TravelStream™ news feed for member kateinjapan on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/kateinjapan en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:15:22 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1246068785/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1246068785/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1246068785/tpod.html Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:15:22 -0400 New York City bound!

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New York City, New York, United States

I'm writing on the eve of my next big move: New York City.I know I have a lot more traveling in me before I'm ready to settle and New York is the next city on the list. It just so happens it's in America - so lucky for you all I'll still be on the same continent (for now). New York has always been a place I wanted to live, been in the back of my mind since high school when my parents took Tom and I for the first time during Christmas vacation and we stayed at the Plaza, went to the statue of liberty, times square and saw the Lion King. There's just something about it, or many things rather, that are so intriguing to me, exciting, and unknown. Two things I love and require in my travel plans. I never want it to be easy. The main reason I am moving is to attend graduate school. It's something I need to do to better myself as a teacher and I figure what better city to get into a huge amount of debt in, than New York. I tell myself at least I'll be having the time of my life while doing it, right? I will be pursuing a dual master's degree in Childhood Education and Teaching Literacy at a very highly respected education school called Bank Street. I have goals of becoming a reading specialist someday (and hoping the economy will be better when I am ready to do that!!)I will be living with a very good friend of mine, Caitlin, who is also a teacher in the city. She is also a graduate of Bank Street and has already been an invaluable resource in my move. She found us a cute apartment on the upper west side, only four subway stops from Bank Street, two blocks from 2 main subway lines, and 2 blocks from Central Park. Oh and did I mention right above an amazing mexican restaurant that is apparently known for it's margarita's?? Dangerous!A good number of my teammates from MWC live in the city, in addition to Jess Goon one of my best friends from college aaaand one of my good friends Tristan and his girlfriend (we all met in Japan) live 30 blocks south - so I'm excited I already have a nice network of friends to fall into and it won't be like I don't know anyone.I'm so excited for this move, and am really ready for the next stage of my life to begin...I can't wait to see how it all pans out!Most of you know I'm a big postcard writer so expect to be getting some from me once I'm settled :)Here's my new address if you want to send me snail mail (hint, hint):570 Amsterdam AveApt. 3RNew York, NY10024I'll finish the blog by doing a quick recap on my first year back from Japan...I loved being back in America, seeing my friends and family regularly, eating delicious food like bagels, and hummus, driving my big SUV on the right side of the road, going to Vegas, Costa Rica and Chicago for the first time, taking part in Inauguration craziness (and being 20 feet away from the Obama's during the parade route), going back to Japan as a tourist to see old friends, watching Tom's lacrosse games and going to his graduation, being a bridesmaid in Katie Higdon's wedding, and much much more. It was a great year, a year of transition..Work wise, I had a really trying year, with a rather difficult co-teacher - but to spin things positively I grew a lot as a teacher, and am now a lot more confident in myself and know what I want out of fellow teachers, the administration and a school - so at least that! I'll include some of my favorite pictures of my kids from this year. They were a hilarious bunch, and added a solid 5 pages to my kids quotes book (which I plan to publish in a few more years!)Take care everyone and stay in touch!xxxKate
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1231287120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1231287120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1231287120/tpod.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:11:01 -0500 New York City bound!

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McLean, Virginia, United States

Happy New Year everyone! I've been home in America for almost 5 months now and thought I would send an update using the good ol' travelpod! It's been a while, huh? Rewind to Japan, July/August 2008I spent the last month in Japan soaking in the last of my small town, counting down the days until I would never have to teach English again ever in my life, taking drives through the beautiful countryside (alone, because Lily left a month early to start grad school :(, and swimming at the local beach. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I climbed Mt.Fuji!! No big deal...yeah right! Hardest thing I've ever done. After I said a (non-tearful) good-bye to all the employees of the local Board of Education and some teachers at the train station I was on my way to Tokyo!!I stayed in Tokyo for about 2 weeks doing all things touristy and hanging out with Kat and Dave (they both lived in the rural part of Wakayama my first year in Japan but have since moved to Tokyo). After that I officially said goodbye to Japan and headed off to Shanghai and Beijing to watch the Olympics! I met up Joe there and we saw about 7 events (track and field, soccer, hockey, tennis, handball, baseball and swimming-I saw Phelps win his 7th gold!). It was an amazing week and I definitely want to go to another Olympics again - Vancouver? I returned to America excited and nervous because I hadn't been home at all in 2 years. I was anxious to get started <i>real teaching (not just teaching English) and was a bit nervous I would forget how to do everything. Good news: I didn't :) I started working again 5 days later at the private school in Alexandria, VA where I taught prior to going to Japan. There was an opening in Kindergarten which I was so excited about - this brings me to January! I've had an interesting first half of the year to say the least - things with my co-teacher have been a bit of a struggle, but we are taking steps to improve our working relationship during this part of the year. We are just VERY different people and teachers, who have different styles of doing everything. If you know me you know that at times I am a fan of color-coding, using tabs, and making organized binders. My co-teacher? Well..let's just say she only has pens and a computer on her desk. We're a bit different! But I'm trying to look at this year as a learning year for me and how I work with other people, and at the least say that I learned from the experience. On a positive note I have a great class of 19 energetic, funny, smart 5 and 6 year olds who love me so much-and vice versa (well most of the time). Putting everything else aside, it makes going to work a joy everyday. I always leave with some pretty amazing kid quotes to write in my kid quote binder (yes, I have one. You just wait, I'll be rich someday when I put them into a cute coffee table book!) We are getting ready to start our big Social Studies unit on China and I'm looking forward to showing my kids pictures and things I bought in China. My favorite thing so far since being home, besides eating mexican food, is reconnecting with family and friends. In so many ways it feels like no time passed, and that 2 years was really 2 months! Weird how that works out.. When I'm in town I've enjoyed doing things around the DC area with friends, meeting up for dinner at an old favorite restaurant (I'm sure everyones sick of hearing me say "I haven't had ___ since before I left for Japan! I'm soo excited!"), going to a sporting event, happy hour, party or just shopping at the mall (it's so good to be back if only for the american sized clothing!! I finally have new clothes!). I've been up to New York and Baltimore to see friends from Mary Washington, down to Durham, North Carolina to see Tom at Duke, to Costa Rica for Christmas with Tom and my Dad, and out to Las Vegas to have a "reunion" with Lily. As if that wasn't enough I will be flying out to Chicago in February to .visit a good friend who I met in Japan, Parry!! Oh yeah, and the big one...going back to JAPAN to visit in March during my spring break :) Needless to say I still have the travel bug!! Fasdt Forward to this Summer/Fall 2009: I have decided to move to New York City, somewhere that I have wanted to live for years now. The plan right now is to enroll as an almost full-time graduate student at Bank Street College on the upper west side. It's a great small school with a fabulous reputation in the education world. I will pursue a dual degree in Elementary Education and Teaching Literacy. I could see myself in the far off future becoming a reading/language specialist. Both language acquisition and the process of learning to read fascinates me! Because school is so expensive I am also going to work full-time as a teacher. I will start looking for a new job in early March. I'll keep you updated as to how it's all going!Ok everyone, I'm going to use this motivation to write to work on my graduate school essay's now/watch trashy television (it's in English, too!) But I would love to hear from you if I haven't in a while.My e-mail is still the same: kateclute@gmail.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; My new cell is 703-399-1030*PS: I love mail!!!*My address is:8360 Greensboro Drive#603McLean, VA22102Have a great evening everyone!!xxxKate
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1196737560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1196737560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1196737560/tpod.html Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:53:32 -0400 New York City bound!

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Nachi, Japan

I'm sitting here with my bags packed, apartment mostly cleaned, trash taken out, clothes in piles to be donated, etc...I can't believe my 2 years in Japan is coming to an end! I'm ready for the next thing in my life and am grateful that I had opportunity to have this amazing experience. I couldn't have imagined my life without it right now. I am leaving my small town today, and am headed for the big city - TOKYO!! I will be there for about 2 weeks before I head to Shanghai and then Beijing,China for the Olympics! Hopefully over the next 2 weeks I will have some time to catch up on past blogs because I haven't been good about writing recently, sorry! Upcoming blogs will include: my trip to India, busy spring, and my Mt.Fuji Climbing Escapades!Anyways, I will be home in America on August 18th and can't wait to see you all!!!!! I will be teaching Kindergarten at Browne Academy in Alexandria starting August 25th, so I don't have much time to readjust before I get back to the daily grind :) Hopefully the reverse culture shock won't be too hard. If you're in the D.C. area my friends are throwing a welcome back party for me on August 23rd. E-mail me for details if you are around and want to come! Everyone is invited :)<i>I'll leave you with a few things I can think of as I'm writing this...Things I will miss:1. my heated toilet seat2. 7am, waking up to a watch a beautiful sunrise over the pacific ocean from my balcony3. wandering around the 100 yen store with lily trying to figure out what everything is 4. the amazingly fresh fish at the local conveyor belt sushi shop5. relaxing in the local hot spring with friends after a long weekend of traveling6. living so close to the ocean and mountains in a beautiful and peaceful country townThings I won't miss:1. traffic on the only road, 2-lane route 42. and&nbsp;not being able to pass old people because the roads are too windy2. having my food stared at, poked and prodded just because I'm not eating rice3. getting up early to catch the 7:15am train with tons of high schoolers, again staring at me4. Japanese inability to be forward and say what they want, express feelings5. the lack of AC everywhere, especially schools!6. TEACHING ENGLISH!! haha sorry. it really wasn't for me :(OK that's all from this end. I need to go shower and catch my train to Tokyo.See you all very soon!!!Love, Kate
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1212453300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1212453300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1212453300/tpod.html Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:03:41 -0400 New York City bound!

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Nachi, Japan

I arrived back from India just in time to catch the tail end of the annual Sakura (Cherry Blossom) festivities! The Japanese are crazy for cherry trees and have huge picnics/flower-viewing parties (called Hanami)&nbsp;outside in parks and local temples to celebrate their beauty. There are over 200 kinds of cherry trees in Japan!! Some trees have both white and pink blossoms and are absolutely beautiful. The Japanese have the cherry tree blossoming down to a science and every year the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the public track the <i>sakura zensen (cherry-blossom front) on television, and in newspapers.&nbsp;The Japanese pay very close attention to these forecasts and plan their picnics accordingly. Most Japanese schools and public buildings have sakura trees outside of them. Since the fiscal and school year both begin in April, in many parts of Honsh¨±, the first day of work or school coincides with the cherry blossom season.Here's a bit of hanami history from Wikipedia...."During the Heian Period (794¨C1191), the Japanese nobility sought to emulate many practices from China including the social phenomenon of flower viewing (<i>hanami: »¨ÒS), where the imperial households, poets, singers, and other aristocrats would gather and celebrate under the blossoms. In Japan, cherry trees were planted and cultivated for their beauty, for the adornment of the grounds of the nobility of Kyoto, at least as early as 794. In China, the <i>ume "plum" tree (actually a species of apricot) was held in highest regard, but by the middle of the ninth century, the sakura had replaced the plum as the favored species in Japan."In Japan the cherry blossoms are believed to exemplify the transient nature of life, because of their short blooming times. During World War II, the sakura was used to motivate and manipulate the Japanese people, to promote nationalism and militarism among the people. Japanese pilots would paint them on the sides of their planes before going on a suicide mission, or even take branches of the trees with them on their missions!In its colonial enterprises, imperial Japan often planted cherry trees as a means of "claiming occupied territory as Japanese space." For this reason, the symbolic import of the cherry trees is quite different in Korea, where the trees at Seoul's Gyeongbok Palace were cut down to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule.In the United States sakura have a different meaning. Many of you who are reading this will be familiar with the trees I'm talking about! In 1912 Japan gave 3,020 sakura trees as a gift to the United States to celebrate the nations' then-growing friendship. These trees have since lined the shore of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., and the gift was renewed with another 3,800 trees in 1965. The sakura trees continue to be a popular tourist attraction (and the subject of the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival) when they reach full bloom in early spring. --------Enough boring stuff!!!Like I said earlier, immediately after being picked up from the airport from India, I went to the castle in the capital city of my prefecture for night-time flower viewing party! It was lots of fun and the sakura trees were especially pretty at night light up by japanese style lanterns. Can't get enough of the Japanese festival atmosphere. The next day we drove to Nara for another daytime picnic which was also really pretty-unfortunately I broke my camera so I don't have many pictures from that day :( That next weekend a few of us drove up to Nachi waterfall to dye easter eggs under the sakura. Lots of fun as well! There's a typhoon passing through today, and I'm at the Board of Ed. office just sitting here...so I might try and keep writing more things that I haven't posted about yet. Home in 75 days!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1210139460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1210139460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1210139460/tpod.html Tue, 27 May 2008 09:59:50 -0400 New York City bound!

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Delhi, India

As I write this I am 5 minutes into my working day at Katsuura Elementary School and am already sweaty. So it's rather fitting that I'm writing my India blog looking and feeling like I do right now! The weather in Japan has quickly changed into summer and the humidity (that I know well from living in the D.C. area all my life)....is back!-----------------<i>Incredible India is such a perfect slogan for promoting tourism in India--as it really is an incredible place. Throughout my travels and watching TV in different countries there have only been 2 other catchy ones I've come across (that I have somehow stuck in my head):<i>Malaysia Truly Asia and&nbsp;<i>Soul of Seoul. ok back to my trip...<i>Anyways, Lily and I wanted to take one last big trip before our time on the JET program ends and decided to go to India!! We thought about backpacking on our own like we've done in many other countries, but because of various things we've heard about India, and just generally not wanting to put in the extra effort of planning everything out....we decided to book a package trip with the travel company Intrepid (if you don't know about them, check out their website--they offer different types of tours to almost every country in the world! http://www.intrepidtravel.com/)Our trip was titled 'Unforgettable India' and was a 15-day whirlwind tour around Northern India. The blurb about the trip on the website says: Wander the streets of Delhi, Experience rural life in tiny Chanderi, Explore the peaceful countryside of Orchha, Marvel at Kama Sutra carvings, Track tigers in Panna National Park, Witness pilgrim traditions in Chitrakoot, Uncover the secrets of freedom fighters in Allahabad, Soak up the spiritual atmosphere of Varanasi And they forgot a huge one--Visit the Taj Mahal in Agra!!Something I liked about Intrepid was that they keep the groups small (we had 12 people in our group) and your guide is always a young person who is native to the country you are visiting. Our guides name was Rohan and he was born and raised in Mumbai. He had been leading tours with Intrepid for over a year and said our tour was his favorite India one! Our group consisted of 9 Brits and 3 Americans most of whom were in their early-mid 20's. We all got along great and enjoyed each others company!Here's our itinerary. My pictures will&nbsp;follow &nbsp;in this order:Days 1-2 Delhi The labyrinth of streets and lively markets of Old Delhi are a perfect introduction to India.Day 3 Agra The former capital of the Mughals is home to the 16th century Red Fort and the beautiful Taj Mahal. Watch its mood change with the light through the day.Days 4-5 Chanderi Get the celebrity treatment in the relatively tourist-free Chanderi. Explore ancient rock paintings, Jain temples and peaceful mosques before sitting down to a traditional family dinner at our local friends' home.Days 6-7 Orchha Enjoy a guided walk around the many temples and palaces that dot the peaceful and picturesque countryside of Orchha.Day 8 Khajuraho The intricate carvings of the exquisite 1,000 year old temples of Khajuraho celebrate Hindu legends, epic battles and the Kama Sutra.Day 9 Panna National Park Head deep into the park in search of the elusive tiger, spending the night in natural hut-style accommodation by the banks of the Ken River.Day 10 Chitrakoot Sprawling along the banks of the Mandakini River, Chitrakoot's temples, bazaars, and bathing ghats are awash with pilgrims. Witness rituals and traditions taking place as they have done for hundreds of years.Day 11 Allahabad East of Allahabad is where the rivers Yamuna, Ganges and the mythical Saraswati meet. In town, call into the Anand Bhawan Museum, the boyhood home of the first prime minister of independent India.Days 12-14 Varanasi Magical Varanasi is India's spiritual heart. Take a boat out on the Ganges to see devotees partaking in morning worship and enjoy a sunset flower ceremony.Day 15 Delhi Return to the mad streets of Delhi.The food in India was great, not too spicy (unless you ask for it to be that way) but I did get very sick of having curry and rice and chapati (another type of bread, not naan) for literally 3 meals a day. However since many Indians are vegetarians for religious reasons it was the perfect country for me to visit! Everything has a red circle or a green circle on it, indicating its not safe or safe for vegetarians to consume - even toothpaste!! Throughout our trip most of the cities we went to were Holy Cities so they do not have any meat, eggs or alcohol. By the end of the trip I was really craving eggs and cheese and BREAD!Another interesting thing I learned in India was that you eat your food with your right hand only. They rarely use forks or knives and curry and vegetables&nbsp;are scooped up into a bread, all with your right hand. It can be messy so there are always napkins on the tables. Your left hand/wrist&nbsp;is used only to keep the plate from sliding around the table. Why do Indians only use their right hand? I never heard this while in India but read on-line that Indians usually give the following explanation for the practice of eating with hands: <i>"Food is divine and needs to be enjoyed with touch, smell and taste. There is no joy in using a knife and thorns to eat it."That may be true but it's also because the left hand is considered unclean and to use the left hand when eating is considered obsolete. The reason for this is because the left hand is associated with wiping one's bottom when in the bathroom.&nbsp;Since Indian tradition also dictates that only a clean hand should be used to transfer food from the serving dish to your plate, it is acceptable to use the left hand if there are any spoons/cutlery for taking food from the dish onto your plate.I had a great time in India, the people were generally very friendly and seemed to love foreigners. I didn't really get sick (thank god) and don't think I have contracted malaria yet - so I'd say the trip was a success. Other than that I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I'm months behind on this blog plus I'm too hot to write anymore right now.----------------Lately I've just been trying to enjoy my last few months in Japan, do things I haven't done before and generally just enjoy my friends and beautiful surroundings. Speaking of things I haven't done before here's a big one: I am playing in a Western Japan ALT (Assisntant Language Teacher) men's soccer tournament this weekend (those of you who know me know that I <i>don't play soccer). Why you ask? Well the Wakayama guys team didn't have enough players to field a team of 12 so 4 girls including me decided to help out and play with them. We have maybe 1 sub and are going to get slaughtered...but hey, should be fun! I had my first 'practice' yesterday and I think I did okay. It's not as hard as I remember it being in middle school, the only thing is going to be the guys will be so much faster than us! 35 more days of teaching left until I'm DONE.Can you tell I'm excited or what!?OK I'm off to teach...xxx,Kate
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1208826420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1208826420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1208826420/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:51:56 -0400 New York City bound!

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Osaka, Japan

In March, Lily and I organized another Wakayama JET event and a group of about 30 of us went to watch the Grand Sumo&nbsp;Tournament in Osaka. Sumo in Japanese is pronounced 'smo' without the u, and is the symbol of the country and it's&nbsp;national sport. The Japanese take great pride in sumo (as they do in everything they do) and it has been around for over 2,000 years!Recently sumo wrestling has been in the news because of apparent fixed matches and scandals involving money. I'm not going to write about that or the rules of sumo, but rather the more interesting part of sumo (at least to me) - life <i>after the match&nbsp;. The life of a sumo wrestler is highly regimented. The behavior of sumo wrestlers is prescribed by The Sumo Association and is often associated with life in a commune! Every sumo wrestler belongs to a stable, which is where they live while they are young. A stable is managed by a stable master, a retired wrestler who was a good wrestler in his prime. There are currently 54 stables throughout Japan. Referees, ushers, and hairdressers also live in the stables. The stable master is referred to as <i>oyakata (boss), and his wife, who is called <i>okamisan, plays an important supporting role behind the scenes.Here are some of the rules upon entering life in the stables:1. Grow your hair long to make a topknot - similar to the hairstyle of the samurai2. Always dress in traditional attire when in public including wooden shoes (geta) and thin cotton robe&nbsp;(yukata) (only the higher ranking wrestlers can wear straw shoes and a warmer overcoat on top of the yukata)3. Lowest ranking wrestlers get up at 5am to do chores, cook and begin training.4. Lowest ranking wrestlers are not allowed breakfast. Instead they being their day with lunch. The traditional <i>Chanko or "sumo meal"&nbsp;consists of a simmering stew which contains various fish, meat, and vegetables. It is usually eaten with rice and washed down with beer. This regimen of no breakfast and a large lunch followed by a nap helps wrestlers put on weight.5. In the afternoon the lowest sumo wrestlers act as personal servants to the higher ranking wrestlers.6. The highest ranking wrestlers are given their own room in the stable or, may live in their own apartments. In contrast, the lower ranking wrestlers sleep in communal dormitories. Thus the world of the sumo wrestler is split broadly between low ranking, who serve, and the high ranking, who are served. Life is especially harsh for new recruits, to whom the worst jobs tend to be allocated, and there is a high dropout rate at this stage.Health Risks:Sumo wrestlers have a life expectancy of between 60-65, more than 10 years shorter than the average Japanese male! (side note: Japanese people are the longest lived people in the world). They often develop diabetes and high blood pressure, and are prone to heart attacks. The excessive intake of alcohol can lead to liver problems and the stress on their joints can cause arthritis. Recently, the standards of weight gain are becoming less strict, in an effort to improve the overall health of the wrestlers and the average height of sumo wrestlers is around 5' 10".Sumo stables also use hazing and physical punishment of young wrestlers in order to "toughen them up." Stable masters have often been proud to show to the media how they frequently use a shinai (a long bamboo stick used in martial arts) to beat up on those who make mistakes, and elder wrestlers are often put in charge of bullying younger ones to keep them in line, for instance, by making them hold heavy objects for long periods of time. However, this system of hazing was&nbsp;made public and highly criticizes&nbsp;in late 2007 when a 17 year old sumo trainee named Takashi Saito died after a serious bullying incident involving his stable master hitting him in the head with a large beer bottle and fellow wrestlers being subsequently ordered to physically abuse him further. The (now ex) stable master and three other wrestlers who were involved were arrested in February 2008, after which Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda demanded the Sumo Association take steps to ensure such an incident never happens again.From the article, "Bullying and top-down hazing, however, are hardly unique to the sumo stables where wrestlers live and train. That may be why the death of the young wrestler has resonated with the Japanese. 'This happens all across the country, in schools and workplaces, and it is probably one of the cultural characteristics we have in Japan,' said Naoki Ogi, a professor of education at Hosei University in Tokyo&nbsp;and longtime critic of the culture of discipline in Japanese schools. Here's the link to an article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/09/AR2008030901742.htmlThe abuse that occurs in sumo stables, Ogi said, is a contemporary echo of the beatings that were routine inside the Japanese military in the years before World War II, when the armed forces had pervasive influence on Japanese society. This abusive pattern, persists in business and education,&nbsp;often times&nbsp;in ways that are far more psychological than physical. 'As a society, Japan has yet to go through a full democratic review of this kind of behavior,' he said."That brings me to a whole new issue..suicide in Japan. I'll leave that for another blog.Have a great day everyone :)&lt;3 Kate
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207808400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207808400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207808400/tpod.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:17:21 -0400 New York City bound!

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Okayama, Japan

I have a list of things I want to do before I leave Japan...and in late February I was able to check another one off that list!!! The Naked Man Festival! Yes, you read it correctly..My friends Mac, Joe, Lily and I took a 6-7 hour road trip to a "nearby" prefecture called Okayama. We affectionately refer to it as our sister prefecture because the two names sound so much alike, and if you don't annunciate the name just right most Japanese people think that we said Okayama and that that's where we live--when in fact we are saying <i>Wakayama. The reason for heading into the southern part of the island was for the annual Naked Man Festival (in Japanese it's called the Hadaka Matsuri)!! Japan has some&nbsp;strange and crazy&nbsp;festivals but this has got to be up there in the top 5. A bit of history about the event--The festival is held in the evening at a temple in the city of Okayama, in Okayama prefecture. The host of this event, is a Shingon sect temple believed to have been founded in the year 778. <i>Eyo is a 14-day New Year ritual during which monks of the Shingon sect pray for a year of bountiful harvest and good fortune. On the 14th day, amulets&nbsp;(an object that protects a person from trouble) said to guarantee a good year were presented to the elders representing the people. But an increasing amount of believers began to gather for these amulets. People fought until their clothes tore off!! Thus the paper amulets were replaced by wooden sticks which were tossed into the crowd. Good fortune is bestowed to those who catch these sticks. By the end of the 19th century, the event had evolved into the current style, being held naked (not completely but rather in a 'thong' that looks similar to that worn by sumo wrestlers). Recently, the festival has been attracting over 10,000 naked men who thrust themselves into the crowd upon the release of these wooden charms at midnight. Despite the chilling temperature, the intense fight produces steam that casts a mysterious spell on this winter event. We toured the castle and famous gardens before the festival began and got some food at an Italian restaurant!! We said goodbye/wished good luck&nbsp;to our friends who were participating in the festival (foreigners are allowed to participate as long as you don't have any tattoo's--tattoo's in Japanese culture are representative of the mafia!). We made our way through the back streets of the town, watching as groups of men dressed in their sumo thongs (fundoshi) ran around the streets drinking sake and chanting, psyching themselves up for the climax of the festival at midnight when the sticks would be dropped. We tried to stay warm in the cold weather and couldn't believe it when we finally saw our friends run passed&nbsp;us!! They looked so funny/freezing cold in their little outfits. Slowly we made our way to the main temple and found a place to stand on a hill overlooking the temple. The closer it got to midnight the more men packed in around the temple, each vying for a spot under the roof where the sticks would be dropped. It looked exhausting having to fight to even stay standing up right! The police had to go in many times to retrieve people who were either passed out drunk or simply from exhaustion.As it got closer and closer to midnight the intensity was growing and finally at exactly midnight (in true Japanese fashion) the lights everywhere went black and the sticks were dropped!! Then complete chaos ensued and the men began wrestling each other and fighting for those coveted lucky sticks. Here is a quote from a friend's blog who was also watching next to me: "it is the MOST primal, intense, and heavily violent festival I have ever witnessed in Japan...just the adrenaline of thousands of men, fighting and pushing each other for one single stick in a crowded area, of the temple is insane! The domino effect of men falling over, and fighting...getting trampled and so forth adds to the infamous charm of this matsuri. A few of our Wakayaman brothers here ( Jono, Joe and Parry ) joined in on this insane matsuri. Sadly, Ryan was not allowed to join due to his tattoos...this year, there was absolutely NO EXCEPTION. No bandages to cover them, were even allowed. However, view the madness for yourself..."That being said, once again I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I will also include a video clip I took....it's insane!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207806360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207806360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207806360/tpod.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:07:28 -0400 New York City bound!

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Sapporo, Japan

February entry--We had so much fun last year in Sapporo at the annual Snow Festival we just had to go back again this year! Lily and I really fell in love with Hokkaido during last summer when we went to Japanese school there for the month. It's fabulous no matter what season you visit during! If I have the money once I have a family I definitely want to bring them to Japan for the snow festival, it's so much fun for both kids and adults. The snow festival in Hokkaido started 60 years ago when some high school students made some snow sculptures in a park. It's evolved into a HUGE outdoor festival in and around a large park in central Sapporo. It attracts almost 2 million people from all over the world every year. In addition to massive sculptures as big as office buildings built by such groups as the Japanese Army, there are smaller ones around 6 feet tall made by small groups of people from different countries. The contestants arrive about 10 days prior to the festival to start making their works of art. My favorite large sculpture from this year was called something like 'Save the World for the Children' and it had famous places such as Big Ben, and Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. My favorite small one was of the Taj Mahal!!!Since it doesn't get super cold where I live it's nice to go somewhere (for a short time) that's really cold and has a ton of snow. (I'd say the weather in my area is similar to North Carolina? We had flurries ONCE this year in the mountainous area of town and everyone freaked out.)I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, because well, snow sculptures don't really need detailed explanations..but here are some of the highlights/fun things I did during my&nbsp;super long weekend&nbsp;on Japan's northern most island:1. drank Dom Perignon champagne in an ice&nbsp;bar with Japanese businessmen (they paid for 11 of us to each have&nbsp;a $30 glass of champagne!)2. saw a drag show in a hostess club (the same said business man paid the $30 entrance fee for 11 of us)3. made a mini snowman&nbsp;to&nbsp;join other thousands&nbsp;of snowmen in huge field4. raced my friends through a huge snow maze (i lost)5. carved a cup out of&nbsp;a block of ice then drank vodka from it at 11:00am (yum!)6. climbed to the top of the Sapporo Tower using the exterior stairs (we only did it because the line for the elevator was so long - it was so windy and freezing)7. ate amazing Indian food at my favorite restaurant in the city - great nan and curry and the nicest&nbsp;Indian people8. taught 2 friends how to ski for their very first time on a huge mountain covered in fresh powder9. watched the Japanese National Ski Team practice on the huge ski jump in the middle of the city10.hung out with my Wakayama friends at a huge indoor beer garden/lamb restaurant!I'm sad I won't be able to go back to Hokkaido for another cool (literally) summer but it's all good! Another time, another time..I will included some random photo's taken throughout January; my towns annual Tuna Festival, my adult English class, and other teaching stuff...Stay tuned for more entries from late winter/early spring!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207804080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207804080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1207804080/tpod.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:27:22 -0400 New York City bound!

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Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

another late blog, this one is about Vietnam!---------------------------After our volunteer trip in Cambodia ended my friend from Wakayama, Parry and I headed to Vietnam to travel for our last week of vacation. I love Asia because for the most part the countries are relatively close to each other. Parry and I flew from Siem Reap, Cambodia to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. We had arranged to be picked up by someone from the hostel and walked right past the sign with my name because it was spelled "KatE ClUkAtluE"!! When we realized there was no one there to pick us up we walked around again and spotted that sign, and thought that must be it despite how badly they butchered my name. We stayed in a dorm style hostel room with 10 people in it, but to our surprise it was really clean, spacious, and the beds were comfortable. Since we only had about 4 days in Hanoi we hit the ground running and immediately booked&nbsp;an overnight boat trip to the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay. Our Australian friends Michelle and Greg (from our PEPY trip) joined us as well which was fun. We set sail in an old 'junk boat' into a beautiful bay that supposedly has 1,000 rocks jutting out of it. We visited caves and went sea kayaking then hung out on the boat with the 6 other passengers and enjoyed&nbsp;a nice dinner on the boat. In the morning we hung out on top of the boat, reading, drinking strong Vietnamese coffee and generally jsut relaxing and taking in the view. It was a short but nice trip! The next few days were spent siteseeing around the city: Ho Chi Minh museum, Textile Museum, and the famous must-see Water Puppet Show!&nbsp;Parry and I decided to devote our last full day in Hanoi to a coffee taste test and we visited over 6 cafes just sampling their coffee, rating it and writing postcards. It was a really fun morning and we definitely felt a strong buzz from the strong coffee!!Overall I really enjoyed Hanoi, the way the city is centered around a lake and the French colonial feel to a lot of the buildings. Oh, and did I mention the food? Unbelievable! Our next and final destination was Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. Since Vietnam is so long we saved time by flying down south. We were greeted by insane traffic, the worst I've seen in my life. There aren't many cars, everyone has moped like scooters or motorbikes - it is madness in the streets!! Rarely do you see traffic lights and people always seem to be running red lights. Our "hotel" was pretty dissapointing, but I guess we shouldn't have expected much because it was only about $7 a night. There isn't much in the way of culture in HCM besides the War Remnants Museum,&nbsp;and President's House. We spent one day visiting those sites and another on a day trip to this fascinating temple and tunnels used during the Vietnam War. I even got to shoot an AK-47 and an M-16 when we visited the site of the tunnels!&nbsp;A lot of countries in Asia have a surplus of weapons left over from wars...so they figure why not charge tourists to fire them! Our leader in Cambodia shot some automatic weapons in Cambodia and was asked if he wanted to buy a real cow to shoot at!! He was like 'No, thanks! I'm fine using the targets..'I didn't particularly like&nbsp;HCM because&nbsp;it was so big, and difficult to get around because of how hard it is to cross the street without getting hit by a car or motorbike, but on the positive side I did&nbsp;learn a lot about the Vietnam War, or as the Vietnamese people call it, the American War.Due to a 15 hour lay-over, Parry and I spent the night on couches at the airport in Taiwan before our last flight home to Japan. It was nice to come back to clean and orderly Japan after our 2 week journey...but it's always hard for me to start working after great vacations :( I always want to start thinking about the next place I'm going, and luckily spring break wasn't far off...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1200650160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1200650160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kateinjapan/japan_2006-2007/1200650160/tpod.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:31:39 -0400 New York City bound!

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

sorry to my loyal readers (i hope you're still out there?) for making you wait 4 months to read my next blog! hehe but better late than never, right? I'm going to try and be better about writing these for my last few months in Japan so cross your fingers I'm able to keep motivated! (sorry if some parts don't make sense or if there are typo's. I can't be bothered to look at it for one more second)here it goes...I knew while I was traveling that upon returning to Japan and sitting down to write this blog that there would be no way I could possibly put into words the things I experienced-walking around&nbsp;1,000 year old temples engulfed by the jungle, learning a few words of&nbsp;Khmer in order to communicate with the children we taught, to the&nbsp;memories I made with my fellow volunteers. But here I am..3 months behind schedule, and I'm going to try to briefly relay to you all a handful of the experiences I had volunteering in Cambodia and then after wards traveling throughout Vietnam.National Geographic was right in naming the PEPY trip to Cambodia, one of their&nbsp;"trips of a lifetime." &nbsp;&nbsp;We spent a total of 10 days in Cambodia, the first of which were part of a pre-extension trip in the capital Phnom Penh. Our group consisted of&nbsp;7 teachers from&nbsp;Japan, a med school student from Boston, a consultant from Washington, D.C., a Japanese woman in her 60's, an American woman who had adopted 2 Cambodian children thirty years ago and had always wanted to see their native country, a British professor from Tokyo, and a young Australian couple looking for a unique travel experience. Our guides were both around my age, and work for the NGO, PEPY in Cambodia.The pre-extension trip was an opportunity for people to see Phnom Penh and the many sights in and around it. We were busy for the entire 4 days--we visited the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, S21 Museum and the Killing Fields.&nbsp;I had no idea what a tumultuous past Cambodia has had...yet the smiles&nbsp;on the Cambodian people's faces are bigger than ever.&nbsp;Our hotel was on the river front, so we&nbsp;could easily explore the main markets and shops along the river, and don't forget $10 full body massages after a long day of walking around!&nbsp; For dinners we ate at restaurants run by ex-street children, women who were victims of domestic violence, etc..It was great knowing the places we were patronizing were actually helping people, and&nbsp;the food was unbeatable! We also visited an orphanage one night, funded by a Hollywood movie producer, and&nbsp;had the chance to see a performance on their brand new stage - what amazing kids. We also visited Resource Development International Cambodia (RDIC), a fascinating place that is staffed with incredible people who are dedicated to serving the people of Cambodia. How? RDI has implemented various projects designed to provide clean water to rural villagers of Cambodia.&nbsp; It's hard to believe that 74% of all deaths in Cambodia comes from water borne diseases related to the high levels of arsenic in the ground. A big part of the work at RDI is providing education to Cambodian people, and finding ways to reach everyone due to the high illiteracy levels. I also got to feed an elephant in Phnom Penh! She stays with her trainer near a Wat (temple) in the center of the city and waits to take people on rides around town. I don't support riding the elephants because they are usually drugged, chained, etc..but this girl seemed to be doing OK (she's 45 years old!) so I decided to pay his trainer $1 and feed him a bunch of about 20 bananas. As I approached the elephant, I asked my friends 'Do I break one banana off and give it to her? or give her the whole bunch? Where do I put it? In her trunk? or right into her mouth?' After she saw the bananas she took a step towards me with her huge feet and reached down and grabbed the entire bunch of bananas and raised them up into her mouth!! No more questions about the feeding process! After wards I stood there petting her trunk and legs..I've never touched an elephant before and the hairs on her skin were so prickly and rough! But she was very sweet and in the end I'm glad I fed her the bananas.Phnom Penh was a beautiful city, but much more poor than I expected it to be. I thought it would be similar to Bangkok, Thailand but boy was I wrong. We visited a slum where hundreds of people live, and it's located right next to the King's Palace. Kids don't go to school in that area because they can't afford it (you have to pay the teachers under the table so that they show up to work). They have to spend their days picking through trash at landfills to find plastics and cans to sell to recycling centers. It was heartbreaking..but I had to keep in mind that I was there doing something good -however the time and money I donated would&nbsp;not be able to&nbsp;reach everyone. When it was time to go to Siem Reap we boarded a&nbsp;small van and drove&nbsp;6 hours over some extremely bumpy roads that were in terrible condition.&nbsp;Through the windows we got to see our first glimpses of the Cambodian countryside, complete with cow traffic jams! We checked into our hotel in Siem Reap and the following day got up early to make the 2 hour trek to the PEPY Ride School where we would volunteer. We were greeted by hundreds of smiling students at the school gate, anxiously awaiting our arrival. I immediately noticed how much better their English was than the Japanese elementary school students I teach. To the Cambodian children, learning English is a matter of succeeding/having a job in tourism or having a low paying job working on a farm. It was a joy teaching them because they actually wanted to learn and tried hard (not to say that 90% of my students don't try hard, it's that 10% that are difficult!). We spent the entire day at the school, helping the students paint the school fence and gate, handing out new uniforms (you should've seen the condition of the old ones), cleaning the library, gardening, putting up a volleyball net,&nbsp;and volunteer teaching. At the end of the day everyone was exhausted!!The best day was our visit to the famous Angkor Wat temple complex. We toured the massive temples that make up Angkor Wat&nbsp;with our 4th grade buddies and played traditional Cambodian games with them on the lawns outside. The day was a great experience for everyone, and for most of the kids, it was their first time into 'the city' to see their national monument. Spent a lot of time exploring the city, more temples, and visited the landmine museum. Since for some reason I have developed into an incredibly lazy person...I've decided to use some excerpts from a fellow JET/PEPY participants blog (hope you dont mind Leilani, your blog is so great!) since we were on the same trip and hung out a lot together..On Cambodian roads..."We spent a lot of time traveling around on the roads, mostly in tuk-tuks (a covered cabin pulled by a moto) and buses. Tuk-tuks are the way most foreigner groups of people travel around in Cambodia. There are a lot of them and are pretty cheap. I think the record number we fit into one was 7 people. Boy are we cheap! Anyways, they were fun to ride in for the first 5 or so minutes, then as I felt the gritty dirt in my mouth and on my face, it became less fun. To go to the school and between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap we used buses on the bumpiest roads I have ever been on. We saw many interesting things as we drove through the cities and small villages in Cambodia. Here are some of the memorable moments: cow traffic jams, water buffalo chilling in peoples front yards, families riding on motos, lots of dirt, potholes, playing chicken with oncoming vehicles, no sense of which side of the road Cambodians actually drive on, kids peeing in the open fields, tons of Dorian fruit for sale, and finally, pigs and chickens drugged and hanging off the backs of motos going to market. The roads in the city of Phnom Penh were busy, and I think I saw only one traffic light in the whole city, but it was like organized chaos. The cars, motos, tuk-tuks, bikes, and people moved fluidly around each other. We saw a few accidents, but luckily we were never involved in one!"On visiting a famous local musician in the slums: "Then we went to visit a blind Khmer musician and his son, and listened to them play music and sing. As they played, some people from the community gathered around, so I snapped some pictures of them too. I was struck by many things here. First of all, the artist is very well known in Phnom Penh, yet the area he lived in is probably the poorest place I have ever been in. I do not mean to make fun of him or be disrespectful of the people, but I was really surprised at the level of poverty. The streets were surrounded on each side by heaps of garbage and the houses were simple tin roofs held up by a few pieces of plywood. As in the rest of Cambodia, the baby boys go bottomless, and the baby girls go topless. As we watched the men's performance, a woman who was holding her young son, turned him so that he faced away from her just as a small stream spouted out of him. I saw the ease of no pants. The music was very beautiful. The man's voice soulful. As I thought countless times on this trip, I felt so lucky to be there, doing things like listening to this private concert. I never imagined myself traveling like this and that it could be so rewarding."I'm not going to try and write anymore,..but rather let the pictures and captions do the talking. Enjoy!It's been a busy past 3 months, lots of traveling within Japan to different festivals, etc...Lily and I just returned from India on a whirlwind 2 week trip all over North/Central India!!&nbsp;I have lots&nbsp;to write about after that trip...and am going to need a lot of coffee to get that blog done :)Hope you are all enjoying spring!4&nbsp;more months until I come home!!! :)Love,Kate
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