So I went to Kyoto at the end of September with my friend Kelsey and bought 2 new Yukata’s, with the obi (belt) and ghetta (shoes) and everything. Kyoto has so many beautiful yukata’s and kimono’s ^_^
I couldn’t wait to try them on but sadly the obi is ridiculously complicated to tie. Anywhoo I have an awesome friend who just loves getting dressed up in Yukata and offered to dress me and tie my Obi for me 
So on a Saturday I went to Kelsey’s and she helped dress me in my Yukata.
Then we shuffled to the train station (as it is so difficult to walk in ghetta – especially up the stairs) People kept looking at me, very unnerving but after a sweet old lady smiled as me and said Konnichiwa, I felt much better. We rode a train to Namba and then spent the rest of the day/early evening walking around the shops and along Dotonbori bridge. We took some very silly but incredibly enjoyable pictures in front of the Running Man and the big crab. It was fun to think of crazy funny poses on the spot. We got a lot of curious looks and some smiles ^_^
Then went for some food and desert and took more pictures before shuffling home to change into western clothes and sleep. All in all a very enjoyable day 
(happy Yukata Jazz hands ^_^)
(Look at all the lovely desserts - Yum Yum ^_^)
October 9th,2009
Daily Life |
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So a few weeks ago I took a day trip out to Arashiyama, which is a town on the outskirts of Kyoto. It was just beautiful ^_^
The train journey itself was very funny, as we were marvelling at the seats on the train and the fact that they move to face away or towards each other. Ada is demonstrating here ….. ^_^
adas-demonstration
I’m sure many Japanese people thought we were crazy
Our tour guide was Hiro he’s a friend that I met at the fireworks festival, offered to take us around Arashiyama.
We arrived in Arashiyama, stepped off the train and walked along the river and then across a bridge. The views were just beautiful.
Arashiyama has a very traditional feel to it. The architecture of the buildingsand the craft stores and restaurants along the river are just lovely. I got to try green tea icecream, apparently Kyoto is also famous for having the best green tea in Japan. It was yummy. I also bought a lamp for my apartment ^_^
We then went to see a shrine and traditional Japanese house in Arashiyama. It was so peaceful walking through the gardens and then we sat down on tatami floors in the house and just relaxed and talked for a while. A lovely way to spend the afternoon.
Then we jumped onto the train and went into Kyoto and walked around Gion Corner, which i’m told is used for a lot of films about old traditional japan. The streets between houses are very narrow, I felt like I was in the middle of the film “Memoirs of a Geisha”. ^_^ We then walked around the corner and stumbled upon a film crew filming an advert I think. There was an actor (a foreigner) stood in front of a Maiko (geisha) I wonder what the advert or show is
Arashiyama is a beautiful place, as is Kyoto and I cannot wait to show you all around it when you visit.
Last Saturday and Sunday i went to our local festival in Nakamozu. It was amazing! Its called “Futondaiko” which literally means “Bed and drums”. It was pretty impressive and showed just how strong the men are in Nakamozu ^_^
The festival basically involved several shrines being carried from around Nakamozu to the big shinto shrine not too far from my apartment. I met up with Jen and Tom on the Saturday to have a look and was amazed by it. The shrines themselves looked very heavy and they had people riding them and being pushed up and down and moved all around Nakamozu. Then they had to carry this shrine up steps leading to the big temple. I was amazed by their strength, but it looked like they were having alot of fun. Over the 2 days Nakamozu came alive with people around the temple. There were stands selling foods (i had some Okonomiaki and yakisoba) and some games. There was even a haunted house ride ^_^
There was music, drums and shouting during the procession. I love how colourful and interesting Japan is during its festivals. Apparently (i was told this by Jen) this was an old festival used to thank the gods for a good harvest. But its been kept as a tradition in Nakamozu
Here are some pictures for you to see how cool it was
_
October 8th,2009
Daily Life |
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So for 3 days I went to Rinku Town on the outskirts of the Osaka prefecture by the sea and studied Japanese. The 3 days were great. We stayed in a very nice hotel overlooking Rinku town which gave us a good view of the area, especially at night.
Particularly the view of the big ferris wheel in Rinku town which we went up on on the 2nd day, it was a lot of fun.
It was free to hire bikes so we spent a lot of time cycling around Rinku town.
On the first day after checking in and having a brief orientation and a few language sessions we went to the beach. It wasn’t a sandy beach but made of white stones, it was very beautiful. We sat there and talked and stayed there until the sun set. It was breathtaking.
On the second night we went back to the beach at night time and set off some fireworks to celebrate 2 birthdays in the group – Patrick and Lindi
In the hotel there was also 24 hour karaoke ^_^ this was a lot of fun, unfortunately often another group booked it until about 10 – 11pm so we ended up using it after then and singing until maybe 2 – 3am. Still it was great and a lot of fun, I sang a lot of songs. I sang blur and oasis with Ahmed and Sam (the 2 other british jets) I also sang a disney song (part of your world) I sang dido and natalie umbruglia and I sang songs in groups and a few paired songs with Kelsey – Alanis Morrisette’s “ironic” and savage garden’s “I want you”. I also belted out a Beyonce song with Keiko and sang Michael Jackson’s thriller while other people did the thriller dance around me ^_^ was a lot of fun!
So the language workshops went pretty well, our sensei was very funny, very bubbly and hyper and she didn’t speak any English during the lessons. Although most of what she taught me I already new, though it was good practice. Unfortunately I couldn’t move up to the intermediate group as they were doing everything in Hiragana and Katakana and my reading and written ability was still at a basic level. Anyway I spoke to my sensei and she also advised me on some useful books to use to learn the written language. Recently I also purchased an R4 for my DS and have download the My Japanese Coach game, which is just great and really helping me learn the written language. You can use the touch pad to draw and practice writing Hiragana so its great
(my language workshop class)
All in all a very busy but fun weekend ^_^
So recently I went bowling with a group of friends in Kishiwada and it was such a blast. We went at night, there was a huge group of us about 20 – 30 people, so we were split along several lanes. My team was made up on Tom and Jen (from Britain) and Graham and his girlfriend Shoko.
(front left Jen, me .back left to right - Shoko, Graham and Tom)
I had so much fun, I got 2 strikes and got to cheer other people on when they got spares and strikes, gave so many high fives (very american :P)
They also had these bowling pin costumes that you could dress in, they were hilarious. It was such a funny night and then we finished it with all night karaoke and got the first train home to crash and sleep.
October 8th,2009
Daily Life |
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So I thought you would all finally like to see and hear about my apartment and my school ^_^
So I live in Nakamozu, which is just an awesome location. It is great in itself, lots of restaurants and things to do (Karaoke, Ramen, Yakitori, Sushi) It also is useful in that it has several large stores selling just about anything. Midori (which means green) is right near to my apartment and sells everything electronic (tv’s, dvd players, ipods, phones, camera’s, dvd’s, games etc the list is endless)
I also have Saty City which is a big shopping centre and has lots of clothes stores. There is a uniqlo nearby that sells clothes in larger more western friendly sizes and fittings. And there are several 100 Yen stores which I just love and are excellent for buying things for your apartment and even some foods very cheaply. They are way better than pound stores where stuff just falls apart 
My apartment itself is a typical small Japanese apartment. In that it is super small. I have a nice big bathroom (bath and shower) and a very modern toilet with a lot of buttons, half of which I know not what they do and am a little afraid to experiment. Mmm I wonder if it has a heated seat, because that would be really useful in winter ^_^.
My kitchen is small with everything pretty much balancing on top of everything and very little work space, that is the major downside to my apartment as I love to cook and it’ll be very different to cook for more than 1 person.
My end room is pretty much my living room/bedroom. Originally I had a double bed in there left by my predecessor, she lived in the apartment with her husband, I have no idea how! Anyway there was no space with it, so as luck would have it one of the other ALT’s Lindi was looking for a double bed and we swapped, I now have her single futon and love it, its soooooooooo comfortable I also managed to buy a sofabed so I have that in my apartment and it now feels a lot more spacious and livable, i’m happy with the set up:) I have a hiragana/katakana alphabet on my wall to try to learn it, a very cute japanese wall hanging and a map of japan, everytime I visit somewhere new I buy postcards and stick these onto the map around the location I visited, I have already started ^_^ I also have pictures of all my friends and family along the walls so I can always see your smiling faces
The good knews is next year from January I will be moving into a bigger apartment in Nakamozu, further away from the station, which is fine as I can bike to school and do some exercise It also means I will have more space for people to visit me
So now about my school ^_^ Its great, I am soooooo lucky I think. I have 2 other full time ALT’s at my school Ada and Han who are really nice.
Han is from Toronto, Canada, he is an engineer and if you have a problem whether it be a computer, directions whatever Han is your man. We have a saying now “In Han we trust ^_^”
Ada Kate is from Trinidad and Tobago, she is really bubbly and friendly. She has taught me many new trinadadian words such as “liming” this means to hang out. I love listening to her talk, her accent is fun and full of energy
There are also 3 visiting ALT’s Antoinette on a Monday, Joe on a Tuesday and Donald on a Friday.
The JTE’s at my school are lovely and they all speak very good English. We have quite a young staff I think compared to other schools. I teach with Yoshinaga sensei – we teach global studies to a class of 20 3rd year students together, she is great, really friendly, helpful and really open to trying new things and she is very passionate about global issues, its fun and interesting to talk with her.
I also teach with Hirakawa sensei, we teach Cross Culture to 2nd year students together and she is great too I always enjoy my lessons with her, we have 4 classes together.
(on the left Taniguchi-sensei and on the right Hirakawa-sensei)
Finally I teach CALL to first year students with Jo sensei, who is also great ^_^ Seriously all the teachers at my school are just awesome!!!! Jo sensei is very laid back and has a wicked sense of humour
I have my own work space and desk, which I have decorated and it has little anime characters on top – these were given to me by Shoji-san as I gift (I told her I love anime), she is a really nice woman that works in the office. We have become good friends and though she doesn’t speak much english she makes a real effort to learn and use it with me, and I do the same with my Japanese.
All the other JTE’s are very helpful even though I don’t teach with them. You already know about how awesome Ikenoue-sensei and Fuijiwara sensei are. There is also Jodoji-sensei, she has become like my surrogate mum, she brings food in and is just generally lovely. She hasd promised to teach me how to cook some Japanese foods.
Taniguchi -sensei also teachs Cross Culture with Ada and she is also really lovely. When I had a bad reaction to a mosquito bike, which caused my food to swell up painfully, it was Taniguchi sensei who took me to the doctor to get it sorted out
The entire atmosphere in the English staff room is just great, very relaxed and friendly. The teachers are always bringing in food to the other staff, or making coffee and tea for people. They even have special days where the staff cook lunch for each other. So for example recently all the male members of the department cook cold soba noodles for everyone it was very delicious and refreshing as it was so hot.
Some bonus pictures ^_^
Here is a picture of the Konoha Dollars that i created. Reward money for the students to get for contribution in lessons, good group work or homework etc. The students collect the money and then at the end of the year we have a big auction where students can bid for prizes The students love them, they come in different amounts $1 (is a chibi Naruto) $5 (Sakura) $10 (Sasauke) $15 (Naruto) $20 (Kakashi)
Also ^_^ this is a picture that a student drew of the ALT’s at Semboku it was on one of their presentation posters on Semboku High School
The student even described us, Joe was described as cute, Han as smart, Ada as beautiful and powerful (as her family home is huge and she is in a magazine in trinadad and tobago) and i was described as cute and interesting
So on the Saturday I met up with friends and with Jonas (an experienced ALT who has been in japan for 4 years ) in Umeda station to buy a mobile phone (called a Kaitai here) Jonas was hilarious, he was like “you will easily recognise me in the sea of Japanese people. I will be the only tall black guy with dreadlocks”. He’s great, really sweet and helpful and very funny. Went to Yodabashi Camera (a huge electronics store that sells about everything electronic) they are great because they are English friendly as a lot of their staff speak english. So found everyone easily and we went to the store and to the softbank section. So far so good and then came the problem that I experience a lot in Japan, my inability to choose because of the shear volume of choice. With the help of Laura who speaks excellent Japanese and was able to translate to this japanese assistant helping me whose English was very basic, I was able to choose a phone.
Its white and it is amazing! It has a bit in dictionary for translation to and from Japanese and English, it has a TV built in games and internet etc and the phone flips to become a normal phone and to become a personal organiser. I bought the white coloured one and its great, I love my phone! ^_^ my deal is pretty good my contract includes the phone, the white plan which gives me free texts, emails and calls to other softbank users between the hours of 6am – 9pm, I also have internet on my phone too:)
Then in the evening we went to a fireworks festival as Tondabayashi, it was amazing! We got 2 trains there which were packed and then walked up the hill and stopped at venders to buy tradition japanese foods on sale – takoyaki, okonomiaki, yakisoba, shaved ice, toffee apples etc. We walked up the hill surrounded by people in Yukata’s (its very much like the festivals you see in anime:) We found a small space at the top of the hill and sat down with several chuh-hi’s (a cheap japanese alcoholic drink which is yummy) and watched the fireworks, which were AMAZING!!!!
I have never seen anything like them before! The fireworks lasted a whole hour non stop. I took a lot of pictures and several videos which are included here for you to enjoy ^_^
tondabayashi-fireworks
September 17th,2009
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Update number two
So as I said Orientation in Tokyo was hectically busy, but it didn’t stop there. The following morning was an early start in which we took the Shinkansen from Shin-Tokyo to Shin-Osaka.
The journey took about 3 hours in total. The Shinkansen ride was great, comfortable with lots of room to stretch your legs. It was a fun journey, in which I spent most of it talking with Donald, Lindi and Kelsey, laughing about the differences between England English and American English and finding out a bit more about LA (where Donald is from) Colorado and Las Vegas. Also tried to teach Donald the card game “Bloody Mary” in exchange for learning some American card games. He is a right card shark, anyone would think he is from Las Vegas not LA
Apparently you can also see Mount Fuji (or Fuji-sama as the Japanese say here) from the train, but it was a little too hazy and hot that day to be able to see it.
We arrived in Shin-Osaka and walked off the train to be hit by the humidity, its is so much hotter here in Osaka than in Tokyo. We took a mini-bus to the hotel and went up to my room and was greeted with a glorious view of Osaka Castle, it is just beautiful and very impressive.
We then had a 2 hour orientation in which I met Ikeshima sensei, my prefectural supervisor in Osaka, who is lovely, he’s really funny as his english is spoken very hurredly and it always seems like he’s in a rush. He’s constantly saying “haiyaku” (hurry up) so funny.
We then had a meal that night in the hotel, I had a Japanese set menu, while many of the other JET’s had a French set menu, mine was mostly yummy. Though tried a desert that looked like cold custard (I was so excited) only to find that they didn’t put sugar in it but salt and big chunks of meat! Very weird and a bit disappointing I also found out what the name Osaka means, apparently the Kanji for Osaka means “Big Hill”
Had a relatively early night, jet lag was seriously kicking in by then and got up on the Thursday with butterflies in my stomach. Today was the day I was meeting one of my teachers from Semboku and going to the school, I was very nervous and desperate to make a good impression, all kitted out in my suit, though my hair was a mess as my hair straighteners did not work and the humidity was doing funky things to my hair ^_^
But my fears were all for nothing, I met Fujiwara-sensei. Who is lovely, she approached me, introduced herself and after the first self introductions and general chats one of the first things she said was, I hear that your hair straightener is broken (I had asked for advice on where to buy one near the castle the night before) we will go now and buy you one. My thoughts were “how does she now that?” and then “yeay, she is so nice and very helpful” She then asked me to call her Kazumi and we talked about England in the car on the way back, she had been to England before.
Arrival at school was good, I was met by a few of the english teachers in the staff room, met Danielle my predecessor and was taken out for lunch, which was yummy. Everyone was really ncie and welcoming. Then went with Ikenoue-sensei (my school supervisor – who is awesome and very funny. He’s got a great sense of humour and takes no messing and will really help you out in a jam. We went to the town hall and registered for my alien registration card, which I had to use my hanko (seal) to stamp for – it says my name in katakana
(SIDE NOTE – I have now received my card and am official a registered alien :P)
Then went and set up my bank account – had initial problems where they were adamant that they didn’t know how to do that (silly things about not trusting foreigners, unfortunately some companies are like that)– Ikenoue sensei took no messing and was like “Yes you do, don’t lie, I want to see the manager – to which they were very apologetic and set up my bank account and cash card – though it took ages! About 2 hours in total! As I said Ikenoue sensei is a star and looks out for me well.
(Ikenoue-sensei posing as a stern supervisor ^_^)
(The real Ikenoue-sensei ^_^)
Then got back to my apartment, had a shower, got changed and had a drink and then was invited out by Danielle and Greg (her husband) we cycled around Nakamozu, which is a lot of fun and is great at night time when everything is lit up. We went for dinner at a 280 yen place, that sells yakitori (cooked meat on skewers) the food was amazing! I also got to meet Yelee and Philip who also worked at Semboku and we chatted about the school, the teachers and the classes. This was followed up by karaoke
All in all a great way to start my life in Osaka
September 5th,2009
Daily Life |
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Ok so finally i am updating this blog, sorry it’s so late everyone, i have been incredibly busy since i arrived in Japan, meeting new people, exploring the area and at school planning and finally started teaching now. I love my school and my students, feeling very positive right now about the whole thing
So alot has happened in the last 5 weeks and i shall do my best to update you all on my life so far over the next few days.
So i will begin with the beginning of my arrival in japan and first 2 orientations.
well the flight was long and pretty boring, 11 hours on a plane you can go a bit stir crazy, so bring some things to distract you when you come to visit me guys ^_^ i spent most of the time watching the odd film, but mainly chatting to the jets next to me about where they were going and their schools and areas, we also practiced our japanese and our introductory speeches, was very funny. We were also lucky enough to catch a gorgeous sunset as we were thousands of miles in the air it was great.
anyway touched down into tokyo, narita airport to 34 degrees and 100 percent humidity, it just hits you as you walk off the plane, collecting baggage, and walking through customs/immigration was a whirlwind, then walking out of the airport to be greeted by smiling and waving japanese and jets, shouting “welcome to japan”, i felt like a celebrity, its was a very strange experience ^_^
arrival at the hotel was amazing too, the hotel was out of this world, it was huge and very grand.
I was given a pack of information and a room key to a room on the 23rd floor, during the whole orientation i shared a room with 2 other jets Becky and Katrina, it was really nice to have people to talk with and laugh around with
The orientation began on the monday morning and was jammed packed full of information. It began with a very formal opening ceremony in which we learnt the different types of bows, 15egree, 40 degree, and the 90 degree bow for when you have made a huge mistake. These bows were then put into action when the government officials entered the room to give their introductory speeches.
There were some very entertaining speaches on culture shock and some rather boring speeches on the education system too. The tuesday orientation was much more interesting, full of workshops on japanese popular culture, grocery shopping and cooking in japan, initial greetings and introductions, classroom ideas and team teaching for high schools etc. I also signed up with ajet, which is a jet run organisation that arranges trips and events for jets. I bought some very useful books, Planet Ego that is written by JETS and includes lesson plans, activities and ideas and most importantly The Kanji Survival Guide, which is just awesome, it includes important kanji translations for atm machines, rice cookers, ovens, air con etc.
The orientation was also a great time, in which i met lots of british JET’s and other JETs from around the world. On the first night i went out with Jack, Becky and 2 other British JET’s in Shinjuku for some dinner and managed to order in Japanese. Food was yummy, and i also tried my new favourite drink umai-shu (plum wine)
On the second night we had our orientation social, we went to an izakaya, which included a “nomi-hodai” (all you can drink) and “tabi-hodai” (all you can eat) for 2 hours. It was alot of fun, and a good opportunty to get to know all the JETs in the Osaka and Kobe area, i also got some very useful email addresses for everyone, which i forwarded to everyone, to help people keep in touch.
(from left to right ; Kelsey (from Hawaii and Las Vegas) Lindi (from Colorado) and Sam (from London)
On the last night we went to the British Embassy for a reception, drinks, buffet (they had fish, chips and cornish pasties and cucumber sandwiches ^_^) We were also treated to a Taiko show and i was able to get involved and have ago with the drums and given a short Taiko lesson, its was fantastic and so much fun, i definately want to find a Taiko group in Osaka
After the Embassy party we went to the government viewing centre behind the Keio Plaza Hotel rode a very fast elevator up to the top floor and got to see some amazing sights for Shinjuku at night and take some very fun and funny pictures, before then finishing with a cocktail drink in one of the bars in the hotel.
So to summarise the Tokyo Orientation was very busy and tiring given the Jet lag, but at the same time mostly interesting and alot of fun, and the perfect way to begin my life in Japan
September 2nd,2009
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So it has been a while since I have posted on this blog, and thats because I have been so hectically busy getting stuff sorted for leaving to go to Japan. I am currently sat in my room in a Travellodge hotel next to Heathrow Airport, I am too excited to sleep so I thought it might be a good idea to catch up on my blog and give you all some details on what I will be up to over the next few days, as it might be 2 weeks until I am connected in my new apartment and able to update this blog
So lets start with the beginning of my journey ^_^
My flight is tomorrow at 4.25pm with Japan Airlines and takes roughly 11 hours 15 minutes. I think I will try and sleep for most of that so that I am well rested for arriving in Tokyo. We arrive in Tokyo at 12.20pm. Currently in Tokyo, i’m told, it is 30 degrees, 60 – 70% humidity, so very hot and sticky. I will be drinking lots of water I think ^_^ We are all met at the airport by JET members in bright tshirts who sort out customs, immigration and sending some of our luggage onto our contracting organisations (base schools). Then we hop onto a coach and head into Tokyo city centre and specifically to the Keio Plaza Hotel in downtown Shinjuku, which is where I will be staying for 3 days and where the Tokyo Orientation will be. The hotel is AMAZING!!!!!!! Check out the link below
http://www.keioplaza.com/gallery/index.html
It looks amazing!! especially the pool on the roof ^_^ Its in Shinjuku as well which is an awesome area for shopping and entertainment, I can already anticipate going out for food on the sunday and going into some bars and singing in a karaoke bar on my first night
Orientation starts early at 9.30am on the Monday, and is pretty intensive with courses on the education system, the job, schools, cultural things about Japan, shopping etc, and language courses as well as special prefectural meetings in which I will get to meet other JET’s in my local area ^_^ Then on the Wednesday I leave in the morning by Shinkensen (bullet train) for Osaka City where I am put up in a hotel over night opposite Osaka Castle, we have an orientation briefing in the afternoon and then a welcome banquet and optional tour of the castle and its grounds, which I will definitely be going on. Then on the Thursday morning I will meet some of the staff from my school who will pick me up from the hotel and take me to the school to pick up my luggage. My school is called Semboku Senior High (16 – 18 school) and is based in Sakai-shi (Sakai City) but i’ll post more details on that later. I so have no idea whether I need to give my introductory speech in Japanese then and present my omiyage (gifts) or whether they will take me straight to my apartment. Then on the Thursday or Friday I will have a lot to do with the help of Ikenoue-sensei no doubt ^_^ to set up a bank account, get my alien registration card, get my seal and use it to sign my contract and look around the area Though I am very lucky as Danielle (My predecessor) will be there until August 4th and will help me a lot. I am told it can take up to 2 weeks to get your internet and phone connected so it might be a little while before I can update again ^_^ But I will no doubt have a lot to say and a lot to tell, so bye for now, and I will post again when I am in Japan ^_^
