Track & Field Day

Track & Field Day

Every year the four junior high schools in the area, Honjo, Ine, Hioki and Yoro, battle it out in track and field competition. This year we gathered early in the morning (in the rain) for the 競技会, or kyogikai. It was raining fairly consistently, so there were tarps and tents set up to shelter our bags and bodies. However, the rain collected on the tents and would spill down at random intervals, soaking everything and everyone in its path.
Aside from that, the day was good in that I got out of the office! I also had an opportunity to see Mrs. Aimi, my JTE from last year. She told me that she’s very happy at her new school (Hioki) because the class sizes are tiny (the school population is 15) and she is much closer to home than she was working at Ine JHS. I was really thrilled to see that she’s enjoying her new job and that she’s doing well. This will probably be the last time I see her before leaving.

As always, the relay races were among the more exciting activities of the day. The students work really hard for about a month practicing their sprints and passing the baton to their friends.

In the end (as always), the biggest school took home first prize. Once again Ine JHS will house the trophy. It must seem unfair… the points seemed to correlate directly with the size of the school. Ine taking first place in most everything, followed by Yoro, Honjo and finally Hioko. Seems a bit less exciting when the same school always wins. Nonetheless, everyone really tried their best and we were all thrilled to go home out of the rain.

New School Atmosphere & Hanami

Monkeys Take Over Neighbourhood, Spring Arrives

Monkeys clambered out of the jungle into the fields to eat everything that was starting to turn green.

I reckon I should write a little bit about what I’ve been up to this month (besides losing all the teachers and school comforts I hold so very dear).

After Aimi sensei left Ine JHS, everything felt like it was falling apart. The new teachers were SUPER nice (especially the Japanese teacher, Ms. Tomonaga and the new Principal, Mr. … Principal). I felt excited about working with my new JTE, Mr. Yamagami (fun to say!) However the week started out with us moving desks. And instead of me moving my desk somewhere, I had to give it up altogether. I moved all of my personal belongings that used to sit upon my desk (the little stone that says “stone”, my elephant from a Thai restaurant in Shiga, and a kangaroo keychain from Scott) into a box in the trunk of my car. They told me I could share a desk with the art teacher, whose desk is full of art teacher things. I felt inconsolably sulky about the whole affair. WHO AM I TO BE DENIED A DESK? I AM RACHEL K. ENGLISH TEACHER! But in the end, I don’t really need that much room and the art teacher gave me some drawers to put my things into. So, it’s not the worst fate in the world after all.
Flowers! Life could be much worse.
 The new teachers at Honjo JHS are spectacular. My favourite is the new science teacher, Ms. Oe. She has the most sincere laugh I’ve ever heard out of a Japanese woman – guttural and low. A boisterous, “hur hur hur”. I love her to pieces already. We speak a mixture of English and Japanese because she wants to practice. She told me, “I have lost my vocabulary and I can’t remember my idioms!” Then we talked about intransitive verbs. <3 Friends forever. We also have a young teacher named Yamashita-sensei who is a big computer dork and likes to talk to me about Mac computers. But now I know about some fancy new Beta Windows program that runs simultaneously with the Mac OSX. Technology! It helps that all the words about computers are katakana English. Pu-ro-gu-ra-mu, so-fu-to-we-a, and haa-do-do-rai-bu. Fantastic!

I haven’t had any classes yet, but I am starting to go to them again with Yamagami-sensei starting today. I hope they go well and that I can help! I miss being useful! It was really a treat getting back to kyushoku (the school lunches) as well. I really missed the miso soups and even the white rice that my stomach lining loathes on a day-to-day basis. The weather getting warmer and more pleasant every day is also helping everyone’s mood! It’s so nice not having to use the heater anymore. I like to think of this as my last horrible winter just because America has all the ‘central heating’. Faaaancy.

On Friday I had a meeting with the elementary school homeroom teachers who will be helping me team teach this new elementary textbook to the 5th and 6th graders starting this school year. I was really excited about it, but after 30 minutes of stumbling through Japanese lesson plans, it became quite clear that none of us knows what we are doing. Who knows how this lesson will go, but at least I finally have a textbook to work off of. SUPPLEMENTS!!!! Huzzah!



School aside, I went to Kyoto and Kameoka this weekend to finally spend some quality time with Laurel and the other Kameoka girls who have replaced the friends I still miss deeply and dearly (you know who you are, you southern women). It was really fun hanging out with Laurel and spending time with a different group of people. I think that when you spread yourself among groups of different people you can learn to appreciate the people who aren’t there, as well as getting comfortable in different situations. I’ve always been most comfortable as a social butterfly, fluttering amongst groups of people and never getting that close to any of them. I feel like this year has been an exception, which would explain a lot of the social anxiety I’ve been having.

Sakura and ear lobe massages in Kameoka...

On Saturday I met up with “the usual suspects” (Ian, Natanya, Rachel2, Lauren, Greg etc) and we had a picnic under the sakura by the Kamogawa River to celebrate R2’s birthday. It was a lot of fun, but I ate and drank too much and had the worst headache later.
R2, Natanya & Ian eating delicious gyoza by the Kamo River
We had grand plans to do karaoke, but those dissolved after we ate bananas foster (rum soaked bananas on FIRE over ice cream) and were stricken with extreme sleepiness. We all just ended up falling asleep in a pile at Rachel’s apartment and had one of the least exciting, but most comfortable, nights in Kyoto ever.

Sakura in the Imperial Palace Grounds & the Rare Blossom Rachel2

The next day we did mini-hanami and walked through the Imperial Palace grounds on the way to the pet store, where we played with a pug. I picked out some Kirby food, R2 got her brown curls grabbed by a spider monkey, and Ian and Natanya fell in love with the pug. After a quick stint at Starbucks, Natanya and I drove back to Tango.

Natanya snores louder than you could possibly imagine! 

Kirby was really happy to see me and I was really happy to get some sleep, since the night before had been interrupted by Natanya’s GORILLA SNORING. That’s right! You know who you are!

Goodbye, lovely teachers!

It's teacher transfer time! Unfortunately all of my favourite people are leaving... which is awful. But as I would be leaving them in 4 months (WHOOOHOHOOHH) anyway, it's better to rip off the band-aid now. But it's still so hard saying goodbye to people when you're pretty certain that it's goodbye forever.

Matsuda先生, Nakani先生, me, & Aimi先生 ~
ありがとうございました！
 

So, a tribute to my favourite teachers at Ine who are leaving, Nakani-sensei the school nurse and Aimi-sensei, my JTE. Aimi sensei really inspried me to become a teacher and gave me a good grasp of how to teach English. So for that I will always remember her, and I wish her the best of luck at her new school.

At least it was a beautiful day outside, and I cleaned a bit more of the downstairs of my house. I'm looking forward to a time when the weather will allow me to live in the other 90% of my home.

"It's the time for leaves to change their colours", Daniel said.

I go between feeling like I want to live in Honjo and Ine for the rest of my life and wishing I were living somewhere else right now. It's hard not to feel at peace when every day is beautiful despite the weather conditions and all the people are familiar and kind. Then I hear about other JETs "spontaneously getting together for dinner" and I feel that pinprick of jealousy that people live so close to each other that spontaneous get-togethers are an option. This has officially not been an option for me for the past year and 2 months. I don't think I'll ever get that used to it, even though I've learned to deal with things alone.

I am however REALLY good at being on my own now. I don't know if that's a "JET Programme life lesson" or something I just happened to be in the right place and right time for. For instance yesterday I finished the Ganbatte Times and I was so pleased with the issue that I jumped up and danced around my house. Self-satisfaction is one of the few things nobody can take away from me -- and I don't have it as much as I used to (like when I was in school).

Anyway onto proper blogging;

This week was interesting. I was expecting it to be dull due to standardized testing, but it turned out that only one of my schools had it so I only had a half-day of no classes. Which... come to think of it is like any ordinary day I'm at school! At Honjo JHS I joined the 1st year girls (of which there are 5) for some pinning and tumbling as they learned the basics of judo. It was really funny and there was a LOT of young Japanese girl shrieking. The highlight of that day was watching the 60 year old gym teacher tackle Minami, a 60 pound 12 year old girl.
I spent most of my days at Ine JHS this week staying until 6:30. On one day it made me forget completely about going to my calligraphy class... and I wasn't reminded of it until some 3rd year boys asked me the next day in English "did you go to shuji yesterday?" and I turned red and said "Ah!!! Wasurechatta!" Which means "Oh CRAP I completley forgot." They had a good laugh about that, and I made up for it on Thursday! In fact on the way to shuji that night I saw my very first tanuki! I guess before I had thought I'd seen a tanuki and even took a picture of it... but on second glance it was only a badger and I had gotten carried away with excitement. However I now know that Honjo also has badgers living in its forests. Neat!

Anyway the tanuki. I was driving up the hill in the dark to Kamitsuji-sensei's home and saw the neighbour cat sitting in the road like it does. But it was not the neighbor cat, it was way too fat and not orange. Then I realized it was too large in general to be any sort of cat. About the size of a small Labrador retriever, perhaps. It looked up at me and I found myself looking into the beady eyes of a very fat, fuzzy, adorable tanuki. Hot damn! And it was only 4 feet away! I didn't bother fishing for my camera, I just wanted to look at it as long as possible because it was SO cute. But it then sense that my car would have the ability to squish it, and decided to run away. But... it's hard for fat squishy creatures to flee at a rapid pace. So instead, tanuki-chan decided to squeeze into a rain gutter. A cat would have no trouble with this... but a pooh-bear shaped cat might. Tanuki-chan had to squeeeeze itself into the rain gutter, finding the most trouble doing so with its rotund behind. Instantly images of "Winnie the Pooh" danced throughout my head as I began to laugh. Finally, it managed to squeeze into the rain gutter and I continued on my way.

I made sure to check that it wasn't stuck in there on my way back. What an amazing little animal...

Other than that, Kirby and I are enjoying the fall weather. It's warm enough to feel happy and energized in the day and cold enough in the mornings to snuggle. Kirby even sleeps on my lap like he used to when he was littler. Yay!

I also taught my students an important expression in English during recitation contest practice this week, "I am like a proud mama." Because Ikumi can pronounce the "ou" sound (sound, found, round etc) and ... well... I am like a proud mama.

My laundry enjoys the warm sunny autumn day...

Over and out.

Now when I write Japan seems less strange… which is strange.

Now when I write, Japan seems less strange… which is strange.

September 15th until September 21st

“I was looking at his myspace … so … his space?”
Yumi’s incredible English never ceases to amaze me. This month she told me I was the “only gaijin she trusts”… which felt less Donnie Brasco and more kindly and sincere in person. Dinners with her have become less “dinner with my Japanese friend who speaks really good English” and more “dinner with my amazing friend.” For that I am thankful.

In other news at Honjo Jr. High School, Mr. Notani (noted Japanese teacher of English/live-action cartoon) is also a secret opera singer. He practiced singing with some of the students for the up-and-coming culture festival and nobody could hold back their amusement for his strange yet carrying vocal abilities. When a 3rd year finally said “Notani-sensei, umai!” (Mr. Notani, you the bomb-diggity) it was settled.

These days my incredible abilities as a dusty AET have increased to that of a pronunciation coach, which I so enjoy. Correcting the r/l/th/d/t sounds is my true calling, surely. However, it’s nice to get to know my misfit 3rd years at Ine a little more as I coach them for their 暗唱 (recitations, I think) at their culture festival. I can see the absurdity wash over their face as they pronounce “man” (like Stan) instead of “man” (like fawn). But you know what? THAT’S JUST HOW ENGLISH IS DEAL WITH IT. Kaai has proven to be a fun person to coach yet again for this year’s recitation contest. She really GETS what she’s saying and takes direction well. She is really a fabulous kid, and I hope she gets to travel extensively after working so hard in school so she can practice her English and have European love affairs!

As for my own participation in the Culture Festival this year, it fortunately involves NO KIMONO and NO SELF-INTRODUCTION. If I have my way, I will never wear a kimono again. That aside, I have compiled a large poster of a years work of my shuji from my first calligraphy attempts like 日本(Japan) to my latest attempts like 運転免許(driver's license) ／紫陽花 (hydrangea) etc. They look OK. At Ine JHS I am being forced to participate in the teacher’s 劇 (geki, or play). I have two lines in Japanese and I play the fisherman’s wife (the fisherman being played by the aging science teacher, what a catch!) I think I’d probably rather die than be in this play, but I suppose deep down it’s nice to be included. (That’s a lie.)

The later I stay for these recitation contest, recitation practice, teacher play practice, busy-in-general afternoons… I start to really wonder, “do these students ever go home?” The answer is no. Home is the enemy. Spare time is for communists. Family love and time spent together bred the Holocaust. Thank the kami-sama the Japanese know better. That only sounds bitter because it was written bitterly.

Adding to that, I am a bit bitter. Not in an actual way, but in a way that most 2nd year AETs probably get. There’s only so much time you can spend in Japanese countryside saying “wow Japanese culture is SO DIFFERENT – they eat so much seaweed and rice and they take their shoes off OFTEN! And look how small and cute they are and how hard they work!” Yeaaaah that’s so over. The droning, grizzled “good morning” in the office… the busy-bee teachers what swarm around me, the unknowing, uncaring (OVER-PAID) English fixture in the corner. The pay is starting to feel heavy with guilt. So very heavy. But knowing that I want to do a good job helps and knowing that I want to go on to do this as a real job and not a made-up half-job is inspiring as well. Soon enough, Rachel, soon enough.

The bitterness was interrupted when I was slicing up paper to make elementary school karuta (a game where kids smack each other in the face to win stickers) and a suzumebachi (big EFFING bee) flew through the window and into my face. I was physically thrown back. I think they weigh as much as a tonka truck and are a bit more frightening to be hit in the face by. I survived, and I think the giant bee did as well. Good times. You know, cuz it could have killed me. This brings me onto my next bug story – the biggest moth ever. I can’t believe how large moths can grow. I had one much larger than my hand land on my porch window. I wish I had taken a picture because it was totally awesome to look at. I also have no idea how it got through SPIDER VILLAGE™ (蜘蛛村) that was secretly built outside my 2nd story porch when I least expected it. At least 5 giant spiders live out there and their webs cascade like a mosquito net of terror across my balconey. I should start charging admission or rent or something. Mooching spiders.

Other than that, things like sports festival, hanging out in Yagi and up in Ine with people, playing dominoes, drinking a lot of rum, and enjoying the new bed that I finally bought have been good additions to my life this month. I apologize, I think that was the longest sentence ever.

Compiling and distributing the Ganbatte Times (a newsletter for the JET people in the prefecture) has given me something to do during my spare time at school or at home. I’m pretty excited about it being a monthly item on my ‘to-do’ list. I am even more excited that high-speed internet is coming to my small town in December.

FINALLY. FI-NA-LLY. OH. MY. GOD. I won’t even go into how much of me has died without the capability to communicate over video chat, watch movies/TV online, or do anything that I had become accustomed to in my last decade spent in the US and Europe. Anyway, yay internet! Let’s hope they are not lying.

That’s all for me. And all for the rice. It has been harvested, now the ground is sad and brown and bracing itself for the cold that we are overdue for. My sweaters are armed and ready.

偀介君Supermanz dat Ho

Letters from Kameshima
(it's an island... kind of close to where I live.)

Thursday
Dear Eisuke-kun, It is only the first day of classes, but already you have made my year.

Kind Regards,

Rachel Teacher

Friday
Dear Mashiba-sensei (may I call you Yoichi?)

I never knew I would be smitten by a 22 year old junior high school gym teacher doing a backflip to the eager applause of thirteen year olds.

I was wrong. So very wrong.

Anytime. Anywhere.

Rachel Teacher

Friday Later...

朝妻(Asazuma) -- part of Ine, but more a hilly village where I do shuji.

I drove around this new rode that leads from Honjo-hama (Honjo beach) all the way around the peninsula, hugging the coast. I didn't really know what to expect, but I got a really nice view as it turned out! I recommend taking mystery roads.

School Year Ends; Teachers Wander Off

Rachel says 'Goodbye' to Teachers, is Heartbroken on Purely Educational Level.

I won’t lie, this week has sucked and it has sucked hard. Last week I believe I studied Japanese for about 6-7 hours every day. It was interesting how much of it I was able to retain considering I have the conversational ability of an autistic panda.

I had an enkai with the Ine JHS teachers on Friday of last week. We went to a beautiful hotel in Amanohashidate (I was terribly underdressed) and ate fantastic food that went on and on for hours, course after course. Sauced up on sake, beer, and whatever liquor the womenfolk were feeding me, I had a good time conversing with my cohorts and taking time out to have English conversations with Aimi-sensei as well. The teachers’ speeches were very boring, but sincere. We are losing seven teachers (of our 15)—but three of them are only going to Honjo, where I also teach. I am sad to be losing one of my favorite teachers in the world, Fujimura-sensei. Her never-ending genkiness and motherly love towards me has really helped me get situated at Ine JHS. I wont’ be forgetting her anytime soon. She’s off to Hashidate JHS! So, at least Bryn can see her for me!

Yesterday (the last day of wretched March, which did not go out like a damn lamb) was my last day of work with Tsuji-sensei – my JTE and the best friend I had in my town for sure. We chatted the whole day about what we were nervous about in the coming year. She told me she really liked a lot of the teachers who are coming (including Notani-sensei, the new English teacher from Bryn’s school). That made me relax a lot. She says her new school is a fairly good size, maybe 300-400 students. Sadly she’s going to Yawada, which is clear across the prefecture (as much as you can get before going into Wakayama). A group of us teachers went to the only restaurant in Honjo (a lunch restaurant by Urashima Shrine that serves famous soba and delicious udon). It was nice chatting with the other teachers; some leaving, some staying. We all came back to school quite refreshed and full of noodles.

Midway through the day, Tsuji-sensei sat down at her desk and informed me that she was unable to make the Goodbye Enkai the next day because she had to drive to her new school immediately after the goodbye teachers ceremony on Tuesday. I was crushed. All of a sudden I went from having one more day with Tsuji-sensei to having two more brief hours. Hours at school, and not drunk at a hotel somewhere. It was a miserable way to end it, I felt. I helped her clean up the student council room with Ota-sensei (the math teacher who has taken a shine to me and likes to try out English on me). Afterwards it was time for me to leave. I said, ‘well, thank you for everything.’ Then she extended her arms for a hug—which I wasn’t sure people ever did in this country. I hugged her goodbye and we said our, “I’ll miss you’s” and “write me soons”. I left the school crying for the third time in one month.

I am at Ine JHS at the moment. We’ve just completed the goodbye teacher ceremony and it was sad, but more boring and cold than anything else. Why is it still cold?! The gym teacher is considerably more good-looking than the last (the 55 year old man) which makes me feel a bit more high-spirited about the coming school year.

Thank you to all the teachers for making my first 8 months in Japan memorable, and for being nice to me even though I could never quite speak to you other than saying all the wrong things in your ridiculous picture language.
Love, Rachel.

The Bay - Could it BE any more colours?

Last day at Ine JHS for the Year, Keima Came

Last day of classes at Ine JHS! I am celebrating the break from having to teach my horrid 2nd year students. Here is a picture of the first year students. I actually like them. I managed to convince them of the pronunciation of ‘came’ by writing on the board,

• Keima came.

Giggle aside (in my head), Keima blushed, and the students learned. In theory. Also, it was cold again this morning. I was not amused.

Bet you can't guess which one is me.

Graduation Ceremony Day, Some People Care

Today was White Day. This is the day where girls get chocolate from boys. I didn’t, but I did go to a graduation at Ine JHS. There isn’t much to say about it. Teachers dressed up in suits (which helped me to realize that I need to reintroduce exercise into my daily regiment), students wore their same old school uniforms (with pretty red flowers attached), and parents showed up in suits or kimonos! We also had a group of important looking men show up, as is necessary for most Japanese ceremonies, I feel. One of them was the mayor, as it turns out! La-dee-da!

The ceremony itself was about an hour and a half in length. Speeches, bowing, formalities, and then we got to leave. Short and sweet! It was cute seeing my students with their parents, and cuter still watching them enter the teacher’s room one by one to say, ‘thank you!’ and dash out, embarrassed and a bit teary.

I felt lucky to spend the day at Ine JHS on a Friday instead of my usual schedule of going over to sit around at the BOE and twiddle my thumbs. I was also very fortunate in that I got to take food home from the 3rd year graduation party! I grabbed some sushi and sandwiches before heading down to Scott’s apartment to watch movies with Leigh. A good day by all accounts.

I also managed to take some interesting pictures of my town – proof that the weather is actually getting nicer.

Monkeys!!!!!!

So, I'm sitting at school with my plague (got it yesterday, but that is beside the point).

My coworkers start chattering by the window, like they do, in their crazy oriental language that I hardly understand. However the word 'saru' sticks out, because it means monkey.

So, there's monkeys on the baseball field! Spring has come at last, I think. However the three monkeys turn into 7 monkeys... then 10 monkeys, and then about 15 monkeys!

They're playing on the field, climbing the bike shelter and running around at the speed of a determined Labrador. They are also the SIZE of one! Gah monkeys here are so scary.

After snapping some pretty lousy photos, I was asked the question I ALWAYS am asked when monkey sightings occur.

"So, what kind of monkeys they got in the states?"
"None."
"Not even in the ROCKIES?!"
"Not even in North Ameirca!"

they find this hard to believe until I describe a grizzly bear. Maybe Smokey ate all the monkeys.

Also I should note that the sun has been out more -- which is making Ine Bay turn some BEAUTIFUL shades of blue and green! Here are pictures for good measure.


I had a delicious bento box of egg rice with crab, a little bit of hamburger, sashimi, and sushi with cucumber and shrimp! I also got to look at this bay during it! It was fabulous.

Rachelmas 2K7 PART 1: Megan Arrives, Ine-chu Enkai

[ I have literally taken almost a week to write this post because the weekend was so intense it damn near killed me and brought me back with the memories of AWESOME. Basically it was legend. ]

Friday Megan came to Ine on a bus. She asked some elementary students (who she said were very polite) where I worked and after much 6-year old deliberation, she was pointed to the BoE. She then found me and my supervisor let me leave 15 minutes early! From there we went to Nishigaki, where we counted obaa-chans and got the first of many cases of BEER.

Megan thought Ine was absolutely beautiful, and she's not wrong.

Anyway we then played with Kirby a bit and then hopped back in the car and headed for Amanohashidate (天橋立)　to meet up with my co-workers from Ine JHS to get crunk (read; sit seiza [hurty-style] and eat raw things). So my co-workers were immediately in love with Megan because of her fluent Japanese! it saved me from making another awkward introduction anyway. The food was amazing, and my tea was quite refreshing. Seeing my teacher co-workers drunk was the highlight of my week for sure. A lot of them started talking to me in broken broken English and saying things that made absolutely no sense. The night ended with people asking me if I'd ever gone skiing, then someone said 'whis-SKI????" which was hilarious. Then they started telling me about sledding on a piece of paper or something instead of a proper plastic toboggan. I ... didn't really understand that.

I then drove Megan and the lunch ladies home to Ine. After dropping off the lunch-ladies, we watched cartoons and played with the ferret until sleeptime. 'Twas good.

Recitations and Hos = my weekend

What did I even do this weekend? For starters, I went to Miyazu on Saturday for the Recitation Contest of Junior High School Students. I hopped a bus at 0730 with Tsuji-sensei and the Honjo kids (Kohei and Kaai) and we then swooped down to Ine JHS to pick up Aimi-sensei, Chisato, Takashi, Misa and Ikumi. We arrived at Miyazu High School really early and I hung around my kids trying to make them feel less nervous. I don’t think it worked too well. My kids are used to an environment of very few students. The biggest school in the area is 58 kids, and Honjo is only 32 kids. Being around more people than even populate their schools was rather unnerving for them.

Soon other AETs had arrived as well! Simon, Brynmore, Jannie and Eric, and Liz as well (cheering on our students and probably having little better to do!) We began the contest and all of the students, in my opinion, did really well! There were only two cases of forgotten speeches, and in those cases the students didn’t panic, but they stopped, remembered, and carried on. I have to admit that I was nervous for all of my students! Knowing how hard they had been practicing since early October, I feared that they might make a mistake. However, my kids all did really well! The best I’ve seen them do! They all got great comments from the judges, and Ikumi and Misa took home 2nd place for the first years, and Kaai took home first place for the second year students! I was so proud of them! We talked and ate packed lunches on the way back home from Miyazu. Kaai especially was beaming with her victory (although it was misspelled) and Tsuji-sensei and I recited all of the dialogues on the ride home. We weren’t too shabby!

I spent the rest of the day napping and playing with Kirby. In the evening I joined up with the AETs from the contest as well as Jun, Lyle, Leigh and Nori (Leigh’s friend from Kyoto) at an Izakaya somewhere near Nodagawa (at least after getting lost for forty minutes, I think that’s where it ended up being). Spent the evening picking at the food and enjoying my friends increasing drunkenness! I however, being a driver, stuck to cola. It was good times. I then helped ferry people to a nearby small bar/café where I eventually said goodnight to everyone and left for home. I slept forever as soon as I arrived back at my house.

The mornings are getting colder, which means it’s getting more and more impossible to wake up! Luckily I discovered one more box of winter clothing in my closet! I now am armed with flannel winter pajamas and sweatpants. At least most of my body will stay warm during the winter months.

Other than that, Leigh and Liz came for dinner on Sunday evening. We had some curry that Leigh brought from home, played with Kirby for a little while, and I helped Leigh remember how to knit while Liz played on the internet (as she is lacking it at home due to some bad luck with her laptop). We then watched the majority of The Last Unicorn, which as we all know is a high quality movie… at least a high quality movie circa 1982. Or a poor quality movie from 1982, you decide. They soon went home to sleep and I curled up under my kotatsu, knitted, and watched Hustle and Flow, which is basically a retelling of the Last Unicorn but with more black people, pimps, ho’s, violence, and rap. I mean they both have songs.

Anyway this week’s adventures will be from my team teaching conference in Kyoto, which I am prepared for mentally and physically after weeks of training. Training to sit and be bored out of my SKULL.

My head is good, my brain is bright.

Second Years Gone : Happy People Come out of Woodworks

OK it's decided. Ine Jr. High School is simply a better place when the 2nd year chuckleheads, are gone. At the moment they are in Tokyo going around the area and going to Disney Land. While I don't agree that taking horrible students to the happiest place in Nippon is a good idea, I do revel in their absence. All the teachers seem to have a little more of a spring to their step. The two classes I taught today were great! Everyone seemed happier than usual and the third years had a hell of a time writing a composition about the pros and cons of certain 'debatable matters'. Such as, 'I think students should/shouldn't learn English' and so on.

My favorites include;

I think students shouldn't learn English. Here are my reasons. First, I'm Japanese. Second, Japan doesn't use English. Third, I can live without English. (ouch)

and the other one about whether or not video games are good for children to play

'If children play video games often, their heads become bad. If they study, their brains will become bright.'

The reasoning of course is because in Japanese you say 'your head is good/bad' for describing a smart/dimwitted individual. They also have a single word to describe the brain/the mind. Well done, kids! They made my day. But you know what it's mean to make fun of Engrish simply because ENGLISH IS REALLY DIFFICULT FOR JAPANESE PEOPLE TO LEARN.

Ganbatte, everyone. Ganbatte.

In other news, the ferret is named Kirby! And he sends his regards. And nibbles.

The Festivals of Culture and the Amazing Suffocation Kimono

This was a week of many small events for me. The first and foremost being the culture festivals (文化祭) for both Ine and Honjo jr. high schools. These festivals represent a month of hard work by students, teachers and parents in all things arts, crafts, and general entertainment. Imagine a junior high school play, choir concert, and art showcase all in one day. And all in Japanese.

Don't get me wrong, my Japanese gets better everyday. However I am not yet adept enough in the language to understand 45 minute plays starring 13 year olds who aren't loud or coherent when they speak. I didn't understand a word of their plays, which was too bad since they were mainly dialog.

The choir sections were more interesting, as songs are generally more universal than plays. The songs were well put together and well sung! It was nice to also see the PTA sing a few songs from childrens' lullabies at Honjo.

The teachers put on their own plays, all involving ridiculous costumes and physical comedy. That was the most enjoyable part for me at both schools. Seeing how hard the teachers work, how late they stay, and how formal they are emphasizes how much fun the NEED to have. So, the play became an outlet of creativity and comedy for them. And it was a good thing too, because I didn't understand what was going on in their plays either! But watching the principal dressed up as a mouse, or the secretary dressed up like a big jolly sunshine, or the nurse dressed up like a goat was the highlight of my month.

The art was interesting too. Still lives of shoes, boats, and the general Ine/Honjo area were fun to look at. Some of the projects were REALLY good! Especially the summer projects which occupied of a month of each students' time (in theory). Some of the students' creations must have taken them a lot of hard work, which I imagine is difficult during summer vacation. Well done to them! My favorite part of the Honjo bunkasai was watching the most attractive boy (by 15 year old standards) in the school receive an award for art, walk down the steps like James Dean, and walk headfirst into a light panel and WIPED OUT. It made a big clang as well. He was totally fine, but it felt like the most humbling experience for the boy I assume is one of the more popular boys in the 30 person school. Poor Yuuta.

During the Honjo bunkasai, I was kidnapped/roped into wearing a kimono. Akiyama-sensei, the nurse, convinced me it would be fun. And wearing a kimono was a lot of fun! But it less the sort of fun a picnic or a water slide might evoke, and more the kind of fun it is to not be able to breathe/walk/have dignity. A kimono is a layering of many beautiful, patterned cloth pieces. It all begins with a slip. Then the towels. The classic Japanese standard of beauty is apparently to look like a roll of paper towels. No curves. So in each of the naturally curvaceous places (the hips, under the bus, above the booty) the wearer will place a small kitchen towel, rolled up, and fastened with a tie. The cylindrical shape is achieved this way. The towels are followed by an underkimono made of a light cotton material. Mine was orange. Then comes the ties to keep this kimono in place. The ties are tied TIGHTLY. I began to miss the full extension of my lungs, which seemed to be struggling to breathe naturally at this point. Then the outer kimono, if my memory serves me correctly. After the fine, thick outer kimono is on, it is time for the obi 'n friends. The obi is an endlessly long, beautiful thick belt that attaches around the kimono. It is tied in a bow on the back of the apparatus/outfit in the final stages of kimono-gussying. However, before the main obi, there are two under-obis and another slimmer tie. There is also a small bean-shaped flat pad that is attached to the front, and a rounded, protruding pad for the back. By the time the obi was tied, I had given up on breathing properly. I could barely move at first. Then, adding the finishing touches to my hair and shoes, I was ready to shuffle like so many Japanese ladies of the court (I assume.)

Japanese women are not naturally graceful as storybooks/sushi restaurants have led me to believe. They simply can't move in kimonos. Their footsteps are small and well placed because there is no other way to MOVE. They don't speak much or out of turn b/c they can't BREATHE. At least I couldn't breathe. Not well.

A barrage of photographs by Akiyama-sensei and a gait much akin to that of a toddler's, I made it to the gym. This was where I realized that I would be the only person in that gym wearing a kimono. Everyone else was in school uniforms, or casual wear. I felt like a dressed up dog. People stared and commented politely. I quickly found my seat and said hi to those around me. I wanted the activities to start so I could stop feeling like the center of attention.

During the opening speeches, I caught the words 'our new AET, Reicheru Suriibani,..." and the knowledge that I would have to shuffle up to the front and give a speech came upon me. So, I hopped up, and waddled gracefully to the microphone. I then introduced myself for the millionth time in Japanese and shuffled back to my seat. If I had had blood circulation, I would have turned purple. Fortunately, I didn't! They love it when I blush though because Japanese people don't do it so much (the flushing of cheeks was outlawed in the Edo period by an autistic Daimyo who disliked the colour pink).

Well, by lunchtime it was about 80 degrees in the gym, and I asked to take off the kimono. They obliged and I was so happy to wear normal clothing for the rest of the day, as it only got hotter in that gym.

After the culture festivals, I ran off to my first kimono lesson. Kumi Yoshida (of the Yoshidas, my family in Tango) lent myself, Desirae and Liz kimonos for the class. We're going to learn about the parts, and how to put them on/take them off/fold them. It's more complicated than you might think. There is a special way to fold EVERYTHING, which I am terrible at. I felt clueless for most of the lesson (it was about 20 Japanese women, all of them more graceful than myself of course). I also felt FAT. As a Caucasian American female in the age group 18-25, I have felt the inadequacies of body image many times before. But I've never felt BIG before. But when the skirt slip of the kimono wouldn't fit around me, and I had to refuse to take off my skirt for fear of showing too much leg in the classroom, I felt so embarrassed. However, I managed to have fun struggling with the under kimono and how to tie a Japanese knot (which is also harder than you'd think!) Liz seemed like a natural! It's so cool to watch her because she is able to pick things up so quickly, which is helpful to me because then she can explain it to me in English. And my Japanese is farther along than hers, so I can help her figure out what we're meant to be doing. It's a process, but it's a really good experience and hopefully in a few months, I won't feel so useless in the midst of the other women.

Weekend not NOT awesome

The Ine JHS Sports Festival -伊根中学校の 体育祭

So the weekend was awesome. It started out with the amazing sports festival at Ine Jr. High School where I got to watch kids and adults run around and play ridiculous games. One of them involved ME and the PTA "fishing" for paper fish. They had these huge cut outs in the shape of red snapper, flounder, turtles, squid, octopus, etc etc. So you'd have to run over, grab a pole, read which fish to catch and get the hook in the hole! It was harder than it looked, but my team totally WON! Hooray! I took video and way too many pictures. Anyway there were a lot of boring sort of standing in line type things... marching... speeches. But there were some very exciting relays and goofy games and we even had a dance by the first graders and some middle schoolers! How lucky to see it again!) Japanese dance is really awesome to watch. I wish I had a proper video camera for it! But I think they took video at the school so I'll just steal a copy later. But it was a lot of fun, even though it involved me working on a Saturday (BOOOOO).

JHS and Elem. school girls doing the Dokoishou Soran Dance

After that I ran off to Miyazu to join Eric and celebrate his 31st bday party at the gaijin bar in Miyazu. It was a BLAST. Lots of fun drinks, cake, food, and the bar is about the size of a trolley, so it was just us and the bartenders, who are friends with the birthday boy! Eric was even behind bar helping mix drinks. It was completely wonderful. It was great seeing some of the JETs and Japanese folks I haven't seen in awhile, like Yumi and Desirae and Jamie and so on. The cake Yumi baked was delicious too! After the bar closed, we went off to another bar and did lots of karaoke which was all way too fun. So we started the evening around 7:30 and went home around 3:30... all in all, an excellent party. The next morning, a few of us who had slept over in Miyazu at Jarrad's house drove to Omiya to grab some Kappa-Zushi, which is that conveyor belt sushi I love so much. It was my first time having it here in Nippon, and it was soooo cool! You could make your own tea right at the table with a hot water spout, and of course the sushi was ready to go. They had so many different things, and you could order from an electronic menu and once you've done that, they send over your sushi on a little model bullet train! It dings at you when the food arrives and then you grab your plate, press a button and it goes back home to the kitchen. Plus the conveyor belt had pie (which was yummy), jell-Os, and juice boxes with Hello Kitty™ on them! Hooray juice! So after lunch I finally came home to Ine and hung out and went to bed SO EARLY (like 9:30pm, no joking).

The Simple Life with Liz and Rachel

Today was Monday, but it was my daikyuu, or day off because I had worked Saturday. Lucky for me, Liz (the JET from Amino) was also free! So after I cleaned the house (it was sooo messy) and biked to the store for some eggs, Liz drove all the way up here! Once she was here I drove her around and we explored the area. We found Ikari farm, which is this 100% pastoral farm area with rolling green hills and happy sheep running around (and coooows) and it's totally gorgeous. We walked around there and said hi to the sheep, goats, mini horse, bunnies, and cows. Then we hopped back in the car and drove even higher up the mountains to the wind machines. Or whatever they are called. They are these 70 foot high fans that collect wind energy. They are huge and scary and Liz finally agreed that they are pretty creepy. They are just these huge, unnatural silent machines living in the hills. Creepy. We took pics and explored and then commented on how AWESOME the cool weather was up in the mountains. Usually in Ine near the water it gets quite hot and humid, so it was a nice change of climate. Then we came back to my house to burn CDs and drove to a little Americanesque diner called "orange" near Iwataki. I had pizza with tuna fish, corn, pepperoni and mayo. It was strangely delicious, although the mayo was a bit gross They put mayo on EVERYTHING.

And now I'm home! I love having productive and amazing weekends and Liz is just the person to do things with. She inspires me to go and do things on my days off so I'm hoping to be invited to little jaunts that she plans in the future. She's also from Maryland, I forgot to mention. Hooray for people and things and places! I love my Tango peninsula and everyone needs to come visit, since I'll probably NEVER LEAVE.

The First Week of Classes

The First Week of Classes

This was my first week of classes and it was mighty strange. My first day all I did was introduce myself to the students, stumble through a poorly written speech that basically had to take up 3-5 minutes (ugh) and then sat around in the teacher's room all day being bored. Tuesday was essentially the same, only the kids were less quiet so I stumbled more skillfully through my speech.

Wednesday and Thursday I got to help out in class, which was fun! I have better communication with one of the JTEs than the other, so... the classes were different. Unfortunately I am going to have to just get my butt in gear and learn Japanese all quick-like so I can talk to her more easily.

Anyway junior high school kids are so weird. Some of them obviously have the puberty thing together, some of them don't. I've only had one "bad" student so far... he just refuses to participate (I think b/c he doesn't understand) and he puts his head down on his desk or chews on his nails and blah blah blah. But whether he learns or not, I don't really care. He might as well do something with his time though, I figure.

Eating lunch is really amazing in Japanese schools. Ours are too small to have cafeterias, so we have a kitchen and then the students all grab plates, food, trays, milk, chopsticks, straws, etc etc etc and bring them up to their classrooms. Then they all help serve lunch. Some kids will serve the soup or the salad or the main dish and they all place them on the desks. It's fascinating to watch. I suppose because so little was expected of me in school when I was a wee lass, I never knew kids of this age were so capable of doing things in a neat and orderly manner! Much less without throwing stuff at each other. Everyone sits down and when the last person is ready, one student comes to the front of the class and puts their hands together, and everyone follows suit. "Itadakimasu!!!" Or..."bon appetit" as I equate it to. It basically means "we will eat!" but very very very politely. Then everyone eats quickly and in complete silence. In about 30 seconds all the boys are done. They say "shitsureshimaaassuuuuu" and run out the door. Of course, they pile their dirty dishes and recycle their milk boxes in all the right places. And in a blink, they have vanished. The girls sit and finish their lunches more slowly, as is the female way (in Japan anyway). They clean up their things and then altogether they and any surrounding boys students will carry the dishes and finished containers down to the kitchen and put them away in a neat and orderly fashion.

Astonishing. I have never in my life seen anything more amazing than a Japanese junior high school lunch, and all of the protocol.

Today (Friday) I got to hang out with the elementary schoolers! And they were just unbelievably adorable. we played games b/c I sort of rand out of things to do so I made them up as I went along. I made the first years and second years play duck duck goose!!!! EEEEEE they picked it up so quickly! "dakku dakku guusu!" soooooo cute. I nearly exploded. I think the teachers agreed. I even managed to persuade some of the boys to pick some of the girls, and a lot of the girls outran the boys!!!

Then I got to eat lunch with the first graders, who are alllll girls and one boy!!! (poor Ren). I think because of this, the 2nd years joined us. I was asked lots of questions "do they use chopsticks in America?" "How old are you?" "Are you married?" NO. "Why not?" "Because I hate boys" and I asked one of the first years if HE was married, since he was sooo interested. And milk came out his nose. I think that means success. I can almost eat as much and as quickly as the first grade girls. Ugh, I suck at eating lunch Japanese-style. How the heck are they so small and beautiful if all they do is shovel food in their mouths? I guess its the whole running around for HOURS thing. They seriously train these kids from a young age like SOLDIERS. When I came into school this morning they were running laps. Teachers too. Probably, all of the six year olds could outrun me. Even the one with the sprained ankle.

For the lesson I showed them the world map (where Japan was in the middle and I was confused as to why America was so small in comparison to Canada ... Heeeyyyyy isn't America the biggest country in the world??? What gives?????" So I explained where I was from in ENGLISH and made them point out Japan on the map and where Ine was on the map. Then I talked about the family living in Turkey but they weren't FROM Turkey and the kids all love my cheapo ring with the evil eeeyyyeeee. And my super cheap Target watch. I have no idea why they like it, its falling apart and its ghastly.

I had to give class, aside from my intro, almost entirely in Japanese. To do this, I copied everything my Japanese teacher ever said (Maru-sensei). Such as

• Haaaaii, kiite kudasaiiii - listen please!
• Jyaaa-aa..... "sooooo...." or "welllll"
• and my favorite "san hai". - I have no idea what it means.

When Maru-sensei wanted us to say something as a class, she'd say "san HAI" and we'd all say things in unison. So I tried it and IT WORKED. I was so shocked!!!! So thank you Maru-sensei for being number one teacher.

Anyway today was far too cute. And they drew pictures of themselves and wrote their names and then I died. Or went to the BOE, uuuugh. I hate the BOE. Aside from drinking tea all day I don't do much else. I have also come to the consensus that girls are just naturally well behaved. WHY IS THAT???? All the girls were quiet and did what they were supposed to and the boys ran around screaming and punching each other and asking me what fruits I liked. I don't understand. But they are all 100% adorable.

First Day of School

The First Day Jitters: Rachel Loses Balance, Dignity

I am having that first day of school experience that I tell myself I won't have, and ALWAYS end up having. Even as a teacher! I am doomed!

On my first day of high school I fell off the school bus! I was wearing platform shoes so I just toppled right off. And everyone was like "ARE YOU OKAAAY????" but I just got up and tried to disappear into the crowd as best I can. I told myself it was not the end of the world and I would live to see another day. Then I fell down in the hallway. And later I fell up some stairs. Apparently, my feet could not get it together that day.

I am kind of reliving that day.
In fact, I tell that story in my introductory speech, which I have written for my intro at the assembly (read: WAS FORCED TO WRITE). I made the mistake of writing it in English and in Japanese..... which I was helped with. But writing something and speaking something are different. And speaking in front of a mass of giggly teenagers who I've never met in my life is terrifying even though I am no longer a teenager. I think there is a part of us that stays a teenager forever. The part of us that dies of embarrassment when we feel like we're being judged.

Yesterday was fine. It was 9am and the students weren't even awake yet. I gave my speech, made no mistakes, and the students seemed to enjoy it and I immediately fell in love with all of them for not giggling through my speech or making me feel like more of an ass. I'm sure I was bright red after it anyway, I always blush when I have to do stuff like that.

Flashback to the first time I had to pitch a film idea in class, freshman year. I stuttered through my written proposal and people started laughing and making joke proposals about where the film could go (which I would later find hilarious as every one recommending things became my best friends not long after). The distractions of the people trying to lighten up my nerves made it worse, and I ended up turning bright red, not being able to say a word and nearly bursting into tears. Ironically it was Randall that came to my aid with constructive criticism and asked if I could show the class my storyboards (as he was the TA at the time). I couldn't get it together that day either.

Nearly four years later, I find myself standing in front of the bigger Ine junior high school class. Already the kids are giggling. It is not helping my nerves. I'm already preoccupied with the fact that I was unable to finish my lunch. Although delicious, it was seriously too much food. Curry, rice, orange pudding atop of weird seaweed (which is good but strange) which is called tokoroten (ところてん）, milk, an apple that I brought from home, and somen or そうめんサラダ, which is cucumber, carrot, noodles, egg and way too much mayonnaise. So everything was edible, and most things were quite delicious. But I really just can't eat that much for lunch!!! I never do! My big meals are breakfast and dinner. Mostly breakfast. Breakfast which I had eaten 3 or 4 hours previous, and I wasn't hungry to begin with. I couldn't finish. And in Japan, EVERYONE finishes their meal. Even these 75 pound women with the 14" waists were wolfing down their school lunch. I felt so embarrassed that I ate way more than I wanted to, and that somen might as well have been live slugs b/c I was not enjoying anything I put in my mouth. I was literally force feeding myself. It was disgusting.

Flashback to my 6th grade play when I forgot every single one of my lines and had to elbow the person next to me so they would go instead.

So after disgracing myself at lunch, not to mention feeling sick from too much mayo-noodle-salad-death™, I had to give my speech. Which brings us back to the gym full of giggling teenagers.

I messed up soooooooo maaaaany words. I kept telling myself "they're not giggling at YOU they're not even paying attention to you! They're giggling because they are 12 year old girls and that is what 12 year old girls DO" but it didn't help. Every giggle made me turn more scarlet, and every messed up word made me want to jump out a window. Finally it was over and I got down.

This is the first time I've wanted to cry since coming to Japan. But at least the speeches are over, and the next time I have to talk in front of the kids it will be in ENGLISH and I will be the one giggling at THEM!!!!! ...in a constructive and nurturing way.

I mean this day can only get worse, so maybe it will be my bad day for the week and I can look forward to fun happy things that make me not feel like a slug.