2005-12-27

100th Post

OK. So this is my 100th post on my blog. Should be something special, no? Well how's this for special: I'm posting from my minshuku in Okinawa (Ishigaki). Yes indeedy. I'm on vacation which is why I haven't posted in a little bit. Things are going well. Done everything that we were supposed to do so far. The weather could be better. It's been mostly cloudy but at least it's warm. It's above 20C which is way better than what I left behind in Nara.
I'll keep the post short because I'm using the communal internet at the minshuku but I just wanted to tell everyone that I was alive. No tsunamis, no earthquakes, no typhoons and no volcanoes erupting.
MERRY CHRISTMAS a little bit late and Happy New Year if I don't post again before then.

2005-12-22

Not in my wildest dreams...

You are not going to believe this... I never though that it would but it's finally happened... Japan has turned me into a.... a.... GASP!.... A GIRL!!!! Noooooooooooooooooooooooo [a la Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith]
I can't help it. Japanese women are just so darn classy. I'm so jealous. It helps that Japanese women can wear anything (kind of like my Mom and my brother... unfortunately I was blessed with the fat gene)... They could probably walk around in garbage bags and still look fantastic (they would of course be D&G or Louis Vuitton garbage bags... but I digress)
Yes, I'm from Montreal. Yes, Montreal is probably the classiest city in Canada (yes Julian, it's certainly classier than Toronto)... But I could never really afford to be classy. I was a student with a part-time job at the Sweatpant Depot. I was also fat. But now things are different. I have a good job and I am, well, still fat but less so. And thanks to Helen Davisson, I have learned the secret to negotiating knee-high boots around my giant judoka legs. My life (and wardrobe) has forever been changed. And and and... shoes in Japan actually fit me properly. Nice shoes back home are always too narrow. Japan is SHOE HEAVEN (for people with small feet). I am stocking up here and then throwing away all my old shoes when I get home... sorry shoes... we've had some good times but it's time for me to move on. So in the last week, I have bought one pair of black knee-high boots, 2 high-heeled pumps, a new pair of jeans and 2 new skirts (and a lot of fleece... fleece will always be my friend)...
Hmmmm.... come to think of it... I need to stop spending money...

2005-12-21

SNOW DAY!!!

So for the last week, the entirety of Japan has been at the mercy of a weather system from Siberia. So far, most of the country has experienced the coldest December in years. Kyushu, has been hit pretty bad... all the buses and ferries have been cancelled because of the weather. The mountains have more snow than ever by this time of year... or so I'm told by a friend who is stranded because he has no way out of the town he's in... Boy, Okinawa is looking better and better every day. Although, my friends in Okinawa have told me that the weather there is pretty bad too... hopefully by Saturday the weather will clear up.
Here in Nara, it's snowing pretty hard... even by my high Canadian standards. It's not a snowstorm by any means but it's snowing non-stop and the amount falling is nothing to scoff at. But everything is made worse because it's windy... and as we all know, blowing snow is not that much fun... Tomorrow is supposed to be worse. Good thing there's no school. I took my bike to school today... it wasn't snowing when I left... it was cold but it wasn't snowing. But now... well, let's just say biking home is going to be fun.^^
That's all I got for now. Today was the last day of school. Classes start up again on January 10th.

The Life of a Sheep

It's 3:21PM and I'm just about ready to explode. I hate sitting at school with nothing to do... especially while everyone is talking about going on vacation... I still have to wait 4 days... And to make matters worse, according to weather.com, the forecast in Okinawa isn't looking too hot. BOOHOO!!!
In other pretend news... I'm enjoying my new iPod very much. I can't stop playing with it. I've already uploaded close to 1000 songs and 500 pictures. It's lots of fun being a sheep... a sheep with a shiny new toy to play with. I still haven't figured out how to upload videos onto it, though. Adrian suggested I read the instructions... now who would do a silly thing like that (*_*)
I've decided that Mastercard is no longer the credit card company for me. A recent run-in with the difficulties of having a foreign credit card in Japan has convinced me that "for everything else there's Mastercard" only applies at home and that maybe VISA really is where "I want to be". But whatever... problem fixed and I now have a functioning credit card... Time to go shopping for iPod accessories!!!

2005-12-18

Cheers! To enkais, my new "LIFE", mochi and early Christmasses...

Well it was a busy weekend here again. Friday night was my bonnenkai (忘年会) at school. The kanji means respectively "forget", "year" and "meeting"... which is fitting. The bonnenkai is a gathering to help you forget the year that has just finished. And trust me... some of the teachers drink so much that they could probably forget the year that hasn't even started yet.
It wasn't as fun as the last couple of enkais that I've been to... possibly because I only had a few drinks... but also because I was sitting at a table with all the third year teachers. I don't know any of the third year teachers very well so it was a little bit awkward at first. However, after the kanpai and once they had a few drinks in them, it was a little bit better. Katy's ex-homeroom teacher had asked me earlier that week if I would help the third year teachers with their performance, and I agreed. Basically, all I had to do was put on a kimono and speak French while Yamaoka-sensei, the large gym teacher, dressed as Hard Gay and danced around me with HG's patented pelvic thrust saying "Hoo! Hoo!". For those of you who don't know, HG is a very very popular comedian in Japan. See profile here (yes, I know it's Wikipedia but for our purposes, it's good enough...) So imagine a very large, 50-year-old Japanese man dressed like HG, dancing around on stage.
That was quite amusing...
I also won an electronic dart board in Bingo. Well I didn't exactly win it. Yamaoka-sensei won it and then gave it to me saying: "Here, this is for international relations". In exchange, I gave him the lottery ticket that I'd received as a consolation prize (though if the ticket wins it's worth 1 billion yen). So now I have an awesome dart board and nowhere to put it...

Saturday, I had my French lessons in the morning and then braved the cold to check out the Daiei replacement... If you remember my dismay back in October when I discovered that it had gone bankrupt... Well it's back. Not the Daiei... They've replaced the Daiei with "LIFE". It's not as practical as the Daiei (there's no more home centre) and the Daiso (100 yen store) doesn't re-open until tomorrow but they have a HUGE bookstore now and the fashion inside is a lot less "old lady-ish". AND AND AND... their jeans shop hems pants for free... in less than 30 minutes!!! I spent a lot more money than expected but it was soooooooo worth it. Besides... it's not like I bought stuff I didn't need.

Saturday night was Zack & Helen's annual Christmas party. It's kind of hard to describe without pictures... once again, I forgot my camera, even after I put in on the table so that I wouldn't forget it... so I'll just say that it was tons of fun. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of mulled (sp?) wine... The best gifts from the gift exchange included Hello Kitty Christmas decorations, a laughing alligator, a cowboy hat, a wrestler's mask and a giant hamster costume. I walked away with a cool alarm clock that not only tells the time but the ambient temperature and humidity as well. The instructions are in Japanese though so I might have it figured out this time next year.

I slipped away early the next morning, to the sounds of snoring, to go make mochi with some students from Oji Tech. Mochi is sticky rice, pounded to death in a giant stone bowl with a giant wooden hammer. Afterwards, you divide it into smaller pieces about 4cm in diametre. Making mochi (mochitsuki) is a traditional thing to do around this time of year. You make the mochi a few days before Jan. 1st (Oshougatsu) and then you eat them on New Year's Day. The little mochi cakes are really very versatile. Alone they are a little bit bland (it is only pounded rice after all) but they can be boiled in soup, stuffed with cheese (my favorite thing at izakayas), even grilled with a little bit of soy sauce and grated daikon on the side. You can even have them for dessert... filled with azuki (sweet red bean paste) or covered with kinako powder (sweet toasted soybean powder). Although I had to wake up early, it was a nice and informative way to spend the late morning.

And finally... the moment you've all been waiting for... I received a package from my family on Friday. It contained my Christmas gift from home. I promised that I would wait until Sunday night to open it so I put it in a very unobtrusive place under my table so that I wouldn't be tempted. Sunday night, I opened it and guess what... iPod! iPod!! iPod!!! IPOD!!!! Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah!!!! ^^ I have joined the masses. But who cares?! The thing is AWESOME!!! And way more practical than lugging around my 70-odd CDs... It's thin and pretty and black... with 30GB of space and a colour screen. I even uploaded some photos into it just to test it out. It's so cool!!! Thank you Mom and Dad!!! You just made me a very happy camper and now, train rides will seem much shorter with music keeping me company. I have to go shopping for accessories now. In addition to my new gadget, I also got the complete full season of Lost from my brother and sister... Finally I can find out what all the buzz is about. I've heard good things about this TV show... and as a bonus... ENGLISH TV!!!! And from my favorite Godmother and her family, I got my 2006 Dilbert calender. Now they'll be in my thoughts every day of the year. d(^o^)b THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!

Sorry... that was a really long post. But I'm by myself in the teacher's room because the other teachers have a meeting. So I'm just killing time now... The mail just came. My tickets for Okinawa are sitting beside me now. HOORAY!

2005-12-15

One week left!!!


I can't wait. I'll be leaving for Okinawa in 8 days... dans 8 dodos... I asked Matsui-sensei to help me with my hotel bookings. I got a room in all the ryokans that I wanted. I finished all the planning yesterday and now I can just relax and wait.

I'm actually quite pleased with the planning considering it was all pretty last minute. Here's the proposed schedule, subject to change depending on the weather (although the weather forecast says 20C and sunny next weekend in Naha).

So, it's Naha from the 24-26th of December. We'll visit whatever we can on the buses and then on the 26th we're flying to Ishigaki which is the southernmost island with an airport. On Ishigaki, there isn't much to do but we'll be taking a ferry to 2 of the surrounding islands: Iriomote island, which is home to Japan's last jungle and first UNESCO World Heritage Site; and Takatomi island, which is a tiny island about 1km in diametre that has star-shaped sand and water buffalo. The sand is not actually sand but thousands of little skeletons of sea creatures. According to legend, they are the babies of the star goddess who enraged the sea god by giving birth in the sea without permission... so the sea god killed all the babies... Kinda sad really.
After Ishigaki from the 26th-29th, we take a ferry to Miyako island where we'll be from the 29th to the 1st of January. We'll rent a car for a day and explore. After Miyako, we're heading back to Naha, where we'll have a car until we leave. I come back to Nara on January 5th.

Here's a zoomed in look at the islands... I can't wait!!!

2005-12-14

Short and sweet

Here are the rest of the autumn pictures... as promised

NANZENJI




TOFUKUJI





KIYOMIZUDERA



Ode to the Fall...

I don't care what all you people in Canada say... JAPAN IS COLD!!! I know that outside is quite tolerable (it's only about -2 at night) but when I go inside my house, I expect it to be warm enough for me to be able to take off my coat. But no... It is below zero inside my house too! I can turn on my heater full blast and it's still cold. And since there is no heater in the "kitchen"/hallway/bathroom area, I can actually see my breath in those places... Coming out of the shower is the absolute WORST. Oh how I miss fiberglass and double-paned windows... The Japanese can build computers but they can't insulate a house... Am I the only one who sees something wrong with that?

So, in honour of my favorite season that is now behind me... and winter has taken over, here are a few choice pics from my fall leaf-viewing excursions (minus the Sunday I spent at Tanzan-jinja because I'm stupid and I accidentally deleted all those pictures from my camera before uploading them...)

TETSUGAKU NO-MICHI (Path of Philosophy




EIKANDO


OK, my internet is giving me issues but that should be enough to wet your appetite. I'll post more tomorrow...

Nothing to say...

I was told that I have update my blog... Unfortunately I don't really have much to say. I'm back in Kashiba after being away from my regular desk for a week. Elementary school was great, as usual. I had 2 demonstration classes. One on Friday with the 2nd graders and one on Monday with the 4th graders. The demonstration classes went well and many of teachers afterwards commented on how powerful a teacher I was... How well I motivated the students... I think that maybe they were just being nice but I know that I always feel like I did a good job after my elementary classes. I don't feel that way after I teach a high school class... well maybe after Oji on most days but certainly not after Kashiba.

Saturday was more fun times with kids. It was the Tenri Christmas Concert that they have every year. I missed it last year because I was at an awesome taiko concert in the BFE Mie but this year I went to sing my little heart out. Good times were had by all and I get to be on TV again. I think I've been on TV more times in the last few months than I will ever be in my life. That's always fun... although nothing will ever beat my appearance on Entertainment Tonight.^^
After the Tenri Concert, AJET had their Holiday Party. It went off without a hitch. I was quite pleased. It seemed like everyone was having fun and therefore I was having fun. AND there was enough money to pay for it in the end, which is always a bonus. *Gives self tap on shoulder for putting it all together. I ROCK! And so do you Aaron for helping me make the reservation because I have no faith in my Japanese abilities. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera though so I have no pictures of the happy moment...

I was in Oji yesterday. There was a fire drill... meaning that we had to stand outside for 45 minutes while the firemen showed the students how to work a fire extinguisher. At the Kashiba fire drill, the used empty extinguishers... at Oji they had real ones with a real fire. Real fire, real firemen (even the firemen in Japan are hot BTW...). It was way more intersting than the fire drills we have back home. And that was my excitement for the day... I told you I have nothing to say.

I have no classes from now until mid-January, so at school I'm basically just biding my time. So at school yesterday and today, I spent the day researching stuff to do in Okinawa. I also spent a long time emaling my travel agent because I needed to book flights to and from all the main islands (since there is not enough to do on Okinawa-Honto to fill up 13 days... the beach would have been nice but it won't be warm enough for the beach). So I had a ton of things I wanted to do in my head but obviously my head needs to be checked.
I had originally planned on learning how to scuba dive.... until I discovered that it costs $800 to get my basic certification... so scratch that. Then I wanted to go hiking in Iriomote-jima (a jungle island in the south of the archipelago) until I found out that there were leeches and poisonous snakes involved... so scratch that. Then, I read somewhere that you could go whale-watching but that's only in February and March so we can't do that either. So what are we going to do? That's a good question... I do know that I'll be driving, which worries me but I'm sure I'll be fine. At least I have the car, flights and ferries booked but I still have yet to make the hotel reservations... EEK! I'll do that tomorrow.

2005-12-08

O-hisashiburi desu ne

I know, I know... I haven't posted in over a week... I've been busy...
Enough excuses and on to the good stuff. I did nothing last week except study so no good stuff there. Don't believe me but I swear it's true. I took another practice test too and I got a 71% again... leaving me quite certain that I would pass the JLPT with a 71% because keigo sucks. So I studied keigo when ever I had the chance... I was repeating moshimasu, mairimasu, osharimasu, itadakimasu over and over on the train, while I biked to school, between classes... I HATE KEIGO!!! I had 3 different Japanese people explain keigo to me and still it wouldn't stick in my head...
Last Friday, Anne-Line (ex-Nara CIR and resident French Amazon) came to visit. We had dinner and drinks and then I went home to study. Saturday morning, I studied with Kimiyo. Saturday afternoon I helped my Japanese teacher teach 3 eikaiwa classes... After that, I studied with her too. Then I went home and studied more but after about an hour my brain gave up and I went to bed.

Sunday morning, I was up at 5:45 to catch the first train to Kyoto. The sun hadn't even risen yet. It was cold and rainy. Just the way you want test day to start. YAY! The JLPT was taking place at Kyoto University and the test voucher tells you to come early as public transportation may be unreliable. I learned on the last National holiday that Kyoto buses, although cheap, suck. The train and subway are way better. Being a commuter from Montreal, you'd think that I'd know that already but apparently not. Anyway, we (my other friends taking the sankyuu) got to campus an hour before the test was supposed to start. It was strange taking a test in a university. It was like being in law school all over again. And did I mention that it was cold and rainy?
The test went OK, I guess. I probably passed although I won't know for sure until February. I found it harder overall than the 2 practice tests I did but there were only 2 keigo questions so I was doing a lot less guessing in the grammar part. The listening section, which had been my saving grace on the practice tests, was HARD. And I was really upset because I had been counting on that to get me through and boost my confidence before the grammar section. No such luck. Go figure.
After the test, my friends and I went to celebrate with a few drinks and THREE HOURS of karaoke. It was awesome! Hadn't been to karaoke in 2 months. That's almost sacrilegious in this country.

Monday was the Oji listening test. Tuesday was a day off, so I spent the day at the Moritanis. I got to decorate a Christmas tree!!!!!!!!!!! I was ecstatic when Kimiyo suggested that I come over and help them decorate the tree. If there's anything that I miss about home, it's Christmas time with my family. Christmas is my favorite time of year (despite it being in winter). Listening to Christmas music, putting up the creche, putting the decorations on the trees and watching my mom move them all again because it's not perfectly placed. The house is so pretty and everything looks happy and cheerful. And the holiday food... oh, how I miss it... My mouth is watering just thinking about it. There are plenty of decorations here in Japan but it just doesn't seem to have the same meaning. I guess I understand what people are talking about when they say Christmas is too commercialized... It was never like that in my house but I see it now... and it is kind of sad.

I've been at elementary school since yesterday. Yesterday I was teaching fruits and vegetables to the second graders. I started off the class by singing "Where is Thumbkin?" and finished it by teaching "the Hokey Pokey". Three elementary school classes is as demanding as teaching a week's worth of OC classes in high school... BUT I LOVE IT. Today, I taught animals and fruits to the first graders. I also sang "Head and Shoulders" about a million times. I have so much fun teaching elementary school. I always come out of there exhausted but it's one of the only times that I really feel like I'm making a difference. It is worth every bit of the broken back, the sore legs and the lost voice.

Tomorrow, I'm at elementary school again. Tonight however, I have a pile of papers sitting beside me that need correcting. I had to go pick up test papers and take the work home with me since I'm not at Kashiba again until next Wednesday. Which means that today's post is long enough. Gotta get some real work done before bed tonight. Fun times. As usual.