Calligraphy Update

So as I mentioned, whilst in the calligraphy class a couple of weekends ago the Hagi Cable Television crew filmed me. I sort of understood from their Japanese that the film would be shown only once, on the Monday immediately after the class. However, it appears I was wrong. Many teachers from the different schools I teach at have mentioned seeing me doing calligraphy on TV - and it seems from their comments that my calligraphy film has been shown at least 3 times! Even worse, the teachers all talk about how kawaii (cute) it was!

For the health!

"For the Health" is a phrase I hear often in Japan - used to excuse terrible school lunches on the whole, but today I learnt 2 new things that we must do for our health

1. students must gargle between each class - there is a special solution called "husu" that sits in a pump pack, with piles of small disposable paper cups, in each room for this purpose.
2. the air in the classroom must be changed regularly - this means that in the middle of the class all the windows must be opened and the heater turned off, and this in sub 5 degree weather. Seriously. And of course the students don't want to do this, so what happens is they slide the windows back and forth, arguing about who has to have the cold air blowing on them. Apparently new air is good for the health. However, I tried to explain that maybe freezing cold air was not so good... not sure if I was understood!

I am a calligraphy master!

Today the Hagi International Volunteer Club had its fourth Calligraphy Class. The aim was "to paint your new year hopes." However, my kanji skills are fairly limited so I let Isa sensei (left) choose a kanji for me - I started with 'dream.' Luckily it ONLY has 12 strokes, and he drew it out, and marked the stroke order.

So he made me practice that kanji a few hundred times... and then he gave me a new kanji 'fun.' Even though it had less strokes, it was way harder, I kept making it look like a stick figure rather than a kanji!

After we had drawn our hopes we were interviewed by Hagi Cable Television - and will be on the news next Monday at midday apparently.

After class a couple of the Club members brought out sushi and beer and we had a little party!

The bowing phenomena

So there is a LOT of bowing in Japan. People bow whilst they're on the phone, in their cars, on their bikes, and whilst walking.

Today was the first time though that I have been to a sporting event - a Junior High basketball tournament and before and after each game the whole team (all the subs etc) come and stand on the court and bow to the scorer, to the umpires, the timekeeper, each other and the crowd at each end of the court!

Aah, Engrish

Over the course of time in Japan I have seen some beautiful examples of Engrish (or Japlish as it is otherwise known). Most days I see someone wearing a ridiculous tee-shirt, or carrying a pencil case that says things like "Sweet Happy Best". While they are funny, I generally don't share them as they are fairly commonplace. However, I bought an exercise book the other day with a BRILLIANT engrish slogan that I had to share!

"Dear Sweet Dot: For the life that is ordinary with fabric of a dear sweet dot an accent."

First person to explain wins a prize!

Erin & Teresa come to play

So just before the winter vacation Erin and Teresa came to visit Hagi! They were on a whirlwind trip around Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto, Hagi and Hiroshima in 10 days over Christmas

I had sent them directions for the train/bus combo from Kyoto to Hagi, but someone at Japan Rail lied to them - so they skipped the Bocho Bus and took the later Japan Rail bus. The JR person told them that the JR passes weren't valid on the Bocho service, but that is wrong because other people use the passes on Bocho all the time!

Anyway, the driver also told them to get off at the Bus Centre, but I was waiting at the train station! Luckily Flick was on the bus, and when she got off and saw me she mentioned the foreign visitors, and I put 2 and 2 together and rode off and found them! Flick didn't actually know that the foreign visitors were my friends, but given there are 12 foreigners in Hagi (population 50,000 Japanese people) we generally notice any new foreigner, and speculate on why they are in Hagi!

So while they were here we drank sake poppers (yes you can buy sake in a box juice package in this country), did purikura (sticker photos) and they came and saw one of my schools - and the vice principal was rude, but let's not dwell on that. He wasn't rude to their faces, very unJapanese, but explained to me the in and out groups and that they were in the out group and thus not welcome in the staffroom - even though 3 foreigners in 1 place (myself and the 2 girls) was causing chaos in the corridor! Apparently permission for them to visit the school didn't include permission for them to be in the staffroom, at my desk!

Aside from that, we had fun, though I think they were cold in my little apartment because I didn't know how to work the heater (kanji for 'heater' is something I was yet to learn). On that note, I took the remote for the heater (really a reverse cycle air conditioner) to my office and they showed me how to make it a heater - no you don't just turn up the temperature! They also showed me the setting for drying clothes, and a setting for 'health' - symbolised by a heart!

Anyway, back to Erin & Teresa. I took them out for Hagi cappuccinos - cappuccinos with glace mikan instead of powdered chocolate on the foam, and we went out for dinner, and in to every bakery we went past so Erin could sample all the varieties of sausage in a bun! By the way, mikan is like a Japanese mandarin, and there are mikan trees EVERYWHERE in Hagi. It's the one fruit that normal people can afford to buy in the supermarket! I mean, usually an apple is around $3, but you can buy 10 mikan for $4 if you know the right fruit stand!

Back in J Land

Well I am back in Japan - and there are a few things I didn't miss
- being stared at for being a foreigner
- squealed irrashaemasens (those people who work in shops in Japan squeal irrashaemasen at people when they walk in, effectively, welcome to the shop) and hearing 5 people squeal it at you can be a little disconcerting, especially as social custom dictates that one ignores the squealers!
- the cold!
- lack of spicy food
- katakana english (how are you? i'm goodo!)

Shopaholics Unanonymous

My holiday in Singapore also afforded me ample opportunity to indulge a love of mine, shopping! Living in Japan has meant that I have done very little shopping, which has been probably a good thing for my bank account though!

So in Singapore shopping is a national obsession, along with eating (which I have already posted about) and there are malls everywhere! In fact, when you exit an MRT station you will find a mall, or sometimes 3 or even more. From City Hall MRT you can get to the City Link Mall, Raffles Mall, Marina Square, Suntec City and the Esplanades Mall - and they are ALL connected.

Despite all the options we didn’t really do that much shopping, though Geoff may disagree and think we did too much.

I bought some shoes – to fuel my obsession, and a few tee shirts. Geoff didn’t really buy anything except a tee shirt when he didn’t want to do laundry.

Christmas bells are ringing!

Christmas sparkled, was whimsical, and was generally strange. It was my first Christmas not in Melbourne, but Singapore was beautiful. Most streets were all lit up, and all the shopping centres had made an effort to christmasify the mall, some with more success than others.

On Christmas Eve Geoff and I went down to Orchard Rd – which may have been a mistake! The streets were jammed with cars, and the footpaths with people - we ended up walking along the garden walls to get around! We also had to avoid the fake snow. There were little stalls along the streets selling cans of fake snow, 6 for $10, not silly string, but more like shaving foam, and Geoff and I got fake snowed a couple of times each!

On Christmas day we woke up, and it was just like a normal day for Singapore! Most shops and every second restaurant was open, and the shopping centres were full of people – the ‘post Christmas’ sales in Singapore start on Christmas day apparently!

Geoff and I found a Balinese restaurant for lunch, and ate cupcakes for dessert! Back in the hotel we called our families back home, and I opened up the presents people had sent over!

Eating our way through Singapore

The food in Singapore was something to behold, especially coming from Japan where there is almost no such thing as spicy food! Geoff and I ate our way around the country – though Geoff ate a lot more than I did!

We had curry, and dumplings, and stir fries and many, many fresh juices. Also, to round out Christmas we bought Mince Pies from Marks & Spencer – which were fabulous.

We ate in a lot of food court/hawker centre places – where you can get a meal for less than $5, but we had a couple of fancy meals too! Geoff’s parents shouted us a meal at a fabulous Italian restaurant for our Christmas present (and I ate rabbit!). We also ate at a Brazilian BBQ restaurant, where Geoff went crazy over the meat selection: lamb, beef, ham, pork & chicken, while I ate the lamb and a mountain of olives. I have really been craving olives…

We had made a rule not to eat at the same place twice over the holiday – and we were going pretty well, trying different hawker centres and little restaurants which were all amazing, but then we went to Din Tai Fung – a dumpling restaurant on Orchard Rd.

Din Tai Fung was listed as one of the top ten restaurants in the world by the New York Times and it was totally fabulous when we went there for dinner, so we went back for lunch! Even though we had to wait at least 40 minutes for a table each time. On the chopstick wrapper there were instructions as to how to eat a dumpling – at least 6 different steps. So when Geoff and I went back for the 2^nd time I filmed him doing it properly and have put it on facebook for those of you with access.

Also in Singapore we saw some live delights – turtles, frogs, that we chose not to eat!

The Sounds of Japan

In a previous post I have mentioned that music coming from the speakers out the front of City Hall so blind people can find the building! However, there is so much music/noise in Japan everyday.

- The traffic signals
I think it depends on the orientation of the crossing, but at some crossings when the green man lights up a bird noise sounds.

- The midday noise
At midday there is always some kind of signal. Out at some of the rural schools sirens sound out - actually, on my Island school the siren sounds like it is coming from everywhere! In Hagi I don't notice it very often because there are other noises of people going about their lives, but there is always some kind of music.

- 9pm
Every night at 9pm in Hagi I can hear some music for a minute or 2. No idea why.

- The music in the supermarket/most shops
Horrendous.

Coldness an addendum - for the love of Kairo

No, I haven't misspelled the Egyptian capital! I have recently been introduced to kairo by some elementary school children. Basically, it looks like a tea bag, and is filled with iron shavings. So they come individually wrapped (so Japan!) and when you take it from the plastic and put it in your pocket for a couple of minutes it heats up. It stays hot for a few hours... it's like carrying a mini hot water bottle in your pocket!

So most days at school I have one that I carry around! Apparently, the Junior High kids are not allowed them, but a few students have gestured that they are carrying kairo too! Apparently you can get kairo that you stick to the inside of your clothes (if you stick it to your skin you may get burnt) I haven't tried them yet, but I have no doubt I will progress to those very soon!

A selection of soy sauce

So the other day I had to buy soy sauce. Up until now I had been using what Jo left behind, but it ran out. I didn't think to take a photo of the bottle (or the bottle itself) with me because I thought it would be easy!

However, as you can see, at Sun Live there is a LARGE range of soy sauce. I stood in front of the shelves for a few minutes, but I couldn't figure which to buy. So I grabbed a guy stacking shelves and said to him "korerano bottle wa shoyu des ka?" (are these bottles soy sauce?) and he indicated yes. So I said "onaji" (all the same?) and again, he said yes. So finally I summoned my reserves of Japanese and said "kono shoyu wa ichiban des ka?" (which is the best?) so he wandered around, and said "cooking?" and I said yes, so he chose me a bottle. Then he pointed to himself and said "ichiban des" which i think meant, "I am the best!"

I was amazed that he had been so talkative, and then made a joke! Most Japanese people are a little (or a lot) scared of foreigners!

The politics of the car park

Next to my apartment there is some kind of office, and behind it, a car park. The car park is full most of the time, given Japanese people tend to work ALL the time.

However, some mornings I see the cars arriving. You notice that they all just park each other in, so there must be some serious negotiation at the end of the day - who wants to go, and who is trying to impress by staying the latest... I seriously don't know why they don't just mark lines, and give each other some access!

In Japan it is really important to be seen to be busy - Japanese people often talk about how busy they are, while they are sitting in the staffroom drinking coffee. Or they do this funny run/walk - moving their feet quickly but not moving anywhere fast! And, all the staffrooms are packed full of 'work' (piles and piles of papers). So I suspect parking the car closest to the building is a sign of working the hardest.

No option to be ex-directory in Hagi

So this is part of the Hagi Street Directory. What you are looking at is a really zoomed in melways - all the buildings are individually marked, and the kanji on each block is the (male) owner's name!

The ALTs were invited to a Christmas party, but there was no address on the invitation, so at the Board of Education we used this map to find the house!

Can you imagine how much effort it must be to make this??? So obviously my name is not on there - but my building is marked - right next to 'Gusto' (a Japanese fast food place).

As Shak remarked, I suppose there is no 'unlisted' option in Japan!

The Famous Hagi Half Marathon

So today was the famous Hagi Half Marathon - 22km run starting at the Wellness Park (love Engrish!) and finishing up at the stadium. So I went down to the arcade to watch them run through - almost the halfway point actually. I like to think of it as the Champs Elysees of the half marathon!

Brent - pictured - was probably somewhere in the top 100. He's an American exchange student at a Hagi High School. There were well over 2500 runners though - and a fair few foreigners, not from Hagi!

Actually, there were some beautiful outfits - totally 80's style. And one Japanese man was sort of dressed as Santa. Some of the runners were totally focussed as they ran past, some with music playing, but others really enjoyed themselves, high-fiving and waving!

The Japanese Club Christmas Party

On Saturday I rolled out of bed to get up to City Hall for chorus rehearsal – the Japanese class is meant to be singing Christmas carols at the party from 12.30. So no rehearsal, no one was there (well Alex and the Japanese organizers were) so I just sat near the heater! Finally ‘rehearsed’ around midday.

Anyway, there was flamenco dancing, our chorus, random games (I won some tomato flavoured Korean biscuits) and then the JETs from Yamaguchi City had to talk about Christmas in their hometowns/countries – China, Spain and the US. The Yamaguchi City JETs are the ones who can speak fluent Japanese, so I didn’t understand what they were saying – could guess though. Spanish girl talked about Christmas Eve, American about all the food, and the Chinese JET simply said, we don’t celebrate it! Food was good, though. I was surprised that more of my students weren’t there – perhaps a good thing given our ‘chorus’ – for the record, we did Rudolph (at breakneck speed for some reason) and White Christmas.

Possibly the worst part were the Japanese people who, having been encouraged to talk to the 'friendly foreigners' by the MC at the beginning of the party, decided that 'talking to me' meant listing all the places that they had seen me in the last week. Stalker much?

Kent came for dinner

I met Tsucky down at the HH Eki, and shortly after Kent’s bus arrived – we took him to the hotel, then straight to dinner. Rather, Mrs Tsucky drove us around, then dropped us at the restaurant.

We ate a magnificent Japanese spread – and in true Japanese style we got about 4 mouthfuls of everything, all on separate, beautiful plates! Drank some hot sake too…

Latest Ikebana creation

My latest creation... did you know that in Japanese the flower is called 'Sutorechia' - you learn something new everyday.

The worst christmas present idea ever!

I swear, if anyone gave me this...

And can you believe that its almost $30 for this laundry christmas gift pack!!!!