Ruby Tuesday

And what a perfect day for body painting it was. The blue sky was out accompanied by heat and humidity. The kids got to run around in their skivvies tagging each other with handprints of paint. Afterwards, they were hosed off and sent to the swimming pool for P.E. class. Not a bad day in the slightest. 

Dansu

Another afternoon in Osaka. Harry dropped us off in Umeda, one of the downtown areas. It is very popular in the day time because of its great department stores and malls, as well as the Umeda Sky Building. We had several hours to kill but stayed within a one block radius. It's amazing the amounts of things to see in this crazy Japanese city.  We went on a ride on a big red Ferris wheel and a stroll through the nuttiest shopping mall I've been in, Hep Five. The view from the Ferris wheel was splendid. And the sky was so blue. We could see all of Osaka, including Osaka-Jo, right in the middle of it all. This city is gigantic, it's all you can see in every direction. 

It was all so perfect. 

It all ended with Nowhere. That's the name of Harry's band (he's the drummer) and the reason we were in Osaka in the first place. They are very big fans of the Beatles, the guitarist is nicknamed George. They only play covers of American songs, and mostly Beatles. We knew every single song they played and they were pretty great. Harry had previously asked if I like to dance and he seemed to have told the entire band so that's what they were expecting of us. They even rearranged the few tables in the modest sized bar so that we would have room to dance. The lead singer, Katie (also the owner of the bar), kept making comments in Japanese about how she was nervous because we were there and how she wanted us to dance. Finally, we caved under the pressure from Harry and the band and a few beers. We danced. We were the only ones who did so and we had the eight person audience in awe. 

Other highlights of the weekend include takoyaki, discovering a greenhouse and bringing home an orchid, and a lovely picnic in Yamadaike park. Takoyaki are octopus balls and Osaka is known for them, and hearty cuisine in general. They are delicious! Fried little balls made of egg, flour, soy sauce and octopus. As soon as Harry fond out we hadn't had any yet he stopped the car immediately and ran to his favorite place and bought us an order of them to eat in the car on the way to Osaka. 

He's an amazing host. Always taking care of us and showing us good places to eat and get coffee. I think he also worries that we aren't competent getting around Japan on our own. He always gives us very detailed directions, calls to make sure we're on the right train and sometimes seems surprised when we tell him of the things we've accomplished. He also makes us laugh, a lot. He made sure to tell us not to mention to his band mates that he's my boss because they don't know what he does as a profession. He also mentioned that they were all shocked to learn that he speaks English. 

Another amazing weekend, even if it is starting to get really hot and humid. Being in Osaka right now is comparable to being in a sauna. We've decided to start using the A.C...

The big red Ferris wheel in the middle of downtown, Umeda

A big red whale, and it's baby, suspended in the middle of the mall...

Escalators. 

Riding the wheel.

Great clouds of Osaka from the top.

Nowhere.

A bit about teaching...

The kids are adorable, some very shy, some very not. Some very eager to speak and practice English, some not at all.

This week I've been at Kasugaoka Kindergarten. It is the one closest to us, about a 5 minute walk down the street from our apartment. Convenient. The English teacher here, Takaoka Sensei, speaks the least amount of English of the 3 teachers. This is also the largest school I go to. In the mornings the both of us visit 2-4 different classes ranging in age from 3-5 years old. We are in each classroom for 20 minutes and just do a quick English lesson; ABC's, counting, singing, etc... Then there is lunch. I love Japanese school lunches so far. They come in little hard-plastic boxes with different little compartments with an assortment of food and always another box full of rice. Usually there is some sort of fried meat, a couple different salads, maybe a seaweed salad, maybe a corn, mayo and crab salad, and more foods that I have no idea what they are. Most things I like, others I don't but try to eat anyways. It's been a fun way for me to experience different Japanese foods. It seems that the other teachers view Japanese school lunches as we would American School lunches, not so good. Oh, and there is always amazingly delicious green tea.

 

After lunch I journey to the English room, which in this school is in a completely different building than the main school. On Monday, Thursday and Friday I have classes that start at 2:30, on Tuesday and Wednesday classes don't start until 4:50 which means I have plenty of free time to work on lesson plans, read, practice Japanese, write, or anything else. The classes in the afternoon are what I call our 'private lessons'. These are the classes which I teach. Here at Kasugaoka they range from 1 student to 5 students, from 4 years old to 11 years old. There are students who come from other elementary schools to take English classes here.

This week has been my first week of making my own lesson plans. I have to admit it's been rather interesting and I've been getting nervous before classes, as the other teacher is often in the classroom observing. I'm learning to have more activities planned then we have time for, we seem to go things quickly sometimes. On Wednesday I'm already starting to feel more comfortable in the classroom. I just try and remember that they mostly want me here as a native English speaker, the rest kind of just falls into place, though I do need to have some sort of plan. To start classes I ask the students a series of simple questions: How are you? (I'm trying to steer them away from saying 'Im fine') How is the weather? What is your favorite food? Etc... I think with some of the older kids I will start having them ask me questions as well. Then mostly we run through vocabulary words and play games associated with the words. We also like to play a lot of Uno, not English, I know; but it sure keeps those kids happy.

Every Wednesday morning I go to Sanae Kindergarten to teach an adult class. Sanae is the farthest school. It is about 15 minutes away by scooter. I have one student in this class named Sumiko. She has been taking these lessons since my friend Janel was teaching here, about 4-6 years ago. She speaks English very well and even teaches English. She comes with any questions she may have with the text book she works from and teaches her grandchildren from. I bring in magazines and articles about the United States and we mostly just talk about things, no real schedule here. I really enjoy this class, as she sometimes helps me with my Japanese homework and we are both learning a lot about each other's cultures.

All and all it's been good, nerve-racking and experimental, but fun. Japan is different in a lot of ways than I imagined and exactly how I imagines in some ways. For some reason I expected most people to know more English than it seems. It's possible that people know more than they let on and are just too shy to try speaking to us. It would also make sense that since they have been learning English from such a young age, they know how to read and pass tests well, but actually using it; speaking and listening is still challenging. I did not come here, though, to speak English, so this works out well for us.

We have started taking Japanese lessons. We found out that there is a group of volunteers that meet in a building downtown 3 times a week to teach foreigners Japanese. This is a free service. So of course we went. There were about 6 other students there on the Saturday night we went. All of which were Asian. Our teacher speaks very little English, but enough to give us copies from a text book for 5 year olds to practice writing and reading Hiragana and Katakana. It's a start. The next thing we know we are being shooed up front to introduce ourselves in Japanese to everyone else there. Eeeeek! I stumble over my words horribly, but it's over in about 30 seconds and everyone is smiling with us. There is someone else in the room who speaks prefect English. He is a Korean man who is married to a Japanese woman and living here in Japan after spending 20 years in Chicago. We are hoping we will see him there again.

As you can imagine, life is good. I definitely still miss home, our awesome family, our amazing friends and our beautiful black cat Bogota. Especially after talking to the Rico peeps on the phone this morning while they were all around the fire pit getting ready to eat dinner. (Love Rico!) But, I'm glad we are here. Our apartment feels more and more like home and we have a fairly good feeling for the city of Hirakata. I'm excited to go more places around here. Tomorrow we are going back to Osaka with Harry. Coming up in the next few weeks we will have to go to Korea and then in August we're going to Shanghai to see our good friends Diva and Robby. I can not wait to see more of Japan and more of Asia.  

Osaka

It seems as though we have entered the rainy season and apparently it lasts all of June. It's started earlier than usual and may even be a record according to Harry. Hopefully that mean that it will end sooner than usual as well. We just have to remember to take our umbrellas everywhere we go. A little different from Colorado.

I started my third week of school and last week Mandy arrived. She was one of our roommates in the Mountain House in Boulder. She had been traveling in Thailand and Vietnam for the past 3 weeks and decided to make Japan the last leg of her journey. She came on Wednesday and stayed through Monday. We made the trek to downtown Hirakata on Friday night and found ourselves in a great little bar. By little I mean about 10 stools and a wall 3 feet behind you. There were, however, 3 bartenders, which made for some very good service. They loved having us there to try to speak English to and our attempts at Japanese.

On Saturday morning we decide to go to Osaka to stay the night. Again, getting to Osaka is easier then we expect, although we did one get off the train at the wrong station, but no big deal since you can get back on any train. After arriving in Osaka and finding our hotel, we set out to explore. Our first stop is Osaka-Jo, a castle built as a display of power by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1583. It was destroyed and destroyed again. What stands today was built in 1931 as a replica of the original. It definitely feels that way, it feels more similar to a museum than a castle, but cool none the less. You start at the top, the eighth floor, and work your way down and look at exhibits on each floor. From the very top there is a great outdoor viewing deck where you get a great view of Osaka from all directions. Of course, it's rainy and cloudy, but still a great view. Around the castle is a huge moat and lots of smaller structures and shrines and such. As we were wandering around the grounds we saw a car pull up with a Japanese bride inside. She was dressed in a gorgeous white kimono and had a huge headdress of some sort on. Everything was really beautiful.

After resting for a few hours and building up our appetite, we experienced Osaka's night life. What a wonderful night life it is. We happen to be very near an awesome downtown area called Dotombori. The streets are littered with arcades, pachinko parlours, strip clubs, karaoke bars, 'shot bars', restaurants and crowded with best-dressed young people. It's all so bright and colorful and loud and we are in awe. It's impossible to try to describe and pictures really do no justice.

Sunday morning, and it's hard to believe we only arrived yesterday as it feels like that was so long ago. Raining and raining. Off to the aquarium! This place was amazing! It's centered around the worlds largest aquarium tank and inside of this large tank swims a whale shark! You start on the top floor and spiral your way down around this main tank. This is an excellent way to do it because you get to see the whale shark and all the others in this tank at so many different angles and depths. There are other tanks on the other sides as well. Definitely one of my favorite things we've done yet. Thank you Mireya for the recommendation!

We really love Osaka. It was nice to spend a couple days there and get a feel for the city. It's huge and there is so much to see and do, I know we will be back soon. It's so quick and easy to get to from Hirakata-shi. We can go for just a few hours and come back. Everywhere we went was so crowded with so many people going so many places. We got a chance to see Japanese fashion at it's best. We were even asked by a small group of middle school aged children if we would take our pictures with them. Of course we did, we love feeling like celebrities! As much as we love Osaka, it was really great to get home and out of the crazy city.

Prayers written on paper and tied to trees by the shrine at Osaka-Jo

Osaka-Jo

Osaka from the top of Osaka-Jo

Serenity Pond

Aquarium

Hammer Heads and fish friends in the main tank

Whale shark and his groupies

Aquarium

The Job

As far as the teaching goes, it's interesting. Today I'm starting my second week of it. Each week I am at a different school and there are three schools that I'll be rotating through. Last week was at a school called Hotoku with the English teacher who speaks the most English, Nami. On Monday there is only one class at 11 (I work 10AM-7PM) with two mothers. They are so very sweet. When we first start the class they both admit to having butterflies in the stomachs because I am there, "me too!" One of them is very eager to learn and tries to speak a lot, the other is a bit more shy but still tries to speak in English with me. This is a 40 minute class and afterwards there is nothing but planning to do for the rest of the day, which Nami has already completed for this week.
I do however get to enjoy my first Japanese school lunch. Maybe because it's all new and exciting but I certainly love it. I can't quite tell you all of what I was eating exactly, besides the rice, edamame and some sort of fried chicken. After lunch, Nami goes to practice singing in two classrooms and I tag along. In the first room the little kids are singing some song about going on vacation and the second class they sing Love Me Tender. Although it's all in English I can't quite make out what they are saying, but it sure is adorable.
Later on we go on a bus to take a small group of children home. They are all so tired and fall asleep on the bus. It is nice riding around town and seeing parts that I haven't seen yet.
Back to the school for more planning, a.k.a. nothing, until there's a teachers meeting which I attend. I don't know what's happening until I'm asked to introduce myself, knowing that the only person who can understand me is Nami, I'm not so nervous about this. I'm sent home at 5, which is nice as I was expecting to stay until 7.
On Tuesday we have two classes in the morning for 20 minutes each where we go into other classrooms and do activities with young children. We play games and recite the alphabet, things of that nature. By 10:40 classes are over for the morning. More planning... The afternoon's on Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little busier with 3-4 classes in the English room back to back. This Tuesday though, Rob and I are going to Osaka with Harry to the Immigration Office. It's a big, big city and the direction we enter it is very industrial. I can't wait to come back with more time to explore this big 'ol city.
When we get back to Hirakata Harry drops us off at the Hotoku school where there is one class left at 6PM. He is a 6th grader and we all play Scrabble. He kicks our asses.
Wednesday. I'm suppose to go to another school, Sanae, to teach another mother's class, but the one student is going to be absent so I just go to Hotoku with Nami. Of course there isn't a class until 2:40PM. I guess I'll plan. The first class is very interesting. It's a 3 year old class. They don't speak any English at all and Nami explains that they don't entirely know Japanese either so it's hard for her. Today in particular. Their mothers are there to watch the class which makes the children act silly. They cry and cling to their mothers and it's just pure chaos in the room, nothing we had planned goes without a hitch and we didn't even get to do some of the activities we had planned one. Later in the afternoon there are a couple of classes in the English room with a few students. I like these classes the best, as they are smaller, usually 1-4 students and I get to interact with them more.
On Thurday I meet Nami at another school, Kasugaoka. She comes here on Thursday mornings because it's the largest school and the English teacher here needs help. We go into 3 or 4 classrooms and do some coloring exercises. We have lunch here, a form of Japanese curry, and then walk back to Hotoku where we have a busy afternoon with classes in the English room, the same as Tuesday.
Friday we go to the zoo! Not quite what you think of when you think of a zoo. There are no elephants, tigers, bears, or anything of that sort. There are raccoons, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, peacocks, squirrels, a swan, and some other birds. Still it's exciting and we walk around with kids from all the schools and look at there interesting animals. Afterwards we eat lunches that we packed on a tarp under the shade of some trees. We take our shoes off before stepping on the tarp and face them away from us so we can make a quick getaway if needed. All the kids have bento boxes, I'm mildly jealous.
After arriving back to the school from the zoo we have a couple afternoon classes and today I get to leave at 5 again. T.G.I.F.

This week I am going to Kasugaoka. It is right down the street from where we leave, about a 5 minute walk. Again, I'm nervous to see how this week goes because I'm sure each of the teachers have different ways in which they teach. Also, Nami speaks the best English of all the teachers. The other two can hardly hold a conversation with me so I'm curious to see what they have me do. It's also possible that they are just shy about speaking with me. Also, it's frightening how much Japanese is used to teach English. Obviously it has to be done as most of the students don't understand any English and often have to ask what I'm saying or how to say something. I just don't know how I'm going to handle that when I'm the lead teacher, which I'm assuming is going to happen but really don't know. Last week it seemed like I was mostly there to be an assistant and to be the native English speaker. I don't know how it is going to differ though when it's not my first week at a school.

Rob Here:

Hello everyone. I just wanted to point out that we still haven't gotten our own internet connection. Luckily one of the neighbors has a Fon Hotspot and we are able to buy single days of access or five day packs. It it gets a little pricy, so we are rationing our days out. Luckily though, perhaps because Google is a major investor in the company, all of their websites are accessible regardless of if we are signed into a paid session or not. So we are able to access our Gmail, this blogging website, Google Translate and Google Maps (which causes more frustration than it is worth, as everything is in Japanese and searches must be done in Japanese). Facebook, however, isn't accessible except on days that we pay, so don't think we are ignoring you guys on there. I know Olivia sent out a mass email to announce this blog, but if there is anyone else you might think would be interested to know what we are up to, feel free to share the link as much as you want.

I can't believe we've already been here for a week! I like it more and more every day, and we just keep getting more comfortable with our day to day tasks. We have been taking off in a different direction every day and slowly expanding our knowledge of the area. There is a 24-hour Circle K convenience store a stones throw from our apartment to which we have been making daily pilgrimages. They have a little bit of everything there, and most of it is priced pretty comparably to the grocery store. It is also one of the few smaller stores we have discovered that takes credit cards. People generally use cash for most transactions here, so the grocery store and most restaurants don't take cards. We definitely should have brought more yen with us, as it spends very quickly when you are starting a new life in a new country. This became more of an issue when I realized that in all my excitement, I forgot to call Wells Fargo card services to let them know I would be in Japan. Luckily I found a number to call them toll-free collect from Japan and got that sorted out. The only place we are able to use the ATM is at the post-office, since Japanese banks are apparently on a different type of network, but they are all over the place, and one is on the route to on of the schools where Olivia works. I can't wait to see what sort of atrocious fees Wells Fargo tacks on, but once Olivia starts getting paid in Yen it will become a moot point.

Some other highlights of our shopping excursions have been: a great little grocery store about a 10 minute walk from the apartment along with a Drug Store (think Walgreen's) across the street from that, a 15-20 minute walk in the other direction takes us to Joshin Electronics and Midori which is very similar. Electronics stores in Japan are certainly an experience, with the brightest Fluorescent lighting you have ever seen, every item coming in 6+ bright colors and a cacophony of noise coming from every device on display. It's certainly not a place you would want to visit with a headache, but it's sort of overwhelming in a very awesome sort of way. One of our favorite things is the abundance of 100 yen stores. There is actually some pretty decent stuff in there, and we were able to acquire many household goods for very little money. It probably helps that we are so close to China and Thailand and such where these items can be produced very cheaply. While American dollar stores are filled with stuff that is obviously worth a dollar or less, the items in 100 yen stores could reasonably sold at higher prices if you encountered them elsewhere. I made a great find last night, there is a little import whiskey shop right near one of Olivia's schools that has everything, some of the Scotch and Irish whiskey is less that half the price you would pay in the US.

Scoot, Scooting.

15 May 2011

We wake up determined to find sheets. Harry gives us directions to a place called Izumiya, but we must go by moped, on a busy street. Eek! But we must just do it, it's really the only way. After a couple spins up and down our own street I'm ready to brave the big street, with real cars and trucks even. "I'll follow you" I tell Rob, but of course I don't go quite fast enough. He goes through an orange light and I'm left behind. There's no more turns to make so I'm sure I'll just catch up or see him at Izumiya. Just as I'm thinking to myself that it seems I've gone to far I spot the sign! I've arrived, and it was so simple! I park my scooter, which takes me a minute as, of course, I can't figure out the kick stand. Stupid foreigner. It's strange though, I don't see Rob's scooter anywhere. Maybe he parked somewhere else. No. Maybe he passed Izumiya without seeing it (but the sign was so obvious). No. Well, I decide to wait. He should be here shortly. No. Of course, he has our only cell phone and of course I forgot to write down the number so that I can't call him. I do have Harry's number though, I can call him and ask him to give me my own phone number. (So silly.) Finally, after waiting about 30-40 minutes I decide to go looking for Rob, a.k.a, go home and see if he's there. Just to make things all that more complicated I can't make a right turn very easily and have to go further up the street and down another small street into some farmland to turn around and get going in the right direction, which adds extra minutes to this circus routine.
At last I'm home, and I really started to enjoy cruising around town on my scooter, so many smells to smell and sights to see. This is great!
Shit! Where is Rob's moped? Not here. Where's Rob? Not here. I might as well go pee while I wait and think what my next step will be. About 3 minutes later he shows up, and we laugh.
His story:
He thought he passed Izumiya, turned off the road and went to a mall he thought was it. He parked next to what he thought was my scooter. Once he realized he was in the wrong place, he got back on the moped, which took several minutes to start, had the same experience I had in trying to turn around and made it to the real Izumiya. Seems as though I had left moments before he arrived and when he saw I wasn't there decided to see if I was at the apartment.
The point is we discovered a new great place to shop, conquered the scooters (and driving on the left side of the road) and all and all had a grand adventure in doing so.