Burento in Japan

So, I was just going to write this about yesterday at Idai Bunko, the school within the hospital, but this morning changed that.  Yesterday was such a sweet day and today it’s like
Japan hates me.

I didn’t have to catch the bus to Idai Bunko (said E-da-E Boonko) until 9:43, a welcome change to the 6:30am mornings and I had been told that I could catch the 12:50 bus home.  So…short day to start…SUGOY!  So I’m waiting for the bus at around 9:30 and the next thing you know I see a guy wave and his car stop about 4 meters away from me.  I look at the woman standing next to me like…that’s probably u’r friend and they’re offering you a ride.  Lo and behold a teacher from Adachi pops out of the car, apparently he was off because he was supposed to go to Thailand but cancelled because of the coup d’etat there.  So he orders me to get in and asks me where I’m going.  I tell him and he drives me all the way to the school.  This was good and bad.  I was kinda freaked about taking the bus here because it’s completely different.  You get on at the back and take a ticket and the bus drives along.  At the front are different numbers, the numbers of each stop.  The ticket you take has a number on it as well.  That’s the stop you got on at.  So when you want to get off you press the button, look at the number u have, walk to the front and drop u’r ticket and u’r money in this conveyer belt thing.  It doesn’t actually count the money.  This just like everything else here is based on the honour system.  So, it was good that he took me right to the hospital but bad because I didn’t experience the bus so I was still in the dark for my ride home.  Also a bad thing was that my supervisor at the hospital was waiting for me at the bus stop but…he dropped me off on what I could tell was the other side of the hospital.  I was early though and had maps.  So I kinda wandered through the hospital grounds which are also a medical college until I found where I was supposed to be.  All and all the drive was a good thing, cuz I was there early, but I realized that I couldn’t even go to the office early because I didn’t know where it was.  So, I stood there and stood there expecting a Japanese woman to approach the only gaijin all dressed up standing in front of the hospital.  But nothing…eventually the bus I would have taken arrived and I saw a Japanese woman standing at the stop, which I was across from looking frantically at the people coming off the bus, I realized she was looking for a random gaijin.  So I went over and she was a very nice woman, her English was par for the course here in Japan so I was fine.  She took me up to the third floor of the hospital and I met the staff there.  About 12 teachers in total and a vice principal.  They were all very nice.  Then she showed me the 3 rooms they teach in and after sat me down in like a lounge area.  They immediately brought me tea and chocolates (a first) but hey…I was down. 

My first class was elementary school kids.  Three grade 2’s and a grade 4 student.   Along with a 14 year old girl who could not talk or move but could apparently understand.  As well, about 9 teachers were in the class.  The kids were great, they volunteered to introduce themselves and were so excited.  The one grade 4 girl was not excited and very shy but you win some you lose some.  There was a little boy who was like the coolest kid I have ever seen.  Even behind his little mask (they all had masks on, which doesn’t phase me as generally I can’t go a day without seeing at least 10 Japanese people with masks on) he was soo happy and just energetic.  He had some type of skin disorder or something that made it seem as if he had something along those lines.  But man, was this kid amazing.  Standing up and asking me all kinds of questions, in Japanese of course and then having them translated.  They were all great kids.  I went through a slide show of myself, Canada, Hamilton, my family, my friends (which I figure should be edited), food in Canada, and last but not least…Mo…because having a girlfriend is apparently the biggest topic even for adults.  All the teachers even did self introductions in English and shook my hand.  You should have seen the little boy shake my hand, it was priceless, he couldn’t fit his hand around mine so he used both hands and tried to squeeze so hard….hilarious.  So I gave them all the choice of pins or pens or whatever.  They all picked one said thank you and went back to their rooms.  I had gone over time in my elementary class so I went straight to my junior high school class with no break…which seemed to amaze the teachers.  I did the same presentation again for a 14 year old boy who was NOT interested in English at all.  This presentation as well had about 8 teachers in the room.  It went alright….but whatever, the teachers actually made it better asking questions and stuff like that.  After this I was supposed to go, but they asked me if I would go and see a few kids who were too sick to go to class that day.  Which I obviously agreed to…cuz why not? 

            So I met a few little girls who were all in bed but sitting up and alert and went through some pictures I had brought with me.  There was one girl that was just amazed with Niagara falls…she wouldn’t let me flip to the next picture and kept saying that the picture looked like clouds.  I gave each kid a gift after spending about 5 to 10 minutes with them and they took pictures galore.  I didn’t bring that up but they must have taken about 100 pictures during my first lesson and even afterwards got everyone together and took a picture.  I’m going to try and get a hold of them so I can put them up.  One girl was asleep so her mother asked me the questions that she had prepared the night before and then gave me some origami that her daughter had done.  So, I finished my rounds and went back to the teachers lounge where once again, more chocolate and more tea.  I felt like a prince which was weird.  My supervisor/JTE then attempted to have a very political debate with me about Bush, America, Koizumi (Japanese P.M), Abe (new Japanese P.M as of like tomorrow, or maybe even yesterday, said like the sound for A then B in French…not BEE, but bei), the war in Iraq, etc etc.  It was weird because I couldn’t use very technical terms so….it made it a difficult topic.  But it was interesting none the less as at least she made an attempt at a very challenging conversation.  She even walked me all the way to the bus stop and talked with me until I got on the bus.  As the bus drove away she just kept bowing.  Oh, and they gave me 4 Japanese pears and a thing of Japanese grapes.   They taste different, and they are HUGE…the grapes I mean, the pears I imagine are the same….woops class time.  Well that went well….ya, so it was a great time.  The bus home wasn’t bad at all and now I’ve done the bus thing, so that’s another thing accomplished.

Last night I did nothing…and I mean nothing, I sat on the internet eating mammoth grapes and watching youtube.com stuff. 

This morning I got up at 6:30 and heard a weird noise.  Oh what was that noise you ask??  Oh it was TYPHOON RAIN!!  So I decided…ha ha…I’m up early enough, I’ll take the train…ha ha…screw u rain!!  Well, I leave my place and start walking…ya, someone forgot to mention that TYPHOON RAIN doesn’t fall straight down.  It blows and falls all over the place, blowing sideways, etc etc.  So…I was soaked by the time I did the 10 min walk to the station, but I looked at my watch, 7:30, sweet, the train is at 7:34 and my watch is like 5 min ahead.  So I get to the station and there are a ton of people there….I wait and wait and wait underneath an over hang and no train.  The 7:37 train the other way pulls in and leaves.  There’s a lot of announcing going on and I don’t understand what is going on.  I took my ipod off and looked confused so that hopefully someone would tell me what was going on…but no.  Remarkably at 7:55, the time I would have left home if I was riding my bike….the rain stops.  JUST STOPS!  So now I’m soaked, I left my house early cuz I thought haha I’ll be smart…well the rain showed me.  Then the train finally shows up at 8 and I have to run for 20 minutes in order to be on time for work and then I had to go to the bank again by myself cuz my supervisor bailed on me again.  (oh ya, it’s 8:40pm now)  The moral of this story is…after having a sweet day yesterday, I had such a crappy day today.  The universe just can’t let me win one.  But the rest of my day was good, classes went well, I amaze myself sometimes when I’m in there…not tooting my own horn but you know…like stuff comes out of my mouth and all of a sudden kids look enlightened and I’m like…wow…so ya.  Just went to my first sake shop…got them to recommend something for me.  I’m obviously not cracking that bottle by myself on a Wednesday night…but hey, now I have it for a rainy day….oh…wasn’t it raining today…lol.  K, bye everyone.

Brent

Monday, September 25, 2006, 12:15pm

            So, this weekend like all others was awesome.  It doesn’t top canyoning but it was entirely different experience.  So, we took the Shinkansen (bullet train, it will from here on out be called the “shink”) at 9:00am on Saturday into
Tokyo.  It took about an hour and 45 min to get there which isn’t bad at all.  We got off in a section of Tokyo called Ueno and walked to our hotel.  There were 12 of us in total.  So, we got to our hotel and quickly hit our rooms.  We were back out on the street pretty quickly.  Ueno was definitely like a touristy district and what weirded me out about this entire Tokyo weekend was the amount of gaijin (foreigners) that were there.  I’m used to knowing all 12 of the gaijin that live in Fukushima and the rest of the people being Japanese.  But Tokyo is just teeming with foreigners.  It was overly weird, just because I felt the need to like go up and talk to all of them b/c if you see a gaijin u don’t know in Fukushima….you generally talk to them.   So, we took the subway into the area where the sumo matches were.  This is where the drinking began…for me at least.  I hit a combini and bought 2 beers, it was like 11:30…lol…We found the arena and decided to split up in order to get lunch.  So half of us found this place where they were serving the traditional sumo meal…obviously this had to go down.  So it was a half hour wait and we weren’t in any rush to get in.  Sumo is like a 12 day tournament with matches from 8am to 6pm.  Because there are so many leagues the lower sumo fight during the day…it really doesn’t get good until about 2:30 when the 2^nd highest division starts…and it always culminated with the Yokuzuna (grand champion) fighting.  Now Yokozuna doesn’t mean he like has the belt or anything.  If you win 2 tournaments in a row or win one and have excellent showings after that then u’r considered for Yokozuna.  Right now there is currently one Yokozuna, I can say his name but have no idea how to write it, it’s like Asashoryu or something like that.  So anyway, I’ll explain more as we go along.  Oh ya, we went on the 2^nd last day, so it was really heating up.  We walked to streets a bit to kill time…the area was like dedicated to sumo with random statues all over that all had sumo statues and hand prints of Sumo wrestlers.  We went back and had lunch which was not bad at all, it was like soup with noodles and rice with fish eggs.  Pretty standard if you ask me.  What was cool is that sumo were walking around everywhere!  You could tell who they were because they were the huge Japanese guys in kimonos.  I didn’t get a pic with one b/c that really didn’t entice me although others did and we are going to share pics…so I’ll put everything I get up. 

So we went into the arena eventually and up to our seats.  Now, we were on the 2^nd tier (there was only 2 tiers, the ground floor and us) and our seats really weren’t that bad.  We were in the nose bleed seats but really they weren’t bad at all.  But we decided screw this and went down a bit lower as not everyone had showed up.  The seating in the upper deck was like normal stadium seating…except WAY more comfortable seats.  Then the seating on the ground floor was actually just floor pillows that everyone sat on.  There were like specific boxes for four people and then the closer seats were just a straight up pillow….u have to look at the pics I can’t describe it correctly.  So we went like right up to the ring and started taking pics and stuff.  Obviously we got away with it a bit…but…eventually a Japanese woman came and kinda yelled at us…it wasn’t like we could take someone’s seats quickly b/c they were boxes and u had to take u’r shoes off so it would have been an effort and a half and bad if the people that actually owned the box showed up.  So we went back to our seats.  I had brought in some sake and Tim, the Canadian guy from my first night here had called me and said he was hitting a combini so I got him to get me more, not that I needed it.  So the sumo itself wasn’t overly interesting…like they just mess around for like 5min then fight for 30 seconds.  Like they squat down like they’re about to go at it and then one guy stands up like trying to mess with the other dude.  He’d walk over and grab some salt or whatever.  It was weird.  Now, for the highest division things started to liven up.  I got into it with Josh when we both picked a side and went for it.  The wrestlers are split up on to two teams, East and West, this isn’t actually their team or division or anything.  They just split them all onto one team or another.  You could technically be on the East team one day and then the West the next only to be put on the East team again the day after.  So until the 3^rd last fight, where we just wanted our favourites we had some random guys to cheer for.  Now Josh is of Asian descent and has been here 3 years so his Japanese is not bad at all…to say the least.  But…my Japanese not so good so when we started screaming our guys names there were more then a few chuckles from the crowd as I destroyed some Japanese names.  It helped that we had been into the sake pretty good by this point.  But we seemed to help out the crowd which became more lively after we started screaming.  It was weird for the Japanese though b/c even when the first guys fought we were screaming their names and they were not doing too well in the tournament and nobody really cared.  But…me and Josh just screaming their names into a silent arena.  It was fun.  The last 3 matches were by far the best.  Ama fought some big dude, Ama is the smallest sumo in the big boy division and had a wicked record so he quickly became a crowd favourite.  He did end up losing which sucked.  But after that was Koto Oshu who is a dude from Bulgaria or Romania, he’s fricken huge and also a huge crowd favourite.  He owned the guy he went against.  As the matches came up to this point they took longer and longer to fight but the fights were so much better.  The last fight was the Yokuzuna (Asashoru, I just looked it up) he fought a huge dude too…the other guy actually beat him but it was a wicked match.  The weirdest thing ever happened after this.  As soon as the Asashoru went down the pillows started flying.  All the floor pillows came flying at the ring.  Like we’re talking everyone on the first tier did it.  It was insane.  It was like hats when someone scores at hat trick at a Stanley cup final game.  I tried to get pics but they really don’t do the entire thing justice.  So with that done we booked.  I didn’t buy any souvenirs cause I couldn’t really find anything I liked…then after we get out I see that one girl from the group had bought the Yokuzuna’s hand print with his name in Kanji….how SICK is that?  I was then pissed about not getting something, but whatever. 

After that we went to a Brazilian restaurant where it was all the bbq we could eat.  They just brought out random meat after random meat and it kept coming until you flipped over a card that said u were full.  It was a pretty good time.  We then headed back to the hotel and only five of us, myself included headed out into Ueno near our hotel for a night out.  We went to an izakaiya and I tried to get people to do shots only then realizing that oh ya…u could just buy a bottle of whiskey for 12 bux.  HAHAHA.  So, a good time was had by all.

The next day I went with Kiyoe to Ueno Park.  This place was HUGE.  I heard that it’s like 4 times the size of central park.  The pics of this are amazing….and wow look at how many cultural things I did this weekend??  AMAZING.  This park also had the national museum in it amongst other things like a zoo and huge lake. We were in it for about 3 hours and didn’t even come close to seeing any of it…like obviously we saw things…but there was so much more that we didn’t even touch.  I hope to go back and check it out again, hopefully hit the national museum.  Another trip I’ve decided on is Nikko.  It’s where Tokugawa Ieyasu (the guy who unified Japan and started the Tokugawa shogunate 1600 (roughly) to 1867-8) is buried and the shrine to him is supposedly one of the most beautiful in Japan.  As well there are great waterfalls, hikes, other temples etc around the area and it’s about a 6 hour bus ride from here or so…although I’d have to take multiple buses or trains.  It’s supposed to look the coolest in October through November so now is the perfect time to go and I’m hoping that I can swing it.  So ya….we did Ueno park and then took the train to Tokyo station and had lunch in a french café across from the entrance we were supposed to meet at.  A small pot of tea and a baguette with cheese on it cost me about 18 bux…I just wanted to sit down so badly that I didn’t even care.  We sat in a nice table outside and it was a wicked day.  So we chilled for about an hour or so and then met up with everyone, got on the shink and came home.  Last night I kinda just vegged.  And now here I am at work.  It’s 3:05 now…writing an entire one of these takes me a little bit.  I just can’t sit and write one straight.  I just got out of class, my only one of the day, it didn’t go so well but it was b/c the kids were just sooo DEAD.  I’m going to a school tomorrow that is based out of a medical college and most of the kids don’t attend so they’re in treatment.  It should be overly interesting, I’m kinda looking forward to the experience because I’m not really teaching it’s more of an internationalization thing where I just go in and hang out with the kids.  They don’t even really study English.  I’m just going to bring them a crapload of Canada stuff which I am running intensely low on.  So, ya…that’s about it for now.  I’m going to Nagano this coming weekend and it doesn’t look like I’ll be going to Osaka the weekend after that b/c the guy I know there (Morelli’s nephew (that’s only for people who know morelli)) Rob is not that dependable of a guy and hasn’t got back to me.  So I’m not making a trek down there with no where to stay.  I realized that I really have to start saving money to send home and for my trip over Christmas….Mo’s going to cost me a crapload of money when she comes…so I need to get a head start on that one.  Anyone got any good ideas for what I should get her??  Let me know.

Brent

p.s.  there was a girl with us from israel and she threw up some videos she took…they really show you how long it took for the match to start…here’s the link…it’s all in israeli…but just click one of the vids and it will play.  And i’m getting other ppl to add their pics to the link below (in the entry below)….so it should have more and more pics as time goes on.

http://www.flix.co.il/myFlix.asp?id=2121065

another thing…kiyoe just uploaded her pics and i tried to resequence them by date but all of hers went ahead of mine and i’m not taking 3 hours to put them in the right order….most of the unlabelled ones are hers…she did take some really nice pics though.

B

K, same as last time, i don’t have time or want to write a blog about the weekend.  Here is a link to the pics though.

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/68091.ae2ba6fd679

Brent

Friday September 22, 2006, 7:46am

So, I know it’s been awhile so I’m here at work early to write a blog.  I’ve been so busy with work lately and then partying on the weekends that I really haven’t had time to do this.  But, I do have my lesson plans done for the day and I’m at Matsuko in Nihonmatsu, my favourite place to be.  Today I’m teaching a lesson in slang with examples like…

A: Yo, what’s goin’ on?

B: Hangin’ out at the movie theatre.  How you doin’?

A: I’m cool

B: Sweet

A: k, I gotta bounce for the movie, I’ll catch you later.

B: Peace.

(I kid you not, that’s right off the lesson plan I have and the teachers are loving it, then I took some song by the Foo Fighters and Bedouin Soundclash and printed the lyrics with blanks in them.  That’s what I’m doing today.  How sweet is that??

Anyway, last weekend was a long weekend with respect for the aged day on the Monday.  Friday night I went out with a few JETs from Aizu who had come to
Fukushima, there were about 8 of us.  It was a good time; we hit a few bars and just hung out.  On Saturday I took off to Iwaki not knowing what I was going to do.  When I got there I made some calls and hooked up with Kiyoe who knows some other English teachers (not JETs, not Nova, just some random company) in the city over from her.  When I got off the train in Kiyoe’s town Tatsuta the most amazing sight was before my eyes.  A vending machine with beer…not just cans of beer that were regular sized.  There were the small ones, king cans, 1 L, 2 L and 3L CANS…how INSANE IS THAT???  So I bought a few beers and then we hooked up with the other English teachers in the town over, 2 guys from France who had amazing English and Japanese skills and one guy from Australia.  All of them could speak Japanese including Kiyoe cuz she’s half Japanese from California, so I made myself happy by speaking what little French I could to the guys from France.  At least it kept the Aussie and Kiyoe in the dark.  Anyway, we went to an Izakaiya and then to karaoke.  That’s where the latest pics are from.  I haven’t even had time to label them…but obviously we got drunk.  Now I’ve had some complaints from people who will remain unnamed…ah screw it…MOM!!  That my pictures aren’t really showing Japanese culture they’re just drunk pictures.  But after dwelling on this I have realized that the last set of pics depict Japanese culture very well.  They’re all about getting drunk, doing karaoke and saying/doing the most random things…and those pictures are….well….random.  After this weekend I should have some really good pics up because I leave for Tokyo tomorrow for a day of SUMO and then….drinking and most likely karaoke…all of these being central to Japanese culture.

            Anyway, I crashed at Kiyoe’s on Saturday night and the next day we headed into Iwaki she lived about 6 train stations outside of Iwaki.  We did a bit of shopping…well she did.  We even went to Toys R Us…you know what….I wasn’t that impressed.  They look exactly the same as they do back home.  I was expecting some crazy Japanese toys and there were some cool things but nothing that was AMAZING!  So anyway, Kiyoe bought a hula hoop which was fun to walk around Iwaki with (ha jeez, apparently “they’re good for ab workouts”)  After that we went to Baba’s, the curry place that I went with Alex, Chris, Dave and Katie the night before the beach bomb in Iwaki.  I tried to call Chris but as usual he had some Japanese girl he had to meet up with.  Baba’s was soo cool.  He’s like the funniest guy ever.  He ended up giving us a bunch of stuff from India like necklaces, bracelets, etc etc.  He and Kiyoe talked about Baliwood movies (Indian movies) and he even showed us a few on his laptop.  Kiyoe is apparently an “Indiaphile” so she and Baba got along smashingly.  It was raining when we went to leave and we only had about 20 min to get to the station that was at least a 30 min walk away.  Baba made us stay and called his wife to pick us up and drive us to the station.  How SWEET is that?  So when we got to the station we had a little bit of time and there were these 2 guys out front playing the didgeridoo and one guy playing the thing that makes the long ponging noise…like a harmonica but Australian and very different.  It was sweet…they were amazingly good.  We listened to them for a bit and then headed back.  I got up the next day went into Iwaki and came home.  I got home around 9 or so.  The most upsetting part of that day was right when I got home.  I got into a cab at Fukushima station b/c the next train was in an hour and I just wanted to go home.  I said to the cabbie, “Minami Fukushima eki, okudasai.”  Which means South Fukushima station, please or so I believed.  I had this sudden feeling of….YA THAT’S RIGHT…I KNOW SOME JAPANESE!!  Well, when I got home and asked Kiyoe about the order that I’m supposed to put the Minami Fukushima eki in…she said what did you say?  I told her acting all proud but….was shot down when I was told that okudasai means please bring me something…like if you’re in a restaurant and want a beer it’s ippon biru okudasai, but in this instance it made no sense AT ALL!!  If you translate it into English it wasn’t that far off, please bring me Minami Fukushima station.  All I’m missing is the to but in Japanese….it just sounds idiotic.  CRAP!

            So ya, I got home.  This week was filled with classes and lesson plans etc etc.  At Adachi they said that it may be difficult to get my classes cancelled at Higashi to go to their festival but then it was suggested that I could take nenkyu (vacation) to go.   HAHAHAHAHA YA RIGHT!  But I was still like….oh….maybe….I’ll have to see.  Like I’m going to take vacation so that I can not go to one school and go to another one….you have got to be kidding me.  As well, yesterday Captain Asshole, the teacher who made me teach by myself, once again gave me a bunch of stuff for his class then right as the class started and I was looking for him said….I think you should go by yourself….damn captain asshole.  I was pissed!!  First I had to give a reading test…except I gave out the answer sheets first…cuz hey….I can’t read Japanese.  Then my lesson did not go well cuz he didn’t tell me which part of the story they were on, only that they were on this story.  So I had questions for the 2^nd part but they hadn’t even read the first part.  What the hell.  And getting any answers from these kids was like pulling teeth…but like pulling teeth that were cemented into the gums.  It was horrible.  I found out later it’s actually illegal in some sense for ALTs to teach alone.  Well now…we’ll see how the whole thing goes…My class before that sucked too because I had to explain “seem to do” and come up with like 8 sentences for it.  The example the JTE had was a woman asking, “What’s the matter?” and a kid about to respond.  I struggled through explaining it and only at the very end did I find out that she actually meant “seem to” and she just puts do as her action word…..WTF?  But I did mark the sentences afterwards and apparently I didn’t do that bad of a job because for the most part they made sense.  I called about Japanese lessons this week as well, but the one place I called was on Wed and Sat…so I figured it would be ideal…although…Wed and Sat at 10:30am….huh??  So that’s a no go.  I have had some really good classes this week though, It turns out, other then yesterday with the 2 stupid lessons that I’m actually really good at this teaching thing.  I’ve done stuff off the cuff and taken lessons in a completely different direction based on student’s responses.  (sidebar: this school is weird b/c everyday when the bell goes all the teachers stand up and the V.P. says Good morning (in Japanese) and everyone responds good morning.  Could you see doing that in an office in Canada??  K, I should act like I’m listening…..)  K, like I was doing a lesson where I was asking kids questions about a story that I had just read and they read back to me.  OH YA, that makes me feel like I’m a priest and we’re in church.  I’m like, “Asako’s father asked the doctor if she would live.”  And the whole class…Asako’s father asked the doctor if she would live.  So weird and the stories are intense like that.  The one I’ve done lessons on this week is about a girl being brain dead and her family deciding that they should donate her organs and then it talks about the transplant recipient.  CRAZY.  Anyway, I switched the whole lesson into learning how to respond in full sentences.  Remember in grade school when you couldn’t just say the answer, like….Who is the main character in the story?  You couldn’t just say Asako.  Well these kids do that, so I’m up at the board like writing questions and answers and showing them how to use part of the question to make the answer into a sentence.  That class went over really well.  Sometimes I just kick ass.  Today will be my first full class where I have planned everything.  That should be interesting.  I’ll probably write about it in here later on because I don’t have the internet at this school. 

k, bye for now.  I hope this has satisfied your cravings…and did you notice that I just did an ENTIRE week in 3 pages??  At this rate next year I’ll be writing 3 sentences for a whole month. 

Brent

So far today my lesson went alright, but I brought my board into class and the kids were messing around on it, but they were riding it like a surfboard with both feet facing the side.  So I went to show them that they have to put one foot straight at the front.  Well, I pushed, coasted and went to step down…realized I was in socks and bailed in front of the whole class.  Why does this always happen to ME?? Ha jeez.  2^nd class here I go.

K, I just rocked that.  It makes me feel sooo good.  I had students talking in slang and everything.  SOO FUNN.  I never imagined myself writing words like Sup? And (just for the creekers) Siya on the board along with how you doin’ (I’m definitely teaching them the new york/hit on a girl one too…LOL).  I did get a strange question though….they all had prepared questions and some were really good like what is your dream?  Others were like, have you ever been to Kyoto ( I got that 6 times) and then the weird ones….what do you think of Ms. Shoji (my JTE), What do you think of Japanese women?  And the clincher for the day…I almost burst out laughing when he said it b/c well….here it is….What do you think of high school boys?  SEE?? OMG…I was just like….uhh…..what do I do with this.  So I just answered it like…who do you like more to teach…boys or girls…and obviously in a classroom full of guys I was like…oh girls just giggle and boys actually answer questions.  I actually had 2 people even put their hand up in this class.  Awesome day, I can’t tell if I love this school cuz it’s always Friday when I get here and I get out an hour early or if it’s because of the classes.  I’m pretty sure it’s both.

K, I’m done now…I promise.

 Brent

Killing time to pick up the 200 pictures I had developed I hit the grocery store right near me and decided a needed a sweatshirt…cuz I don’t have any.  What did I find…these shirts.  They are now mine and I will cherish them forever.  I also got a sweatshirt and the pics will go up in my apt soon as well as become teaching aids.  Check these pics though.

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/65049.554faa4f18e

enjoy, Brent

Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 12:45pm

            Best weekend ever!!  I’m once again going to try and make this short.  So we left Friday for Gunma prefecture, it’s south west of
Fukushima and a 6-7 hour drive.  After picking up a few people along the way (10 in total from Fukushima) we arrived around 12:30 only to find the doors to the Ramen restaurant locked.  We stayed in this huge tatami mat loft on the 2^nd floor of a spacious log cabin type ramen shop (I’m told ramen is noodles).  So, the doors were locked.  I boosted onto the roof to try and open the 2^nd floor doors, but they too were locked.  Then we tried to pick the front lock.  In the end we ended up busting off an old door that was at the side of the shop and I had to climb over piles and piles of junk in order to get in and unlock the doors.  Apparently I was the monkey man.  We all laid out futons and crashed out.  I couldn’t sleep and was up until the JETs from Miyagi, the prefecture north of Fukushima showed up.  There were 15 of them, so 25 of us in all. 

            We got up soo early the next day and went canyoning.  I can’t even describe this, the pics say it all.  In the afternoon we went to Maple canyon which was waaay up in the mountains and the water was about 3 degrees….I kid you not.  So wet suits, all 3 layers, helped but by the end I was happy to go.  We slid down rapids and bombed over waterfalls headfirst, feet first, on our backs, and with a group of people each holding on to each other’s ankles.  Then we went back for lunch.  After that we went to fox canyon.  Less was done there but so much more intense.  Right off the bat was a drop down an 18m waterfall.  They lowered you about a meter so they could take a pic and then just let u go. So you slide down the rock face.  We were told to lean right…I think I went a bit too far right and when I hit it wasn’t a pleasant feeling but what a rush.  Then some of us who could do a chin up climbed a wall and got a bridge that overlooked the pool the waterfall dropped in to.  From there we hopped on a swing were pulled out into the center of the pool about 8m up, did a pull up, had the chair pulled out from under us and did a drop.  This for me was waaay freakier then the waterfall.  As soon as he started moving me out I could feel my hands start to shake.  It was totally worth it though.  We did a few more huge waterfalls after that but were forced to turn back as there had been a bear sighting and all the town officials were out shooting at it and apparently the cubs had already been killed.  I know I just summed that up quick…but really…it’s impossible to describe all of that and I’m too beat to do it now anyway. 

            After that was an outdoor bbq, we sat around these tables that had fire pits (see pics) and were brought vegetables and meat, etc etc which we grilled ourselves.  The bbq place was just amazing.  A little river and lots of forest all around, it felt like camping but waay better.  Following that was an onsen (hot spring) which was soo fricken hot I was in for like a total of 10 min the whole hour we were there.  It was like dip in, get out, dip in, get out.  It was good to relax after the long day in rivers and the long night ahead. 

            We hit the liquor store where I bought a six pack and get this…A 2L beer can, that had a screw top and a plastic handle….AMAZING.  So back at the cabin we played drinking game and then headed over to the full moon party (pretty much a rave) that was being run by the guys who ran the canyoning place (all of them were from New Zealand by the way).  I have never seen so many gaijin (outsiders ((non Japanese people)))  in one place since Tokyo.  The rave/full moon party was amazing.  I was out until 5am dancing with glow sticks….that’s how good it was…one I was dancing…two I had glow sticks.  I’m hoping to get pics for that in a few days from a girl I know.  Have you figured out that I forgot to bring my camera?

            Sunday we did the 6-7 hour drive home and I sat around Sunday night.  Now here I sit on Tuesday at Adachi…this school rocks and I hate Higashi more and more every time I’m there.  (Don’t worry mom, I doubt the teachers are reading this).  Yesterday sucked, I had 3 classes cancelled on me this week and I’m only there 3 days.  Adachi on the other hand is amazing.  I’ve already had 2 classes, I have 2 more today, that’s beating my total for Higashi this week.   I just spent my lunch talking to kids who came to ask me questions after class in exchange for a “special pin” that no one else has (the trillium pins I have).  They just invited me to the school festival which is on a Wednesday when I’m at Higashi, I’m hoping my supervisor at this school will get me out of going to Higashi so I can come and here and see the festival.  Also the teacher that said he would give me a ride from Fukushima to Adachi also asked me if I was a Catholic and told me he would pick me up and drive me to church on Sunday’s in Fukushima…uh….ya…that’ll happen….Alright…I’m going to go now…see that was pretty short.  Link to pics are below.  Peace out

Brent

K, just got back from my last class.  Had to add this.  I have a brand new appreciation for High School teachers now, I just did the same lesson for the 5^th time today and my voice is killing me, I’m tired, and if I have to ask these damn questions again…which I’m obviously going to have to…I might kill myself.  The same jokes every class and they work…but man…it’s getting old.

The only problem with Adachi is….the guy that sits beside me.  He clearly does not have a cell phone kicking or one of those ear things cuz I have checked thoroughly…when he sits at his desk I can’t understand him obviously, but it sounds like he’s in a phone conversation.  It was just him and I in the teachers office for about 10 min and he was clearly just talking…not even mumbling or anything like that, he was full out talking to himself about who knows what.  K, a kid is here to ask me a question for a special prize and won’t bother me until I stop typing, as long as I type he’ll stand there.  LOL.  Too funny.  K bye.

k, i can’t be bothered to write all that happened this weekend right now…i’m just not up to it.  I will say it was the best weekend i’ve had in Japan.  I know I keep saying that but each weekend tops the next.  Here’s a link to the pics.  Friday night is the break in to the place we were staying…the rest are saturday.  I’m still waiting for pics from the full moon party/rave type dealy.  Enjoy.

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/63543.d84ab2be008

Brent

            So, a few things have happened in the last few days and as always I’m going to try to keep this short…but everyone who has read this knows that there is no way that’s happening.  I’ve taught my first few classes at Higashi, which is my base school.  Compared to other schools these kids are DEAD quiet.  I don’t know if they’re nervous or what because in my other schools kids were jumping around and asking things…etc, etc.  These kids are like robots…I split up pictures and give each row a few to pass back and then pass around…what happens…the first kid goes through them and puts them down on his desk, ha jeez.  My introduction lesson is getting better and better though. 

            So yesterday morning, this teacher who has never talked to me who is an English teacher that I was supposed to teach with that day, in about an hour comes over to me.  He starts by saying, “Brent-sensei, I don’t consider you an Assistant teacher, I consider you a teacher like me.”  I say, “Thank you, but I don’t have your qualifications and I am only an assistant.”  He protests, blah blah and I wonder WHAT is going on here.  Then he comes out with it.  “We are supposed to teach together today…(I start to bust out my lesson plan to show him)….and I think it would be best if you went and taught by yourself.”  I looked at him and was thought…u gotta be kidding me buddy.  So, then I say, “I don’t think I’m comfortable doing that, what if they don’t understand something I say?  I have no problem doing the lesson by myself but I think you should be there just in case.”  He says, “I am a very strict teacher and if I am there the kids will be nervous, they will be more relaxed with you,”  Then he continues, “I think that they will be more relaxed all year if I am not there, I am at this page in the textbook (shows me) and you should start from here.  Just make the students read passages back to you over and over and work on their grammar and vocabulary.” 

            Can you actually believe this guy was trying to pawn off one of his classes onto me for the entire year?  How the hell do you teach someone a language if you don’t know the language they speak?  I obviously said, “No I think you should be there, I can teach today by myself but next week you are going to be there.”  He kinda got it but I don’t think fully.  I talked to my supervisor about it and she said that she would talk to him.  There is no way I’m teaching this class all year with absolutely no idea what to do.  He basically just told me…hey go ruin a class for 40 kids for an entire semester would you?  So, I did do the lesson by myself…which was interesting to say the least.  Dead quiet kids, they don’t nod when I ask if they understand or shake their heads.  It went ok, but my intro lesson is about 35-40 min long and class goes for 45 min.  So the last 5 min I scrambled and pretty much had them sitting in silence while I asked questions about
Japan and they stared at me.

            I then had my 2^nd class with my supervisor.  She had to give back exams that they write after the summer break to see if they did their…..ready for this…..summer break homework!!  So I had to shorten my game, not show pics.  It kinda sucked.  But afterwards my super comes in with little slips of paper that each kid has written on to indicate what they want to hear more about.  I have write some of these because they are AMAZING!

            Some of them are pretty good but they’re a little bit off. 

1)      Hello Mr. Brent.  My name is Narumi Sato.  My class room is 2-5.  Please speak more of yourself.  I want to know about you.  I wish you can speak Japanese fluently.  See you again.  (That’s the generic)

2)      About Hamilton (that’s it)

3)      Do you play the musical instrument?

4)      I want Hamilton

5)      (k, this one is weird)  in Japanese is says “nothing but”  then in English I (heart) you in block letters….weird

6)      Food

7)      Hello my name is Airi Yasuda.  I want you to talk “YOUR GIRLFRIEND”  Thank you  (there are about 15 of these)

      (This one is good)  Hello!!  Nice to meet you.  I like reading too.  I want to know about your college.  See you.  2535 (I don’t know what the numbers are for, but good grammar)

9)      What do you like Japanese food?

10)   I want to know about Canada.  I am interesting in Canada’s natural.  My father will go to Canada next summer.  I want to tell my father about Canada.

11)  I want to know your country’s delicious food.

12)  I want to know about Mr. Brent.  More and more.

13)  I want to know Brent’s fortune

14)  LOVE AND PEACE (2 of them)

15)  There were some about books and music and culture and stuff

16)  I want to know the movies in USA (What?)

17)  (THE BEST ONE)  How many dogs does Hamilton have? (WHAT???)

So now I have to create some lesson plan based on answering all or most of these questions.  So that should keep me occupied for awhile. 

On other fronts I took part in Judo for the first time last night.  One:  I am very out of shape…after just the warm up I was sweating like a pig, the warm up does consist of throws and stuff…it’s not stretching.  But, I was learning some throws from an old dude and everytime I went to throw him you have to take your hand holding the chest section of the gi (the Judo outfit thing) and kinda like push it up forcefully so as to put the person off balance….ya…I punched this old guy in the face like 3 times and one time when I went to throw him it wasn’t like a circular smooth motion where he could breakfall easily…it was like 3 moves, I move him up, then over, then down.  So my hip tosses became more like body slams on this guy who has to be like 65 or 70.  Woops…Then there are ten 5 minute rounds of sparring.  I did the 2^nd, then the 4^th, then I wanted to DIE!! The sensei made me spar Will after the 4^th and he threw me…which sucked….and then I was like…dude I can’t do this…I’m hurting so bad.  I felt like I was going to hurl.  So I sat out until the last round.  But even with only 20 min or sparring I managed to mess up my knuckles pretty bad trying to hold and toss other ppl.  Those gi’s own your hands, I realize now why all of the guys tape parts of their hands.  Afterwards Will and I were talking to some of the younger guys…I had sparred most of them…I threw 2 guys right off the bat and then they had punished me like crazy after that.  Through talking to them, we found out that oh ya…they were in JUNIOR HIGHSCHOOL.  Meaning tops they were 14 years old.  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!  Will and I were getting just tossed around by 14 year olds.  They definitely don’t look 14 and they are waaay stronger then any 14 year old I’ve ever seen.  It was fun but today my body is just killing me and I have to go canyoning this weekend in Gunma (a prefecture boardering Fukushima)  I’m leaving right after work pretty much and all I want to do is die right now, not hike through canyons and go over waterfalls.  I’m probably going to pay 1500 yen to get some dude who takes pics of the whole group to take pics and vids of me.  Everyone has to decide before we leave b/c he puts a piece of tape on your helmet and gets extra footage or whatever.  I think it’s kinda stupid but there is no way that I can bring my own camera on this adventure.  I’ll use it at the full moon party sat night after we’ve done canyoning and chilled in the onsen (hot spring) I’m pumped for that.  K, that’s it for now.  Everyone be good.

Brent

so…now that i have internet i might have a new number.  So i’m going to put up my old one and my possible ip one…and my cell # as well as cell email which works just like any other email except i have to use my phone to email u back…but if u want to email me a random msg…u can use u’r normal email to do it.

home: 024-545-2822
ip #: 050-1248-2459
cell: 080-1812-7522
cell email: brentstirling@docomo.ne.jp

to call japan i’m pretty sure u dial +81 and take the first zero off of the number.

peace

B

Here are the newest pics….

Weekend in Aizu - http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/61418.a777dfe10a2

School Festival - http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/61480.a1e0ff7ef55

Daily Life - updated the last few pics on this - http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/59970.504417a8d35

and just in case here is the link to all my albums

http://www.bubbleshare.com/users/profile/45393

Tuesday, September 05, 2006, 9:52am

K, I’m going to try and make this short but so much happens every weekend I can’t guarantee anything.  I’m in another school for the first time right now and they are all really nice, just like Matsuko.  This school is in the same town and I had their guest indoor shoes on and fell in front of a teacher and he has since brought me sandals that are comfy and my size.  How sweet is that?

My Weekend…by Brent Stirling.  Friday night I went out with Alex for drinks around 9:00 we met up with some other JETs when they got out of their enkai (work party).  So they were blitz already.  Then we went to an izakaiya (Japanese bar) and did nomihoudai (said NO-ME-HO-DIE), shots of whiskey there were not shots but like 3 or 4 shots in a glass that we were obviously slamming down.  A former JET from a prefecture north of here who now works for James, an independent English company joined us as he just moved to
Fukushima.  His name is Brian and he’s a kickass guy.  More on him later as I ended up spending like the entire weekend with him.  So ya…whiskey was flowing and the next thing you know…I’m painting the town not just red, but whatever colours were in my stomach (if you catch my drift).  I passed out at Katie’s with Alex there too.  I got up around 12, went home, showered and got ready to go to my school festival and then to Aizu-wakamatsu (that is the name of the city, I kid u not).  So, I headed back to Katie’s around 1:30.  She told me that we were leaving very soon and that I had about half an hour to go to my festival.  So I brought her along as an out and so I would have someone to talk to.  The school looked amazing.  The pics are good but they don’t do it justice.  Every classroom had been completely transformed.  There were classes where ppl could dress up and get fake married, etc, etc.  The best was the random ramp/slide class.  I did that because how could I not?  After seeing the whole school in a whirlwind tour I went outside bought some fries and we were on our way.  When we got to Katie’s, Amy her ride and Pete (my ride) and Tracey were there.  Then we found out that Alex was getting his hair cut with Chris after work and we were waiting for them so it would be a few hours.  WHAT?  I blew through my festival to come back quick so I could get a ride to Aizu and then they say…no…we’re not going now.  So we all went for lunch at a pizza place.  4 cheese pizza…I did not recognize the taste of any of the cheeses as it tasted like feet along with walnuts on top.  Who knows, Pete and Tracey had a pizza with black olives that had 4 crab claws on top….how weird is that?  Afterwards we went and chilled in a park for about an hour cuz it was a really nice day.  At one point I was imitating Steve Irwin that crocodile hunter guy and apparently he died that day from a sting ray….coincidence??  I think not.

Finally as the sun was going down we picked up Alex and Chris and booked to Aizu.  It was dark but we could tell that we were missing out on some sweet views as we wound through tons of mountains, even hitting a 5 km stretch of tunnel through the mountains.  We arrived at this bar outside of Aizu at 8pm.  It was already half full with other FuJETs.  Nomihoudai began again, but I’m happy to say I took it easy.  Not because I figured I would pace myself, but because I was still feeling the effects of the night before.  After that we moved into the city of Aizu around 12 and hit a karaoke joint, even though there was karaoke at the bar we had been at.  We all did karaoke for about 2 hours or so.  I then headed with Chris, Brian (from James), Dave (Brian’s buddy from James), and Emily (a JET) to Neal’s a 2^nd year JET.  We hung out there and crashed.  We got up the next morning and I took the ride back with Brian and Dave.  I only took like 10 pics but they are AMAZING.  We stopped by a huge lake that was slightly elevated I do believe that was surrounded by mountains.  Then after that we took this Bandai Skyline route which supposedly takes longer but is more scenic.  We stopped a few times along the way to check out view and whatnot.  It was a good ride all together.  Brian’s van is hilarious it’s like a mini version of a VW van with waaay less power as it’s a yellow plate car and they have to be under a certain amount of cc’s.  We got back to the city and I crashed out for a few hours.  Brian gave me a call around 7 and we went to Round One…I’ve talked about this place before, its like Chuckie Cheese meets Playdium meets a sports complex and it’s for adults.  So we apparently started drinking there and the next thing I knew…I got home and it was 3am.  My ride home was eventful.  I left Brian and a convenience store where he had bought another beer but I had opted for water.  He tried to talk me into beer but the laws against drinking and riding your bike are from what I’ve heard…pretty strict…not as strict as the 0% blood alcohol for driving but still they don’t like drunk bikers.  I wasn’t drunk, but I had had a few.  So I left Brian and shot up the street and across a light that was red but there were no cars for miles.  I had my ipod on and was just booting along.  The next thing I know there is a bike light behind me and they’re gaining and I was thinking….who is this biking like crazy to pass me.  I look to my right…and there she is….a Japanese cop.  She says STOPU!! (no spelling mistake there) and I do.  She starts talking in Japanese and I say…uhh….wakarimasen (I don’t understand).  She then starts talking to me in broken English asking why I went through the light.  All the while she’s sizing me up and looking in my bike basket…to which she only found a water bottle.  I played the I have no idea card and was like…In Canada, no cars equals you cross.  She looked at me sternly and was like….NO, this is rule in Japan.  Then she asks me for my I.D.  Ya, I didn’t have my passport so all I have is my Ontario Driver’s License.  She looked at it confused and asked me my name.  So I thought she was like getting ready to like haul me to jail for J-walking or something.  So I busted out Eigo (said Eggo) Sensei…Higashi Koko…well holy crap.  All of a sudden she’s like….OHHHHH….Eigo sensei?  Higashi Koko…ohhh…ok….you go home….just no more going through red lights.  Why didn’t I bust that out at the start??  So a few seconds later I was booking down the road again.  What was worse is that earlier in the night Brian was telling me he’s been bombed like every night for his last 3 years and he’s never had a cop stop him or anything.  He said he doesn’t even see them at night.  Obviously completely different deal for me…I’ve been here under a month and I’ve already met a cop.  Ha Jeez!

Monday wasn’t bad.  My supervisor bailed on me b/c it was clean up from the festival day and she said she’d be busy all day, so I couldn’t get a cell phone or any of the stuff we had planned to do.  Also she failed to mention it was clean up the school day and I was the only one wearing business attire.  Everyone else was in t-shirts and shorts or jeans.  WHAT?  So anyway, I was like screw this.  I went to city hall on my own and got my Alien Registration Card.  Then I went and grabbed Brian from his place b/c he has Monday’s off and took him to help me get my cell.  He’s been here 3 years and knows waaay more Japanese then I know.  It turned out that DoCoMo (my cellphone company) has an English speaking line so the salesman just called it and I talked to a woman who spoke perfect Japanese, I told her what I wanted and she relayed it to the salesman.  SO EASY…but after that it took like an hour to get everything together or whatever.  I thought it was going to cost me like 300 bux to pay for my plan and my phone…but instead it cost 40.  There was some deal going on for people under 29…SWEET DEAL!  So then I went back to school with my shiny cell phone.  By the time I got back most things at the school had been cleaned up and the kids were going home.  So I pretty much just hung out and talked to teachers and on the net. 

After work I went to my enkai at 6pm(work party that was for me and 2 other new teachers.) (MAN this is getting long!!).  I was told I only had to wear trousers and a dress shirt but I busted it right out and wore a full blown suit, the only person there to do it.  It’s ok though, I looked SWEET.  So, the three new people were brought into the room after all the other teachers had sat down.  We sat at the front and the vice-principal did a little introduction of us, I have no idea what he said as it was in Japanese but I know they laughed once during my introduction….who knows what it was about.  After that everyone did a kampai (cheers) and the drink/food fest was on.  There is a word for all you can eat too but I can’t remember it.  I had to sit at a table with the vice-principal and other high ranking people in the school, none of them spoke any English except a geography teacher who’s been really nice.  Eventually people got up and started moving around pouring drinks for everyone else.  I did not pour any beer in my drink.  So I ended up talking to people who I had never talked to.  Then the weirdest thing happened.  I had talked to the vice principal through my supervisor early in the day about history.  So I wonder into the washroom and there he is.  He turns to me and in English says….do you like classical music?  Then starts talking about classical composers IN ENGLISH.  I have never heard this man say anything in English before and I don’t think any of the staff was.  I guess it’s true what other JETs have told me….the weirdest stuff happens at an enkai.  The weirdness followed as I was talking to a bunch of the young teachers and they were filling my drink over and over again and my supervisor was called over to translate a word.  She turns to me and says….they think that you’re an alcoholic.  I almost spit my beer all over the place, this tiny Japanese woman with an intense Japanese accent turning to me and with like zero expression saying…they think you’re an alcoholic.  Apparently in Japanese there’s a word for someone who can hold their liquor and that’s what they were saying but my supervisor used….alcoholic cuz she didn’t know the term for hold your alcohol/booze which I told her and was looked at like I was weird cuz she was hearing it literally which makes no sense.

So, I wasn’t invited to a party afterwards but for some reason I don’t think there was one (oh, it’s Wed at 11:30 am now).  The enkai ended at 8:30, I hopped on my bike and left, I had a quiet night at home with some Sapporo beer.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was awesome.  Adachi high school is just like Matsuko except academic.  Everyone was really nice.  At one point I tripped in the hallway from the stupid indoor guest shoes that are too small.  Not like a I fell to the ground or anything.  I just kinda stumbled a bit.  The next thing I know a random teacher walks up to me and gives me a pair of sandals and he’s like you have them.  He wasn’t even an English teacher.  Another Math teacher who lives in Fukushima offered me a ride every day I’m going to Adachi.  How sweet will that be in the winter?

So my first class went alright and my second I refined the lesson plan a little bit and it went even better.  The kids were more energetic in the 2^nd class and loved looking at the pictures and money I brought.  The kids at Higashi on the other hand are REALLY REALLY quiet which I just learned about 2 hours ago.  Japanese students in general don’t like to answer questions or go against what the entire class thinks.  It’s weird to watch when they don’t know something how they look around at what other ppl are putting as if being wrong in a stupid multiple choice about when my birthday is will really effect their social standing in society.  It was funny to see even the “bad asses” who are nothing compared to kids from the West put on Canada pins and like love them.  All the kids get sooo excited when I’m like…the winning group gets Canada pins!!  Oh, Mom…I’m out of Canada pins…want to hit up your local MPs for me again….LOL.  So my classes are going well and I got internet at home last night, which is good.  That’s about all I have right now.  Canyoning in Gunma this weekend.  I’ve heard you can pay 15 dollars and this guy follows you and the group and you get pics afterwards as well as videos.  So I might do it…who knows.  At least then I’ll get pics of it.  K, peace out for now.

Brent