18th November - Time to get naked!!!
After a little visit from Kat last weekend, I decided to go check out her corner of the paddy field in a village called Asashina in Saku City. Having just been paid I thought nothing of jumping on the shink and was there in 20minutes flat. I picked up some weekend supplies from the supermarket (Chu Hai's, red wine, crisps and chocolate centred koala biscuits) and then in very broken Japanese gave a taxi driver directions to Kat's rice paddy. She has a lovely little bungalow complete with wooden floors, 3 tatami mat rooms and open plan kitchen. Her toilet and sink are nowhere even near her kitchen - very lucky! Having said that, she is miles from civilisation, gets woken by a rice paddy workers alarm at 6 EVERY morning - that is if the cockerels haven't got in first, has 4 buses a day do pick-ups at a stop 20mins walk from her house and I'm pretty sure the temperature dropped to about minus 20 degrees during the night. She sent me to bed with a wooly hat and I thought she was joking... but she wasn't. Any other JETs reading - it's definitley the coldest place in Nagano!
The next morning, Kat agreed to take me to my first onsen in her village. Having been able to avoid it for the last 4 months, the sheer chill in my bones was enough to make me jump at the chance to spend the morning relaxing in a hot tub - regardless of the fact I would be completely naked with a bunch of strangers. Naked. So, basically here's what you do. You walk into a changing room where you take off ALL of your clothes and don't even get a towel to hide in. You then stand completely naked until your friend/mother/sister/grandmother/child is ready and you walk into a large comunal shower (via a room where fully clothed people are putting on makeup and drying their hair). You grab a stool and sit down in front of a shower and scrub yourself clean from head to eh... toe. Once you're clean, you're free to'go onsen'.
Maybe I should have mentioned this earlier but the onsens are split into two - one for men and one for women. The showers are quite big, I think there were maybe 6 or 7 other women there but I didn't lift my head long enough to count them. Kat and I then moved through the glass doors so we were outside in the fresh air. Naked, still naked. You have to resist the urge to run to the onsen and hide in the water, so that you can delicately climb into the rock pools filled with hot water and natural minerals. In this particular onsen there is a lovely waterfall trickling into pool and there are beautiful golden trees surrounding you. Of course, none of this meant anything to me becuase now I was trying to sit in the CLEAR and relatively still water in the most optimum concealing position - which I found out is impossible when you are NAKED!!!
The whole thing was very relaxing but the water is pretty hot so we didn't stay for long. It is hard to get over the naked thing, especially when you see two old ladies scrubing each others backs (it's a sign of friendship) in the showers next to you. But, glad I did it and will definitely go back again. I felt squeaky clean afterwards too!
November 16th - pay day...
... and I decided to celebrate by having a well overdue haircut! Here's what happened:
18.57 - I arrived at "Pied de Poule" clutching a picture of what I thought would like nice on me.
18.58 - I was seated and given some Japanese magazines to 'read'.
19.00 - My jacket was taken from me and I was led to a small booth with disturbingly bright lights.
19.01 - I showed my hairdresser the picture and she said "ahhh longu bobu, longu bangsu desu ka" which translated into "long bob, long fringe?" so I replied with "hai"
19.03 - I was then taken over to the sinks to have my hair washed.
19.04 - rinse
19.06 - shampoo and massage
19.11 - rinse
19.13 - shampoo and massage
19.20 - rinse
19.22 - shampoo and yet another massage
19.28 - extended rinse
19.32 - towel dry and massage.
19.33 - neck massage
19.40 - led back to my seat where my hairdresser chopped off my longish hair into a cut just below my chin.
19.50 - blowdry and a trim
19.58 - led back to the sinks for another shampoo ( x 3 plus head and neck massages!!!)
20.10 - back to my seat where two hairdressers tag-teamed me both armed with hairdryers and straighteners.
20.25 - hair product applied (without the sales pitch)
20.30 - the look was complete, I parted with about £20 and away I went following lots of bowing (on both parts I have to say, it's really hard not to do it back!) to hide in Starbucks with my first Christmas latte of the year.
So I survived my first hairdresser visit in Japan and although my hair has been thinned to within an inch of its life, I am safe in the knowledge that my hair grows abnormally quickly and it should be back to normal by, well... eh, Christmas!
... and I decided to celebrate by having a well overdue haircut! Here's what happened:
18.57 - I arrived at "Pied de Poule" clutching a picture of what I thought would like nice on me.
18.58 - I was seated and given some Japanese magazines to 'read'.
19.00 - My jacket was taken from me and I was led to a small booth with disturbingly bright lights.
19.01 - I showed my hairdresser the picture and she said "ahhh longu bobu, longu bangsu desu ka" which translated into "long bob, long fringe?" so I replied with "hai"
19.03 - I was then taken over to the sinks to have my hair washed.
19.04 - rinse
19.06 - shampoo and massage
19.11 - rinse
19.13 - shampoo and massage
19.20 - rinse
19.22 - shampoo and yet another massage
19.28 - extended rinse
19.32 - towel dry and massage.
19.33 - neck massage
19.40 - led back to my seat where my hairdresser chopped off my longish hair into a cut just below my chin.
19.50 - blowdry and a trim
19.58 - led back to the sinks for another shampoo ( x 3 plus head and neck massages!!!)
20.10 - back to my seat where two hairdressers tag-teamed me both armed with hairdryers and straighteners.
20.25 - hair product applied (without the sales pitch)
20.30 - the look was complete, I parted with about £20 and away I went following lots of bowing (on both parts I have to say, it's really hard not to do it back!) to hide in Starbucks with my first Christmas latte of the year.
So I survived my first hairdresser visit in Japan and although my hair has been thinned to within an inch of its life, I am safe in the knowledge that my hair grows abnormally quickly and it should be back to normal by, well... eh, Christmas!
Tuesday 14th November - posted by an anonymous stranger...
Sample test answers selected at random:
1) Describe yourself (longer sentences will get more points)
"I am fat and my leg is short" (yikes!)
"I am big hand"
"I have a cat. It is very cute. It is difficult for me to speak English"
"I don't like to spider and ghost" (This isn't so random - we did a Halloween lesson last week!)
"I have small eyes so I don't like eyes"
"I have a brown eye" (just one?)
"I have three families" (he gets an A+ just for spelling families correctly!)
"My favourite singer is Bump of Chicken" (I'm thinking that is a literal translation...)
2) Complete the sentences:
Scotland shares a border with .........
"Scotland shares a border with love"
"Scotland shares a border with instrument"
"Scotland shares a border with New Zealand"
Nessie is a famous .........
"Nessie is a famous bard"
"Nessie is a famous kilt"
Madeleine is from .........
"Madeleine is from Canada" (funny that, so was the previous ALT)
"Madeleine is from England" (now that is funny!)
Sample test answers selected at random:
1) Describe yourself (longer sentences will get more points)
"I am fat and my leg is short" (yikes!)
"I am big hand"
"I have a cat. It is very cute. It is difficult for me to speak English"
"I don't like to spider and ghost" (This isn't so random - we did a Halloween lesson last week!)
"I have small eyes so I don't like eyes"
"I have a brown eye" (just one?)
"I have three families" (he gets an A+ just for spelling families correctly!)
"My favourite singer is Bump of Chicken" (I'm thinking that is a literal translation...)
2) Complete the sentences:
Scotland shares a border with .........
"Scotland shares a border with love"
"Scotland shares a border with instrument"
"Scotland shares a border with New Zealand"
Nessie is a famous .........
"Nessie is a famous bard"
"Nessie is a famous kilt"
Madeleine is from .........
"Madeleine is from Canada" (funny that, so was the previous ALT)
"Madeleine is from England" (now that is funny!)
Sunday 12th November - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
It's here, it's finally here! My first sighting of snow from my balcony...
It's here, it's finally here! My first sighting of snow from my balcony...
It's due to snow at ground level on Thursday but the locals are telling me it is too early for it to be heavy so i'm not to worry. When I tell them I don't yet have a heater the response has been "heeeeeeee, are you cold?" and although my answer through chattering teeth is usually"yyyyyyyyyyyes", I am aware that a heater this early could spoil me and I may actually die when it drops to around -15 degrees! The temperature gauge in school today read 9 degrees and my nails were blue after marking 26 number quizes, but the heating will still not go on until December!
Anyway, apart from the fear of dying from the cold, the snow has also brought with it very exciting plans for Christmas and New Year. Kat already has her tree up and I'm planning to visit her at the weekend for some chu-hai's and merriment! Kat, Kyla, Belinda and I are trying to book a lodge at one of the ski resorts for New Year so we can attempt to get on the slopes and have a bit of a party to bring in the new year. David will of course be here so am hoping to get a crash course in how to snowboard BEFORE he gets here so he doesn't have to spend two days helping me up! Yay!
David and I will spend Christmas day in Iiyama with some turkey sushi and brussel sprout takoyaki minus the 'tako' (octopus)... don't think Delia will be able to help me with MY Chrsitmas dinner with a difference!
Friday 10th November
A bit of a slow week, with students REALLY getting on my nerves. I managed to tie down some teachers though to discuss the situation in my classes and we have decided to put some small changes into place next week at my visit school. Instead of teaching 41 incredibly rude and misbehaving students, I will now only teach 20. My sensei has decided to split the class in half so that I can concentrate on teaching them instead of telling them all to shut up! At base camp however, the changes were a little less strategic. I decided to take the classes as seriously as the students do i.e. not at all, and was pleasantly surprised at my own ability to laugh at myself. When I relaxed a little and stopped stressing about getting through all of my activities, I realised that I could get two lessons out of my one lesson plan (which will also mean less work the following week) and the students had more fun and became less disruptive!
I also realised that I am not responsible for them passing their exams because I am NOT A REAL TEACHER... something I fail to remember when I am panicking about how and what to teach them next.
A bit of a slow week, with students REALLY getting on my nerves. I managed to tie down some teachers though to discuss the situation in my classes and we have decided to put some small changes into place next week at my visit school. Instead of teaching 41 incredibly rude and misbehaving students, I will now only teach 20. My sensei has decided to split the class in half so that I can concentrate on teaching them instead of telling them all to shut up! At base camp however, the changes were a little less strategic. I decided to take the classes as seriously as the students do i.e. not at all, and was pleasantly surprised at my own ability to laugh at myself. When I relaxed a little and stopped stressing about getting through all of my activities, I realised that I could get two lessons out of my one lesson plan (which will also mean less work the following week) and the students had more fun and became less disruptive!
I also realised that I am not responsible for them passing their exams because I am NOT A REAL TEACHER... something I fail to remember when I am panicking about how and what to teach them next.
DJ Squid is in the house!
Ok people, it has finally happened... I have faced my fear! I ate squid-on-a-stick!!! Well, technically it wasn't on a stick and it wasn't even cooked but that makes it far more scary and me much braver for trying it. Not bad for a Monday!
I had my usual English class tonight with the ever-enthusiastic Makoto. After our encounter on Friday, during which he presented me with freshly cooked Takoyaki (fried octopus balls...), he was keen to offer me something else typically Japanese that most foreigners run and hide from. For some reason, I cannot seem to say "no thank you, it looks weird" or "I wouldn't eat that even if you paid me" and so it seems I will continue to be offered these culinary delights. Just before he left, I thanked him again for the Takoyaki which then reminded him he had a stash of dried squid in his car.
Makoto: "Will you try?"
Me: (slight hesitation) "oooh yummy, of course!"
2 minutes later he reappeared with this...
...this being 6 times the size of my hand (and he brought two!)
He grilled the first one on the hob which turned the 10 day old fish smell into a stench that resembled singed hair. He ripped off a leg and started chewing, leaving me to select my own part to try - I opted for a smaller leg! It tasted a bit like seaweed with the texture of biltong, but the smell was overwhelming. Makoto was delighted when I replied with "oishii desu" (delicious) and decided to leave both specimens with me as a present.
As soon as he left, I downed half a tube of GIANT Smarties (thanks mum - perfect timing!!) to get rid of the weird after-taste but can't quite seem to mask the smell that has filled my tiny two room apartment...
Ok people, it has finally happened... I have faced my fear! I ate squid-on-a-stick!!! Well, technically it wasn't on a stick and it wasn't even cooked but that makes it far more scary and me much braver for trying it. Not bad for a Monday!
I had my usual English class tonight with the ever-enthusiastic Makoto. After our encounter on Friday, during which he presented me with freshly cooked Takoyaki (fried octopus balls...), he was keen to offer me something else typically Japanese that most foreigners run and hide from. For some reason, I cannot seem to say "no thank you, it looks weird" or "I wouldn't eat that even if you paid me" and so it seems I will continue to be offered these culinary delights. Just before he left, I thanked him again for the Takoyaki which then reminded him he had a stash of dried squid in his car.
Makoto: "Will you try?"
Me: (slight hesitation) "oooh yummy, of course!"
2 minutes later he reappeared with this...
...this being 6 times the size of my hand (and he brought two!)
He grilled the first one on the hob which turned the 10 day old fish smell into a stench that resembled singed hair. He ripped off a leg and started chewing, leaving me to select my own part to try - I opted for a smaller leg! It tasted a bit like seaweed with the texture of biltong, but the smell was overwhelming. Makoto was delighted when I replied with "oishii desu" (delicious) and decided to leave both specimens with me as a present.
As soon as he left, I downed half a tube of GIANT Smarties (thanks mum - perfect timing!!) to get rid of the weird after-taste but can't quite seem to mask the smell that has filled my tiny two room apartment...
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