Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Christmas time
As christmas creeps up on us I find myself teaching numerous classes focused on the topic. It is always a fun class to teach, made even funnier when Japanese teachers come out with gold like "christmas is to celebrate santa's birthday" and "they put gravy inside the turkey".erm right. MY kids were equally as baffled over what we might put inside a turkey....the 1st guess by all was....rice (of course!) followed by noodles, meat, fish, chocolate and various other random foods!
Christmas is a regular working day here in Japan and as opposed to the "family time" we associate it with in the UK, here it is a day for couples and "love love". Cream cake is the order of the day and perhaps, in sasebo at least, a visit to dutch theme park huis ten bosch. It's all about the lights, and it is very very rare to see a nativity scene (i spotted one so far). When I asked kids whose bday it really was on christmas day they were shouting out "yesus chispy" and similar sounding words!
Also part of christmas day here is KFC for dinner, and due to the fact that it is the nearest thing you can get to a roast that is what we having. It is a whole chicken, not just the wings and i am actually quite excited about it! we gonna make potatoes and veg and gravy so it'll be a good mock of the real thing!
The other shocker is that i will be WORKING on christmas day as I dont have enough holiday to take the day off, sob! I think all the other ALTS (foreign teachers) will be on holiday so it looks like it will just be me and my japanese peeps in the office. It will certainly be strange, hey i may even have sushi for "christmas lunch". haha. SO think of me when u lounging about on your sofas and listening to the queen. I will be shuffling paper at a desk, dreaming of my KFC dinner!
Christmas is a regular working day here in Japan and as opposed to the "family time" we associate it with in the UK, here it is a day for couples and "love love". Cream cake is the order of the day and perhaps, in sasebo at least, a visit to dutch theme park huis ten bosch. It's all about the lights, and it is very very rare to see a nativity scene (i spotted one so far). When I asked kids whose bday it really was on christmas day they were shouting out "yesus chispy" and similar sounding words!
Also part of christmas day here is KFC for dinner, and due to the fact that it is the nearest thing you can get to a roast that is what we having. It is a whole chicken, not just the wings and i am actually quite excited about it! we gonna make potatoes and veg and gravy so it'll be a good mock of the real thing!
The other shocker is that i will be WORKING on christmas day as I dont have enough holiday to take the day off, sob! I think all the other ALTS (foreign teachers) will be on holiday so it looks like it will just be me and my japanese peeps in the office. It will certainly be strange, hey i may even have sushi for "christmas lunch". haha. SO think of me when u lounging about on your sofas and listening to the queen. I will be shuffling paper at a desk, dreaming of my KFC dinner!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Janken in the supermarket
Food shopping suddenly got alot more fun in Japan! In the supermarket on a small Japanese island they had a "janken for discounts" day. Do you remember when you were in junior school and you played "rock, paper,scissors"? Well that's janken to the Japanese and it is by no means confined to eight year olds in a playground. It is EVERYWHERE and amazingly the outcome is always abided by. Seemingly it has now spread to supermarkets. The usual walk around the food shop was livened up by shop assistants approaching us with their fist clenched ready to challenge us to a game.Winners get 30 percent off and losers 10 percent. Japan is so nice that they can't let you walk away with nothing! For our pork I took on the friendly lady and damn it I lost. Oh how I wish it was everyday!
Also making the week a bright and happy one was my visit to elementary school this Tuesday. Its a up there in my top 3 schools. Firstly it gets brownie points for being the only school I can walk to, meaning I can have an extra half an hour in bed. Then once arriving at school the lovely kind tea ladies always bring me not only tea but chocolate AND this week when all the other teachers were in a meeting I got "secret cake" . From what I understood I was to eat it quickly before the others returned as I was the only one who got it. Not wanting to cause upset in the staffroom I merrily stuffed my face with cake at 8.30 am. Fuelled with an extra half hour of sleep and secret cake it was bound to be a good day. Cue the cute kids and it turns into a great day.
The 4th graders. Oh my. SO MUCH ENERGY. Insistant that I meromise their names ( The easiest to remember was "LUNA" , as you may guess it doesnt really sound Japanese). And so kind, Mr.Yamashita would not let me leave without accepting his cool green santa keyring made from a ball of green string. I didnt want to take it from him. I mean it isnt the average offering of a flower or an acorn from the playground....he took it from his bag and put it on mine! bless. and now, i hate to say this, but I lost it!!! It fell off this morning somewhere between the busstop and my school! What will I tell him next week?! Other kids added to my day in slightly more strange ways. Amazed by my hair colour, and even more amazed when she found out it was natural, one kinda quiet girl asked for strands of my hair. Due to the fact that I malt like a dog it wasnt hard for her to grab one or two of my back and she walked away looking very satisfied with her treasure! At lunch I played dodgeball with the kids, and I dont understand dodgeball. Having never played it before Japan I am clueless as to what to do and the kids just move around as if in formation and I am wondering whats going on. Under the impressions that, due to the name, I was meant to simply dodge the ball I never tried to catch it. Apparently catch is ok. Who invented this game anyway?!
Well tomorrow is one of my junior highs and in the afternoon it is 'clean the community" day. We all walk for 40 minutes or so to pick up rubbish. It is a great idea. Last time I did it though there was absolutely no rubbish in site so we spent a hour or so literally HUNTING for specks of rubbish! I almost hope there is some cans and bags on the ground tomorrow as let me tell you it is COLD now and I dont fancy spending 2 hours picking up one empty coke bottle! Although really it is a great chance to talk to the kids outside of the classroom and I will be doing that for sure.
Also making the week a bright and happy one was my visit to elementary school this Tuesday. Its a up there in my top 3 schools. Firstly it gets brownie points for being the only school I can walk to, meaning I can have an extra half an hour in bed. Then once arriving at school the lovely kind tea ladies always bring me not only tea but chocolate AND this week when all the other teachers were in a meeting I got "secret cake" . From what I understood I was to eat it quickly before the others returned as I was the only one who got it. Not wanting to cause upset in the staffroom I merrily stuffed my face with cake at 8.30 am. Fuelled with an extra half hour of sleep and secret cake it was bound to be a good day. Cue the cute kids and it turns into a great day.
The 4th graders. Oh my. SO MUCH ENERGY. Insistant that I meromise their names ( The easiest to remember was "LUNA" , as you may guess it doesnt really sound Japanese). And so kind, Mr.Yamashita would not let me leave without accepting his cool green santa keyring made from a ball of green string. I didnt want to take it from him. I mean it isnt the average offering of a flower or an acorn from the playground....he took it from his bag and put it on mine! bless. and now, i hate to say this, but I lost it!!! It fell off this morning somewhere between the busstop and my school! What will I tell him next week?! Other kids added to my day in slightly more strange ways. Amazed by my hair colour, and even more amazed when she found out it was natural, one kinda quiet girl asked for strands of my hair. Due to the fact that I malt like a dog it wasnt hard for her to grab one or two of my back and she walked away looking very satisfied with her treasure! At lunch I played dodgeball with the kids, and I dont understand dodgeball. Having never played it before Japan I am clueless as to what to do and the kids just move around as if in formation and I am wondering whats going on. Under the impressions that, due to the name, I was meant to simply dodge the ball I never tried to catch it. Apparently catch is ok. Who invented this game anyway?!
Well tomorrow is one of my junior highs and in the afternoon it is 'clean the community" day. We all walk for 40 minutes or so to pick up rubbish. It is a great idea. Last time I did it though there was absolutely no rubbish in site so we spent a hour or so literally HUNTING for specks of rubbish! I almost hope there is some cans and bags on the ground tomorrow as let me tell you it is COLD now and I dont fancy spending 2 hours picking up one empty coke bottle! Although really it is a great chance to talk to the kids outside of the classroom and I will be doing that for sure.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Past the one year mark!
So it is official, I have been in Japan for over a year. Way back in February I signed a bit of paper that meant there would be many more `lets study English together` days left. I am still sure that I made the right decision to stay on. When we were asked if we wanted to stay or not I thought about how I would feel if I were leaving and the answer was sad that I didn’t have more time. I know myself well enough to be sure that when I do leave in August 2009 I will still be leaving on a high.
I came to Japan not really having many expectations. I wasn’t one of those people who applied because they have been in love with all things Japanese since they were seven and despite taking a module on Japanese society I felt that my knowledge of Japan was nothing to be sure about. The one main expectation I did have was that the kids here would be better behaved than in England, and on this count I must say this is true. As for everything else, well I am glad I didn’t arrive thinking that Sushi would be my daily meal, that everything would be super modern and that people walk round in kimonos everyday. Whatever people think about Japan it is in some way probably simultaneously true and untrue. Yes Japan is modern, the Shinkansen being a good example, yet this is certainly not a uniform description. An average office, for example, holds the majority of its records on paper and computers are not nearly as common in the workplace as they are in England. Another example is the ATMs (watch out, this might turn into a rant!). It is my understanding that one purpose of a machine is to do the work that people either cannot do, cannot do quick enough, cannot do constantly or simply don’t want to do. I would put the ATM in the `cannot do constantly` category. Nobody wants to take a 12-4 am shift in a bank for the sole purpose of allowing a few drunk people who want to buy another pint access their money. Thus we have the cash machine, your money available 24/7 in conveniently placed locations. In Japan they do have ATMs but they CLOSE in the evenings, at around 7.30. They close on holidays. So basically they have a machine that is performing the same role as a human member of staff, the machine keeps the same hours!!! Modern this is not!
Anyway, my point was not to explain expectations and reality but to say that I am glad I came without a load of expectations and instead just very curious. This is probably the best thing I could have done, because I have never been disappointed, only enlightened. So In my year here I have had very few problems. There has been no time at which I wished I never came to Japan. I am very happy with the decision I made to move my life over to Sasebo! And the way I ended up here is all based on a little bit of random chance. In my last year of Uni I called Emily one day to ask her if she wanted a coffee and she told me she would but after she went to a short talk about working in Japan. I had nothing to do so I decided just to go with her and then have coffee after. That was the `join the JET programme` talk! Clearly I liked the sound of something that was said that day. That and the fact that at the time I wanted to be anywhere else but where I was. Why Japan? Well why not. So fast forward through police checks, nerve racking interviews, endless lectures full of repeated information and you get to the bit when I finally make it to school. I came telling everyone I was definitely just here for a year, I had plans! But look at me, eating my words once again! What changed? I think I just thought that there is a lot more to get out of living in a foreign country and a lot more to learn from teaching than can be done in a single year.
This year has been one of the best. I came to Japan and I landed on my feet. That is pleasing enough. But landing on my feet isn’t the half of it. This year has so many highlights, with the following being the highlights of the highlights! I have received so many letters or had kids telling me that they enjoyed my classes and now they like English, I have both beaten and been beaten by my kids at sports day, I have screamed so much for and cared so much about my Schools volley ball team, I have managed to convince all the kids in one school that when I came back this new school year I was not Natalie but instead her twin sister `Jessica` from LA, I have done a speech wholly in Japanese about not being scared to make mistakes – and during the speech I am sure I made several mistakes, I have sat in the park hyatt roof bar on my 23rd birthday, I have performed on stage with my special needs class and watch them cry with happiness after, I have been told everyday by a certain little student that he loves me, the same boy also asked me everyday, without fail, what I have eaten that day, I have caught waves body boarding, I have got myself down the ski slope on a board, I have never had more fun singing wannabe in karaoke, I have found enjoyment in spending an hour arranging 3 flowers, I have learnt the words to so many kids songs and I have created my very own actions…….ultimately I have had a very positive 15 months!
At times I have been bored but mostly just busy. Sometimes it is irritating to be asked to talk about Halloween in September but then trick or treating with 7 year olds….how can that be anything but adorable?? Especially when they forget what to say and say `treat or treat?` instead of `trick or treat?`. Treat or treat is so much nicer anyway! Saying that, my kids favourite part of my Halloween `speech` is when I tell them what the `trick` is and demonstrate by pretending to throw eggs at the Japanese teacher or wrap toilet paper around their desks. This year I told all my Junior High kiddies to be on the lookout for `weird foreigners` on the night of Halloween….as they head to a halloween party!
I have come to see the year as marked by events that I will have to incorporate into lessons at school. So that is Valentines day, Easter, whatever country I visited during summer, Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas. I think I have learnt more about these festivals than I ever knew before, which is kinda funny. Sometimes I am asked the most random questions in a way that suggests I MUST know the answer. For example, numerous people seem to firstly be obsessed with English gardens and secondly seem to expect that a 23 year old would know the names of flowers that I have probably never seen.Of course I don’t mind being asked but I always feel kind of stupid when I can’t answer , but then if I don’t know the national flower of Wales (it`s a daffodil by the way) then what does that really mean??!! I’m not even from Wales! Sometimes I feel like it is easy for people to think that as a British citizen I know all that is humanly possible about England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Occasionally I joke with my friends that I am just going to make something up the next time my kids ask me something I don’t know the answer to. And here in Japan you can be sure they will believe it. When a japanese teacher and I carried out my scam to convince the kids I was Natalie’s identical twin from USA….. even one of the teachers believed me! But really I like it, my kids are much more like kids than I remember when I was their age in England. I mean of course they are not angels (believe me - I have some stories to tell when I get back!) but generally they are far more respectful and innocent than we were! Stickers as incentives for participation still works for 17 year olds. When they are `bad` it isn’t really bad as we know it. For example, the other day I caught one of my 3rd graders (15yrs old) using his, very girly, mirror to try to shine the light into the Japanese teacher`s eye. When I spotted this I gave him a look of `oh what are u doing now?!` and just like that he sheepishly bowed his head and put it away. Hardly comparable to the 15year olds that I remember from school who locked teachers in rooms and threw chairs at them. I have begun to get mildly irritated at not bad behaviour but just constant talking over the Japanese teachers. It isn’t the `bad` kids but the ones that have already finished their worksheet or are just bored. They are usually the ones who are little charmers and it is so hard to get annoyed at them. I like to save my `I’m angry at you` moments because the less frequently the kids see me angry the more effective it is at shutting them up. I wonder how I would survive in an English school with real naughty kids?!!
I came to Japan not really having many expectations. I wasn’t one of those people who applied because they have been in love with all things Japanese since they were seven and despite taking a module on Japanese society I felt that my knowledge of Japan was nothing to be sure about. The one main expectation I did have was that the kids here would be better behaved than in England, and on this count I must say this is true. As for everything else, well I am glad I didn’t arrive thinking that Sushi would be my daily meal, that everything would be super modern and that people walk round in kimonos everyday. Whatever people think about Japan it is in some way probably simultaneously true and untrue. Yes Japan is modern, the Shinkansen being a good example, yet this is certainly not a uniform description. An average office, for example, holds the majority of its records on paper and computers are not nearly as common in the workplace as they are in England. Another example is the ATMs (watch out, this might turn into a rant!). It is my understanding that one purpose of a machine is to do the work that people either cannot do, cannot do quick enough, cannot do constantly or simply don’t want to do. I would put the ATM in the `cannot do constantly` category. Nobody wants to take a 12-4 am shift in a bank for the sole purpose of allowing a few drunk people who want to buy another pint access their money. Thus we have the cash machine, your money available 24/7 in conveniently placed locations. In Japan they do have ATMs but they CLOSE in the evenings, at around 7.30. They close on holidays. So basically they have a machine that is performing the same role as a human member of staff, the machine keeps the same hours!!! Modern this is not!
Anyway, my point was not to explain expectations and reality but to say that I am glad I came without a load of expectations and instead just very curious. This is probably the best thing I could have done, because I have never been disappointed, only enlightened. So In my year here I have had very few problems. There has been no time at which I wished I never came to Japan. I am very happy with the decision I made to move my life over to Sasebo! And the way I ended up here is all based on a little bit of random chance. In my last year of Uni I called Emily one day to ask her if she wanted a coffee and she told me she would but after she went to a short talk about working in Japan. I had nothing to do so I decided just to go with her and then have coffee after. That was the `join the JET programme` talk! Clearly I liked the sound of something that was said that day. That and the fact that at the time I wanted to be anywhere else but where I was. Why Japan? Well why not. So fast forward through police checks, nerve racking interviews, endless lectures full of repeated information and you get to the bit when I finally make it to school. I came telling everyone I was definitely just here for a year, I had plans! But look at me, eating my words once again! What changed? I think I just thought that there is a lot more to get out of living in a foreign country and a lot more to learn from teaching than can be done in a single year.
This year has been one of the best. I came to Japan and I landed on my feet. That is pleasing enough. But landing on my feet isn’t the half of it. This year has so many highlights, with the following being the highlights of the highlights! I have received so many letters or had kids telling me that they enjoyed my classes and now they like English, I have both beaten and been beaten by my kids at sports day, I have screamed so much for and cared so much about my Schools volley ball team, I have managed to convince all the kids in one school that when I came back this new school year I was not Natalie but instead her twin sister `Jessica` from LA, I have done a speech wholly in Japanese about not being scared to make mistakes – and during the speech I am sure I made several mistakes, I have sat in the park hyatt roof bar on my 23rd birthday, I have performed on stage with my special needs class and watch them cry with happiness after, I have been told everyday by a certain little student that he loves me, the same boy also asked me everyday, without fail, what I have eaten that day, I have caught waves body boarding, I have got myself down the ski slope on a board, I have never had more fun singing wannabe in karaoke, I have found enjoyment in spending an hour arranging 3 flowers, I have learnt the words to so many kids songs and I have created my very own actions…….ultimately I have had a very positive 15 months!
At times I have been bored but mostly just busy. Sometimes it is irritating to be asked to talk about Halloween in September but then trick or treating with 7 year olds….how can that be anything but adorable?? Especially when they forget what to say and say `treat or treat?` instead of `trick or treat?`. Treat or treat is so much nicer anyway! Saying that, my kids favourite part of my Halloween `speech` is when I tell them what the `trick` is and demonstrate by pretending to throw eggs at the Japanese teacher or wrap toilet paper around their desks. This year I told all my Junior High kiddies to be on the lookout for `weird foreigners` on the night of Halloween….as they head to a halloween party!
I have come to see the year as marked by events that I will have to incorporate into lessons at school. So that is Valentines day, Easter, whatever country I visited during summer, Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas. I think I have learnt more about these festivals than I ever knew before, which is kinda funny. Sometimes I am asked the most random questions in a way that suggests I MUST know the answer. For example, numerous people seem to firstly be obsessed with English gardens and secondly seem to expect that a 23 year old would know the names of flowers that I have probably never seen.Of course I don’t mind being asked but I always feel kind of stupid when I can’t answer , but then if I don’t know the national flower of Wales (it`s a daffodil by the way) then what does that really mean??!! I’m not even from Wales! Sometimes I feel like it is easy for people to think that as a British citizen I know all that is humanly possible about England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Occasionally I joke with my friends that I am just going to make something up the next time my kids ask me something I don’t know the answer to. And here in Japan you can be sure they will believe it. When a japanese teacher and I carried out my scam to convince the kids I was Natalie’s identical twin from USA….. even one of the teachers believed me! But really I like it, my kids are much more like kids than I remember when I was their age in England. I mean of course they are not angels (believe me - I have some stories to tell when I get back!) but generally they are far more respectful and innocent than we were! Stickers as incentives for participation still works for 17 year olds. When they are `bad` it isn’t really bad as we know it. For example, the other day I caught one of my 3rd graders (15yrs old) using his, very girly, mirror to try to shine the light into the Japanese teacher`s eye. When I spotted this I gave him a look of `oh what are u doing now?!` and just like that he sheepishly bowed his head and put it away. Hardly comparable to the 15year olds that I remember from school who locked teachers in rooms and threw chairs at them. I have begun to get mildly irritated at not bad behaviour but just constant talking over the Japanese teachers. It isn’t the `bad` kids but the ones that have already finished their worksheet or are just bored. They are usually the ones who are little charmers and it is so hard to get annoyed at them. I like to save my `I’m angry at you` moments because the less frequently the kids see me angry the more effective it is at shutting them up. I wonder how I would survive in an English school with real naughty kids?!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Oishii So
Hello everyone! I hope u r all well ;-p
This month I went on my `business trip` to Tokyo. I must say I did enjoy getting off the plane in my suit and being one of the other suited people on the underground. I was going to write `..and blending in with all the other suited people` but no matter what I do or wear or say I am never going to simply blend in here! I was reminded of this upon arriving in Tokyo, when whilst I was waiting for the tube a complete stranger (who incidentaly I believe was a little strange) walked straight up to me with his phone camera and attempted to take a photo. He got the f off glare and my hand in his face! I can`t think of many places in the world where this would happen! Just picture some English dude `spotting` a Japanese girl and unashamedly taking a photo of her without saying a word!
So after being photogrpahed for simply `being` I made my way to the meeting, managing to make it without getting lost. Quite a feat in Tokyo! Any ideas of the 2 days being a `holiday in tokyo` were misled....it was hard work and I barely saw Tokyo outside of my capsule bed in the hostel and the 4 walls of the meeting room. However, I did manage to eat dinner in an American steak place AND have dominos pizza. You don`t share my excitement? Well you might if it is the 1st time u have eaten the stuff for 11 months! I also went to an international food store and got rather excited by the tins of (expensive) baked beans and a whole fridge full of cheese!! Cheese is something that Japan does not excel in! The usual choice being that rubbery crap u put on top of burgers. and that`s it. unless u want to barely get change from a fiver and walk out with a block of parmasen cheese that u can hide in your fist!!
From my rejoicing at foreign food I would forgive you for thinking I`m not so up on the Japanese stuff. This is not true...I love Japanese food! Before I came here if someone said `japanese food` I said `sushi`, but there is so much more to their cuisine than what you get in Yo!Sushi!. If I think about what will be `my dominos` when i get back to England I think I have to say Sashimi. That is raw fish alone, not like Sushi which comes on rice. I have a strong feeling that after eating the `real thing` for 2 years, when I return to England Yo!Sushi! is going to be a bit like the Mexican restuarants here...that is to say bearing very little resemblence to the real thing. Despite the fact that I really do like Japanese food (and actually missed it when I was in America and the Phillipines), readers of sasebo magazine `Sasebo life` may say otherwise. This is because about 2 months ago I, along with 3 other JETS, was interviewed for a local free magazine, `sasebo life`, and whilst there was dozens of positive things I had said which they could have put in block capitals they instead printed in a speech bubble from my mouth `I don`t like kamaboko`. For those of you who aren`t familiar with this delicacy here is trusty old wikipedia with a explanation ....Kamaboko is a variety of Japanese processed seafood products, called surimi, in which various white fish are pureed, formed into distinctive loaves, and then steamed until fully cooked and firm in texture. I would describe it as a thin pink slice that resembles plastic and tastes of not too much! Pictures will follow! So following this being published I had the joy of being recognised in public as `that girl from life sasebo that doesn`t like kamaboko`.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/34/348927918_df588279b1.jpg
When I first arrived in Japan, and still to this day actually, I was always asked about food. `Do you like sushi?` `Nattou, ok?` `Can you eat squid?`...Yes, Yes and Yes are my answers and this is usually followed by a `eeeeeeh`. When I eat school dinner with my elementary school kiddies I catch them watching me out of the corner of their eye, or sometimes with the younger ones just outright staring! They are always surprised I can eat with hashi (chopsticks) and sometimes I am offered a spoon! Sometimes I do `something wrong`, for example when we had a noodle soup dish and bread I dipped my bread into the soup. I quickly noticed that my table of 7 year olds were all nudging each other and whispering, so i ask `nani?` (what?) and so they tell me through gestures and alot of giggling that it is bad to dip bread into soup. ooooh, i tell them, `its ok, we do this in England` and I continue....so they continue to stare and then one rocks out the english `NO`. Probably thinking I don`t understand their message they call over the Japanese teacher and tell him my of my awful uncivilised eating habits, he just smiles and them and tells them it`s ok (`i told you so!!)......`eeeeeeehhhh`. Looks of disbelief all around. I gesture for them to try it, but of course they won`t. I mean it`s a crazy idea after all!
Two weeks ago I brought my leftover curry to school for lunch. On this particular day I was at my Junior High School where I eat lunch with the adorable special needs class. I heat my curry up and get my naan bread out.......`eeeeeeeeh`. `Nan desuka?` (whats this?)....naan bread, curry....Indian food....Indo pan (indian bread). Some of them remembered having eaten this strange bread at elementary school, and one boy seemed very excited that I had naan. But one of the other kids, not so much, she cries out `nan de?` (why?)......ummmmm...I wouldn`t really know how to answer in english let alone in japanese. So a simple `oishii` (delicious) was my response, but she had other thoughts. As I lifted the lid on my steaming curry she reeled back in disgust, holding her nose and pulling a wonderful face that said `YUCK YUCK YUCK`. She says to us all that it is hurting her stomach and it smells. Sorry I say, as I begin to eat. After perhaps 5 mintues it obviously got too much for her, she picked up her seat and moved it to the other end of the table from me. Bless her!
What with American independence day having just passed and there being the US Naval base here in Sasebo there was a celebratory party held in the american park. Inticed by the prospect of American food I went along despite the sweltering heat (summer has just hit!). And well it was kinda strange, walking across the bridge into Nimitz park it was like walking out of Japan and into a little pocket of America. Which I guess it essentially what we did. Bouncy castles, live music, fairground style games, lots of american flags...and the food!! American BBQ...ooooh yes. American cake store....ooooh yes. Coconut milk.....even more oh yes!! There was alot of people there, and a mix of American and Japanese. I saw some of my kids there who seemed surprised to see me (probably due to the fact I was wearing shorts and a vest top, not my usual boring work clothes!). It was good, at least for the duration of time that the food lasted. And it did make me smile how everyone running the stalls or watching the bands seemed to be part of a community. However it must have been the heat plus a little to much of the loud `i`ll do what i like` atmosphere around the place that made me want to leave for the airconditioned calm of my apartment. I still can`t decide what I think about the base being here. The plus side is the food and the mix of culture, but sadly the latter is not really lived out to its potential. I rarely see much `mixing`, unless you count the drunk saliors in the snack bars and unfortunately the navy have made themselves a bad name with behaviour that is often unrespectful and sometimes outright disgusting (the incident where a US navy man raped a young japanese girl). This is not to say they are all bad, but it is hard to get rid of a bad name.
This month I went on my `business trip` to Tokyo. I must say I did enjoy getting off the plane in my suit and being one of the other suited people on the underground. I was going to write `..and blending in with all the other suited people` but no matter what I do or wear or say I am never going to simply blend in here! I was reminded of this upon arriving in Tokyo, when whilst I was waiting for the tube a complete stranger (who incidentaly I believe was a little strange) walked straight up to me with his phone camera and attempted to take a photo. He got the f off glare and my hand in his face! I can`t think of many places in the world where this would happen! Just picture some English dude `spotting` a Japanese girl and unashamedly taking a photo of her without saying a word!
So after being photogrpahed for simply `being` I made my way to the meeting, managing to make it without getting lost. Quite a feat in Tokyo! Any ideas of the 2 days being a `holiday in tokyo` were misled....it was hard work and I barely saw Tokyo outside of my capsule bed in the hostel and the 4 walls of the meeting room. However, I did manage to eat dinner in an American steak place AND have dominos pizza. You don`t share my excitement? Well you might if it is the 1st time u have eaten the stuff for 11 months! I also went to an international food store and got rather excited by the tins of (expensive) baked beans and a whole fridge full of cheese!! Cheese is something that Japan does not excel in! The usual choice being that rubbery crap u put on top of burgers. and that`s it. unless u want to barely get change from a fiver and walk out with a block of parmasen cheese that u can hide in your fist!!
From my rejoicing at foreign food I would forgive you for thinking I`m not so up on the Japanese stuff. This is not true...I love Japanese food! Before I came here if someone said `japanese food` I said `sushi`, but there is so much more to their cuisine than what you get in Yo!Sushi!. If I think about what will be `my dominos` when i get back to England I think I have to say Sashimi. That is raw fish alone, not like Sushi which comes on rice. I have a strong feeling that after eating the `real thing` for 2 years, when I return to England Yo!Sushi! is going to be a bit like the Mexican restuarants here...that is to say bearing very little resemblence to the real thing. Despite the fact that I really do like Japanese food (and actually missed it when I was in America and the Phillipines), readers of sasebo magazine `Sasebo life` may say otherwise. This is because about 2 months ago I, along with 3 other JETS, was interviewed for a local free magazine, `sasebo life`, and whilst there was dozens of positive things I had said which they could have put in block capitals they instead printed in a speech bubble from my mouth `I don`t like kamaboko`. For those of you who aren`t familiar with this delicacy here is trusty old wikipedia with a explanation ....Kamaboko is a variety of Japanese processed seafood products, called surimi, in which various white fish are pureed, formed into distinctive loaves, and then steamed until fully cooked and firm in texture. I would describe it as a thin pink slice that resembles plastic and tastes of not too much! Pictures will follow! So following this being published I had the joy of being recognised in public as `that girl from life sasebo that doesn`t like kamaboko`.
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When I first arrived in Japan, and still to this day actually, I was always asked about food. `Do you like sushi?` `Nattou, ok?` `Can you eat squid?`...Yes, Yes and Yes are my answers and this is usually followed by a `eeeeeeh`. When I eat school dinner with my elementary school kiddies I catch them watching me out of the corner of their eye, or sometimes with the younger ones just outright staring! They are always surprised I can eat with hashi (chopsticks) and sometimes I am offered a spoon! Sometimes I do `something wrong`, for example when we had a noodle soup dish and bread I dipped my bread into the soup. I quickly noticed that my table of 7 year olds were all nudging each other and whispering, so i ask `nani?` (what?) and so they tell me through gestures and alot of giggling that it is bad to dip bread into soup. ooooh, i tell them, `its ok, we do this in England` and I continue....so they continue to stare and then one rocks out the english `NO`. Probably thinking I don`t understand their message they call over the Japanese teacher and tell him my of my awful uncivilised eating habits, he just smiles and them and tells them it`s ok (`i told you so!!)......`eeeeeeehhhh`. Looks of disbelief all around. I gesture for them to try it, but of course they won`t. I mean it`s a crazy idea after all!
Two weeks ago I brought my leftover curry to school for lunch. On this particular day I was at my Junior High School where I eat lunch with the adorable special needs class. I heat my curry up and get my naan bread out.......`eeeeeeeeh`. `Nan desuka?` (whats this?)....naan bread, curry....Indian food....Indo pan (indian bread). Some of them remembered having eaten this strange bread at elementary school, and one boy seemed very excited that I had naan. But one of the other kids, not so much, she cries out `nan de?` (why?)......ummmmm...I wouldn`t really know how to answer in english let alone in japanese. So a simple `oishii` (delicious) was my response, but she had other thoughts. As I lifted the lid on my steaming curry she reeled back in disgust, holding her nose and pulling a wonderful face that said `YUCK YUCK YUCK`. She says to us all that it is hurting her stomach and it smells. Sorry I say, as I begin to eat. After perhaps 5 mintues it obviously got too much for her, she picked up her seat and moved it to the other end of the table from me. Bless her!
What with American independence day having just passed and there being the US Naval base here in Sasebo there was a celebratory party held in the american park. Inticed by the prospect of American food I went along despite the sweltering heat (summer has just hit!). And well it was kinda strange, walking across the bridge into Nimitz park it was like walking out of Japan and into a little pocket of America. Which I guess it essentially what we did. Bouncy castles, live music, fairground style games, lots of american flags...and the food!! American BBQ...ooooh yes. American cake store....ooooh yes. Coconut milk.....even more oh yes!! There was alot of people there, and a mix of American and Japanese. I saw some of my kids there who seemed surprised to see me (probably due to the fact I was wearing shorts and a vest top, not my usual boring work clothes!). It was good, at least for the duration of time that the food lasted. And it did make me smile how everyone running the stalls or watching the bands seemed to be part of a community. However it must have been the heat plus a little to much of the loud `i`ll do what i like` atmosphere around the place that made me want to leave for the airconditioned calm of my apartment. I still can`t decide what I think about the base being here. The plus side is the food and the mix of culture, but sadly the latter is not really lived out to its potential. I rarely see much `mixing`, unless you count the drunk saliors in the snack bars and unfortunately the navy have made themselves a bad name with behaviour that is often unrespectful and sometimes outright disgusting (the incident where a US navy man raped a young japanese girl). This is not to say they are all bad, but it is hard to get rid of a bad name.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
June 2008
I have been awful at writing this! I never seem to have time just to stop and do nothing so it is kinda hard to keep it up to date. Gomen nasai (sorry!).
Well in one sense its the same as before , everything is still great here. I am still happy and glad to be staying another year. Right now my schools are preparing for the Sasebo junior high school sports tournament and like everything else in Japan its taken incredibly seriously. I beleive that for the last 2 hours they have all been at a `pre-tournament` ceremony in the gym. Last week I watched the High school tournament and it puts english school sports to shame! Even though it wasn`t even my kids that i was watching I got so into cheering for them that it kinda sucked when they lost. Fingers crossed when my kids play this weekend they will win some games, it should be interesting if my 3 schools have to play each other. I shouldn`t have a favourite but it would be unatural not to!!!
I feel alot more settled in my schools now and know the routine, this is in some ways good but in otherways makes it less exciting. Knowing that in one week I will read the same paragraphs 40 times is not what gets me out of bed! That`ll be the cute kids, the funny kids and the kids who need my help. I had a great day at one of my elementary schools which i have visited quite a few times recently. During lunch I was being mobbed by adorable children (the norm 4 junior school lunches!!) but one particular boy stood out. He is a 2nd grader, so he is about 7, and he has both of his front teeth missing. The whole lunch time he did not let up asking me to tell him the names of things in english, he was pointing at everything `kore?` (this?) `kore?` `kore?`. I think we covered too much ground to expect much retention (especially considering he is special needs ) but one thing stuck in his mind..he now knows the word for sky! bless!During cleaning time I decided to help out in the special needs classroom where i somewhat destroyed any efforts at `cleaning` (read moving the dust around the room). The teacher didn`t seem to mind and i was invited to spend my free period with him and the two boys in his class. This being a far more enjoyable choice than learning japanese at my desk, i quickly agreed. So for the next hour I was a life model for their `art time`, a partner in their puzzle games and then we all sang together....them in japanese and me in english. Doe a dear a female dear, ray a drop of golden sun, me a name i call myself.......oh thank u sound of music!Towards the end they were allowed to get out their kiddy computers and it was kinda funny...they ask me my birthday which i tell them ( then it took about 5 minutes to input it - cue lots of giggling) and next they look to the teacher who looks embarassed as he explains they need to know the birthday of my `love interest`. It then dawns on me that this is one of those funny compatability tests that we all did when we were at school. Interesting i thought. So my `love interest`s` bday was entered and after a little onscreen dance from a fat hamster the screen displayed that we get 3/5 hearts 5/5 pencils and 3/5 balls. 3 out of 5, well i guess its ok. But the pencils...what do they mean...is that good? Sadly the kids english did not stretch as far as to explain the implications of the pencils on my relationship. Only time will tell ;-p! After this it was time for me to go and I felt bad as the kids didn`t want me to and the teacher was telling them they would see me tomorrow (when infact i only visit this school once more and not for another month). These are the kids I love so much and make me smile everytime I see them!!
In contrast on the same day I had my 1st junior school class that didn`t have energy bursting from them! These kids are in the 6th and final grade of junior school, they are 11 years old and at that age where listening and being excited about english games is not what makes u `cool`. Normally this attitude can be pushed out within 5 minutes of class but not on this day. We were learning greetings and the way they were talking ud think we were learning how to break news of a death to someone. They were about 5 times slower than 3 grades below them and could not listen to even the most simple instructions. For the 1st time ever i seriously raised my voice at these kids , and it worked ...for a bit then the boys started talking and the girls kept saying `wakaranai` (dont understand/cant do it/don't want to do it!). They would say `hello, my name is....` then stop. Did they really forget their name??? Or what name means...my 1st graders know this word. Luckily it was just this class and if i look back hard enough i can pick out some kids who looked interested and almost silently apoligetic for the behaviour of their classmates. It was just a shame to have a class that didn`t seem to be enjoyed. I guess I can`t expect every class to go well!
Right now I am looking forward to next week when I get to go to tokyo, all expenses paid for training to then later attend the orientation for the newbies in august (also all exoenses paid in the plush 5 star hotel we stayed in when we arrived). I will be giving a workshop on Japanese ettiquette. I didnt expect to get the place as it is really competitive and only 4 people from Nagasaki ken (like county) are going. So I feel pretty lucky. This time I am going to use that rooftop pool!
Well, as I am at work I should go but I will put some recent photos up on here soon.
My love to everyone x
Well in one sense its the same as before , everything is still great here. I am still happy and glad to be staying another year. Right now my schools are preparing for the Sasebo junior high school sports tournament and like everything else in Japan its taken incredibly seriously. I beleive that for the last 2 hours they have all been at a `pre-tournament` ceremony in the gym. Last week I watched the High school tournament and it puts english school sports to shame! Even though it wasn`t even my kids that i was watching I got so into cheering for them that it kinda sucked when they lost. Fingers crossed when my kids play this weekend they will win some games, it should be interesting if my 3 schools have to play each other. I shouldn`t have a favourite but it would be unatural not to!!!
I feel alot more settled in my schools now and know the routine, this is in some ways good but in otherways makes it less exciting. Knowing that in one week I will read the same paragraphs 40 times is not what gets me out of bed! That`ll be the cute kids, the funny kids and the kids who need my help. I had a great day at one of my elementary schools which i have visited quite a few times recently. During lunch I was being mobbed by adorable children (the norm 4 junior school lunches!!) but one particular boy stood out. He is a 2nd grader, so he is about 7, and he has both of his front teeth missing. The whole lunch time he did not let up asking me to tell him the names of things in english, he was pointing at everything `kore?` (this?) `kore?` `kore?`. I think we covered too much ground to expect much retention (especially considering he is special needs ) but one thing stuck in his mind..he now knows the word for sky! bless!During cleaning time I decided to help out in the special needs classroom where i somewhat destroyed any efforts at `cleaning` (read moving the dust around the room). The teacher didn`t seem to mind and i was invited to spend my free period with him and the two boys in his class. This being a far more enjoyable choice than learning japanese at my desk, i quickly agreed. So for the next hour I was a life model for their `art time`, a partner in their puzzle games and then we all sang together....them in japanese and me in english. Doe a dear a female dear, ray a drop of golden sun, me a name i call myself.......oh thank u sound of music!Towards the end they were allowed to get out their kiddy computers and it was kinda funny...they ask me my birthday which i tell them ( then it took about 5 minutes to input it - cue lots of giggling) and next they look to the teacher who looks embarassed as he explains they need to know the birthday of my `love interest`. It then dawns on me that this is one of those funny compatability tests that we all did when we were at school. Interesting i thought. So my `love interest`s` bday was entered and after a little onscreen dance from a fat hamster the screen displayed that we get 3/5 hearts 5/5 pencils and 3/5 balls. 3 out of 5, well i guess its ok. But the pencils...what do they mean...is that good? Sadly the kids english did not stretch as far as to explain the implications of the pencils on my relationship. Only time will tell ;-p! After this it was time for me to go and I felt bad as the kids didn`t want me to and the teacher was telling them they would see me tomorrow (when infact i only visit this school once more and not for another month). These are the kids I love so much and make me smile everytime I see them!!
In contrast on the same day I had my 1st junior school class that didn`t have energy bursting from them! These kids are in the 6th and final grade of junior school, they are 11 years old and at that age where listening and being excited about english games is not what makes u `cool`. Normally this attitude can be pushed out within 5 minutes of class but not on this day. We were learning greetings and the way they were talking ud think we were learning how to break news of a death to someone. They were about 5 times slower than 3 grades below them and could not listen to even the most simple instructions. For the 1st time ever i seriously raised my voice at these kids , and it worked ...for a bit then the boys started talking and the girls kept saying `wakaranai` (dont understand/cant do it/don't want to do it!). They would say `hello, my name is....` then stop. Did they really forget their name??? Or what name means...my 1st graders know this word. Luckily it was just this class and if i look back hard enough i can pick out some kids who looked interested and almost silently apoligetic for the behaviour of their classmates. It was just a shame to have a class that didn`t seem to be enjoyed. I guess I can`t expect every class to go well!
Right now I am looking forward to next week when I get to go to tokyo, all expenses paid for training to then later attend the orientation for the newbies in august (also all exoenses paid in the plush 5 star hotel we stayed in when we arrived). I will be giving a workshop on Japanese ettiquette. I didnt expect to get the place as it is really competitive and only 4 people from Nagasaki ken (like county) are going. So I feel pretty lucky. This time I am going to use that rooftop pool!
Well, as I am at work I should go but I will put some recent photos up on here soon.
My love to everyone x
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