So the last four days have been filled with school festivals, a good excuse to chill out, relax, and get paid for doing little. Seishi festival was on Wednesday and Thursday, and the last two days have been Shonan festival. Yesterday we had lots of singing and dancing, mostly by female students, mostly to Britney Spears, Steps and 90s Dance Music. But also one guy who chose to dress up in a skirt.
Today was the main day of the festival, with parents and friends coming for the stage performances and food. I spent most of the day going round the exhibitions in the classrooms with Takemoto-sensei, a lovely English teacher who works with both me and my friend Meghan. Also I saw Louis, a guy from Panama who used to teach at Shonan at the JET before Georgina and Me. For lunch we had a mixture of stuff- takoyaki, udon, yakitori, and cotton candy. As a gaijin, any attempt to make yourself blend in at a Japanese high school is doomed to failure, and I was near the centre of attention almost everywhere I went! Luckily I'm glad to be an ambassador for the UK, and the Steve Fan Club, which I'm glad to report is going well :)
It was a really really fun day, I got to chill out, and have a laugh with the genki students, who make working at school so much fun. Shonan is such a great school- I love the teachers there, including Yoden sensei who is so funny. And like I said, the students are really fun! The Japanese know how to foster a sense of community a lot better than we do in the UK; any excuse and theres a festival! The closing song of the festival was as cheesy as possible, but everyone linked arms and swayed together! Yoden-sensei even dashed across the room to grab me and bring me back to where him and some of his students were singing along! What can appear very superficial on the surface actually disguises a real sense of belonging, loyalty, and love for the school- not the bricks and desks but the people who you teach and teach with. Its groit.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Where I Live- Dot by Dot
Its a map shamelessly stolen from Google Earth. Hopefully saying that will avoid them destroying me with their immense copyright power.Anyway, not being able to work out numbers, I live at orange dot, by the sea and the Seto-Ohashi bridge (straight line going south to Shikoku). Pink dot is Shonan school. Red dot is Okayama City, the capital of our beautiful prefecture. Its about 30mins by train from me, orange dot. Blue dot is Seishi school, in Kurashiki (marked). Kurashiki is about 20mins from Okayama. Green dot to the west is where Carrie lives, who I occasionally stay with when I work at Seishi (blue dot). On the map below, you can see where I live in Japan as a whole...
Weekend Fun and Games
This weekend was once again fairly laid back. On Friday I raced out after a day doing the presentation lessons at the Junior High, first to Okayama for drinky-drinkies then to Kurashiki for more drinky-drinkies. I missed my last train home, so had to stay at Carrie's place (thanks to Carrie and Phil for that).Saturday I did shopping in Okayama- I attempted to buy a throw for my white sofa (to hide the tomato and chocolate stains), but failed. Instead I bought a book on an English traveller who came to Japan in the 1870s. Much more useful. I ended the day eating tacos and listening to The Blues beat the Baggies 2-0; back of the net!
On Sunday me, Miwa-chan and Yumi-chan went to a music festival in Tamashima, at Sami Beach. It was cool- we could hear the music from the beach itself, so stayed there most of the day. We drove back in the evening.The picture is some of the gifts a Japanese kid gave to us. Although I'd like to say it was my "gaijin"-ness that got us the gifts, I think it was more down to Yumi-chan. Anyway this is, as you can tell, a brief post, and I'd better get back to watching my newly arrived DVDs, hurrah!
Coming soon... Shonan/Seishi Festivals and Finally:A Trip To Kyoto!
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Three Tales
I can't help feeling that my friend Philip, from Way-yels, is putting a great deal more effort into his blog that I have. Yet, much like an arms race, we're both developing greater and greater 'arsenals' of material for your consumption. You being about four people (one of which is Phil).
Anyway, being unable to provide you with a step by step walk around my house and neighborhood (although if you wish to see such a post, visit a site not too far from here), I thought I'd share three tales from my topsy-turvy week at Shonan. Be warned, these tales didn't so much spring to my attention, as have to be dug out of relatively minor events and made into what are not-so-fascinating stories. But also remember you have interesting polls, fascinating features on Japanese women and turtles, and pictures of me as a Vampire, to amuse you.
Also let me say that, much like Crimewatch, I'm using initials for peoples names from now on, as sometimes people get arsy about blogs.
1. Y-Sensei and His Great Sense of Humour
Y-sensei is one of my favourite colleagues at Shonan. As the title suggests, he has a great sense of humour. He held a random meeting today, cackles a lot, and in the middle of otherwise quiet meetings answers his keitai in what can only be described as a Trigger Happy TV style. When asked if we had a meeting today he responded to me "Meeting!! Yes!!! I come to school for the meetings! Teaching is no fun but I love the meetings!", followed by a spell of ironic cackling. He also declared the other day that "Japanese Love Rice". Which is true, of course, but the line was delivered in such a way that it felt like he was imparting great wisdom to me. He also speaks to himself a fair bit, though quite a few teachers do that.
2. Festival Preparation
At the moment everyone is preparing for next weeks festival, which I can only assume will be a feast for the eyes and ears. M-sensei's class are preparing some mysterious treat, Y-sensei's class are making Udon, and a group of female students are practising a dance by a Japanese transexual band. These girls demonstrated some of the dance to me, as well as offering to paint my phone. It seems the fashion amongst 'youngsters' is to get a shiny, nice cellphone and cover it in acryllic paint and nail varnish, as well as stickers and any other tack they can get their hands on. I saw the monstrous results on a phone that was originally the same as mine the other day. Anyway, I have two days of Seishi festival (weds, thurs) and two of Shonan (fri, sat) next week, before a three day trip to Kyoto (sun, mon tues).
3. The TV Cameras Finally Track Me Down
On Friday I had to give two demonstration lessons at a local Junior High. Different Senior Highs were trying to persuade students to come to them next year, and Shonan had chosen me and O-sensei to showcase our school. I couldn't help feeling that Shonan were pimping me out- the sight of a 'gaijin' in their school made our particular lesson an instant attraction, and a group of students assembled at the end of the day to say goodbye to me specially! The lessons went really well, and apparently we were even on cable TV news briefly. It made me think it'd be way more fun teaching in a Junior High- for one I could actually play sports and have an outside chance of matching some of the 13-year olds!
Anyway, being unable to provide you with a step by step walk around my house and neighborhood (although if you wish to see such a post, visit a site not too far from here), I thought I'd share three tales from my topsy-turvy week at Shonan. Be warned, these tales didn't so much spring to my attention, as have to be dug out of relatively minor events and made into what are not-so-fascinating stories. But also remember you have interesting polls, fascinating features on Japanese women and turtles, and pictures of me as a Vampire, to amuse you.
Also let me say that, much like Crimewatch, I'm using initials for peoples names from now on, as sometimes people get arsy about blogs.
1. Y-Sensei and His Great Sense of Humour
Y-sensei is one of my favourite colleagues at Shonan. As the title suggests, he has a great sense of humour. He held a random meeting today, cackles a lot, and in the middle of otherwise quiet meetings answers his keitai in what can only be described as a Trigger Happy TV style. When asked if we had a meeting today he responded to me "Meeting!! Yes!!! I come to school for the meetings! Teaching is no fun but I love the meetings!", followed by a spell of ironic cackling. He also declared the other day that "Japanese Love Rice". Which is true, of course, but the line was delivered in such a way that it felt like he was imparting great wisdom to me. He also speaks to himself a fair bit, though quite a few teachers do that.
2. Festival Preparation
At the moment everyone is preparing for next weeks festival, which I can only assume will be a feast for the eyes and ears. M-sensei's class are preparing some mysterious treat, Y-sensei's class are making Udon, and a group of female students are practising a dance by a Japanese transexual band. These girls demonstrated some of the dance to me, as well as offering to paint my phone. It seems the fashion amongst 'youngsters' is to get a shiny, nice cellphone and cover it in acryllic paint and nail varnish, as well as stickers and any other tack they can get their hands on. I saw the monstrous results on a phone that was originally the same as mine the other day. Anyway, I have two days of Seishi festival (weds, thurs) and two of Shonan (fri, sat) next week, before a three day trip to Kyoto (sun, mon tues).
3. The TV Cameras Finally Track Me Down
On Friday I had to give two demonstration lessons at a local Junior High. Different Senior Highs were trying to persuade students to come to them next year, and Shonan had chosen me and O-sensei to showcase our school. I couldn't help feeling that Shonan were pimping me out- the sight of a 'gaijin' in their school made our particular lesson an instant attraction, and a group of students assembled at the end of the day to say goodbye to me specially! The lessons went really well, and apparently we were even on cable TV news briefly. It made me think it'd be way more fun teaching in a Junior High- for one I could actually play sports and have an outside chance of matching some of the 13-year olds!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Halloween at the Kindergarten
Ok well this post is mostly for the photos and not the words! This week has been a bit 'mnerrr', with lots of frustrating lesson planning on Monday and Tuesday, and a bit of overtime. Wednesday was a lot better though- I had two great classes at Shonan koko, where I'm being able to communicate with the students in Japanese a lot more (and they seem to be able to communicate more in English). Also I had a Halloween lesson at the local kindergarten!Here are photos of me and the other five trainee teachers, who take the lessons. They were kindly taken by the Education and Development Sensei at Kurashiki
City College, which is right next to Shonan koko. The kids are so cute! かわい です ね!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Is That Boris Johnson? No, It's Just Another Floating Torii!
Ok it may not be the best joke, but me and Carrie had been looking forward (for some time) to the moment when our Conservative Party jape could be unleashed on the unsuspecting Phil. Phil (the cheeky welshman, if you haven't already gathered), barely reacted, much to our dissapointment. Still, the best Phil can come up with is 'I've had the shrine of my life'- I'll let you, the reader, decide how good that particular effort is.
Having got our joke out the way, we were free to enjoy what is officially one of the top three views in Japan, - the famous 'Floating Torii' on Miyajima. Bright and (far too) early that morning, I'd arisen, and half asleep made my way to Okayama where we set out on our 2 and a half our journey to Hiroshima. Trips to Korea and the Philippines, and too much wine and chocolate, mean I need to cut costs. Others do too, so we slummed it on the JR instead of getting the magical Shinkansen like last time.
Miyajima is very beautiful- there are deer wandering about, just like Nara, and the shrine complex was is striking, jutting out into the sea. As the back of our ticket-stubs declres, 'the contrast of the blue sea, green hills and the vivid vermillion-lacquered shrine is breathtakingly beautiful'.
After wandering around the torii for a while, we decided to set off on what Carrie's guidebook declared was an 'easy' walk. It wasn't.
Still, we had the dulcit tones of the welshman to inspire us, as well as two classics stored on my phone- Amarillo, and Ring of Fire. Although there were 6 of us in total, the Brits (me, Carrie, Phil) were entranced and inspired by Tony Christie, and were soon marching off up the mountain. It was a very satisfying walk, and reminded me of the mountains in China. However we didn't have any water, which was very annoying. At the top was a fine view out across Hiroshima bay, and some big rocks that stopped directly above a precipice- again reminding me of Huang Shan and 
Tai Shan in China. Phil was a bit wary of going too close to the edge- I imagine the hills and valleys of Wales are tough for him too- but I, seasoned explorer that I am, had no problem with moving to the edge and hopping up and down on one foot.Sunday was a chilled out day. I did some shopping in Okayama, and spent way too much money on such essential items as Lindt, tacos and European lagers. I joined the library too. Next weekend should be similarly laid back- a night out on Friday, a vegetarian
feast on Saturday, and a beach festival on Sunday. Then the week after I'm off to Kyoto for three days to visit a friend. The major stress during the weeks at the moment is preparing for my JLPT Test; I was losing motivation, but Phil's irritatingly comprehensive knowledge of Japanese verbs has given me a boost.Steve's Official 'Top Three' Views in Japan
1) Sunrise over a sea of clouds at Yataka-yama, Okayama-ken
2) The Inland Sea...probably my first view of it, from the Washuzan Highlands, overlooking the sea and the Seto-Ohashi Bridge.
3) The beautiful sunset from a temple in Nara-koen
Like Frodo and Sam, me and Phil stared out across the mountains at our eventual destination...
...before Frodo felt like moaning after still not finding a Vending Machine. If Lord of the Rings had been set in Japan, Frodo and Sam would've had no problem.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Chickpeas!
Hello there.
Its been a slow week at Seishi, with me finally mastering my 103 Kanji for the Japanese Language Test, but staring dumbfoundedly at the 700 words I need to learn. Grrrrr. Teaching has also been slow, though apparently I made a girl smile for the first time in weeks by making her my 'assistant' in class, drawing pictures of animals for a lesson on 'Favourite Things'. She's amazing at drawing, and works part-time in a kimono shop, even though shes only 17. I asked her to commission me a special kimono. We'll see what happens. Its good though, she hates English and isn't that good at it but at least this way she's enjoying lessons. Without wanting to sound too sickly, it makes the whole thing worthwhile.
In other news I finally managed to procure a can of chickpeas, so my making humous master-plan is close to fruition. I have sesame paste, and all the other requisite ingredients apart from a mixer. I also found a fascinating website, www.sleepinginairports.net, which may help me cut costs on my trip to Seoul. Also I have booked a tour of the DMZ- hurrah! Let's see if I can sort out the whole mess, eh. For some reason I'm not allowed to wear jeans though- I can only assume the sight of 'capitalist garmnets' will prompt the North Korean guards into some sort of rage at the imperialist aggressors, and lead to 'an incident'. To reassure anyone with fears for me (or for the poor South Korean and US guards who'll be looking after me), the last incident was 25 years ago, and involved an axe. Don't know why I mentioned the axe, but surely its better than it involving a machine gun or something.
This weekend I'm off to Miyajima, to see a very famous shrine, and stare out at (officially) one of the three best views in Japan. Then on Sunday I'm spending quality time with my turtles.
Its been a slow week at Seishi, with me finally mastering my 103 Kanji for the Japanese Language Test, but staring dumbfoundedly at the 700 words I need to learn. Grrrrr. Teaching has also been slow, though apparently I made a girl smile for the first time in weeks by making her my 'assistant' in class, drawing pictures of animals for a lesson on 'Favourite Things'. She's amazing at drawing, and works part-time in a kimono shop, even though shes only 17. I asked her to commission me a special kimono. We'll see what happens. Its good though, she hates English and isn't that good at it but at least this way she's enjoying lessons. Without wanting to sound too sickly, it makes the whole thing worthwhile.
In other news I finally managed to procure a can of chickpeas, so my making humous master-plan is close to fruition. I have sesame paste, and all the other requisite ingredients apart from a mixer. I also found a fascinating website, www.sleepinginairports.net, which may help me cut costs on my trip to Seoul. Also I have booked a tour of the DMZ- hurrah! Let's see if I can sort out the whole mess, eh. For some reason I'm not allowed to wear jeans though- I can only assume the sight of 'capitalist garmnets' will prompt the North Korean guards into some sort of rage at the imperialist aggressors, and lead to 'an incident'. To reassure anyone with fears for me (or for the poor South Korean and US guards who'll be looking after me), the last incident was 25 years ago, and involved an axe. Don't know why I mentioned the axe, but surely its better than it involving a machine gun or something.
This weekend I'm off to Miyajima, to see a very famous shrine, and stare out at (officially) one of the three best views in Japan. Then on Sunday I'm spending quality time with my turtles.
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