Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! During the weekend I caught a cold, so I stayed in and tried to recover. I also cleaned my apartment and went shopping so that everything was all set for Eddie's arrival! I found a Christian church and went to a service on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure exactly what kind of a church it was but it definitely wasn't Catholic. It was obvious that we were celebrating Christ's birth, so I knew I wasn't too far off. I opened my Christmas presents too!

On Christmas Day I went to work and planned out fun things to do in Osaka once Eddie gets here. That's about all I did. At home I watched part of the Office season 2 and the movie Adaptation. Once my family woke up on Christmas morning, I was able to talk with them over the phone. A pleasant Christmas, but definitely missing some fun family members and delicious food. It didn't really feel like Christmas to begin with, so I sometimes forgot which day it actually was.

A highlight of this past weekend has been driving a tiny little car. Almost all of my friends left the country during winter break, and two of them left me with their car. I have an international driver's license and insurance, so I'm all set. Man I miss driving!!!! I am already accustomed to driving on the left side of the road because I've been following traffic rules on my bike this whole time. The only thing that I mixed up the first couple times was that the turning signal switch is on the right and the windshield wiper controller is on the left of the steering wheel.

Tonight I leave for Osaka. I am staying at my friends' apartment while they are visiting the US. I'm taking care of their adorable cats while they are gone. Eddie flies in tomorrow and is staying with me until January 14th. We're going to stay in Osaka through New Years and then head back to Naruto. Some highlights of the things I have planned are an evening river cruise through downtown Osaka, the instant noodle cup museum, Spa World, Osaka's Aquarium, sake brewery tour, New Years Eve in Shinsaibashi/Dotombori, shopping, and lots of eating (Kobe beef, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc). Oooooh I'm pumped! I think I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight due to the anticipation and excitement!

Christmas in Japan

It should be no surprise that Christmas isn't a national holiday in Japan. That means that I will be going into the office on Christmas! I probably won't do much. I just have to show up. The kids have two weeks off for winter break, starting on the 23rd.

From what people have told me, I've gathered that some people in Japan give their kids Christmas presents. But it sounds like they only do it when they are younger and that the presents are silly. I've seen about two houses with Christmas decorations outside. Almost all stores have been playing Christmas music since the end of November. Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas is You" is played just about every other song. Everybody has said that they eat Christmas cake on Christmas. I think that's funny because that's about the ONLY dessert that my family DOESN'T eat at Christmas time. But if you think about it, maybe we should.... after all, we are celebrating a birthday. They told me Christmas cake is just like birthday cake but with different decorations. Christmas Eve or Christmas night is a date night for most Japanese couples. Japanese families all gather together (the way we do for Christmas) for New Years, not Christmas. During New Years they go to a temple and pray.

When I explained some of the Christmas traditions in the US (caroling, cards, decorating the tree, santa, etc), the kids were most surprised by the tradition of leaving cookies, milk, and carrots out on Christmas Eve. They thought it was really funny. That and sending Santa a wishlist.

Some rambling about cheating

I'm really starting to notice all the small intricate differences in the Japanese school system. I'm sorry to say that I don't like some of them. I've already mentioned the heating issue.... I'm wearing thick socks and I haven't been able to keep my toes warm all day today.

But anyways, one of the aspects of Japanese student behavior that really surprised me at first, and now gets on my nerves, is their lack of independence or confidence in themselves. I don't really know how else to explain it, but that's how I perceive it.

In American schools, when you are called on in class or are working on a worksheet, what would happen if you turned around and consulted with three of your friends for about two minutes before answering? Or blatantly copied your friends' answers? That was always considered *cheating* wasn't it? Well that's what about 90% of the kids do here. The other 10% of the kids are the ones that are telling everyone else the answers (they aren't sly or discreet about it either), and then don't need any help when it's their turn.

I was told during orientation that this is how the kids would behave and that you shouldn't fight it because you'll just have absolutely silent classes. They pretty much said it was a cultural difference because Japan is a group society. I think they pass too much off as being a 'cultural thing' though. Regardless, kids really will just stand there in silence forever (after you call on them) if you don't let them communicate with others. Somehow standing in silence is the less embarrassing option to them. To me, the longer the silence, the more embarrassing it gets.

Now that I worry about how effective each exercise is in class, I've given great thought to this behavior. I think it really inhibits each kid's learning. That's why we consider it cheating isn't it? Why figure out what is going on in class if you know someone will always tell you the answer? It creates quite an obstacle in making lesson plans. I think that this behavior is part of the reason why there is a such a huge gap in abilities within each class. The other part might be because Japan (or at least Tokushima Prefecture) has a "no fail" policy until high school. As long as you show up to class often, you'll make it all the way up to 9th grade. Passing doesn't depend on your attempt at learning. Where's the motivation? I feel like the only thing that motivates these kids is passing the entrance exam to high school. But even then, they can keep on taking entrance exams until they get into one. It's not like they won't go to high school. I guess the kids want to go to the same school as their friends though, and that is the only reason I can think of that is motivating my students to listen to me.

The only other difference in the school system that I either don't understand or find inefficient is the counseling aspect of school. I think I need to learn more about this one before I really comment on it. For now, this is what I know. I know that the school counselor visits the school a couple times a month. They visit each school about as often as I do (4-5 days a month), but only interact with the kids that sign up to talk. At some schools, the counselor sits at his desk in the office for the entire afternoon, looks bored, and packs up and leaves as soon as he can. At other schools, the counselor actually talks with students. Perhaps I'm just generalizing based on one guy that doesn't do his job, but on the other hand, I feel like I've seen some kids that look like they aren't getting the help that they need. It's really hard to watch. I'm going to a museum with one of the counselors this weekend (she earned her phd in Missouri!), so I'm definitely going to try to learn more about it all.

I realize this is a pretty negative post. I didn't mean to say that I've lost any respect for Japanese culture. Every job has it's frustrations, and I just wanted to share my job's challenges with you guys.

I think there's a stereotype in the US of what an average Japanese student is like, but I have to say, I think those stereotypes came from Tokyo or the Japanese version of a magnet high school. I'm just not seeing it at the extent that would warrant the beginning of such a stereotype.

hmmmmmmmmmm I don't think I'm really making a point here. It's just that the way some of my students behave and study boggles my mind sometimes. It's almost as if they've been told their whole lives that specifically *Japanese* students have such a hard life and that they should really believe it. But really, they don't study that hard until 9th grade, just before entering high school. And they only join one club. Nobody is in more than one club. A few students go to "cram school" (extra classes) after school, but I'm pretty sure that's not everyday. Most of the kids seem to be home by dinner time. Japanese schools aren't that rigorous! This is really bad, but I have to try not to laugh when they all say they have a very hard life. I'm 22 years old and I've already caught myself wanting to say, "Well when I was your age, I was in 10 clubs. You'll be fine."

my life is so hard

One of the teachers that I teach English with is also the home-ec teacher. The junior high school kids get to cook twice a year. This week they got to make crepes and cake. The teacher invited me to come and help one of the groups, so I said yes. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, as usual. I helped one of the groups crack eggs and stir, which was a lot of fun. But then once all the desserts were made, and a sample was sent up to the other teachers for grading, every group gave me a dessert. How could I say no to those cute kids wearing aprons?? So over the course of an hour I sat there and consumed 6 delicious desserts! That's when it dawn on me how terribly hard this job is. I don't know if I can keep doing this!!!!

In other news, I had a few of the kids that live in the orphanage/care-giving home in my class today. They are in the special needs class, and up until this week completely ignored my presence when I was in class. No eye contact, no participation, no hellos or goodbyes, and they didn't even attempt to speak to me in Japanese. If they said anything or looked at anyone at all, it was always directed towards the other teacher. I never really pushed it with them because there are a million reasons why they could have been acting that way. However, since they received their presents from Santa and the visit from all the foreigners, they have completely changed. In class today, they made eye contact with me and spoke directly to me! And at the end of class they asked me when I was coming to their class again! Well, I just wanted to spend the entire day there with them.

Also, I was quoted in the Tokushima newspaper on Monday! A newspaperman interviewed me at the orphanage/care-giving home on Sunday. I said I was glad to see the kids smiling.

weekend stories

Last weekend I did a number of things. On Friday night I went to a staff dinner party at a hotel in Tokushima City with everyone that works at my high school. It was interesting to say the least. There was a raffle, bingo, and buffet. I saw all the food lined up when I walked in, so I understood there was a buffet. Several people still explained to me that I must get my food myself, as if it was a new Japanese concept for me. However, only one person explained to me that in Japan, you never fill your own glass. So the majority of the people there spent more time walking around refilling other peoples drinks than eating at their own table. The people who were driving had a special sticker on them asking that you not serve them alcohol. Non of the men had stickers on. Many teachers that do not talk to me in the office finally struck up a conversation with me. The not-so-sober principal admitted to me that he was worried that I wouldn't work out in the beginning, but that now he is relieved (I'm the first female JET to work at that technical high school). During bingo I won an alarm clock! I was invited to all the smaller second parties, but I went a long with the youngest crowd and one of the English teachers that I teach with. We went to a snack bar. We were the only ones in there, and we sang kareoke for a bit. I sang "Girls Just Want To Have Fun."

Saturday and Sunday were spent with friends. We visited two orphanages in Hanoura and Naruto and threw Christmas parties for them. The term orphanage isn't very accurate though. The majority of the kids that live there have families that they visit occassionally. They live there because their families can't afford to take care of them. It's kind of like a free day-care/night-care. The kids are in good hands though. For example, there are 18 staff members for the 30 kids at the Naruto home. The home is near one of my junior high schools, so some of the kids and I knew each other. Ten other Jets and I sang Christmas carols, played games, decorated a Christmas tree, made Christmas cards, and just had fun with the kids. At the end Santa appeared and gave all the kids presents! The care takers invited us to stay and have lunch with all the kids.

I was able to use a lot of my Japanese this weekend. I feel a lot more comfortable just blurting out sentence making attempts. I make a TON of mistakes, but I feel that what I learn from these mistakes sticks in my memory better than memorizing and studying from books. I think I held back too long.

weekend

This weekend was rather relaxed compared to last weekend. I went to the local live jazz bar on Friday with some of my JET friends. On Saturday I went to a barbecue with my supervisor, Jeff, and Jill. It was a lot like a barbecue back home but with different food. There were tons of people, a couple guys manning the grill, kids running around, lots of drinking, and way too much food. They grilled chicken, oysters, corn on the cob, beef, and sausage. Lots of people brought food too. I had some of the best potato salad in my life there. It had avocados in it! Anyways, I met a lot of Japanese scientists that work for Otsuka in Naruto. Otsuka makes a lot of the popular sodas, energy drinks, snacks and pharmaceuticals in Japan.

Later I went to an onsen in a nearby town with some of my friends. It was kind of sketchy, and I'm pretty sure the wine bath was just water with red dye in it. Everyone kept staring at us, even when we had clothes on. They didn't provide soap and hair drier usage cost money, which are both usually free. Part of the bath had this electrical part to it, where you feel a fairly light electrical shock in the water. I was pretty confused as to why people weren't dying.

Today I did nothing and it was everything I thought it could be. :)

It's pretty cold now. It's in the 40s outside. Some of the teachers giggled when I walked into school last week with a scarf (a beautiful one made by Mary!), hat, gloves, and winter coat. They don't ride their bike to work though! I've been wearing 4 shirts to work everyday and my hands and feet are still cold. There's no heat/heater in the classrooms and hallways. Yet the girls are still required to wear skirts as part of their uniforms. They just started turning the heater on in the teachers' offices.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a fun and exciting city. It has a little of everything - a beautiful view, high end shopping, cheap markets, great food, a giant Buddha, a unique mix of culture, a really convenient public transportation system, and an amazing amount of nature/wildlife in the heart of the city. Fortunately it didn't rain while we were there despite the 90% chance that was predicted. It was cloudy the whole time though. I traveled with my friend Justin, who is also a JET in Tokushima Prefecture (his blog is now linked over there on the right). We went by brother and sister whenever someone asked, and that's pretty much how we interacted anyhow.

FOOD
It was Thanksgiving weekend, so we ate quite a bit. We had Thai, Peking dim sum, Szechuan, Mexican, Mrs. Field cookies, Hong Kong style fried rice, some seafood (squid and baby oysters), and Japanese ramen (which we're pretty sure was made with spaghetti noodles). We almost forgot that it was Thanksgiving, but this was my actual Thanksgiving meal - congee, sesame rice balls, and soy milk:


MONEY
My least favorite thought process is dividing by 8. We had a confusing couple hours our first night because we had yen that needed to be exchanged for the Hong Kong dollar. We're both accustomed to calculating yen into US$ because it is roughly 100yen to $1 plus a little. And we know there's about 8 HK$ to a $1. But the actual exchange we had to act on was 1HK$=16yen, or 1yen=0.0659HK$. So we kept trying to reconvert everything back to dollars, all in our head of course. We finally found a place with a good exchange rate and then left yen out of our calculations when looking at prices in HK$.

TRANSPORTATION
I was really amazed by the city's public transportation system. There were trains, buses, trams, walkways above streets, outdoor escalator, and a subway. All were super clean and ran frequently. All signs and maps were in Cantonese and English. The subway was so easy to use because all you had to do was put your finger on the destination you wanted on the screen map and it told you how much money to put in. It was a relief after Japanese timetables and price maps. Here we are on a city bus that took us straight from the airport to our hostel. Note the nicely cushioned seats.


HOSTEL
We stayed in a hostel in Causeway Bay, a shopping district on the East side of the city. It was about $16 per night per person and we had our own bathroom, air conditioning, and wireless internet. We used the wireless internet to communicate with family and friends in the US. Justin used his pda and skype to call people. I used my webcam and aolim. The first room they took us didn't have everything we wanted in a room so we switched rooms. It was kind of an ordeal because no one in the office spoke English, but I managed to figured everything out through an English speaking woman over the phone. They took us to one building three blocks away, but there was some problem with the security guys on the first floor, so after a verbal fight took place in front of us in Cantonese, we left and they took us to a different building. We paid the difference for a better room on the street, which felt a little shady, but once we got settled we realized the room was actually quite safe and convenient after all.

THE SITES
Parks - HK has a ton of free, well-kept, clean, gorgeous parks. We went to the Honk Kong Park, Kowloon Park, HK Botanical Garden and Zoo, and Victoria Park. Some of the parks have swimming pools, ponds, greenhouses, sculptures, waterfalls, museums, restaurants, wild animals, aviaries, sport courts, and well manicured plants. Here are some pictures from the parks.
Where park meets city-

Orchids-






Victoria Peak - We took the steep Peak Tram up to the top of Victoria Peak, south of the city. There was a mall and restaurants on the top. This was the clearest it was all weekend. Here is the view-



The Promenade - Across from Hong Kong Island is Kowloon Peninsula. There's a street on the edge of this peninsula and it has the best view of the city from the north. Here is the view during the day, East to West. My pictures at night didn't turn out.





Here's the clocktower near the promenade.


The Ngong Ping Skyrail and Buddha - West of HK Island is Lantau Island. The largest outdoor Buddha in the world sits on top of a mountain on Lantau. There's a brand new skyrail that takes you right to the Buddha. We had to wait about two hours to get on it though. It's about a 20 minute ride over a bay and a couple of mountains. I took a video of the end of the rail because I was worried that I pictures would turn out due to the dirt on the glass in our cabin. Here are some of those pictures, but the video is linked on the right.
Look for the skyrail cabins that fit 10 people there at the top of this picture-

The skyrail begins down near that building in the center of this picture-


It was pretty cloudy up there, but here are the good pictures of the Buddha and the surroundings.






We shared a cab back with a couple Spanish wine sellers because the line was too ridiculous to take the skyrail back. I don't think little amusement park skyrails are going to do anything for me anymore. And this means that in three weeks, I've seen the biggest indoor (at Todai-ji in Nara) and outdoor Buddhas in the world!

SHOPPING
There are malls and markets everywhere you turn in HK. We walked through most of the malls that connected all the big buildings together. You can stride through half the city and avoid the hot, busy street by doing so. The markets were a lot more hectic and fun. We got to Ladies Market, the Jade Market, Night Market near Jordan Rd, and Stanley Market on the south side of the HK Island. We bartered for everything we wanted, and sometimes we unintentionally bartered by walking away when we actually weren't interested in items. We didn't get around to the goldfish and flower markets.






NIGHTLIFE
We went out on the town one night in the SoHo and Lan Kwai Fong districts. We took the public outdoor escalator to get there. I'm pretty sure there are other places to party because only foreigners and ex-pats were there. We still had fun though. No cover charges.

PERCUSSION
We got tickets to see a Taiwanese Ju Percussion Group perform at the HK Cultural Center alone and with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. It was a spectacular show and parts of it reminded me of Blue Man Group minus the blue and the humor. So I guess it was just the sound and lighting. Anyways, I was really impressed. The orchestra sounded a lot like western orchestras but all the instruments were completely different. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. We also saw the last round of a middle and high school drumming competition. Here's a picture of the Cultural Center. It has three theaters inside it.


JAL
Japan Airlines is right up there with Midwest Express. I got to sit in the upper deck exit row on the way back. All seating enjoyed many movies, games, music, and more on personal screens. They had cameras on the bottom and front of the plane that you could watch. The meal came with silverware, chopsticks, and free unlimited drinks (I didn't take advantage of it Mom and Dad!). No warm gooey cookies though.

I definitely want to go back someday! It would be fun to have a condo there. Hmm, new goal in life.

tap dancing and Thanksgiving

Well last weekend I caught a cold and stayed home for two days. Luckily I got better just in time for the technical high school's cultural festival. Two of my friends and my supervisor come to the festival with me. We enjoyed the food, kareoke singers, and bazaar. Unfortunately it was raining, so not many non-school people came. They covered the stage though, so I did a little tap dancing number for everyone. They put microphones near the floor so that everyone huddled under tents and inside buildings could here my feet. It was the first time for everyone there to see tap dancing.... which took a little pressure off of me. I didn't use any music or costumes, but I did many typical tap steps. I didn't mess up, so I was happy. The look on the faces of my students was priceless. These photos are courtesy of Erin. Students were wearing their school uniforms.


I also did some calligraphy to display at the cultural festival. This is the calligraphy teacher who helped me practice, before I made my own.


Uh, I think I just ate an acorn. I'm at school and a teacher handed me a snack. It really looks like an acorn, but I don't think any humans eat acorns..... hmm, maybe it's a chestnut. Okay, a teacher just told me it was indeed a chestnut. Okay, that's settled.

Tonight Justin and I are headed to Osaka to catch a flight to Hong Kong, where we will spend Thanksgiving eating Chinese food. We're returning late on Monday, so I probably won't get pictures or stories up until Wednesday. Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers!!!!!!!!!!!! Eat lots of mashed potatoes for me!!!!!!!!!

Takamatsu, pizza, and Bolivian food

Last Friday I had a few friends over to watch a movie. I successfully ordered three pizzas over the phone in Japanese all by myself!!! And there was no mistake, I really meant to order these....

This is a teriyaki chicken pizza. It has some sort of salad dressing, teriyaki sauce, chicken, seaweed shavings, and cabbage. I ordered it without mayonnaise like it usually comes.

This is the Pizza RoyalHat's special pizza. It comes with tuna, ham, tomato, corn, cheese, and sauce.


On Saturday I traveled to Nishi-iya to enjoy some Bolivian food with Justin and a couple other Jets. Justin has some Japanese/Bolivian friends who invited us over for dinner. It was my first time in an actual Japanese house. The house was really cute with three really big tatami rooms, kitchen, entranceway, playroom, and bathroom. We sat on the floor with our legs under the blanket that lays between the tabletop and small table heater. We had all kinds of sushi, a Bolivian appetizer, and chicken/potato dish that tasted just like my favorite meal in Honduras. I always crave that dish, so it was a satisfying surprise to eat it out in the middle of Japan's hidden valley.

On Sunday I met up with two Jets from Michigan in Takamatsu, part of Kagawa Prefecture just north of Tokushima Prefecture. We explored Takamatsu's Ritsuren Park, the largest garden in Japan (750,000sq m).


The kikugetsutei teahouse inside the garden was serving tea properly by the Japanese tea ceremony.


We sat (on the floor) in a waiting room for a while and then shuffled (in our socks) into the tea room. We sat on the ground while some guy in a kimono asked a few people from the group to participate in the running of the tea ceremony. Then they made the three of us move to the front because it was apparently obvious that it was our first time. We got a great view and were served just after the women in kimonos. Some of the other women there were in kimonos, and all of the men and women conducting the ceremony were in traditional kimonos. First we ate a tea ceremony sweet, and then drank some tea from some expensive cups. There was a proper way to hold your cup and rotate your cup and bow to the person serving you. We just followed everyone else and hoped we weren't insulting anyone. The woman in charge of making conversation during the ceremony asked us where we were from and a couple other things I couldn't understand. Overall, it was pretty exciting!

Then we headed over to Yashima, just east of Takamatsu, where there is a neighborhood (called Shikokumura) of historical houses/structures from all over Shikoku. First we ate an entire vat of Takamatsu's famous sanuki udon at a locate restaurant.




This is an old soy sauce warehouse.

This is a lighthouse and house of the lighthouse's keeper was nearby, but difficult to capture in a photo.

Weather update

It finally got cold here. The first day of winter was last Monday and the temperature dropped. At night it's down to about 50F and 60F in my apartment. My space heater brings it up to about 65F. I guess this probably still sounds warm to everyone who has already experienced snow. It feels a lot colder to me now that I can't stay warm without wearing a hat and gloves. I can't go barefoot in my apartment either. Everyone is catching a cold now. I fought off a cold with nine hours of sleep, three liters of water and one liter of orange juice all in one day.

As for the earthquake and possible tsunami, I'm at no risk. I didn't feel it and the two largest islands of Japan are blocking me from a tsunami. From what I can tell from the tv news, the epicenter wasn't technically in Japan and most people couldn't feel it. They are predicting a tsunami hitting Hokkaido to as far south as Tokyo.

Osaka and Nara

I had a wonderful weekend last week in Osaka and Nara. I went with Jill and we met up with one of my friends from Wellesley and her friends. We did touristy things in Nara, but not in Osaka. We were really just checking out Osaka for the first time, shopping, and hanging out with some delightful new friends and their pet cat and kitten. I bought an amazing electronic dictionary (Canon G90 complete with a kanji write-in feature!) in the Nipponbashi district of Osaka, which might as well be called THE electronic capital of the world. Picture several Target stores all on one street, but only selling electronics and accessories. Each store had entire floors devoted to just cameras or just computer accessories. Here's a view of the street:

These are the adorable cats cricket and velcro. I took this picture with my cell phone!


NARA
Nara is the birthplace of imperial power in Japan. During the 8th century, Emperor Shomu wanted to demonstrate his power by building a gigantic temple with a gigantic Buddha inside. Nara was nearly bankrupt by the time the temple was finished 15 years later, but it showed the area who was boss. Many sub-temples were built later on, so the entire area is filled with many temples, shrines, and ancient burial grounds. Every January, the grass-burning festival called yamayaki is celebrated nearby the temple. The fire got out of hand a few times and the temple and Buddha were nearly destroyed. That and an earthquake have required the temple and Buddha to be rebuilt a few times. The most recent rebuilding took place in 1709. The temple is called Todai-ji and this is the outside. The entire building is made of wood.

This is the biggest Buddha in the world. More specifically, it depicts Rushana (Dainichi Nyorai), the Cosmic Buddha presiding over all levels of the universe. It's two-thirds its original size.


pic c/o jill:




One of the supporting pillars of the temple has a small tunnel through its base. If you can pass through the tunnel, you're supposedly guaranteed a spot in paradise. As you can see, only kids can really fit through it.