It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

I'm sorry that it's been over two months now since my last post... I have a lot to get you caught up on, but that's going to have to wait until January.

So the Christmas season has been in full swing here in Japan for awhile now. Decorations went up around Kanazawa right before Halloween. I thought things started too early in America, but I think Japan is even quicker on the draw! It’s interesting to me that they celebrate Christmas at all since only about 2% of the country’s population say they are Christian. It’s a purely commercial holiday. The Christmas “traditions” here include eating fried chicken and Christmas cake with strawberries. Most people seem surprised when you tell them that’s not what we eat on Christmas in America. I’m not sure how their fried chicken tradition started, but there’s speculation that it’s because Colonel Sanders looks suspiciously like Santa.

I’ve started getting into the holiday spirit as well. I found some Christmas decorations (and old cards) that my predecessors left. Some friends and I decorated my apartment the weekend after Thanksgiving. My favorite decoration is the photo card from a family that I don’t know! (You may not be able to see it very well, but it's to the left of the tree.)

On Saturday night, a big group of JETs went caroling at the train station to raise money for a little girl who needs an operation. I spent the rest of the weekend baking cookies... way too many cookies... I've spent the last few days eating cookies... way too many cookies...

The weekend before last was filled with holiday activities as well. Two of my friends work at an after-school program with elementary kids and needed volunteers to sing carols in English with the kids at a local hospital. The kids were cute and it was fun to sing. As a bonus, the teachers threw a party for us with lots of delicious food and ume-shu (plum wine… mmm…). We also got our first snow that day along with some loud thunder! The snow was more like mini snowballs than flakes though and it didn’t stick around for very long. It was long enough to put me in a festive mood though!

At school, we’ve been making Christmas cards and letters in class and having Christmas-themed activities. One of the 8th grade classes made Christmas cards for me as a surprise. Here are a few of my favorites:

Looks like I have a bit more work to do...

Yes, that says "Peace on English". Awesome!

I think this one is my favorite because it's so bizarre. Not sure if you can read it or not, but smoking Santa is asking how old I am. Here's a closer look at Santa and his dirty habit:

Tomorrow night I’m off to spend the winter holiday in Vietnam and Hong Kong. I’m traveling there with my friends Kate and Katherine. Winter vacation doesn’t actually start until 12/26, (yes, there’s school on Christmas as it’s not an official holiday here) but I’m taking several days off. We’ll be in Vietnam for Christmas (12/19-12/30) and Hong Kong for New Year’s (12/30-1/2). It’s supposed to be in the 80s in Vietnam, so I’m not counting on a white Christmas. I’ll be thinking of all of you at home and I hope you enjoy the holiday season!!! Peace on English!

Returning Japanese

Oh, before I forget (did I mention I have a hard time getting myself to bed?), I had another first today. I returned something I had bought for the first time! Yes, it may sound minor to you, but it's all about low goals here. Yesterday, I had purchased the textbook for my Japanese class which started today. Unfortunately, I found out I had gotten the Romanji version but should have gotten the Hiragana/Katakana/Kanji version instead. So, five minutes before class started, I rushed into the bookstore (conveniently located in the same building as class) and grabbed the other book. I successfully found and used the right phrase and exchanged one book for the other. I was so proud! Then, my teacher pointed out in the middle of class that the new book I purchased was the Japanese/CHINESE version, not the Japanese/ENGLISH version. Sigh... After class I had to go back and return the Chinese book and exchange it for the English one. I don't think the guy behind the counter was too pleased, but at least I got some good practice in. Maybe now I can return that sweater I decided wasn't quite the right color. Or, maybe I'll just live with it - don't want to get too cocky.

Ahh...choo!!

Another milestone - I've officially gotten my first cold in Japan. So far symptoms include a headache, sore throat, burning, watery eyes and slightly runny nose. I know how much everyone loves it when people talk about their illnesses, so I'll try to keep you updated as it progresses! It must have looked like I was about to cry in class today as it really hit me right toward the end. My teacher was concerned I was upset at the way class had gone. I was a bit as the students in this class are always terrors - throwing things, talking to each other and ignoring us, running around the room (generally being disruptive) but I assured him it was just the onset of a cold.


You'll be relieved to know that there's been no sneezing yet, but oddly enough, one of the hardest things to get used to in Japan relates to sneezing. No one ever says anything after someone else sneezes. There's no "bless you" or "gesundheit" followed by a "thanks" or "excuse me". A sneeze goes virtually unnoticed. I didn't know how ingrained it was in me to say "gesundheit" until I came here. I have the hardest time holding my tongue. I'm thinking it would probably embarrass the sneezer if I brought it up so I just try to say it internally.


People also wear little white hospital masks when they're sick. It's really funny to see people out and about shopping, riding their bikes, conversing on the train, etc. while half their face is covered with a white mask. They'll wear the silly-looking mask (no offense to those of you in the medical field - they look distinguished on you) but when they aren't wearing one, they won't cover their mouths when they cough. Puzzling... I'm not going to get a mask.


I've come up with several theories as to why I got a cold, but I'll limit myself so you don't get too bored. Here are the Top 5 Reasons Jackie Might Have Gotten Sick:

5) I have a hard time getting myself to bed at a decent hour and can't nap (nothing new there) so never quite get the optimal amount of sleep to keep my defenses up.
4) The seasons are changing. It's still warm with a cool breeze during the day (perfect) but it gets chilly at night now.
3) I went to Osaka with Ali-who-had-a-cold this past weekend.
2) In Osaka we stayed out dancing until the trains restarted in the morning. We left the club around 6am but then wandered around in the rain searching for the right train station for about half an hour. We got about four hours of sleep, then spent the day exploring in the windy city (it actually reminded me a bit of Chicago, only much bigger).
1) A great amount of my time is spent in the same environment as about 1000 middle schoolers. If that isn't a breeding ground for disease, I don't know what is!

Don't worry though! I'm drinking lots of fluids and taking a bunch of vitamin C. Others have said it should be a quick one, but if it lasts too long I'll brave the Japanese medical system. Now, it's a bit after nine p.m., so I'm going to attempt to sleep. Nighty-night!

The Roach Motel aka My Apartment

So about a month ago, I stepped outside of my apartment and found a big, black cockroach laying in wait on the outdoor balcony/hallway. I managed to smash it with my shoe, which apparently is the wrong thing to do since any eggs inside go shooting out all over the place and can still hatch. Well, I figured things were okay since it was outside and all but I did use some cockroach spray on the area. After a few sleepless nights dreaming of bugs crawling all over me, I managed to forget about it except for when I'd talk to Mom and Dad and they'd ask if I'd seen more of them.

This past Sunday night they asked me again and I assured them that it was an isolated incident and that I hadn't seen any since then. Monday night I came home, turned on the light in the bathroom, and there was a giant brown cockroach on the wall, uncomfortably close to my toothbrush. I tried to trap it with the plastic lid to my hair mousse as I didn't want to smash it and that was the closest thing I could grab. I almost got it but the lid proved to be too small and it scurried into a tiny crack between my sink cabinet and wall to safety. Gross.

I immediately called Mike to discuss strategy as he's been battling cockroaches for awhile now. I think (or at least hope) he has a slightly larger roach population than I do though - I think he said he's trapped ten in one night before. Last night I spent constructing complicated houses with super sticky floors and sickly sweet smelling bait inside. I've put the traps around my bathroom and kitchen along with the poison that they eat then take back to kill all their little roach buddies. I also put all of my food in the fridge, whether it belongs there or not. Hopefully that will do the trick, but as of right now, the traps remain empty. Maybe this was the only one and he was just passing through on the way to my neighbor's place. Stay tuned.

Gorge-ous

One Saturday, Ali, Kate, Leslie and I took Leslie’s car to Tedori Gorge in the Hakusan area for a quick little afternoon trip. We got lost a couple times on the way there (and back) as the roads here aren’t marked very well. Many of the streets don’t even have names. If they do, they may be written in English along with the Kanji in one place but not be labeled in English a little further down the road. The same goes for tourist spots. The streets in Kanazawa also wind around a lot. Although many castle towns are laid out in a grid or have the castle to one side of the town, here the castle is in the middle and the streets surround it in a sort of maze. Some claim that it was a form of protection for the castle, but others say it was just poor city planning. The view of the gorge was definitely worth the drive though!

Trains and Buses, Buses and Trains

Public transportation is great here and is oddly the cause of most of my exercise. The trains and buses are always on time and I am always late. I can be found frantically biking and/or running to the station or bus stop at least once a day. At least the weather has gotten a bit cooler now so I'm not as sweaty!

There are several bus stops conveniently located a couple of blocks away from my apartment. When you get on a bus in Japan, you grab a slip of paper from a machine by the door. This slip of paper has a number on it (the number of your stop on the bus’s route). This number corresponds to a board at the front of the bus which will tell you what your fare for the trip is. The amount of the fare is digitally written underneath your number and gets adjusted the further from that stop you go. When you get off the bus, you put the correct change that matches the board in the coin machine by the driver. I usually take the bus to my schools on Monday and Friday. Transportation cost to my Monday school is $2.60 each way and $6.80 each way to my Friday school.

I used to take the bus to the school I go to on Tues-Thurs, too, but I’ve found the train is cheaper. It cost $3.70 each way by bus but it’s only $1.80 each way by train. What a deal! My apartment is located about 12-15 minutes from Kanazawa Eki (the main train station pictured below) by foot and 5-7 minutes away by bike, depending on traffic lights. I go two stops (7 minutes) on the train then walk another 7-10 minutes to the school.

Okay, sorry, enough about my boring commuting times and costs. Here are a couple train related stories to wake you up…

Before school started, my friend Ali and I took a trip to Kyoto (someday, I’ll hopefully blog about it). We were at the train station about half an hour before our train was due to depart back to Kanazawa. A train pulled up and most everyone who was in line got on. It didn’t look like the Thunderbird Express train we had taken there (yes, the train was really called the Thunderbird Express) but we decided to get on anyway as trains often come early and sit on the tracks and our train was the only one listed on the board. Anyway, you can probably tell what’s going to happen next. Yep, the train doors closed as soon as we got on and it started moving… in the wrong direction. We had gotten on the wrong train with no idea where it was going or how long it would be before it stopped. At this point there was only 20 minutes before the Thunderbird was supposed to fly away. Luckily, the train stopped after about five minutes and we were able to hop off. We rushed to a different platform and just managed to catch a train that we hoped was heading back to the station. With six minutes left, the doors of the train opened back at Kyoto Eki and we plunged into the throng of black-haired, black-suited commuters. We had of course arrived at Track 7 and had to get to Track 0 (I know, Track 0 seemed odd to us, too). I picked up my suitcase on wheels and was sprinting around people shouting “Sumimasen!!” (“Excuse Me!!”). We jumped into the Thunderbird just before the doors shut and collapsed in our seats, laughing hysterically in relief while the Japanese just looked at us bemusedly.

Last week, I was hurrying to catch the train home from school and tried to jump on as the train doors were closing. Unlike my beloved MetroTransit Light Rail, the doors of the train didn’t seem to have any sensors on them and kept closing. I was stuck halfway in the train and halfway out. I managed to wriggle in so only my bag (with my laptop in it) was stuck in the door. I was still attached to my bag though as the strap was around me. Some giggling high school girls tried to help by pushing the button to open the doors back up but it wasn’t working. Finally the doors gave a little and I was able to pull my bag in and the train started rolling. My face burning, I sat down and decided that next time I would just wait the twenty minutes for the next train.

Okay, those are enough embarrassing stories for now. I’m sure I’ll have more for you soon enough.

Biker Babe

This is a picture of my less than beautiful lilac “mama-chari” which I’ve named Perle (well, that’s the name on it anyway). A “mama-chari” is the most common type of bicycle around these parts. It’s a one-gear road bike with a basket. It feels pretty wobbly and I somehow managed to wrench it while trying to get it out of a bike rack so the handlebars are currently crooked. I’m sure the low tire pressure doesn’t help the ride either. I keep meaning to get them pumped up but I’m always in a bit of a rush. Even with these flaws, my lovely Perle is the envy of all the neighborhood kids due to its waterproof basket cover. It’s super handy as you never know when it’s going to start pouring. It also hides the fact that the bottom of the basket is rusting out.

I was scared to ride my bike for quite some time after I arrived. I’m not much of a bike rider as it is and the crazy traffic and busy sidewalks here were daunting. Bicyclists are supposed to ride on the sidewalk here, not the street, and there doesn’t seem to be any rules about what side of the sidewalk to use. Pedestrians are really bad about moving out of the way. You’re supposed to ding your bicycle bell notifying them you’re behind them but many times they’ll just ignore it. My favorite is when there is a group of people taking up a whole sidewalk and they’re staring right at you but don’t move. Of course, even if they do move, you never know if they’re going to go to the right or left.

Cars are another big biking hazard. Drivers are bad about looking to see if there’s a bike before pulling out of the narrow streets or turning. I’ve been told that drivers in Ishikawa are famous in other prefectures for their terrible driving. They might even be worse than Illinois drivers! My co-worker Patricia has been hit by a car on her bike three different times and had to go to the hospital once. Many other JETs have also been hit by cars. Helmets are definitely a good idea!

I’m getting more and more confident riding my bike though and am really glad to have it. It makes getting around town really convenient and I do love that covered basket! I often have the Wicked Witch tune going through my head as I zip around on my bike with the wind in my hair… um… did I just type that out loud?

Hakusan City Tour (10/5)

Daishoji Day was rapidly followed by exploring Hakusan City Day. A bunch of JETs had signed up for a tour put on by the Hakusan City Council so we got up too early on Sunday morning to catch the bus to the area. We were put into small groups of three or four and sent on a tiring scavenger hunt with tasks to help us explore the area.

The hunt culminated in a slightly scary gondola ride up a mountain where we had an indoor “BBQ”. This BBQ wasn’t anything like BBQ in the states but it was pretty darn tasty. We each got a tray filled with chunks of raw meat, soba noodles, cabbage and other veggies that we “grilled” on a shared griddle while wearing large white paper bibs. The mountain was also used as a jumping off point for paragliders, which was cool to watch.

After the treacherous ride back down the mountain they took us to the Ishikawa Insect Museum, where live butterflies got to hang out with and on us. It started to rain but we decided to brave the outdoor festival anyway to hear Jero (a somewhat famous singer in Japan I had never heard of) and see some really cool festival floats.

Daishoji Days (10/3-10/4)

My friends Anna, Daniel and Mike live in Daishoji, a small town south of Kanazawa in the Kaga area. It’s only 45 minutes to an hour away by train. Leah and I went to visit them on Friday night and Saturday. We ordered some interesting yet delicious pizzas (it’s always hard to tell what the toppings are just by looking at the pictures so you never really know what you're going to get) and headed to the one bar they have in town, which is unfortunately closing soon. After enjoying some small town Japanese hospitality, we headed back to Anna’s where we decided to watch Kindergarten Cop. Let me just say I wasn’t thrilled about having Kindergarten Cop be the first movie I watch in Japan, but it was hard to make a decision between that and the other not-so-great movies available. They had picked up ten videocassettes for $10 at a nearby secondhand store. You can’t argue with that kind of deal, even if the quality of the movies isn’t the best!

The weather the next day was absolutely beautiful so after a tasty pancake breakfast we headed to the coast in Anna’s car. I would be really nervous driving in Japan but Anna’s Scottish so she already had the driving on the left thing down before she came here. The scenery was gorgeous and we’ve made plans to go back for lots of picnics.


From there we went to Side Burger, purported to be the best hamburger joint in Ishikawa. I’m happy to say that I believe it! I ate a delicious cheeseburger that came with fries and onion rings while listening to American music from the 1950s and sitting on sparkly vinyl chairs. The only thing that could have possibly made the experience better was if they had served milkshakes.

After stuffing ourselves with Americana, we headed to Second Street, an overwhelmingly huge second-hand store that sold anything you could want and much much more. We helped pick out ten more videos and I got a new bag and hat. Then we stopped at the grocery store to buy ice cream and chocolate snacks so we could fulfill our milkshake cravings back at Anna’s while watching The Princess Bride. What a perfect Daishoji day!

Dangerous Wildlife

This is the view from my bus stop at my mountain school. Pretty, isn't it? I joke with the teachers that the school is actually a zoo though. At the end of the day there is a lot of jingling and jangling as the students walk down the hallways to go home or to badminton club. They each have a bell attached to their backpacks. When I asked the reason why, I was told that the students had spotted a bear a few days ago. The bells are used to warn the bears the students are coming in order to scare them away. A lot of hikers have bear bells too – I think I’ll start attaching one to my backpack every Friday! Who knew the hazards of teaching would include possible bear attack?!? Personally, I think it would be better to have the bear wear a bell but I think that might be a bit more difficult to accomplish. Apparently there are also wild boars and some sort of deer-type animal in the area. Some students told me there is a snake that lives down by the playground that occasionally puts in an appearance too.

Last week, a teacher came into the staff room and was freaking out because she had found a tick on her. My English teacher calmly pulled a spray bottle out of her bag and sprayed her down and then sprayed her chair. She said that ticks like to hang out in the judo room and I guess the spray was something to either try to ward them off or kill them.

This week, I was in class with the 9th graders and they were working in pairs to come up with telephone conversation skits. The English teacher started freaking out because either she or one of the girls saw the wasp I had noticed earlier flying around near the ceiling. The students started yelling, “Yusuke! Yusuke!” (pronounced “You-skay”) the name of one of the boys in class. I guess he's the resident bug killer because he ran to grab an aerosol can of bug spray conveniently located right by the blackboard – this must be a frequent occurrence. He ran around the class chasing the wasp with a plume of bug spray trailing behind him. It wasn’t doing any good as the ceilings were much higher than the spray was reaching so he climbed onto a chair and started spraying even more fervently. The wasp finally faltered and fell to the floor where another boy promptly stomped on it. The English teacher and I retreated to the hallway, opening windows along the way to avoid the noxious, spray-filled classroom, but the students just went back to their work. I know we had our share of wasps in the classrooms back at Midland, but I think we only got to chase them around with fly swatters.

There was more excitement in the afternoon, but this time it was not bug or animal related. On 11/9, the students need to perform the area’s traditional folk dance, so people came in from the community to teach them and help them practice. Apparently they first learn the dance in elementary school but one of the 7th grade girls went to a different elementary so didn’t know it. An older woman spent the entire practice teaching it to her (and to me and the other teachers) but the girl cried the whole time. I think she was really embarrassed because she was the only student who didn’t know it and Japanese kids really don’t like to be singled out – it’s all about being part of the group.

It was pretty cool to watch the kids dance and fun to try and learn it. There are separate dances for the boys and the girls but they dance together in a big circle. The girls get to dance with fans and large traditional paper umbrellas while the boys dance with bells, then straw hats, then swords (I was told they were imitation swords when one of the teachers saw my worried look). I’m sure they have cool costumes too, so I can’t wait to see the actual performance!

Posting, Posting, Posting

Hi there! So, you may have noticed that I just put up several postings all at once. Well, two of my lessons were cancelled today, so I had plenty of time to write up a bunch of posts for your reading pleasure.

For you Twin Cities folks, I've been streaming the Current while posting and it's really off-putting to listen to Jim Ed and Dale on the Morning Show when I'm about ready to head to bed. I'm so used to hearing them on my way to work! This time difference is still so weird to me!

Well, anyway, I'm off to get some much needed sleep. Enjoy your day!

Dancing Machine

So, I mentioned dance practice in my last posting. I got myself talked into being involved in a performance at an International Festival that was held Sunday, 9/7. When we signed up they said anybody who likes to dance or sing or act or whatever was welcome to participate. Somehow that turned into a dance that another JET choreographed. Now, I’m not very coordinated when it comes to dancing. I have a really hard time remembering moves – I’m terrible at line dances and aerobics routines and such. Colette – I could have really used your help! Practices have taken up a lot of my time in the last week and I was super stressed out because we kept getting new moves to learn and things kept changing.

Most of the dance was with the group as a whole but there were also parts where small groups had to do their own thing. There were three of us in my group and we decided to do the robot. We even made robot costumes. We figured that people would focus more on our funny costumes and wouldn’t notice how terrible our dancing was. I was really worried about it beforehand but it went a lot better than I thought it would. The audience seemed to enjoy it and we got lots of compliments. (Keep in mind that most of the audience was made up of our friends.) I’m just glad it’s over with! It was fun, but I don’t think I’ll be signing up for another performance any time soon… I do like to embarrass myself though so I’ll post a link to the video once it’s available!

Sports Day!

The reason I had to go to school on Saturday was for School B’s Sports Day. The teachers and students had worked for days (even taking time off of classes) to practice and get ready for their Annual Sports Day. It’s pretty much a big deal. All the students in school are divided into 5 teams (blue, red, yellow, white and green) and compete in relay races and games. They each wear a headband of their team color.

There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance involved, with speeches by the principal, a parade of the students, and quite a bit of bowing (of course). Prior to the games everyone participated in a warm-up with stretching exercises choreographed to music.

Then the games began! All day long in the hot, hot sun… (it did rain in the afternoon for about 15 minutes but it was still sunny.) There was a giant tug of war game, a three-legged race, regular running races, jump roping with 15 or 20 girls at one time using really long ropes, and many other games.

All of the teachers and even the student teachers were in charge of and supported a certain color. I wasn’t given a color though so students would come up and ask me which team I thought should win. I would say their color if there was only one student there but if there was someone from the white team and the yellow team there I’d say I wanted blue to win. They had a cheering competition where each team came up with and performed their own cheer. My favorite cheer was done by the green team, so later on I had the students teach part of it to me and helped cheer for their team.

There were a few games that would probably not be allowed in the states due to liability issues. One of the games the girls played involved several ropes in the middle of the field between two teams. The girls would run toward the ropes and try to grab as many as they could and bring them to their side of the field. This turned into several mini tug of war games with girls running to help their teammates who were struggling to yank the rope away from the opposing team. As you can imagine, this involved a lot of rope burns and skinned knees. One girl even dislocated her thumb. Each girl had one glove to wear but it didn’t help much.

The boys had a few interesting and rowdy games that I wasn’t familiar with. One was described as some sort of horse game. Three boys acted like a horse and supported a fourth boy who was wearing a swim cap. Then the other boys in swim caps would try and snatch the swim caps off the opposing team’s heads.

My favorite game was a form of capture the flag that the boys played. Two teams would compete at a time. The defenders supported a large pole that was kept up by boys holding it at the bottom and also by several ropes held by the boys. A flag stuck out of the top of the pole. The offense would run over to the opposing team’s pole and try to capture the flag by climbing over and on top of the defense and trying to either shimmy to the top of the pole and grab it or have enough people climbing on the pole to unbalance it, tipping it over and grabbing the flag from below. While they are doing this, the defense is grabbing at them, dragging them back down and knocking them off the pole. I heard that at another school one boy got kneed really hard in the neck and I think one kid at my school wrenched his knee pretty badly, but I’m surprised more kids didn’t get hurt!

After the points were all tallied, speeches were made, trophies were handed out, balloons were released and team photos were taken. Things didn’t get wrapped up until around 4pm and when I left, they were still putting away chairs and cleaning up. (I tried to help but they politely declined.)

I had to get going anyway because I had dance practice (more about that later) at 5 but had to leave that by 6pm to go home and get ready for another enkai that was at 7pm. Quite the busy day!

This enkai was to celebrate being done with School A’s Sports Day, which was also that Saturday. I couldn’t go to it because I had School B’s Sports Day but they still invited me, which was really nice. School B either didn’t have an enkai or had one but didn’t invite me to it. I prefer to think they didn’t have one. Another JET goes to School A on different days than I do so he was at the enkai too, which made the situation a bit more comfortable. Several of the teachers speak really good English though and the principal’s English was pretty good too. It was a really fun time. The teachers felt the need to show us how to properly drink beer in the Japanese way. Most important rule: You never pour your own beer. You always pour for others. That’s a true custom, but they also claimed that whenever someone offers to pour you more beer you must down whatever you have left in the glass so they can completely refill it. You don’t really have to drink it all, they just thought it would be funny to try and get us drunk. For the most part, the Japanese don’t have a very high tolerance for alcohol though, so I’m pretty sure if we kept up with that they wouldn’t have lasted very long!

Several of the teachers went home after the meal but about seven of us went to karaoke. For the most part they sang English songs so we’d know them but they did a few in Japanese too. They seemed to prefer ballads. I thought it was hilarious that the first song chosen by the science teacher was Bette Midler’s The Rose. Took me back to eighth grade... A good end to a long day.

TGIF

Getting to school today was quite the adventure. It was my first day going to School C, my little mountain school with 26 students. I have to take a bus to get there and the bus company needs to be called beforehand to make sure to pick me up, as it isn’t a regular route. Well, my supervisor had called and told them to pick up the foreigner at the bus stop in Musashigatsuji (my neighborhood) and take me to my school. The bus never showed. It was a blue JR bus supposed to arrive at 7:25am. Well, there were three blue JR buses around that time and I got on each one, asked the driver if the bus went to the school and each driver said no. I finally called my supervisor to ask why the bus hadn’t picked me up but he had no idea. I ended up grabbing a cab to take me to school because I didn’t know how else to get there. Of course, the cab driver didn’t know how to get there and didn’t speak English. I tried to explain because I’d been there before by car but he didn’t understand and we had to pull over to wait for someone to radio back with directions. Even with the directions he pulled over along the way to consult with the driver of a van. Luckily, I was only about 10 minutes late and everyone at school was really nice about it. Unluckily, the cab fare cost me about $32!!!!

This school feels like one big happy family. Although I’m only teaching the junior high students, the junior high and elementary are combined, so there were a bunch of cute little kids running around the halls. One of the teachers said to beware – they might attack me at any time! The students were all prepared with their own introductions and questions for me. They quizzed me about the school and themselves, asking me questions like, “Which teacher is good at playing the guitar?” and “Which student is my brother?" Of course, I got most of the questions wrong but I know a lot more about them now than the kids at my other schools. They were also really well behaved and responsive, which is probably the difference between a class size of 11 versus 35.

The teachers were concerned the bus wouldn’t come pick me up to take me home (as was I), so one of them walked me to the bus stop and waited with me. The scenery around the school was beautiful - green trees and huge flowering plants everywhere. A river flows right by my bus stop and there’s a little waterfall there. The teacher told me that they had seen bears around and there were also a lot of deer. I told one of my friends that if for some reason I don’t make it back to the city one Friday it’s either because the bus didn’t show or that I got eaten by a bear. This particular Friday, the bus did pick me up. I was awfully glad because I didn’t really want to pay for a cab again – I don’t even know how I’d get a cab to come all the way out there to get me. Instead, I got a 45 minute bus ride through the mountains and small farms back into the city for a measly $6.70. Still a pretty expensive commute, but it could be much worse!

I made it home in time to change and head to Katamachi, the downtown and entertainment area of Kanazawa, for my first enkai. An enkai is like one very big happy hour. (So, basically one of my favorite things!!!) It involves dinner and drinks, then people usually move on to a second party, usually involving more drinks and karaoke. Sometimes there are even third parties.
This enkai was just our supervisor and all of the ALTs that work for the Kanazawa Board of Education. We had a fancy dinner with a set menu and all we could drink in two hours for about $50. We headed to another bar after that but I couldn’t stay out long because I need to go to school in the morning… Yep, school on a Saturday. So much for starting the weekend off right!

I’m a TV Star! (Well, at least at my school.)

Today I was back at my main school (School B) where I’ve been hanging out this past month. The students had tests all day, so no teaching for me. The only thing I had to do was introduce myself to the entire school via the television. The school has a small studio where the students videotaped me and broadcast it live to the televisions in each classroom. At least I only had to introduce myself in English. Much less pressure than using Japanese but still, it’s always a bit nerve-wracking to have a camera in your face! At least that’s what Angelina and Brad tell me…

Well, today’s lunch looked delicious when they were dishing it out. Thought it was curry. Turned out the main dish was some ground meat, green beans, squash, and white cubes. I couldn’t tell what the white cubes were – they had a strange consistency and they weren’t tofu. All of this was in a yellowish-orange sauce that I suspect was egg… raw egg. I don’t have proof to back that up but I’m going to ask somebody about it tomorrow. To top it off there were two small silver fish with it. They were cooked but they were whole except for their heads. I did try everything but I can’t say it was my favorite meal. Thankfully, there was a broth-like soup and bowl of rice to supplement it. Once again, no spoon. Maybe this whole school lunch thing was a bad idea after all.

The real highlight of my day though was in the afternoon when my vice principal told me, “You sweat very much.” Thanks buddy. Maybe if you’d turn on the air conditioning I wouldn’t be over here dripping all over my desk!!!

First Day of School

While you were all enjoying your long Labor Day Weekend, September 1, 2008 marked my first day of actual teaching! It was also my first day at School A. It definitely made me nervous that I was going to have to teach at a school I had only visited for 10 minutes a month ago but I think things went pretty well. At the beginning of the day I had to introduce myself in both English and Japanese on the stage in front of the entire school. I wrote my 5 line speech on a note card because I was worried I wouldn’t remember the Japanese, no matter how many times I had practiced it! Luckily, there was also a new Japanese teacher that had to introduce himself. He was pretty funny and beforehand kept saying, “Pressure! Pressure!” to me and fanning himself with his hand. When I went up to the stage I just copied what he had done. Later, my supervisor complimented me on how I did it just like a Japanese person because I had bowed in the same places he had! Whew!

In addition to my introduction to the school, I had two seventh grade classes to teach. I had to fill up 50 minutes with a self-introduction lesson. 50 minutes to talk about my favorite subject, me! J I’ve calculated that I will have to do this same self-introduction lesson 26 different times. I think I’m going to get extremely bored with myself.

At School A I will only be teaching the seventh graders but there were about 35 students in each class and there are 5 sections of each grade. School B also has around 35 students per class but is even bigger with 6 sections of each grade and I’ll be teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. These schools are just a bit larger than Midland! School C is completely different though. It’s up in the mountains and only has 11 students in sixth grade, 4 students (all girls) in seventh grade and 11 students in eighth grade.

The students were really cute. They’re shy in class but would shout hello to me and ask me questions as I was walking down the halls. They all seemed really small and acted younger than I was expecting. Discipline in the classroom is quite a bit different in Japan and there was a lot of extra chatter and sleeping in class. The teacher assured me it wasn’t that I was boring but that the kids are always really tired. They get to school early in the morning then have club activities for several hours after school. After that some have cram school where (strangely enough) they cram for exams and such then they still have a few hours of homework to do. I had given them a worksheet to fill out with their favorite things and several kids wrote down that “sleep” was their hobby.

After the first class, the English teacher and I had to pack everything up and move to the next classroom. Unlike in the US, students stay in their homeroom all day (even for lunch) with 10 minute breaks between classes and the teachers move from classroom to classroom. After my second class of the day, it was time for lunch. I’ve signed up for school lunch at each of my schools for the experience of it. Plus, it’s a pretty cheap option and I'm terrible about actually making a lunch in the morning. There also aren't any restaurants attached to the school by skyway. No one at school goes to a cafeteria, the food comes to us. The students in charge of the lunch go to a big elevator where carts full of the lunches are delivered to each floor of the school. They then roll them to their classroom and dish everything out to the other students in their class. The students eat at their desks then put everything back on the carts and it’s all wheeled away!

Lunch consisted of a small piece of pork, a salad made of potatoes, edamame and beans, a large roll, a bowl of soup and a carton of milk. I asked if there were spoons but the teacher replied, “Not today!” I’m thinking that there are never spoons though. I had to eat the big pieces in the soup using my chopsticks then drink the rest right out of the bowl. Mmm. Can’t wait to see what’s on the menu for tomorrow!

Atsui desu! It's hot!

The love of talking about the weather must be a universal trait. Since I’ve arrived, one of the most frequently used words around here has been atsui. Atsui=hot. It’s been ridiculously hot and muggy here. As we say in the states, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity! I can count on three fingers the number of days that I haven’t started sweating 10 seconds after I’m out of the shower. I do have air conditioning in my apartment but it’s only located in the living room and it’s quite expensive to run. I’ve really tried to do without it (I do have a few fans and usually a breeze) but a couple of nights I’ve turned it on and slept on one of my sticky, vinyl-covered couches. (If any exposed flesh touches the couch, it feels like it’s being ripped off when I move.) Once the temp gets comfortable I try and turn off the air but a minute later it’s super hot again. Japanese homes are not well insulated.

The staff room at my school is also air conditioned but for some reason they like to turn it off in the early afternoon when the sun is beating in. The rest of the school building is just plain roasting. On the positive side, I’m never freezing at work like I was everyday at the WF!

People here cope with the heat in many ways. Many carry around the traditional folding fans or plastic fans which are usually printed with advertisements. I’ve collected a few of the latter and they're very useful. Umbrellas are used for portable shade as well as for the surprise downpours. I especially love the ladies that use the clear umbrellas to ward off the sun. What??? People also tend to cover up more here when it’s hot. Apparently there’s an aversion to being tan – very unlike home. Hats are common as well as arm coverings when wearing short sleeved shirts (think leg warmers only lighter material and on your arms). There are even some (mostly old ladies) that have long gloves attached to their bike handles so they don’t get sun on their hands or arms while they bike. I’ll try and post a picture soon. So far I’ve been unable to surreptitiously photograph the crazy-looking ladies as they bicycle past.

As far as the sweating goes, I’ve become resigned to always looking shiny and feeling gross. Along with my plastic fan, I carry around a little towel with me which I refer to as my sweat rag. Pretty glamorous, I know. Most everyone here carries around a towel or handkerchief with them for the same purpose. A lot of people wrap them around their necks – I guess it stops the sweat from rolling down your back. I just keep mine in my bag and pull it out when necessary (every 5 minutes).

I’ve been told the weather should cool down soon. The autumn is supposed to be lovely – until the rain starts… :)

Service With a Bow

So far, it seems that things are quite a bit more formal and polite over here than in the States. Just a small example: in Tokyo, when several VIPs were on stage and giving speeches, hotel staff crouched behind their chairs and pulled them out/pushed them in each time the speaker got up. Seemed a bit elaborate and unnecessary, but I bet the VIPs felt like royal persons instead of just very important persons.

The other night I also felt a bit like royalty, or at least like a minor superstar. I was roaming around a nearby department store looking for the exit as it was closing time. All the employees were standing at attention and each one I passed bowed to me and either said "Welcome" or "Can I help you?" in Japanese (I couldn't quite catch which). Personally, I think that in their heads it sounded more like, "Why is that stupid foreigner here? Doesn't she realize that it's closing time and we want to go home?!?" Luckily, I can't read minds. Even if I could, I don't understand much Japanese, so I'd still be oblivious. Even when it's not closing time, whenever a store clerk sees a customer come in their store they ask if they can help (usually leaving out the bow though). They always thank you as you make a purchase and then when you leave too, even if you haven't purchased anything.

We went to an izakaya (restaurant that also serves beer) a while back to celebrate making it through our first week in Kanazawa. When we arrived, ALL of the employees excitedly shouted, "Welcome! Party of six is here! Woo hoo!" only in Japanese. As we were leaving, they all shouted, "Arigatou gozaimasu!!!" (Thank you very much!!!). They thanked us even though one of our party accidentally knocked down a sliding door...

Super duper politeness is definitely the rule here. Although it can feel a bit overdone when you're thanked six different times during your purchase of a soda, so far I'm really liking the appreciation. Who doesn't enjoy feeling like a superstar whenever you're out and about?!

Not Your Typical School Day

The school was a hive of activity this past Friday. All of the students and teachers were there. I, of course, was completely confused since school doesn’t officially start for a few more weeks. (Complete confusion has been a constant state for me since I’ve arrived.) I’m sure an explanation had been put in the newsletter and schedule on the board that I’m unable to read and hadn’t thought to ask someone to translate – I need to remember to do that from now on. Anyway, suddenly at 8:15 all of the teachers stood up, bowed, sat back down and the vice principal started talking. Apparently, it was staff meeting time. Once the meeting adjourned, the teachers started scurrying around and leaving the room and ''Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah'' started blasting through the halls. Students grabbed dust rags and vacuums and set to work cleaning the hallways, staff room and classrooms. Japanese schools don’t have janitors so students are in charge of keeping the school clean. The Vice Principal was also sweeping. I asked him if I could help but he said although it was very nice of me to offer, it was more important for me to study my Japanese. I would have rather cleaned.

I asked my JTE (the Japanese Teacher of English that’s basically my supervisor) if there was anything else in the schedule for the day that I should be aware of. She said they were showing a movie about peace in the classrooms at 9am that I could watch if I wanted to. The students had put together a movie using lots of writing on posters held up to the camera and voiceovers. I had no idea what they were saying but then they showed a cartoon about a little girl who took a trip to the atomic bomb memorial at Hiroshima. This past week marked the anniversary of the American bombings of Hiroshima (6 Aug.) and Nagasaki (9 Aug.). There’s nothing like sitting in a Japanese school watching a movie about people being incinerated by an atomic bomb your country dropped on them to make you feel completely horrible. It was nice that directly after the movie a teacher I’d never met introduced herself, welcomed me to the school and said she was looking forward to speaking English with me, but still…

On a happier note, after the movie there was a ceremony for the volleyball team. Apparently they are so good that they get to represent Ishikawa in the All-Japan Jr. High Volleyball Tournament in a couple weeks! I’m going to try to go cheer them on. I figure it will be good PR, plus, I do love volleyball.

The excitement of the day was over around 11am, but I did have lunch and communication hour with my teacher friend again and got to leave for the day at 2pm for a JET meeting at city hall. Next week will be a short week at school too because we have more days of orientation specifically for those of us living in Ishikawa. It will be nice to see everyone who’s located in different parts of the prefecture again. Hooray!

Everything on a Stick...

Yakitori is now one of my favorite Japanese foods. For dinner last night, I headed to a yakitori restaurant, where almost everything you could order came on a stick. It was just like being at the Minnesota State Fair! There was beef on a stick, beef tongue on a stick, tripe on a stick, chicken or pork on a stick, chicken skin on a stick, okra on a stick, shitake mushrooms on a stick, cucumbers on a stick, even fried egg on a stick! I'm totally going to order the egg next time because I just don't understand how it could possibly work... I think they had dessert on a stick too, but nothing to compare to those yummy fried candy bars at the fair. Tempura on a stick was available, but that's just not quite the same thing.

Anyway, the kitchen is located in the middle of the restaurant and surrounded by counters that people sit at. There's a large flaming grill in the middle that a chef is constantly moving skewers of meat, etc. around on until they get placed on a metal tray in front of you for your eating pleasure. You also get a sauce to dip the skewers in that I kind of wanted to straight up drink. Mustard is also provided if you like that sort of thing. We also ordered these tasty triangular cakes of rice that were grilled on both sides. Somehow it's so much better than plain rice, even though it's just plain rice!

Two thumbs up for yakitori! Also, just in case you weren't counting, "on a stick" appeared in this post 12 different times (13 if you count the title). I'm sure that wasn't the least bit annoying. Just be glad that I stopped there because I really wanted to keep going...

School Daze

My job in Japan is to help teach English classes at 3 different junior high schools in Kanazawa. I'll be at School A on Mondays, B from Tues - Thurs and C on Fridays. Right now the schools are on summer break until 1 Sept. but all teachers still have to go in to school everyday unless they take paid time off or have workshops or something. All the kids in club activities (sports, band, art, etc.) also come into school each day to practice all day long. They're also there on weekends but I'm not sure if they have shorter hours or not... I can't imagine spending 7-8 hours each day 7 days a week during my summer vacation practicing my French Horn or playing volleyball. I suppose I would have gotten really good though.

I'm posted in School B all break long but since there aren't classes, there really isn't anything for me to do. I've read through two team teaching and activity manuals, my handbook for living in Japan, and attempted to make it through two really dry books on US Politics and US Geography that the US Embassy so helpfully gave us. I'm bored out of my mind.

On the plus side, it gives me time to practice my Japanese and attempt to talk to the other teachers who, though they look really busy, I think are also pretty bored. It was a bit difficult at first because although a few were friendly, most of them made no effort to introduce themselves and/or seemed to be avoiding me. I was told by my English teacher that they are very shy and not comfortable with their English abilities but that I should really make an effort to go up to them because they are sincerely interested in me and do want to talk. At first I managed to talk to about 3 teachers a day for short periods of time but lately I've made some great breakthroughs. The trick is to show up without your lunch. One of the younger teachers goes and grabs lunch everyday and she's taken to inviting me along. Once we get back to the office, we sit together with some other teachers and attempt communication. It's been really fun and helps the day go by... a little... My next mission is to get myself invited to a happy hour! I'd actually settle for getting invited to any out-of-school activity!

Kanazawa Here I... Am...

On Wed., July 30th, I arrived in my new home of Kanazawa. All the JETs going to Ishikawa took a short flight from Tokyo to Komatsu Airport. (One cool thing about the plane - there must have been a camera mounted to the front because the tvs inside showed the view of the runway during takeoff and then the city and sky as we ascended. We were also able to see Mt. Fuji from the air - pretty sweet!) In Komatsu, we were greeted by experienced JETs and the supervisors from our school boards who took us to our separate towns/areas in Ishikawa.

There were seven of us headed to city hall in Kanazawa where a pile of paperwork awaited us. We had to fill out applications for bank accounts and alien registration cards and pay for our apartment deposits. Then a Japanese teacher at one of my schools whisked me away to look at my apartment (getting lost for about 20 minutes along the way). Once I'd determined what was needed, she took me shopping for apt stuff, then grocery shopping, then to the school she worked at so I'd know the route for when I started Friday, and then on to more shopping. It was all a bit overwhelming, especially as she mostly spoke Japanese, all the stores and products were different, and I couldn't read anything anywhere. She finally dropped me off at my apartment around 8pm... completely exhausted and alone... without a phone or numbers to call anyone... and not having a clue as to where I even was. I have to admit I was a bit freaked out. Luckily, I felt much better after getting some sleep (and a map)!

Here's a link to pictures of my new apartment (I hope the link works this time). It's in a great location and most importantly, it was furnished! Feel free to come visit me anytime!

Arrival in Japan

Konnichiwa! I apologize for taking so long to get this blog started. As such, there's a backlog of stuff I want to share so the first few postings may get a bit long. Sorry. Okay, to get started, on Friday, 7/25, my parents drove me to Chicago for an afternoon of orientation before I flew out. That night we were planning on going to downtown to do something fun and touristy. Instead, we spent all evening in the hotel room while I frantically repacked, weighing my suitcases on a scale we picked up from Target that night. Sorry Mom and Dad! The scale stated that my suitcases were way too heavy so I managed to throw out about 20 lbs. worth of stuff. Turns out, the scale lied to me. Now, I need to go shopping for some items I got rid of in a panic. Like my flip flops. Now, you'd think I would have kept those because, really, how much do flip flops weigh? Sigh... The only sandals I have now are my new Chacos which are rubbing my feet and causing some really nice sores. I thought these things were supposed to be super comfy! More lies!

Anyway, on to packing error #2. So, I have just been using my cell phone for a watch and alarm clock for months and months. Of course, although I knew my cell would no longer work here (oh yeah, don't try to call me at my old number - service has been cancelled now) somehow my brain didn't register that I would no longer have a means to tell time. Mom tried to offer me her watch before I left, but I didn't catch on. Luckily, my roomie in Tokyo had an alarm clock that she carried around with her as she was in the same boat. Once I made it to Kanazawa and couldn't rely on her anymore, I bought an alarm clock to carry around too, which helped me catch my bus to school on Friday. Unfortunately, I can't read any of the buttons or directions, so although I managed to set it, I couldn't figure out how to make it stop beeping and had to take out the batteries. Luckily, I got a new cell phone (keitai) yesterday so I'll just use that from now on. As a side note, it took about 3 hours to get the cellphone and that was with someone interpreting. I have to keep chanting "low goals" to myself.

Back to Tokyo... After a 12 hour flight and losing a day, we arrived in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon. Our hotel was super nice, which was good as we spent most of our 2 1/2 or so days in Tokyo listening to speeches and going to workshops in the hotel. We did make it out to explore a bit in the evenings though. Some cool Tokyo sights: the features of the toilet in our hotel room, my first meal which I chose from a display of plastic food and then ordered through what looked like a vending machine, some crazy game parlors that had strange prizes like metabolic guages and food items in the claw machines. (Sara - I wish you would have been there to win me something using your mad claw skills!) On Monday night I went out to dinner with all of the new JETs in the Ishikawa prefecture (a prefecture is kind of like a state and Ishikawa is where Kanazawa is located). Everybody seems really nice and it was a good bonding activity. Plus, it gave us the chance to see more of the city. I totally want to go back to Tokyo soon - there's so much to see there!