So Much School

Last week was just as busy as the week before it, but I will finally have some down time now. Golden week (a week with many national holidays) is coming up and I'll have a nice few days off work. I don't have any solid plans, traveling that week can be very crowded and expensive, but I might go to onsen with some friends for a few days. There are also many festivals in the area, so I'm hoping to go to some of those as well.

Last week I spent mostly in school or out with my coworkers. I was in Shinozaki and as I said before, it was very nice to be back in a familiar school with students and teachers I already knew. I spent any free time I had talking with the students about how their Spring vacations were and telling them about the other schools I'd visited. Two girls who just started their last year of middle school have started coming to visit me during lunch. They always come with a topic they want to talk about and we talk in English. It's a lot of fun! They asked me to come to their recorder club after school. I went and I was so impressed! I remember playing the recorder in 3rd grade, but it was nothing like what these students could do. They played beautifully and even had bass recorders for the lower notes. They played me the theme song from 魔女の宅急便 (Majo no Takkyubin, Kiki's Delivery Service) and we talked about different music we liked.

I also went to 美術部 (bijyustubu, art club) at the request of another student. That students is also now in her last year and just became the head of the of club. I've been to the art club before, but hadn't been in a while. The students showed me things they'd made in all different mediums from miniature silicon desserts to mural paintings. They explained to me how they made all these different things and I even got to try my hand at 書道 (shodou, Japanese calligraphy). The club captain, the girl who asked me to join, goes to calligraphy class every week and she's amazing. I took a class in college on it, so I knew some of the basics, but she was amazing. I had a lot of fun learning from her and I think she really enjoyed being able to teach me something in Japanese. I learned how to write　花火 (hanabi. I like the way these kanji look and I like the meaning. The first kanji, 花 (hana), means flower and the second, 火 (ka or hi/bi), means fire. Can you guess what those two kanji mean together? (And before you guess, no, it's not the fire flower power-up from the Mario games.) It means firework. I also picked it because it's fairly easy. I won't be back in Shinozaki for about a month, but when I go back I hope to learn more! My students want to teach me 墨絵 (sumie, ink wash panting), painting with the same brushes, ink, and paper used for calligraphy. I'm excited to learn!

I also got to see my chorus club in Ishimine this Saturday. The school was having an open campus event for parents to come and see the school and clubs. The students and teachers were very excited I came! I really enjoyed watching the students sing and meeting some of their parents. I brought a small bouquet of flowers so I could give a flower to each student. They really liked it, but I think they were very surprised! It doesn't seem like it's customary to give flowers for a school performance here. The students and chorus director were very happy for the flowers anyway and it was a great way to spend my Saturday afternoon.

After visiting Ishimine, I took the bus back to Kurosaki where I met Juha for coffee. We had a beginning of the year enkai (work party) that night with the teachers from Futajima. At the beginning of the year party it's customary for both the new teachers to the school and the teachers who left to attend. The teachers who left (including me) all made speeches about our new schools and the new teachers made speeches about what they hope to accomplish in Futajima. It was at a nice Chinese restaurant and I was so happy to see all my old friends from Futajima. It was also my first (and will probably be my only) enkai with another ALT. I talked to all my friends and we made plans to go to the upcoming festivals together. It was a great time! The new teachers all seem great and Juha is having a good time with them. We went to nijikai, second party, and sang karaoke. Juha and I started it off by singing a song by きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ ( Kyari Pamyu Pamyu), a famous Japanese singer and model. We sang the song インベーダインベーダ (Invader, Invader). I was really happy to see everyone again!

The night before I had gone to another beginning of the year enkai with the teachers from Shinozaki. I sat next to two new teachers and it was great to get to know them better! I also had the chance to talk with some of the teachers who left for other schools. We had dinner in the ステーションホテル小倉 (Station Hotel Kokura) where my parents stayed when they came to visit. The food was excellent and I had so much fun!

nikai was held at a karaoke place not far from the station called カラオケ館 (Karaoke Kan). This place opened a few months after I arrived and I have avoided it since then. It has huge illuminated pictures all over the building of Westerns that we all find fairly off-putting. I was supposed to meet some friend for karaoke, but wanted to stay with my coworkers as well. So my friends ended up coming to カラオケ館 and although I mostly stayed with my friends, I was able to join my coworkers for the 乾杯 (kanpai, cheers or toast)and sing a few songs. Some of my coworkers even stopped by my room I had with my friends and sang a song before going to their sanjikai, third party. I'm really happy we went there because it was actually incredibly nice! They had little stages in all the rooms and it ended up being cheaper than Shidax, where we normally go.

It's been a great few weeks getting back to school, but I'm so happy to have a short break for Golden week. I'm still visiting many different middle schools and can't wait to go back to just visiting my base schools, Ishimine and Shinozaki. Tomorrow I have a holiday and will be going to the wisteria gardens with some friends, so I'm very excited! Look for some amazing pictures from me next week! (Unless it rains too much, then we'll go to Korona World instead, but I'll still make sure to take some awesome pictures.) Now I have to go make sure my bike is still outside where I left it so I can get home, I'm a bit worried it's blown away from all the wind and rain today!

A Busy Week

This week I've been a bit all over the place. I started my week working at Ishimine. I had a great time there and again stayed late to hang out in chorus club. They have a concert next Saturday that I'm really excited to see! I barely finished making the other two English boards for the students, but they seemed to be interested in at least the Pokemon board. When I go back to that school in June I will have to clean it up a little, I ran out of decorating time and it looks a little thrown together. I'm just glad I could get everything up there before leaving.

The rest of the week I was working at Shinozaki. It's nice to be back in a familiar school. I had a great time meeting everyone in Ishimine and I think I will have a great time working there, but meeting a whole new set of teachers and students and the new school layout and atmosphere can be a bit overwhelming. Coming back to Shinozaki and saying hello to my vice principal and sitting next to the teachers I've been working with since August is a kind of relief.

I've also started a very ambitious project this week. I'm applying or a Japanese credit card. I've heard many horror stories for foreigners trying to apply for credit cards in Japan only to be turned away for not capitalizing every letter in his or her name (they're not kidding when they ask you to print exactly the name on your passport) and other such complications. My friend Leah initially got rejected by an internet service provider when we first arrived because the address printed on the back of her 在留カード (zairyu kaado, residence card) was too messy. They told her she would have to get another card printed in order to receive internet in her apartment. (She ended up going with a different internet provider that didn't have the same complaint.) Even buying a cell phone when I arrived required my residence card and passport and it still took about three hours. I've heard positive stories as well, but so far my experience with Japanese bureaucracy has not been a pleasant one.

Thankfully one of the teachers at my school has been a big help. I was supposed to apply online for the card, but because my name isn't in Japanese characters the website would not accept it. I also had to write my full name as it appears on my passport, but since I have two middle names there wasn't enough space allotted to the "Given Names" section. My teacher ended up calling the company four times. They are sending a paper application to my apartment so I can fill it out and send them back. Hopefully it will be accepted and I will have a credit card in about a month. I could not be more thankful to my friend at Shinozaki who helped me talk to the company and will help me fill out the forms when they come. This process would be a lot harder if it wasn't for her.

The whole reason I want a credit card is for miles. The card I'm applying for is a JAL (Japan Airlines) card. It stores miles and between my trip home in July and Phuket in August I'll have enough miles to pay for a domestic flight in Japan. I can also use it to pay for future trips and hotels. I'm now paying for everything by using my American credit card and paying it off with the money I left back home. Since my income is now depositing to my Japanese bank account, using my American account doesn't make much sense. My bank also only lets a person put a trip on file for a month at a time. So although I spoke to them and explained the situation before coming to Japan, my card is still sometimes reported as stolen when I try to use it here. I can usually fix this problem online in a half hour or so, but it's quite annoying. A Japanese credit card will make everything much easier.

Another exciting thing this week was an opportunity offered to me by my supervisor. The chorus teacher at Ishimine told the Board of Education good things about me staying after school to help the chorus club. A school supervisor at the Board of Education heard about it and she is also a conductor for the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra in Kitakyushu. They will be singing an English song (not sure what) and want me to come in and work with them and teach them how to sing in English. I'm really excited! I will only go for about 20 minutes once a month, but it's still such a great opportunity! My first meeting is next Saturday, so I'll have more information next week. I hope it goes well! I have plans to go out after I finish the practice to karaoke with my friends. So my Saturday will be the chorus concert at Ishimine in the early afternoon, symphony orchestra English practice in the evening, and karaoke at night. It's going to be a very musical Saturday!

I've also seen a ton of people this week. I went out to dinner with my friend Leah on Wednesday, cooked dinner for Patrick on Sunday, went out Friday night with a lot of people I don't usually get to see, went shopping in Tenjin on Saturday, and had people over for an Easter brunch on Sunday. I didn't get too many things, but I had a lot of fun shopping in Fukuoka city. I don't go very often, but I love it there! It has the best shops (and a Pokemon Center). We had lunch at a great burger place, shopped in the afternoon, and had dinner in Canal City. We even splurged a little and took the shinkansen. Usually on an express train it takes about forty minutes to go from Kokura to Fukuoka. On the shinkansen it only take ten to fifteen minutes! It is a little more expensive, but I think it was worth it, especially since we had a lot of shopping bags between all of us.

At the end of the week on Sunday night my friend Kikumi come over for dinner. We ordered a pizza and watched Frozen. Mike sent me a box full of Easter goodies and included was the DVD and soundtrack. アナと雪の女王 (ana to yuki no jyoou, Anna and the Snow Queen) just came out here a little less than a month ago, so Kikumi was really excited that I already had a DVD for it. It was a really nice end to a pretty hectic, but very fun, week.

石峯

So last week was my first week at Ishimine, my new base school. As some of you may remember, I was pretty unhappy when I was told I wouldn't be changing from Futajima, especially since Ishimine is just as far away. However, in my first week I've been assured that although I will never forget my amazing experience at Futajima I will love my time at Ishimine just as much. Even now it's almost five o'clock, almost an hour past my end tome, and I'm writing this entry from the chorus room because I'm having so much fun here. Both the students and teachers have been so amazing.

The teacher at Ishimine have been incredibly welcoming to me. I've always been lucky enough to get awesome JTEs, but often times non-English teachers refrain from talking to the ALT. I've found that this avoidance is usually because other teacher assume the ALT speaks no Japanese and are embarrassed to try and speak English. I also joined a school half way through the academic year last time and am now starting a new school at the start of the school year, which probably helps. At my other schools I eventually branched out to speak to other teachers, but in Ishimine it happened almost immediately. The atmosphere is so welcoming! In just my first week I've meet so many new teachers and they're all so nice! Many teachers, even the ones who know no English, have come up to me and welcomed me to the school and I've already made a few new friends!

I also love the students here! It really helps that it's a small school (only about 210 students instead of close to 500) and I'm already gaining a good reputation. I've been to a few after school clubs including basketball, volleyball, baseball, and choir. All the other students are trying to convince me to come to their clubs, too. I'm sticking with chorus, though, I'm having a lot of fun with them and helping them with pronunciation. They're singing Hallelujah as well as a song from Sister Act and it's nice to be able to help them with their pronunciation.

I also have something here in Ishimine that I haven't had before, an English board. In the hallway there are three big bulletin boards and I'm allowed to put anything on them I want as long as it helps teach English. I have been working on them in between classes and even sometimes after school. I've only finished one board so far, the one the teachers wanted me to designate as a "Where I'm From" board. I made a map of the U.S. and gave information about different cities. I plan to make the empty board next to it a seasonal board for holidays. I have everything printed, laminated, and cut out, so I will put everything out tomorrow morning. The last board I'm not sure what to do with, but I think I might make it a "Whose that Pokemon?" board. I know that sounds a little silly, but I think it might be the only one the students actually take interest in. I'm going to put up pictures of Pokemon and under a flap hide the English names and the origins. Most Pokemon names are a play on words, so I can explain those in pictures as well as relate them to the Japanese. For example, there is a Pokemon named Pumpkaboo, which is exactly what it sounds like, a ghost pumpkin-looking thing. In Japanese the name is バケッチャ (bakeccha), which is a play on the words 化物 (bakemono, ghost/monster) and カボチャ (kabocha, pumpkin). So really the names mean the same thing in both languages, ghost pumpkin. Having a guessing game and Pokemon will hopefully get the students interested and both the silliness of it similarity to the Japanese will help them remember new words. I'm pretty excited about it.

So that's been my first week here in Ishimine. I have to leave tomorrow and go to Shinozaki on Wednesday. I won't be back in Ishimine until June, but after summer vacation I will be here two weeks of every month and I couldn't be happier!

As for upcoming plans, I have Golden Week coming up at the end of the month. Golden week is week when everyone in Japan is off from school. I don't have any set plans, but I might hop on the shinkansen and ride down to Kumamoto or Kagoshima and spend a night or two at the hot springs. As for Summer I will probably be coming back to New York for a week in July (not booked yet, so who knows), but I have plane tickets for August to head over to Thailand! I will be spending a week in Phuket hanging out with tigers and elephants and snorkeling int he Phi Phi islands. My friend Leah may be going with me (she bailed on picking up her plane ticket the day we were supposed to go, so it's unclear), but either way I'm going and I couldn't be more excited!

春休み

It's my first day back to school after Spring vacation and my vacation was awesome! It was my first time experiencing 花見 (hanami, flower watching). At first I didn't understand why it was such a big deal. The flowers were beautiful, but we have flowers back home. We even have cherry blossom trees back home. Once the trees started to bloom, however, I understood. It felt like the entire country was breathing a sigh of relief after winter. Everyone seemed happier and even I my mood, which was good to begin with, was uplifted sitting in the castle courtyard under a cover of cherry blossoms. There were also lanterns strung up around the castle that glowed pink after dark.

I want to compare 花見 to something back in America, but I'm not sure there's anything quite like it. Everyone gathers under the trees for picnics, BBQ, and lots of drinking. There were company parties, family get-togethers, couples holding hands, and students enjoying their break all in one location. At the castle, where I spent most of 花見, there were food stalls selling a variety of food and candy and one stall was even selling masks with the faces various anime characters. My friend Dave has a portable BBQ, so we had a picnic one night. Mike was visiting me as well, so I took some days off work. We found a nice picnic blanket and had lunch under the trees and enjoyed the weather. We even got sakura doughnuts one day as a treat and ate them under the sakura trees. One night a friend of ours brought a guitar and we sang songs until they turned off the lanterns. Even ridding my bike to and from the board of education for work, I was biking along the river under a cover of cherry blossoms. It was amazing!

Unfortunately, along with the nice weather of the past two weeks there's also been some rain and strong wind, so the cherry blossoms have almost all fallen from the trees and the leaves are starting to grow. It was beautiful while it lasted, but all the flowers bloomed and fell pretty much within a two week period. I was so lucky to share my first 花見 with Mike and I'm excited for next year when (hopefully) my mom and aunt will be joining me!

Along with 花見, Mike and I had a great time hanging out in KitaQ. We had some great dinners, sang karaoke, returned to the fish market, played games with my friends, visited one of my old co-workers. One of my co-workers from Futajima, たかこ(Takako), invited Mike and I out for lunch and museum visit. We went to a great udon restaurant near Takako's house and then to 八幡西区石坂 (Ishizaka, West Yahata). There's a block of buildings in Ishizaka that have been preserved since the Edo period (1603-1867). Most of the buildings we visited were from the later years of the Edo period. The buildings were mostly converted into museums, still having their original layout, but filling every available space with hina dolls in this case. They have already taken down the hina dolls as 雛祭り (hina matsuri, Doll's Day or Girl's Day) has already passed and I believe they are now displaying banners and samurai dolls for こどもの日 (kodomo no hi, Children's Day). It was a little rainy the day we went, but we still had a lot of fun walking around and exploring all the old buildings. If you're curious, you can read about it here (be warned this article is in Japanese, although the Google translation of it is pretty fun to read).

The hina dolls were amazing and many were hundreds of years old. There were some in giant music boxes and others with spinning lights. Almost all the displays had the full seven steps. All the faces were different and hand painted. The attention to detail on the faces, clothes, food, and furniture were astounding and it was such a cool opportunity to see all these displays. In case your wondering, a quick overview of each tier in the display is:

• First - 内裏雛 (dari bina, imperial dolls) Emperor and Empress (or bride and groom as these displays typically depict weddings).

• Second - 三人官女 (sannin kanjo, three court ladies) Three ladies responsible for pouring sake.

• Third - 五人囃子 (gonin bayashi, five musicians) Five male musicians who play the small drum, large drum, hand drum, and flute with one singer.

• Fourth - 大臣 (daijin, ministers) Two ministers often depicted with bows and arrows. There are also diamond shaped rice cakes and お膳 (ozen, covered bowl table).

• Fifth - 上戸 (jougo, drinkers) These are three samarai or protectors of the Emperor and Empress. Each are a different drunk: sad, angry, and happy.

• Sixth - The sixth and seventh tier usually have furniture from within the palace or that the brides family gave to the couple. There are variations on the furniture but it generally consists of a five-drawer chest, a long chest for a kimono, a smaller clothing storage, a mirror stand, a sewing kit, two braziers (fire containers), and a set of お茶道具 (ocha dougu, tea ceremony utensils).

• Seventh - More furniture. This tier again can vary, but it is traditionally a set of bento boxes, a palanquin (covered chair with parallel poles for being carried), and an ox-drawn carriage sometimes baring flowers.

After walking around we went back to Takako's house for coffee and red bean cake before catching the bus back home.

Mike and I also finally got around to going to Space World, the NASA and space themed amusement park near my apartment. I pass it on the train every time I commute to Futajima and despite some roller coasters I assumed it would be pretty small and not take the whole day. I was pleasantly surprised when we easily spent six hours in the park and could have stayed longer! We went on all the rides, played some games, and looked around the shops. We didn't see any of the shows, but they mostly looked like they were for younger audiences (not to mention Mike wouldn't be able to understand anything). We had a great time and I even won a doll from one of the games! We ran into a group of middle school girls on a water rapids ride who were excited to practice their English with us and we ended up riding in a raft together. They even took pictures with us after we finished! It was a great time and I think I will be going back often. Next time I go I'll get a year long pass! To see what rides, restaurants, and games are there you can look at their website (this time it is English)!

>Spring vacation was lots of fun, but now it's time to get back to work. I started at my new school 石峰 (Ishimine) this morning and will be there this year instead of Futajima. I will stay at Shinozaki. Teachers and administrators in Fukuoka (and I believe all of Japan, but I could be wrong) get moved between schools every few years. They are hired by the board of education rather then the school. School's right now are doing 離任式 (rininshiki, farewell ceremony) for the teachers leaving this school and 始業式 (shigyoushiki, welcoming ceremony) for the teachers coming to this school. On Wednesday we will have 入学式 (nyuugakushiki, school welcome ceremony), so I probably won't be in a class until Friday. So far everyone seems nice, the teachers have all be very welcoming to me and I'm really excited to meet my new students! I've started planning for summer and I have a big trip coming up that I'm really looking forward to! I'll talk more about that as it gets closer and I have more details, but I'm picking up my plane tickets after school today and I could not be more excited!