New JETs and the 61st Hiroshima Memorial Anniversary

Well here is my pretty late post on what I've been up to in August. I've been busy and just too lazy to sit down on the computer and type the past few weeks. I’ve had a really good August spending time with a lot of the new JETs that have arrived in town. In my board of education there were 12 new arrivals, almost a complete turnaround. So the remaining few of us have been busy putting on workshops and just helping the new teachers get settled into the town and their upcoming school life.

Well it definitely hasn’t been all work, as we’ve managed to spend a lot of late summer nights in Kure. Asuka went back to Toronto for her brother’s wedding, so I stayed for most of August in the main town of Kure. The new JETs are great and we’ve spent a fair bit of the time eating and drinking away the nights. (Picture below: Rob, Greg, Aimee, Krissy, Vicki, Brandon Shaw and myfelf)

We managed to make our way for the 61^st anniversary of the A-bomb drop and had a great day walking around the city and viewing the lanterns at night. (Picture below: Beth, Kirssy, Aimee and Vicki at a British Bar in Hiroshima)

There was a Hiroshima Prefectual Orientation in the City and our Board of Education was nice enough to put us in hotels for two nights- so all the foreigners had fun wrecking havoc on Hiroshima city for two nights. (Picture below: My host sister, Kanon)

There was also a meet and greet done by the International center in Kure. It paired some of the new JETs with host families and since we were one JET short, I also volunteered. I got paired with this one little girl, called Kanon and her mother, Maya. Everything was great, except the girl hated me-or I was told just men in general. The second she laid eyes on me, she burst out in tears and continued to scream and run to her mom every time I came anywhere near her vicinity. Bear in mind I also had a 2 week beard, but I knew this "host family" relationship wouldn't really work with all the tears and yelling, so when another new JET arrived late, I gave my host family to her. So in the end, I had a Japanese host family for about 20 minutes. (Picture below: The new JET Keely getting introduced to her new host family)
The rest of the month of August went by quite briskly and was one of the most enjoyable months I’ve had in Japan- since there was no classes, it meant everyday was like a holiday. (Picture below: Lanterns being floated down river in Hiroshima)

Everything has been great except for a few minor annoyances have occurred the past month. About two weeks ago while biking in Town, my wallet popped out of my back pocket. I noticed pretty much right away, but when I went back my wallet was gone already. I did a police report, but as of yet, my wallet hasn’t turned up. Now I just want to dispel that myth that Japan is super safe and honest, as people often say that if you lose your wallet- you’ll always get it back with all your money and cards still inside. Well I haven’t gotten my wallet back!-even though I know that 9 times out of 10 you will- it’s just that I managed to hit that 10%...damn.

Also, last week for 4 days, my town Kawajiri had all its water cut off. A crack had appeared in one of the major pipes, so they had to shut down water for my town and a few other islands. So we couldn’t shower, use the bathroom and cook for a few days. The original timeline was actually 3 weeks, but luckily they managed to fix it in four days. You really know the value of some resources when it’s suddenly cut off. I had to go a few days showering at the gym and going to a local onsen, but luckily everything is back to normal now.

Well School has officially started and I’m looking forward to heading back to school and seeing my kids again. This fall should be a lot of fun as my schools have lots of events and I have a few little trips planned to Kyushu with some friends and Okinawa with Asuka.

Japanese Factoid #29: Well this past month I had quite a few dinners with fellow JETs and some supervisors. One big thing to do in Japan when you go out for dinner is to head to Tabe- ho-dai or Nomi-ho-dai which translates to all you can eat and all you can drink. There is usually a flat rate of about 30-35 dollars and you get on average 1.5 hours to pound back as much food or alcohol as you want- dangerous for you weight, but immensely enjoyable. Last week I had a dinner, and me a few JETs felt adventurous and tried fried Scorpion. Not bad I must say..