Oops, I forgot to post for a while! I am finally getting used to Anamizu. I have a routine going now and living here is feeling normal. I really like Anamizu, everyone is really nice.
Last Friday I had and enkai with Kouyou Elementary. On Saturday _I went shopping and was sad to discover the lack of good fabric stores in the area. The closest one is an hour away and it is tiny!
Then on Sunday I went to a coworkers baseball game. The game started at 9:30am and got done around 1 (there was 2 games). After the game everyone went out to eat and drink and the party continued until 9pm. (actually it went later than that but that is when I left). Having these kind of eating/drinking parties is a fun part of Japan's culture, though I am definitely drinking a lot more here than I ever did before. When I went to the Detroit consulate for my JET interview one of the JET alumni told me "if you aren't already an alcoholic, you will be by the time you leave Japan." Ha ha. I can now understand what he means. I don't have any parties planned for this weekend though, so it will be a good break.
I've started teaching at the middle school now and I am getting along well with the students. Originally I wasn't thrilled when I found out I had to teach middle schoolers, but they are actually very sweet for the most part. Some of them are very funny too. Today some of them were saying "Oh my Gaga!" As in, Lady Gaga. A lot of the guys like to yell "oh my god" at me for some reason. I guess they think it is a funny expression? Mostly it is the trouble maker types that seem to say this alot.
One problem is that alot of the middle schoolers seem shy around me. Other teachers will tell me "oh, such and such class is the craziest and loudest of all the classes!" and then I will go to that class and the students will barely speak. The teachers tell me that they are loud and not shy to speak English when I am not around. Hopefully they will warm up to me soon.
Speaking of warm, one of the hardest parts of being in Japan is that the buildings here do not seem to understand how insulation is supposed to work. Not only is there no AC, but the way the buildings are designed it always manages to be twice as hot inside as outside. And very humid too. Now that it is turning to fall some days are slightly better because they are cool, but I still feel a bit sweaty and icky every day.
Some of the 3rd year students have been preparing for a speech contest which will take place tomorrow. I have been helping them after school. It is kind of like forensics which I did in highschool, there are different categories to compete in. Two of my students wrote their own speeches and three are doing a performance of a short story called "The Pirate Ship". I've been trying my best to help them practice their pronunciation. The hardest thing is L and R sounds. I've been trying to make them aware of the tongue position needed to make the two sounds. It is difficult to constantly think about where your tongue is in your mouth while you are speaking though, when you are speaking naturally you don't think about it at all. Today we will meet for the last time before their contest tomorrow. _I hope it goes well for them! I am curious about the contest though. I wish I could go watch it. One of the students made a mistake in her speech. She had written that she wanted to go into something "with open minded" instead of "with an open mind". When I pointed out the mistake the teacher told me that they had already submitted the speeches and they had to recite them exactly as they are or they will lose points in the contest, and the contest is judged by Japanese people so they wouldn't notice the mistake. I hope the contest is judged fairly! My kids have worked hard!
Well, this post was a hodgepodge of random things. Hopefully you enjoyed this peek into my Japan life.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Monday, September 15, 2014
Kiriko Matsuri
Last Saturday my town had a kiriko festival. My principle mentioned it to me on Thursday, so I decided to go check it out. A kiriko is a giant lantern thing that is on a wooden float that people carry around. Yes not the most eloquent description but hopefully you can get the idea. I will post photos soon. These floats are pretty big so they have about 20-30 people carrying them at a time. I went to another kiriko festival in Wajima a few weeks ago, but this one was in my own town so I figured it would be worth checking out.
On Friday when I asked my coworkers where the festival would take place they simply said "listen for the taiko drums and follow the sound". So around 6:30 began hearing taiko from my apartment and soon after went out in search of the kiriko. I found one right away, but the scene was not as lively as I had experienced in Wajima. It was just one float and there were not any people around besides those carrying it, while in Wajima there had been many observers. It was raining out so I thought maybe that had kept people away from the festival. I decided to keep walking around and see if there were more kiriko around. I followed the sound of taiko to the local shrine where two kiriko were sitting. I entered the shrine and got a lot of weird stares like "why is some random foreigner hanging out here". I stood around awkwardly for a few minutes and there didn't seem to be anything going on so I decided to leave. I thought about just going home but it had stopped raining at this point so I figured I might as well walk around the town a little more. I'm glad I did because after that the night got exponentially better.
After walking and following the taiko sounds I found another kiriko. As I approached it I heard whispers of "Eh, Emma-sensei?!" Followed by several girls rushing over to me. They were some of my middle school students. I haven't started teaching yet so it was my first time meeting them, but of course as the only non-Japanese person they were able to tell who I was. I was really happy that these girls were interested enough to come over and introduce themselves to me (In English!). Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come with my class.
After that I heard someone else calling my name. It was one of my coworkers from the BOE. He was helping to carry the kiriko! So I began following his kiriko since it was someone I actually knew. Of course then his teammates were like "who is this foreigner?!" and after realizing who I was insisted I help carry the kiriko too. They took my coat purse and umbrella and put them in someones truck so they wouldn't be in the way while I was carrying. I think this is the only place where I would feel safe handing off my possessions to complete strangers like that!
So I helped carry the kiriko all the way to the shrine. By this time many other kiriko had arrived there and even some kind of large float with a giant Yokai Watch cat on top of it. Many of my students and their families were at the festival, so I got to talk to many of them. Of course since I helped carry the kiriko this meant that I was now entitled to unlimited free alcohol from my kiriko team. To me it seems a little odd to be drinking in front of students, but at this kind of event literally everyone is drinking (the other kiriko team members had already been drinking prior to carrying the kiriko) and in Japan it is allowed to carry/drink alcohol in the street, so it seemed to be fine. Though everyone wants to offer you a drink, so I ended up walking around with full cans in my coat pockets (I picked up my coat and purse from the truck once we got to the shrine. I left my umbrella in there since it was no longer raining, but then I never saw the truck again so... its gone now) for the rest of the night because even though I thought it was okay to drink I didn't want to drink THAT much.
After a while it was time to leave the shrine again. I didn't help carry it this time, just walked along and observed. I met some more of my middle school students and chatted a bit. At one point we stopped and watched a taiko performance which featured three of my students, and that was really cool. I think taiko is very entertaining to watch because it really is a performance, they put their whole bodies into it, they don't just stand still and drum.
After that it was time to move the kiriko again. I started chatting with some of the guys on my coworkers kiriko team who were not helping carry at that moment. After a bit they invited me to go get food with them and we went back to someones house (turned out to belong to one of the guys friend's parents). They had had a party their earlier before the festival started. They didn't know how to deal with me being a vegetarian so they made me some rice and instant kitsune udon even though there were plenty of veggies and things on the table (which I also ate). After a while the owners of the house and two other women came back and were like "who is this weird foreigner in our house?!" at first but then after learning who I was were very nice. We chatted for a bit and then one of the women gave me a ride home.
It turned out to be a very fun and enjoyable experience. It was nice to get out and get involved in the community as well as meet new people (and practice my conversational Japanese!). Festivals are a good way to practice Japanese because people are usually willing to chat with you and the atmosphere is lighthearted so it is easy to joke around and have fun. I would definitely recommend going to a festival to anyone visiting or living in Japan!
On Friday when I asked my coworkers where the festival would take place they simply said "listen for the taiko drums and follow the sound". So around 6:30 began hearing taiko from my apartment and soon after went out in search of the kiriko. I found one right away, but the scene was not as lively as I had experienced in Wajima. It was just one float and there were not any people around besides those carrying it, while in Wajima there had been many observers. It was raining out so I thought maybe that had kept people away from the festival. I decided to keep walking around and see if there were more kiriko around. I followed the sound of taiko to the local shrine where two kiriko were sitting. I entered the shrine and got a lot of weird stares like "why is some random foreigner hanging out here". I stood around awkwardly for a few minutes and there didn't seem to be anything going on so I decided to leave. I thought about just going home but it had stopped raining at this point so I figured I might as well walk around the town a little more. I'm glad I did because after that the night got exponentially better.
After walking and following the taiko sounds I found another kiriko. As I approached it I heard whispers of "Eh, Emma-sensei?!" Followed by several girls rushing over to me. They were some of my middle school students. I haven't started teaching yet so it was my first time meeting them, but of course as the only non-Japanese person they were able to tell who I was. I was really happy that these girls were interested enough to come over and introduce themselves to me (In English!). Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come with my class.
After that I heard someone else calling my name. It was one of my coworkers from the BOE. He was helping to carry the kiriko! So I began following his kiriko since it was someone I actually knew. Of course then his teammates were like "who is this foreigner?!" and after realizing who I was insisted I help carry the kiriko too. They took my coat purse and umbrella and put them in someones truck so they wouldn't be in the way while I was carrying. I think this is the only place where I would feel safe handing off my possessions to complete strangers like that!
So I helped carry the kiriko all the way to the shrine. By this time many other kiriko had arrived there and even some kind of large float with a giant Yokai Watch cat on top of it. Many of my students and their families were at the festival, so I got to talk to many of them. Of course since I helped carry the kiriko this meant that I was now entitled to unlimited free alcohol from my kiriko team. To me it seems a little odd to be drinking in front of students, but at this kind of event literally everyone is drinking (the other kiriko team members had already been drinking prior to carrying the kiriko) and in Japan it is allowed to carry/drink alcohol in the street, so it seemed to be fine. Though everyone wants to offer you a drink, so I ended up walking around with full cans in my coat pockets (I picked up my coat and purse from the truck once we got to the shrine. I left my umbrella in there since it was no longer raining, but then I never saw the truck again so... its gone now) for the rest of the night because even though I thought it was okay to drink I didn't want to drink THAT much.
After a while it was time to leave the shrine again. I didn't help carry it this time, just walked along and observed. I met some more of my middle school students and chatted a bit. At one point we stopped and watched a taiko performance which featured three of my students, and that was really cool. I think taiko is very entertaining to watch because it really is a performance, they put their whole bodies into it, they don't just stand still and drum.
After that it was time to move the kiriko again. I started chatting with some of the guys on my coworkers kiriko team who were not helping carry at that moment. After a bit they invited me to go get food with them and we went back to someones house (turned out to belong to one of the guys friend's parents). They had had a party their earlier before the festival started. They didn't know how to deal with me being a vegetarian so they made me some rice and instant kitsune udon even though there were plenty of veggies and things on the table (which I also ate). After a while the owners of the house and two other women came back and were like "who is this weird foreigner in our house?!" at first but then after learning who I was were very nice. We chatted for a bit and then one of the women gave me a ride home.
It turned out to be a very fun and enjoyable experience. It was nice to get out and get involved in the community as well as meet new people (and practice my conversational Japanese!). Festivals are a good way to practice Japanese because people are usually willing to chat with you and the atmosphere is lighthearted so it is easy to joke around and have fun. I would definitely recommend going to a festival to anyone visiting or living in Japan!
First undoukai and enaki!
Yesterday I went to my first undoukai at Anamizu Junior High School. An undoukai is a sports day, similar to American field day. Compared to field day however the event is a bit more formal. Several weeks of preparation go into the event, which is why I have no taught at that school yet. They were using all their time to get ready for the undoukai!
I was walking to the middle school (about 20 minutes from my apartment) when a car pulled over. It was the principle from Anamizu elementary school. He gave me a ride to the middle school as he was also going to the undoukai. I was surprised he was going because it was not his school, but when we arrived there were even more important people there such as the police chief, superintendent, my boss from the BOE, and other important looking men in suits. Apparently these sports days are a big deal!
There was a tent set up with chairs under it where all these important people were sitting and I got to sit under there with them. The students were seated under three tents on the opposite side of the field. They were divided into three teams, red, white, and blue. Each team contained a mixture of students from all three grades (7th, 8th, and 9th).
The event started with speeches from various students as well as the principle. There was a lot of bowing, it seemed very formal. Then thing got more fun with the first activity which was the team cheers. Each team created and choreographed their own cheers, and these kids really go all out! The cheers were accompanied by taiko drums and pom poms, they were very entertaining!
Then the first event began. This was a crazy relay race. Two contestants from each team went at a time. One had to catapult a ball into the air and the other had to catch it in a bucket. After completing this they ran around a cone at the other end of the field and then one of the teammates got into a card board contraption. The best way to describe it is to think a tire on a bulldozer or something. It was a long piece of cardboard taped into a loop. The teammate in the cardboard then had to crawl back to the finish line while being guided by their other team mate. Some of the more competitive kids actually somersaulted in the cardboard instead of crawling in order to get back faster! It was very amusing to watch.
The day continued with various events such as rolling and carrying a giant ball, a scavenger hunt race, baton passing relay, etc. The guys had an event where they had to climb a pole and retrieve a flag from the top. The girls had a tug of war event that got brutal. About half the girls were sporting gauze and tape on their knees and elbows for the rest of the day after being dragged across the ground.
One girl tripped and fell during the baton pass race and got hurt pretty badly. She scraped her knees and elbows and was bleeding a lot. She was crying for a good half an hour, I gave her some chocolate to try and cheer her up. (I made sure to ask her in English "Do you like chocolate?" first. Go go English sensei secretly sneaking in English practice even when you are injured, hee hee).
The event got done around 330. It was really fun and it seemed like the kids had a good time despite some of the injuries. I think the white team ended up being the winners.
Later that evening I went to my first enaki with the middle school teachers. Enkai are big parties that are usually held at restaurants and are all you can eat / all you can drink. The place we went was a korean bbq style restaurant where you cook on a grill on your table in front of you. It was really fun, and my coworkers were very accommodating of me being a vegetarian. I got a big salad, grilled eggplant and mushrooms, rice, miso soup, figs, and cheesecake! Also got to try three kinds of Noto wine (pink, red, and white, all delicious!). It was a good opportunity to relax and talk with some of the other teachers. It is still a little frustrating trying to communicate through the language barrier. I can have basic conversations but it is hard to talk about anything too in depth. A lot of our conversations revolved around places Id been, my favorite places, etc. There is another ALT at my school who is actually from Detroit so I chatted with him in English for quite a bit too.
After the enkai there was a nijikai, which is basically a second party, but with less people. Only six of us went but it was still very fun. We went to a "snack bar" and had some more drinks and did karaoke. I managed to impress my coworkers with my awesome rap skills, though I then had to try to explain to them what "can't touch this" means in Japanese, lol. None of them knew any English songs but I did get everyone to join in with me and do the arm motions for the "YMCA"! And I sang "the sukiyaki song" with one of my coworkers.
I was walking to the middle school (about 20 minutes from my apartment) when a car pulled over. It was the principle from Anamizu elementary school. He gave me a ride to the middle school as he was also going to the undoukai. I was surprised he was going because it was not his school, but when we arrived there were even more important people there such as the police chief, superintendent, my boss from the BOE, and other important looking men in suits. Apparently these sports days are a big deal!
There was a tent set up with chairs under it where all these important people were sitting and I got to sit under there with them. The students were seated under three tents on the opposite side of the field. They were divided into three teams, red, white, and blue. Each team contained a mixture of students from all three grades (7th, 8th, and 9th).
The event started with speeches from various students as well as the principle. There was a lot of bowing, it seemed very formal. Then thing got more fun with the first activity which was the team cheers. Each team created and choreographed their own cheers, and these kids really go all out! The cheers were accompanied by taiko drums and pom poms, they were very entertaining!
Then the first event began. This was a crazy relay race. Two contestants from each team went at a time. One had to catapult a ball into the air and the other had to catch it in a bucket. After completing this they ran around a cone at the other end of the field and then one of the teammates got into a card board contraption. The best way to describe it is to think a tire on a bulldozer or something. It was a long piece of cardboard taped into a loop. The teammate in the cardboard then had to crawl back to the finish line while being guided by their other team mate. Some of the more competitive kids actually somersaulted in the cardboard instead of crawling in order to get back faster! It was very amusing to watch.
The day continued with various events such as rolling and carrying a giant ball, a scavenger hunt race, baton passing relay, etc. The guys had an event where they had to climb a pole and retrieve a flag from the top. The girls had a tug of war event that got brutal. About half the girls were sporting gauze and tape on their knees and elbows for the rest of the day after being dragged across the ground.
One girl tripped and fell during the baton pass race and got hurt pretty badly. She scraped her knees and elbows and was bleeding a lot. She was crying for a good half an hour, I gave her some chocolate to try and cheer her up. (I made sure to ask her in English "Do you like chocolate?" first. Go go English sensei secretly sneaking in English practice even when you are injured, hee hee).
The event got done around 330. It was really fun and it seemed like the kids had a good time despite some of the injuries. I think the white team ended up being the winners.
Later that evening I went to my first enaki with the middle school teachers. Enkai are big parties that are usually held at restaurants and are all you can eat / all you can drink. The place we went was a korean bbq style restaurant where you cook on a grill on your table in front of you. It was really fun, and my coworkers were very accommodating of me being a vegetarian. I got a big salad, grilled eggplant and mushrooms, rice, miso soup, figs, and cheesecake! Also got to try three kinds of Noto wine (pink, red, and white, all delicious!). It was a good opportunity to relax and talk with some of the other teachers. It is still a little frustrating trying to communicate through the language barrier. I can have basic conversations but it is hard to talk about anything too in depth. A lot of our conversations revolved around places Id been, my favorite places, etc. There is another ALT at my school who is actually from Detroit so I chatted with him in English for quite a bit too.
After the enkai there was a nijikai, which is basically a second party, but with less people. Only six of us went but it was still very fun. We went to a "snack bar" and had some more drinks and did karaoke. I managed to impress my coworkers with my awesome rap skills, though I then had to try to explain to them what "can't touch this" means in Japanese, lol. None of them knew any English songs but I did get everyone to join in with me and do the arm motions for the "YMCA"! And I sang "the sukiyaki song" with one of my coworkers.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Call the Paparazzi
Being the new ALT at a rural elementary school is kind of like being a celebrity. As I walk past classrooms I always hear whispers (and sometimes shouts) of "Look, it's Emma sensei!!" and facing peeking out to get a look at me. The more daring kids will actually come out of the classrooms and stop me to say "Hello".
Yesterday I happened to be walking down the hall as a group of third graders came in from recess. Immediately after seeing me they all began screaming "EMMA SENSEI!" and charging towards me at full speed. I then surrounded by a sea of adorable children all trying to ask me questions at once.
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"No, I'm American."
"DOYOU LIKE HARRY POTTER?!"
"Yes!"
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"No!"
"DO YOU LIKE SNAKES?!"
"WHAT FOOD DO YOU LIKE?"
"WHAT COLOR DO YOU LIKE?"
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"WOW, YOU HAVE PRETTY NAILS!" (Twenty kids begin fighting over who gets to pet my finger nails)
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"NO, Why do you keep asking me that?!"
It was pretty funny, and apparently I look British for some reason since like 5 kids asked me if I was. The downside here was the kids were being quite loud so I got a couple dirty looks from some teachers. I tried to quiet them down but there is no stopping third graders.
I also got my first celebrity stalker moment. After my fourth grade class a girl came up to me and asked "Where do you live?" After hesitating to answer she gets the biggest grin and goes "You live by Irohas!". So at least one kid knows where I live now. Though it is a small town to its not like that would be kept a secret too long anyways. That is one of the hard parts of being a foreigner here - you stand out. When you live in a place where you are one of only two foreign people in the entire town everyone is going to know who you are when they see you out and about, even if you don't know them.
Though on the plus side being a foreigner makes you interesting and different enough that the students actually want to interact with you so it makes it a lot easier to get them to practice English. :)
Yesterday I happened to be walking down the hall as a group of third graders came in from recess. Immediately after seeing me they all began screaming "EMMA SENSEI!" and charging towards me at full speed. I then surrounded by a sea of adorable children all trying to ask me questions at once.
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"No, I'm American."
"DOYOU LIKE HARRY POTTER?!"
"Yes!"
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"No!"
"DO YOU LIKE SNAKES?!"
"WHAT FOOD DO YOU LIKE?"
"WHAT COLOR DO YOU LIKE?"
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"WOW, YOU HAVE PRETTY NAILS!" (Twenty kids begin fighting over who gets to pet my finger nails)
"ARE YOU BRITISH?!"
"NO, Why do you keep asking me that?!"
It was pretty funny, and apparently I look British for some reason since like 5 kids asked me if I was. The downside here was the kids were being quite loud so I got a couple dirty looks from some teachers. I tried to quiet them down but there is no stopping third graders.
I also got my first celebrity stalker moment. After my fourth grade class a girl came up to me and asked "Where do you live?" After hesitating to answer she gets the biggest grin and goes "You live by Irohas!". So at least one kid knows where I live now. Though it is a small town to its not like that would be kept a secret too long anyways. That is one of the hard parts of being a foreigner here - you stand out. When you live in a place where you are one of only two foreign people in the entire town everyone is going to know who you are when they see you out and about, even if you don't know them.
Though on the plus side being a foreigner makes you interesting and different enough that the students actually want to interact with you so it makes it a lot easier to get them to practice English. :)
Hello!
Hello! My name is Emma. I am a new ALT(Assistant Language Teacher) living in Anamizu, Ishikawa as part of the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program! Originally I was planning to chronicle my time here via vlogs, but after five weeks with several vlogs filmed but zero vlogs edited I have realized it will be more efficient for me to do a text blog. (Though I still plan to film and post vlogs occasionally).
My goal with this blog/vlogs is threefold:
1. To inform my family and friends back home what I am up to.
2. To inform prospective JETs what the program is like and future Ishikawa JETs what this prefecture is like.
3. To create a record of my time here so I can remember everything in the future.
So, welcome to my blog! Thanks for checking it out! ^_^
My goal with this blog/vlogs is threefold:
1. To inform my family and friends back home what I am up to.
2. To inform prospective JETs what the program is like and future Ishikawa JETs what this prefecture is like.
3. To create a record of my time here so I can remember everything in the future.
So, welcome to my blog! Thanks for checking it out! ^_^
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