Opening Ceremony

Today is the first day of school. Today is the opening ceremony! All the students are gathered in the sauna..err..I mean gym, and forced to listen to many speeches, including mine. C and I were herded onto the stage, and one at a time, we each gave a small introduction to the students. When we finished, a student representative made a small speech welcoming us to the school. The students were then told to stand up...and BOW TO US! Yes, 1000 students bowed to me. Only in Japan. Because the rest of the ceremony is in Japanese, my supervisor told me I didn't have to stay...so here I am typing typing about what just happened.

Last Weekend

I just had an amazing weekend. All my weekends have been busy and fun, but this one was special.

Saturday:

MY IKEA stuff was delivered! I spent about 2 hours building the couch/bed, and haven't mustered the nerve to build the small dresser, tv stand, and chair. I will, but courage take time people. In the afternoon, one of the current JETs who is moving in with her boyfriend dumped a ton of crap at my apartment. It is mostly kitchen-related crap (which I need), but she also dropped off a small, gaming chair, and some nice plastic drawers for more random crap.

Saturday night, I traveled to Osaka to offer a foreign perspective to a youth theater production. This particular theater was doing a play in English and they offered JETs free tickets. About 5 of us went to witness the adorable horror. The play they chose to show was "High School Musical Jr." The play was simply hilarious. There were two kids that I just couldn't understand regardless of their English ability. The stars were cute, but couldn't sing and dance. Afterward, we got a couple beers at a "Hawaiian" bar nearby. I then proceded to head back to Nara City for another JET's birthday party. Enough said.

Sunday:

Sunday morning was the Basara Matsuri, which I had agreed to dance in. We met at the Kintetsu station to receive our aprons and naruko (clackers).



Then we went to the Kencho courtyard to practice again for the event. It was fucking hot. Everyone was sweating away their souls. We all drank our weight in water. When the event was finally ready to begin, we headed for the starting line at the JR Station. We (about 15 of us) got in formation behind our awesome music truck and began to dance our little hearts out. Each dance is about 4 minutes of exhausting cardio. We did 4 in a row before taking a small break. At the end of the fourth dance, I saw a gray haze over my eyes. No matter how much water or Pocari Sweat (gatorade-like drink), we just could not hydrate properly. Luckily, we got to stop for 5 minutes before the next set of dances. Yes, folks, there was more dancing. The crowds along the street loved out group and took lots and lots of pictures. One of the Nara JETs took pictures and video of the event, so when I get a hold of him, I'll ask him for them. After the break, we danced an additional 4 times for a total of 8 in the sweltering Nara heat. By the end, we were exhausted, hot, and dehydrated. You welcome, Japan.

After the Basara Matsuri, 5 of us had to shower and change for a cultural dinner we signed up for that night. It turns out, the dinner was a really big deal. The governor of Nara and the mayor of Nara City were both present. The event coordinators gave the JETs a table in the front, right next to the governor (a very nice man, BTW) and the Sento-kun (Nara's gross mascot) Fan Club. On the stage, important people from all around the prefecture reenacted important cultural events including using small hammers to break open a couple barrels of sake. The food was simply amazing. I had steak for the first time since coming to Japan. I ate until my stomach rebelled, then ate some more.

All of this pales in comparison to the highlight of the culture dinner, the song and dance portion. During a really catchy song about Nara (complete with Sentokun on the stage), some important g-man asked the JETs to join them on stage and dance. Do you remember that scene of "My Fellow Americans" when the president dances with a panda? It was kind of like that. Shortly after we went on stage to clap and join in, the governor joined us, then other g-men, then the Sentokun fan club. I even managed to pick up some of the lyrics and dance moves so I didn't have to look totally absurd. Again, another JET is the one who took pictures, so I will try to score some from her. At the end of the night, I managed to jack a bunch of commemorative sake cups from the table and bring them home with me. All in all, a good night.

Nara Orientation

August 22nd and 23rd was Nara Orientation in Nara City. Being a new prefectural ALT, I had to arrive the earliest for contract signing at the Pref. Office (kencho). All of us sat down in the Pref. Head of Education's office and began the "ceremony." Ceremonies are BIG here. There is a ritual and ceremony to everything, no matter how small. H-Sensei even declared herself the master of ceremonies for the "event." The event being 8 ALT's sitting around a large table with the Nara Supervisor of Education. We had to do typical self-introductions in Japanese (of which I've done MANY), then we signed the terms and conditions of our contract.

A couple hours later, we began ACTUAL orientation. Current JETs each prepared a small lecture for everyone else. I forgot to mention that EVERY Nara JET was in attendance at Nara Orientation. We had seminars about safety (the MUKADE! YUK!), where to travel around Nara, and even a nice lecture about linguistics.

One of the highlights of the orientation was T's (a Canadian CIR) presentation. He obviously procrastinated and couldn't come up with anything "real" for his presentation. Instead, he took a treasured childhood show of his called "The Littlest Hobo" and edited the material to include text commentary. We watch a children's show "through the lens of the JET program." T's commentary was hysterical. By the way, "The Littlest Hobo" is about a German Shepherd that goes around towns solving crimes, all without talking. The best part? It is not a cartoon.

The night of the first day of orientation, Nara JETs enjoyed a Beer Garden on the roof of a nearby hotel. All-you-can-eat and drink, for a low, flat rate. Unfortunately, I was really sick that night so I ended up leaving early to get some rest. God bless dayquil/nyquil, but SHHHHHHH....they are illegal in this country.

As orientation came to an end, I made some connections for possible future hobbies including taiko drumming, the shamisen (love it!), and the Nara JET Touch Rugby team.

Update

I actually have to do some work today (I know, big surprise), so I will give a big update with pictures on Monday probably. Sorry about the delay.

Culture Update

This is yet another cultural update from Japan:

School clubs are very important to students here in Japan. Even during vacations, students STILL come to school to practice basketball, volleyball, baseball, brass band, etc. Even during winter vacation, students continue to come to school until the day the school actually closes for the holidays. I have to imagine that when the maintenance crew arrives back after the break, they must buy new doors because the old ones are covered in scratch marks from where the students tried to claw their way back in.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I went to the girls' basketball club today to play around and was made to look like a bitch. Japan's club system produces superhuman experts in their field. Did I have the height advantage? Sure. Did they have the proper shooting technique? Hell No. I still lost miserably.

School Days

I have an interesting couple of days.

Yesterday:

I decided to explore the school once again instead of staying confined to the teacher's offices. I went to the gym and watched the boys' volleyball club practice. I thought about joining, then I noticed what they were actually doing. One kid was spiking a ball as hard as he could down at the ground while another boy was forced to dive to bump the ball. This continued for at least 30 mins with different both taking over each role. I am not diving for any ball on the hard gym floor, especially not more than once.

Realizing my cowardice and apparent need to have fully-functioning knees, I moved on to the girls' volleyball club. They were playing practice games. I met their coach, Y-Sensei. She speaks 3 languages (although her English is awful) and is the calligraphy teacher as well. I volunteered to take score and even made a few signs to cheer them on. The girls laughed, but I laughed too. It was a fun time.

Today:

Today is the Junior High students visiting day. Basically, my high school opens up to junior high students from all around to show them what high school classes are like. I got to help teach one class with I-Sensei. First, she told the kids something in Japanese (probably "welcome" and "this is what English class will be like"). Then she had me introduce myself in English to the class. The students were INCREDIBLY SHY. I basically told them my name, where I'm from, my hobbies, etc. Then I-Sensei had me read 2 children's books. She told me to read them like a father would to his children. A bit embarrassing, but I'm no stranger to embarrassing as a teacher. The students' then translated the book on a worksheet. I-Sensei had students translate a Japanese book to English as well.

After class, I-Sensei invited C and me to the tail-end of a tea ceremony. We missed the rituals, but arrived on time to drink the tea. The girls of the Tea Ceremony club wear yukatas as they perform the rituals. It was cute. I don't particularly like tea, but since I'm always dehydrated I drink it anyway.

Future Plans:

From the CIR, A: 8/29 "For those of you who are new, Basara Matsuri takes place on the afternoons of August 28th and 29th, and is a chance for us JETs to actually get out there and dance in a matsuri parade, which is not that often! It only takes an hour or so to learn the dance (a very simple one), and then we go out with the other groups and dance about in the streets of Nara City. It's lots of fun, and a great opportunity to get a front row seat for all the other groups :D"

From the CIR, M: Also, 8/29 "You will be able to eat and drink while enjoying performances about what Japan can be proud about. The stage will have the shape the boats used to have when Japan was sending out people to China to learn about Chinese civilization 1300 years ago. An example of the performances held on that day could be “Kagami wari” (traditional Japanese celebration), during which people break a barrel’s lid with a hammer to drink the alcohol inside. It sounds like tons of fun, right?!!"

As you can see, I am staying very busy. Nara Orientation is next Monday and Tuesday! Beer garden Monday night!

Culture Update

Interesting Cultural Aspect of the Day:

Japanese people do not look down on those who work menial jobs. In America, we tend to frown upon those who work at McDonalds or some other "lower" job. In Japan, as long as someone is working, they are considered a valuable part of society.