Memoirs of Aleisha

I helped out with the Soma International Association by hosting an Australian cooking lesson to the community centre in Odaka. We made ANZAC biscuits and then had afternoon tea sampling Australian fare consisting of ANZAC biscuits, Tim Tams (available from Fresco in Haramachi) and vegemite on toast.

One of the things I do apart from teaching at schools, is teach an eikaiwa class (an adult conversation class) on a fortnightly basis. They are a bunch of interesting people ranging in age and English ability. It’s kinda nice though because at least they are all interested in learning English. Our eikaiwa group is called NESS (Namie English Speaking Society).

Every year they go an annual excursion. Last year we went to British Hills. This year we went to a limestone cave, then lunch and a tour at the Asahi Beer Factory and then a drive along the Bandai Skyline which was really amazing. It’s about a 20km stretch of road which commands amazing views over Fukushima city for which you pay for the privilege. The views and scenery and so spectacular that to drive along this road, all vehicles needs to pay a toll. Along the Skyline we stopped to climb up a volcanic mountain.
On the way home we stopped by Ashinoyu - a small onsen town to soak our feet in outdoor footbaths.

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I had a pretty busy long weekend. Friday was a nice bludgy day off. So much for the anticipated sleep in. The typhoon hit the coast pretty bad. I was awake at 3.30 because of it. Bex (my neighbour) was also awoken by the typhoon. My washing hook thing had broken off by the wind. Some of my clothes were strewn down below and on the road. (I live on a second floor apartment with a balcony). I turned on the TV and the typhoon dominated every channel. Went back to bed at about 5.30 and got up about 7am. It rained and poured and the wind howled most of the days. Waves were up to 7m. Trains stopped running too. All schools along the coast were closed. I spent the day housebound and watching way too much TV. I did manage to get out for a swim in the evening tho.

By the late arvo, the typhon had passed. It was safe to go outside. I survived the typhoon unscathed. A friend was unfortunate and her car got flooded.

Once a month on a Saturday morning, Bex and I run a children’s book club at the local library. It was something that we both started up on a voluntary basis. We have a kids club where we read a book (in English) and then play games, sing songs and do art/craft etc. The kids are really cute although they take a while to warm up. We didn’t have book club during summer break so this was the first Saturday for a while. So this last weekend we had book club.

After book club I headed up to Sendai (two hours north) for the annual street Jazz fest. Met up with lots of people, listened to live music, drank wine, shopped (window shopping only - how nice are the new iPods!), and ate awesome Indian food!!

Was a long late day.

Sunday was spent on a photography tour around Namie. We were taught photography techniques and then taken to various tourist spots around Namie. Was a hot and tiring day. I will put up some of my photosof me trying to be all arty and creative soon. We went to a pottery village which was cool.

Today, back to school. Very hot and muggy. Had a bit of a storm earlier. I’m at my other junior high school this week (my least favourite of all four schools that I visit). Today, I thankfully only had one class which I am made to teach on my own. I spent the rest of the day doing lots of Japanese study. I am determined to pass the JLPT exam this year after failing it the last two years. I like easy days like today.

A rundown of my day-

Arrive at school at 8am. Read through the week’s schedule. Period 1 - lesson prep and study. Period 2 - teach Yr 7 class. Period 3 and 4 - study Japanese. Lunch break. Period 5- we had a whole school traffic lecture on bike safety and how to ride a bike given by the local police. I nodded off to sleep a few times. It was really hot in the school gym. No fans or A/C and today was like 30 degrees. From 3-4pm I studied more Japanese and then went home at 4pm. This is a day in the life of me (at junior high school anyway. Elementary schools are a lot more full on and tiring). I can’t complain though. Got lots of productive study done.

Tomorrow I have two classes which I have to teach on my own (Yr 7 and Yr 8). At least they gave me warning tho. (They usually don’t). And then more study.

I have recently purchased a K-car (a Japanese mini compact car). It has a tiny 600cc engine, power windows, a/c, and is an automatic. It is a Subaru Vivio (92 model)

It was a real bargain. About 600 Australian bucks, with registration for just over a year. Optional insurance was 500 bucks.

It has just done over 100 000km. Was about 97 000km when I bought it. I clock up a lot of mileage especially on weekends by travelling over to 西会津. It is so much better now that I have car. The trip over used to take my about 5 hours. Now I can get there in 2.5 hours (by taking the epxressway for part of it).

Japanese drivers are pretty bad. They are really reckless on the roads and have no road manners at all. They all drive well over the speed limit (which are really low in Japan). It is considered the norm to do 20km plus over the limit. If I stick to a reasonable limit, the cars all tailgate you. It’s like road bullying. There is also no concept of giving way in Japan. They all just pull out sharply in front of you. They also have a tendency to stop and park right on the side of the road. I blame it on the vending machines. They are everywhere and cars are constantly just pulling up in the middle road to grab a drink.

Car accidents in Japan have a two-party fault system. This means that in any car accident, both parties are at fault. Even if the accident is not your fault, the fact that you and your car existed means that you will be apportioned with some of the costs. So basically you pray you don’t hit a car, and more importantly that no-one hits you, coz if they do, you end up paying between 10-30% of the costs.

Petrol in Japan is also expensive. 145yen per Litre. That’s about 130cents a Litre.

I kind of caused some friction between myself and the BOE by buying a car. I told them I was buying a car. I was buying it off a friend here who was returning back to America. My BOE told me I couldn’t get a car. Technically this meant, that if I wanted a car, I would be totally on my own. This is despite the fact that the other ALT in town has a car which they helped her to get. I was kinda outraged. I was not seeking their permission. Anyway, they refused to help me in any way, shape or form and ignored my emails and communication. I went ahead and bought the car anyway. If I’m going to live here another year I need a car. I live in a country cursed with rainy season and snow, and really, really cold weather in winter. I also live in a very rural town. I was sick of doing shopping on a bike every week and getting trains everywhere. So I bought a car on my own. I had to arrange for the title of the car to be transferred. I had to get new number plates, and organise insurance. (All in Japanese). I found a really nice garage guy who took care of the paperwork for me.

Now that it’s all done and said my BOE don’t really care that I have a car. They just didn’t want any responsibility which is a big issue in Japan. They don’t like being responsible for stuff. They can never answer directly and are always vague. They didn’t want to help. I think they were probably surprised and impressed that I went ahead on my own and did it anyway without their help. I think they just thought that I would drop it and not pursue it. All is good now though. I think to them, it’s a big relief now. They know I’m going to be happier here (which is good for them), and they know that if anything happens, they are not responsible.

My life is so much better with a car. I now drive to the pools where I have membership there now. It’s a 20 minute drive to the pool. I can drive to work, do my shopping, and travel around on weekends.

The other hurdle was getting a Japanese driver’s licence. After a year of residing in Japan, an International Drivers Permit can’t be used and you have to get a Japanese driver’s licence. This involved going to the Licence centre in Fukushima City, which is an hour and a half away. It is the only licence centre in the whole of our prefecture and you need to get there between 8.30-9am.

I got there in plenty of time. We left just before 6am to go there. I went with a friend who wanted to try and get her licence too. Lucky Australians are exempt from the actual driving test which is really difficult. Most people get it on their third or fourth attempt. Basically it was half a day of paperwork shuffling, waiting, and then filling out forms (in Japanese) and having a verbal interview in Japanese. I had to give them my passport, Australian driving record (which I had to order from Australia beforehand), a translation of my drivers licence etc.

I then had to fill out a form detailing the licence process in Australia. Some of the questions I was asked were: how many hours driving did you do, how many questions on your licence test, what kind of questions were they, what was the pass mark, how much did you spend on driving lessons, what car did you use for your test, how many cc’s was the car engine, where and how did you learn to drive etc.

I was then asked a bunch of questions and then after an eye test, walked away with a Japanese driver’s licence. Huge Relief. A day of Japanese bureaucracy in action. My friend unfortunately did not get her licence as she failed the driving test, which mind you was really difficult. It was also the first time she had driven in Japan. As she is American, she did manage to stay on the correct side of the road, but a few times she kept putting on the windscreen wipers instead of the indicator. But the crank manouvre is what got her. Thankfully we drive on the same side of the road in Japan.

This story has a happy ending.

I have:

- a car

- a valid drivers licence

-pool membership

- and freedom of mobility

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For the last two weeks it has been summer holidays in Japan - the longest break of the school year. Even though, there are no classes, I am still required to go to ‘work’. Unlike teachers back home we do not get all the school breaks here. We have to take annual leave if we want time off.

So for the last two weeks I have been going to my two junior high schools for speech contest training - the biggest highlight and responsibility as an ALT.

This year, I have six students entering the English speech contest. Three are doing recitations or various stories and three are doing originals. I spent two weeks translating and then editing their speeches from Japanese to English. So everyday for the last two weeks, I have been doing speech training - which involves pronunciation practice, use of expression and gestures etc. The students must learn their speeches off by heart and recite them for the competition in early September. One of my students has a lisp, another has a nasal voice, another has a very quiet voice, and another has a really dry voice.

This week is my one week off from speech contest training. This week was supposed to my designated week at the BOE where I had planned on studying and doing lesson prep. Just before 9am this morning, my supervisor messages me and says that I have this week off as holidays because it is Obon week in Japan. A family week of praying for the deceased marked with festivals.

Yay, I have a week off but boo for the late notice. If I had a known earlier I would have made plans to do stuff, travel etc. Oh well.

Today, I spent the day bludging on the Internet, finally got this new blog site set up, studied a bit, went for a swim and watched a movie.

Tomorrow I’m off to the beach. Temps have been in the 30s lately. And then a local festival in the evening tomorrow as well.

Today I cooked Anzac biscuits with the ichinensei students at chugakko (Yr 7 students).
My JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) who I teach English with requested that I cook with the students this week as part of their English studies. She requested something Australian.
Things I suggested we could make were - scones, sausage rolls and Anzac biscuits.
Anzac biscuits it was because they wouldn’t take too long. Once all the ingredients are mixed together it only requires 15 minutes baking time.
I had to organise to buy most of the ingredients over the Internet - such as golden syrup, coconut and rolled oats - which are pretty much non-existent in Japan.
The Anzac biscuits were fun to make. The recipe was all in English, and explained in both English and Japanese. It was pretty easy to make. Both educational and fun for the kiddies as well as bit of classroom internalization.
I explained to the students what Anzac stood for, and that these biscuits were an army biscuit. I had never actually made Anzac biscuits prior to today. In my research, I discovered that these biscuits are made without using milk or eggs. Because of the high sugar and syrup content, these biscuits had a long preservation life and hence were ideal to send to the troops. (Even I learnt something today).

I was a little concerned as to how the biscuits would actually turn out. They don’t have real ovens. They used microwave insteads with an actual oven function.
They turned out like one giant biscuit, but we broke them down to smaller biscuits.
All the students and staff got to try an Anzac biscuit.

Tomorrow I will be cooking with the 8th grader’s (ninensei’s).

I have included photos of the kids in action cooking Anzac biscuits. A lot of the students reckon the Japanese English teacher and I look like sisters. I beg to differ. We both are short, have black hair and wear glasses…
I don’t think you will have any trouble telling us apart in the photos.

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Thought I would write about a regular working day of my life in Japan.
Most of my blog entries have all been about the fun and travel side of things and not the ordinary reality of my life on the JET Program of which I am10 months into already.

Just a little intro – the JET Program is a Government-organised program for foreigners to teach English in Japan in the Japanese public education system and is coordinated by Japanese embassies around the world. Participants are then usually hired at a local Japanese Board of Education (BOE).

I work at four schools in my small town of 20 000 people – two elementary schools 小学校and two junior high schools 中学校(Yr 7-10).
So this week I’m at my mountain junior school which requires taking a 6.45am bus to the school nestled in the mountains.
I usually get up about 5.30am for this school. Today I crawled out of bed at about 6ish. It was an overcast and drizzly rainy day. I got dressed (skipped the shower this morning, no time), had breakfast (fibre cereal) and then walked to the bus stop. The bus gets me to school at about 7.20am. I don’t officially start work until 8am with first period starting at about 8.30am.
Today I don’t have any English classes because my JTE – the Japanese English Teacher is away so no classes have been scheduled for today. She is 5 months pregnant so had to go to the hospital today for check ups. I had been asked to do a 20 minute presentation though on Australia for the Social Studies class.
Was a nice bludgey day. I brought a map of Australia, flag, some pictures and Australian money. I talked about Australian history, population, geography etc and other interesting facts. Was really easy and time flew.

My day was over by 10:30am. I then marked student’s homework for all three grades.
This particular school is really small. There are a total of 50 students over the three grades. The kids are really sweet and nice as well and I get along with most of the staff. That is, they are not afraid to talk with the foreigner. This is my favourite Junior High School. The rest of the day was spent on the Internet, organising stuff for Jen’s visit to Japan this weekend, and studying a little bit of Japanese and doing nothing. Stopped for lunch break.
Japanese students and staff are served school lunch. Today it was fishburgers. Accompanied with beef stew, a gross salad, a sixth of an orange and the usual bottle of milk. Milk is drunk everyday. The salad dressing was really gross today. Lately the salad dressings have been crap. And every salad contains cucumber.

Lunch was followed by more time on the Internet and sitting at my desk wasting time.

In the afternoon we have cleaning time which I help out with. I usually pick a classroom and sweep the floor and move the desks and participate with the students.

I don’t leave school until about 4.40pm even though my official working hours are 8am to 4pm. Buses are infrequent in the mountains. The bus comes at 4.50pm and I arrive home at about 5.30pm. The busride home always make me sick for some reason. The mountains are winding and you come down from the mountains so I get motion sickness and feel nauseous. The weeks that I am at this school are early starts and late returns. I only ever have a maximum of three classes a day though which is nice. I usually spend sometime doing lesson prep, and marking student homework. Today was a bit of an exceptional day though. Was a good day to take a much needed rest.

Tomorrow, I’m back at this school with two morning classes. One of the guys from the BOE will pick me up in the morning after my classes to take me back into town, where Bex and I have to give a speech on Internationalisation to a bunch of townspeople for the International Association. The audience won’t know any English so both of us have to do the speech entirely in Japanese. I can’t be bothered writing one up in Japanese so I think I will just ad-lib most of it tomorrow. I jotted down some notes and an intro with the free time I had today. I will probably talk about my experience in Japan as a foreigner, and compare Australia to Japan. Internationalisation is such a broad and vague topic. I did a speech in Japanese for the Namie Rotary Club soon after I arrived here, so I think I might rehash some of that same speech. Hope that there are no rotary members present tomorrow that might remember my speech.

Off to Tokyo tomorrow arvo after the speech presentation. Jen arrives this weekend. I will play tour host minus the flag on what will be a whirlwind tour of Japan. Tomorrow night will spent at a capsule hotel (my second time ever).

I have spent the last week organising and booking accommodation etc.
Rough itinerary looks something like this:
Saturday – meet at Narita aiport, sights of Tokyo – full on! Asakusa, Odaiba, Shibuya, Shinjuku. Hopefully drinks at the Park Hyatt Lost in Translation Bar.
Sunday – shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. Temples, temples, temples, shrines, shrines and more temples.
Monday – half day in Kyoto – return to Tokyo
Tuesday – Sumo tournament in Tokyo. Head back to Namie in the evening.
Wednesday – my apartment. Day at leisure – sights of Namie of which there is very little. I have to go to work although I have sneaking suspicion school is not on that day due to a big sport tournament.
Thursday – Jen will head back to Tokyo for her flight out the next morning.

May has been a busy month!!

Went for a jog/walk this arvo. Need to get back into the fitness to work off some of the winter flab I have accumulated.

My blog has been neglected of late. Have been busy of late.
My bike was stolen for about a week, and then was retrieved from the dump intact. Was very lucky to have gotten it back. Spent a week walking to school.

Weather is still bitterly cold for my liking and I’m not coping. Was so cold at school today. No central heating or electric heaters. The gas heaters (when they bother) to turn them on are just not cutting it. The hallways at school was about 9-10 degrees. During class when I’m teaching I wear thermal top, a slong-sleeve shirt, jumper, jacket and then my thick winter coat jacket and I am still cold.
I’m also sick at the moment with flu or cold or something. Being cold and sick is tiring and depressing.
Thank God this is last week of term and school year in Japan. We have two weeks holiday as of next week which will be spent at the Board of Ed. Will be going away for a few days on a road trip.
In need of R and R I am.

Watched a crazy Japanese challenge TV show yesterday. The two contestants wore completely velcro outfits and they had to run up a platform and then jump and mount a wall to see how high they could get stuck velcroed to the wall. The velcro outfits were pretty strong coz the contestants actually had to get two people to pull them back down off the wall. Haha - awesome. I wonder if they do party hire!!!!

I have included some photos of the Junior High School graduation ceremony of my small mountain school and some photos of a snowboarding day at Mount Bandai. You might remember that I climbed this mountain soon after I arrived in Japan. This is what Mount Bandai looks like in Winter.

School new year enkai - lots of sushi, seafood and nabe was had.