. . : : Japan takes the QUEEN : : . .

the howling of wind
snowdrops continue to fall
the retreat of spring

ヤング タケヤー
(yangu takeyaー)

it was so beautiful today, very spring like. it was actually warm in my apartment, no kerosene needed. i did a little bit of spring cleaning. since I had all day, i was taking my time. it was extremely windy and I just knew that the tree outside my window would come crashing down soon....but it didn't b/c it know that it would be SNOWING RIGHT NOW!

Once again, I spoke too soon. How does it go from windy with a slight spring-like coolness to windy, cold snow? If ones needs to know, I can play back the past 5 hours. So now I am back in my apato with the kerosene on. Imagine...just today I was thinking, hmmm..., maybe I should put away my kotatsu. Sike....but my day still was great.

It's a BEAUTIFUL Day today AND I got out of work early. After a 1/2 hour, to be exact! YEAH!!!! YEAH!!!! YEAH!!!! YEAH!!!! YEAH!!!!

At around 8:25a....
Me: Can I go home early today?
Supervisor: Sure, as long as you don't get into any accidents.
Me: Well, I am going home. I can be more productive there than sitting here all day doing nothing.
Supervisor: *lowered voice* Well, it's kind of a secret, but all you have to do is hanko and then you can leave. I suggest when you come in tomorrow, that you hanko and leave as soon as possible. To tell the truth, no teachers will be here tomorrow b/c everyone took nenkyu.
Me: Okay, so I'll leave at around 9:00 then, okay?.
Supervisor: Okay.
Me: Well, actually make that 8:45.
Supervisor: Okay.

That simple. Now I probably could have done that two days ago, but they just let me sit in the office all day (longer than anyone for the whole day). I even fell asleep. But that's okay, the past two days will help me appreciate the next two, so I am happy about it. Today is going to be cleaning day and tomorrow will be running errands day....YEAH!!!

This is where the benefits of being employed by the ken and staying only at one school kicks in. Some other ALTs get this time off, but a lot of them, becuse they work for the city/board of ed and they don't have one school where they work, they have "office days" at the city office or board of ed....BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

today was one day when I didn't feel like going in to the school....Thank you CREATOR...

i am taking a break from browsing the net to do a recap of friday's festivities. the farewell enkai was at a local hotel and it was pretty lengthy. it started at 6p and i don't think we left until 9. there was a lot of talking, but i liked it a lot. many teachers were sad, but the mood was very festive. in between talking break people went up the head table (where the departing teachers were sitting) to pour drinks and give well-wishes. i decided to give departing money to a few teachers so i had to go up and pour drinks and give well wishes too. i even started to tear-up as i said bye to one of my friends (JTE3)... I will really miss her! so then after a break we went back to speeches. i think the most memorable speech for me will be the one that was completely in Japanese except for the last statement 'Takeya-sensei, I love you!'....I was completely caught by surprise! LOL! I have had students tell me that they love me before, but never an adult. The other surprisinging thing is that the only conversation that I have ever had with this particular teacher was earlier in teh day when he told me that he was being transferred. I appreciated it anyway...it made me smile. [I guess more people notice my presence than they let on :) ]

we headed to a tiny bar for the ni jikai where we received a boisterous greeting from the older men sitting at the bar. like in any great br, we started with the karaoke and it was FUN! then the me at the bar started writing me notes (in English). I kept responding in Japanese. It was very '5-grade' but just these questions were the usual J questions: where are you from? how old are you? etc... after an hour or so, kocho sensei and kyoto senseis [principal and 2 v. principals] came to join us and sang songs. Earlier in the night, the night school VP and I had a little joke going about who was the ichiban stylish person around. He thought it was me and I kept insisting that it was him :) So we got to talking (via JTE3 as translator) about him trying to find me a husband b/c 'he has a wife and two children, so I had to let him go' *wink, wink* It was hilarious. So he said whichever of the 5 male teachers I wanted for a husband, he would make it happen. I told him that I would like all 5 husbands! {side note: i think every older person i meet in J wants to find me a husband...it's quite funny} We started talking about the usual things that most people are interested in: my style? how long it takes me to get ready in the morning? how old am I....the usual.

After a couple hours of karaoke and a good number of glasses of shouchu, the VP insisted that I go to the san jikai [3rd party] b/c kocho sensei (who had left a bit earlier) wanted me to go. So we walked down the street to Rocky's place and went upstairs to meet the otehr teachers who had been there all night. I ordered some more shouchu and sat down next to the VP (not the night school one, the regular HS one). So this is when he took teh chance to tell me (I'm assuming) ALL of the things that he has wanted to say to me...IN ENGLISH! I didn't know he spoke that much English...a bit slurred...but it was English. So he told me that I was beautiful and that they like me at the school. A couple other teachers joined the convo (me speaking in Japanese and English), including the other VP. After a while, I cannot remember what we ended up talking about, I didn't feel like drinking anymore shouchu, one of the VPs was laid out on the floor next to me and it was almost 1a, so I decided to leave....

I had a great time!

mount kamafuse
your white cover turns blue
SPRING, she has arrived!

ヤング タケヤー
(yangu takeyaー)

I am at school and there are only a handful of teachers here today. Out of about 80. The students aren`t here b/c it's spring break. Jaa, shitsumon arimasuka. [I have a question.]...why am I at school? It doesn't really make much sense. On Friday at the farewell party, my supervisor asked me if I was coming in to school. I said Yes, it's not a holiday is it? Do I have to come to school. He said, well if you don't come, no one will notice. Kyoto-sensei said you don't have to come in, but only if you are not going on vacation and you are staying here. I said, I am not going anywhere. Do I come in or not . *to myself I am thinking...yeah I am going to get a ticket to America for the day!* I have to be clear with them about things like this b/c they'll tell me I don't have to come in and then take it out of one of my vacation days. He says, well come in and then maybe you can leave.

So if this day gives an example of how this week will go...I will be TOO THROUGH! I could have taken vacation now when there are no classes and no students here. BUT when I made arrangements before, they busted out with the 'you don't have vacation with the students'. I gave them the choice between me going now or waiting til the beginning of the academic year (which REALLY doesn't make sense, since the school year is just beginning) and they chose the beginning of the academic year. All I am saying is that they better not start acting funny when I leave AND they beter be clear about telling all of the gossipers that my supervisor is the one who made translation mistakes in my calendar, thus jacking up my vacation days...

I have finally put up a journal-esque document of my winter travels to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. I have a good bit of work to do on it, but I figured putting it up will force me to finish it ASAP. So here she is!

I felt a little tug on my coat today just below my waist. When I looked down it was Rinka, a little girl...age 4. We were in the supermarket, and I am not sure where in the store her parents were, but they weren't around when we had our little conversation. She is brave b/c she knew I was something she had never seen before and she wanted to know what I was about. So she just came over and tugged on my coat and waved.

GRANOLA MONOLOGUE:
I changed my mind about Japanese okashi: おかし [sweets/ candy]. Just this past week I confirmed that my pallette was different from the ones in J. The only time I eat the sweets is when I am practicing tea ceremony, bc it's part of the ceremony. BUT....today someone offered me something called karintou : かりんとう [fried dough cake] and it tasted GREAT! I had the soba kind, and I am not sure if they have other kinds. After that, I went to the supermarket to try and find it, but I couldn't :( BUT...while trying to read the ingredients on a package, I came across "a heart-warming pie" called Genji-Pie. AND I can eat it....YEAH!


Why don't you make your tea-time happier with Genji!



After the English teachers drinking party on Tuesday, we went to another place for the second party. Just the lovely ladies of the English Dept. The JTEs in the middle were transferred.



Home-life: This is my lovely bed...my futon. Beginning at the bottom I have the mat (5) [foam cover in fabric]; the shikibuton(4) [mine is stuff with wool]; the blankets that I cover with (3) and (2); the down comforter (1). In between the blankets and the comforter is my pillow. I don't have the traditional makuro which is filled with buckwheat chaff or red beans. Mine is a modern poly-fil-esque things with little beads in it for comfort. Since I was in J, I decided to go with the pink theme...b/c I can get any and everything in pink here! You are supposed to fold it up (like pictured) and put it in the closet every day, but I don't. I leave it flat on the ground and only put it in the closet if I have someone over (rare) to avoid having a mold issue with my futon. Oh yeah and on the left is my lovely, state-of-the-art Circle of Warmth Corona kerosene heater.

all i can say is that I just got in at 1:30a from a party that started at 6p with the teachers at my school. i had to leave b/c i felt it wa sthe right time for me. when i left, one of the VP was stoll trying his hand at English and the other one was laid out on teh floor next to me....LOL...tanoshikattadesu!

Japan is very much into gift giving. Since today is a gift day, I looked up 'gift' in the dictionary and here is 'some' of the gift names on the list:

弔祭料 【ちょうさいりょう】 (chosairyou) gift at a memorial service
出産祝い 【しゅっさんいわい】 (shussaniwai) gift at birth of child
恵存 【けいそん; けいぞん】 (keison;keizon) (n) message appended to a note accompanying a gift, requesting the recipient to keep the gift at hand
金一封 【きんいっぷう】 (kinippuu) (n) gift of money (contained in an envelope)
香典(P); 香奠 【こうでん】 (kouden) (n) condolence gift; gift brought to a funeral; incense money
商品券 【しょうひんけん】 (shouhinken) (n) gift certificate
賜与 【しよ】 (shiyo) (n) gift, esp. to subordinate
引き物 【ひきもの】 (hikimono) (n) a gift
祝い物 【いわいもの】 (iwaimono) (n) congratulatory gift

...and the list goes on....

I just got out of the closing ceremony and farewell ceremony at my school. I was finally able to know which teachers were leaving. I knew about 5 of them, but there were 17 in total and even if I could recognize all of the kanji on teh sheet they handed out, I would not have been able to place all the names with a face. By the time the third person got up to speak, it was waterfalls for most people. I was not reall moved to cry, but somehow the gym teacher managed to get me to shed exactly 3 tears (one from my left and two from my right). Before the ceremony, a teacher that I have never spoken to spoke to me. He told me (in Japanese) that he was leaving and that he had been at my school for 10 years. He said, tanoshikatta desu [it was enjoyable] (I am assuming he meant specifically related to me). I have gotten that several times from people I have never had a chance to talk to. They seem to be fine with just being around and not necessarily having any communication....that's cool with me.

When people leave a job, they usually get envelopes of money from their colleagues. I will probably give a couple teachers the usual 'leaving a job gift'. I haven't done it yet b/c I wasn't sure of how much to give. The amount I initially thought of was high compared to what on teh JTEs told me, so I will decrease my amount (so the receiver doesn't feel pressured by the amount). That is really cool with me b/c I know I can't afford to give all 17 teachers a monetary gift.

sumimasen :: I am sorry; Excuse me.

Today I was given the advice that it would be good for me to say sumimasen more often. The reference was made particularly about me eating out. The teacher said that he knows I always say douzo [please] or domo arigato [thank you], but he said that people would be more accomodating if I said sumimasen . He continued to add that although it's meaning is "I'm sorry", please use it often as "thank you". I told him that I apologize if I do something wrong, and that many times people in the restaurants are not accomodating (which is why I don't go very often). I thanked him for sharing that bit of information, then we began talking about restaurants. I told him that is better for me to know that a restaurant is unwilling or can't accomodate my diet, than them saying that they can and when I get there, they don't haqve food for me to eat. Many places are not accomodating...it's cool, but don't take my money then not want to give me food.

For example, on Tuesday we had an English Teacher drinking party. Although I was told that I could order food when I got there, as soon as I walked in the door, one of the JTEs organizing took the liberty of ordering a few dishes for me (that I didn't want). I picked up the menu and ordered cha han which is basically fried rice. It comes with a few items that I do not eat. I ordered it and told them vegetables only. So they were only going to give me onions and rice fried together. I asked if I could get some vegetables in it and they said no. Then I asked if I could get a small order of brocolli on the side. They said no, b/c they use the vegetables only for the meat dishes. THAT is what I am talking about. The JTE organizing said that they would have food for me, but then when I get there, they don't want to give me vegetables b/c they only want to serve it with or as garnish for meat dishes.

On top of learning that I don't say "sorry" enough, I also learned that
* my principal was an English teacher for 30 YEARS!
* my Vice Principal is being transferred
* my neighbor is being transferred
* skill has nothing to do with promotion (only age)
* most of the JTEs at my school are very afraid of speaking English

i am happy that i make efforts not to take things personally. JTE3/my teacher friend apologized today about not being at the enkai when I got there. I told her that there was no need for her to apologize, my leaving had nothing to do with her. some of the same teachers that seemed unresponsive last night were back to their usual selves. One teacher even went so far as to show me his "pet", the school piranha. *hhmmm* That is one thing that I have had to get used to: folks talking up a storm and having a great time with you, then the next day (or week or month) barely saying a word to you, even though you see them everyday.. ha!

I Just went to extremes in the matter of minutes. It doesn't feel good. I met up with one of my friends (and his friend who is in town from the US) at a new restaurant here in Mutsu (it's quite cute...must go there again, just for the vibe). I couldn't sit an eat with them b/c I had bowling tonight with the teachers from my school, but I had a great time chatting with them for about 20 minutes. I went to bowling and held it down with the lowest score again. After bowling most people broke out really quick but my teammates (the other female teachers) and I were still there. I called my friends who were still at the restaurant from earlier and said I would meet up with them before they left town for skiing. One of my teammates, JTE3, asked, Are you going to meet your friends? I said, Probably for a few minutes before they leave town, what are you doing? She said, I'm going over to Rocky's. Me, Oh, okay...is it okay if I meet you there later? JTE3, Okay. Me, Cool, so I'll meet you there.

By the time I got back to the restaurant, my friends were heading out the door so we chatted for a few moments then I headed to Rocky's. I head upstairs to the party room and say "hello", but I get a weak response. At this point, I see that it is a planned enkai, but my teacher friends are not there. So I sip on my drink and eat edamame in the meantime. Someone asked how I like bowling. I told them Watashi was jouzu janai, demo tanoshikatta desu [I am not very good, but it was a lot of fun]. A few moments go buy with everyone talking to each other and having convo, except me. At this point I don't really feel welcome, so I decide to call my teacher friends and tell them that I woudl be leaving before they got there. I finished up my drink and said Jaa, sayounara to which only ONE person out of about 8+ said Gokurosamadeshita....*hmmm...I don't feel welcome* So I go downstairs and say bye to Rocky and I leave.

Why am I feeling like this? There could be many reasons. It could be the contrast of being in a comfortable space with friends and then going back to my daily "foreign" life. It could be just the simple fact that I really wasn't invited to the enkai (like a lot of times) and people's responses pointed that out. It could be that no matter how much Japanese I speak, it is not enough for them to feel comfortable holding a conversation with me. Only the Creator knows what is going on...

13:55 - walk from my school to my apartment

14:12 - arrive at my apartment

14:35 - ride my bicycle back to school

WHY!? Why did I do this today? Because this morning I couldn't remember where I put my car keys after I drove to school. So at 13:50 I decided to go outside and see if they were outside by my car. When I got to my car, the keys were in the ignition, it was still running and the doors were LOCKED! ARGGGGGHHHHHHHH! How did I manage to do this!? So 5+ hours and 1/4 tank of gas later I had to use my lunch break to walk home, get my spare key, ride my bicycle back to school and unlock my doors. Things were kind of busy in the parking lot this morning. The new students and parents arrived today to get their books, etc. All of the teachers parked in a different area from where we usually park, EXCEPT for me b/c no one told me. So this morning I was caught up in the anxious parent and student rush trying to get through the parking lot and to the school. I can't remember the last time I did something so absentminded! LOL! Well it was a good thing that two weeks ago, I put the extra key for my car in my kitchen [otherwise I would have been S-O-L]....lesson learned!

In the process of going back and forth, I rode my bicycle for the first time since I got hit by the car in October. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit brisk for me still. I can't wait to ride when it gets warmer. I also found out that it only takes 17 minutes to take a leisurely walk from my school to my apartment. That would be good for future reference ;)

I the past thre months, I have had a few 'new' years: calendar new year, EARTHday new year, and now, it's a new academic year here at school. I have made several efforts at school however, I realize that these folks are not serious about the students learning. I have no doubt about them wanting the students to learn something, however in some cases that 'want' does not transfer into effort on their part. It's a new year and that's cool with me. I will continue to be the best teacher that I can be realizing that I cannot convince anyone of anything. The best I can do is be an example.... owarimasu

it was beautiful outside today! i only experienced a little bit of it though. i woke up and had my mind set on going to the aomori orchid show, but when I checkedtehtrain schedule, i saw that the train schedule changed (i guess b/c of spring) and there were no trains between 9:16a and 2:38a. it seemed kind of odd...but hey I am not completely surprised. so i ended up not going to aomori. my plans were to go to the flower show then meet up with a friend, then go to the foreign food store. i stayed in mustu and went to tai chi at 1p which lasted until 4:30ish. after that i went to teh video store and rented some movies and came home....that's about it. i enjoyed my day!

a little while ago, i decided to log my winter travels. i find it difficult to (hand)write in a journal and my computer access was limited while i was travelling. i thought it was going to be a short document that i could post here, but i still have the last four days of the trip left and I am at 12 pages already! i am happy that i decided to write it down though, b/c i have already forgotten some things.

today we found out (kind of) which teachers will be transferred. the official announcement is not until next week, but the teachers who do get transferred find out today...thus, it becomes a topic of discussion (secretly...sssssshhhhhhhh!) I only know about four of the teachers transferring, although I know there will be more than that. one teacher was a nursing course teacher and our school no longer has the nursing course, so i figured that she would transferred. the other 3 that I know of are English teachers! we only have 10 at our school and 3 will be transferred and it is said that they "may" bring in one. to replace the 3! that should make an interesting academic year. i really won't know anything for real until the official announcement is made next week. what I have been told is hush, hush. I told them that they have nothing to worry about b/c people don't talk to me much at my school. plus, I am sure if they are tell ME, then I know they've told other people b/c somehow I don't feel like browngirl has the inside scoop on anything. it's hard enough getting the regular outside scoop on stuff.

one JTE is moving to the region where she wanted, tsugaru, but not the school. the other JTE is moving to ??? the other JTE is moving to the region where he wanted, but his school will be mad far from where his family has to live b/c his daughter is going to begin HS in another area. so now he will probably have to get a driver's liscence (I have NO idea how he survived living in this area w/o a liscense) in order to get to work. if he doesn't do that, then he said, "it will be difficult for us to live together". WHAT?! couldn't be me.

aomori is really old school, so we still do things the old way: only giving the teachers two weeks to relocate to another school and region of the ken. they don't get any time off or assistance in finding a new house or apartment. they basically have to do it on the weekends or after school. in some other kens they find out a couple months in advance...but not here.

bangle bracelets, layered multi-colored slouch socks, printed jeans, legging with large shirts, big belts...I just got taken there by FM Aomori and Debbie Gibsson. I don't have a radio, so when inspired I put on my car radio just to listen to what they are playing...and "Electric Youth" was on...full blast! The funny thing is that the fashions sound like J circa 2003-4...LOL...

While I was busy trying to the running man, I got hoodwinked by mother nature. We had two days without snow and yesterday was warm. But what do we have falling from the sky now, the infamous snow drops!

As soon as I walked into my yoga class tonight, I got a round of applause. The daughter of one of my classmates is in my Eikaiwa. We went to karaoke yesterday for class (to sing English songs) and told her mother about my singing at karaoke...so now I am a great singer too!!!!!!!!!!!!

My school had to cancel their 2nd entrance exams b/c no one applied. Only one student failed the first time and he decided not to apply to the Intensive English course. No other students in the area wanted to apply either. I think the teachers were really sad about it. The number of students enrolling in school is decresing year by year. In the past they had 9 classes per grade and now, they have about 6 (which shows a decrease of about 300 students). It really just speaks to the issue of low birth rate. Which then leads to 'disappearing' towns and viallges b/c they have to combine inorder to survive. The birth rate is said to be around 1.33 and the life expectancy is 80 years and older.

I have created a monster by the name of Ritz! I normally do not eat Ritz or too many crackers, but since I have been in J, I eat Ritz quite often. There aren't too many other items that I can buy from the conbini [convenient store], so my other choices are juice, plain potato chips or fruit (if they have any). That's it! J has a plethora of konbinis, but that's what I can get for the most part, while other people can get a full meal if they wanted...but anyway. If I haven't eaten breakfast and I have time in the AM, I stop by the konbini and pick up orange juice and crackers. The crackers are not intended as a meal, but relly as a snack.

So yesterday (day before yesterday, really), the visiting ALTs, JTEs, and I had lunch after the cultural exchange events. They had a lunch prepared for me, but it didn't look appetizing and the prices of vegetables that I tasted were bland. I didn't really eat anything (plus they didn't even tell me about the lunch until that morning), but when they gave me my lunch, they also gave me a pack of Ritz. So clearly people have been looking at what I eat at work and it seems like I am a Ritz fiend or addict b/c that is all they notice me eating (although I bring lunch to school quite often). On most days I actually eat breakfast and dinner and skip lunch b/c I like to eat hot food and they said that there is no where for me to heat up my food or I'll skip breakfast and eat a snack (usually fruit or bran or Ritz) to give me a smidge of energy before lunch. So when they gave me the crackers, they gave it to me, like it was part of the meal (but still in the packs). I am sure I must have had a strange look on my face b/c I eat Ritz as a snack, not as a meal...so I wasn't in the mood to eat, so I didn't eat the meal [I was a waster :( ] nor did I eat the Ritz. A few days ago, I said to myslef that I needed to stop eating so many crackers, but I now had 3 more packs to add to my snack drawer.

Now we come to today where my supervisor said, You did a great job yesterday. Sorry we didn't give you a per diem like we gave the other ALTs yesterday, but I have a present for you." And what does he hand over to me? A box of Ritz.....LOL...per diem :: Ritz..........Ritz :: per diem...hmmmm, they don't seem to match well, but whatever, not a major deal. So after I finish off my Ritz gifts in my drawer, I will have to truly visibly diversify my snacking, so they don't get the idea that a box of Ritz serves as a vegan meal....LOL......

moisture (moischr) n. : 1) Diffuse wetness that can be felt as vapor in the atmosphere or condensed liquid on the surfaces of objects; dampness. 2) The reason why I have mold. 3) The reason why I cannot light any of the matches in my apartment. 4) The reason why I cannot light the wick on my lovely Tahitian Vanilla candle that my lovely sistah friends sent to me!

can a sistah play the 'love jones' soundtrack and light a candle? can she light an incense stick?....

Some fellow ALTs came to my school today for cultural exchange. It was pretty good. The ni nensei students presented on Shimokita and then the ichi nensei did two great activities in their geography class. I was impressed with the lessons and proud of the students progress in English.


left: ni nensei students performing a skit about little known local stories
right: ichi nensei students and I representing Tanzania in a game that simulated world trading tanoshikattadesu!


Found out today that we are having yet another test day on Monday. This day is for the students who didn't get into our school to have another chance to get in by applying for the Intensive English Program. Apparently, it is a BOE rule that if you do not fill 90% of your slots, you must have another test date. So we have 40 slots and only 33 students applied, so now we have to have another test date. After this last one, we'll probably have all 40 slots filled up. So we will have the "wonderful" combination of students who are motivated that want to study English and students that are unmotivated b/c they didn't qualify for regular admission to our school, but we accepted them for our English program, b/c we wanted to fill in the slots. YAY!!!!!!!!

It's 4 minutes after the annuoncement of new high school students. At a few minutes before 9AM, a hundred plus students and parents gathered at the front of my school to find out if they they will be a student or a parent of a student at my school. These are junior high schol students, they are screaming for joy about their acceptances. I am very happy for them. 200: regular course. 33: English course. 9: night school. As I found out today, in the past few years, students do not have to worry too much about getting in, b/c most people get into this school. I guess a large part of it is a decrease in the number of young people, and I am sure part of it, is so that the school can maintain a certain amount of funding and so the teachers' salaries won't decrease.



I had a chance to glance at next year's students before they arrive. It will be good to work with students as they come in. When I came here in August, all of the students had already began a semester with a JTE and a different ALT. Not that it made much difference in my effectivenes, but I am hoping to try some new things with the new students. This way, the teachers can't use the excuse but they have been doing it this way for a semester, so we can't change the teaching/lesson style now. I will teach these students for an entire academic year. I will teach these and all of my students for an entire academic year and it is said that it makes a difference...and I believe so.

Today is White Day! A day when the men who received gifts from women on 'Valentine's Day' reciprocate by giving a gift to the female they received a gift from. Like most things like this, it is a commercial enterprise (started around 1980 by chocolate companies) to take advantage of the Japanese concept of obligatory return of gifts. Of course, 'White Day' is hardly as popular as 'Valentine's Day' which was really introduced in J around 1958 as a day when women confess their love to a man with chocolate or a gift.....very unimportant to me. I didn't give any gifts on February 14th, so I didn't expect any today...and wouldn't you know, I didn't get any. LOL

Now, I am trying not to pull my locs out or scream, b/c my upstairs neighbor's children are jumping and stomping on the ground, like no one lives down here...take them to the park, let them run around...something...

たいきょくけん [tai chi] is wonderful! I just got in from a 3.5-hour class. One of my yoga classmates invited me to attend. I was actually pretty good at the forms...so this time, my impression matches everyone else's jouzu...umai! I plan on going every weekend that I am in town. Like my yoga class, I am "the" youngest person and everyone is about 50+ years of age.



Before going to the tai chi class, I went up to the "fancy" hotel to take some pictures. It is up on a hill and the weather was nice. The view wasn't as good on camera as in person, but I ended up noticing a shrine right by the entrance while I was taking pictures. I have been to this hotel for enkais but I never noticed it before.

We're playin bas-ket-ball.... *Kurtis Blow* My team won the first match in basketball today. We beat them 11-0. I haven't hustled like that in a while, which would explain why by the end of the game I was huffin' and puffin'. The second game, I decided that I wasn't going to hustle as much as the first...let the students do most of the running. We didn't win the second game [lost by one basket] but I did get hit in the head one good time. So right now, 7 hours later, I feel a headache coming on. Everytime I do a physical activity I get hurt...sports day, skiing, basketball. Of course, although I am terrible at basketball, everyone told me that I was excellent! If it was an issue for me, there's no way I would have low self-esteem as a foreigner...everything I do is jouzu!

I was invited to continue playing with them. The class meets 3 times a week...so I can add this little bit of exercise into my daily routine, since I am not teaching much these days.

leaving a gas station in J, there is no way one can be unhappy. the customer service is amazing! going to gas stationis not only getting gas, but it's also getting your trash taken out, car washed off, windows cleaned, and if you need kerosene, they go in the trunk and take it out an put it back for you. after all of that, they stop traffic to make sure that you get onto the road okay!

i took these random shots at school yesterday


left: it's so quiet and still without them here
right: stairs that lead down to the library, and the old HS memorabilia display


In the language laboratory teacher's room browsing web

On my way to my Eikaiwa I took these shots...


Mt. Kamafuse...also known as the mountain where I skiied and my finger still hurts

During today's walk I came across the ni nensei students' gym class. They were playing basketball, of course separate, boys on one half of the gym, girls on the other. They asked the teacher if I could play with them, so tomorrow I will put on my fashionable tracksuit and look athletic one more time before the school year ends. We get a 5-minute warmup...I'll see how things go. This is the team that won today's tournament

today was grading-entrance-exam-day ===> Takeyah do nothing day (again!)

These shots are of the teachers intensely grading test




At 12:00ish we [they] took a break to eat lunch. I guess they were really excited about getting back to those test, b/c people finished eating in about 10 - 15 minutes and went back to work. Me? I sat there and ate a few more pieces of kappa, then ate my curried red lentils over brown rice...why not?! I had nothing else to do.





I walked around the school some more, then took a picture of Ikariya-sama, kocho-sensei [principal] and then the right-hand-man at the school after kyoto-sensei [vice-principal] asked me to take a shot of him. For some reason, I cannot remember his name.



After my Eikaiwa classs today, one of my students invited me to her house for dinner. That's where I just got in from. I was really nice and I had a great time. I can tell that my Japanese is improving b/c could understand her husband. I usually have to have someone translate the men, b/c I usually cannot catch what they are saying. The Nakanishis are really nice people. They like foreigners a lot, so they are usually hosts to people who come to visit Mutsu. I found out that my student's husband has a business making the very popular wooden bookmarks. They gave me some as omiyage. She said that her father-in-law i known for originating this particular craft. They will let me go to the factory and try it out! YAY!



owarimasu!

how about I sent some books to my friend in Ghana last August. so why did she just get them this past Tuesday? that was 8 MONTHS ago! WHAT is going on?! I just though maybe someone took them or they got lost...but I guess not. I am happy that she's enjoying them now.

I found this site today of Japan Seldom Asked Questions.... omoshiroii...oh. it's not a man in the moon, it's a-rabbit-making-mochi in the moon...cool...

I just packed up my bags and did the 15-minute countdown til departure I walked to the office so I can say Osaki ni shitsure shimasu only to find out that... wait a minute, it's only 15:04, not 16:04....I am not sure how I managed to convince myself that it was time to go, but I did.

i was B-O-R-E-D out of my mind today. i didn't have any classes, so I browsed the web, worked on some things that I had to put down on paper, i started looking at Dream Weaver again, ate lunch, went across the street to get something to eat, made soem vocabulary cards, walked around the school...and it was only minute to 2p. At that point, I decided to get my camera and take random pictures of things at school...






There are many areas in the school with these rows of pipes/sinks.
I have never seen anyone use them, but the are close to the boys' bathrooms,
so maybe it's for them... i hope!





On my second walk around, these teachers were just standing around chatting,
so I joined them. I said, Hima ga arimasu [I have free time.] Surprisingly,
they said, we have nothing to do either. This is unusual, b/c even when most teachers
clearly have nothing to do, they pretend they do.





Outside of the Home Economics room. The students have to change from their inside
shoes, to their inside-the-kitchen-shoes.





After a long day of testing, they are finally released. The junior high school students
took entrance exams today. Some left with sniffles, some left with sighs of relief.




...my supervisor just called me and said that I don't have to go to school until 845a tomorrow...yeah...so I can eat breakfast at home!

I received a letter from myself today. I wrote it right before I came at one of our training sessions in DC (they gave us the form and told us that they would mail it to us). It reads...

My goals for my time in Japan are:

6-Month Goals
Goal 1: Achieve the level of Japanese that I had when I graduated from undergrad
I am 1/4 there...my level is about first year+ Japanese

Goal 2: Made travel arrangements for the balance of my time in Japan
I did it, but I am staying longer than anticipated, so I have to get going on plans for the next year. Hopefully, I gets some visitors..hint, hint!

Goal 3: Practice yoga at least 2 times/week
I definitely practice 1 time a week and this weekend, I started doing some additional practice

Other Thoughts:
I would also like to have met a lot of people with the same interests as I. I plan on working on my web domain (aya.duafe/blog/family) and making it more efficient.
I have worked on it a bit, but there's always work to do

At the time when I wrote these things, I tried to keep things realistic and feasible. For the most part they are (with the exception of the Japanese language part) and I am looking forward to reaching these goals by August, which will mark my first year here.

I was just told that I am having lunch with some teachers tomorrow. Everyone ordered meals, and I get to have a serving of kappa maki [cucumber roll] and ''bring something else to eat''. Since I will be here for a while and I told everyone that I can eat other food besides kappa maki, but there's still confusion, I decided to create a wonderful document called 'Japanese Food/Dishes that Takeyah can EAT!'. I will give it to my supervisor in hopes that he will share the wealth (of information) when they plan lunches without asking me what I want to eat. Maybe this wayI will get my money's worth when we have dinners/lunches/parties....yeah, that would be nice!

I have to get a Japanese driver's liscense. I will probably go for my test in March or April to get a head start. Most foreigners fail the first (second, third, fourth,...) time. My international driving permit expires in August, so I have some time to work with. Imagine that, I have been driving here for about 6 months, no written test, no driving test, but after a year of driving around and owning a car, I have to go take a written and a road test. I have heard that foreigners failing at their first attempt has nothing to do with knowledge of driving rules...

GRANOLA MONOLOGUES:
I made the bangin'ness dinner today. I wanted some bread and since I cannot buy any here, I decided to make some. I am not much of a baker, but if the kitchens came with ovens, I would bake more. I made whole wheat chapatis. They turned out great! It was my first time making them. They don't really require much (interms of ingredients or time) but I was hoping that they would turn out good. I made curried red lentils (a staple) using the curry that I bought in Malaysia, and added a bit of teh curry that I already had....OISHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII...of course, over brown rice.

Tomorrow, the laptop will be going to school with me. I only had one class today and for the rest of the time, I just checked e-mail and looked up ESL listening skill stuff. For the next two days the students do not have to come to school, b/c tomorrow is the entrance exams for the junior high sctudents and the day after tomorrow, the teachers have to correct the exams. All that means is that I won't have anything to do for the next couple of days.

I did a warm-up activity with my 2nd year students. The game wasn't a new one and I asked them simple questions. Although it wasn't my intention, today's activity provided a clear example of what I try to tell the JTEs about their comprehension skills. I said, "Name something that you can read". No one understood. So I said it slower since they say that the only problem they have is that things are too fast for them to understand. They still didn't understand. I said it slower. No one understood, then I answered the question, as an example. I can definitely understand when things are out of their league, but that was a basic question. The JTE expects them to produce at a higher level, but they do not have foundation skills and we usually teach them at a lower level (thus they don't really advance in their abilities). Comprehension preceeds production...i'm going to relax on this subject.

I decided to watch some J television tonight. I don't watch TV that much, but when I do, I always seem to catch the same story line in all of the shows that I see. It is usually a dram of some sort where someone gets killed accidently. The person who did it either confesses or goes free b/c it was self defense or goes free (b/c although their initial intent was not good, it went much further than they expected). Most of these shows end with a enkai [party] where the detective/PI/police officer character gives a speech to his colleagues.

in the news... tori infuruenza [chicken/bird influenza] has been found in some crows/birds in Kyoto.

one goes out to Aomori!

as declared a few days ago, March 6th was Digi Came Buying Day..so now I have pictures....





ME!...very late at night!





Taken while I was in the Mutsu City Library Garden Area.
Kind of like a mirror project shot. I'm hidden in there somewhere.





Pachinko Parlour. Mirror project-esque, however it didn't work out
so well b/c I was driving and my dirty window was up.




I am sure the folx at Super Denkodo were happy to see me walk out of there with something the other day. I went in about 5 times to write down info and look it up on-line when I got home. I found that it was easier to do that, than trying to use my Japanese to ask them questions about the cameras. When the time came to buy, I felt good about my decision. I know I will want to get a much fancier one in the (near) future, but for now she's great. This is the beginning of a wonderful relationship with me and my new little camera.

my RED THAI FISHERMAN pants were attacked by mold. That's IT. The dehumidifier is coming home with me tomorrow. I really liked those pants. It's a good thing I got a good wear out of them during my travels in December...but they were so cute! WEll at least I have two more pairs... this mold is not cool.

In other Shimokita Peninsula News: I just found out that another JET in my area has totaled his car (head-on, I heard). No major injuries for those involved, so that is a blessing.

In my life, I now have more appliances, trinkets, doodads than ever before. Life in Japan is viewed as "simple, minimalistic, spacious". I guess it would be different if I had a shopping problem, but I don't. Along with the simple life, comes a whole lot of other accessories...for example...

- there is no heating system so I have to have : a kerosene heater, a kotatsu (heated table), a kotatsu blanket and floor mat set, a warmlet (heated toilet seat), water bottle thingy (to put in my bed at night)
- it's humid so I have to have : little demidifying containers (placed in cabinets/closets, corners of rooms, etc.), little dehumifying packets (placed in my drawers and in the closet)
- no dryer so I have to have : a pole (that is removable), other hanging doodads [unless i want to pay about $5 to dry one load of clothes], a clothes drying rack

My list is actually not as long as the average person's is...I am not complaining, just acknowledging the appliance factor.
AND now, it's so moist in my apartment, I have to add yet another appliance...a dehumidifier! YEAH! Not sure when I can buy it, but I need it ASAP. I am beginning to get mold under my washing machine...another $200 on an appliance. Aahhh! Simplicity! :)

I'm travelling again! Sike! I made plans to do some travelling. Prior to doing so, I spoke with my supervisor to confirm the vacation/holiday days (although he told me I don't have to do it). So WHY did my supervisor come to me today and say, Uh, Takeyah-sensei, kyoto-sensei wants to talk to you about your vacation in January. And then about March. I am thinking *January*. Come to find out that one of the days that I didn't work in January while I was travelling was actually a work day. Where did the confusion come in? My supervisor made mistakes when he translated the calendar. So not only do I have one less vacation day, I now have a conflict with the mni vacation that I planned. He told me I had spring vacation (5 days off). I booked a flight and everything, and today he say, That's only for the students. I said, But, we talked about this last week and I asked you if it was okay AND it's printed on the calendar you gave me. So after a bit of translated back-and-forth with my supervisor and kyoto-sensei (school Vice Principal), I said that I would try to cancel my flight. Those were some major translation errors and gliches.

I was able to cancel my travel plans, so now I have to adjust and try to do things a bit differently. I planned on going to Seoul, but I may have to move that to a weekend trip, since it's so close.

Tomorrow has been officially declared, by me, as Digital Camera Buying Day. At the end of the day, I will have a camera. I have really needed one, but I have chosen travelling over buying a camera...but no more...I WILL have a digi cam...okay!

i have made a few discoveries over the past couple days:

1. i have defoggers on my side view mirrors
2. vinegar is the bomb like I have read about in so many places for so many years (i even have a 101 ways to use vinegar in the household)
3. i found $100US, in my little calendar the other day (I must have put it there when I began to travel in December and forgot about it. This means that I spent less money on my trip than I thought...how 'bout that!)
4. i will most likely get satellite TV (which is surprising, considering I don't even own a TV in the US)
5. my cleaning-snow-off-car speed has increased drastically
6. i am more into curriculum and instruction than i thought
7. i am having a large impact on the English abilities of my students and teachers

peace....

can NATTO save the earth? I found this article that talks about natto (fermented soybeans), a traditional Japanese food rich in protein and vitamin B. Many foreigners dislike it a lot, b/cof it's smell and stickyness. For me, I can eat it, but I tried it as sushi, natto maki, and I didn't like the texture in my mouth. The article talks about it's stickyness and how it may play a role in saving the environment....who would have thought? someone did!

it's 'moving on' time for some of the teachers here. i just found out that they get their announcements on March 19th. the announcement will let us know which teachers will stay at this school and which ones will be transferred out and and in :( if, they are transferring out, they basically have less that 2 weeks to get things organized and go to their new school by the 31st. yup! mad quick...so there will be a series of parties like usual...i guess it may not be so sad for some of the folx, b/c some want to leave and some are getting married so they are moving to the area where their future husband will live or some want to be a bit closer to movie theatres...who knows...f they get their wish, they are going

I have been hearing that spring is just around the corner, but I couldn`t tell after looking at 1.5 feet of snow on my car this morning. They say that this winter has been very mild...I don`t even wantto imagine what next winter will be like.

on the education tip....

I got some of my questions answered today about the Japanese education system and student learning. This website give a lot of valuable info about the J education system and the Ministry of Education. A few quotes that struck my interest:

It is well known that Japanese college students do not have to study hard to keep good grades at college. It is hard to enter competitive universities but once entered, almost everybody graduates. Most companies recruit college graduates, considering which colleges they graduate from and, not the GPAs of individual students. The 1995 survey found that 84.2 percent of male students in junior colleges and special vocational schools studied one hour or less per day while 76.4 percent of female students in junior colleges and special vocational schools study one hour or less per day (Somucho 1996). Instead of studying, most college students spend their time on part-time jobs, sports, and cultural clubs, traveling, dating, drinking, and partying. Parents support most of them financially.

They teach fewer hours than American teachers, but spend quite a bit of time on paperwork and extracurricular clubs.

The Buraku people, consisting of a population of 1 to 3 million, are a socially discriminated minority group, who have historically been stigmatized as former outcastes in Japan. ... They were forced to live only in segregated Buraku (“hamlets”), mainly in the western part of Japan. ... On the other hand, psychological discrimination against Buraku people persists especially in marriage, employment, and social relationships. ... After the establishment of compulsory elementary school system in 1872, many Buraku children were coerced into entering segregated Buraku schools or were forced to stay in Buraku classrooms separated from other children in the same schools.

i just got dirty and grimy with the MOLD! I asked my eikaiwa students for advice about how to deal with it. Since most of them are housewives and the major person in charge of the house, they gave one bit of advice....use vinegar...ah ha! and what did do a few days ago: I went to Max Value to find vinegar, but I couldn't! But now that I know what the bottle looks like, I see it all throughout the store in droves. So clearly, I am just a little bit slow on the mold cleanup process, unless most of that is for tsukemono [pickled veggies] or rice. Either way, I have found it! I am hoping that it helps somewhat. If not, they will have to replace my tatami mat soon. They also recommended keeping my heat on...but wouldn't you know, the first set of mold appearances happened when I was heat-less....if it ain't one things it's another.

like teacher, like student. today I was truly able to see why the students respond the way they do in class...the teachers do the same thing. i went to the English Teachers meeting today...i sort of invited myself, but they said it was okay. Although, I teach English to a good number of students (120+), I am never told about the meetings. Maybe it's b/c they are held in Japanese or maybe it's b/c most English teachers do not feel comfortable using English or who knows. So I went to the meeting and people were sitting with their heads down low, slumped over the table, slouching in their chairs and mumbling. The meeting was in Japanese, so I just listened. That's all I really wanted to do was listen and get a feel for how the meetings are and what they talk about. I am me, so I ended up talking at two points. The first comment was when they asked my opinion of the 2nd year (sson to be 3rd year students) and I told them. The second point was when the head English teacher, JTE1, asked a question. I had no idea of what he asked, but no one responded for like a few minutes, maybe even 5. I just sat there looking at everyone. Then I said, "Excuse me, what is the topic of discussion?" Then a couple minutes later I said, "Well I am sensing a bit of mendou-ku-sai [troublesome, worries, sometimes reluctance]? What is the concern with the Computing English Class?" Then when no one, besides JTE1, could answer I gave a few suggestions and said that I would help whichever teacher who wanted to teach it with some ideas (highlighting the fact that they wouldn't have to teach with me, since a good number of teachers do not want to work with an ALT).

NOW, my question is...at what point in the Japanese education system, do people have to learn something? I am sure it is there, but I can't quite grasp it yet. It's not at elementary school? not junior high school? not college? so where? these teachers graduate with degrees in English or English education and they basically haved to sludge through a meeting b/c no one wants to teach classes that require them to use English...what is going on? I personally think that they all should be able to use English at some point in their classes, but many teachers (in my 7 months) I have yet to hear a full English sentence from. It's odd, b/c I am sitting in this meeting and observing and I can see what is going on, just by paying attention to their body language and lack of response. I wonder if at some point they had energy for teaching and it died? I can see that with maybe the older teachers (although it's not an excuse), but half of the teachers have been teaching for under 5 years. ??????????????? it's exploration time.

At the dinner last night, my supervisor said to me, "Takeyah-sensei, you are like a Japanese teacher. You care about the students, you want them to learn. Many ALTs are not like that. The way I see you control the class and teach the students, I am always amazed...you use easy words for them to understand ... you are a great teacher!".....aawwwwwwwhhhhhhhhh, that really touched me right in the left ventricle...it really did!

this month's menu: smothered brown gaijin! my school likes me a lot. they tell everyone about me, except me of course, b/c that would be too direct. there's a JTE that really likes me a lot and I like him too. he asks for my opinion about any and everything...sometimes, I want my mind for myself. he is constantly trying to get our opinions to be the same. so either we agree of the bat or he is trying to put words in my mouth to imply something. i do not think that he has mal intent at all...it's just annoying at times. like when i was grading papers, instead of just letting me grade them, he wanted to do a couple samples together (who knows why...maybe it was to see how i grade..but I don't know). so on more than one example, he was like, "so we think that this student should get..." I was like "I don't know, I haven't read it yet...I can't give my grade without reading it". he basically wanted me to agree with him. today i attended the English Teacher's meeting (there's a story with that too, but later) and in the meeting I said, "I think any teacher can teach the Computer English Class". After the meeting, he was like, "Not all of teh teachers can teach that class, not everyone understnad what it's about" and continued to try to get me to change my opinion. I nipped that in the bud by saying, "I disagree with you and that's okay...it's okay to disagree." He didn't take the time to as me, so I could tell him that the reason why I think any teacher can teach it is b/c the class doesn't have any structure or criteria that a teacher has to abide by. There is no guideline set with this class (or any other class, for that matter) about abilities. So yes, the levels will vary teacher by teacher, but in general, anyone who can use a computer can teach it. someone told me not too long ago, "takeyah....it's the price you pay for being good"...and so it is...

in other news... I filled out this little mappy-thingy ... 51% of the US left to cover...maybe I have something against the West...I don't know



make your own
or write about it

i have decided to tackle the UFOs (unfinished objects) in my yarn basket. i haven't made anything new in a while, but I have two sweaters to finish. one just needs to be pieced together then add a collar; and the other has half a sleeve to go, then piece and add a collar. once i get the juices flowing again, i'll be able to work on some spring/summer crocheting for DF vol. 19. i am looking forward to it. since i'll be here for another year, this year can give me the chance to scope things out so i can better prepare for the fall and next spring's DF.

so I decided vto move my heater to the other side of my apartment (in front of my veranda doors) in an attempt to attack some of the mold. i didn't notice it's growth until i didn't have my old heater, so perhaps the heat is just enough to keep the moisture away...i'll see in a day or so

i belong to a few online groups (message boards, listserves, etc.) where people sign up b/c they have similar interests. i usually like them, but after a while a lot of them become redundant b/c new people who just join the groups do not like to do their own research. they want people to tell them everything. use the SEARCH feature to see if the question has been asked or answered before, and stop asking questions that have been answered time and time again. i remember being in middle school and learning aboiut researching and resources. why can't people apply the same conecpts to the internet/web? who knows? instead they post the same questionsover and over again...i'm done.