepted to this as well. Ruth and I met up in her city of Numazu at 1:00 for lunch and bookstore shopping. We spent some time looking at the crazy shops and decided on a restaurant that had pictures of food in the menu. Outside was displayed dozens of plastic dishes which was what drew us in that direction initially. I asked Ruth if the dishes were real food with a preservative glaze and she said no, that they were entirely plastic and there is a large industry in Tokyo for the production of plastic look-a-like foods. Most of the dishes looked right on with moisture even worked into the textures. The gyoza looked particularly good, and being that I love gyoza already I decided this was an acceptable restaurant. I had to write down the kanji for what Ruth wanted to order because we didn’t know how we were going to pronounce it when we got inside.
The bookstore we visited had a very small English section on the 3rd floor. (I think 3rd floor is mikkai?) It really was only one shelf length and the books were heavily overpriced. I decided on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which was suggested by Ruth. I was looking for Blue Like Jazz but again, the titles were very limited. I think I will buy my books online. This time in Japan I would really like to start reading again. I devoured books as a child; mom took us to the library religiously where we filled a University of Indiana bag and a large plastic box on each visit. Also mom read us books way above our reading levels- The Hobbit, Sir Gibbie, The Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women, just to name a few of the titles. (Mom, would you please remind me of more titles?) And this was when we were in grade school. Earlier she had read probably 25 Boxcar Children books and the Little House on the Prairie series. Oh! Where the Red Fern Grows- this is one of the saddest books of all time. And on my own I read the Magic Bicycle Series several times, Every title by Sid Fleischman, Every Bill Peet book, Practically every Roald Dahl book- and on and on. It’s really sad that I stopped reading once I started getting homework. And of course friend’s consume much more time in high school- and sport activities… Ok, so I’ve resolved to start reading again.
After the bookstore I took a ride on the back of Ruth’s bicycle (quite the event everytime we hit a curb- the insides of my legs are still sore) to “Don Kihote” or this store called Don Quixote where practically everything is sold. It also has a small international food section with Doritos and tacos. I took some video and will attempt to post it on Facebook soon. Meanwhile I will try to describe it for you. Imagine a Casino but with more bright lights and much more noise. There are products stacked high to the ceiling and dense on the shelves. The layout is like an IKEA- maze like. But the aisles are only about 3 feet wide throughout the entire store. Nothing is in order- In a 10 foot length of shelf the store was displaying portable stove tops, light bulbs, jumpsuits and insect tanks. I found dartboards in two different locations, but no other board games. I think things are placed randomly to force shoppers to look through the entire store to get what they need (and discover what they didn’t need but now can’t live without). I left the store with a dart board (really a necessity, tho I don’t know now how I’m going to hang it) Ricola cough drops, beef jerky and fabric softener.
Afterward Ruth had to leave to meet a friend so I decided to stay in Numazu to venture a Pachinko store. I think I may have described this before, but basically gambling is illegal in Japan. So to get around this people purchase little metal balls, say 250 for 1000 yen. Then the little metal balls are put through these machines that may or may not produce more little metal balls. The little metal balls can be traded for prizes, then the prizes are sold for cash. All very shady and irresistibly appealing. I stood for probably over an hour watching people play (whilst going deaf- it is soooo loud in these places- oh, and getting cancer because every third person is smoking) trying to figure out how to play, first of all, and then trying to notice and follow the steps from putting money in to getting more money out. I finally sat down at a machine not knowing entirely what I was doing and put my 1000 yen in the slot. I had to press some buttons, but soon a handful of little metal balls poured into the receiving cup. I turned this handle thing and they started shooting up into the machine. Ten minutes later I was yenless and little-metal-ball-less, if not yet still retaining my own ballsiness. Pachinko is no different than gambling, and I think 10 bucks has been more than enough to satiate my fascination.
Part II (written Monday)
When I got home I decided to bike to Yui to see what I could buy for groceries and ended up stopping at this little Ramen place for dinner. It was kind of shady- the 12 year old son of the lady who apparently owned the shop and did all the cooking was filling beers for people and taking them out into the restaurant. Any garbage or scraps were just tossed on the floor where the lady was cooking. There was a long drain on the floor, but the sanitary conditions still made me a little uneasy. As I was eating my 350 en gyoza I struck up a very limited conversation with the man next to me. I mentioned that I lived in Kambara (the town over) and he said something about a festival in Kambara. I had forgotten! Not that I had been planning on going, but I wasn't doing anything else that evening, so I rushed through dinner and hopped back on my bike for the bunka center in the middle of my city. I arrived just in time for the fireworks that were being set off from a few blocks away. (See pictures)
The festival was very small townish! There were a dozen or so small booths selling drinks and food items and a guy doing chinsey little magic tricks for a crowd of children. Earlier in the day I guess there had been an entertainer on the main stage. All said I'm sure there were over 1000 people there, maybe 2000. The best part was the dancing. There was this 2 or 3 story high tower set up in the parking lot and many people were dancing around it in a circle. They were all doing the same moves at the same time just like the Shimizu street festival! I watched for probably 45 min. right on the edge of the action until an old lady stopped and motioned for me to join in the dance. I hesitated for about 3 seconds and then realized in the first second that I didn't know anybody so no one was going to make fun of me later, the second second I realized this is Japan and I'm not going to pass up any opportunities, and in the third second I decided that it was going to be a lot of fun and that I would do this no matter the circumstances. I just copied everyone's moves around me, and they repeated fairly frequently, so I picked it up alright. We danced about 3 songs and then it was time for the festival to end.
Afterwards I was talking with the older lady and another lady who was there about who I was and where I lived. They called over someone to translate to try and understand each other a little better. Her name was Eri Ogawa, and I remember because she made sure I remembered her name. She was (is?) the daughter of the younger lady I was speaking with and was interested because she graduated from Ihara High School 2 years ago. Eri is at nursing school right now in Fuji City and will be turning 20 in December, a very important age for a Japanese person. This is traditionally the age at which someone is considered an adult and with it comes drinking and smoking priveledges, etc. We discovered that she had been the server at the Chinese restaurant I ate at with my supervisor and a couple of other teachers the first night I was in town. Also in the conversation she asked me if I had any friends in Kambara and I said no, not other than Sarah (the other ALT) and Eri said that she wanted to be friends, so maybe I will have some opportunities to hang out with Japanese "kids" my age?
On Sunday I took a spur of the moment hike up into the green hills behind my city and discovered some magnificent plants and insects (and a quite humid atmosphere). As I climbed higher up the paved road it became narrower and narrower and much more grown over. Surprisingly enough tho, as far as I climbed there were still run down shacks and little gardens in the midst of the thick of the green, so people obviously traveled (or lived?) farther up the road than cars ever did. The path was often crossed by enormous spiderwebs with crazy looking spiders sitting in the middle. I felt like I was playing the spiderweb team building game except for this was real life and I didn't know how much poison the spiders held in their fangs. I was sidestepping and crawling for a good part of the way until finally it got too scary so I picked up a branch and knocked them down as I walked. I hadn't eaten before I charged up the mountain so I didn't make it as far as I wanted, but I will definitely be back for a much further climb.
I ended my weekend with 6 hours of cleaning in my apartment from 7pm-1am. My kitchen is finally finished and the toilet room and the sink/mirror area of my bathroom is in working order. I have yet to purchase a fridge- will be very glad to keep a pitcher of water in my new one, my current one is too small- for it continues to be hot, hot, hot. Luckily today I was asked why I looked so tired and I said it was because I haven't been sleeping very well because it is so hot (which is true- I think I've only slept all the way through the night 1 or 2 times in the past 3 weeks. Usually I wake up half a dozen to a dozen times) and Kenmotsu sensei said this is not ok. I was talking with the office staff today too because I had to have them make copies of my gaijin card and get my insurance card and I was asked about the weather and I said my airconditioner wasn't working. So they called Kenmotsu sensei down to do translation and the office got right on it and called someone to come out free of charge and look at my airconditioner to see if it can be fixed or not. Now I just have to see how much it may cost to get it fixed. If I have to buy a new one, I think I will opt for less quality sleep for awhile longer because a new airconditioner would cost about $600. And it's not going to stay hot forever- it gets quite cool here in the fall and winter so an "ea- kon" won't be needed. It is actually on record as the hottest summer here in Shizuoka in 74 years, so it is the hottest anyone in my school has experienced thus far as well. I do enjoy hot weather, but here's to hoping that record takes it easy soon.
Luther
Friday, August 17, 2007
More pictures
Pics: http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095571&l=12f34&id=59501063
I got a cell phone. It's awesome and small. I'm going to be climbing Mt. Fuji tomorrow. I wrote a little story about a soy bean under one of my pictures. I got to know some of my teachers better today. My apartment is still hot as hell. It's 90 with 100% humidity every day. I talked about tsunamis with my kyoto-sensei today. We also talked about the tokai earthquake that is supposed to happen here in Japan every 150 years. It's been 153 since the last one, so people are expecting the Tokai quake any day. There is a 40% chance it will happen in the next 3 years, a 90% chance it will happen in the next 50 years. Shizuoka Prefecture is right at the epicenter, so when it hits we're pretty much boned. I think they are predicting 100,000 dead? Also, when the Tokai Earthquake happens, there is going to be a Tsunami 3-5 mins. later. I live 1/2 a block from the ocean, so if the quake doesn't bone me the water will. My plan is, as soon as I'm able to get off my butt from falling down during the quake, I'm running for the hills. Kyoto-sensei said he's going to the top of the school building, but i don't know... Running to the top of a building during an earthquake just seems counterintuitive to me. We do have a 10 meter high sea wall about 80 meters from the school building, but Tsunami waves are between 10 and 20 meters high, so we're still going to get hit by a wall of water. Maybe a better plan is to assume the fetal position and get ready to meet my maker.
Well, I have to go someway someday, so dying while living it up in Japan probably isn't at the top of the worst ways to go list. And it might not even happen at all. Or I could be vacationing in Hokkaido when it hits.
Today I spent about 4 or 5 hours studying kanji. I think I can recognize about 150 now and translate that little picture into English. Maybe about 70 of them I can write and maybe 50 of them I can pronounce.
It's now 5:20 and an hour and 5 min. past when my contract says I can leave, so I'm going to go now- going to try and get to the bank before it closes at 6. We're lucky in Kambara. Most banks are only open 9am-3pm M-F so people have to take vacation days from work if they need to get to a bank. Seriously. I even have to take vacation to meet the person who's going to install my internet because they only come between 9 and 5 M-F. But you can only request morning or afternoon; I requested afternoon so I have to be home between 1 and 5. This is all after them needing my gaijin card, so I had to wait 2 weeks for that, then faxing it, then waiting for them to mail me the application form I need to fill out, then mailing it back with a requested day for them to come to my house. And the requested day HAS to be within 17 to 40 business days form when I mail the app. back in. Does that make any sense? It's like Yahoo BB doesn't want my money. And I have to do it on a Friday because I have classes the other 4 days of the week. Humph. Ok, venting over.
I'm going home to more cleaning.
I got a cell phone. It's awesome and small. I'm going to be climbing Mt. Fuji tomorrow. I wrote a little story about a soy bean under one of my pictures. I got to know some of my teachers better today. My apartment is still hot as hell. It's 90 with 100% humidity every day. I talked about tsunamis with my kyoto-sensei today. We also talked about the tokai earthquake that is supposed to happen here in Japan every 150 years. It's been 153 since the last one, so people are expecting the Tokai quake any day. There is a 40% chance it will happen in the next 3 years, a 90% chance it will happen in the next 50 years. Shizuoka Prefecture is right at the epicenter, so when it hits we're pretty much boned. I think they are predicting 100,000 dead? Also, when the Tokai Earthquake happens, there is going to be a Tsunami 3-5 mins. later. I live 1/2 a block from the ocean, so if the quake doesn't bone me the water will. My plan is, as soon as I'm able to get off my butt from falling down during the quake, I'm running for the hills. Kyoto-sensei said he's going to the top of the school building, but i don't know... Running to the top of a building during an earthquake just seems counterintuitive to me. We do have a 10 meter high sea wall about 80 meters from the school building, but Tsunami waves are between 10 and 20 meters high, so we're still going to get hit by a wall of water. Maybe a better plan is to assume the fetal position and get ready to meet my maker.
Well, I have to go someway someday, so dying while living it up in Japan probably isn't at the top of the worst ways to go list. And it might not even happen at all. Or I could be vacationing in Hokkaido when it hits.
Today I spent about 4 or 5 hours studying kanji. I think I can recognize about 150 now and translate that little picture into English. Maybe about 70 of them I can write and maybe 50 of them I can pronounce.
It's now 5:20 and an hour and 5 min. past when my contract says I can leave, so I'm going to go now- going to try and get to the bank before it closes at 6. We're lucky in Kambara. Most banks are only open 9am-3pm M-F so people have to take vacation days from work if they need to get to a bank. Seriously. I even have to take vacation to meet the person who's going to install my internet because they only come between 9 and 5 M-F. But you can only request morning or afternoon; I requested afternoon so I have to be home between 1 and 5. This is all after them needing my gaijin card, so I had to wait 2 weeks for that, then faxing it, then waiting for them to mail me the application form I need to fill out, then mailing it back with a requested day for them to come to my house. And the requested day HAS to be within 17 to 40 business days form when I mail the app. back in. Does that make any sense? It's like Yahoo BB doesn't want my money. And I have to do it on a Friday because I have classes the other 4 days of the week. Humph. Ok, venting over.
I'm going home to more cleaning.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Kakegawa Orientation (and Onsen experience)
New Pictures:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095443&l=c0fdd&id=59501063
See me crawling next to you
And you pull me to your side
Knowing maybe that this is the last time
We’re doing it right
‘Cuz maybe, baby, we are through
Laying for an hour or two
Listening closely to the dark
Waiting for that moment when we
Both fall apart
Over, it’s over, baby we’re through
Things are so strange here. I cannot help but laugh out loud. I got into my “hotel room” at the conference center here on our business trip and it cannot be more than 12 ft. X 7 ft. with a bed, a wardrobe and desk and a chair. It is tiny. And the bed wasn’t made. It had a weird sheet thingy, a what-I-assumed-to-be mattress pad, a large comforter and another oddly shaped sheet. Oh, and a pillow filled with beads or marbles and a pillow cover. So I guess the comforter goes inside the giant pillow case with the hole in the center and the other sheet goes on top of the mattress pad- or it could very well be that the mattress pad goes on top of the sheet in order to soak up ones sweat. I believe the pillow is designed for just the thing because it doesn’t retain moisture like my down pillow back at my apartment. The sweat kind of either seeps down or is wicked away by the superior air flow.
The food continues to be interesting. I keep eating everything I’m served. Not because I necessarily think it tastes good, but because I want to experience what people normally eat here. I have found too that a lot of entrees or boxed lunches are slightly above room temperature at best when served. There aren’t heat lamps for the meals to sit under while they wait for someone to pick them up. So I eat a 35 degree (Celsius mind you, c’mon, we’re in some other country than the US now) meal when I’m not ordering it straight off the menu.
The conference is great- I have learned a lot of helpful things about what to be expecting as far as teaching goes. Tomorrow we present our self-introduction lessons as a run through or rough draft. I’ll have even more time to revise it/add pictures/print out lyric sheets for the song on guitar I’m playing (which I still haven’t picked out yet. Maybe the one I just wrote the other day printed above). Or maybe a recognizable American song.
I had my first onsen experience. At least a hotel’s version of an onsen. An onsen is basically a communal showering/bathing area where people clean off and relax. There are 3 main rooms in this particular onsen. In the first room patrons take off their shoes and place them in a locker. Then they proceed to a tatami mat room where they place their clothing and towels in an individual basket. Then they slide the Japanese style doors and enter the bathing room. Here is where the action takes place. In this particular onsen there was a line of showers on one side of the room and the large bath on the other. Being my hajimette (first time) experience, and not a soul being present, I walked over to one of the showers, turned its mechanism and began to bathe. The shower head was kind of low so I had to hunch over. Below me were 2 neatly stacked plastic bowls. I had no idea what they were for, so I decided to ignore them. After scrubbing myself with a washcloth (I was reminded by a Japanese man before entering that I needed my washcloth- I had to run back to my room to get it) I climbed into the crystal clear hot tub like pool and settled into a relaxed soak. Pretty soon a third year ALT entered the bathing area and approached a showering station. Except his bathing method looked completely different from mine. Apparently patrons are supposed to flip over one of the bowls, sit on it, and use the other bowl to fill and pour over one’s head. This would have eliminated much hunching if I had known better. Deciding to do things right I returned to my station and continued to model the behavior of the other people who knew what they were doing. A lovely time in all, however it did little to stop the sweat from pouring down my brow as I left the onsen area.
No fear- pictures to follow. I snuck back into the onsen this evening (the showers close down supposedly between 10:30pm and 8:30 pm. Yeah, only open for 2 hours) to snap some shots at a time when I wouldn’t look like a perv only to be met by a Japanese man who was using the area after hours. It was kind of embarrassing, but he spoke great English so we talked for awhile until he started to take off his clothes at which point I stopped the conversation, had a drink at the fountain and left the room.
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095443&l=c0fdd&id=59501063
See me crawling next to you
And you pull me to your side
Knowing maybe that this is the last time
We’re doing it right
‘Cuz maybe, baby, we are through
Laying for an hour or two
Listening closely to the dark
Waiting for that moment when we
Both fall apart
Over, it’s over, baby we’re through
Things are so strange here. I cannot help but laugh out loud. I got into my “hotel room” at the conference center here on our business trip and it cannot be more than 12 ft. X 7 ft. with a bed, a wardrobe and desk and a chair. It is tiny. And the bed wasn’t made. It had a weird sheet thingy, a what-I-assumed-to-be mattress pad, a large comforter and another oddly shaped sheet. Oh, and a pillow filled with beads or marbles and a pillow cover. So I guess the comforter goes inside the giant pillow case with the hole in the center and the other sheet goes on top of the mattress pad- or it could very well be that the mattress pad goes on top of the sheet in order to soak up ones sweat. I believe the pillow is designed for just the thing because it doesn’t retain moisture like my down pillow back at my apartment. The sweat kind of either seeps down or is wicked away by the superior air flow.
The food continues to be interesting. I keep eating everything I’m served. Not because I necessarily think it tastes good, but because I want to experience what people normally eat here. I have found too that a lot of entrees or boxed lunches are slightly above room temperature at best when served. There aren’t heat lamps for the meals to sit under while they wait for someone to pick them up. So I eat a 35 degree (Celsius mind you, c’mon, we’re in some other country than the US now) meal when I’m not ordering it straight off the menu.
The conference is great- I have learned a lot of helpful things about what to be expecting as far as teaching goes. Tomorrow we present our self-introduction lessons as a run through or rough draft. I’ll have even more time to revise it/add pictures/print out lyric sheets for the song on guitar I’m playing (which I still haven’t picked out yet. Maybe the one I just wrote the other day printed above). Or maybe a recognizable American song.
I had my first onsen experience. At least a hotel’s version of an onsen. An onsen is basically a communal showering/bathing area where people clean off and relax. There are 3 main rooms in this particular onsen. In the first room patrons take off their shoes and place them in a locker. Then they proceed to a tatami mat room where they place their clothing and towels in an individual basket. Then they slide the Japanese style doors and enter the bathing room. Here is where the action takes place. In this particular onsen there was a line of showers on one side of the room and the large bath on the other. Being my hajimette (first time) experience, and not a soul being present, I walked over to one of the showers, turned its mechanism and began to bathe. The shower head was kind of low so I had to hunch over. Below me were 2 neatly stacked plastic bowls. I had no idea what they were for, so I decided to ignore them. After scrubbing myself with a washcloth (I was reminded by a Japanese man before entering that I needed my washcloth- I had to run back to my room to get it) I climbed into the crystal clear hot tub like pool and settled into a relaxed soak. Pretty soon a third year ALT entered the bathing area and approached a showering station. Except his bathing method looked completely different from mine. Apparently patrons are supposed to flip over one of the bowls, sit on it, and use the other bowl to fill and pour over one’s head. This would have eliminated much hunching if I had known better. Deciding to do things right I returned to my station and continued to model the behavior of the other people who knew what they were doing. A lovely time in all, however it did little to stop the sweat from pouring down my brow as I left the onsen area.
No fear- pictures to follow. I snuck back into the onsen this evening (the showers close down supposedly between 10:30pm and 8:30 pm. Yeah, only open for 2 hours) to snap some shots at a time when I wouldn’t look like a perv only to be met by a Japanese man who was using the area after hours. It was kind of embarrassing, but he spoke great English so we talked for awhile until he started to take off his clothes at which point I stopped the conversation, had a drink at the fountain and left the room.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Work Environment
One noted difference between the Japanese workplace and the American workplace. Granted, I haven't before worked in an American office or high school, but the following is the initial impression I have. Japanese teachers work all year round. I'm not sure why, and I think a Japanese person would have some difficulty explaining why because it is simply the way it's been and will continue to be. While talking with Ueda sensei I asked the question of why teachers work in the summer and what specifically they may do on a day to day basis. With limited language abilities from both sides she answered that teachers prepare lessons, and many are supervisors of club activities etc., which meet all summer long. That fact there is quite different. Most American high schoolers are involved with their high school team's duties for 2 1/2 months, and, if they want to continue playing the sport for the other 9 1/2 months of the year they join a community club. Or a couple of community clubs. Here high school club teams practice and compete together 12 months out of the year.
Right now the All-Japan High School Baseball Championship tournament is in full swing. Last night while out and about in Kambara I saw one game being played on every TV I crossed- I saw it through the window of a neighbor's house, at the Ramen Restaurant and playing on the display TVs at Mega Mart. Unfortunately I couldn't watch it at my house because my TV only gets 12 channels. Total. No, I don't mean reception, I mean, the remote control only goes up to 12. Yes, it has a different button for channel 1, 2, 3...10, 11, 12. And of the 12 channels, 4 of them are the same station, 3 of them are the same different station, 1 of them is half a station and the other 4 don't work at all. Baseball must be a big deal here.
(following the breadcrumbs left on my tangent line) Even though teachers work here year round I (preliminarly) think that the way in which teachers spend their time at work here is quite different than the way people spend their time at work in the US. It seems to me that in the US office workers put their noses to the grindstone for 8 or maybe 10 solid hours working consistantly to finish certain tasks. Here (at least at Ihara High School)....
...let me take a moment to address something formulating in my mind at the present. I really want to make the effort to not apply my specific experiences to all of the Japanese. I realize that Ihara koukou is an individual school, and the way things are done here may or may not reflect on general rites and rituals of high school life throughout the rest of Japan. So, my musings are vastly preliminary - let's call them wonderings - until I have spent considerable time talking with other people, reading books and experiencing life here....
....At Ihara high school teachers wander in and out, often dressed in sports attire, read the newspaper, look out the window, go out for lunch, talk with me or Sarah, look up words in the dictionary, etc. I don't know how much production is actually occuring. And maybe it's a lot - I can't decipher what peopel are talking about so maybe it's entirely task related. (And maybe equally as true, American office workers could be off task for a large percentage of the time).
I noticed in listening to Sarah and Ueda sensei talk in Japanese the frequency of the word tabun. I was curious what it meant because I kept hearing it so often. So, I took out my trusty pocket dictionary (thanks Mike, it has come in handy) and looked up "tabun." It means "probably" or "maybe." Having some limited knowlege about Japanese culture I am reminded that it is a very indirect language where strong nos and yeses are avoided in most occasions. Using probably or maybe can make things sound like a suggestion rather than a command. It has been confusing, however, when speaking with JTEs who are using English with a Japanese cultural filter. I keep hearing "maybe, maybe, maybe" and have found myself using this word a lot more often as well.
I have come to be good friends with one of the JTEs, Kenmatsu sensei. She was born in the year Showa 32, the same as you, mom, but she hasn't turned 50 yet! (I'm showa 58. I've had to use that year to describe my age since most people here don't understand "1983." The system of keeping track of the years is based on the current Emperor. Year 1 is the first year of his reign. The years stop progressing at his death, and begin anew with 1 the following year. For example, the Showa period is marked by the rule of Emperor Showa who died in 1989. Taking over for him was Akihito who is still the reigning emperor today. Akihito will be given the honorary name Heisei after his death, thus this period is called the Heisei period. 2007 is "Heisei 19.") In one of our conversations she defined the "Japanese maybe" as 80% chance or more. "Maybe it's different than the American maybe?" She asked (meaning, "I know it is different than the American maybe!") When I use "maybe" I'm thinking right around 50% or maybe less. Then there's the Jack Johnson song Flake- "It seems to me that maybe, pretty much always means no, so don't tell me, you might just let him go..." Often Americans use maybe when there is less than a 50% chance. Tabun is a part of polite and indirect Japanese speech and translates poorly when used in the same way with English. I taught Kenmatsu sensei to use "I'm pretty sure" when she wants to say she's 80-90% positive in English, and I will certainly try to use the Japanese maybe more often as I learn the etiquitte of the language.
A few more musings:
I am sitting here at my desk as a "real world professional" for the firt time. It certainly feels more surreal being it Japan and not the US; but nonetheless I'm a college graduate and am getting paid to do things rather than paying to do them. The coffee has been replaced by green tea, and a snack of leftover sticky rice sits to my right. My newly purchased ohashi (chopsticks) sit atop the obento boxed lunch as I type this. Another mostly edible meal consumed quickly between "work." Today I had konyaku which is a type of a yam made into a gelatin (think dense yam flavored jello). I was told by kyotosensei that it is good for cleaning out the intestines. "Oh, sugoi!" I said and, "Oh, great..." under my breath. (Sugoi is an expression of great or wonderful or cool, haha.) As for work I spent the first 3 hours of the morning pouring over the Japan Times (published in English) reading all kinds of articles about news from around the country and world. I asked yesterday what I could be doing to help around the office and one of the answers was to read the newspaper and know about Japan. Horiikesensei (one of the viceprincipals) wants to talk with me in English about Japanese sports, namely high school baseball and summo wrestling. So I have to brush up on my knowledge of summo, which is at the same level as my knowledge of the Japanese language, or another obscure sport like cricket (hah).
I'm sitting here in one of my Dad's used workshirts thinking about the working world and feeling like a "big boy" now. I've grown into my father's clothes, yet am wearing them as if I'm still playing pretend. I wonder if I know enough for someone to actually be paying me to produce for them. I guess my job is to mostly be a good representative of my country and to make friends with Japanese people. If that's what I'm getting paid for, then this is the cush job. How can I spend my time effectively? How can I give back?
Right now the All-Japan High School Baseball Championship tournament is in full swing. Last night while out and about in Kambara I saw one game being played on every TV I crossed- I saw it through the window of a neighbor's house, at the Ramen Restaurant and playing on the display TVs at Mega Mart. Unfortunately I couldn't watch it at my house because my TV only gets 12 channels. Total. No, I don't mean reception, I mean, the remote control only goes up to 12. Yes, it has a different button for channel 1, 2, 3...10, 11, 12. And of the 12 channels, 4 of them are the same station, 3 of them are the same different station, 1 of them is half a station and the other 4 don't work at all. Baseball must be a big deal here.
(following the breadcrumbs left on my tangent line) Even though teachers work here year round I (preliminarly) think that the way in which teachers spend their time at work here is quite different than the way people spend their time at work in the US. It seems to me that in the US office workers put their noses to the grindstone for 8 or maybe 10 solid hours working consistantly to finish certain tasks. Here (at least at Ihara High School)....
...let me take a moment to address something formulating in my mind at the present. I really want to make the effort to not apply my specific experiences to all of the Japanese. I realize that Ihara koukou is an individual school, and the way things are done here may or may not reflect on general rites and rituals of high school life throughout the rest of Japan. So, my musings are vastly preliminary - let's call them wonderings - until I have spent considerable time talking with other people, reading books and experiencing life here....
....At Ihara high school teachers wander in and out, often dressed in sports attire, read the newspaper, look out the window, go out for lunch, talk with me or Sarah, look up words in the dictionary, etc. I don't know how much production is actually occuring. And maybe it's a lot - I can't decipher what peopel are talking about so maybe it's entirely task related. (And maybe equally as true, American office workers could be off task for a large percentage of the time).
I noticed in listening to Sarah and Ueda sensei talk in Japanese the frequency of the word tabun. I was curious what it meant because I kept hearing it so often. So, I took out my trusty pocket dictionary (thanks Mike, it has come in handy) and looked up "tabun." It means "probably" or "maybe." Having some limited knowlege about Japanese culture I am reminded that it is a very indirect language where strong nos and yeses are avoided in most occasions. Using probably or maybe can make things sound like a suggestion rather than a command. It has been confusing, however, when speaking with JTEs who are using English with a Japanese cultural filter. I keep hearing "maybe, maybe, maybe" and have found myself using this word a lot more often as well.
I have come to be good friends with one of the JTEs, Kenmatsu sensei. She was born in the year Showa 32, the same as you, mom, but she hasn't turned 50 yet! (I'm showa 58. I've had to use that year to describe my age since most people here don't understand "1983." The system of keeping track of the years is based on the current Emperor. Year 1 is the first year of his reign. The years stop progressing at his death, and begin anew with 1 the following year. For example, the Showa period is marked by the rule of Emperor Showa who died in 1989. Taking over for him was Akihito who is still the reigning emperor today. Akihito will be given the honorary name Heisei after his death, thus this period is called the Heisei period. 2007 is "Heisei 19.") In one of our conversations she defined the "Japanese maybe" as 80% chance or more. "Maybe it's different than the American maybe?" She asked (meaning, "I know it is different than the American maybe!") When I use "maybe" I'm thinking right around 50% or maybe less. Then there's the Jack Johnson song Flake- "It seems to me that maybe, pretty much always means no, so don't tell me, you might just let him go..." Often Americans use maybe when there is less than a 50% chance. Tabun is a part of polite and indirect Japanese speech and translates poorly when used in the same way with English. I taught Kenmatsu sensei to use "I'm pretty sure" when she wants to say she's 80-90% positive in English, and I will certainly try to use the Japanese maybe more often as I learn the etiquitte of the language.
A few more musings:
I am sitting here at my desk as a "real world professional" for the firt time. It certainly feels more surreal being it Japan and not the US; but nonetheless I'm a college graduate and am getting paid to do things rather than paying to do them. The coffee has been replaced by green tea, and a snack of leftover sticky rice sits to my right. My newly purchased ohashi (chopsticks) sit atop the obento boxed lunch as I type this. Another mostly edible meal consumed quickly between "work." Today I had konyaku which is a type of a yam made into a gelatin (think dense yam flavored jello). I was told by kyotosensei that it is good for cleaning out the intestines. "Oh, sugoi!" I said and, "Oh, great..." under my breath. (Sugoi is an expression of great or wonderful or cool, haha.) As for work I spent the first 3 hours of the morning pouring over the Japan Times (published in English) reading all kinds of articles about news from around the country and world. I asked yesterday what I could be doing to help around the office and one of the answers was to read the newspaper and know about Japan. Horiikesensei (one of the viceprincipals) wants to talk with me in English about Japanese sports, namely high school baseball and summo wrestling. So I have to brush up on my knowledge of summo, which is at the same level as my knowledge of the Japanese language, or another obscure sport like cricket (hah).
I'm sitting here in one of my Dad's used workshirts thinking about the working world and feeling like a "big boy" now. I've grown into my father's clothes, yet am wearing them as if I'm still playing pretend. I wonder if I know enough for someone to actually be paying me to produce for them. I guess my job is to mostly be a good representative of my country and to make friends with Japanese people. If that's what I'm getting paid for, then this is the cush job. How can I spend my time effectively? How can I give back?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Counting: not as easy as 1-2-3
In my quest to learn Japanese (I've been studying kanji for about 4 hours today) I have come across what are known in the Japanese language as "counters." In English when we count objects we say "One, two, three, four...." etc. A sudden image of Count Dracula from sesame street comes to mind! "Three, three bats flying in the dungeon, ha ha ha!" Or, 1 helicopter, 2 helicopters, 3 helicopters, etc. One banana, two bananas, three bananas...One pencil, two pencils, three pencils, four pencils - you get it, right? If you want to count in English, you use numbers. NOT SO IN JAPANESE. For almost every different set of objects you desire to count you have to use a different "counter." Here are some examples:
When counting people:
1. hitori
2. futari
3. san-nin
4. yo-nin
5. go-nin
When counting flat objects (paper or plates, etc.)
1. ichi-mai
2. ni-mai
3. san-mai
4. yon-mai
When counting books or magazines (Different from flat objects?!?!?!?!?!?)
1. is-satsu
2. ni-satsu
3. etc.
When counting small objects like oranges or eggs
1. ik-ko
2. ni-ko
3. san-ko
4. etc.
When counting floors of a building
1. ik-kai
2. ni-kai
When counting the days of the month:
1. tsuitachi
2. futsuka
3. mikka
4. yokka
5. itsuka
6. etc.
A general counter for cups, or several other random objects I've forgotten:
1. hitotsu
2. futatsu
3. mitsu
4. yotsu
5. itsutsu
6. mutsu
7. etc.
There is a different way to count small animals and large animals! And if you want to count cups that have liquid in them then you have to use a different counter! One of my JTEs has a book that lists counters and it is almost 2 inches thick. Learning about the different counters Japanese people use makes my English sound barbaric: "ONE book TWO books THREE books, derrrr! ONE potato TWO potato THREE potato, derrrr!........"
What a novelty! I think I'll stick to my kanji study for now.....There's only a small 2000 of them.
Luther
When counting people:
1. hitori
2. futari
3. san-nin
4. yo-nin
5. go-nin
When counting flat objects (paper or plates, etc.)
1. ichi-mai
2. ni-mai
3. san-mai
4. yon-mai
When counting books or magazines (Different from flat objects?!?!?!?!?!?)
1. is-satsu
2. ni-satsu
3. etc.
When counting small objects like oranges or eggs
1. ik-ko
2. ni-ko
3. san-ko
4. etc.
When counting floors of a building
1. ik-kai
2. ni-kai
When counting the days of the month:
1. tsuitachi
2. futsuka
3. mikka
4. yokka
5. itsuka
6. etc.
A general counter for cups, or several other random objects I've forgotten:
1. hitotsu
2. futatsu
3. mitsu
4. yotsu
5. itsutsu
6. mutsu
7. etc.
There is a different way to count small animals and large animals! And if you want to count cups that have liquid in them then you have to use a different counter! One of my JTEs has a book that lists counters and it is almost 2 inches thick. Learning about the different counters Japanese people use makes my English sound barbaric: "ONE book TWO books THREE books, derrrr! ONE potato TWO potato THREE potato, derrrr!........"
What a novelty! I think I'll stick to my kanji study for now.....There's only a small 2000 of them.
Luther
Picture links
Here are links to all the pictures I've posted on the web so far. I'm using facebook because it's easy and those who are on facebook can find and look at the pictures by accident (maybe the newsfeed is good for something). For the rest of you, here are links to my facebook postings that should work whether you have Facebook or not:
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093987&l=b79c0&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093993&l=47f99&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093998&l=9acf6&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094001&l=0dcea&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094027&l=c6e99&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094324&l=69635&id=59501063
The pictures are up to date as of 8/8/07 Japanese time.
You can read many short little quips and anecdotes underneath a lot of the pictures too.
More random musings:
The trains here run exactly on time all through out the day. I set my watch to train time because if I'm even 30 seconds late, the train has left already. From now on when I want something to be exact I'll say "train time." The tokaiddo local train line doesn't run as often as I thought it would- maybe only 3-4 times per hour depending on the work schedule. And trains don't operate between 11:30pm-midnight and 5:00am. Even in Tokyo. I guess they have a sense of what should be night and day. If one ever finds himself stuck in a city without a bed, there are still options. McDonald's is usually open 24 hours, so a purchase off of the hyaku en (100 yen) menu could get one a nap in a booth. A more popular option is the all night karaoke bar. For around 2000 yen (from now on, just move the decimal point to the left 2 spots to get US dollars) each a group can rent a small room with a karaoke machine and unlimited drinks from 12:00am-5:00am. A group of us are going to a 12-5 karaoke bar this Saturday, yet with purposefully missing the train.
I do not yet have a keitai. Apparently Docomo (the prominant service provider) won't let us get phones without our physical gaijin card. It must be the store itself because I know of several other new ALTs who have had keitais since this past Friday. It's unfortunate for me because I'm going to Kakegawa orientation (more orienting) on Monday where I'll be seeing all of the ALTs in our area and will want to get numbers and phone e-mails. Oh well, I'll just have to use a pen and paper and then enter all the numbers manually when I get my phone. Not as cool as beaming them from phone to phone, but I guess that's the way people used to exchange information...(I was going to say 100 years ago, but it's more realisitically 10). The phone I ordered is only 11 mm think when closed. Makes the RAZR sp? look clunky.
It's really odd to think that this is my home now. It really hasn't settled in. Learning the language is going to be a long, long process. If anyone knows of any good websites for learning kanji, (stroke order, pronunciations, etc.) let me know please.
Luth, ru-sa-
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093987&l=b79c0&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093993&l=47f99&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093998&l=9acf6&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094001&l=0dcea&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094027&l=c6e99&id=59501063
http://uwec.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094324&l=69635&id=59501063
The pictures are up to date as of 8/8/07 Japanese time.
You can read many short little quips and anecdotes underneath a lot of the pictures too.
More random musings:
The trains here run exactly on time all through out the day. I set my watch to train time because if I'm even 30 seconds late, the train has left already. From now on when I want something to be exact I'll say "train time." The tokaiddo local train line doesn't run as often as I thought it would- maybe only 3-4 times per hour depending on the work schedule. And trains don't operate between 11:30pm-midnight and 5:00am. Even in Tokyo. I guess they have a sense of what should be night and day. If one ever finds himself stuck in a city without a bed, there are still options. McDonald's is usually open 24 hours, so a purchase off of the hyaku en (100 yen) menu could get one a nap in a booth. A more popular option is the all night karaoke bar. For around 2000 yen (from now on, just move the decimal point to the left 2 spots to get US dollars) each a group can rent a small room with a karaoke machine and unlimited drinks from 12:00am-5:00am. A group of us are going to a 12-5 karaoke bar this Saturday, yet with purposefully missing the train.
I do not yet have a keitai. Apparently Docomo (the prominant service provider) won't let us get phones without our physical gaijin card. It must be the store itself because I know of several other new ALTs who have had keitais since this past Friday. It's unfortunate for me because I'm going to Kakegawa orientation (more orienting) on Monday where I'll be seeing all of the ALTs in our area and will want to get numbers and phone e-mails. Oh well, I'll just have to use a pen and paper and then enter all the numbers manually when I get my phone. Not as cool as beaming them from phone to phone, but I guess that's the way people used to exchange information...(I was going to say 100 years ago, but it's more realisitically 10). The phone I ordered is only 11 mm think when closed. Makes the RAZR sp? look clunky.
It's really odd to think that this is my home now. It really hasn't settled in. Learning the language is going to be a long, long process. If anyone knows of any good websites for learning kanji, (stroke order, pronunciations, etc.) let me know please.
Luth, ru-sa-
Monday, August 6, 2007
Hippy Shake and grocery shopping
The Hippy Shake bar is this "Americanized" place that caters to foreigners. There is no table charge for Americans, and drinks cost 500 yen instead of 700 (about $4.25). There were some good mixed drinks, with names like "Drunk Master" "The last samurai" and "Armegeddon." Scott- you would love this bar- couldn't help thinking about you while there. No dart board tho :_(
There were all kinds of posters and pictures from magazines taped to the walls including random things people from around the world had donated to the bar. The bathroom was a whole different world; aside from having a squat toilet, it had kiss action figures still in their original boxes glued to the walls.
I explored my neighborhood and the town next door a bit yesterday. I was on a mission to find a calling card to call home. 2 1/2 hours later I was speaking with my family. I did introduce myself to the nice lady who works at the kiosk at my train station in the process. Her name is ikumi-san. Maybe I will be able to call her obasan (auntie?) soon. My search for a card that worked took me to a konbini (convenience store) in the next town over. (It's the same like the twin cities where the towns just run together) One train stop down is the wonderful town of Yui. I think I will be making several more trips there over the next few months. I can buy all sorts of snack food (see picture) and dry ramen and even hot food at the Circle K (they cook the food you purchase in a microwave behind the counter). Also, there is a lovely little grocery store called taiyo-. I spent almost 50 min. walking down each aisle, examining and imagining what may be edible. I settled on some spaghetti noodles, ground hamberer (actually not that expensive), fruit, potatoes and a soda as well as some mystery foods. I bought this little fried thing for 60 en that ended up being a tatortot... sort of... I think.
My apartment is much more organized as well, I'm quite proud of myself for the set up I made using the materials and furniture provided. The bathroom hasn't been touched, however. I'm kind of dreading it/wating to buy a full body suit and a hose to get started. My tv is plugged in- I get 2 1/2 channels! I left one on for about 2 hours while I organized yesterday. It is quite interesting, and I think I will leave it on most of the time while I'm in the house. Maybe I'll learn to understand through osmosis.
I got hooked up to the internet at my desk at work today- I think it's ok. I know they said it was ok when I asked, but I hope they're not just accomodating me and are upset under their breath. I suppose it will work itself out. For hirogohan (lunch) we ate at this little Japanese restaurant on the corner run by an obaasan (grandmotherlike) lady. It was really great- I don't totally know what it all was, but I ordered my first tonkatsu- pork cutlet. I started eating it and Uedasensei said, "ru-sa- san, you're supposed to use the sauce." So I put the ambiguous "sa-su" (Uedasensei didn't know what the ingrediants were) on the fried pork and it made it even better. I will have to get the tonkatsu again. The old lady is really nice and I was told she said to come back and talk Japanese.
Japanese word of the day: umai - used by men to mean "delicious."
There were all kinds of posters and pictures from magazines taped to the walls including random things people from around the world had donated to the bar. The bathroom was a whole different world; aside from having a squat toilet, it had kiss action figures still in their original boxes glued to the walls.
I explored my neighborhood and the town next door a bit yesterday. I was on a mission to find a calling card to call home. 2 1/2 hours later I was speaking with my family. I did introduce myself to the nice lady who works at the kiosk at my train station in the process. Her name is ikumi-san. Maybe I will be able to call her obasan (auntie?) soon. My search for a card that worked took me to a konbini (convenience store) in the next town over. (It's the same like the twin cities where the towns just run together) One train stop down is the wonderful town of Yui. I think I will be making several more trips there over the next few months. I can buy all sorts of snack food (see picture) and dry ramen and even hot food at the Circle K (they cook the food you purchase in a microwave behind the counter). Also, there is a lovely little grocery store called taiyo-. I spent almost 50 min. walking down each aisle, examining and imagining what may be edible. I settled on some spaghetti noodles, ground hamberer (actually not that expensive), fruit, potatoes and a soda as well as some mystery foods. I bought this little fried thing for 60 en that ended up being a tatortot... sort of... I think.
My apartment is much more organized as well, I'm quite proud of myself for the set up I made using the materials and furniture provided. The bathroom hasn't been touched, however. I'm kind of dreading it/wating to buy a full body suit and a hose to get started. My tv is plugged in- I get 2 1/2 channels! I left one on for about 2 hours while I organized yesterday. It is quite interesting, and I think I will leave it on most of the time while I'm in the house. Maybe I'll learn to understand through osmosis.
I got hooked up to the internet at my desk at work today- I think it's ok. I know they said it was ok when I asked, but I hope they're not just accomodating me and are upset under their breath. I suppose it will work itself out. For hirogohan (lunch) we ate at this little Japanese restaurant on the corner run by an obaasan (grandmotherlike) lady. It was really great- I don't totally know what it all was, but I ordered my first tonkatsu- pork cutlet. I started eating it and Uedasensei said, "ru-sa- san, you're supposed to use the sauce." So I put the ambiguous "sa-su" (Uedasensei didn't know what the ingrediants were) on the fried pork and it made it even better. I will have to get the tonkatsu again. The old lady is really nice and I was told she said to come back and talk Japanese.
Sorry, I will not be able to post picutres, because my computer keeps freezing now 4 out of 5 times trying to. You'll have to go look at pictures on a different website when I get it set up. Gomennasai.
Japanese word of the day: umai - used by men to mean "delicious."
First weekend
There’s going to be a lot of “firsts” here in Japan.
It’s no wonder how other countries around the world are able to consume far less energy than the United States. Already in 7 days now I have noticed several things that save on energy costs. My hot water heater in my house doesn’t turn on until I turn the hot water faucet. Sliding doors are button operated instead of motion operated so that only people needing to go in and out will cause the door to move. The escalators stop moving when nobody is standing on them. My washing machine weighs my clothes to determine how much water it will use. And after that, dryers are rare – most everyone hang dries their clothing out on the veranda. Air conditioning is scarcely used – people walk around with towels drying off the sweat. And people actually do that – walk places. Bikes and covered bike corrals are everywhere. The trains are also highly efficient and widely used. My supervisor drives a bigger car than most people here. He had to park in a separate lot a few blocks away from the Kencho (prefecture office) because it was too tall to fit into the garage. Even his car gets 24 miles to the gallon of city driving. (It took me a bit to do the math – you can check it for me – he said he gets about 10 km to the liter.) But he said most other cars get about 30 miles to the gallon city. I see now that the United States uses much more energy than it needs to, and I believe this is in the name of convenience and progress.
Another quick point, and I may have mentioned this before, but trashcans are few and far between. I had purchased a bottle of Calpis soda (sounds like “cow piss”) at a grocery store before we went to watch the street festival in Shimizu and I literally walked for over 10 blocks before seeing a place to throw it away. Or recycle, I should say, recycling is a big deal here because they burn their regular trash. I haven’t done trash yet at my apartment because I don’t know what needs to go where, but I think by law I’m supposed to write my name on the bag so if something is put in the wrong place they can come talk with me about it. I realized now that if I need a trash can I should look for vending machines – there’s almost always a recycling center next to a vending machine because most Japanese people purchase an item and stand by the machine until they’ve finished the item and THEN throw away the packaging. It’s considered rude I guess to walk and eat.
Before I talk about the street festival and the Hippy Shake Bar, I want to tell a little anecdote about my Saturday afternoon. I had been at my apartment cleaning the kitchen and doing piles of dishes that had been left me when my supervisor, Masuda sensei, showed up at my door with my new washing machine. It is very small and easily lifted and moved by one person. After we got it hooked up he asked me if I wanted to go out to lunch with him and another teacher at the school Narusawa sensei (I believe that is his name). I hadn’t eaten lunch yet and thought it would be fun so I quickly put on some presentable clothing, grabbed my wallet and jumped in the car. We had a nice lunch; Narusawa sensei doesn’t speak much English so we struggled through some conversation. At one point he had asked my hobbies and I mentioned “gi-ta wa hikimasu” which means playing the guitar and told them that I was looking to buy a cheap one here. After some discussion they offered to take me to Shizuoka City which is about a 40 min. drive. I didn’t really know what to say because often Japanese people will make an offer fully expecting that it will be turned down. (I have heard that the rule of thumb is to refuse them twice, and, if they offer a third time then they probably do really want to help you out.) So, hopefully I refused strongly enough – I really didn’t want to inconvenience them, but I guess Norusawa sensei lives in Shizuoka city and Masuda sensei’s apartment is on the way so it wasn’t too much of a burden. The plan was going to be for me to take the train back anyway, so it was a one way trip car ride for them. So here I go, I pay for my 980 yen meal and hop into the car for a 40 min. drive not having expected to purchase a guitar for some time still. As we get a few kilos down the road I realize that I didn’t bring my money belt! I hoped that I had enough money so that I wouldn’t have to come back a second time to make my purchase, especially since Masuda sensei was driving me there.
So, anyway, we get to Shizuoka City and park and walk to a music store located on the main shopping strip of a 1,000,000 population city. It’s quite busy and the street is narrow, but that doesn’t keep cars from driving right down the middle anyway. The music shop reminded me of a music go round or guitar center. It was a couple of stories high and sold lots of CDs and DVDs as well. I wanted to spend a good amount of time making a solid decision, so Masuda sensei and Narusawa sensei left me to shop and get back home on my own. I tried several guitars and finally decided on the intro package deal (it came with a soft carrying case – that was the big sell point) and it sounded acceptable for a $100 dollar guitar. I checked the price of 12,800 yen against my wallet to discover that I had 12,000 in bills…a bit short. Reaching into my change pocket I discovered a little over 1000 in change; so, 800 to the guitar and (hopefully!) enough money to buy a one way ticket home… I was banking on the fact that most prices listed in Japan include the tax already calculated in. Finding this to be true, I laid my 12,800 down in the little tray, received my packaged guitar and skipped gleefully out of the shop wondering how much a ticket to Kambara was going to cost…
Getting to the train station I checked the price list and found that a one way ticket cost 480. I had 510. I had just enough money to get home. If meal had cost 40 yen more, I would have been walking from the previous stop all the way back to my apartment. Arriving at Kambara station I approached the public telephone and used my remaining 30 yen to call Sarah asking her where to meet for the Shimizu street festival.
It’s no wonder how other countries around the world are able to consume far less energy than the United States. Already in 7 days now I have noticed several things that save on energy costs. My hot water heater in my house doesn’t turn on until I turn the hot water faucet. Sliding doors are button operated instead of motion operated so that only people needing to go in and out will cause the door to move. The escalators stop moving when nobody is standing on them. My washing machine weighs my clothes to determine how much water it will use. And after that, dryers are rare – most everyone hang dries their clothing out on the veranda. Air conditioning is scarcely used – people walk around with towels drying off the sweat. And people actually do that – walk places. Bikes and covered bike corrals are everywhere. The trains are also highly efficient and widely used. My supervisor drives a bigger car than most people here. He had to park in a separate lot a few blocks away from the Kencho (prefecture office) because it was too tall to fit into the garage. Even his car gets 24 miles to the gallon of city driving. (It took me a bit to do the math – you can check it for me – he said he gets about 10 km to the liter.) But he said most other cars get about 30 miles to the gallon city. I see now that the United States uses much more energy than it needs to, and I believe this is in the name of convenience and progress.
Another quick point, and I may have mentioned this before, but trashcans are few and far between. I had purchased a bottle of Calpis soda (sounds like “cow piss”) at a grocery store before we went to watch the street festival in Shimizu and I literally walked for over 10 blocks before seeing a place to throw it away. Or recycle, I should say, recycling is a big deal here because they burn their regular trash. I haven’t done trash yet at my apartment because I don’t know what needs to go where, but I think by law I’m supposed to write my name on the bag so if something is put in the wrong place they can come talk with me about it. I realized now that if I need a trash can I should look for vending machines – there’s almost always a recycling center next to a vending machine because most Japanese people purchase an item and stand by the machine until they’ve finished the item and THEN throw away the packaging. It’s considered rude I guess to walk and eat.
Before I talk about the street festival and the Hippy Shake Bar, I want to tell a little anecdote about my Saturday afternoon. I had been at my apartment cleaning the kitchen and doing piles of dishes that had been left me when my supervisor, Masuda sensei, showed up at my door with my new washing machine. It is very small and easily lifted and moved by one person. After we got it hooked up he asked me if I wanted to go out to lunch with him and another teacher at the school Narusawa sensei (I believe that is his name). I hadn’t eaten lunch yet and thought it would be fun so I quickly put on some presentable clothing, grabbed my wallet and jumped in the car. We had a nice lunch; Narusawa sensei doesn’t speak much English so we struggled through some conversation. At one point he had asked my hobbies and I mentioned “gi-ta wa hikimasu” which means playing the guitar and told them that I was looking to buy a cheap one here. After some discussion they offered to take me to Shizuoka City which is about a 40 min. drive. I didn’t really know what to say because often Japanese people will make an offer fully expecting that it will be turned down. (I have heard that the rule of thumb is to refuse them twice, and, if they offer a third time then they probably do really want to help you out.) So, hopefully I refused strongly enough – I really didn’t want to inconvenience them, but I guess Norusawa sensei lives in Shizuoka city and Masuda sensei’s apartment is on the way so it wasn’t too much of a burden. The plan was going to be for me to take the train back anyway, so it was a one way trip car ride for them. So here I go, I pay for my 980 yen meal and hop into the car for a 40 min. drive not having expected to purchase a guitar for some time still. As we get a few kilos down the road I realize that I didn’t bring my money belt! I hoped that I had enough money so that I wouldn’t have to come back a second time to make my purchase, especially since Masuda sensei was driving me there.
So, anyway, we get to Shizuoka City and park and walk to a music store located on the main shopping strip of a 1,000,000 population city. It’s quite busy and the street is narrow, but that doesn’t keep cars from driving right down the middle anyway. The music shop reminded me of a music go round or guitar center. It was a couple of stories high and sold lots of CDs and DVDs as well. I wanted to spend a good amount of time making a solid decision, so Masuda sensei and Narusawa sensei left me to shop and get back home on my own. I tried several guitars and finally decided on the intro package deal (it came with a soft carrying case – that was the big sell point) and it sounded acceptable for a $100 dollar guitar. I checked the price of 12,800 yen against my wallet to discover that I had 12,000 in bills…a bit short. Reaching into my change pocket I discovered a little over 1000 in change; so, 800 to the guitar and (hopefully!) enough money to buy a one way ticket home… I was banking on the fact that most prices listed in Japan include the tax already calculated in. Finding this to be true, I laid my 12,800 down in the little tray, received my packaged guitar and skipped gleefully out of the shop wondering how much a ticket to Kambara was going to cost…
Getting to the train station I checked the price list and found that a one way ticket cost 480. I had 510. I had just enough money to get home. If meal had cost 40 yen more, I would have been walking from the previous stop all the way back to my apartment. Arriving at Kambara station I approached the public telephone and used my remaining 30 yen to call Sarah asking her where to meet for the Shimizu street festival.
The festival itself was crazy. There were blocks upon endless blocks of groups of Japanese people all doing the same dance moves at the same time. I guess neighborhoods or friends or clubs or schools (or something) would get together and make costumes and then practice the dance moves. I think there were only about 5 or 6 songs because we kept hearing the same ones over and over for about 2 hours. It ended about 9:30, so we headed for the Hippy Shake...
My second day
Lord, keep my family safe. I found out this morning about the 35W bridge tragedy. The baseball coach and math teacher came into the teacher’s office this morning, addressed me and started saying something about Minnesota. I couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, and then the vice-principal (Kyoto-sensei) took me to the internet and I saw some pictures. Then the other teacher brought over a copy of the daily Japan Times and it was on the front page. It said 4 were dead for sure with several in the hospital and 20 people missing. I thought about my dad and sister immediately and explained to the teachers that I live 10 min from the bridge and that my family may have driven on that road. I wrote you guys an e-mail, but as I don’t have internet yet, I can’t check to see if you’ve written back until Monday- tomorrow I will actually try to see if someone will let me check the internet on their keitai (cell phone). I know if something really bad had happened, I would have been contacted by now, so I’m doing O.K.
I did try to call you guys tonight as well- at a pay phone near my house. I didn’t really understand the instructions, but I think I got to the point where it said I didn’t have enough money to call the U.S., but the machine wouldn’t accept any more coins, so I don’t know what was wrong. Maybe a nice person will let me use their skype tomorrow or something. I was kind of frustrated at first, but then I thought about all the people living in the U.S. who aren’t able to contact their loved ones back in their home country. I think about Iraqi Americans who have family in Baghdad and how they must feel every single day. I think I can make it a couple of days.
My house is getting cleaner sloooooowly. I spent another almost 2 hours cleaning the kitchen- I cleaned the walls and the top of the entire counter and the sink and stove. I have yet to touch the toaster oven or fridge. I also haven’t wiped off the cupboard doors under the countertop. I think I will get up tomorrow morning and clean some more (Saturday). Masuda sensei will drop off my washing machine around 11:30-12:00, then sometime in the evening I will meet up with Sarah and some other ALTs to go to Shimizu to watch fireworks. Another cleaning day ahead…
I have to ask Masuda sensei how to use the tatami mat spray as well- I don’t know if I wrote this earlier, but I have tatami mats instead of carpet (it’s a Japanese thing) and apparently there are little mites or bug thingy-s that live inside the tatami. If I don’t stick this needle in the tatami and spray the insides the mites will crawl up into my futon and then into my body and cause an itchy rash. Right now my face is pretty itchy (and breaking out) because of the sticky humidity. And the smell hasn’t left my apartment yet. I think it might be the smell of old smoke? I also notice I don’t have a smoke alarm…maybe a good investment.
I had a fun moment this evening trying to communicate with a train station attendant. I was returning from a dinner at a “Western” restaurant with some other ALTs in the area by myself. (The restaurant was called CoCos; I had green curry). I was looking at the train stops and wondering how much it would cost to get a 3 or 6 month pass to have unlimited travel between Kambara station (near my house) and Fuji station (about 3 stops north). So I walked into the little (air conditioned!) office and said to the man, “I have a question.” The look he gave me was just priceless. He cocked his head ever so slightly, widened his eyes, and froze. Then, without changing the expression on his face he started shaking his head back and forth. I knew I was in for some fun trying to explain my inquiry. Anyway, we worked it out with a lot of sign language and my severe lack-age of Japanese grammar and vocabulary. It would cost about $240 for an unlimited 6 month pass. I’m not quite sure if that’s worth it, nor am I sure if Fuji is going to be the direction I want to go- maybe I’ll get a pass to go to Shimizu.
Well, the eyes are closing unaided at the moment, so I’m going to go quick rinse off in the shower then lie down on my hopefully mite free futon. I don’t need my skin any more itchy than it already is.
Luther
I did try to call you guys tonight as well- at a pay phone near my house. I didn’t really understand the instructions, but I think I got to the point where it said I didn’t have enough money to call the U.S., but the machine wouldn’t accept any more coins, so I don’t know what was wrong. Maybe a nice person will let me use their skype tomorrow or something. I was kind of frustrated at first, but then I thought about all the people living in the U.S. who aren’t able to contact their loved ones back in their home country. I think about Iraqi Americans who have family in Baghdad and how they must feel every single day. I think I can make it a couple of days.
My house is getting cleaner sloooooowly. I spent another almost 2 hours cleaning the kitchen- I cleaned the walls and the top of the entire counter and the sink and stove. I have yet to touch the toaster oven or fridge. I also haven’t wiped off the cupboard doors under the countertop. I think I will get up tomorrow morning and clean some more (Saturday). Masuda sensei will drop off my washing machine around 11:30-12:00, then sometime in the evening I will meet up with Sarah and some other ALTs to go to Shimizu to watch fireworks. Another cleaning day ahead…
I have to ask Masuda sensei how to use the tatami mat spray as well- I don’t know if I wrote this earlier, but I have tatami mats instead of carpet (it’s a Japanese thing) and apparently there are little mites or bug thingy-s that live inside the tatami. If I don’t stick this needle in the tatami and spray the insides the mites will crawl up into my futon and then into my body and cause an itchy rash. Right now my face is pretty itchy (and breaking out) because of the sticky humidity. And the smell hasn’t left my apartment yet. I think it might be the smell of old smoke? I also notice I don’t have a smoke alarm…maybe a good investment.
I had a fun moment this evening trying to communicate with a train station attendant. I was returning from a dinner at a “Western” restaurant with some other ALTs in the area by myself. (The restaurant was called CoCos; I had green curry). I was looking at the train stops and wondering how much it would cost to get a 3 or 6 month pass to have unlimited travel between Kambara station (near my house) and Fuji station (about 3 stops north). So I walked into the little (air conditioned!) office and said to the man, “I have a question.” The look he gave me was just priceless. He cocked his head ever so slightly, widened his eyes, and froze. Then, without changing the expression on his face he started shaking his head back and forth. I knew I was in for some fun trying to explain my inquiry. Anyway, we worked it out with a lot of sign language and my severe lack-age of Japanese grammar and vocabulary. It would cost about $240 for an unlimited 6 month pass. I’m not quite sure if that’s worth it, nor am I sure if Fuji is going to be the direction I want to go- maybe I’ll get a pass to go to Shimizu.
Well, the eyes are closing unaided at the moment, so I’m going to go quick rinse off in the shower then lie down on my hopefully mite free futon. I don’t need my skin any more itchy than it already is.
Luther
Day 1 in Kambara
*Deep breath of air…*
It is not quite 10pm and I am exhausted. My first day arriving in Kambara has been very long- I met my supervisor and several of the other senseis at Ihara High School including the principal, vice principals, the baseball coach and most of the English teachers. The introduction ceremony was a little nerve-wracking because we each (the ALTs) had to memorize a 5 sentence introduction in Japanese. I think I got most of it right the first time, but I definitely got better throughout the day as I repeated it to the principal and a couple other teachers as well as a couple of neighbors.
I took a lot of pictures of my apartment. It needs some cleaning. Ok, that’s an understatement. It needs to be washed down with a hose. Luckily I can do just that in the shower room/bathtub room because the shower is mounted outside the tub. In a Japanese style bath, one is supposed to fill a tub with water, fire up the heater underneath, rinse, soap and rinse with a shower outside the tub, and then climb in when one is totally clean. The bath is more for relaxation and several family members will use the same bath water. Luckily for me the utilities guys came over to the apartment this afternoon and turned the hot water heater on at my house so I can have hot water out of the tap any time I want it. This is not necessarily common- I’m living in a (newer…kind of) house.
The rest of the house smells kind of moldy or something. I can’t smell very well, but I know it doesn’t smell good. I think it has to do with the very humid and wet weather? I do have an air conditioner unit in one of the corners of one of my 3 rooms- I have it running right now with all the windows open to get some air going through it and to make sure it doesn’t poison me my first night in Japan. I also have a dehumidifier that was quite crusty, but I cleaned out the filter a bit and have that going. I do realize that with the windows open I’m kind of dehumidifying the whole world, but again I’m kind of seeing what it’s going to do if I let it run. I’ve already got almost a cup of water in it and it’s been running for 30 min. now.
Everything is really weird here. I’m still not used to the cars driving on the left side of the road. I keep thinking that cars turning left from our right are going to smash right into us. Everything is much smaller too. The glasses at dinner are pretty small, so I think I haven’t been drinking enough liquids and am a little dehydrated. My supervisor (I still can’t remember his name tho I’ve been told at least 10 times), Oeda sensei, Yamaguchi sensei, another JTE who I forgot her name and Sarah (the other ALT I’ll be working with at Ihara High) all went out to eat and out shopping. They all led me around and made suggestions about to buy and let me browse a bit- I’m going to have to go back and spend a few hours in the 2 stores figuring out what is buyable for a 23 year old American boy. Both the Mega Mart (kind of like a miniature wal-mart) and the grocery store are open 24 hours, so that will be nice. I didn’t really know what to get at the grocery store because I can’t really tell what anything is. I ended up getting some eggs, a loaf of bread that is only 8 slices big (as big as they get), some kellogs corn flakes with katakana written on them, some soy milk and some ham. I also bought some me-ronpan or melon bread because Mike was always so nostalgic about it. It was pretty decent. I also tried some melon flavored Fanta at dinner tonight which wasn’t so subtle- a brilliant green color and sharp taste.
Sarah is really nice and showed me the route to bike to get from between the train station and the school. I hope I can remember the way tomorrow morning as I have to be at work at 8:00…
My eyes keep closing so I have to stop typing, but more will definitely be on its way. There’s just so much that it takes forever to write these overviews- maybe I’ll just stick to a few of the details and explain them more in depth next time…
Luther
It is not quite 10pm and I am exhausted. My first day arriving in Kambara has been very long- I met my supervisor and several of the other senseis at Ihara High School including the principal, vice principals, the baseball coach and most of the English teachers. The introduction ceremony was a little nerve-wracking because we each (the ALTs) had to memorize a 5 sentence introduction in Japanese. I think I got most of it right the first time, but I definitely got better throughout the day as I repeated it to the principal and a couple other teachers as well as a couple of neighbors.
I took a lot of pictures of my apartment. It needs some cleaning. Ok, that’s an understatement. It needs to be washed down with a hose. Luckily I can do just that in the shower room/bathtub room because the shower is mounted outside the tub. In a Japanese style bath, one is supposed to fill a tub with water, fire up the heater underneath, rinse, soap and rinse with a shower outside the tub, and then climb in when one is totally clean. The bath is more for relaxation and several family members will use the same bath water. Luckily for me the utilities guys came over to the apartment this afternoon and turned the hot water heater on at my house so I can have hot water out of the tap any time I want it. This is not necessarily common- I’m living in a (newer…kind of) house.
The rest of the house smells kind of moldy or something. I can’t smell very well, but I know it doesn’t smell good. I think it has to do with the very humid and wet weather? I do have an air conditioner unit in one of the corners of one of my 3 rooms- I have it running right now with all the windows open to get some air going through it and to make sure it doesn’t poison me my first night in Japan. I also have a dehumidifier that was quite crusty, but I cleaned out the filter a bit and have that going. I do realize that with the windows open I’m kind of dehumidifying the whole world, but again I’m kind of seeing what it’s going to do if I let it run. I’ve already got almost a cup of water in it and it’s been running for 30 min. now.
Everything is really weird here. I’m still not used to the cars driving on the left side of the road. I keep thinking that cars turning left from our right are going to smash right into us. Everything is much smaller too. The glasses at dinner are pretty small, so I think I haven’t been drinking enough liquids and am a little dehydrated. My supervisor (I still can’t remember his name tho I’ve been told at least 10 times), Oeda sensei, Yamaguchi sensei, another JTE who I forgot her name and Sarah (the other ALT I’ll be working with at Ihara High) all went out to eat and out shopping. They all led me around and made suggestions about to buy and let me browse a bit- I’m going to have to go back and spend a few hours in the 2 stores figuring out what is buyable for a 23 year old American boy. Both the Mega Mart (kind of like a miniature wal-mart) and the grocery store are open 24 hours, so that will be nice. I didn’t really know what to get at the grocery store because I can’t really tell what anything is. I ended up getting some eggs, a loaf of bread that is only 8 slices big (as big as they get), some kellogs corn flakes with katakana written on them, some soy milk and some ham. I also bought some me-ronpan or melon bread because Mike was always so nostalgic about it. It was pretty decent. I also tried some melon flavored Fanta at dinner tonight which wasn’t so subtle- a brilliant green color and sharp taste.
Sarah is really nice and showed me the route to bike to get from between the train station and the school. I hope I can remember the way tomorrow morning as I have to be at work at 8:00…
My eyes keep closing so I have to stop typing, but more will definitely be on its way. There’s just so much that it takes forever to write these overviews- maybe I’ll just stick to a few of the details and explain them more in depth next time…
Luther
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