School assembly

As I mentioned before, my school’s Cultural Festival is coming up this weekend. And it will be followed by the biggest school event of the year which takes place the following weekend…the Sports festival!

I'll write more about the Sports Festival next week sometime. I just wanted to say that we had an assembly about it today.


Every time we have a meeting in the gym, I can’t help but be impressed by the militaristic way everything is done…the precision with which everything is done….the organization, it’s just mind blowing. I think it really appeals to the compulsive organizational streak in me.

I was wandering around the school to see what the students were working on, and it looks like the Cultural day coming up will be a fun day :)

Downtown with Lucas

Today, we thankfully had a break from the intense heat we've been having for the last oh..i dont know...2 months?? Anyways, it made teaching in the OC room much more bearable. After school, I headed downtown.

A Brazilian guy had posted a message on the JET list about having just arrived in Nagasaki and wanted to know what there is to do here. I thought I might be able to help out and we arranged to meet after school today.

Lucas turned out to be a really nice guy, he's a PhD student at the University of Nagasaki. He just arrived a couple of weeks ago, and doesn’t speak a word of Japanese. Reminds me of myself when I first arrived..! His English isn’t too bad, but I think it would be really difficult trying to get by communicating in English with people here when it’s not even your own native language. He’s a really laid back kind of guy though, so I guess that helps him get by. Kudos to him..!

Lucas in his natural element… the kid’s playground. :)

Failed attempt at trying to capture the view beyond the trees at Suwa shrine..but hey, you can see us..!

We went to a kaitenzushi shop for dinner in Hamanomachi. It was a nice evening!

Preparing for the upcoming Cultural Day

Coming up this Saturday is the school’s Cultural Festival, though I think the name is a little misleading. When I first heard the name, I thought it was going to be a display of different cultures, maybe different dishes prepared, costumes, etc. And to tell the truth, I was a little surprised because there’s a distinct lack of cultural diversity at my school. I’m the only non-Japanese person at my school. The event would be more accurately described as a school fair.

Last year was quite an event! It’s open to the public, many parents and members of the community attend Seiryo’s Cultural Day.

There were many dances, skits, songs that were performed by each homeroom class on the stage in the gym. At the same time, people were free to wander to the classrooms where the students have prepared all kinds of displays. One of the classes had set up domino pieces in the shape of different characters. At an advertised time, many went to watch them start off the domino.

Another classroom had something that was similar to the game ‘the incredible machine’ happening in their classroom. It was pretty elaborate…!

Yet another classroom had made Sesame Street characters out of balloons.

One class made a huge Disney mural out of cans!

Cookies and cakes baked by the cooking club are sold, the tea ceremony club performs a tea ceremony, a couple of classes are in charge of cooking lunch (udon and curry rice), there was a taiko performance etc.

Last year, our English club put up a display about Canada. The Canadian embassy was generous enough to send a huge truck full of Canadian memorabilia.. (posters, mini hockey game, stuffed animals –beavers, moose, geese, etc – videos, stickers and pins to give out).

I’m looking forward to seeing what the students have planned for this year!

Higashi Nagasaki Matsuri

This evening, some friends and I went to a summer festival in Yagami. I went over to Aya's place where her mom helped dress us up in our yukattas. Amanda, Aya, Nobuko and I went down to Jusco and hung around waiting Natsumi to arrive. While waiting around, we ran into some of my school students


Then off to the place where the festival was taking place. There were lots of stalls selling food, drinks, offering games etc. There were dances being done on a stage. The finale for the evening was a display of fireworks, which lasted almost an hour..!

Amanda and I during the fireworks. ( J: does that answer your question? :) )

Throughout the evening, I ran into tons of people I knew, many of them Seiryo students. I took pictures with some of them.. they're good kids.

This is Ai who went to the same hospital as I did when she hurt her hand. Dr. Izumi treated her. The few times she had to go back to the hospital, Ai passed messages back and forth between the doctor and I. I haven't seen him or his family in a while, so it was nice to hear from him.

Before heading home, we stopped at a video rental shop, and ran into Manami and Narumi. At 10:30pm on a Saturday evening , notice how they're still in their school uniforms...they got back from band practice today at 7pm, in time to see the fireworks. They will be returning to school tomorrow where they will spend the whole day practicing. All the practice pays off...they recently made it to the Kyushu level competition..!

From left to right: Aya, myself, Amanda, Nobuko and Natsumi

We went to get some purikura done while at Jusco, and saw some more students along the way. Only two of them are Seiryo students, Risa and Mariyo.

We took the bus back to Aya's place and I headed home from there. It was a fun evening, though a little on the warm side!

Rant about the weather

Ok, so I've mentioned that it's hot here. And humid. I dont know how I can convey just how hot and humid it is.....There are days when I step out of the shower, get dressed, and then wonder if I forgot to dry off. I don't think dry skin is ever a problem...!

The classroom that I teach in (the Oral Communication room) was renovated about a year and a half ago (last April I think...). We got new seats, new desks, new shelves, new carpet, curtains, nice back board, TV and DVD player, sterio system etc... It's a great room, allows me to create a fun atmosphere for the students to learn in, I love the room and take good care of it. But it has no AC. Man oh man. I had 3 classes in a row today, and I was ready to pass out...Today was an especially hot day, even though we had all the windows open, there was hardly a breeze.

I don’t know how the students manage to pay attention and behave in this kind of weather, I don't think I'd be able to. They're great kids.

It's difficult enough cooking for just one person; it's always a race against the expiry date. This kind of weather makes it that much worse. Anything that's not usually kept in the fridge goes bad within a day...!!

In an attempt to save on electricity, I would turn off the AC after getting into bed. A couple of nights ago, I woke up so hot I thought I was going to die. I ran to the washroom and threw up. I don't know if the heat can do that to you...But since then, I've been sleeping with the AC on all night.

I don't think I'll ever get used to having a constant film of sweat all over me..the feeling of sweat trickling down your back..that icky sticky feeling..ugh, it's just gross.

God give me the strength to make it through this summer!!

Spent the night at Oozaki's place

Supplementary classes resumed today. When I arrived at school, the staff room was bustling with the coming and going of teachers.. almost all the teachers were already there. The table in the tea room was overflowing with omiyage (mostly sweets) courtesy of the teachers who had traveled during their holidays.

The students who had gone to Australia accompanied by 2 Japanese teachers on the homestay returned a couple of days ago. Miyamoto sensei brought me back from Australia a beautiful aborigine cloth.

Fukuno sensei, knowing the sweet spot I have for chocolate, brought me back some delectable Lindt chocolate.

While at school today, I got a call from Oozaki sensei, a teacher from Bunko. The last time I was at Bunko (over a month ago), he had invited me to come to his place to meet his wife and children. Because our schedules were so busy during the summer holidays, the earliest we could set to get together was today.

Oozaki sensei is one of the kindest people you'll ever meet, he just radiates kindnesss. But he doesn't speak much english. When he called this morning to arrange when to meet, I didnt realize that he intended that I spend the night at their place. I was planning to go to volleyball practice this evening, the first time since getting the cast off my thumb. But maybe it's just as well I don't go, to give my finger more time to heal..

Around 5pm, Oozaki sensei came by the school and I followed him to their place in Omura. They have a large house (by Japanese standard) in a beautiful part of Omura city. His family consists of his wife, 3 daughters (Yumi 20 years old, Emi 18 years old, Masami 8 years old) himself and their 2 dogs. He has such a nice family!

We went to pick up their youngest daughter from her volleyball practice. I never cease to be amazed at the endurance, determination, dedication...the whole gambaru attitude of people here. It's cultivated from such a young age.

When we arrived back at their place, we were treated to a beautiful sunset..

Oozaki sensei inquired a number of times about what I’m able to eat, and mentioned several times that his wife was worried about what they should prepare. The food was delicious! There was a huge bowl of rice, nori and plenty of different fillings to make your own sushi. After dinner, we set off fireworks, and stayed up till 1am just chatting. I think my Japanese is improving! I had a lot more fun than I thought I would.

Uneventful day

I was woken up in the wee hours in the morning by strong winds blowing through the apartement. I usually sleep with the windows and porch door open because it's so hot. It allows a little air circulation....however the wind was so strong this morning that I woke up to find my clothes all over the floor (they were hanging to be dried in the hallway) and papers flying around my room. I got up to shut windows and door and make sure everything was ok. Then went back to bed.

The rest of the day was quite uneventful. I got lots of errands done, rented a couple of movies and plan to spend a quiet evening at home catching up on emails, and watching movies.

Pooped

By the time I got to bed last night, or rather this morning, it was a little after 3am. I was exhausted at school today, but luckily didn't have much to do. I came home a little earlier than usual to get some things around the house done.

Iwata san came over this evening for our weekly Japanese/English lesson. She taught me how to put on a yukatta. I think I can do it by myself now...People will often pay $20 or more for someone to dress them in one. Kimonos can cost upward of $100 just to have someone put it on for you.

Apparently, there's a typhoon that's headed this way..will be arriving sometime tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

Baha'i Summer Camp in Yamaguchi (Aug 12-16)