I have leave the school where I am typing this within about five minutes, so this will be another relative quicky.
Today was my first day (had a lot of those lately...) at Kanaya Shogakko(elementary school). Unlike my first day at Hounai, which consisted of a speech and then eating good food, today was a total baptism by fire. First, the customary welcome ceremony and speech, then a short break before it was off to the first graders. They were very receptive to my lesson plan (smashing pictures I had laminated with piko-piko hammers when I called out the appropriate English word), and were literally hanging off of my shirt and belt loop on the way out of the room. Very fun, and very exhausting.
Next was the third grade- a little more subdued than the first grade (a very little), and the vocabulary was only a little bit more challenging. During lunch I ate in a second grade classroom- they were fun, but I'm not allowed to speak Japanese to them (what little I know), so communication was limited to face-making.
During lunch recess I discovered a new game- the Japanese variation on tag (Oni- the person who is "it" is the Oni- a demon/ogre). It's pretty much like regular tag, except that as the honored guest I am always the Oni, or if I'm not, I'm the sole target of the Oni. I started out trying to wear the kids out by doing acrobatics off of the playground equipment, but eventually they just wore me out and I got chased down easily each time a new Oni took the field. By the time I reached the school at the bell, exhausted and dripping with sweat (in a black button-up shirt and tie), one of my coworkers admonished "shinii nai yo!" (don't die!) as she prepared me a cup of ice water.
After recess were the 5th graders- they still like the hammer game, but not for 50 minutes, so I had to do some impromptu aisatsu (greetings) lessons. Next time I will come better prepared for the older ones...
On a finishing note, tonight I'm going to the Shiibata fighting festival- like a normal matsuri only with bare-knuckle combat when the music stops. No idea about the origins or anything, but you can bet I'm going (in the capacity of an observer) and taking lots of pictures.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Chugakko time
Today marked the beginning of my career as a Japanese middle school teacher. The middle school atmosphere is much more formal than the elementary school was, and the students are less (outwardly) friendly. After waffling my way along for a few classes, I'm starting to get a feel for things, and I think I will actually really enjoy working here once my new job anxiety and I-don't-know-what-the-heck-i'm-doing-ness wear off. Regrettably, today is Wednesday so there are no after-school clubs (something I very much wanted to do), so that will have to wait until tomorrow. I did get to play the Japanese variation of kickball during lunch recess, which was fun (although I still can't kick a ball to save my life...or save face with Japanese teenagers even), and I came back to the warm warm teacher's room still drenched in sweat, decked out in the long sleeves and tie that I had worn all day.
I'm exhausted right now, and need to look over some technical things. More posts to follow.
*pant
*pant
*pant
I'm exhausted right now, and need to look over some technical things. More posts to follow.
*pant
*pant
*pant
Monday, August 25, 2008
多く物 (Many things)
What has it been, six days? Time flies when you're really busy and don't have access to an internet connection. A number of different things have happened in the last couple days, so it's time for a series of blurbs:
Blurb the First:
Murakami adult language class party (Saturday)
If there were a hyphen in the above phrase, it would be between "language and class," not "adult and language." Just so we're all on the same page.
Katrina and some friendly Murakamijin picked me up at the Murakami train station and drove me up to the expansive but sparsely populated municipality of Asahi. Here, we were introduced to a friendly table full of English-learning Nihonjin and yet another table full of food (some JETs manage to gain weight in Japan in spite of the relatively healthy diet here, this being due to the unceasing string of party invitations from various locals). The food didn't present many new challenges- raw meat roasted on grills on the table, vegetables (pickled and in ratatouille, believe it or not). The only surprise came after I had enjoyed half a cup of unusual but not disagreeable tasting Nihonshu (sake- we say sake, they say Nihonshu- the kanji for it basically read "Japan booze"): when I was confronted with the pot in which the Nihonshu was heated- I made I contact with the fish cadavers still suspended inside. A little weird, but not bad tasting, and less scary than some things I've already voluntarily eaten.
Here's a pic for posterity:

Blurb the Second: Sado and Kodo (Sunday to Monday)
I did not initially realize that getting down to Sado meant an hour train ride, a fifteen minute bus ride, a 2.5 hour ferry ride, and a 70 minute bus ride, or else I might have left earlier to actually spend more time on the Island. It was still worth it, however, the ferry alone was an interesting experience.
Unfortunately, the Ferry is all I really got an pictures of, because by the time I arrived at the earth celebration, I was travel-weary and just wanted to look around without documenting it. Also, it was dark, and I was dancing for a good portion of the concert anyhow.
The ferry, however, was cool enough to warrant snapping some pics. It's basically a lot of empty, carpeted floor space inside a huge boat, and people tend to stretch out, eat, relax, sleep, or head out on deck to enjoy the view. As to the latter, here are some photographs taken from the deck of the ferry-



Here are some photos of the JETs I was traveling with (these were taken on the return trip, but they were at the concert as well)- Daphne (from Singapore), and Mia and Laura (Americajin, although I couldn't tell you exactly where).



The concert itself was specfrickintacular, sorry again about no photos- although I doubt very much I could have done it justice anyhow without a tripod and a cable release (and without dancing to the mad mad rhythms). Kodo is a Japanese taiko, or traditional drumming, group. They started out with a number on a huge drum that could have comfortably fit 4 grown adults (if they were standing), played from two sides by men in loin cloths. The sound wasn't so much something you heard (although you did that too)- it was more like every time the drum was struck, an aircraft flying 20 feet overhead broke the sound barrier. This was followed by some traditional Japanese taiko fare, and then a joint performance with a Brazilian group decked out in intense dreds and Rasta gear. The collaborative bits were both intense and funky- music to move to. Then there was some traditional dancing to the tune of a shakuhachi, followed by an extended finale complete with waving banners.
Overall, tres cool, but also quite expensive and involving a great deal of travel. If I go again next year, it will be earlier in the weekend so that I can check out Sado a bit more prior to the actual show.
Blurb the Third:
Starting work!
Ah, teaching, right. The actual reason I'm here. It's been easy to forget during all the madness of the preceding month, but I am typing this post from my new desk at Hounai Shoggako (Hounai Elementary School- grades 1-6). This morning was the opening ceremony assembly, at which I was asked to give a short introduction in Japanese and in English. The Japanese introduction went alright, although my nerves caused me to forget some of my lines, and the English one went predictably well, although I was probably the only person in the auditorium who understood it in its entirety (better than my Japanese one, which I doubt anyone understood in its entirety). I was very nervous as I got ready this morning, especially about working with children for the first time. However, generally speaking, my encounters with my future students have been energizing rather than enervating, and I feel like I will be able to settle in and even enjoy my work once I get around the technical hurdle of learning to plan lessons and manage a classroom. "Hello" is about as far as most of the kids go with English, although I caught a couple good mornings scattered in there as well- I've got my work cut out for me.
Tomorrow is my first day at the Arakawa Chugakko (Arakawa Junior High School), where I will be introducing myself in English only, and maybe even visiting classes and playing games already. I'm intimidated, but Hounai has turned out well enough that I'm hoping I can replicate my experience here at the other schools. Fingers crossed.
Blurb the First:
Murakami adult language class party (Saturday)
If there were a hyphen in the above phrase, it would be between "language and class," not "adult and language." Just so we're all on the same page.
Katrina and some friendly Murakamijin picked me up at the Murakami train station and drove me up to the expansive but sparsely populated municipality of Asahi. Here, we were introduced to a friendly table full of English-learning Nihonjin and yet another table full of food (some JETs manage to gain weight in Japan in spite of the relatively healthy diet here, this being due to the unceasing string of party invitations from various locals). The food didn't present many new challenges- raw meat roasted on grills on the table, vegetables (pickled and in ratatouille, believe it or not). The only surprise came after I had enjoyed half a cup of unusual but not disagreeable tasting Nihonshu (sake- we say sake, they say Nihonshu- the kanji for it basically read "Japan booze"): when I was confronted with the pot in which the Nihonshu was heated- I made I contact with the fish cadavers still suspended inside. A little weird, but not bad tasting, and less scary than some things I've already voluntarily eaten.
Here's a pic for posterity:
Blurb the Second: Sado and Kodo (Sunday to Monday)
I did not initially realize that getting down to Sado meant an hour train ride, a fifteen minute bus ride, a 2.5 hour ferry ride, and a 70 minute bus ride, or else I might have left earlier to actually spend more time on the Island. It was still worth it, however, the ferry alone was an interesting experience.
Unfortunately, the Ferry is all I really got an pictures of, because by the time I arrived at the earth celebration, I was travel-weary and just wanted to look around without documenting it. Also, it was dark, and I was dancing for a good portion of the concert anyhow.
The ferry, however, was cool enough to warrant snapping some pics. It's basically a lot of empty, carpeted floor space inside a huge boat, and people tend to stretch out, eat, relax, sleep, or head out on deck to enjoy the view. As to the latter, here are some photographs taken from the deck of the ferry-
Here are some photos of the JETs I was traveling with (these were taken on the return trip, but they were at the concert as well)- Daphne (from Singapore), and Mia and Laura (Americajin, although I couldn't tell you exactly where).
The concert itself was specfrickintacular, sorry again about no photos- although I doubt very much I could have done it justice anyhow without a tripod and a cable release (and without dancing to the mad mad rhythms). Kodo is a Japanese taiko, or traditional drumming, group. They started out with a number on a huge drum that could have comfortably fit 4 grown adults (if they were standing), played from two sides by men in loin cloths. The sound wasn't so much something you heard (although you did that too)- it was more like every time the drum was struck, an aircraft flying 20 feet overhead broke the sound barrier. This was followed by some traditional Japanese taiko fare, and then a joint performance with a Brazilian group decked out in intense dreds and Rasta gear. The collaborative bits were both intense and funky- music to move to. Then there was some traditional dancing to the tune of a shakuhachi, followed by an extended finale complete with waving banners.
Overall, tres cool, but also quite expensive and involving a great deal of travel. If I go again next year, it will be earlier in the weekend so that I can check out Sado a bit more prior to the actual show.
Blurb the Third:
Starting work!
Ah, teaching, right. The actual reason I'm here. It's been easy to forget during all the madness of the preceding month, but I am typing this post from my new desk at Hounai Shoggako (Hounai Elementary School- grades 1-6). This morning was the opening ceremony assembly, at which I was asked to give a short introduction in Japanese and in English. The Japanese introduction went alright, although my nerves caused me to forget some of my lines, and the English one went predictably well, although I was probably the only person in the auditorium who understood it in its entirety (better than my Japanese one, which I doubt anyone understood in its entirety). I was very nervous as I got ready this morning, especially about working with children for the first time. However, generally speaking, my encounters with my future students have been energizing rather than enervating, and I feel like I will be able to settle in and even enjoy my work once I get around the technical hurdle of learning to plan lessons and manage a classroom. "Hello" is about as far as most of the kids go with English, although I caught a couple good mornings scattered in there as well- I've got my work cut out for me.
Tomorrow is my first day at the Arakawa Chugakko (Arakawa Junior High School), where I will be introducing myself in English only, and maybe even visiting classes and playing games already. I'm intimidated, but Hounai has turned out well enough that I'm hoping I can replicate my experience here at the other schools. Fingers crossed.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Kiyoubi (Friday!)
Today I need to wrap up working on the lesson plans for my self-introduction next week (or else have homework over the weekend). I did most of the "hard work" yesterday in terms of making illustrations and speech writing, but now I need to figure out how to arrange all the stuff I've put together into games that the kids can play after I've introduced myself. I'm not quite sure how to do this- I just don't know how long kids stay happy with an activity. I'll follow some formats that other JETs have said work decently, and with any luck it will pan out.
I did have a lot of fun doing the illustrations, however, so I've decided to post a few. I listed banjo and learning Japanese as two of my hobbies- with any luck I'll be able to incorporate these into a bingo game somehow.


I also had a cross-cultural drinking experience last night. Non-alcoholic. Actually, with the exception of a few etiquette points, drinking alcohol in Japan is pretty much the same as drinking it anywhere else. No, I'm talking about a "milk drink" I tried: I was too late to the grocery store to pick up milk for today's breakfast, so I decided to try my luck with the still-open drug store. They didn't have any refrigerated milk, but they did have something on the shelf that was in a white carton, and definitely had the kanji for "milk" in the label. In English, it was also touted as a "milk beverage" that was "A Refreshing Gift From Nature." How bad could it be? I rode back from the drugstore in the rain, poncho flapping, and popped open the carton in my apartment. The liquid inside was viscous, bone-white, and tasted like a combination of sweetened condensed milk and lemon cough syrup. It's sitting in my fridge now, and I haven't the foggiest what to do with it (I couldn't even make it through half a mug of the stuff- but I don't want to throw it away just yet because it cost me almost U.S.$3.00).
Finally, as ever, I shan't have internet over the weekend, and I'm taking nenkyu (payed vacation) on Monday, so This is it until Tuesday or so. This weekend I'm going to a dinner with some English students in Murakami city proper, as well as to see the taiko group Kodo perform down on Sado Island (hence the nenkyu). I'll try to bring back some good photos of Sado and Kodo for all of you- it's supposed to be a pretty spectacular performance.
Until Tuesday, ciao!
I did have a lot of fun doing the illustrations, however, so I've decided to post a few. I listed banjo and learning Japanese as two of my hobbies- with any luck I'll be able to incorporate these into a bingo game somehow.


I also had a cross-cultural drinking experience last night. Non-alcoholic. Actually, with the exception of a few etiquette points, drinking alcohol in Japan is pretty much the same as drinking it anywhere else. No, I'm talking about a "milk drink" I tried: I was too late to the grocery store to pick up milk for today's breakfast, so I decided to try my luck with the still-open drug store. They didn't have any refrigerated milk, but they did have something on the shelf that was in a white carton, and definitely had the kanji for "milk" in the label. In English, it was also touted as a "milk beverage" that was "A Refreshing Gift From Nature." How bad could it be? I rode back from the drugstore in the rain, poncho flapping, and popped open the carton in my apartment. The liquid inside was viscous, bone-white, and tasted like a combination of sweetened condensed milk and lemon cough syrup. It's sitting in my fridge now, and I haven't the foggiest what to do with it (I couldn't even make it through half a mug of the stuff- but I don't want to throw it away just yet because it cost me almost U.S.$3.00).
Finally, as ever, I shan't have internet over the weekend, and I'm taking nenkyu (payed vacation) on Monday, so This is it until Tuesday or so. This weekend I'm going to a dinner with some English students in Murakami city proper, as well as to see the taiko group Kodo perform down on Sado Island (hence the nenkyu). I'll try to bring back some good photos of Sado and Kodo for all of you- it's supposed to be a pretty spectacular performance.
Until Tuesday, ciao!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Thoughts on a rainy Thursday Morning
I'm not sure whether its the result of Jet stream winds, or maybe I just happened to be placed somewhere where the prevailing winds are West to East. In any event, I find it comforting that the weather in Niigata follows the same trends (in terms of direction) that it did in Colorado and Kansas. The only difference is that over the mountains and plains, the storms that form are more precise- limited to whatever blob of convective activity created them. They probably are here, too, come to that, but the storms that form over the ocean seem big and sloppy to me- more ragged around the edges with impressive lightning forming in the clouds long before they reach the anvil-cloud shape of western thunderstorms. The big clouds come rolling in, usually in the morning or evening (another difference), and commit harakiri on the nearby mountains- spilling their watery viscera all over the hills and the rice paddies near my apartment (and often times on my drying laundry).
I met with the Junior High School teachers for the first time at length yesterday- and it was a very comforting experience. They seemed enthusiastic to talk with me about schedule and curriculum, as well as giving me some ideas for self-introduction activities (advice that was much needed). It was also nice to speak with some Japanese people who speak English pretty fluently- it helped to put me at ease- and also to see that the people who will be my co-workers (and in many senses superiors) are pretty much just great. I'm excited, although still very nervous, about working with the students- I'm more worried about classroom dynamics than I am about being motivated to teach English- I think language education will actually be a lot of fun.
In other news, I've started checking out the local sports center (supotsu sentaa: スポーツセンター), and have taken to running a few laps around the 0.2 Kilometer track that runs around the top of the complex. I'm not much of a runner, but it feels good to get out and do something. It also affords me some opportunities to interact with community members I might otherwise not- it's a very busy building even fairly late in the evening, and I've met a lot of interesting people as well as future students in my two initial visits.
Today will be spent putting together lesson plans for my initial Elementary and Middle School visits- now that I have enough information to put some stuff together. I imagine I will post about those visits as they happen next week.
That's all I have just now- I know that this post was a little bit fragmented- but that's what's on my mind. Maybe its the rain.
I met with the Junior High School teachers for the first time at length yesterday- and it was a very comforting experience. They seemed enthusiastic to talk with me about schedule and curriculum, as well as giving me some ideas for self-introduction activities (advice that was much needed). It was also nice to speak with some Japanese people who speak English pretty fluently- it helped to put me at ease- and also to see that the people who will be my co-workers (and in many senses superiors) are pretty much just great. I'm excited, although still very nervous, about working with the students- I'm more worried about classroom dynamics than I am about being motivated to teach English- I think language education will actually be a lot of fun.
In other news, I've started checking out the local sports center (supotsu sentaa: スポーツセンター), and have taken to running a few laps around the 0.2 Kilometer track that runs around the top of the complex. I'm not much of a runner, but it feels good to get out and do something. It also affords me some opportunities to interact with community members I might otherwise not- it's a very busy building even fairly late in the evening, and I've met a lot of interesting people as well as future students in my two initial visits.
Today will be spent putting together lesson plans for my initial Elementary and Middle School visits- now that I have enough information to put some stuff together. I imagine I will post about those visits as they happen next week.
That's all I have just now- I know that this post was a little bit fragmented- but that's what's on my mind. Maybe its the rain.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Murakami-shi: Escapades and (some) Matsuri
Here are the promised pics of the Murakami area. These first few could probably have been snapped anywhere in the region- they give a pretty good idea what Niigata-ken looks like. Mountains and rivers abound, as do community vegetable patches. Also bear in mind that almost any photo that I put on here, you can click to enlarge.



Here are some photos of a park we walked through- I guess some of the other JETs come running here. It's very pretty, and sports a small pond stalked with koi that could take over the town were they only capable of perambulation. The photo of the koi mysteriously turns sideways in Blogger- I'm not sure why (it displays properly in Photoshop and Irfanview), but just try to pretend that it's right-side up.



Here's a shot of me by the river that another JET snapped- looking my photogenic best.

These are my co-JETs who went on the crazy adventure with me: Naomi and Flo, respectively (both very cool). There are two other JETs in the Murakami area aside from us three- those being Geneva and Katrina.


This is the amazing fellow who showed us around town and gave us a bunch of his sweet calligraphy (see the full story 2 posts down). He also owns a store Called "Samurai Spirits."

Here he is as the artful calligrapher, creating a memento, in this case for me. It says "smile."

When we went to his country house, prior to singing "you are my sunshine," we encountered his collection of antique Japanese dolls.

Finally, in his house- we encountered mummified tanuki-san. Presumably the hat helps protect his unnatural, unliving flesh from the hated yellow sun. Or some such thing.

Here at last are some pics of the Matsuri-
It was very difficult to take pics in the dark (I didn't want to use flash for fear of being rude), so you may have to use your imagination some on these. The large, lamp-festooned structures are about 20 feet tall and are hauled down the streets by the local strapping-laddery. On the floats themselves are bamboo stalks, lanterns, scenes from Japanese mythology, and children wearing traditional festival apparel. Each "float" (that's not what their called, but the Japanese term escapes me- I think it escaped right after I was told, actually) also sports a drummer who sets the rhythm and pace of things, and is followed by an entourage of slightly older children (9-15ish) who are playing wooden flutes.
The floats don't follow a straight path- they are pulled violently from side to side, and generally the street clears as they draw near. Occasionally they will stop, and the men who have been carting it along will do a dance under a blanket attached to a lion's head- I think that the violent floats and dance are both intended to ward off demons.




Here are some photos of a park we walked through- I guess some of the other JETs come running here. It's very pretty, and sports a small pond stalked with koi that could take over the town were they only capable of perambulation. The photo of the koi mysteriously turns sideways in Blogger- I'm not sure why (it displays properly in Photoshop and Irfanview), but just try to pretend that it's right-side up.
Here's a shot of me by the river that another JET snapped- looking my photogenic best.
These are my co-JETs who went on the crazy adventure with me: Naomi and Flo, respectively (both very cool). There are two other JETs in the Murakami area aside from us three- those being Geneva and Katrina.
This is the amazing fellow who showed us around town and gave us a bunch of his sweet calligraphy (see the full story 2 posts down). He also owns a store Called "Samurai Spirits."
Here he is as the artful calligrapher, creating a memento, in this case for me. It says "smile."
When we went to his country house, prior to singing "you are my sunshine," we encountered his collection of antique Japanese dolls.
Finally, in his house- we encountered mummified tanuki-san. Presumably the hat helps protect his unnatural, unliving flesh from the hated yellow sun. Or some such thing.
Here at last are some pics of the Matsuri-
It was very difficult to take pics in the dark (I didn't want to use flash for fear of being rude), so you may have to use your imagination some on these. The large, lamp-festooned structures are about 20 feet tall and are hauled down the streets by the local strapping-laddery. On the floats themselves are bamboo stalks, lanterns, scenes from Japanese mythology, and children wearing traditional festival apparel. Each "float" (that's not what their called, but the Japanese term escapes me- I think it escaped right after I was told, actually) also sports a drummer who sets the rhythm and pace of things, and is followed by an entourage of slightly older children (9-15ish) who are playing wooden flutes.
The floats don't follow a straight path- they are pulled violently from side to side, and generally the street clears as they draw near. Occasionally they will stop, and the men who have been carting it along will do a dance under a blanket attached to a lion's head- I think that the violent floats and dance are both intended to ward off demons.
A word about the food...
I thought I would do a quick blurb about some of the food here while I had the images fresh on my camera. Obviously this is just a sliver of my experience in the comestible wonderland that is Japan, but I always find stuff like this interesting when reading about other people's experiences abroad. If you don't, then skip this one and move up to the next post, which will have general Japan and Murakami pics.
This is a typical breakfast for me: coffee (with milk- the quick-brew stuff they sell in the markets here needs a little help), a banana (product of the Philippines!), and a big bowl of rice and natto.
To the uninitiated, natto presents itself like soy beans that were left in a warm container for a week, then sneezed upon several times, and finally garnished with window cleaner to add that characteristic scent. If you can overcome all of these barriers, however, natto winds up tasting not half-bad, and it contains a slew of super-healthy compounds, to say nothing of being high in protein and fiber while containing virtually zero calories. Some mornings I'm not up to it and I eat cereal, but I find that I generally feel better for the rest of the day if I can suck it up and shovel down some natto.

Here's a closer look at the natto... (click to enlarge!)

This is "Boss" brand canned coffee, available in vending machines and convenience stores all over the place- I don't think there's any place in Japan where you're more than 100 yards from a can of Boss coffee. There are several varieties, but it's usually creamy and sweet. I would usually turn my nose up at canned coffee, but I think they put crack in it too. In any event, its swiftly becoming a staple of my diet.

This is my order of a burger and fries at a burger joint in Jusco Plaza, Murakami. Jusco is basically the local mall. I have no idea what "Sante Ole" has to do with anything: if it's a chain, I've yet to see another. The burger came with a special sauce that was double plus awesome.

On an ending note, I love the bottled water here...

Thus endeth the first food post (more to follow eventually). Stay tuned for Murakami and matsuri pics- I'll upload them today as time allows.
This is a typical breakfast for me: coffee (with milk- the quick-brew stuff they sell in the markets here needs a little help), a banana (product of the Philippines!), and a big bowl of rice and natto.
To the uninitiated, natto presents itself like soy beans that were left in a warm container for a week, then sneezed upon several times, and finally garnished with window cleaner to add that characteristic scent. If you can overcome all of these barriers, however, natto winds up tasting not half-bad, and it contains a slew of super-healthy compounds, to say nothing of being high in protein and fiber while containing virtually zero calories. Some mornings I'm not up to it and I eat cereal, but I find that I generally feel better for the rest of the day if I can suck it up and shovel down some natto.
Here's a closer look at the natto... (click to enlarge!)
This is "Boss" brand canned coffee, available in vending machines and convenience stores all over the place- I don't think there's any place in Japan where you're more than 100 yards from a can of Boss coffee. There are several varieties, but it's usually creamy and sweet. I would usually turn my nose up at canned coffee, but I think they put crack in it too. In any event, its swiftly becoming a staple of my diet.
This is my order of a burger and fries at a burger joint in Jusco Plaza, Murakami. Jusco is basically the local mall. I have no idea what "Sante Ole" has to do with anything: if it's a chain, I've yet to see another. The burger came with a special sauce that was double plus awesome.
On an ending note, I love the bottled water here...
Thus endeth the first food post (more to follow eventually). Stay tuned for Murakami and matsuri pics- I'll upload them today as time allows.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Yasumi Verbage
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I left my USB camera-to-computer cable back in my apartment, so here are some words... (sorry! I'll get some photos up tomorrow).
As I mentioned, I took Obon yasumi (Obon vacation) for the last several days. Much of this time was spent guiltily exploring Murakami-shi (guilty because it is A) expensive and B) not the town where I'm working- I feel like I should keep a high profile in Arakawa for international relation's sake). I also went to a barbecue (Nihon-style), a matsuri, and an orientation. I'll write about them in reverse order:
The orientation was the prefectural meeting/shindig for all the new JETs in Niigata. It consisted of more meetings with more information about culture shock, teaching, and the general mechanics of the local bureaucracy. The culture shock information was nothing new, so I think I've pretty much got that information down pat. The teaching seminars were very helpful- lots of presented and written information about how to introduce oneself to the elementary students. I won't go into the bureaucratic machinations of JET and Japan, suffice to say that they are quite extensive. I may need to create a chart for my wall at some point in order to sort it all out.
Following the orientation was a shindig at a bar in Niigata-shi called "Shame" (??...couldn't tell you). It was a great chance to get to know other JETs in the area better and map out future plans- going to the Dark Knight and Ninja Camp (jah- ninja camp- more on this later), for instance. It also afforded an opportunity to sing songs in English at a local karaoke joint, and to awkwardly interact with some Niigata-shi residents:
They: Americajin desu ka?
Me: Hai! Coloradojin.
They: (looking somewhat impressed and somewhat perplexed) Aaaaaaah...Colorado!(?)
Me: Skiingu or suru...hikingu o suru...
They: (with actual comprehension) Aaaaaah! Colorado!
They: (日本語げらげらとべらべら)
Me: eh?
Me: (in English, after a pause) It's nice to meet you.
They: (in English...sort of) It's nice to meet you! (laughter)
-conversation abruptly ends-
Next: the Barbecue
Wada-sensei-another person in the board of education office- invited me to his house for some food and conversation the night after the orientation. I was introduced to several youngish people (young- but I was still the youngest one there, aside from two very young children). I ran the full range of familiar questions (Age? How long in Japan? Interests? Girlfriend? Why no girlfriend?), and ate about a 100kilo of delicious meat and garden vegetables. Mostly delicious- actually- the snails were decent tasting but sandy in texture- once extracted from their shells. My hosts did it easily with a toothpick- I found it nigh impossible even when using two metal skewers.
I also had to explain, to some extent, that I was not interested much in team sports (although it looks like I may need to pick up an interest here)- especially not in American football. In Japan a favorite sport and a hobby are ingrained identity features, more like parts of your name than activities. Hiking, for whatever reason, is considered an elderly people's activity, and skiing isn't really something I could do with the kids. People seem to perk up when I mention martial arts, so maybe Kendo or Judo is the way to go.
Finally- there's Murakami-shi
Murakami-shi is the municipality that Arakawa is now technically a part of, and it lies about 15 minutes north by train (for about U.S.$2.3 per ticket, not too bad). Murakami has all the things that you might expect from a smallish city- a decent array of good restaurants, some interesting local businesses (more on that in a moment), and a modest but well-stocked mall.
Saturday night was punctuated by incessant rain that was either pouring or drizzling depending upon when you looked outside. Murakami is an ancient city with a lot of old-style architecture and classic looking signs- the rain and the streetlights painted the city like something from the pallet of Curaado Mone or maybe Agaasuto Renwa. In the rain, some of the Murakami JETs and myself went to a kaiten sushi joint- a cheapish (at least in our case) sushi-ya wherein sushi slides by on a conveyor belt in front of bar-stool seating. You just snag what you want to eat, and you pay at the end by tallying up the number and color of empty plates in front of you. We sat in front of a particularly gregarious sushi chef, who gave us little vocab lessons throughout the meal and asked us about ourselves. Very cool.
Sunday night was a matsuri whose name escapes me. It is one of the larger festivals celebrated across Japan (not Obon), but for some reason or another Murakami-shi does this one earlier than everyone else. It celebrates something about a man and a woman who only meet once a year (from what I was able to glean), and also serves to drive away daemons (akuma!).
Prior to the festival, however, we decided to go explore the town a bit, and to go get some green tea ice cream. After taking a stroll through the park (very pretty, and very hot), and investigating the pond filled with XXL koi, we went to a local tea shop that doubles as an ice cream parlor.
This tea house is where our afternoon took a turn for the bizarre (and awesome): We were introduced to a man (whose name escapes me now) who is a professional tour guide for Murakami-shi. He showed us around the tea house, which also contained a traditional Japanese tea room and an etiquette school, and then declared that we should come with him to the liquor store that he also owned. Not having anything else planned (the festival wasn't for many hours yet), we piled into his van and took off. We stopped at one of his friend's candy shops first, learned some traditional greetings, and got to sample Japanese jelly candy. Then we went to the liquor store to sample (guesses anyone?). He makes his own sake (or more accurately, Nihonshu- sake is the generic term for alcohol here, whereas Nihonshu is what we Americajin call "sake:" rice- derived alcohol), which was superb. One bottle (the name escapes me) had a sort of musky, subtle rice wine in it, which was very tasty. Another of his home brews was called "samurai," one dash of which was sufficient to blast the imbiber's hair towards the back of the room.
Please bear in mind at this juncture- people in Japan can sometimes seem standoffish by Western standards. It is uncommon to talk at length to someone that you have just met randomly, and it is VERY uncommon to get into a car with them and go somewhere (unless you're at a pick-up bar or something- they do have those here). This guy has no association with the JET program or the school system- he is, in terms of relating to our existing support network, some dude. Given that set of circumstances, the odds of any of this happening are nil. But it did happen, and the story continues:
While we sat and talked and sampled, he made us beautiful souvenir items with his own calligraphy on them (he's quite skilled), and invited us to one of his concerts that he gives at the local onsen later in November (complete with Elvis-style hair). It came to light that he owned a banjo and a saxophone at his nearby country house, and that I played both instruments (to varying degrees), so as evening fell we drove out a couple kilometers to a spectacular traditionally furnished country house where we played and sang "you are my sunshine" on guitar and banjo, among other songs, until it was time to go back to the matsuri.
At the end of all this, my nerves were thoroughly overstimulated (and a little bit crossed- folk music in a Japanese villa is an unusual experience), but there was no stopping: it was matsuri time!
I will leave the matsuri details for a later post so that those of you who have waded this far can use the bathroom or go to bed or whatever. I promise I will reward your diligence with pictures in the next post or so!
As I mentioned, I took Obon yasumi (Obon vacation) for the last several days. Much of this time was spent guiltily exploring Murakami-shi (guilty because it is A) expensive and B) not the town where I'm working- I feel like I should keep a high profile in Arakawa for international relation's sake). I also went to a barbecue (Nihon-style), a matsuri, and an orientation. I'll write about them in reverse order:
The orientation was the prefectural meeting/shindig for all the new JETs in Niigata. It consisted of more meetings with more information about culture shock, teaching, and the general mechanics of the local bureaucracy. The culture shock information was nothing new, so I think I've pretty much got that information down pat. The teaching seminars were very helpful- lots of presented and written information about how to introduce oneself to the elementary students. I won't go into the bureaucratic machinations of JET and Japan, suffice to say that they are quite extensive. I may need to create a chart for my wall at some point in order to sort it all out.
Following the orientation was a shindig at a bar in Niigata-shi called "Shame" (??...couldn't tell you). It was a great chance to get to know other JETs in the area better and map out future plans- going to the Dark Knight and Ninja Camp (jah- ninja camp- more on this later), for instance. It also afforded an opportunity to sing songs in English at a local karaoke joint, and to awkwardly interact with some Niigata-shi residents:
They: Americajin desu ka?
Me: Hai! Coloradojin.
They: (looking somewhat impressed and somewhat perplexed) Aaaaaaah...Colorado!(?)
Me: Skiingu or suru...hikingu o suru...
They: (with actual comprehension) Aaaaaah! Colorado!
They: (日本語げらげらとべらべら)
Me: eh?
Me: (in English, after a pause) It's nice to meet you.
They: (in English...sort of) It's nice to meet you! (laughter)
-conversation abruptly ends-
Next: the Barbecue
Wada-sensei-another person in the board of education office- invited me to his house for some food and conversation the night after the orientation. I was introduced to several youngish people (young- but I was still the youngest one there, aside from two very young children). I ran the full range of familiar questions (Age? How long in Japan? Interests? Girlfriend? Why no girlfriend?), and ate about a 100kilo of delicious meat and garden vegetables. Mostly delicious- actually- the snails were decent tasting but sandy in texture- once extracted from their shells. My hosts did it easily with a toothpick- I found it nigh impossible even when using two metal skewers.
I also had to explain, to some extent, that I was not interested much in team sports (although it looks like I may need to pick up an interest here)- especially not in American football. In Japan a favorite sport and a hobby are ingrained identity features, more like parts of your name than activities. Hiking, for whatever reason, is considered an elderly people's activity, and skiing isn't really something I could do with the kids. People seem to perk up when I mention martial arts, so maybe Kendo or Judo is the way to go.
Finally- there's Murakami-shi
Murakami-shi is the municipality that Arakawa is now technically a part of, and it lies about 15 minutes north by train (for about U.S.$2.3 per ticket, not too bad). Murakami has all the things that you might expect from a smallish city- a decent array of good restaurants, some interesting local businesses (more on that in a moment), and a modest but well-stocked mall.
Saturday night was punctuated by incessant rain that was either pouring or drizzling depending upon when you looked outside. Murakami is an ancient city with a lot of old-style architecture and classic looking signs- the rain and the streetlights painted the city like something from the pallet of Curaado Mone or maybe Agaasuto Renwa. In the rain, some of the Murakami JETs and myself went to a kaiten sushi joint- a cheapish (at least in our case) sushi-ya wherein sushi slides by on a conveyor belt in front of bar-stool seating. You just snag what you want to eat, and you pay at the end by tallying up the number and color of empty plates in front of you. We sat in front of a particularly gregarious sushi chef, who gave us little vocab lessons throughout the meal and asked us about ourselves. Very cool.
Sunday night was a matsuri whose name escapes me. It is one of the larger festivals celebrated across Japan (not Obon), but for some reason or another Murakami-shi does this one earlier than everyone else. It celebrates something about a man and a woman who only meet once a year (from what I was able to glean), and also serves to drive away daemons (akuma!).
Prior to the festival, however, we decided to go explore the town a bit, and to go get some green tea ice cream. After taking a stroll through the park (very pretty, and very hot), and investigating the pond filled with XXL koi, we went to a local tea shop that doubles as an ice cream parlor.
This tea house is where our afternoon took a turn for the bizarre (and awesome): We were introduced to a man (whose name escapes me now) who is a professional tour guide for Murakami-shi. He showed us around the tea house, which also contained a traditional Japanese tea room and an etiquette school, and then declared that we should come with him to the liquor store that he also owned. Not having anything else planned (the festival wasn't for many hours yet), we piled into his van and took off. We stopped at one of his friend's candy shops first, learned some traditional greetings, and got to sample Japanese jelly candy. Then we went to the liquor store to sample (guesses anyone?). He makes his own sake (or more accurately, Nihonshu- sake is the generic term for alcohol here, whereas Nihonshu is what we Americajin call "sake:" rice- derived alcohol), which was superb. One bottle (the name escapes me) had a sort of musky, subtle rice wine in it, which was very tasty. Another of his home brews was called "samurai," one dash of which was sufficient to blast the imbiber's hair towards the back of the room.
Please bear in mind at this juncture- people in Japan can sometimes seem standoffish by Western standards. It is uncommon to talk at length to someone that you have just met randomly, and it is VERY uncommon to get into a car with them and go somewhere (unless you're at a pick-up bar or something- they do have those here). This guy has no association with the JET program or the school system- he is, in terms of relating to our existing support network, some dude. Given that set of circumstances, the odds of any of this happening are nil. But it did happen, and the story continues:
While we sat and talked and sampled, he made us beautiful souvenir items with his own calligraphy on them (he's quite skilled), and invited us to one of his concerts that he gives at the local onsen later in November (complete with Elvis-style hair). It came to light that he owned a banjo and a saxophone at his nearby country house, and that I played both instruments (to varying degrees), so as evening fell we drove out a couple kilometers to a spectacular traditionally furnished country house where we played and sang "you are my sunshine" on guitar and banjo, among other songs, until it was time to go back to the matsuri.
At the end of all this, my nerves were thoroughly overstimulated (and a little bit crossed- folk music in a Japanese villa is an unusual experience), but there was no stopping: it was matsuri time!
I will leave the matsuri details for a later post so that those of you who have waded this far can use the bathroom or go to bed or whatever. I promise I will reward your diligence with pictures in the next post or so!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Summer Vacation! (Radio Silence, Part Deux)
I was informed yesterday that, after the prefectural orientation, I could take the rest of the week off. This is because it is currently Obon (お盆), the Japanese/Buddhist festival of ancestor honoring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obon).
I'll let those of you that want detailed information read the Wikipedia page, since that's where I'm getting most of my information anyhow, but here are the basics:
Obon is a festival to honor one's dead ancestors, wherein, over the course of a about a week or so, all of Japan travels to their various hometowns to clean up their family graves and make offerings. In addition to being an interesting syncretism between Buddhism and ancient Japanese animism (a syncretism that took place so long ago it is probably not recognized as such- much as in the case of Iranian dualism in Christianity), Obon also means that Japan basically shuts down for a week. This is saying something in a country where people like to work hard and aren't (by and large) terribly religious, so I will be watching with interest from the sidelines.
My office coworkers observed that I should probably just take the time to enjoy myself, since I probably couldn't make it to my ancestor's graves (they were joking, of course, which is probably good- I don't even know where said graves are located), and I agreed. The next couple days will be occupied with exploring the Murakami area, reading Ryu Murakami (no relation to the municipality or the other writer), and just generally hanging out. I will be receiving my gaijin card today, so I ought to be able to purchase internet for my apartment soonish. Until that time, however, or unless I make it up to Murakami-shi (the McDonald's there has WiFi...love this country), I won't be updating the blog nor will I be on the interwebs for about five days. With any luck I'll have gotten some pics of the Obon proceedings in that time, or failing that, some new pics in general. Until then, sayonara!
I'll let those of you that want detailed information read the Wikipedia page, since that's where I'm getting most of my information anyhow, but here are the basics:
Obon is a festival to honor one's dead ancestors, wherein, over the course of a about a week or so, all of Japan travels to their various hometowns to clean up their family graves and make offerings. In addition to being an interesting syncretism between Buddhism and ancient Japanese animism (a syncretism that took place so long ago it is probably not recognized as such- much as in the case of Iranian dualism in Christianity), Obon also means that Japan basically shuts down for a week. This is saying something in a country where people like to work hard and aren't (by and large) terribly religious, so I will be watching with interest from the sidelines.
My office coworkers observed that I should probably just take the time to enjoy myself, since I probably couldn't make it to my ancestor's graves (they were joking, of course, which is probably good- I don't even know where said graves are located), and I agreed. The next couple days will be occupied with exploring the Murakami area, reading Ryu Murakami (no relation to the municipality or the other writer), and just generally hanging out. I will be receiving my gaijin card today, so I ought to be able to purchase internet for my apartment soonish. Until that time, however, or unless I make it up to Murakami-shi (the McDonald's there has WiFi...love this country), I won't be updating the blog nor will I be on the interwebs for about five days. With any luck I'll have gotten some pics of the Obon proceedings in that time, or failing that, some new pics in general. Until then, sayonara!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Hikingu o Suru
Saturday I had no plans, so after cleaning the apartment a bit, I decided to go for a hike. There was a trail above the Arakawa sports park I'd heard of, so I decided to go check it out. It was very hot, and also very muggy, but most of the hike was in the shade of the forest. I didn't catch the name of the mountain I climbed (and I forgot to take a pic of the kanji at the bottom), but I will volunteer Akumushiyama (evil insect mountain), as I had an honor guard of pestilential flies most of the way up the mountain. I consoled myself by checking out the mad coolness of the Japanese forest around me, and taking plenty of pictures. Here they are:

The forest at the base of the mountain was mostly tall wet-weather evergreens, which produced a nice kind of conifer arcade effect. Very grand.

I don't know what this furry fellow is saying, but he seemed photo worthy.


Towards the base of the mountain were growing wild mint, as well as a fern known locally as "warabi." The warabi fronds are tender and can be gathered and cooked as "sansai" (mountain vegetables) early in the autumn.

Toxicodendrons are quite common here as well (witness the poison ivy). Another one, the urushi tree, is what is used to produce the famous Japanese lacquer-ware. Apparently urushiol (the chemical that gives you a rash from poison ivy, oak, sumac, et cetera) polymerizes when heated, to produce a very high quality varnish. The prevalence of these plants here is also a good reason to stay on the trail.

Apparently, the Japanese take on switch-backs is that the strong need them not (and the weak can deal with it). That, or they just didn't feel like clearing enough trees to make switch-backs the whole way up the mountain (understandable). At any rate, the trail pretty much runs straight up the mountain, and hiking it is more like climbing stairs (or a ladder) than anything I've done in the Rockies.



Mushrooms! Mushrooms abound in all the moisture here, and I saw dozens of different varieties on the way up. Above are some of the highlights (one of which is being worked on by a slug).

Here's a view at about the 3/4 mark. I'm not sure what town is in my sights here: Arakawa is blocked by the trees to the right of the shot. The distant band of blue is the Sea of Japan. This was also the only overlook on the trail (the trees had been artificially cleared to make it), so look well.

This is looking down the trail from near the summit- just to give another view. The flora actually changed noticeably with altitude, and the bugs seemed to thin out too. The forest toward the top had more of a "haunted woods" effect than the tall trees at the bottom.

Here I am at the top, dripping with sunblock and DEET. The top of the mountain was actually completely overgrown- there was no view to reward my efforts hiking up from the overlook- just a sign in Kanji which (I assume) told me that I had reached the summit. It was an intense ordeal (hot and buggy), but it was worth doing once. I think I'm going to reserve future hiking for the Fall, when the weather is nicer and the bugs fewer.

The forest at the base of the mountain was mostly tall wet-weather evergreens, which produced a nice kind of conifer arcade effect. Very grand.
I don't know what this furry fellow is saying, but he seemed photo worthy.


Towards the base of the mountain were growing wild mint, as well as a fern known locally as "warabi." The warabi fronds are tender and can be gathered and cooked as "sansai" (mountain vegetables) early in the autumn.

Toxicodendrons are quite common here as well (witness the poison ivy). Another one, the urushi tree, is what is used to produce the famous Japanese lacquer-ware. Apparently urushiol (the chemical that gives you a rash from poison ivy, oak, sumac, et cetera) polymerizes when heated, to produce a very high quality varnish. The prevalence of these plants here is also a good reason to stay on the trail.

Apparently, the Japanese take on switch-backs is that the strong need them not (and the weak can deal with it). That, or they just didn't feel like clearing enough trees to make switch-backs the whole way up the mountain (understandable). At any rate, the trail pretty much runs straight up the mountain, and hiking it is more like climbing stairs (or a ladder) than anything I've done in the Rockies.



Mushrooms! Mushrooms abound in all the moisture here, and I saw dozens of different varieties on the way up. Above are some of the highlights (one of which is being worked on by a slug).

Here's a view at about the 3/4 mark. I'm not sure what town is in my sights here: Arakawa is blocked by the trees to the right of the shot. The distant band of blue is the Sea of Japan. This was also the only overlook on the trail (the trees had been artificially cleared to make it), so look well.

This is looking down the trail from near the summit- just to give another view. The flora actually changed noticeably with altitude, and the bugs seemed to thin out too. The forest toward the top had more of a "haunted woods" effect than the tall trees at the bottom.

Here I am at the top, dripping with sunblock and DEET. The top of the mountain was actually completely overgrown- there was no view to reward my efforts hiking up from the overlook- just a sign in Kanji which (I assume) told me that I had reached the summit. It was an intense ordeal (hot and buggy), but it was worth doing once. I think I'm going to reserve future hiking for the Fall, when the weather is nicer and the bugs fewer.
Katakai Adventure
It must be inevitable that every JET have a story like this, so maybe I should be grateful to get mine out of the way early on in my career (or perhaps just make way for more).
On Friday night I was to go meet some JETs in Murakami to go shopping and otherwise hang out. Murakami is not far away- 3 stops on the commuter train, so I purchased my 320 yen ticket and waited on the platform. At 5:35 there was only one train at the platform (that I could see), which seemed to be pointing in the right general direction, so I boarded and grabbed a seat.
As the train took off, I noticed that we were headed straight away from the sunset (Murakami is north of Arakawa), and started to get nervous. It's probably alright, I thought, the train will veer north soon and all will be well. After the first stop, however, it continued due East into the mountains of Honshu, so I decided to ask a passenger whether or not I was on the right train.
Me: Sumimasen, (mangled Japanese) Murakami ka?
Terrified Middle School Student: Hai, Murakami.
I don't know what she thought she heard me say (or indeed what I may have actually said), but at least for a time I thought I was on the right track.
By the time it became very clear that I was not, I had reached a remote mountain hamlet called Katakai, where I disembarked. Katakai had no convenience store worth speaking of, and consisted of a small number of houses and terraced rice patties strewn along the highway to Murakami. The waiting room of the Katakai station sported a bathroom, some posters, a fly the size of a human thumb, and some spiders that could have crushed the fly without a second thought. And mosquitoes. One of the posters also informed me that the next train would be arriving in about 2.5 hours...
I paced around, got some juice from the vending machine, and pretty much settled in. It would have been a bleak 2.5 hours, except that not long after I arrived the Katakai volunteer fire department showed up to have a barbecue under the station. Once I worked up the nerve to go talk to them, they were very friendly and loaded me up with roast corn, yakitori, and a cold Asahi. I told them my story (as well as I could), and they asked me the usual battery of questions (how long have you been here, where are you from, what do you do, do you have a girlfriend?). I also translated some of their English t-shirts for them.
Eventually the train pulled in, I bayed them farewell, and went back to Sakamachi (and to bed). Lessons learned: check the train schedule more carefully, and always bring bug spray everywhere (I was half-eaten alive). ...and learn better Japanese.
On Friday night I was to go meet some JETs in Murakami to go shopping and otherwise hang out. Murakami is not far away- 3 stops on the commuter train, so I purchased my 320 yen ticket and waited on the platform. At 5:35 there was only one train at the platform (that I could see), which seemed to be pointing in the right general direction, so I boarded and grabbed a seat.
As the train took off, I noticed that we were headed straight away from the sunset (Murakami is north of Arakawa), and started to get nervous. It's probably alright, I thought, the train will veer north soon and all will be well. After the first stop, however, it continued due East into the mountains of Honshu, so I decided to ask a passenger whether or not I was on the right train.
Me: Sumimasen, (mangled Japanese) Murakami ka?
Terrified Middle School Student: Hai, Murakami.
I don't know what she thought she heard me say (or indeed what I may have actually said), but at least for a time I thought I was on the right track.
By the time it became very clear that I was not, I had reached a remote mountain hamlet called Katakai, where I disembarked. Katakai had no convenience store worth speaking of, and consisted of a small number of houses and terraced rice patties strewn along the highway to Murakami. The waiting room of the Katakai station sported a bathroom, some posters, a fly the size of a human thumb, and some spiders that could have crushed the fly without a second thought. And mosquitoes. One of the posters also informed me that the next train would be arriving in about 2.5 hours...
I paced around, got some juice from the vending machine, and pretty much settled in. It would have been a bleak 2.5 hours, except that not long after I arrived the Katakai volunteer fire department showed up to have a barbecue under the station. Once I worked up the nerve to go talk to them, they were very friendly and loaded me up with roast corn, yakitori, and a cold Asahi. I told them my story (as well as I could), and they asked me the usual battery of questions (how long have you been here, where are you from, what do you do, do you have a girlfriend?). I also translated some of their English t-shirts for them.
Eventually the train pulled in, I bayed them farewell, and went back to Sakamachi (and to bed). Lessons learned: check the train schedule more carefully, and always bring bug spray everywhere (I was half-eaten alive). ...and learn better Japanese.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
More Supervisor Art...

As long as she keeps bringing it in, I'm going to keep posting it. This is a painting done with water-based pigments, and is of a "shuumeigiku" (秋明菊)- something like "autumn bright chrysanthemum." If you're curious about the specifics, Mum, here's the URL for a pic:
http://www.shirotori-garden.com/dl/shuumeigiku2-b.jpg
Canoeing and Orienteering
My schedule for today consisted of "canoeing" (kayaking, to be technical), and orienteering (jah- you read that correctly- more on word usage in a minute).
The kayaking was fun-ish: I got meet some more of the children I would be working with, and paddle around a brackish river mouth for awhile. It was good exercise, and good fun, but actually not that helpful in terms of getting to know the kids. You can't really carry on a conversation (especially across a language barrier) while paddling aimlessly around in the middle of a river. The best moment was probably actually when I had to get out of kayak to help a bunch of children grounded on a shoal- they appreciated that, and it gave me a chance to interact with them a bit. I also accidentally sent my sunglasses down to Tethys' bosom, so I'll have to pick up a new pair at the 100¥ store.
Lunch and orienteering were much more fun, and actually afforded more opportunities for interaction. During lunch I managed to pique some of the children's curiosity by drawing in the sand with a stick. My intent was just have some fun drawing with them, but they were very excited to show off what English they knew and learn a little bit more, so the whole thing turned into an impromptu English lesson.
Orienteering (or scavenger hunting) is one of those bizarre instances in which Japanese has opted to borrow a fairly cumbersome and low-frequency English word for common use (another example would be metabolic- which is used as an adjective for overweight). I had to check myself when I saw the Katakana on the itinerary: o-ree-ehn-teh-ree-n-gu. What it means here is basically a scavenger hunt with a map (although I imagine it might have the simpler English meaning as well). I was put on a team with two sprite-like girls, with whom I tore around a woodland looking for checkpoints for an hour. Neither of them spoke much English, but pointing excitedly and generally being animated worked almost as well for our purposes. Very fun, dirty, and hot, and by the end I think I had established something like a rapport.
I'm writing this during my last couple minutes at work- encrusted with dirt, sunblock, and salt, so I'm going to wrap it up right here and go take a nice long Japanese bath. Cheers all!
The kayaking was fun-ish: I got meet some more of the children I would be working with, and paddle around a brackish river mouth for awhile. It was good exercise, and good fun, but actually not that helpful in terms of getting to know the kids. You can't really carry on a conversation (especially across a language barrier) while paddling aimlessly around in the middle of a river. The best moment was probably actually when I had to get out of kayak to help a bunch of children grounded on a shoal- they appreciated that, and it gave me a chance to interact with them a bit. I also accidentally sent my sunglasses down to Tethys' bosom, so I'll have to pick up a new pair at the 100¥ store.
Lunch and orienteering were much more fun, and actually afforded more opportunities for interaction. During lunch I managed to pique some of the children's curiosity by drawing in the sand with a stick. My intent was just have some fun drawing with them, but they were very excited to show off what English they knew and learn a little bit more, so the whole thing turned into an impromptu English lesson.
Orienteering (or scavenger hunting) is one of those bizarre instances in which Japanese has opted to borrow a fairly cumbersome and low-frequency English word for common use (another example would be metabolic- which is used as an adjective for overweight). I had to check myself when I saw the Katakana on the itinerary: o-ree-ehn-teh-ree-n-gu. What it means here is basically a scavenger hunt with a map (although I imagine it might have the simpler English meaning as well). I was put on a team with two sprite-like girls, with whom I tore around a woodland looking for checkpoints for an hour. Neither of them spoke much English, but pointing excitedly and generally being animated worked almost as well for our purposes. Very fun, dirty, and hot, and by the end I think I had established something like a rapport.
I'm writing this during my last couple minutes at work- encrusted with dirt, sunblock, and salt, so I'm going to wrap it up right here and go take a nice long Japanese bath. Cheers all!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Chronicle of Quirks
At a loss for anything better to write, here is a list of odd moments I have thus far had in learning about Japan/Japanese:
Today I learned that "hentaigana" means "variant script," not "pervert alphabet."
I had to do some verbal peddling around to explain why kudzu (native here) is an "akushokobutsu" (evil vegetable- my construction due to limited vocab) in the American south to my supervisor.
Everyone listened politely at my welcome party while I mauled their language for about half a minute of self-introduction.
In order to communicate concerns about my canoeing trip tomorrow, my supervisor drew a cartoon of me in swim trunks and shaded in all the areas she thought I might get sun-burned (she colored everything except the swim trunks).
I taught the word "mushroom" to some elementary kids I went hiking with (terribly cute), and one little girl decided to point and call me "mushroom" for the rest of the hike.
The principle at one of the schools where I will be teaching jokingly introduced himself as "Janbosan" (lit. Mr. Jumbo- he is 10cm taller than me if I heard him correctly), but never clarified his real name.
Finally, I loudly interjected "nani desu ka?" (what is that?) in the middle of a siren/moment of remembrance for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Nobody seemed offended, but still...(how indelicate!)
That's all I can think of just now. Stay tuned for news of the canoeing extravaganza tomorrow.
Today I learned that "hentaigana" means "variant script," not "pervert alphabet."
I had to do some verbal peddling around to explain why kudzu (native here) is an "akushokobutsu" (evil vegetable- my construction due to limited vocab) in the American south to my supervisor.
Everyone listened politely at my welcome party while I mauled their language for about half a minute of self-introduction.
In order to communicate concerns about my canoeing trip tomorrow, my supervisor drew a cartoon of me in swim trunks and shaded in all the areas she thought I might get sun-burned (she colored everything except the swim trunks).
I taught the word "mushroom" to some elementary kids I went hiking with (terribly cute), and one little girl decided to point and call me "mushroom" for the rest of the hike.
The principle at one of the schools where I will be teaching jokingly introduced himself as "Janbosan" (lit. Mr. Jumbo- he is 10cm taller than me if I heard him correctly), but never clarified his real name.
Finally, I loudly interjected "nani desu ka?" (what is that?) in the middle of a siren/moment of remembrance for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Nobody seemed offended, but still...(how indelicate!)
That's all I can think of just now. Stay tuned for news of the canoeing extravaganza tomorrow.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Bragging on my supervisor
I have heard no end of horror stories about JETs who have had grief with their supervisors- ranging from being unfriendly to even hitting on the JET. In light of this, I thought I would post a bit about my supervisor, who thus far has turned out to be awesome. Friendly, listens to Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, and is a rather impressive collagist, I've gotten a pretty good deal.
That said, I've uploaded a couple of her works here- they aren't very big (about 8.5X12 in. or so), which is probably because they are made with bits of paper about 1mm across on the large end. Pretty impressive. I've also photoshopped them a bit to fit them to the frame, and I clone stamped out an irritating reflection on one of them. The Photoshopping is to compensate for my bad photography, however, not any lack of skill on her part.

That said, I've uploaded a couple of her works here- they aren't very big (about 8.5X12 in. or so), which is probably because they are made with bits of paper about 1mm across on the large end. Pretty impressive. I've also photoshopped them a bit to fit them to the frame, and I clone stamped out an irritating reflection on one of them. The Photoshopping is to compensate for my bad photography, however, not any lack of skill on her part.


Matsuri pics
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