After a couple of days in Tokyo and an international flight I find myself back in New Zealand. I also find myself cold and easily exhausted, without the energy to do more than read books and watch DVDs. Therefore I will keep this brief.
In Tokyo I rode the Himiko ferry and visited the National Museum. The flight back to NZ was nice and had such a great range of movies available that I hardly got any sleep.
I'm staying at my parents' house now. All I've done since I got home is dig winter clothes out of my boxes in the garage, watch movies (The Revenge of the Sith and The Importance of Being Ernest) and re-read one of my books (So You Want To Be A Wizard). Oh, and I went to the supermarket and found that the price of conditioner has gone up an awful lot, and I went to the electronics store and found that the price of international adapter plugs has also gone up considerably.
Oh, I'm so lethargic. I think I'll go watch a DVD. What should I watch? Enterprise, or Pride and Prejudice? Or maybe I will watch The Life of Brian. . . .
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
Tazawako
Yesterday I went to Tazawako with Sumiko, Nagoya Yukie who used to teach Japanese as a second language at Konoura Jr. High, and Yukie's friend from Tokyo. It rained pretty much the whole day. We went to see the Tatsuko Hime statue on the lake shore. Apparently Tatsuko Hime is a character from a folk tale popular in the area. Then we went to eat smorgasbord lunch at a herb centre. After that we went shopping at a honey shop. It was seriously a shop that sold mostly honey. Then we went to an onsen. It was rather nice to sit outside in a milky sulphur-smelling pool of water with rain falling on my head and shoulders. On the way back to Nikaho City we stopped at a huge shop that sold mostly expensive soy sauce, miso and a few pickles. I stayed at Sumiko's house again last night. It is much easier to sleep in her guest room than in Atsuko's living room.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
I'm Homeless
I haven't blogged for a while because I'm, well, homeless.
Last week I went to an ALT farewell okonomiyaki party in Honjo on Monday, went to the post office on Wednesday, the doctor on Thursday morning (I have a bad knee), Akita City on Thursday afternoon to pick up my new visa and to my farewell party with the Kamagadai teachers on Friday evening. Other than that I spent the whole week packing and cleaning. I left my apartment for the last time on Sunday evening and went to Atsuko's house.
The next day I went with Atsuko, Taisuke and Chinatsu to go sightseeing in Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures. First we went to Matsushima, one of the official three most beautiful spots in Japan. We rode a tourist ferry and had a closer look at the islands. We also went to a temple and had lunch at a hotel restaurant. Then we drove to Iwate and found our camp ground. It was a very nice camp ground and had good facilities. Unfortunately it rained. Taisuke brought a tarpaulin as well as a tent so we didn't get too wet. The next day we rode a ferry on the Pacific to look at some rocks. At least that's what I think I was supposed to be looking at. Then we went into the mountains and went tramping about in this big cave system. There were deep pools everywhere, the deepest being 90m deep, and the water was so clear that even in the gloom I could see the bottom of most of them. There were also lots of stallagtites and stallagmites, and it was all very exciting. But exhausting. There was a lot of stair climbing involved.
I will post pictures from that holiday after I get back to New Zealand.
Since then I have been staying at Atsuko's house. On Thursday we went to Akita City to send my books by M bag (30,000 yen for 70kg of books - very cheap!).
Yesterday I somehow ended up in Nikaho with some new ALTs, an old ALT and the section chief of the BOE, watching the welcoming ceremony for the Shawnee City (American sister city of Nikaho) Jr. High delegation. We did not need to translate or anything. There was no reason for us to be there. We just watched and then went to lunch. After that some other BOE people took us to the Children's Ferrite and Science Museum in Nikaho. We made slime, played with magnets and then rode one of those rides with the seats and the seatbelts and the big screens and the being shaken about all over the place that always make one feel sick. Then because everyone felt sick we went back to the BOE.
Today and tomorrow Atsuko is working and Sumiko is on holiday so I am at Sumiko's house. Tomorrow it seems that we are going to Tazawako, a famous lake on the other side of Akita Prefecture. I'm looking forward to it.
Last week I went to an ALT farewell okonomiyaki party in Honjo on Monday, went to the post office on Wednesday, the doctor on Thursday morning (I have a bad knee), Akita City on Thursday afternoon to pick up my new visa and to my farewell party with the Kamagadai teachers on Friday evening. Other than that I spent the whole week packing and cleaning. I left my apartment for the last time on Sunday evening and went to Atsuko's house.
The next day I went with Atsuko, Taisuke and Chinatsu to go sightseeing in Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures. First we went to Matsushima, one of the official three most beautiful spots in Japan. We rode a tourist ferry and had a closer look at the islands. We also went to a temple and had lunch at a hotel restaurant. Then we drove to Iwate and found our camp ground. It was a very nice camp ground and had good facilities. Unfortunately it rained. Taisuke brought a tarpaulin as well as a tent so we didn't get too wet. The next day we rode a ferry on the Pacific to look at some rocks. At least that's what I think I was supposed to be looking at. Then we went into the mountains and went tramping about in this big cave system. There were deep pools everywhere, the deepest being 90m deep, and the water was so clear that even in the gloom I could see the bottom of most of them. There were also lots of stallagtites and stallagmites, and it was all very exciting. But exhausting. There was a lot of stair climbing involved.
I will post pictures from that holiday after I get back to New Zealand.
Since then I have been staying at Atsuko's house. On Thursday we went to Akita City to send my books by M bag (30,000 yen for 70kg of books - very cheap!).
Yesterday I somehow ended up in Nikaho with some new ALTs, an old ALT and the section chief of the BOE, watching the welcoming ceremony for the Shawnee City (American sister city of Nikaho) Jr. High delegation. We did not need to translate or anything. There was no reason for us to be there. We just watched and then went to lunch. After that some other BOE people took us to the Children's Ferrite and Science Museum in Nikaho. We made slime, played with magnets and then rode one of those rides with the seats and the seatbelts and the big screens and the being shaken about all over the place that always make one feel sick. Then because everyone felt sick we went back to the BOE.
Today and tomorrow Atsuko is working and Sumiko is on holiday so I am at Sumiko's house. Tomorrow it seems that we are going to Tazawako, a famous lake on the other side of Akita Prefecture. I'm looking forward to it.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Like an ant on hot concrete
I have been so busy recently. Blogging isn't the only thing I haven't had time to do. I've also not written in my private diary for weeks, and the washing is really starting to pile up.
The other week (July 12th to be precise) I took the day off work so I could go all the way into Akita City to apply for a tourist visa starting from when my work visa finishes. I only had to be at the Immigration bureau for 15 minutes or so but because Akita City is so far away and the trains so inconveninetly timetabled it was a full day trip.
I had lunch near the station. I couldn't be bothered going into a restaurant. Most other ALTs, when in need of food or drink in that area, go to Starbucks. I usually end up tagging along, but considering the fact that I drink tea not coffee Starbucks really isn't the place for me. Why should I have to pay the same price for a Lipton teabag in a paper cup and a small plastic bubble of cream that never goes off as other people pay for fresh drip coffee, or whatever you call it? There is another coffee shop a few metres down the road from Starbucks in Akita City called Nagahama Coffee that I had never been to because other people had told me it was icky and no one goes there. Well, I should have known better than to listen to them. My cup of tea was in an actual cup, and the milk was real milk in a little jug. The sandwich wasn't half bad either.
In my copious free time before the next train home I went to Tower Records. I bought Songs From the Labyrinth sung by Sting, played on the lute by Edin Karamazov and composed hundreds of years ago by John Dowland. Just for something different. I also for some reason bought Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales. I kind of missed it, because it's one of my Dad's favourite albums and he's always listening to it.
The next day the BOE held a farewell party for the two other Nikaho City ALTs and I. It was held in a room in the Community Centre. The food on offer was plastic trays of Japanese style nibbly foods such as edamame, pickles and whole grilled fish with the head still attached. Everything had a 'has been left out in the heat for at least half a day' taste to it. Even though us ALTs were the guests of honour and in any other Japanese party would be the centre of attention, the BOE people ran away from us and left us on our own. They actually moved their chairs away and had a conversation going on the other side of the room. Eventually our respective school principals and other teachers who had been invited felt sorry for us and came over to talk to us. Obvioulsy the BOE people feel very fondly towards us and are sorry to see us go *snort*. Well, they gave me a kabazaiku (cherry bark craft) mini set of drawers which must have been a bit expensive so I suppose I can't complain too much.
Last Sunday the first typhoon of the season arrived. Despite that Sumiko and I went to Sakata to visit the Domon Ken Museum of Photography. Domon Ken was born in Sakata and became one of Japan's most famous photographers. His works include pictures of happy children in post war Tokyo, much poorer children in a mining town in the 1950's, the burn victims in a Hiroshima hospital and the temples of Nara and Kyoto. Not only the photos contained within but the building itself is a work of art.
I have a nagging feeling that I did something on Monday evening, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.
On Wednesday I went to the Elementary school for the last time. In the morning there was a goodbye ceremony for me. I had to do a speech in Japanese. I got a bunch of flowers. I spent the rest of the day doing last classes with all of the grades. When I got home I had to throw out the flowers I had received from the people at Kamagadai the week before so I would have room in my juice jug to put the elementary school flowers. That evening I had my last Eikaiwa class. We didn't do much, just exchanged addresses and such. After class a bunch of us went to Gusto to hang out and talk for a while before going home.
Friday was my last day at Konoura Jr. High and my last day of work. Again I had to give a speech in front of the whole school in Japanese. I choked up near the end and thought that I wouldn't be able to finish. I was told afterwards that I had made a good impression with my speech. I thought about it and realised that the place I had choked up at was exactly the right place to make a good impression with Japanese, considering both the words that had come before the loss of my voice and the length of speech I had left to say after I got my voice back. I wasn't even trying!
That evening we had an end of term / goodbye me party. The food served was a little different to the usual work party fare, in that there was a lot more foods I was able to eat than usual. I was actually able to eat until I was full. The teachers gave me a necklace that is made out of thin silver wire, a handcraft of Akita. It is shiny-shiny and very pretty. They also gave me flowers. I had already borrowed a vase from school for the flowers I had got from the students, so I was thinking What am I going to do with these? but when I got home i found that I could just squish two bouquets into my juice jug. Lucky, lucky.
The other week (July 12th to be precise) I took the day off work so I could go all the way into Akita City to apply for a tourist visa starting from when my work visa finishes. I only had to be at the Immigration bureau for 15 minutes or so but because Akita City is so far away and the trains so inconveninetly timetabled it was a full day trip.
I had lunch near the station. I couldn't be bothered going into a restaurant. Most other ALTs, when in need of food or drink in that area, go to Starbucks. I usually end up tagging along, but considering the fact that I drink tea not coffee Starbucks really isn't the place for me. Why should I have to pay the same price for a Lipton teabag in a paper cup and a small plastic bubble of cream that never goes off as other people pay for fresh drip coffee, or whatever you call it? There is another coffee shop a few metres down the road from Starbucks in Akita City called Nagahama Coffee that I had never been to because other people had told me it was icky and no one goes there. Well, I should have known better than to listen to them. My cup of tea was in an actual cup, and the milk was real milk in a little jug. The sandwich wasn't half bad either.
In my copious free time before the next train home I went to Tower Records. I bought Songs From the Labyrinth sung by Sting, played on the lute by Edin Karamazov and composed hundreds of years ago by John Dowland. Just for something different. I also for some reason bought Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales. I kind of missed it, because it's one of my Dad's favourite albums and he's always listening to it.
The next day the BOE held a farewell party for the two other Nikaho City ALTs and I. It was held in a room in the Community Centre. The food on offer was plastic trays of Japanese style nibbly foods such as edamame, pickles and whole grilled fish with the head still attached. Everything had a 'has been left out in the heat for at least half a day' taste to it. Even though us ALTs were the guests of honour and in any other Japanese party would be the centre of attention, the BOE people ran away from us and left us on our own. They actually moved their chairs away and had a conversation going on the other side of the room. Eventually our respective school principals and other teachers who had been invited felt sorry for us and came over to talk to us. Obvioulsy the BOE people feel very fondly towards us and are sorry to see us go *snort*. Well, they gave me a kabazaiku (cherry bark craft) mini set of drawers which must have been a bit expensive so I suppose I can't complain too much.
Last Sunday the first typhoon of the season arrived. Despite that Sumiko and I went to Sakata to visit the Domon Ken Museum of Photography. Domon Ken was born in Sakata and became one of Japan's most famous photographers. His works include pictures of happy children in post war Tokyo, much poorer children in a mining town in the 1950's, the burn victims in a Hiroshima hospital and the temples of Nara and Kyoto. Not only the photos contained within but the building itself is a work of art.
I have a nagging feeling that I did something on Monday evening, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.
On Wednesday I went to the Elementary school for the last time. In the morning there was a goodbye ceremony for me. I had to do a speech in Japanese. I got a bunch of flowers. I spent the rest of the day doing last classes with all of the grades. When I got home I had to throw out the flowers I had received from the people at Kamagadai the week before so I would have room in my juice jug to put the elementary school flowers. That evening I had my last Eikaiwa class. We didn't do much, just exchanged addresses and such. After class a bunch of us went to Gusto to hang out and talk for a while before going home.
Friday was my last day at Konoura Jr. High and my last day of work. Again I had to give a speech in front of the whole school in Japanese. I choked up near the end and thought that I wouldn't be able to finish. I was told afterwards that I had made a good impression with my speech. I thought about it and realised that the place I had choked up at was exactly the right place to make a good impression with Japanese, considering both the words that had come before the loss of my voice and the length of speech I had left to say after I got my voice back. I wasn't even trying!
That evening we had an end of term / goodbye me party. The food served was a little different to the usual work party fare, in that there was a lot more foods I was able to eat than usual. I was actually able to eat until I was full. The teachers gave me a necklace that is made out of thin silver wire, a handcraft of Akita. It is shiny-shiny and very pretty. They also gave me flowers. I had already borrowed a vase from school for the flowers I had got from the students, so I was thinking What am I going to do with these? but when I got home i found that I could just squish two bouquets into my juice jug. Lucky, lucky.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Sakura-tinted glasses
Okay, I've just got home, it's midnight, I have things to do before I go to bed and I have to go to the immigration bureau tomorrow, but there is something I have just got to tell you. It was embarrassing at the time, but now I find it awfully funny. It's one of those 'only in Japan' things.
Some background: Recently I have downloaded the first few episodes of the 2006 season of Dr Who*. Since I think the tenth Doctor is a bit of alright, I have a picture of him coming out of the tardis on my desktop.
This evening I had a farewell party with my eikaiwa students. Mid-way through my party I took out my computer to show everyone the pictures I took at Nakajimadai on the weekend. My computer's a bit slow at the moment (it's been a while since I last defragged it) so the people sitting next to me got a good look at David Tennant as my computer booted up. "Handsome man!" they said. Okay, that's not so weird, but then they said "Is he your boyfriend?" "No," I protested. But then some other people started gravitating towards me to see why I had brought my computer out. "Ooh, is that your boyfriend?"
"No, no, it's the Doctor."
"Is that your boyfriend?"
"No, no," I wish "No!"
It's not as if it was a snapshot picture or anything. It was a proper desktop image adapted from a screencap and available on the official Doctor Who webpage. Where else in the world would people look at such a picture and assume it depicted someones boyfriend?
Although I admit I'm awfully flattered that they think I'm a good enough catch to possibly have a boyfriend who looks like that.
*I am totally unapologetic about the fact that I download TV shows from the internet. If I were in an English speaking country right now, I'd get to watch those programmes on TV for free, so what's the bloody difference? Movies, however, are different. I rent them from the video store, because I can and because I would have to in New Zealand too.
Some background: Recently I have downloaded the first few episodes of the 2006 season of Dr Who*. Since I think the tenth Doctor is a bit of alright, I have a picture of him coming out of the tardis on my desktop.
This evening I had a farewell party with my eikaiwa students. Mid-way through my party I took out my computer to show everyone the pictures I took at Nakajimadai on the weekend. My computer's a bit slow at the moment (it's been a while since I last defragged it) so the people sitting next to me got a good look at David Tennant as my computer booted up. "Handsome man!" they said. Okay, that's not so weird, but then they said "Is he your boyfriend?" "No," I protested. But then some other people started gravitating towards me to see why I had brought my computer out. "Ooh, is that your boyfriend?"
"No, no, it's the Doctor."
"Is that your boyfriend?"
"No, no," I wish "No!"
It's not as if it was a snapshot picture or anything. It was a proper desktop image adapted from a screencap and available on the official Doctor Who webpage. Where else in the world would people look at such a picture and assume it depicted someones boyfriend?
Although I admit I'm awfully flattered that they think I'm a good enough catch to possibly have a boyfriend who looks like that.
*I am totally unapologetic about the fact that I download TV shows from the internet. If I were in an English speaking country right now, I'd get to watch those programmes on TV for free, so what's the bloody difference? Movies, however, are different. I rent them from the video store, because I can and because I would have to in New Zealand too.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Nakajimadai
Japanese cedar trees
This is the candlestick tree. It is also called the nymph seat.
There were many fallen trees in Nakajimadai. It is usually typhoons that knocks them down.
This is a beech tree. It is one of the 100 Great Trees of Japan.
This is a charcoal-making kiln from over a hundred years ago.
Just below the bottom of the photo water was bubbling up out of the ground into this pool. Can you see the whirlpool in the middle of the photo? It was making quite a loud sucking noise.
This water was delicious.
In the distance is the Nikaho Plateau, which is fairly high itself. Nakajimadai is high up (and totally inaccessible in winter).
This is called the Greeting Tree.
Left: famous water. Right: famous moss.
Can you see the hole? It looked deeper and more scary in real life. That's where the water is coming up out of. You can hardly see the water it's so clean. It was delicious.
This is the famous moss, Chokai marimo. This pond is the only place in Japan where this moss can be found. There are two other places in the wold where is can be found. I forget where. Canada and Finland? Something like that. There are no rocks under that moss, it's all just moss.
This dragonfly was even more reluctant to move than the dragonfly I met last year. It totally ignored me and my camera.Another week down
Last Saturday (the 30th) I went to Atsuko's house for dinner. Chinatsu came and made gyoza again. They told me that since they know I like gyoza and that they are hard to find in NZ (whereas wontons are much easier to find in NZ than in Japan) they are making sure to feed me lots of gyoza before I leave. I got to help fold them again. The first few I made were very good and curved properly, but after that my gyoza got progressively worse. I don't know why. Chinatsu made a couple of other Chinese dishes. The Japanese people present were saying 'Um, this tastes weird . . .' but I was so happy. It tasted like proper Chinese food! I guess the Chinese food available in NZ is a lot closer in taste to proper Chinese food than the stuff available in Japan. I knew that NZ and Japanese Chinese food tasted different, but I had been wondering which was closer to the original. Now I know.
On Sunday the 1st I took the train into Akita City to go see the Charity Gaijin Sumo event. Many male teachers of English (and one Japanese man) dressed up in mawashi (those little nappy things) and had a sumo tournament to raise money to fund a school in Nepal and to buy textbooks for students in India. The competitors all did very well considering that they aren't actually sumo wrestlers. Being men, they went all-out and ended up injuring each other. There were a few prides hurt, a few very exciting matches, and the man who won was the one who most deserved to win (because he was not thought very highly of by the other competitors the first year he entered as he is not a sporty person, but he really loves sumo so he tried hard). It was a nice day.
On Monday evening I went to my goodbye party with the Yosakoi team. We had dinner in a meeting hall in Kisakata. I ate a raw oyster because they are a specialty of Kisakata and I thought I ought to eat raw oyster at least once before I leave. It was really gross. We pushed a table back and danced yosakoi dances on the tatami matting. They made me do an improptu speech in Japanese, which came out in colloquial Japanese because I can't do polite speech-type Japanese without preparing for it first. They gave me this year's uniform as a present and also a huge photo of our team that was taken in Sendai last year. Then everyone wanted to take pictures of me with their cellphones and we said goodbye. Some of us went to karaoke after the party. We didn't finish until after midnight, so even though I did not drink any alcohol, I felt rather awful the next day at work.
On Friday morning I bought my plane ticket back to Wellington. I will leave Narita on the 11th of August and get into Wellington on the 12th. That's so soon!
That afternoon Atsuko drove me and three boxes of my stuff to the post office so I could send them back to NZ. There is no way I could have carried them all the way to the post office by myself. After that we went up to the Nikaho Plateau to buy fresh ice cream at the dairy farm that is up there. It was really delicious. Then we went for a drive and I got home in time to get on Skype and talk to my family.
Yesterday I was finally able to go with my Eikaiwa (English class) students to Nakajimadai. It is a hiking track through the forest on the slopes of Mt. Chokai. We spent several hours walking along board walkways, climbing over rocks, crossing rope bridges, looking at old twisted trees and drinking water out of pools that were filled with fresh water that had just come out of the ground. I discovered that I am not as much of a city girl as I thought. I was surprised when I was offered a cup to drink water out of a pool. I had already drunk some water - using my hand. Apparently that's weird, and only Ei-san had done likewise. Everyone else used a cup. Also, on the way back to the carpark Ei-san spotted a mulberry tree. I said "Ooh, mulberies!" and started eating them right off the tree. One of the people I was hiking with and a couple of random people who came to see what we were eating actually didn't know which berries to pick. "Do I eat the red ones or the black ones?" It was when I found myself surprised that anyone would have to ask that question that I realised that I must have picked up a thing or two from my father after all.
After we had finished hiking the ladies took me to a souvenir shop in Kisakata so I could pick out a gift for them to buy me. They told me I could choose anything up to 10,000 yen in value. I chose a kabazaiku letter box. Kabazaiku is a specialty craft of Akita Prefecture, mainly done in the area of Kakunodate, which is made of cherry bark. The Kabazaiku, not the town. The box was only 6,000 yen so they also bought me a kabazaiku tea leaf canister that has a fuki design on it. Fuki is called butterbur in English, and is the prefectural plant. It is more stuff to send back, but I like Kabazaiku, so I am happy.
On Sunday the 1st I took the train into Akita City to go see the Charity Gaijin Sumo event. Many male teachers of English (and one Japanese man) dressed up in mawashi (those little nappy things) and had a sumo tournament to raise money to fund a school in Nepal and to buy textbooks for students in India. The competitors all did very well considering that they aren't actually sumo wrestlers. Being men, they went all-out and ended up injuring each other. There were a few prides hurt, a few very exciting matches, and the man who won was the one who most deserved to win (because he was not thought very highly of by the other competitors the first year he entered as he is not a sporty person, but he really loves sumo so he tried hard). It was a nice day.
On Monday evening I went to my goodbye party with the Yosakoi team. We had dinner in a meeting hall in Kisakata. I ate a raw oyster because they are a specialty of Kisakata and I thought I ought to eat raw oyster at least once before I leave. It was really gross. We pushed a table back and danced yosakoi dances on the tatami matting. They made me do an improptu speech in Japanese, which came out in colloquial Japanese because I can't do polite speech-type Japanese without preparing for it first. They gave me this year's uniform as a present and also a huge photo of our team that was taken in Sendai last year. Then everyone wanted to take pictures of me with their cellphones and we said goodbye. Some of us went to karaoke after the party. We didn't finish until after midnight, so even though I did not drink any alcohol, I felt rather awful the next day at work.
On Friday morning I bought my plane ticket back to Wellington. I will leave Narita on the 11th of August and get into Wellington on the 12th. That's so soon!
That afternoon Atsuko drove me and three boxes of my stuff to the post office so I could send them back to NZ. There is no way I could have carried them all the way to the post office by myself. After that we went up to the Nikaho Plateau to buy fresh ice cream at the dairy farm that is up there. It was really delicious. Then we went for a drive and I got home in time to get on Skype and talk to my family.
Yesterday I was finally able to go with my Eikaiwa (English class) students to Nakajimadai. It is a hiking track through the forest on the slopes of Mt. Chokai. We spent several hours walking along board walkways, climbing over rocks, crossing rope bridges, looking at old twisted trees and drinking water out of pools that were filled with fresh water that had just come out of the ground. I discovered that I am not as much of a city girl as I thought. I was surprised when I was offered a cup to drink water out of a pool. I had already drunk some water - using my hand. Apparently that's weird, and only Ei-san had done likewise. Everyone else used a cup. Also, on the way back to the carpark Ei-san spotted a mulberry tree. I said "Ooh, mulberies!" and started eating them right off the tree. One of the people I was hiking with and a couple of random people who came to see what we were eating actually didn't know which berries to pick. "Do I eat the red ones or the black ones?" It was when I found myself surprised that anyone would have to ask that question that I realised that I must have picked up a thing or two from my father after all.
After we had finished hiking the ladies took me to a souvenir shop in Kisakata so I could pick out a gift for them to buy me. They told me I could choose anything up to 10,000 yen in value. I chose a kabazaiku letter box. Kabazaiku is a specialty craft of Akita Prefecture, mainly done in the area of Kakunodate, which is made of cherry bark. The Kabazaiku, not the town. The box was only 6,000 yen so they also bought me a kabazaiku tea leaf canister that has a fuki design on it. Fuki is called butterbur in English, and is the prefectural plant. It is more stuff to send back, but I like Kabazaiku, so I am happy.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Me in a Kimono
Because my Mum was asking after them, here are a few pictures from the day I was dressed up in a kimono. My scanner is cheap, and therefore the pictures are not of very good quality. These are just snapshots, not the professionally taken photos. I haven't scanned the good photos yet.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Strain the brain
So what have I been doing during the time that I was too lazy to blog? I have been to Atsuko's house a couple of times. Once we had dinner and Atsuko's friend Chinatsu from China made us proper Chinese gyoza. Very, very good. I got to help fold them up.
I watched the entire first series of the new Doctor Who and then my old computer died so I can't watch the next series. I am now using the internet on my little subnote computer, but I can't leave it at home for a week downloading a TV series because this is the computer that I take with me to work. Well, now at least the descision whether to take my old Compaq back with me to NZ or not has been made for me.
On the 16th I became a doll. Until April a woman called Mitsu-sensei was working at the elementary school. For months she had been telling me that she would give me a kimono before I left Japan, and the other month she got in contact with me and said that she would have me dressed up in said kimono and get my picture taken profesionally, as a present. That happened on the 16th. Mitsu-sensei picked me up at 9am and took me to a beauty parlour in Nikaho. The owner of the beauty parlour, a lady who goes by the name of Elle, had volunteered to dress me up in the kimono for free. She did my hair too, and seemed to have fun doing so. "I've never seen hair like this before. . . ."
After I was all dressed up, Mitsu-sensei's husband came and drove us to a photography studio in town and I had my picture taken. Then we briefly went to Mitsu-sensei's parents house so I could be placed in front of a traditional Japanese alcove and in a traditional garden and have my picture taken again. Then we went back to the beauty parlour and the kimono and the hair style came off. Elle gave me a free hair cut because she said my hair was just too ratty and she couldn't in good conscience leave it like that.
I bought a pink Nintendo DS Lite. I had a very good reason to! You see, I also bought a piece of software for it that is not a game but a kanji study tool that makes excellent use of the touch-sensitive screen. So I can practice reading and also writing kanji on the DS Lite. Wonderful! Maybe now I'll study kanji on a regular basis. Maybe my DS Lite will help me pass the Japanese Proficiency Test.
Last Friday I had plans to go hiking in Nakajimadai, some type of park or nature reserve near here, with my Eikaiwa class students. Unfortunately the hike was cancelled due to rain. That evening some books and a CD arrived for me from Amazon. I got Tori Amos' new album American Doll Posse, two manga (the last two volumes of Fruits Basket) and a few more graphic novels written by Neil Gaiman. I just can't stop reading that guy's stories! I bought Black Orchid, The Books of Magic and Midnight Days. What am I going to do when I have run out of stuff by Neil Gaiman to read? Come to think of it, I'll probably start reading Hellblazer. The Books of Magic made me feel like reading more about John Constantine.
Last Saturday and Sunday there was an inter-school sports exchange event. On Saturday I went to Chokai to cheer for the baseball team. It was sunny and hot (very different to the previous day) and I got very sunburnt despite the fact I put SPF 30+ sunscreen on twice. It was a close game with many no-run innings. (Are they even called innings in baseball? Or runs?) There was excitement of the bad kind when two of our fielders collided trying to catch a ball (they dropped the ball but managed to stay on the field. Unfortunately the boy who got hurt worst was our best batter). Two minutes or so later, the other team had much worse luck when the pitcher and the catcher managed to run headlong into each other while trying to catch the ball. The catcher was fine (he had a mask etc. on after all) but the pitcher knocked himself quite badly on the catcher's mask and had to be taken away by ambulance! Oh, the drama. Even minus their main pitcher the other team managed to win.
On Sunday I went to cheer the soccer team. The soccer tournament was held at the TDK sports facilities in Konoura, so not far away. The team played two games. They won the morning game against Kisakata quite easily (is 3:1 easily? I'm guessing so) but they lost the afternoon game. The afternoon game was against one of the best teams in the area, so that's OK. I can't say much about how the games were played because a) there was no grandstand like at the baseball so I couldn't really see what was going on and b) even when I can see well, all soccer looks like to me is a bunch of people running around randomly on a field. Yawn.
At lunch time I went with the free teachers and students to Kujira Park (across the road from the Shirase Memorial Museum) and got to see all the baseball, judo and art club boys playing excitedly on the jungle gym like five-year-olds. Well, not all. The boy so anti-social he hardly ever comes to school sat out to one side and the Head Boy, who seems to be the only mature boy in the whole school (hence the fact he was made Head Boy), decided instead to sit in the shade with the teachers and join in the "Look at them! They're like monkeys" conversation.
I got sunburnt that day too. I was in a fair amount of pain on Monday. I had been planning on going somewhere either on Monday or Tuesday because I had those days off in lieu, but the weather was sunny and hot again and I was afraid of getting even more burnt so I stayed home. That is of course with the exception of Monday morning when I went to the kindergarten to teach English for half an hour. Just half an hour.
On Wednesday Mitsu-sensei came to the elementary school to give me the kimono and the photos from the 16th. I should scan the photos up sometime. I have some of the non-professional photos on my computer already. I'll see about posting them. Maybe. My scanner has not been working very well lately and the scans are very bad quality.
Today I had plans to go on the hike around Nakajimadai that had been postponed last week, but it rained again! I don't know if I will have another chance to go, which is too bad because I had been looking forward to seeing Chokai morimo (a type of moss. That's right, you heard me. I'm sad because the rain is keeping me from going to see moss).
Speaking of moss, I just remembered something. I once read an essay written by an ex-ALT who said that the Japanese also have the saying "A rolling stone gathers no moss" but in Japanese the meaning of the phrase is opposite to the English phrase in that the Japanese want the moss i.e. the Japanese version of the phrase means don't move. I thought that was really cool, and was thinking of it as an example a main difference between Eastern and Western thought. The other (week? month?) I asked my Eikaiwa class about that saying. They confirmed that it exists in Japanese. But then they disappointed me greatly by saying that the ex-ALT had been wrong. The phrase means exactly the same in Japanese as in English: moss bad, moving good. So very, very disappointing. But I guess what this story now illustrates is that Eastern, Western, whatever we may be, we are not so different after all.
I watched the entire first series of the new Doctor Who and then my old computer died so I can't watch the next series. I am now using the internet on my little subnote computer, but I can't leave it at home for a week downloading a TV series because this is the computer that I take with me to work. Well, now at least the descision whether to take my old Compaq back with me to NZ or not has been made for me.
On the 16th I became a doll. Until April a woman called Mitsu-sensei was working at the elementary school. For months she had been telling me that she would give me a kimono before I left Japan, and the other month she got in contact with me and said that she would have me dressed up in said kimono and get my picture taken profesionally, as a present. That happened on the 16th. Mitsu-sensei picked me up at 9am and took me to a beauty parlour in Nikaho. The owner of the beauty parlour, a lady who goes by the name of Elle, had volunteered to dress me up in the kimono for free. She did my hair too, and seemed to have fun doing so. "I've never seen hair like this before. . . ."
After I was all dressed up, Mitsu-sensei's husband came and drove us to a photography studio in town and I had my picture taken. Then we briefly went to Mitsu-sensei's parents house so I could be placed in front of a traditional Japanese alcove and in a traditional garden and have my picture taken again. Then we went back to the beauty parlour and the kimono and the hair style came off. Elle gave me a free hair cut because she said my hair was just too ratty and she couldn't in good conscience leave it like that.
I bought a pink Nintendo DS Lite. I had a very good reason to! You see, I also bought a piece of software for it that is not a game but a kanji study tool that makes excellent use of the touch-sensitive screen. So I can practice reading and also writing kanji on the DS Lite. Wonderful! Maybe now I'll study kanji on a regular basis. Maybe my DS Lite will help me pass the Japanese Proficiency Test.
Last Friday I had plans to go hiking in Nakajimadai, some type of park or nature reserve near here, with my Eikaiwa class students. Unfortunately the hike was cancelled due to rain. That evening some books and a CD arrived for me from Amazon. I got Tori Amos' new album American Doll Posse, two manga (the last two volumes of Fruits Basket) and a few more graphic novels written by Neil Gaiman. I just can't stop reading that guy's stories! I bought Black Orchid, The Books of Magic and Midnight Days. What am I going to do when I have run out of stuff by Neil Gaiman to read? Come to think of it, I'll probably start reading Hellblazer. The Books of Magic made me feel like reading more about John Constantine.
Last Saturday and Sunday there was an inter-school sports exchange event. On Saturday I went to Chokai to cheer for the baseball team. It was sunny and hot (very different to the previous day) and I got very sunburnt despite the fact I put SPF 30+ sunscreen on twice. It was a close game with many no-run innings. (Are they even called innings in baseball? Or runs?) There was excitement of the bad kind when two of our fielders collided trying to catch a ball (they dropped the ball but managed to stay on the field. Unfortunately the boy who got hurt worst was our best batter). Two minutes or so later, the other team had much worse luck when the pitcher and the catcher managed to run headlong into each other while trying to catch the ball. The catcher was fine (he had a mask etc. on after all) but the pitcher knocked himself quite badly on the catcher's mask and had to be taken away by ambulance! Oh, the drama. Even minus their main pitcher the other team managed to win.
On Sunday I went to cheer the soccer team. The soccer tournament was held at the TDK sports facilities in Konoura, so not far away. The team played two games. They won the morning game against Kisakata quite easily (is 3:1 easily? I'm guessing so) but they lost the afternoon game. The afternoon game was against one of the best teams in the area, so that's OK. I can't say much about how the games were played because a) there was no grandstand like at the baseball so I couldn't really see what was going on and b) even when I can see well, all soccer looks like to me is a bunch of people running around randomly on a field. Yawn.
At lunch time I went with the free teachers and students to Kujira Park (across the road from the Shirase Memorial Museum) and got to see all the baseball, judo and art club boys playing excitedly on the jungle gym like five-year-olds. Well, not all. The boy so anti-social he hardly ever comes to school sat out to one side and the Head Boy, who seems to be the only mature boy in the whole school (hence the fact he was made Head Boy), decided instead to sit in the shade with the teachers and join in the "Look at them! They're like monkeys" conversation.
I got sunburnt that day too. I was in a fair amount of pain on Monday. I had been planning on going somewhere either on Monday or Tuesday because I had those days off in lieu, but the weather was sunny and hot again and I was afraid of getting even more burnt so I stayed home. That is of course with the exception of Monday morning when I went to the kindergarten to teach English for half an hour. Just half an hour.
On Wednesday Mitsu-sensei came to the elementary school to give me the kimono and the photos from the 16th. I should scan the photos up sometime. I have some of the non-professional photos on my computer already. I'll see about posting them. Maybe. My scanner has not been working very well lately and the scans are very bad quality.
Today I had plans to go on the hike around Nakajimadai that had been postponed last week, but it rained again! I don't know if I will have another chance to go, which is too bad because I had been looking forward to seeing Chokai morimo (a type of moss. That's right, you heard me. I'm sad because the rain is keeping me from going to see moss).
Speaking of moss, I just remembered something. I once read an essay written by an ex-ALT who said that the Japanese also have the saying "A rolling stone gathers no moss" but in Japanese the meaning of the phrase is opposite to the English phrase in that the Japanese want the moss i.e. the Japanese version of the phrase means don't move. I thought that was really cool, and was thinking of it as an example a main difference between Eastern and Western thought. The other (week? month?) I asked my Eikaiwa class about that saying. They confirmed that it exists in Japanese. But then they disappointed me greatly by saying that the ex-ALT had been wrong. The phrase means exactly the same in Japanese as in English: moss bad, moving good. So very, very disappointing. But I guess what this story now illustrates is that Eastern, Western, whatever we may be, we are not so different after all.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Pictures From Tokyo
Wow, I have been so slack recently. I went to Tokyo weeks ago. Why am I only uploading the pictures now? Inexcusable.
First here are some pictures from the Edo Museum:
This is the Rakugo stage
This is a tiny model of a palace that doesn't exist anymore.
This is me in a replica of a nobleman's palanquin
Lots of little Edo people. Aren't they cute?
This is a full-scale model of an Edo period workshop in a nagaya (Japanese style terrace building)
This is a full-scale model of a family in a one-room home in a nagaya building. The wife has just given birth and the grandmother is washing the newborn infant in the traditional way.
A full-scale model of a Kabuki actor
Another Kabuki mannequin. By the way like Elizabethan actors, all Kabuki actors were men.
Yet another Kabuki mannequin. This guy is so cool. He was very imposing in real life (not that he's alive - you know what I mean).
You recognise this guy Gillian? This is the robot thingie from Laputa. You can find him on the roof of the museum.
This is also from Laputa. It seems that when the castle broke up, one of the blocks landed on the roof of the museum.
The museum entrance
The side of the museum. Isn't it wonderful? All museums should look like this.
Museum sign/lamp post. I love lamp posts. I think it's a Narnia thing.
It's Totoro! Really! He is life-sized and everything.
The view from my hotel room; the less garish side of Shinjuku.
A Noh mask in the National Museum. This is the only photo I took there. I should have taken more because I was allowed to, but for some reason I just couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw all the 'Photography OK' signs. I mean, how many museums in the world that display priceless relics of passed ages allow photography? Not many, that's for sure.
The back side of the shops that line the road leading up to that big temple in Asakusa which I keep forgetting the name of.
A view across the river from the Asakusa ferry terminal. Apparently this is the headquarters of a beer company, although it seems as if the building is known to most people as 'unko biru' (the poo building). That's Japanese humour for you. Incidentally, the New Tokyo Tower is going to be built near here.
This is Venus Fort in Odaiba, the ultimate in female shopping experience (or so they say). The ceiling actually changes colour from day to sunset and back again. Umm, yeah.
This isn't the best photo in the world but I thought I would include it because that hazy curve of land you can just see is Nikaho City. My house is down there!
Mount Chokai among the clouds.
A zoomed picture of Chokai. Notice all the snow, and remember that this photo was taken in June.
First here are some pictures from the Edo Museum:
This is the Rakugo stage
This is a tiny model of a palace that doesn't exist anymore.
This is me in a replica of a nobleman's palanquin
Lots of little Edo people. Aren't they cute?
This is a full-scale model of an Edo period workshop in a nagaya (Japanese style terrace building)
This is a full-scale model of a family in a one-room home in a nagaya building. The wife has just given birth and the grandmother is washing the newborn infant in the traditional way.
A full-scale model of a Kabuki actor
Another Kabuki mannequin. By the way like Elizabethan actors, all Kabuki actors were men.
Yet another Kabuki mannequin. This guy is so cool. He was very imposing in real life (not that he's alive - you know what I mean).Now for some pictures of the Ghibli Museum:
You recognise this guy Gillian? This is the robot thingie from Laputa. You can find him on the roof of the museum.
This is also from Laputa. It seems that when the castle broke up, one of the blocks landed on the roof of the museum.
The museum entrance
The side of the museum. Isn't it wonderful? All museums should look like this.
Museum sign/lamp post. I love lamp posts. I think it's a Narnia thing.
It's Totoro! Really! He is life-sized and everything.And now for some random photos:
The view from my hotel room; the less garish side of Shinjuku.
A Noh mask in the National Museum. This is the only photo I took there. I should have taken more because I was allowed to, but for some reason I just couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw all the 'Photography OK' signs. I mean, how many museums in the world that display priceless relics of passed ages allow photography? Not many, that's for sure.
The back side of the shops that line the road leading up to that big temple in Asakusa which I keep forgetting the name of.
A view across the river from the Asakusa ferry terminal. Apparently this is the headquarters of a beer company, although it seems as if the building is known to most people as 'unko biru' (the poo building). That's Japanese humour for you. Incidentally, the New Tokyo Tower is going to be built near here.
This is Venus Fort in Odaiba, the ultimate in female shopping experience (or so they say). The ceiling actually changes colour from day to sunset and back again. Umm, yeah.
This isn't the best photo in the world but I thought I would include it because that hazy curve of land you can just see is Nikaho City. My house is down there!
Mount Chokai among the clouds.
A zoomed picture of Chokai. Notice all the snow, and remember that this photo was taken in June.Saturday, June 16, 2007
Tokyo
Okay, so I went to
The three of us went out to dinner at Chanko Dining Waka, a famous restaurant that sells the Sumo food I was talking about. It was delicious. There was nabe (stew) and a variety of other little dishes such as chicken wings and avocado and salmon on crackers. Very, very good, and so it should be, a famous restaurant in Shinjuku.
On Sunday Sumiko wasn’t busy after all so we went to the
We then caught the subway to Asakusa. We were planning on riding the Himiko ferry but while we were in the queue waiting to get tickets, the tickets sold out. So sad. We met Sumiko’s sister again and had a look around Asakusa for a while. Then we caught a normal ferry to Hinode port and then rode the Yurikamome train over the
On Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and went to Hamamatsucho station (the station from which the monorail to Haneda airport leaves) and put our bags in coin lockers. Then we went our separate ways. Sumiko went to Kappabashi, a place that sells kitchenware. I went to Shibuya to visit the Apple Store. A very helpful Apple specialist answered all the questions I had. It was such a pleasure to get information from the source. I find that people who work in general electric stores or computer shops selling lots of different types of computers never know what they are talking about; they’re only sales people after all. But the specialist guy knew what he was talking about, and I heard everything I wanted to hear. I should also mention that I asked all the questions and heard all the answers in Japanese. The guy asked me if I preferred to speak in English or Japanese, I said both were OK, and he chose to use his native language. I had no problem, but maybe that is not all that big of an achievement since most computer terminology in Japanese is derived from English.
After going to the Apple Store I sort of stumbled into the Disney Store. Don’t quite know how that happened. I am now the proud owner of a Captain Jack Sparrow B5 notebook and a Little Mermaid plastic slip file. I still had quite a lot of time after I had finished in Shibuya so I hopped on the train to Harajuku and mooched around there, because there is nothing like mooching around in Harajuku to convince you that you are actually in
I went back to Hamamatsucho and met Sumiko and then we went to catch our airplane at Haneda. The wisteria and the other flowers were still blooming. We got back to Konoura at
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Two roads? More like two hundred
My brain hurts. I have so many things to think about or worry about at the moment: getting ready to leave Japan, actually leaving, where to work when I get back to NZ, where to live, whether to study and how much. If that wasn’t enough, I’ve also got to make a decision whether to take my heavy and nearly dead Compaq notebook back to NZ or to scrap it here, whether I will replace it with a Mac or start using Vista, and whether to get another notebook or to buy a desktop. So much to think about and only so much brain power to think with.
It would be such a pain to take my Compaq home. It is one of the main things I have been worrying about in regards to the move back to NZ. It weighs 7kg just for the computer itself. It was horrible to carry here in the first place; I killed my shoulder doing it. Also, I do have another (much lighter) computer that I will have in my hand luggage. How awkward would it be to carry two computers with me from Japan to New Zealand? I would probably have to pay so much to send it back, more than the computer is actually worth since the battery died and replacements are no longer available. It’s loud, it runs hot, the access speed of the hard drive is terrible, it doesn’t have a USB 2.0 port only two 1.1 ports, there is only 256MB of RAM, the plastic shell has cracked in one place and scratched in many others. But it’s a computer. It’s served me as best as it has been able to for the last 4 1/2 years. I feel kind of like I am betraying it by thinking of leaving it behind.
I’m pretty sure that I’m ready to defect to Mac. I simply can’t be bothered fighting with yet another Windows system that no doubt has a million bugs in it. I’ve been looking at the online Apple store and I can’t decide whether I should get another notebook computer i.e. Macbook and use it as a desktop replacement (the best option if I were to up and move to another country again) or to actually get a desktop computer (such as iMac) which are the best ergonomically and have more features than notebook computers. I hope to find time to visit an Apple store while I’m in Tokyo this weekend. I want to actually meet a Macbook and an iMac. Then I might know by feeling which model to get.
One thing I am definitely looking to buy is an EyeTV tuner or similar TV Tuner that would let me watch TV on my computer. Theoretically I would never ever have to buy a TV because those things even let you hook up a VCR or game console. The TV quality is not yet quite what one would get on a real TV, but I think I could cope.
About Tokyo: I met with Sumiko on Sunday and we talked about where we want to go in Tokyo. On Saturday we are planning on going to the Edo Museum and the Ghibli Museum, and then apparently Sumiko’s sister will take us to eat Sumo food. Sumo food is a type of stew. I like stews, so I’m looking forward to it. On Sunday morning Sumiko will be busy so I will go to the National Museum by myself. After that, if we have time we want to ride the crazy ‘only in Tokyo’ futuristic ferry Himiko. On Monday we will shop. Apparently Lush now has branches open in Japan and Sumiko wants to visit one. I’m all for shopping at Lush again. I’ve only been in a Lush store once (in Milton Keynes) but it left a big impression on me. I actually gave Sumiko a round of applause when she came up with the idea of going to Lush. We will probably also visit Kinokuniya, a big bookstore chain. I don’t really need any more books at the moment, but unfortunately the biggest Kinokuniya in all of Japan, possibly the biggest bookstore in all of Japan, will be just down the road from our hotel so I don’t think I will be able to keep away. I also want to go to Gap because I want a Product(red) t-shirt. And those are our plans.
Yay! Blogger now supports graphics headers. What do you think of my new layout (photography by me)? I tell you, it was hard letting go of the green.
It would be such a pain to take my Compaq home. It is one of the main things I have been worrying about in regards to the move back to NZ. It weighs 7kg just for the computer itself. It was horrible to carry here in the first place; I killed my shoulder doing it. Also, I do have another (much lighter) computer that I will have in my hand luggage. How awkward would it be to carry two computers with me from Japan to New Zealand? I would probably have to pay so much to send it back, more than the computer is actually worth since the battery died and replacements are no longer available. It’s loud, it runs hot, the access speed of the hard drive is terrible, it doesn’t have a USB 2.0 port only two 1.1 ports, there is only 256MB of RAM, the plastic shell has cracked in one place and scratched in many others. But it’s a computer. It’s served me as best as it has been able to for the last 4 1/2 years. I feel kind of like I am betraying it by thinking of leaving it behind.
I’m pretty sure that I’m ready to defect to Mac. I simply can’t be bothered fighting with yet another Windows system that no doubt has a million bugs in it. I’ve been looking at the online Apple store and I can’t decide whether I should get another notebook computer i.e. Macbook and use it as a desktop replacement (the best option if I were to up and move to another country again) or to actually get a desktop computer (such as iMac) which are the best ergonomically and have more features than notebook computers. I hope to find time to visit an Apple store while I’m in Tokyo this weekend. I want to actually meet a Macbook and an iMac. Then I might know by feeling which model to get.
One thing I am definitely looking to buy is an EyeTV tuner or similar TV Tuner that would let me watch TV on my computer. Theoretically I would never ever have to buy a TV because those things even let you hook up a VCR or game console. The TV quality is not yet quite what one would get on a real TV, but I think I could cope.
About Tokyo: I met with Sumiko on Sunday and we talked about where we want to go in Tokyo. On Saturday we are planning on going to the Edo Museum and the Ghibli Museum, and then apparently Sumiko’s sister will take us to eat Sumo food. Sumo food is a type of stew. I like stews, so I’m looking forward to it. On Sunday morning Sumiko will be busy so I will go to the National Museum by myself. After that, if we have time we want to ride the crazy ‘only in Tokyo’ futuristic ferry Himiko. On Monday we will shop. Apparently Lush now has branches open in Japan and Sumiko wants to visit one. I’m all for shopping at Lush again. I’ve only been in a Lush store once (in Milton Keynes) but it left a big impression on me. I actually gave Sumiko a round of applause when she came up with the idea of going to Lush. We will probably also visit Kinokuniya, a big bookstore chain. I don’t really need any more books at the moment, but unfortunately the biggest Kinokuniya in all of Japan, possibly the biggest bookstore in all of Japan, will be just down the road from our hotel so I don’t think I will be able to keep away. I also want to go to Gap because I want a Product(red) t-shirt. And those are our plans.
Yay! Blogger now supports graphics headers. What do you think of my new layout (photography by me)? I tell you, it was hard letting go of the green.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
