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?
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