Hint 2:
This country is home to 1/10 of all animal species, which happens to include one of my favorite animals.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
End of fall term and preparations for 冬休み
At the Japanese shrine prayer for nice healthy New Year for everyone.
Probably also praying for it to not be so cold.(P.C. Mom)
This past Wednesday I taught my last English class of the fall/winter trimester. In some ways I feel like this trimester has been the most successful yet from my time teaching here. I've been able to implement fun Western/American cultural activities and also participate in Japanese culture activities. Teachers and I are working well together which has me feeling really confident in class. However, I'm also extremely aware that in 3 months the Great Teacher Rotation/Musical Chairs:Teacher Edition will be taking place and therefore can not get too comfortable. The Japanese school system really does likes to keep you on your feet!
One of my favorite class activities that I did this trimester was teaching my students about Halloween and carving a proper American pumpkin in class! It was so cute to see how excited the kids were. They have never carved a pumpkin before let alone actually seen a pumpkin in real life. They were really impressed by the smell of the pumpkin and were in shock when I told them that the pumpkins we were carving would be considered relatively small by American standards of Halloween pumpkins. While we didn't learn/use much English during this class, it was a great way to teach my students a little more about me and to share some of my child hood memories.
The pumpkin that my 1st graders carved.
The pumpkin that my 2nd graders carved.
My most successful English class of this year may have been my last one, this past Wednesday. In class we were reviewing the names of months and how to say numbers as dates (i.e. first vs. one). In our previous class together we had learned all of the months as well as the dates, and so this class we were just reviewing and applying the vocabulary to class activities to make sure that they retained the information and hopefully have it stored into the student's long-term memory. One of my greatest challenges with teaching this lesson was primarily in the students pronunciation. Many people think that pronunciation is a small/secondary trait in language acquisition. But as I have learned over the past year, if you do not correct them immediately they will continue to pronounce it wrong out of habit until it becomes so ingrained that teaching them the correct pronunciation is almost akin to teaching completely new words. And in some cases, the students cannot recognize the word when it is pronounced properly because they have become accustomed to remembering it with their own pronunciation or the katakana-ized version of English (that damn bastard language that defiles English learning in Japan; more on this in another post).
The problematic words for my students were months ending in ~ber and dates ending in ~th.. Instead of producing the brrrrrr sound my students would respond with a resounding baaaaa (i.e. Novem-ba, Septem-ba). And in the case of the "th" sound initially they would produce a suh sound,. like nineteen-suh and then they moved on to a ts .Nineteen-suh Ninteen-ts. So one of the goals I had set out for this final day of studying dates was to get my students to produce the TH sound. So as we started about with a quick run through of the dates and I made sure to over emphasize the th sound. December nineteenTTTH. To which my students cheerfully responded Decembaa Nineteents. I shake my head and say, listen carefully. NineteenTTTH not Ninteentsss. And I had them try again, to no avail. After a few more failed attempts I decided to switch my tactics and pronunciation a bit to see if it would produce closer results. So instead of emphasizing the (for lack of a better explanation) hissing sort of sound of th I changed it to a TH closer along the lines used when saying, The. And finally my students were able to produce a nineteen-th, twentie-th (they did over emphasize the TH sound, but at least it was a th and not a su or ts., so I can't really complain). Unfortunately, after moving on from review and into classroom application only a few of my students retained the newly learned information of saying TH and not ts or su. Which wasn't helped by the Japanese Homeroom Teacher whispering along fourtien(insert whatever date)-ts whenever the student would give answers during the activities. SMH. I'm still proud of my minor success.
In other news, I am getting ready to go on vacation for my winter break (冬休み）. I thought it might be fun to have a little trivia game for you to guess where I am going (if you don't know already). So throughout my vacation (whenever I have access to a computer or wireless #iphone) I will give you small hints either photos or random clues about my location. If I already told you where I am going don't ruin the fun!
Where in the World is Keri Going?
Hint 1:
My travel time from Osaka, Japan to my winter vacation location (like that rhyme?) is a total of about 7 hours (not including the about 3 hour transfer wait time in Vietnam).
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Updates and Pre-Christmas Fun
Hi guys! I've done and taken my GRE (Graduate Record Examination for those John Darlington's of the world who do not know what this is) and I said that I would write more often, so I am now attempting to make good on that word. My scores turned out pretty good, I wish I had done a bit better on the quantatative section but considering my track record with math, I am fairly satisfied with my score. Writing was on par, which was a relief since I don't usually do particularly well with writing in a limited time frame. But I am a little bummed with the score I got on the verbal section, not that I didn't score above average (because I did- sorry I have to flaunt it a little, primarily because my math score is so NOT above average) but because I scored 1 point (I emphasize, ONE POINT) below the score that is required (in conjunction with uGPA) to receive a 10,000$/yr academic scholarship from one of my top choice schools. And after a bit of thinking, I decided that 10,000$ is a lot of money so it looks like this kid is going to be attempting the GRE again in a couple months to bump that verbal score at least 1 pt. to score some academic $$$. Fingers are crossed (I'm also secretly hoping to get my quant score up as well, but really my primary focus this time around is going to be on verbal).
Anyway, I assumed that after the GRE my life would become a little more settled and that I could get back into blogging again regularly. However, based on the lack of blog posts I think it is safe to assume that you can tell just how busy I have been.
Last year I thought that signing up for a second year would mean that there would be more down time because i had already prepared so many materials for class lessons that I could essentially recycle them; less work and more free time. WRONG-O! This year I have become more acutely aware of ways that I can improve upon my lessons from last year to a) make them more practical/useful for studying English and b) to make them more fun (my students are really receptive on this point). And so now a lot of my down time at the office is used to pour over my old lessons and see what ways I can make them better. Sometimes it is an easy fix, simplify the grammar and make it more interactive, whereas other times it requires completely stripping down the lesson and starting again from the ground up.. As tiring as it can be sometimes, it is always worth it to see the students enjoy the hardwork I've put in and even more exciting when I can really see how much their English is improving (little by little, but still).
Other reasons why this year has been more taxing on my social and blogging life is because I have become a fixture at a lot of the community events around Oshima that are held outside of school hours. For example, the Halloween festivities that I planned during October, community English classes, occasional pen-pal writing activities, and whatever odd festival/event that is held around here that the organizers figure will be more interesting if the token foreigner was there.
The latest community event that I have been asked to be a participant in was Towa's (the town (village/hamlet/small community I live in) Christmas Event. At this event Crystal (the other English teacher in Towa) and I were asked to prepare some Christmas activities and read a Christmas story. So in preparation I spent the week leading up to the Christmas party building a large scale Rudolph to play pin the nose on the reindeer (complete with magnetic Rudolph noses) and scoring through the few English Christmas books that Yamaguchi City public library had on reserve (I ended up choosing The Polar Express). And Crsytal led a Jingle Bells sing-a-long complete with improvised dance moves.
After our segment was done we got to listen to some Christmas stories told in Japanese and participate in the main event of the Christmas party, Mochi Pounding!!!!
This was the first time I have ever participated in making mochi from pounded rice, so it was really exciting. And since my students were really eager to do all of the pounding, it wasn't too much effort on my part! ;) I did help smashing the mochi up a bit, but the kids definitely did the brunt of the work. My students also taught me how to make kinako by grinding soy beans with an old Japanese style mortar and pestle. It was really cool to spend time with my students and having them teach me things about their culture and me sharing a bit about mine.
I intended to post a bit more, but if I don't post this now I fear it will never get posted. Nearly a week had already passed since I started this post. I may add photos later if I have time. We'll see.
Until Next Time!
Keri
Anyway, I assumed that after the GRE my life would become a little more settled and that I could get back into blogging again regularly. However, based on the lack of blog posts I think it is safe to assume that you can tell just how busy I have been.
Last year I thought that signing up for a second year would mean that there would be more down time because i had already prepared so many materials for class lessons that I could essentially recycle them; less work and more free time. WRONG-O! This year I have become more acutely aware of ways that I can improve upon my lessons from last year to a) make them more practical/useful for studying English and b) to make them more fun (my students are really receptive on this point). And so now a lot of my down time at the office is used to pour over my old lessons and see what ways I can make them better. Sometimes it is an easy fix, simplify the grammar and make it more interactive, whereas other times it requires completely stripping down the lesson and starting again from the ground up.. As tiring as it can be sometimes, it is always worth it to see the students enjoy the hardwork I've put in and even more exciting when I can really see how much their English is improving (little by little, but still).
Other reasons why this year has been more taxing on my social and blogging life is because I have become a fixture at a lot of the community events around Oshima that are held outside of school hours. For example, the Halloween festivities that I planned during October, community English classes, occasional pen-pal writing activities, and whatever odd festival/event that is held around here that the organizers figure will be more interesting if the token foreigner was there.
The latest community event that I have been asked to be a participant in was Towa's (the town (village/hamlet/small community I live in) Christmas Event. At this event Crystal (the other English teacher in Towa) and I were asked to prepare some Christmas activities and read a Christmas story. So in preparation I spent the week leading up to the Christmas party building a large scale Rudolph to play pin the nose on the reindeer (complete with magnetic Rudolph noses) and scoring through the few English Christmas books that Yamaguchi City public library had on reserve (I ended up choosing The Polar Express). And Crsytal led a Jingle Bells sing-a-long complete with improvised dance moves.
After our segment was done we got to listen to some Christmas stories told in Japanese and participate in the main event of the Christmas party, Mochi Pounding!!!!
This was the first time I have ever participated in making mochi from pounded rice, so it was really exciting. And since my students were really eager to do all of the pounding, it wasn't too much effort on my part! ;) I did help smashing the mochi up a bit, but the kids definitely did the brunt of the work. My students also taught me how to make kinako by grinding soy beans with an old Japanese style mortar and pestle. It was really cool to spend time with my students and having them teach me things about their culture and me sharing a bit about mine.
I intended to post a bit more, but if I don't post this now I fear it will never get posted. Nearly a week had already passed since I started this post. I may add photos later if I have time. We'll see.
Until Next Time!
Keri
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Year 2 Post 1
Hi Guys! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, although I'm not really sure if anyone takes notice other than my mom and dad. (Thanks Dad for letting me know you miss seeing my blog updates, you've actually inspired me to write this small update)..
This post is just a small update on how year 2 has been so far. You can expect (or hope) to get posts of more substance later that will detail what I have been up to. So far Year 2 has been frustrating and confusing, but also really rewarding.
A lot of frustrations come from the fact that there is a second ALT this year who is at the moment splitting all of my schools with me. So we are alternating taking turns visiting all of the 16 elementary and junior high schools on Oshima. Getting used to having another ALT around the office has been an adjustment to say the least. But the truly frustrating part is that we both have very different teaching styles and also just plain personal characteristics, which sometimes clash (i.e. I like to take my time when planning and making decisions because I believe it allows me to assess and evaluate my ideas/thoughts from a variety of angels whereas my new co-worker loves to make impetuous decisions. With her everything must be planned for immediately and she has no patience to compromise).Thankfully, I think we are finally beginning to find a happy medium, we`ll see. It will certainly make life around the office much more bearable.
A lot of my close friends and family know that I went home to Hawaii for just over a week at the end of August. There isn't a whole lot to say about it because I was only there for such a short time. But it was really great to see my family, my Houdini (bunny), and congratulate my best friend in person for her recent engagement!!!
During that short week at home I was able to appreciate all the stupid things I used to take for granted. Which mostly entailed food (easy access to foods that I love to eat, and realizing how much easier it is to be a vegetarian with a varied diet when you can stop by a whole foods on the regular). Seriously, Whole Foods (and other natural food shops) is probably one of the things that I miss the most (on a regular basis) about living in America.
Upon returning to Japan I felt so ready for this year to be over. I couldn't wait to get back home to enjoy the beach, people speaking English, seeing my best friend get married, and of course American grocery stores!!!! I would look at the calender and count down how many months it would be until I would be going home again and feel excited to see that one month was gone from my long wait. Now though, I have been looking at the calender and think the exact opposite. Whenever I am at my schools my students are so excited to see me and I think to myself that I only have 9 more months with them. In the beginning of October I went to one of my schools sports days and I realized that this might be the last sports day I get to attend (and only half of a sports day at that, since I had to teach english lessons at a different school earlier the same day), thinking about this would have brought me to tears if I wasn't surrounded by all of the students and staff.
And I find myself more and more frequently wondering, "would it really be so bad for me to stay just one more year?", right now I'm not really sure. I have a lot to think about until February.
All of these slight frustrations aside my life has been going pretty smoothly. All of my classes have been going really smoothly. I'm visiting my schools a lot more frequently this year (which would account for the fewer blog posts. Less office days:less blog posts) and I have been able to implement a lot of my own ideas into my elementary classes which has kept things exciting for me. The most recent success was the Halloween lessons I did for my schools, which at one school included carving pumpkins! Also, thanks to the help of workers at the Board of Education I was able to spearhead the 1st annual trick-or treating event on Oshima. Only a handful of my elementary students actually participated, but I'm hoping if the tradition continues next year it will become even more popular!
Now I need to get back to studying a bit for my GRE (taking it on Nov. 17th!!! wish me luck). You can expect my next blog post to be sometime after then.
For now I have a lot to think about.
Keri
Just for the sake of having a picture in this post
Image Courtesy of Google
Image Courtesy of Google
This post is just a small update on how year 2 has been so far. You can expect (or hope) to get posts of more substance later that will detail what I have been up to. So far Year 2 has been frustrating and confusing, but also really rewarding.
A lot of frustrations come from the fact that there is a second ALT this year who is at the moment splitting all of my schools with me. So we are alternating taking turns visiting all of the 16 elementary and junior high schools on Oshima. Getting used to having another ALT around the office has been an adjustment to say the least. But the truly frustrating part is that we both have very different teaching styles and also just plain personal characteristics, which sometimes clash (i.e. I like to take my time when planning and making decisions because I believe it allows me to assess and evaluate my ideas/thoughts from a variety of angels whereas my new co-worker loves to make impetuous decisions. With her everything must be planned for immediately and she has no patience to compromise).Thankfully, I think we are finally beginning to find a happy medium, we`ll see. It will certainly make life around the office much more bearable.
A lot of my close friends and family know that I went home to Hawaii for just over a week at the end of August. There isn't a whole lot to say about it because I was only there for such a short time. But it was really great to see my family, my Houdini (bunny), and congratulate my best friend in person for her recent engagement!!!
During that short week at home I was able to appreciate all the stupid things I used to take for granted. Which mostly entailed food (easy access to foods that I love to eat, and realizing how much easier it is to be a vegetarian with a varied diet when you can stop by a whole foods on the regular). Seriously, Whole Foods (and other natural food shops) is probably one of the things that I miss the most (on a regular basis) about living in America.
Upon returning to Japan I felt so ready for this year to be over. I couldn't wait to get back home to enjoy the beach, people speaking English, seeing my best friend get married, and of course American grocery stores!!!! I would look at the calender and count down how many months it would be until I would be going home again and feel excited to see that one month was gone from my long wait. Now though, I have been looking at the calender and think the exact opposite. Whenever I am at my schools my students are so excited to see me and I think to myself that I only have 9 more months with them. In the beginning of October I went to one of my schools sports days and I realized that this might be the last sports day I get to attend (and only half of a sports day at that, since I had to teach english lessons at a different school earlier the same day), thinking about this would have brought me to tears if I wasn't surrounded by all of the students and staff.
And I find myself more and more frequently wondering, "would it really be so bad for me to stay just one more year?", right now I'm not really sure. I have a lot to think about until February.
All of these slight frustrations aside my life has been going pretty smoothly. All of my classes have been going really smoothly. I'm visiting my schools a lot more frequently this year (which would account for the fewer blog posts. Less office days:less blog posts) and I have been able to implement a lot of my own ideas into my elementary classes which has kept things exciting for me. The most recent success was the Halloween lessons I did for my schools, which at one school included carving pumpkins! Also, thanks to the help of workers at the Board of Education I was able to spearhead the 1st annual trick-or treating event on Oshima. Only a handful of my elementary students actually participated, but I'm hoping if the tradition continues next year it will become even more popular!
Now I need to get back to studying a bit for my GRE (taking it on Nov. 17th!!! wish me luck). You can expect my next blog post to be sometime after then.
For now I have a lot to think about.
Keri
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Filler
Hello!!!!
I know it has been awhile since my last blog post. Sorry!
June was a super busy bee month for me because it was the last full month of classes before exams and....that`s right summer break!!
Summer holidays in Japan start on July 20th and go until around the end of August.
So that means that I get to have a nice month long holiday, right!?!?!
WRONG!
I`m stuck at the office all day errday. we are talking 8 hours 5 days a week. 40 hours of nothing.
Yippie!(sarcasm)
So far I have been trying to pass the time by thinking about my future. I am about 90% positive this will be my last year teaching English in Japan and so I want to start thinking/preparing myself for the next step. A lot of this entails of staring into space and hoping that someone/something will whack me in the head resulting in some grand epiphany. Other times I think about how I am totally going to move back to the states and open up the most BA hotdog stand ever (which of course would then franchise across the nation and make me millions all while upping the fat index of the american populous). And the great irony of the thing is that I am a mostly strict vegetarian who hates the meat industry with a passion. So I am currently trying to think up a name for this grand hotdog scheme, ideally one that reflects on my apparent hypocritical stance on meat production/consumption.
I know it has been awhile since my last blog post. Sorry!
June was a super busy bee month for me because it was the last full month of classes before exams and....that`s right summer break!!
Summer holidays in Japan start on July 20th and go until around the end of August.
So that means that I get to have a nice month long holiday, right!?!?!
WRONG!
I`m stuck at the office all day errday. we are talking 8 hours 5 days a week. 40 hours of nothing.
Yippie!(sarcasm)
So far I have been trying to pass the time by thinking about my future. I am about 90% positive this will be my last year teaching English in Japan and so I want to start thinking/preparing myself for the next step. A lot of this entails of staring into space and hoping that someone/something will whack me in the head resulting in some grand epiphany. Other times I think about how I am totally going to move back to the states and open up the most BA hotdog stand ever (which of course would then franchise across the nation and make me millions all while upping the fat index of the american populous). And the great irony of the thing is that I am a mostly strict vegetarian who hates the meat industry with a passion. So I am currently trying to think up a name for this grand hotdog scheme, ideally one that reflects on my apparent hypocritical stance on meat production/consumption.
Re: my hotdog stand
Think hotdog on a stick, but more AWESOME!
Think hotdog on a stick, but more AWESOME!
My employees will be degraded by wearing ridiculous outfits all for the sake of attracting customers.
Ok, so hotdog stands aside, (staring into space praying for an epiphany sadly is a very true reality) I`m still not really 100% sure what I want to do next year. I`ve started prepping for the GRE (where I have come to realize it probably wouldn`t have been a bad idea to have taken that remedial math class senior year at uni.) but, I`m not sure if I am ready to go back to school and studying and eventually launching into my career (which unfortunately for you will likely not entail a hotdog stand). So, for the moment I`m also still keeping my options and eyes open (staring off blankly into space). And you never know, one year can bring about a lot of changes.
Ok, so all of that aside, I don`t actually have much to type about today (thus the title filler) so I`ll just prattle off a few things and call it a day.
Last week I said goodbye to my best friend while here in Japan, Ciaran. He`s headed back home to Ireland with plans to either head back to Uni to discover the cure to cancer (but really) or maybe come back to Japan. It was really sad for me to see him go because he was one of my closest (foreigner) neighbors and we always enjoyed goofing off together on the weekends. So lately it`s been weird when I go to the market or department (ish) store in his town and I can`t stop by his and have a cup of tea and a laugh.
Changes are weird.
A lot of the other ALTs in our prefecture are also getting ready to leave, and our first group of new ALTs are expected to arrive in about 2 weeks. It`s pretty exciting business aside from saying goodbye to friends.
Earlier this month (July 13th) I had gone to South Korea for one of the long weekends ( a more indepth post will likely be posted later) and it was really nice to be able to `escape` and have a bit of a relaxing vacation. I say a bit of relaxing because I think it is about nearly impossible to have a truly relaxing vacation in any of these large metropolitan areas in Asia as a tourist. They are bursting with people and activity, have some of the most intricate subway/rail lines I`ve seen yet, and of course, in general I can`t speak the language. But more about all of that later.
Ok, so all of that aside, I don`t actually have much to type about today (thus the title filler) so I`ll just prattle off a few things and call it a day.
Last week I said goodbye to my best friend while here in Japan, Ciaran. He`s headed back home to Ireland with plans to either head back to Uni to discover the cure to cancer (but really) or maybe come back to Japan. It was really sad for me to see him go because he was one of my closest (foreigner) neighbors and we always enjoyed goofing off together on the weekends. So lately it`s been weird when I go to the market or department (ish) store in his town and I can`t stop by his and have a cup of tea and a laugh.
Changes are weird.
A lot of the other ALTs in our prefecture are also getting ready to leave, and our first group of new ALTs are expected to arrive in about 2 weeks. It`s pretty exciting business aside from saying goodbye to friends.
Earlier this month (July 13th) I had gone to South Korea for one of the long weekends ( a more indepth post will likely be posted later) and it was really nice to be able to `escape` and have a bit of a relaxing vacation. I say a bit of relaxing because I think it is about nearly impossible to have a truly relaxing vacation in any of these large metropolitan areas in Asia as a tourist. They are bursting with people and activity, have some of the most intricate subway/rail lines I`ve seen yet, and of course, in general I can`t speak the language. But more about all of that later.
It`s that time again!
Right now I am trying to make up my mind if I want to run the Tokyo Marathon again. Registration for the lottery begins August 1. I really enjoyed running it last year (until about the 25km point, then it was all misery and determination) but it took so much training in the freezing dark cold. So, we`ll see.
http://www.tokyo42195.org/2013_en/
(in case you want to register too! Maybe I`ll see you there!)
The point being, at the end of August I`m going home for about a week and it will be nice to be able to relax. I can`t wait until I can sit on the beach with a bowl of fresh fruits and hopefully a margarita and just be (And hopefully leave thoughts about the future and my hotdog stand behind for a few days).
http://www.tokyo42195.org/2013_en/
(in case you want to register too! Maybe I`ll see you there!)
The point being, at the end of August I`m going home for about a week and it will be nice to be able to relax. I can`t wait until I can sit on the beach with a bowl of fresh fruits and hopefully a margarita and just be (And hopefully leave thoughts about the future and my hotdog stand behind for a few days).
And with that I am going back to studying permutations, combinations, memorizing special triangles, and all that other jazz that comes with studying for the GRE (quant section in particular).
Keri
Keri
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
AEIOUy: Awesome Event In Oshima, Umm, Yay!
Hello Readers!
I think most of you know that initially (and most of the time) my relationship with my JET placement in Oshima was/is pure ambivalence. As time has worn on, I can`t say that our relationship status has necessarily changed, it is still somewhat along the lines of love-hate. But the most important thing is that I have learned amongst all the drawbacks of living on a small rural island I really do love Oshima.
As my past blog posts can attest I haven`t spent a majority of my free time in Oshima. Instead on the weekends I like to get off the island to socialize with friends. And so this past weekend I aimed to remedy that by inviting as many of my ALT friends to Oshima to enjoy the beauty of the island as well as get in some socializing. This event entailed enjoying some of the most amazing/awesome things that Oshima has to offer.
The event kicked off on Saturday evening around 5:30 and raged on until around 3:00 Sunday. Here are some of the highlights.
Cafe Misaki
After everyone made the long trek across Yamaguchi, their hungry bellies were rewarded with the delicious curries available at Cafe Misaki. Cafe Misaki is one of my favorite restaurants on Oshima. The food is delicious, the owner is very friendly, and the view from the restaurant is breathtaking!
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| The lovely Cafe Misaki (and me too!) P.C. of Amber Brice |
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| At Cafe Misaki! P.C. of Kanae |
Socializing
After dinner and dropping of our belongings at Matthew (Oshima`s highschool ALT) we all took a small hike up a mountain/hill to view one of the large Golden Buddha statues. Unfortunately by the time we got to the top the flood lights were turned off. But we did get a great view of all of the stars. One of the nice
things about living in the countryside, very little light pollution.
After our small hike we returned to Matthew`s to have some drinks, snacks, and gaming (Mario kart, Micheal Jackson Experience, Super Smash Brothers, nerdy card games i.e. San Juan and Dominion, and of course a riveting dirty nasty round of Never Have I Ever).
After dinner and dropping of our belongings at Matthew (Oshima`s highschool ALT) we all took a small hike up a mountain/hill to view one of the large Golden Buddha statues. Unfortunately by the time we got to the top the flood lights were turned off. But we did get a great view of all of the stars. One of the nice
things about living in the countryside, very little light pollution.
After our small hike we returned to Matthew`s to have some drinks, snacks, and gaming (Mario kart, Micheal Jackson Experience, Super Smash Brothers, nerdy card games i.e. San Juan and Dominion, and of course a riveting dirty nasty round of Never Have I Ever).
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| Awesome Yamaguchi ALTs! |
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| My co-worker Kanae and her friends came too! |
After a wild night of drinks and socializing Matthew and I woke our friends bright and early to enjoy some of the beauty of Oshima. Originally we had hoped to climb the wonderful Mt. Dake, but after a hard night of partying we could see many of our friends were not up for the challenge. So instead after a delicious breakfast cooked up by Matthew we piled into our cars and drove to one of the many beautiful beaches on Oshima to relax and soak up some sun.
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| Walking over to a nice little alcove in the bay. |
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| Awesome ALT steph was the first brave soul to venture into the semi-chilly water. |
After enjoying the beach and hopefully getting a slight sun tan we next ventured to the super awesome Oshima Sculpture Garden and Buddha. This sight-seeing spot is tucked away on the opposite island from where Matthew and I live. I only happened to chance upon it because one of my elementary schools is located nearby. After a chance venture in March, I fell in love with the quaint ad quirky atmosphere. On the first glance it looks really traditional with the shrine and Buddha. But as you move deeper into the sculpture garden you see that it really is a quirky semi commercial semi traditional sculpture garden. Some of the more odd sculptures that can be seen in the garden are ultraman, evee (and other pokemon), as well as the Tootsie Pop owl.
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| Awesome ALT Erez LOVES Oshima and the Awesome sculpture garden! |
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| What a serene scene! |
Oshima may have some faults but overall it really is a beautiful place and I am really lucky to have been placed here! Friends, please feel free to come and visit!!! There is plenty of crash space at my apartment. <3 <3 <3
In other news, I successfully managed to obtain my Japanese Drivers License in one try! Yippie!
And, in August Oshima will have a 3rd ALT! I know who she is, but I think it is still meant to be a bit of a secret, although my supervisor gave me the ok to send her a welcome email in the coming days!
Also, my uncle recently sent me an email asking how the new school year has been going (post all those crazy musical chairs school&teacher edition) and so one of my upcoming posts will likely talk about this!
Until Next Time!
Keri
P.S.
Here is where I`ve started to post all (or nearly all of my photos) that don`t have space to make it into my blog posts. http://www.flickr.com/photos/keri-berry/
In other news, I successfully managed to obtain my Japanese Drivers License in one try! Yippie!
And, in August Oshima will have a 3rd ALT! I know who she is, but I think it is still meant to be a bit of a secret, although my supervisor gave me the ok to send her a welcome email in the coming days!
Also, my uncle recently sent me an email asking how the new school year has been going (post all those crazy musical chairs school&teacher edition) and so one of my upcoming posts will likely talk about this!
Until Next Time!
Keri
P.S.
Here is where I`ve started to post all (or nearly all of my photos) that don`t have space to make it into my blog posts. http://www.flickr.com/photos/keri-berry/
Monday, June 4, 2012
Golden week Part 2 abbreviated and random ramblings of a gone crazy gaijin
Ahoy all!
It has again been a really long time since my last post and this is largely in part to extremely busy school days. But I`ve also been so unmotivated to write this post. I`m really excited about other random small things that have happened in my life, but I feel like my last post left me with an obligation to post a GW part 2. Grrr. I will note this in the future to not leave myself completely obligated to a follow- up blog. And so hence this post shall be an abbreviated telling of the second half of my Golden Week so it can be out of the way and more frequent random rants of a 20-something foreigner can continue. I really want to focus more of my posts about the daily stresses/struggles/and successes of living/teaching in rural Japan. Traveling is fun and interesting so I will still continue to post occasional travel/adventure posts but I really do want to amp up the sharing of the more seemingly mundane (but potentially more enlightening and maybe more overall LOL worthy mess-ups or whatever I get myself into) aspects of my life.
So without further ado, commitment, how annoying you can be: GW part 2: the abbreviated edition.
So last you heard of our travels, Ciaran, Jessica, Julianne, and I had just left Beppu/Oita for our next destination. I thought I had left it as a complete mystery as to where our next destination would lead, but idiotically forgot that I had placed a map with our driving route at the top of the post. So, dun duh duh dun, if you didn`t figure it out on your own, our next destination was Takachiho in Miyazaki prefecture!
Takachiho is a really small town (see: village) in Miyazaki ken. Why would we venture some really far miles (and even more if we are reading it as kms?) to go to some po-hunk town? Well because it is GORGE-ous . seriously. It has this really amazing beautiful gorge. Takachiho is also really famous for Kagura dances done nightly at the nearby shrine. Unfortunately we didn`t get to see these because they are only done later in the evening and we had a pretty tight driving schedule to keep. I was told by many of my Japanese friends/co-workers/aquintances that Takachiho is a power spot. I`m not exactly sure what they meant, but it is a very important religious place in Japan, from what I can gather Takachiho is associated with the myths/legends of the founding of Japan as a nation (in religious terms, not political)
anyway: here are some photos maybe also some brief descriptions of photos in Takachiho
What is Mt. Aso?
It has again been a really long time since my last post and this is largely in part to extremely busy school days. But I`ve also been so unmotivated to write this post. I`m really excited about other random small things that have happened in my life, but I feel like my last post left me with an obligation to post a GW part 2. Grrr. I will note this in the future to not leave myself completely obligated to a follow- up blog. And so hence this post shall be an abbreviated telling of the second half of my Golden Week so it can be out of the way and more frequent random rants of a 20-something foreigner can continue. I really want to focus more of my posts about the daily stresses/struggles/and successes of living/teaching in rural Japan. Traveling is fun and interesting so I will still continue to post occasional travel/adventure posts but I really do want to amp up the sharing of the more seemingly mundane (but potentially more enlightening and maybe more overall LOL worthy mess-ups or whatever I get myself into) aspects of my life.
So without further ado, commitment, how annoying you can be: GW part 2: the abbreviated edition.
So last you heard of our travels, Ciaran, Jessica, Julianne, and I had just left Beppu/Oita for our next destination. I thought I had left it as a complete mystery as to where our next destination would lead, but idiotically forgot that I had placed a map with our driving route at the top of the post. So, dun duh duh dun, if you didn`t figure it out on your own, our next destination was Takachiho in Miyazaki prefecture!
Takachiho is a really small town (see: village) in Miyazaki ken. Why would we venture some really far miles (and even more if we are reading it as kms?) to go to some po-hunk town? Well because it is GORGE-ous . seriously. It has this really amazing beautiful gorge. Takachiho is also really famous for Kagura dances done nightly at the nearby shrine. Unfortunately we didn`t get to see these because they are only done later in the evening and we had a pretty tight driving schedule to keep. I was told by many of my Japanese friends/co-workers/aquintances that Takachiho is a power spot. I`m not exactly sure what they meant, but it is a very important religious place in Japan, from what I can gather Takachiho is associated with the myths/legends of the founding of Japan as a nation (in religious terms, not political)
anyway: here are some photos maybe also some brief descriptions of photos in Takachiho
A pretty bridge along the trail around the gorge.
Takachiho! We wanted to rent a boat to paddle along the gorge, but we needed a reservation. Dont forget, Golden Week is one of the busiest travel times in Japan.
The smallest car EVER! (maybe not, but still)
After spending the day at Takachiho we continued our adventures onward toward Kumamoto City in Kumamoto prefecture. Kumamoto is particularly famous for 3 things of many many more (seriously Kumamoto was pretty awesome, if only we had more time): 1) Mt. Aso, 2) Kumamoto castle, and 3) Kumamon!
What is Mt. Aso?
A: Mt. Aso is Japan`s largest active volcano. It also has one of the largest calderas in the world.
Jessica, Keri, baby Cow, and Julianne at the top of Mt. Aso
And of course the day we decide to go the sulfur fumes are so strong it is near hard to breath and completely impossible to take a photo into the volcano.
It looks a bit like what I imagine Mordor looks like (LOTR geek in the housssse!)
An aerial shot from one of the helicopter tours on a less fume-y day.
P.C. of Pat Ribbons via The Oriental Caravan
P.C. of Pat Ribbons via The Oriental Caravan
One of the verdant slopes along Mt. Aso (so green from all the volcanic ash). Looks a bit like hobbiton, dont`cha think, just missing some hobbit holes.
Oh. and Kumamoto is also famous for raw horse meat, although those are cows pictured above, just some fyi.
Oh. and Kumamoto is also famous for raw horse meat, although those are cows pictured above, just some fyi.
Kumamoto Castle, a bit self-explanatory, but I will add-in that it is 1 of the 3 premier castles in Japan.
Jessica and I made an awesome warrior/ninja/guard friend. I don`t really get why there were so many ninja guys lurking around this castle, none of the online articles I`ve read have mentioned much about ninja/warrior/guard dudes. But they were cool anyhow.
The three ladies in front of Kumamoto castle. Dont ask why but it took about 10 photos for someone to finally get a photo of us with Kumamoto castle in the background. smh
What is a Kumamon?
A: The best thing EVER! So in Japan, nearly every prefecture (heck, Businesses, towns, etc.) have a mascot As this Japan Times article accurately and eloquently states: `Created by local governments and businesses to attract tourists and invigorate their communities, these characters, known as "yuru-kyara" (literally, "loose characters"), convey a rather unrefined and laid-back image.`. And Kumamoto`s mascot is aptly named Kumamon, a word play on so many levels. First of all I`m sure you can see the similarity of Kumamoto and Kumamon. Secondly, Kuma in Japanese means bear. And Kumamon is a fuzzy tubby rosy-red cheeked bear. I have no idea about the mon part of his name, but I always assumed it`s kind of like the mon in pokemon so maybe an abbreviation of monster (but he is not a monster!!) At the moment Kumamon is one of the most beloved `yuru-kyara` characters in Japan. He is based in Kumamoto but you can find them selling Kumamon products in tons of other cities not to mention he was also voted most popular character in an online survey.
Before going to Kumamoto I had thought Kumamon was highly overrated, but after 30 minutes in the city I was completely sold and had caught Kumamon fever.
Before going to Kumamoto I had thought Kumamon was highly overrated, but after 30 minutes in the city I was completely sold and had caught Kumamon fever.
And so without further ado, I give you Kumamon!
At Kuma-bar in Kumamoto having a kuma-cocktail with Kumamon.
And that is basically it for our trip. We had a hell of a time driving back, but since this is an abbreviated edition I am not going to waste a detailed account.
Until Next Time! (should be sooner than later)
I`m also thinking of introducing some vlogs on here. Only obstacle, I hear you need a video-camera or video recording device to make those. Maybe after next pay day. Also all my video editing software seemed to have been wiped when my hard drive crashed a few years ago. Ooops. It`ll be basic vlogs then until I can get some new software this summer.
Cheers!!!
Keri <3`s Kumamon
Until Next Time! (should be sooner than later)
I`m also thinking of introducing some vlogs on here. Only obstacle, I hear you need a video-camera or video recording device to make those. Maybe after next pay day. Also all my video editing software seemed to have been wiped when my hard drive crashed a few years ago. Ooops. It`ll be basic vlogs then until I can get some new software this summer.
Cheers!!!
Keri <3`s Kumamon
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Golden Week 2012 part 1: Beppu
Golden Week is a string of 5 national holidays that occur in roughly a one week period (4/29, 4/30, 5/3, 5/4, and 5/5). And so, with all these days off it`s quite common for people to go on holiday/vacations, and personally I think it is probably one of the busiest times for traveling within Japan. And of course, as I am always eager for an excuse to travel, my friends and I decided to join the masses and planned a nice trip through Kyushu for our Golden Week.
Julianne, Jessica, Ciaran and I enjoying Beppu!
April 28thThis marked the first official day of Golden week. I hadn`t made any plans for this day originally because I was keen to save money for my second half of Golden Week. And after some discussion with some other Yamaguchi ALT`s who had no plans for the day we decided to drive to Costco in Fukuoka. I was surprised to see they didn`t sell a number of the things I was hoping to buy (Colgate/Crest Toothpaste, Refried Beans) and I was also surprised by some of the things they did have (really odd Japanese cleaning products, gallon packets of kim chee). I had to remind myself that while Costco is an American franchise they of course have to market their products for Japanese consumers. But overall I came out with a fairly decent haul of things for not too bad of a price. I bought, a tin of rasberries (which the evil costco employee placed at the bottom of my Costco-sized shopping bag, thus squishing them, grrr.), a tin of black berries, a brick of American Chedder Cheese, a wedge of Gouda cheese (imported from Holland, legit), some baby leaf lettuce, 2 canisters of guacamole, 2 tubs of salsa, 2 bottles of cranberry juice, Spinach and Mozarella ravioli, and other odd bits that I cant recall off the top of my head.
Another major success of the day was that while driving home we also stopped by a shopping market, I think the name is Sunny (or something like that). And the reason why we made the special trek to this particular grocery shop was that it is one of only a handful of places in Japan that have recently began to sell Resses Peanut Buttercups. So, I now have a stock pile of Reese`s sitting in my kitchen. Happy Day!
This also marked the first day that I have ever driven on the IC/expressway. There are 2 major reasons I`ve been a bit hesitant to drive on the expressway before and here is why.
1) The expressway is expensive to use since the entire length of it is a toll road. In general the amount you pay is determined by how far you drive, but some of the smaller expressways you pay a set fee. The cost to use the expressway for an average sized car is about $0.50 per mile plus an initial $1.88 terminal charge. So, driving a mile on the expressway costs you about $2.40. But really, the expressway is usually used for traveling longer distances. On our way back from Costco our toll cost about $50.00.
2) And here is the second reason I haven`t driven on the expressway before.
May 3rdLet the Kyushu Roadtrip Begin!
This was the real beginning of my Golden Week plans. And here is a general outline, as well as a few anecdotes about our travels.
The night before, Julianne, Jessica, and I stayed the night with Ciaran at his home in Yanai so that we would all be together in a fairly convenient location to begin our adventure. That morning we woke up quite early got into the car and drove about an hour to Tokuyama ferry port and loaded our car and ourselves onto the ferry and settled in for our boat ride to Oita. Seeing as it was Golden Week (the busiest travel time of the year) the ferry was fairly crowded with other passengers and so the 4 of us opted to sitting on the rooftop deck of the ferry alongside a group of Highschool and Junior highschool girls who were going on a school trip. And the next 2 hours were spent having conversations in Japanese/English with curious school girls, toddlers, and other inquisitive passengers.
Awesome Yamaguchi ALT Ciaran and I with some Inquisitive Passangers
Once we arrived in Oita we said farewell to all of our new friends, piled into the car and requested that Betsey set our coordinates to direct us safely and soundly to Beppu. Seeing as I had done the first shift of driving for the day I decided to let Ciaran be in charge of driving us from the ferry port to Beppu, which Betsey kindly informed us would take about 2 hours. I think Betsey must have selected the most sceneic route because instead of traveling a legitimate looking road we ended up taking off along some of the smallest country roads, which Ciaran maneuvered quite nicely. However, about an hour into our drive while cruising along at around 45mph (73km/h) what should happen, we got pulled over by police, for speeding! Japan has ridiculously low maximum speed limits, the road we were driving along had a the speed limit set for about 31mph (50km/h). And we were then held up for an hour while the cops went through the standard (and some not so standard) procedures of interrogation. `Where are all of you from?` (Ireland, Hawaii, Chicago) `Sir, you know why we pulled you over?`(Yes), `Do you know what the speed limit is?` (yes), `Where are you going?` (Beppu), `Why are you going this way, this is very out of the way! (Betsey told us too). `You are a really handsome chap, do you have a girlfriend?` (No), `You said your friend is from Hawaii, is it very nice there, I`ve never been. By the way, what did you eat for breakfast your breath reeks of garlic.`, and so on for an hour. The police then proceeded with insulting me by questioning my abilities to drive because of the fact that I am a female. Sexist much?!?!?
About halfway through the interrogation
After the interrogation and a brief stop at the police station we finally got to continue on our journey to Beppu. Thankfully, the police station was along the way and so once we were through with that we only had about a 30 minute drive to get to Beppu.
Due to a high level of geothermal activity Beppu is most famous as being an Onsen (hotspring) resort. The city is literally surrounded by hot springs. While walking along the streets steam rises up from the drains and out of every possible crack in the ground. At night it was a pretty ethereal experience because there were colored spot lights set up amongst many of the steam vents. Anyway, that night we decided to eat a really interesting meal at the tourist information office where you cook your dinner (fish, meat, veggies, whatever you like) using the onsen/hotspring steam. It was really delicious, but we were a little overzealous in our excitement to try this odd meal and ended up ordering way too much food. After dinner, a few rounds of drinks, and aimless wandering we ended up at one of the larger bathing onsens (around 11pm, nbd) and spent around an hour and a half soaking in water and relaxing in a hot sand bath before calling it a night.
The next morning we woke up early to visit 2 of the 9 famous "hells" in Beppu. These hotsprings are referred to as hells due to their resemblance of the Buddhist vision of hell. These 9 hells have extremely high temperatures and different unique characteristics (one is bright blue, another is red, etc.). We visited Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) and Yama Jigoku (Mountain Hell).
And that is all for this post! There should be two or three more Golden Week posts for you to look forward to in the future!
Things to look forward to: The rest of my Golden Week, I took a practice driving exam today and next week I am going to attempt to get my Japanese driver's license (ganbarimasu!!!), I've also been offered an interview on a Japanese television program only problem is that I am scheduled at school the day they want to film, so I'm currently in negotiations to see if we can possibly reschedule for another day (wish me some luck on that front!).
Until next time!
Keri
A leisurely stroll
Our dinner getting steamed
10 minutes later and some of our veggies and dumplings are ready to eat!
Sand bath at Hyotan Onsen (photo courtesy of Google)
Umi Jigoku. Not the best photo, but I liked that you can clearly see a differentiation in color between the hot spring and the normal water in the background. (90degrees C)
Yama Jigoku, a mud volcano that spouted so much mud it became a small steaming mountain surrounded by muddy pounds reaching 90degrees C. The steam at this "hell" is so strong that it could pull one and a half train cars.
And that is all for this post! There should be two or three more Golden Week posts for you to look forward to in the future!
Things to look forward to: The rest of my Golden Week, I took a practice driving exam today and next week I am going to attempt to get my Japanese driver's license (ganbarimasu!!!), I've also been offered an interview on a Japanese television program only problem is that I am scheduled at school the day they want to film, so I'm currently in negotiations to see if we can possibly reschedule for another day (wish me some luck on that front!).
Leaving Beppu and off to our next destination! Look out for the next update to learn more!
Until next time!
Keri
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Tsuwano horse archery!
Hi guys!
So today I am again making good on my promise of `Things to look forward to` and posting about my visit to Tsuwano and watching traditional Japanese やぶさめ or horseback archery. Before I write about my adventures in Tsuwano I figured I should first dedicate some time to posting a little bit about the background of Yabusame.!
Because of the spiritual nature of Yabusame, most matches are held at Shinto shrines. At the beginning of every match a ceremony is performed, in which the priest blesses both horses and riders. In the match,the archer gallops down a 250-meter long track, using his or her knees to control the horse while drawing the bow, which measures about the same height as the rider. When reaching the target the archer then aims, and with a deep chant of In-Yo-In-Yo (darkness and light), fires. The sound made by the arrow hitting the target is almost as important as the the riders` accuracy. The explosion created in the strike is traditionally believed to transfer the archers` courage to the spectators.
And Brad nomming on some chicken on a stick.
I used this time to stalk and photograph the really awesome yabusame archers!
The Tsuwano and the horse archery were really cool to see, I think I`ll go again next year. Also there is a steam train that runs from Yamaguchi city to Tsuwano during the more pleasant weathered months, I`m thinking maybe I will ride it sometime, I`ve heard that it is supposed to be really scenic. So we`ll see!
Until next time!!!
So today I am again making good on my promise of `Things to look forward to` and posting about my visit to Tsuwano and watching traditional Japanese やぶさめ or horseback archery. Before I write about my adventures in Tsuwano I figured I should first dedicate some time to posting a little bit about the background of Yabusame.!
Yabusame is a form of ritualized mounted archery that arose as a form of offering to the gods of Japan, who in turn would grant prosperity and victory to the Japanese people. Zen Buddhism was a major factor in refining and evolving the form of mounted archery used in battle into the more spiritually based form of Yabusame. As a form of martial art, Yabusame helped warriors learn concentration and discipline. The addition of Zen taught breathing techniques taught one to stabilize the mind and body which provided the archer with clarity and focus. This combination enabled practitioners to calmly draw ones bow, aim and shoot accurately in the heat of battle. To do this successfully was considered to be the mark of a true samurai who had mastered his training and fear.
Ready you are.
Because of the spiritual nature of Yabusame, most matches are held at Shinto shrines. At the beginning of every match a ceremony is performed, in which the priest blesses both horses and riders. In the match,the archer gallops down a 250-meter long track, using his or her knees to control the horse while drawing the bow, which measures about the same height as the rider. When reaching the target the archer then aims, and with a deep chant of In-Yo-In-Yo (darkness and light), fires. The sound made by the arrow hitting the target is almost as important as the the riders` accuracy. The explosion created in the strike is traditionally believed to transfer the archers` courage to the spectators.
(This is just a brief summarization, if you want to learn more about Yabusame click here, or visit your local library)
So, on April 8th, fellow Yamaguchi ALT`s Brad and Jessica decided that we would drive from Yamaguchi City to Tsuwano (in Shimane prefecture) to see the annual Yabusame ceremony which is held on the 2nd Sunday of April. So we piled into my car and made the slow long trek. Due to a bit of a late start we ended up missing the first Yabusame match that was held at 11a.m., but thankfully there was a second match that would begin at 2pm. So we used that time to explore the grounds, nom on some nomz, and run into other fellow Yamaguchi ALT`s!
Look! We found Wayne, Sarah, and Matt!
Just before 2pm we decided to line up near the track so we could get a decent spot, near the third andfinal target, to photograph and watch all the action. We ended up standing near an older Japanese couple who were pretty adept at understanding English and chuckled at the odd conversation that we crazy foreigners were having behind them.
And then began the really long wait. We knew that there would be some sort of opening ceremony but we weren`t aware of just how long and elaborate it would be. For the most part we couldn`t see the blessing ritual and so we were a little confused about what was taking so long for the ceremony to start. Eventually, when our patience was wearing a little thin, as we were short on time, the judges, horses, and archers walked down along the length of the track in a parade (subdued) like manner, and then the matches began!
We didn`t get to watch the entire match because we needed to start heading home. But we did manage to snap a few successful photos (those horses are really fast!), and see a few successful strikes of the target. Before leaving Tsuwano we decided to wander a little bit around the center of Tsuwano to admire the cherry blossoms, the huge koi and the generally nice weather.
Koi swimming around along the avenues of Tsuwano.
The Tsuwano and the horse archery were really cool to see, I think I`ll go again next year. Also there is a steam train that runs from Yamaguchi city to Tsuwano during the more pleasant weathered months, I`m thinking maybe I will ride it sometime, I`ve heard that it is supposed to be really scenic. So we`ll see!
Until next time!!!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
New Horizons
April and Spring have arrived and with it the beloved Japanese cherry blossoms!
As much as I and the rest of the citizens of Japan love the cherry blossoms and Hanami, the coming of Spring also signifies the start of a new school year in Japan. Unlike American schools (and I am assuming schools in most other Western societies) which end around anywhere in June/July and resume in late August or early September, the Japanese school schedule begins from April and runs through until about mid- March. In a way it kind of seems to match having the new school year parallel with the coming of Spring and `re-birth`. (Note: I`m sure there is actually a different reason, but this is just a nice coincidence that I happen to really like).
(Photo Courtesy of Awesome Yamaguchi ALT Brad)
Like I have mentioned, for the past week I haven`t been very busy since classes have been out, my BOE on the other hand has been bustling with energy as people buzz in and out of the office making last minute preparations to ensure a smooth and successful new school year. One of the most prominent shifts that the new academic year presents that directly affects me is what I like to refer to as, `Musical Chairs: Sensei Edition`. So, at the set of the new school year not only are 1st year ES students being initiated into Elementary schools, ES students transferring up to JHS, JHS students transitioning into HS students and HS students preparing to begin University, but behind the scenes there is also a transferring of teachers and other positions related to the education system.
My BOE has had a few transfers, namely a large number of the staff who had worked on the national games have been transferred to different positions around Oshima. Within my office I was a little sad to learn that our department head was transferred, he had a really sexy deep low voice that I liked to listen to while preparing my lessons or typing up these blogs. Our new department head is really nice, so I really can`t complain too much. Thankfully both of my supervisors are still here, both of them have been really helpful with getting me adjusted to life in Oshima and I would`ve been a little torn to discover that I would be getting a new supervisor in charge of governing my professional life here.
The most significant changes of course are the ones within my individual schools. During the first week of April, amongst all the bustling going on around our office, the ones that I paid direct attention to was when my school principals` would enter to introduce the new staff. Unfortunately not all of my schools had the time to be able to stop by, I think I have gotten to meet the `new` staff from about 6 of my 14 schools. In most cases when the staff would enter I was relieved to see that for the most part my teachers have only been shuffled from different schools within Oshima`s school districts. But there were a few teachers that came in who will be completely new faces that I can expect to be teaching with in the upcoming weeks. This is a little bit of a nerve wracking experience for me, seeing as the past 7 months I have adjusted to the different teaching techniques of my schools individual teachers. And now I am getting thrown a curve ball of wild card teachers that I am unsure of how well we will work together in a classroom. Basically, I get sent back to square one of learning how to adjust to individual teaching styles.
There were only a few changes that really sparked my interests. The first being, that my absolutely favorite JTE was no longer the English teacher at Nasake Jima ES&JHS. He was so much fun to work with because he was really young and had a lot of creative ideas for engaging students with English language. Not to mention he was also the most receptive to ideas I had for English lessons and activities. But beyond just myself, I was also a little disappointed to learn that he was leaving (potentially out of Oshima) because I felt that the way he presented English lessons were really accessible and enjoyable for students. Simply put, I felt that he was the most qualified teacher for making a significant impact on English acquisition in Oshima. Thankfully, I later found out that he will still be working as an English teacher in Oshima and that he will actually be visiting all of the JHS. From what I could gather from talking to my new Department head was that my favorite teacher would kind of serve the same job as me, team teaching English at the different JHS on Oshima. So, I`m sad that I likely wont be working with him again, but I`m really glad that he`ll still be about and teaching practical English to the students of Oshima.
The only other major upset so far came when I discovered another one of my JHS teacher switches. This switch was really probably the worst possible switch that I could have ever expected. So there is only one JHS that I very much despise going to, and the reason primarily being was that the JTE was awful. I didn`t so much mind that all he made me do was read out a few sentences and otherwise stand in front of the class, because hey, if he was doing a great job of teaching and wanted me out of the way, no problem. BUT the problem is he doesn`t do a particularly great job. In fact 90% of the English class period is given in Japanese. And the strategies employed are extremely traditional. I had personally been hoping that he would retire, or else transfer off of Oshima. Unfortunately that wasn`t the case. And what did happen was that he was transferred to one of my favorite JHSs. And it`s further disheartening because a lot of the students there are really eager and dedicated to learning English, but their previous teacher`s strategies really facilitated and encouraged them to improve. So I`m really not excited to see how the new school year will be with him at that school. The only potentially bright side to this situation is that the teacher he is replacing will be going to his old school. So I`m hoping that I will no longer despise visiting that school and I know that she will do a really good job of providing the students with the proper English lessons they have been missing. It also means that I will no longer be used solely as a prop at that school! Yay!
The final change that April has brought that directly impacts me is a change in English textbooks. I`ll no longer be teaching from New Horizons but from Sunshine (does Japan have a sense of humour or is this also just coincidence?). Unfortunately the basic lesson structures and strategies are the same (see not practical/useful English) and implemented in the least sensical kind of way. But on the bright side I`m not familiar with the different speaking,reading, writing activities so I`ll have fun doing new lessons.
To sum it up there are a lot of changes on the horizon. Hopefully they will all prove to be for the better.
Things to look forward to: Tsuwano Yabusame (horse back archery). I`ve already posted some photos on Facebook but I will post more and likely some commentary soon!
As much as I and the rest of the citizens of Japan love the cherry blossoms and Hanami, the coming of Spring also signifies the start of a new school year in Japan. Unlike American schools (and I am assuming schools in most other Western societies) which end around anywhere in June/July and resume in late August or early September, the Japanese school schedule begins from April and runs through until about mid- March. In a way it kind of seems to match having the new school year parallel with the coming of Spring and `re-birth`. (Note: I`m sure there is actually a different reason, but this is just a nice coincidence that I happen to really like).
(Photo Courtesy of Awesome Yamaguchi ALT Brad)
Like I have mentioned, for the past week I haven`t been very busy since classes have been out, my BOE on the other hand has been bustling with energy as people buzz in and out of the office making last minute preparations to ensure a smooth and successful new school year. One of the most prominent shifts that the new academic year presents that directly affects me is what I like to refer to as, `Musical Chairs: Sensei Edition`. So, at the set of the new school year not only are 1st year ES students being initiated into Elementary schools, ES students transferring up to JHS, JHS students transitioning into HS students and HS students preparing to begin University, but behind the scenes there is also a transferring of teachers and other positions related to the education system.
My BOE has had a few transfers, namely a large number of the staff who had worked on the national games have been transferred to different positions around Oshima. Within my office I was a little sad to learn that our department head was transferred, he had a really sexy deep low voice that I liked to listen to while preparing my lessons or typing up these blogs. Our new department head is really nice, so I really can`t complain too much. Thankfully both of my supervisors are still here, both of them have been really helpful with getting me adjusted to life in Oshima and I would`ve been a little torn to discover that I would be getting a new supervisor in charge of governing my professional life here.
The most significant changes of course are the ones within my individual schools. During the first week of April, amongst all the bustling going on around our office, the ones that I paid direct attention to was when my school principals` would enter to introduce the new staff. Unfortunately not all of my schools had the time to be able to stop by, I think I have gotten to meet the `new` staff from about 6 of my 14 schools. In most cases when the staff would enter I was relieved to see that for the most part my teachers have only been shuffled from different schools within Oshima`s school districts. But there were a few teachers that came in who will be completely new faces that I can expect to be teaching with in the upcoming weeks. This is a little bit of a nerve wracking experience for me, seeing as the past 7 months I have adjusted to the different teaching techniques of my schools individual teachers. And now I am getting thrown a curve ball of wild card teachers that I am unsure of how well we will work together in a classroom. Basically, I get sent back to square one of learning how to adjust to individual teaching styles.
There were only a few changes that really sparked my interests. The first being, that my absolutely favorite JTE was no longer the English teacher at Nasake Jima ES&JHS. He was so much fun to work with because he was really young and had a lot of creative ideas for engaging students with English language. Not to mention he was also the most receptive to ideas I had for English lessons and activities. But beyond just myself, I was also a little disappointed to learn that he was leaving (potentially out of Oshima) because I felt that the way he presented English lessons were really accessible and enjoyable for students. Simply put, I felt that he was the most qualified teacher for making a significant impact on English acquisition in Oshima. Thankfully, I later found out that he will still be working as an English teacher in Oshima and that he will actually be visiting all of the JHS. From what I could gather from talking to my new Department head was that my favorite teacher would kind of serve the same job as me, team teaching English at the different JHS on Oshima. So, I`m sad that I likely wont be working with him again, but I`m really glad that he`ll still be about and teaching practical English to the students of Oshima.
The only other major upset so far came when I discovered another one of my JHS teacher switches. This switch was really probably the worst possible switch that I could have ever expected. So there is only one JHS that I very much despise going to, and the reason primarily being was that the JTE was awful. I didn`t so much mind that all he made me do was read out a few sentences and otherwise stand in front of the class, because hey, if he was doing a great job of teaching and wanted me out of the way, no problem. BUT the problem is he doesn`t do a particularly great job. In fact 90% of the English class period is given in Japanese. And the strategies employed are extremely traditional. I had personally been hoping that he would retire, or else transfer off of Oshima. Unfortunately that wasn`t the case. And what did happen was that he was transferred to one of my favorite JHSs. And it`s further disheartening because a lot of the students there are really eager and dedicated to learning English, but their previous teacher`s strategies really facilitated and encouraged them to improve. So I`m really not excited to see how the new school year will be with him at that school. The only potentially bright side to this situation is that the teacher he is replacing will be going to his old school. So I`m hoping that I will no longer despise visiting that school and I know that she will do a really good job of providing the students with the proper English lessons they have been missing. It also means that I will no longer be used solely as a prop at that school! Yay!
The final change that April has brought that directly impacts me is a change in English textbooks. I`ll no longer be teaching from New Horizons but from Sunshine (does Japan have a sense of humour or is this also just coincidence?). Unfortunately the basic lesson structures and strategies are the same (see not practical/useful English) and implemented in the least sensical kind of way. But on the bright side I`m not familiar with the different speaking,reading, writing activities so I`ll have fun doing new lessons.
To sum it up there are a lot of changes on the horizon. Hopefully they will all prove to be for the better.
Things to look forward to: Tsuwano Yabusame (horse back archery). I`ve already posted some photos on Facebook but I will post more and likely some commentary soon!
Monday, April 2, 2012
The fish sprang from the spring like a spring that has sprung in Spring.
(Name check to Jessica Maple for the blog title)
In Seattle: Sorry, but we`re related, cant`cha tell.
Hello family, friends, stalkers, and random readers of my blog!
The other day one of my friends spied me on Skype and stated, `You haven`t updated your dating blog lately, so I`m assuming things are going well.`
Out of this statement I took two things, 1) I should update my blog soon, because it has been awhile and 2) To re-establish my legitimacy as a non-dating blog I shall make sure my post does not go into that direction.
If I was trying to be Carrie Bradshaw 2.0, I would re-locate to Manhattan.
(We share a name, but that is nearly as far as the similarities run, sex/dating columnist/blogger I am not!)
Anyway, I`ve been a really busy bee since the last time I`ve posted, here are some of the things I have been up to:
-Last classes of the school year
-Tokyo Marathon
-Seattle
-Prefectural Meeting
-Osaka/Kobe
-Hiroshima for my B-day
-Hanging around Yamaguchi/Mine
-Seeing my ALT friend Jasmine!
-Attempting to keep myself busy for the past week and a half of no classes. (and the next two coming as well)
For the most part this blog post will focus on the bolded topics. Some of them may get bumped into a later post (I have dayz to fill, so expect a number of blog posts to be coming in the next 2 weeks) depending on how much I devote to writing about each.
As much as I love March, symbolizing the coming of Spring and my birthday, this year it loomed upon me like a big grey cloud. Am I trying to be all metaphorical?, No, I felt that way because quite literally it was extremely grey and cloudy nearly all month. On top of the grey misery, March in Japan is still pretty chilly, many of my Japanese friends told me that I should expect to wait until around Mid-April for the weather to really begin to warm up (>_<). Having spent a large part of my life living in Hawaii, I tend to get at least slightly affected by extended periods of lousy weather. So my main goal for the month was to be as active and busy as possible to keep the March Blues (I never have March Blues, what is this blasphemy! [note: I may have just made up the concept of March Blues]) from setting in.
So below I have listed a a handful of many useful ways of keeping your future March Blues at bay. Enjoying!
Keeping away the March Blues Step 1: Take a festive trip to a city and celebrate
Anyway, so after our big prefectural meeting in Yamaguchi City, my friends Ciaran, Anneli, and I decided to go to the Kansai region for a bit of a St. Patricks day adventure.Although I was disappointed to discover that there was no green beer nor did the local Mcdonald`s have any shamrock shakes, I was pleased to find that the festivities did include Guinness (doesn`t get more Irish than that), plentiful Irish folk, Potatoes, Magners (legit Irish Cider), kilts, bagpipes, food, and shamrocks for dayz!
Look at all those foreigners.
During the festive events I was educated by my Irish friend Ciaran, that kilts and Haggis, which I`ve typically associated with Scotland, actually originated in Ireland. I`ve also deduced that in typical Japanese fashion, adorable children are also a crucial part of celebrating St. Patrick`s day in Japan.
It had also been brought to my attention, as the token American amongst our motley crew of festive revelers, that the Irish are completely baffled by this celebration we call St. Patty`s. ` What is St. Patty`s day? It`s St. Paddy`s day (ye crazy Americans spelling all things wrong)!` Likewise, I`ve also been thoroughly educated on the famine, as the opening line used throughout the day began something like this, `So, have you ever heard about the famine...` (tell me more, tell me more) And in typical St. Paddy`s tradition, the majority of our day and evening was spent in a lovely Irish Pub in the middle of Osaka.
Keeping Away the March Blues Step 2: Go on an adventure to the most desolate part of your prefecture with amazing company and soundtrackz
There is no better way to prevent yourself from hitting March Madness (and not the basketball variety and more like the [mad] March hare in Alice in Wonderland) than a jaunt out in the wide open blustery cold country side.
`Careful, she's stark ravin' mad!`
So a few weeks back, Jessica, Jesse, Laura, and I all crammed into Laura`s little car and took a trip out to Mine! What is in Mine? Well Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido, the Mine cave and Mine Karst landscape. Since many of us had already been to the caves, and they are a bit of a (un)pretty price to pay to see again we opted to checking out the free Akiyoshido instead. And on the car ride, for some odd reason we decided to listen to my first childhood cd (Winnie the Pooh and his woodland friends: Songs from the 100 acre woods) Click the video below to have a listen and reminisce on your childhood.
Anyway, here are the two photos I took, it was really windy and extremely cold, and I hadn`t thought of putting on mittens or gloves. (Excuses)
Keeping Away the March Blues Step 3: Go Sightseeing with a friend visiting from out of town.
Sight seeing is a really great way to get your mind off of how cold, miserable, and ever dragging out the month of March may be. But a way to keep it fresh and funky is by going sight seeing with a friend who is coming to visit from out of town. Reason being is that not only do you get to go out and stretch your legs, but you also have a great companion to enjoy the sights with. The best part is that you can also use the time to catch each other up on what you`ve been up to since the last time you`ve talked.
And luckily for me, my fellow ALT and friend, Jasmine had the time and will to come visit me in little Oshima. Last time I had seen her was back near the end of January, I think. So we had a whole month and a few weeks of catching up to do. Since Oshima doesn`t have some of the most amazing sights in Japan, (though we did later discover some cool things about the island) I decided to take Jasmine to Miyajima and Hiroshima. Since I forgot my digital camera when we went to Hiroshima this blog post will really only cover our Miyajima adventure.
I really love traveling with Jasmine. I don`t know exactly what it is, but everytime we go sightseeing together we happen to meet the greatest people and have a really great time (the latter can of course be explained by how awesome we are).
Anyway, our adventure around Miyajima included meeting some really awesome people that worked on Miyajima in the ferry station(?). They were really excited to meet us, talk to us, and take photos of us (which were later made up into these really cute gifts that they gave to us as souvenir`s. We also later met an older Japanese couple over lunch who enjoyed talking to us and repeatedly kept inviting us to come to their home in Osaka to eat, drink, talk, sight see, and stay. How friendly. Maybe that will be our next travel destination together!
As for the rest, here are some pictures:
Cute little bambi who later tried eating our lunch and our handbags. Crazy babsie.
We decided to rent bicycles to putz around the island on. Here Jasmine is having a bit of a Marilyn moment, it was so windy!
The genki tourists strike again!
And with that, the end of March arrived and the potential prospects of Spring. April 1st was a lovely day but today the weather is looking extremely foreboding.
Okay, that`s enough for one blog post. Expect another one soon.
Next blog topic is likely to be about the Japanese school system: featuring crazy school schedule, and heart wrenching teacher transfers.
Until then!
Keri
In Seattle: Sorry, but we`re related, cant`cha tell.
Hello family, friends, stalkers, and random readers of my blog!
The other day one of my friends spied me on Skype and stated, `You haven`t updated your dating blog lately, so I`m assuming things are going well.`
Out of this statement I took two things, 1) I should update my blog soon, because it has been awhile and 2) To re-establish my legitimacy as a non-dating blog I shall make sure my post does not go into that direction.
If I was trying to be Carrie Bradshaw 2.0, I would re-locate to Manhattan.
(We share a name, but that is nearly as far as the similarities run, sex/dating columnist/blogger I am not!)
Anyway, I`ve been a really busy bee since the last time I`ve posted, here are some of the things I have been up to:
-Last classes of the school year
-Tokyo Marathon
-Seattle
-Prefectural Meeting
-Osaka/Kobe
-Hiroshima for my B-day
-Hanging around Yamaguchi/Mine
-Seeing my ALT friend Jasmine!
-Attempting to keep myself busy for the past week and a half of no classes. (and the next two coming as well)
For the most part this blog post will focus on the bolded topics. Some of them may get bumped into a later post (I have dayz to fill, so expect a number of blog posts to be coming in the next 2 weeks) depending on how much I devote to writing about each.
As much as I love March, symbolizing the coming of Spring and my birthday, this year it loomed upon me like a big grey cloud. Am I trying to be all metaphorical?, No, I felt that way because quite literally it was extremely grey and cloudy nearly all month. On top of the grey misery, March in Japan is still pretty chilly, many of my Japanese friends told me that I should expect to wait until around Mid-April for the weather to really begin to warm up (>_<). Having spent a large part of my life living in Hawaii, I tend to get at least slightly affected by extended periods of lousy weather. So my main goal for the month was to be as active and busy as possible to keep the March Blues (I never have March Blues, what is this blasphemy! [note: I may have just made up the concept of March Blues]) from setting in.
So below I have listed a a handful of many useful ways of keeping your future March Blues at bay. Enjoying!
Keeping away the March Blues Step 1: Take a festive trip to a city and celebrate
Anyway, so after our big prefectural meeting in Yamaguchi City, my friends Ciaran, Anneli, and I decided to go to the Kansai region for a bit of a St. Patricks day adventure.Although I was disappointed to discover that there was no green beer nor did the local Mcdonald`s have any shamrock shakes, I was pleased to find that the festivities did include Guinness (doesn`t get more Irish than that), plentiful Irish folk, Potatoes, Magners (legit Irish Cider), kilts, bagpipes, food, and shamrocks for dayz!
Look at all those foreigners.
During the festive events I was educated by my Irish friend Ciaran, that kilts and Haggis, which I`ve typically associated with Scotland, actually originated in Ireland. I`ve also deduced that in typical Japanese fashion, adorable children are also a crucial part of celebrating St. Patrick`s day in Japan.
It had also been brought to my attention, as the token American amongst our motley crew of festive revelers, that the Irish are completely baffled by this celebration we call St. Patty`s. ` What is St. Patty`s day? It`s St. Paddy`s day (ye crazy Americans spelling all things wrong)!` Likewise, I`ve also been thoroughly educated on the famine, as the opening line used throughout the day began something like this, `So, have you ever heard about the famine...` (tell me more, tell me more) And in typical St. Paddy`s tradition, the majority of our day and evening was spent in a lovely Irish Pub in the middle of Osaka.
Keeping Away the March Blues Step 2: Go on an adventure to the most desolate part of your prefecture with amazing company and soundtrackz
There is no better way to prevent yourself from hitting March Madness (and not the basketball variety and more like the [mad] March hare in Alice in Wonderland) than a jaunt out in the wide open blustery cold country side.
`Careful, she's stark ravin' mad!`
So a few weeks back, Jessica, Jesse, Laura, and I all crammed into Laura`s little car and took a trip out to Mine! What is in Mine? Well Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido, the Mine cave and Mine Karst landscape. Since many of us had already been to the caves, and they are a bit of a (un)pretty price to pay to see again we opted to checking out the free Akiyoshido instead. And on the car ride, for some odd reason we decided to listen to my first childhood cd (Winnie the Pooh and his woodland friends: Songs from the 100 acre woods) Click the video below to have a listen and reminisce on your childhood.
Anyway, here are the two photos I took, it was really windy and extremely cold, and I hadn`t thought of putting on mittens or gloves. (Excuses)
Keeping Away the March Blues Step 3: Go Sightseeing with a friend visiting from out of town.
Sight seeing is a really great way to get your mind off of how cold, miserable, and ever dragging out the month of March may be. But a way to keep it fresh and funky is by going sight seeing with a friend who is coming to visit from out of town. Reason being is that not only do you get to go out and stretch your legs, but you also have a great companion to enjoy the sights with. The best part is that you can also use the time to catch each other up on what you`ve been up to since the last time you`ve talked.
And luckily for me, my fellow ALT and friend, Jasmine had the time and will to come visit me in little Oshima. Last time I had seen her was back near the end of January, I think. So we had a whole month and a few weeks of catching up to do. Since Oshima doesn`t have some of the most amazing sights in Japan, (though we did later discover some cool things about the island) I decided to take Jasmine to Miyajima and Hiroshima. Since I forgot my digital camera when we went to Hiroshima this blog post will really only cover our Miyajima adventure.
I really love traveling with Jasmine. I don`t know exactly what it is, but everytime we go sightseeing together we happen to meet the greatest people and have a really great time (the latter can of course be explained by how awesome we are).
Anyway, our adventure around Miyajima included meeting some really awesome people that worked on Miyajima in the ferry station(?). They were really excited to meet us, talk to us, and take photos of us (which were later made up into these really cute gifts that they gave to us as souvenir`s. We also later met an older Japanese couple over lunch who enjoyed talking to us and repeatedly kept inviting us to come to their home in Osaka to eat, drink, talk, sight see, and stay. How friendly. Maybe that will be our next travel destination together!
As for the rest, here are some pictures:
Cute little bambi who later tried eating our lunch and our handbags. Crazy babsie.
We decided to rent bicycles to putz around the island on. Here Jasmine is having a bit of a Marilyn moment, it was so windy!
The genki tourists strike again!
And with that, the end of March arrived and the potential prospects of Spring. April 1st was a lovely day but today the weather is looking extremely foreboding.
Okay, that`s enough for one blog post. Expect another one soon.
Next blog topic is likely to be about the Japanese school system: featuring crazy school schedule, and heart wrenching teacher transfers.
Until then!
Keri
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