My first eikaiwa and my second birthday

So, as well as teaching kids out here, I also have an adult class (eikaiwa) every Thursday evening. I have a beginner class and an intermediate class and it has by far been the most stressful thing I have done since coming to Japan!  The main problem is that I do not have a Japanese English teacher teaching with me that I can hide behind, and more importantly no one to be my translator. Here we hit the main problem and the root of the stress in the class - I have no translator, and my Japanese students are COMPLETE beginners! How, pray tell, am I supposed to teach English when I do not speak Japanese and  my students don't understand basic English?!!?
I think I managed to introduce general greetings and goodbyes successfully - though there was a bit of confusion as to when to say 'Nice to meet you' - once again almost impossible to explain without words!
Needless to say I did not enjoy the first lesson. Every time I turned to write on the board, the thought crossed my mind just to run out the room crying or screaming! I am already dreading next week!

On a positive note my intermediate class can speak English and seemed very relaxed and happy - even though my lesson was pretty shit and unprepared! The main 'pick me up' of the evening was that one of my students brought in a present for me - a birthday cake with 2 + 3 candles!
 Even though it is a couple of weeks after my birthday - I must have told them last week that it was my birthday the week before and she remembered. Japanese people are so  bloody thoughtful and nice! Anyway, myself and Broc (my friend who happened to be round at the time) thoroughly enjoyed munching our way through the cake that night - he even sang happy birthday to me again!
Second birthdays are awesome!

The message says: Welcome to Donari. Enjoy with your friends. Thank you for coming.

Sports Day

So on Sunday it was all of my elementary schools' sports day! I only went to 2 of them, which I feel was enough! Anyway, if the sports day told me anything about Japan, it certainly reinforced the idea that it is an extremely efficient country. Looking at all of the different (if not bizarre) events, the comparisons between here and sports day in England could not help but come to mind. For example, there were a fair few 'obstacle' type races that each school did. One involved students jumping in sacks 10 metres, then leaving the sacks and pushing wheelbarrows for 10m, then hopping over and under elasticated wires, then jumping through a hoop, before picking up a small ball and throwing it in a bucket on a stick before running to the finish line. Hard to explain but none the less it entailed bits of the course moving around the track. Now if this had been in England, after each race there would be a few minutes break whilst people reset the objects. However, in Japan the race never stopped for a moment as there were students at each base resetting their objects as soon as one batch of students went through! Brilliant. This happened with every race - as soon as one lot of students passed the finish line, the starting gun was fired and another load of students began the race.
So here is just a list of events at the sports day:
Lots of general sprint races (including races for kindergarten students - sooo cute!) obstacle courses, tug of war, marching band (yeah I don't see sport in that either) balance gymnastics, traditional dances, and even a unicycle parade.
I even took part in an event myself! The race entailed spinning round a baseball bat (head  on the handle) for three turns to make you dizzy, running to pick up a football, running again to place the football in a wheelbarrow, and then running whilst pushing the wheelbarrow to the finish. My competitive streak appeared out of nowhere as soon as the starting gun when off and so I pelted it around the course! Up against one of my JTEs, another teacher and 2 other honoured guests - yes, I beat them all!
All in all I had a really fun day. Japan's sports days are definitely taken more seriously than any in England, and yet because of it, it was a far more enjoyable day - even with all its pomp and circumstance!

Marching onto the field in grades

Rasing of the flags (school and Japan)

Even the honoured guests know the warm up!

PA system for all the music cues. Students ready to catch the runners and put them in order.

Kawaii kindergarten kids!

Kindergarten Dance

Traditional dance from Hokkaido

Unicycle parade

Hilarious race for the guests - run to a chair blowing up the balloon, sit on the balloon on chair to pop it. Run back - simple relay, endless laughs.

Tradition Awa dance

The vice-principle dressed as an old anime character

Impressive gymnastics!

Shiga and Kyoto

So up the next morning to catch the 8:50 bus from Tokushima station. Actually, I was feeling surprisingly well as we strolled towards the station, feeling quite smug as my friend Sam drags her hungover feet behind me. Could it be that I had escaped the fateful hangover that has haunted me for many mornings in the past?! Turns out, no. Denied a non-eventful sleep on the bus I proceeded to be very ill (obviously not helped by my travel-sickness) and at certain points along the 2 hour bus ride, I actually wanted to die! We got to Osaka station and had a quick breakfast stop (which I didn’t participate in) and then were off again, on the train this time, destination Shiga to meet with a friend of Austin’s. This time my body did allow me a bit of sleep as I slumped in a chair and stayed there for the whole hour until it was time to get off. Feeling slightly better, we departed the train in Shiga and were met by Danny’s friend Christine – the smiliest person you will even meet! She then took us to her very nice apartment so we could drop off some stuff (she lives next door to Danny so we could sort out sleeping arrangements later) and we then quickly headed back out to Lake Biwa. Now this day sounded perfect. There were already quite a few ALTs at the lake who we were going to join and we could play cricket and swim in the lake and have a really pleasant afternoon. However, the weather was not on our side and as soon as we reached the lake it started to spit, then drizzle, then rain, then absolutely poured it down soaking us all. We then took this opportunity, as we were already wet, to go and swim in the lake for a bit. But wait, who forgot to bring their swim stuff?! Oh right, I did. I am now proud and slightly ashamed to say that this did not deter me for long, and after a bit of encouragement from Danielle, I got in the lake in my underwear (though modestly as I kept my long top on which seemed to cover most). Did I mention that my hangover had cleared up by this point and I was actually starting to enjoy my day!

After the lake (which was eventually completely rained off) we headed back to Danny’s to dry off before heading back out to get something to eat. After traipsing round the town a few times trying to find a place to fit 18 of us (no, we didn’t in the end!). Everyone but our group and Danny and Christine went back home to chill out for the evening whilst the rest of us managed to find a table in a place called the Olive Garden?! It was rather strange. A buffet style starter, I guess like Harvester but less salady and a pizza or pasta main course! It was very nice but very filling so I was glad that between four of us we shared the dishes we ordered, Danny and Broc polishing off what myself and Bella could not. Then back to Danny’s for an evening of random games (very civilised) before the girls went next door to Christine’s and collapsed onto futon beds!

The morning came too quickly it had to be said, and we were up and ready to go a 9:30, giving us enough time to get to the bakery for some breakfast before we caught the train to Kyoto. In Kyoto we decided to follow a route that took us to 11 temples and shrines. To be honest I don’t really remember whether we went to the 11 or not, but we definitely went to a few. The first that we went to was really interesting. There were Buddhist monks everywhere, and it was clear that there was some kind of ceremony going on. I went inside for a bit (after taking my shoes off and putting them in a plastic bag) and sat down on the tatami mats just listening to the main monk chant. It was quite a surreal experience but definitely worth it. At the same temple, I also got to see my first, weird looking, wild turtle that was swimming around in the pond. It wasn’t like any turtle I’ve seen before – having more of a beak for a mouth than anything else.

Another great experience was going down into one temple into the darkest room I have ever experienced in my life. It really was quite unnerving. Even in very dark rooms our eyes usually get accustomed to the dark and use any light possible to help navigate us. There was simply no light at all under this temple for our eyes to adjust to – when I help up my hand in front of my I couldn’t see it in the slightest even though I knew it was there. An experience you can’t imagine until you have done it and I would thoroughly recommend it if ever you’re in the Kyoto area! This dark walk eventually led to a revolving stone, which I believe when touched you can make a wish and it is supposed to be lucky?! Something like that anyway. After an entire morning walking around shrines, streets and temples, we finally ended up at the most typical looking English pub I’ve seen – obviously being the Rugby World Cup we Brits had to meet up with fellow Brits to watch the game. Needless to say I didn’t watch the game, but did enjoy sitting in a cool pub, eating chicken and chips and reading the guide book! After this we headed to Gion – the area in Kyoto which is famous for geisha. We didn’t see any geisha but the buildings were still interesting to look at. After this we headed back to Kyoto Station – a huge building with great views over the city, where we eventually caught a train back to Shiga and went for some sushi for dinner before heading back to Danny’s for more games and sleep!

 The next morning was taken at more of a leisurely pace as our only deadline was to be back in Osaka at 19:50. We went to another bakery in the morning for breakfast and headed to the old town where we saw another shrine and went up a cable car to see the view of Shiga, including Lake Biwa which we had swam in only a couple of days ago. By this point though most of the girls, for one reason or another were lagging having had too much sun, early mornings and long days filled with walking. We slowly made out way back down the hill and headed for a bit of lunch. By the time we got back to Danny’s there was just time to pack before we headed off to the station for the journey home. Although it was raining buckets by the time we got back to Osaka, there was a perfect end to the trip for me. As we stopped off into the last store before we got on the bus to go home, I found the most amazing thing on one of the shelves. A large bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk!!!! Heaven. Needless to say, that was picked up and not put down for the rest of the night. ¥300 well spent! Home and bed, ready to be completely wiped for the next morning.

Good, no, awesome weekend!

Birthday Fun!

What a weekend!

To be fair, it started fairly quietly as I am including my birthday (which was on Thursday) in this weekend. So Thursday I was at my elementary school, and although I didn’t get any birthday cards from the kids (this will be rectified next year) I did at least have one class sing happy birthday to me – rather well I might add, and another class applaud me because of my birthday. Can’t go wrong really can you?! No chocolate cake from anyone which I was quite disappointed about seeing as for the last two weeks I have been telling all of my classes how my favourite thing is chocolate cake! Ah well. I had a nice surprise later on as I had to go to my JHS after elementary school and when I got there I found I had a present and a card from my JTE on my desk =) That was nice. Anyway, I had a surprisingly nice night in on my own, chilling out, eating chocolate cake (own bought) and drinking umeshu, with a quick chat to the parentals and a few birthday presents in the mix it turned out to be a really successful birthday. 

Birthday cake and drink!

Also, Thursday I became an official alien as I collected my alien card (foreign residents card) from the town hall. Brilliant.

So a good Thursday.

Friday then just got better. Had a fairly boring day in the morning at my JHS but it was ok as it didn’t drag too much as I knew that in the afternoon I would be able to leave the school to attend the local JHS English speech contest. It was quite a weird experience. There were four JHS competing in this particular contest – each with two or three students. The weird part of it was that the other ALTs which I had now met a few times were there but we were all very much segregated – it was as if we were competing against each other – loyal to our schools already. I did feel sorry for the students though. Throughout the whole contest it was absolutely chucking it down with rain outside which, when you’re in a room that doesn’t seem to be insulated in the slightest, makes quite a racket and it was pretty hard to hear any of the students at all, whether you spoke English or not. My students did me proud – only forgetting the words once or twice – however sadly they did not win as were beaten by one boy who was told that he won because his speech ‘went on a journey. At the start he felt one way and the end he felt another.’ BLAH! Who wants to have a speaker who is not consistent in how he feels?! Anyway, the speech contest over, I raced home, packed, showered, and got ready to drive to Tokushima City for my joint birthday party!! =)

The amazing guests!

 

We went to an Izakaya where we had the nomihodai (the all you can drink option – dangerous!) I am so glad that people over here like to organise things as I could have never had organised such a nice event on my own. Mari organised the whole thing, and when I got there, we made a grand total of 20 people all in our own section. It was perfect and loads of fun and I didn’t have to pay in the end as everyone chipped in a bit so that me and other birthday girl Katie had a free evening! The food just kept coming and each dish was different but incredibly tasty – my favourite probably being the asparagus wrapped in bacon! What was not so good however was my adventurousness when choosing my drinks. Firstly I managed to get someone to help me with the menu and so was able to snag myself a nice lime cocktail. After that (when others were well into their third beer) I decided that I might as well just work down the list of cocktails – so the waiter came along and I just pointed to the next two on the list!.... hmmmmm bad idea... What arrived to me next was what I would describe as... well... hmm... actually it was so disgusting I can’t even put it into words! It was a mixture of cold tea and water?! Maybe.. add in a little bit of ‘ew’ and you will be very close to what I tasted! Needless to say the other drink was slightly better. I was a bit dubious at first as it was white but all in all definitely drinkable. Then came the gin and tonic (woops – I can’t stand gin!) and then after all my failings at randomly pointing to a nice drink. I decided to go back to my trusted lime cocktail again...... oh go on then, add an umeshu to the mix and I was definitely ready for last orders! But the night was still young so we headed to Ingrid’s International (the local ALT haunt) for yet more drinks (a screwdriver courtesy of Ingrid as a birthday present) and a bit of karaoke and failings at pole dancing! Then when we were all sung out we headed back to Bella’s to prepare for the next day’s adventures.

I want to ride my bicycle......

Hey everyone, me again!

So after a very successful Saturday cleaning the apartment, doing washing, and spending a lot of money at the 100yen store, I decided to go for a little bike ride around my area. What can I say? It is amazing around here!!! =) not so rural that I will get lost straight away - there is always a main road to come back to, but rural enough that I can cycle for a good half hour around the fields and houses without seeing a car and only seeing a very few locals.

I am so lucky to be living in a place like this, and extra lucky to have a bike so I can go exploring. My favourite part of the bike ride was going past a small pond with koi carp in it! I wanted to take a photo, but a little old lady came and watched them with me. I very apologetically told her 'wakarimasen, igirisu gin desu'... which I hope means 'I don't understand, I am a 'stupid' english person'! which I believe she responded with a charade of her telling me not to fall off my bike.... weird.

Anyway, I will just share on this post some pictures of Tokushima whilst I'm out and about to give you a general idea of where I live. Enjoy!


***Update 24/09/11*** I almost fell off my bike today =( I was trying to put a can of drink in my basket without it spilling and ended up crashing into a barrier! Luckily it was there though, otherwise I would have dropped down a 10ft ditch into a stream. As it is I coasted along the barrier using my leg. No damage done but I'm glad no one was around to see!

One of the many shrines encountered on my bike ride

The locals and my bike...

Have you met my bike?

 Apparently she is a hit with the locals...

 There have actually been a couple of these on my bike. One of them actually came with me to the supermarket and back before I realised that he was there! They are so tiny, this one is on top of the pedal thing!

I found him when I was checking for frogs! Well, I didn’t have to look very hard, he was just cotching on the mud guard on the back wheel. Weird.