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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.