Weekend Trip #1: Kyoto!!!

August 26th

Hello World!!!

So I’m in my living room right now. Doing the crazy multi-tasking things I do. I’m writing this blog on my computer, watching Resident Evil: Extinction (thank you Stino!) and online waiting to see if anybody will go online. It’s quite unusual at this hour because although it just became 11 pm, it’s like 7 am for almost everyone else. Hey…we’re actually on the same day! Tuesday! ;P

Anyhoo. This blog will be about my weekend. And being that my weekend was jammed packed with excitement, surprises, action and the ever lovable randomness, this may be a long blog…so…just giving you all a heads up!

So, if my memory serves me right, on Thursday, one of my awesome neighbors invited me to a trip to Kyoto! Being that it is one of the cities that I want to visit while I’m in Japan (even if traveling in Japan is apparently expensive) I went for it.

So the group consisted of other JETs. 2 of which live in my jutaku and one that lives in a neighboring jutaku (and since he’s the only JET in that jutaku that renewed his contract, he’s thinking about moving to our jutaku). So Friday night I’m packing and trying to do some socializing via aim and skype. Since it was Friday night for me, I didn’t care too much if I stayed up really late. So I tried to wait ‘til my sister got to work so that I could e-mail her. Sadly though, she never responded ‘til most likely after I went to bed. So I went to bed like at 1 in the morning and pretty much just took a nap…because I had to meet everyone else at 5:30 am!!!

So…as hard as it was to get up, I managed to eat something and get ready to go. Grace, Carl and I took a taxi to the train station where we rode the JR to Hakata station. At the first stop on the JR, our other traveling buddy, Emmett, joined.

At Hakata, we went on the shinkansen (or “bullet train”) and in about 2 and half or 3 hours we arrived in Kyoto. I was only awake for like…half an hour to an hour and slept the rest of the way. But it wasn’t all that comfortable. Though there was room and the seat could recline pretty far back, I kept lolling to the sides…and I think I almost fell off it at one point…

Anyway, so as soon as we arrived, we headed towards our hotel where we left our over-night bags in the cloak room and then went off back to the station to meet up with Grace’s friend, Jamie. (she’s basically the reason why Grace decided to travel up to Kyoto).

After that, we started our sight-seeing adventure. The first place we went to was Nijo-jo. It’s one of the famous castles that has 2 motes! I think I went the most trigger happy at this place…guess I was really excited to be in Kyoto.

At this place, you have to take your shoes off to enter into the castle. But what was interesting is the way the floor was constructed. It was made to mimic the sound of the nightingales so some funny architecture with nails created really squeaky floor boards. But…it’s not a bad squeaky…just…very very squeaky. Although because there’s so many people around, it’s rather hard to tell if it’s really your steps that are causing the noise or not…

Unfortunately, there were many signs constantly reminding people that photography and video taping are prohibited. …of course I read that after I tried to record the sound… ;P

After this, we went to Kinkakujo, or the Golden Temple (?). [the question mark is because there is a difference between shrines and temples…but I don’t know it too well…] Anyway, this is also a very famous area. And it has a rooster on top of the temple! Oh, and there’s little shops to buy good luck charms and omiyage and other little trinkets. But we went into the tea house! Grace thinks that because it’s summer, they served iced green tea instead of the tradition hot green tea. In any case, it was refreshing and delicious. And we got a cookie too. It had an interesting slightly sour middle…

After that…I think we rode the bus back to the hotel. We split up for a bit and re-met for kaiten sushi dinner, or conveyer belt sushi! The cool thing was that this place had lots of variety and even the California roll! Yum!!!

Afterwards, we walked around the area and looked at shops and eventually ended up in Gion, where Geisha and Maiko (geisha apprentice) are known to be. But because we were there “after hours,” we didn’t see any. But we did go check out the shrine that’s near Gion. It was really nice how the lanterns changed how the look of the shrine.

Then…I believe we called it a night. We caught a late night snack and headed back to the hotel (though Jamie took a bus back to her hotel/hostel). Then I took a nice warm shower (because it’s been hot, I’ve been taking cold showers and moreover because I can’t work the water heater, I’ve been taking cold showers) and then knocked out.

Again, we woke up rather early (not as early though) to meet Jamie at the station. But also, my home boy Terence found out that I was going to be in the Kyoto area (thank you facebook) and e-mailed my phone which lead to our arrangement to meet at the Kyoto station too!

It was awesome getting to see a really close friend again, rather than just exchanging email or instant messaging. It carried the feeling of meeting up with family which was great to fight my current battle with homesickness and culture shock (though it has gotten much much better).

So right after we found Terence at the station, we all headed off for the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It’s a fox shrine so there’s many different fox statues all about the area. Also, this is the shrine that has many many red gates. All, I believe Grace said, have been donated by someone or some organization/company. So…in one direction, the gates all look red, but then you look at them from the other side and you see all this crazy writing! But I really liked how after some red gates, a stone one would become visible. I think some of the stone gates have been standing since the Meiji era!

Because the pathway around this shrine is really long (and we were still a little tired from all the walking from the previous day), we only walked part of it. But enough to get attacked by mosquitos!!! ><”

Then after this…we went to Kiyomizu Tera (temple). But to get to the temple, we had to walk up an up hill road. And being it was a sunny day, it got pretty hot. And there were so many other people walking up too! Once we were really close to the top, I got excited because I saw some Maiko…but only to be told that they were fake maiko. Around the area, there are places that dress you up like a Maiko and you can go about the city in the costume. So…that was who I saw. But man…I’m surprised they were able to walk in those crazy high sandals…and even downhill too!

So up we went into the temple (and at some points, even more up we went). But the view from there was awesome! So much greenery and then nice shots of the city. It was just beautiful.

And there was this shop around the area that sold sweets that are only made/sold in Kyoto. It’s basically mochi (the rice dough thing. Not the mochi ice cream balls) but in Kyoto it’s much thinner. And there were so many different flavors too! The awesome thing about this shop is that there are many free samples. So…really you can just go in and eat…and pretend you’re interested in buying… Besides, it’s so busy in there, it’s not like they’ll really be able to tell you’re just eating the sweets as long as you look interested… ;P Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t just eat some of the samples. I bought a box of what I think was plain (though it had a cinnamon-y taste) and green tea flavors for the office (doing the omiyage thing again).

Oh right. Sometime on Saturday (I can’t really recall when that day since I’m finishing this today…Thursday…) but we found this nice trendy store. There were so many nice things in there (but a little pricy…which was great because then I didn’t spend too much). But I did find an awesome belt! Two actually and I was having a difficult time choosing between the two. But luckily I tried them on then and there and found that only one fit me so the awesome teal one I bought. Can’t wait to wear it really…rather bummed my favorite jeans are back at home…ah well. I’ll just go buy a new pair. Can’t have too many pairs of jeans, ne? ;P

Let’s see…so after the Kiyomizu Tera, we hopped onto a bus and headed for Sanjyusangendo…only to find out we were 5 minutes late for the cut off point to buy tickets and enter… ><”
The real sad thing was that Emmett really wanted to visit this area and we just missed the chance… D’oh!

After some sitting and chatting, we decided to head back to Gion. We actually walked into the area this time but alas, still no Geisha or Maiko (though there was a group of photographers around…). And then we went into the shopping area again. Terence found a manga/figurine store which I had somehow managed to miss and oh man…it was so hard to resist. The prices though, made it a little easier to resist (quite expensive compared to how much I can pay for some of them at the Anime Expo or Little Tokyo…sometimes…) But I gotta say, they did look better than some of ones that get sold in the states…

And then, we all squished into a bus and went back to the train station. We helped Terence buy his tickets and find his way back. Then the rest of us went to the lockers to get our overnight bags and headed down to the Shinkansen waiting area…only to read that ALL the skinkansen were running an hour and a half late!!! Though it was beautiful and sunny in Kyoto, there was crazy rain going on in Fukushima I believe (where all the shinkansen were coming from).

So instead of waiting about for more than an hour, we boarded onto a different shinkansen. We had to ride in the unreserved seating cabin though…so yay, more standing… But once we boarded the second one (we had to do a transfer), we all managed to find seats after the second stop. And more sleeping followed.

Another awesome Jutaku neighbor was nice enough to pick us up from the JR station and we safely made it home. Interestingly, our original shinkansen that was running 90 minutes late ended up being canceled. o_O;

So…that was my crazy weekend. I’m pretty sure I left out some things but over the process of days, I forgot to write about some or think I have written about…may even have written some of it twice…and I’ll try to post up some photos of it here. Otherwise, most, if not all, will up on my flickr account.

And a couple more pics

Apparently there is a limit to how many I can put...or my files are too big...

Pics

Well, I felt like adding some color onto the page...

Speech Contest

August 23

So for a while now, I’ve been helping 2 students prepare for the speech contest that went on today. One student, Hitomi, is a second year at my high school. The other student is Ayana who is a first year. The first time I helped Hitomi, I was impressed with how well her English was. She hardly has an accent and already off the bat she was getting the feeling of the speech (it’s a Mother Teresa speech about how materially poor people can be spiritually rich). So my first time helping her out, I wasn’t too sure what to do.
Then I helped Ayana. She was what I thought most of them would be like. She had less experience with speech contests and so got really nervous and the day came nearer. I worked with her more than I did with Hitomi. For her, I created a list of words and word combinations that she had trouble with. The cool thing is that it actually helped her! If she read the list out loud before she read the speech, she’d have less of a hard time.
This week, we tried to prepare them for the contest. So, they had to have it memorized and be able to express the feelings behind the speech. But because I’ve never been in or to a speech contest I wasn’t too sure how to help them. But, I was able to tell them what they should be thinking about at certain parts of the speech so that they can try to feel and express the emotion behind the speech.
And they both did wonderfully! The contest was separated into 3 sections. Hitomi was in the second and Ayana was in the third. After each section, there was a break. And after the first section, both got really nervous about their speech.
In the first section, there was a girl who expressed a lot of emotion. For the most part she had it dead on but in all honesty, I feel that at some points she got a little carried away… And then, during one girl’s recitation (who happens to be from the high school my buddy Mike works at) a cell phone went off! I’m pretty sure everyone was mad at the guy… But the horrible thing is that the ringing distracted the girl and caused her to get lost within her own recitation! She was doing so well and then she started to blank and struggle with her speech. Oh, and as if that weren’t enough, there’s a 3 minutes limit to recite the speech. They give you a thirty second warning and when the time’s up, you hear a bell. Once the 30 second warning popped up, she struggled even more. The prompter on the side had to keep helping her through the last half of the speech. And then her time was up. But, she wanted to finish so she continued on (cudos to her). The poor thing. She was practically in tears as she walked off stage. I wanted to go over to her and give her a hug!
So, after those two performances (among other performances) Hitomi and Ayana became very nervous. But they did it well and under the time limit. Only Ayana needed a little help from the prompter but on her own, she added hand movements into the speech.
After all the students had performed and the judges were making their decisions, I gave them each a box of strawberry pocky. I thought, “Hmm. They’re really nervous about it. I want to get them something…a treat! Chocolate’s always good.” And they were really happy about it. So happy that they gave me something in return too! I got a shrimp onigiri (rice ball) and a banana crepe treat. Hehe^^
In the end, there were 10 finalists (if I remember right). And Hitomi has moved onto the next level! Hurray! Ayana sadly didn’t but being that it was her first speech contest, I think that’s a huge accomplishment on it’s own.
:]

Success'ssssssssss

Mahahaha!
I have accomplished some things!!!

Hitotsu: I have finally gone out on my balcony!
Basically, ever since I saw that freakin’ huge spider, I’ve been afraid to walk out onto my balcony. Let alone go into the “spider room.” But I told myself, “No. You can’t live in fear. And you need to wash your work shirts! The pile is getting big.” So, out I went. Armed with my spider spray. Because I was rather afraid, I went out with only the soap and downey first (yes! Japan has downey!!! And April Fresh scent! Mahahaha~!).
I did, however, almost walk into a spider web. There are 2 window-doors that I can step out onto my balcony from. I tried the farther (but in my mind safer) one first. But luckily I saw that shiny super sticky string of creepiness before I walked through it. Anyway. I got some laundry done. Drying it is taking a while though…but it’s not dire. I just wanted to get it out of the way.

Futatsu: I have rode my bike
It’s not really that I’ve been afraid to ride my bike here. I just know my luck and in simple little things like this, I tend to have the oddest, weirdest and worst luck. So my predecessor left me 2 bikes (I’ve yet to look for the other one) and the cool red one (yea, red!) had a rusting chain and gear metal thing. Although it moved, I was afraid it would burst on my first attempt of riding it or that I would fall and horribly cut myself with it.
So a co-worker looked at it and told me to bring to school. So it was just like the walking to school that I’d been doing before, except this time I got to put my stuff in the basket. So it was actually better for my back. :P Anyhoo, the awesome office ladies called the guy (possibly the owner) of a bike shop who came to the school, looked at my bike and took it away to change the chain. A couple hours later, a little before lunch, my bike was back. So, I got to ride my bike back to my apartment. It was rather nice. But I was a little embarrassed when 2 of the office ladies were waiting to SEE me ride off (embarrassed because I hadn’t tried that bike yet and because I remembered the last I tried with Elo…when my first minute was very wabaly…ehehe^^;;) But I rode it and didn’t fall. Mahahaha. Though I did freak out a bit on my way down a hill (I didn’t want to pick up so much speed yet! Especially not with my laptop in the basket!). And only then did I find out I have the squeakiest, most loudest bicycle brakes in the world. -_-“ But at least they work, ne?
And today I rode it to work. I’m finding out that my heavy laptop makes it a little harder to keep control. I need to buy a back basket to put it in. Oh! And a helmet! (which I plan to buy today if possible. “If possible” because I have class today.)

Mittsu: They loved the omiyage
Jesh! My co-workers liked the Mexican candy I brought as omiyage for them (omiyage = souvenir/gift). I think what also worked was that it’s Mexican. It’s something totally new to them. :] And then I got to explain to some of them that my hometown is primarily Mexican so although it is a Mexican candy, it is from the US. Two birds with one stone! Mahaha!
Oh yea. And because I had a “business trip” on Friday (the Fukuoka Orientation), I brought a huge box of wafer-chocolate candy. So after I gave my introduction, I told them I brought that back for them. My supervisor was surprised that I did that. I guess it took other ALT’s a while to get into that custom? But after about a week of receiving omiyage from the other teacher’s trips, it just felt right. And other Fukuoka JETs at the orientation bought some too. Hehe^^.

School. No wait, I mean work

So I’m at work. It’s been an interesting day. A little busy here and there. Lots of e-mail chatting with my sisters and cousin (yea!!!) and even a little online chatting via gmail, aim and skype! (that was getting a little crazy…
I’ve been helping 2 students prepare for Friday’s speech contest. The first year needs a little help (kinda what I expected) but the second year student has great pronunciation and gets the feeling of the speech. (she even helped me work with the first year student) Sadly though, I have not been invited to attend or judge it. But a fellow JET buddy has. Lucky her.
Oh right, on the note of chatting online. I just found out last night that my laptop has a built-in microphone! xD Good thing I found out now before I bought a headset! Hahaha. I still need to get a camera though…but that can wait. (have a little regret for not putting the extra money to buy the laptop that came with a camera…but ah well). So yea, if you want to chat, just find me on aim or skype! ^^
…
So I tried to write another blog entry on Monday but it never made it up. In fact, it was only a 3 sentence paragraph and I was just starting the second when…I guess I got busy with something…
Anyway, tomorrow starts off the school year here in Chikushi High School. In the morning, I will give my small introduction to the entire student body. I’m not sure how big it is…but being that most classes are about 40 students…it’s going to feel like my high school… And after their Sports Day (which is September 7th) I will get to teach my first class. It’s an introduction class so at the moment I have a small powerpoint about who I am, what I like, my family, where they’re from yadda yadda yadda. I’m also wondering what sort of activities to do with them. Something fun and educational…and that the teachers will be alright with…woo…
On Monday, all the teachers came back (most, if not all, were gone for Obon). So I also had to give a small introduction to them that day. I wrote a really quick and small one (my advisor said to make it about a minute long) the night before. And I did in Japanese. It felt like I was back in college on the first day of the semester where we had to introduce ourselves and give a brief of what we did over break. Anyhoo, it really wasn’t all that great (and with editing help from my supervisor, it was grammatically correct. Haha). But I was told by some of the teachers that I’ve gotten familiar with that the others were impressed. One of the teachers later told me she was impressed how well my Japanese was after only studying for 4 years (really? I think it would be better if I had reviewed everything and remembered my kanji…).
But in all honesty, I think my Japanese was horrible when I first landed in Japan (because I didn’t really study over summer break…). But since I’ve been here for 3 weeks already (really? Only 3 weeks?) and I’ve been talking to other teachers, hostmoms, talking with cab drivers and asking people in the community for directions, I think it has gotten a little better (at least I think my listening is getting better. And that was the toughest part for me!).