Hello, my name is Jen.... the JHS intros

Long post warning!!!! This week marked the beginning of my career as an English teacher. All of the first classes have been my introduction, and all of my JTEs have graciously allotted me the full 50 mins of their classes for my intro. I'm sure they're not taking advantage of me being new so they don't have to teach, heh heh

Actually, the intros have been really fun. I put a lot of thought into them - when I was still working in CO we set up some great shots out at excavations and stuff that have really impressed the kids. I've printed oh, 20 or so pictures, and laminated them, and then I've got a bunch of "realia" - postcards, a map, a flag, bumper stickers, etc that I brought from home to show. I also came up with a game to keep them paying attention during my speech - a bingo game where they have to guess the answer to various questions about me (where am I from? how old am I? what's my hobby? etc). The answers are revealed during the presentation and at the end, if they got bingo they get an "American" sticker. Which is just one of a bunch of stickers in English I brought from home. Stickers are one of the best bribery tools in JHS - the kids go bananas for them. How a 14 year old boy can be so excited about a sticker is beyond me, but hey, this is Japan!

Anyway, my first self intro was on Tuesday, for the ichi nen sei (1st grade) at MJH during the 1st period. I was a bit nervous, being my first "real" class, and I had no idea how it would go over with the kids. But they really liked it! The greatest ooohs and ahhhhs and sugoi! (amazing!!!) were in response to the pics of the front end loader and the track hoe (thanks go out to Chandler and Darren for the help on those!), and of course the motorcycle pics. I really surprised them I think - I doubt many people with my background end up in the Japanese countryside teaching. And people are always surprised when they hear about the motorcycles ^_^

I eat lunch at MJH with the students in their classrooms. A student will come to the teacher's room to escort me, and carry my tray. It's fantastic, the service around here. heh heh. This month I am eating with the san nen sei (3rd grade) students.

The students are still a bit shy, esp the boys, so conversation was a bit difficult. But I did manage a few "what is this?" and "how do you say cucumber in Japanese?" type questions. The highlight of the meal came when the ni nen sei class found some kind of plastic wrap in their chicken, which was cause for excitement and chatter, and the san nen sei had a hell of a time trying to explain it to me, lol "dangerous chicken! be careful! watch out!" I had to ask Tom later what happened to get the full story.

In the afternoon I did the intro for the ni nen sei class, which Tom teaches. And he was awesome enough to steal my camera and take some pics ^_^





The Rockies section has been a big hit - they're crazy for baseball here


Both of my JTEs at MJH said my intro was really good and thanked me for the class ^_^ The biggest compliment I've received is that you can't tell it's my first time teaching. Not sure if they're just being nice or if it's sincere, but I take it as a compliment ^_^

Wednesday I was at KJH. At 8 am I was informed that at 815 I would be addressing the students in the gym... good thing they gave me plenty of warning, wouldn't want to have to give a speech on the fly or anything. They specifically instructed me to do it in English, which actually kinda disappointed me since I got such rave reviews for the Japanese speech at MJH.

So, at 815 everybody headed to the gym. I suppose since I missed the opening ceremony there, they felt the need to do like a little welcome ceremony or something. I felt like such a celebrity... and forgot my camera. D'oh! I am hoping I can get a copy of some of the ones kyoto-sensei took, but we'll see. It's amazing what not speaking the language and knowing they're all excited to see you will do for your self confidence - I haven't been nervous once with all of these speeches and lectures. After I spoke, one of the students came up onstage and read a speech he had prepared to welcome me to the school. Awwwwww! "welcome to Kuguno, we want to know you and be friends, and to learn about America", it was SO SWEET. I loved it ^_^

First class of the day at KJH was the san nen sei conversation class, which at KJH I am in charge of. I had hoped my JTE would give me a little help in leading it, being that I'd never done one before and I had no idea how they went. Instead, she did a short warm up (what's the date? how's the weather?) and then looked and me and said "ok!".

...yeah. So, we did some conversing. The class went ok, I suppose. I think I can do better. But not bad for my first try.

Did two intros after the conversation class, for the ichi nen sei and the ni nen sei. The classes at KJH are a little different from MJH; slightly bigger and the students are harder to impress. Which may or may not be because there are more of them. At any rate, the ni nen sei baseball boys are a riot and I think will be the main source of my entertainment, and headaches, at KJH this year.

Lunch at KJH is in the cafeteria with the students. I forgot to mention earlier that the entire operation at the schools is run by the kids - they dish out the food and do the cleanup. Have I mentioned the system here is incredible?

Once again, I sat with the san nen sei. And I got to sit across from the boy who read the speech to me at my introduction in the gym - he really likes English and is quite good at it. Which made conversing at lunch slightly easier, but by no means a breeze. "how was your summer vacation?" "do you play sports?" "what kind of books do you like?" "is this a grape?"

I did get asked how old I am, and when I said 27 she said I was so young! Automatic A for that one. ^_^

I didn't help out with soji at KJH as I couldn't spit out in Japanese "where are the brooms?", and my JTE was MIA, so I just wandered around and popped in on students while they cleaned. During the free time after cleaning I ended up with the ni nen sei, where the boys were practicing some kind of song with colored cards they flip in unison.

Also had some more hijinks by the baseball boys as they introduced themselves as various vegetables and proceeded to tackle each other, and I dubbed them "crazy", which they liked ^_^

Next up is my first day at Miya Elementary. Be prepared for an overload of cuteness!!

The importance of water

Ah, the Japanese. So eloquent when explaining simple concepts like dehydration and electrolytes.

Hanging on the wall at KJH ^_^

And it begins!

I am still planning to post about the Norikura English Shower, the Maze Fireworks, and yesterday around town with my new friends Ria and Hiro, but first I want to get this one up because it actually has to do with my work as an ALT.

Today was the first day of school! Which consisted of the opening ceremony, homeroom classes, and cleaning. Then the teachers had a meeting while I practiced my self-introduction class for tomorrow.

For the opening ceremony, the entire school gathered in the gym. Since this is Miya JH, there are only about 80 students. Which made giving the speech SO much easier. The staff also were in the gym, lined up along the side.







To open the ceremony, kocho-sensei gave a speech


Students spoke


We sang the school song


and then it was my turn to speak...
one of my JTE's took me up and introduced me to the school, and then I gave my speech in Japanese




It was so short, he didn't have time to get down off the stage and get a shot of me from the front, lol. If you look closely, you can see I'm wearing my indoor shoes. I don't even bother to worry if my shoes match anymore; it's going to be work clothes with Pumas every day! Half of the teachers are in sandals.

Everyone seemed impressed by my speech. They told me my pronounciation was great and my Japanese was really good. They had no trouble understanding what I was saying at all! And Tom told me that the students were very interested in what I was saying; though I couldn't tell by their faces, he said they were paying very close attention to what I was saying and their eyes were all wide. lol, the speech was really short, and I didn't say anything really difficult. But Japanese people are always amazed when foreigners can speak even a little Japanese. Later, they kept asking me who wrote my speech, "I did", eh? where did you study Japanese? "Denver..." wow, you did?! This after I've told everyone multiple times I studied a little Japanese at home.

heh heh heh

Then more people addressed the students


And then it was over!

After the ceremony, classes consisted of homeroom classes, and then soji. Soji is cleaning time, when the students clean the school. It is a fantastic practice; and you would never be able to pull it off in the US. It's pretty much slave labor. I am told tomorrow a student will escort me up to their class to eat with them. And they'll carry my food. muahahahahah, the power



The students took off around noon, and then all the staff had lunch together. Where everyone received omiyage (gifts brought back from a trip) from various people's vacations. I also gave a gift I picked up yesterday in Takayama to everyone as a thank-you for my welcome enaki on Friday. Which I will post about later.


Mine is the cute one on the right ^_^

The teachers then all had meetings in the afternoon, and since I don't really speak Japanese and none of it applied to me anyway I decided to run through my self-intro lesson in one of the classrooms with all my props. aiiieeeee! I hope it goes well.



Wish me luck! 3 intros tomorrow!

Speech! Speech!

Tomorrow is the first day of classes following summer vacation here in Takayama. Accordingly, I have to give a speech to the entire school at Miya JH. In Japanese. I've heard that some of my entries can get quite lengthy (this one's for you Kraig!), so here we have a nice short one: my speech. I wrote it all by myself ^_^ with a little help from my friend Ria....

minesan, ohayo gozaimasu
watashi no namae wa Jennifer desu
Jen to yonde kudasai
watashi wa amerika no kodorado no denba kara kimashita
shichi gatsu nijuku nichi ni nihon ni kimashita
to hachi gatsu tsuitachi ni takayama ni kimashita
amerika de nihongo o benkyoshimashita ga, mada heta desu
watashi wa koko ni korete ureshi desu
issho gambatimasho
dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu

Good morning everyone
My name is Jennifer
Please call me Jen
I am from Denver, Colorado, USA
I came to Japan on July 29
and I came to Takayama on August 1
I studied Japanese in America, but I am still poor at it
I am very happy to be here
Lets work together
It's nice to meet you

It's been an awesome weekend, can't wait to post about it. Later. heh heh.

Also, a shout out to Isaac and Cassie on their engagement! Congrats guys! So happy for ya! I admire your courage ^_^

Gifu Orientation

We had yet another "orientation" last week (Aug 16-17), this time in Gifu City, for all of the new ALTs in Gifu Prefecture. The plan was that those of us in the Hida region would ride down on the local express train to catch the last bus in Gifu City that would get us to the sports complex where the orientation was held in time. The train left at 848 am; I decided I would give myself some extra time at home in the morning and catch the 809 am bus to Takayama, which arrived at 823. This came after considerable mental debate between arriving an hour early with nothing to do, or getting some extra zzzzz's. I actually had a dream the night before that I missed my bus and was late for the train. Which only goes to show that I have developed my latent ability of prescience as the 809 bus apparently doesn't run on weekdays. And I believe it says that on the schedule, only it's in Japanese so I can't read it -_-

So I went to the bus stop, with this feeling like I should have just taken the damn train, 809 came and went, and this being Japan I just knew that was a problem and called my supervisor at 815 in a panic.

Me: I need to be at Takayama station in time for the 848 train to Gifu and my bus never came! What do I do?!?!!
Supervisor: It didn't come? When is the next one?
Me: Not until 829
Supervisor: 829?!! Please stay where you are and I will call you back.
Me: *trying not to panic*
Phone: *ring*
Supervisor: Ok, please stay there and I will come get you. If the bus comes first get on it.
Me: ok
-2 mins pass-
Phone: *ring*
Supervisor: Nevermind about the bus, just wait for me to get you
Me: ok *feeling retarded*
Me: *calls George, begs him to buy extra ticket to Gifu*
-5 mins pass-
Bus: *comes* *leaves*
-5 more mins pass-
Supervisor: *picks me up* *drives like a maniac to Takayama station* *passes bus*
Phone: *rings*
George: So I am running a little late myself, you may want to get someone else to get your ticket
Me: But you're the only one with a phone I know who is going on this train!
George: I'm LITERALLY running to the station...
Me: ...
George: ok, first one there will buy it
-10 mins pass-
Supervisor: drops me off. *is awesome*
Me: *runs into station, sees George at ticket counter* *buys ticket*
Me and George: rush on to train with 3 mins to spare
Regional Prefectural Advisor Nancy: *jumps on train with no ticket and 30 sec to spare*
Me: *doesn't feel so retarded anymore* ^_^

It was a miracle George and I made it. Then when Nancy had to blow through the gate and jump on the train just before it left and then buys her ticket on the train (which I didn't know you could do), I didn't feel like quite as much of an idiot anymore. But phew! It was exciting. And something I'd rather not repeat.

Have I mentioned how much I love my supervisor? Awesome doesn't even begin to describe him ^_^

Anyway, orientation was held at a sports complex in Gifu City. All the new ALTs were there, plus the RPA's (regional prefectural advisors) and then some 2nd+ years showed up a little later. For the most part we stayed inside the sports complex, as it was air conditioned. Which was great seeing as I seem to have an aversion to the a/c around here - it made me feel sick and light-headed the entire time we were there.

When we weren't in meetings being bored to tears or trying desperately to squeeze as much info as possible from the presenters about what to expect in the coming weeks, we pretty much just hung out in the lobby. The rooms were all Japanaese style - tatami mats and futons. No good for spending copious amounts of time. The sole furniture in them being a small shelf and some ass pillows. And since nobody wanted to go outside, we got to know the vending machines quite well. One of our new discoveries was the "jelly soda", which is like canned jello. Serioiusly. You shake it up and then slurp it down.



Evan, enjoying a nice cold one...


We had a dinner reception Thursday night, which was all you can eat and all you can drink. For the most part it was tasty, but I have to admit I did stay away from


They made up for it by having hot sake. Which this really neurotic sake-man wouldn't let you take until it had reached *exactly* the right temperature. He even had a thermometer to check it with.


After dinner, people hung out for a while, took baths (communal shower/bath, only open from 4-10 pm and NOT open in the mornings), etc. I opted not to bathe as I just didn't feel icky enough to shower with 20 other women yet. Lights out was at 10pm, at which point you're locked into the building. However, as every gathering in this program involves some kind of party, we had a plan to skirt that rule and set up room 301 (the farthest from all the other guests staying at the complex) as the designated party room. Which had to suck for the guys staying in it, lol

Some of us headed out before to get some beer, but as the liquor store was closed and the only grocery store in Japan that doesn't sell beer was our only option, we ended up purchasing our booze from a vending machine.

Yes, a vending machine.


The party was a good time - I got to hang out with the friends I made at the Gifu fireworks, as well as meet a whole bunch of new people. And believe me, that room was PACKED.

We had to keep the windows and the doors shut to keep the noise to a minimum, and it reeked of sweaty men the next morning when we all had to go put our stuff in there after checkout. Nasty. How the guys slept in there I'm not sure; Paul said that since he stayed in there the whole night he didn't notice it until after he left the next morning.


The characters on the shirt say "Gifu"

I finally called it a night at 1 when an ALT with limited social skills asked me if I needed somebody to walk me back to my room (uh, no, I'm good, thanks...). When I got to my room everyone else had already gone to bed so I had to fumble around in the dark and find a futon, pillow, and sheets, all while trying not to wake anyone up.

The next morning was more orientation, and by noon we were finished. Dan and I wanted to get our re-entry permits (a handy document that allows you to leave and re-enter the country without re-applying for another visa), and tagged along with Kim, Eric, George, and Minh to get some lunch at Gifu station. We also met a girl named Chelsea who came in with Group B (arrived in Tokyo in August a week after us A people). So, we ate, we got permits, then Dan and I decided to tag along with George, Minh, and Chelsea, and go play tourists for the rest of the day!

Our destination was:

Gifu Castle


And on the way we had some fun






To get there, we decided to fork over 1000 yen and take the gondola up to the top instead of hiking. It was actually worth it just for the awesome experience of riding up the mountain







At the top there was a short hike to the castle, in which I was aided by my super-human high-altitude acclimation (soon to be lost, I'm afraid).

View of Gifu from the walk


According to wikipedia, Gifu Castle was first built by the Nikaido Family between 1201 and 1204 during the Kamakura Period. Originally called Inabayama Castle, Gifu Castle has gone through many numbers of repairs over the course of several generations. Even though it was famous as a physically powerful castle, it was once taken over by a mere sixteen men. It is known that at one time a man by the name of Takenaka Hanbei went to the castle to visit his sick brother, Saito Tatsuoki. In reality, he went to the castle not to visit his brother, but to kill him. When Hanbei struck at him, Tatsuoki was very confused - believing an enemy army had come to attack him - and fled. Thus, Hanbei obtained Inabayama Castle with relative ease. Later, Hanbei returned the castle to his brother, but Tatsuoki had lost an immeasurable amount of reputation and honor due to his perceived cowardly flight from the castle. When Oda Nobunaga attacked Inabayama Castle, many men under Tatsuoki remembered this event and defected. After easily defeating Tatsuoki, Nobunaga claimed the castle and made it his primary base-of-operations.

Nobunaga renamed the stronghold "Gifu Castle", following an example set by an ancient Chinese practice. Nobunaga then proceeded to renovate the castle into a far more impressive and grandiose structure than its previous incarnation. The current version of Gifu Castle is a cement structure that was built in the 1950s, as the previous castle had been destroyed by the firebombings of the surrounding city in 1945. Inside the castle, there are three floors with exhibits representing the castle's past. With maps, weapons, pictures and other artifacts on display, visitors can recreate the story of Gifu Castle.

Dan and his sweat rag in front of the castle...

he almost could pass for a local now, neh?

Inside there was a kind of museum of artifacts and things on display. Was very osoreooi (awesome)




And at the top, great views of Gifu City


Hida region is somewhere behind me!


While we were waiting at the base of the mountain for our car ride up, George, in typical brilliant English fashion, saw some stick-on moustaches that we made great use of on our way back from the castle. We wanted to have a nice backdrop for a picture of all of us and ended up wandering into this outdoor restaraunt. I think the staff there were a little unsure/annoyed with us at first, but once we asked them to take our picture they started laughing and it was all fun ^_^

Dan has the photo of all of us, so I'll have to post that later. It's awesome, believe me, but for now you'll have to content yourselves with:


George!


Dan!


me!

After our photo shoot, we headed back down, chatting with some local Japanese tourists who were very impressed they had 5 eigo no sensei (English teachers) in their midsts. Acutally, Dan did the talking. The rest of us just nodded our heads and smiled, lol

It took a while to make it back to the station, where we took way too long to figure out how to buy tickets home, and split up when George dragged Minh off to find an express train. So, Chelsea, Dan, and I headed off in search of food before our 830 train, and wandered past the bike storage at the station



And then it was time to go home


Chelsea got off in Mino Ota, Dan and I had a nice 3+ hour ride home. It's slow as hell, but I like the local cause I can get off in Miya.

It was late. We were tired.


oyasuminasai! (good night!)

My Boss, My Hero

I had planned today to finally catch the blog up to current happenings, and though I made a good start by posting about last weekend this morning, my plan fell apart thanks to 4 words. My Boss, My Hero.


The kana read "mai bosu mai hi-ro-"

I found out about the show whilst watching tv in my apartment. I have a total of 10 channels of tv available to me, all in Japanese. One is like a community access channel, 2 show almost exclusively baseball, one is usually showing some kind of food show and the rest vary depending on the time of day. The news shows even dub Nightline and ABC News (I won't go in to how annoying that was when I was sans internet and the bridge in Minneapolis collapsed). Anyway, I have taken to watching a few shows, even though I can't understand much of what is said. One is a samurai show, no idea what it's called. Another is a soap-opera of some type that involves bitchy women at a hostess-club. But by far the best thing I have found so far is My Boss, My Hero.

Though unable to understand the majority of what was said, I was immediately hooked through the sheer number of hilarious facial expressions of Nagase Tomoya


I watched the entire episode and was able to glean the basic plot of the show. And laughed my ass off even though it was in Japanese. Then, I promptly got online to find out more about it, and lo and behold the show has been fan-subbed!

Basically, the plot of the show is thus (edited from drama wiki). Sakaki "Tornado" Makio (Nagase Tomoya) is a tough 27-year-old high school drop-out. By academic standards, he's pretty dumb. He is the next in line to become the boss of the Kantou Sharp Fang family, a local yakuza gang. After he botches a deal with his complete inability to add, his father decides to force him to return to high school and earn his diploma. If Makio doesn't graduate, the position of boss will be given to his younger brother Mikio.

The 2 sides of Makio


In order to attend high school, he must pose as a 17-year-old during school hours and in the presence of any classmates or teachers outside of school. If his cover is blown, it would be the end of his high school career as well as his hopes to become boss. Being that he is 27 and never went to high school, he is compeletly inept when it comes to social interactions at the school. Thus, hilarity ensues.

As the series progresses, he grows and changes, and learns that school is much more than just studying for tests. There are all sorts of challenges that have nothing to do with studying and that help his character to grow.

One of my favorite running plots involves the daily fight for one of the 12 "Agnes puddings" (St. Agnes being the name of the high school)

The kana read "agunisu purin"

And so, instead of blogging about life in Japan, today I spent prowling the web in search of My Boss, My Hero. I'm up to episode 6 of 10. Fantastic show, I highly reccomend it ^_^ If any of you aspiring entrepreneurs would front some cash to bring it to the states we could make millions! Millions I tell you!

My second weekend in Takayama

A week ago Friday (the 10th) my work entailed attending YANSA, which was a dance festival for elementary and junior high school students. Unfortuntaely for me, there was no one representing from Miya or Kuguno. So I was just there to watch everybody else's kids.

First though, we had to get some lunch.

soba! mmmmmmm

The festival was outside and HOT. In the sun. We took refuge in the shade of the "important people and camera men" tent, which was all the way in the back. The performances were really really cute; at least for the first half hour. Until we realized they all danced to the same 4 songs. 4 songs. All. day. long.



The really young kids were my favorite ^_^


We lasted in the heat and the romping melodious monotony for about an hour before we took off in search of a/c. Kyle and Dan went back to take showers. Theresa, Minh, and I went to a coffee shop.


Dinner was at a yakiniku (BBQ meat) place


with sake


And afterwards we headed to the local reggae bar, Bagus

where for 2000 yen you can get the most enormous parfait I have ever seen in my life

That's Malibu rum in the bottom of it

Saturday I just stayed at home all day, updating the blog and catching up on things at home. I think I went outside once for about 10 mins in the evening, just so I wouldn't feel like a total hermit...

Sunday the 12th was a walking tour of Takyama. Interestingly enough, Kyle, Dan, and I found a gun shop before the tour. Yep, a gun shop. In Japan. Which is also a toy store...

we're still trying to figure it out.

During the walking tour, people from further north in the Hida region joind us - Jordan from Shinagawa, where the historic folk village is, and also Greg and Will from Hida City, the next town north by train.

It was a good chance to see the city and get some info on where the best curry is, the local ALT hangouts, bars, and also which restaurant is run by the local yakuza (mob). Which happens to be

this place, apparently. Nobody talks about it, but I guess it's just common knowledge. Our regional prefectural advisor, Nancy, told us about it.

Sanmachi, the old city of Takayama with houses dating to the Edo period



Greg!


Kyle!


I've forgotten what these are called, but they're fantastic. Just like balls of dough fried and dipped in soy sauce.

With George, a 1st year ALT from London. Everybody else in the Hida region seems to either be American or Canadian.

He hates this picture. heh heh.

After the tour we met up with most of the other ALTs in Takayama for dinner at an izakaya. People from southern Hida region, mostly from Gero, also joined and we ended up with so many people that we had to get 2 rooms






George, Dan, and Will

Kyle, me, and Jordan

Some unfortunate shrimp...

And the lockers where you put your shoes - the cards in them are keys that you take when you put your shoes in


After dinner other people went to the bars, but since the last bus to Miya leaves at 1130, Theresa and I just hung out and caught the last ride home.