Japanese Rainy Season
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2009
1
27
47
Trip End
Jun 25, 2011
Shirahama, Minabe, Susami, Kyoto, Kobe,
Japan
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Weather is always a topic of conversation on the drive to school with the various principals that pick me up, and recently they all seem especially surprised when I tell them we have 4 seasons (now I know not in all parts of the states, but lots...and definitely where I'm from!) Japanese people do this exaggerated, "ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?" whenever they can't believe something and it's getting more and more annoying as the months roll on. The Japanese have a mindset that is such that they often believe they are the only place in the world that does things like they do. Example: McDonald's. Unfortunately for them, they are usually incorrect! Hint: TRAVEL.
Right now it is the Rainy Season in Japan, known as tsuyu. I've never seen rain like this before, it literally rains cats and dogs ALL day, and then the next day will be gorgeous. Apparently this goes on for a few months, and then the weather goes straight to unbelievably hot and humid.
01 Japanese rice patties, freshly planted in May
Unfortunately I haven't learned my lesson yet, and still leave the house without a raincoat (I don't like umbrella's) in the morning, and have been caught biking home from the train station in torrential down pours more time than I'd like.Hmm..what else has been going on recently?
1.SHIRAHAMA
We have been spending a lot of time at the beach recently- about 2 hours north in a town called Shirahama (literally means white beach). I love living near the water, and on such a beautiful coastline! Our JET friend Tristan (from Hawaii) lives in Shirahama so he knows his way around, plus we have a place to stay if we need it (THANKS TRISTAN!! you're the best), also it seems to be a little more centrally located for all of us to hang out on the weekends.
The white sand beach has sand that is imported yearly from Australia! It's a big touristy resort destination and is one of the many things my prefecture, Wakayama, is "famous" for. Another big draw there is the SUBWAY right on the beach - it's the only one in our prefecture, the next closest one is Osaka (another 2 1/2 hours north)! So often times I'll eat there both Saturday and Sunday. The Japanese don't know what they're missing when it comes to sandwiches, and they are always shocked when all of us foreigners walk in and order "L size sandwiches." What can I say, I like to eat.
About a month ago Lily and I hosted our first event as "co-presidents" of WAJET (Wakayama JET Prefectural Representatives). We hosted the annual Trivia Night in Tanabe city.
02 my lunch for school: gyoza, edamame
Lots of people met on the beach earlier in the day for some sun, swimming and a big game of Ultimate. It was a lot of fun and a fun way to kick off the summer. We had a great turn out, about 25 JET's! We ate at a local izakaya, Japanese resturant/bar, while each team answered questions from 5 different categories. The winning team's name was "Stop Tempting Me" and they won $125! Last weekend there was a Sand Festival in Shirahama with lots of games on the beach, and a treasure hunt in huge mountain of sand made by bulldozers. We also watched the first ever Sunset Wedding on the beach. A rich guy from Tokyo married a local girl, and I guess pulled some strings (ie: probably bribed local government officials) to be able to have his wedding on the beach. Tons of people sat on the beach and watched as the couple drove onto the beach in a red convertible, sitting in the back waving like prom king and queens (except saying 'arigato gozaimasu!'), then proceed down the aisle in their western style wedding apparel. Apparently many Japanese couples have a Japanese wedding ceremony and then a Western ceremony only because the girls want to wear the pretty white dress. We all thought it was funny the guy didn't have a tuxedo on, but more like a military looking jacket on complete with cords and a SWORD! haha not quite what western grooms wear on their wedding day, but nice try.
2. EXPLORING
Other weekends we have spent exploring more of Wakayama. Sara (from London), Lily and I also did some exploring around Sara's town (Susami, about an hour and a half from my apartment) and found 2 really cool waterfalls and an amazing new onsen.
03 girls at the beach
After my recent experience at the new onsen, my former #1 onsen has been bumped to #2. Why? This onsen is a part of a nice hotel and is an outdoor onsen set up high in the mountains overlooking the Pacific. The actual baths are infinity pool style and seem to disappear into the horizon. There was even a hot outdoor onsen with fresh roses floating in it! So beautiful.3. RE-CONTRACTORS CONFERENCE
JET's that stay for a 2nd year and re-contract are treated to a 3-day all expenses paid "conference"/drink-fest in either Kobe/Tokyo, depending on where in Japan you live. Since I live in Western Japan my conference was held in Kobe last week. Each JET's town pays for their travel expensese and 2 nights in a really nice hotel. A bunch of us decided to make a long weekend out of it and went up to Osaka/Kyoto early to do some siteseeing. I spent one day walking around Kobe, visited the earthquake memorial (The 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, measured 6.9 on the Richter scale, was one of the most devastating earthquakes ever to hit Japan; more than 5,500 were killed and over 26,000 injured. The economic loss has been estimated at about $US 200 billion), and took a cable car up to Mt.Rokko and walked down through beautiful flower/herb gardens. Kobe is a lot like a Portland (or so I hear) and kind of reminds me of the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. It's always nice to spend time in a city that doesn't really feel like Japan, even if it's just for a few hours.
The next day Tony and I took the train to Kyoto and visited an area of Kyoto I had never been before called Arashiyama.
04 stop throwing seaweed at us!
We hiked up a small mountain to 'Monkey Park' where Macque monkeys roam free in a 'research center.' I thought it would be quite creul but had a good experience there, the monkeys seem to have a good environment to live in, are happy and well-fed. The actual JET conference was pretty boring, hours were spent in large conference rooms listening to speakers talk about improving relationships with Japanese teachers, or giving us more lesson plan ideas. But it was great to see people who we rarely get to see and to meet other JET's for the first time. 4. CAMBODIA
So....I decided not to come home for this coming Christmas. I'm sorry everyone :( I was really looking forward to my visit home, but last week I realized that at that point in the year I will only be in Japan for another 7 months and there just isn't enough time to go home AND travel to the countries I want to visit. The main reason I came did the JET program was to travel around South East Asia and as much as I miss home, and want to see everyone, that trip would take time away from traveling. I have decided to volunteer with the NGO 'PEPY' in rural Cambodia doing volunteer work at local schools and in sustainable development. Should be a great trip! "PEPY is a non-profit organization working to improve educational opportunities in rural Cambodia and offering unique adventures for those looking to give-back while they travel." If you want to see more about the trip you can visit their website http://pepyride.org/
5.
05 Shirahama Beach
BEIJING 2008I also just booked tickets to the OLYMPICS IN CHINA!! I know it's far away, and some of you are probably thinking, wow Kate is a huge dork for planning so far in advance. But believe me, you have to!! Ticket reservations are until mid-July and tickets to popular events like gymnastics are going quickly. I grew up watching the Olympics and ever since I was a little kids I've always wanted to go. So what better time than August 2008 because I'm only a 3 hour flight away from Beijing. I will be attending 2 days of swimming, and 1 day each of tennis, track and field, gymnastics, and water polo (to see BETSEY play!)
6. JAPANESE SCHOOL
This summer Lily and I were granted special "cultural leave" to attend a Japanese Language School in the northern most island of Japan, Hokkaido. I went there in February for the huge snow festival and loved it! It's supposed to be beautiful in the summer, a lot cooler than in Southern Japan where I live (hopefully it will be like Maine in the summer?) We will be attending Japanese immersion classes every day for 4 hours with other students from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, America and Canada. One of the cool things about the program is that Japanese will (ideally) be the common language we communicate to each other in. Wish me luck! We just received our housing for the 3 week long program, and we will be staying in an ALL-GIRLS dorm on the Hokkaido University campus. What is it with me and all-girls dorms?? Freshman year of college Paige and I were unwillingly placed into Virginia Hall, and had a terrible time there! Lily blames me and my karma for this, and I'm beginning to think it's true.
06 sunset
WHY US!!? Current Events:
-20 year old Riyo Mori was crowned Miss Universe, the first Japanese woman since 1959 to win the crown.
-caught in the midst of a national political scandal, the Japanese agricultural minister killed himself last week, hours before he was to face parliamentary questioning. This tragic event will continue to effect the decreasing popularity of the Japanese Prime Minister Abe (the two worked closely together and Abe apparently supported him throughout this scandal). In March, the Agricultural Minister tried to quiet questions about ¥5.1 million, or $42,000, he reported two years ago as the cost of utilities for his tiny Tokyo office by saying that the money had been spent on purified water! Apparently he became quite delusional towards the end, and actually tried to justify those costs by saying "Nobody drinks tap water any more!" Japanese news website in English wrote that, "The explanation quickly became the butt of national ridicule, prompting television crews and opposition politicians to visit the office to request a taste of the pricey water. His suicide was the first by a serving cabinet minister since at least World War II. Suicides have a long and often-romanticized history in Japan, where they are still seen as a face-saving escape from public humiliation."
Funny things from school:
--In Japan, Waldo's name is WALLY! The kids didn't believe me when I told them it was an American book.
--Elementary School students spend their recess time catching huge grasshoppers, tadpoles, newts, butterflys, and beetles in huge nets, then keep them in aquariums in their classrooms.
--Japanese children are taught to cross the street with their hand raised up high (like they're answering a question in school) as to increase their height and visibility in the road.
--Watermelon is difficult for the kids to pronounce, and today while teaching 3rd graders fruits--the funny/class-clown boy seemed to finally understand how to pronounce it, and said "One-Two-Melon" ahhh, fine I give up, close enough.
OK I'm off work early today, as I have half-days every Friday - so it's nap time for me.
Hope to hear from you all soon. Don't forget about me over here living on this little island!
MISS YOU ALL!
PS: Keep the mail coming, my postcard wall is filling up nicely :)
