Haikarashi 2015

A guy let Yana sit in his retro car. Foreigner perks.

Every November, my town has a great "time slip" festival, called Hikarashi. I have no idea what the name means, but basically the main events are retro cars and a historical costume contest and tons of little vendors line the streets. It's quite a big festival - probably the biggest of the year.

Last year we went out for the 9:00am opening car parade, but this year we decided to skip it and left around 10:30. We wandered around the streets, and Justin got some local deer burgers. Yana and I came across some friends, and Yana sweetly gave them some of her candies of her own accord, stating, "I just didn't want them to hunger." I died of cuteness.

We crossed the bridge into the main area of the festival, and met some of my co-workers from the elementary school. They asked if I was going to wear a kimono, and told me it was in the same place as last year. So we slowly made our way there. Along the way a noticeably drunk fellow asked for photos with Yana, proclaiming about how cute she was. His friend eagerly nodded in agreement. Later we picked up two of my 5th grade girls, who were going to get their obi re-tied. Yana and I went up with them to get changed into kimono. They played with Yana while I was getting dressed, giving her piggy back rides and playing tag.

We came back out, and started checking out the festival stalls. Yana and I shared a mango float. We met a bunch of my coworkers from both schools. We also came across the drunk fellow several more times - each time he asked for more photos. At one point he even picked her up and pretended to carry her away. He was totally harmless, but after several photoshoots, Yana was getting a bit irritated, and had to be coerced into several other photos with other folks who just had to get a photo with the "kawaii" foreigner.

We also went up to the shrine, where there was a mini hemp festival. There's a bit of a revitalization going on here, using traditional methods to make traditional things out of hemp. That's about all I've gathered about it.

By this time, Yana was getting a bit cranky, so we let her get changed and took her to play on the steps of the elementary school, where it was quiet. Then we went back to the kimono rental, and I got changed. We stopped at a stall to buy some wood-fired pizza. While we were waiting, some random old guy gave us a package of takoyaki. I'm not sure why people always give us food, it happens freakishly often.

We slowly headed back towards home, stopping on the bridge, where the costume contestants were giving speeches. My two students dragged us over and made us vote for them, even though we had already done it before. We watched for a bit, and then headed home.

Finding Furusato

The photo studio is the tall grey building on the right.

A few days ago I went into the local photographer's studio to get passport photos taken of Yana. Her passport expires in December, so I wanted to get things taken care of well in advance.
I was nervous about going in. Even though I know the head photographer and even though his son is in Yana's class and even though his daughter is my number one fan at the elementary school. To be honest, I was kind of dreading the awkwardness and I was concerned about them being able to properly take a Canadian passport photo.

After I finished work, I headed towards Yana's school and met her and Justin there. The photo studio is just around the corner from her school, so we walked there. The shop is typically Japanese and packs a lot into a small area. The building is taller than it is wide. Inside were two older ladies. The head photographer was absent, but I was pretty sure these two ladies must be family members of some kind. One was busy editing photos on a computer and the other came behind the front desk to help us. I handed her a translation of the photo requirements and she seemed confident enough and went about setting up the background and lighting. Yana and I stepped up behind the desk, leaving our shoes behind. After some fiddling, we managed to get a good photo. Then came the difficult part - cropping to the correct dimensions. Meanwhile, Yana was curious about everything in the shop, but the ladies were completely unfazed - and even welcomed her to try reeling the white background up and down and check out the flash and reflectors.

While we were trying to get the photos to the right size, in came the head photographer, A (his son), N (his daughter), his wife, their new baby, and an old man (the grandfather?). N's eyes lit up when she saw me and Yana, and the three kids quickly went to the table and began playing with little bear figurines. The photographer came behind the counter and helped with the photo sizing. Then we painstakingly translated his address, to be written on the back on the photos.

And at that moment, there was something so warm and comforting inside the tiny photo studio. All of us squeezed inside the small room - the grandparents watching on; the kids playing together; me, Justin, and the photographer trying to write a Japanese address in English...And I thought to myself, this is Chizu. Warmth, community, and kindness. People here are so friendly and welcoming. Though I may at times complain about the stifling feeling of living in a close-knit, tiny town - my students living below me and everyone knowing what I'm doing - the truth is, I really love this part of Chizu.

I thought of it also, when I discovered that the local bakery makes fresh bread for the school children to eat as lunches or snacks. The wonderful thing about Chizu is that people stick together. It may be a small town and the population literally dwindles every day as the elderly pass on. But it is a town with a mighty heart. In another town, a small independent bakery might flounder into bankruptcy. But here the life of the bakery has been ensured.

Here in little Chizu, I've learnt the word furusato. It can be translated as "hometown" or "old home". But it carries a deeper connotation, a longing for warmth and refuge, a place that recalls nostalgia and childhood memories. Furusato is connected to the rural past of Japan, one that references countryside communities. And I feel that now, I'm finally beginning to find furusato.

I chased after rabbits on that mountain.

I fished for minnow in that river.

I still dream of those days even now

Oh, how I miss my old country home.

Father and mother―are they doing well?

Is everything well with my old friends?

When the rain falls, when the wind blows,

I stop and recall of my old country home.

Some day when I have done what I set out to do,

I'll return home one of these days

Where the mountains are green, my old country home,

Where the waters are clear, my old country home.

- English translation of Furusato, composed 1914

Recent Events

I know I haven't been writing here so often. I think a large part of it is that life is just life. Things here aren't so new or interesting anymore. So I don't even think to write here. But I want to keep records of our time in Japan. Here are some short stories about what we've been up to over the summer. It's not  much, but it's something.


June 27 - Preschool Cleaning
All the parents had to get together to help clean up the school grounds. We were divided into groups based on our kid's class. I ended up weeding around the swing set, which was basically pulling up perfectly nice grass and making the area into a mud pit. I didn't get it at all, but okay.


July 4 - Preschool Class Meeting
Early in July, Yana's class got together on a Saturday for a class meeting. Basically it's an event for the parents and kids to get together and do something. I think they hired some lady to instruct us and we did some exercise thing together.

July 11 - Yana's Birthday
For Yana's birthday we took a trip out to the sand dunes. She really enjoys it there, but it was a blisteringly hot day and we all got a little sunsick. We ended the day by letting her play in the arcade at Aeon, which she begs to do everytime we're there.


July 18 - Sugikko Matsuri
Yana's preschool has a small festival, which is basically a fundraiser for the school, I think. Anyway, it was fun for the kids and Yana enjoyed seeing her friends. She also did a dance with her class, which was cute to see. I enjoyed eating kakigori. We had bought tickets for Yana to play some traditional Japanese festival games, but accidentally missed bingo.

July 26 - Tottori Prefectural Museum
There was a special dinosaur exhibit going on, which Yana was pumped to see because she's super into dinosaurs lately. The exhibit was actually fairly small, but this is Tottori after all. And Yana didn't seem to mind at all. She was especially afraid and intrigued by the robotic T-rex they had. We spent a bit more time exploring the museum, and came across a special event where you could build things with colored pieces of cardboard, so Yana really enjoyed that too.

August 2 - Kodomo no Kuni
The first weekend in August we met up with my PA and her kids to visit Kodomo no Kuni, which is basically a small amusement park for kids. The great thing is that kids get in for free, but the activities all cost extra. We saw some animals, played in the wading pool, and rode some bikes and cars. Yana had lots of fun.

August 13 - Shan Shan Matsuri
Probably the biggest festival in Tottori City is the Shan Shan Matsuri. It's a traditional festival which involves a rain dance. It's especially known for the iconic umbrellas. Basically, a bunch of dance teams line up and dance through the main streets of the city. It's pretty awesome.


August 20 - Special English Lesson at Suwa Hoikuen
Near the beginning of August, I was contacted by Yana's preschool about doing an English lesson. In the end, I decided to do it with just the 5 and 6 year olds (not Yana's class) to keep the class size reasonable. I was pretty much left completely on my own for planning and executing the lesson, which was kind of terrifying. I decided to focus on songs and games, which the main part based on body parts. I started out with some hello songs and dances. Then we played hello hello goodbye, a variant of duck duck goose. I taught them some body parts with some fun flash cards I made and then they played a game where they had to be doctors and wrap their partners up with toilet paper. We ended singing head and shoulders. By the end of it, they seemed to know head and knee, so that's something for some preschoolers, I guess! Being on my own, there were some awkward parts and things were kinda messy, but in all, I don't think the kids were old enough to notice or care, and they seemed to enjoy the singing and dancing and did tell me they had fun. So even though I would have changed some things knowing what I know now, I think it was a pretty good attempt for what was basically my first time teaching (on my own)!

I actually was able to spend the whole morning at the school, too. So I brought Yana and played outside with the kids for a bit. A bunch of them came up to me and were telling me their names, their moms' names, their dads' names, their brothers' and sisters' names, and their grandparents' names. After going inside, I spent some time in Yana's class. I was able to watch the morning meeting and I went to the library with them, where about 6 kids wanted to read books with me at the same time. Next the entire school gathered in the gym for the monthly birthday party. Lots of singing and clapping. There was also a fun performance by the teachers to advertise their upcoming sports day, and the 5 and 6 year olds did their yosakoi dance for the school, which they also performed at Chizu's dance festival, Kinsai Minsai Odorinsai.

August 29 - Kinsai Minsai Odorinsai
When we attended this festival last year, we had been in Chizu for less than a month. This year it felt good to feel at home. I was able to recognize and say hi to a bunch of my students, some of whom were watching, and some of whom were dancing. Since I'm more aware of what's happening now, we were able to go watch the opening parade through the streets of Chizu. After the parade, we bought some food and watched the main stage dances by Yana's preschool and my elementary school 3rd and 4th graders. Unfortunately it was raining pretty steadily by that time, so we opted to head home and watch from our living room window instead. It was a bit far to see, but we got a nice full-day concert of yosakoi music from it anyway, and some pyrotechnics at the end.

Yana and I doing the treasure fishing event.

September 5th - Chizu JHS Sports Day 2015
It was the first sports day on the new school ground! Last year we had to have it at the townsmen's ground because the school was still under construction.
Even though we JUST returned from summer break at the end of August, the students spent most of the time between then and the sports day practising. In the week before, there were two full-day practises. Intense stuff. It meant I had barely any classes, but I kind of don't enjoy this time because there's no real job for me to do and I constantly feel awkward and annoying. I was supposed to help with set-up the day before the event, but there was no job for my group after all, and we ended up weeding. It's also strange because they sit me, Justin, and Yana in the special guests section, which is filled with city officials and stuff - the mayor even comes!
Anyway, these things are largely tradition, so I had a good idea of what to expect this year. The day began at 9:30am, with the students marching onto the ground with their class flags (and also the school flag and flag of Japan). Then the mandatory introductory speeches by everyone possible. As a teacher, I also had to stand out in front of the students during the speeches, national anthem, and school song.
The morning included events like the ball catch (1 partner launched a ball, the other caught it in a bucket), treasure fishing (Yana and I went together, and Justin on his own), and running. It ended with the girls' dance, the boys' gymnastics, and the all-school best relay (which I also participated in, on the staff team).
There was an hour for lunch. After that was the mukade relay, tug o' war (which ended dramatically with the rope snapping and a boy getting hurt and taken off the field on a stretcher), catching inner tubes over heads relay, big pants relay, and the white rabbit relay. The 3rd graders had a special relay where they dressed up members of their classes. This year one class was minions and Lupin the 3rd, and the other class was Death Note. After that were more class relays, and I ran in another on the parents' team. The day ended with the class jump rope competition.
After the closing ceremony and awards, it was clean up time. The vice principal was nice, though, and let me go home early.

The Annual Health Check

Here in Japan, many people are getting their annual health checks done.
I believe the rule is that all government employees must get an annual check, and since teachers are hired by the government, that includes me.

It all started a few weeks ago, when I came into work with an envelope on my desk. Upon opening it, I could tell it was a series of questionnaires, but I couldn't tell what it was for. The vice principal explained that it was for the annual health check, and that my appointment was on May 21st. From then on I spent a lot of free time painstakingly translating the forms so that I could fill them out.

My appointment was for 8:30am and I wasn't supposed to eat anything after dinner the day before. So I was already pretty hungry when I woke up the morning of the 21st. Instead of going to work, I went directly to the hospital, which is conveniently located right beside my apartment. I wandered into the hospital, but I wasn't sure where to go, so I enlisted the help of an employee who was observing me with a look of mild concern. He was super helpful and walked me down to the center where they do the checks. I think I must teach his kid(s), because at one point he asked my job and then started thanking me.

When I walked into the health check center, the two administrative ladies greeted me with, "Ah, Anje!", which kind of caught me off guard, but I was glad they knew who I was because it really helped me during the process. I gave them my somewhat completed questionnaires and my insurance card. Then I took a seat in the center (which was pretty much a room with exercise equipment jammed into the corners and along the walls with tables and chairs set up for waiting). After a minute or so I was called into a consultation room, where a lady basically told me we were going to start the tests and gave me a quick rundown of what the tests were.

The first stop was a urine test. Thankfully one of the admin ladies showed me where to go and then waited outside to take me to the next stop. One thing that was interesting is that they use paper cups (not plastic jars with lids) and the bathroom actually had an opening like a window which connected to the lab...but there was no door or glass or anything, so I could see and hear perfectly what was going on in there.

Next I had to get my blood taken. Not my favorite thing, and it made me feel a bit queasy, especially after not eating. They took 3 vials. The lady who took my blood brought me to the next station, which was an EKG. I always feel like some mad science experiment when I'm hooked up with wires and suction cups.

After that the EKG lady took me to wait for my X-ray. I was a little nervous because I had to hold my breath and I wasn't sure if I would understand when to do it, but it turned out fine. It was my last stop before I went back to the center. I had to wait for a while and then I had my blood pressure, eyesight, height, and weight checked.

One of the admin ladies told me I had to wait about half an hour before the doctor could see me, so I was able to walk home and finally eat something. I came back at 10:00, but it was another 30 minutes before I was able to see the doctor. Naturally, the doctor visit was quite short. She showed me all my test results, including the X-ray, and told me they were all good. The only thing was that apparently my triglyceride levels were a little high, but still okay. She checked my heart with a stethoscope and then sent me on my way.

So in all, it was about 2 and a half hours. I think it was a bit unusual though, as many schools seem to have the school nurse do most of the check or have a medical team come in and do it at the school or community center. It's also common for X-rays to be done in a big white van which travels from school to school. But in my case I went to the hospital and was able to have everything done there. I guess since its a small town and we have the hospital right here its easiest to just do it there.

Hopefully I won't have to see the inside of the hospital for another year!

Edit: A week or so later, I got another letter from them with my results. It's really great because you can see everything that was tested and get all hypochondriac about the amount of red blood cells you have and stuff. Anyway, I also got a recommendation, so it told me to take care of my diet and to get my blood checked again in 6 months (because of the triglycerides) and to go and get my eyes checked by an actual eye doctor. I ended up needing glasses! So that's been a huge adjustment for me, but I'm really glad I was able to have this check.

Chizu Snow Festival 2015

Every February, Chizu hosts a yuki matsuri, or snow festival. While we do seem to get a lot of snow all at once here, it melts pretty quickly, because it doesn't actually get very cold. So naturally, we had lots of snow leading up to this weekend, but the day of the festival was snowless and actually sort of warm. I think they ended up having to import snow from the mountains or something.

We had Yana's happyoukai in the morning, and did shopping after that, but around noon we wandered around the festival. They have it spread all throughout the town - restaurants are open, lots of food stands, and some stands selling local wares or just kitschy stuff. They used the snow that was brought in to make sculptures, snow slides, and snow lanterns. There were also various lanterns made of bamboo and paper, but they don't light them up until it gets dark.

A kind of freaky giant Olaf.

Our first stop was to get some food, so Justin got a giant takoyaki thing. Shortly after that we ran into some neighbours whose younger daughter also goes to the hoikuen, although she's in a different class than Yana. The girls were happy to play together, so we stuck around. We were actually waiting around because there was a mochi making demonstration starting in 30 minutes. While we were waiting a kindly old man came and brought us some warm deer jerky and sake to try. I'm still not sure who he was or where he even came from, as he seemed to appear out of nowhere and then disappeared back into the crowd.

At some point the girls decided they wanted to go up to Suwa Jinja, which of course is up a million stairs on the mountainside above the town. So we went up there and Yana insisted we climb to the very top of the shrine. It was actually my first time visiting the shrine, and I've wanted to for a while, so it was nice to go. No one else was there, so it was very peaceful.

Suwa Jinja.

We walked back down and were just in time to catch the end of the mochi making. Unfortunately our short trek caused us to miss most of it.

Making mochi.

After that we split up and continued to wander around the streets, checking out all the stalls. Naturally along the way it seemed like we met just about everyone in town. Whenever I go out to festivals like this I see tons of students or kids from the hoikuen, so about every minute we're waving hello to someone who shouts, "Herro Anje-sensei!" or, "Yana-chan!"

We decided to head home, and on our way we passed a house with a bunch of locally dyed indigo fabrics on display. I really love the color, so I stopped to take a look. In the end I decided to buy a cloth decorated with a design which represents the famous Chizu cedar trees. While I was there I struck up a conversation with the old lady running the shop. Turns out her granddaughter is a first grader at the elementary school.

My gorgeous indigo dyed fabric.

We stayed at home for the rest of the afternoon, but went out again around 6pm, when it was dark and all the lanterns were lit up. It was incredible - every street of the town was lined with lanterns of various kinds; some lit traditionally with candles, others using flashing rainbow lights or battery powdered candles. Either way, it was gorgeous. Even the bridge was lined with lights.

This was the main event; there were no less than 10 guys lined up with their tripods.

We decided to walk a loop around the town, but on the way we were stopped by the fellows running the hot foot bath. Yana wanted to try it, and as we were standing there we met a man from Hungary! Turns out he lives with his family about 20 minutes away. I swear, for such a small town, Chizu sure sees a lot of foreigners! He seemed very excited to speak to someone in English and spent a while telling us all about how wonderful Chizu and Tottori are and how great this area of Japan is.

While we were chatting, Yana's best friend, Shi-chan, and her mother and sister showed up, so the three kids sat at the foot bath together. They had lots of fun playing together, along with a slightly tipsy Japanese man who was sitting with them (they were serving free sake).

Enjoying the warm foot bath.

And then we met some more people we know! Back in August, I believe, we went to a dinner party with some locals, and tonight we finally saw the host again. He is a friendly fellow, who is actually the head of a local oil company. His son was also in town, just for three days. He lives in Tokyo now, and is the same age as me. His English is quite impressive, so we were able to talk with him as well. We ended up staying for a while at the foot bath!

Eventually, though, Yana was completely soaked from water and it was getting late, so we said goodbye and walked home. It was definitely a fun-filled day!

P.S. Check out this video of the festival! Yana and I make a cameo appearance.

November to December

I've had a fairly busy last week of November here!

Yana ready for her first day of preschool...in Japan!

On Wednesday Yana started at preschool! She attended for three days with Justin, while I was at work. She struggles a bit, but has made a best friend already and she seems to enjoy it well enough.

On Friday I had a very uneventful day, as the JHS students had tests. I pretty much sat at my desk all morning, after which I felt guilty, so in the afternoon I made up a game for my 2nd graders to play.

On Saturday afternoon we headed to a nearby JET's house for a Thanksgiving celebration party. American Thanksgiving, that is. Which is kind of ironic, because the host is from New Zealand. Anyway, that was really fun! And we got to eat lots of yummy food - even a Turkey! Yana enjoyed herself too, and got lots of attention as usual.

On Sunday Chizu ES had a happyoukai, a recital, from 12:15 to 3:45. I brought Justin and Yana along to watch. Each grade did a performance and at the end all the students in the school played an instrumental song together. This year they chose Let it Go (surprise, surprise). We spotted Yana's friend Shi-chan from preschool, so the two of them played together Shi-chan fell asleep. Then Yana smashed her face off the floor, so I had to take her out because she was crying. People are so nice here, so one of the office staff gave her a juice box and that helped.

Chizu Elementary School happyoukai. That's the entire student body.

On Sunday evening the ES teachers had a bonenkai - end of year party - which I attended. I took a rented bus into the city with some other teachers. We had the party at the Hope Star Tottori hotel. It was up in a pretty nice and huge Japanese-style room. The party was fun because we played team games and in the end our team won! We got prizes too, a soup mug. The meal was mostly seafood, so I didn't eat much, but there was a tiny steak and a slice of melon which I enjoyed (I did eat some of the other food too).

On Monday the JHS has tests again, so I decided to take paid leave. I used to opportunity to go to the preschool with Yana. I was able to meet her teacher and see what kinds of things they do. I also took the opportunity to write down the massive list of things the kids need (pajamas, apron, face mask, hand washing towels, etc.). Yana seemed to be doing alright, although she really struggles with lunch. Took her about half an hour to get down one mouthful of food. I feel for her, but all the kids eat the same lunch, so hopefully she can learn to deal with it.

On Tuesday I worked at the ES, but in the afternoon I went over to the JHS with the 5th and 6th graders for a very special ceremony. In Japan, they have traditional ceremonies to bless newly built buildings. There was a whole Shinto ceremony going on on top of the roof, but unfortunately I couldn't really see what was going on. At the end a bunch of important delegates chucked hard lumps of mochi off the roof for people to catch. Everyone was talking about how fun it was, but it was actually terrifying! One piece hit my hand and actually cracked my thumbnail in two places! It was definitely interesting, but to be honest I'm not keen to experience it again!

The mochi cakes I caught.

Note the student covering his head.

On Thursday and Friday I have the SDC - Skills Development Conference. Each prefecture has one sometime around now. Its basically an ALT conference. I will make a separate post about how that goes.

Chizu ハイカラ市 2014

Today my little town had a big event on called ハイカラ市. I'm not sure what it translates to exactly - I get plush city or high collar city from the translator. Anyway, the whole thing kicked off with a retro car parade at 9:30am (why must they do things so early here...). I wasn't entirely sure what to do or where to go after that, but luckily there were enough people that we could just follow the crowd.

We walked down what is basically the main shopping street of Chizu, where they had lots of different food stalls set up. One of the first ones was a stall selling blueberry products. The old man there gave us samples (dried blueberries and blueberry jam with yogurt) and started chatting with us. I guess his child lives in Vietnam and his grandchild lives in Vancouver. People always have such neat stories to tell foreigners! Anyway, he was really kind and invited us to come to visit the blueberry farm in the summer.

We continued walking along and made a quick stop at the deer burger stand, where Justin got his beloved meal. They also gave us free samples of deer croquettes, which were tasty! Across from that stand was Chinorin Shop, which is a new shop being opened by the agricultural high school students. They sell the produce they make for pretty cheap. We took a look around - I have never seen vegetables so big! The napa cabbage was as big as Yana and the carrots were as thick as my arm!

Along the way we also met a few of the elementary school students, who called out my name. We met a group of three girls, who were very excited to meet Yana. They love touching her "golden" hair.

We crossed over the river and continued exploring. I'd never actually been to this part of town, so it was a great way to explore. We checked out a traditional garden at the back of a restaurant, which was open to the public. After that we came to a crossroads. A guy tried to explain to use what was in each direction, but I didn't understand much of what he said. We turned right. There were lots more food stalls - selling everything from rice dumplings to grilled meat sticks to pizza to french toast. There were also some stalls selling small trinkets and things like second hand clothing. We stopped for a bit so Yana could watch a story being told for the kids.

The gorgeous garden.

We came across a lady who actually lives in our building and works at the town office for the newsletter. She told us we could dress in kimono and so we followed her to the place where that was. It was 2,500Y for the three of us, which is actually pretty cheap, I think.

We went upstairs and they had ladies help us get dressed. I have worn a yukata before - a summer kimono - but never a real kimono. I was strapped in there pretty tight! It wasn't an entirely authentic experience, though. I was wearing my jeans and t-shirt underneath, so I wasn't wearing any traditional underclothes or anything.

All dressed up!

After we were dressed we wandered around the street some more. I met one of the staff from the elementary school, who wanted to take pictures of me and then pictures of her with me. If we stood out before, we definitely stood out now! People were shrieking about the cuteness of Yana as we walked by. Some girl even snapped a photo as she ran by. I don't particularly mind, but its weird to think of how many people must have photos of Yana by now. 

The old cars were on display along the streets.

Unfortunately Yana was jumping around too much, so her obi came off. We went back to the house where we got dressed, but Yana just wanted out of it by then, so we all changed back. After that she was a bit grouchy, so we ended up going home. It was a great event, though! Tons of stuff to do! If we're here another year, I'll definitely look forward to it. 

Apartment Tour

Coming to Japan with a family, I was thrilled when my BOE sent me a list of three apartment options to choose from. My predecessor had a 1 bedroom apartment, and while it was new and very nice, 1 bedroom seemed a bit crazy for 3 people. The other 2 options were in a different apartment building and consisted of either 3 bedrooms or 5 bedrooms. 5 bedrooms was obviously way too crazy for only 3 of us (it had 2 floors!), so we went with the 3 bedroom apartment! My BOE sent us photos, which was awesome. Today I want to share some photos of the apartment now that we have been living here for a few months. In the first month we bought a lot of stuff to make the space work for us.

So, on to the tour!

This is the genkan, or entrance. On the left is a door to the sunroom. We have a tall coat closet on the right, as well as a shoe cupboard near the ground, a nice shelf, and another cupboard up top. We keep our shoes here to make sure they don't get the inside of the house dirty. By the way, this is traditionally considered public space. We keep our door locked, but if we didn't, it would be totally acceptable for someone to enter the house up to here. 

Here is a zoomed out view of the genkan, which leads to the living room. You can also see both the doors to the sunroom. No photos of inside the sunroom because it is an embarrassing mess of cardboard boxes and unwanted items right now. Its just a room with a window and some cupboards. My plan is to use it for drying laundry once I get it cleaned out. 

Let's zoom out a little more. This is taken from the hallway. That is my desk in the left corner. The door to the genkan is on the right. The phone there is our buzzer, so when someone rings the doorbell we can use it to shout "HAAAAIIIIII" at them. In the middle of the living room is our kotatsu, a table with a built in electric heater underneath. In the winter we can put a blanket on it to keep the heat in. Right now we just use it as our dining table.

This is the other side of the living room, where Justin's desk is. You can also see the kitchen and the hallway. The door on the left leads to the bathroom/washing area.

Here's a view of the hallway, approaching the kitchen and the bath/washing area. By the way, those garbages are for paper/cardboard, styrofoam trays, and plastic bottle caps.

This is the kitchen in its entirety. There are lots of cupboards, but they are either super high (I can't reach) or really low (killer on the back). So we just use them for storing stuff we don't really use. The sink is on the right and is really huge, which is great, but the whole counter is really low, so its a pain and I always get sprayed with water. Also, the tap pulls down to turn on the water, which I am still getting used to. In the far right corner is our stovetop, which uses induction heat. I actually don't really like it, as its difficult to cook with. The door leads to a very small balcony with our water heater. On the left is a large counter wagon, a small rolling pantry, garbages, and the fridge.

A better view of the sink and stove area. The blue lidded garbage is for plastic and aluminium foil and the brown lidded one is for burnables (food and paper towels mostly). In theory the garbage for cardboard and paper above could go in burnables, but I like to keep it separate to keep extra room in the burnables. And paper doesn't smell, so its kind of nice to separate smelly, decomposing stuff from not nasty stuff. Behind those garbages we also have 2 more for PET bottles (plastic bottles) and bin garbage (glass and tin cans).

This is taken over the half-wall in the living room (you can see the top of the tap). Fridge, counter wagon, rolling pantry. On top of the counter wagon is random stuff, our 10kg rice container, and our little convection/steam oven/microwave (yep, it is an oven and a microwave!). Inside the counter wagon we keep our dishes and cutlery. The rice cooker has a special slide-out space on the right (hidden behind the pantry). The counter wagon stays where is it, but the pantry we move around depending on where we need it, since the kitchen is pretty small.

So to the left of the kitchen is the bathroom/washing area. This is looking to the left of the room. The washing machine is on the far left, then the bathroom, then the toilet room.

And on the right is the sink. The door to the toilet is on the left. 

Here's the view looking out the door towards the kitchen.

Straight down the hallway is our closet room. Yeah...we use an entire room as a closet. Its partly because mold and mildew is a huge problem here, so having the clothes hanging up rather than folded in the closet helps reduce mold. Also its just convenient. There is also a sliding door which leads to the main balcony.

Another view inside the closet room. We use the closet to store blankets, suitcases, and futon.

A view from inside the closet room, looking down the hallway. Kitchen is on the left, past the garbage cans. Bathroom is on the right. Genkan is on the far right. There is also another hallway running perpendicular, which leads to the other 2 bedrooms.

This is a view of the balcony, taken from the closet room. 

You can see a bit of the view from our balcony here. 

 Back inside, this is the hallway leading to the left. 

At the end of the left hallway is the tatami room, a traditional Japanese room that even has rice paper sliding doors. Behind those are glass sliding doors which lead to the same balcony as the closet room. This is also the only room with A/C, but we've done fine without the A/C so far and we don't really use this room at all. It has a big closet which is currently housing our suitcases.

 And lastly, directly to the right of the closet room is the bedroom. We all sleep together because its more economical to share one room - in the summer we can use one fan and in the winter we can use one heater. Justin and I sleep on the mattress and Yana has a futon (which is folded up during the day).

A view of the doorway and the bedroom closet. So turning right out the door will be the closet room and then further straight is the tatami room. 

 And that's the end! Our apartment is cozy, but more than enough space for the three of us, since we don't even use one room. There are some things we dislike about it - there seems to be a lot of mold, the wallpaper is really grungy, the bath isn't too nice, etc. - but overall, its beginning to feel like home.

Choosing a Japanese Preschool

I want to talk a bit about my experiences choosing a school for my 4 year-old.

In Chizu there are only 2 options: Suwa Hoikuen (Suwa nursery school) and Mori no Yochien (forest kindergarten).

I had heard about Mori no Yochien before I even left for Japan and I thought it was an amazing idea and I definitely wanted to send Yana there.

You can watch this documentary about the school:

By chance I happened to meet a group from Mori no Yochien one day while I was watching my students practice for the sports festival. I talked with S, who is married to a Dutchman and who's son attends Mori no Yochien. I arranged through her to have a trial day at the kindergarten, which cost Y1,000.

Doing a trial day is a great way of getting a feel for a school. We attended on Monday, which was cooking day. Yana was able to learn to use a knife for the first time, and she helped make miso soup over a fire.

I thought it was really great that she was learning these kinds of practical skills. And experiencing the fresh air and environment of the mountains. But there were some problems. Because the kids are playing in the wild, they have important rules to follow. So naturally, the first thing Yana did was break the most important rule - always play where an adult can see you. I don't know if it was because we were there, but the teachers completely ignored the fact that Yana had run off on her own and was unable to be seen. Because Yana can't understand or speak Japanese, she tended to isolate herself and play on her own. I felt like in this situation it could be dangerous for her to always be by herself.

The cooking area at Mori no Yochien.

There were some other things that made me hesitant too. I felt uncomfortable with the attitude of the teachers. I felt like Yana might not be able to pick up the language very well outside of a classroom. I felt like the school in general was too extremist. I wondered how these kids did when they had to suddenly adapt to regular elementary school.

So we decided to do a trial visit to Suwa. It was free, although we could pay a small fee to leave Yana there alone for a trial day.

One of the classrooms at Suwa.

Immediately I felt at ease and very welcomed at Suwa. The kids have lots of room to play outside, but are fenced in, so no worries of Yana wandering off on her own and falling in a river. The kids were very friendly and even gave Yana hugs when we left. The kids follow an educational curriculum during the week and they also have Saturday school, where the kids are allowed free play. The school also takes walks in the forest, so the kids get to experience nature up close as well.

The library at Suwa.

In the end, both schools have pros and cons. I really wanted to send Yana to Mori no Yochien, but I feel like right now the right decision is to send her to Suwa. I still like the idea behind Mori no Yochien and I hope to attend occasionally, so that she can experience things like chasing lizards, hiking, and playing in the river. But the relaxed feeling I felt being at Suwa definitely solidified it in my mind as the right choice, and I am really glad we decided to give it a chance after all.


Edit: After writing this I was informed that Suwa is only for children who have both parents working. Justin talked about it with one of the locals and he said that a lot of the moms just work in a garden or something. Anyway, I mentioned it to my supervisor, so there's now some sort of discussion going on about whether or not Yana will be allowed to attend...

Respect for the Aged Day

Today is a national holiday, so I got the day off! My mom actually came to visit on Thursday, but they went to the Oki Islands in Shimane for Saturday and Sunday, so today (Monday) was our only time for an outing.

We took the train into Tottori-shi early in the morning and went to the tourist support center at the station. The lady there was super helpful and nice. We decided to hire a tourist taxi, which is a huge bargain at Y1000 for 3 hours of time. Normally they only take 5 people, but since Yana is small, they managed to get a taxi which would fit her as well! Since the bus is Y370 per person each way, it was a pretty big discount. Also, since we used it we got some discounts and free gifts!

The first place we went was the sand dunes, because it is the most tiring and we didn't want the sand to be too hot. I've already been once before of course, but this time we went down to the water. The water was really refreshing, but it meant an extra walk back up the largest dune and a Yana coated in wet sand. The only way we got her clean(ish) was to completely rinse her in the place to wash feet, so she ended up totally soaking wet.

We also each got a free pear jelly at the gift shop, which our taxi driver helped us with!

Next we went to the Sand Museum, which I didn't get to see last time. It was really neat and the sculptures are very impressive. We got another free gift here - our choice of a Sand Museum post card.

We drove back into the city and had the driver drop us off at Aeon for lunch. We went there because there is a McDonald's and I really wanted to try the new purple sweet potato milkshake. Unfortunately it was kind of gross and overly sweet. It was also convenient, though, as I used the opportunity to buy Yana a dry pair of shorts.

Then we walked back to the station and hired another taxi, since our 3 hours had been used up. The next taxi driver was really nice and talkative.

Firstly we went to Yoshioka hot springs to try out the foot bath. It was about a 20 minute drive from the city center, and not really in Tottori-shi at all. It was free, though! Its literally just a bench on a street corner. The water is scorching hot, and I could only keep my feet in for a minute at a time. It felt really lovely after trekking up and down the sand dunes, though.

Next we drove a little ways to Hakuto Shrine, a famous place from a famous Tottori legend about a white rabbit. It was a bit of a boring shrine, to be honest, although the rabbit sculptures leading up to the shrine were pretty cute. Oh, and we got another free gift here! A keychain with the white rabbit on it.

Lastly we had the taxi driver take us to Genchuji, a tomb/temple. Its a special place because the rice paper doors inside are painted with some pretty interesting portraits. Unfortunately we arrived about 15 minutes after closing, but our taxi driver went in and it ended up that we got a personal tour! I felt really bad, but the old man giving the tour was very obliging. He gave detailed descriptions of all the paintings and the garden, but I barely understood any of it and everyone else was lost. At the end he sent us home with packages of shrimp crisps. It wasn't quite what I had thought it was, but still a neat experience.

After that we went back to the station and caught the train home to Chizu. We went to a local ramen restaurant for dinner, and actually its the first time I've been out to eat in Chizu. It was pretty tasty, but its difficult ordering from a menu all in Japanese. I just got shoyu (soy sauce) ramen because I knew what it was. I also ordered what translated as "unpeeled potatoes" and "chicken steak", which ended up being fried potato wedges and fried chicken wings. Yana was happy with the potatoes, anyway.