Hello Everyone!

Over the last week I have ceased to be amazed, perplexed and astounded by Japan and its people! The volleyball tournament last weekend was no exception. As we (Mikame Town Team B! ?Eno ranking I hope!) were warming up for our first game, a man who must have been at least 80 years old came running onto the courts to gawk at me! This is not a new thing for me in rural Japan so I did my best to politely acknowledge him while trying to concentrate on the job at hand. As the game started, this man remained on the court somewhat mesmerized by my appearance at which point everyone on my team (me included) began to fall over in fits of laughter! Finally, he decided he had gotten a good enough look at me and proceeded to the side lines!

As I mentioned last week, I was attacked by a centipede while sleeping on my futon. I am happy to report that I am totally fine but the BOE (Board of Edu) took it much more seriously and on Monday morning we went bed shopping! Needless to say, my supervisors spend a lot of time worrying about me and making sure that I am comfortable. I just think I`m spoilt! Anyways, the bed is very comfortable and I have yet to see another mokade (pronounced MOO-KA-DEH Japanese for centipede) in my bedroom!

From last Tuesday through Saturday I participated in an intensive Japanese class in Uwa, one of the neighbouring towns. The class was a lot of fun and a great chance to meet more of the surrounding JETs. Out teacher, Tamaka-Sensei was wonderful and very animated! On Thursday she was teaching us the words for family members (ie mother, father etc). As it turns out, these same words are used to describe one`s fingers. Your thumb is called your father finger, index is your mother finger etc?EAs Tamaka-Sensei was teaching this, she was lifting the corresponding finger with each explanation. As you might have already guessed, as she got to her brother finger?E(ie middle finger) she flipped the bird to the entire class, we couldn`t help but fall off our seats laughing! It was priceless and the worse thing is that no matter how many different ways we tried to explain the meaning she kept on doing it! This was mainly because each time we laughed more and more so she continued to give us the middle finger! I am still unsure if she grasped the meaning of her actions ?Eas she waved us goodbye with her middle fingers on the last day of class! So much for positive internationalization!

The JETs that live in the surrounding towns are mainly from the commonwealth countries. This is quite strange because over half of the total participants on the program are American. I am quite happy to be surrounded by people from so many different countries ?Ethe problem is that I can barely understand some of the country-specific lingo that they all use! A few of the words I know from my Ausie roommate at McGill and I know a bit from mom and dad (Brits) but I`m always asking for translations! Turns out I`m not only learning Japanese?E
If anyone has any good Canadian?Eterms, please pass them on to me as I feel inadequate in the `cool words?Edepartment! I`ll have to keep a running list of these words and pass them on to you all! In term of comedic value, this is the best one I have heard yet (by a Californian and said with a completely serious and straight face!): Lets make like Tom and cruise!?ENo joke!

For all of you geographers reading, this part is for you! I have been getting the funniest questions from all of you so here is the (my) geographic interpretation of Mikame and it`s people so far!

Population: 9 200
Main Industry: Mikan farming (oranges) in the winter, fishing in the summer, some logging mills nearby (more on logging later).
Demographics: There are 7 schools (5 elementary, 1 JHS and 1 HS). There are a lot of younger students and almost all of them go on to HS (optional in Japan to go to school after the age of 16). After HS, some leave to go to university (don`t know numbers) and the rest stay behind and work on the family business. Most people are employed in Mikame industry or in one of the nearby towns. It seems that many of the younger, post HS crowd does leave Mikame in search of something more exciting. It also appears that a large number of retired or elderly people return to there home town to live out their last years ?EMikame is no exception.
Climate: I have never been so hot in my life! The average since I have been here has been around 34 degrees with a lot of humidity. Though there was a cool spell last week due to a nearby typhoon. It apparently only goes down to 10 degrees in the winter with maybe 2 or 3 snowfalls all season.
Vegetation: The plants here are quite amazing and there is an interesting mix! There are more tropical things like ferns and palm trees (or some relative there of) and there are also Japanese maples as well as coniferous species. I am curious to see what will happen to the more tropical varieties when the winter comes?

I have been told that Mikame is quite a poor town but I have yet to see any evidence of that! The SeaFest must have cost the town quite a bit ?Eespecially with the fantastic fire works and cash prizes for all of the events. The town centre is quite small, with one main shopping arcade which is similar to a covered over strip mall. Most of the businesses are small and family run except for 2 grocery stores and a hardware shop.

I must say that there is one thing here in Japan that is driving me around the bend?Epackaging! There is sooo much of it! Everything is double or triple wrapped and you are also given a bag to take it home in! Even worse is the way that this waste is disposed of. Each week there are two garbage collections ?Eburnable and non-burnable waste. Burnable is anything paper or food scraps etc ?Egenerally what we consider compost-able. Non-burnable is all of the plastic packaging, Styrofoam, bags etc. From what I have heard, both are burned but the later is burned in a different manner ?Enot good. Anyways, I`ll have to look into that because I have just heard it 2nd hand?E

In stark contrast to all of this waste, there are some things in Japan that are soo modern and efficient! I was on an escalator that started and stopped on its own accord. The cars are much smaller and better on gas and emissions (though this is in part a factor of the very very narrow roads?E). Everything here is convenience based, though at times I see it as wasteful ?Econvenient but bad.

This being said, Japan is a very interesting mix of modernization and Asia. Some things are just like home and others are not at all ?Eto be expected but at the same time it is quite something else to see. For example, near where I live there are a lot of tunnels that one must drive through and turn on their lights. If you leave your lights on during the day after having driven through one of these tunnels someone will inevitably flash their lights to remind you to turn yours off. This is the same country that produces dish dryers?Ebecause drip drying is not good enough?EJ This all being said, I am learning so much just be being here!

This weekend there is a mud soccer tournament in a town about 1 hr south of here. It is quite famous and should be a lot of fun. I am unsure as to how I am going to get there because, as I learned yesterday the bridge at the end of my street will be undergoing construction ?Eie. I am stranded! That road is the only way out of town and I there is nowhere for me to park on the other side! Haahaaa this is going to be an interesting weekend! I think I`ll walk to the other side of the construction and have someone pick me up! I`ll let you know how it works out!

The weekend after next there is a camping trip to the Nametoko Gorge, which is famous for itsscenery and monkeys! I`m sure I`ll have lots to tell about that!

Better be off! Hope that you are all well!

Much love,
Emma








emma found her way @ 10:20 a.m. | 0 comments

This past week Mikame had its annual Sea Festival complete with many entertaining events to keep the locals amused for an entire year ?Euntil SeaFest2003! With much help from Toshie (if I haven`t mentioned her yet ?Eshe is absolutely wonderful! She helps me with everything even though it is not her job at all!) I was able to send a fax to the surrounding work place of nearby JETs inviting them to the festival. This method proved quite successful as 15+ foreigners bombarded Mikame to take part in the festivities?EI also think that many of them were desperately missing English conversation ?Eas apposed to broken, dictionary based Japanese! ;)

There were a number of events planned for the day, including human curling which involves pushing one person down a ramp into the sea (infested with jellyfish none the less). The team which gets closest to the end of the ramp without going off wins ?Efirst place (between 3 team members) was about 1100$ CDN. As you might have guesses, yours truly was nominated to be in the bucket ?Ebecause �I have a change of clothes at my apartment!?ENot only did my teammates push me down the ramp and into the water but they laughed the entire time! Oh, well. It was a good laugh for all of my students! Needless to say, we did not win that event.

One event that none of use competed in was the fish catch. This involved scooping up dinner from a large wading pool that had been stocked with fish caught in Mikame Bay. It was very funny to watch the children catch the flatfish ?Ethough at the same time I don`t know how humane it was. Following the children`s round, there was one for the adults. Let me tell you, the women went mad once they were told how much these fish were worth and that they were for free! Everyone in Mikame must have been eating fish for days!

Throughout the entire festival there was tonnes of free stuff! There was free curry and rice for lunch, free catch your own dinner?Eand at midday they also threw tonnes of candies and goodies for the kids to catch and fight over! I must say that I am quite surprised ?Egiven that Mikame is a seasonal village that depends on fish and mikan (mandarins) for most of it`s income. I had been told that the town was quite poor but I am unsure as to what standards this statement was made. If the festival was any indication I might choose not to agree.

This all aside, the main attraction and claim to fame of the Mikame Sea Festival is the annual pig rodeo! Yes, you did hear me right ?Eone must mount a pig, hold on for dear life and hope for the best! After getting suited up in riot gear (knee, elbow pads and a helmet) I was ready to go. I had been paying attention to the answers that each of the previous riders had been giving the announcer. From what I gathered, they were all saying place names so I decucted that she must have been asking where they were from. When the time came and she asked me my last question before I rode the pig, I answered with much confidence Canada!?EThe entire crowd erupted into laughter ?Eshe had changed the question to `Is this your first time riding a pig??E?ETo which I replied Canada!?EHaahaaaa Stupid Gaijin!

After that wonderful response, I got down into the gate and hung on for dear life ?Eunfortunately, it only lasted four short seconds! No long enough to even get an honourable mention! I am happy to report that neither myself nor the pig seemed worse for wear. Sarah May, an American from Yawatahama (the next town just north of me) won the woman`s event and took home a pig trophy, a t-shirt, a case of beer and 800$ Lucky her! I`m glad that she won because just a week earlier her and her boyfriend had to fork out 900$US for an air conditioner, so at least they made some of it back.

The following few days both Sarah and I were on local TV ?Ewhich everyone saw! It was very amusing. Even though I didn`t win, I was on TV because I was the hometown girl!

On a completely different note, I have been forced to come to terms with the outrageous price of fruit in this country. I assume that most of the price comes from the very energy intensive shipping and cooling. Nevertheless, I have yet to come across a bad or bruised piece of fruit ?Eeven though an apple does on average cost 4$ CDN! This morning I had one of the best peaches that I have ever eaten ?Ein Mikame of all places, proving this theory correct!

I am also happy to report that the dinosaurs are NOT extinct as I was awoken by one of them at 4 am this morning! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I had been warned a few days ago about monster centipedes that are poisonous! Man alive do they ever hurt when they bite! I was bitten by this huge 4 inch long centipede ( I might even be underestimating the size?E)! By the time that I woke up I realized what had happened and I started looking for the damn thing. I am usually OK around bugs but this thing was like nothing I had ever seen! I finally found the thing, sprayed it was tonnes of bug juice and squashed it with a towel. Yucky yucky yucky! That towel is going straight to the garbage can?E..I am happy to report that even though I am a little sore and bitter about the experience I don`t think I am allergic to their bites. Regardless, I think when I get paid next week I am going to go and invest in a bed to get up off the floor. I wanted to sleep on a futon while here in Japan ?EI have quite enjoyed it but the idea of being woken up again by a bug that should be classified as an animal based on sheer size does not appeal to me in the least. I`ll have to let you know how the bed shopping goes?E.. Mom was unfortunate enough to call me this morning directly following the incident ?EI don`t think I was much fun to talk to?E

Last night I returned from the prefectural orientation for first year JETs. It was a great chance to catch up with the surrounding JETs and the ones that are further away! There are two Canadians who live quite away from here in Japan me but actually departed from Ottawa ?EPaula and Richard. I hope that I can get to know them better. While at orientation we attended more seminars about team teaching and ideas for games and lesson topics, it was quite useful. During the evening of day one (2 day orientation) we all went out to an all you can drink/eat beer garden! It was a fun time ?Ethough I don`t think a single one of us was sober for an extended period of time. It was a good chance to socialize and go out dancing ?Ewhich will not be happening any time soon in Mikame. Karaoke maybe, but dancing I don`t think so.

This afternoon I will be heading to Uwa, a neighbouring town about 30 min away with my coworkers for an inter-town volleyball and softball tournament! I can`t wait, it should be a lot of fun! There should be about 400 participants from what I know and there is a party afterwards!

Hope that everyone at home is doing well!

Much love,
Emma



emma found her way @ 6:43 p.m. | 0 comments

I will start with a list of things that children in Canada would never be able to do on a school trip! First, play with extremely sharp objects. For example, carving temperamental wood into long thin sticks, using knives while balancing the wood on one's knee (chopsticks)! Second, playing with fire. These students were allowed to start huge fires while a mere few feet away. This country is going to breed a crop of pyromaniacs!! Also, after making this fire, they were encouraged to cook raw meat - until medium rare(I must admit that the BBQ was the best meal I have had here yet! You all must try it if you come and visit!) Finally, continuing the fire theme the students were allowed to light fireworks and even hold them in their hands while lit! This was all during the same day!! This would NEVER happen in Canada! Haahaa Though I must mention that this all took place without incident and to the great enjoyment of all involved! Oh, and in addition the Japanese school system encourages gambling through the promotion of the ever increasingly popular game of BINGO!!! - This all being said sarcastically but truthfully!

The camping trip was a lot of fun but I must admit that the cultural barrier was officially hit at some time around 9 am this morning. My dictionary was getting a workout and I was starting to feel isolated due to a lack in ability to communicate. However, I am happy to report that this lasted a few short hours.
Tonight I will be playing my first 'soft' volleyball game! Apparently, to make the sport more accessible, a version has been created with 9 players (instead of 6) and a larger, softer ball. This seems fine but I have to admit that I think some of the 'excitement' will be lost in the slower pace. Time will only tell.
The 'party' that I attended on Monday night (with my male coworkers) was a lot of fun! Beer always helps people to speak more English/Japanese etc. Though I don't want to drink too much in front of my coworkers........ We ate lots of sashimi (raw fish - it was still wriggling at the table....;) We also has steak (very yummy) and tempura - yes I AM trying to make everyone hungry! However, tomorrow is my REAL welcome Enkai (party) with everyone and anyone from what I gather - everyone I ask is going - or maybe they think I*m inviting them! hahaaa ;)

I have also been invited to go camping with my work colleagues this weekend but I think I might pass and try to get in touch with some of the surrounding JETs. Otherwise I might go insane if I can't hold a conversation longer than 3 sentences with someone! All in the name of internationalization!

I am in the office right now, following the 'camping' trip. Mari-san (my supervisor and help me with anything office related friend - she's great!) was just on the phone and talking about me - it kills me that I am often the last to know what will be happening to me regarding my schedule before everyone else! Oh well, comes with the territory! I'll just have to use it as motivation for learning Japanese. Contrary to popular belief - I have been getting some work done! Busy writing for the news paper (monthly Emma*s Corner!) and my self intro, as well as some fancy flash cards!

As my dad would say - it*s a hard life!

However, I did have one *close call* over the weekend! Aside from anxiety over the width (or lack there of....) of the roads I was doing fine......until I turned the wrong way down a one way street - which, as luck would have it had a police station on it! No joking!!!! To make a long story short, I would have been ok if I had remembered to take my license with me......ahhh, story of my life! I had to call my Japanese friend (and interrupt her dinner) to come and explain to the police officer that I did have a license but that i had left it at home.....in the end things were fine. The police were even apologetic because I didn:t understand them...what a country! Anyways, I was let off with a warning and a lot of guilt!

Sorry about all of the email trouble - I will hopefully have it all sorted out in a few days. I can only send this to the addresses that I remember - Amanda, can you fwd this on to the rest of the geo crowd? Also to everyone else pls forward to anyone else :)

To end, August 7th is the Star festival in Mikame. Everyone has made these wonderful flags and attached them to bamboo to hand out of their window - when I find out what actually happens l*ll let you know .....stay tuned!

Much love and I'll be in touch soon.


emma found her way @ 12:52 p.m. | 0 comments