I have many things to talk about today. So hopefully my english grammer can remain intact. Yes, Gin-Chan, no fobbing today…^_^ So let’s get started:
1. On Sunday I went to the beer festival in Inchinoseki. So, what did I get for my 1260 in bus fare and 1000yen worth of beer tickets? Hmm, that’s a good question. I would have to say that I got quite drunk for one thing. I also got the chance to pick up some great omiyage for my office. They were dango. Yum! They also had a jazz/pop orchestra playing some famililar tunes. One of those tunes was Beauty and The beast. The other was the theme song to Lupin III. I was impressed. I was also impressed by the large selection of beer that they had. Oh and sausage on a stick. I love sausage on a stick. So, what else is new about this week? Well, the 27th marks my one month anniversary here. I can’t believe it’s been 1 month already. It’s flew by. So many things have happened. It’s great.
Oh yes, and that leads me to today. So, today was my first day of school. I started at Fujisawa Junior high school. It’s a 10 ten bus trip from my house. What did I do? Well, at 9:20 I got to go in front of 300 student and 20 odd staff and give a short intro about myself. It’s a good thing I don’t have stage fright or I’d really be messed up. At 9:55 we had our first class. It was fun. I got to introduce myself again, and this time we did some excercies bases on my introduction. Then I had the students get up and do some excercies to keep them in the game. I had to repeat this for the block in the afternoon as well. I taught two other classes and they were quite fun to teach. The only down side of fujisawa is that iafter class it’s an hour wait until the next bus comes. What fun! I think I’ll use this time to study Japanese or something. I’m going to try and get pictures for everybody.
Oh yes, one other thing. I always wondered if Japan got thunder storms. Well they do. And they hit big time. Here’s an example: Lightning hit 500m from my house an caused a local business to explode. I’m not kidding. There were fire trucks out there for 2 hours. Oh yes, I should probably put some pictures of the beer festival up as well. Enjoy…^_^
Yes, the sign say, “Beer Festival. In Ichinoseki!”
This is Mark on the left. He’s from Vancouver. He’s also a 1st year Jet in Senmaya.
This is me sipping on the finest brew Hokkaido has to offer. It’s tasty!
This is a special link for Ian and all of you. Download if you like. The song they are playing is really, really good.
Cheers!
Well I came back from the Morioka Orientation. I had some fun. I got to take the tohoku train up to Morioka, which is about 2 hours away, and then we had seminars and workshops that will help us settle in. I do have pictures, but I’m going to have to sort through them all first. But now that I’m back at home, everything is great. Oh yes, I’m off to a beer festival this afternoon. Which may not be so great since it’s pouring rain right now. Oh well.
Just to let you all know. That from August 18 to the 24 I will be away for a conference, so I won’t be home, and might not get to answer emails. So, no I’m not dead, just busy…^_^ Cheers.
Ahhhh, there is nothing nicer then a Japanese haircut(rihatsu). This isn’t walking into supercuts and hoping for the best. You walk in, sit down and the baber asks you what kind of haricut you would like to have. You scramble because your Japanese sucks, but somehow the point get through. Then he washes your hair, cuts it, washes it again, gives you a shoulder massage, gives your head a massage, shaves you, and then puts this nice warm towel on your face. When I was don, I was in heaven. Sure it’s 3500en, but it’s worth every 1yen piece. I feel so good now. He even gave me something for my cough. And what happend after that? Well, I’m not coughing anymore…^_- After then I went to a bookstore, and checked out their massive collection on manga. Holy Cow! They had One Piece, Prince of Tennis, Slam Dunk and even Hana Yori Dango. I was happy. Today seems to be going much better then yesterday.
It’s so Sharp. And it’s soft as well. This guy knew exactly what I wanted.
Another shot. God bless Japanese barber.
I’ve been waiting to explain this last picture. You see, in senmaya we have a famous rock. It’s called the fuufu rock, and it’s actually two rocks. The “woman” rock is in the background and I couldn’t get a good picture of it, but can you guess why this is the “man” rock. It’s the married couple rock, and it’s supposed to bring fertility to those who need it. Obviously not to teenage boy and girls.
Added Later: I think this article from the Japan Times really sums up what needs to be said about friendship. It got me thinking. Am I am ship friend, or am I the other kind?
Jason
So, what did I do the last few day. I went to the ocean and watched fireworks. These were incredible. The best I’ve ever seen, and they were launched off of the pacific ocean. So beautiful. It was raining, so I didn’t get any pictures. Sorry. I also got to meet some of the people down in rikusen-takada. It’s an hour away by train, and it’s stunning. We also got a chance to visit Mos(Mountain Ocean Sky) Burger. This place rocks. Their chicken burgers are incredible. And only 250Yen a burger. If you come and visit me I’m taking you here for certain. Well that’s it for now. I’m coughing like mad, so I’m going to bed. Good night!
Jason
Well, it’s now going on Thursday and I’m feeling really ill. So I though I would use this opportunity to post some pictures of my trip to japan from Edmonton. Of course, Everybody loves the pictures, don’t they? Lets begin:
The horse I rode in on. It was two hours late. 9 hour flight became 11 hours.
The tokyo Metropolitan Goverment Building in Shinjuku. The best building of them all.
Ikebokuro. There is a Gamers store here. And I got to see it.
This is the “Hotel Ace” in Morioka. Nice hotel. Small small rooms.
And it was Shinkansen, Shinkansen, faster then lightning…There are bare parts of Japan. But they are all taken up by farms.
Okay, So mabye I’m throwing out too many pictures at you this time. So Here is a link that came around on Anime Alberta. God, this man scares me. He should scare you as well. Thanks to Natnat for the source, and to somethingawful.com for the forum. Oh yeah, I forgot. For those of you who don’t know, there is a little things called “Shout out” at the bottom of my blogs. You can click here to leave little comments. I read them all, so go nuts. Also, check out Mars in the night sky this week. It’s going to be the brightest it’s ever been in 5000 years. Don’t miss that chance.
So, I guess I’ll make this the start of my regular Journal entires. Well, let’s start with today. So what did I do today? There was the earthquake this morning. That was quite fun. It was only a 1 on the Japanese scale, but it was a good time for all. It was like mild turbulence on a plane. After that, we went to the various Boards of Education where I’ll be teaching. Everybody was very helpful, and welcomed me with open arms. This was a good thing. I’m very honored to be on the JET program, and hope that I can do the best job possible. Let’s see, what else happened. Hmmm, I went to kitakami with a new friend of mine and we watched the hulk. It wasn’t bad. Could have been better though. Oh yeah, I got my Bank account opened, and I also have my alien registration card on the way. I also now have a hanko(personal seal) which I use as a signature. Hmmm. Oh yes, in Japan they have slippers for everything. Bathroom slippers, waiting room slippers, New bank account slippers, tax filing slippers, you name it. And may god have mercy on your soul if you should wear one pair into another room. Oh the shame. Oh, yes, on Thusday I went to en enkai(party) in my honor. We drank, then we ate, and then we drank some more. Then we went to a karaoke bar and drank some more. Get the picture? Now that I’m on the internet at home, I’m looking forward to keeping up to date with everyone.
Some other things that I’ve noticed. Spiders here are huge. I’m getting over my fear of them quite fast. In fact, thanks to alcohol I think I pulled a fist sized spider off it’s web, gave it a big hug and then put it back on it’s web. I can’t confirm or deny this, but there was some webbing on my hands in the morning. Luckly for me there aren’t any poisonous spiders in Iwate. I also now have a new favorite place to eat. It’s called Sushi Daruna and it’s a kaitenzushi(roatating sushi belt) place. I can eat 12 pieces of sushi for about 600 yen. Yum. Well, I’ve got to organize some stuff, so I’m off for now. Take care. More to come.
Jason
I can’t be on here for too long seeing as I am at work right now, but I’ll let you all know that I’m settled in at the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education. I work at the Senmaya branch, and I will be teaching at three schools and working at the office on monday. In November, I will also be going to Murone elementary school to give an example of international relations. Senmaya is my hometown, and the three schools I will be going to are in local area towns. So in other words, work is going quite well.
In other areas of my life, things are also going quite well, if not taking a little time to get used to. The weather here is tropical and very hot. The humidity is always around 80%, and I’m always sweating, no matter where I go. My house is huge, so if you’re in the area, please stop by and have a beer with me. There is a party in my honor this thurday, and on Friday I’m going to meet the boards of education of the various school I will be working in.
Oh yes, two myths about Japan that I’ve cracked. Here in Japan, they love Ice Cream. In fact, our office is floating in a river of green tea Ice Cream. The other rumour is that nobody owns a house in Japan. The fact is that, if you live in a big city, you don’t own a home, however if you live in a smaller area, you will most certainly own a house. I will disspell more myths at a later time. By the way. Here is my offical position in Japanese gaikokushidoujushou You should see the Kanji for that one.
