Songs, Sleighs and Santa hats!

So this week is my last week of school, and the last week before Christmas. AS the big day draws near, more and more festive activities are happening! My 3rd grade elective English class today made Christmas cards, wrote letters to Santa, and had 'Santa photos':


The closing weeks of school mark the final choral contest. The singing ability of Japanese school students is remarkable! Check them out:

So proud! I'm gunna miss these kids over winter break!

書道Shodo-the art of Japanese Calligraphy.

Recently I joined the Japanese calligraphy club in the next town. Every Wednesday I go to a little old lady’s place hidden in an alleyway and take lessons in a big old musty room, filled with ink stains. For an hour and a half I sit with my legs folded under me, my brush poised just so, and my back as straight as the scroll-clad walls behind me. My Shodo Sensei guides me in the correct swishes, hooks and strokes, and before long I’ve written my first: 永久 ‘Forever’ (I think this will be the hint for how long it will take me to perfect calligraphy!) I leave with a new calligraphy kit in hand, and a zest to spend the rest of the night with my brushes and ink. The kind of calligraphy I’ve enrolled in is graded. Every month I submit a certain number of calligraphy to get marked, and if I pass then I move to the next rank. At the moment I’m 新 (new). There are about 25 ranks and the highest are held by most of the elderly population. I’ll most likely be an “obaachan” (old lady) before I get anywhere near there!
So, word had gotten around that I had joined the calligraphy class. (As long as they don’t look at my attempts thus far I’m fine!) My supervisor’s calligraphy teacher, who was taught by the grand master of calligraphy, also had heard. She wanted to give me private lessons but has retired due to poor eyesight. Instead she wanted to give me her personal Shodo tools. I was beside myself when I heard this. My supervisor took me to her house and at once I was overwhelmed with beautiful hanging scrolls and perfectly written calligraphy from wall to wall. This woman got the highest possible rank. She handed me her shodo set, a soft brown leather case with well-worn brushes lain inside. I felt like I had a little part of this woman’s history, and felt so priviledged that she chose to give it to me. As she handed it to me she said the equivalent of “The importance of practice is the success of Shodo.” Those words rang in my ears for hours afterwards..
Since retiring from Shodo she has taken up Japanese classical singing, and she treated both my supervisor and I to a personal concert. It was so incredibly beautiful.
I hope that in my years in studying Shodo I can come even as close as a 5th to what this woman has become.

New Kitty!!

On Sunday of last week, I acquired my very own kitten! She is the baby of a friend’s cat, whose owner wasn’t too keen on having more kitties to take care of. So Sunday afternoon I get picked up and taken to this friend’s place where I was able to choose a kitten! There were three to choose from, and I picked the shy-est and gentlest one of the three (the other two were a little too…shall I say…genki?! Well, I wouldn’t want to be getting them unless they came with a mute button put it that way! Plus no-one ever picks the shy kitty!). I picked her up and she snuggled into the small of my neck and stayed there! I knew it at once.  For this reason, I’ve decided to call her “Shizuka” 静花, which means ‘gentle blossom’. I picked out the characters to mean this specifically. (She told me that she’d like to be called ‘Shizu’, or perhaps ‘Zuzu’ by her close friends though hehe)
So far she has explored my little house and has a fondness for sprawling herself across the back of my neck…like a nice fur scarf….except not…\so much so that I may consider re-naming her parrot! She’s also serving to be a good investment (hmm…even though she was free!), as she heats my cold, wintery bed at night! Sometimes I think I’ve dropped some cotton wool on the floor only to find it’s her huddled in a ball…everyone now “awwwwwwwwwwwwww!”
The cutest, cuddliest thing you’ve ever seen!

Wheels Baby, Yeah!

Oh yes. I have a car! There’s a rather interesting story that accompanies my acquisition of aforementioned car, so please listen well..
Firstly, the need for a car arose after Betty, my once-trusty bicycle, suffered a near-fatal puncture whilst her owner was riding her on the road to nowhere in inaka-ville. Trapped and immobile for half an hour til a passer-by stopped to help, I decided then and there-punctured tyre in hand that I would get me an automobile!!

So..I needed a Japanese license. Being an Aussie (yay!) I was able to switch over to a Japanese license no questions asked. Or so I thought. On my first attempt, after driving two hours with an armload of forms and photos, I was denied because my license has no date of issue (despite me telling the poor girl that my license was issued two years before the expiry date). Second time around I was successful, and after an eye test and an awwwwwful mugshot I walked out with my Japanese license.

Then I needed a car, right? So, I contact a car dealer used by many JETs-thankfully he’s an Aussie so there’s no translation worries, plus I don’t have to do any nasty paper-work. He gives me a list of possible cars and funnily enough I end up picking my predecessor’s car! (Which means I could have bought it off her at the start and saved a whole lotta yennage!) So, the same day I get my license, I get my car. After handing over a wad of cash I’m ready to drive. And here she is:








Quite roomy, many a snowboard and shopping bag will be jammed in the boot don’t you worry! She’s already been a-Costco-ing, and her first big road trip has already been planned-a 10 hour round trip to Hakodate complete with road trippin’ tunes, m&m’s and gaijin madness! (Oh, and a Halloween Party thrown in the works as well!)
She has been affectionately named “Dingo Chaser” by one of my American JET friends, and I think it’s quite becoming. Though if we’re going to cutesy it up Japanese style then she’s DC-chan ;-)
Niseko here I come!
DC-chan and Saa-chan sign out ;-)

The impossible has happened...

I bought shoes in Japan. And they fit.




Oh my goodness...

My First Elementary School Visit!

Wow. These kids are GENKI!!! I'm still exhausted from chasing them around all day! I had two classes, which seemed a little strange as there are NINE students in the whole school!!

At first they sat and listened attentively, as we tried to find my home on the map:



Then things got more exciting as we traced away:



Then before you know it we're playing 'Red Light, Green Light' and runnning from wall to wall!



Please note my incredibly patriotic attire..

Visit number two is next week, stay tuned...

Photo Booth Fun!

The beloved pastime of every junior high school student: print club (or purikura in the Japanese ‘let’s-shorten-everything style). Simply put, they are the super successor of the passport photo booth. Not only can you take an incessant amount of differently posed shots, these machines can superimpose various images over the top of your carefully positioned photos-see below for our watermelon adventure (that actually took place behind a big green plastic block):

You can also, if you so wish (and I did), chose to include props and or costumes to enhance your lovely photos. There are racks upon racks of costumes-any get-up you like from French maid to a baseball player to a Disney character or a soldier. Although what better costume than a Japanese school uniform!


And when all of your options are exhausted and you’ve finished your paparazzi stint, you can then proceed to draw/stamp/embellish your photos of choice:
There is also an option to have these little gems sent to your mobile phone, for free!

Japanese teenagers have been known to spend all day in these booths, jumping from one to the next (there are whole floors of these machines) in a bid to fill up their purikura books. Often this is their most prized possession as it contains years of photos. A common story is that when a Japanese girl has lost her bag, the first thing she is worried about is this book. Sadly mine is a little empty at the moment..

Overall a very addictive experience, and at $4 a pop it’s definitely one I’ll return to!

Newsflash!

On a side note, I also made the local paper this week..





Roughly translated it says I'm happy to be here, like the countryside and looking forward to meeting everyone. I actually wrote it first in Japanese, but it came back with a lot of mistakes, so it's good to see it makes sense on te final copy!

Mobile Mania!

In a land where anything that’s thinkable is already electronically do-able, and where the everyday problems already have a myriad of gadgetized solutions, I am in love. Japan is by far the leader of the pack when it comes to the digital world. Let’s start with my mobile/cell phone (or keitai in Japanese). Not only can I access high speed internet, take 5.2 megapixel photos/videos, send mail to any email address in the world, and receive calls personalised by a plethora of mesmerising ring tones, I can also access instant GPS and directions and watch full-res TV:

However, my favourite function by far is the osaifu-keitai (the wallet phone). I can link my bank account details to this lovely little device so that when I go shopping all I do is hand over my phone, which is then scanned at the register like another grocery item, and kapish-all is paid! Marrrrvelous! No fumbling with my ever-growing collection of 1 yen coins (1 cent)!
Another function that serves us foreigners well is the character reader. Simply point and shoot the camera at any Japanese character, be it on a sign, a magazine, a menu…and the camera will then digitize that image and translate the character for you! Ingenious!! The crazy part about all of this is, unlike back home, these characteristics are standard on Japanese phones, and have been for a number of years.
Then of course comes the necessary ‘blinging’. Japanese girls are renowned for having charms hanging of their phones that often outweigh the phone itself! There is a massive market for these ‘straps’ as they’re called-you want plastic sushi hanging off your phone? You got it! There is also a mobile craze over here called ‘deco-den’. It’s where you try and fit as many crazy/glittery/delicious-looking objects onto the outside of your phone. Here is my attempt:



It makes for easy finding in the dark. And my fellow teachers at school think it’s hilarious!
Though I’ve clearly been outdone by the natives, who do it best:



On a side note this trend has also spread to fingernails:



My lovely keitai also has about 7 different coloured lights that I can program to different settings, so I am never without an amber-fading-into-teal message alert.
Needless to say my poor little Aussie Nokia is paling drastically in comparison…

A Day in the Life of a Junior High School student

Here’s a little insight into JHS life here in Japan. There are many interesting differences!
Junior High School students are years 7-9 back home (they’re called 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders here).The students arrive at school at around 8am or earlier, for club practice (i.e. a sport or craft club) and extra study. The day officially starts at around 8.20 with homeroom, followed by the first four periods of the day. Each year has their own room, and it is the teachers who change rooms, not the students. In my school there are about 30-35 students in each year, so it’s pretty easy to keep track of.

After the morning classes comes lunch. Lunch is served American-style, complete with a tiny carton of milk. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are rice days, and Wednesday is non-rice day (i.e. bread), and I look forward to Wednesday lunch the most (the rice is getting to me..and my thighs!). It’s often a dinner sized portion, so I go home still quite full from lunch. My JTE told me today that the reason our staffroom is so quiet at lunch is because our school is famous for bad lunches and nobody is enjoying it! Ha ha. Every day has a calorie listing, and a monthly menu is displayed on the staff noticeboard. The students eat lunch together in the classroom, and serve each other, and then clean up after themselves. While lunch is happening, music is blared over the loudspeakers, and it’s been a great way to hear the latest Japanese music since my radio is broken :-(

After lunch comes two more periods and then cleaning. Japanese schools don’t have cleaners; it’s all done by the students. Of particular note is the cleaning song. Every day this week it’s been John Nash’s ‘I Can See Clearly Now’, it’s quite humorous!

After this comes afternoon homeroom, where notices for the next day are given. Following this, most, if not all, students go to their club activities. The most common ones in the schools I’m at are: volleyball, softball, baseball, basketball, tennis, and culture club. These clubs go til something like 7pm, or until it gets dark. Clubs are also held on weekends and in holiday time (yes, kids still come to school in holiday time, and are given extensive holiday homework specifically set out for each day). Japanese students live and breathe school. It’s such a common sight to see student in school uniforms on the weekends!

Junior High is fairly cruisy, and students have varying competency levels, as there is not entrance exam for JHS as there is for Senior High School. The kids first start learning English at Junior High School, so I’m learning to talk really, really, really slow. After Junior High School kids sit an exam to go onto Senior High School, in order to get into their school of choice. Senior High School is optional here, but 97% of students go on to it. Once in Senior High things start to build up, and ‘cram school’ for the university entrance exams becomes a regular activity after clubs finish. Senior High School students often don’t get home til 10om at night, and that’s if they don’t have to travel far. Unlike Australia, Senior High School students sit an exam for each university they want to enter-some can have as many as 10 exams! There is a high rate of student suicide at this age, as the pressure , understandably, just gets too much.

I’m very thankful I got placement in a Junior High School!

Oops...again

Hi! So I seem to have a habit of forgetting about my blog! Here's a run-down of the events since we last met:

*I had my first 'welcome party' (or 'enkai' in Japanese). It's basically an all-you-can-eat-and-drink fest. I encountered some interesting cuisine-fish scales and chicken skin...mmmm. This was followed by an 'after party' which involved karaoke and cocktails. The morning after my co-workers were looking a little worse for wear, hilarious!

*I bought a SUPER new bike, with two baskets-one on the front and one on the back! I'm very smitten; I've named her Betty. I can't wait to bling it up with some crazy Japanese gadgets.

*Went to an outdoor BBQ at one of my new friends'relatives place-they own a local farm, and I swear all of the Yubari melons come from their backyard. Needless to say I walked out with one under my arm. We played with fireworks (yeah, you can buy them at the convenience store here!!), and I made some new little friends-'we sang 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes' together!

*I signed myself up at the local video store, and borrowed a dvd to keep me sane in the rain we've been having.

*Went to the 'Bon Odori' festival in Yuni town. I wore traditional Japanese dress, danced, ate and played bingo! I then went back to my 'Japanese Mumma's' house for supper.

*Went to Sapporo orientation for three days and was incredibly happy to be having an English conversation with people at a normal speed again! It was extremely busy with workshops, seminars, training and welcome parties.

*I got taken into Sapporo for a facial!

*And...I started school yesterday! I had to do a welcome speech at the school assembly...in Japanese-I'm sure I made a million mistakes, but my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) said I was fine ha ha-I think she was being nice! I met all of the students and staff, got a tour and sat in the staffroom planning my first lesson, which was today! I taught second and third graders (8th and 9th graders back home), I''m so worn out from repeating things over and over, and being super enthusiastic. I had maps and photos and stamps and games, I think it went over well!

So...that's it-I start at my second school tomorrow-wish me luck!!

Overdue Update

I've just realised I haven't updated my blog for a while! Probably because it's been crazy for the last week!

I started work this week, well not really work but going to the Board of Education office and sitting there trying to amuse myself. I've mainly been brushing up on my Japanese (because I'm told I'll be making speeches!), and getting to know my co-workers there. On various days I met the principles and English teachers of all the schools I'll be teaching at, and got a few more tours of the town fitted in-including the hospital and the library where I was paraded around the joint! On Wednesday I was invited to play softball with the Yuni Junior High school girls team (I accidentally confessed my playing of softball, but forgot to mention how long it has been since I've played!). Nevertheless I made a fool of myself and all the girls had a good chuckle at my clumsiness when I threw the ball to the wrong person. The training session went for about 3 hours, and I'm still a little bit sore from it all! Most days after i get home from work (read: 4.30...I finish at 4.15!), i take myself on a bike ride in the sun, and I'm really enjoying it! I'm not looking forward to winter where bike riding won't even be an option...

This weekend was quite eventful for me. On Saturday I took myself to Sapporo. It should have been more difficult than it was, but I guess luck was on my side because I got there no problems-with a train change and all! Sapporo was FANTASTIC!! It was great being amongst the hutsle and bustle of city life again. I went to the station's observation deck and took some amazing pictures of some amazing views of Sapporo-it seemed to stretch on for miles! I did some souvenir/gift shopping and then took myself for a wander around town and ran into a festival that was underway in the main street. There were about 20 taiko drums set up with kids aged about 4 or 5-bashing them with as much gusto as a full grown player-they were too cute. There was also a portable shrine being carried around, which was an amazing sight in itself. I got a little lost in the department stores, as well as overwhelmed at the amount of stuff, and floors, and staff!

I went to the Former Hokkaido Government Office Building, and the gardens surrounding it were just amazing, people were relaxing and picnicing by the lake in the sun!

Amazingly enough, I also made it home without a hitch! And consequently fell straight into bed.

Today I went to Yuni Garden-a set up of gardens along the same lines as Floreade in Canberra. It was extremely English (there was even high tea!) and so equisite! I was a little snap happy.

Afterwards I took myself to Kuriyama (the next town-a little more populated), again on the train, and again without a hitch! I went to the 100 yen store there (and shopped up a storm of course) and also to the biggest supermarket for miles! On my way to the station a little old lady was quite surprised to see me, and dropped her bag!! It was quite funny, I seem to startle them quite a lot! I didn't quite time my shopping right, and ended up waiting an hour for the next train to get me home.

I also got my first piece of mail today! It was quite exciting. I also received a phone call from one of my Japanese "Mummas"who wanted to know what my favourite colour was so she could pick out a yukata (cotton summer Kimono) for me to wear to the next town festival! I can't wait to wear it! There's going to be a big town dance as well, and if I'm not too clumsy I'll be joining in!

Jaa, mata ne (Japanese for see ya later)

Sam's in Hokkaido!

So I'm finally here!! I'm writing from my very own apartment (after a distressing internet situation thankfully now rectified) and am still practically bouncing despite being here for almost 48 hours!

After flying to New Chitose airport, I met my supervisors (they are looking after my first few days/weeks, setting up bank accounts and the like)-and had a semi-interesting ride home, talking about hobbies and families. Stopped in to have Soba for lunch-when my dish came out I nearly did a backflip-it was huuuge! I was never going to finish it, and didn't. Ran into some other JETs at the same restaurant, such a strange coincidence!

Went to the Board of Education to meet my co-workers, but most of them are on Summer holidays so I only met a handful (of which, I've already forgotten names..). After that I went to my apartment!!!! I'm a little bit in love with it-it's quite big as far as JET apartments go-I've even got a spare room! There's an office/study, lounge/dining room, kitchen, laundry, bathroom, bedroom and entrance hallway (all this for $173??? Insane!) I didn't get time to explore, but had to dump my stuff and go shopping for groceries. An armful of goodies later and my fridge and cupboard are full with yummy Japanese ingredients (and some emergency chocolate!) Had about an hour to myself after that, and then was invited to a bbq-style meal with my neighbour, who also works at the Board of Education. The bbq style is called ghengis khan, and is apparently very popular in Hokkaido. It involves cooking meat and vegetables on a grate over coal, and is delicious. After beer, wine and shouchu (potato-derived alcohol) I returned to my apartment only to stay up until 2am re-arranging and decorating my new home (sticking up maps and photos-of which I probably should have bought more print-outs!) After I was satisfied that the place felt a little more 'mine', I went to bed in my DOUBLE BED!!

Woke up relatively early this morning, and had vegemite on toast for breakfast (slightly burnt, but still nostalgically tasty) and had the morning to myself to further explore every nook and cranny of my apartment. Found a whole bunch of English movies, which I'm sooo thankful for-it will be nice to understand my tv for a change! Also found a mammoth bookshelf with an infinite amount of English novels and teaching materials, and a plethora of sticky-notes left by my predecessor to help me out with things like the washing machine, microwave, etc.

I was treated to lunch today at a local ramen restaurant with my co-workers from the BOE (Board of Education). I had to sit with my legs folded under me, and owwww my feet have never hurt so much in my life!!! Plus I had no shoes or socks on, when the other ladies were wearing stockings so I felt embarassingly awkward.

I went on a tour of the town (also went yesterday but took a different route today), saw the post office and got introduced to the staff, then saw the pool and the town look out. Came back in time for another shopping trip to the grocery store!

I had the afternoon to myself and finnnnnallly worked out how to set up the internet, and now feel a little less lonely! I had dinner, which was a dish cooked by my neighbour, then went around my apartment block and introduced myself/handed out freddo frogs to the kiddies.

And now I'm off to bed after another fantastic day!!

Tokyo Orientation

Tokyo Orientation is over today, so I'll share some of the highlights with you.

Day One I woke up to the hot Tokyo sun burning me up through the window. The day's events included what seemed like an infinite amount of welcome speeches and ceremonies, workshops and meet-and-greets (I have completely forgotten everyone's name whom I met!). I had a mock-elementary school visit session complete with number games and singing-for a moment I was six again ha ha.

I also went to a session on cooking and eating in Japan, which went through all the Kanji for things like 'use-by date' and 'cook in microwave'(my specialty).

We had a massive banquet reception complete with buffet :-D in the evening, and I headed to bed exhausted.

Yesterday was a little more fun. I decided to ditch the hotel breakfast and venture out to find my own-I found a rice ball (onigiri) and a starbucks coffee, and managed pretty good with my Japanese. A few more speeches later I ventured out again for lunch and bought okonomiyaki (Dad's favourite) and got it heated up at the convenience store (I'm in love with the convenience store, or 'combini'!)

Afternoon workshops consisted of 'Thriving as a rural Jet' (verrrrry handy considering I'll be the only fireigner in my town!), and a prefectural meeting. I've met so many people who know my predecessor and speak highly of my town, so I'm feeling more and more confident about it.

Last night we went to the Australian Embassy for a welcome, and sipped on Australian wine through the night. Afterwards, a few of us headed to Sky Bar (which was on one of the top floors of the hotel), and had a few cocktails, it was such a relaxing night.

And that brings me to now! I'm sitting in my hotel room, all packed and ready to fly again! I'm really looking forward to seeing my apartment ad school, so I'll definitely keep you updated!

Thanks for reading about my adventures!

Sam :-)

Well, I'm here!

So today I arrived in JAPAN!!! After a McAustralia burger, a Japanese massage, a teary farewell, an arm full of luggage and a ten hour flight..I'm here! So I'm sitting 'here in my 5-star hotel room (yup!) clacking away on my laptop..

Today I have to myself, so I spent it wandering the streets of Shinjuku buying cheesy Japanese lollies and snacks (including many unimaginably-flavoured kit-kats), taking photos like a real tourist, and sipping a coffee in Starbucks as per my long-favoured tradition. It must be about 50 degrees over here, and the humidity is crazy! I've already had a shower today and I already feel like I need another one.

Tonight i'm meeting up with a Japanese friend of mine for dinner. She lives in Yokohama, which is about an hour away from here so we might go back to her place for dinner if we have time.

The view from my room is amazing! I'm on the 34th floor and am dwarfed by the surrounding sky-scrapers!

It's good to be around some foreigners though, there are a fare few Aussies around, (although only 3 going to Hokkaido). I forgot how difficult the language barrier is (probably due to forgetting most of my Japanese speaking skills!), so my first trip into the convenience store was a little daunting!

I'm off to have a nap-I feel like I've been up for days (and it looks like it too ha ha). I'm missing you all terribly! More soon!

All my love,

Samantha

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! At the moment I'm still in Australia preparing for the big day on July 26th: 16 days and counting. I'm nervous, excited and scared all at once. But there is so much to do, so much to pack and so many people to say goodbye to,that I don't have a moment to feel anything much!
I'm hoping this blog can be a way of sharing my trip with everyone back home, so please check in often to see what I'm up to and drop me a line :-)