Sports Day - Of a Japanese Kind

The past 2 days have been dedicated to practising for Sports Day, which is this Sunday. They practised the opening ceremony routine, the games and relays. I tell you, what we know in Australia as Sports Day is mighty different to what they call Sports Day here. It's not so much track and field events but more team games and fun relays. My camera has been working flat out! Here are some of the events they have practised.

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  A relay around the track which included different sections...riding a uni cycle, walking on stilts, doing a 3-legged bit, pushing a giant ball around, skipping rope and rolling in a loop of tatami to make it go like a tank!! Very amusing.




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  There was also a water relay where kids went in teams of 4, 3 of them carried the other person who was holding a cup of water. They all had to climb through a ladder, jump rope, do three-legged thing, crawl under a net and run with the water. At the end they tipped their water into a bottle. The team with the most water won.




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  Teams of 8 have their legs tied to the people next to them. They race another team to the other end of the track. They then all flop onto the high jump mats!




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  Teams of 8 stand in a line and have their feet joined together by an ankle strap which has a length of rope thread through it. They race from one end to the other against another team.
  


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  Teams of 8 bounce a ball from one end to the other but each person cannot bounce the ball two times in a row. They form a type of circle around the ball as they guide it along.




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  Teams of 4 boys, 3 carrying the other one, fight other boys. They win by either removing the other person's hat or making them fall over. There were some spectacular spills.




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  2 teams of boys compete against each other. They form a line and bend over so their hands are on their knees. One student walks on their backs and as the student has walked across, the boys run to the other end of the line to create more backs to step on to get the the other end.

This is the biggest jump rope I have ever seen! Each class competes against each other to see who can skip the most. Some classes didn't even make it to 1, while others got to 12.

I'm looking forward to the real thing on Sunday. And then the after party Sunday night! Don't worry, Monday is a public holiday!!!

Head first into the culture!

A group of Americans arrived 2 weeks ago now to start their life in Himeji, and more importantly, at Shirasagi Residence. On the weekend we all decided to show them what Japanese culture is all about...drinking and karaoke!!!

We started the night at the Egret Beer Garden, right in front of Himeji castle. For ￥3000 you can eat and drink all you want for 3 hours, which can get a bit messy! I got stuck into the beers (which may actually shock some of you!). I had a great time chatting to the new Americans and getting to know them better. Merry and Mitch have brought their 2 kids, RJ who is 4 and their daughter is 18 months. RJ came to the beer garden with us and he was not shy about meeting a whole bunch of new people. He is fascinated with the Japanese people and he spent the night being a mini social butterfly, chatting to different Japanese people (some friends and some random people). Down at the park some fireworks were being let off. He learned the name for them...hanabi. I also taught him how to say his age in Japanese. He was a little star and so cute!

Once 9pm had rolled around and we were asked to leave, we all headed to the Time Machine Karaoke bar. We had a party of 25 people, but the biggest room they had was meant for 18. We all fit! This was the biggest karaoke room I've been in and it was awesome. There were two long tables and then at the end of the room was a little stage. There were two monitors, one for the singers and one fore the audience. Jono and I kicked off the night with a dodgy performance singing "Shape of My Heart" by Backstreet Boys! It got a lot better as the night went on..that might have had something to do with the beer!

The maracas and tambourines were passed out and the touch screen menu pads were working overtime. In no time at all we were all dancing on the chairs, singing at the top of our voices and having a great time. We all had a go at karaoke which was often accompanied by dancing. Katie blew us all away with her impressive voice and Jono had fun playing MC all night. Who knew Japanese culture could be sooooooooo much fun!

Shirakawa-go

On the second day of our Japanese Bus Tour we visited Shirakawa-go. It is on the World Heritage List. This picturesque village is tucked away in a valley and surrounded by hills covered in pine trees. The many, many thatched-roof houses are separated by gardens and rice fields and was very beautiful.

The thatched rooved houses are called a "Gassho" style house. The idea is to have the roof sloped steep enough to provide space inside the roof structure. These houses have a multi-storey attic which they use to raise silkworms. The way the roof is put together is quite amazing as they used only rope to join all the bits and pieces together.

What the??!!?? September

A Japanese Bus Tour to Toyama

Jono and I were invited to go on a Japanese bus tour with 2 of our Japanese friends, Mayumi and Naomi. It was a great deal, we certainly got our moneys worth. All I have to say about it is that it was VERY JAPANESE!!! And by that I mean that we spent a lot of time travelling and not so much time off the bus (18 hours bus time in 2 days). Mind you, it was worth it and there is no other way to see what we saw in 2 days! It was amusing to me to be part of a tour group because our tour guide held up a flag which we had to follow. I have seen many tour groups being lead around Himeji following their guide's flag and finally we got to be part of it!

After being picked up at 6;20am on the Saturday morning (ouch) we headed for the bus and left Himeji at 7am. Our first stop was at Lake Biwa, the largest lake in all of Japan. It was a really pretty place to stop for a rest.

After many rest stops along the way we arrived at our destination at 5:30pm. The small town of Toyama was swarming with people mainly piling out of the hundreds of tour buses there. The traditional styled streets were all lined with lanterns and looked amazing when the sun went down. We were there to for the Owara Kaze no Bon Matsuri (a dancing festival). The style of dance is very slow and graceful with lots of arm movements and slow walking. The dancers consisted of men and women, boys and girls wearing kimonos, wooden thongs (with socks naturally) and straw hats bent in half covering their faces. The little kids were really cute.

We made our way up the main street which was lined with people awaiting the parade. We were able to watch the dancers from up close. They would do their dance, move down the street a bit more and do another dance. After that dance they'd move down the street a bit more and repeat. By the time the dancers made it down to the other end of the street to the main building a mob had formed and I saw some very aggressive Japanese people trying to get a glimpse at the dancers. At one stage they blocked the street entirely and we had to find an alternate route to get around them! Unfortunately we were too slow making our way down to the main building to see the final dancing performance. All we could see were the dancers' shadows in the walls and occasionally their hands! We enjoyed it nonetheless.

A Change is as Good as a Holiday

After 6 weeks of Summer vacation we headed back to school. This semester everyone has been appointed to a new school, mine being quarter of the size of my old school. The thing that sucks is that I have to leave home at 6:45am and ride to the city to catch my 7:15 bus. I ride the bus for 25 mins to the countryside and then I walk for 5 mins up a hill to get to my new school. It's really pretty and a nice change.

The school has 2 English teachers, one of those being part time. They are both really nice and speak great English (yay)! So far this week I have been up to my ears in marking...exams and summer homework. I am glad for something to do but I almost killed myself the other day trying to get a huge stack done before I went home.

We have sports day here next Sunday so the kids have been out practising everyday in preparation. On Wednesday it was over 30 degrees, with 80% humidity and we were all outside practising the opening ceremony where the kids march around in different formations (I'm yet to see them practise any form of actual SPORT!!!). I was just standing under my umbrella sweating up a storm. Then after standing out in the sun for 40 minutes we had to do some weeding!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?????? I kept telling the kids that I was hot and asked how much longer we had to do it. The teacher asked why? I said cos I'm hot. Then she said, but it's hot in Australia too. Then I said Yeah, but we don't stand outside!!! It's a frustrating Japanese cultural thing...Samurai thinking...if you think it's not hot, then it's not hot....though the beads of sweat running down my back tell me another story! Thankfully I was allowed to stay in the air conditioned staff room on Friday to finish my marking!!

After 1 week there I have taught 3 classes! One class was painfully quiet and I had to keep asking if they were awake!! The other two classes were great. I had to give my self introduction for the 100th time, which I love doing because I get to draw lots of pictures on the board to help them understand. The kids were really engaged and had the opportunity at the end to ask me some questions. The kids come into the staff room at cleaning time and vacuum, dust and empty the bins. There are a few students that take this opportunity to talk to me which I find hilarious and very cute. At one stage I heard some students talking outside the staff room and heard them refer to me as the "Koala Teacher"! At least they have the right country! The kids and teachers at this school are a lot more relaxed about things, share jokes and get along really well.

Our Sports Day is next Sunday so the next week will consist of lots of Sports Day practise. It is meant to be a great day (pity it's the end of a 7-day week for us).

Tokyo

A trip to Japan wouldn't be complete without a trip to the capital. Having arrived back from Thailand and then taught summer classes for a week we headed north for the metropolis that is Tokyo. Neon, people everywhere, train stations bigger than airports, subway lines that intertwined everywhere, the sublime, the ridiculous... you name it, Tokyo has it.

Having arrived in Tokyo we headed for our hotel, or rather hostel. The metropolis is, or maybe was the most expensive city in the world. I was stoked to grab some cheap accommodation for a few days so we could stay longer!!! We headed out to Asakusa, which is a little way out of the main areas of Tokyo, but still really accessible to other areas. Asakusa's main attraction is a temple. It's pretty impressive too, but as speed sight seeers we saw it rather quickly and then headed for other areas. It is a common belief that inside this temple is a golden Buddha. Is is just that, a myth, because no one has actually ever seen it. This was a popular temple to visit, with both locals and tourists flooding there everyday to pray, play some side show games and look around.

I think you can get to a stage where on a holiday you are rather over sight seeing. Thus the Tokyo trip was more about getting a feel for the place and checking out what people do and where they are rather than seeing anything in particular. We did however make our way to Tokyo tower. We went all out and bought the multi ticket (a total rip off but had to be done) which gave us access to many different sections; The Guinness World Records Museum, The Wax Museum (which included a section on torture), a hologram museum, a museum on optical illusions and of course the 150 metre observatory (You had to pay even more for he 250m observatory). Certainly a tourist trap but an enjoyable few hours spent.

There were some amazing districts. Shibuya and its crazy intersection (also one of the most fabulous record stores with the best listening post section I have ever seen!), Shinjuku and its sort of cool shopping areas, great restaurants and seedy red light district. It's kinda weird, at home you see things and kind of turn the other cheek. Since our ping pong experience of Thailand I've become really disturbed by the whole adult industry. I went for a walk at one stage through the red light district on Saturday night and felt as uncomfortable as I ever have. It's just not nice. Maybe I need a t-shirt that says I don't want a massage, or more of an aura!

Having said that, one of the best things we did whilst we were in the area was head out to a really nice Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu restaurant. The staff were really fantastic and the food was the equal. A really kind waitress who explained everything really well and engaged us in good conversation. It was a really great experience.

Back to the districts... Probably my favorite area was Ginza... clean, classy, really expensive. According to the guides they say Ginza is to Tokyo as Park Avenue is to New York. It didn't disappoint. One of my memories is the row of neon billboards along the street that started with Dior and continued with Gucci, Prada and the like. I looked and smelt like money... and lots of it! Still, I don't understand how teachers are turning up to work with the genuine Louis and Dior bags. Maybe we teach in the wrong country!

Disneyland has been covered in previous entries and took up a fair bit of a time. Overall, I thought Tokyo was a really big city (stating the bleeding obvious). Possibly for me the wrong time to travel there as I was a bit over the life of travelling. It had a nice feel to it but it wasn't an oh my goodness city. Not something I need to rush back for. Is that too negative... ah blow it! I felt better when many Japanese people I know have shared my opinion (Not that it really matters what other people think!)! So all in all, good trip... glad I did it... I know there is so much more to see, but I'm in no rush for me to do it again!