Sports Festival

Every fall, all the schools in Japan have Sports Festivals. The sports are mainly track and field events, with some funny variations. For instance, 3 legged races, obstacle courses, gymnastics, and dance routines. While the older grades participate in these events, the elementary students get to do even sillier things like toss around gigantic balls over a huge crowd. It's like going to an outdoor concert for Barney.

The kids practice for the Festival weeks and weeks in advance. Come rain or shine they are outside practicing leap frog, or running relay. You hear music blaring all day long because yes, they do all of these events to MUSIC! They use hits like "Open Arms" (Christie!!!), the Star Wars and Pulp Fiction Themes, and even some Ricky Martin!!! LOL!

This past weekend was my Junior High School's Festival, which ended up lasting 2 days due to rain. It began to pour during the 3rd event on Saturday, so everything else had to be postponed until Sunday. But this was okay because now I get TWO days off because we considered this event to be part of our work week... So that means I get TWO long weekends in a row! YAY!

After the Festival all of the teachers went to Toyohashi for dinner, and we had a REALLY great time. Teachers really let loose at these events... and there is usually a lot of cheering and shouting as the beer begins to flow. Drinking is a very popular thing to do in Japan because normally the Japanese are very reserved, so alcohol helps them loosen up, and express themselves freely for once. It's like one big cathartic confessional. These are the events where the teachers that are usually afraid to speak to me because they worry about their English come up and start conversations! It's really great because I get to know the staff a lot better.

I look forward to more staff parties... especially the one that will involve karaoke!!!

-- Enjoy the new installment.

Opening ceremony...  

The principle giving the opening speech. Don't all principles have that same sort of stance when they speak to their students? It's so universal. 

Don't mess with these two. They'll cap your ass... The guns were used to start races... and to kill the person who comes in last... (joking!) 

The students stand in front of the Head Phys. Ed teacher and ask for his blessing at the opening of the Festival. 

The kids dressed up as devils. Each team has one... the object of this event was to throw softballs at baskets attached to their backs... Yeah... I dunno... 

Check out this dog's haircut. He's got the Beckham "faux-hawk" going on... and his name was actually Beckham. The Japanese love soccer. They also love small dogs. The women can be seen walking or holding them just about anywhere. It's as though they are another accessory to go along with your cell phone.

The kids bring a new meaning to the 3 legged race for me. They were full-out running!!! I've decided that the Japanese do EVERYTHING better. 

The largest game of jump rope I have ever witnessed. The highest number of jumps was in the mid seventies! 

Look mom! I'm an airplane! 

These kids are so STRONG! 

The grade 9 students doing pyramids... 

The teachers of my Junior High. The guy up at the top is "Bem" Yoshino-sensei. He's a super guy that is always helping me out and showing me around this area of Aichi. Everyone is having a pretty great time by this point in our evening... note all the glasses of beer on the table!!! 

Me, Lim, and Asami. Lim is from Singapore and is a fellow JET. She lives in Toyohashi which is a 6 min train ride from Kozakai. Asami is Japanese and works at my Junior High School. She's an awesome girl and has really helped me out since I have been here. 

The guy behind the post is the head of the Phys Ed. department, and he's HILARIOUS and LOUD. He had me doing shots of sake... and everyone clapped. He refers to me as "Canadian" instead of Aimee-sensei. 

SPEECH!!!! 

The fishies... 

On The Road...

While we were all at Matt's a few weekends ago, we didn't just hang out in cabins and drink ourselves silly... we also made a hike up to a beautiful temple in the mountains. I believe it was called the Hiroi Temple (if someone from the trip is looking at this blog and knows the name, please correct me).

That aside, it is an amazing area of Aichi. The mountains are about 2 hrs from me by car, so it's nice to know I can easily escape to serenity!

The trip up there was pretty amazing... very small roads! We also came across a very beautiful and colourful snake on the road. Luckily we were in our cars because this was a VERY deadly snake, whose bite can kill you in less than an hour!! Hamish was driving the car ahead of mine and stopped to gawk at it and hang his head out the window to take a photo. People who live in that area are told to kill the snakes immediately if you come across one. We all wanted Hamish to run it over, but being the nature lover he is, he let the snake go.

The hike up to the temple was short compared to Fuji-san. The rainclouds were rolling in, so it was a bit cooler, yet the air was very very dense, but it felt great. All you could see was trees for miles and miles.

Hikes like these make me feel very grateful for being able to come here to Japan, because it is such a beautiful country. It's an undiscovered gem when it comes to vacation destinations. Thailand is all the rage these days, but you should try to come here and see Japan in the Fall when the leaves are changing colour, or in the Spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

Oh... and their fireworks just flat out rock. You haven't seen fireworks until you have seen Japanese fireworks.

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In other news... I got a new fish tank and some new friends for Jitters, my freaky fish. I bought 5, but only 4 have lived... but they all get along famously, and are quite happy. Jitters is content now and behaving nicely. I made sure that he would remain the biggest fish in the tank to govern this new aquatic land. They are great to have around, and are very peaceful to watch.

Enjoy the new pics... please leave comments!

Everything was so picturesque in this area. The moist air, the bright flowers, and huge trees made me feel like I was in the rainforest. 

So peaceful! 

Bright flowers can be found all over the mountains! Colour is something Japan is blessed with. The azeala is Aichi's flower (but I have no idea what this flower above is called!!!) 

Hidden just off the path was this statue of Buddha... very beautiful and serene. 

The temple... That box near the front is where you throw coins in and pray. All gods seem to enjoy money... 

A graveyard... along the path to the temple/shrine there were statues that were dressed in childrens' bibs... to warm the departed children they represented... I didn't feel right taking a photo, but they were near these pillars. 

Ah, the beautiful rolling mountains. Views like these make me so glad that I came to Japan. 

Back to School!

The second semester of school has begun in Kozakai! The Japanese school year begins in April, so the children are already one semester into their year. I teach at 3 schools: 2 elementary, and 1 junior high. My base school is the JHS where I spend 3 days a week (Tues, Weds, & Fri.) while I go to East Elementary on Mondays, and West Elementary on Thursdays.

The kids in elementary school are INCREDIBLE! They speak very little English, and sometimes none, but they are attentive and extremely curious about me! I teach grades 1-6, so I get to meet them all... which means I will be doing my self introduction for 2 months!!! AHHHH! So! I am not looking forward to repeating myself a billion times... but the energy of the children keep me going. The teachers in the elementary schools speak little English as well, so they just crowd control the kids for me, and try to translate some of what I say into Japanese!

The children love the little Canadian stickers, coins, and pencils I give them as prizes for the games we play. They gobble up everything I hand them! They love to ask me questions like "How old are you?" "Do you have a boyfriend?" "What is your shoe size?" I had one girl ask for my autograph! She was SO cute!

We have a school lunch everyday, so I don't need to worry about my meal, unless there is a typhoon or some other natural disaster that prevents the delivery (like this week... TYPHOON!). The lunches are very healthy, and are specifically made to cater to the children's growing bodies. We drink a little glass bottle of milk everyday! We usually have miso soup and some sort of meat or fish, and of course... rice. I eat lunch with one of the classes... so they are always giggling when they see me using chopsticks.

The JHS is full of super kids who know an ok amount of English, but they are super shy about speaking it in class. During class they usually shy away from eye contact, and are very slow to raise their hand to answer anything.... but outside of class they are very friendly, and will say hello and goodbye to me in English when I see them in the hallways.

All the schools have 6 periods, followed by a cleaning period where all the children clean the school top to bottom. Then it is time to attend their after school club. This includes sports, music, crafts, etc. I've sat in on the brass band practicing. They are VERY good for their age! JHS is grades 7-9.

Tomorrow I am taking kendo classes for the first time. It's like fencing, but with a big wooden samurai sword. I can't wait! The kids are excited to have me join in after school activities!

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In other news... the earthquakes I experienced earlier this week were pretty big quakes. The first was a 6.9 and the second was a 7.1. The epicenters of these were both off the coast of Honshu island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. They caused some minor injuries in Kyoto, and a few minor tsunami. They are now starting to investigate if the 7.1 quake was in fact the serious quake that was supposed to hit this area of Japan. We all hope so! If the 7.1 was to hit land, it would spell disaster!

So... to keep myself safe, I must make an earthquake kit (water, radio, flashlight, dried food...) and as soon as I feel the ground move, I am to open my front door so that I have an escape route, make sure the gas is turned off, and HIDE under a sturdy table until the quake is over. Then I am to listen to the radio as to what to do next. Staying inside is actually safer than going outside! Who would've thought...

In other natural disaster news... we had a typhoon here this week. It hit my area, but by that time it was considerably weaker than what it was when it hit south Japan, where it killed 30-36 people. I am lucky that I am not directly on water... because the waves were flooding large parts of towns, and the winds were much higher there. My windows rattled all night long though... AND to top it all off... I felt yet ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE! Two natural disasters at once! What is with this country!?

Anyways... I am fine... and SAFE so don't let the news on tv spook you!

Me and the kids... on the green paper are pictures of cousins (Stephen, Evan, and Graham), friends, and mom, grampa, and Helen.

Aren't these girls the cutest?! They were a VERY excited and happy bunch.