monkey poses with nice buddies

I am in pain! My calves, my arms, my abs, everything. Everyday I am doing something involving physical exertion. Even at home, I am constantly cleaning the dishes, hanging my laundry, cooking, making lunch, and folding my laundry. And all of that seems like a break compared to the bike ride I’ve made a total of four times in the past 6 days.
Excuse my explanation of my journey because it will seem rather archaic, but I have no other options. Luckily my bike is a mountain bike, or else I think it might be impossible to climb the intense hills. I start at my house and make a left at a bright sky blue building, and proceed down the main road (there are only two main roads on the island, so the chance of getting lost is slim) past a fire station, baseball field, tennis courts, the hotel I stayed in, then past the beach until I reach a tunnel. Before I go in the tunnel I turn on my little bike flash (I can choose blinking or solid light) and have to push through an uphill battle until I can sail down the other side. The coast always stays on my right, so if you are inept at directions that means I head south the entire ways. Past the tunnel I think I am still in Arikawa, but I am not too sure. Yesterday I got to see junior high kids as well as elementary school kids practicing for a boat race. Their form of boating is between crew and canoeing, because they are fatter looking canoes with flat bottoms but they have a teacher directing them (like crew) and they each have an oar like crew. However, there are pairs sitting side by side, so maybe they actually reflect a Viking boat more than anything. Unfortunately my school doesn’t participate in this event, which takes place this weekend.
Anyhow, to get back to my trek, I bike past the boating area for a small ways and bike up another incline through a second tunnel, which is much shorter than the first. For certain I know when I break through the second tunnel I arrive in the town of Uonome, where Deborah lives. Uonome has a much more urban touch than Arikawa. So, to go to karaoke and many restaurants I have to bike through the two tunnels. I have found this bike ride seems easy compared to going all the way to Aokata (the next town over). Uonome gives me some rest, because it is so flat, before I have to bike up the steep never ending hill to Aokata. I think it might be a five minute uphill battle. Very long, and very tiring. At first I gave up after biking half way up the hill. It is disheartening when you have been biking so hard and make it around the corner of the hill and see that you are only half way there. It tricks you into thinking it is only half as big with the curve. But (sound trumpets) I FINALLY DID IT! For the past two times I made it up the hill without stopping. I have to shift to the very lowest gear in order to make it up all the way, but the point is that I did it (DEKITA!). Bragging, I feel, is warranted in this situation because it was one early goal I accomplished. So, in a way, it makes me feel like I can reach any goal that I set. Metaphorically my hill climb represented to me the uphill trek I have to make with everything I do, but once I finally can make it to the top (even though it is really really hard) the rest is an easy downhill descent that requires little if any effort. And not only did I make it up one side of the hill, but both sides on the same day. When I had to go back home, I didn’t stop all the way from Aokata to my house.
Once again, this Monday, I attended TaiChi class. Talk about an uphill battle for me, TaiChi makes me sweat more than biking. I thought the second time I could understand more, but I think that I ended up making more mistakes! When I looked in the mirror I got confused and realized that I turned my movements into the actual mirror image of what everyone was doing. We (the gaijin, Robin Deborah and me) have no clue about the correct order of the movements. TaiChi, like other martial arts, relies on stances and focusing your energy. Being the only one with experience, Deborah explained to Robin and me a little bit of what the heck we were doing. Excuse me if I am mistaken, but from what I understand TaiChi relies on focusing your Chi –or your energy- and you breathe in not a set rhythm, but with your own movement in the steps. When you place your foot down, you breathe into your leg so that all of the energy is focused on one solid leg while the other is free to kick or attack. But, as many of you know, Tai Chi movements are very controlled and fluid. What I didn’t know was that many of the arm sweeps represent batting a kick away, grabbing a foot and redirecting momentum, or attacking. I think the basic purpose of Tai Chi is to understand the flow and energy of your body and using that energy defensively and aggressively against an attacker.
Let me tell you, I felt embarrassed that these fifty year old women were kicking my twenty two year old ass. They were flexible, fluid, and strong. I, on the other hand, looked rigid, clumsy, and weak. So, I have a lot to learn, and I have to work hard. Some lady showed me a manual of the steps that was in English and Japanese, and I realized that they had been memorizing the steps at home. At first I thought that everyone had just remembered from class, but now I know that I am not hopeless forever. I have a chance to not be half a second off of the steps. Right now, the new students stand in the middle of the class while the more experience students stand on the corners of the room. Because we just follow the moves of everyone else we need constantly watch what everyone else is doing. This way we can see someone who knows what the heck comes next, but it makes the movements look awkward because we constantly have to be looking to someone. Sometimes it seems like the blind leading the blind. Occasionally I will watch someone doesn’t really know what to do next, and so I get screwed up. Eventually I will learn the moves and know who to follow so that I don’t look completely ridiculous.
Yesterday I was so busy that I almost didn’t make it to “Adriene- looks-ridiculous-doing-the-monkey-pose time” also know as Tai Chi. I, as my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) tells me, “Very active.” Before monkey-posing I went to a scuba diving information session at Nice Buddy!! Isn’t the name so Japanese? Japanese are talented at taking two directly translated words, smashing them together, and synthesizing a truly unique phrase, such as “Nice Buddy”. Meeting the other divers was so exciting! I have wanted to scuba dive, since as long as I can remember, and the opportunity here presented itself. So now it is full throttle on the diving goal until I have my license. Luckily a co-worker (Nishimura-sensei) dives all the time, and she is the person that really got things moving for me. Once you mention you are interested in something, right away the wheels start turning. I know how to get what I want.
Even though I had been introduced to Megumi-san, a Japanese girl my age interested in diving, and she offered to take me sometime, but I had a sense she was busy and I wanted to start right away. And as luck would have it sitting in the desk across from me sat Nishimura sensei with a Nice Buddy T-shirt on. I got really excited because I knew if I mentioned anything about diving she would start to help me right away. It is the Japanese way (at least as I have experienced) to help out foreigners as much as possible, and take anything you mention into action (example: the blue bunny shoes). So slyly, using this knowledge to my advantage, I mentioned to Nakamura sensei that I want to go diving while I am here. Right away she looked surprised and said, “Oh, Nishimura-sensei dives too. I will talk to her.” And she did, and before I knew it Nishimura-sensei called Nice Buddy, came over to me and asked when I had a free day, and offered to take me there herself. Everyone is very generous here, and don’t assume I plan on taking advantage of this all the time, but I really really want to dive! It would have been very difficult setting things up on my own.
Yesterday afternoon – between school and Tai Chi – ended up being the perfect time to meet the crew of Nice Buddy. Unfortunately for me, Nice Buddy might be a little too far to bike since it takes twenty minutes by car to get there (and there is a hill twice as large as the one between Uonome and Aokata!). Nishimura-sensei drove me, and the views were absolutely breath taking. I am so lucky to be in such a beautiful location with very steep mountains completely covered in bright green foliage and crystal blue water. So, I will have to take the bus or get really strong in order to have the physical capacity to bike all the way. For now, I accept the free rides they offered me!
Everyone at Nice Buddy, as the name says, is nice - they will be my new nice buddies from Nice Buddy. And in Japanese custom they offered Nishimura-sensei and me delicious homemade pudding with strawberry jelly on top. I could have eaten about twenty bowls of pudding and have had room for more. Then came in Natsun-chan (woman) and Techa-kun (man) both extremely tan, fit and relatively young. Fortunately for me I understood a good bit of their Japanese. So I am either getting used to hearing Japanese or they know the type of Japanese to use with foreigners. Immediately they began filling up my schedule with dives, classes to get my license, and parties! They invited me to two Nice Buddy parties: a BBQ on the 12th and another on the 16th. Instant friends! On the 12th we’re on a boat (yes, think of the Lonely Island song, and if you don’t know it look it up on youtube) that will cruise the bay around a smaller island Wakamatsu where there will be fireworks (hanabi) after a small festival. My wish is that everything is free, because I don’t have much money left. Maybe I have enough set aside.
Right now, I am reaching the end of my cash supply. I should have exchanged all of my money in Tokyo, but didn’t get a chance since the hotel wouldn’t accept everything in one day. My money has to be saved for my new pink ketai (cell phone) and my trip to Nagasaki where I can exchange currency. Nowhere on the island offers currency exchange because, really, how often would they need to here. So, I need enough to make it to Nagasaki and enough to pay for my cell phone which means I cannot spend any more money on food. The stock of food in my fridge keeps shrinking, but luckily I have enough rice to last me a while. I have been very resourceful with making new combinations of food. Like today (a salad I am very proud of) I combined half a cob of corn – I cut the kernels off – with deli ham slices – which I further sliced into rectangles – and I added miso sauce and sesame seed oil, stirred: instant corn and ham salad. I impressed myself with my salad because it actually is something I’d make even if I had a fridge full of food. Corn and ham salad plus a rice ball (filled with chicken and wrapped with seaweed) was lunch. I haven’t gotten sick of onigiri (rice ball) yet, but I feel like the time may come soon. Since food is low, I made an onigiri filled with tiny chicken bits from Saturday’s BBQ for each lunch this week. So my lunch will be corn ham salad and onigiri everyday this week. Rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Rice, rice, and more rice! Thankfully, on Friday I’ll be in Nagaski by 3:30 I can exchange money and have some real food, maybe I’ll indulge in some champon (look it up)…yummy Nagasaki cuisine.
And, to add to my cash surplus on Friday, comes my first pay check!! I was unaware of the fact that orientation counted as work, but I am happy about it. So the 14th I get my pay check for the month of July. Extra money than I was expecting! So far since I exchanged only a bit of my money, I actually am way under my budgeted spending (yay for Adriene). But, my diving expenses will eat up the rest of what I have not spent so far.
Off topic, but funny, is the subject of typhoons (commonly known as hurricane). Typhoons regularly graze the Goto islands, but are hardly ever destructive. Now, we are in typhoon season so Nakamura-sensei tried to explain the typhoon procedure. I use the term procedure loosely, mostly because, there isn’t one. The procedure as far as I know means that the teachers either risk their lives coming to school (even if the kids don’t have to) or you have to take a day of paid leave. I kept asking, “What if no one can get to school?” And the response I kept getting, “Oh, no I think there is still school. You have to come.” To which I asked, “Even if the students don’t have to come.” “Hmmm, yes, I think so.” And from what I learned there is no real safe place to be, but inside your house. I feel a bit uncomfortable about this. I am trying to reconcile safety plans between the other JETs and me in case there is a big typhoon. The chances are slim, but better safe than dead.
*Students have felt more and more like they can come and talk with me. I am probably going to start an English board and newsletter at my school. If anyone has any ideas for me, or wants to ask a question, go ahead and leave a comment!

peace and jellyfish

I woke up on Saturday morning to a weed whacker. As thoughtful as it was for Kyoto-sensei to cut my grass, I would have liked to take advantage of sleeping in. Instead tons of tiny rocks hitting my bedroom window. Not fun. Maybe he was making sure to make noise to get revenge for my overgrown lawn. I highly doubt it, but I considered it.
So on my one day off this week to sleep, I cannot. Yes, only one weekend day. Annually the school meets for a peace assembly in recognition of the A-bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Since the day landed on a Sunday this year, everyone has to come into school. For me, the school assembly meant I had to give a self introduction in front of the entire school. I learned this on Friday that I would not only give my English introduction to the school, but also a Japanese one. Panic! Granted, the school is not very big, but I hate public speaking. And as a new teacher I wanted to look in control, calm, and poised. I think I managed. First the kochou-sensei (principle) introduced me in Japanese, and then I took over the podium overlooking all of the students who were VERY closely watching my every move. Thankfully they had me give my speech in English first, “Hello, and good morning. It is very nice to meet all of you. My name is Adriene. I came from California, which is in America. I like to play sports and paint. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach at your school. I look forward to teaching English. Let’s have fun and work hard.” I know that my speech was choppy, but remember that I have to make things simple. Also, I would never have constructed a self-introduction like this in America, but the Japanese expect a certain format and certain information such as: where you are from and your hobbies. So in Japanese it sounds somewhat better (hopefully!), “ Hajimemashite, watashi ha Adriene desu. America no California-shu kara kimashita. Sports to e wo kaku koto ga suki desu. Minasan to issho ni eigo no jyugyo no toki ha tanoshi mitai ganbarimashou.” Translation “Humbly, I am Adriene. I came from America’s California –state. I like sports and painting. I want all of you together in class time to try and have fun and work hard.” Not very deep, but my speech got the job done. I didn’t screw up, sweat profusely, or faint! Successful, for sure. I wonder how the other new ALT’s fared because for all the rest of them it was also their first day. For them it might be a little more nerve wracking than my experience.
We sat on the hard wood gym floor the whole time! Not good on my knees at all. I would have to keep shifting positions the whole time, but for someone not used to sitting for about two hours straight on the floor, it is not a comfortable experience. Surely I thought they would have brought in chairs to the assembly, but to my detriment the chairs never appeared. The students seem to be used to it because they didn’t have to change position every five minutes like I did! Moving around so much made things seem so much longer. Since I didn’t understand anything the time dragged on. I know the assembly talked about peace, and I know that they talked about the actual bomb, but sometimes they would say the word “America”. It made me uncomfortable to not understand because I would really have liked to know what they said about us. Possibly they were saying that we can learn from this horrible tragedy and will never repeat the event. Or it could have been a speech about inevitable and future revenge upon America. But of course I’m joking. I actually find significance being introduced to the school on Peace Day, especially because I am an American. Only around sixty years from the event a school in Nagasaki prefecture can welcome with open arms a teacher from a country that decimated not only one, but two cities. In the span of history, this is such a short time for forgiveness. Some animosity towards Americans exists (we wrote their constitution and won’t move our base from Okinawa), but the general attitudes towards Americans (especially the younger generations) are positive. Giving my introduction today gives me the feelings that we are working towards peace. Hopefully my presence at the assembly will mean something special to the students: Japanese and Americans working together to enhance the education and lives of the students.
On a lighter note, a jellyfish stung me yesterday. Don’t worry though, it really isn’t too bad. Yay for jellyfish breeding season. All through August the jelly fish take over and breed here off of the coast. All of us ALTs got together around my place (Arikawa) yesterday, and we decided to go to the beach. While, although beautiful, has several problems. For one, trash covers a good part of the beach, which I didn’t expect in Japan. But from what I gather many beaches have trash in Japan. What’s more, a lot of cockroach looking things crawl on the rocks and all over the trash piles. Thankfully they don’t come near the swimming areas. The beach, apart from the trash, rivals the looks of many California beaches and the water is warm enough to wade in and not feel cold (high 80’s). But, near the water the sand retains so much moisture that our towels became completely soaked by the time that we got back to them from the water and a thick layer of sand stuck to the towel that we couldn’t shake off. Robin and I decided our old towels we found in the house weren’t worth dragging back to the house. So, we snuck to a trashcan and while no one was looking we threw away our towels. And here I am saying I’m worried about the trash on the beach and I throw a towel away at the beach. Oh well, I dumped it in the correct receptacle. The final problem of the day were jelly fish. Even though there is a netted in swimming area, I managed to get stung. Before I went in I knew it was breeding season, but I figured the net would stop them. Not so, I am pretty sure a bit of jellyfish leg made it through the net and landed on my inner arm above the elbow. At first it started to sting and tingle so I wasn’t sure, but quickly I realized what had happened. But I wanted to stay in the water anyway. However when I felt a sting brush across my leg, I knew that it was time to book it to the shore. Slowly but surely a raised rash formed on the site of the sting. I am okay, I got some cream on it, and it sometimes stings even today, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

i need a scythe

So, if I haven’t mention it before, I’ll mention it now. My vice principle lives next to me. It makes me nervous because I don’t know how much he can hear or if he can see into my house. Even if he can’t see inside my house, he can definitely see the outside. He complained about my grass to me today. Without knowing it was a problem or that I need to cut it I didn’t notice my grass. Of course his complaint came to be subtly and unexpectedly, “Oh, Adriene, how say (then he makes a cutting motion).” And I reply, “To cut?” “Oh hai hai, yes, cut, ehhhh, cut grass?” At this point I had no idea it was a complaint, I thought he was asking me how to say something in English, so I nodded and asked, “You mean, mow the grass?” “Sou ka…etou ne, cut the grass?” “You mean mow?” To which I added a mowing the grass motion, and he clearly did not seem to follow, “Me? You? Cut grass deshou?” more swiping motions like he was using a scythe “Uh….” I had no idea what he was getting at, so Nakamura sensei came to my rescue and initiated the complaint conversation. I was supposed to know he was complaining by mentioning the grass, and Nakamura sensei could easily tell I didn’t catch on. Some Japanese ensued between them and then she turned to me, “Adriene, do you cut your grass?” “What? Grass?” “Kyoto-sensei is your neighbor and he want to know if you cut grass?” Once again I asked, “Can I mow the grass?” “No, your grass is rather long and Kyoto-sensei has offered to cut it.” “Oh, what? I can do it. I am sorry.” “No, just say thank you to Kyoto-sensei.” “Okay, doumo arigatou gozaimashita.” To be honest, his grass doesn’t look that much more manicured that mine does. And I have only seen him at his house once, so this totally caught me by surprise. Most other houses have overgrown grass, so mine did not seem out of the ordinary. Because I have put so much time into making my house look better and be free of mold, the garden areas escaped my attention. Well he has yet to see how much better the house will look after two pay checks. I plan on re-painting the house and planting flowers and improving the garden. Looking back I should have handled the situation differently, I should have said, “Hounto ni sumimasen,” which means truly excuse my behavior. Something, anything, would have been better than standing in the room shocked without much speaking. He seems like a really cool laid back guy, so I don’t think my reaction bothered him. Plus, I am foreign so they do not expect us to follow Japanese social norms.

new alts and george

Today will be a long day. After going out with the new ALT’s last night I don’t feel so great. Last night I had fun, but of course the Japanese kept serving drinks to us. One drink in particular got the best of me: Chuhai. It is so delicious and it tastes like sprite, so I kept forgetting it had any alcohol in it. Chuhai perfectly complemented all of the interesting food dishes. For starters we had deep fried chicken cartilage : don’t be fooled when people tell you Japan has the healthiest food. There is so much freakin fried food, so many pastries, and mayonnaise comes on everything. You have to have a strong will not to indulge in all the unhealthy food. Being in Japan once and making that mistake has made me realize that I don’t need to buy every new pastry I see. So I am leaving pastries out of the house, but I’ve already made fried chicken! Bad me, but it comes pre-battered and it’s so easy and so yummy. And the leftover chicken gets stuffed into rice balls (onigiri) with the left over rice – perfect for bento box (lunch box). During the school year I will get free school lunches but during the summer I either have to buy a lunch (around 500 yen, or 5 dollars) or bring one in. I have opted to bring in my own food, like onigiri or my leftovers from dinner. It’s much cheaper for me this way. Plus, I know what I’m eating. Back to food, I am an adventurous person and like to try everything. But, I don’t know if I’ll try raw horse. People eat raw (sashimi) horse, and some Japanese people think it’s funny to get the foreigner to try it. I don’t want to feed into the “foreigners don’t eat our food, so funny” stereotype, but I think back to my own pony Misty and can’t do it. Maybe after a while, but I have a mental block. I’ve already eaten raw sashimi beef, and lots of sushi, but no horse. Robin seemed like she might give it a try eventually, but I think Kelly might be on my side.
My new besties Robin and Kelly are so awesome. But I could tell that they were very tired. I know I was when I first arrived. Not being able to go to my house on the first day was a killer so I know how they felt. At least they got a welcome from me, Deborah, Nathaniel, and some Japanese co-workers and dinner. I got no welcome and no dinner, and they didn’t suffer Toki-san alone. Being stuck in the tiny hotel room was not my idea of a good time. I was so glad that we could take them out and make them feel welcome. Shinju had her own welcome in her town of Narao which is very far down south on the island. The four JETs living on the north side all got together: me, Deborah, Kelly, and Robin. First we went to dinner, where the drinks started coming. I really enjoyed my time there. To my knee’s benefit the table wasn’t a foot off the ground like at all the other places. Thankfully there was a pit that dropped down under the table where you could put your legs. All of the other places I’ve been to are sit on the ground places which hurt my knees after a while, but I guess I have no choice but to get used to it. So dinner was nice, we were all a little loud, but that’s acceptable here as long as you have had a beer. After a beer Japanese people feel free to shed their social fears and will not only start talking in English, but become extremely loud. No one cares at restaurants and bars how loud you are. And we took full advantage of the volume allowance after our drinks. However, the real experience was yet to come.
We met George. A foul mouthed, retro, pimp throwback. Somehow I don’t think George is his real name. And even though we were warned about George, nothing Nathaniel said could have cushioned George’s extreme character. His car gave all of us our first glimpse into George’s strange world. It was a pimped out car that looked like it was straight out of the 70’s with a black paint job, purple interior, and chrome wheels. Very distinctive. And then we saw his sign outside his shop that read, “Fuckin’ good pizza.” I have to agree his pizza was pretty good, strange, but good. The pizza had corn cabbage and mayonnaise on it. Not very American. The bar also looked straight from the 70’s with a piano – mike attached – sitting in the middle of the room, but the bathroom topped it all off. The toilet matched his car, it was jet black with a purple seat cover. A bunch of hemp like plants surrounded the toilet and in the alcove behind and above the toilet sat a lot of cherubs. I think he decorated it himself. So we sat there with George who himself looks nothing like a normal Japanese guy. His head is shaved bald – the only facial hair being a small patch of hair on his chin - and he wears some silver chains around his neck. He would randomly shout out, “Fuckin’ Bush, fuckin’ Reagan. Fuck America. I like the big breast.” Breast was always singular, and we kept trying to tell him Bush wasn’t in office anymore – and neither is Reagan. He would go, “Yes, yes we can! Obama!” I don’t think that you’ll be surprised to learn that conversation wasn’t deep. He only understands cussing. At one point George tried to do a British accent which of course failed terribly, but he thought he did a great job. Kelly hilariously made so many under handed comments that went straight over his head but definitely made me laugh. Suffice to say, I will not be going to get some fuckin’ good pizza very often. George I’ve decided isn’t really the type of person I can handle very often. But, once in a while I think it would be very entertaining.

out with the old and in with the new

We said good bye to Andrea and Carlo today. I skipped some work, with permission, and headed down to the ferry port. What I expected, and what actually happened were quite different. I pictured a few people saying good bye and then they would board the boat and the ferry would leave. Not so quaint. A large amount of students and teachers came to the send off. And while Andrea and Carlo boarded the ferry, the teachers attached hundreds of colorful streamers from the balcony of the ferry down onto the dock. I only wish I had had my camera. Deborah and I were both given three streamer to hold on rollers. Some people had up to six streamer rolls in their hands. Even some of the little junior high kids were holding lots of colorful streamers. And among the crowd of people the high school band played their high school song. Words can’t describe how amazing it was to see a huge crowd of people on the dock looking up at Andrea and Joe. Adding to the festivities, the sun finally came out. The mist over the mountains still remained, but it was definitely a picturesque moment which I could not take a picture of.
When the ferry began its departure the whole crowd of students – even teachers – ran down the dock yelling, “Come back, come back, visit!” I did not expect it at all, but ran with the crowd anyway waving at Andrea and Carlo the whole time. Shinkamigoto good byes are pretty spectacular. If I don’t get one like that, I think I will be bitterly disappointed.
And tonight come the new ALT’s : Robin, Shinju, and Kelly. All of us graduated this last year, and we are all working with junior high schools and elementary schools. I think we’ll be the bestest of friends. I can dream and hope! I’m planning a welcome BBQ at my house so that everyone can hang out and enjoy themselves. I hope I can get the BBQ working! Deborah has left over fireworks from Andrea, so hopefully we can turn it into a party.
Oh the turmoil of dealing with Toki-san. Update on my situation: I won’t have internet at my house until the 17th of August. That is in two weeks!! I think I might take things into my own hands and get the internet set up at my house. Toki-san told me the modem was broken or something like that, but I can always buy a new one to get the internet running faster. When I asked him if I could internet now he said, “Oh maybe, yes, maybe.” But, that doesn’t mean maybe in Japanglish, it mean no way not even when hell freezes over with the internet work today. I have so much to learn about Japanese pragmatics. After getting the same maybe five times he finally said, “I don’t think today, maybe, not.” He still included a maybe!!! In English it means there is an actual possibility, and so now I like to think that I have the instilled American value of optimism. I am going to learn a lot about my own beliefs when I pragmatics don’t connect in conversation. So I learned that I value optimism, and if someone tells me “maybe” I think it means that I have a definite and probably chance of something happening. There are exceptions to this rule, like with facebook invitations when I don’t want to go I usually put maybe, but even then maybe isn’t a definite “no.” With Japanese people most of the time maybe means no, actually it probably just means no.
Of course I may take more and more internet liberty at school if I can. That way I won’t have to worry so much. But, it’s hard to get anything done around here by myself as I just realized. I learned that I have school on Sunday to honor the A-bomb drop on Nagasaki. So, there will be a peace assembly in the gym. I got really excited and asked if I could go, and then Nakamura-sensei said of course I could but I need to put on my gym shoes. Gym shoes? Apparently I need different indoors shoes than my blue bunny sandals. The gym shoes have to be different than school inside shoes. When I asked if I need tennis shoes they told me that I they don’t play tennis in the gym. I quickly realized my mistake instead of saying sneakers I said tennis shoes –which is what I’m used to. Faster than I can say Shinkamigoto, the gym instructor came over carrying catalogues of shoes. He kept asking for which sport I need to shoes for. Volleyball, basketball? And when I pointed to regular all around tennis shoes he told me that those are outside shoes. Well of course they are meant to be outdoor shoes, but he didn’t understand that I wanted to wear them inside. So I settled on pointing at some indoor soccer shoes. That made everyone happier because they are meant to be indoor. And I can’t get these shoes on my own either. I have to wait till tomorrow to get them with Nakamura-sensei. She told me it’s better if she introduces me to the shop keepers. I know that building relationships is usually facilitated through other people, like a giant networking web. But, it would be really nice to be able to buy some shoes by myself.

the next day at work

My next day at work. Even though I don’t actually have assigned work right now, I’ve kept busy going through all the old material at my desk and creating maps of California and Texas. More and more curious students either look through the door at me. The brave ones actually come and talk. So, to make conversation run a little smoother (they are so shy) I made the maps and also state fact sheets about Texas in California. My hope is that they are interested in the state bird, flower, fish etc. I want to start and share where I come from as soon as I can. Some of the kids are excruciatingly shy. It pains me to speak to them because they feel personally accosted by my English! I really really want to reach out. Not giving up, and being patient is the key. One such student Shione-san blatantly avoided me while talking with the English teacher – Nakamura-sensei- sitting right beside me. But, after persevering and smiling a lot, I broke through! She not only looked at me, but sort of spoke! Yay me. Not all the students behave the same, some are really outgoing and funny. Others hold back completely. It’s middle school; it’s hard. I can’t blame the really shy ones, it’s not like this time is easy. If I were in the same position as these middle schoolers with a native foreign language speaker trying to get me to speak, I think I would shut down as well. In fact, I still do that around Spanish speakers. I can relate, and so I’ve been using English and Japanese. I think I’ll keep it that way outside of the classroom while I’ll only use English in the classroom. Possibly the longer I stay the more they’ll feel comfortable around me, even comfortable enough to where I only do speak English to them.
I keep making little mistakes in the teacher’s room here and there. Since we eat lunch at our desk, I assumed we could eat treats at the desk too. Not so. Nakamura-sensei told me it’s okay at other schools, but not here. She’s worked with other ALT’s before, and I get the feeling she is really laid back and really sweet. I also parked my bike the wrong place and they told me by saying, “Oh Adriene, you rode your bike today…” hahaha, I got the point and asked where Joe used to park it. Also, I didn’t know that I couldn’t have coffee without paying. Yesterday the cafeteria planner lady gave me some coffee, but this might have been an extended gesture. The treats in the snack room are also not free. Well, they are kind of. You can take a snack or treat without paying, but everyone is expected to bring in treats every once in a while. Free for now, but eventually I’ll have to buy some sweets. What’s more is that I stamped my name on the wrong page. When I come in I’m supposed to use my name stamp on a specific page on a specific date to record when I was at work. I stamped on another teacher’s page and in the wrong color. I made the mistake because Japanese books go from right to left and not left to right. I found my tab and stamped the page to the right of the tab (going the western way left to right) instead of to the left. Everything is supposed to be in red ink, and I used black. I have no idea why it has to be red. So much I have to learn. Everything turned out okay, and I’ll learn what’s okay and what’s not, but only by making mistakes!
On a side note, they think I’m crazy for biking everywhere. Yes, I may be, but my predecessor did it. What’s more is that I don’t want to pay for a car. A motorcycle maybe, but a car is too much money: insurance, gas, repairs. It’s just not worth it. Plus, I am getting in shape. My glutes haven’t worked this hard in a long time! I’ll be strong and fit in no time. Personally I think it’s a great way to explore the island, as long as I don’t get attacked by the feral pig population. Nakamura-sensei told me that they charge at you, especially when they have little babies. I wonder if I could tame a baby pig and make it a guard pig. Not like a need a guard, it’s so small and safe that nothing is going to happen. There are so many alley kitties too. And even though I’ve been told not to bring one into the house, they are just so cute. Don’t worry, I won’t take one off the street, but it would be nice to have a pet in an empty house. Maybe a fish will do for now. Not cuddly like a cute feral kitty cat with deformities. By deformities I mean that their tails are usually bent in awkward ways that definitely looks like a birth defect. Probably inbreeding of the alley kitties. And my guess is that they are not nice and have not been domestic for a while. So, I will not be letting a cat into my house.
Strangest thing yesterday, I saw two foreigners walking down the street that weren’t new ALT’s. I felt Japanese when I kept staring, and thinking, “what are they doing here?” I have to admit that I was a bit suspicious because it isn’t a huge tourist attraction for westerners. I locked my house.
Now, I only have one hour left at work. What am I going to do? I made it through most of the day just fine, but now I’m tired of looking through ESL material since that’s what I’ve been doing for a good 4 hours. I have plenty of work going through all of the material left for me, but I’m beginning to lose focus. I’m tempted to walk around the school by myself but I might get something like, “Oh Adriene, you go exploring?” which might mean nothing, but could mean stay at your desk. I think I’ll wait to take my liberties very slowly. They still need to get used to me, and I them.
To my surprise the school is relatively new, very spacious, and lets in lots of light. It’s all wood floors, and the wood extends half way up the walls. In the windows there are lots of plants, so it has a very organic feeling. Another surprise was to learn all the types of classes they offer. Home Economy, wood-shop, sewing, and art are some of the non-academic classes. These classrooms along with the academic classrooms were much nicer than anything I had in middle school or even high school.
Right now the students are on summer holiday (I think it is the middle of the academic school year for them). None-the-less everyone is still at school without going to classes. Everyone participates in some type of a club. All day I have heard nothing but the volley players and basketball players in the gym, and when I look outside people are running around I think running cross country.
*Good Feeling: The students keep calling me cute! I feel great about myself.
On another note, last night I did not feel so great about myself. I tried Tai-Chi for the first time (Kai-kyo-ku-ken in Japanese, so hard to say!) and I looked like a fool. Those who know me well understand that I have a lot of self awareness for sports where there is a ball: soccer, football, baseball, but that I lack graces for dancing and sports like Tai Chi. Hopefully I’ll catch on, but I’m sure if it was video recorded I would have made a great youtube video. At the beginning of the lesson they had us sit around in a circle where I attempted some of the stretching positions. During all of the stretching the teacher chose a vowel to chants – a, e, i, o, u – depending on the position. And by chanting I mean holding a monotone vowel for as long as possible. The strangest for me was when laying on my back with my legs in the air spread eagle chanting, “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.” I’m really glad I’m okay with looking stupid because I met one of the ladies who works at the board of education (one of my supervisors) and a couple other ladies that live near me. But, I was not the lone gaingin (foreigner), Deborah (who has done TaiChi in the states) came as well. Even though the teacher speaks pretty good English, I’m happy to have someone native to speak with in English and explain some basic things. Hopefully, I can foster good community relations through this class as well as improve my grace and poise. And, Tai-Chi proved to be much more difficult than I thought. By the end of the class I had sweat pouring down (I wasn’t the only one) and my legs were shaking. Because it’s a twenty minute bike ride up a super steep hill, I may have tired myself out before hand. So after working really hard in Tai Chi I got bike up another steep hill and then coast back to my house. I had to force myself to do necessary chores once I got home.
Chores include hanging laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming, etc. Driers are absent in most Japanese houses. And in a humid place like Shinkamigoto, it is imperative to hang your clothes right away. I started the washing machine before I left for TaiChi and had to hang clothes before bed. This I don’t think I’ll like very much, but I have no choice in the matter. It’s either hang right away or love the smell of moldy clothes. Living in Houston has prepared me for these conditions, but that don’t mean I like it.
More about Arikawa junior high school. There are three levels. The top floor is devoted to the first years (7th grade), the second floor is for the second years (8th grade), and the bottom floor is ruled by the third years (9th grade). The first years are so cute and small compared to the third years. All are friendly, but the third years are definitely the most outgoing, and it’s probably because they feel like they own the place. The real school year starts in April, so I guess I’ll be getting a new group of first years in the middle of the year. I’m not exactly sure when the year changes, just when it begins. I have no fear that the first years will open up to me once I kick their butts at dodgeball. The other ALT’s tell me that dodgeball is a very popular after school sport here and that the kids start really warming up to you once you smash in their heads with a ball several times (but in a very friendly and teacherly way of course).

orientation and arrival

I woke up past four this morning, which I consider a huge accomplishment. For the past week that I’ve been here (it’s one week today!) it’s been the same super early internal clock that wakes me up. But, today I woke up at 7:30!! Congratulations to me.
Now that I’ve patted myself on the back, I think that I should talk about what has happened since all communications have been cut off. Right now I only have a land line – talk about retro throw back – no internet, no cell phone. And I won’t get a cell phone till the 13th of August .
Okay, I’ll get back on track. Three days – two nights – ago orientation ended. For an orientation, it wasn’t so bad – considering that I didn’t attend all of the lectures. Instead my roommate (Amy – she’s going up north to Akita) and I decided to wander around Tokyo. The plan was to find a Nintendo DS. Conveniently, Nintendo developed an electronic dictionary and kanji (Japanese characters) recognizer. If you don’t know a character you can draw the kanji and the DS recognizes it and gives you the definition in English and Japanese. It’s original intention was to help Japanese preparing for the English proficiency test called the TOEFL, but it is just as useful for an English speaker wanting to learn Japanese. The program is called Kanji sono mama, and it’s actually cheaper to buy the game and DS than it is to buy an electronic Japanese-English dictionary. Plus, you can buy awesome games like Pokemon for the DS which you can’t play on an electronic dictionary.
Orientation wasn’t exactly like O-week at Rice, but when we broke off into our prefectural groups it felt more familiar. Nagaski group is HUGE. I think that we are one of the biggest, and luckily most everyone is really awesome and easy to get along with. Unfortunately orientation was so short I felt like I didn’t get to know many of them very well, but I hope to visit some friends I made that are living in the city of Nagasaki.
Luckily, I got to visit Harajuku before leaving Tokyo. It’s such an interesting place where girls dress in Lolita fashion (Wikipedia it) and there are lots of interesting shops and food. I missed the crepes, which are just thin pancakes stuffed with fruit, chocolate, and whipped cream, and wrapped like a cone (yummy!!!). Amy and I took some purikura – you draw on photo booth pictures electronically.
Somehow without knowing what was going on, we did it!! Dekitta!! Slowly things are coming back and feeling more familiar. Because we were always in a big gaigin (foreigner) group at orientation, speaking Japanese felt forced and awkward. At least it was a nice transition before being picked up at Nagasaki airport by Toki-san, although super sweet, cannot speak English well at all.
So after expecting the continued gradual submersion into Japanese culture, I suddenly had to dive head first from the moment after getting off of the plane from Tokyo to Nagasaki. I wasn’t happy, but had to keep smiling. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to be there, I was excited, but let me put my attitude in perspective. Lack of sleep was getting the best of me. I didn’t sleep on the plane from the States to Tokyo. At orientation my jet lag prevented a good night sleep – I would wake up regularly at 4 o’clock in the morning. Then we were expected to attended lectures all day with little breaks (which is why I took them myself), go to bed and repeat.
The flight to Nagasaki itself was pretty nice, especially for a domestic flight. Of course the Japanese stewardesses had cute uniforms with scarves tied into bows around their collars. The type of courteous service made me think that American stewardesses had manners like that once. Not to get nostalgic –especially because I’ve never experienced it – but it was quite a lovely experience compared to the flight from the States. I had the worst stewardess. And I have traveled enough to know when certain behavior is out of the ordinary. Such as, the stewardess yelling at my newly made JET friend and I during the flight safety video, “Ladies this gentleman might want to hear the safety instructions!” She reminded me of Dolores Umbridge, and she wouldn’t leave me alone for the rest of the flight, but smiled the whole time. I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, like she was having an extraordinarily bad day. But, I settled on the fact that she had power issues. And so, venting complete. Back to my Nagasaki flight. Luckily I sat next to a friend I made at orientation –Emily – and across the way from a fellow islander –David. New friends aided by the fact that I had gossip girl on my iPod made the trip so nice. Plus, the flight lasted only 1 hr and 30 min.
Emily and I chatted about our Nagasaki-ken (Nagasaki-prefecture) plans, especially since she lives in the actual city of Nagasaki. Hopefully we’ll go to a couple musicals this year in Nagasaki, and maybe some museums. I really want to travel. Even though I’ve already been around Japan, there is so much I didn’t get to see. Unfortunately I’m really far away from Hokkaido, the northern most region of Japan, but I want to go to the Yuki-matsuri (snow festival) in Sapporo where they build castles out of snow. Here it won’t snow too much, so it will be nice to visit the snow and come back to a more temperate climate. I also want to travel around the south of Japan some more and visit Fukuoka and Sasebo. If I get a chance I’ll go back up to Tokyo and visit my host family as well as go to Osaka (They have Universal Studios there).
But, back to my arrival in Nagasaki. They told me that an English proficient person would pick me up from the airport. Little did I understand. English proficient does not mean fluent. Far from it. As soon as I exited baggage claim Toki-san stood tentatively holding a sign with my name on it. Toki-san is my supervisor on my island Shinkamigoto. Although he is a very concerned and caring individual, he is a bit difficult to understand in any language. Nervous and constantly sweating, he gets flustered very easily. So there he was, and there I was ready to speak English and understand what was going on. And, then I realized that English meant a few poorly strung together words. These are the kind of situations I had mentally prepared for, expecting the unexpected. But, I was mentally fatigued already from lack of sleep and drained from the amount of new information told to me at orientation. At this point I didn’t want to find the words in Japanese, I wanted English.
Toki-san, like I said gets flustered, but I don’t quite understand how he sweats so much. Yes, it was a bit hot on the day he picked me up, but not that bad. What’s odd is that beads of sweat tend to accumulate just around his upper lip and around his mouth.
*Really funny. I’m typing in my office right now, and all of a sudden Eidolwiess from the sound of music alarms that it’s 12 o’clock. Teehee, oh Japan.
Adding to Toki-san’s weird sweat pattern is that he continually covers his mouth while speaking, as if he’s eating something. I don’t really understand. Other people don’t do it, just Toki-san. For sure, a character if I ever saw one. Very endearing, but very odd. An English Teacher picked up the other ALT (Assistant Language Teacher, it’s what I am), Deborah, from the airport. So lucky!!! She actually knew what was going on! Since Deborah works at the High School, it is a separate system –Municipal. I work primarily for the Junior High which is prefectural. In turn, we have different bosses and different systems. So even though we live close to each other (15 min bike ride) we had very different experiences – like she got to go her apartment that night and I got stuck in a hotel on my first night.
And so at the airport, Toki-san took me to a very awkward lunch where I tried to keep the conversation alive – thanks to my witty Japanese I did (haha, just kidding all I can say is “What are your hobbies?” “I am from San Diego” “I like…” etc.). The time was way too long until the time we had to board the ferry, which meant way too much Japanese conversation for me at the time. At least on the ferry I got my own seat in a different row, and listened to Lonely Island “I’m on a Boat” while we left the port. SOMETHING POSITIVE: Nagasaki is beautiful, and so green, and on the bus ride to the ferry and on the ferry itself I had such a secure feeling that this year is going to be a life changing experience. I felt pretty awesome, especially since I’ve been saving that song for when I got on my boat. Because I don’t get sea-sick the choppy ride was perfectly fine for me. Toki-san, however, did not fare as well as I did, and looked a nasty shade of pastel yellow. When he tried to lift my extremely heavy book-laden bag, I felt so bad, but he wouldn’t let me carry it. I seriously thought that he was going to pass out when we got to his car!
Something else I didn’t expect was sleeping in a hotel the night of my arrival. BIG surprise. Everyone else got to go to their place. Likewise I assumed I would too. Not the case. Too make things worse, Toki-san, still sick, insisted on carrying my bag up an extremely steep narrow winding staircase to my room. At that point his English became non-existent and he tried to tell me that he was calling the other ALT’s on the island to take me out to dinner. Unfortunately, I might have communicated that I didn’t want him to call because no one showed up for dinner. At that point I felt exhausted and a bit lonely. The first night in my new home was spent alone in a dank little Japanese hotel. Honestly I was too tired to eat and just passed out watching movies on my computer. But, I couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit disappointed that no one came to welcome me. I think that Toki-san may have caused some confusion for the other ALT’s.
Yes, it sucked that night, but the next day got better. I went to breakfast where, of course, everyone kept staring, and if they weren’t staring they glanced frequently. Being the center of attention constantly is a new experience for me. Everyone is just curious, mostly because foreigners don’t often come to Shinkamigoto. It’s too far out of the way to be a tourist center. In my opinion it should be. My breath has been taken away by the view from my neighborhood. And the beaches (apart from some trash) are scenic and unlike what I’m used to in San Diego because it looks like a Caribbean island.
Unfortunately, from my hotel window I only saw a dumpster and an old car. When Toki-san picked me up he was surprised to find out that I didn’t eat dinner. But really, what was I going to do? The hotel wasn’t serving dinner and I didn’t know my way around the town. Honestly I was fine because I had been so tired the day before. After apologies, Toki-san handed me the keys to me new house.
*Another funny: I commented on my co-workers cute shoes – they have bunny shaped straps – and she quickly got up measured my feet, leaves, and came back with a pair for me! I forgot that complementing something may land me in an awkward situation. Now I’m going to have to wear blue bunny shoes all year! Since you don’t wear outside shoes into school (you take them off at the entrance, or genkan, and then put on your indoor shoes), my bunny shoes have become my school shoes.
Once the keys to my first house were in my hand, my spirits immediately were lifted. We then traveled the whole two blocks to my house where we dropped off my suitcases. My impression of the house? First of all, I thought “Oh, no this is it?” It sounds ungrateful, but all I focused on at first was the peeling panels and peeling paint. Once again I had gotten something other than I expected. Before arriving I pictured a well manicured quaint house. But mine is pepto-bismol pink, and I absolutely love it!! At first, I had been shocked by something other than I expect. After the initial shock I have really grown to appreciate it. It is cute, and it’s big. I have the biggest house out of the other ALT’s on the island –score!
Toki-san herded me back into the car to do some errands, which weren’t as fruitful as I had hope. We immediately went to the city hall to get my foreign registration card. The man who helped me apparently attends my adult conversation classes on Wednesdays. It was nice to meet him and we got into a discussion about the difference between pirate and pilot. Japanese have a hard time distinguishing the L and R sounds, and for some reason Toki-san and the city hall man were really excited to learn about pirates. Oh, we also talked about the difference between travel and trouble (B and V are hard to differentiate as well). After my first free English lesson, we left the city hall and went to Docomo to get my cell phone. This was a huge moment for me because I have been looking forward to a Japanese cell phone for a long long time. A ketai (Japanese cell phone) is much more advanced. You can e-mail from your phones, and although this is a growing trend in America, everyone e-mails in Japan and it’s been that way for a while. I wanted to make sure I’m getting the cell phone that I want and the best plan so that I can e-mail anyone anytime from my cell phone. But, I was let down. At Docomo I learned that I can’t actually get my cell phone until I have my foreign registration card on the 13th of August. I was frustrated because I learned that after about an hour discussion about cell phone plans. It took forever to understand what the plans meant and which one was the best for me. I learned that there are no unlimited e-mailing plans, but if I don’t send an e-mail every two seconds it should be too expensive. But, after I get my cell phone I’ll post my e-mail and feel free to e-mail me with Japan questions or just to say hi!
Ketai was a bust. Then we went o my house, and internet was a bust. Toki-san couldn’t set it up, which really frustrated me because he had offered no alternative way to contact anyone. He kept saying please feel free to use your phone. Well, that would have been great if I had know how to dial to the US, but since I didn’t have internet I couldn’t look up exactly how to dial home. Aggravating. Then the bank was a bust. I needed my personal seal (inkan) which is used instead of signing. Without one, I couldn’t open my bank account, and without my bank account I couldn’t actually sign up for my cell phone or internet anyway. So many hurtles to jump over just to set everything up. I wish that I didn’t have to rely on Toki-san to set everything up for me. He is already so busy with his own job, and he doesn’t need to worry about taking me around all day.
Visiting my school (Arikawa Junior High) proved to be the most climatic part of the day. I met my principal and vice principal of the school. This was extremely awkward. Most of the time no one spoke. Silence dominated the conversation, but I didn’t want to be the first one to speak. I figured that it was best to let Toki-san do most of the talking. He would say, “She likes sports…” ….silence…. “She is from San Diego…” ….silence…. “She likes little kids…” ….more silence. This took place in Japanese, and I actually had a hard time holding back laughter. I couldn’t tell if Toki-san killed the conversation with his awkwardness or if they were expecting me to speak. So the coffee in front of me went mostly untouched while I tried to look interested in the very rigid and forced conversation. Then I was introduced to the staff room where I was expected to give a self introduction to all of the teachers. I though it went okay and some people very kindly told me my Japanese is good. They don’t actually mean it; they just think if you can utter a Japanese sentence you are smart because foreigners can’t easily learn Japanese. To them, good means you can say, “Hi, my name is Adriene, it’s nice to meet you.” Or, directly translated it’s, “Humbly, I’m Adriene, Please allow me to rely on you.” It’s a Japanese compliment to rely on someone. It ensures the building of trust within a relationship. As much as I would love to ditch Toki-san and set things up myself (like carrying my bags and connecting the internet), it is very important that I let him help me in order to build a relationship.
The overall day fell short of being fruitful. And, I still needed to unpack my bags. Once I got dropped off at the house I got to start unpacking my two large suitcases as well as my smaller one. Toki-san told me I had Friday off and then the weekend to unpack. But, before I decided it was time to unpack, I wanted to see what treasures were left behind in my house. I took over my house from a previous JET –Joe. From what I have been told he is an eccentric individual. And, I found such items as rap snacks. What are these you may ask? They are chips that are named after rappers with interesting saying on the front. I would write down what they said, but I’ve already thrown them away. The strangest thing I found I don’t think came from Joe, in fact I am almost 100 percent certain that Joe did not leave it. So, I opened my closet and found a plastic container filled to the brim with crocheted things. But not the normal scarves or blankets. There were the upper halves of plastic dolls with crocheted dresses on, booties (for adults), and cans that had been crocheted around. I don’t understand the purpose of the cans. Really, how bored was this previous ALT?? Joe left me some very thoughtful things like an N64 and a Playstation and lots of VHS movies. Teehee, so antiquated.
I thought I wasn’t going to have much to do for three whole days, but I ended up cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. Joe left lot of things spotless, which I was grateful for, but there were lots of crooks and crannies that haven’t gotten attention in a long while. Dust is predominately the issue. There was mold in the bathroom, but I think that will be a common occurrence in such a humid place. It actually is a lot nicer weather here than I expected. Much more temperate for the time being than Houston, but I think that I just got lucky. During this time of the year it’s supposed to be much much hotter. I’ll take the weather right now!
The first night in my house I met the other ALT’s and we went to a local restaurant. When they asked what I was doing all day, I told them how much I had been scrubbing and cleaning. They all looked so surprised and told me how neat and clean Joe had been in the house. I didn’t know if they were that much dirtier or if Joe really was clean, but after several years some areas did not register in the cleaning radar anymore. For me, being such a new place, everything caught my attention. The tiniest spec of mold made me cringe, and so I think I’ve been cleaning to make my place livable to my standards and it has taken my mind off of no communication to the outside world.
Once I went through everything a new problem arose: how to separate trash. Japanese don’t just throw everything into one pile and call it a day. Oh no, they actually wash some of their trash, and now so do I. There are several categories: burnable, nonburnable, dangerous, etc. I don’t even know all of the categories yet. And, to make things more complicated, each of the categories have their own pick up days. If you don’t separate your trash correctly, it won’t get picked up. Some categories only have one day of the month to get picked up. I’m worried because tomorrow is one such day, and tonight I need to figure out what I need to haul up to the trash area. That is one more thing, they don’t just come to your house, you take your trash to a general collection area. Mine happens to be up an incline up the block. A little far for carrying heavy trash bags.
I think that I’ve gotten things a little more under control – in regards to cleaning. I have spent so much time scrubbing and dusting only to realize I’m nowhere close to being finished. But, I only have a small bit to clean now, and most everything has been put away in a good place. I have even found the time to paint – I fashioned my own easel from a plastic rack I was going to throw away. Also I got to bike around the town on both Saturday and Sunday. It is so beautiful , and the bike Joe left me is great and perfect for biking around the island. It is a bit more hilly than I expected, but I get to build my muscles and get really strong.
So far I’ve met all the old ALT’s on the island – Carlo, Andrea, Laura, and Nathaniel. The first night at my place we all went out and they introduced me to two Japanese girls that speak English really well- Megumi-san and Saiya-san. Laura and Nathaniel both live further away, and Andrea and Carlo live a bit closer. I’m so glad I got to meet them because they’ve told me about their experiences as well as shared what they wish they could have done, what they enjoyed doing, etc. I’m especially grateful that they introduced me to Megumi because she scuba-dives, as do Laura and Nathaniel! I am definitely going to start scuba diving at the first chance that I get. Kelly, another new ALT from So Cal also wants to learn! This is one of the many new and exciting things that I’m going to try while I’m here on the island. I saw the pictures from Nathaniel of the underwater pictures, and there are so many beautiful places to dive. What’s better is that I’ll have someone to go with me. Tonight, I’m going to go to Tai Chi! We’ll see how that goes…I’m really uncoordinated when it comes to being graceful.
There are so many opportunities I have on this island to enrich myself, and I plan to take advantage as many as I can. Carlo told me to take it easy at first and not burn myself out, but I don’t think he understands how I function. I want and need a busy schedule. I’m also thinking about trying Kendo (martial arts with a sword), and starting an English club at my school.
Today was my first day on the job, which I spent mostly writing this. School doesn’t start until September, and so there is a lot of down time. From 8:30 till 4:15 to do pretty much what I want. I plan on studying my curriculum and planning lessons soon, but there is so much to write about I wanted to make sure I covered it all. There is a lot of ESL material at my school, enough to cover all possible lesson plans. And, since I have about a month to prepare for my first ones, I’m not too worried about rushing into anything. Joe left me a book about what to expect, and he was really thorough.
There are only some things I really have to worry about. One being the mukade. Mukade are really long black poisonous centipedes that like warm moist places. I’ve only seen pictures but they look frightening. If you happen to get bitten by one, depending on the size, the part that was bitten will swell to unnatural sizes. The larger one can send a person to the hospital, but the smaller ones will just be irritating. I am terrified to even see one. Everyone I have talked to has been bitten and had several encounters with mukade. Last night I had trouble sleeping, thinking that one would crawl on me in the middle of the night! I’ve been diligently shaking out my towels and shoes and whatever else they might crawl into. But, I know sooner or later they will find me.
Besides the mukade, the other dangerous fauna on the island include poisonous snakes and aggressive wild boar. Both I don’t have to actively worry about as much as the mukade. I don’t even have to worry about earthquakes or tsunamis, just typhoons. So, my potential dangers are mukades and typhoons.
*Funny: I just got back from the bathroom. The toilet seat was heated. My bum was surprised.
Here in the teacher’s lounge there is a smoking area. It’s pretty small, and covered by some plastic drapes. Everything inside it looks yellow, and I am so thankful that they have that barricade. Some teachers go to smoke more often than others, and I can see how it must be a nice break. They are expected to work work work, and then work some more. Some teachers will stay till 10 o’clock at night because on top of their actual courses they will often have to be in charge of a club or after school activity.