The first part is a little bit of another Wakayama ALT's blog, she's candaian, and has a really extensive blog. You can see it at: http://susannesensei.blogspot.com/
'Like the ubiquitous backpacking trips around Europe, teaching English overseas appears to be another one of those rites of passage for young university graduates. It's a chance to: experience life as an expat; travel; learn a new skill; immerse yourself in another culture; pick-up a second (third or fourth) language, and hopefully save some money or pay off those pesky student loans. So, as a recent B.A. grad, I am about to partake in this rite and start a year-long stint on the JET Programme as an Assistant Language Teacher or ALT.
I have wanted to participate on the JET Programme from hearing about it a kid in Steveston, BC. After participating in the exchange program to Shizuoka, Japan in junior high school, I became very interested in the language, culture and history of Japan. I continued studying Japanese in high school and at the University of British Columbia(UBC) picking up an Asian Studies minor along the way.
For me, going on the JET Programme will be a rite of passage. I'll gain a greater sense of self and independence living away from my family since I chose to stay at home while attending UBC. It will also afford me the opportunity to travel around Asia and improve my Japanese.
Throughout my time on the program and the preparations for the program in Vancouver, I will be using this blog to reflect on and share my experiences working and teaching in Japan.'
And back to me... :)
This past weekend about 10 of the other Wakayama JET's, Lily and I met up about half way down the coast of our prefecture in the small town of Susami. Sara, the British girl in our little group, lives there and the town has about 5,000 people. And Lily and I thought Katsuura was small! We were all really excited to see each other (we bonded really fast in Tokyo when we found out we'd be living close to each other for the next year) and speak Engilsh at a normal speed for more than a phone conversation!
It was a glorious reunion at the train station and everyone got a kick out of Parry's shirt that his friend made him that said 'Parry-san'. We walked about 10 minutes to Sara's house which is right next to a big rice patty field. Her 2 story house was really cute, she has lots of rooms and a little front and backyard. Her BOE even bought her a new bike and put really cute labels with her name on it!
We all changed and headed straight for the beach (with a side trip to the Okuwa, grocery store, for some Asahi beer too). The beach was beautiful, lined with little baby palm trees. We put our stuff down under a gazebo type thing and ran for the ocean. It was Parry's first time in the ocean!!! No one could believe it. (He's from Indiana) He didnt get out of the water for hours and couldnt stop saying 'It's SO salty!!' haha We played frisbee in the water and Ryan kept doign belly flops into the waves....basically we were being all things obnoxious, and completely American. OH-and Justin brought out his IPOD and dock so we were blaring loud music too. It was great! There was our little group at one end of the beach, and then all the way at the other end were all the Japanese people staring at us. But hey, that doesnt bother us anymore, we're used to it!
We stayed at the beach until around 6-7 then walked back to Sara's house and ate spaghetti and salad with chopsticks. We hung out until around 4am and then slowly people started to wind down...we all slept on futons in various rooms around the house. Some people woke up early and took early trains home, but Lily, Quinn, Sara, Ryan and I decided to hit the beach again.
We had a really relaxing day eating bento boxes of sushi by the beach then laying in the warm water for hours. Ryan, Sara and I took a walk around the beach and out past the inlet to where the ocean really got more rocky. We found this beautiful tide pool out there that was shielded by big rocks, it was so hot and sunny that we decided to jump in and cool off. Lily and I took the 5:00 train home. What a great weekend!
Monday of this week Shima-san took us to visit more of our schools. One of the principals tried to introduce himself and said 'Hello. I am prime minister and I am 52 years old.' Lily, Shima-san and I started to laugh a little and Shima-san told him what he had just said. All 15 of the teachers started hysterically laughing at him. Then they got nervous because they thought they had to share their ages too. Age is a big deal in Japan and is often asked soon after introductions to place you accordingly in the ranks of the social heirarchy. So the teachers didnt want us to know I guess?
They were all very nice and welcomed us. We finally met some students which made me more excited to start working. They're very shy at first, but apparently will open up soon after getting to know us. One of my schools has the distinction of being the closest school to the ocean in all of Japan. I really like this school because its surrounded by water on 3 sides and is really open and airy. There was a big sum of money given to the schools in Katsuura to restructure them to make them more safe during earthquakes. Most of the schools look old and seemingly run down because they were constructed after the war. And none of the sports fields have grass on them! They are all dirt, and apparently before big games, festivals they send the kids out into the fields to pluck any small pieces of grass out!
Yesterday after work my predecessor Nick and his wife Kyoko (he got married to a girl from our town) picked us up to go this huge fireworks festival in the prefecture next to Wakayama, called Mie. It started raining on our train ride there and we didnt have any umbrellas or rain coats because it had been so nice that whole day! There were thousands of people lining the beach in Kumano, all with umbrellas and tarps over them. There were hundreds of food vendors selling things like: chocolate covered bananas with sprinkles, fried rice with an egg on top, bread balls, rice wrapped in seaweed, beer, french frieds, and lilo and stitch paraphanalia.
We hung out under the tarp for an hour or so soaking wet and then around 7:30pm the rain stopped and the stars came out! It was perfect timing. These fireworks were supposed to be the best in the region because the small town Kumano actually makes fireworks there. The fireworks were places on 2 barges in teh ocean and on a nearby cliff on the water. The Japanese fireworks are more like a show, with an announcer announcing each section and which company has sponsored it. The show went on for 2 hours and was FANTASTIC!! best fireworks ive seen, SO large. They even let off fireworks from underwater!! The train ride back was a mob scene, it looked just like you picture the subway in Tokyo to be with all the pushing.
This afternoon Nick is taking Lily and I to meet his tea ceremony teacher. He told us we need to have white socks on (will report later if I find out why) too. Lily and I are thinking about taking private tea ceremony lessons. I also want to learn how to surf and take pottery class. After we visit the teacher Nick and Kyoko are going to show us around town, some good restaurants and a good bakery.
This weekend is the Shirahama Beach Party for all 75 of the JET's in Wakayama, so we will have a chance to meet all the other 1st year JET's from Group A, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year JETS. Should be lots of fun!!
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