Livin' in the Inaka

End of the semester...a time for long freezing ceremonies in the gym and elementary school Christmas activities, a time for Japanese teachers to de-stress by meticulously organizing end-of-year parties to drink away their memories of the past year, a time when my sanity begins to wane and the cold seeps through my uninsulated house into my soul. Time for me to flee the country. Destination: Indonesia. Sayounara.

past two nights we've had thunderstorms worthy of Minnesota summers. Guess this means fall is over :\

Happy Halloween!

Just before I took off for Hong Kong last year the head teacher at my big elementary school approached me and asked if I would give the school "a souvenir gift." This "gift" had many specifications: 1. It was to be 5 drawings done by me of any size or medium. 2. The subject was to be scenery of the school and students. 3. It had to be around postcard size, and 4. It was DUE by mid June. I don't think I've ever been asked by anyone over the age of 7 for such a specific present before. Anyway, being the sucker I am I said yes. It ended up taking far longer than the time alloted, but seeing as it was a "present" they weren't in a position to complain (although there was a fair amount of inquiring every week or so). Here is 1 of 5 of the final product: 2 of 5 They specifically asked that I draw the ugly "mountain" in the back of the school, which is actually just a small hill with some trees on top. The hill wouldn't even make a go

I'm back ;) After receiving a number of requests/complaints/inquiries the past few months I've realized how many people actually DO still read this blog and thus have decided to try my best to keep it up, even if it's only an entry a month. Apologies to those of you who've been patiently waiting for an update. I was rather preoccupied the last few weeks of 2nd semester and then took off outta country for a bit. Then when I got back there was no internet for awhile... Anyway no more excuses. I'm officially rolled over to my 2nd year with JET. So far this doesn't mean much of anything where work is concerned. Second semester doesn't start till Sept. Until then I'm come to school, sit at my desk and don't even bother trying to look busy. The staff room is near empty since nobody else has any reason to be here either. I spend some of my hours chillin' with the office ladies sipping coffee and practicing my kanji with the daily newspaper. Sometimes I

...and how's the weather everyone? It's rainy! I'm starting to forget what the sun looks like. Maybe that's what's getting me down, or maybe it's the other way around. Not that this is any different from what I endured for 4 years attending school in the northwest, but I had a lot more to occupy my time and mind then. The only plus side of Monsoon season is it keeps the temperature at a tolerable level. I was reminded the other day that today is Independence Day. But then that just made me think of the accident I got into last 4th of July. What an awful day. The year before that I spent the 4th on a beach in Japan, blowing up fireworks over the water and eating BBQ with the other students. It was raining that day too, but it didn't keep us from enjoying the party. Fun day. No plans this year seeing as any sound louder than a whistle will set the neighborhood mob after us. My students are busy taking their final exams at present which is why I'm here upda

Wednesday after my last class got out I returned to the staff room at Seibu Elementary where I usually join the other teachers for afternoon 'otsukaresama' coffee and snack made personally by the school's lunch lady, often taken from her own backyard. This time however, I was approached by the head teacher who asked if I'd like to join them on a "short trip" into the mountains. She gave me a lengthy explanation of some annual excursion the staff go on to "nani-nani-natural-water-something-mountain-school-pool"... I like hiking, and they said it'd only take 30 minutes so I agreed "hai, ikimasu" to which they were all very excited about. Nakamura san then led me into an unknown room which I had previously assumed to be a closet, but was in fact a whole tatami room complete with closet, TV and a really nice western bathroom. She said it was her private changing room for when makes lunch (?). She hands me a really old, dirty shirt and pant

Now that the weather's warmed up enough to have people over again we've regained our reputations as the roudy young gaijin in our neighborhood, which is by in large dominated by people well over the of age 80. We're really not that bad, but when you factor in that our walls are literally paper-thin and everyone around us is in bed at 8 with the windows down it's pretty much impossible to do much of anything without expecting a complaint the following morning delivered in the form of Mizuuchi-san, our supervisor, whom they call whenever they have an issue to settle with us. That or they choose an even more passive-aggressive way of expressing their disapproval- by assembling outside my window early morning and discussing it in loud voices for me to overhear, whether I want to or not. Admittedly, our last complaint was not unwarranted. After a particularly sandy day at the beach we thought it'd be fun to go back to the house and burn our massive haystacks of weeds tha

oh wait, I'm in Japan. Happy Children's Day

Apologies again for my absence. Haven't had the energy to sit down and write in awhile. As you've prolly concluded from my photos I'm back from China. When I left I thought I might've been comin' down with something, but funny enough I felt fine all through the trip. Then as soon as we touched ground in Japan again my symptoms returned. An allergy to Japan it seems... Or more likely, an allergic reaction to the explosion of cherry blossoms coming into bloom across the country right now. As I mentioned earlier cherry blossom season coincides with the beginning of the new school year. In Japan this means more than just new school supplies and sneakers. As a teacher you walk into school that first day and you have new colleagues, a new office desk, new schedule, and for seemingly no reason whatsoever, a new shoe cubby. I only recognize a third of the staff now, 11 of our teachers having been transferred to new schools. They do this every year- last day of school each t

I'm temporarily fleeing the country to regain my sanity. Not sure if China's the best place to do that, but it'll definitely be a welcome change. My nenkyuu's all hanko-ed, visa's approved, tickets in hand, hostels booked, now all alls left to do is get on the plane. Itinerary: 3/25 arrive Shanghai somewhere in between->Beijing->Nanjing->back to Shanghai 4/1 return to Toyama Finally gunna put some use to that Chinese minor of mine... zai jian (^-^)/~~~

Just got back from one of my elementary school's graduation ceremonies. It was pretty much identical to the junior high's ceremony (same formality, same program, same frigid gym) except for the fact that the students were still just kids rather than young adolescents. They played Vivaldi's "Spring" from The Four Seasons on a loop as the kids went up one-by-one to get their diplomas. Sure didn't feel like spring :P students wave goodbye to 6th graders from balcony, me being ambushed outside staff room door After seeing off the 6th graders in the hall all the families headed outside where I had my picture taken by every student and their mom (literally). For 1 hour there was a queue of students lining up to get their pic taken with me and get my autograph :P No place like a rural Japanese elementary school to make you feel like a rock star (even had the news cameras following me around for a time). Tomorrow's a national holiday (Spring Equinox) so there'

My 3rd year students graduated from junior high school on Wednesday. ceremony in the cold cold gym. Sending off the 3rd years outside after the ceremony. I'm gunna miss 'em ;_; ... wish I got more pictures. School is still in session for the 1st and 2nd yrs until the 23rd, but 3yrs are all done. The day after graduation (yesterday) they all received their test results for the High School Entrance Examinations. All day long 3rd yr students were coming back to the school to tell the teachers they passed and what school they got into. A lot of my students will be going off to Tonami/Takaoka/or Fukuno High Schools, but it seems a majority will be headed off to Fukumitsu High School right nextdoor~ which hopefully means I'll get to see 'em a lot more frequently :D I got a visit from a few of my 3rd boys today and we juggled outside the gym for an hour during my free period (using the school soft baseballs, which are actually quite heavy). I'm hoping they'll continue

the weather has decided its going to try to make up for 3 months of relatively snowless winter in 3 days. will spring ever come?? Will we ever be able to take the snow tires off fun chan?? And just this sunday after a gorgeous sunny afternoon spent picnicing on the river bank with bentos, ice cream and bicycles I said to Ivy- "I really think this is it! I don't think we'll be having any more see-your-breath cold days...maybe we can even put away the heaters soon." Only took 12 hours to prove me wrong. We're now on our 3rd day in of heavy nonstop snowfall with no end in site. I almost spun out twice trying to drive to my mountain elementary school yesterday where they don't plow. Hey, at least the ski season will be extended! Too bad I don't ski.

One of my most enjoyable moments during the week is my long drive through the mountains from my small elementary school every Wednesday. I only have my routine ALT duties at the junior high on Thurs and Friday so Wednesday after school is my midweek breather. This week on the drive home the air was so warm I rolled down the windows and turned up the music. The sunlight was reflecting off the muddy rice fields and the snow-crested mountains and I was the only car on the road the entire way :D This whole month has been comparatively warm but of late it's beginning to feel more and more spring-like. The cherry blossoms are predicted to bloom early this year and when they do I intend to enjoy every moment of it this time. 楽しみ～p(^-^)q I'll be there stretched out on the river bank everyday under the cherry blossoms with a good book, a bottle of wine or listening to my new ipod (on it's way ;). Only one more month of school remains before the new semester begins in April. The bloo

I had a Valentine's Day lesson planned for my classes at Seibu Elementary today but just now was informed by my head teacher that all my students are out on a field trip :( So no lessons today. I was gunna let them try some of the "Sweetheart" candies my sister sent me too. I've been giving them to people to try this past week and every Japanese person says they taste "kusuri-ppoi!" (like medicine). I guess medicine in Japan tastes like chalky sugar. for those unfamiliar, Japanese Valentines wo setsumei shimasu... Valentine's Day in Japan is a lot less commercially hyped up than in America but is still celebrated, just a bit differently. In Japan ladies give the men chocolate- typically milk or dark. Receiving chocolate doesn't necessarily mean the person giving it to you is your friend, or even likes you for that matter... This chocolate is called "giri" chocolate, or rather "obligation" chocolate. It's not uncommon for women

I can't go 3 months in Japan without getting sick it seems. I think it was last Sunday's workload that did me in. I agreed to be an interviewer for the annual ECC examinations, in which all the private teachers from the area bring their students in to be tested by a real "gaikokujin" in a one-on-one interview. Not that the interviews are terribly difficult for me, but after the first 60 kids or so I kinda wanted to hang myself. Many of the kids are far too young (some were as young as 4yrs old) or just too nervous. They tell us not to use any words or phrasing not specified in the test booklets, to ask the question 3 times if they didn't get it, and give hints for those completely clueless- I'd say about 70% of the kids I interviewed fell into the completely-clueless-category. Anywho, 8 hours with 300 kids... by the end of the day my face hurt from smiling and I was mildly delirious. Today I'm suppose to be at my elementary school which is prolly the worst

Apologies for my lengthy absence... it's been a maddening first month to start the year and everything I've been anticipating or stressing about ends today- the greatest of these which has been weighing on my mind for the past 3 weeks is the big recontracting deadline for next year. What I thought would've been an easy decision ended up being much much harder when the time came to actually circle "yes or no." I could bore you with the details of my decison-making process but for now I'll just say no, I'm not coming back in August, and yes, I'm here in the inaka for another 18 months. I'll promise to come visit in the next 11 ;)

I couldn't possibly write down everything I saw and did and felt in the past few weeks, but here at least are a few of the major things worth a mention and I'll let the pictures tell the rest... New Years Day with host family. (photo: osechi and sake for breakfast)>> Since my prior stay in Japan was only for the summer duration I missed out on the Japanese New Year. So this time I wanted to go back to ol' Minami Gyotoku to spend the holidays with my former host family in Chiba. New Years included a visit to a local shrine, traditional osechi made by my host mom, and a whole lotta sake. I always love seeing my host fam again but it seems like my visits are never long enough. This time I could only stay for two nights and 3 days because of schedule conflicts. Mari-chan is getting cuter and cuter everytime I see her (and more fluent than me in Japanese) and I saw the emperor of Japan: from left to right- the prince, the emperor, empress, his 2nd son and his wife (th