While I spend most of my working life at three junior high schools, I visit each of the 10 elementary schools in my part of town at least once a trimester. I either stay for the whole day or half a day, depending on the size of the elementary school, and I usually eat lunch with one of the classes and play with the kids during recess. I absolutely adore elementary school visits, because the kids are excited, enthusiastic, hyper, and so cute! And they think I'm the coolest thing ever. It's quite a nice refresher after teaching shy and bored junior high school students. Though to be fair, I have some wonderful junior high classes, too!
Since the fall trimester is just drawing to a close, I'm just finishing up the first round of all the elementary schools in the area. I've been visiting a lot of them lately, so I thought I'd give you an idea of what it's like!
I come to each elementary school and wait in either the teachers' room or the principal's office, the latter of which usually has a nice seating area for visitors. When it's time for class to start, anywhere from 2 to 8 students will come meet me and take me to the classroom or wherever we're having class; if there are a lot of kids or multiple classes, it'll be in the gym. When I walk in, they usually applaud loudly (remember, I'm a rock star!), and some of the more outgoing kids might start saying "hello." I myself begin class with a friendly loud "hello!" and usually receive a resounding reply in return. I don't, I make them do it again!
I then ask what other English greetings they know, and they throw out "Hi," "How are you," an occasional "Good Morning." I then ask if they know what to say when meeting someone for the first time, and depending on the age group, they'll look puzzled or say they forgot or shout it right out. Then we'll practice "My name is ---." When I say "My name is Emily," and they repeat after me in full, I tease them by saying, "Is everyone here named Emily?" which is apparently the most hilarious thing they've heard in awhile. When we go over "Nice to meet you," I ask them what gesture goes with "nice to meet you," and they usually know it's a handshake, but don't always know that you have to use your right hand. Then I do an example conversation with the teacher, put the kids in pairs to practice for a few minutes, and invite kids to come up and introduce themselves to me. There are always a few takers, but sometimes it's half the class.
After practicing greetings, I start my self-introduction, which is the cornerstone of being an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan: between all my middle school classes and all the classes at elementary school, I must have done in around 100 times by now. I do a somewhat simplified version for elementary school that goes like this:
Hello! (Hello!)
My name is Emily. (Sometimes I say "My name is..." and let them fill it in."
I come from America.
How old am I?/How old do you think I am?
Common responses: 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 31, 35, 38
The kids say it in Japanese and I repeat in English; only the older kids can count that high, but I think it's good for the younger kids to hear the English if nothing else. To any kids that guess close to or over forty, I reply "Shitsureina!" which means "How rude!" This also makes the kids laugh, and when I finally say slowly and clearly, "I am twenty-five years old," they are usually somewhat surprised, with the exception of the one or two kids who guessed 25 and are ecstatic at being right.
Then I say "what's in my bag?" and take various things out of my backpack (the same navy one I've had since high school, by the way!). I start with an American map and I point out two things: that I come from New Jersey, which is a little bigger than the island of Shikoku. Since they are often surprised that any state in America is as small as Shikoku, I can never resist pointing out that California is slightly bigger than all of Japan, which they naturally find shocking. I diplomatically state that America is a very large country and leave it at that. I then pull out a picture of the Statue of Liberty, which all the kids know in Japanese: jiyuu no megami (goddess of freedom). I tell them what we call it in English, make them repeat it, and say that it's close to where I live.
I pull out a picture of my family, and ask how many people there are in the picture to make them count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. I ask them which one is me and point to my parents first, and when they laugh and say no, I tell them the English words (eg. my mother) and usually they'll guess what they are in Japanese. I get the biggest laughs pointing to my brother, who has some facial hair in the picture I use. The picture of my family gets a lot of interest, but isn't anywhere near as exciting as the picture of my dog I bring out next; elementary school kids seem obsessed with pets! I say that his name is Riggs, and that he's ten years old (and they have to tell me how old that is in Japanese) and that he's big but friendly. When I say he's around 40 kilos, they are flabbergasted, since many of the small ones are barely 20 kilos themselves. When I ask if anyone has a dog, and then a cat, they'll reply enthusiastically, and when I ask if they like cats or dogs, the crowd goes wild!
I then pull out a Harry Potter book and tell them that I like to read. I read the "Harry Potter" title, since it's more like Halli Potta in Japanese, and then say, "but in English!" and reveal the inside; they are properly shocked by the English text. I bring forth a CD and say that I like music, and get them to say see-dee rather than the Japanese pronunciation of shi-dee. Lastly, I bring forth a bar of chocolate and say that I love chocolate, and they are amused by my enthusiasm, but when I ask if they like and then love chocolate, most kids tend to be right there with me.
Then there's question time, which is sometimes at the end of class instead, but I like doing it right after the self-introduction. Here's a sample of the questions I get:
What's your favorite color/food/animal/fruit/vegetable/sport/Japanese food?
What kind of bugs/animals/food do you have in America?
What is your house in America like? (They are usually very surprised to hear that it's brick)
Have you met President Obama?
Are there beetles in America?
Why is there a Statue of Liberty in America?
My favorite question and answer recently:
3rd grade boy: What famous buildings are there in America?
Emm: Well, it's not a building but we just talked about the Statue of Liberty, right? That's in New York. There are many famous skyscrapers in New York, like the Empire State Building (which they don't really know). There's also the White House. Who lives in the White House?
(Kids raise hands)
Another boy: (a little shyly)....a smart person?
Emm: Well, yes, that's (usually) true, but a special smart person.
Girl: Obama? Bush.....Obama!
Emm: Yes, right now it's President Obama, but the president of America always lives in the White House. So before, it was Bush, but now, it's Obama.
(Kids are rather surprised by this)
Then there are the games and songs. English language teaching at the elementary school level is really all about getting them excited about English, and games and songs do that well. When I meet with the teachers a week or few days beforehand, they often have games, songs, or at least vocabulary in mind, though there are some teachers who are happy to leave it all to me. Here are some of the current staples of my elementary school teaching career:
London Bridge: The kids know it in Japanese (Rondon Bashi) so it doesn't take too long to teach them the English lyrics, and I spice up the drill by adding gestures (hands outstretched for the bridge, sinking down to the knees for falling down, hands cupping the face for my fair lady). Then we get them all in a circle and have them sing while walking around through the bridges, usually made by the teachers, and as "My Fair Lady" is sung, the bridges fall down and catch whomever is walking through at the time, who then becomes another bridge. Great fun, but hard to do with over 50 students, which I have occasionally done.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes: such a classic, and so good now that the schools are freezing and the kids are happy to run around like crazy. I go through all the vocabulary first, again adding some Emmspice by telling them to massage their shoulders, going back and forth between "knees" and "toes" with lightning speed, making silly faces and pushing my eyes and mouth around while practicing the facial words. Then we sing the song rather slowly together, I in a loud voice which the students copy rather well. We do the song faster and faster, and after a few runs I start asking if they think they can do it even faster, and about half reply with an emphatic "yes," while the others insist that it's "muri" or impossible. Even once it gets ridiculously fast, some kids are usually clamoring to do it again even faster. Needless to say, it's pretty good exercise!
Go to Sleep game: I shamelessly copied this game from an ALT in Matsuyama, just as I shamelessly use the flashcards my predecessors have left behind rather than make my own (it's economical and ecological, after all!). It can be done with any vocabulary as long as you've got flashcards wih magnets that can be stuck on the blackboard. I have loads of these for various categories, but I do colors and fruits more often than anything else and often together. I'll go through the vocabulary, which I say in various ways, different voices, sometimes in song, and add relevant information (ie, Americans almost always eat the skin of grapes; many people don't in Japan). Once I've stuck all the cards on the blackboard, I'll tell the kids to pretend to go to sleep while I remove one card, and once I shout "brrrrrinngggg! alarm clock!" they "wake up" and tell me what card is missing. Eventually I start taking more cards off the board, and every once in awhile I'll take all the cards off and make them guess until we've got all cards back on the board. They are often falling off their chairs in their efforts to catch my attention so that I call on them. I only wish I could get my junior high students to do so! The kids also like to curl up together and pretend to snore when I tell them to go to sleep, and they also love it when I scold any kid who tries to keep his/her eyes open.
Aaaaah, it's so cute! I've got just two more elementary schools left to visit this trimester, but I'll start making the rounds again in the new year. I might see if I can get some pictures of me teaching, since most teachers take them, but I hope you enjoy hearing tales of Emily-sensei, the crazy American English teacher!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Halloween Party
So as many of you know, I had been planning on throwing a huge Halloween event in my town ever since I got here. Once I broached the topic to Local Nate and his two co-workers in the International Relations group at the City Hall, they were really excited and were able to do a lot of the planning and budgeting for the event, since putting on such a cultural shindig is totally within the scope of their job. With the help of the Shikokuchuo International Friendship Association (SIFA), members of my book club and an awesome group of middle and high school girls, we put on a Halloween Party to which over 130 people came!
Games included:
Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin) Bowling, with kabocha and water bottles filled with orange water
Pin the Tail on the Black Cat
Halloween Twister (yes, it exists!)
Can Toss, with Halloween-decorated cans
Crafts included:
Halloween mask-making
Halloween coloring pages
Halloween bracelet making (basically harvest-colored beads)
Halloween origami
Other attractions:
Halloween TV Specials: Charlie Brown, Spongebob, etc.
Picture Station with Halloween Cut-Outs (made by the art club at the high school)
Caramel Apples (which Nate, Beth & I made that morning: over 60 of them!)
S'mores (we had leftover materials from another event)
Main Events:
Magic Show
Costume Contest
Thriller Performance (sung by me!)
Since Halloween conveniently fell on a Saturday, we had the event right on Halloween, from 6:30-9. Nate, Beth and I were there all day; we had help in the afternoon from a ton of nice people! A lot of members of the book club I'm currently running came, as did some of the high school students who made the picture cut-outs. A great group of middle school girls who had participated in Nate's English Camp earlier in October came in the early afternoon, and when asked how long they could stay, one of them replied, "Forever!" These wonderful people helped us put up tons of decorations, make signs for each game and station, and get all the games ready.
My friends Aya and Asagi showed up a little early so that we girls, including Beth, could put on make up together. Aya and Asagi dressed up as pirates, Beth was Dorothy, and I was a Sexy Witch, mostly because the only black skirt I could find that fit me was a knee-lenth one with ties and ruffles that surely no proper witch would wear. When people asked about my costume, I said I was a Fashionable Witch, not knowing how well the sexy part would go over, but I did tell the actual name to Reiko-san, who referred to me as Sexy Witch for the rest of the night :-)
People started coming even before 6:30, and we were fortunate that so many of our friends and volunteers from earlier wanted to help out during the event as well. Nate, as Master of Ceremonies, was busy making sure everything was in order for our different events, so I walked around to make sure everything was going smoothly. In the course of this, I met some of my junior high school students and even more elementary school students from the schools I had visited. Some kids did come in costume, and many more made masks or won hats as game prizes. One of the elementary school girls made me a bracelet, and many kids asked to take pictures with me. I'm quite a celebrity, you see! The picture below is me with Reiko-san's grandsons, Yojiro and Ryotaro:
One of Aya's friends, Onishi-kun, performed an awesome 30-minute magi show in which both of Reiko-san's grandsons got to participate. During the costume contest, I dragged every child wearing a costume, most of them unwillingly, onto the stage, and then did a little catwalk myself. Lastly, near the end of the night, I got on stage with Nate, Beth, Aya and Asagi at my back, to sing Thriller. I was a bit under the weather at the time, but I was determined to do it! I did manage a bit of the Thriller dance at the end, but for most of the song I mimed the lyrics as much as possible, since most Japanese people are familiar with the song but don't really know what it means. We got a resounding applause and I received many compliments afterward.
I thought cleaning up would take forever, but we had a lot of help with that, too, so it didn't take more than 20 minutes. I was so impressed with how many people volunteered their time for this event, even some who couldn't make the actual thing but wanted to help decorate! They helped the event look fantastic and run smoothly, and it was so successful that it might become an annual event here in Shikokuchuo. And all because of me! Muwahaha! Excuse a little pride on my part, but I really had been thinking of this and dreaming of it for months, so I'm really glad it went well.
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Taiko Matsuri
Early autumn is the time of the Taiko Matsuri in northern Shikoku. Matsuri means festival and there are all kinds of festivals throughout Japan. I've been to a few and they are always huge parades, full of people and really fun. Matsuri are very popular throughout Japan, from local matsuri that take over an entire town to famous matsuri that people will travel from all over Japan to attend.
All the matsuri I have been to involve taiko. Taiko are large drums used in many Japanese events and performances. As Jason and I can attest from our visit to the Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori two years ago, they can get quite huge. The Nebuta Matsuri was a night festival with giant floats made almost entirely of paper and lit up from the inside, interspersed with giant taiko like the one below:
Taiko matsuri take place all over the northern coast of Shikoku. They start in the east and gradually make their way west town by town, but they only occur in towns that border the Seto Inland Sea, and they don't take place on Honshu, either. Taiko matsuri do involve moderately large drums, but rather than display these instruments in their full magnificence, they are placed inside giant floats. These floats are made of wood and decorated with an assortment of embroided gold dragons, lacquer, and a sort of carriage at the top, where 4 fine local fellows get to sit. 4 more fine fellows get to stand on wooden poles joined to the base of the float and egg on the scores of men who carry these floats, all a little drunk but admirably shouldering the weight of a float, a drum and drummer, and 8 guys. Since this is probably difficult to imagine, here's a picture:
My first Taiko Matsuri experience was on 10/18 in Niihama, a larger town about 30 minutes away. Niihama's matsuri is known for being a good deal rowdier than most. After parading around as usual, the floats actually fight each other. In past years these fights were so severe that someone died every few years, but now the police are involved, so people only get injured. We didn't get to see much of the fighting, which may have been just as well, but we did get to see the heart of the event, which is each group's attempt to hold the float up in their hands for a certain amount of time, or to make the float "jump" by lifting it up and down repeatedly. This is all done to the tune of of the leaders (standing on the wooden poles) shouting "so...rya eiya eiya yoisa!!!" which doesn't mean anything but sounds really good! Each float represents a section of town, so there's a lot of neighborhood pride and encouragement from different factions within the crowd.
My Japanese teacher, Reiko Kaji, her husband Nobuhiko Kaji, and their 9-year-old grandson Ryotaro took me and my friend Safiyya to the Niihama Taiko Matsuri. Reiko-san, looking dignified as always, was delighted to meet Safiyya and practice her English while learning about Safiyya's background. Nobuhiko-san, born and bred in the area, was ecstatic to see the matsuri itself, and he wasn't the only one. Apparently the people of Niihama are so obsessed with their matsuri that folks who have moved to other parts of Japan will come back for the taiko matsuri even if they don't come back for New Years or Obon, which is when most Japanese people return to their hometowns.
The same sort of festival occurs in both Kawanoe and Mishima, the two parts of my town in which I live and teach. Some people get a day off of work to attend one of the matsuri, and the schools usually get a day or two off as well. I didn't get to see much of the Kawanoe Matsuri due to my schedule that week and a nasty cold, but I heard drumming and the sounds of joy from my apartment. However, I was able to watch the Mishima Matsuri two days in a row thanks to Reiko-san, who lives near the center of Mishima. We were able to watch from an elevated view on the second and third floor of a shop right on the main street! On Thursday, 10/22, we watched the floats go by and the guys do their best to hold the floats up for as long as possible in front of the mayor's pavilion. Many of my students from Higashi-chu were in attendence, so I waved at them and received enthusiastic waves in return (girls), quick nods (boys), and confused stares followed by eventual recognition (well, you can't win them all, eh?).
On Friday, 10/23, Mishima holds their festival a second time, and at night. The parade of floats was much the same as before, but the floats themselves were all lit up in one way or another and look gorgeous. There's even more of a festival feel to the night parade, and I wouldn't be surprised if the fellows straining under the floats had fortified themselves was some extra drinks! The spectators, while also drinking, indulged themselves with greater sustenance, and the food stands were doing brisk business. The Kaji family and I enjoyed hotcakes, French fries and candy covered strawberries and grapes. Local Nate and his sister Beth joined us as well, so it was quite a party at the second floor viewpoint!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
An Awesome Letter
I have a mailbox at each of the three junior high schools where I teach. This mailbox project was started by my predecessor, Erin, who wisely concluded that with a total of over 1,300 students combined, it would be difficult to connect with students individually. Erin set up a mailbox at each school and asked the English teachers to mention it in class. In addition, she promised that as long as the students wrote their name, grade and class number, she would write a reply.
I liked the idea so much that I decided to continue it. Hey, the mailboxes were already there, right? Not only is it a great way to get to know some of the kids personally, but it also provides a nice opportunity for shy kids to communicate with me in some way. Since a lot of my kids are rather shy, and Japanese students tend to be much better at writing English than speaking it, the idea of writing a letter definitely has its appeal. Writing replies also gives me something to do on days when I don't teach many classes, and there seem to be a lot of those recently.
This week I'm at Kita-chu, and I received a second letter each from two third-year students who wrote to me earlier this month. These two girls are good friends and often say hi to me in the halls or wave at me from the window into the teacher's room, and I go out and speak with them for a few minutes. One girl, Chihori, is extremely shy but very sweet; she also has an October birthday, so we exchanged small presents. The other girl, Saori, is outgoing, loves English, and wrote me an absolutely fantastic letter. I'd like to share an excerpt with you:
(In her first letter, Saori wrote that English is hard for her sometimes. I replied that Japanese is hard for me, and I make many mistakes when speaking and when writing kanji, or characters.)
"To tell the truth, it is difficult for me to understand all Japanese too. I don't know all kanji. I often make a mistake Japanese too, I'm not good at Japanese. I'll study Japanese very hard! English too. English conversation is very important to me. Because, I want to travel around the world and become a member of the Diet! And few days later, I want to be first president in our country!
If I can be the president, I'd like to save of all the world people lives! I hope to be happy many people. I'll move the world! I want to be like president Obama.
I love happiness and peace. You and I cannot buy veritable happiness. I think so.
I hope you be happy. Have a nice day!"
Saori is fourteen years old. Many of her classmates would not be able to read most of this letter. Some of her classmates won't go to high school, since education is only mandatory through junior high school. I doubt any of her classmates aspire to be members of the Diet, let alone Prime Minister. I was so impressed!
I wrote her a very encouraging reply and told her that she inspired me, and she really has. I've read her letter many times since I received it on Monday, and each time I feel a renewed desire to be a great teacher, pursue my dreams and change the world in some small way at least. I distinctly remember the last time I felt that same energy and inspiration, because it was this summer when I was driving on the Garden State Parkway, stuck in traffic, and happened upon President Obama's speech to the NAACP on the radio. So if inspiring me counts for anything, Saori has already followed in Obama's footsteps once, and even if she doesn't enter politics in the end, I'm sure it won't be the only time!
I liked the idea so much that I decided to continue it. Hey, the mailboxes were already there, right? Not only is it a great way to get to know some of the kids personally, but it also provides a nice opportunity for shy kids to communicate with me in some way. Since a lot of my kids are rather shy, and Japanese students tend to be much better at writing English than speaking it, the idea of writing a letter definitely has its appeal. Writing replies also gives me something to do on days when I don't teach many classes, and there seem to be a lot of those recently.
This week I'm at Kita-chu, and I received a second letter each from two third-year students who wrote to me earlier this month. These two girls are good friends and often say hi to me in the halls or wave at me from the window into the teacher's room, and I go out and speak with them for a few minutes. One girl, Chihori, is extremely shy but very sweet; she also has an October birthday, so we exchanged small presents. The other girl, Saori, is outgoing, loves English, and wrote me an absolutely fantastic letter. I'd like to share an excerpt with you:
(In her first letter, Saori wrote that English is hard for her sometimes. I replied that Japanese is hard for me, and I make many mistakes when speaking and when writing kanji, or characters.)
"To tell the truth, it is difficult for me to understand all Japanese too. I don't know all kanji. I often make a mistake Japanese too, I'm not good at Japanese. I'll study Japanese very hard! English too. English conversation is very important to me. Because, I want to travel around the world and become a member of the Diet! And few days later, I want to be first president in our country!
If I can be the president, I'd like to save of all the world people lives! I hope to be happy many people. I'll move the world! I want to be like president Obama.
I love happiness and peace. You and I cannot buy veritable happiness. I think so.
I hope you be happy. Have a nice day!"
Saori is fourteen years old. Many of her classmates would not be able to read most of this letter. Some of her classmates won't go to high school, since education is only mandatory through junior high school. I doubt any of her classmates aspire to be members of the Diet, let alone Prime Minister. I was so impressed!
I wrote her a very encouraging reply and told her that she inspired me, and she really has. I've read her letter many times since I received it on Monday, and each time I feel a renewed desire to be a great teacher, pursue my dreams and change the world in some small way at least. I distinctly remember the last time I felt that same energy and inspiration, because it was this summer when I was driving on the Garden State Parkway, stuck in traffic, and happened upon President Obama's speech to the NAACP on the radio. So if inspiring me counts for anything, Saori has already followed in Obama's footsteps once, and even if she doesn't enter politics in the end, I'm sure it won't be the only time!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Sports Festivals
Eek! It's been quite some time since I've written. Many apologies; I've had a busy spate of things, but I hope to get back into a fairly regular schedule of reporting!
The afore-mentioned Sports Festival was held on 9/20, at least for the junior high schools. I went to two of my three schools: Mishima Higashi and Kawanoe Kita. The elementary schools held their sports festivals on 9/26, and though I didn't actively participate, I went around to four of the elementary schools I visit during the course of the year with my supervisor and another representative of the Board of Education. I just learned this past weekend that nursery schools also have sports festivals. Nursery schools! Group exercise is certainly taken seriously here.
Though I had spent the previous week at Kita-chu and had seen them practicing a multitude of times for the Sports Festival, I change schools each week, and since Sunday technically begins the week, off I went to Higashi-chu for the actual event. Soon after I arrived, the principal asked if I wanted to join the teacher's team for PTA tug-of-war, and of course I said yes. He also mentioned that, since I had just been at Kita-chu and had probably gotten friendly with the students there, I was welcome to go to Kita-chu as well rather than spend the whole day at Higashi-chu. I gratefully took him up on this kind offer.
The Sports Festival starts out with a grand Opening Ceremony. A few select students carry the flags of Japan, Shikokuchuo and the school to the flagpoles, and one student bears the sign for the festival itself, which reads "43rd Annual Sports Festival" or something similar. The rest of the students, who are seated according to their class and homerooms and wearing colored bandanas to show which team they're on, march in single file lines into a grid in the middle of the field facing the principal. The principal makes a bit of a speech, and then the stretching song begins and everyone streches accordingly. Then, as they say, the games begin.
The activities ranged from 50, 100-meter races and relay races to three-legged races and obstacle courses, to the afore-mentioned mukase kyoso (caterpillar race, aka chain gang) to tug of war and beyond. I participated in the PTA tug of war at Higashi-chu, where the team of teachers dominated and won all four competitions! Yes, we did!
They also had a special tug of war with long bamboo sticks for one grade of girls, in which two girls of differing bandana colors fought over said bamboo sticks, and after the winner dragged the stick over to her respective side, would help others on her team until at last, over 20 girls would be centered on one meter-long bamboo stick. There was also a bamboo pole climbing challenge for the boys, where groups of 5 would dash over to a bamboo pole and hold it up as one boy climbed and either added or removed a flag from the top of the pole, depending on the turn, until they had gotten through their whole class year.
Even for the individual races, points are earned for the team and not the individual, which I think is a nice way of encouraging cooperation and avoiding too much embarassment for those students not particularly stellar at sports. In fact, my favorite part of the whole thing was watching and listening to people cheering on the last person in a given race. This person had the misfortune to be the only person being watched by a vast audience of fellow students, parents and teachers, but s/he also received the most cheering of anyone else. Repeated shouts of "ganbare!" and clapping accompanied the last struggling person in any race. During one of the races in the morning, one boy fell and hurt himself, and as he tried to limp and finish the race, two teachers ran over to grab his shoulders and walk him the rest of the way. When it became evident that he was really in a lot of pain, one teacher took the boy on his back and they finished the race to postive din of cheering, and then the boy was swiftly carried off to be examined. You see that the sports day is not without its casualities.
Though I make fun of the mukade kyoso/caterpiller race/chain gang, it's probably my favorite thing to watch, and having given it a few tries, I can attest to how difficult it is to walk, let alone run, when you're tied at the legs with 20 other people. As such, the joy of watching a happy line of caterpillar boys of girls pass you by, chanting the mundane "ichi, ni!" (1,2!) or a more creative "yoshie tomato, yoshie happy"?, is only surpassed by the dismayed cries and hilarious spectacle of 20 boys or girls falling down like dominoes. Seeing 5 groups in action at the same time in the actual race was quite something compared to the several practices I had seen, and some teams really excelled at it.
My favorite memory of the entire day, perhaps, is that of one boys team really struggling, falling down, squaring their shoulders and restarting several times and thus falling behind by a lot. Though they were doing there best, what really touched me was that the four other boys teams, as they crossed the finish lines, immediately untied themselves and ran over to the struggling team and ran next to them, chanting "ichi, ni!" and encouraging them all the way. By the last 50 meters there was a swarm of at least 60 boys surrounding the last team, shouting their hearts out and cheering them on. These were 15-year-old boys, who I have trouble getting more than a few words out of during class sometimes, but seeing my students help each other out and cheer each other on...I admit, I fought back some tears!
That night, the teachers had a well-deserved drinking party, followed by some rather roudy karaoke. The next weekend I watched the elementary school sports festivals, which were absolutely adorable, but I admit I enjoyed the junior high ones more, if only because I was really a part of them, and they're my students. I have so many kids that I'm really having trouble remembering their names, but they're my students, and most of them are excited to see me, and I think they were glad to have me there, cheering them on as well.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Japanese Junior High School: A Day in the Life
Now that I've been teaching for a few weeks, I feel reasonably equipped to begin my presentation of what life is like at a Japanese junior high school. I teach at three different junior high schools, and they all function the same way; in fact, considering how fully the government has standardized education in Japan, it's safe to say that the vast majority of JHS work exactly the same way.
To begin with, junior high schools in Japan are comprised of 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Since this is universal throughout Japan, people are often surprised to find out that I went to elementary school until 5th grade, and then middle school from 6th to 8th grades. However, in Japan the grades are referred to as 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade of junior high rather than 7th, 8th and 9th, and the same goes for high school. As such, I will probably refer to my students as 1st years, 2nd years and 3rd years.
Let's start with a rough schedule:
7:30-8am: Arrival of students and teachers
7:55-8:05: Morning teachers' meeting
8:10-8:30: Homeroom
8:40-9:30: 1st period
9:40-10:30: 2nd period
10:40-11:40: 3rd period
11:40-12:30: 4th period
12:30-12:45: Preparation for lunch
12:45-1:05: Lunch
1:05-1:25: Cleanup/Lunch break
1:30-2:20: 5th period
2:30-3:20: 6th period
3:20-3:35: Cleaning Time
3:40-3:55: Closing Time
By the time I get to a school around 7:40, at least half of the teachers are already there. A few trickle in rather close to the morning meeting's starting time, but as long as you're in your seat when the chime rings at 7:55, you're OK. If you happen to be late, you dash off to your seat half bent so you won't obstruct anyone's view of the principal, nice principal or superintendent, and while bent, you bow a few times to show your shame at being late. Luckily, I haven't been late yet!
The morning meeting consists of going over the daily schedule in case there are any changes, talking about any upcoming events, and announcements from individual teachers. Much of the meeting is conducted in high-speed Japanese, so I miss a lot of it, but I understand the schedule and the school nurse's swine flu warnings and updates, so I think I'm getting the essential stuff. There was one time that I missed the admonition to bring one's athletic suit to school the next day and chose that particularly day, inevitably, to wear a skirt. I was a touch embarrassed, as I watched the kids practice for Sports Day, standing on the sidelines in my kitten heels and skirts, ruing my rare decision to look particularly cute that Friday. I was further tormented by my principal's quip, "Why, if you come from New Jersey, are you not wearing a new jersey?" So clever!
During the morning meeting, the students go to their homerooms and get ready for class; no adult surveillance necessary. Since all teachers must be there for the morning meeting, I'm pretty sure the kids just chill out and get their stuff together. The homeroom teachers run up to their classes as soon as the morning meeting's over, to be sure, but from what I've seen, the kids here are rather responsible and reliable. Can you imagine leaving a group of 40 American 14 year olds in a room together alone and expecting them to get ready for school in an orderly fashion?
That's the other thing: the class sizes here are huge. 38-40 students per class is the norm. A few of my classes have only 35 kids, and at each of my schools, one grade's English classes are divided in half, so in those cases I'll have about 17-20 kids per class. I'm not sure of the reason behind such large class sizes...there may be a shortage of teachers, or perhaps just the fact that the teachers can handle 40 kids with ease if they're well behaved is enough to justify cramming so many students into one class. In any case, the periods between classes aren't as hectic as you might imagine from the numbers, since most of the time, teachers move from one class to another instead of the kids. There are exceptions, like art, music, and gym class, and the English classroom, used when the classes are divided in half. In general, though, I suppose it makes more sense for a dozen teachers to move around than several hundred kids. Then again, the students have all of their classes with their homeroom class, so even when they do change classrooms, they're almost always with the same group of kids. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems.
There are usually 6 periods per day. So far, the most I've taught in one day is 4, and I've had a few days when I only taught 1 or 2 classes. I think days when I have to teach during all 6 periods will be rather rare, but I hear that they do occur. Currently, I tend to have days with few classes because the daily schedule changes frequently to accommodate practice for the Sports Festival (undokai 運動会、or taiikusai 体育祭）. For example, on Wednesday I had no classes because there were no classes. The whole day was devoted to practicing for the Sports Festival.
What is this intriguing Sports Festival, you ask? Every junior high school in Japan has one each year, usually in late September; I believe most elementary and senior high schools have them, too. When Japanese people ask me if we have Sports Festivals in America, I mention the Field Day my elementary school had, but I stress that it was rather different. Field Day involved a lot of different races, competitions and obstacle courses for which prizes were awarded; other than a few group activities, individual performance was key. At the Sports Festival, the vast majority of the activities require teamwork. I'll save the details for a Sports Festival post later on, but there are several variations of the three-legged race idea, from the basic two-person model to three people similarly bonded at the legs and jumping rope, to a line of 20 girls running together with these black bands binding their legs into 11 composite legs. There's also the mukade kyoso, or caterpillar group, which to me looks like a chain gang: two ropes with cloth straps that bind a line of 20 or so girls or boys one in front of the other, in which format the individual classes race each other. I actually joined in with a few of the girls groups at one of my schools, and it's not easy!
I think that perhaps the most culturally indicative aspect of the Sports Festival is the amount of times they have practiced for it, with such attention to detail. They spend hours practicing how exactly each class in each grade should line up, march from the respective sitting areas to the center of the field, spread out for strecthing, get back in line, and return. The students have to practice running from one side of the field to the other, in order. They've practiced the opening ceremony at least a few times. Just in case that's not enough, tomorrow (Saturday, I'll note) we have a full rehearsal of the whole Sports Festival. The entire school gets a day off in compensation for this dress rehearsal, and another one for the actual festival on Sunday, but you get the idea: practice makes perfect. The gym teachers, walking around with their timers and yelling at one group or another for taking longer than 30 seconds to run from one place to another, are understandably particularly involved in the process.
All three principals, benevolently watching the various practices with me (which means they've been practicing like this for three weeks!), have mentioned that this constant drilling is very similar to military organization. One of them told me that the Sports Festival originates from the Meiji era, Japan's period of modernization, so the military connection is quite understandable. Part of me thinks it's all a little much, especially considering the one measly rehearsal each I had for both my high school and college graduations, arguably much more important events. However, the dry and unsentimental part of me thinks that the constant drilling and all of the exercise it entails probably help to keep junior high schools students out of trouble. Any opinions on the matter?
I think this post is long enough, but stay tuned for more on the Sports Festival and teaching news!
One of my three schools, Minami-chu (short for Kawanoe Minami Chugakko, Kawanoe South Junior High School), has its own website, which the vice principal updates fairly regularly. It's entirely in Japanese, but it has quite a lot of pictures of the school and the students. For some reason, the page doesn't show up in proper Japanese on my computer, even though my laptop is set up to read Japanese pages, so I can say from experience that if you just click on the different links you're likely to find many pictures which might be of interest to you. There are a few shots of school lunch, actually quite delicious and homemade in 2 of my 3 schools, and of cleaning time, which is absolutely amazing: all of the kids just go to their station and start cleaning their spots with no prompting needed, though a teacher does nominally review their work after the 15 minutes are up. You might even stumble across a picture of me giving my original self-introduction to the entire school during the summer. Enjoy!
To begin with, junior high schools in Japan are comprised of 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Since this is universal throughout Japan, people are often surprised to find out that I went to elementary school until 5th grade, and then middle school from 6th to 8th grades. However, in Japan the grades are referred to as 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade of junior high rather than 7th, 8th and 9th, and the same goes for high school. As such, I will probably refer to my students as 1st years, 2nd years and 3rd years.
Let's start with a rough schedule:
7:30-8am: Arrival of students and teachers
7:55-8:05: Morning teachers' meeting
8:10-8:30: Homeroom
8:40-9:30: 1st period
9:40-10:30: 2nd period
10:40-11:40: 3rd period
11:40-12:30: 4th period
12:30-12:45: Preparation for lunch
12:45-1:05: Lunch
1:05-1:25: Cleanup/Lunch break
1:30-2:20: 5th period
2:30-3:20: 6th period
3:20-3:35: Cleaning Time
3:40-3:55: Closing Time
By the time I get to a school around 7:40, at least half of the teachers are already there. A few trickle in rather close to the morning meeting's starting time, but as long as you're in your seat when the chime rings at 7:55, you're OK. If you happen to be late, you dash off to your seat half bent so you won't obstruct anyone's view of the principal, nice principal or superintendent, and while bent, you bow a few times to show your shame at being late. Luckily, I haven't been late yet!
The morning meeting consists of going over the daily schedule in case there are any changes, talking about any upcoming events, and announcements from individual teachers. Much of the meeting is conducted in high-speed Japanese, so I miss a lot of it, but I understand the schedule and the school nurse's swine flu warnings and updates, so I think I'm getting the essential stuff. There was one time that I missed the admonition to bring one's athletic suit to school the next day and chose that particularly day, inevitably, to wear a skirt. I was a touch embarrassed, as I watched the kids practice for Sports Day, standing on the sidelines in my kitten heels and skirts, ruing my rare decision to look particularly cute that Friday. I was further tormented by my principal's quip, "Why, if you come from New Jersey, are you not wearing a new jersey?" So clever!
During the morning meeting, the students go to their homerooms and get ready for class; no adult surveillance necessary. Since all teachers must be there for the morning meeting, I'm pretty sure the kids just chill out and get their stuff together. The homeroom teachers run up to their classes as soon as the morning meeting's over, to be sure, but from what I've seen, the kids here are rather responsible and reliable. Can you imagine leaving a group of 40 American 14 year olds in a room together alone and expecting them to get ready for school in an orderly fashion?
That's the other thing: the class sizes here are huge. 38-40 students per class is the norm. A few of my classes have only 35 kids, and at each of my schools, one grade's English classes are divided in half, so in those cases I'll have about 17-20 kids per class. I'm not sure of the reason behind such large class sizes...there may be a shortage of teachers, or perhaps just the fact that the teachers can handle 40 kids with ease if they're well behaved is enough to justify cramming so many students into one class. In any case, the periods between classes aren't as hectic as you might imagine from the numbers, since most of the time, teachers move from one class to another instead of the kids. There are exceptions, like art, music, and gym class, and the English classroom, used when the classes are divided in half. In general, though, I suppose it makes more sense for a dozen teachers to move around than several hundred kids. Then again, the students have all of their classes with their homeroom class, so even when they do change classrooms, they're almost always with the same group of kids. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems.
There are usually 6 periods per day. So far, the most I've taught in one day is 4, and I've had a few days when I only taught 1 or 2 classes. I think days when I have to teach during all 6 periods will be rather rare, but I hear that they do occur. Currently, I tend to have days with few classes because the daily schedule changes frequently to accommodate practice for the Sports Festival (undokai 運動会、or taiikusai 体育祭）. For example, on Wednesday I had no classes because there were no classes. The whole day was devoted to practicing for the Sports Festival.
What is this intriguing Sports Festival, you ask? Every junior high school in Japan has one each year, usually in late September; I believe most elementary and senior high schools have them, too. When Japanese people ask me if we have Sports Festivals in America, I mention the Field Day my elementary school had, but I stress that it was rather different. Field Day involved a lot of different races, competitions and obstacle courses for which prizes were awarded; other than a few group activities, individual performance was key. At the Sports Festival, the vast majority of the activities require teamwork. I'll save the details for a Sports Festival post later on, but there are several variations of the three-legged race idea, from the basic two-person model to three people similarly bonded at the legs and jumping rope, to a line of 20 girls running together with these black bands binding their legs into 11 composite legs. There's also the mukade kyoso, or caterpillar group, which to me looks like a chain gang: two ropes with cloth straps that bind a line of 20 or so girls or boys one in front of the other, in which format the individual classes race each other. I actually joined in with a few of the girls groups at one of my schools, and it's not easy!
I think that perhaps the most culturally indicative aspect of the Sports Festival is the amount of times they have practiced for it, with such attention to detail. They spend hours practicing how exactly each class in each grade should line up, march from the respective sitting areas to the center of the field, spread out for strecthing, get back in line, and return. The students have to practice running from one side of the field to the other, in order. They've practiced the opening ceremony at least a few times. Just in case that's not enough, tomorrow (Saturday, I'll note) we have a full rehearsal of the whole Sports Festival. The entire school gets a day off in compensation for this dress rehearsal, and another one for the actual festival on Sunday, but you get the idea: practice makes perfect. The gym teachers, walking around with their timers and yelling at one group or another for taking longer than 30 seconds to run from one place to another, are understandably particularly involved in the process.
All three principals, benevolently watching the various practices with me (which means they've been practicing like this for three weeks!), have mentioned that this constant drilling is very similar to military organization. One of them told me that the Sports Festival originates from the Meiji era, Japan's period of modernization, so the military connection is quite understandable. Part of me thinks it's all a little much, especially considering the one measly rehearsal each I had for both my high school and college graduations, arguably much more important events. However, the dry and unsentimental part of me thinks that the constant drilling and all of the exercise it entails probably help to keep junior high schools students out of trouble. Any opinions on the matter?
I think this post is long enough, but stay tuned for more on the Sports Festival and teaching news!
One of my three schools, Minami-chu (short for Kawanoe Minami Chugakko, Kawanoe South Junior High School), has its own website, which the vice principal updates fairly regularly. It's entirely in Japanese, but it has quite a lot of pictures of the school and the students. For some reason, the page doesn't show up in proper Japanese on my computer, even though my laptop is set up to read Japanese pages, so I can say from experience that if you just click on the different links you're likely to find many pictures which might be of interest to you. There are a few shots of school lunch, actually quite delicious and homemade in 2 of my 3 schools, and of cleaning time, which is absolutely amazing: all of the kids just go to their station and start cleaning their spots with no prompting needed, though a teacher does nominally review their work after the 15 minutes are up. You might even stumble across a picture of me giving my original self-introduction to the entire school during the summer. Enjoy!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Back to School, in brief
I just wanted to write a quick note to assure anyone who is terribly disappointed that I haven't posted in awhile that I haven't abandoned the blog. I'm back in Shikokuchuo and I've started teaching, but I still don't have internet in my apartment and I haven't settled into a routine yet. Once I do, I will be sure to return to my habit of writing extremely long posts, I'm sure!
For now, let me just say that my last week in Matsuyama was a lot of fun, but it made settling back into Shikokuchuo a little difficult at first. I was spending most of my days relaxing and hanging out with other English-speakers, and then suddenly I was getting up at 6, working, speaking Japanese all of the time, and that was before I started teaching! I was a nervous wreck the day before my first lessons, as my wonderful and patient mother and sister can tell you. But the lessons went pretty well, the kids are great, school lunch is actually quite good (chicken curry and naan on Thursday!) and my fellow teachers are very kind and patient with me. I still feel like I don't know what's going on half of the time, but I assume I'll get used to everything in time. I move to another school next week, but I've got 9 classes under my belt now, and I'll be teaching the exact same thing: my self introduction. Since I know a lot about myself and I have some fantastic pictures of home that Nathan kindly printed out and sent to me, it's a good lesson with which to start.
More details to follow, but lots of love to those back home!
For now, let me just say that my last week in Matsuyama was a lot of fun, but it made settling back into Shikokuchuo a little difficult at first. I was spending most of my days relaxing and hanging out with other English-speakers, and then suddenly I was getting up at 6, working, speaking Japanese all of the time, and that was before I started teaching! I was a nervous wreck the day before my first lessons, as my wonderful and patient mother and sister can tell you. But the lessons went pretty well, the kids are great, school lunch is actually quite good (chicken curry and naan on Thursday!) and my fellow teachers are very kind and patient with me. I still feel like I don't know what's going on half of the time, but I assume I'll get used to everything in time. I move to another school next week, but I've got 9 classes under my belt now, and I'll be teaching the exact same thing: my self introduction. Since I know a lot about myself and I have some fantastic pictures of home that Nathan kindly printed out and sent to me, it's a good lesson with which to start.
More details to follow, but lots of love to those back home!
Monday, August 24, 2009
MONSTER baSH
On Sunday I went to Monster Bash. The title is correctly capitalized above, but the tagline for the tenth anniversary of this outdoor concert fest was "10 Times of Hard Play." Let me tell you, it just got more awesome from there.
Hideto, Aya, and Local Nate picked me up around 7:30am and we drove for about an hour into the neighboring prefecture, Kagawa-ken. We parked and took a shuttle bus to the concert area, which was formerly an amusement park, Aya explained. The entrance was lined with food stands, as were many of the paths on the outskirts of the concert field. People brought umbrellas and tarps and staked out places where you might sit and chat, eat something, or take a nap between favorite bands, as quite a lot of people seemed to do. If you wanted to see a band in action, all you had to do was walk a little ways towards the big stage or the little stage and find a good spot in the standing area.
There was quite a mix of musical styles, from light island music to heavy metal. The first band we caught was Kariyushi 58, a reggae-esque rock band. I liked a hard rock band called Acid Man, and all of us enjoyed Begin, an Okinawan band that's coined some very famous songs like Nada Sousou. Based on the band t-shirts people were wearing, the most popular band was Maximum the Hormone, a heavy metal band kind of like System of a Down. The guitarist/singer looked sort of like a crazed Chinese lion, another "singer" provided ample screaming, the bass player flung his long hair over his tatooed chest and back constantly, and the female drummer rocked out and did most of the talking between sets. I didn't particularly care for their music, but watching the fans go crazy was entirely worth styaing for. Imagine a field of Japanese people under 35, including girls in sundresses, headbanging. Awesome!
In the middle of the day, to break things up, DJ Kaori mixed up a fusion of Japanese and American dance music on the small stage, where a bunch of us really got down. Another highlight was Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, a set of men in pink suits playing ska swing music. Everyone went all-out with the crazy dancing on that one!
The headliner for the day was Chatmonchy, a three-woman band that comes from another neighboring prefecture, Tokushima-ken. As the main act, they sang 8-10 songs rather than the 4-5 most groups got in (they keep to a strict schedule at Monster Bash :-) The lead singer plays the guitar, and the bassist and drummer provide background vocals. My three companions were really looking forward to seeing Chatmonchy, and I could see why. They've got some great tunes, and they're all really talented musicians. Shangrila is probably my favorite, and not only because it's pronounced Shan-gu-ri-ra in Japanese.
Throughout the day we made several food runs, and they had quite a cornucopia of options. We all opted for the kebab sandwiches being offered on the outskirts of the area; how often do you find kebab sandwiches in Japan? Since it was extremely hot, some of us made a mid-afternoon run for kakigori, shave ice; I got the Korean style one with very light syrup, fruit and red bean, but Local Nate got an even better mango one with a passion-fruit center and light cream on top. I went with vegetable curry for dinner, thinking I would try to be healthy, but then Nate mentioned that they had corn dogs, and I succumbed just before Chatmonchy.
After the Chatmonchy concert was over, we all went toward the exit, and everyone lined up in orderly fashion to wait for the shuttle buses. And by orderly fashion, I mean we lined up in neat rows of four and calmly sat down to wait our turn. All of us. Even the drunks. People chatted, sure, but there was no rowdiness, and everyone waited patiently. It was amazing.
I was the first to be dropped off, a little after 11, and I was absolutely exhausted from all the jumping around, but it was a fantastic experience, and all the more so because Local Nate and I were the only discernable foreigners there.
Check it out! This is the first time I'm posting a web album, so let me know how it works for you.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Further Matsuyama Adventures
Well, to be honest, I haven`t explored too much of Matsuyama yet. This is partially due to the heat and partially due to the fact that I`m enjoying this unlimited internet access too much. To be fair, even once I have internet access at home, I won`t have nearly so much free time during the week to use it, so I feel somewhat justified in indulging various email, Skype and blogging whims. However, I have not been idle, either!
I've trekked up to Matsuyama Castle (above) a few times just for exercise, as the walkway is so steep that they offer a chairlift for 500 yen roundtrip. Once you get up to the top plateau the views of the city are absolutely beautiful, culminating in the sea and the mountains in the distance. On Thursday I actually went in the castle, where many artifacts of the Matsudaira family, the feudal lords who ruled there during the Tokugawa era, are displayed. I thought the armor was the coolest part, but they also have swords and spears, poetry and random documents, architectural pieces, etc. They also have copious English signs, which are highly imformative, but suspiciously shorter than the Japanese ones :-) I was able to muddle through some of them, but mostly I was content with the English information.
I spend a decent amount of time each day walking through the two shotengai, shopping arcades, which are sort of the center of town. These are basically pedestrian streets lined with shops and restaurants which are usually covered so that you don't need to keep your umbrella up while dashing from shop to shop, though sometimes you'll need it when you cross one of the bisecting streets. You'll find shopping arcades in small towns as well (including Shikokuchuo!) but they're not quite as glorious. However, I walk through the Okaido and the Gintengai at least once a day in order to find food, meet up with friends, or visit the 100yen shop. Since I've been trying to be frugal until receiving my first paycheck, I have to say that the 100yen shop is almost the only non-food shopping I've done so far, but 100yen shops are nothing like dollar stores in the US. 100yen stores tend to have good quality stuff and they have tons of household items, some of which are just packaged smaller than you'd find in a normal grocery store or hardware store. I got a pair of chopsticks and a chopstick case so that I don't have to use disposable chopsticks all the time. Are any of you surprised? Probably not!
Yet there's no longer quite the same need to refrain from buying stuff, as I was paid yesterday! My wonderful supervisor, Mori-san, sent me a text explaining the paycheck, the deductions, and what I would ultimately find in my bank account. I haven't yet had the need to delve into this new bounty, as I'm still rather flush with cash, but I do think it's time to allow a few purchases over 1000yen/$10, wouldn't you say? Any recommendations? I'd like to get a few nice shirts with Japanese details, and there's a cat-themed store just down the block from me, where I could certainly find something to my liking. I was also eyeing a Japanese cookbook game for my Nintendo DS, which you can laugh about, but it's pretty cool stuff, and I want to learn how to make Japanese food!
Last night I grabbed dinner with Safiyya, Nichelle, Jess and her boyfriend Tristan, who is newly come from Canada on a working holiday visa to join Jess for the year. We went to Fuji Grand, a popular department store here (even my town has one), and picked out whatever prepared food caught our eyes at the grocery store, which is a nice cheap way to eat. I went for gyoza (dumplings, pork), okra tempura (never had that before!), edamame, and Gokuri, a slightly sweet carbonated grapefruit juice drink I absolutely adore. After walking around, hanging out, and fumbling through the beauty and body products for a while, Safiyya, Nichelle and I went back to Safiyya's place. We chatted, looked at Safiyya's pictures of her family, Durban and Cape Town, and ate some of the pricy yet delicious grapes Safiyya was so kind to share. Fruit is very expensive in Japan! Finally, we watched Robin Hood: Men In Tights. While I'll admit I may have mentioned the movie first, the two girls were game to watch it, and I think we all really enjoyed it!
A brief note: I've changed the English version of my address slightly, because for some reason it was lacking some of the numbers present in the Japanese address. If you plan to send me anything (hint!) please take a look at the address post again. And if you'd like to receive mail from me, do make sure I have your address!Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Atsui! It's hot!
I hear it's rather hot in New Jersey and Ohio at the moment. I'm sure it's hot elsewhere in America as well. But I will say that I have never encountered such wilting heat as we have here now outside of Japan. You may not want to know this, but I have never sweat so much before! It's awful!
Just like in the US, the summer has been relatively mild in Japan as well. When I got here, it was certainly hot, but there were also some rainy days, which didn't seem to cool the weather down significantly, but perhaps they did. Now, it's truly hot, and Japanese and non-Japanese alike are complaining about it left and right. 'Atsui desu ne?' 'It's hot, eh?' can be heard quite frequently. Many Japanese women cover their arms and heads completely to avoid tanning, and many carry parasols as well. I have recently starting carrying a parasol and a hand-held fan, and even if I look mildly ridiculous doing so, it really helps! I have heard that the sun actually is significantly stronger in Japan, so it's really not a bad idea to protect oneself one way or another.
On an entirely unrelated note, I had fantastic gelato yesterday: kurogoma (black sesame) and cassis, which is a lot like blackberry. Delicious! I think I might combat the heat best by finding an excuse to have ice cream, sorbet, or kakigori (flavored shaved ice) each day!
Just like in the US, the summer has been relatively mild in Japan as well. When I got here, it was certainly hot, but there were also some rainy days, which didn't seem to cool the weather down significantly, but perhaps they did. Now, it's truly hot, and Japanese and non-Japanese alike are complaining about it left and right. 'Atsui desu ne?' 'It's hot, eh?' can be heard quite frequently. Many Japanese women cover their arms and heads completely to avoid tanning, and many carry parasols as well. I have recently starting carrying a parasol and a hand-held fan, and even if I look mildly ridiculous doing so, it really helps! I have heard that the sun actually is significantly stronger in Japan, so it's really not a bad idea to protect oneself one way or another.
On an entirely unrelated note, I had fantastic gelato yesterday: kurogoma (black sesame) and cassis, which is a lot like blackberry. Delicious! I think I might combat the heat best by finding an excuse to have ice cream, sorbet, or kakigori (flavored shaved ice) each day!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Matsuyama: the big city
I'm currently staying at a hostel in Matsuyama, the capital city of Ehime prefecture and really the only urban area around. I have internet at this hostel, so while I'm not sure if I'll be able to post pictures, I can post a little more frequently. Huzzah!
I first came to Matsuyama last Thursday for a 2-day orientation for new JETs like myself. This orientation was more useful than the one we attended in Tokyo, partially because we no longer have jet lag and partially because they were able to give us certain specific information about stuff that goes on locally. I do think the best part about it was spending time with a lot of other people in the same situation, though. We`ve all got different backgrounds and different situations here in Japan, but we're all getting used to our new homes, learning tons of new stuff every day, and struggling with the adjustment in one way or another. We`re also all in this limbo-land between coming to the country and teaching in earnest, since the kids are all on summer break. It's really encouraging to find out that I'm not the only one getting used to living alone for the first time, and to be reminded that with my Japanese language skills and past experience in Japan, I'm really doing quite well!
I spent Saturday exploring Matsuyama a bit with Grant and Etta, a married couple who have lived here for 3 years already, and Nishelle, a fellow new JET who is based in Matsuyama. A lot of JETs are from other English-speaking countries, and particularly those based in Matsuyama: Grant and Etta are Canadian, Nishelle is from Trinidad, and Safiyya, with whom I stayed Friday night, is from South Africa. Since we all speak a slightly different brand of English and have different references, it's quite a cultural exchange we've got going here!
I went home Saturday night and on Sunday, I went to a barbeque in the mountains with a smaller version of the crowd I had at my apartment the weekend before. This time, Aya, Sa-chan, Nate, Hideto and I drove through gorgeous woods and valleys to the Tomisato gorge, where we cooked yakiniku and vegetables and went swimming in the river. The water was cold, but it was so nice to swim in this hot weather! I said as much after we got out, and Aya and Sa-chan said, 'Demo Emiri, wakai yo!' 'But Emily, you're so young!' (That's why you can handle the cold water).
I'm back in Matsuyama to attend a two week intensive Japanese course, with the full sanction of my contracting organization (the Shikokuchuo Board of Education, which employs me). The course is only two hours a day and there doesn't seem to be any homework involved, so I plan to see the sights and enjoy the amenities of urban life, including internet, a vast shopping arcade, and international cuisine (a Nepalese restaurant nearby!).
Best to all of you at home, and keep in touch!
I first came to Matsuyama last Thursday for a 2-day orientation for new JETs like myself. This orientation was more useful than the one we attended in Tokyo, partially because we no longer have jet lag and partially because they were able to give us certain specific information about stuff that goes on locally. I do think the best part about it was spending time with a lot of other people in the same situation, though. We`ve all got different backgrounds and different situations here in Japan, but we're all getting used to our new homes, learning tons of new stuff every day, and struggling with the adjustment in one way or another. We`re also all in this limbo-land between coming to the country and teaching in earnest, since the kids are all on summer break. It's really encouraging to find out that I'm not the only one getting used to living alone for the first time, and to be reminded that with my Japanese language skills and past experience in Japan, I'm really doing quite well!
I spent Saturday exploring Matsuyama a bit with Grant and Etta, a married couple who have lived here for 3 years already, and Nishelle, a fellow new JET who is based in Matsuyama. A lot of JETs are from other English-speaking countries, and particularly those based in Matsuyama: Grant and Etta are Canadian, Nishelle is from Trinidad, and Safiyya, with whom I stayed Friday night, is from South Africa. Since we all speak a slightly different brand of English and have different references, it's quite a cultural exchange we've got going here!
I went home Saturday night and on Sunday, I went to a barbeque in the mountains with a smaller version of the crowd I had at my apartment the weekend before. This time, Aya, Sa-chan, Nate, Hideto and I drove through gorgeous woods and valleys to the Tomisato gorge, where we cooked yakiniku and vegetables and went swimming in the river. The water was cold, but it was so nice to swim in this hot weather! I said as much after we got out, and Aya and Sa-chan said, 'Demo Emiri, wakai yo!' 'But Emily, you're so young!' (That's why you can handle the cold water).
I'm back in Matsuyama to attend a two week intensive Japanese course, with the full sanction of my contracting organization (the Shikokuchuo Board of Education, which employs me). The course is only two hours a day and there doesn't seem to be any homework involved, so I plan to see the sights and enjoy the amenities of urban life, including internet, a vast shopping arcade, and international cuisine (a Nepalese restaurant nearby!).
Best to all of you at home, and keep in touch!
Monday, August 10, 2009
School and BBQ
The school I'm at this week, Higashi-Chu, told me to go home after being there for about 15 minutes this morning. Today they have all students coming in for a presentation, like Minami-chu did last week, but unlike Minami-chu, they didn't plan on having me introduce myself to the whole class. I can do it in September, they say. We didn't schedule it for today. You can go home!
Now, theoretically, going home should be nice, but I really don't know what to do with myself at home for the whole day, so I'm spending a little time at the internet café to start out. I thought about asking them if I could just stay and watch, but I had a feeling they wanted me out of the way. They mean it kindly, because I won't entirely understand what's going on, and none of them really have time to lead me through it. Besides, I'll be going to a bunch of assemblies once school actually starts, so I'll probably get my fill then!
I've got a massage chair in the internet café. The 15 minute massage was nice, but it's rather uncomfortable for actually using the internet!
So last week, I went to Kita-chu every day and spent some time looking up ESL games and activity ideas on the internet, copying potentially useful pages from my bilingual picture dictionary, working on my self-introduction, which will be the cornerstone of my lesson plans for the first month at least. Remember, I rotate between three middle schools and visit all of their English classes, so I have to teach the same thing over again seeral times, but I also get to reuse and perfect my lessons as I go along.
However, I have trouble sitting at my desk and coming up with lesson plans for 8 hours every day, so I also study some Japanese and chat with the teachers. They too seem to have at least some free time; while they're certainly busier than I and know what they're doing far more than I do, they also take very long lunches and spend a lot of time looking busy, I suspect. Having to go to school for the entire summer still seems a little excessive to me, but I'm also glad to get to know the teachers a bit before classes start. I've gotten particularly friendly with some of my fellow English teachers; Suzuki-sensei at Kita-chu is a notable example. She took me out to lunch a few times, and she really uses her English as much as she can. On Friday we both stayed a littler later than the other teachers, exchanged contact information, and showed each other pictures of our boyfriends ^_^
This past weekend I was refreshingly busy. After learning that I was rather homesick at first, my new Japanese teacher, Kaji-san, has taken me under her wing. She took me to lunch with another of her students, Olivia, on Saturday, and then met up with me later on in the day to take me over to the wedding reception we both attended. A former ALT (Assistant Language Teacher: my job) Dennis, married a Shikokuchuo native, Yukiko, earlier in the day, and despite having just met me the week before, they were kind enough to invite me to the reception as well. It was in a small concert room turned beer hall, which is apparently a very popular thing to do in Japan during the summer. As could only happen in Japan, it opened promptly at 5 and closed at 9pm, and they really kicked us out by 9:15. However, they had good food and drink, and it was a very nice atmosphere.
There was a very nice group of local young foreigners like myself and young Japanese girls around the same age hanging out together. They were planning a BBQ for Sunday, but the weather was supposed to be bad, so they didn"t know what to do. Someone mentioned that they usually hold parties in Erin's apartment (now mine) but they didn't want to inconvenience me. I said, "why not?" and that's just what happened! Two Japanese girls, Aya and Sa-chan, went and got all the stuff and starting preparations right around 2pm, when I came home (Kaji-san had brought me to her monthly tea ceremony class that morning and then to lunch). We had two hot plates and make yakiniku, basically grilled meat, along with some vegetables. There were probably around 10-12 people in all, 50/50 foreigners and Japanese, but it was a great bunch of people. Since I let them use my place, I didn't have to pay for the food, help clean up or anything, and I had tons of leftovers in my fridge. Not bad!
There's a typhoon passing by eastern Japan, hitting some areas harder than others with intense rain and mudslides, but so far my town has just gotten some heavy rain, and even that was less than I expected would come from having a typhoon in the area.
Sorry for the long, sporadic posts so far; I promise I'll do shorter posts more often and with pictures once I finally have internet. Cheers! or, as you say in Japanese, kanpai!
Now, theoretically, going home should be nice, but I really don't know what to do with myself at home for the whole day, so I'm spending a little time at the internet café to start out. I thought about asking them if I could just stay and watch, but I had a feeling they wanted me out of the way. They mean it kindly, because I won't entirely understand what's going on, and none of them really have time to lead me through it. Besides, I'll be going to a bunch of assemblies once school actually starts, so I'll probably get my fill then!
I've got a massage chair in the internet café. The 15 minute massage was nice, but it's rather uncomfortable for actually using the internet!
So last week, I went to Kita-chu every day and spent some time looking up ESL games and activity ideas on the internet, copying potentially useful pages from my bilingual picture dictionary, working on my self-introduction, which will be the cornerstone of my lesson plans for the first month at least. Remember, I rotate between three middle schools and visit all of their English classes, so I have to teach the same thing over again seeral times, but I also get to reuse and perfect my lessons as I go along.
However, I have trouble sitting at my desk and coming up with lesson plans for 8 hours every day, so I also study some Japanese and chat with the teachers. They too seem to have at least some free time; while they're certainly busier than I and know what they're doing far more than I do, they also take very long lunches and spend a lot of time looking busy, I suspect. Having to go to school for the entire summer still seems a little excessive to me, but I'm also glad to get to know the teachers a bit before classes start. I've gotten particularly friendly with some of my fellow English teachers; Suzuki-sensei at Kita-chu is a notable example. She took me out to lunch a few times, and she really uses her English as much as she can. On Friday we both stayed a littler later than the other teachers, exchanged contact information, and showed each other pictures of our boyfriends ^_^
This past weekend I was refreshingly busy. After learning that I was rather homesick at first, my new Japanese teacher, Kaji-san, has taken me under her wing. She took me to lunch with another of her students, Olivia, on Saturday, and then met up with me later on in the day to take me over to the wedding reception we both attended. A former ALT (Assistant Language Teacher: my job) Dennis, married a Shikokuchuo native, Yukiko, earlier in the day, and despite having just met me the week before, they were kind enough to invite me to the reception as well. It was in a small concert room turned beer hall, which is apparently a very popular thing to do in Japan during the summer. As could only happen in Japan, it opened promptly at 5 and closed at 9pm, and they really kicked us out by 9:15. However, they had good food and drink, and it was a very nice atmosphere.
There was a very nice group of local young foreigners like myself and young Japanese girls around the same age hanging out together. They were planning a BBQ for Sunday, but the weather was supposed to be bad, so they didn"t know what to do. Someone mentioned that they usually hold parties in Erin's apartment (now mine) but they didn't want to inconvenience me. I said, "why not?" and that's just what happened! Two Japanese girls, Aya and Sa-chan, went and got all the stuff and starting preparations right around 2pm, when I came home (Kaji-san had brought me to her monthly tea ceremony class that morning and then to lunch). We had two hot plates and make yakiniku, basically grilled meat, along with some vegetables. There were probably around 10-12 people in all, 50/50 foreigners and Japanese, but it was a great bunch of people. Since I let them use my place, I didn't have to pay for the food, help clean up or anything, and I had tons of leftovers in my fridge. Not bad!
There's a typhoon passing by eastern Japan, hitting some areas harder than others with intense rain and mudslides, but so far my town has just gotten some heavy rain, and even that was less than I expected would come from having a typhoon in the area.
Sorry for the long, sporadic posts so far; I promise I'll do shorter posts more often and with pictures once I finally have internet. Cheers! or, as you say in Japanese, kanpai!
Monday, August 3, 2009
I'm at Kita-chu (Kawanoe Kita Chugakkou, Kawanoe North Junior High School, if you wanted to know!) doing much the same sort of getting to know my fellow teachers, making and assembling materials for class, and pretending to do work. The teachers are really nice here; I spent part of the morning chatting with two math teachers who are the same age as I am.
Over the weekend I relaxed a little, went shopping (yes, I drove to the department store!) and went to the Kami Matsuri, or Paper Festival, in town. Paper is Shikokuchuo's main product, and apparently the paper companies here produce the vast majority the Japan's everyday paper. For the matsuri, a bunch of different companies and a few of the elementary schools formed troupes and performed simple dances, odori. It was very cute! I resisted getting roped into dancing, but Nate, the new Coordinator of International Relations (CIR) was not so fortunate. Nate and I went out to dinner with Masumi-sensei, an English teacher at one of my schools, to an okonomiyaki (Osakan pancakes) restaurant.
Yesterday I was at Minami-chu (the Southern Middle School, where I was on Friday) and upon arrival I was informed that all students were coming to school to attend a special lecture, and that I should prepare to introduce myself within an hour on stage in front of the entire school before the lecture. Needless to say, I was a bit thrown, but I practiced and got up there and said:
"Good Morning. My name is Emily Simpson. I am from the state of New Jersey in America. New Jersey is famous for nice beaches, blueberries, and tomatoes. My hobbies are reading, watching movies, and playing badminton. (Knitting's not that cool to middle schoolers, I've heard.) I look forward to learning English and making great memories together. Nice to meet you!"
I said much the same thing in Japanese, and then I promptly left the stage and sat down with relief to listen to a police woman lecture the class on the dangers of internet crime.
Last night I went with Erin, my predecessor, and Daniella, the previous CIR, to the house of our Japanese teacher, Kaji-san. She and her daughter prepared a wonderful meal and her adorable grandsons climbed all over us. It was a great night and I'm looking forward to my first real lesson with Kaji-san today after work.
Love to all of you out there! I'll admit I'm still quite lonely, so please feel free to email or write to me if you get a chance; I assure you that it'll be much appreciated and reciprocated as soon as possible.
Over the weekend I relaxed a little, went shopping (yes, I drove to the department store!) and went to the Kami Matsuri, or Paper Festival, in town. Paper is Shikokuchuo's main product, and apparently the paper companies here produce the vast majority the Japan's everyday paper. For the matsuri, a bunch of different companies and a few of the elementary schools formed troupes and performed simple dances, odori. It was very cute! I resisted getting roped into dancing, but Nate, the new Coordinator of International Relations (CIR) was not so fortunate. Nate and I went out to dinner with Masumi-sensei, an English teacher at one of my schools, to an okonomiyaki (Osakan pancakes) restaurant.
Yesterday I was at Minami-chu (the Southern Middle School, where I was on Friday) and upon arrival I was informed that all students were coming to school to attend a special lecture, and that I should prepare to introduce myself within an hour on stage in front of the entire school before the lecture. Needless to say, I was a bit thrown, but I practiced and got up there and said:
"Good Morning. My name is Emily Simpson. I am from the state of New Jersey in America. New Jersey is famous for nice beaches, blueberries, and tomatoes. My hobbies are reading, watching movies, and playing badminton. (Knitting's not that cool to middle schoolers, I've heard.) I look forward to learning English and making great memories together. Nice to meet you!"
I said much the same thing in Japanese, and then I promptly left the stage and sat down with relief to listen to a police woman lecture the class on the dangers of internet crime.
Last night I went with Erin, my predecessor, and Daniella, the previous CIR, to the house of our Japanese teacher, Kaji-san. She and her daughter prepared a wonderful meal and her adorable grandsons climbed all over us. It was a great night and I'm looking forward to my first real lesson with Kaji-san today after work.
Love to all of you out there! I'll admit I'm still quite lonely, so please feel free to email or write to me if you get a chance; I assure you that it'll be much appreciated and reciprocated as soon as possible.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Settling In
I'm currently at work at the Minami Middle School, where there's not too much to do and where there are a few computers with internet, which I won't have in my apartment for another few weeks. It's unfortunate that both internet and a cell phone can't be gotten without an alien registration card (the gaijin card) showing residence, because I think one needs it most when settling in! But then I guess it's good to force oneself to get used to things, and then be really happy when such things as regular internet access and using a cell phone return. However, I talked to Mutz last night, and it was so wonderful!
After two days of long and repetitive orientation sessions, those of us going to Ehime prefecture in Shikoku left for the Haneda airport and took the 1 hour flight to Matsuyama. As we drew close to Matsuyama, we saw many of the small islands of the Seto Inland Sea. It:s amazing because all of these islands are mountainous, and by this I meant that there are small beaches, and then mountains. Whatever relatively flat land there is seems densely populated, with only a few roads or houses in the mountains themselves. The whole of Shikoku seems to be the same way: beaches, small towns or cities, and mostly mountains.
At Matsuyama Airport I was sad to say goodbye to my fellow JETs in Ehime, but we will see each other again soon. I was met at the airport by Erin, my predecessor, Mori-san (Ms. Mori), my supervisor, and Manabe-san (Mr. Manabe), another employee of the Board of Education. We ate lunch, drove to Shikokuchuo City, filed for my gaijin card, changed my yen traveler's checks into yen, tried and failed to get a cell phone (need the gaijin card), and then they dropped me off at my apartment for two hours before my welcome party. I used the time to unpack and not so much to rest, which was perhaps a mistake, as I was completely exhausted and largely incoherent at the welcome party. But I'm wary of taking any naps, as I still need to get adjusted to the time difference.
Yesterday Mori-san and Erin took me around to the 3 middle schools I'll rotate between. I was very quickly overwhelmed, but the schools and everyone in them seem really nice. There are still many students participating in clubs at school, so they said "harro!" and "goodo morningu!" to me. Then Erin took me to sign over the car in my name and register for insurance, and I drove home! It's actually not too bad, driving on the other side of the road. It was the first time I really felt in control, so it was good for my nerves, too. I still don't know many of the roads around here, but I'll learn.
Erin also took me to her Japanese lesson and to meet one of her Japanese friends, so she's really been so nice and helpful. I like her so much! But I'm glad to be building a support network with her help. Settling in will take a while, I'm sure, but so far so good!
Love and hugs to everyone at home.
After two days of long and repetitive orientation sessions, those of us going to Ehime prefecture in Shikoku left for the Haneda airport and took the 1 hour flight to Matsuyama. As we drew close to Matsuyama, we saw many of the small islands of the Seto Inland Sea. It:s amazing because all of these islands are mountainous, and by this I meant that there are small beaches, and then mountains. Whatever relatively flat land there is seems densely populated, with only a few roads or houses in the mountains themselves. The whole of Shikoku seems to be the same way: beaches, small towns or cities, and mostly mountains.
At Matsuyama Airport I was sad to say goodbye to my fellow JETs in Ehime, but we will see each other again soon. I was met at the airport by Erin, my predecessor, Mori-san (Ms. Mori), my supervisor, and Manabe-san (Mr. Manabe), another employee of the Board of Education. We ate lunch, drove to Shikokuchuo City, filed for my gaijin card, changed my yen traveler's checks into yen, tried and failed to get a cell phone (need the gaijin card), and then they dropped me off at my apartment for two hours before my welcome party. I used the time to unpack and not so much to rest, which was perhaps a mistake, as I was completely exhausted and largely incoherent at the welcome party. But I'm wary of taking any naps, as I still need to get adjusted to the time difference.
Yesterday Mori-san and Erin took me around to the 3 middle schools I'll rotate between. I was very quickly overwhelmed, but the schools and everyone in them seem really nice. There are still many students participating in clubs at school, so they said "harro!" and "goodo morningu!" to me. Then Erin took me to sign over the car in my name and register for insurance, and I drove home! It's actually not too bad, driving on the other side of the road. It was the first time I really felt in control, so it was good for my nerves, too. I still don't know many of the roads around here, but I'll learn.
Erin also took me to her Japanese lesson and to meet one of her Japanese friends, so she's really been so nice and helpful. I like her so much! But I'm glad to be building a support network with her help. Settling in will take a while, I'm sure, but so far so good!
Love and hugs to everyone at home.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Arrival
I am now officially in Japan! I arrived several hours ago after an unexpectedly pleasant flight; all incoming JET Program participants on the flight were seated together, so we chatted and got to know each other before, during and after the flight. I was hoping to post a picture of my flight buddies, Loren and Miki, but it'll have to wait. Even so, it was nice to talk to many people who are in exactly the same situation as I am!
We had some very tearful goodbyes as the airport, which was to be expected, but nothing really prepares you for that final wrenching yourself away from those you hold most dear. I was really glad that Dad, Mutz, Nathan and I were able to spend a good amount of time chatting at the Starbucks before I had to leave, but it didn't make the parting any easier! However, I will certainly admit that I am glad to have the goodbyes over with and the joy of meeting new people ahead.
The Keio Plaza hotel is in the Shinjuku section of Tokyo, which is very much like Times Square in many ways, but it is unmistakably Japanese in both signage and nature. My first meal here was spaghetti with a sauce of fish roe (tarako) and sea urchin (uni), which was absolutely delicious. Japanese-style Italian food is a fun cuisine to try.
I have orientation for the next two days, for which I am not particularly excited. It promises to be tedious in light of the many items on the agenda and uncomfortable in light of the fact that one must wear a suit, but it'll be a great place to meet more JETs, especially those who will be in the same area of Japan.
Off to sleep!
We had some very tearful goodbyes as the airport, which was to be expected, but nothing really prepares you for that final wrenching yourself away from those you hold most dear. I was really glad that Dad, Mutz, Nathan and I were able to spend a good amount of time chatting at the Starbucks before I had to leave, but it didn't make the parting any easier! However, I will certainly admit that I am glad to have the goodbyes over with and the joy of meeting new people ahead.
The Keio Plaza hotel is in the Shinjuku section of Tokyo, which is very much like Times Square in many ways, but it is unmistakably Japanese in both signage and nature. My first meal here was spaghetti with a sauce of fish roe (tarako) and sea urchin (uni), which was absolutely delicious. Japanese-style Italian food is a fun cuisine to try.
I have orientation for the next two days, for which I am not particularly excited. It promises to be tedious in light of the many items on the agenda and uncomfortable in light of the fact that one must wear a suit, but it'll be a great place to meet more JETs, especially those who will be in the same area of Japan.
Off to sleep!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Address and other Mailing Information
I imagine most people who want to contact me will avail themselves of the immediacy and ease of electronic conversation, and small blame! Email is so convenient, and while I won't have internet in my apartment for the first month or so, I will have fairly frequent access to the web in one way or another. While I intend to write scores of emails and update this blog quite often, there's still nothing like getting real mail. So, in the hopes of receiving some letters, and so that those who also favor pen and ink can find my address at need, I am posting my address below:
206 Shiei Suzumigawa Jutaku
Kanagawa 180-7, Kanada
Shikokuchuo City
799-0123
Sorry it's so long! For those who want to see the Japanese, please look below:
206 Shiei Suzumigawa Jutaku
Kanagawa 180-7, Kanada
Shikokuchuo City
799-0123
Sorry it's so long! For those who want to see the Japanese, please look below:
テ７９９－０１２３
愛媛県四国中央市金田町金川１８０番７
涼川住宅２０６号
I'm sure the local postmasters will be appreciative if you choose to write the address in Japanese, but the US Postal Service requires all mail items to have the address written in English (well, in roman characters), so make sure you write in both languages! For those of you who don't write Japanese, the English address will work just fine.
A few notes about mailing packages or boxes:
1. Japan is extremely hot and humid in the summer. Please don't send perishable items or anything that will melt. Luckily, there's plenty of chocolate in Japan :-)
2. International shipping costs are very high, so please don't send heavy items. Even if you are more than happy to pay for it or can ship it from work, I may have trouble carrying it or bringing it home. Please use your discretion well!
3. Japan has extremely strict laws against marijuana. I highly doubt anyone is planning to send me any, but just to be safe, DO NOT SEND any loose tea or herbs or anything remotely resembling marijuana or any other drug. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have heard horror stories about people being in jail for years because someone back home decided to send them some pot for fun. There's plenty of perfectly legal fun in Japan, and I don't need exotic herbs that badly!
If you have any questions about mailing stuff, please feel free to ask me!
In other news, I depart for Tokyo on Saturday. I'm rather nervous and a little flustered with all the stuff I still have to do, but I'm attacking my list with gusto. Well, perhaps not gusto, but determination. Until then, I will still be answering my phone for the vast majority of the times it rings. Feel free to call and say hi!
I'm sure the local postmasters will be appreciative if you choose to write the address in Japanese, but the US Postal Service requires all mail items to have the address written in English (well, in roman characters), so make sure you write in both languages! For those of you who don't write Japanese, the English address will work just fine.
A few notes about mailing packages or boxes:
1. Japan is extremely hot and humid in the summer. Please don't send perishable items or anything that will melt. Luckily, there's plenty of chocolate in Japan :-)
2. International shipping costs are very high, so please don't send heavy items. Even if you are more than happy to pay for it or can ship it from work, I may have trouble carrying it or bringing it home. Please use your discretion well!
3. Japan has extremely strict laws against marijuana. I highly doubt anyone is planning to send me any, but just to be safe, DO NOT SEND any loose tea or herbs or anything remotely resembling marijuana or any other drug. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have heard horror stories about people being in jail for years because someone back home decided to send them some pot for fun. There's plenty of perfectly legal fun in Japan, and I don't need exotic herbs that badly!
If you have any questions about mailing stuff, please feel free to ask me!
In other news, I depart for Tokyo on Saturday. I'm rather nervous and a little flustered with all the stuff I still have to do, but I'm attacking my list with gusto. Well, perhaps not gusto, but determination. Until then, I will still be answering my phone for the vast majority of the times it rings. Feel free to call and say hi!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Beginning
So, I've started this blog because I'm going to Shikokuchuo, Japan in late July to teach English for a year. Though I have never been a part of the blogging business before, I think it's probably the best way to share my experience with my wonderful support group back home and with anyone else who may be interested in this sort of thing.
I'm a little less than a month away from leaving and, in typical Emm-fashion, I'm a glorious mix of very excited and somewhat nervous and worried. I expect the sensation to last for the next two months, so I'm getting used to it :-)
I probably won't post much until I'm there, but if you're interested in learning more in the meantime, here are a few links:
Google Map of Japan, highlighting Shikokuchuo
Shikokuchuo City's Homepage
Wikitravel's Shikoku page
I'm a little less than a month away from leaving and, in typical Emm-fashion, I'm a glorious mix of very excited and somewhat nervous and worried. I expect the sensation to last for the next two months, so I'm getting used to it :-)
I probably won't post much until I'm there, but if you're interested in learning more in the meantime, here are a few links:
Google Map of Japan, highlighting Shikokuchuo
Shikokuchuo City's Homepage
Wikitravel's Shikoku page
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