文化際!!

So today was the school Bunkasai festival. Last night I received a phone call from one of my teachers at the school because there was a chance that with the typhoon coming in, it might be canceled. So this morning I was up at 7am, waiting to hear about the status for today. However, it ended up that it was raining pretty steadily, but nothing threatening enough to cancel. So the show continues on!

The event started at around 9am this morning. My parents and I all went together because we wanted to go check out the schedule and see when I would be performing. I hadn't told many of the teachers that my parents were in town, so they were all very surprised and very pleased to get to meet the "Amanos"! Haha. The Principal was especially pleased and surprised. He had met my father during the late summer when my dad came into town. And so he was instantly pleased when he saw my father's face, and was dually surprised to know that my mother was also there!

He was so happy, he made a special announcement in the opening ceremony in front of everybody and had my parents stand up so everyone could have a good look at "Kento Sensei's parents." I think all the students were very surprised and curious. They were asking me, "Can they speak Japanese?" or "Are they really your parents?"

Haha, the kids are funny. But today was an enjoyable day. The whole Bunkasai event went really well and I thought that the performances were all good. I was listed as number 7 on the program, so I was kind of nervous, but not too bad in the morning. As the morning progressed, I got more and more nervous, because it meant that I would be going on stage at any time now...

Haha, well I was sitting there enjoying the performances with my parents and finally it came down for me to go up on stage and play. The whole school had heard that their English teacher was going to be performing the piano at the event, so all the students had been eagerly awaiting for their sensei to get on stage and perform in front of everyone. Well, it came time for me to make my way toward the stage. I snuck out of the main room to go to the backstage. There, I ran into the group on stage behind the curtain getting the piano all set up and ready to go!

Well, they introduced me and my performance, and I walked on stage. I bowed before everybody and there were a lot of faces out there! Then I started playing. While I was on stage, it was nerveracking. But when I hit the first note, it became different and I got in the zone. I guess that's how things usually work when you're focused and the adrenaline is rushing. I was just thinking about the notes that I had to hit and it kind of flowed naturally through my fingers. Well, I got through the song pretty successfully, I think! I hit/miss a few notes here or there, but overall I was pleased with my performance. I think that it went really well and everyone really seemed to like it. In the end, I even got flowers! Haha, I was not expecting that! But, it was fun and I'm glad that everyone enjoyed it!

Check out the performance here.

Throughout the whole day, there were a whole array of other performances as well ranging from traditional Japanese music/dances to modern J-Pop songs like AKB48 and Arashi. There was even a group of boys that dressed up as AKB48 (high school girl uniforms) and did a dance. It was a little scary at first, but the boys made "cute girls" haha. I guess some guys don't really care and enjoy having fun no matter what! To each his own!!

I'm just glad that today's event was indoors...it would have been miserable outside and it most definitely would have been canceled! But, the typhoon passed over for the most part and I don't think it affected us as badly as it could have. It was really rainy and windy, but not bad enough to cause damage, thankfully. It had been pretty windy the past couple hours here, but hopefully it will die down. I checked the forecast and it's supposed to be fairly nice outside tomorrow as well...sunny!!

Well, we'll see, I guess. Hopefully the weather forecast is pretty accurate and will be decent tomorrow. My dad is supposed to fly out to Taiwan tomorrow morning, so hopefully the weather will cooperate as well so he can make it out of Japan and up to Narita Airport!

My mother will be in Isumi until Tuesday morning, then her and I will go up toward Tokyo together to meet up with family and have fun. I'm going to go to my aunt's house on Wednesday who I haven't seen since a couple winters ago, so it will be nice to catch up with her and my uncle. I'll also see my grandma who I haven't seen since I visited her in August. I have a pretty sweet schedule next week....Tuesday and Wednesday off. Tuesday is a day off because we had the bunkasai today and Wednesday is a national holiday. So pretty much a 3 day work week, and then another weekend! Woohoo!

Well, I'll keep you posted as always....

Later!

The Rents

So I got back from picking up my parents and going out to dinner with my parents. It was a good dinner. We went to an izakaya in Mobara where I went with my dad when he came back in August. I usually would have said to try a different place, but there's a JUSCO right next to the restaurant and the station and we had to do some food shopping after anyway, so we just hung out around there.

It was good. We had different assortments of sashimi, salad, meat, and other good stuff. It was good to see my parents again who I haven't seen since I left for Japan (with the exception of my dad who I saw back in August).

But we finished up dinner and then headed over to JUSCO to do some shopping where I picked up a couple more pillows as well! :) I looovee pillows. Haha, that's the one thing that I've really been missing. If you knew me back in the states, you would know that I really really........

really...realllly loooove pillows! I mean really love pillows! Just ask my friends or family. I usually had a minimum of about 6-8 different pillows on my bed. An assortment of down feather, body, and normal pillows. Yes, completely necessary if I might say so myself.

So if you think about it, I've actually been depriving myself of my pillow joy while in Japan. I've been trying to live more "frugally" and being less "materialistic", haha. Pillow are a materialistic item for me. But tonight I added 2 more pillows to my collection.....yes! Anyway, I'm glad to have gotten to catch up with my parents and I'll be able to show them around the area and where I live. It's nice that there's skype so that I can talk with them and tell them how everything's going, but it's better to be able to actually show them around and have them see for themselves what it's really like here in Isumi and for me to live in Japan!

Well, it's late, and hopefully the bunkasai won't be canceled for tomorrow. I received a phone call from one of the English teachers at my school warning me that there's a possibility that the bunkasai could be canceled tomorrow...:( There's supposedly a pretty big typhoon making its way toward Tokyo and if it comes in tomorrow, then it will not be good news!

So we'll cross our fingers and see!

TGIF!

So....it's Friday!

Yay!!!! I love Fridays! Today was a full day of work. I had elementary school today and taught for all 6 periods...in a row...no break....except for lunch break and whatever recess the kids have....

But, it wasn't as bad today. It was actually pretty fun. The students were into the lessons, which always helps. I did part Halloween stuff for a lot of the classes since Halloween is coming up this Sunday!

The younger kids in the elementary school are so cute. They're funny and really energetic! This gives me hope while I'm teaching, otherwise I think that I would be dead! Haha, it gets tiring if the class isn't into it, either, so they help energize me!

Well, this weekend, my parents are actually coming into town! They've been in Japan since Sunday, but were up in Kashiwa/Tokyo area and probably Nagano. Now, they're on their way to come check out my town and my place. My dad has been here before so he has an idea of what it's like, but this will be the first time for my mom. So I'm excited for them to come and check out the place and the town to see what it's all about. Not exactly sure what we'll be doing the whole weekend but tomorrow I have my school's Bunkasai, so we'll be pretty busy with that. And then I think just checking out the city on Sunday. I think my dad will be going to Taiwan on Sunday, so he actually doesn't have too much time that he'll be spending here in Isumi. Busy guy!

I also heard from the other teachers that there's a typhoon that's coming in to town....bad news. It's not supposed to get here til about Sunday, but hopefully it will hold out and not become too crazy!!

Well, more to come!

Another Hump Day goes by

So it was hump day again today. Another school day. Today was a pretty full day of classes. Out of the 6 class periods, I had 5 classes to teach today. So I was pretty busy! However, the day went by pretty quickly! The classes have been shortened to 45 minute periods the last couple weeks because they're allocating more time toward practice for the Bunkasai which is coming up this Saturday!

So that also means that it's getting closer until I perform the piano as well! Ahhhh! I've been going in and practicing pretty regularly, including today. I also went to Judo right after school, so I was pretty tired by the time I sat down at the piano...and I also had my eikaiwa class tonight!

Haha, so this is the first time I'm kind of resting today...at 9:30pm....

But, it was a full day which kept me busy. However, I'm actually exhausted right now because of Judo. It was fun because we did a training exercise with Tug-of-war. We split up into 2 teams, so there were 4 of us on each team. Then, each team would choose an order from 1-4. Depending on what the other team chose, each person would face the other in a face off Tug-of-war! Haha, so it was actually really fun! I almost felt like I was on a reality TV show like the "Gauntlet" or something, facing someone in an elimination round. Well, let's just say that I didn't do too well....haha. I lost the first match to a guy that was a similar size to me.

Of the 4 members, you had a to win a majority of the single faceoffs in order for your team to win. So our team lost the 1st and 2nd time. The 2nd match I had was against a guy who is nearly 180-200 pounds...so let's just say that he pretty much dragged me across the floor and to his side, haha. But the losing team had to do 10 squat things per person that's on the team (so 40 total). But these are squats that I had never done or seen before. It's pretty much continuous up and down jumping from a squatting position up to standing 40 times in a row. It doesn't sound too hard, but once you get to around 25, your thighs just start burning. And by the time you get to 31, your thighs are numb. And then there's still 32-40 to complete....so my thighs were on FIRE and I could barely feel them after the 1st loss! Haha. My thigh muscles were sooo shot! So I thought we were going to be done after the first round, but then came the 2nd round, and a 3rd round!

So our team ended up losing the 2nd round as well, so guess what.....we had to do another 40 of those damn squat press things!!!

After this set, I could barely stand up! I just fell to the ground and was stretching out my legs and yelling out in pain, haha! Finally after a minute of being on the ground, I got up to get a drink of water and sports drink. I tried kind of jogging, but that failed! Haha, my thighs were so shot that I could barely jog!! Man....and we still had a 3rd round of the tug-of-war!

Wow....so I was just exhausted at this point. But I had to give it my all for the 3rd match. Well, I faced the guy who I went up against in the 1st round...however, I was determined to win this one match because I did NOT want to do those squat things! So the 1st guy on my team went and he won! I was next. I was up and got ready to go....while my legs were trembling from fatigue and anxiousness waiting for the starting shot. As we started, I felt the force of the other guy starting to pull me back. We were struggling for a little bit because we were both tired and neither wanted to lose. Well, I was getting pulled further and further back until we were nearly 1 foot away from where my opponent had to touch in order to win. Then out of nowhere, I felt a burst of energy and determination so I wouldn't have to do those squats!!

I used all the force and energy I had and slowly started to pull my opponent back toward my end....and kept going, and going, and going...I was about 4-5 feet away from my end where I had to touch in order to win. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Well, with a few last tugs and pulls, I finally made a sprint to the edge, pulling my opponent with me and claimed victory!!!!! Wooohoooo!! Haha, it felt good...and I was dead tired at this point!

All we needed was one more guy on our team to win and we wouldn't have to face the cruel squats. So the 3rd guy went and lost.

Wow, what a downer. But we still had our 4th guy to go and make things right. So he went up, and with ease, he won!!!!!

So we did NOT have to do those squats for a 3rd time in a row. I think I would have died and wouldn't have been able to make it home if I had to do those again! Seriously, my legs were burning, and they still are! Haha, it was hard to make it down the stairs from the Judo room to my car.

Well, that's my story for the day...I know that I'll have sore thighs tomorrow! Hopefully, I'll be able to stand while I'm teaching classes tomorrow!

Elementary Tuesday

Today I was at 2 elementary schools. Typically, Tuesdays and Fridays are my elementary school days, so today was no different.

In the morning, the school that I taught at only has classes for the 5th and 6th graders so that meant only 2 classes this morning at that school. Yes! It's nice, because at the other elementary schools, I usually teach the full 4 classes in the morning.

The classes went smoothly today and was a lot of fun. I split the lesson up so that we did the regular textbook material the first half, and then a Halloween themed lesson and activity the 2nd half. Booooooo!!!!! haha...

So the Halloween activity is basically learning Halloween characters, then making BINGO out of it. Also, I had the kids do a trick or treat activity and they all loved it!

At my elementary school in the afternoon, I had 2 classes. Typically on Tuesdays and Fridays, I teach at one elementary school in the morning, then a different one in the afternoon. So I headed over to my 2nd elementary school in the afternoon and taught the other 2 classes. I did the same thing, where I split the lesson up in half. Part textbook, part Halloween.

Everyone in Japan loves BINGO (as they should :)...hahaa) It's a fun game and easy to set up. As well, pretty much everyone knows the rules. And if they don't, it's not too difficult to explain or show. So the afternoon was a pretty smooth time as well.

But today's most interesting adventure was at my first elementary school. While we were doing the greetings and saying "Good Morning, Class!!", one kid screamed. Then it was followed by another kid screaming, then another, and soon all the kids were running towards the door and ran out of the room! By the time they were nearly all out, I saw what they were running from....

It was a hornet. Now, in Japan, they don't have just "Hornets." This is a hornet that is literally the size of my thumb. I've seen them before and heard teachers at other schools talk about these hornets in Japan. It's big enough and dangerous enough to kill a person. That's right....the poison from the sting is enough to kill a human being. Sooooo, I guess I can understand the freakout by the kids and the mad rush...including myself...haha.

Here's a link to the hornet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet

We were all huddled outside the door looking into the classroom through the windows in the doors. Everybody was freaking out and just waiting for the hornet to get out of the classroom. We stood out there for a few minutes. Then when the wasp finally went to the outside window and flew out for a second, the main teacher rushed inside and closed the windows. Once it was all clear, we finally all went back inside the classroom and resumed. But that was seriously one of the biggest hornets that I had ever seen! This wasn't the first time that I'd seen a huge hornet like that!

At one of my other elementary schools, I once saw a similar sized horent outside the school and it was scary! Well, it was an interesting day today and I'm glad that no one got stung!

Case of the Mondays...

So I think I really do have a case of the Mondays...lol. (For those of you that have seen Office Space).

Seriously, every Monday morning, I find myself waking up like 10 minutes before I need to be OUT of the door! Now, I know it's normal for one to be groggy, slower, sleepy, and a little slower at the beginning of the week. I will take that to be normal. But no matter what I do, I can never seem to get up ANY earlier on Mondays! I think I have a serious case of the Mondays!!!

Haha, but today was a rather relaxing day...considering that I was pretty tired today and didn't get too much sleep this weekend. Unfortunately, one of my teachers at my school today didn't feel too hot. He had an extremely sore throat and ended up going to the doctor all day to get it checked out. He happens to be one of the main English teachers that I work with, so that meant that the classes that I teach with him got canceled.

So wait, imagine what I was thinking when I went in to work this morning...I'm tired, sleepy, and have a "Case of the Mondays." Then I walk in to school and am told that instead of the 4 classes I would have had today, I only have 1....

Woohoo!!!! Yeah, I know that you were thinking the same thing I was! It's not a bad gig to only have to teach one class today!! I was pretty stoked! But I definitely feel bad for the teacher because obviously he doesn't feel good, and I really like the guy so I don't want him to be sick. But today, my "Case of the Mondays" felt better and I had time to relax today, plan out some other lessons, and just get some stuff organized. It ended up still being an interesting day because my school is practicing for the "Bunkasai" or "Culture Festival." It's coming up this Saturday.

Apparently in Japan, the "Bunkasai" is about the 2nd biggest event of the year next to the "Sports Day" competition which already happened earlier this year. It's cool because all the students will be performing songs and acts with their classmates in front of the school and their parents on Saturday. As well, I was invited to play the piano for the event a couple months ago, so I've been practicing the piano as well. I think it will be fun and it forces me to keep my fingers nimble on the keys! I'll be playing a Chopin piece which I learned this summer before coming to Japan.

Actually....it's a song that my younger sister had played a couple years ago. And she's very protective of the songs that she plays! Haha, she thinks that they're her songs! So she was "upset" when I learned it this summer and was playing it all the time. Now imagine how she's going to react when I tell her that I'm going to be performing it!!! Hahaha, well...I know she'll get over it. :)

So on the days that I've been able, I have been going to the music room after school and practicing the piano. I want to practice during school, but the classroom is always taken or busy so the piano is not available to practice on. But I feel pretty good about the piece and hoepfully it will go well!

It's Thursday

So today was another normal day. Nothing too special....I went to Judo practice after school. Then I also went to Cainz Home, a local DIY store and bought a big piece of carpet. I got it because a majority of my house is hardwood floor. So I figure that putting down some carpet will help with some insulation in the non-insulated house that I have. And besides, my friend, Kim also wanted me to take her to Cainz since she doesn't have a car to go buy some carpet.

While we were there, it was an interesting episode of events that could have nearly killed me...literally!

First was the chain. We were standing next to as display of carpets and there was a chain draped across the length of the wall. It was maybe 20 feet long. But somewhere and somehow while Kim was grabbing a carpet, one end of the chain came off its hook. It then proceeded to come flying toward me without me noticing and flicked me in a bad spot....I mean a bad spot....if you know what I mean.

I let out a quick yelp of shock and slight pain....while at the same time moving down in a sudden movement whilst having no idea what happened. But I recovered soon after and was ok. Then she kept on hitting random objects by accident with her carpet. Good thing I kept my distance or I could have been a victim!

Whether by accident or on purpose, she gave me cookies to thank me for taking her to get carpet, so I was satisfied! Yum! Well, hopefully my place will be a little warmer now with my new accessory in the room. I know that it won't make it completely warm, but hopefully it will help at least a little....considering homes in Japan don't have insulation and there's no such thing as central heating/AC in homes! At least in most.

Well, I'm off to bed....I'm up way tooo late! It's nearly midnight now. I'm up late because I was talking to family members on skype and just been getting stuff ready for school tomorrow and this weekend!

Well, until next post.

Hump Day

So today was a pretty normal day...nothing too special happened in particular. What was a great surprise was that I was supposed to have 5 classes today (Wednesdays at the middle school are pretty stacked) but I ended up only having to teach 3!

Nice little bonus :) I had class the first period and that was only review for the 3rd graders, so there wasn't a whole lot of involvement. Then 2-4 period were off. I basically worked on the powerpoints that are going to be presented at next week's Bunkasai for the speech contest participants. Then for the afternoon I had 5th and 6th period to teach. But overall, not a bad day. It was nice to get to relax a little and be able to collect my thoughts and organize things a little.

Lately, it's been pretty busy. I was wrapping up speech contest things a few weeks ago. Now, I'm getting ready to play the piano in my school's Bunkasai (Culture Fest) on Oct. 30th! Haha, it should be interesting. I've been practicing piano after school to warm up my fingers. I haven't taken official lessons since I graduated from High School....seems like ages ago now! :(

But I really enjoy playing the piano. I never used to like practicing when I was younger, but now I could spend hours at the piano just playing random old songs or making up tunes of my own. And then I've also been going to Judo practice to try and pick up a "Japanese" thing while I'm here. As well, I also had my adult language class tonight.

So to say that I'm pretty busy at the least is an understatement. But it's good, otherwise I'd probably be bored out of my mind! And being bored in the inaka is no good! So I'm glad that I have a variety of things to do and to occupy my time. I think that if I were bored, I could always go to the big city which is only about 1 to 1.5 hours away, but to make that trip on a weeknight or for a short period gets old. Plus, I like to go there on the weekend to be able to get away for a little longer and to enjoy a little more of the life over there and the variety as well!

But, I blabbered on about random things for this post....haha. My goal is to make more regular entries to document my adventures and what's been going on. I realized that some of my other posts were really long and it's tough for people to probably read them and for me to write them. There's always too much that I want to fit in one post and I end up not completing the post or never writing it...so it accumulates into the next one.

With that, I'm out for the night. Peace!

Teaching

So classes have been going pretty well so far. I started my first official day of school on 9/3/2010. From there, it was all a rollercoaster ride that I didn't know what to expect until I actually stepped into the classroom. Back in America before we were even thinking of stepping foot in Japan, we had orientations and classes that helped to train us on how to teach. However, it's much different being in a seminar than actually being in the front of the classroom and teaching!

I'd say that it took a little longer to get used to teaching the Elementary schools than the middle school. I only say that because I make rounds to 5 different elementary schools, while I'm at only 1 base middle school!

So with teachers, that means only having to plan with 2 teachers at the middle school, vs. the many grades/classes at the 5 different elementary school. Having to be organized and staying on top of what you taught is key, to say the least! (And organization/planning is not one of my strongest points!) haha, but overall, I'm getting used to it all and it helps that the kids are all full of energy which I soak up and can use to get through the classes! The kids also do and say the funniest things. So that makes it all fun and very interesting!

The elementary schools all had welcoming ceremonies which included marching in while a band played, and all the kids clapping and cheering or what not while holding these tunnel things that I walked through to the front of the gym. It always felt like they were welcoming royalty there! Haha, it was fun and very cool. You can see pics that one of my middle schools posted on their website of their welcoming ceremony for me!

https://ns.chiba-a.jp/kuniyoshi-e/index.php?action=pages_view_main&page_id=13

I must say, though, that I really enjoy what I am doing up to this point. There are some days where the students are awesome and I just love being there, and other days where....well, I would have rather been able to stay in bed and sleep all day and not have to teach. But either way, it's a great experience and I know that I'm learning a lot about my students and about myself! All the while, I'm having a great time in Japan and am glad that I have the opportunity to be in Japan and experience the culture and all its goodness!

So in all of my classes and free time, I have gotten plenty of questions. Much more than I expected I would ever get. Below is a compilation of the kinds of questions I have gotten so far. Some of them are to be expected, and others not so much....:)

The range of questions I have gotten from all my students:
-What sports/music/tv shows/famous people do you like?
-What is America like?
-What is your favorite food to eat?
-Can you use chopsticks?
-Are you really from America? You look Japanese!
-Where do you live?
-Do you like Japan or America better?
-What is the current exchange rate? (Asked by a 4th grader!!) followed up with, Is inflation affecting the American economy more than the Japanese economy?
-Do you have a girlfriend?
-Are you married?
-Are you a model?
-How do you get your hair to stand up like that?
-What's your favorite animal?
-Do you like hamburgers?
-Where did you learn Japanese?
-Are you a college exchange student?
-What's your favorite flower?
-Can you eat natto?

And the list continues, but these are the ones that I could think of off the top of my head. All the teachers at the school are extremely nice and helpful. I've heard some horror stories before coming to Japan that some teachers don't necessarily like ALTs in the classroom and think of them as a burden. Or others that the teachers would sometimes ditch the class and expect you to take over the whole class by yourself. So far, I can't say that I've experienced any of these....(knock on wood)

But I know that as I continue further, I may run into some of those types of teachers and have to experience both sides of the spectrum at some point! But overall, it's been a positive experience and I like all the people that I work with.

New Goal

So I think that while I'm here in Japan, I'm going to try and go for getting a black belt in Judo...kinda random I know, but I think it would be sweeet!

I started going to Judo practice at my middle school to learn how to grapple in Judo and to have fun with the kids. It's been fun so far...and tiring! But definitely a good time. The Judo instructor said that if I'm able to pass all the tests and moves, then I can definitely get a black belt in Judo within a year or so.

I figure, why not!?! It'll be fun, and it'll be sweet to tell people, "Hey, I have a black belt in Judo! Don't mess with me!"

Haha, sounds much cooler than just teaching English in Japan. I'm not only teaching English, but I'm also getting my black belt...

Haha, alright, that's enough of just "sounding" cool. I have to actually get working and practice and work toward getting it! Well, wish me luck and we'll see how it goes over the next few months as I get a handle on how the sport works!!