Road Trippin'

Whoo hoo, its winter break!* Two and a half weeks of freedom… sort of. The students are on break so I don’t have to school, but I still have to go to the Board of Education office every day. However, Christmas Eve was a holiday since it is also the Emperor’s birthday (national holiday in Japan), and the 29^th-3^rd are also off for the New Year holiday. I get a lot of work and studying done at the BOE though so it’s not so bad. Plus, I’ll be going to Osaka for New Years and spending it with my grandma, aunt and uncle. I’m really excited! It will be great to relax with family and also do some big-city shopping. Osaka has it all!

So during this break, I’ll be trying to catch up on blog posts a bit. First up is my boyfriend, Ben’s, visit to Japan. He came for two weeks in late November and we had the best time. I was so happy that I got to show him where I live and introduce him to Japan a little bit (it was his first time here!). I was a little worried that we would have some kind of mishap, like him getting sick or injured (for example, a concussion from hitting his head on so many doorways (it’s hard being a 6’3” man in Japan!), or my car breaking down on one of our road trips. But thankfully, everything went off without a hitch! We took two mini-road trips while he was here- to Hiroshima and to Tottori. We saw a lot of cool things, ate some good food, and had a lot of laughs. 

We drove to Hiroshima on a Thursday night (Friday was a holiday) and got to our hostel about 9 pm. The drive from Yasugi takes about 4.5 hours by local roads… if you want to take the tolls and get there faster, it’s big bucks unfortunately. It was both of our first time’s staying in a hostel so we weren’t sure what to expect. It was really nice though! We stayed at J-Hoppers Hiroshima, which is a chain of hostels in big cities designed for foreigners who are travelling around Japan. The staff spoke English which was really nice. The walls were pretty thin, but we had our own room and futons for the night, all for only about 4,000 yen. 

 Ben of course had issues with the door

We went out for dinner pretty late after arriving and spotted a place called Deep Dish with an American flag out front. I got pretty excited as real American-style pizza is hard to come by in Japan. It turns out they didn’t have pizza, but they did have a lot of American food (buffalo wings even!). We both got hamburgers and they were delicious. The bar had cool American-themed decorations too. 

The next morning, we got up sort of early and walked to the Peace Park which was very close to our hostel. I had been to the Peace Park twice before, when I was seven and seventeen. It’s a very sobering place. I imagine it’s much the same as visiting other locations where horrible acts have occurred… you just can’t help but think about what happened on the very ground you are walking on, all those years ago. There were many people (including a lot of foreigners) walking around the park. 

 This is a cenotaph containing a list of all of the victims killed by the bomb. The inscription translates to "Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil."

 The A-bomb Dome

 There are several monuments and memorials dedicated to the victims of the bomb, but my favorite is the Children’s Memorial. It is dedicated to all of the children who died in the bombing, but specifically a young girl named Sadako Sasaki whose story has become famous across Japan and the world. She was only a few years old when the bomb was dropped, but suffered radiation poisoning which led to leukemia. There’s an ancient legend in Japan that says that anyone who folds a 1,000 paper cranes will be granted a wish by a crane.  According to Wikipedia, the crane is a holy and mystical creature in Japan and is said to live for a thousand years; hence, a thousand paper cranes, one for each year. Told that she would most likely die, Sadako began a mission to make a 1,000 origami paper cranes. She completed her goal and continued to make more cranes, but sadly died of her disease. Today, people from all over Japan and the world make paper cranes and bring them to display around the monument. It’s a beautiful sight. 

After our walk through the Peace Park, we got some breakfast at Mister Donuts. As we were walking back to our hostel though, we saw a Subway sign. Subways are few and far between in Japan and Ben and I are both big fans, so we pretty much had to get some subs. The combinations they had were different from back home and really interesting; I got a smoked salmon sub with mascarpone cheese and a basil pesto dressing. It was delicious! Yes, eating lunch directly after breakfast was worth it :)

As we were returning to our hostel, we ran into some Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now I have never been approached by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the States so it was interesting to have some just turn up at our hostel. They were very nice Japanese ladies, but we politely turned them down (I took a pamphlet because I felt bad turning them away). Little did we know our experience with them was not yet over! After checking out of our hostel, our next stop was the beautiful island of Miyajima. Miyajima (which means “shrine island”) is known as one of the “Three Views of Japan,” three spots that were deemed particularly beautiful by Japanese scholar Hayashi Gaho in the 1600’s. It is home to one of the most famous shrines in Japan, Itsukushima. The shrine is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and so is one of the major tourist attractions of Hiroshima. The day we went was a national holiday so the island was absolutely packed! 

 

 Ben about to eat a ferry

 

 First view of the island and famous tori gate

We arrived on the island and were immediately greeted by the tame deer that roam around the island. Deer are another sacred animal in Japan, and so tame ones run free at some of the famous shrines and temples. They can be kind of a nuisance though, as they come begging if you have food. But they’re still pretty cute. 

 

 Deer butts

We walked around the island quite a bit and it was really beautiful. The changing leaves were at their peak so the fall colors were out in full force. As we were walking though, we got approached by another set of Jehovah’s Witnesses… two in one day?! They were very nice just like the first ones, but we just politely said we weren’t interested and moved on.  

 

 

The island was packed and we were anxious to leave the crowds, but we couldn’t skip the main attraction, Itsukushima Shrine. The shrine is built on the shoreline in such a way that at high tide, water runs underneath the entire shrine, but at low tide, the water goes out so far that you can actually walk to the huge tori gate that Itsukushima is known for. It’s pretty cool to walk around on the sand that was previously underwater, and see all the hermit crabs. The shrine itself is interesting in that it’s built over the ocean, but I’ve seen others that I liked more in terms of architecture. Still, it’s a pretty cool spot. 

People walking over the sand at low tide

After leaving the island, we drove to our hotel for the night, and got ready for our next adventure: Bunny Island!

The next morning we got up bright and early to visit Okunoshima, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea. We drove to a city about two hours east of Hiroshima and from there, took a ten minute ferry ride to the island. This island has a really interesting history; during and around World War II, the military operated a poison gas factory there. It was kept a secret from the general public, so much so that the island was even erased from some maps. The factory shut down after the war, but the building is still there. It’s thoroughly creepy. Poison gas really freaks me out so this place gave me the heeby-jeebys. Thankfully, there were BUNNIES! Lots and lots of bunnies! Apparently back in the 70’s when the island was uninhabited because of the gas factory thing, some elementary school kids brought some of the bunnies they’d been taking care of to the island and set them loose. Bunnies being bunnies, there are now over 300 roaming around on the island. The island is famous basically just for this reason, but it was also a really pretty spot. There was a nice campground area and a pretty beach. I would love to go back and camp there in the summer. 

The port where we caught a boat to the island

A bunch of adorable bunny pics from here

The former gas factory

 

 

So we chilled with the bunnies for a couple hours and fed them lots of cabbage and carrots. Then we hopped the ferry back to the mainland and drove back to Hiroshima to have lunch with a couple of friends. We got Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki which I had been DYING to eat. Okonomiyaki is kind of like a savory pancake, made out of batter and cabbage and several other toppings. The chefs cook it on a griddle right in front of you. Okonomiyaki literally means “as you like it” so you can get several different kinds of meat and vegetable fillings. In Japan, Hiroshima and Osaka are the two cities most famous for okonomiyaki. In Osaka, the batter and cabbage is mixed together, along with other veggies and meat, and then cooked. In Hiroshima, everything is cooked separately, in layers. Hiroshima okonomiyaki also often includes noodles and a cooked egg. Both styles are delicious and topped with some really tasty sauces. The place we ate at was in a mall where the whole top floor was made up of just okonomiyaki restaurants. AKA Heaven. 

 Flame-torching cheese on top. Also note the cute and awestruck baseball boys in the background :)

After our delicious lunch, we started our drive to our next destination, Tsuwano. The drive was great because Ben drove for the first time, giving me a little break :) I was a Nervous Nelly in the car though, since it was his first time and he had to drive on the left side of the road and everything. But he did great! At the very end of the drive, we had to go over a mountain and it was a terrifying ten minutes. We were on a narrow, very windy mountain road with no lights whatsoever. We stopped briefly and killed the headlights just to see what it looked like and it was PITCH BLACK. So scary. But we made it back to civilization thankfully and chilled out for the rest of the night.

The next morning, we explored a couple of the sights around Tsuwano. It was a beautiful little town, surrounded by mountains and with a gorgeous river running through it. There is a shrine there that was made as sort of a copycat of a very famous shrine in Kyoto. It’s known for its thousands of red tori gates along a trail leading up a mountain, and the Tsuwano version was pretty similar to that. 

 On our drive

 Tsuwano

 

 There were koi fish swimming through these little creeks around downtown

 

 So pretty

 

Climbing up the mountain, through the gates

After Tsuwano, I really wanted to take Ben to this spot along the ocean that I had been to once before with friends. It has absolutely spectacular views of the ocean and I would go there every day if it wasn’t a 5-hour drive away! See for yourself :) 

 

After soaking in some ocean spray and warm fall sun, we made the long drive back home. It was such a great trip, with a great guy :) Next up, our trip to Tottori! 

*I started this post at the beginning of winter break and per usual, took two weeks to finish it, so break is now over. But I’m too lazy to edit :)

School Life

In this post, I want to talk a little bit about my experiences at school. I teach at seven different schools (2 junior high schools and 5 elementary schools) and each one is a little bit different in terms of students, teachers, rules, and atmosphere. There’s a lot to talk about but I’ll try to keep it brief and non-boring.

First, here’s what my weekly schedule looks like. I normally work from about 8:15 to 4:30. At elementary school, I normally only teach 5^th and 6^th graders as they are the only grades where English is a required subject. But occasionally I visit the younger grades as well. I typically teach 3-5 classes a day at both elementary school and jr. high. It depends on the school and the day, but it’s most often 4 classes. 

Monday

Elementary school #1 in the morning, and I visit the Board of Education office in the afternoon. This is my biggest elementary school and there are 2 classes each of 5^th and 6^th graders. Since I only go to this school in the morning, I teach my 4 classes back-to-back, then have lunch, recess, and cleaning, before leaving for the BOE. It’s a bit tiring not only because of the lack of a break, but also because the classes here are big for elementary school, about 25 kids per class. The four teachers are all nice and friendly, although their classes vary a bit. I have a couple great classes, one OK class, and one class that is very rowdy. The kids can be pretty rude, it’s hard to get anything done, and it quickly gets frustrating. I try not to blame the kids as I’m sure they must have some personal problems or maybe a bad home life, but they make me want to pull my hair out! Other than that one class though, I like this school a lot. 

Tuesday

 Elementary #2 in the morning, #3 in the afternoon. Elementary #2 is my smallest school, probably around 50 students total. The 5^th grade class is 6 kids, and the 6^th grade class is 12. I really like this school because the small size makes it easier to remember the kid’s names and talk to them. I get along really well with the 5^th grade teacher… her small class size makes it much easier to do activities and games and it’s really fun for the kids. After 4^th period at this school, I drive to Elementary #3 for lunch. This school is unique because instead of eating lunch in their respective classrooms, the kids all eat lunch together with the teachers in a cafeteria. After lunch, there’s recess and cleaning and then I teach 5^th and 6^th period. There are about 15 5^th graders and 20 6^th graders. There are some really nice teachers at this school who talk to me quite a bit in the staff room. Unfortunately I have another rowdy class at this school, but lately the principal has been sitting in on class. As he intimidates the kids quite a bit, it’s much easier to have class now.

Wednesday

Elementary #4 and #5 are on Wednesday, but which one I go to in the morning and which in the afternoon rotates every other week. So one week, I go to Elementary #4 in the morning and Elementary #5 in the afternoon, and the next week, it flips. Elementary #4 is very small as well, just over 50 kids total. For English class, they combine the 5^th and 6^th graders for a total of 17 kids. This is the only school I teach at that’s like this, and the way they teach English is interesting. One year, they teach the 5^th grade textbook and the next year they teach the 6^th grade textbook. So one of the grades learns the textbooks in sequence, and the other grade is learning it in reverse. This year, we are studying the 5^th grade text book, which means the 6^th graders learned the 6^th grade textbook last year when they were only 5^th graders. The class is pretty casual and we play a lot of games so I think the kids enjoy English. They’re all very good kids too, which makes class easy and a lot of fun.

At Elementary #5, there are around 15 5^th graders and 15 6^th graders. The two classes could not be any more different; the 5^th graders are full of energy all the time, but the 6^th graders are quite shy and quiet. Both classes have good teachers though, so they’re fun and the kids seem to like it, most of the time. Also at this school, there are a couple of 4^th grade special needs kids that I get to have class with every other week. Their teacher is a very nice lady who speaks really good English and she always organizes fun activities when I join their class. Usually we speak in Japanese, but I try to teach the kids a couple simple English words here and there. Sometimes we take “field trips” and walk to places near the school. Once we went to a beautiful shrine on a small mountain, and another time we visited a small fabric weaving and dying store. Once we even did Zumba (a kind of aerobics work out that incorporates Latin dance moves) together, which I hadn’t done since college. I always look forward to that class.  Finally, the school does something called “Run-Run Time” during the mid-morning break here, where all of the students and teachers (including the principal and vice-principal in their suits) run around the school field for about 10 minutes. It’s always fun because the younger students love to run next to me, and it’s a good exercise. For those of you who know Japanese music, we run to “Happiness” by Arashi. 走りだぜ！

Both of my Wednesday schools have a good teacher-student dynamic and friendly students overall. The small class sizes let the kids play games easily so English is more fun for them, I think. One more thing about these schools- they’re both out in the country a little ways. One sits right in the middle of about 2 km square of fields, and one is right next to some small mountains. At that school, the kids have bells on their backpacks to ward off bears (!!!) that live in the surrounding mountains as they walk home from school. Things like that really make it seem like a country school!

*Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are my elementary school days and at elementary school, all of the students and teachers eat school lunch, called kyuushoku. I love kyuushoku! Usually it consists of rice (either plain or mixed with vegetables and meat) or white bread, some kind of protein (usually a small piece of fish or meat), a vegetable medley or salad of some kind, soup (always delicious, with lots of vegetables), and milk. It’s pretty healthy (except for the white rice) and usually chock full of vegetables. It’s also much more delicious than anything I can make, and for about 250 yen a lunch, it’s a really good deal! Once in a while they have meals that the kids absolutely love and go nuts about. One is curry and rice, which I also love :D Another is age-pan, which is a large roll of white bread that’s been deep fried and then rolled in chocolate-sugar. I’m not a huge fan because it’s basically just dessert, but it’s easy to see why the kids love it.

I eat in the classroom with the kids, rotating each week between classes. At one school, all the students eat together in a cafeteria. Lunch is always a fun time to talk to the kids and to listen to their conversations with each other. I try to pick up on their Japanese but it’s hard because they’re usually talking a mile a minute and using a lot of slang.

Here are some pictures of typical school lunch.

 

Thursday

On Thursday I go to Junior High #1, which has almost 500 students and is the largest junior high school in Yasugi. Junior high here is 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th grade here just like it is in America, but here they call them 1^st grade, 2^nd grade, and 3^rd grade (of junior high school). It was a little confusing at first when the teachers there kept referring to the 1^st graders, and I thought they meant elementary 1^st graders. Each grade at this school has 4 classes and each class has between 35-40 students. It’s impossible for me to see all the students every week so I only see one grade at a time and I teach all four classes of that grade. I’ll teach all the 1^st graders one week, all the 2^nd graders the next week, and all the 3^rd graders the next week. I teach 4 classes usually, but sometimes I am asked to help out during my two free periods in another grade or with a special needs student.

English in jr. high is completely different from English in elementary school. Now the kids are learning English much more intensely, often every day or most days of the week, as opposed to just once a week in elementary school. They learn a lot of grammar and sentence structure so I think English quickly becomes boring for a lot of kids.

I work with five English teachers at this school, all of whom are very nice. I get along with a couple of the female teachers particularly well. One of the nice things about jr. high teachers is that they speak English very well, usually much better than elementary school teachers. Elementary schools just started incorporating English for 5^th and 6^th graders a couple of years ago, and it only happens once a week when I visit, so the teachers are just getting used to teaching it. It’s much easier to communicate with my jr. high teachers, but elementary is not too difficult either.

When I first started this year, I didn’t like Junior High #1 as much as #2 because of how huge it was. I didn’t feel like I could really get to know any of the students or remember their names to save my life. Now, I like it much more. I still can’t remember hardly any of the student’s names, but there are some who I’ve gotten to know a little bit. Plus the teachers are good teachers and many of the students are pretty good at English. I’ve come to terms a bit with the huge size of this school and enjoy it a lot more now. 

Friday

I go to Junior High #2 on Friday, which is much smaller than #1 with only 120 students. I’ve been able to get to know the students a lot easier at this school, and can remember most of their names at this point. Unlike Jr. High #1, I usually see all the students every week at this school. They’re mostly good kids, although some of them clearly don’t like English very much. The two teachers at this school are both young women so I get along with them really well. They try to make class as fun as they can while still following the textbook. With the 3^rd grade class (so 9^th graders), we usually have song time at the beginning of class where I play them a popular American song while they look at the lyrics. So far, Lady Gaga has been a big hit.

Since this school is much smaller, the kids seem much tighter than at my other jr. high. Also because this is more of a “country” school, the kids act a little bit different. It’s hard to put my finger on what it is exactly, but the atmosphere at the two junior highs are definitely very different.

At both jr. highs, I’ve noticed certain differences between the three grades. The 3^rd graders are at the top of the food chain as you would expect, but are also given a lot of responsibility by their teachers. It’s the same with the 6^th graders at elementary school. Since they’re the oldest, they’re expected to set examples for the younger kids, and have a lot of expectations put on them. For example, for school’s sports festival and culture festival, the third graders are put in charge of a lot of planning and have to lead the younger students. As a result, by the time they reach 3^rd grade, most of the kids are pretty mature and don’t usually cause a lot of trouble. They also are trying to decide on their future and what kind of career they would like to pursue. Unlike in America where you usually don’t start thinking about that until the end of high school, the kids here choose a high school with their future career in mind. They apply to attend different high schools, much like we apply for different colleges, and have to take entrance exams. It’s a very stressful and busy time for the kids and really makes them grow up fast I think.

The 1^st graders, by contrast, have just come up from elementary school and don’t really know how jr. high works yet. They are also usually well behaved for this reason, and have still carried over some of their excitement about English from elementary school. They’re also still getting to know each other as they usually come from 3 or 4 different elementary schools.

That leaves the 2^nd graders in the middle. 2^nd graders are definitely the most like typical teenagers from what I’ve noticed. Being 13-14 years old, they’re full of hormones and angst and some of them have a strong dislike of school, especially English. It’s such an obvious difference when I walk into a 2^nd grade class as opposed to a 1^st or 3^rd grade class… most of the kids are either asleep or look like they’d rather stab an icepick in their eye than be at school. One other thing about 2^nd grade is that they all go on a school trip to a famous place during this year. They usually go to Kyoto, Osaka, or Nara (or all 3!) in a period of 2 or 3 days. 

WOW, this was a long post. Is anyone still reading? Overall, I really like my schools and the variety that they bring every day. Things definitely don’t get boring! Hope you enjoyed the rundown of my schools!