Recent Events

Chizu Tanabata Festival

Fireflies
In Tottori-shi, there is a park called Ochidani Koen, where people have been breeding fireflies. In mid-June, you can go there at night to see them. Apparently there are thousands of them, so I thought it would be neat to go see. We got there before it was dark and also had to leave early around 8pm, but we did get to see some fireflies. Yana had lots of fun, and we even befriended a family, so she enjoyed running around with their kids. It was definitely a cool experience, I just wish we could've stayed longer! (Train schedules stopped us)

Parent's Day at JHS
On June 18th, there was a parent's day at the JHS. I had regular classes in the morning and then the actual demonstration class after lunch. I'm pretty used to people hanging around in my classes by now. I think it went alright. The JTE wanted me to talk about electric power sources in Brazil, Japan, and Canada, so I had to do some hasty research. I think a lot of it went over the kids' heads.

Tanabata Festival
Tanabata is celebrated on July 7th, but it was a weekday, so Chizu had the festival on the night of the 9th. Yana's grade was invited to showcase their naruko (wooden clapper) dance, so we brought her and were able to see her dance in costume for the first time. She did really well! We also saw the dentist there, who was dancing with the local yosakoi team, as usual. After the dances, we hung around with some of her friends, ate kakigori, and did kingyo sukui (but for plastic toys, not goldfish). Afterwards, we walked back home with our neighbours, and they gave Yana a gift, which was really kind! It was a Japanese fan and a pretty flower hair clip.

Life with a Preschooler in Japan

Now that we're starting year two in Japan, I want to reflect a little on what it's like having a kid in the Japanese school system.

As you might know, Japan places incredible stress on community. I find that schools here generally act like a family or parent would - they focus on teaching children how to become a successful piece in society after graduation. That means kids learn things beyond academics - things like cleaning, serving others, obeying and respecting elders, morals, and other uncountable social norms. These are important things for children to learn if they want to fit in - a key point in Japanese culture. And on top of that, once kids reach junior high school (or possibly earlier), they spend the majority of their time at school, so its not surprising that they learn a lot of their life skills there.


Daily Life
Schools have a lot of influence on the lives of children. I can't say about high school, but all the way through junior high school at least, the students have daily journals that they write in. In preschool the teachers write in the journal and every night I read and stamp it. We also use it to communicate. Like, if Yana was feeling sick and had a fever, I'll write that down so her teacher knows. Inside the journal there is also a chart, and every morning I must fill in what time Yana went to bed, what time she woke up, if she's feeling healthy, if she pooped, if she ate breakfast, and if she washed her face and teeth. A few months after starting school, we were given a talking to by Yana's teacher. Apparently she had been going to bed too early (around 8pm) and waking up too late (around 6:30 or 7am). I was told that she has to go to bed around 9pm and be up before 6:30am. This makes her more "genki" (energetic) for school and also helps her sleep during naptime. Poor Yana has never been a napper, but I guess the teachers need their downtime, so even the 4 and 5 year olds nap (not sure about the 5/6 class).
We also have parent-teacher meetings several times a year in order to discuss any issues and periodically we have to fill in questionnaires about Yana's daily life (does she eat meals, how long does she watch tv, etc.). They do this in elementary and junior high school too, and I saw at the elementary school that they actually collect the data, make a booklet out of it (ranked charts and everything), and all the teachers meet to discuss the results. Unlike North America, the students put their names on the questionnaires, so the teachers were talking about how "John" plays way too many video games and how did he even do that, or that "Mary" gets up very early.

Parent Duties
As is usual in Japan, schools don't have janitors and might not even have groundskeepers either. So every year in the spring all the parents have to go to school on a Saturday and help clean the grounds. Some of this was legit cleaning, like cutting tree branches and cleaning the outdoor pools, but my group's job was to rip up grass. Why? I have no idea, but I'd guess it had something to do with looking busy. Anyway, there's now no grass around the swing set and a nice place for kids to get into a big, muddy mess.
In a country where many mothers don't work, parents are expected to participate in school life. There are parent-child field trips, parent-teacher meetings, Saturday class activities, school meetings and events, and the PTA. It's also just a lot of work making sure Yana has everything she needs ready (see school baggage).

Food
As Japan does, the school also likes to stick by the rules. Every child eats the same lunch from the on-site kitchen. Every month the school sends home a meal plan. I'm always impressed - I think about how kids in North America would feel about eating miso soup, fried sardines, or seaweed salad for lunch. Like most school lunches here, they typically consist of rice (sometimes bread or noodles), soup, a vegetable dish, and a protein dish. They also give a piece of fruit at every meal (not so at elementary and junior high!). In the afternoon, the kids have a snack, which is often a sweet with a milk box (I'm a little less impressed by this). There is a huge emphasis on calcium here, so the daily milk box is a part of school meals up through junior high school.

School supplies: change of clothes, notebook, towel, hand towel, shoes, gym clothes, library bag, cooking clothes, swim bag

School Baggage
It never ceases to astound me how much stuff Japanese kids carry around with them. For Yana, every Monday she brings to school: her backpack itself, water bottle, bagged cup and toothbrush, bagged pajamas, bagged gym shorts, change of clothes, pillowcase, library bag and book, hand towel, and parent-teacher notebook. In the summer she also has to bring her hat, swim bag (suit, cap, towel, and tshirt for wearing outside), and a towel as a naptime blanket. She keeps multiple changes of clothes at school as well as a pair of indoor shoes (which they don't wear during the summer). During the week she leaves most of these things at school, but every Friday she brings them home to be washed (including the shoes!). If there's some kind of special activity, she'll have to bring extra stuff, like her apron, mask, and bandanna for cooking.


Health
In Japan, schools also take part in the medical health of their students. Every month the preschoolers have their height and weight checked. Twice a year their chest circumference is also checked. This is marked on a card, signed by a parent, and returned to the school. There are also special checks throughout the year. In May they check for pinworms and dental health, have a urine test in June, check for pinworms again in July, have a medical check in September, a stool parasite egg test in October, another urine test in November, and a final medical check in March. Additionally, there is development screening for the kids at certain ages - we just did one for five year olds. Questions included if she can understand the rules of rock, paper, scissors (SO Japanese) and if she could go play at a friend's house on her own. This kind of thing continues throughout a child's school years - and possibly longer - even I am required to get an annual comprehensive health check, along with all the other school staff (although I don't have to put a sticker on my butt to check for pinworms!).

Photos
This is just a small thing, but something I really appreciated and felt was so thoughtful! Throughout the year, the teachers take loads of photos of the kids. Every few months they send the photos home in a little envelope and we pay for them (a very small amount). I really loved getting to see what Yana was up to at school and being able to have these memories. We have photos of field trips, hikes, tea ceremonies, swimming days, cooking, birthdays, etc. By contrast, in North America you don't really get photos from your child's time at school.

Getting a Wisdom Tooth Extracted in Japan

A few months ago I woke up one morning and realized I had a lot of pain around my bottom left wisdom tooth. In fact, the pain was caused by what appeared to be swelling and infection. I decided to leave it for a few days, hoping it was something my body could fix on its own.

It wasn't, as it turned out.

Conveniently, my daughter was already seeing the dentist, so it was easy for me to add on an appointment for me. The dentist confirmed that I had infection and prescribed me antibiotics.

After finishing the antibiotics, I went back for a check up. The infection was definitely improved, but still there and the area was still tender. The dentist had to cut out the infection. It was fairly quick and simple, but pretty painful, as she had to press hard to get the pus out and I had a fairly deep cut to heal afterwards. Again, I was given antibiotics to try and finish off the infection for good.

Things were improved by cutting the abscess, but my gums were still painful at the next check-up. The dentist took some x-rays and showed me that what I had was pericoronitis - an abscess caused by my wisdom tooth having erupted only partially. I was nervous about extracting the tooth, so the dentist told me to try brushing it really well - under the gums - with a small brush and we arranged another check-up.

But there was still no improvement. She advised for me to have the tooth removed. But the tooth was horizontal and impacted, so it would be a bit of a difficult surgery. I'd never had a tooth removed, let alone surgically, so I was quite nervous to do it. She told me it would be for the best, because otherwise the tooth would continue to cause infections, which would melt the bone underneath. I agreed to the surgery. She wrote a letter of referral for a dental surgeon at Tottori Hospital.

I went to the hospital first for a consultation. The dentist explained mostly the same things as my own dentist had. She then sent me to get full x-rays taken in the hospital. I did that, came back, and finished the consultation. She showed me that the tooth was almost entirely horizontal. We booked an appointment for after Golden Week. But because there was still pain, first I had to take another round of antibiotics (yay...). The antibiotics seemed to work well this time, and I was able to have a nice Golden Week with no discomfort (phew!).


On the day of the surgery, I was super nervous. I went to work in the morning, rushed home to eat by noon (I wasn't allowed to eat after noon), and then left with my supervisor at 1pm for my appointment at 2. When we got to the hospital there wasn't much of a wait before they called my name. The dentist sat me down and re-explained what she was going to do. She gave me a consent form to sign, which she had helpfully translated into English.

They lay the chair back and administered the local anaesthetic into several areas. It didn't take long to kick in. They covered my face with a cloth to protect me and went straight to work.

First, she cut open the gums. Then she began to drill away at the bone and tooth. It was very loud and the vibrations were quite strong, but I didn't mind that half as much as the next step - actually getting the tooth out. It may sound ridiculous, but up until this point I had no idea the surgery had actually begun. I somehow thought the drill was just a cleaning tool (I don't know why...denial? At least the anesthetic was working!). So when the dentist said, "Okay! I push your tooth!" and jammed her finger into my tooth with a sickening crack, I nearly jumped out of the chair! I was expecting a little more time for mental preparation!

The next part took the longest, as the dentist drilled and pried at my tooth. A few times she had to inject a little more anaesthetic, but the tooth removal itself didn't actually hurt very much. It was the pressure, sensation and sound of breaking tooth, and taste of bone dust which bothered me the most. I also recall the sensation of the roots being pulled out, like a huge release of pressure. To my ears it sounded like it must have been shattered into tiny splinters, but in the end, the tooth had been broken into about 6 pieces (as they showed me afterwards).

The dentist told me it was done (I weakly gave her a thumbs up) and that she would stitch the gums. There was some uncomfortableness as she pulled the thread tight, but I still couldn't really feel much at all, thankfully. Overall, I was quite impressed and relieved at how well the local anaesthetic worked.

They put gauze in my mouth over the stitched gums and sat me upright. Immediately I felt dizzy and called for the dentist because I honestly feared I might pass out. After some confusion they realized the issue and quickly lay me back down and propped up my legs with some towels. A nurse took my blood pressure. I felt ridiculous - a few tears grew in the corners of my eyes and I hyperventilated a bit, but I guess it was just the shock. After laying for about 5 minutes I felt better, so slowly sat up. The dentist gave me a translated paper about aftercare. One thing I thought was interesting is that I wasn't supposed to use cold because it apparently slows healing; seems quite opposite to the Western advice of using ice packs on your cheeks to help swelling). I felt pretty awful and exhausted at that point, and I was drooling a lot. I was also beginning to every so often feel a dull ache in my jaw.

Once I felt alright, I went out with my supervisor, collected my documents, and went to pay. It cost me Y4,700 to have the one wisdom tooth out. About $55 CAD at the current exchange rate, which is quite the deal!! Part of why I decided to have the surgery here was because of the great insurance coverage.

Overall, the whole thing took about an hour.

My supervisor drove me back to Chizu, and we stopped at the local pharmacy to fill my prescriptions - one for loxoprofen (painkiller) and another for more antibiotics.

The next day I went to my local dentist for sterilization. I'm pretty sure she just blotted my incisions with iodine (tasted awful). It was quick and painless.

I had my surgery on Thursday, but by Monday I was still having pain and had finished my painkillers. So I stopped at the dentist in Chizu to ask for a new prescription (as they had instructed me to). The usual dentist was out, so some old guy dentist looked at my mouth and wrote me a prescription.

On Thursday, exactly a week after the surgery, I had to go back to Tottori Hospital to get the stitches removed. It was actually quite painful because the dentist was pushing on the gums. The removal of the stitches themselves didn't hurt much, it was just the pushing that did. I told the dentist it still hurt and she checked and said I still had an infection. So she prescribed me MORE antibiotics and more painkillers. She said if I still had pain by Tuesday, I should contact her. She also sent a letter about it to my local dentist in Chizu. It cost me 350 yen for the stitches to be removed.

[Addendum: It took a while, but eventually my infection went away and my jaw seems to have been healing well. I visited the dentist here in Canada about a year after the surgery, and there was still a deep pocket around the gums of the tooth on the end, but they said that should continue to heal. One strange thing is that while still in Japan I developed oral candida around the site of the extraction. My dentist prescribed me anti fungal gel, which seemed to do the trick, but sometimes I notice it recurring when my immune system is stressed - odd, since I've never had it before in my life.]

Suwa Jinja Hashira Matsuri

Every 6 years, Chizu holds the Hashira Matsuri for Suwa Shrine. They cut down 4 cedar trees in the forest and starting at 3am they bring them down from the mountains, parade them all through the town, and rebuild the shrine. It's pretty important and has been a tradition here for hundreds of years. We were lucky enough to be here for this festival, since it happens so far apart.

The night before it was ridiculously windy, thanks to a big storm blowing in from the south. I checked the weather and saw that it was supposed to rain in the morning, possibly until noon. So it was disappointing, but not surprising to see the rain blowing down (yes, blowing - it was crazy windy) when I woke up this morning.

The first pillar procession started at 7:30am, but it was still pouring rain and awful outside at that time. We decided to kind of wait it out a bit, since there were 4 processions and they didn't get to the shrine until after 11am.

I was just starting to get ready when Yana spotted her friend, M-chan, out the window. A few minutes later our doorbell rang, and M-chan, her sister, and her mom were all there at our door, asking Yana to come down with them. And there we were all in our pajamas still.

I got Yana dressed in record time, managed to brush her hair, and sent her out with M and her family. They were watching pillar 3's group, which happened to include M's dad. It also happened to go right by our apartment building, so we went to the window and watched them go by.

Afterwards, Yana didn't come home. So we got dressed quickly and headed out to the train station, the next stop on the map (each pillar makes a bunch of pit stops along the way). Luckily we met up with Yana, M, and family there. And even better, the rain had stopped and the sun started coming out! And so we began a long morning of following around a bunch of drunk guys carrying a big log.

At each stop the men would put the pillar down and stop for refreshments (lots of beer). The local yosakoi dance group would also perform several dances while we waited. Our dentist is a member, so she came over and said hello.

Just past the post office, we made another stop. There was a big cask of sake which was ceremonially meant to be opened with mallets...unfortunately it wasn't effective. The guys holding the mallets then just started full-on beating the top of this cask, and....nothing. Eventually one guy just went at it with a big knife and finally - pop! An explosion of wood and the strong scent of sake. They served the sake in wooden cups to everyone there (yep, at 9:30am). An old lady told me it was special sake and brought a cup for me and Justin. I don't like sake much, but I could tell it was quite nice. It was incredibly clear and fresh tasting.

Meanwhile, Yana and some other kids managed to get themselves let into an old video store, where they were terrorizing the cats that live in there.

We started following the pillar again, but Yana needed a toilet break, so we went ahead and made a stop at the townsman ground. There were some food stalls there, and we got some doner kebap and Turkish ice cream, randomly enough. It was run by a pair of Turkish guys. The guy doing the ice cream was pretty funny, and I enjoyed watching him trick my students, who were also there buying ice cream.

It was near 11am now, so we rushed up to Suwa Shrine to catch the end of the procession. We watched pillars 3 and 4. We watched them carry the pillars up, but it seemed like we weren't able to go up to the actual shrine building ourselves, so we headed home.

And that was the once in six years pillar festival!

Yana's Language Progress: March 2016

It's hard for me to known Yana's level of Japanese, since I rarely see her at school (where she is really using it). But she is getting really proficient. In fact, at this point I'm not even going to include a list of words she's learned, as there's just too many. She's also quite fluently speaking in sentences now, as opposed to the beginning, when she could just speak single words.

She is using Japanese more and more at home and legit full-on sentences, too. She'll often play with her toys in Japanese or sing little songs (ones she learns at school and ones she makes up). One of the funniest things was, one night I heard her speaking Japanese in her sleep!

She is engaging in conversations with people quite easily. She often can have a real back and forth with the cashiers at the grocery store. She always likes to tell them which foods she picked out. One day we were walking home and a group of my students were in front of us. Yana went up and joined them, and just natural as anything, started chattering on and on in Japanese. Also, recently she's had to have a lot of dentist visits. She's able to go in there on her own and communicate with the people there.

She seems to be doing great at school. In February they had a recital. Yana's class sang several songs, did a bamboo drumming routine, and did a play. I'm super impressed that she managed to remember all that!

And, most impressively, she even translated Japanese for us when we couldn't understand! Often, she'll tell us that [word] is "called [this] in Japanese/English]. It's quite amazing that she went from an oblivious four year old to a third culture kid who understands about different countries and languages.

Yana's Language Progress: December 2015

She's combining words and using phrases with more and more confidence. She can also reply to a lot of basic questions. If someone asks her if she's cold, she'll reply, "samui ja nai yo!" [I'm not cold!]. She's also quite bold with talking to people. She always asks people what things are ("kore nani?" or "nanda kore?").
Early in November, she came along to the culture festival at the JHS. Typically Japanese, there were lots of speeches. I was super impressed when she picked out the word "undoukai" [sports day] from one speech. It can be hard for even me to pick things out of speeches.
Interestingly, she tends to default to Japanese when meeting new people - regardless of their actual country of origin/language. I think because the world outside our house is completely in Japanese, she just automatically switches to Japanese mode.
She's still using "hattata", whatever that means. And she often Japanizes English words she can't translate yet, for example, "monkey-u".
One of her favorite things to say now is, "Oops! I machigatta-ed!", which is her weird way of applying English verb conjugation to Japanese verbs (adding -ed for past tense).
She also seems to be getting good at learning from her peers. For example, one day at the store we were looking at toothbrushes. One of her friends was with us, and asked, "kaemasuka?" [are you buying that?], and she answered, "kaemasu yo!" [i'm buying it!]. I'm not even sure she knows that verb, but she clearly knew how to use the same verb her friend had used to respond.

Some new words that I've noticed her using recently:

• boshi [hat]
• kudasai [please]
• kosumosu kumi no yana desu. papa to kaerimasu. [yana from cosmos class. leaving with papa.]
• machigatta [i made a mistake/i was wrong]
• kyouryuu daisuki [i love dinosaurs]
• kuma [bear]
• sore nani / nani sore [what's that?]
• kore sugoi/ sugoi kore [that's awesome!]
• isshou ni asobu? [shall we play together?]
• undoukai [sports day]
• ribon [ribbon/bow]
• mitai [looks like]
• te [hand]
• donguri [acorn]

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

Suwa Hoikuen Undokai

October 3 - Suwa Hoikuen Undokai
Although September seems like the most common month for sports days, the second Monday in October is actually the national Sports Day holiday. Accordingly, Yana's preschool had their sports day on the first Saturday of October. It was only about 3 hours, so not nearly as long or intense as the elementary and junior high school sports days I've attended so far.
Like all good Japanese events, the day began with opening speeches by important people. Then all the kids (there are 3 grade levels) spread out and did a dance-based warm up routine.
The first event was called yoi don, and was basically a relay. First was the 3 year olds, and then Yana's group (4 year olds). After the five year olds was this rhythm thing...basically it was just what the kids do every day for their organized exercise.  For example, they run around pretending to be fish, gallop like they're riding a horse, and do hopscotch. Each grade level did theirs a bit differently. So for Yana, it was kind of like a class battle, with her class (cosmos) and the other middle grade class (dandelion) marching up to each other in different ways.
Then the 3 year olds did a dance thing and we had a break for snacks.
Each grade has 1 event they do with parents, so the 5 year olds did that after break. Next the 3 year olds had a race. After that was Yana again. The kids wore their tengu geta and did a little skit with one of the teachers dressed as a tengu.
Then the 3 year olds had a fun little triathlon relay and the 5 year olds had another event. After that, the 4 year olds did a routine with a big parachute.
The 3 year olds did their parent and child event, and then the 4 year olds ran a relay. Yana was in the lead, until she stopped to see where the kid behind her was. But in the end, her class won!
After the 5 year olds did their relay, the 4 year olds did a pole race with the parents. Yana tripped while running, and made a spectacle of herself by dangling from the pole as the other 3 ran, so that was great.
The day ended with the 5 year olds doing their soran dance, which they also performed at the dance festival in August.
At the end, all the kids got "gamabari medals", which was super cute, and Yana was so thrilled about it.

JET Income and Expenses

I'm not sure how useful this really is, but for anyone who finds these things interesting, here's a rundown of monthly income and expenses here in Japan.

Income

The Paycheck
My pay varies a bit depending on how many days I've worked in a month. During my first year, my base pay was 280,000 yen per month. I get a bunch of taxes and insurance taken out of that. I usually ended up with around 230,000 take home salary. For my second year, I get a pay raise, so my base pay became 300,000 and I take home around 250,000 yen.

Rent Subsidy
Additional to my salary, I also get 27,000 yen every month for rent subsidy. It is direct deposited into my bank account with my salary. So I'm not technically getting my rent reduced, I'm just getting extra pay to help cover the cost.

Child Benefits
Even though we're not Japanese, Yana gets child benefits here! It's no secret that Japan has a rapidly ageing population, so this is one government incentive for couples to have children. The whole thing is a bit mysterious to me, to tell the truth, but I think I'm being paid 40,000 yen in a lump sum every 4 months.

Bills

Energy - 11,000 - 46,000 yen every month
Energy, or in other words, electricity. We pay monthly. The cost varies widely, depending on the time of year. Our highest costs were in the winter, when we had electric heaters running nearly 24/7. In the spring and fall our costs are quite low, because we use neither heat nor air conditioning. Again, there is a small spike in summer, because we use fans 24/7, and the air conditioning during July and August.

Water - 2,000 - 5,000 yen every month
We pay a water bill monthly, and it is automatically withdrawn on the 30th or 31st day of the month. Of course it varies depending on usage, but we've never paid over 6,000 yen. Usually we pay around 4,000 yen.

Sewage - 4,320 yen every month
In addition to the water bill, we also pay a sewage fee every month. It is automatically withdrawn from my account on the same day as the water bill, so the 30th or 31st of the month. It is always the same amount.

NHK - 2,520 every two months
There is a law (albeit one with lots of loopholes) in Japan that just by owning a TV, you must pay a fee to NHK. This comes from a belief that all TV owners/viewers should share the cost. There are several different billing setups, but we pay 2,520 every two months, starting from December.

Rent - 57,900 yen every month
For rent, we pay 57,900 every month. But again, I receive a rent subsidy of 27,000 as a separate deposit from my paycheck. So the idea here is that we only pay 30,900 for rent.

Apartment Maintenance - 3,500 yen every month
I started being charged this halfway through my first year. Not going to lie, it irritates me a bit that this fee was randomly imposed, and I can't see any evidence of the apartment being better maintained for it. But as they say here, "shouganai" - it can't be helped.

Cellphone - 15,506 yen every month
When we first arrived we signed up at Softbank for a smartphone plan with 5GB of data. However, with two smartphones the cost was an insane 20,208 yen each month. We went and changed our plan to the lowest data plan of 2GB. Now we pay 15,506 every month for both phones. To be honest, a phone for Justin is probably a bit superfluous, but we find it useful during outings and to stay in contact during the day.

Internet - 4, 644 yen every month
There was a setup fee of around 10,000 yen. Now we pay 4,644 a month, and that's for unlimited, fiber optic internet. It's actually even better than what we had in Canada!

Phone - 2,376 yen every month
In order to install the internet, we also had to get a phone line. This comes to just over 2,000 yen a month. It's also a fancy TV phone, so you can video call and I think it's actually free to use within Chizu. It also shouts announcements throughout the day, which I kind of wish it didn't.

Kyuushoku (School Lunch) - 1,200 - 3,000 yen x2 every month
I pay what I owe to each school. The cost varies depending on how many days I'm at each school and which days actually have kyuushoku served. Usually the ES is 1,600 or so and the JHS is around 2,500. The per lunch cost is 275 yen at ES and 315 at JHS. I'm not sure why it's a different cost, because it's the same lunch and the same portions...

Preschool - 3,800 yen per month
Yana goes to a municipal preschool (hoikuen) here, which is traditionally meant for children with two working parents. However, Chizu is so small and population is declining, so they let Yana in even though Justin stays at home. Preschool here is ridiculously cheap! Especially consider this price includes a hot lunch! At first we paid 4,000 yen a month, but after January it somehow switched to an even cheaper price...not complaining!


So that's it for mandatory expenses! I'm not going to include other expenses, because it just varies so much. We spend most of the rest of my paycheck on food, as well as train rides into Tottori-shi, clothing, random school expenses (me and Yana), work parties, eating out, etc. To be honest, we don't have a lot left over each month. But we aren't purposefully frugal either (though we're trying to crack down!).

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.

Yana's Language Progress: September 2015

5 years old!

Seems like it's about time for another update!

Recently, during a meeting with the principal of Yana's preschool, I was told that Yana is really funny. Apparently she speaks with a bit of a Chizu dialect, which the principal found hilarious . She's also practising selective hearing by pretending she doesn't understand Japanese when it's convenient for her (I guess her teacher told her to come back to the classroom and she decided to spend time looking at goldfish instead).

I also had the chance to spend some time with her at school. She has really picked up the Japanglish, which is both hilarious and terrible. She's learned that when the Japanese try to speak English they like to put -u on the end of words. So if Yana doesn't know how to say something in Japanese, it comes out something like, "Mama shoppingu baggu asobu gaymu hatata." (Translation: my mom has a game in the shopping bag. She likes to add "hatata" to every sentence, but its basically a meaningless placemarker she uses). I'm kind of terrified of what she might say if she meets an Asian in Canada. I'm not sure she'll understand that they can probably speak English. Here, nearly all her social interaction outside the home is with Japanese-speaking Japanese people.

Continuing on from the above comment, I'm feeling more and more that I'm missing words from this list. I think she picks up a lot at school, but we don't hear it so much at home. I'd bet there are also a lot of words she understands, but can't speak yet, too. For example, I'm sure by know she knows all the basic commands from her teachers at school, but they're not things she would really say at home. That said, she does slip in some Japanese every now and then. Recently at home she's been saying "itadakimasu" before she eats.

She appears pretty comfortable speaking Japanese, though (wish my students felt the same about English!), mistakes and all. Sometimes she gets a little shy or upset because she doesn't "know how to speak Japanese", but generally she is quite fearless about blurting out some strange mix of English and Japanese. She also tends to throw in Japanese words regardless of who she's talking to (Japanese or foreigner). She's really starting to have her own hybrid way of speaking now.

So here's the list of new words I've noticed:

• mizu [water]
• chiisai/chiichai [small]
• kusai [smelly]
• kiiro [yellow]
• samui [cold]
• aa sou ka [oooh, is that so?] - she said this to her friend with such perfect intonation, I could not stop laughing
• pan [bread]
• ochita [fell]
• aka [red]
• sugoi [awesome]
• nikko [a counter for two of something]
• mada [not yet]
• mou ikai [one more time]
• okaasan [mother]
• otousan [father]
• dekita [did it]
• nani shorun da [something like "whatcha doin'"]
• tabechatta [informal for "ate"]
• iterasshai [said to someone when they are leaving]

Reflecting on One Year in Japan

I know everyone says this thing, but it's true! I really cannot believe we've been in Japan for a whole year. An entire 12 months. 365 days.

And you know what? I am super proud of myself. In a way, coming here was my high school exchange re-do. I know that sounds kind of bad, but this experience, while completely separate and different in nearly all ways, has been hugely important to me. After I returned early from Japan in 2008, I had a daily battle with what ifs. Now I feel like less of a failure and even though this isn't me in high school, I feel like I've been able to experience things that I missed out on before.

That's not to say things are always sunshine and rainbows here. It can be tough. Culture shock is a real thing - sometimes disabilitatingly so. I have a lot of frustrations with my job. Sometimes I wish I hadn't signed on for another year.

On the other hand, there are tons of things we have yet to see and do. I know that I want this second year. One year really is too short. And it's gone by so quickly, I know I might even feel the same after two.

This has been an amazing experience for Yana, and I almost wish we could stay forever just for her. Chizu especially is such a safe environment. And she seems to be doing great with the language, she's made some amazing friends, and she enjoys school. Everyone loves her here and she gets almost too much attention! I'm really impressed with how she's adapted.

Chizu is a gorgeous town and overall I really enjoy life here in Tottori. I love being able to see these mountains every day. Although living in a small town can sometimes be stifling, I love the friendliness here in Chizu. People are so kind. I've come to enjoy the small town life. I do love the city too, but I find it refreshing to be back home in Chizu, where life is a less stressful.

At this point, we're thinking of leaving next summer. Although life here is pretty good, I'm not sure I could endure another year of ALTing. This is a bit of a dead-end career, and I don't think being an ALT is something I could be happy with long-term. This has been a great experience, but I feel ready to start my real life. I also think it's probably best for Yana to start 1st grade in Canada. I think the transition for her would be far more difficult if she attended 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade here in Japan and then suddenly had to switch to Canadian school. I think it would be difficult for her to catch up. (On the other hand, I sometimes think she would have a great experience in Japanese elementary school; there are a lot of nice things about it, especially for the younger grades). Another factor is the weather. Without central heating or air conditioning, it's freezing in winter and blistering hot and humid in summer. Food is another frustration. There isn't much available in our small town and since we don't eat a lot of Japanese food, it's tough sometimes. These are little problems, but after a while they really become grating. Anyway, I feel like I'd rather leave on a positive note. I'm afraid that if we stay for 3 years, life will become a daily struggle and I'll come to hate this place. That's something I don't want. That's how I left Japan before, and it had a hugely negative impact on me.

Sometimes a whole other year seems like such a long time. I complain that I don't want to be here for a whole year. But this past year has seemed like a blur. The days really fly by. So I'm looking forward to this next year. This is a reminder to myself to savour every moment.

Yana's Language Progress: June 2015

On the parent-child field trip

Recently I've noticed a big leap in Yana's confidence and vocabulary when speaking Japanese. When she first started school, she spoke to the other kids in English only and was confused and frustrated. Now she speaks Japanese with them. She also understands that Japanese is different from English. She doesn't always use the right Japanese (often its wrong or very infantile), but the fact that she's using the foreign language is a great step.

One day we were out shopping. A lady who spoke English very well was helping us, and even though we were speaking English, Yana announced, "oshiko!" when she had to use the toilet.

Later that same day, we were at the grocery store, standing near the tills. Yana shouted, "kochi!" and ran to the till of her choice. The cashier had a good chuckle.

She also recently memorized a cute little song at school, which she sang for me at home. She often sings Japanese songs. A lot of the words are slurred, but I can definitely make out a few correct words and it sounds like Japanese.

A recent trend is her use of "kochi", "korera", "datta", and "misete". She tends to use these words very frequently. Usually not correctly, though.

On a school field trip, she asked her teacher "tabete ii yo?", so it's great to see her trying to put words together to make sentences.

She's also started teaching me words that I don't know and instructing me: "say 'ippai' because it means there's lots" and "you say it KA-TA-TSU-MU-RI".

Her teacher remarked on how polite she is too. She always says "dou itashimashite", but most of the other kids don't bother. I didn't even teach her that one!

New vocabulary I've noticed:

• oshiri [bum]
• neko [cat]
• hanbunko [usually means half of something, but she learned it to mean fold in half]
• datta [non-polite form of desu]
• yamete [stop]
• kochi [here, come here]
• oshiko [pee]
• tengu-geta kutsu [tengu geta shoes, a special type of Japanese shoe she is learning to wear for sports day]
• tatte [stand]
• suwaru [sit]
• kashite [give]
• ii yo [good, okay]
• taberu [eat]
• asobu [play]
• ikou [go]
• koko [here]
• korera [these]
• yatta [yay!]
• dou itashimashite [you're welcome]
• ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyu, jyu [counting up to 10]
• dekita! [did it!]
• ippai [full, many]
• katatsumuri [snail]

Overall, I'm very impressed with how she's been doing these last few months!

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.

Things You Should Bring With You to Japan as an ALT

A 6th grade student tries on a Canadian hockey jersey.

Packing for a year (or more) is difficult. There are tons of things to bring and little space to bring them in. I know the last thing new JETs need is a list of MORE things to pack, but here are some things I brought or wished I had.



Yearbooks
Useful during self introductions or for talking about school in your country, yearbooks will surely intrigue your students. I didn't bring any, but I really wish I had! I know suitcase space is precious, but one yearbook wouldn't take up a lot of space.

Photos
Digital or hard copy, photos are a great thing to bring! These will be most useful during your self introduction lessons, but also for lessons about your country, holiday lessons, or lessons about school life in your country. Document your daily life - the students will be interested to see what your hobbies are or what you have for meals. I have some, but I really wish I had brought more, especially of me during my school days.

Videos
If you have any home videos that are relevant to holidays, your life, your country, or your school days, they would be great to bring along. I wish I had some! As it is, I get all that kind of stuff from Youtube, which is fine, but I can tell you the students would be extra thrilled to watch something more personal.

Things That Represent Your Country
I brought a Canadian hockey jersey, a flag, and some money. These were big hits - at elementary school the kids liked to try on the jersey, and everyone was really interested in the plastic money. Later on I also acquired a can of maple syrup. If your school allows it, you could also bring in some food samples.

Student Rewards
Bringing some special stickers, pennies, stationary supplies, or other knick knacks can work well as incentives for students. I brought some Canadian flag stickers to give out during my self introduction lessons.

Books
I brought along a bunch of children's books in English to give to my elementary school. They really appreciated it. I also was able to use them during reading time. I made sure to bring some which represented my country - in this case, books written about Canadian subjects by a famous author from my town.

Makeup and Toiletries
It can be difficult to find makeup that matches your shade. I can't find the brand I use here at all. I brought some with me, but I wish I had brought more. I ended up ordering off of iherb.com and buying the rest at the store. Other things to consider bringing, if you are particular: deodorant, toothpaste, facial cleansers

Food
If you have a favorite food that is safe to bring, I recommend bringing it. I ran out of room, but I had planned to bring peanut butter. They have it here, but its ridiculously expensive. Also, oatmeal, yeast, and chocolate chips, since I like to bake. Of course you can find most things here or order them online, but its expensive and sometimes I can't figure out the Japanese directions. I only recommend bringing food if you have the space available; it should be a low priority.

Medicine and Vitamins
If you have an affinity for particular medicine or vitamins, it may be worth it to bring some along (of course keeping in mind restrictions on amounts and illegal substances). I am fond of Advil as my painkiller of choice, but its impossible to find North American brands here and I feel uncomfortable taking something without being able to read the instructions or ingredients.  I brought along a big bottle and had my mom bring some when she visited. I wish I had brought more. And even though I order vitamins from iherb, I can't get the brand I usually bought back in Canada.

Clothing
If you are anything larger than a North American size M or L, think seriously about bringing a full wardrobe of clothing (including undergarments and shoes if over size 24-28cm!), because choices outside of large cities may be limited. Extremely limited. And while you can buy some clothing online, there's no guarantee that it fits until you try it on. I really wish I had more effectively planned and bought a wardrobe before leaving.

Yana's Language Progress: April 2015

Yana has made a lot of progress lately with her Japanese, so I think its time for a language progress update. Now, she is certainly not fluent and she still has a ways to go. But I think she's probably around a 2 year old equivalent. I also have no idea what her comprehension is like, since I'm not at school with her.

• issha [just a very Japanese sound one makes while doing something, not even sure if I've spelled it correctly]
• happyoukai [recital]
• tabete [eat]
• arigatou gozaimasu [thank you very much]
• sugoi ne [cool, eh?]
• matte! [wait!]
• kore nan deshou? [what's this?]
• gomen nasai [sorry]
• iranai [I don't want it / I don't need it]
• Yana desu [I'm yana]

She has started using some vocabulary in everyday life with me and Justin, too (arigatou, gomen nasai, dame). She even introduces herself now as "[last name] Yana-chan." On a trip to Kyoto, someone offered her a food sample and hilariously she shouted, "Iranai!" at them. She sings a lot in Japanese (although its more of just mumbling random sounds) and she likes to copy short jingles from the TV, too. 

Three Days in Kyoto

With the end of the school year and the students on break for two weeks, I decided it was well past time for a family trip somewhere. Aside from orientation in Tokyo, we had yet to leave Tottori prefecture. So, I planned a trip to Kyoto!

We left on Thursday, April 2nd. We took the 7:08am Super Hakuto, which is a direct train from Chizu to Kyoto, so its pretty handy. The train trip was just under 3 hours. The cherry blossoms have bloomed this past week, so we enjoyed the scenery along the train tracks.

We arrived in Kyoto Station and put our luggage in a coin locker. Then we were back on the train [the first of many uncomfortably packed public transportation rides] for our first stop, Arashiyama! Arashiyama is most famous for the bamboo forest. It was about a 10 or 15 minute walk from the station, but it was easy to find by just following signs and masses of tourists. We strolled through the forest for a little while, but we didn't spend too much time here because we had plenty of other things on the itinerary. We took the train back to Kyoto Station and ate lunch there, at Subway [sorry].

Bamboo Forest

After lunch we took the subway to Nijo Castle. "Castle" is a bit of a misnomer, as it actually refers to the grounds inside the fortifications, which include gardens and two palaces. Only one palace, Ninomaru, is open to the public. We walked through a very specific route and were not allowed to take photos. Everything was dark inside, so we could barely make out the wall paintings which were being protected by the lighting. The paintings were pretty incredible, though. Also, the floor squeaks loudly like a bird when walked on, which gives it the name "nightingale floor". It was to protect the palace occupants from any intruders. We also walked around the outside of the other palace, Honmaru, and through some of the gardens.

Nijo Castle

Next, we caught the bus to Kinkaku-ji, a Kyoto must-see. It was ridiculously busy there, and we had to fight our way through hoards of people, just to get a view of the golden pavillion. Near the end, we stopped to get fortunes. Yana got excellent, I got very good, and Justin got fairly good.

Kinkaku-ji

Then we got on a very full bus and endured an excruciatingly long ride back to the station. We actually missed our planned train, so we had to take one with a connection. Our hotel was actually in Nara, about 45-50 minutes away from Kyoto. It was a great location, though - right across from the station! We checked in and then went and ordered some pizzas from Pizza Hut! We haven't had real pizza since we arrived, so it was quite the treat. Unfortunately, I was so tired that I couldn't even finish!


The next day we headed out early, on the 7:39am train. Even though we arrived in Kyoto pretty early, there was already a huge lineup for the bus. Luckily the bus came every 10 minutes, and we ended up getting cut off at the front of the line, meaning we were one of the first ones on the next bus and we actually got a seat this time. We got off when the bus told us to, but it took a bit of blindly wandering around before we found the way to Kiyomizu Temple. We walked up the hill towards the temple, nearly getting hit by cars several times. We spent some time exploring the temple, as well as Jishu Shrine, which is one of many shrines within the temple grounds. Jishu is famous for two rocks, and if you walk from one to the other with your eyes closed, it is said you'll have good luck in love. Also, the shrine is related to the same legend of the white rabbit, which is famous here in Tottori.

Kiyomizu Temple

After walking around the temple grounds, we headed towards Maiko Experience Studio Shiki. I had booked a photoshoot for myself. Unfortunately, due to the rain, I couldn't take photos outside, as I had planned, though. The whole experience took nearly 4 hours. I first had to go upstairs and change into kimono underwear. Then I waited for a while before they were ready to do my makeup. The makeup took maybe 15 or 20 minutes. It began with some kind of sticky wax which was rubbed all over my face (lips included). Then I had the whitewash applied, again, all over - in my nose, over my eyebrows, on my lips. Next, the makeup was smoothed out with a bit of powder. Light pink powder was also applied around the eyes and chin. I had my eyebrows re-drawn on, eyeliner, mascara, and red applied to my eyes, and bright red lipstick painted on. At the end of it, I felt like I was wearing a plastic face. Then I got to choose my kimono. I decided on a red and black one, because I liked the pattern. I had to wait for a while, but next I had my wig fitted. I chose to wear a half wig, so some front parts of my hair were heavily waxed, smoothed over the wig, pinned into place, and literally painted black with ink. Also, the wig was ridiculously heavy. The last step was to wait to get dressed. I was wrapped up in about million layers of underclothes and collars, then finally the kimono and obi [sash] - all of it held together with about 10 strips of fabric. Although the back support was nice, it was definitely hard to breathe, move, and sit down. I had to wait for a few minutes, but then I was taken down to have my photos taken. At this point they also brought in Justin and Yana, who got to watch and also take a photo with me. Lastly, I had to go and have everything taken off. I then went back to the changing area, where I had to use about 1/2 a cup of baby oil to get the whitewash and makeup off my face and wash my hair three times to get the ink and wax out. There was a bit of a wait to get my photos, but in the end we left a bit earlier than was planned, so all was good!

Maiko Experience

Our last stop of the day was Miyako Odori, a famous dance put on every year in April by maiko and geiko. We bought special tickets, which allowed us to see a tea ceremony performed by two maiko before the show. We also got to drink green tea and eat a traditional sweet [mochi filled with red bean]. We weren't allowed to take photos during the show itself, which was too bad, because it was amazing and gorgeous. The dancers were incredible - especially so when you consider they do this show four times a day for an entire month.

Maiko Tea Ceremony

After the dance, we walked to a bus stop and took the bus back to the station. We ate dinner at the station and then took the train back to our hotel.


On our last day, we arrived in Kyoto Station in the morning and put our luggage in a coin locker to store for the trip home. We also bought our tickets home and stopped at Starbucks for some breakfast [we don't have any in Tottori yet!]. Then we waited in an even longer line for the bus to Heian Shrine. The entrance to the shrine is marked by one of the largest torii gates in Japan. The shrine itself is based on the architecture of an ancient Kyoto palace. Its also a popular place for weddings, and there was one being held when we arrived. We were a bit short on time, so unfortunately we didn't go into the gardens.

Heian Shrine

We were going to take the bus to Nanzen-ji, but a helpful lady told us that we could walk there faster. It was a stroke of luck, really, as we ended up walking along the most beautiful path of cherry blossom trees. When we got to Nanzen-ji, we paid 500 yen to climb to the top of Sanmon, the big gate, but my fear of heights kicked in, so Justin and Yana went alone. Afterwards, we wandered around the grounds until we found the aqueduct. The aqueduct is pretty neat, but really looks a bit odd in the middle of the temple grounds.

Nanzen-ji Aqueduct

Next we headed from Nanzen-ji along the Philosopher's Walk [with a stop for crepes along the way]. The walk follows a canal lined by tons of cherry blossom trees. It was really gorgeous. We didn't walk the whole path, but instead stopped to visit Honen-in. Honen-in is a very serene temple, hidden away in the woods. It really felt like another world.

Honen-in

After Honen-in, we walked back to a bus stop and rode the bus back to Kyoto Station. We had some time, so we looked through some souvenir shops and ate dinner at a katsu restaurant in the station. And then we took the train back home to Chizu!