Me, Phil and Dave at Kuimonya

Last night Dave, Clare, Phil and myself headed out for the last supper in Yawatahama. We were luck enough to get into a funky izakaya restaurant called Kuimonya without a reservation (which never ever happens), a perfect start to the evening - is that karma or what!! We then headed off to Turf and the Smokey Dragon with our final stopping being the famed SY Bar. Of course there was loads of cheesy kareoke sung in honour of Dave's last night in town. Dave treated us to a fabulous version of The Copacobanna - his signature song! Clare and I managed to sing Careless Whisper, one of our faves which we stole from Dave, though my contribution was minimal. (Those of you who have been so unlucky can attribute, the less I sing.... the better the duet) :)

Phil gettin' it while he still can!

Perhaps the night's most amusing moment, aside from Phil kissing Dave at every opportunity(see photo), was Clare's *misconception* regarding the reproductive abilities of cats. According to Clare, our furry feline friends have the (Ahem....Unbelievable) ability to carry more than on litter of kittens at the same time.....And she wasn't even drinking!!! Clare stated that, from an apparently reputable source whose name she conveniently forgot, even though a cat may be pregnant, she still has the ability to conceive. And that, ladies and gentlemen is how your brain functions after two years in Japan. I'm still waiting for a link to Clare's reputable source, ahem.....
What an amusing end to the evening!

Goodbyes are funny things. It seems like the JET Programme is much like university, atleast in the sense that a number of really interesting, fun people get together in one place. If they're lucky, they hit it off and become great friends. Except here in Japan, even more so than uni, your friends are from all around the world. So when it's time to go, everyone heads off in different directions. I admit that it's just another excuse to travel the world, but that's not very comforting when you are saying goodbye to such great friends. You know that you will see them again, but things will never be quite the same. You won't be able to go to Joyfull at 4am, or do Print Club, or order okonomiyaki and beer.... But if there's one thing that I've learnt being overseas, it's that the world is indeed a very small place. And if needs be, those old friends are just a phone call or a plane ride away.

I remember a lecture that I attended at a conference last year. The speaker told us to prepare for change and to think about how we want to say goodbye to our friends. The whole idea of thinking about how to say goodbye seemed kinda silly to me. I've never been on to get too nervous or emotional but, good goodbyes are important. So, we bought Dave a special gift, made him a funny photo album and I even wrote a silly limerick but it still didn't feel right.

The bastard and his book!

After perhaps the worst Print Club ever and 2000 yen of silly arcade games, I said goodbye to a wonderful friend in a noisy and bright grocery store. Hardly what I had imagined. But at the same time it was strangely comforting, a perfect metaphor of our time spent in Japan: Flashy, crazy, colourful, fun and random - and often, not at all what you expect. Humm, maybe it wasn't such a bad goodbye afterall.

The gang at Turf!

emma found her way @ 8:49 p.m. | 3 comments

emma found her way @ 8:35 p.m. | 0 comments

Hey Guys! Thought I'd post a picture of my team from the JHS sports day two weeks ago. I know it's late, I'm sorry. This is the 2nd year Kohyou team posing infront of our watered-out poster - doesn't look too bad! And besides, woohooo we won! :) The teacher on the right is Ms. Shibata - one of my English teachers. She's great!

emma found her way @ 6:14 p.m. | 0 comments

emma found her way @ 5:31 p.m. | 0 comments

Ahhh, sports days! One of my favourite school events every year! This is just one of the silly games that the elementary students do during their Undokai. The kid with the megaphone is shouting instructions so the other kid doesn't go off course! :)

emma found her way @ 10:18 p.m. | 0 comments

This past weekend was a long one - woo hoo! I spent most of Saturday baking cookies and muffins to raise money for the Terry Fox Run. Next month there will be a 5km race in Kobe, it will be my first Terry Fox Run. I have always wanted to participate so why not, eh? A group of 8 of us will make the trip. It's for a great cause and an excuse to go to Kobe and Osaka for the weekend! Can't wait! Here's a pic of my table at the 'Fresh Fresh Market' - I was able to raise about 70CDN - in only 10 minutes!!! I knew I should have made more cookies.....

びんびん市 - The Bin Bin Ichi

I had been warned by the organizers that, under no circumstances was I to sell anything until 10.00. The reason being, that many grandmothers come to the market before 10.00 and buy the entire thing out. As a result, all the people that come at 10.00 get cheesed off because nothing is left..... So as 10.00 was approaching I was wondering if there'd be a big bang or some sort of signal to start the 'official' shopping time......as truth would have it, that's exactly what happened! Hahaaa At about 9.58 there was a small explosion to my left - turns out it was a huge batch of puffed wheat, a popular market snack. So whether or not that was supposed to be the official start, with the pop of the wheat all hell broke loose! The grandmothers went nuts, pushing and elbowing their way to the tables, haggling prices down - quite the scene! I had sold everything by 10.10 so I was a happy camper, though I felt bad for all my friends who came at 10.15 to support me and buy cookies that no longer existed...
emma found her way @ 9:48 p.m. | 1 comments

Ahhemm, here is a pic of the famed Kamikaze! Though I just call him Kaze-kun for short. And yes he is cute, but not when he's a) biting your ears at 4am or b) leaving presents around your apartment (Right Tom!). Thankfully he's now litter trained, still working on the ear thing though!

For those of you who don't know, I took in this little beast back in June. I found him at the Futami Beach party, poor thing had lost his mum. Kawaiiso ne! So....after a few weeks of hand feeding every 3 or 4 hrs (with some help too!) he's now a happy, healthy and troublesome teenager. Doing his job of reminding me why I never want kids....or atleast teenagers! :)

emma found her way @ 7:52 p.m. | 1 comments

On Sunday, Mikame JHS had its annual Sports Day. The closest North American equivalent would be a school-wide track and field day. The school is divided into 3 teams, who compete for points in various events. The entire day is run by the students, giving them an awesome opportunity to work on leadership and planning skills. They were preparing almost every day for the past few weeks - working on dance routines, cheers and practicing for the events. The entire day - every minute - is planned out. From marching on to the field to who has to set up the relay batons. It's quite a site to see.

The teams are awarded points for how well they march together, team spirit as well as events. Like back home there are typical events like a relay race but after that, the rest of the games get quite entertaining. For example, there is one game where the object is to get the hat from your opponent (see below). It's hilarious to watch! My team (yellow) lost this match....the anchor is wearing the bib and once his hat is taken the game is over. He wasn't watching behind him when the other team came up and snatched his hat! Everyone had a good laugh!

Unfortunately, the weather did NOT cooperate with us. About 30 minutes into the morning it started to rain...then is started to pour! Not just a little sprinkle but a freakin' torrential downpour. Ohhh, the poor kids. The field flooded and myself and the rest of the teachers were busy digging trenches to drain he water.

Digging trenches - My teachers battling the elements!

Each of the teams had made posters, which were ruined which was a pity - the kids worked really hard on them. But aside from that, I didn't hear one complaint from anyone. Amazing. In fact, the rain made
the kids try even harder - the boys were eager to show off infront of the girls 'We ain't afraid of no rain!'. It was raining very very hard when they did their gymnastics routine. In the pic below - the kids in the pyramid fall to the ground on top of each other - on purpose! NUTS! I feel bad for the four boys on he bottom!

Boys gymnastics routine - - in the rain!!
Ganbarremashita!

I got to compete in 4 events, it was a blast! I was in 2 PTA events - one was a type of collect race. A PTA member and I had to run and get a card - which had a teachers name on it. Once we found that teacher we had to run across the finish line together - fun times! The second PTA race was a type of relay that involved skipping in pairs and balancing a ball between two sticks - - random! I was also in the tadaima rentaru - or the 'For the moment rental'!! In this race the kids pick up a piece of paper with instructions on it - usually something that they have to go and borrow or 'rent' from the crowd. A bench, a credit card, a bottle of water or perhaps a person - I was one such example. One of the funnier examples was when one of the teachers had to cross the finish line walking like a crab - priceless! Finally, I was in the folk dance. Despite the rain, the kids had a blast! As did I.

My team won! Woohooo! They were a bit of a dark horse - during all the practices they were the least energetic and almost always came last. Nothing like saving it all for the day! After the closing ceremony each team got together for pictures and one last cheer. It was nice to see the kids cheer each other on. Each of the leaders said a few words - many of the girls (and guys for that matter) were in tears. The kids really put a lot into these Sports Festivals, it gets quite emotional. It is the third year students who run most of the organization, so this was their last JHS sports festival. The first years learn from the second and the second from the third - enforcing the 'look-up-to and respect your elders' ideal which is such an important part of Japanese society. It's a great experience for the students, something that we don't really have back in Canada - (mandatory) positive leadership experience. The ending cheer for Kohyou Team (The leopard and lion team) was:

よかった！よかった！こひょう！　
Way to go Kohyou!

-- The translation doesn't really do the meaning justice. It was a great way to end the day!

Me and a couple of 2nd year
students....trying to get out of clean up time!

Three very tired but still genki Kohyou
leaders Shimpei, Kanji, Youhei and Ms. Shibata! Well done!

Ahh, and no sports day is complete without the teachers party afterwards! Both the teachers and some PTA members attended. My principal is usually quite quiet and reserved but this was an exception. This was his last sports festival, as he will be retiring at the end of the school year - so he went a bit nuts! We actually had quite a nice conversation too. Usually he is either too tired to talk or speaks in really complicated Japanese that I don't understand. I don't know if he was less inhibited (after a few beer) or that my Japanese is getting better but it was nice to chat with him, and finally understand what he's saying!! Here is a pic of him getting cheered on by some of the teachers - this is quite rare believe me! At an enkai anything goes - even if usually you would be very polite to the principal everything is forgiven and fogotten in the morning!

My usually quiet principal whooping it up Enkai style!
This was his last Undokai so he wanted to make happy memories.

It was a great last sports festival from beginning to end - rain and all!

emma found her way @ 11:58 p.m. | 1 comments

Wooohoooo the stress is over! And gasp...I even managed to enjoy myself! After almost calling it off due to the weather forecast....and our over-reaction to it, about 40 new and old JETs turned up. The weather cooperated and the food was marginally better than last year! Jawnee and Giselle, the famed super sempais of Ehime also graced the party with their presence and great fireside tunes - thanks Jawnee!

Myself, Fred and Vivian unfortunately had to return home early but from all accounts the party was a success. And despite warning of extremely poisonous (really!) jellyfish the traditional Niihama Skinny Dip took place in the wee hours of the morning.....Phil, you weren't involved in that, were you??? (Sorry folks, I wasn't there so no pics!)

A big otsukaresamadeshita to Clare, Phil and Karen who had to clean up the wreckage in the morning - - and to everyone else who helped out! Fred and I were really gutted that we couldn't be there..... Well done guys!

I never thought that 'self-photos' worked!
L to R: Vivian, Me, Duncan and Fred

emma found her way @ 1:11 a.m. | 1 comments

いい夏休みでしたね。２がっきもがんばろう。
運動会は９月２６日です。ぜひきてください。今年は、２１人で行う運動会です。小さいながらも楽しい運動会ですよ。

下泊小学校　関岡寿登（ｓｅｋｉｏｋａ－ｈｉｓａｔｏ）

emma found her way @ 1:26 p.m. | 0 comments

So, I am currently studying for the Japanese Language Profeciency Test and I was thinking, my coloqual Japanese vocabuary needs expanding. Hence the vocab below, which I'm sure will be on the test in January. (Read: procrastination) For all you studying for the JLPT enjoy!! But I caution you, calling your principal a あほ will not get you that vacation time! Or maybe it will, only of a more permanent variety!

あほ (aho) :: moron, similar to ばか
ぼけ (boke) :: knuckle head
ぼず (bozu) :: little squirt (great for those 小学校生）
ふぇける (fukeru) :: to play hooky from school
いけめん (ikemen) :: hot guy
めちゃ(mecha) :: ultra (example: めちゃむずかしですね）
めちゃくちゃ (mechakucha) :: very (example: pretty freakin' good!)
むりしないで (murishinaide) :: take it easy, don't kill yourself
しまった (shimatta) :: damn it!
ざっけなよ (zakkenayo) :: don't mess with me! (taken from ふざけるないよ)

For more JLPT practice, click here.

emma found her way @ 4:20 p.m. | 1 comments

Here's a pic of the poster for one of the HS sport's festival teams - the kids painted it by hand! Wow!

One of the HS students winning the team relay - maybe the biggest events at the sports festival!

emma found her way @ 10:49 p.m. | 1 comments

Ahhh, here's a pic of Karen pulling out all th stops at Kareoke. The boys appear deep in an intellectual conversation....unlikely. L to R: Karen, Guy, Antam, Seb and Kei...and perhaps Nat's arm.

And here she is, the famed Natalie in action!

emma found her way @ 9:53 p.m. | 0 comments

Man, mother nature is NOT happy with Japan these days. First it was flooding and typhoons, now huge earthquakes! There were 2 yesterday, near Osaka and Tokyo - but the epicentres were off shore so the damage was minimal. They were 6.8 and 7.3 respectively!

Had a fun weekend out with all the newbies, as per Nat's post. Though I didn't partake in the tequila event.

On Sunday we went to the high school sports festival in Mikame. Lots of fun. The kids were very genki and looked like they were having a blast! I'll post some photos later tonight when I have more time.

emma found her way @ 7:02 a.m. | 0 comments

Hello. This is Nathalie from Yawatahama.

This weekend we went out in Yawatahama and drank tequila. It made us happy. And it made me believe that I was able to sing over the karaoke. That's always a bad thing.

emma found her way @ 3:26 p.m. | 0 comments

So, with the recent end of summer and 'back to school' in full swing I have found myself flowered with gifts. Though I might like to think that these prezzies are the rewards of all my hard work over the summer, that is unlikely as I spent most of the summer traveling.

Welcome to the wonderful (or not, depending on your point of view) world of omiyage (おみやげ). Omiyage is a small gift which one gives to friends and coworkers upon returning from a vacation. Omiyage is an obligation and personally, is the source of most, if not all of my travel stress! Usually one brings home a box of sweets or cookies that are individually wrapped, so that everyone in the office can take one.

I enjoy giving gifts to people but sometimes, omiyage gets a bit out of hand.

I have no doubt that omiyage is a multi-million dollar industry, with every train station and airport devoting large areas solely for this purpose. Yesterday, I saw the most extreme example of omiyage convenience ever! One of my teachers recently returned from a school exchange to Australia and yesterday, she was busy passing out goodies to everyone in the office. What was so crazy you ask?? It turns out that she ordered the omiyage before she went on vacation!! I saw the catalogue on her desk, along with the order form - she spent about 400 CDN!!!

Omiyage is meant to be a small sample of your vacation, but to order something from a catalogs when you are going to that country in person?

Here's one of my theories: Maybe there are some salary men/women who ask for vacation, stating that they are going overseas - - when in reality they are going to a love hotel with their secret lover. These people need to convince their boss that they did go on vacation. Presto, catalogue omiyage. :)

Tonight, I'm heading out for dinner with all the new JETs in the area. It should be a good time - I'm sure there'll be some *ahem*, interesting photos to share with you all! Stay tuned.

emma found her way @ 3:41 p.m. | 0 comments

Due to popular demand, you can now leave comments without having a blogger account.
So please, comment away. (Attn: とむ様）



emma found her way @ 2:18 p.m. | 2 comments