Saturday, September 24, 2005
I sang in front of about a hundred people today... in Japanese! It's a song called "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" by Oda Kazumasa. This song was popular in the early 90's and was a soundtrack for a popular TV drama... haha! Well, I sang it with another teacher so I was quite courageous although my hand was shaking as I was holding the mic. I was asked to sing because the teachers knew that I could sing Japanese karaoke. I've been to karaoke with them twice already... and oh boy, going to karaoke is really fun, especially when you are drunk! Ha ha. The whole thing was a part of a musical show presented by my school's brass band. I felt like an instant star here. ^ _ ^
I also had my first haircut in Japan! I thought I was going to have a hard time being understood by the hairstylists but it actually went well. They did a really good job and I'm very impressed. Although my city is quite country, there is actually one chic salon place here. It's quite expensive but it's really worth it. The main hairstylist actually used to hangout with a former English teacher from Canada who used to live in the place where I'm staying at right now. Well, people usually know each other here so... The guy who cut my hair is really nice and friendly.
10:44 AM
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
ShinobiI watched "Shinobi" yesterday at a theatre in the next town with a Japanese friend. My city does not have its own theatre so we had to go to the nearby town to watch a movie. It's funny because this town is so much smaller than my city and yet they have their own mall and a couple of theatres. We don't even have a mall here! The movie theatre is inside this mall. The mall reminded me so much of my hometown in Canada. This movie is amazing. Odagiri Joe was so cool in this movie. He has this really good looking face and very cool hairstyle. The movie is about two lovers each belonging to competing ninja groups. It's a tragic love story and I cried watching this movie although I only understood maybe 30% of what was said in the movie. This was the first time I watched a Japanese movie without English subtitles. I kind of understood what was going on. I really liked this movie.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Nagoya, bullet train, delicious grapes... and fake shoes?
As usual, I haven't updated my blog again for so long. I got so busy lately with class preparations and I have been going home very tired lately from school. I have been playing with my elementary school students during their school breaks and some Sports Day practice exercises. I have been having lots of fun though. I really enjoy being with my students. They are all so friendly and super "genki" (Japanese word for "enthusiastic, happy, etc.). I learned how to play many games and some sports that I've never really played at all. I am not a very sports type of guy but I am turning into one little by little. I learned how to play "dodge ball" and soccer. This coming Saturday is my base school's Sports Day and I was invited to participate in one of the games with the 1st year junior high students, and to play rugby with the school team versus the PTA members. The kids in the school have been practicing really hard, I mean really hard. The Japanese regard physical education with great importance and they really take it very seriously which I think is really great. I didn't have any sporty shoes and so I went to the nearby big city but I think I just bought a fake Adidas shoes. I am not sure but it looks fake to me. Well, the price was about 4,900 yen which is quite cheap but then I found shoes in another city that has the same price and so I thought the price was just fine. Oh well, I am not returning them. I will use them only for going to school and playing with kids anyway and so I think they're fine.
(the school kids practicing for the Sports Day)
Anyway, last weekend, I went to Nagoya which is considered the third largest city in Japan and oh yeah, it is huge indeed! I went to the Expo. It was packed with people! I was only able to visit four pavilions because of the long lineups. The usual waiting time at the line up was 45 to 60 minutes. There was also big lineup for the girls' washroom - 30 minutes! I visited the Canadian, American, Philippine and African pavilions. Actually, I received a VIP treatment at the Canadian pavilion being Canadian and so I skipped the whole lining up process. I guess they did it because they knew I travelled a great distance just to see the Expo. I went to Nagoya by the "bullet train" or "shinkansen". The shinkansen was amazing! It was a bit pricey but it was really worth it. It only took 1.5 hours from the prefectural capital to Nagoya and the train ride was comfortable. It was really super fast!
(the "shinkansen" or "bullet train")
I have a friend in Nagoya and so he took me around the city. Another friend came all the way from Osaka to see me too. At night we went clubbing. I was amazed to find out that there are many foreigners in Nagoya, most of them are both Japanese-Brazilians and pure Brazilians. I was told Nagoya has a big Toyota factory and most of them are employed by this company. I felt like I was in Toronto when I was at the club.
(downtown Nagoya at night)
I feel quite bloated right now. I ate a bunch of very very delicious grapes brought back by my elementary students from their school trip at a town up on the mountain top. Actually, I also teach the elementary school in that town so I can see myself eating lots of grapes in the next few months. Ha ha. My prefecture is very famous for these delicious grapes.
(delicious grapes!)
Well, that's all for now. I'm going to bed.
12:14 PM
Saturday, September 10, 2005
I'm going to Nagoya tomorrow by shinkansen! I'm so excited.
11:20 AM
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
I love my "mountain" school kids!
It's been raining all day over here in my little town. I heard there will be a typhoon tomorrow and most likely I will not have classes tomorrow. I wouldn't want to be caught in a typhoon while in a school on top of a mountain!
I had a fun time teaching kindergarten and elementary school students in one of my "mountain" schools. This school is so tiny they only have 24 students and some of them related to one another. They are all soooo cute! I didn't realize how much I love kids! I didn't have any naughty kids today. They were all so attentive to me when I was doing my self-introduction. Three of my kindergarten students were all hanging on to me while I was struggling to exit the classroom, haha! One of my kindergarten students, S-chan, gave me a letter which was so sweet, although I really don't understand what she wrote on it. The two figures there were suppose to be me and her. So cute!
One of my 3rd or 4th grade students, Y-chan, gave me a chestnut as a present. How sweet!
This kid is already my favourite! I could see his eagerness in learning English. He would frequently visit me in one of classrooms right after classes and just try to speak to me. I'm quite impressed with his English though. There was this other student from the 1st/2nd grade, S-kun, who also impressed me of how much English he knows. I think he is the smartest kid in this school.
Having a non-Caucasian English teacher is very uncommon here. I explained to all my students about Canada's multiculturalism and showed them a few Filipino customs which we carried on even after immigrating to Canada many years ago. I had to show them pictures I drew myself about Canada and things I like doing and my students seem to be entertained by looking at them and I was quite pleased.
I didn't feel like going home yet after the class but unfortunately there are only two bus trips going around this "mountain" town - one from the town central to this "mountain" town and vice-versa, so I had to run to the bus stop. I really wanted to go back. I will see these kids again next month. I can't wait!
Tomorrow, I will be teaching another "mountain" school.
6:37 AM
Saturday, September 03, 2005
I will be taking some time off from going out this weekend. It was a very exhausting week for me last week. I have been drinking since Saturday last week - everyday until Tuesday - and I'm not lying. I went to this outdoor music festival in my city. I had fun. There were a lot of Japanese talents from the area who performed. I had tons of sunshine during these two days. I am so burnt right now. I've never been dark like this ever. Below is a photo I took at the music festival. The blond guy is my senpai B. He's a very nice guy. He is great with kids. All of his students just love him. Kids in this town know him and you would hear them shouting "sensei!" even from afar, while I'm out with him or biking with him. Amazing guy - very youthful and easy-going! No wonder kids love him here.
This next photo shows a guy running around the festival grounds, drunk. I took a photo with him because I thought he was cool and very daring. He was very proud wagging his huge pony underwear. Ha ha.
Can you believe I had two enkais (usually wild, Japanese style welcome party for new staff) this week right on top of each other? Monday, the board of education gave us one and it was a very very Japanese style one. We were on a big tatami room and we were all seated in a very traditional style. I've only seen this one in either samurai or yakuza movies! haha.
... and then I asked somebody to take a photo of me with one of the geishas. I'm not sure if she is a real one. Maybe not.
Everyone in that enkai got so drunk...
It did not end there. There were ni, san and even yonjikais right after! (2nd, 3rd and 4th parties). I got so drunk that night! I amazed some of my co-workers because I sang Japanese in the karaoke. ha ha!
The next day, Tuesday, my base school also gave me an enkai! I got so drunk that night too. Oh and yeah, I had to work the next day for both days. It was a major hangover for me - 2 straight days!
Today was my first day teaching. I had 4 classes (junior high) and we spent most of the class talking about myself (self-introduction). The junior high school students were so cute. Almost all of them were very shy but as soon as the class is finished, some approached me saying "Hello!" and "What's up?"... In the Q&A section of my self-introduction, I was asked twice whether I have a girlfriend or not. I really feel like I am an instant celebrity here in my small town right now. I would bike around the city and I would be told "I saw you on the city magazine!". They publicized us new English teachers in the city magazine. And when I would bike around my school area, I would hear somebody shouting "sensei!" (teacher!) somewhere - my students. Enough of my egocentricity.
1:37 PM
