Yes, there is a big typhoon coming, but that's really not the issue right now. I HAVE TO START TEACHING THIS WEEK!
Lord, oh lord, I've been having such a good time I'd kind of forgotten about the teaching aspect of things. I thought I was here to entertain the locals, have strange curly hair and impress people with my use of chopsticks (and there has been much talk of that). But on Thursday I (finally) met with the English teacher from my Junior High. She was very nice and very informative, although given my sudden inability to think of questions if she'd simply said "hello" I'd have thought it wondrous. We discussed the first lessons, and how neither of us knew when they were being held as it's sports festival soon (oh joy of joys) and the kids are preparing for it. It's a really big deal and they spend their summer holidays coming into school and preparing as well as doing homework. If a British child complained of boredom in summer and you suggested they went to school, you'd be up for child abuse (and the action would be brought by the teachers). Well, I was shown around the school and you'd think I was Ronald Macdonald (or someone less sinister) the way the kids were laughing. Literally dropping to the floor in fits of laughter. I thought my skirt was tucked into my knickers, but I knew this wasn't the case as this was a Thursday and the women's clothes only come out on Saturdays. Anyway, in my state of dumbness I forgot to ask the important questions (such as "how many pairs of indoor shoes do I need for school?", and "do I need to wear a tie?") and ended up volunteering to do the whole first lesson myself. And it's supposed to be team teaching. There's no 'I' in team. But then the Japanese pronounce 'i' as 'ee', so that line wouldn't wash either.
Friday was even more traumatic. I had barely slept the night before, so I was tired anyway, and when I switched on my computer in the morning to find the internet was not working, I nearly had a Princess Diana moment (except there were no stairs in sight, and no-one would understand my cries anyway). At 10 am my supervisor announced that we would visit one of my Elementary schools. The first school was quite a relief. The English teacher had a clear idea of what she wanted to teach in each lesson and gave me copies of her plans. After this visit, my supervisor asked if I'd been to Tomihara Elementary school, and I said no. So we went there. And it was difficult. The English teachers looked alarmed and wanted examples of games I would play with the children. I could only think of Simon Says. This is too hard it seems. Damn.
The headmistress of this school is lovely and always tries to talk to me, and I do my best, but given that my knowledge of Japanese is probably comparative to my knowledge of Premier League Football (actually, no, it's not that bad) I usually reply to every sentence with "sumimasen, wakarimasen deshita" ("I'm sorry, I didn't understand"). But she still smiles and even offered me a shoe horn as we prepared to leave. I felt obliged to use it, and fortunately remembered when I handed it back to her that I should place the end I'd held in her hand rather than the foot bit.
So picture this. It's half past four on Friday. I have to go to the post office, and I have to phone my internet provider before 5 because English language support is only offered during normal working hours, and I'm starting to panic about all the lessons I have to prepare (and I need the internet urgently to prepare the lessons). And we start to drive back to the office. Suddenly my supervisor utters the words of terror "have you been to Katsuyama elementary school yet?" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH. And as the panic grew in my mind and I prepared myself for being at Katsuyama elementary school until about 8pm, I just thought, there's nothing I can do, and remembered my new mantra "suck it up and move along"... It turned out to be the shortest trip of the day and the staff were lovely, and although my Japanese is not that great, I certainly knew what was going on when one of the female teachers said something, which led to the principal asking me my age and then turning back to the female teacher saying "shame" at which point everyone laughed. No loving for me then...
Well I made the post office (the counter closes at 6) and spoke to a Dutch (!!) person on the internet help line (it turns out they are open later, you just need the right phone number) and after 45-50 minutes, managed to get the internet going. So by the time it came to going out, I was relieved.
In many ways the day turned out to be a success (I think I'm hanging around with too many Americans because I seem to be getting very positive about certain things. This has to stop) because as I met with Christine to go to Johanna's, I realised we actually do get on well and will be good support for each other through the year. Johanna had made our tea (sushi, veg and plenty more) and we soon ended up at Kuse's no. 1 Australian bar, the Outback. Well, it's Kuse's only Australian bar, but it's damn cool. They played hip-hop music and everyone was really friendly and they had gin. Some Japanese guys came and talked to us. Apparently they were in the middle of a tequila night. One of them spoke more English than the other two. He introduced his two friends, telling us that one of them was gay and the other one's name actually meant expletives starting with the same initials as 'football club'. At this point I knew he'd learnt English from a British person. It was moment of pride. They eventually wandered off to play darts and we drank more, harrassed RayVon on our fancy mobiles (I have figured out how to use the camera and have been photographing everything from frogs to pub signs. As you do.) and eventually staggered home via taxi and Lawson's. And then I did what every good drunk does and got on the phone to England. Oops.
Today has been good. Got up late and was given a lift to Kuse by an old Japanese lady who offered when I tried to buy a bus ticket (I used my usual lines of conversation such as 'Katsuyama is beautiful', 'the mountains are big' and 'the weather is hot'- thank god Chika san taught us adjectives or I'd be stuffed). Johanna and I walked round Kuse and found a really cool, cheap clothes shop (complete with second hand 70s clothes). We had sashimi for lunch and met some more Americans. And after some more shopping, I went home. Noodles for tea followed by weird telly seems like a fitting end to the day.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Technology and culture
Today I got my new mobile. It has a 1.3 mega pixel digital camera, connects to the tv for 3-d computer games, has karaoke systems that connect to the telly, does my washing, cooking and cleaning and is working a solution to third world poverty. And all for a large fee. But I'm a millionaire, so who cares (who said a millionaire in yen means nothing? Jealousy, that's all).
Buying the bloody thing was an epic. First they didn't have the one I wanted, and then it took an hour to complete paperwork and service options. Then we had to wait 30 minutes for them to process details. Then, finally, I could pay for my phone and we left. The best thing is the phone's instruction manual. It's really detailed, and is over 200 pages long. Only 6 of them are in English. Oops.
It has been a night of culture as well. There was a play at the town hall where I am currently working (teaching starts next week). We all helped to set up the stage equipment, and I asked what was going on. My supervisor explained and when I asked if he was going to the play, he said yeas, and said I could come too (which seemed to become 'you are coming too'). Apparently the actors are very famous in Japan.
It was a very good play, very sad. It was about a female goat with a white handbag who met a wolf dressed as a red indian from a 1970's drama series. They jumped about a lot and lay down a bit while a Worzel-Gummidge-a-like played keyboards and sang a song or two. I felt like a schizophrenic stroke sufferer until I remembered that they were speaking and singing in Japanese. At the end of it all, he ran off hollering and she lay on the floor with a spotlight on her. She then shouted again. Very cultural.
Buying the bloody thing was an epic. First they didn't have the one I wanted, and then it took an hour to complete paperwork and service options. Then we had to wait 30 minutes for them to process details. Then, finally, I could pay for my phone and we left. The best thing is the phone's instruction manual. It's really detailed, and is over 200 pages long. Only 6 of them are in English. Oops.
It has been a night of culture as well. There was a play at the town hall where I am currently working (teaching starts next week). We all helped to set up the stage equipment, and I asked what was going on. My supervisor explained and when I asked if he was going to the play, he said yeas, and said I could come too (which seemed to become 'you are coming too'). Apparently the actors are very famous in Japan.
It was a very good play, very sad. It was about a female goat with a white handbag who met a wolf dressed as a red indian from a 1970's drama series. They jumped about a lot and lay down a bit while a Worzel-Gummidge-a-like played keyboards and sang a song or two. I felt like a schizophrenic stroke sufferer until I remembered that they were speaking and singing in Japanese. At the end of it all, he ran off hollering and she lay on the floor with a spotlight on her. She then shouted again. Very cultural.
Orienteering is such fun.
Except when you're being oriented at.
Okayama was a blast, but for all the wrong reasons.
The bus was twice the expected price (the ticket booth doesn't open before 9 when you live in hicksville, Japan), and on arrival we were walked like toddlers to the prefectural office. By the time we got there we were soaking through, which was to be to our benefit as the vice principal chancellor type told us that we in Japan the water is so clean you can drink it straight from most taps. Much wringing of shirts into bottles followed...
From there we met with English teachers. The one I met couldn't understand English. Only American. So I spoke to another one instead. After that, they re-read the JET general handbook to us (again), which pretty much describes wednesday's activities as well.
Tuesday night was a marvellous bonding experience. For a clearer picture of what really went on, replace the word 'bonding' with the words 'drunkenness and obscene conversation'. It also started the nicknaming which led to our group becoming 'exclusive'. We don't do outsiders. Raewyn, the New Zealand girl became RayVon, Sarah was soon to become Saddam, and I became Cleatis, which is fitting as it sounds a bit white trash and I do live in the mountains. After drinking numerous bottles of ume wine (made from peaches and alcohol) at a very good Japanese restaurant we went to the Aussie bar. Abby became DJ for the night, which led to songs being changed halfway. On our way back to the hotel we made acquaintances with the man behind the counter at Lawson's (Japan's number 1 24-hour convenience store), which was to be a good thing as he ended up serving us at all hours of day and night over the following three days.
The highlight of wednesday's lectures was being given a handout which stated, amongst other things, that we should 'try not to be aggressive' as if we knew no other way. Still, with expectations this low, they surely won't be disappointed...
Wednesday night was the night we socialised with other people. It nearly brought the house down. We all went ot Betsy's for us tea. She's from Kansas or somewhere similar in America, and she's really down to earth. We bought lots of food at the supermarket, and then Betsy got her booze out. Other people came to join us and drinking games began. I got told off for trying to lose. By 9:30, the neighbours were banging on the ceiling. We assumed they wanted us to quiet down, which could be well explained- Betsy's favourite song is 'Who Let The Dogs Out'. So we all left at 10:30. She had a letter from them next day, and I don't think it was welcoming her to the building...
By Thursday it seemed impossible to open our mouths without uttering either a) a swearword, b) an insult or c) a sarcastic comment. Good to see that I haven't changed, eh? We were being shipped on mass to Bisei town, a town of about 20 people. First port of call was a fruit and veg market, as to why I still don't know. They told us we may want to buy fruit and vegetables. Which makes sense, as you usually would do a weekly shop when you're staying in a hotel for three nights and have a two hour bus ride home... From there we went to some touristy thing which was very good, and our free lunch (for which we'd had to pay 1000yen) was very tasty. We saw charcoal being made (have you ever watched someone burn wood before? Very interesting), saw traditional dance (which was highly bizarre and alarming in places), visited an obsservatory (where they told us that for one to be able to see stars, the sky must be dark. Go figure...) and finally did cloth dyeing, which was actually very much fun. I have a personalised tie-dye square hanging on my wall right now. Lord, I am trailer trash.
A big party had been organised in a beer garden for thursday night, and everyone was going, so we went to an Italian restaurant and then karaoke instead. I actually joined the karaoke place for some reason (!?). We had a free drinks menu, and boy did we use it. All the classics were rolled out, and a new selection, 'Dirrty' complete with rap section became a highlight for me. As was Johanna's rendition of Lauren Hill's 'To Zion'. The walk home involved a trip to Lawson's where the same man served us who had served us that morning at 9:50 and the night before at 11:30. Japanese labour laws must be harsh. He looked old, but was probably only 22.
Friday's lectures were useful and we learnt how they want us to do a lesson. We also had a Japanese lesson. And we left early. Shopping ahoy! A whirlwind shopping trip was followed by the worst meal ever in an Italian restaurant where the menu was only in Japanese and there were no pictures. We figured out some of the meals, and ordered. 2 margarita pizzas turned up in 10 minutes, followed 25 minutes later by chicken dishes for Fiona and Abby. These consisted of gristle and lettuce. Johanna and RayVon's pizza came after a further 10 minutes. It wasn't so much a pizza as a giant pringle with spray cheese and a strip of meat arranged on top. I remembered the word for 'delicious' in Japanese. This upset me, because I clearly would not have the opportunity to use it here.
A quiet night followed as I stayed at Fiona's and we watched a very funny English film, the name of which has gone from my brain.
On Saturday I made numerous attempts to meet Claire, but instead ended up meeting an Aussie JET called Philip, and we spent much of the day walking round Okayama in the sun. We eventually ended up at Betsy's where Claire joined us and I stayed the night. Plans failed and we ended up sitting in chatting which was good, and so I felt vaguely rested for my journey home on Sunday. Except that I wasn't relaxing at all as with 15 spare minutes I rushed to do some last minute shopping before returning to the land of 'Bonnie's' and bars that are closed on Mondays.
Okayama was a blast, but for all the wrong reasons.
The bus was twice the expected price (the ticket booth doesn't open before 9 when you live in hicksville, Japan), and on arrival we were walked like toddlers to the prefectural office. By the time we got there we were soaking through, which was to be to our benefit as the vice principal chancellor type told us that we in Japan the water is so clean you can drink it straight from most taps. Much wringing of shirts into bottles followed...
From there we met with English teachers. The one I met couldn't understand English. Only American. So I spoke to another one instead. After that, they re-read the JET general handbook to us (again), which pretty much describes wednesday's activities as well.
Tuesday night was a marvellous bonding experience. For a clearer picture of what really went on, replace the word 'bonding' with the words 'drunkenness and obscene conversation'. It also started the nicknaming which led to our group becoming 'exclusive'. We don't do outsiders. Raewyn, the New Zealand girl became RayVon, Sarah was soon to become Saddam, and I became Cleatis, which is fitting as it sounds a bit white trash and I do live in the mountains. After drinking numerous bottles of ume wine (made from peaches and alcohol) at a very good Japanese restaurant we went to the Aussie bar. Abby became DJ for the night, which led to songs being changed halfway. On our way back to the hotel we made acquaintances with the man behind the counter at Lawson's (Japan's number 1 24-hour convenience store), which was to be a good thing as he ended up serving us at all hours of day and night over the following three days.
The highlight of wednesday's lectures was being given a handout which stated, amongst other things, that we should 'try not to be aggressive' as if we knew no other way. Still, with expectations this low, they surely won't be disappointed...
Wednesday night was the night we socialised with other people. It nearly brought the house down. We all went ot Betsy's for us tea. She's from Kansas or somewhere similar in America, and she's really down to earth. We bought lots of food at the supermarket, and then Betsy got her booze out. Other people came to join us and drinking games began. I got told off for trying to lose. By 9:30, the neighbours were banging on the ceiling. We assumed they wanted us to quiet down, which could be well explained- Betsy's favourite song is 'Who Let The Dogs Out'. So we all left at 10:30. She had a letter from them next day, and I don't think it was welcoming her to the building...
By Thursday it seemed impossible to open our mouths without uttering either a) a swearword, b) an insult or c) a sarcastic comment. Good to see that I haven't changed, eh? We were being shipped on mass to Bisei town, a town of about 20 people. First port of call was a fruit and veg market, as to why I still don't know. They told us we may want to buy fruit and vegetables. Which makes sense, as you usually would do a weekly shop when you're staying in a hotel for three nights and have a two hour bus ride home... From there we went to some touristy thing which was very good, and our free lunch (for which we'd had to pay 1000yen) was very tasty. We saw charcoal being made (have you ever watched someone burn wood before? Very interesting), saw traditional dance (which was highly bizarre and alarming in places), visited an obsservatory (where they told us that for one to be able to see stars, the sky must be dark. Go figure...) and finally did cloth dyeing, which was actually very much fun. I have a personalised tie-dye square hanging on my wall right now. Lord, I am trailer trash.
A big party had been organised in a beer garden for thursday night, and everyone was going, so we went to an Italian restaurant and then karaoke instead. I actually joined the karaoke place for some reason (!?). We had a free drinks menu, and boy did we use it. All the classics were rolled out, and a new selection, 'Dirrty' complete with rap section became a highlight for me. As was Johanna's rendition of Lauren Hill's 'To Zion'. The walk home involved a trip to Lawson's where the same man served us who had served us that morning at 9:50 and the night before at 11:30. Japanese labour laws must be harsh. He looked old, but was probably only 22.
Friday's lectures were useful and we learnt how they want us to do a lesson. We also had a Japanese lesson. And we left early. Shopping ahoy! A whirlwind shopping trip was followed by the worst meal ever in an Italian restaurant where the menu was only in Japanese and there were no pictures. We figured out some of the meals, and ordered. 2 margarita pizzas turned up in 10 minutes, followed 25 minutes later by chicken dishes for Fiona and Abby. These consisted of gristle and lettuce. Johanna and RayVon's pizza came after a further 10 minutes. It wasn't so much a pizza as a giant pringle with spray cheese and a strip of meat arranged on top. I remembered the word for 'delicious' in Japanese. This upset me, because I clearly would not have the opportunity to use it here.
A quiet night followed as I stayed at Fiona's and we watched a very funny English film, the name of which has gone from my brain.
On Saturday I made numerous attempts to meet Claire, but instead ended up meeting an Aussie JET called Philip, and we spent much of the day walking round Okayama in the sun. We eventually ended up at Betsy's where Claire joined us and I stayed the night. Plans failed and we ended up sitting in chatting which was good, and so I felt vaguely rested for my journey home on Sunday. Except that I wasn't relaxing at all as with 15 spare minutes I rushed to do some last minute shopping before returning to the land of 'Bonnie's' and bars that are closed on Mondays.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
There I am, minding my own business, hanging washing out at 11:00 last night, and as I slide open the screen (which then falls off, such is my brute force), what should fly into my bedroom. A bloody praying bastard mantis! Yes, one of those bloody huge pieces of nastiness that looks more unnatural than Michael Jackson in Mothercare.
I somehow managed to remove said horror some said place and returned to some sedate faffing about.
Will return later to update on last week's "events"...
There I am, minding my own business, hanging washing out at 11:00 last night, and as I slide open the screen (which then falls off, such is my brute force), what should fly into my bedroom. A bloody praying bastard mantis! Yes, one of those bloody huge pieces of nastiness that looks more unnatural than Michael Jackson in Mothercare.
I somehow managed to remove said horror some said place and returned to some sedate faffing about.
Will return later to update on last week's "events"...
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Small town mentalism...
OK, so it's been a week and a half since I arrived in Katsuyama. It has been a strange time, marked largely by huge periods of tiredness, thunderstorms, Japanese language study and hopeless attempts at spending money...
I arrived on Thursday 5th August, in the care of my supervisor, Higuchi san. Higuchi san is six months younger than me, so we're vaguely on a similar wavelength. Except that he is fairly sporty, and I'm about as sporty as a 3 week old melon. The drive to Katsuyama was a bit to much to take in what with being overwhelmed by everything for the previous four days and to cap it all off, once I arrived, I was introduced to every civil servant in the town, taken to one of my 4 schools, introduced to the financial director of the town and the mayor. All before I even saw my flat! Higuchi san had ordered my hanko (a stamp of my surname which is used in Japan in place of a signature on official forms), which we collected prior to attending Nakasu Mansion, my new home. It turned out that Nakasu mansion had been built of Lego and not splendour and gold as the name suggests. Each room appears to have been assembled, rather than built, out of plastic sheeting. But it's comfortable, spacious and clean, and a bit nice, with a loverly balcony. Anyway we were met there by someone from the gas board, and here began the signing (or stamping) away of my life. This continued on Friday when I went to get an Alien registration card (once I get that, I can get a mobile phone etc), to open a bank account and so on. As I'm not going to meet the Junior high's English teacher till the 26th, I'm studying Japanese on a daily basis in the Board of Education office while trying not to pass out due to inactivity and heat.
Higuchi san and his lady came round on Friday night for a Japanese - English lesson, which was good, and on Saturday I met the ALT (Assistant Language Teacher, the job I'm doing) from the next town, Johanna. This involved getting one of the 10 trains a day out of Katsuyama. Only ten trains a day! Except for every 4th Saturday when there are precisely zero trains a day. If anyone ever complains to me about the Central Line I swear I shall respond with violence...
Johanna lives in Kuse, a slightly bigger town, 6 mins by train from me. She's really fun, a loud American girl, genuine and bubbly, and good to have around. We spent the afternoon at the 100yen store (think £1 shop, but cleaner, better quality, not smelly, and half the price). Dad, you'd love it... We had our tea at hers and she introduced me to some very interesting and tasty japanese condiments, the best of which was furikake, a seaweed/ sesame combo that you sprinkle on rice. Nice.
Sunday was a day of much rest- I finally dragged myself out of the house at 8:30pm to explore the nightlife. There was none. The supermarkets were the only things open late. And once I'd walked to the other side of town the heavens opened. Good job the other side of town is only a 10 minute walk away...
On Monday morning my box of goodies arrived from the UK (blankets, heavy clothes, books, some CDs and DVDs), which prompted me to spend many of the week's evenings watching Charlie's Angels and Buffy. The heat renders all other activity impossible...
This past week days have been taken up with getting thing set up (signing rent agreements, sorting out the internet in my flat, organising direct debits from my bank) and on Thursday night Johanna and me met up with Christine, the other ALT from my town. I don't think Christine and I will ever be particularly excited about seeing each other. She's nice an' that, but we just didn't click from the start.
My Board of Education (BoE) have also given me a bike, which I now think they're regretting. I was alerted to its presence last week, and despite my informing all concerned that I have never, and I mean NEVER been able to ride a bike, it was insisted that I was good enough to ride to work (!!). Why I should want to I do not know, as the BoE is only a 10 minute walk away. Well, I rode the bike in on Wednesday. And they almost gave me a standing ovation. They obviously didn't see the wobbling. And I rode it home again. And on Thursday I rode it in again. When I went to ride it home, they all insisted that I didn't have to if I didn't want and that I could leave it there if I wanted to. "No!" I insisted and rode it home. And in again on Friday whereby I was informed that the traffic was busy, so it would be best to walk the bike home, or simply leave it at the BoE. Not bloody likely. You want me to ride that bike? I'll ride it like it's bloody National Velvet. Which doesn't mean much as I can't ride horses either.
This weekend's been fun too. Took the bus to Okayama City (2 hours!) on Saturday morning. It was a lovely ride as we went through the mountains and looked down into the valleys. I met Fiona and Sarah, two other ALTs in Okayama, and we went on a shopping orgy. MUJI is officially the cheapest shop on the face of the earth for quality clothing, stationery and homewares- and they also do cook-in sauces and teas! We also became aware Japan's lack of racial awareness, when in a bookshop's English section we came across numerous copies of the banned-in-the-UK children's book 'Little Black Sambo'. This was also available in a full Japanese translation. Unfortunate is not the word. Clueless is more like it.
Met up with Chad and his colleagues, as well as Tiger and Sally and John, (the last two being two new Hiroshima ALTs) by the fountain outside Okayama station, and we went to an Irish bar(!). I had my first Guiness for years. We then went onto a bizarre little place called 'Fudge Bar' which was in a basement and was decorated with 'retro memorabilia'- ie random bits of crap. Much fun though, and the drink servings were on the (very) large side. From there it was back to Kurashiki and onto Karaoke, where we stayed until, oh, 4am... The evidence of Japan's cluelessness continued with the Banana Boat Song being available on the Karaoke menu. Nice. A stream of crap pop poured forth from my lips, including the delights that are Hazell Dean, Mariah Carey, Shampoo and Aqua. Karaoke is the cheapest thing to do in Japan. We paid the equivalent of a tenner each for 3 and a half hours and that price included as many drinks as you wanted from an extensive list of free booze. I must now go to bed to complete my recovery before work tomorrow...
I arrived on Thursday 5th August, in the care of my supervisor, Higuchi san. Higuchi san is six months younger than me, so we're vaguely on a similar wavelength. Except that he is fairly sporty, and I'm about as sporty as a 3 week old melon. The drive to Katsuyama was a bit to much to take in what with being overwhelmed by everything for the previous four days and to cap it all off, once I arrived, I was introduced to every civil servant in the town, taken to one of my 4 schools, introduced to the financial director of the town and the mayor. All before I even saw my flat! Higuchi san had ordered my hanko (a stamp of my surname which is used in Japan in place of a signature on official forms), which we collected prior to attending Nakasu Mansion, my new home. It turned out that Nakasu mansion had been built of Lego and not splendour and gold as the name suggests. Each room appears to have been assembled, rather than built, out of plastic sheeting. But it's comfortable, spacious and clean, and a bit nice, with a loverly balcony. Anyway we were met there by someone from the gas board, and here began the signing (or stamping) away of my life. This continued on Friday when I went to get an Alien registration card (once I get that, I can get a mobile phone etc), to open a bank account and so on. As I'm not going to meet the Junior high's English teacher till the 26th, I'm studying Japanese on a daily basis in the Board of Education office while trying not to pass out due to inactivity and heat.
Higuchi san and his lady came round on Friday night for a Japanese - English lesson, which was good, and on Saturday I met the ALT (Assistant Language Teacher, the job I'm doing) from the next town, Johanna. This involved getting one of the 10 trains a day out of Katsuyama. Only ten trains a day! Except for every 4th Saturday when there are precisely zero trains a day. If anyone ever complains to me about the Central Line I swear I shall respond with violence...
Johanna lives in Kuse, a slightly bigger town, 6 mins by train from me. She's really fun, a loud American girl, genuine and bubbly, and good to have around. We spent the afternoon at the 100yen store (think £1 shop, but cleaner, better quality, not smelly, and half the price). Dad, you'd love it... We had our tea at hers and she introduced me to some very interesting and tasty japanese condiments, the best of which was furikake, a seaweed/ sesame combo that you sprinkle on rice. Nice.
Sunday was a day of much rest- I finally dragged myself out of the house at 8:30pm to explore the nightlife. There was none. The supermarkets were the only things open late. And once I'd walked to the other side of town the heavens opened. Good job the other side of town is only a 10 minute walk away...
On Monday morning my box of goodies arrived from the UK (blankets, heavy clothes, books, some CDs and DVDs), which prompted me to spend many of the week's evenings watching Charlie's Angels and Buffy. The heat renders all other activity impossible...
This past week days have been taken up with getting thing set up (signing rent agreements, sorting out the internet in my flat, organising direct debits from my bank) and on Thursday night Johanna and me met up with Christine, the other ALT from my town. I don't think Christine and I will ever be particularly excited about seeing each other. She's nice an' that, but we just didn't click from the start.
My Board of Education (BoE) have also given me a bike, which I now think they're regretting. I was alerted to its presence last week, and despite my informing all concerned that I have never, and I mean NEVER been able to ride a bike, it was insisted that I was good enough to ride to work (!!). Why I should want to I do not know, as the BoE is only a 10 minute walk away. Well, I rode the bike in on Wednesday. And they almost gave me a standing ovation. They obviously didn't see the wobbling. And I rode it home again. And on Thursday I rode it in again. When I went to ride it home, they all insisted that I didn't have to if I didn't want and that I could leave it there if I wanted to. "No!" I insisted and rode it home. And in again on Friday whereby I was informed that the traffic was busy, so it would be best to walk the bike home, or simply leave it at the BoE. Not bloody likely. You want me to ride that bike? I'll ride it like it's bloody National Velvet. Which doesn't mean much as I can't ride horses either.
This weekend's been fun too. Took the bus to Okayama City (2 hours!) on Saturday morning. It was a lovely ride as we went through the mountains and looked down into the valleys. I met Fiona and Sarah, two other ALTs in Okayama, and we went on a shopping orgy. MUJI is officially the cheapest shop on the face of the earth for quality clothing, stationery and homewares- and they also do cook-in sauces and teas! We also became aware Japan's lack of racial awareness, when in a bookshop's English section we came across numerous copies of the banned-in-the-UK children's book 'Little Black Sambo'. This was also available in a full Japanese translation. Unfortunate is not the word. Clueless is more like it.
Met up with Chad and his colleagues, as well as Tiger and Sally and John, (the last two being two new Hiroshima ALTs) by the fountain outside Okayama station, and we went to an Irish bar(!). I had my first Guiness for years. We then went onto a bizarre little place called 'Fudge Bar' which was in a basement and was decorated with 'retro memorabilia'- ie random bits of crap. Much fun though, and the drink servings were on the (very) large side. From there it was back to Kurashiki and onto Karaoke, where we stayed until, oh, 4am... The evidence of Japan's cluelessness continued with the Banana Boat Song being available on the Karaoke menu. Nice. A stream of crap pop poured forth from my lips, including the delights that are Hazell Dean, Mariah Carey, Shampoo and Aqua. Karaoke is the cheapest thing to do in Japan. We paid the equivalent of a tenner each for 3 and a half hours and that price included as many drinks as you wanted from an extensive list of free booze. I must now go to bed to complete my recovery before work tomorrow...
Sunday, August 08, 2004
Let's get ready to rumble...
More in a PJ & Duncan kind of way than Mohammed Ali or whoever it was that did it in the jungle.
The plane journey was long, and largely uneventful (apart from none of the in-flight entertainment working and our being unable to turn on individual lights when the lights in the cabin went out). Sat next to very different people- Noel, who turned out to be The party animal, and Laura who was fun.
On arrival (3:30pm), we spent over one hour going through customs, and then an hour queueing to declare unaccompanied goods, and then another 45 minutes queueing for the coach to the hotel. "Ah, we're on the bus at last, we'll be there shortly", we thought as we boarded the bus. Our survery says? Uh- Uhhh. Two hours! Two! Hours! On the bus before we arrived at the poshest hotel I have ever visited, let alone stayed in (does that make me sound like a high class tart? Oh well...) Chandeliers all over the shop and a smashing view of Shinjuku and beyond, as well as our being opposite the government buildings and next to the hotel where they filmed 'Lost In Translation'. I didn't go in though.
We fought jetlag on Sunday night and wandered the streets of Shinkjuku, and I managed to fit in a bit of shopping, buying three singles including a Japanese cover of Atomic Kitten's 'Be With You'. Class and a half.
On Monday we met people from our prefectures and watched a video of JETs already in Japan. There was the awkward American male JET, and then the butch lesbian JET (with pageboy haircut and pleated navy skirt) who kept reading lines to the children about "what right have you to eat a chicken if you haven't killed it and plucked it yourself"- get over it, bitch. Finally there was the slightly pervy English JET who, when introduced to the school's Chemistry teacher, started stroking his white coat (!) and then turned up in a nearly off the shoulder pink t-shirt to play basketball with his young male students. Someone call the NSPCC. Now.
We went on to further lectures and sessions, and then there was a reception with some important Japanese people, but I was beginning to flag and sloped off early. Marisa and Matt (whom I'd met at the Brunel induction) asked me out with them, but I cried off tired. Unfortunately, I later decided that I should make the most of it and went out with the gay JET group. It was a fun night, and I met some cool people, but (surprise, surpise) I drank too much and didn't get home 'til nearly three. I paid for it on wednesday, though I blame the jetlag more than the booze...
More lectures on tuesday, though having avoided the standard hotel breakfast of chips (!), boiled veg (!!) and ketchup (!!!), I managed to snaffle some toast and a cuppa. Which I became reacquainted with after the first lecture, as I struggled not to vomit in the posh lift (going up 13 floors) and then did my best Linda Blair impersonation as I ran into our hotel bathroom. Time for bed methinks! I rose in time for the afternoon programme to find out that others had stayed out till 6 am and not gone to any lectured. Doh! And then, we had to go to the ambassador's reception in his posh mansion. It was very nice, but there were no Ferrero Rocher (although given the price of them on the plane, you'd think they actually were made of gold, and not nutella). Went shopping with Laura and Tom afterwards (bought more CDs. Oops) and tried to have an early night, preparing for our flight to Okayama the next day.
The plane journey was long, and largely uneventful (apart from none of the in-flight entertainment working and our being unable to turn on individual lights when the lights in the cabin went out). Sat next to very different people- Noel, who turned out to be The party animal, and Laura who was fun.
On arrival (3:30pm), we spent over one hour going through customs, and then an hour queueing to declare unaccompanied goods, and then another 45 minutes queueing for the coach to the hotel. "Ah, we're on the bus at last, we'll be there shortly", we thought as we boarded the bus. Our survery says? Uh- Uhhh. Two hours! Two! Hours! On the bus before we arrived at the poshest hotel I have ever visited, let alone stayed in (does that make me sound like a high class tart? Oh well...) Chandeliers all over the shop and a smashing view of Shinjuku and beyond, as well as our being opposite the government buildings and next to the hotel where they filmed 'Lost In Translation'. I didn't go in though.
We fought jetlag on Sunday night and wandered the streets of Shinkjuku, and I managed to fit in a bit of shopping, buying three singles including a Japanese cover of Atomic Kitten's 'Be With You'. Class and a half.
On Monday we met people from our prefectures and watched a video of JETs already in Japan. There was the awkward American male JET, and then the butch lesbian JET (with pageboy haircut and pleated navy skirt) who kept reading lines to the children about "what right have you to eat a chicken if you haven't killed it and plucked it yourself"- get over it, bitch. Finally there was the slightly pervy English JET who, when introduced to the school's Chemistry teacher, started stroking his white coat (!) and then turned up in a nearly off the shoulder pink t-shirt to play basketball with his young male students. Someone call the NSPCC. Now.
We went on to further lectures and sessions, and then there was a reception with some important Japanese people, but I was beginning to flag and sloped off early. Marisa and Matt (whom I'd met at the Brunel induction) asked me out with them, but I cried off tired. Unfortunately, I later decided that I should make the most of it and went out with the gay JET group. It was a fun night, and I met some cool people, but (surprise, surpise) I drank too much and didn't get home 'til nearly three. I paid for it on wednesday, though I blame the jetlag more than the booze...
More lectures on tuesday, though having avoided the standard hotel breakfast of chips (!), boiled veg (!!) and ketchup (!!!), I managed to snaffle some toast and a cuppa. Which I became reacquainted with after the first lecture, as I struggled not to vomit in the posh lift (going up 13 floors) and then did my best Linda Blair impersonation as I ran into our hotel bathroom. Time for bed methinks! I rose in time for the afternoon programme to find out that others had stayed out till 6 am and not gone to any lectured. Doh! And then, we had to go to the ambassador's reception in his posh mansion. It was very nice, but there were no Ferrero Rocher (although given the price of them on the plane, you'd think they actually were made of gold, and not nutella). Went shopping with Laura and Tom afterwards (bought more CDs. Oops) and tried to have an early night, preparing for our flight to Okayama the next day.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
The final blast... part 2
So the wedding. It had been talked about for a long time, and plans had been made for a long time. Except for me. When I found out I was joining the JET scheme I thought, "great, I can go to the wedding". But as time grew closer I thought I'd be too busy. And I was. So I went anyway.
Matt and Lizzie and Megan and me all shared a car on the long friday journey (delayed by Kester for reasons I can't remember) and arrived in Cardigan after about 8 hours. Traffic was not a friend to us that day. I stayed at the Black Lion which felt vaguely like a set from the film 'the Wicker Man', spoiled only by lilos and flip flops hanging out of the budget sports shop across the road.
The wedding began at five on the Saturday and was held in a church on a cliff in Mwnt. Yuko looked stunning in a summer kimono of red and cerise with a cyan tie around the waist. Am I sounding gay? It was a lovely setting, but as the photos started and the winds kicked in, I became worried that one of the ever so slight Japanese ladies may be flung over the edge by a strong gust.
For the reception we gatecrashed an abandoned mansion in the hills and someone remembered to bring plenty of food and drink for 50 people. At least that's how it felt. The mansion was hired, but had an old imperial residence feel, minus the slaves and china cups. It had the fox heads though. Drinking from 6pm to 3am is never a good idea, though I and many others forgot this , and may have had something to do with why the woman at the taxi firm kept hanging up on us...
Monday was my last big night out, and following the Amityville Horror that was my hangover on the Sunday, this was a very, very good thing. Anuraag picked me up to meet Neil, Rachel, Roland, Kat, Simon and Graham at the Spoon. Simon is a nice boy, he came to see me despite his injuries. He really must be sad to see me go... Much drinking followed (mainly by me), particularly after it became clear that my funeral stalker was present at the pub. I don't have much memory of getting home as it seemed to happen so quickly. Fortunately I was hangover free to enjoy Tuesday's activities...
Ma had wanted to see the 'Woman In Black' for a long while (well, at least she told me this when we went to see 'Throughly Modern Millie' at the end of June. So she and me and Da went, and it was really good. Playing at a theatre in Russell St, Covent Garden, it was a chilling ghost story performed by only 2 actors. And it really was alarming at times.
On Wednesday I met Kay from my Japanese class for an hour of sun in Finsbury circus, and went ont to meet Marcia from the CELTA course for sushi at Moshi Moshi Sushi in Liverpool St Station. The word 'gorged' seems appropriate for the amount of sashimi we ate. Due to time constraints, I didn't get to see Verity, nor did I get to go out with people from City Lit. Bye bye friends!
Thursday was final day of shopping for bits and became crisis night, when after having spent three hours packing, I discovered I was well over allowed weight and that my empty suitcase and 2nd bag (which we were instructed to take) accounted for 8.5kg of the 20kg limit. After much jigging around, and on the spot thinking, we decided to swap cases and ship 20kg of stuff to Japan. Which meant a very unhappy Ma on Thursday night, and a mercy trip with Da to Slough on Friday. However, once that was out of the way, we were set for a nice family night on Friday, with John and Sarah coming for tea. Most of the packing was done, so when Saturday came, there wasn't much going on- thank God!
John came to meet us to take us to the airport, which was a surprise- we were stood at the train station waiting for the 14:40 to Liverpool St when he showed up. Although we'd probably have made it to Heathrow at the same time, as John decided to take a "quick" route (which lasted approximately 1 hour longer than the other route).
When we got to the airport, I went into automaton mode, and was almost emotion free as we met Anuraag and his family (Amitee has come to Japan as well) and as I said goodbye to my parents. It was strange waving them off as I walked into the departure lounge. I felt like I was going on holiday, not like I was going overseas for a year, so I must have looked like a right hard-faced bastard. Oh, hang on, I was an a angry psychiatric nurse. I am a hard-faced bastard.
Matt and Lizzie and Megan and me all shared a car on the long friday journey (delayed by Kester for reasons I can't remember) and arrived in Cardigan after about 8 hours. Traffic was not a friend to us that day. I stayed at the Black Lion which felt vaguely like a set from the film 'the Wicker Man', spoiled only by lilos and flip flops hanging out of the budget sports shop across the road.
The wedding began at five on the Saturday and was held in a church on a cliff in Mwnt. Yuko looked stunning in a summer kimono of red and cerise with a cyan tie around the waist. Am I sounding gay? It was a lovely setting, but as the photos started and the winds kicked in, I became worried that one of the ever so slight Japanese ladies may be flung over the edge by a strong gust.
For the reception we gatecrashed an abandoned mansion in the hills and someone remembered to bring plenty of food and drink for 50 people. At least that's how it felt. The mansion was hired, but had an old imperial residence feel, minus the slaves and china cups. It had the fox heads though. Drinking from 6pm to 3am is never a good idea, though I and many others forgot this , and may have had something to do with why the woman at the taxi firm kept hanging up on us...
Monday was my last big night out, and following the Amityville Horror that was my hangover on the Sunday, this was a very, very good thing. Anuraag picked me up to meet Neil, Rachel, Roland, Kat, Simon and Graham at the Spoon. Simon is a nice boy, he came to see me despite his injuries. He really must be sad to see me go... Much drinking followed (mainly by me), particularly after it became clear that my funeral stalker was present at the pub. I don't have much memory of getting home as it seemed to happen so quickly. Fortunately I was hangover free to enjoy Tuesday's activities...
Ma had wanted to see the 'Woman In Black' for a long while (well, at least she told me this when we went to see 'Throughly Modern Millie' at the end of June. So she and me and Da went, and it was really good. Playing at a theatre in Russell St, Covent Garden, it was a chilling ghost story performed by only 2 actors. And it really was alarming at times.
On Wednesday I met Kay from my Japanese class for an hour of sun in Finsbury circus, and went ont to meet Marcia from the CELTA course for sushi at Moshi Moshi Sushi in Liverpool St Station. The word 'gorged' seems appropriate for the amount of sashimi we ate. Due to time constraints, I didn't get to see Verity, nor did I get to go out with people from City Lit. Bye bye friends!
Thursday was final day of shopping for bits and became crisis night, when after having spent three hours packing, I discovered I was well over allowed weight and that my empty suitcase and 2nd bag (which we were instructed to take) accounted for 8.5kg of the 20kg limit. After much jigging around, and on the spot thinking, we decided to swap cases and ship 20kg of stuff to Japan. Which meant a very unhappy Ma on Thursday night, and a mercy trip with Da to Slough on Friday. However, once that was out of the way, we were set for a nice family night on Friday, with John and Sarah coming for tea. Most of the packing was done, so when Saturday came, there wasn't much going on- thank God!
John came to meet us to take us to the airport, which was a surprise- we were stood at the train station waiting for the 14:40 to Liverpool St when he showed up. Although we'd probably have made it to Heathrow at the same time, as John decided to take a "quick" route (which lasted approximately 1 hour longer than the other route).
When we got to the airport, I went into automaton mode, and was almost emotion free as we met Anuraag and his family (Amitee has come to Japan as well) and as I said goodbye to my parents. It was strange waving them off as I walked into the departure lounge. I felt like I was going on holiday, not like I was going overseas for a year, so I must have looked like a right hard-faced bastard. Oh, hang on, I was an a angry psychiatric nurse. I am a hard-faced bastard.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
The final blast... part 1
Yes, I’m now in Katsuyama, but to start there would mean to miss out a lot of what happened in London…
After the night out with Lyn, Christina and Melissa, I was feeling rather dazed, so had a quiet day at home and a nice family meal with John and Sarah (brother and his missus) in Caffe Uno, Hornchurch. Ma was not impressed with the service though the food was great and the place was fairly quiet (free from screaming children- hallelujah. Hang on, am I about to embark on a new career teaching the youth of today?). Went back to J & S’s for a cup of tea and a chat, and I became largely uncommunicative due to burgeoning exhaustion…
Monday was another civilised day, though the spectre of Eugene’s Stag Do was looming. I met Juliette in Hanover Square, off Regent Street, for lunch at Sakura- the Japanese restaurant where the food is great and the staff are alleged to be very rude to Japanese customers… A trip to JAL Plaza to look for gifts for me to take to Japan became a tour of Japanese interest shops in the West End. Popped into a funny clothes-by-order only shop, then Mitsukoshi, then Fortnum and Mason’s, where we said hello to Kasumi. We ended the afternoon by seeing Ju-On: the grudge, which was probably the scariest Japanese horror I’ve seen. It was scarier than the Ring, despite the fact that the horror factor was a child with his face painted white. Again, am I really about to embark on a new career teaching the youth of today? Parting ways after a coffee I decided not to attend the Stag Do because a) I didn’t know where it was, b) I was very tired and c) and d).
On Tuesday night I met my lovely, beautiful and glamorous ex-boss Silvana in Covent Garden for drinks and dinner. We went back to La Perla (my knowledge of restaurants in painfully thin, unless you’re talking Japanese) and onto Jewel. A rye ole’ time was had, steadily punctuated by cocktails and more cocktails.
Saw Kofi and Karen for the last time on Wednesday night when they joined Lizzy and me to see Spiderman 2 at Finchley Road. For the first half of the film Spiderman was a whiney loser. I’m glad he got over it. Though he is still a bit of a loser. Dinner at the local Wetherspoon led to mass collection of condiments which we later put back due to concerns about the environment and wastage, and also secretly because I wanted the other punters to worry that their ketchup had been infiltrated with crack cocaine. Oh we’re so naughty.
A day of shopping in London on Thursday was followed by my meeting Clare and going for a few drinks in London. It was a really nice night, and made me wish we’d done it a few times before. I was wearing flip flops and what seemed to be weather appropriate clothing, except it wasn’t, for as we sat in a pub drinking the heavens opened. And as we walked home, I slipped on my flop and had to walk home bare foot for safety. We were both mildly drenched which made goodbyes mildly short…
Friday was the day we went to Bangor. Or rather, Cardigan. Well, Wales is Wales when you’re not from there… More about this in the next chapter…
After the night out with Lyn, Christina and Melissa, I was feeling rather dazed, so had a quiet day at home and a nice family meal with John and Sarah (brother and his missus) in Caffe Uno, Hornchurch. Ma was not impressed with the service though the food was great and the place was fairly quiet (free from screaming children- hallelujah. Hang on, am I about to embark on a new career teaching the youth of today?). Went back to J & S’s for a cup of tea and a chat, and I became largely uncommunicative due to burgeoning exhaustion…
Monday was another civilised day, though the spectre of Eugene’s Stag Do was looming. I met Juliette in Hanover Square, off Regent Street, for lunch at Sakura- the Japanese restaurant where the food is great and the staff are alleged to be very rude to Japanese customers… A trip to JAL Plaza to look for gifts for me to take to Japan became a tour of Japanese interest shops in the West End. Popped into a funny clothes-by-order only shop, then Mitsukoshi, then Fortnum and Mason’s, where we said hello to Kasumi. We ended the afternoon by seeing Ju-On: the grudge, which was probably the scariest Japanese horror I’ve seen. It was scarier than the Ring, despite the fact that the horror factor was a child with his face painted white. Again, am I really about to embark on a new career teaching the youth of today? Parting ways after a coffee I decided not to attend the Stag Do because a) I didn’t know where it was, b) I was very tired and c) and d).
On Tuesday night I met my lovely, beautiful and glamorous ex-boss Silvana in Covent Garden for drinks and dinner. We went back to La Perla (my knowledge of restaurants in painfully thin, unless you’re talking Japanese) and onto Jewel. A rye ole’ time was had, steadily punctuated by cocktails and more cocktails.
Saw Kofi and Karen for the last time on Wednesday night when they joined Lizzy and me to see Spiderman 2 at Finchley Road. For the first half of the film Spiderman was a whiney loser. I’m glad he got over it. Though he is still a bit of a loser. Dinner at the local Wetherspoon led to mass collection of condiments which we later put back due to concerns about the environment and wastage, and also secretly because I wanted the other punters to worry that their ketchup had been infiltrated with crack cocaine. Oh we’re so naughty.
A day of shopping in London on Thursday was followed by my meeting Clare and going for a few drinks in London. It was a really nice night, and made me wish we’d done it a few times before. I was wearing flip flops and what seemed to be weather appropriate clothing, except it wasn’t, for as we sat in a pub drinking the heavens opened. And as we walked home, I slipped on my flop and had to walk home bare foot for safety. We were both mildly drenched which made goodbyes mildly short…
Friday was the day we went to Bangor. Or rather, Cardigan. Well, Wales is Wales when you’re not from there… More about this in the next chapter…
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