My First Car!

I was not expecting to get my first car ever in Japan but I did! Living in a more rural area and wanting to have a slightly easier time getting around made the idea of having a car more of a necessity than it ever was living in Vancouver. Originally, my plan was to wait for a while and then get one after the weather changed. But, one of my ALT co-workers, wanted to buy a new car so I could get his at a good price. So, I said OK and got a 1994 SE Vintage Sprinter. It is the same as a Corolla and was kept in good condition. Most ALTs have something resembling a k-car but I have a sedan which should be great for road trips.
Now, I just have to deal with driving on some narrow roads and on the wrong/other side of the road!

My "beautiful" car!
My car (middle) in front of my apartment building
P.S. I'm glad my car is not as small as this one!

First Weekend at "home"

This weekend was the first one since moving to Gobo where I have not been traveling. So, I made plans to attend a local event and explore my new surroundings a bit more.

So, Saturday night, Emi and I hit the local nightlife in Hidakagawa by attending a koto concert and tea ceremony. A group from Gobo including a husband and wife played several traditional songs on the koto. Some of the kids in attendance were a little restless to say the least.

Koto players in NakatsuPeek-a-boo!
After the concert ended, we moved to the main hall to enjoy the tea ceremony as performed by the Nakatsu tea ceremony club. I enjoyed the matcha and the sweets so I had seconds. I got to meet a few of the club members and make a few new friends. The event was planned to coincide with the full moon. Instead of seeing the man in the moon, Japanese people believe that there is a rabbit in the moon making mochi (gluteneous rice balls). So at the end of the night, Emi, myself along with some of the BOE and Community Centre staff are staring at the moon. Fun times!
Preparing the teaServing the tea in a kimonoEnjoying the yummy matcha
Sunday was also a good day or so it seemed. The weather was perfect for a bike ride to the local beach, Enjukuhama. So, armed with my camera, I headed there and took some shots. I stopped at the brand new Cafe Mew which overlooks the beach for lunch. It is a nice place to relax and enjoy the view. Pasta lunch at the cafe"Kawaii"!The view from the cafe
Then, I decided to ride up the hill to find "America Mura" which is really Canada Mura but that deserves a post of its own. So, as I get up part of the hill, I realize I have a flat tire. So, I see an elderly lady (obachan) and ask if she has a bike pump. I thank her and ride away only to discover a few moments later that my tire is flat again. So, I had to walk all the way from Mihama town to Gobo. I bought a new tire at a hardware store on the way home but don`t have the tools to install it! It was a hot day but I survived the 45 minute walk home. Now, if only my bike would work. I still need to use it while I wait for my car insurance to be sorted out.My bike called a "mama chari" has a flat tire!

Taiko Drum Master

One night after having dinner with fellow ALT, Parry, he suggested that we go to the game center at the mall to play taiko. I had not heard of this game before but I was happy to give taiko a try. So, off we went.

The Namco Taiko Drum Master
I think this is a popular game as it sits beside the ubiquitous purikura (print club) sticker booths in the game centre at Roman City. The game has lots of J-Pop, anime, classical music and even Toxic by Britney Spears. You can play at three levels: easy, average and difficult. In order to receive a chance to play another song, you must pass the song with about 80-90%. If you are able to drum along with the rhythm of the song then you will pass. Pink beats are in the centre of the drum and blue beats are on the top edge. You can play by yourself or in duets. Luckily, even if you play a duet with a beginner like me, as long as one person passes the song, you can receive another. This game could become addictive so watch out but I really like it because it has a good deal of musicality and requires good hand/eye coordination.
Follow the beat
Parry is so good at this game that I think he should be nicknamed "The Taiko Drum Master". He has a musical background and practices on the Donkey Kong bongo game. It`s really fun to watch him play!
Parry is the Taiko Drum Master

Happy Birthday Emi!

Eventhough I have only known one of my co-workers for a month, I wanted to make sure we celebrated her birthday here at the BOE. Emi does all the translation work for us and she is a great person to have around. She has helped me out with everything I need to feel settled here in my town and work. No problem is too much for her for handle and she is one of the craftiest people I know! So, Mac, Ben and I chipped in to get her flowers and a really cool pop-up book. She loves pop-up books by Robert Sabuda but this one was of Winnie the Pooh.

Opening the book...Suhara Sensei and Kacho admiring the bookMac, Ben, me and Emi

Self-Introduction

Ok. So, the day has finally come to start teaching. In Japan, the all important first lesson is your self-introduction. Everyone has to do it. You can not avoid it. You will repeat it many times over the first month of teaching and you may have to do it again if you change schools or get new students.I teach at five schools: nursery, three elementary, and one junior high school. Since I teach in 21 classrooms so this lesson will be done 21 times over the first month. So, it is important to have a lesson that you enjoy teaching about yourself. Yes, you teach the students things about you, your family, your hobbies and most importantly, your home country.

The main things I wanted to teach in this lesson was about my family, my hobbies and my country. So, I got together pictures, maps, realia (for example, Canadian money), and some games or activities to do after my presentation. With nursery, I did a brief self-introduction (5-10 mins)and then when right into singing songs and playing games with the kids. Even though the kids are very young, this worked well. I had a four year old take out one of her textbooks and actually point to the Canadian flag. She told me I am from this place. Talk about a sharp pre-schooler and grass-roots internationalization!

Grassroots Internationalization at its best!

At the elementary schools, I spent about half of the lesson doing my presentation and then I had them colour and draw a Canadian flag. We also sometimes played a quiz game about what I said in my presentation. I also gave the students a present from Canada such as a pen, bookmark or pin. At Miyose, third graders drawing the Canadian flagNow for the finished product!
First graders at Wasa with their own flags and a souvenir
At the junior high school, I did my presentation and a written quiz. Then, my students all did a brief introduction, which they had prepared in advance for me. I thought that was really great! It helped me to learn more about the students right off the bat. My junior high school students also received a Canadian souvenir.
Eating lunch with the girls at my Junior High School
All in all the lessons went well. The students listened and the homeroom teachers helped translate but I did hear my students saying things back to me in Japanese which made me realize that they can understand and infer things quite well. However, I was very happy to move on teach other things!

Omiyage foul!

It is a tradition to bring omiyage (souvenirs) back to your friends and co-workers when you return from a trip in Japan or overseas. These souvenirs are usually food products which are then shared amongst the staff at tea or coffee time. It is really fun to sample all of the great food from all over Japan and the world. My first trip out of Wakayama and Osaka was to Nara so I decided to partake in this tradition. Unfortunately, I chose a bit badly. I usually choose omiyage by what I thought was popular and looked delicious. I love chocolate so I choose these chocolate cookies.

Oishisoo! Looks delicious!

When I got back to work on Monday, I dropped them off in the omiyage area. Around tea time, Emi told me that I had brought back poo for my omiyage. Oops! Seems I had purchased "shika no fun" which stands for deer poo. After walking around the big park in Nara, it is easy to see that this is an entirely appropriate omiyage to sell there. Perhaps, it just wasn't the most appropriate one to bring to work!
"Deer poo" omiyage

Deers+Buddha=Big Fun in Nara!

The night of the Wakayama Orientation, more than half of the new ALTs were staying at Leilani's place in Wakayama City. The next day, Rose, Megan, Tristan, Leilani and I ventured off to explore the historic city of Nara. Nara is another one of the great Kansai cities. It is a former capital of Japan (710-784) and its claim to fame is that it houses the largest Buddha in the world in the largest wooden building in the world, the Daibutsu-den at Todaiji. Aside from the Buddha, it is famous for its deer which are supposed to be sacred. Supposedly, they just run free all over Nara Park. So, armed with some train directions, we headed into Osaka to change trains and then a little further east to Nara. The trains were easy enough to navigate except at one point when I thought we should board a train only to be saved by Tristan's hunger attack.

Tristan's a hungry man. Thanks for saving us from taking the wrong train!!

Upon arrival, we got directions to Todaiji from the tourist information centre in the train station. Since we were still hungry that morning, we hit up Bikkuri Ramen (Surprise Ramen!) next to Nara Station. It was good,cheap and fast and now we had fuel for our day of sightseeing.

We wandered down the main shopping street in Naramachi leading towards the sights and I spotted many quaint cafes that I would love to linger in one day. The first sight we came to was Kofukuji with its three and five story pagodas. Near the entrance of this temple, we met our first deer. We called it our training deer as it was very docile. Silly us though, we still acted very timid towards it. Here is a picture of me with it.
Me with the "training deer"
The entrance to Kofukuji and its majestic pagoda

Since we had already warmed up with the training deer, now it was time to mingle with the rest of the deer. The best way to make friends with them is to purchase crackers called sembei for 150 yen ($1.40 Cdn) and then try your best to not to get attacked by hordes of deer. For the most part, this went well. But watch out for the deer with horns. They can be vicious and being poked by their horns definitely hurts! As Tristan found out later that day, you gotta watch your back, because a deer surprised him at a vending machine. It was pretty funny to watch that sneak attack since Tristan was a little jumpy to say the least.Look! I am calmly feeding a deer

After laughing at our (mis)adventures with some of the deer, we made our way to Todaiji. Of course, there were more deer lining the route to the main attraction in Nara but there were also lots of omiyage and food stalls. I also spotted a begging monk. He looked very serene. The Daibutsu-den is absolutely amazing. It's hard to imagine how such a large building was made pre-modern construction techniques. The Big Buddha is awe-insipiring as well. The Daibutsu-den at Todaiji
The Big Buddha

It seems that the path to enlightenment is tangible after all. It is in the Daibutsu-den in Nara. I saw a lot of adults and children trying to wedge their way through a small hole in a wooden beam. I stopped to look at this madness. After consulting another tourist and my guidebook, there is method to the madness. People crawl through a hole which is the same size as one of the Big Buddha's nostrils to gain enlightenment for the year. The path to enlighment ends here

On the way back to the train station, we found a beautiful park with a lake and rowboats. It was so picturesque. Then, we spotted a maiko out of the blue. It looked like she was on her way to a party but stopped to oblige us tourists. This was the first maiko I spotted! It was really exciting.
Scenes of Nara Park
On her way to a party?

So far, Nara is my favourite city I have visited in Kansai. I feel at peace in this beautiful city. I hope to visit again in the fall and spring.

Wakyama Orientation

On September 1, all of the new JET ALTs in Wakayama gathered at the Big AI in Wakayama City for an afternoon of orientation. Many took the opportunity to go up early in the morning and get the re-entry permit at the Osaka Customs office branch near the port.

Chatting before the Orientation at the Big AI
The Orientation had another round of self-introductions where the ALTs traded some interesting stories about settling down. Sarah A. shared her bug stories and how to kill them and aside from bugs, there were other interesting guests awaiting some of the ALTs at their apartment. We got a handbook for living in Wakayama and heard from WIXAS (Wakayama International Exchange Association) and the Volunteer Interpreter Club.

WAJETs outside the Iron Hen
After the Orientation, we headed over to the Iron Hen near the JR station for a welcome party. Some of the re-contracting JETs attended and it was a good chance to hang out and meet more of the Group A ALTs. After hanging out at the izakaya for a while, the group kind of spilt up into two or three different groups. I believe everyone's night included karaoke and some even ended up at a Hip Hop club. I wandered off with Rose, Theo, Leilani and Theo's friend, Take, to Shidax karaoke which has the best selection of English songs I've found so far. It was a fun night! Next week, the real work will start...
Theo, Me and Leilani

BOE Days

From arriving in Hidakagawa, I have spent the work week at the Board of Education. We have had to do paperwork such as the alien registration and make my personal seal, set up bank accounts and deal with all sorts of matters to get me fully settled here. Aside from that, I have had plenty of quality time with the two other ALTs in my town to discuss matters related to life and teaching here in Japan. I have also being trying to wade through the copious amounts of paper and books collected at the Tokyo Orientation. If any future JETs are reading this, my advice is take an empty carry-on size bag with you to that because you are easily going to collect 5kg of books!

We have also had some fun in the summer at the BOE. One day, we all followed Emi home to have lunch with her there. That was a real treat as Mrs. Mori prepared a great spread for us. >

With all of this food, we were stuffed!
We also got to meet Emi`s charming 90 year old plus grandmother. We had so much food, we couldn't`t eat it all in spite of our best efforts. Although Emi assured us lunch is not always such an event at her house, it was easy to see why she always magically disappears home for the lunch break!
Lunchtime at Emi`s!
One day, our local town paper came by to interview none other than Mac about the loss of Pluto as a planet from our solar system. Although Mac is not fully trained as an astronomer, he was deemed qualified enough to give an opinion based on his citizenship as an American. Weird, huh?
Mac`s upset over Pluto`s loss; Looking camera ready

Last but not least, Emi was training Mac in the ancient Japanese system of counting. He took to it well and I think Emi had fun teaching him!
Crunching the numbers, Japanese-styleWakatta? Mac ponders the counting system

All in all though, I am ready to get out there teaching because I`m so curious how it will be after all the preparations and work it took me to get here to Japan.

Yosakoi

Everyday, I seem to learn new things about Japanese culture. One such thing is the importance of the annual Sports Day called うんどうかい (undoukai). I didn't realize that it would take precedence over most things during the summer months and most of September. For example, one day, a school forgot I was coming and scheduled undoukai practice instead of the ALT class and then another requested I start teaching after it was over. That's great because Sports Day is a fun event that brings the school together and sometimes even feeder schools.

Yosakoi practice
Although, I have not started teaching at my schools, I asked to be shown where they are located and when we visited my junior high school, they were rehearsing for their Sports Day. All of the school was in the gym working on perfecting an awesome looking dance called yosakoi. It is really fast paced and and looks like a combination of martial arts and dance. Everyone holds noisemaker as they dance and the movements mimics farming life as the dance originated in more rural parts of Japan such as Shikoku. There are many yosakoi festivals popping up all over Japan and even one in Wakayama City. I hope to be able to join one of the yosakoi practices with my students when I start teaching!

The Shi

After spending about two and half weeks in the greater Gobo area, I was starting to get cabin fever. Shirahama was great and I was enjoying meeting all of the ALTs but I wanted to go shopping, have a Starbucks and hang out. So, I grabbed fellow ALT Sarah and we went off to explore the big city, Wakayama one evening. I had checked the Starbucks website and found that there was a store out in a mall called Garden Park. After checking their website, it looked like I hit pay dirt because one of my favourite Japanese chains, Muji, has a location there, too! The local train costs about 1000 yen and takes an hour to get up to the shi. Then, we had to navigate the bus system and eventually we found ourselves at Garden Park. Unfortunately for Sarah, there were no stores for clothes and swimsuit shopping but we both enjoyed our Starbucks and browsing Muji's food section. On our way back to the train, we stopped for food at this great little Indian restaurant run by a family from Pakistan. It is in a really convenient location and I definitely glad to see that I could still enjoy some international cuisine in Wakayama. Even as we get more settled into our rural lifestyles, it's nice to know there is a city to escape to every once in a while.

One of my favourite Japanese chain stores
Always smart to get yourself 'stranded' on an island with a Starbucks! according to my friend, C.
Sarah and her Pakistani new friend; Delicious South Asian cuisine