Friday 22nd September - Yogo Gakko.
Today I visited my second visit school - Yogo Gakko, a school for chidren with disabilities. It was such an experience and one I'll never forget. The school is Elementary and Junior High School combined with classes of 5 or 6 students and maybe 50 students in total. There are so many teachers around the school, with some caring for individual children who are wheelchair bound or suffering from a more severe disability. The general feeling around the school is a very happy one. The day started with an "Ohayoo Gozaimasu" (good morning) song in the classroom and then the students were given their schedule for the day using flashcards and plastic clocks. They then hosted a Takoyaki (fried octopus) party where the children got together in little aprons and yellow bandanas (which I also proudly donned for the occasion) to make their own Takoyaki and then eat... all before 11am! Luckily for me, the Takoyaki wasn't actually made from octopus and just had slices of sausage in the middle instead!
After the party, my teacher and I went to get the children ready for lunch i.e. more aprons and bandanas. For those who are able, they are taught to set their own tables and dish out their own food so lunchtime is set from 11.15am - 1.15pm to allow time for everyone to take part. Teachers and students have their lunch together and I watched as a girl of about 8 or 9 with Downs Syndrome dished up my lunch for me. My teacher told me she would normally never go near a stranger, but by 2pm she was hanging off my arm. I couldn't understand their Japanese and they only knew 'hello' or 'ok' so communicating was left down to gestures and body language. Yuki-chan, the wee girl who served up my lunch wanted me to read with her so as you can imagine i struggled immensly!!!
After lunch (which was rice, miso soup, cold vegetable stew, eel tempura and a bottle of full fat milk) it was cleaning time where all the students did their best to help with the cleaning. The emphasis is not really on the actual cleaning, but more the concept of working together and doing 'normal' school duties. At 2pm there was some dancing and more singing, followed by study time. Each student had their own set of plastic drawers that had different activities depending on their ability. They all quietly got on with their work for about 20 minutes which was then finished off with story time. I didn't quite understand what was being said but at one point one of the teachers pretended to eat a blue fish (cuddly toy), stuffed it under his jumper to show it was in his tummy and then proceeded to act out going to the toilet which produced the story they were going to read!!!! Very funny, and the kids thought it was hilarious! After story time it was free time for the students to play in the park or gym hall with all the various toys laid out for them. At the end of the day, the teachers went to see off all the students onto their buses or meet their parents who had come to pick them up.
I met so many lovely children and hate to single any out but this one wee boy had his own language which only the teachers and his parents undersood. It was amazing to see the teachers communicate with him and know him so well. He was trying to tell them about a TV programme he had seen the previous night and they couldn't work out what it was called, so one of the teachers went to get a newspaper and went through it with him! He was 11 years old, but looked much younger and was so tiny and frail. He insisted that I help him with the mopping after lunch and he was blabbing away the whole time but didn't understand that I couldn't speak Japanese (or even his own special dialogue!).
It was such a memorable day and I enjoyed not having to deal with 17 year olds with big egos and attitudes! Roll on my next visit in October!
Photo Update!
Here are two pics from my cycle in the 'typhoon' with Kyla on Monday - I'm still confused because the weather looks amazing!!! A little old man offered to take a picture of the two of us which was sweet but he insisted that we stood next to this sign?! Not sure what it says though...
The next picture is my lunch to go - its sushi of some kind, tuna I think, and tastes delicious! Very filling! Thought it looked very Japanese in my bento box.
The others are pictures of my 1 room apartment. Through the rice door in the 2nd and 3rd picture is my kitchen and bathroom. Behind the blue curtain is my balcony. And yes, that IS an exercise ball you see next to my desk!
Here are two pics from my cycle in the 'typhoon' with Kyla on Monday - I'm still confused because the weather looks amazing!!! A little old man offered to take a picture of the two of us which was sweet but he insisted that we stood next to this sign?! Not sure what it says though...
The next picture is my lunch to go - its sushi of some kind, tuna I think, and tastes delicious! Very filling! Thought it looked very Japanese in my bento box.
The others are pictures of my 1 room apartment. Through the rice door in the 2nd and 3rd picture is my kitchen and bathroom. Behind the blue curtain is my balcony. And yes, that IS an exercise ball you see next to my desk!
Cuteness Overload...
EVERYTHING in Japanese teenagers' lives is "kawaii", or "cute" to you and me. Shoes are cute, Harro Kitty is cute, Maderin Sensei is cute (!), cell phones are cute... even bugs are cute in their world. But today I experienced the ultimate in cuteness... I went into the school office to pay my rent and was greeted by the office lady (no English remember?!) who handed me a bag. In the bag was a tartan pen holder that she had made for me during the holiday weekend. She looked suitably pleased (and so she should) when I shreaked "kawaii" in my best Japanese teenager accent and thanked her over and over again.
Cute!
EVERYTHING in Japanese teenagers' lives is "kawaii", or "cute" to you and me. Shoes are cute, Harro Kitty is cute, Maderin Sensei is cute (!), cell phones are cute... even bugs are cute in their world. But today I experienced the ultimate in cuteness... I went into the school office to pay my rent and was greeted by the office lady (no English remember?!) who handed me a bag. In the bag was a tartan pen holder that she had made for me during the holiday weekend. She looked suitably pleased (and so she should) when I shreaked "kawaii" in my best Japanese teenager accent and thanked her over and over again.
Cute!
Wednesday 20th September
Was at my visit school yesterday and the kids were awful! I could hardly talk at the end of the two lessons because I was trying to shout over their noise! I've started to think they are just rude and inconsiderate, as opposed to not understanding. When I gave them worksheets to do, they usually answer in Japanese and then continue talking. They DEFINITLEY know its English class so I have decided they are just being lazy!!! Grrr....
Spent "Respect the Aged" Day with Kyla after her hike up Mount Fuji (check out the link to her blog as I think she will be posting her pics soon!) and she still managed to rustle up enough energy to go for a cycle to help me find my new school that I will visit on Friday. It was soooo windy and it got a bit scary when we were cycling across the bridge into the next town! Makoto told us it was another typhoon but there was no rain so I’m still a little confused on that one...
Have arranged to have dinner with Makoto, Yoko (my other student), Kyla and... DAVID (!!) next Monday to welcome David to Japan. I also want to make the most of Makoto's Japanese so I don't order dried eel for Dave by mistake! Thursday morning Makoto has offered to drive Dave and me around outer Iiyama to some beautiful places that he has been so keen to show me. We will then go for some Iiyama soba noodles (different from the soba I made at Togakushi...apparently the snow in Iiyama weighs down the wheat crop in winter so.... blah blah) before catching the Shinkansen to Tokyo. Disneyland (or Disneysea we've not decided yet) on Friday and then hang out in Roppongi, Shinjuku and Harajuku on Saturday.
Was at my visit school yesterday and the kids were awful! I could hardly talk at the end of the two lessons because I was trying to shout over their noise! I've started to think they are just rude and inconsiderate, as opposed to not understanding. When I gave them worksheets to do, they usually answer in Japanese and then continue talking. They DEFINITLEY know its English class so I have decided they are just being lazy!!! Grrr....
Spent "Respect the Aged" Day with Kyla after her hike up Mount Fuji (check out the link to her blog as I think she will be posting her pics soon!) and she still managed to rustle up enough energy to go for a cycle to help me find my new school that I will visit on Friday. It was soooo windy and it got a bit scary when we were cycling across the bridge into the next town! Makoto told us it was another typhoon but there was no rain so I’m still a little confused on that one...
Have arranged to have dinner with Makoto, Yoko (my other student), Kyla and... DAVID (!!) next Monday to welcome David to Japan. I also want to make the most of Makoto's Japanese so I don't order dried eel for Dave by mistake! Thursday morning Makoto has offered to drive Dave and me around outer Iiyama to some beautiful places that he has been so keen to show me. We will then go for some Iiyama soba noodles (different from the soba I made at Togakushi...apparently the snow in Iiyama weighs down the wheat crop in winter so.... blah blah) before catching the Shinkansen to Tokyo. Disneyland (or Disneysea we've not decided yet) on Friday and then hang out in Roppongi, Shinjuku and Harajuku on Saturday.
Friday 15th September
Busy week at school - and starting to feel like a real effort! Cycling to school up a huge hill, dodging dragonflies and little green frogs, in torrential downpours (yip, it's still raining and turning everthing in my bag to mush) does not put me in a good mood! Until, I see my favourite vending machine lit up by lights from above (cue angelic harmonies and everything in slow motion) offering me my daily intake of iced coffee. I have 8 brands of iced coffee to chose from, with my favourite only registering 'drastic' on the calories scale (as opposed to 'maximum daily intake' on the others). I choose to wait until I am sat at my desk before I can enjoy, but honestly... it's the highlight of my day! I lead a VERY simple life here in Iiyama.
So, taking inspiration from Kyla's blog I have decided to post some pics from one of my 1st year lesson that I had today. I was teaching them body parts which involved me shouting out parts of the body, which they had to write onto post-it notes and stick to the corresponding body part. Worked quite well - they had fun so I was happy!
I have a long weekend coming up - Monday is 'Respect the Aged' day (seriously) so I have an extra day off. Working so long at the Hydro I forget what public holidays actually feel like! Also, the countdown is on - David flies out in exactly 9 days! (or actually, he flies out a week tomorrow but he won't get to Japan until the Sunday!). He will be a celebrity at my school because once some of the students saw his picture they were convinced he was Orlando Bloom! We have plans to stay in Tokyo for 3 nights and if the weather stays dry I have somehow managed to convince him to take me to Disneyland! Woohoo!!! So, watch this space for more updates!
Busy week at school - and starting to feel like a real effort! Cycling to school up a huge hill, dodging dragonflies and little green frogs, in torrential downpours (yip, it's still raining and turning everthing in my bag to mush) does not put me in a good mood! Until, I see my favourite vending machine lit up by lights from above (cue angelic harmonies and everything in slow motion) offering me my daily intake of iced coffee. I have 8 brands of iced coffee to chose from, with my favourite only registering 'drastic' on the calories scale (as opposed to 'maximum daily intake' on the others). I choose to wait until I am sat at my desk before I can enjoy, but honestly... it's the highlight of my day! I lead a VERY simple life here in Iiyama.
So, taking inspiration from Kyla's blog I have decided to post some pics from one of my 1st year lesson that I had today. I was teaching them body parts which involved me shouting out parts of the body, which they had to write onto post-it notes and stick to the corresponding body part. Worked quite well - they had fun so I was happy!
I have a long weekend coming up - Monday is 'Respect the Aged' day (seriously) so I have an extra day off. Working so long at the Hydro I forget what public holidays actually feel like! Also, the countdown is on - David flies out in exactly 9 days! (or actually, he flies out a week tomorrow but he won't get to Japan until the Sunday!). He will be a celebrity at my school because once some of the students saw his picture they were convinced he was Orlando Bloom! We have plans to stay in Tokyo for 3 nights and if the weather stays dry I have somehow managed to convince him to take me to Disneyland! Woohoo!!! So, watch this space for more updates!
Sunday 10th September
My bike has been christened... Ricycle the Bicycle!
Courtesy of David. J. Clark, 25, Glasgow.
After a very wet week, the clouds cleared and out came the sunshine in time for the weekend! My weekend started on Friday night with my enkai (office party) at an Izakiya in Iiyama called Hyorokudama. There were 7 of us and my teacher ordered a wide range of food for me to try...
Chicken neck and thigh on skewers (very safe and very yummy!)
Tofu and rock salt
Caeser salad
and then.... I ATE RAW FISH!!!!
We were served up a platter of raw squid, tuna steak, untranslatable shellfish (i.e no one could tell me what it was in English!) all of which I tried and two other raw fish specimens which I didn't try. I very quickly adapted a way of being able to eat the raw fish without gagging - pretend to be struggling with chopsticks while my 'bit of fish' soaks nicely in my bowl of soy sauce which also conveniently covers up the smell! Yuk! It was bearable though and it was only the texture that freaked me out.
Lots of lovely cold beer (called ASAHI - if you can find it in the shops, its really nice) and randomly sparkling sake (!!). Having spent the week mastering cycling in the rain (which involves steering with one hand and holding on to your brolly with the other), I was lured into a false sense of security and thought after a few beers and some sake i'd be perfectly capable of cycling the 3min journey back to my apartment. Lets just say, sake hits you from the feet UP and after spending the whole night sitting on your knees, a random feeling of pins and needles takes over!
Up bright and early on Saturday morning to head into Nagano to meet Kat, Kyla and Belinda for a walk around the shops followed by lunch. Kyla knew of this place in Nagano that served up 'all you can eat' Indian platter of curry and nan for £4.50 (oh and the girls get ice cream) so we set off to track it down. It also doubles up as a jazz cafe with our waiters singing various Carpenters songs in a cheesy karaoke style performance. The whole restaurant was a random mis-match of things - lots of neon signs, cartoons, antiques, Japanese tac and a mini piano akwardly shoved up against the wall. Very Hard Rock Cafe meets Antique Roadshow!
After a lovely lunch, I headed back to Iiyama to meet Makoto who was taking me to his community Autumn festival called Akimatsuri (sp?). The festival has been a tradition in his neighbourhood for a loooooooong time and basically celebrates the upcoming harvest. It was a great evening - I had dinner with his family and then we went out to wait for a group of young men carrying a huge bonfire over their backs! The idea is quite similar to 'trick or treating', so when the men come round to your house you ply them with sake and watch while they throw things onto the bonfire - usually firecrackers and more sake (the cheap stuff, obviously!). There are sparks and flames dangerously close but still pretty spectacular!
The man in the white top and glasses is Makoto - he was worried that he might look drunk in this photo and didn't want me to show mum and dad if he did! The older guy is Makoto's dad - he sat in this position for hours and was mesmorised by the performances. There is lots of dancing while men play flutes (and drink sake...well, pour it down their throats until they fall over is a better way to describe it) and two children who are selected months in advance give an hour long solo - twice. The pic below is the two 'chosen ones' for this years festival. Apparently Makoto, his father and his son have all been 'chosen' and so are very keen to watch the new ones and explain how difficult their moves are!
7th September - Monsoon Season!
I was going to post yesterday to tell you all it was the worst rain I had EVER seen... untill today that is! Same rain as yesterday x 10 with added fear factor of thunder and lightening. Thought I was going to die today and not because I was soaked through (come on, i live in Scotland) but more the fact that I lost both contacts on the cycle home, the rain was coming at me from all directions and I couldn't see the road!!! The drivers also don't think twice about driving past you at full speed, sending a 12 ft wave of cold puddle water flying through the air to make sure the actual rain didn't miss a bit.
So think we caught the tail end of a typhoon because it has not stop raining!!! I got soaked cycling home from school yesterday (much to the amusement of the students and locals!) and then had to catch a train into Nagano for Club Konnichiwa (My Japanese class, original isn't it?!). My train gets me in far too early for class so I enjoyed my dinner in Starbucks and managed to dry off slightly. I met up with Justin (our PA - Prefectural Advisor - who has the amazing ability to remember everything about everyone and memorised their photos to make sure he doesn't miss anyone!) and Belinda to head on over to our Club K meeting.
Kyla was already there but apart from us, she was the only one! Not many people were brave enough to venture out in the downpour. So, we all sat down and did out introductions before moving on to traditional Japanese tea ceremony lesson. Our teacher kept it very informal and let us try the sweets and bitter green tea. We were then shown how to do Shodou (like Japanese calligraphy) and got to paint words that we like. Subsequently, love and boyfriend were too difficult so I settled with 'genki' which means happy. Kyla did 'yume' which means dream, and Belinda did 'hana' which means flower.
After the class, Belinda and I legged it in the rain back to the Eki to catch the last train home. When I arrived back in Iiyama my poor wee bike was swimming in water and made for an uncomfortable ride home! 'Rusty' is looking like a more appropriate name now...
School this week has been good - students are definitley better when they are kept busy. I had 3rd years design their own Island Nation and prepare posters last week and present to the class today. It went very well considering they are not huge fans of public speaking! I have my first 'enkai' (office welcome party) on Friday night with teachers from my visit school. They keep winding me up about making me eat horse... I just hope they are actually winding me up!
I was going to post yesterday to tell you all it was the worst rain I had EVER seen... untill today that is! Same rain as yesterday x 10 with added fear factor of thunder and lightening. Thought I was going to die today and not because I was soaked through (come on, i live in Scotland) but more the fact that I lost both contacts on the cycle home, the rain was coming at me from all directions and I couldn't see the road!!! The drivers also don't think twice about driving past you at full speed, sending a 12 ft wave of cold puddle water flying through the air to make sure the actual rain didn't miss a bit.
So think we caught the tail end of a typhoon because it has not stop raining!!! I got soaked cycling home from school yesterday (much to the amusement of the students and locals!) and then had to catch a train into Nagano for Club Konnichiwa (My Japanese class, original isn't it?!). My train gets me in far too early for class so I enjoyed my dinner in Starbucks and managed to dry off slightly. I met up with Justin (our PA - Prefectural Advisor - who has the amazing ability to remember everything about everyone and memorised their photos to make sure he doesn't miss anyone!) and Belinda to head on over to our Club K meeting.
Kyla was already there but apart from us, she was the only one! Not many people were brave enough to venture out in the downpour. So, we all sat down and did out introductions before moving on to traditional Japanese tea ceremony lesson. Our teacher kept it very informal and let us try the sweets and bitter green tea. We were then shown how to do Shodou (like Japanese calligraphy) and got to paint words that we like. Subsequently, love and boyfriend were too difficult so I settled with 'genki' which means happy. Kyla did 'yume' which means dream, and Belinda did 'hana' which means flower.
After the class, Belinda and I legged it in the rain back to the Eki to catch the last train home. When I arrived back in Iiyama my poor wee bike was swimming in water and made for an uncomfortable ride home! 'Rusty' is looking like a more appropriate name now...
School this week has been good - students are definitley better when they are kept busy. I had 3rd years design their own Island Nation and prepare posters last week and present to the class today. It went very well considering they are not huge fans of public speaking! I have my first 'enkai' (office welcome party) on Friday night with teachers from my visit school. They keep winding me up about making me eat horse... I just hope they are actually winding me up!
A star is born... 3rd Sept 06
I am now the proud owner of my very own 'Mama Cherry' bike - ain't she a beauty?!
I would like to enlist all of my freinds help in coming up with a name - please write your suggestions in the comments section!
The decision will be made 1 week from today!
P.S Happy Birthday mum! How cute - your birthdays are on the same day!
On the menu tonight... 1st Sept 06
Went to a local Izakaya for some food and drinks on Friday and thought I'd let you know what was on the menu (and I ate them all!!):
1. Liver on skewers
2. Pigs heart
3. Chicken muscle
4. Chicken cartilage (tasted like crackling!)
All washed down with cool beer and sake!
Went to a local Izakaya for some food and drinks on Friday and thought I'd let you know what was on the menu (and I ate them all!!):
1. Liver on skewers
2. Pigs heart
3. Chicken muscle
4. Chicken cartilage (tasted like crackling!)
All washed down with cool beer and sake!
Grass Cutting Day - 1st September 06
Having been told that Friday 1st September was 'grass cutting day' I set my alarm for 5.30 AM (!!!!!!) to meet my neighbours in the carpark to cut some grass. Now, beacuse I haven't seen any grass other than the rice growing in the paddys, I presumed that I'd be hacking down the rice crop. But instead, we were led to a desert patch behind my building to cut down weeds and overgrown trees. I was handed a caveman tool (dad - the wise one - says this is called a sickle) and told to get on with it! I was dodging spiders, toads, grasshoppers and a few unidentified bugs whilst hacking away. This lasted for about an hour and at the end we all bowed at each other and the organiser handed us a can of ice coffee.
Right, well I'm ready to take on these kids now!
Having been told that Friday 1st September was 'grass cutting day' I set my alarm for 5.30 AM (!!!!!!) to meet my neighbours in the carpark to cut some grass. Now, beacuse I haven't seen any grass other than the rice growing in the paddys, I presumed that I'd be hacking down the rice crop. But instead, we were led to a desert patch behind my building to cut down weeds and overgrown trees. I was handed a caveman tool (dad - the wise one - says this is called a sickle) and told to get on with it! I was dodging spiders, toads, grasshoppers and a few unidentified bugs whilst hacking away. This lasted for about an hour and at the end we all bowed at each other and the organiser handed us a can of ice coffee.
Right, well I'm ready to take on these kids now!
Nourinn Koko - 29th Aug 2006
Visit school today and had 3 classes - feeling a bit deflated as they were pretty rowdy 1st years and actually couldn't speak any English. The teacher insisted that I still do my introduction even though they won't understand, so whilst I blabbed on about Crieff, haggis and Nessie the girls curled each others hair (don't know WHERE they got their battery powered tongs from!!), played various hand gesture games and the boys mostly slept...with their heads on the desk and everything! My teacher just explained that it was too hot (no kidding!) and that they were all tired...
Hmmm have to re-do my entire year's worth of lesson plans I think!
Visit school today and had 3 classes - feeling a bit deflated as they were pretty rowdy 1st years and actually couldn't speak any English. The teacher insisted that I still do my introduction even though they won't understand, so whilst I blabbed on about Crieff, haggis and Nessie the girls curled each others hair (don't know WHERE they got their battery powered tongs from!!), played various hand gesture games and the boys mostly slept...with their heads on the desk and everything! My teacher just explained that it was too hot (no kidding!) and that they were all tired...
Hmmm have to re-do my entire year's worth of lesson plans I think!
Time to Teach - 28th Aug 2006
Today, I was officially introduced to Minami Koko and its 400 students. I had prepared a speech in Japanese (check me?!) and first had to talk in front of the 30 or so teachers in the staff room and then my big speech in front of all 400 students! It was nerve-racking to say the least but I got through it without too many mistakes and for the rest of the day pupils were shouting "Maderin Sensei, Maderin Sensei" as I walked past them all! I also had my first class today and boy am I glad to have got that over and done with. It was a small class of 18 who had all chosen English as their elective, so were relatively keen. I told them about myself and they asked questions so I'm fairly happy with the way it went.
Visit school tomorrow in Nourin so fingers crossed the horses are still there... and in the same form as last week!
Mx
Today, I was officially introduced to Minami Koko and its 400 students. I had prepared a speech in Japanese (check me?!) and first had to talk in front of the 30 or so teachers in the staff room and then my big speech in front of all 400 students! It was nerve-racking to say the least but I got through it without too many mistakes and for the rest of the day pupils were shouting "Maderin Sensei, Maderin Sensei" as I walked past them all! I also had my first class today and boy am I glad to have got that over and done with. It was a small class of 18 who had all chosen English as their elective, so were relatively keen. I told them about myself and they asked questions so I'm fairly happy with the way it went.
Visit school tomorrow in Nourin so fingers crossed the horses are still there... and in the same form as last week!
Mx
Kurohime - 25th - 27th Aug 2006
After a long and tiring week at school preparing for next week's lessons, the girls and I were looking forward to a weekend of Gaelic Football (!) at Kurohime (Lake Nokujiro). Of course I had not only never played Gaelic Football, I had also never even heard of it so was slightly apprehensive to say the least. The weekend was advertised as more of a watersports weekend with a BBQ and a bit of football thrown in so thought we'd give it a go - plus get to see more of Nagano prefecture.
We joined about 35 other GAAs (Gaelic Athletics Association) who turned out to be mostly Investment Bankers from the south of Ireland - and as the only JETs there we were able to meet some very interesting people who have lived in Japan for years working for real Japanese companies. They were all a good bunch and welcomed us 'newbies' with open arms...although they did try to get me to sing Flower of Scotland as part of an initiation test but thankfully someone piped up with Swing Low Sweet Chariot and managed to divert the attention (phew!)
Our accommodation for the weekend was a HUGE Japanese style chalet complete with futons and comunal showers and bath (note singular bath) which was really comfortable and clean. Friday night was really just getting to know everyone as they arrived (most were coming from Tokyo) and then up early on Saturday morning to participate in either golf or wakeboarding at the lake (top picture). I was really keen to try wakeboarding (after being too chicken to try at Loch Earn) so for £15 each the girls and I (plus a canadian guy called Tim) boarded a speedboat with a Japanese guy called Ken (picture) for a morning of wakeboarding. The lake was stunning and very clean so we were looking forward to having a swim!
Tim turned out to be a bit of an expert so he went first and impressed (and scared) us all with his jumps and other tricks. Kyla was up next and took to it really easily - she was standing up almost straight away and held on for ages! After I made sure Ken understood the meaning of 'slow' I was happy to take my turn next (and DEFINITLEY didn't ask what sort of 'things' live in the lake). Needless to say, I wasn't very good but really enjoyed it all the same. I stood up on my first go - albeit for about 3 seconds and then after than I could hardly get out the water! So many things to remember. So don't get excited - the next pic is NOT me, I couldn't stand up long enough to get a picture so this is Kyla instead!!!
Pretty good eh?!!!
Kat went next and thankfully was just as bad as me (sorry Kat!) so we all had a good giggle!
After a lazy morning soaking up some sun and chatting with everyone, it was time to start playing some football... well, time for 2 hours of intensive training! The boys team went off and did their own training and then started to play a match, whilst the girls started off with 2 laps of the baseball pitch, some stretching and a sprinting exercise. Followed by some kicking and hitting the ball in pairs (GAA is a cross between football and volleyball) and some more sprinting. After another round of sprinting they decided to go easy on the newbies and let us train a little with one of the injured players called Caroline who taught us the kicking and hitting techniques as well as letting us try some tackle techniques. The warm down was then a lap of the pitch again and more stretches. The poor boys had to then run the 5km road back to camp and do 60m sprints after their game! Thankfully though, it was a lot cooler in Kurohime than what we've been getting used to here in Iiyama - if this was not the case I am 100% serious in saying I might have died during training... which would not have made a very convincing impression!!!
Back to the camp for a feast of BBQ and beer (whilst trying to stay awake) and everyone getting excited trying to convince us to sign up for the tournament in Shanghai... hmm they obviously didn't see me collapse after the 'warm up'. Up early again and back to Iiyama on Sunday to get ready for my speech to 400 students in Japanese tomorrow morning for school starting. Although I feel like I've been hit by a bus today, I can proudly say I tried 2 new things in one day here in the lovely Japan!
Me, Kyla and Kat - on our boat BEFORE attempting to wakeboard!
Hi everyone, I'm back!
Well, its been almost a week since my last update so thought I'd better put pen to paper..or at least fingers to keys!
So, been pretty busy getting ready for kids to start school these last few days but still managed to fit a little traditional soba making into my plans.
After another sleepover in Nagano (thanks again Kyla!) with dinner, SATC and lurvely £2-a-bottle Japanese white wine we were up at 6.30am to meet up with the Japanese students at 8am who were taking us up to a place called Togakushi...an area up tut'mountains! We were told to bring warm clothes as it can be a bit colder up North...a rumour we were soley relying on to make our day. We were praying for a nice cold breeze as it already read 30 degrees at 8am on the city temperature tower! But when we got there it was the same old sticky heat...was it too late to ask for my money back!?
We were put into groups to make some soba noodles - a traditional dish made in blah blah blah...anyway, when we were done we got to eat them! After our lovely lunch, we were treated to some soba ice cream (eh em...) and started off on our 'hike' to "an area of interest", not quite sure where but it was a very beautiful temple and we did the whole group photo thing. We were all quite excited at the next activity which we were told was a "live band in a bar", but to our dissappointment it was a classical version of x factor with votes and everything - in a conference room. On the way home, Kyla and I stopped in for a Mos Burger (kinda like a cross between McD's and Starbucks?) and then I hit another 100 yen store before heading for bed. Sunday brought some more shopping (gym stuff I'll have you know!!) and then I went out for dinner with the CIR in Iiyama (Jo) and her supervisor. He took us to a fairly Western bar in Iiyama for beer and snacks (some Japanese-related, some not i.e. "crazy fries" which to my delight turned out to be wedges!).
I was at my visit school today (Tues) - I have to go to another school once a week as part of my contract. This school is mainly for agricultural students - not quite so focused on English studies so should be a little more light-hearted. I was shown around the land and introduced to the animals (!)...there were even a couple of ponies and one had a foal! And no, before you ask, they were NOT bred for eating...
Missed my stop off the bus on my way home 'cos this random old lady (she must have been pushing 100) was talking to me the whole way. I kept saying "wakarimasen, wakarimasen" (I don't understand, I don't understand) much to the amusement of the other passengers but she just kept rambling on...and was practically sitting on my knee to stop me from getting off the bus!
Anyway, next weekend should bring some good chat - am hoping to join the Gaelic Athletic Association for a weekend of watersport(s) and BBQ!
Cheers
Madzx
I found Starbucks!
Hi All!
Well,I have had a good couple of days - spending most of the weekend in Nagano, the nearest big city. I found Starbucks - see picture as proof - AND the Bodyshop so as you can imagine I am very happy! The girls (Kyla and Kat) and I even managed to catch a movie at the cinema and some of you may even be surprised to know that I quite happily sat through Mission Impossible 3! It was all in English with Japanese subtitles, we sat in huge bucket seats in a generously air conditioned room and were even handed clean fleece blankets for when it got a bit chilly. Bliss!
After our offical welcome ceremony on Friday we were treated to free flowing food and beer for around 15 pounds. They even served up chips and tommy k!
I was back to school on Monday and had my first lesson in the evening with an older local man called Makoto. My pre-decessor used to give him private English lessons and I have decided to continue the lessons with him. It`s really informal, he just likes to chat to practice is spoken English. He reads books and newspapers in English but still struggles with TV so I have to talk quite slowly. He has also asked me to teach him all about British culture...but not really sure where to start! There is another student joining the class next week so I have a few days to prepare something! I refused to take any money from him so as a thank you he brought me a fresh watermelon from his family farm! Result...those things are like 10 quid over here! Now, if I could only find my samuri sword to cut it open.
So Tuesday I decided to attend Japan`s biggest firework festival at Lake Suwa. It took me a good 3 1/2 hours to get there AND had to even change trains twice but I still survived. Even though I don`t have a clue what the various station signs say, you can pretty much set your watch by the trains arrival and departure times so as long as I know when the train is meant to leave I can pretty much gaurantee I`ll get on the right train!
I met up with some others and we found our spot by the side of the lake. The locals usually come about a week before the event and put down their tarpolins to secure the best spot so when we got there at about 11.30am, there was a sea of tarps featuring "hello kitty" and friends. Once we had our spot set up we all got comfy to people watch for the next 7 hours - fireworks didn`t start until 7pm! Needless to say, we all got way too much sun and for those who sampled the "squid on a stick" delicacy (not I!!!) it was a very long day!
The fireworks were absolutley spectacular when they got going and lasted about 2 hours. The bangs echoed off the surrounding mountains, so much so it made your teeth shake! And the fireworks lit up the entire valley, reflecting over this huge lake. It really was very pretty to watch.
Then came the time to embark on the journey home. It took us an hour and a half to get to the station - moving a couple of inches every time a new train came along. Once we made it to the train, they squashed us all on like sardines and away we went. When the doors first opened, there was an actual stampeed - no one was spared, women, children, dogs and even old ladies were being crushed left right and centre! In fact, it was the old ladies who were doing the crushing - I guess in this situation "you snooze you loose"!!!
After what felt like days on the train, the Iiyama possy (Matt and me) were chauffered back in the comfort of our AJET president`s airconditioned car...thanks again Julia!!! And I was safely tucked up in my bed before 1am. Pretty long day as I caught my first train at 8am, but well worth it!
Well that`s all for now folks - hope you are still all enjoying reading my blog!
Japdzx
Konnichi Wa!
I`ve finally worked out the computer! There`s a sneaky wee button next to the tab key that every time I hit turns the whole lot into Japanese!!!
I have tried to attach some photos of Iiyama for you all to see - I hope they work! These are only going to be testers and once I get my offical photographers certificate I will of course post some better ones i.e. when Dave comes over in September ;-)
Remember in my first post when i was rambling on about the toliets in Tokyo? Well, unfortunately they are completley different in Iiyama. My own toilet is pretty average - no extra buttons, jet sprays or even a drying function in sight. And as for the ones at my school...well lets just say anyone who has been to Malaysia will know what I mean.
So my love for Japanese toilets has been replaced. The new "super toilet" is now "100 yen stores"!!! I have pretty much kitted out my ENTIRE appartment for under 50 quid AND they do everything in pink! To give you an idea, 100 yen is a mere 50p and of a relatively high standard. The idea is everytime there`s an earthquake and everything gets broken, you can fire on down to the nearest 100 yen shop and replace everything for a fiver. Pretty good eh?!
On Saturday night I went into the Nagano for the city`s annual BINZURU festival. Managed to get to station, buy a ticket from the guy who spoke no English and board the right train. Got off the train at the right stop and found the festival. The whole thing is located on their main street where 100s of people (young and old!) dance a set routine from 6.30pm to 1am. They go up one long street (princes street size) doing the same dance routine to the same song with a few varieties depending on what they are advertising i.e. karate clubs, hair salons, McDonalds. Kinda like floats but on foot. Anyway they dance with loads of energy and dress up in funky kimonos and stuff. Each set goes on for half an hour and then they all stop and have 5 mins break and then start dancing again for another half an hour. This goes on until 1am! Its quite funny cos drinking on the street is SO allowed and everyone is too proud to litter so it actually works. Each group of dancers has a guy at the back with a trolley and loads of BIIRU (you guessed it, beer!), and then hands it out during the break. They also go around picking up litter at every stop break too. The best thing about this festival is the fact that it is for no reason at all! The mayor of the next city (Matsumoto) has a festival to celebrate some god or something and the mayor of Nagano city was like “hey, we need a better festival than the Bon Bon festival in Matsumoto so lets all dress up, dance in the street, get drunk and then clean up afterwards!!” Brilliant!
Did a massive food shop at the supermarket at the weekend and managed to find green tea flavoured Hagen Daas - I`m definitely in Japan now! When Ｉ was in school today, two teachers each brought in a huge bag of peppers, egg plants, courgettes and tomatoes from their farms so i`ve got a LOT of eating to do to get through it all! I was very grateful though as one of them doesn`t speak any English and we still managed to `chat` on Friday about the Loch Ness Monster (which involved me waving around a Nessie keyring from Dave`s parents) and she named all of the mountains surrounding Iiyama.
Ok so this is getting a bit long, but one more Japan-ism for you. On a whole, the country is very particular about it`s rubbish and recycling. When I moved into my appartment i had 3 different rubbish bins in my kitchen, each labelled with what kind of rubbish to be put in. I then received by post a note about when to dispose of what. Pretty simple you think? Well, not really as everything must then be separated into burnable (paper and some plastics), non-burnable (other plastics, tins, glass etc) and PET bottles (with label removed and cap washed out). They also make you write your name on EACH bag of rubbish you chuck out so that if it is not separated correctly then they can hunt you down and leave it on your doorstep until you do it properly! Needless to say, I didn`t sleep very well the night I put out my first lot of rubbish! Oh and oddly enough, I can only throw out batteries on a Tuesday or Thursday in June or October?!
So, I`ll sign off now as I`m sure your eyes are all sore! I hope you like the snaps - more to follow!
Japadzxx
Sorry guys - photos didn`t work! I`ll have to wait until i have internet in my appartment.
I`ve finally worked out the computer! There`s a sneaky wee button next to the tab key that every time I hit turns the whole lot into Japanese!!!
I have tried to attach some photos of Iiyama for you all to see - I hope they work! These are only going to be testers and once I get my offical photographers certificate I will of course post some better ones i.e. when Dave comes over in September ;-)
Remember in my first post when i was rambling on about the toliets in Tokyo? Well, unfortunately they are completley different in Iiyama. My own toilet is pretty average - no extra buttons, jet sprays or even a drying function in sight. And as for the ones at my school...well lets just say anyone who has been to Malaysia will know what I mean.
So my love for Japanese toilets has been replaced. The new "super toilet" is now "100 yen stores"!!! I have pretty much kitted out my ENTIRE appartment for under 50 quid AND they do everything in pink! To give you an idea, 100 yen is a mere 50p and of a relatively high standard. The idea is everytime there`s an earthquake and everything gets broken, you can fire on down to the nearest 100 yen shop and replace everything for a fiver. Pretty good eh?!
On Saturday night I went into the Nagano for the city`s annual BINZURU festival. Managed to get to station, buy a ticket from the guy who spoke no English and board the right train. Got off the train at the right stop and found the festival. The whole thing is located on their main street where 100s of people (young and old!) dance a set routine from 6.30pm to 1am. They go up one long street (princes street size) doing the same dance routine to the same song with a few varieties depending on what they are advertising i.e. karate clubs, hair salons, McDonalds. Kinda like floats but on foot. Anyway they dance with loads of energy and dress up in funky kimonos and stuff. Each set goes on for half an hour and then they all stop and have 5 mins break and then start dancing again for another half an hour. This goes on until 1am! Its quite funny cos drinking on the street is SO allowed and everyone is too proud to litter so it actually works. Each group of dancers has a guy at the back with a trolley and loads of BIIRU (you guessed it, beer!), and then hands it out during the break. They also go around picking up litter at every stop break too. The best thing about this festival is the fact that it is for no reason at all! The mayor of the next city (Matsumoto) has a festival to celebrate some god or something and the mayor of Nagano city was like “hey, we need a better festival than the Bon Bon festival in Matsumoto so lets all dress up, dance in the street, get drunk and then clean up afterwards!!” Brilliant!
Did a massive food shop at the supermarket at the weekend and managed to find green tea flavoured Hagen Daas - I`m definitely in Japan now! When Ｉ was in school today, two teachers each brought in a huge bag of peppers, egg plants, courgettes and tomatoes from their farms so i`ve got a LOT of eating to do to get through it all! I was very grateful though as one of them doesn`t speak any English and we still managed to `chat` on Friday about the Loch Ness Monster (which involved me waving around a Nessie keyring from Dave`s parents) and she named all of the mountains surrounding Iiyama.
Ok so this is getting a bit long, but one more Japan-ism for you. On a whole, the country is very particular about it`s rubbish and recycling. When I moved into my appartment i had 3 different rubbish bins in my kitchen, each labelled with what kind of rubbish to be put in. I then received by post a note about when to dispose of what. Pretty simple you think? Well, not really as everything must then be separated into burnable (paper and some plastics), non-burnable (other plastics, tins, glass etc) and PET bottles (with label removed and cap washed out). They also make you write your name on EACH bag of rubbish you chuck out so that if it is not separated correctly then they can hunt you down and leave it on your doorstep until you do it properly! Needless to say, I didn`t sleep very well the night I put out my first lot of rubbish! Oh and oddly enough, I can only throw out batteries on a Tuesday or Thursday in June or October?!
So, I`ll sign off now as I`m sure your eyes are all sore! I hope you like the snaps - more to follow!
Japadzxx
Sorry guys - photos didn`t work! I`ll have to wait until i have internet in my appartment.
HI AGAIN EVERYONE!
I HAVE NOW MOVED ON FROM TOKYO TO THE NOT SO BRIGHT LIGHTS OF IIYAMA, NAGANO. WHAT CAN I SAY...IT IS SO VERY DIFFERENT FROM TOKYO. I LIVE IN A TINY 2 ROOM APPARTMENT WITH A BALCONY OVERLOOKING THE HILLS...ABSOLUTLEY BEAUTIFUL SCENERY! ONLY DOWNSIDE TO THE HILL`S IS I HAVE TO CYCLE UP THEM TO GET TO SCHOOL. RED FACE, FRZZY HAIR AND A RATHER DAMP FOREHAD IS SO NOT A GOOD LOOK FOR SCHOOL. ALL THE JAPANESE ARE SO COOL, CALM AND COLLECTED SO I`M SURE YOU CAN IMAGINE THEIR FACES WHEN I STUMBLE INTO THE OFFICE, MUTTER SOMETHING IN JAPANESE (WHICH IS PROBABLY INSULTING ALL OF THEIR MOTHERS BECAUSE THE ALTITUDE HAS AFFECTED MY BRAIN) AND COLLAPSE ON MY OFFICE FLOOR IN FRONT OF THE FAN!
ＢＹ THE WAY APOLOGIES IF THIS DOES NOT COME OUT PROPERLY - I HAVE TRIED TO EMAIL MOST OF YOU BUT FEEDBACK IN GENERAL IS "STOP WRITING IN JAPANESE"! AND I CAN ASSURE YOU I HAVE NOT ADVANCED TO 9TH LEVEL JAPANESE IN 7 DAYS, I JUST HAVEN`T QUITE WORKED OUT THE KEYBOARD. ITS ALL IN HIRIGANA/KATAKANA AND TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO NAVIGATE!
ANYWAY, I DON`T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS IN MY APPARTMENT YET BUT WHEN I DO I PROMISE YOU`LL GET SOME EMAILS SENT OUT AND ASK HOW YOU ARE ALL GETTING ON.
SO, IIYAMA - BASICALLY A LITTLE MOUNTAIN TOWN WITH HONDA GARAGES, MCDONALDS AND TESCO-LIKE ＳＴＯＲＥＳ ON ONE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THEN RICE PADDY`S WITH TINY LITTLE HOUSES THAT LOOK LIKE THEY WOULD FALL DOWN IF YOU EVEN MUTTER THE WORD EARTHQUAKE! MY FIRST 24 HOURS HERE WAS VERY SURREAL AND WAS DESPERATE FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO IN ENGLISH! ALTHOUGH SLOWLY I`M STARTING TO GET MY BEARINGS AND THE TOWN FOLK ARE GETTING USED TO THE GAIJIIN THAT`S CYCLING AROUND IN CIRCLES. I EVEN MANAGED TO GET THE TRAIN TO THE NEXT BIG CITY (A MINI KYOTO I`VE BEEN TOLD) WHICH HAS A STARBUCKS AND A BODY SHOP (YAY I`M SAVED) ALTHOUGH I`VE YET TO FIND BOTH OF THEM.
I HAVE LOADS MORE TO FILL IN BUT THE KEYBOARD IS STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES...THIS HAS JUST TAKEN ME THE BEST PART OF ＡＮ ＨＯＵＲ！ Ｉ ＡＭ ＯＦＦ ＴＯ ＭＹ ＦＩＲＳＴ TEACHERS CONFERENCE TOMORROW BUT HOPE TO BE BACK IN SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY TO UPDATE YOU ALL.
HOPE YOU ARE WELL , PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH YOUR UPDATES OR SEND ME SOME TRASHY MAGAZINES TO...
MADELEINE EASSON
450-1-204
SHIZUMA
IIYAMA-SHI
NAGANO
389-2255
JAPAN!!!
JAPADZ XXXXXXXXXXX
I HAVE NOW MOVED ON FROM TOKYO TO THE NOT SO BRIGHT LIGHTS OF IIYAMA, NAGANO. WHAT CAN I SAY...IT IS SO VERY DIFFERENT FROM TOKYO. I LIVE IN A TINY 2 ROOM APPARTMENT WITH A BALCONY OVERLOOKING THE HILLS...ABSOLUTLEY BEAUTIFUL SCENERY! ONLY DOWNSIDE TO THE HILL`S IS I HAVE TO CYCLE UP THEM TO GET TO SCHOOL. RED FACE, FRZZY HAIR AND A RATHER DAMP FOREHAD IS SO NOT A GOOD LOOK FOR SCHOOL. ALL THE JAPANESE ARE SO COOL, CALM AND COLLECTED SO I`M SURE YOU CAN IMAGINE THEIR FACES WHEN I STUMBLE INTO THE OFFICE, MUTTER SOMETHING IN JAPANESE (WHICH IS PROBABLY INSULTING ALL OF THEIR MOTHERS BECAUSE THE ALTITUDE HAS AFFECTED MY BRAIN) AND COLLAPSE ON MY OFFICE FLOOR IN FRONT OF THE FAN!
ＢＹ THE WAY APOLOGIES IF THIS DOES NOT COME OUT PROPERLY - I HAVE TRIED TO EMAIL MOST OF YOU BUT FEEDBACK IN GENERAL IS "STOP WRITING IN JAPANESE"! AND I CAN ASSURE YOU I HAVE NOT ADVANCED TO 9TH LEVEL JAPANESE IN 7 DAYS, I JUST HAVEN`T QUITE WORKED OUT THE KEYBOARD. ITS ALL IN HIRIGANA/KATAKANA AND TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO NAVIGATE!
ANYWAY, I DON`T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS IN MY APPARTMENT YET BUT WHEN I DO I PROMISE YOU`LL GET SOME EMAILS SENT OUT AND ASK HOW YOU ARE ALL GETTING ON.
SO, IIYAMA - BASICALLY A LITTLE MOUNTAIN TOWN WITH HONDA GARAGES, MCDONALDS AND TESCO-LIKE ＳＴＯＲＥＳ ON ONE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THEN RICE PADDY`S WITH TINY LITTLE HOUSES THAT LOOK LIKE THEY WOULD FALL DOWN IF YOU EVEN MUTTER THE WORD EARTHQUAKE! MY FIRST 24 HOURS HERE WAS VERY SURREAL AND WAS DESPERATE FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO IN ENGLISH! ALTHOUGH SLOWLY I`M STARTING TO GET MY BEARINGS AND THE TOWN FOLK ARE GETTING USED TO THE GAIJIIN THAT`S CYCLING AROUND IN CIRCLES. I EVEN MANAGED TO GET THE TRAIN TO THE NEXT BIG CITY (A MINI KYOTO I`VE BEEN TOLD) WHICH HAS A STARBUCKS AND A BODY SHOP (YAY I`M SAVED) ALTHOUGH I`VE YET TO FIND BOTH OF THEM.
I HAVE LOADS MORE TO FILL IN BUT THE KEYBOARD IS STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES...THIS HAS JUST TAKEN ME THE BEST PART OF ＡＮ ＨＯＵＲ！ Ｉ ＡＭ ＯＦＦ ＴＯ ＭＹ ＦＩＲＳＴ TEACHERS CONFERENCE TOMORROW BUT HOPE TO BE BACK IN SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY TO UPDATE YOU ALL.
HOPE YOU ARE WELL , PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH YOUR UPDATES OR SEND ME SOME TRASHY MAGAZINES TO...
MADELEINE EASSON
450-1-204
SHIZUMA
IIYAMA-SHI
NAGANO
389-2255
JAPAN!!!
JAPADZ XXXXXXXXXXX
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