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.

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.

Tottori JET ALT Shadowing Day

Today I was able to participate in something really cool - shadowing a senior ALT! I don't think that other prefectures really do this, but I think its awesome. Shadowing another ALT is far more informative than any other kind of orientation.

We were paired up with a senior ALT depending on what level school we teach at, so 5 of us newbies were shadowing another JHS/ES ALT. We were shadowing S, who works and lives in Tottori-shi. The five of us new people were me, L, R, S2, and D.

R and L were really kind and offered to give me a ride into the city. In the end I think it took longer than it would have on the train, but it was fun to ride with them and it was cheaper! (I had to ride the train ~30 minutes to Koge station to meet them where they live)

We drove into the city and arrived at S's school, Nishi JHS, with minutes to spare. However, we somehow managed to drive into the back lot and when we tried to find the entrance we got trapped in the courtyard and couldn't find the way in! Luckily the school nurse spotted us and let us in through the nurse's room...But then we didn't know where to go and wandered around the hallways before thankfully running into S! She brought us to the meeting room which we would inhabit for the day, and we met S2 and D there as well.

Next we all went up to the teacher's room and introduced ourselves to all the staff. After that S and one of her JTEs took us on a tour of the school. The school is massive! There are at least 4 floors, a massive courtyard, a gym, and a pool. 

We had a bit of time to relax, but then we went off to observe S's first period lesson (3rd graders)! We also did self introductions as part of the lesson. 

We didn't have a class 2nd period, so we went back to the meeting room and were supposed to discuss the lesson. We did a bit, but mostly chatted about a random assortment of things.

Next was a 1st grader lesson. We only observed during this lesson. M and some people from the BOE also came to observe and video tape the lesson. Afterwards we all went back to the meeting room with 2 of S's JTEs and talked about the lesson and just general concerns and questions about teaching and school life. It was really nice!

After that was lunch time! I decided to take a gamble and purchase school lunch, because its just so cheap! Y325 for rice, stew, milk, salad, and fish. It wasn't my favorite lunch ever, but it was edible. 

S's school does cleaning time after lunch, so for 15 minutes we helped some students clean the teacher's room. 

Then we had our last class of the day, another 3rd grader class. They were studying the grammar, "I know how to (verb) something," ex. I know how to bake a cake. S had us all go to the front of the class and give one example. I said I knew how to ride a horse and everyone seemed pretty impressed (yeah! good choice!). D said, "I know how to make pastry," but the kids were all confused. She tried to explain by talking about croissants, but one kid thought she said she knew how to eat croissants! Pretty funny mistake. 

We had another free period after that, and again, we just chatted about a bunch of stuff. It was really nice to hang out with other ALTs, actually! I am pretty segregated out here in Chizu. Even though R and L are closest, I don't see them very often. They are also much closer to the city than I am and have cars.

Finally the day was over. We went to say goodbye to all the staff. We stopped in to see the office ladies, who apparently just randomly have adorable animals at school! Today there was a super cute grey bunny! S said there have been hamsters and kittens too! Best school ever! I would spend all day in there!

We were meaning to leave then, but were offered coffee and cake and sat talking with the principal for a while, mostly about fireworks and Disneyland. 

R and L drove me back to Koge, where I managed to arrive JUST as the train pulled into the station, so I rushed out, bought a ticket (hoping it was the right fare), and ran across the tracks onto the train! 

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.

Warabekan

Back during Tottori Orientation, I had arranged with my PA to meet today for a playdate. So Yana, Justin, and I took the train in to Tottori city and then took the bus to Warabekan, the Tottori toy museum. We met her and her two kids, M and H, in front of the museum. We wanted to get together because M is the same age as Yana and although she speaks English and Japanese (my PA is married to a Japanese man), she doesn't get the chance to really play with English-speaking kids.

It was Y250 for me and Justin, which is discounted from the normal price because we're foreigners, and Yana was free!

It was a great day out, especially for Yana, who has probably been a bit lonely lately. A guy from my BOE came over with his 4 year old daughter while he was setting up our TV yesterday, but both kids seemed a little shy and confused about not understanding each other.

Anyway, there was a special exhibit on at Warabekan, which was basically a room full of toys. There were things like dolls and trains, but also some fun Japanese games too. It wasn't too busy either, which was great. They also have this cool thing at the front door which is a toy hospital kind of thing. Basically you can bring in any broken toys and have them fixed for free by the toy doctors!

The kids playing fishing in the front area; behind are the toy doctors.

After playing for an hour or two we decided to eat lunch. Unfortunately it was pouring rain outside, so we had to eat inside. We also ended up cancelling the second part of our playdate due to the rain, which was a visit to Kodomo no Kuni. Kodomo no kuni (lit. "children's country") is a park for kids, and only during summer vacation they have a splash pad and petting zoo open and today was the last day! :( We will definitely have to go next summer, because it looks so fun for kids and you can hold baby goats and hamsters and stuff!