Spring is here!

So much has happened in the past few weeks, I can’t begin to describe all of it! The snow is finally gone and in its place is a deliciously warm breeze that makes the bugs dance and flowers bloom. The sakura trees outside of my school are stunning. They seem to have opened overnight and there are so many people walking on the sidewalks just to see them.

The annual changes in the school workplace have taken shape. My supervisor has changed posts and now a new person is in charge of me at the Board of Education. 6 of the 10 teachers I’ve had the good fortune of knowing and working with for the past few months have been moved to new schools and the 4 other teachers have decided to retired/resign. It’s amazing how much a person can be a part of your life without you realizing it. I will miss them all very, very much.

Just a few weeks ago, I participated in my school’s graduation ceremony and today was the entrance ceremony for the new 1st year students. Such efforts are made to make everything in the ceremony formal. Even now, I can see the line for the coming of age in a student’s life is so clearly marked and drawn here.

In my personal live, I’ve embarked in buying and owning my own used car! It’s engine size is around the size of an American lawnmower, but I love it! There are so many hidden costs to owning a car here, but I’m so happy to finally have a mode of travel that’s free of schedules, special no-run holidays and a set route. Gah, I’m so happy!

 

My first Christmas in Japan

I’ve begun preparations for my first Christmas here.  For the staff, I’ve decided to make chocolate and pistachio cakes with the left over omiage materials that I carried here from California.  The recipe is from 101 Cookbooks (http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000141.html) and I’m really looking forward to baking them!  First though, I need to go to the city to buy an oven.  I’m not sure how much it’ll cost, but hopefully I can find a good deal at a recycle store near by.

My neighbor is hosting a Christmas potluck.  I’m really excited that she invited me to come.  Not sure what I’ll bring yet, but ideas are incoming. I might make stuffing. Of all the things I miss in America, it’s Stove Top turkey stuffing that I’m missing the most lately.

As for weather here it’s definitely colder than when I arrived.  Last week, snow began to fall in the city.  It was so beautiful – like a shaken Christmas snow globe come to life around me. I’m both dreading and looking forward to the snow when it comes to my town. I heard that it gets slippery here, and I’m a bit nervous about the bike-ride to school every morning.

 

Vending Machine Heaven

Japan is heaven for vending machines. They are everywhere. I’ve seen them tucked between buildings, in alleyways, and on street corners. I’ve even seen them by the side of roads bordering rice paddies, the tallest standing object for miles around. It seems odd to find a vending machine standing in the middle of nowhere, but these contraptions are a thirsty traveler’s godsend – a beckon of light for any and all who dare to go exploring without their water bottle (especially in the summer).

As the weather is cooling down, I’m seeing another side of the vending machine that I’ve never seen before. If you ask it, it will dispense hot drinks! On mornings when your fingers are so cold that they fumble clumsily to open your coin purse, a piping hot can of coffee is heaven in and of itself. ❤

 

The Sandy Beaches of Iwami

A few weeks ago my friend and I drove to visit another JET who lives and works in a small town named Iwami, tucked away on the coast of Tottori. You can truly feel the changes in temperature as you reach the coast. It’s warmer and there is the taste of salt in the wind. The towns people in Iwami are truly people of the sea. Every night fishermen go out on the water on small and sturdy boats with huge lightbulbs to attact the fish. During the day tourists from all over arrive to take a boat ride around the jagged coast line and to sample local delicacies. You can find crackers made of tiny, dried crabs and tasty kabobs with grilled squid. My friends and I sampled Iwami’s famous squid-ink soft-serve ice cream. It tastes a lot like vanilla ice cream with the subtle salty, rich lingering taste of ink. The best part is that the ice cream turns your tongue and teeth completely black! I highly recommend it!

In the late afternoon, we drove to one of Iwami’s many beaches. It was quite a walk downhill from the road to the beach, and the hike was worth it. Long before the trail became sandy, all the sounds of the road had faded completely into sounds of waves. The beaches along the Iwami coastline are nestled in between tall, steep and jagged rock formations. Although there were signs of the people who had come before us – footprints along the sand; the ashes from a burnt out fire in a small cave; a thick rope tied to a tree along the cliff to help people scale the rock to another hidden cove – somehow the beach felt like it was all ours. In the dim light of sunset, we played frisby, searched for crabs and shells, explored the cove next to ours, and waded into the water. The water is cool and so clear that as you wade in, you can see your toes all the way until you can’t reach the sand anymore. That night we drove along the mountain road along the coast and watched the boats twinkling along the horizon like lights on a Christmas tree. It was very beautiful.

Autumn has settled in completely in Tottori. The days are shorter and notably colder than just a few weeks ago. In winter, I want to return to Iwami when the snow has fallen along the coast and along the sand. It’s a sight I’d really like to see.

 

A penny for your thoughts?

I know I promised a write up on Iwami, but I have to put it on hold for just this moment.  For now, I’d like to ask for your advice.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been working with some students to prepare them for the English speech competition.  The competition is on October 1st (next Wednesday), and so far, none of the students have completely memorized their scripts.  One student in particular concerns me the most because today she told me that she wants to drop out of the competition.

By all means, this girl is not a poor student.  She is an ace student whose only and biggest crime is being active in too many things at once.  She is on the school council and is already busy with preparing for Culture Day; she is preparing for the national English exam given once a year in October; she practices almost every day in the music club; and oh yeah, she does her homework too.  Every day, she is at school earlier and stays later than most of the students on campus.  She hasn’t had much time to practice the speech, and in this week before the competition, when the pressures are only building higher, I understand why she wants to drop out.

The reality is that dropping out is really hard at this point.  Not only is she bringing this up a less than week before the competition, there was an application process and everything attached.  But even more importantly, if she does quit, she will be allowing letting down the many people who have helped in the preparation of her speech.  Another ALT and her mother translated her composition; the ALT also did the reading on an audio recorder making sure that everything would fit within the 4 minute limit; the English teacher helped write and submit the application; and I am now helping her after school with pronunciation.  The reality is that if she quits, it would really be a disappointment for all of us.

For now, the English teacher is seeing if she can quit this late in the game while I work with the student to help her as much as I can before next Wednesday.  For now, I’ve told her that until we can find out if it’s okay for her to quit, she should practice with me as much as possible.  Was this the right thing to do?  What would you do in my position?  I’d like to know what you think.

 

Apologies for a Late Update! And climbing Mt. Mitoku!

I’ve been chastised well enough by my parents to know that it’s been three weeks since my last update. I’m sorry!! I’d love to say I’ve been busy with work for the past few weeks, but I can’t because it’s just not true! What I have been, is seeing the sights and getting in return more than my fair share of mosquito bites. Two places in particular I’d like to write about are: Mt. Mitoku and the sandy beaches of Iwami. Today because I’m short on time, I will write about Mitoku; Iwami will follow sometime next week.

Mt. Mitoku is a well-known world heritage site in my prefecture. I say this as if these places are a dime-a-dozen, but they’re not. Take my word for it, the view from this mountain is absolutely stunning. Every year, as a kind of welcome party to new JETS, older JETS arrange this weekend out. We spent the night at the temple, enjoying among other things, a painful exercise in kneeling in ‘seiza style’ while copying a prayer; a brief explanation of Zao Gongen – an angry avatar who is a reincarnation mixing both the local Shinto God and the Buddha; a beautiful spread of vegetarian foods and delicacies; a really funny after party; and enjoying a long soak in the hot baths. The next day we climbed the mountain to see the temple. Now, when I say ‘climbed’ I’m not talking about walking up a steep slope. No. This was a 4-limbs-reaching-for-the-next-muddy-tree-root-and-rock kind of climbing. At one point, there was a chain to help us up the rock face.

We weren’t allowed to wear climbing shoes for fear of eroding the path. Some of us were told to buy and wear a pair of monk style sandles that were made from rope and a kind of dried (bamboo?) leaf wound up tight because the shoes we did have had too little traction. I was one of these people! Also, just as we were about to start the climb, we were warned that three people died on the mountain last year, and this year, there was already 1 death. The guide, half joking and half serious, asked us to keep at least 2 limbs on the ground at all times.

It was a really fun climb. I went up the mountain and down the mountain again, in monk sandals to boot! I am still amazed and totally proud that I completed it on my own without injuring myself or even worse, someone else in the process. I probably won’t be doing a climb like Mitoku again anytime soon, but it’s a really nice memory to look back on.

 

1st day of school

All the students are back and they are slowly getting into the grove of things.  Not all of them look excited to be back.  I can understand their feelings a little bit.  Today they needed to stand/sit through the introduction orientation (along with my really boring speech).  And their only reward for dong so were the wave of end-of-summer vacation tests waiting for them in their classrooms.  Today the students had to complete 3 tests in a row, and tomorrow they will have 2 more.  Poor things…

 

An American-Chinese

There are two Chinese girls who walk down the road next to my apartment complex almost everyday.  They always walk together and always seem to be carrying a bag of groceries.  Last week, I while I was sitting on the steps of my apartment re-potting my new basil and rosemary plants one of the girls walked over to me in surprise and began speaking to me in Mandarin.  I responded in the only language which made sense at the time, in Japanese.  One of the girls knew enough Japanese to understand and answer, but they both carried a very confused expression as they left.  Our conversation was very short, almost entirely limited to the weather.

In the following week, I am asked not once, but twice, which team I cheer for while watching the Olympics.  China or America they ask specifically.  America, I say emphatically without much thought.  The first time I was asked, I didn’t think much about it.  When the second time rolled around, the question began to nag at me a little.

This morning, when I am packing my lunch, I decide to pack a small fork with me to eat with.  The chopsticks I have are all too long to fit into the lunchbox, and the last time I tried to bring them, my bag became a colander.  Today at lunch, almost inevitably I was asked, “Can you use chopsticks?”  I wanted to tell the person that thanks to take-out Asian food in the States, most people in America can probably use chopsticks.  But instead, I thank them for their concern and reassure them that I can indeed use chopsticks.

Perhaps the hardest thing for anyone to describe is who they are.  Yet this seems to be the first thing that is seen, measured and judged by others.  First impressions are nasty necessities, aren’t they?   As for me, ethnically I am Chinese; nationally, I am American.  I wonder now as I am drafting new material for the English bulletin board downstairs, how much of this spectrum of me should go on the board.  Or maybe perhaps I should avoid the topic all together and color in the greys as the right time comes.

 

Preparations

I am slowly finding my place at the middle school.  This week many of the teachers and students have returned from summer vacation and Obon.  The staff room is often bustling with new faces and there is a constant stream of music filtering throuh the windows from students practicing just across the way.

My attention has been occupied at work with compiling a list of all the grammar and important vocabulary from all three english textbooks used at the middle school.  I am also working on a list of physical activities (ice breakers) to reccomend to the teachers that may go well with every lesson.   I am really glad to have had the chance to participiate in 4H during my middle and high school years.  More than often I am dipping into past activities we did in YES and at camp for ideas and inspiration. 

Hopefully I can finish writing up my suggestions by next week.  School begins on Wednesday and it’s crunch time.  I really want to have at least 2 weeks of activities planned before everything begins.  I’d better get to work!

 

Easy Tomato Recipe

Last night I went to the local produce market to check out if there would be any good deals for dinner.  I still do not have a refridgerator, so all of my meals at home have consisted of rice, vegetables, and occasionally a small piece of fish.  Vegetables won`t spoil as easily as meat will, so they`re first on my shopping list.  Yes, fruits like watermelons (~$20) and apples (~$2) are expensive, but vegetables are suprisingly reasonable.  So, as I shuffled up and down the store, I found a pair of huge tomatoes on sale for 98 yen.  They were fresh, smelled great, and were very tasty.  Here is a simple recipe I thought I`d share with you:

Easy Tomato Recipe (serves 2)

2 fresh large tomatoes

~ 3 cloves of garlic (or garlic salt)

basil (fresh or dried)

sugar (depending on the sweetness of tomatoes – I used 1 small packet for coffee)

salt

Directions:

Heat a pot of water until just boiling.

Peel the tomato skin (score the bottom of the tomato, poach in hot water for less than a minute, remove from hot water, and peel skin while soaking tomato in a bowl of cool water)

Cut the tomatoes into bite sized wedges

Heat frying pan to medium high, saute garlic until aromatic and add cut tomatoes

Add basil, sugar, and salt to taste and saute for 1 minute.

Serve with hot rice and enjoy!