The Start of Work

Work is Starting..

As August is about to end, this means that the new semester of school is about to begin. I’m really getting quite antsy to get started at school. My first day is on Thursday and there will be a formal ceremony introducing me where I will have to give a speech introducing my self. My first few classes will have me giving an introduction of myself with these large photocopied and laminated slides of my life in Vancouver. This past month has been fun, but I am really looking forward to doing some work now, I’m pretty much settled and excited about the year up ahead. Wish me luck!

Feel free to leave me any comments you have and email me any time and I’ll get back to you asap!

Miyajima, Matsuyama Castle and Dogo Onsen

Traveling

On August 19-21 there is this festival called obon, which is a holiday where a lot of Japanese people return to their home towns to pray to their ancestors. It also means that it is vacation time. Originally we had decided to go visit Osaka for the weekend. However, due to our paycheck not arriving till the next week, we decided to just take a cheaper root and visit more local places. On Sunday, we went to Miyajima Island in Hiroshima, which is a UNESCO protected heritage site. I’m sure you have seen the famous red gate in the water before. On that Sunday in Miyajima there is a summer Matsuri, or festival with hanabi or fireworks on display. In the morning Peter, Rome and I decided to climb the local mountain before the start of the festival, Mt. Misen. The mountain is about 2.6 km up. It was a good climb, even though I got separated with the guys for a bit, as I went ahead and climbed to the top and they went through another path to see these famous monkeys on the mountain. The really neat thing about the mountain was that near the top you would stop, and find a temple that would be a few hundred years old and you can stop and explore a bit. This one temple had a bell about 900 years old from the famous Taira clan. Definitely a place that is full of history. Well as I said I was got split up from my friends, so I finally realized that they weren’t going to meet up with me at the top, so I made my way to this rope trolley that would take me back down the mountain. Unfortunately, just when I got there, the last trolley had left about 5 minutes ago. I wasn’t the only unfortunate one as this Japanese dude had also made the same mistake as me. So we decided to hike our way back down. He spoke no English at all, so I tried using as much Japanese as I could, and we had a good time chatting while climbing down the mountain. I brought him a beer, and he got me, Rome and Pete some oysters when I met up with them at the bottom of the mountain. We had a good meal, and then we made our way down to the festival area by the water and picked up some food form the stands that were set up for the festival. Around 9pm the massive fireworks began. The Miyajima fireworks are one of the most famous in Japan. And comparing to the Celebration of Light that we have in Vancouver, the ones in Japan I think are more extravagant. We were right up to the front of the fireworks, but decide to leave half way though because there was so many people that if we didn’t make our way to the ferry terminal, we most likely weren’t going to get off the island until 2am. Even from where we were it took about 30 minutes to get to the terminal by fighting our way though traffic. I used Peter as a shield up front, as his 230lbs really did clear the way. Overall, it was a great day, and I had a great time at my first big festival.

The day after Miyajima, we decided to make our way to Shikoku, one of the four big islands that make up Japan. We went to the major city there, Matsuyama. We just spent two days there, but we had a good time visiting one of the few remaining original castles, aptly named Matsuyama castle. The castle was really neat as they had dozens of stairs you had to climb and lots of Japanese suits of armor and swords on display. Seeing the originals and not replicas was definitely a highlight of the day. We even had to take this chair lift up to the castle as it is situated at the highest point of the city. Which meant it offered a beautiful view of the city. However, just before we were about to leave the castle, a mini typhoon decided to cover all of Matsuyama city and a huge torrential downpour ensued. The four of us tried to wait it out, looking for cover within the castle walls, but after about 20 minutes we gave up and tried to make our way back down to the city. We ran towards the exit and just then, the rain even picked up more. So we decided to veer towards one of the restaurants beside the castle for cover. Since it was raining so hard, we decided that we should just eat lunch there, and it ended up being one of the best meals we’ve had in Japan so far. We had some hand made soba noodles which is by far the best I’ve had and we also tried some maccha mochi, a green tea rice cake which was delicious. We made our way back down the castle and then took the train to a place in Mastsuyama, called Dogo.

Dogo is famous for one thing, and that is its Hot Spring or Onsen. We managed to find a hotel to stay at with a decent price after some minor bargaining and we explored this little resort town full of hot springs. The Dogo onsen is the oldest one in recorded history in Japan, dating back over 1000 years. We toured the main strip and then at night Peter, my 230 pound 6’3 American friend of mine decided to try the hot spring. Our other buddy Rome, passed, apparently soaking naked with a friend you’ve met for a month was too much for him to handle. So Peter and I made our way in and got the deluxe treatment, which meant we could bathe in a more private onsen and sit in the second floor terrace sipping green tea and eat biscuits before our dip. So that’s what we did, we were completely lost as to where to go and the exact procedure we should follow, so we just tried to follow the other dudes in the onsen. After an interesting time deciphering where we exactly change and where the onsen was, we arrived at the onsen Kaminoyu (Water of God) and went in after a pre-wash. The onsen etiquette is actually quite lengthy, luckily we were able to figure it all our from what we knew and saw, and enjoyed soaking in a 1000 year hot spring immensely. Definitely relaxing and something I am going to try to do as often as I can. Another highlight of the night was a tour of the emperor’s private hot spring and room. Apparently the emperor had visited this hot spring twice during his reign, and afterwards it became one of the first tourist attractions in Japan. We had a hilarious Japanese dude throwing in any English he knew to explain the emperor’s quarters. It was really neat to see the emperor’s chair and cushion (with his imprint still on it!) and his own private garden and onsen. The next morning, we convinced Melody, who is a Maori from New Zealand and Rome to go to another onsen, so we visited a more modern one in Dogo, as opposed to the 100 year old building that we were in last night. The modern one called, Tsubakinoyu (Water of Camellia didn’t have the aesthetic appeal of the older one, but the onsen was just as relaxing though it a lot more people in it. It was also fun to see all the old Japanese men stare at Pete, luckily I’m Asian and I blend in quite nicely. Even though every one there was over 50 and this old lady who cleans up the dressing room kept on staring at us, we all had a good time at the onsen. Melody was on the female side, and she said she enjoyed it a lot too. We spent the rest of the day visiting a famous temple called Ishite-ji, part of the famous 88 temple on Shikoku. The temple was very calming and interesting as we all rung a bell for good luck and went into a cave to visit numerous Jizo statues. After the temple we went to a large garden at Matsuyama castle, which was relaxing and then made our way back to Kure by a ferry.

Conferences and A-bomb Anniversary

What I have been doing

The past month has mainly consisted of me visiting the board of education in Kure, and working on preparations for the school year. I’ve also had another two conferences. The first was one in Hiroshima city organized to include everyone in Hiroshima prefecture on August 12^th -15^th. Another conference was held on August 22^nd-26^th in Saijo, a town north east of Hiroshima for all first year JETs. This conference was primarily a Japanese language course and it helped to refresh some of the Japanese that I had lost. The Hiroshima city conference was interesting and informative as it provided me with scenarios and situations to be an effective teacher. A lot of the workshops also deal with adjusting and living in Japan, which is actually a greater adjustment then living in most other countries in the world. Japan is a country that has been closed off for a long time and has many stringent rules and customs that people follow. Luckily I aware of some of them as I have either learned in school or from Asuka, but there are still many puzzling ones that you won’t even expect exist. Thus, I’ll occasionally post some Japanese random factoids about living in Japan and its interesting customs.
At night we had a good time going to these inkai, or all you can eat and all you can drink places. We had a lot of fun at this restaurant where I defeated Rome in an Ice Cream eating contest, Rome seriously eats ice cream every day, but as some of you know, I can pretty much fit an obscene amount of food down my stomach!, see picture for glorious victory. After that we had a good night singing the night away at Karaoke!

As for the rest of the time, I’ve spent a lot of this month in Kure, usually crashing at my fellow JET Rome’s place. The train back home leaves at 10:40pm, so I’m often sleeping over at Rome or Peter’s place. They are both American, and we have a good time ribbing each other on the deficits of our respective countries. They know I love hockey and maple syrup and I tend to bring up the obesity of Americans and how they are prone to invade countries. It is all good natured and I have been lucky to have made some really good friends here, we share the same humor and have a good time hanging out with each other. There are seventeen JETs in Kure, and everyone gets along pretty well. We have JETs from England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US.

August 6^th - 60^th Anniversary of the Atomic Bomb
On the 6^th of August the anniversary of the atomic bomb, Rome and I decided to make our way to Hiroshima city to see some of the remembrance ceremonies there. This was also the first time in Hiroshima city. The day went well, I met up with Aki, Asuka’s best friend who lives in Hiroshima. As expected she was a really nice and we spent the evening touring the A-Bomb dome, which was really surreal. The peace memorial park was a touching tribute for those who lost their lives and seeing the famous paper origami cranes was a highlight. There were a few concerts and I had a sober time touring all the memorials and seeing the eternal flame. I didn’t get a chance to see the museum but I’ll make sure that I come back to see that at a later date. The main attraction of the night was the famous floating of the paper lanterns down the canal at the peace park. It really is a surreal site to behold as you see hundreds of paper lanterns floating down the canal at once. Aki got a paper crane and was nice enough to let Rome and I write a message on it, unfortunately we didn’t have time to float it down ourselves, but we had a nice time watching the other lanterns do so. Overall I was glad I was able to be there for the memorial.

Living and Work Situation

The next morning we took a plane from Tokyo and arrived in Hiroshima city and I met my supervisor, Sakata sensei and a fellow JET named Rome. They were both really nice and took me to my new home for the next year. So I am actually living in a city about 40 minutes from Hiroshima city called Kure. The city recently grew as it almagated with numerous other cities to create a mini-metropolitan. So though I am technically living in Kure-shi, I’m actually in a small town about 20 minutes away called Kawajiri. In addition, I’m not even teaching in Kawajiri, but another town about 10 minutes away called Yasurra. Originally I was a bit disappointed in this set up, but now I’m actually ecstatic about my situation. The city of Kure is nice and big and most of my friends are there, but I enjoy living in the inaka- or countryside much more. Kawajiri is a real quiet little town right by the water and everything is just minutes away from my house. In addition its better to not live in the city you teach in because you lessen the chance of running into your students as much. Thus, I am close to the city, but I also get to experience the country life and get to hopefully know two towns really well.

I’m also one of the most fortunate JETs in Kure because of my living situation. I am sure you have all heard that living in Japan is very expensive and the places are really small. Well….the reason why I’m also not living in Yasurra is because they couldn’t find any decent accommodation for me. Some of my fellow JETs have nice places, but they are either tiny and a lot of them are quite old and run down. Luckily, mine is neither as I got a brand spanking new apartment. All the appliances and the entire place has been remolded and I even have hardwood floors. What is even more unfair is that I have four large windows in my living room that overlook the seto sea, so yea, I have a waterfront view. Really, how cool is that? My place is also the biggest too, consisting of a living room the size of most other JETs apartments and two bedrooms, a patio, a large washroom and shower. So yea, no complaints on this department at all. What was really neat too is when the landlord was showing me around the place, and decided to show me every appliances function, including every light switch in the house, and how to turns on and off. Furthermore, he even sat on the famous Japanese cleaner toilets and proceeded to demonstrate to me how to ummm..use it. Yes, they are definitely thorough here. The view from my windows
My work situation seems to be a good one. I have heard that some JETs get too many schools or really uncooperative teachers or who just sit around all day and the teacher never utilizes them. Luckily for me I just have one junior high school which is something I’m really happy about as it allows me to build a relationship at that one school, as opposed to the numerous schools that some JETs have. I also get to teach elementary, which from that I hear is taxing but very rewarding. I’ll have my main junior high school in Yasurra and five surrounding elementary schools which I will rotate teaching on a weekly basis. So I really do feel I have a good mix up of junior and elementary schools and a great situation. Furthermore, the main English teacher I have met is very cooperative and nice. His English is functional, as opposed to some JETs have teachers that are unable to even speak English. Okamoto sensei seems really cooperative and wants me to have an active role in the classroom. So overall, I am excited when the school year starts on September 1^st.

First Post in Japan and Orientation

Welcome!

So this is my first official post on my blog about my experiences in Japan. I have been meaning to get this started for awhile, but the lack of an internet connection has delayed this for the first month that I have been in Japan.

The point of this blog is mainly for my friends and family to know what I’m up to, and to also chronicle my time here. So first off if you don’t know, I applied for this program called JET or Japan Exchange and teaching last November. After a lengthy application and interview phase, I was accepted to be one of many Canadian and English foreigners to be whisked away to Japan to teach English in Japanese public schools. So here I am, living in Japan…..lets get started!

Tokyo July 25^th- July 28^th

I landed in Tokyo on Sunday July 25^th at Narita International airport. The flight went well, from Vancouver it was only about 10 hours, and it went by quite briskly. Especially, since we were flying business class with JAL. The contingent of about 100 JETs from British Columbia and Alberta arrived on time and without a hitch. The most interesting thing that occurred that day was when we were making our way through the arrival gates and heard loud cheering outside. My first reaction was like “WOW,” they really welcome the new English teachers in Japan. However, just when I walked out, I noticed tons of Read Madrid soccer jerseys and Beckham signs and that is when I realized that Real Madrid was in Japan to play a friendly. It was really weird walking in front of dozens of TV cameras and crowds of people.

After the airport where we were herded onto buses that led us from the airport to Tokyo. We arrived in Tokyo about 40 minutes later and stayed at the classy Keio plaza hotel, which was probably going to be the nicest place I am ever going to stay at. At night a few Canadians that I had met up with decided to explore the Shinjuku area where we were staying. Being my first time in Asia, I was pretty amazed by how things are in Tokyo, it is a pretty crazy city, with its neon lights and its endless streams of people. We had a good time exploring a bit of the city, and the main words out of our mouths, was “I can’t believe we are in Tokyo.”

My first night was definitely a memorable one, as we decide to go into a restaurant and try out the local cuisine. Unfortunately, we choose a menu with no pictures. I was the most fluent of our group, which really isn’t saying much. So I tried to order using my broken Japanese, when suddenly the waitress asked if I spoke Chinese, as she was Chinese herself. I replied I did, but…she spoke Mandarin and I spoke Cantonese. So using all three languages I managed to order our group some sashimi, chicken and rice and we all had a great time drinking Kirin well into the night and then went exploring around Shinjuku some more.

The second day in Tokyo was when the main workshops happened. All in all the workshops were beneficial and interesting. Lots of information gets thrown at you, and I now have a whole bookshelf full of handbooks and teaching materials to aid me. The second night I spent with Asuka’s friend Aya who lives in Tokyo. She brought me around the town and we had a nice dinner and visited Shibuya, one of the trendiest areas of Tokyo. I took a picture with this famous dog statue, it did something during the war, I have no clue what it did but Aya just told me to take a picture with it.

On the third night, was when Japan formally welcomed the new JETS with a typhoon. Did I also mention that the day we arrived there was also an earthquake, so we definitely got a nice Japanese natural disaster welcome. Our final night in Tokyo was suppose to be our formal dinner at the Canadian embassy, but due to the Typhoon it was canceled. Instead, a few of us decided to venture out into the typhoon, which ended up being a weak one as it actually passed most of Tokyo. My final night in Tokyo was also a great night, as I had lots of Beer and Chu-hi, a fruit infused alcohol. We ventured into a place called the Arabian Rock, which I kid you not, was made to mimic Arabia in ever way possible. They even played Aladdin music outside and had all the Arabian nights décor. Inside, everything is stone with a hostess that wears a traditional Arabic garb and even asks you to rub a magic lamp that has a puff of smoke exploding from its spout. Yea, definitely a place I have to re-visit the next time I am in Tokyo.