Tommy Lee Jones does all the advertising for the Boss coffee company. It is pretty strange seeing his unsmiling face on every train next to every other window. Speaking of the train, I have had the pleasure of standing next to the strangest people this week. On wednesdays and fridays I have to commute down to Uji city to teach at my visit school, and everyday so far i have been kept entertained by strangest Japanese transvestite i have ever seen. Her/his antics for getting people to give up their seats on a full train are unprecedented and quite comical. She/he starts by staring at the person who is occupying the seat, then she/he moves and stands right in front of that person and stares. In a matter of minutes, the person gets so uncomfortable that they get up and move. Quite entertaining.
On he train ride home, there is a whole new type of strange. There is a young man, probably about 22 or so, that rides the same train from Nara to Kyoto station. I assume that he does this as a nervous tick of some sort but he is a special guy. He spends the entire time while the train is in motion walking up and down between the cars of the train. He paces back and forth and in and out until the train stops. He then proceeds to get off the train in order to throw away torn out pages of magazine, which he properly recycles. Then just before the train doors close he jumps back on the train and continues his giggling and pacing. He does all of this while staring at his cell phone. Not talking, not texting, not watching tv or listening to music, just staring. One time he lifted the seat cushions off of a vacant train seat like he was looking for something. Yesterday, this person get off the train, recycle his magazine page, and leave the station, the train doors closed and we left. Three stops later, in kyoto station, i saw him getting on the train that i just got off of. This blew my mind.
Back to education and teaching and such. I like my job. I teach 4 classes per week at my base school and about 5-6 per week at my visit school. I have 10 different classes of first year students. That means that i can make 1 lesson and have it last nearly 3 weeks at that school, whereas at my base school i have to make 2 lessons per week at least.
This weekend i'm going to Osaka to do a bit of shopping at Costco and toursity things. Pictures to come. I should really find out how i'm supposed to pay my rent...
~Gio
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
So I'm Officially an Educator
My first official day of class was today. I walked into work a bit nervous and a bit frightened but that was quelled 5 minutes before my first class when my co-teacher came to tell me that class was starting a period earlier than it normally would be cause the school was making up time for the students to prepare for the school festival.
as a result, i walked into class completely mentally prepared to spend the next 50-110minutes with these students only to realize that i forgot to photocopy the activity sheets for all of the students. Granted i am not entirely at fault seeing as this particular teacher told me that he would do all the photocopying for the class as long as i gave him the activities and sheets 1 period in advance. I mean it's not like he had the lesson plan on his desk for an entire week or anything...oh wait, he did. Such is life. Everyone was busy and nervous. Everyone except the students. They walk around campus like they own the joint. In fact, they do own the place. They can and will do whatever they want in class, including but not limited to; eating, drinking, sitting on their desks, talking while teachers or other students are talking, showing up late, not showing up at all, and not dressing in dress code (which i think needs to be enforced, because --and i never thought i would say this in my life--but some skirts are too short). Wow, listen to me. I sound like an old priest from Catholic school.
All that being said, the class was an overall success. I think most of the students were genuinely interested, despite the blank stares and whispered wakaranai's (i dont understand). The second class period was a bit more painful. It was directly after lunch and everyone in the room shamefully wore the food-coma droopy eyes. It did not help that the activity that my Japanese Teacher of English decided to do was quite boring and left them talking in pairs for nearly 25 minutes. Eventually, the class was concluded and I departed to my desk in the teachers office to work on the next lesson plan for the next week. Luckily, I am able to reuse lesson plans for different classes at both of my schools.
So far I enjoy being a teacher. We shall see what tomorrow brings. I cannot say for sure that I would want to do this job for the rest of my life, but who knows.
~Gio
as a result, i walked into class completely mentally prepared to spend the next 50-110minutes with these students only to realize that i forgot to photocopy the activity sheets for all of the students. Granted i am not entirely at fault seeing as this particular teacher told me that he would do all the photocopying for the class as long as i gave him the activities and sheets 1 period in advance. I mean it's not like he had the lesson plan on his desk for an entire week or anything...oh wait, he did. Such is life. Everyone was busy and nervous. Everyone except the students. They walk around campus like they own the joint. In fact, they do own the place. They can and will do whatever they want in class, including but not limited to; eating, drinking, sitting on their desks, talking while teachers or other students are talking, showing up late, not showing up at all, and not dressing in dress code (which i think needs to be enforced, because --and i never thought i would say this in my life--but some skirts are too short). Wow, listen to me. I sound like an old priest from Catholic school.
All that being said, the class was an overall success. I think most of the students were genuinely interested, despite the blank stares and whispered wakaranai's (i dont understand). The second class period was a bit more painful. It was directly after lunch and everyone in the room shamefully wore the food-coma droopy eyes. It did not help that the activity that my Japanese Teacher of English decided to do was quite boring and left them talking in pairs for nearly 25 minutes. Eventually, the class was concluded and I departed to my desk in the teachers office to work on the next lesson plan for the next week. Luckily, I am able to reuse lesson plans for different classes at both of my schools.
So far I enjoy being a teacher. We shall see what tomorrow brings. I cannot say for sure that I would want to do this job for the rest of my life, but who knows.
~Gio
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The First Lesson
Yesterday, Saturday, I was asked to come into work at my base school to help teach an english class to 12 prespective 1st year students. Here in Japan, students have a legal right to attend High school and as such they are able to choose which public high school they want to go to, based on their test scores. As a result, three English teachers and myself were asked to present what a normal English class or Oral Communication class would look like.
The class started about 10 minutes late because no one could find the classroom in which we were holding the class. The room is a well hidden one indeed. The Computer Audio Language Lab room was filled with computers, projectors, headphones and microphones. Luckily, the teachers and I had a practice lesson the day before so that we could learn how to use all of the equipment and such.
Eventually, all of the students arrived, 11 girls and 1 boy. I felt so bad for the little guy, he kept starring at the door hoping for another boy to enter. I began the class with a short self-introduction, which was returned by many blank stares. I was speaking very slowly and repeating myself a lot. I also showed some pictures of my family and friends, as well as of Arizona. I do not really know if they understood me or not, but I will be working with high school level students for the most part.
We then proceeded with the games: Catch the Criminal, Who Am I?, and Human Bingo.
Catch the Criminal is a game where the native English speaker (me) reads out the description of a person and the students have to find that person on the computer screen and write the number that corresponds to that person. Who am I is similar. The English speaker (me again) reads three sentences that describe a person, character or thing and the students have to write down who I am describing. Human Bingo was a bit more complicated but the English speaker (me) reads all of the instructions about the game, and then joins the game so the students can ask him questions too. The object of the game is to get 4 correct answers to the given questions in a row. This game was particularly difficult to explain but eventually everyone understood how to play. This was where I felt really bad for the lone boy in the class. Much like in the USA, young boys and girls in elementary and jr. high school have almost no interaction with the opposite sex. So much so, that doing pair working in classes can be very difficult if you do not have an even number of boys and girls.
Overall, I think the class was a success. I have 1 class on Monday with Oral Communications I. I hope my lesson plan will go over well. Wish me luck.
~Gio
The class started about 10 minutes late because no one could find the classroom in which we were holding the class. The room is a well hidden one indeed. The Computer Audio Language Lab room was filled with computers, projectors, headphones and microphones. Luckily, the teachers and I had a practice lesson the day before so that we could learn how to use all of the equipment and such.
Eventually, all of the students arrived, 11 girls and 1 boy. I felt so bad for the little guy, he kept starring at the door hoping for another boy to enter. I began the class with a short self-introduction, which was returned by many blank stares. I was speaking very slowly and repeating myself a lot. I also showed some pictures of my family and friends, as well as of Arizona. I do not really know if they understood me or not, but I will be working with high school level students for the most part.
We then proceeded with the games: Catch the Criminal, Who Am I?, and Human Bingo.
Catch the Criminal is a game where the native English speaker (me) reads out the description of a person and the students have to find that person on the computer screen and write the number that corresponds to that person. Who am I is similar. The English speaker (me again) reads three sentences that describe a person, character or thing and the students have to write down who I am describing. Human Bingo was a bit more complicated but the English speaker (me) reads all of the instructions about the game, and then joins the game so the students can ask him questions too. The object of the game is to get 4 correct answers to the given questions in a row. This game was particularly difficult to explain but eventually everyone understood how to play. This was where I felt really bad for the lone boy in the class. Much like in the USA, young boys and girls in elementary and jr. high school have almost no interaction with the opposite sex. So much so, that doing pair working in classes can be very difficult if you do not have an even number of boys and girls.
Overall, I think the class was a success. I have 1 class on Monday with Oral Communications I. I hope my lesson plan will go over well. Wish me luck.
~Gio
Friday, August 22, 2008
The Cell Phone Fiasco
As the title so aptly suggests, there was a fiasco at the cell phone store yesterday. In an attempt to be proactive and non-dependent on my Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) I walked to the Softbank (one of the 3 big cellphone companies here in Japan) and, with prepared questions, intended to inquire about the proceedure and materials I would need to get a cell phone. I thought the store was empty and i felt the likely hood of making a fool out of myself would be really high if there were other people in the store. I trotted in and asked the bored-looking clerk if he spoke English. He mumbbled, a little and said "yes, but very little." So i said, "Yoshu, I speak very little japanese." I proceeded to sit down and go through my questions, props and hand gestures that i had prepared for this moment. Only then did i notice a Japanese woman and an American man peeking over the next stall. The Japanese woman offered to translate for me while she waited for her tech-savvy husband to pick out the features and settings for his new Iphone. But i digress.
I asked the clerk if i would be able to successfully purchase a phone with the materials i had, a temporary alien registration card, a hanko(name stamp), an electric bill with the date and my address, medical insurance card, and my bank account number and book. The man said yes, you will be able to get the phone with all of that. So i got comfortable and proceeded to pick out a phone, a plan, all the accessories and programs. We then start the paper work and pick a phone number. The clerk gets the phone out and is programming it, he puts the sd chip in with all the information, he even changes the language on the phone to english for me. This is when everything went to hell. He looks at his computer and says in english, you cant buy the phone, sorry. So naturally my curiosity takes over and I ask why. He says, "because you are a foreigner, you cannot purchase softbank phone, if you have a credit card you can." So I take out my Wells Fargo bank card and hand it over. He has to now put in all of the information again. so i need to take all of my paperwork again. Another 20 minutes go by and he says, "because you are a foreigner you cannot buy softbank unless you purchase the phone in cash, instead of paying over time." Well at this point im quite pissed, but composed on the outside. So i tell the man that i dont have the 60,000yen($600) on me. Still curious, I ask, "Why would you let me go through all of this if I wasnt able to purchase the phoneplan from the start?" The woman translating for me looked shocked and was helping me as much as she could. Eventually we found out that Softbank fears foreigners will get their phones for little to no cost and leave the country with a free phone. The clerk then says that he is sorry for the discrimination but there is nothing he do.
All in all, 1.5 hours were spent there for nothing. The woman and her husband left the store with me and did not know what to say other than that they were sorry they could not help. We exchanged info and went our separate ways.
Now today was my first work day at Todo High School in Uji City. I just barely made it to school and time and met with my supervisor. I told him the story of the softbank disaster and told him of my plans to try a different company after work. He suggested that we kill time by going into Uji city and getting a cellphone before lunch. I was excited to hear all of that. So i researched what i wanted from Au (the other cell phone company) and was prepared to kick ass and take names. We get there and spend the next hour and a half filling out paperwork, copying files and choosing plans for my new phone. After everthing was finished, the woman at the desk told us that they would need an hour to process the paperwork and to submit everything. My JTE and I did not have enough time to wait around because we had a teachers meeting in the near future. So as we speak/as i write to you and you read, my new cellphone is sitting on a desk where i cannot access it. I will go to the store and hopefully pick it up without any issues. we shall see though, we shall see. I trust no one.
wish me luck.
Gio
I asked the clerk if i would be able to successfully purchase a phone with the materials i had, a temporary alien registration card, a hanko(name stamp), an electric bill with the date and my address, medical insurance card, and my bank account number and book. The man said yes, you will be able to get the phone with all of that. So i got comfortable and proceeded to pick out a phone, a plan, all the accessories and programs. We then start the paper work and pick a phone number. The clerk gets the phone out and is programming it, he puts the sd chip in with all the information, he even changes the language on the phone to english for me. This is when everything went to hell. He looks at his computer and says in english, you cant buy the phone, sorry. So naturally my curiosity takes over and I ask why. He says, "because you are a foreigner, you cannot purchase softbank phone, if you have a credit card you can." So I take out my Wells Fargo bank card and hand it over. He has to now put in all of the information again. so i need to take all of my paperwork again. Another 20 minutes go by and he says, "because you are a foreigner you cannot buy softbank unless you purchase the phone in cash, instead of paying over time." Well at this point im quite pissed, but composed on the outside. So i tell the man that i dont have the 60,000yen($600) on me. Still curious, I ask, "Why would you let me go through all of this if I wasnt able to purchase the phoneplan from the start?" The woman translating for me looked shocked and was helping me as much as she could. Eventually we found out that Softbank fears foreigners will get their phones for little to no cost and leave the country with a free phone. The clerk then says that he is sorry for the discrimination but there is nothing he do.
All in all, 1.5 hours were spent there for nothing. The woman and her husband left the store with me and did not know what to say other than that they were sorry they could not help. We exchanged info and went our separate ways.
Now today was my first work day at Todo High School in Uji City. I just barely made it to school and time and met with my supervisor. I told him the story of the softbank disaster and told him of my plans to try a different company after work. He suggested that we kill time by going into Uji city and getting a cellphone before lunch. I was excited to hear all of that. So i researched what i wanted from Au (the other cell phone company) and was prepared to kick ass and take names. We get there and spend the next hour and a half filling out paperwork, copying files and choosing plans for my new phone. After everthing was finished, the woman at the desk told us that they would need an hour to process the paperwork and to submit everything. My JTE and I did not have enough time to wait around because we had a teachers meeting in the near future. So as we speak/as i write to you and you read, my new cellphone is sitting on a desk where i cannot access it. I will go to the store and hopefully pick it up without any issues. we shall see though, we shall see. I trust no one.
wish me luck.
Gio
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Past Week Has Been...
So the past week has been very busy. It is hard to remember everything that I have done but it has been quite the tornado of events.
This week I had seminar in Kyoto city to present my self-introduction lesson to the other Assistant English Teachers, returners and newbies. This seminar was the most useful orientation that i have had yet. There was a wealth of information and many different types of lessons ripe for pilfering. I planned a 45-50 minute lesson for this seminar and for my first class on Monday, August 25th. I was able to get good advice from many different people so I am confident that my lesson will not explode in my face. I plan on doing a 10minute introduction with pictures, props...poorly drawn flags, and lots of awkward faces. Then follow up with an interview/multiple choice quiz about my introduction. Then i plan on doing a question and answer ranken (rock paper scissors) game.
after i presented this lesson to my Oral Communication II teacher she said it was great and should work out well, but you have this class for another 50minute period immediately after the first period. you should probably make a lesson for that class period too. So i ran back to my computer and popped out a beautiful idea for me to get to know the students. I plan on putting 4 signs up around the room (I like, I do not like, I love, I hate) and making the students walk to which ever corner best represents how they feel about a particular activity; such as, swimming, eating sushi, bugs, etc. Then i plan on asking some students why they feel the way they do. Hopefully this will help open the students up as well as get them moving in the class room. I only have about 8 students in this class so i intend to also play 2 truths and a lie to get the class talking and listening. my main aim is to learn all of their names and 1 fact about them by the end of the first class. we shall see.
on a social note, TJ, my buddy from LMU, came down to Kyoto with two of his AET friends from Kanazawa. We had a fun time but it was unfortunately a busy week for me so i was unable to hang out as much as i would have liked. Last nights nomihodai(all you can drink) karaoke was a good way to close out his visit.
Life is starting to get busier by the day. I am glad that i am being asked to plan lessons and be active during the day, i was starting to get pretty bored at the office. I also learned that i will only plan 9 lessons this whole semester for my OCI class here at Rakuto. I am heading out to Todo high school tomorrow for the first time on my own, so I will be writing about that experience probably tomorrow. I heard that i will likely have to teach 3 periods per day. Hopefully i can get away with doing my introduction lesson for like all of september.
-Gio
This week I had seminar in Kyoto city to present my self-introduction lesson to the other Assistant English Teachers, returners and newbies. This seminar was the most useful orientation that i have had yet. There was a wealth of information and many different types of lessons ripe for pilfering. I planned a 45-50 minute lesson for this seminar and for my first class on Monday, August 25th. I was able to get good advice from many different people so I am confident that my lesson will not explode in my face. I plan on doing a 10minute introduction with pictures, props...poorly drawn flags, and lots of awkward faces. Then follow up with an interview/multiple choice quiz about my introduction. Then i plan on doing a question and answer ranken (rock paper scissors) game.
after i presented this lesson to my Oral Communication II teacher she said it was great and should work out well, but you have this class for another 50minute period immediately after the first period. you should probably make a lesson for that class period too. So i ran back to my computer and popped out a beautiful idea for me to get to know the students. I plan on putting 4 signs up around the room (I like, I do not like, I love, I hate) and making the students walk to which ever corner best represents how they feel about a particular activity; such as, swimming, eating sushi, bugs, etc. Then i plan on asking some students why they feel the way they do. Hopefully this will help open the students up as well as get them moving in the class room. I only have about 8 students in this class so i intend to also play 2 truths and a lie to get the class talking and listening. my main aim is to learn all of their names and 1 fact about them by the end of the first class. we shall see.
on a social note, TJ, my buddy from LMU, came down to Kyoto with two of his AET friends from Kanazawa. We had a fun time but it was unfortunately a busy week for me so i was unable to hang out as much as i would have liked. Last nights nomihodai(all you can drink) karaoke was a good way to close out his visit.
Life is starting to get busier by the day. I am glad that i am being asked to plan lessons and be active during the day, i was starting to get pretty bored at the office. I also learned that i will only plan 9 lessons this whole semester for my OCI class here at Rakuto. I am heading out to Todo high school tomorrow for the first time on my own, so I will be writing about that experience probably tomorrow. I heard that i will likely have to teach 3 periods per day. Hopefully i can get away with doing my introduction lesson for like all of september.
-Gio
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A Prophecy Through the World of Dreams
As not much has happened to me in the past several days, I would like to share a dream that vexed me. First, let me preface this story with a bit of clarification. I rarely dream, no I know what the books and professionals say, "everyone dreams, but not every dream is remembered." I would like to contend that I am an oddity, those of you that know me might not disagree. But I rarely dream, largely because my sleep is constantly interrupted by physical factors in reality. Whether it be because the springs of this mattress lay merely a fraction of an inch below the surface or because only one of my nostrils works at any given time, none of that really matters. The important part of this story is that I actually had a dream.
This dream started out as the usual ethereal floating blob of awareness that, through some REM magic, sparked into a reality, lifelike in all its details. I, or what I assumed was me as I do not think I had a body in all of this, was in the back of a charter bus bound for some city. I cannot tell you what city because the name was represented by kanji characters on a scrolling LED banner. I figured I was in Japan because it just felt like Japan, if that makes sense...well it does not have to, this was my dream. The bus was filled with fellow JETs that I have meet over the passed few weeks as well as several friends from back home and from LMU.
Now this is where the dream gets slightly strange, as I believe all dreams do. The bus and all of its passengers unanimously decided that lunch would be at In and Out Burger. I seriously doubted the existence of an In and Out on the island but it was a dream so who cares. The trip would have taken an eternity in dream world and I was hungry. At that moment, a Mexican food restaurant appeared in the middle of this bombed town (yes i know, I associate Japan and bombings...I am a historian even in my dreams). The bus stops and we all get out to see that there is a Hobby Bench-esque plane protruding from the front of the building above the name, Bob's Burritos. This is were things begin to get hazy as I believe my consciousness started to realize that I was dreaming (who knows if that is really possible), but we entered the shack, all 60 some of us. Most of the people with me were just hazy figures by now, I suppose I did not have enough processing power to materialize everyone's face. The owner of the shack, I can only assume his name was Bob, came down a twisting staircase and pointed to table that was not there a moment earlier and grunted. The hippie with the huge beard then returned to his room. The table contained an endless supply of burrito material and a stack of tortillas taller than the universe, maybe. The eating commenced, it was dreamy. (is it odd that I am dreaming about mexican food?) After a second helping, I woke up...drooling and starving at 3am.
I entitled this entry as "A Prophecy Through the World of Dreams" because I received an email yesterday saying that if the festival is rained-out tonight, we will be going to a Mexican restaurant. We shall see what comes to pass in our realm where we are merely figments of the gods dreams.
~Gio
This dream started out as the usual ethereal floating blob of awareness that, through some REM magic, sparked into a reality, lifelike in all its details. I, or what I assumed was me as I do not think I had a body in all of this, was in the back of a charter bus bound for some city. I cannot tell you what city because the name was represented by kanji characters on a scrolling LED banner. I figured I was in Japan because it just felt like Japan, if that makes sense...well it does not have to, this was my dream. The bus was filled with fellow JETs that I have meet over the passed few weeks as well as several friends from back home and from LMU.
Now this is where the dream gets slightly strange, as I believe all dreams do. The bus and all of its passengers unanimously decided that lunch would be at In and Out Burger. I seriously doubted the existence of an In and Out on the island but it was a dream so who cares. The trip would have taken an eternity in dream world and I was hungry. At that moment, a Mexican food restaurant appeared in the middle of this bombed town (yes i know, I associate Japan and bombings...I am a historian even in my dreams). The bus stops and we all get out to see that there is a Hobby Bench-esque plane protruding from the front of the building above the name, Bob's Burritos. This is were things begin to get hazy as I believe my consciousness started to realize that I was dreaming (who knows if that is really possible), but we entered the shack, all 60 some of us. Most of the people with me were just hazy figures by now, I suppose I did not have enough processing power to materialize everyone's face. The owner of the shack, I can only assume his name was Bob, came down a twisting staircase and pointed to table that was not there a moment earlier and grunted. The hippie with the huge beard then returned to his room. The table contained an endless supply of burrito material and a stack of tortillas taller than the universe, maybe. The eating commenced, it was dreamy. (is it odd that I am dreaming about mexican food?) After a second helping, I woke up...drooling and starving at 3am.
I entitled this entry as "A Prophecy Through the World of Dreams" because I received an email yesterday saying that if the festival is rained-out tonight, we will be going to a Mexican restaurant. We shall see what comes to pass in our realm where we are merely figments of the gods dreams.
~Gio
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Break the Boredom Cycle
The past few days I have done nothing but lounge around, watch movies, cook noodles without any spices, I felt that I needed to do something exploratory today. My initial intention was to go all the way out to Kinkaku-ji Temple in the Northwest corner of Kyoto city, but once I left my apartment I realized that I forgot my map and "explore Kyoto" travel guide at my desk at school. I certainly did not want to show up on my vacation and break into the school to free my map and such, that would not have set a good precedent for the next year. As a result, I decided that a little subway cruisin' was in order.
Luckily enough, Sanjo Keihan is only 4 stops from Yamashina. Sanjo is a famous tourist location and has a huge shopping district with lots of local and foreign goods. When I say shopping district many of you will assume an indoor mall or something of the like; your assumption would be incorrect. This area is like a large swap-meet style street with tako-like tentacles (tako=octopus...they are delicious by the way). I was a bit taken back while I walked down the street. There were thousands of shops, as far as the street stretched. Fearing the unknown and the strange, as well as the prospect that I might get myself lost, I trudged the massive collection of alleyway and side streets in a robotic left-turn only pattern. Once I found my bearings and the main street everything was much easier to navigate. The surprising part was the amazing amount of similar items from store to store. Aside from the countless "engrish" t-shirt stores, where english words grouped into nonsensical phrases are emblazoned on the fronts of individual tees; such as, "Give Free Now" and any other imaginable combination of nouns, adjectives, and verbs one could conjure. But there were countless omiyagi(souvenirs) places, 100yen shops, hat stores (selling the same exact hats), chopstick vendors and jewelery alleys. One of the more fancy places was this lovely establishment:
Apparently, everything was on sale in an attempt to help the "world without strangers" organization. It sounded pretty fishy to me.
There is one more thing to mention about the Sanjo shopping district. It is that the entire area is built around several shrines, temples and cemeteries. I went into one of the temples but there were people inside praying so i did not think it was appropriate to take pictures like a silly foreigner. It was a pretty unique experience taking one step through the gate into the Buddhist shrine from the shopping mall. It was strangely serene considering the holy ground was surrounded by a movie theater and hat store and a cemetery. Here is a picture of one of the smaller shrines. This area was not swimming with people. An interesting shopping experience, nonetheless.
Needless to say, I got turned around. I knew where I was, but i was ridiculously far from the subway station that I knew would take me home. I decided to be adventurous and take a long way around. I found another subway about half a mile West of where I wanted to go so i attempted, but failed, to find another train home. The result was the walk of shame up a beautiful river to my destination. The Sanjo-dori bridge, as i believe it is called, is fairly popular amongst young people and on weekend and evenings the riverside is filled with people playing music and drinking.
After the long walk back to the station, I jumped on a train, the wrong train, and took a trip in the right direction but on the wrong connecting line. Such is the adventures of life. But our story does not end there, in the train station I purchased some confectionery and baked delectables (yes, i made it a noun, sue me) for lunch. The first was a croissant with a thin layer of chocolate and the second was a pale green, puffy bun with what i assumed was delicious red-bean paste injected into the center. My mouth watered with every torturous step home. I would have eaten on the train, as i was already ravenous at this time, but eating in public is a no-no in Japanese society. Stomach growling, I quickened my pace as I reached my neighborhood, found here:
I fumble my keys at the door to my apartment, my Jager lanyard catches the door, I slip my sneakers off at the walkway-they go sailing, I empty my pockets onto the table as I turn on my fan with my right foot and air conditioner with my left hand, I kneel on the floor and quickly, yet delicately, open the pink plastic baker's bag only to find another bag, which I destroy immediately. The gorgeous green pastry likely filled with delicious, sweet red-bean paste speeds toward my nearly drooling mouth. Contact. Success my brain screams only to realize the unfamiliar taste and texture of orange pudding surrounded by puffy pastry. And alas, the sultry red-bean paste has eluded me again. The memory of my trip to Sanjo-dori is a gooey and citrusy one.
~Gio
Luckily enough, Sanjo Keihan is only 4 stops from Yamashina. Sanjo is a famous tourist location and has a huge shopping district with lots of local and foreign goods. When I say shopping district many of you will assume an indoor mall or something of the like; your assumption would be incorrect. This area is like a large swap-meet style street with tako-like tentacles (tako=octopus...they are delicious by the way). I was a bit taken back while I walked down the street. There were thousands of shops, as far as the street stretched. Fearing the unknown and the strange, as well as the prospect that I might get myself lost, I trudged the massive collection of alleyway and side streets in a robotic left-turn only pattern. Once I found my bearings and the main street everything was much easier to navigate. The surprising part was the amazing amount of similar items from store to store. Aside from the countless "engrish" t-shirt stores, where english words grouped into nonsensical phrases are emblazoned on the fronts of individual tees; such as, "Give Free Now" and any other imaginable combination of nouns, adjectives, and verbs one could conjure. But there were countless omiyagi(souvenirs) places, 100yen shops, hat stores (selling the same exact hats), chopstick vendors and jewelery alleys. One of the more fancy places was this lovely establishment:
Apparently, everything was on sale in an attempt to help the "world without strangers" organization. It sounded pretty fishy to me.
There is one more thing to mention about the Sanjo shopping district. It is that the entire area is built around several shrines, temples and cemeteries. I went into one of the temples but there were people inside praying so i did not think it was appropriate to take pictures like a silly foreigner. It was a pretty unique experience taking one step through the gate into the Buddhist shrine from the shopping mall. It was strangely serene considering the holy ground was surrounded by a movie theater and hat store and a cemetery. Here is a picture of one of the smaller shrines. This area was not swimming with people. An interesting shopping experience, nonetheless.
Needless to say, I got turned around. I knew where I was, but i was ridiculously far from the subway station that I knew would take me home. I decided to be adventurous and take a long way around. I found another subway about half a mile West of where I wanted to go so i attempted, but failed, to find another train home. The result was the walk of shame up a beautiful river to my destination. The Sanjo-dori bridge, as i believe it is called, is fairly popular amongst young people and on weekend and evenings the riverside is filled with people playing music and drinking.
After the long walk back to the station, I jumped on a train, the wrong train, and took a trip in the right direction but on the wrong connecting line. Such is the adventures of life. But our story does not end there, in the train station I purchased some confectionery and baked delectables (yes, i made it a noun, sue me) for lunch. The first was a croissant with a thin layer of chocolate and the second was a pale green, puffy bun with what i assumed was delicious red-bean paste injected into the center. My mouth watered with every torturous step home. I would have eaten on the train, as i was already ravenous at this time, but eating in public is a no-no in Japanese society. Stomach growling, I quickened my pace as I reached my neighborhood, found here:
I fumble my keys at the door to my apartment, my Jager lanyard catches the door, I slip my sneakers off at the walkway-they go sailing, I empty my pockets onto the table as I turn on my fan with my right foot and air conditioner with my left hand, I kneel on the floor and quickly, yet delicately, open the pink plastic baker's bag only to find another bag, which I destroy immediately. The gorgeous green pastry likely filled with delicious, sweet red-bean paste speeds toward my nearly drooling mouth. Contact. Success my brain screams only to realize the unfamiliar taste and texture of orange pudding surrounded by puffy pastry. And alas, the sultry red-bean paste has eluded me again. The memory of my trip to Sanjo-dori is a gooey and citrusy one.
~Gio
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Orientation and New Friends
As this entry is not likely to be as enthralling or death-defying as the previous account of my infamous trip on the train to Obaku, I intend to supplement my story with visual stimulants.
Our story begins on Wednesday, with my trip to the Rubino Hotel in Kyoto City for yet another orientation. The excitement I felt for my first "business trip" into Kyoto by myself was dulled by my anal retentive attention to detail and my obsessive compulsive fear of tardiness. Both relatively harmless traits in my personality when observed separately, but together...a perfect storm of neurotic behavior. Luckily enough, these are two traits that the Japanese value very highly. In fact, most Japanese people that I have met, make me look like a relatively sane person when it comes to details and timeliness. This orientation as been in the plans since i arrived in Kyoto. Everyday since i stepped off the train i have been reminded of this meeting. Luckily, this meeting was also highlighted on every to-do list and itinerary for me since the dawn of time. That is one of the many things I enjoy about Japan. Maybe it is just because I am the new foreigner, but everything is detailed for me on a list. Even though the list is in Japanese, I spend at least an hour everyday going over that list in translation.
Back to the business trip. As I am packing my things up in my office after an unusually hot and sweaty day, the office secretary comes shuffling into the room in her rubber slippers. I have met this woman several times and always greets me with a smile. Today she greets me with two envelops full of money, one for the hotel expenses and the other for travel and food. Seeing as my travel to Kyoto would cost me less than 300yen, the remaining 6800yen(about 70dollars) would be allocated to booze and karaoke. I knew that, you knew that, the whole office knew that. At this point it is nearly 2pm and I had to be at the hotel by 4pm. I am not too worried but i needed to stop for sustenance along the way. This was my first experience riding the subway by myself so i was already nervous, add that to the fact that i had to walk down to the subway station with my bag of clothes in business attire in the sweltering swamp that seems to be Kyoto in August. Needless to say, I was already drenched before i had to attempt to figure out the Japanese map printed for my by the school. When i arrived at my final station, after having to change subway lines and almost getting on the wrong train that would have taken me south of nowhere, i realized that i now had a 20 minute walk West into the setting sun. Had this been a cheesy western movie, I would have been slumped over the saddle riding defeated into the sunset. But it being reality, I walked into the McDonald's on the corner and ordered a teriyaki burger with fries and a coke. There is something horrifyingly comforting about McDonald's fries and a coke. It tastes of childhood and America, even if the burger accompanying the heavenly fried potatoes is on the strange side. All that being said, I eventually made it to the orientation in time for check-in and briefing. The briefing consisted of rereading the itinerary that i had already received six different times before...To myself I screamed, "Was this really necessary!"
The next day was entirely formal and boring. All of the prefectural JETs had to stand in order and gracefully introduce ourselves to the Board of Education head honchos in Japanese. It was not terribly difficult but all too formal for my taste. The only worthwhile event was the formal appointment ceremony. I was asked by the Board of Education to formally accept the position of Assistant English Teacher on behalf of all the JETs present. My job was to look pretty and bow to several different people in a particular order. Of course the presenter threw in a handshake which i was not prepared for but i was able to adapt and recover from the shock of a broken ceremonial moment. The rest of the orientation was an utter waste of time. I believe the main purpose was to get all of the JETs in the area together so they could meet, talk, and exchange information. These people are likely to be my local lifelines to sanity for the next year.
As a result, many of us went out for drinks and karaoke to get to know each other better. This was my first ever karaoke experience so i found it fitting that it was in Japan. It is hard to describe karaoke to someone who has never gone before. In the States, karaoke is usually in a huge room with a bunch of loud annoying drunk people all singing off-key to their favorite song. In Japan, karaoke is a more private matter. Usually the group rents a small room with all of the karaoke equipment and goes to town. But some places offer "nomihodai" or "all you can drink" for a set price and time frame. Needless to say, we chose the nomihodai option. It usually takes a few drinks to get everyone singing but we had a fun group and started the night off good with some spicegirls, journey, metalica, eagles. But the night came to a screeching halt when we discovered that Rick Astley was available for our sign-along pleasure. If you do not remember Rick Astley I suggest you type his name into Youtube right now and reacquaint yourself with his melodious genius. refer to this video for immediate entertainment. This is two short video clips that i recorded on this fateful night.
Needless to say, It was a fun trip, regardless of the nonsensical and repetitive orientation.
On Friday, many new and old JETs from the Kyoto area got together to see the fireworks display over Lake Biwako. The fireworks commemorate the beginning of Obon week, I believe. Obon is the week where one's ancestors come back from the spirit world and haunt/wander the earth because their relatives have not provided them with the necessities for the afterworld this year. It is the week when most Japanese people visit and clean the graves of their ancestors and usually leave some food for their hungry ghosts. The week is concluded by the Daimonji bonfire festival where 5 different mountains around Kyoto are illuminated by huge bonfires in the shape of Japanese kanji letters. This festival is very famous and symbolizes the end of Obon and helps guide the wandering ancestors home to the spirit world. The fireworks at Lake Biwako were magnificent. Though they started very slowly, the show was over an hour long and filled with oooh's and ahhhh's. Here is a short video i compiled of the good parts of the show.
Overall, I had a very fun week. I have all next week off for Obon so i will be exploring Kyoto city and taking pictures. Sorry for the long read again, but i do not have much to do in my apartment at night so i tend to ramble.
~Gio
Our story begins on Wednesday, with my trip to the Rubino Hotel in Kyoto City for yet another orientation. The excitement I felt for my first "business trip" into Kyoto by myself was dulled by my anal retentive attention to detail and my obsessive compulsive fear of tardiness. Both relatively harmless traits in my personality when observed separately, but together...a perfect storm of neurotic behavior. Luckily enough, these are two traits that the Japanese value very highly. In fact, most Japanese people that I have met, make me look like a relatively sane person when it comes to details and timeliness. This orientation as been in the plans since i arrived in Kyoto. Everyday since i stepped off the train i have been reminded of this meeting. Luckily, this meeting was also highlighted on every to-do list and itinerary for me since the dawn of time. That is one of the many things I enjoy about Japan. Maybe it is just because I am the new foreigner, but everything is detailed for me on a list. Even though the list is in Japanese, I spend at least an hour everyday going over that list in translation.
Back to the business trip. As I am packing my things up in my office after an unusually hot and sweaty day, the office secretary comes shuffling into the room in her rubber slippers. I have met this woman several times and always greets me with a smile. Today she greets me with two envelops full of money, one for the hotel expenses and the other for travel and food. Seeing as my travel to Kyoto would cost me less than 300yen, the remaining 6800yen(about 70dollars) would be allocated to booze and karaoke. I knew that, you knew that, the whole office knew that. At this point it is nearly 2pm and I had to be at the hotel by 4pm. I am not too worried but i needed to stop for sustenance along the way. This was my first experience riding the subway by myself so i was already nervous, add that to the fact that i had to walk down to the subway station with my bag of clothes in business attire in the sweltering swamp that seems to be Kyoto in August. Needless to say, I was already drenched before i had to attempt to figure out the Japanese map printed for my by the school. When i arrived at my final station, after having to change subway lines and almost getting on the wrong train that would have taken me south of nowhere, i realized that i now had a 20 minute walk West into the setting sun. Had this been a cheesy western movie, I would have been slumped over the saddle riding defeated into the sunset. But it being reality, I walked into the McDonald's on the corner and ordered a teriyaki burger with fries and a coke. There is something horrifyingly comforting about McDonald's fries and a coke. It tastes of childhood and America, even if the burger accompanying the heavenly fried potatoes is on the strange side. All that being said, I eventually made it to the orientation in time for check-in and briefing. The briefing consisted of rereading the itinerary that i had already received six different times before...To myself I screamed, "Was this really necessary!"
The next day was entirely formal and boring. All of the prefectural JETs had to stand in order and gracefully introduce ourselves to the Board of Education head honchos in Japanese. It was not terribly difficult but all too formal for my taste. The only worthwhile event was the formal appointment ceremony. I was asked by the Board of Education to formally accept the position of Assistant English Teacher on behalf of all the JETs present. My job was to look pretty and bow to several different people in a particular order. Of course the presenter threw in a handshake which i was not prepared for but i was able to adapt and recover from the shock of a broken ceremonial moment. The rest of the orientation was an utter waste of time. I believe the main purpose was to get all of the JETs in the area together so they could meet, talk, and exchange information. These people are likely to be my local lifelines to sanity for the next year.
As a result, many of us went out for drinks and karaoke to get to know each other better. This was my first ever karaoke experience so i found it fitting that it was in Japan. It is hard to describe karaoke to someone who has never gone before. In the States, karaoke is usually in a huge room with a bunch of loud annoying drunk people all singing off-key to their favorite song. In Japan, karaoke is a more private matter. Usually the group rents a small room with all of the karaoke equipment and goes to town. But some places offer "nomihodai" or "all you can drink" for a set price and time frame. Needless to say, we chose the nomihodai option. It usually takes a few drinks to get everyone singing but we had a fun group and started the night off good with some spicegirls, journey, metalica, eagles. But the night came to a screeching halt when we discovered that Rick Astley was available for our sign-along pleasure. If you do not remember Rick Astley I suggest you type his name into Youtube right now and reacquaint yourself with his melodious genius. refer to this video for immediate entertainment. This is two short video clips that i recorded on this fateful night.
Needless to say, It was a fun trip, regardless of the nonsensical and repetitive orientation.
On Friday, many new and old JETs from the Kyoto area got together to see the fireworks display over Lake Biwako. The fireworks commemorate the beginning of Obon week, I believe. Obon is the week where one's ancestors come back from the spirit world and haunt/wander the earth because their relatives have not provided them with the necessities for the afterworld this year. It is the week when most Japanese people visit and clean the graves of their ancestors and usually leave some food for their hungry ghosts. The week is concluded by the Daimonji bonfire festival where 5 different mountains around Kyoto are illuminated by huge bonfires in the shape of Japanese kanji letters. This festival is very famous and symbolizes the end of Obon and helps guide the wandering ancestors home to the spirit world. The fireworks at Lake Biwako were magnificent. Though they started very slowly, the show was over an hour long and filled with oooh's and ahhhh's. Here is a short video i compiled of the good parts of the show.
Overall, I had a very fun week. I have all next week off for Obon so i will be exploring Kyoto city and taking pictures. Sorry for the long read again, but i do not have much to do in my apartment at night so i tend to ramble.
~Gio
Monday, August 4, 2008
Everything is Daijyobu (wall of text alert)
So Sunday I decided to take a bit of an exercise/exploration walk to down town Yamashina. After about an hour of walking, I gave up and turned around. I think i found the place but there are no signs in english saying "Welcome to downtown Yamashina" so i guess i made it there... There was a sketchy/beautiful-looking path that led west following the Yamashina River into the mountains. I almost grew the courage to go down it and explore, but i forgot my camera at home, so the memories would have been wasted. I returned home and promptly destroyed my external harddrive, which contained my proposed entertainment for the next year. 400gigabites of movies, tv shows, and all of my music (which i stupidly did not back up onto my computer harddrive.) But such is life i suppose. Maybe it's a a sign from the gods that i should be out exploring the town and learning Japanese.
Monday was an exciting day. I arrived at work and met a new teacher, T-sensei...as compared with T-san, the office manager(names omitted to protect the innocent). We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes and then gathered our things for the long trip to Todo, a small village outside of Uji City to the south west of Yamashina. The initial trip was met with exhaustion and slight boredom as T-sensei and myself traversed the sea of people at the Yamashina train station. We arrived at Kyoto station just a few minutes later, as the trip is only 1 stop, and attempted to navigate the ocean of suits, kimonos, and backpackers...darn backpackers. We eventually made it to the next train from Kyoto station to Obaku station, 7 train stops and about a 35 minute trip. More human swimming occurred as we de-trained (my homage to George Carlin) rushing to attempt to make the last bus to Todo High School...Yes, you read correctly. I have to now take a bus 10 minutes up a mountain to the school. Of course, we missed the bus.
Our courses of action are now limited to: A) take a taxi up the hill, or B) take a 20 minute hike up the mountain in the 90% humidity that has made Kyoto so famously sweaty. We both opted for option A. The taxi rides here in Japan are always a trip down awkward lane. The doors open for you and only one of the two backseat doors will open. But whatever you do in the taxi, do not, i repeat, do not touch the doors to open or close them. This action will ignite the international incident that will destroy American and Japanese relations for all eternity. Sixty years of relative peace, destroyed because of a damn taxi door. But I digress.
This being a business trip and this being Japan, I was not allowed to pay for the taxi, but unfortunately, T-sensei only had an Ichi-man bill($100). As a result, he attempted to use his mastercard, which the taxi did not accept. Then he attempted to use his visa, which the taxi did not accept. Then he tried to use a variety of other bank and transport cards, all of which were not accepted by this particular taxi. Then what followed was one of the most comical, Abbot&Costello-Three Stooges combination of please's, thank you's, im sorry's and physical/accidental comedy i have ever seen inside a taxi cab. Sensei handed the man the bill and the man returned with the change, only to accidentally release the coins prematurely onto the taxi floor. Naturally, both men apologized and then both said "it's okay" as they both leaned to pick up the change. T-Sensei hit his head on the back of the chair in front of him and the taxi driver struggled to reach the coins but because of the position of the chairs he could only tilt his head and worm his arm around making the most anguish filled face i have ever seen on a human being. After about 30 seconds and 15 or so "sumimasen's" and "gomen's" we eventually wiggled out of the backseat of this taxi.
At the Todo High School we did the obligatory remove shoe, put in cabinet, remove guest shoe, close cabinet ritual. As has become painfully obvious to me over the past few days here in Japan, my feet are easily 2 inches longer than the average indoor-guest shoe. We are greeted at the door by the receptionist who shows us the way to the principle's office. For me the 10 foot walk was a pained 10 foot shuffle as I attempted to cover the distance without tripping over or kicking the small rubber-esque shoe across the room. Eventually, when i arrived at the principle's door i noticed more shoes...this time they were the indoor-indoor shoes. By now my feet have already stretched the rubber shoe to its limit and caused it to form around. As a result, i cant slip the slipper off. My face reddens as the receptionist looks more puzzled by the second. Each horrifying moment that passes feels like an eternity of judgment. To my excitement, the shoe is dislodged and the receptionist breathed a sigh of relief. It seems the obligatory question, "do you need help," was about to be uttered by everyone, because they were all staring at me by now. I barely escaped having to commit seppuku there in front of my superiors for my failure at shoe technology. The rest of the meeting and tour of the school went off without a hitch.
The trip home was not without it's own story filled to the brim with excitement, action, comedy and Japanese custom destruction. We decided to walk from Todo high school to the train station. I was okay with this because it was cloudy, drizzly, and downhill. Which meant the usual 2 gallons of sweat that I leak while walking in Kyoto was reduced to 1.5 gallons. We eventually make it back to Kyoto Station where we decide that lunch was to be in our future. In what i think was an attempt to kill time before we had to go back to work, T-Sensei took me all over Kyoto station looking for a place that would satiate our hunger. He says we are going to an "all you can eat Japanese style Buffet." To which i replied in my head, "holy mother of god, that's heaven." To which i replied in reality, "Hai, sounds oishii." (oishii means delicious in Japanese). I was unaware that all you can eat in Japanese culture means that you should go back to the food at least 1 more time. I was very hungry, but not hungry enough to make a second trip. T-Sensei saw that i had finished while he was still mid-second plate and said, "was the food not to your liking." To which i replied, "no, no. It was delicious, i am just full." His face went from curious to upset. This was the first time in my life i have ever upset someone because i ate too little..."ate too little" never used to be in my vocabulary. So after a long, awkward walk back to Rakuto school from the train station, I settled down for the last two hours of an already painful day.
After all that was over...i still had to walk 1.2miles back to my apartment.
~gio
Monday was an exciting day. I arrived at work and met a new teacher, T-sensei...as compared with T-san, the office manager(names omitted to protect the innocent). We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes and then gathered our things for the long trip to Todo, a small village outside of Uji City to the south west of Yamashina. The initial trip was met with exhaustion and slight boredom as T-sensei and myself traversed the sea of people at the Yamashina train station. We arrived at Kyoto station just a few minutes later, as the trip is only 1 stop, and attempted to navigate the ocean of suits, kimonos, and backpackers...darn backpackers. We eventually made it to the next train from Kyoto station to Obaku station, 7 train stops and about a 35 minute trip. More human swimming occurred as we de-trained (my homage to George Carlin) rushing to attempt to make the last bus to Todo High School...Yes, you read correctly. I have to now take a bus 10 minutes up a mountain to the school. Of course, we missed the bus.
Our courses of action are now limited to: A) take a taxi up the hill, or B) take a 20 minute hike up the mountain in the 90% humidity that has made Kyoto so famously sweaty. We both opted for option A. The taxi rides here in Japan are always a trip down awkward lane. The doors open for you and only one of the two backseat doors will open. But whatever you do in the taxi, do not, i repeat, do not touch the doors to open or close them. This action will ignite the international incident that will destroy American and Japanese relations for all eternity. Sixty years of relative peace, destroyed because of a damn taxi door. But I digress.
This being a business trip and this being Japan, I was not allowed to pay for the taxi, but unfortunately, T-sensei only had an Ichi-man bill($100). As a result, he attempted to use his mastercard, which the taxi did not accept. Then he attempted to use his visa, which the taxi did not accept. Then he tried to use a variety of other bank and transport cards, all of which were not accepted by this particular taxi. Then what followed was one of the most comical, Abbot&Costello-Three Stooges combination of please's, thank you's, im sorry's and physical/accidental comedy i have ever seen inside a taxi cab. Sensei handed the man the bill and the man returned with the change, only to accidentally release the coins prematurely onto the taxi floor. Naturally, both men apologized and then both said "it's okay" as they both leaned to pick up the change. T-Sensei hit his head on the back of the chair in front of him and the taxi driver struggled to reach the coins but because of the position of the chairs he could only tilt his head and worm his arm around making the most anguish filled face i have ever seen on a human being. After about 30 seconds and 15 or so "sumimasen's" and "gomen's" we eventually wiggled out of the backseat of this taxi.
At the Todo High School we did the obligatory remove shoe, put in cabinet, remove guest shoe, close cabinet ritual. As has become painfully obvious to me over the past few days here in Japan, my feet are easily 2 inches longer than the average indoor-guest shoe. We are greeted at the door by the receptionist who shows us the way to the principle's office. For me the 10 foot walk was a pained 10 foot shuffle as I attempted to cover the distance without tripping over or kicking the small rubber-esque shoe across the room. Eventually, when i arrived at the principle's door i noticed more shoes...this time they were the indoor-indoor shoes. By now my feet have already stretched the rubber shoe to its limit and caused it to form around. As a result, i cant slip the slipper off. My face reddens as the receptionist looks more puzzled by the second. Each horrifying moment that passes feels like an eternity of judgment. To my excitement, the shoe is dislodged and the receptionist breathed a sigh of relief. It seems the obligatory question, "do you need help," was about to be uttered by everyone, because they were all staring at me by now. I barely escaped having to commit seppuku there in front of my superiors for my failure at shoe technology. The rest of the meeting and tour of the school went off without a hitch.
The trip home was not without it's own story filled to the brim with excitement, action, comedy and Japanese custom destruction. We decided to walk from Todo high school to the train station. I was okay with this because it was cloudy, drizzly, and downhill. Which meant the usual 2 gallons of sweat that I leak while walking in Kyoto was reduced to 1.5 gallons. We eventually make it back to Kyoto Station where we decide that lunch was to be in our future. In what i think was an attempt to kill time before we had to go back to work, T-Sensei took me all over Kyoto station looking for a place that would satiate our hunger. He says we are going to an "all you can eat Japanese style Buffet." To which i replied in my head, "holy mother of god, that's heaven." To which i replied in reality, "Hai, sounds oishii." (oishii means delicious in Japanese). I was unaware that all you can eat in Japanese culture means that you should go back to the food at least 1 more time. I was very hungry, but not hungry enough to make a second trip. T-Sensei saw that i had finished while he was still mid-second plate and said, "was the food not to your liking." To which i replied, "no, no. It was delicious, i am just full." His face went from curious to upset. This was the first time in my life i have ever upset someone because i ate too little..."ate too little" never used to be in my vocabulary. So after a long, awkward walk back to Rakuto school from the train station, I settled down for the last two hours of an already painful day.
After all that was over...i still had to walk 1.2miles back to my apartment.
~gio
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Short Excursion to Kyoto City
So I decided to take a chance and go out today. I prepared some japanese phrases such as "dono densha wa kyoto eki ni ikimasu ka" "which train goes to kyoto station" and "donogurai teeryuujo desu ka" "how many train stops is it"...I dont know if the second one is correct, when i said that the train station man looked at me and said, "train leave 6 minutes." oh well.
once in Kyoto i managed to get lost around the station area looking for Bic Camera, a 7 story electronics store. It was a wild experience trying not to look like a total idiot while wandering around wide-eyed and dripping in sweat. (have i mentioned that it is really hot here). This place has everything you can imagine. It has an entire floor dedicated to cell phones and only cell phones. There was even a floor dedicated to "healthy electronics" which looked like body fat testing equipment and smart scales and rumbas...
While in the electronic store, i noticed two men wearing identical clothing. it turned out that it was two Buddhist monks...and they were buying cameras and video games...their robes were cool though.
Once back safe in my little town, i purchased a small stove and made my first meal in my new apartment. very fun.
~gio
once in Kyoto i managed to get lost around the station area looking for Bic Camera, a 7 story electronics store. It was a wild experience trying not to look like a total idiot while wandering around wide-eyed and dripping in sweat. (have i mentioned that it is really hot here). This place has everything you can imagine. It has an entire floor dedicated to cell phones and only cell phones. There was even a floor dedicated to "healthy electronics" which looked like body fat testing equipment and smart scales and rumbas...
While in the electronic store, i noticed two men wearing identical clothing. it turned out that it was two Buddhist monks...and they were buying cameras and video games...their robes were cool though.
Once back safe in my little town, i purchased a small stove and made my first meal in my new apartment. very fun.
~gio
Initial Impressions and Realizations
1. I learned yesterday that my shins can sweat.
2. Living alone in a foreign country is pretty stressful.
3. Teaching English is going to be more challenging than I thought.
4. There is a rooster in my neighborhood.
5. It is going to take me weeks to get caught up on my laundry because my washing machine is so small and I dont have a lot of places to hang up clothes.
6. It takes a very long time for clothes to dry in this humid place.
7. The students at my base high school are very nice and courageous.
8. I don't know how to differentiate between important mail and junk mail because I can't read kanji.
9. I tried to go food shopping but couldn't read the boxes or bags. Also, I don't have a stove to cook on right now.
10. I never realized how important communication was to me. I used to think that i could be an island and not need other people very often. These last couple of days have changed my perspective on this, I need interaction with other people in English...Or I need to learn Japanese very quickly.
Every work day I have a meeting with an English teacher and one of the school office managers. The meeting consists of a long itinerary of things I have to be aware of or what I have to do. The catch is that this list is all in Japanese, so the office manager reads off the list at the English teacher in Japanese, then the English teacher acts as a translator and tells me what the manager just said. More often than not I am able to pick up the gist of the conversation because of Japanese words that i know or because of English cognates.
The ability to communicate has become a central focus of my days at work the past two days. I spent 6 or so hours yesterday learning Japanese so that i could go to the store and ask "sekkan wa doko desu ka" = Where is the soap? It is the little things like not being able to find the soap in the grocery store or not knowing if you bought bleach or laundry detergent, is the frustrating aspect of all of this. I am left scratching my head at the little things that even an 5 year old can do, like order food a restaurant.
I am the only foreigner that I know of in my town. That is pretty difficult to deal with. I laughed at the "culture shock" presentation at Tokyo orientation but it is pretty clear that the excitement of being here in Japan has been replaced by the frustration of not knowing anything and being pretty lost.
Speaking of being lost, that has been my biggest fear these few days. I don't know how to get to Kyoto city or even my town center. People dont seem to like to give detailed directions to places here in Japan. It is always like, "get on the train, and go east, go out of the station and go left." That is not enough for me, I am a very detail-oriented person. I need addresses and street names...not that having those would help me.
Overall, I am still very excited to be here. This is a great opportunity and I am having fun. I have a feeling that once I get my bearings here in my town and finish cleaning and setting up my room, I will be in a better place.
On a happy note, this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Around every street corner there is a different view of something gorgeous. If you can get by the fact that everyone is staring at you whether they are looking at you or not, then this place is really amazing.
Plans for today: Find an electronics store, get some food that I have never tried, maybe buy a stove and try to figure out how to work my rice cooker.
~Gio
2. Living alone in a foreign country is pretty stressful.
3. Teaching English is going to be more challenging than I thought.
4. There is a rooster in my neighborhood.
5. It is going to take me weeks to get caught up on my laundry because my washing machine is so small and I dont have a lot of places to hang up clothes.
6. It takes a very long time for clothes to dry in this humid place.
7. The students at my base high school are very nice and courageous.
8. I don't know how to differentiate between important mail and junk mail because I can't read kanji.
9. I tried to go food shopping but couldn't read the boxes or bags. Also, I don't have a stove to cook on right now.
10. I never realized how important communication was to me. I used to think that i could be an island and not need other people very often. These last couple of days have changed my perspective on this, I need interaction with other people in English...Or I need to learn Japanese very quickly.
Every work day I have a meeting with an English teacher and one of the school office managers. The meeting consists of a long itinerary of things I have to be aware of or what I have to do. The catch is that this list is all in Japanese, so the office manager reads off the list at the English teacher in Japanese, then the English teacher acts as a translator and tells me what the manager just said. More often than not I am able to pick up the gist of the conversation because of Japanese words that i know or because of English cognates.
The ability to communicate has become a central focus of my days at work the past two days. I spent 6 or so hours yesterday learning Japanese so that i could go to the store and ask "sekkan wa doko desu ka" = Where is the soap? It is the little things like not being able to find the soap in the grocery store or not knowing if you bought bleach or laundry detergent, is the frustrating aspect of all of this. I am left scratching my head at the little things that even an 5 year old can do, like order food a restaurant.
I am the only foreigner that I know of in my town. That is pretty difficult to deal with. I laughed at the "culture shock" presentation at Tokyo orientation but it is pretty clear that the excitement of being here in Japan has been replaced by the frustration of not knowing anything and being pretty lost.
Speaking of being lost, that has been my biggest fear these few days. I don't know how to get to Kyoto city or even my town center. People dont seem to like to give detailed directions to places here in Japan. It is always like, "get on the train, and go east, go out of the station and go left." That is not enough for me, I am a very detail-oriented person. I need addresses and street names...not that having those would help me.
Overall, I am still very excited to be here. This is a great opportunity and I am having fun. I have a feeling that once I get my bearings here in my town and finish cleaning and setting up my room, I will be in a better place.
On a happy note, this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Around every street corner there is a different view of something gorgeous. If you can get by the fact that everyone is staring at you whether they are looking at you or not, then this place is really amazing.
Plans for today: Find an electronics store, get some food that I have never tried, maybe buy a stove and try to figure out how to work my rice cooker.
~Gio
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