March 11, 2011

Today is the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. It has been a pretty emotional day around school for everyone. At 2:46pm, the time the earthquake hit, we all stood and had a moment of silence or time of prayer for one minute. This moment was observed nationwide. In Japanese its called 黙祷 (mo-ku-to-u). It literally means silent prayer.

Today, was a half day for students since they had exams all morning. So, during the moment of silence the students were all practicing their club activities. I just happened to be near the window on the third floor overlooking the sports field. It was really amazing to watch everyone outside stop together and pray for one minute. I can only imagine what its like marking exams, studying, and working until late hours on the anniversary of such a tragedy. There is still much recovery to be done. Im not going to presume to tell you what to do or explain what this tragedy means in Japan. Because honestly I dont know much having not been here through the tragedy but if you have free time please read the link below.

Here is an article on the state of Japan today

Many blessings to you friends. Wherever you are.

Graduation.

 In Japan the school year ends in March and begins again in April and last week my school had its high school graduation for my san-nensei students.

In many ways Japanese ceremonies are much more formal but also much more everyday than western graduations. They are more formal because the students practice graduation for about a week before. Including how to stand, sit, and bow together. The entire school attends the graduation ceremony as well as parents family and friends. The ceremony is also a much more serious affair. There are no light hearted jokes, chuckles of laughter, or silly string. I was reminded of Catholic mass at points during the ceremony. However, it also felt much less formal than western graduations. For example, students wear their uniforms and It took place in the school gym.

I'd heard that in Japan graduation ceremonies are quite somber events so I, being someone known for crying at practically nothing, was not looking forward to crying in front of students and teachers. I gave myself a small pep talk before the ceremony started. During the ceremony the student giving the address on behalf of the graduating class did go through some extreme sobbing in the middle of her speech and many of the teachers around me joined her. Luckily, crying ended up not being a problem for me because I couldn't understand enough of what she was saying to feel emotional. I could only catch the topics of what she was talking about and completely missed what she was trying to communicate. The ceremony lasted all morning and after it was over the students were free to go home. The students however hung around and joyfully snapped pictures with their friends and favorite teachers. Many students came to their closest teachers and also gave out little gifts and presents.

It was a bitter sweet day because I, unlike most SHS ALT's, actually teach 2 very small san-nensei classes. I taught them 3 times a week! So I got to know these students better than any of the other students that I taught this year and I'm really going to miss them. especially my 3-2 girls.

Another thing I noticed was that students had definitely taken advantage of the freedom of not being in high school anymore. The dress code for schools here is super strict. Not only do students have to wear their uniform exactly right down to the color of their socks, but they cant wear colored contacts, dye their hair, wear makeup or jewelry, or paint their nails. Before the ceremony all the girls were in the bathroom basically spray painting their hair black before graduation ceremony started. They had all in their month of freedom in between classes and graduation gone out and dyed their hair crazy colors. The bathroom was a mess by friday afternoon.


I'm proud of my students who graduated and I hope nothing but the best for them next year! Right now we have tons of junior high school students running around taking entrance exams to come to Kanazu in April. I cant wait to meet my new ichi-nensei kids. I have some exciting ideas for next year!

Mark one off the list!

Making my own sushi! Cross another off the bucket list!

• 4. Learn to make sushi

It was a success! Thanks to my host family for showing me how to do it! I think the next post will be about Hina Matsuri or Graduation! Our 3rd year students graduate on Friday. Time really does fly!
Stay tuned.

Best Weekend Ever?

Here is how to have the best weekend ever.

First have a half day of work on Friday. In fact, if you can secure a half day on every friday, you should go ahead and do that.

Go home from work and spend friday evening curled up under your kotatsu. watch movies such as....

and

Eat a delicious dinner and fall asleep early (9 o'clock is a good time).

Alone time is a precious thing. Use your Friday evening to relax after the busy week.

On Saturday morning sleep until you naturally wake up. Then take a drive down the coast of Japan. Roll down your windows and blare rocking music.

Meet up with a great friend for a delicious lunch in a cafe with a gorgeous view of the ocean. Talk for a few hours and grow to know each other more.

Explore the rocky beach for an hour or two.

Next, go and observe the seasonal daffodils which Fukui is famous for in the winter time.

Take another gorgeous drive along the coast to meet up with friends for a delayed mardi gras party with LEGIT cajun food. Teach some Irish, Brits, South Africans, Nihonjin etc... Mardi Gras traditions like King Cake and Gumbo. Listening to people practicing how to pronounce "Gumbo" will be highly amusing for you.

Photo Courtesy Sophie Walker (check out her awesome blog here!)

Then, when someone asks you if you want to spend the following day on the best ski and snowboarding mountain in the area, re-arrange all your plans to spend the next day snowboarding.

Go to sleep late and set your alarm for an early morning. Arent you glad you are super rested from Friday nights alone time?

Wake up early drive home and prepare for work on Monday. There is no worse way to start the week than not being ready for work when you walk into the office on Monday morning.
Drive to ski-jam successfully in very bad weather.

Snowboard with great friends.

Another Sophie Walker photo!

End the day with Hachiban Ramen and Gyouza.

Delicious.

In bed by 9:30pm.

SUCCESS.

HERE IS A RECIPE FOR YOU TO CREATE YOUR OWN PERFECT WEEKEND AT HOME!

1/2 a day of work on Friday

1 day Beach time

1/2 Day Mountain time

1/2 Day Alone time

1 night Party/Friends Time

Go to sleep early on Sunday Night.

Good luck and happy cooking!

全部白-ぜんぶしろ-zenbu shiro-all white

Monday was Independence Day in Japan and both students and teachers got to enjoy the rare day off from school responsibilities. Naturally the young teachers at my school decided to spend their precious Monday off hanging out together. Their destination was Ski-Jam. Ski-Jam is the largest ski/snowboarding resort on the west coast of Japan, and it happens to be in Fukui about an hour and half drive away from my apartment.

My teachers were kind enough to invite me to go with them and I LOVE hanging out with these teachers. However, I was super hesitant to go because I have NEVER in my life been skiing or snowboarding. I was terrified of the potential pain and embarrassment of looking like a foolish Texas novice in the snow. Especially since my supervisor, the coworker I'm closest with at my school, wasn't going. But, I knew that I wanted to learn to snowboard and having some nihonjin to help me navigate ski-jam for the first time was probably a good idea. Also, most of the teachers going weren't English teachers so it was a good chance to practice my Japanese.

Not wanting to feel completely alone and foreign I asked the teachers If I could bring a friend. They gracefully said it was OK so I brought my friend Sophie with us for company and support. (Thanks Sophie!)

As we were driving up the mountain I was getting more and more nervous. Literally everything was coated in white snow and I felt like a fish out of water in a million different ways. What had I gotten myself into? but I also felt excitement at trying something new that I had always wanted to do.

We got to ski-jam and my teachers helped Sophie and I rent the gear that we needed and put our stuff into lockers. Its always nice to have Japanese people around to help you fill out forms and get everything sorted. It takes twice as long when I struggle through with my caveman japanese!
On our way out to the mountain we ran into a couple groups of our students. The teachers weren't the only ones enjoying the day off in the snow! The whole soccer club and a group of ichi-nensei girls were there as well.

One of my teachers, Wakamatsu-sensei, is super motivated to speak to me in English and kindly volunteered to be my snowboarding coach for the day! She did such a great job teaching me in English and simple Japanese so that I could understand. I found snowboarding difficult, but not as difficult as I expected it to be. I am pretty familiar with wake boarding and found some similarities that worked in my favor and some key differences that made adjusting to snowboarding extremely difficult.

The way you turn and lean on your board is exactly the same and having your feet strapped into a board probably felt more natural to me than other beginners. The biggest difference is where you place your weight on the board. In wake boarding you are leaning back and letting the boat pull you by keeping your weight on your back foot. In snowboarding, however, you put more of your weight on your front foot. I was constantly having to force myself to lean forward or I would end up on my backside.

After a whole day snowboarding I feel comfortable saying that I can fall down the mountain at an effective speed and with more practice I think I will be able to manage snowboarding down the mountain soon. My whole body aches. I can honestly say that I was more sore the day after snowboarding than I was the day after I climbed Fuji. But it hasn't deterred me! I'm going to try and go again this weekend.

The group. I really love this picture!

This is a video I took on the ski lift. The people are all teachers from my school the teacher to my left is Wakamatsu sensei my snowboarding sensei! I love these teachers so much!

BUCKET LIST REVISED

JAPAN BUCKET LIST

• 1. Climb to the summit of Mount Fuji and watch the sunrise from the top.

• 2. Pass the JLPT level 5 in June and level 4 in December of 2013.

• 3. Go to an Onsen (Hot Spring Bath)

• 4. Learn to make sushi

• 5. Learn Calligraphy

• 6. Show artwork in a gallery in Japan.

• 7. Try Kyudo (Japanese archery)

• 8. Travel to Japan's 4 major islands.

• 9. Know all the names of the students that I teach.

• 10. Join an after school club activity.

• 11. Learn to be a boss on a snowboard and/or ski's

• 12. Visit the snow monkeys!

• 13. Start a new organization or club of some kind in my community

• 14. Wear a kimono with cowboy boots. (International exchange! Oh, that isn't what you had in mind?)

• 15. Learn to sing karaoke in Japanese.

• 16. Go to a Japanese musician's concert. 

• 19. Sleep in a Capsule Hotel

• 18. visit Arashiyama 

Bucket List- COMMENTARY

6 months since I came to Japan past a few weeks ago. Its hard to believe that If I wasnt recontracting half of my time in Japan would be over. In honor of that halfway point I will re-analyze my Japan bucket list and cross some things off/edit them as needed.

JAPAN BUCKET LIST

• 1. Climb to the summit of Mount Fuji and watch the sunrise from the top.

I would consider this accomplished. I didn't see the sunrise from the summit of mount Fuji but from about 700 meters from the top. pretty dang close. ACCOMPLISHED!

• 2. Understand 50% of the Japanese spoken around me by the end of my year long contract. (this is ambitious... but I will do my best!) 

I haven't honestly been studying a ton of Japanese. I more just pick things up from students and coworkers. my listening ability has improved a lot, but my speaking is still very poor. This goal was way too lofty and ridiculous. I'm going to edit it to something achievable. IN PROGRESS 

•  2. Pass the JLPT Level 5 in June and the JLPT level 4 in December! (JLPT=Japanese Language Proficiency Test)

• 3. Go to an Onsen (Hot Spring Bath)

I live in Onsen Town. I have been to about 5-6 different Onsen now. I thoroughly enjoy it. ACCOMPLISHED!

• 4. Learn to make sushi

I have signed up for a Japanese cooking class later this month! Look for a post about it soon! IN PROGRESS!

• 5. Learn Calligraphy

Haven't made any attempts at this yet... Will look into it soon! IN PROGRESS

• 6. Show artwork in a gallery in Japan.

I need to work on making art before I can start worrying about showing art! I have been to a ton of museums and seen some incredible artwork though! IN PROGRESS!

• 7. Try Kyudo (Japanese archery)

Will look into it soon! IN PROGRESS!

• 8. Travel to Japan's 4 major islands.

Not yet! Seems like I still have quite a bit of traveling to do! IN PROGRESS!

• 9. Know all 800 student's names in my high school.

Not even close sadly. I probably know about 15-20 student's names. The Japanese names are difficult because I'm not accustomed to them. I also dont teach any second year students. pretty impossible to learn their names. The goal will be changed to knowing all of my students in MY classes. IN PROGRESS! 

• 9. Know all of the students names that I teach in my own classes! 

• 10. Join an after school club activity.

Does English Speaking Society Count? Yes? Good. ACCOMPLISHED.

• 11. Learn to be a boss on a snowboard and/or ski's

Well, I've learned to snowboard kinda but I definitely need practice in order to call myself a boss. I'm wincing as I type this from sore muscles actually... ACCO-IN PROGRESS.

• 12. Visit the snow monkeys!

More traveling! I think this will have to wait until next year! I wont have time this winter! IN PROGRESS!

• 13. Start a new organization or club of some kind in my community

Nope. This will be tough, but I think its doable. Maybe next year after I can speak more Japanese (since I will pass the JLPT level 4!) IN PROGRESS!

• 14. Wear a kimono with cowboy boots. (International exchange! Oh, that isn't what you had in mind?)

Hahaa, I got my cowboy boots shipped to me! Thats a start, right? IN PROGRESS!

• 15. Learn to sing karaoke in Japanese.

I can sing the song if its super slow and has furigana. I dont think that counts though. IN PROGRESS! 

• 16. Go to a Japanese musician's concert.

SUMMER FEST NEXT YEARRRRR!! I Will be there!!  IN PROGRESS!



Accomplished 3 and a half out of 16. not looking great. I better get busy! I'll post the revised list in the next post with some additional goals. There should be quite a few posts coming in the coming weeks. look for them soon!

-Erin