Well, the weather has certainly been interesting today. A typhoon just stomped all over Japan like Godzilla. Cost me an umbrella, curse it. I also have a pair of trousers hanging in the bathroom to dry because they got so soaked while I was getting home. To explain, I was at–thankfully–the school that requires the least amount of walking to get to, which I’ve dubbed River JH, thanks to the lovely little river that flows next to it–which is now a lovely little raging monster of a river, hence the cancelling of classes. I wanted to get home before the storm got too much worse, but the next bus that would’ve taken me straight back to my apartment wasn’t running for another hour; thus, I decided to take a bus that went to the train station, then catch another one back to my apartment. Simple as snot, except that in walking to the River JH bus stop, standing at the train station stop (covered, fortunately), and then walking from the stop up the street to my apartment, I got completely soaked.
Anyway, the wind and rain were pretty amazing for a few hours. It’s calmed down quite a bit, but there’s no telling how long that’ll last. It’s likely we’re in for another wave soon. I went out and saw to Bluebell, which I covered last night, and straightened out the cover, and then I went trotting down to the estuary to see how high the water was. And it is high indeed! Lots of water coming in from the ocean, plenty more coming down from the river. There’s a floodgate near my apartment, and you can hear the water in it through one of the storm drains. Normally, it’s a nice, ocean-wave sound when the tide is in. Now it sounds like someone’s heaving bricks around in there. Good thing is, we still have about a meter’s grace before things start getting messy for the people downstairs.
I’m just glad we’re not getting slammed like they did down south. The typhoon has caused at least one death, quite a bit of flooding, more property damage than you can wave a downed tree at, and it really screwed up rush hour in Tokyo. Yes, the infamous Japanese trains stopped running for a time. That’s just not something that happens. Right now, the storm’s weakening and moving off the coast. I foresee it’ll throw another good rainstorm our way before it’s completely gone, but we’ve been spared the worst.
I thought I’d share a few recent pictures with everyone. Walking and riding my bike has opened up sort of a new perspective on my area, so I thought I’d show everyone a few things I’ve noticed.
First, meet Bluebell, my bike:
Yes, it’s a granny bike. That’s kinda life here. Free tip, by the way: never transport eggs by bike. I’ll let you think about that one.
This is the bike park where I put Bluebell if I’m taking a train or bus:
Schoolkids leave their bikes in bike parks like this if they go to a different town–or just the opposite end of town–for school. They take a train or bus to the bike park, ride their bikes the rest of the way to school, and then return the bike to the park in the evening and take the bus or train home. Most of the bikes aren’t even chained up; they just have a wheel lock that would only inconvenience the most casual and opportunistic of bike thieves. See, this is what you can do when you live in a country with a low crime rate. And that’s the tenth best place to live on Earth, according to the new rankings that just came out today.
Moving on, here’s a beautiful flower I found in a garden along one of my walking routes:
Couldn’t resist snapping a pic.
Finally, green hedgehog fruit:
Isn’t it funny? It is indeed chestnuts, or marron, as the Japanese call them. The spiky pods turn brown and then pop open to reveal the nuts.
We’re getting into autumn here. There’s a chill in the air–I finally gave in today and wore a jacket–the leaves are starting to turn, and the fruit is getting ripe on the trees. I love the persimmon trees when they’re all full of bright-orange fruit.
I have a bunch of pictures to post, but they’ll have to wait a bit. First, the update on the driver’s license is: no.
As I said before, getting a Japanese driver’s license is insanely complicated for Americans. They don’t like dealing with the states; therefore, instead of transferring over your license, they make you take all the tests you would if you were a Japanese youngster trying to get some wheels. They also have very strict standards about what constitutes proof that you actually lived as a resident in the country where you got your license for three consecutive months. Because none of my paperwork (passport, college diploma, college transcript, tax records) has specific to-from dates, they won’t accept it. We’re making a last-ditch effort with my GF transcript, but for now, I’m without a license or a permit, which expired August 24.
Therefore, I’m doing a lot of biking, walking and taking buses. The first thing I did was to kit out my bike. I got it from Allie, who left in March. It’s just your basic schoolkid bike, one gear, basket up front, useless on hills. It had, when I got it, the requisite front basket, a broken bell, and a problematic headlight as well as a functional lock. I bought a basket for the back and attached it with the help of the tool kit my brother-in-law gave me for Christmas–thanks, Denis–and a new bell, too. Invaluable unless you particularly enjoy shouting, “SUMIMASEN!” a few dozen times as you careen down the sidewalk, trying not to cream little old ladies. I got a bright blue bell to help me quickly recognize my bike. I’m going to replace the headlight this weekend, since the thing doesn’t seem to be working well. I also want to get a bike cover to 1) keep the spiders from making their homes on it, and 2) keep it from getting rained on quite so much.
The bus system around here isn’t terribly complicated, and I’m quickly getting the hang of it. For my two “remote” schools the next town over, the general process is: ride bike down to train station (10-15 minutes depending on the weather and how tired I am), park bike at bike park, take the 7:27 bus out to Next Town, get off at the hospital there, and walk to the school. For the high school, it’s about a 20-minute walk, much of it uphill. For the junior high, it’s only about ten minutes along a creek, and a very pretty walk it is, too. There’s this wonderful tree I have to get a picture of. It has fuzzy fruit! Seriously, the fruit looks like little green hedgehogs. I’m guessing they’re nuts of some kind, perhaps marron.
If the weather’s particularly bad or I’m running late, there’s a bus station right up the street. It won’t take me out to Next Town, but it will take me to the bank, where I can catch the Next Town bus.
My two in-town schools are on opposite sides of the town. Far School can be reached by one of two buses. If the weather’s good, I can bike up to the station and grab a bus there. Alternatively, there is one that I can catch from the stop up the street. Biking up to the station saves me a bit of yen, though. I will get reimbursed, but hey, cash in hand, and all that. Besides, I need the exercise. Either bus will take me to a stop smack in front of Far School. For Near School, I take a bus that comes by the stop near my apartment. It deposits me about a ten-minute walk from the school. Across a small canyon. Hoping it doesn’t get too icy during the winter. The good thing is that on fine days, if I don’t want to wait for the bus coming back, I can walk home. Doesn’t take long, and it’s mostly downhill.
Today, I took another step toward becoming Japanese. I got back to the station just as it was starting to rain, but I needed to buy some groceries. Fortunately, shortly after starting this new regime, I realized three items were absolutely essential: first, a compact umbrella; second, a water-resistant anorak; and third, a rainproof sack for my baskets. The compact umbrella is necessary because you just can’t carry a full-size regular umbrella with you on a bike, and this being Japan, umbrellas are good things to have with you no matter what the weather looks like in the morning. The anorak is because, according to Japanese law and good common sense, you can’t have an umbrella open while riding a bike. The one I bought has a really good hood that actually stays in place while I’m riding. The sack for my baskets–either one–is to keep my groceries together and dry while I’m riding. That way, if I go over a bump, I don’t have to worry that one of my bags has hopped out and made a run for it.
Anyway, I got my groceries, and by the time I was finished, it was pouring. And I was wearing a skirt. So I ended up riding home on my bike through the driving rain, in a skirt, with my schoolbag in my front basket and my groceries in my back basket. It’s honestly the most Japanese thing I’ve done since I got here.
All of which is to say: I do believe I can live without a car.
To get the whine out of the way: the process for an American to get a Japanese driver’s license is insanely complicated and will set me back at a minimum ¥10,000 after all the fees, not to mention the gas driving to and from Morioka. And that’s if I ace the driving test on the first try. Belgians don’t have to go through this. Why couldn’t I be Belgian?
Now for the wordgeekery: I’ve found two words Americans use that have an unexpected Japanese origin. First, you know when you’re making up a recipe and put in a dab of this, a smidge of that and a skosh of the other? Well, the Japanese word meaning “little” or “a small amount” is sukoshi. As Japanese generally ignore the u after an s and often chop a final i off of shi or chi endings, guess how it’s pronounced?
Next, I found out this week that group leaders in school are called hancho. The Japanese a is pronounced like the a in “father.” Anybody got a head honcho you report to?
The weather’s been hot and muggy lately. My makeup tends to melt and be uncomfortable and leave me looking worse than without, so it’s officially become optional. Fortunately, my skin absolutely loves this weather and looks great. The rest of me can’t stand the weather. Ugh, I hate feeling sticky!
Sunday is English Camp. A bunch of kids from the local schools will be coming to Nebama, which is a beach (hama or bama means “beach” in Japanese; Obama means “little beach”), and a bunch of ALTs will play games with them in English. The whole crew from my neck o’ the woods (save for Josh, who’s taking a course in Tokyo on the weekends) will be there. Should be loads of fun–unless it rains. Some Rotary Club kids from Texas will be joining us for part of the day. Can’t wait to meet ‘em!
I’m slacking off on this thing, aren’t I? I’ll try to be better about it. I should have some new pictures to post in a couple of days.
It’s a pretty time of year. The azaleas and hydrangeas are in bloom, and they are gorgeous. The weather’s been a bit dodgy–it rained all day today–but I’m glad to put off the heat of summer for a while. Unfortunately, the rain scuttled our plans for a 4th of July picnic. We’re thinking of going to Namiita Beach next weekend when Patrick’s back in town, and hopefully, the weather will be better then.
I’m going to Morioka next Thursday to take care of some stuff for my visa and driver’s license. While I’m there, I think I’ll pick up a pair of shorts and a light top or two from Covely, my favorite place to shop, in anticipation of Mom and Dad’s visit. It’s for plus-size Japanese women, which makes it about right for me. And, of course, I’ll have to raid Jupiter for cheese.
I now know over 150 kanji on sight. Not bad for a girl who’s been here less than a year, if I do say so myself. Speaking, unfortunately, isn’t as easy. One great thing this week, though, was that Josh taught the Japanese conversation class Wednesday. Nothing against the regular teachers, all of whom I like very much, but Josh is a teacher by trade and training while they’re not. They teach the class because they enjoy it and they speak English, but none of them is a professional teacher. Josh is, and he just knows more about structuring and delivering lessons. I got a lot out of his class.
I also think that sometimes, native speakers are actually a bit handicapped when it comes to teaching their own languages. We don’t always know just what will be difficult for learners. There are several sounds in English that sound very similar to Japanese, for instance, and I never realized it until one of my JTEs mentioned it to me.
For my birthday yesterday, I brought in some little petit-four-type treats you can buy in big bags and gave them out to the teachers. They were very appreciative and wished me a happy birthday. It turned out that one of the ichinensei in the class I was teaching that day was also a birthday boy, so the whole class sang “Happy Birthday” to us. It was cute. That evening, I went over to the apartment of the new guy, Timo, and he made us dinner. Nice guy, Timo, and a very good cook. I like him.
Before you people start getting ideas, I’d also like to point out that a) he’s a full decade my junior, and b) he’s gay.
Today, I experimented with potato salad. I’m hampered by the lack of really good pickles. I found some Polish dills at Mr. Sano’s import shop, but they’re kind of mushy and too sweet for my taste. Must try to find some better ones in Morioka.
Okay, that’s 500 words worth of very little. Mom, I’ll try to get a good picture of some of the lovely hydrangea bushes around here. I know you’d absolutely love them. Meg, they remind me of you every time I see them because of your wedding.
Yesterday, I went to a Kamaishi Seawaves rugby match. For those of you who’ve never watched rugby, it’s kind of like American football, only without all those pesky pads and rules, and with an extra dollop of AWESOME! In rugby, it’s not enough to just take the guy down; you must destroy him utterly. Or at least take the ball. Bonus points if you rub his face in the dirt while doing so. It was a lot of fun to watch, and the Seawaves won. On the other hand, there was a thunderstorm during the match, and we (myself, Nathalie, the Elusive Tim and Eri) all got soaked to the skin. We ate at a restaurant (Marumatsu, which seems to be the Japanese equivalent of Village Inn/any casual-dining chain) after the game, and I got some curry to warm myself up.
Today, I did laundry and gave my apartment a long-overdue spring cleaning. Still needs some work, but it’s 100% better than it was. I also put the family pictures I got in a recent package into my scrapbook/photo album. Still needing to be done: give the stove a good scrubbing and clean the floors.
This week’s culinary experiment: I have a bunch of barley I bought with good intentions of using it in soup over the winter. Since it’s no longer really “soup” weather (though it has been a bit wet this weekend), I’m going to use it to make a salad. I’ve got beans and bell peppers and a few things to season it with, so we’ll see how it turns out.
Must do dishes now. ‘Bye!
Just a quickie update: Last Saturday, the four of us Kamaishi folk (Josh has dubbed us “Pat, Nat and Kat”–I suppose we could add his last name, Katz, to the bunch and make a band) went to Tono for a special luncheon. The owner/proprietor/head chef of our favorite local establishment invited us to meet his friend, who runs a tiny, but ritzy, restaurant there. The meal was indeed delicious (Italian with a Japanese flair; she made it work, and even had vegan options for Josh), and we had a lot of fun.
Afterward, Patrick and I went to Morioka to see the new Star Trek movie. We had a bit of time to kill, so Patrick showed me the biggest bookstore in Morioka, which had a nice-sized English section. I bought a new Japanese-study book (I’ve worn my kanji book to a frazzle and am attempting to do the same with my conversational-Japanese book) and The Neverending Story, which I’ve long wanted to read. After that, we went to Starbucks. We met up with friends of his there, and they were all very nice. The movie, fortunately, was subtitled in Japanese rather than dubbed, so we could understand it. I had a minor crisis with a bottle of lemon seltzer that decided I’d shaken it just wrong and exploded all over me when I opened it. Fortunately, Patrick, who was planning to spend the night in Morioka, had a towel on him. I told him he’d make a very good galactic hitchhiker.
The movie, by the way, was amazing. Loved it, would see it again, except probably not in Japan. Too much work to get there.
Afterward, Patrick was staying and I was going, so I said my goodbyes and hit the road. Patrick was very sweet, asking that I please call him when I got back to my apartment because it was raining and dark and he was worried. As it turned out, fortunately, there wasn’t really anything to be worried about. The roads were quiet, and my new vehicle is very sure-footed. I made it back in record time.
Overall, it was a good weekend. There’s a rugby game this weekend, which I’m planning to go to with Nathalie and the elusive Tim, the newest American in the area.
Oyasumi nasai!
Long week, lots of classes. Not a bad week, necessarily, though it did have the bad moments. We started the adult English classes again (they go in eight-week terms), which added to the long-ness of the week. We have plenty of students, though, which is nice. All levels of knowledge, too, from the near-fluent to the Schoolkid English-speaker who hasn’t used it in years. It’ll make for interesting Wednesday nights, at least.
What I am not looking forward to is seeing the sannensei at one of my schools again. If we could expel about half a dozen of the worst boys (and their stupid mullets), things would improve 100%. As it is, the classes are loud, disrespectful and almost completely unmanageable. Typical junior-high wiggles and noise I can deal with; aggressive indifference makes my teeth hurt. Unfortunately, the mullet-heads have decided they don’t want to learn, and they don’t care about the students who do. Most likely, they’re not going to go to high school, which means they really don’t have to care about their grades this year. And unfortunately, in this particular district, getting junior high students to shut up or get out is next to impossible. I pity the poor full-time teachers who have to deal with them all month.
Yesterday was the worst. I had two sannensei classes. By the afternoon, my head hurt and I was so exhausted I was almost falling asleep at my desk. I left as soon as I reasonably could, and as I was in one of my rare “I don’t feel like cooking” moods, grabbed a Japanese curry at a take-out place on the way home and grumped a bit on Facebook. Then I went to bed around 8:45. I woke up this morning feeling all the better for it.
Today went better. Yes, I had another sannensei class, and no, it wasn’t an appreciable improvement on yesterday’s, but at least it was the first class of the day, and I went on to two lively, but sweet, ninensei classes. I hope they don’t get it into their heads that *that* is the way all sannensei behave. Last year’s weren’t like that, though, so I’m hoping it’s just a particularly bad year for attention-seeking yahoos with bad haircuts.
Bah. I hope I get the ichinensei next visit. They’re small, and very cute. They think I’m cute, too. The first day I was at this school, I came out of an ichinensei class and came face-to-face with a girl who immediately started jumping up and down, saying, “Kawaii! Kawaii!” Really, who can blame her?
You just never quite know what to expect around here. One of the loveliest surprises of the spring was the sudden flood of tulips. Beds of them flank one of the roads I use to get out to Ohtsuchi. Some pictures:
I love the huge pink-and-white ones.
We got a huge amount of rain the other week, but it was worth it. It’s green! Seems like it all happened at once, but the leaves are out, and they’re every shade of green. This is what it looks like in the mist:
Pretty, huh? It’s getting greener every day. Much as I miss Alaska, it sure is nice to have an early spring!
Really, there’s not much happening. I went back to work and discovered that one of my schools has been taken off my schedule. Apparently, they’re only using city ALTs Josh and Samuel this year. Oh, well. Means I only have four schools now. The irritating thing is that the school that got taken off my schedule was the only one I can get to by bike. The others are all too far away or halfway up a mountain. Or both, in the case of Ohtsuchi High.
Anyway, I was nervous about going back at first. My lessons have gone pretty well on the whole, though, so apparently, I haven’t lost my touch. In other news, one of the teachers I taught with last year is now on maternity leave, and her substitute barely speaks English at all. I feel kind of bad for him–he obviously just got told, “Hey, you’re teaching English this year because you’re the next best English speaker we’ve got.” He seems pretty quick on the uptake, though, and he and I were able to get through two lessons without any major problems.
I made vegetarian chili and cornbread this week and took some for my lunch Thursday and Friday. The kids and teachers were very interested and thought both looked good. Sadly, cornbread isn’t easy to make around here. I had to pick up the cornmeal at Jupiter last time I was in Morioka, and it’s both expensive and in a small bag. But it’s worth it. I found a good recipe at AllRecipes.com and even figured out how best to bake it in my toaster oven. I’d still like a real oven, but beggers can’t be choosers.
I have a cold. Well, I think it’s a cold. Sore throat, mostly. Nothing too dramatic.
It’s Golden Week here in Japan, which means I’ll have three days off next week. Pretty nice, that. Gives me time to get over my cold.
Okay, no sense putting it off any longer–gotta do laundry. Later!
