Taking it easy

One of my BoE bosses told me that it's very Japanese to sit under your kotatsu table whilst eating mikan (a small, delicious orange). I took his advice to heart, and have spent the bulk of my Saturday afternoon hibernating under my table whilst sipping my instant coffee and caramel macchiato biscotti from Ottawa. (Thanks, Mom!) I didn't have any mikan in my pantry. Does it count that I ate one at lunch yesterday? Anyways.

I thought that Mother Nature was paving the way for greener pastures. This week, the days seemed a tad longer, with the sun setting an hour later than usual. Here was the view last week:



This afternoon, I woke up and took a quick peek out of my curtains. Huge snowflakes were falling down left and right, and my parking lot was covered in slush. Snow, snow, everywhere. Granted, I woke up pretty late, since I only got home at seven this morning after a lengthy night of dinner and karaoke. So, this did leave ample time for snow to cover my little city. I decided to go for a quick trek to my nearby kombini; in the process, I learned that my winter boots are not quite waterproof. Shopping, anyone?!

This is a photo of my car, Haruto Onegaishimasu. The snow slid from the roof, and curled onto my windshield:

It's been six months...

I've been living in Japan for the past six months. I'd try to be more creative and reflective, but I've been dealing with a lingering cough/cold for the past few days! (I even drove to the wrong school yesterday. My head has been up in the clouds).

Things sure have changed since I first arrived on that muggy day in July. I remember boarding a bus with my fellow Ottawa and Montreal JETs, as we weaved through traffic to make it from Narita Airport to the Keio Plaza in Tokyo.

L., one of my senpai here in Fuku-ken, was the friendly Tokyo Orientation Assistant who greeted us on the bus; that was pretty coincidental and sweet. That night, I took a quick shower and I think we ate ramen in Shinjuku. (V. and I couldn't read the kanji on the menu, so we circled the middle options and hoped for the best. The soup turned out great!)

Six months later: What's a day in the life of Gemma-sensei?

7 a.m.: Get up for my morning coffee and raisin bread. (That's right! I stopped my terrible habit of getting up terribly late).
7:45 a.m.: Jump into my car, and select a sweet tune to play on my iPod.
7:47 a.m.: Start driving slowly.
7:48 a.m.: Wave to my students as they bike along the narrow road. They are sporting thin tracksuit-like garments as outdoor gear. It's cold!
7:49 a.m.: Skillfully reverse my car into my spot.
8 a.m.: Mutter the ritual "Ohayo gozaimasu."
8:10 a.m: The gym teacher who sits across from me says "Good morning!" I try having a conversation in English with him this morning. I was trying to explain that I didn't see his wife yesterday. She is a teacher at one of my elementary schools. The gym teacher chuckles, and says he has no idea what I'm saying. Apparently, he studied German in university. Not English, he says. Our conversations are always funny like that.
8:30 a.m. to 3:55 p.m.: I go to classes and eat lunch with the kids. For my second-graders, I had to stand in the unheated always once again and listen to them read out loud. I wanted to wear my jacket, but I thought it might look unprofessional. I opted for two sweaters, and almost broke out my mittens. Almost.
4 p.m.: I haven't had the heart to join any school clubs, so I always go home. Good times.
5 p.m.: Genki Sushi in Nihonmatsu City with the regulars. Torikaramaki... yon-mai, onegaishimasu? Hashi?!!!
7 p.m.: I make a stop at my local dollar store and grocery store. I see one of my fifth-graders from Iwane, but she doesn't recognize me.
8 p.m.: I eat melon bread under my kotatsu table. I'm in Japan, no big deal.
9 p.m.: I think of calling home, but I can't find my Magic Jack. Maybe tomorrow?!

Wow, this list is getting mundane. Anyways, that's a typical weekday for me. I usually get up to the fun stuff on weekends. For instance, I just got back from seeing sumo with some of the Fukushima JETs on Saturday. I'll write about that another time.

給食 ("Kyuushoku" - School lunch!)

Loving lunch

When I first arrived in Japan, eating lunch at school made me feel nervous. It wasn’t the food itself, but rather my impending company. At my schools, I’m assigned to eat with a different homeroom each day. Don’t get me wrong – I love my kids! But I was superbly anxious about making small talk whilst gracefully slurping ramen noodles in front of my students.

The lunch lady arranges the beige lunch trays every day, and dishes out the staff’s food in the teachers’ room. She ladles out soup into one bowl, while another is filled with rice. We usually get some medley of vegetables, along with a serving of fish or chicken. You wash down this hearty meal with a glass bottle of cold milk. (I’m still getting used to the milk – it's heavier than the one per cent I drink back home). Selected students don blue aprons and cover their hair with a white cloth. They dish out food for their homeroom.

So, every day I walk into a different classroom and get ushered to a desk. The students usually clump their desks together, so that they eat in lunch groups of six. I usually try to shovel down my food, so that I can ask them some simple questions which they can hopefully answer in English. Do you like natto? When is your birthday? How many brothers do you have? What music do you like? Etc.

These conversations can get monotonous, so my love for kyuushoku has its ups and downs. But this morning, one of my third-years jotted down his poem describing school life… and it made me smile.

Lunchtime

Eating lunch
Happy faces
Time passes quickly
Wonderful

It’s simple. And it's a small reminder that the third-years are going to be parting ways with Nichu a couple months. (Graduation occurs in the spring. In March, I believe). I hollered “Jouzu!” (“You’ve got skills!”) when I corrected it in front of him.

Elementary school kids are even funnier and increasingly talkative at lunch. They’re only learning basic greetings and such in English right now, so our conversations are mostly in simple Japanese. I still can’t speak Japanese, but I am slowly starting to understand simple yes/no questions.

I had lunch with the first-graders yesterday, and they asked typical questions: Do you like sushi? Do you like natto? Are you married? How old are you? 24?!!!!!! Do you like Canada or Japan better? Do you live in Motomiya?!

They are so darling...

On another note, Barack Obama made his inaugural address this morning. The video's not loading properly on my computer, so I've only viewed part of it. It's amazing how his words are felt all over the world. I told some of my junior high school students that it was Obama's first official day on the job... and they grinned while saying, "Obama!! Yes, we can!!"

Hmm... I'll write soon about my travels with the fam. :)

Bonenkai with the Board of Education bossmen

Back home, December ushered in tons of Christmas parties at the office. When I was a kid, my brother and I would go to Dad's work for the annual Christmas gathering. Since he works for the government, Santa Claus was bilingual. For one shift, Pere Noel handed out presents in French. The next hour, he'd be jolly in my native tongue - English.

Japan doesn't really do up Christmas in a smashing way. But my colleagues/bossmen know how to party. In fact, Japanese offices throw an annual "forget the year" party: a bonenkai. Basically, it's a gathering with your co-workers and you drink away the trials and tribulations from the past year. (Funnily enough, my base school's bonenkai was cancelled because there was some major drama that happened earlier on in the year. Anyways).

After some consideration, I decided to attend the bonenkai thrown by my Board of Education. (I told them my definitive answer while we were having a dinner at the local Asahi Beer Factory with some of my BoE bossmen). I was a little hesitant... but hey, when in Japan?!

So, on a Friday night we crammed into a couple vans and headed over to Dakeonsen. It's a nearby place lined with ryokans (traditional Japanese inns). I felt like I was intruding on an old boys' club, seeing as how there was only one other lady on this trip. (Pros? We got a huge tatami room to ourselves). But my bossmen are pretty chill, so it was good times. We started the night by pre-drinking in one of the rooms. B. and I decided to keep on our civilian wear, but the BoE dudes immediately changed into their mint green yukatas (aka dressing robes).

We headed downstairs for a sumptuous dinner. It was course after course that was being served to us by these ladies in really pretty kimonos. Obviously, beverages of choice accompanied our dinner. When you go to any kind of enkai, it's tradition to keep topping up your colleagues' glass with beer or whatever they're drinking. It's especially important to make sure the section chief and other ViPs are never thirsty. There was also shochu, which is an interesting drink best mixed with water.

B. and I were excited when we saw the little karaoke station. We entertained them with our fave tunes in English. B. even dazzled them with his Japanese repertoire. We moved onto another room for the "nijikai" (second enkai?) The drinks kept flowing, and there was more karaoke. I mistakenly told my BoE that I'd sing in Japanese, so they were trying to get me to do so. HAHA. I do recall serenading them with the Spice Girls' "Wannabe." An old man from another party started dancing - it was awkward.

We were all pretty beat, so we ended the festivities. I went to the onsen for a bit - there was a pool outside as well, so that was cool to gaze up at the star-lit sky for a bit.

When I was done, I headed back to our floor. This is where it gets even more awkward. I was looking for B., so that we could go for a walk. Instead, I saw one of the Very Important dudes from my BoE. He stepped out of his hotel room for a second. In his drawers. Oh, so awkward. All I could say was, "Konbanwa!!" He shut the door, and I heard him scurry back to the rest of his roomies. He said, "Gemma-san! Gemma-san nani nani nani..." (Probably something to the effect of "Miss Gemma is in the hallway!") I've told this story countless times to friends, because it's just one of those "I'm-in-Japan" moments.

The next morning, we filed down for a Japanese breakfast. I really didn't feel like eating, so I pushed the food around my plate and hoped no one noticed. But the dudes noticed, and laughed that I was as "genki" (enthusiastic?) as usual.

I'm hoping my BoE thinks I'm a hoot... on another Asahi Beer Factory night out with the bossmen, I called one of them "kawaii" (cute) by accident. I meant to say the photo that I took was cute, because he was flashing the peace sign. My supervisor chuckled, and said in his limited English: "Gemma-san! He is grandfather!!" And then dude showed me a photo of his grandkid on his cell phone. Amazing. Good ol' miscommunication. Nihongo ga wakarimasen.

Happy Birthday, Fahja!!

It's now January 7th here in Japan, so I'd like to wish my fahja a very Happy Birthday!! (Hope you have a relaxing day back in Canada!)

My parents and brother jetted back to Canada on Monday night. They spent a hectic two weeks exploring Japan with me. We crammed into my Pretty in Pink Palace for the first few days. So, they were able see my area plus visit my schools. (My kids loved them!) We also hit up Sendai, a big city located about 30 minutes north on the shinkansen from us. From there, we took a quick trip around Matsushima Bay, which is considered "one of the three most beautiful places in Japan." (It was breathtaking, in that it was so cold that day!) We also explored Tokyo (Harajuku (3-4 times!), Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara, Ryogoku, Shinjuku, Ueno, Asakusa, Odaiba and Tokyo Bay, etc.) Kyoto and Nara were also on the agenda. And we spent their final night in the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, where it all started for me. To think that it was only a few months ago that all of the new JETs descended upon the Keio Plaza for our Tokyo Orientation.

Now I'm back at home, sitting in my cold but comforting apartment. I've been too lazy to do my groceries, so I've survived on Gardenay soup. And this morning, I ventured over to my beloved Lawson kombini, where I grabbed my usual caramel coffee, tuna/mayo onigiri and a breakfast burrito. Mmm. Breakfast of champions.

Updates to come when I'm less busy. I've only got a one-day work week, with opening ceremonies at Nichu tomorrow and then our mandatory JET counselling.

Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAHJA!! YO HO HO YO HO HO!?