Random Bits

*There are 17 students in my school who have never been absent from school in three years! Just like me in high school – ok definitely not like me!

*”There are more quarrels smothered by just shutting your mouth, and holding it shut, than by all the wisdom in the world.” Today’s quote from my journal

*Dinner with Carrie and David + the Phase 10 game + lots of wine

= Carrie and I passing out at 1am
= Saturday hangover
= I forgot to Skype Micchan
= :(

Just Say NO!

Today my students had someone come into the school and teach them about drugs. Actually they got to watch a really over-dramatic film for 30 minutes (a lonely girl takes one pill, goes crazy and kills somebody) and then they had to listen to a lecture for another 30 minutes. The whole school was together in the gym. There was no interaction and no time for questions.

Do they really think kids will just listen if you tell them not to do it? Japan is a very anti-drugs country and even marijuana could get a foreigner deported and land a Japanese national in jail. Despite these harsh punishments, the number of drug incidents is increasing and, over the last few months, many universities have had drug problems.

Before the lecture I told my kids that when I was a student we had our drug talks in our homeroom class and in science class. I told them a policeman came and showed us the drugs so we would know what they looked like. This really surprised everyone especially my teachers. I told them we were encouraged to ask questions and find out exactly what happen when you take drugs. This seemed just too alien for some of them and they couldn’t understand why we would be given the chance to ask questions. Surely “DON’T DO DRUGS” is all we needed to know?!?

After the lecture I watched the kids file out of the gym and wondered if they had taken anything in, I wondered if they had questions and worst of all I wondered if they had already tried drugs. Japanese kids seem so innocent compared to western kids but in reality they aren’t any different at all. I just hope they all have the sense to say no!

Finally!

At last! 6th time lucky and finally Ms. Winslet gets the Oscar she has longed deserved. I haven’t seen either of her current movies (it’s on my to-do list) but there couldn’t really have been any doubt that she wouldn’t win.

She has been one of my favourite actresses since I saw her first movie; Heavenly Creatures. It was directed by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) and so I will always have a soft spot for him too. For those who haven’t heard of or seen it – you must!

Her acceptance speech was so good and it made me cry. I would have to say her speech was the second best of the night after Dustin Lance Black, who wrote the screenplay for the movie Milk. Inspiring on so many levels and straight from the heart, his speech surpassed all.

Nothing like TV

For anyone who has been on Mars for the past couple of years, you really should start watching House. For all those Americans reading this who are not in the know, Hugh Laurie is in fact British!
Anyway, in the show he is always doing MRI scans and CT scans on his patients and it looks very cool. Today I learned that being in an ER looking at actual MRI and CT scan results is not that fun; especially when you happen to know the patient.

As scary as hospitals are when you’re sick, it is much scarier being the healthier one!

Cultural Differences

What should you look for in a potential exchange student?

*English speaking ability?
*Personality?
*Reasons for wanting to go abroad?
*How the experience will help them in the future?

Today was one of those days when you see just how different western and eastern cultures can be. We have 5 students who want to go and only 2 spaces. I was part of a judging panel along with other English teachers, the vice principals and the curriculum planner (a very important person at Japanese schools).

First off the curriculum guy complained in Japanese at me being there as I wouldn’t be able to understand what the kids were saying. (I understand enough to know when you’re bitching at me!) Thankfully the other teachers backed me up and the interviews went on without any drama. I was surprised at how much I could understand and it was nice to get to know more about the students.

The interesting points came after the interviews when we were deciding who to send.

Student A

*Not an International Course student
*Wants to be a patissier
*Wants to travel the world eating cakes and learning how to make them
*She is so smiley you can’t help but like her
*When she talks she is animated and very expressive (unlike most Japanese people)
*Has average English ability for her age but will always try to throw a sentence together when she sees me outside of class.

Student B

*International Course student
*Wants to be a police officer in Kumamoto
*Wants to learn Chinese
*Does not smile and it not animated when speaking
*Enjoys reading books and listening to music alone
*Has a high English ability but will not speak until she is sure she knows exactly how to say something.

To me when you move to a foreign country you must have confidence and you must be willing to try things and get involved. Apparently my words didn’t count for much as most teachers were more interested in the fact that student A wasn’t an International Course student. I tried to explain that since I was the only foreigner in the school maybe they should take into account how the students interacted with me outside of class. This point didn’t seem to matter either. It made me angry and sad that a student loses out simply because of the course she chose to take.

We have one more meeting to decide who is going. As far as I know I am not involved in that meeting so I’m sure student A won’t get a look in. Boo!

Exam Week

Why do my students like me better during test week?

Sometimes they are real buggers to teach but they turn into little angels during test week and can’t get enough of talking to me. It’s very strange but I’m not going to complain!

Because they have tests this week I don’t have any official classes but I am spending all the afternoon and early evening practicing with some students for their eiken speaking tests. This is a kind of English proficiency test and while the questions seem easy enough, most students panic and the words “speaking test” and lose it. Thankfully I am seeing improvements so I am hoping for a 100% success rate!

My favorite student is going to Tokyo University on a full scholarship. I am over the moon, beyond ecstatic, jumping up and down happy for him and I know he is going to have a blast. He studied for 10 months in America and came back with brains and a little attitude. Unfortunately this meant a few teachers saw him as a trouble maker. However I have high, high hopes for him and I can’t wait for him to hit the big city.

The results are in........

Ok the weather has officially gone crazy. We just had one of the warmest weekends. I thought winter was leaving us and I could finally put away my winter coat. But now, it’s Monday and it is freezing cold – what is going on?!?!

Today everyone receives their JLPT test results. I said on the day I took the test that it seemed to go well but I was concerned I just thought that in case I didn’t understand any of it. Well the results are in………………………...

I passed! I passed Level 3! That was my goal before leaving Japan and I never though I would do it – yay! I am so happy. Dawn passed Level 4 and Carrie passed Level 3 so it’s 3 for 3 in our little group!

Hairdresser fun!

My hair has needed a good cut for ages and so I finally got it done today. It was very bizarre trying to explain last night’s auction in Japanese. It was probably my bad Japanese but the hairdresser totally thought people were paying for sex and asked me if the police got involved.

I had to try and explain that foreigners often do a lot of crazy, weird things for charity because we want to raise money while having fun. Apparently they don’t do anything like that in Japan which is why she thought we were doing something totally illegal.

ps Happy Valentine’s Day – you have to have chocolate today of all days!

KUMAJET Auction

Every once in a while, us ALT’s get together and do something for a good cause. Tonight KUMAJET organized a Valentine’s Day auction to raise money for charities in India. They did it last year and it was quite good so a group of us decided to go again. This year they rounded up 12 ALT’s willing to auction themselves off for a good cause and once you get everyone else in the room to pay a tenner for a two-hour all-you-can-drink party, you are guaranteed a great night.

I can’t see the point of coming to something like this if you’re not going to take part or if you’re going to offer pitiful amounts of money. Thankfully most of the ALT crowd are a good bunch and I enjoy being one of the loudest at events like this. Even though you’re bidding against people you often end up sharing the cost anyway so that you get to look good shouting “I’ll pay 100 dollars” without having to actually pay the entire 100 dollars.

I went all out this year and ended up being the highest bidder for

Kitty – total price 6000yen – I paid 3000
Tommy – total price 10,000yen – I paid 2000
Luke & Jon – total price 20000yen – I paid 5000

At the end of the night everyone was very merry and an amazing 1200 dollars had been raised for charity. Maybe I should put myself up for sale next year…….

The New Craze???

Quote of the day from my organizer – how true!

“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time”.

So I have been hearing about a book and a movie called Twilight. I have never read the book or seen the movie but people at home and in America seem to be going crazy over it.


Maybe I should see what the fuss is all about? I held off reading Harry Potter because I didn’t see anything could be that great and now look how obsessed I am with that. Maybe I’m just worried I’ll get hooked on Twilight too?

Homeward Bound

*We were up and out this morning. The wind was really strong and we all hoped the flight would be OK as we made our final checks and headed to the train station. As we took the train to the airport the weather conditions did not improve and we weren’t surprised to see our flight was delayed by an hour.

* Everyone milled around buying last minute presents etc but I felt so awful I just wanted to find a pharmacy. My throat was so sore and I couldn’t breathe well. I now know why Japanese people always go to the hospital even for a cold; pharmacies are so expensive. Cold capsules and a throat spray cost me nearly 15 pound! It was insane but I was too sick to care.

* By the time we got everyone together I was sick and grumpy and stressing about the flight. When we got to the gate we found out we were delayed another hour and so I took my medicine and tried to get comfortable.

* At last they called us and we boarded an MD-81, the smallest plane I have ever been on. Thanks to all the medicine I was out before we’d even taken off. The landing in Fukuoka was super smooth and before long we were on the bus back to Kumamoto.

* Feeling as sick as I was I though I’d just fall into bed but I perked up a bit as we arrived home and decided to take advantage of this by unpacking. An hour later my bag was empty, everything was put away and the second load of washing was already in the washer. It reminded me of when I went abroad with my family and we would come home and mom would have the washing piles waiting in the kitchen.

* I thoroughly enjoyed this trip and although I will miss the snow and the food, I am happy to be home and looking forward to the next few weeks!

Sapporo Day Four

My cold is out in full force today! Seeing as it is our last full day I didn’t want to stay in bed even though my body was telling me to.

*We headed out to the former Satoland – a playground of ice and snow just outside the city. One of the main reasons we went was to make our very own snowman. Every year thousands of people make a snowman and attach their own message card. It’s like leaving a little reminder you were there even though you know it will melt away in a few days.

*Dawn is taking full advantage of her first snow adventure; I had to queue with her for an hour so she could go on the snow slides! Yes it was fun but no I would not spend that long queuing again.

*I used to love roast lamb and mint sauce at home but they don’t eat much of it in Japan, except in the north. After getting lost a few times we found the famous Genghis Kahn restaurant. I had not enjoyed the bus ride back from Satoland as it had been crowded and we had to stand all the way so by the time we found the restaurant I was tired, hungry, sick and grumpy.

*Ten minutes later I wanted to kill somebody – Carrie, David and Dawn were being very indecisive and it was driving me mad. I had ordered everyone the simple all-you-can-eat-and-drink package (as it worked out the cheapest) but they had all protested and told the waitress we needed more time. After ten more minutes they called the waitress back over and ordered the all-you-can-eat-and-drink package for everyone! ARGH!!

*After eating lots of delicious lamb and washing it down with a glass of wine or four I was fine! We headed back downtown for a final walk along the sculptures. We actually walked the full 13 blocks and I have all the pictures to prove it. As we finished the last block someone decided it was time for one last snowball fight and it was a big one. Cold and wet we took one last trip to the convenience store for warm drinks and more medicine before heading back to the hotel.

*As depressing as it sounds I knew it was better to start packing tonight than leave it to the next morning. By midnight I was exhausted; my supply of tissues was rapidly declining and I could hardly talk but hey – at least the packing was done!

Sapporo Day Three

* It must have snowed non-stop again because the snow ploughs are out this morning! We made it to breakfast and after a semi-slow start we headed out to look at the snow sculptures.

*Unfortunately because of all the snow, most of the little ones were covered and we couldn’t tell what they were. The large sculptures had to be taken care of by the professionals!

* We decided to quickly move on to the second plan of the day – the Sapporo Beer factory. I came here before but they have just released a new chocolate beer! The factory was good but the beer tasting was even better. We ended up drinking our beer, eating the random cheeses snacks the give you and chatting for over an hour.

* By this time Sammy was getting restless and so when we left he decided we to get us back by starting a huge snow ball fight. I think the people watching must’ve thought we were mad. The snow was so deep in places that we were falling over just trying to run away from each other. Davd was the first to fall on his ass – I knew he would be! That was probably my first and only beer-snow buzz – weird but fun!

* We were all slightly merry (from the beer), cold (from the snow fight) and hungry. Ramen once again seemed to be the choice so I took them to “ramen alley” – another famous eating place in Sapporo. It is literally an alley full of ramen shops. People dip in, eat fast, and move on!

* It was a brilliant idea to bring a 5 year old with us because they often need a nap and then we can just use that as an excuse for us to have a nap too. I am loving this relaxing holiday. I did watch the weather report and it has snowed 60cm in the last 24 hours – wow!

* Sammy must’ve been supper tired after the snow ball fight as he didn’t wake up and so tonight it was me, Dawn, Carrie and David. We decided to see more of the sculptures (there are 13 blocks worth) before finding another of Terry’s recommendations, Orrizonte, for dinner.

*Orrizonte was an Italian restaurant and I can honestly say I think it will be a long time before I eat an Italian meal as good as that again. Between the four of us we ordered the house salad, 2 calzone pizzas, a mixed cheese pizza, a sausage pizza, 4 cocktails, a pot of herb tea, 5 desserts (a mix plate) and 2 coffees. It only cost us about 15 pounds each which was a total bargain. The staff were super friendly and so we were cheeky and asked for a group picture before we left.

* It is now midnight I am marveling at how perfect the last few days have been. I feel like a kid again in the snow and I have eaten the most amazing food. It just goes to show that when things are a little crappy, getting away from it all can really help. Unfortunately I think I’m getting a cold. I’m sleep and sneezing – time for bed!

Sapporo Day Two

We all woke up late as we were so tired and the beds were so comfy. It had been snowing all night and it was white over. I was more excited than Sammy!

* We visited the Ishiya Chocolate Factory. The outside was just like something you’d expect to find in Willy Wonka’s. There were little houses everywhere in all shapes and designs, there was a sled with reindeers, plastic snowmen everywhere, a wind up music machine, a snow covered garden, a tree house and even a barn!

* The chocolate factory had everything; rooms full of cups, chocolate boxes, toys and other random memorabilia. This factory makes the most famous cookies in Sapporo and you can watch them being made.

* We had to try something at the factory of course and I was tempted by the hot chocolate Bailey’s combination. I am a chocoholic, I can smell chocolate at 50 paces but I have never enjoyed drinking chocolate. Luckily for me (maybe the Baileys helped) this was delicious!

* On our way back to the subway station we had the first of many snow ball fights, initiated by Sammy of course, and when we came upon a patch of snow that hadn’t been touched yet, we decided to build our very own snowman.

* Everyone fancied ramen for lunch and after searching high and low I finally found a restaurant I had visited two years earlier. I convinced everyone it was good and luckily an hour later, everyone had full tummies and were whole-heartedly agreeing with me – it was that good!

* After a quick nap back at the hotel I we braved the cold again (it has been snowing all day and not stopped) and headed out for the evening. Our hotel is right in the centre of Susukino where the ice sculptures are so we walked up and down the streets looking at them all.

* We found an ice slide and of course we had to have a go!

* We wanted a small dinner so we found a British pub nearby and enjoyed some thoroughly non-Japanese food. I hope everyone else is having as much fun as I am. Back home when you want a relaxing holiday you usually head for the sun. However I feel much better relaxing in the warm after spending the day trudging through the snow –I miss snow!

Sapporo Day One

It is 7am and I am on a bus headed for the airport while reading a special report on the plane that landed in the Hudson River in New York. It is not helping my pre-flight nerves! Dawn, Jon and Sam are with me and Sam isn’t happy about getting on the plane either.

We met Carrie and David at the airport and after checking in my ridiculously big bag, passing security and taking my anti-panic pills, I was feeling much better. Sapporo here I come……again!

I could never forget my Sapporo holiday with Micchan and Anthony two years ago. It was one of my best in Japan. Now here I was, same city, same snow festival, even the same hotel; but I knew it would be a totally different holiday.

I could type for hours if I went into all the details so here is the short version:

* I was a little concerned by the lack of snow when we got to the city
(How can you have a snow festival with no snow?)

* We found one of the restaurants that Terry had recommended in the first afternoon. Curry soup at the Suage restaurant was our first (and best) meal.

* After our late lunch/early dinner Sammy was tired so Jon took him home.

* As today was supposed to be the only clear day, I begged and pleaded with the rest of the gang to go to the Mt. Moiwa night view.

*After much complaining, a long tram ride, a short walk along some very icy roads, a ropeway ride and a snow plough ride to the top; we were there! Last time I came there was a snow storm and by the time Micchan, Anthony and I were at the top, we couldn’t see anything.

* Thankfully this year it was clear and we got to see the entire city.

* By 9pm we were down the mountain again, partially frozen and very sleepy.

* We stopped in at a convenience store near the hotel for supper and a warm drink then settled in for an early night.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

My blog is up to date for the first time since I started it over three years ago! It is just after midnight and now I’m up to date, I’m going to pack for Sapporo and fall into bed. Goodnight!

To Gertie!

Happy Birthday Phil!
With love from your favourite pug xxx