Hiroshima and the End of Term 1

For the July 1st weekend I was planning to head to Yamaguchi and spend Canada day there at my friend Tammy’s beach house, but it was cancelled due to rain. Instead Tammy made her way down and we spent the weekend in Hiroshima City. (Picture below: Street Perfomers in Hiroshima)

There were a few events happening as July is the month when JETs return home, so there was a leaver’s party. I was planning to attend the all you can eat/drink at a restaurant but we ended up just catching dinner at an izakaya and then just chilled in a bar.(Picture below: The entrance to the bar)

The bar had a great atmosphere and the bartender Taku, was an interesting dude to chat with as he has traveled to India, Tibet and Nepal. We chatted with him for a few hours and also with some local patrons that spoke perfect English. We stayed there until closing then crashed at a capsule hotel in town.(Picture below: Tammy and Taka)

The next day we shopped around a bit in Hiroshima and I ended up buying a Nintendo DS-lite. I had wanted one for awhile but everywhere I went it was sold out. Luckily, since I was in town early in the morning they still had some in stock and picked up a navy blue one. I also managed to talk Tammy into getting one and we managed to geek ourselves out for the day. Asuka was no for me getting one, but once i bought it she has spent more time playing it then I have!

The past few weeks has seen the school term wrapping up and I’ve had a great time teaching the elementary school kids. After being here for a year, I’ve really gotten to know most of the kids and I find myself getting quite attached to some of the little buggers. Most of the classes have been great, expect for one last week when I was teaching the 4^th graders and the fattest kid in the school decided sack me in the balls. I was playing this game called “touch the color,” and when I told the kids to touch the color black, the 100 pound forth grader honed in on my black pants and sacked me right in the testicles. I had a second where I wanted to kill the chubby Pokemon, but luckily my anger subsided and I just got retribution by pinching his rolls of fat.(Picture below: Kamei sensei and 3/4th graders from Noro-Nakagiri Elementary school playing a number game)

The Junior High school has also been really good the past few weeks. I always teach the second graders and amazingly they seem to have matured a bit the past few months and aren’t as hyper as they use to be. As for the lack of teaching the 3^rd graders with my new teachers, it finally came to a boiling point the past week. This one teacher is nice, but just didn’t realize she was being disrespectful and unprofessional by forgetting which days I’m at school and cancelling classes which I should be attending. Two weeks ago she told me to make a lesson plan to teach- my first of this term- so I was obviously psyched about it, but the week passed with no classes. She then told me that she wasn’t sure if I would be able to teach the following week, so I finally had enough and reamed her out for a good 15 minutes. I basically let out all my gripes with her and it seems to have gotten the message across as she was apologetic.(Picture below: One of my favorite elementary school kids, a second grader from Noro-Nakagiri elementary school)

This week I actually taught all three third grader classes and created my own lesson for it too. The classes went really well and when the teacher told the students that I was to teach, the class erupted in cheer and applause. I really enjoy teaching those kids and I think they really enjoy having me in class too. I really do love my third graders and Ms.Murayama, my old English teacher said it the best to have me in class because “ The textbook can’t teach the kids how much fun English can be.” I really have a great time joking around with my students and trying to interest them in English. Hopefully I got my message across and the upcoming term will be a lot better then the past one.(Picture below: My kids preparing lunch for me)

The rest of the past two weeks have been spent organizing all the things I have to bring back when I head home. I finally managed to pack everything last night and I’m all ready to hop on the plane tomorrow morning. I also have a 10-hour stopover in Taipei so I’ll get to have a side trip to Taiwan which should be fun too. I’m looking forward to heading back home and then also coming back too, as my most of the JETs are leaving my town of Kure and 11 new people are replacing them. There will also be a new person coming to my local town, Kawajiri, so I’m looking forward to meeting all the new JETs when I come back. But first I can’t wait to head home and I’m hoping I can see most of you when I’m back.

Japanese Factoid #27- As I mentioned above, I stayed at a Capsule Hotel when I was in Hiroshima. The one I stayed at was unisex with the male and female sides separated, but most capsule hotels are male only. A capsule hotel is basically a cheap place to stay that has beds or slots in a large room where you can just crash for the night.(Picture below: Capsule bunks)

Your little cubicle usually has a TV, alarm clock and beading. A lot of capsule hotels have a sento “public bath” and when I went I had a nice soak before bed and once I got up. It really relaxes you and also helps if you had too much to drink during the night. The one we choose was a bit pricier at about 35 dollars for the night, but the facilities were good and I had a good night's sleep. They are made for businessmen who want a cheap place to crash or just people who live out of the city and can’t make their way home after a night of drinking. (Picture below: Your individual bunk, it's actually larger than it looks.)