Life at Work

So much has happened since I last wrote. Although there are still new surprises everyday, I am settling into a bit of a routine here now. I go to work Monday through Friday 8:30-4:30 (even though students are on summer vacation, teachers work almost everyday. Apparently since they are government workers, when a few years back they stopped going to school on Saturdays, they needed to make up time—alas summer at school). It’s interesting because sometimes kids come for clubs but most of the days it’s just the teachers sitting in their desks in the common staff area reading newspapers and pretending to look busy. Sometimes I really believe they are getting work done, but then again the other day a man was asleep at his desk for a good hour or two. Many are also away at conferences. Me, I just catch up on emails, do a little bit of planning, and mostly make flashcards. Although this time is nice and slack, it’s kind of pointless for me because the Japanese English teacher that I am supposed to work with everyday is in Seattle right now on vacation. Next week I have some presentations on Canada to give at a few English seminars, speech competitions and conferences so preparing for that has kept me from going crazy. The other day we also had a stray dog at school—soo cute- I wanted to adopt it if the owner wasn’t found!!! I also work on my Japanese if I get through the rest of my slack day. Speaking of learning Japanese, this weekend I turned into a first grader again as I could finally read all of the Katakana characters. It’s neat because Katakana is the character set they use for foreign objects such as many foods. So for me, when I can sound it out and recognize the character sounds---all of a sudden I can actually read and understand it (as long as you try to say it with a Japanese accent). Think of it as playing MadGab and trying to say the sounds in different ways. It’s very very exciting for me—whoo reading!

Well mid August now and still hot as heck out here. I imagine this heat will go on for another month or so. However… I made a magnificent find this week when I discovered a place that reminds me of one of my favourite summer activities back home--- the river! The river that runs through Neo is quite shallow but has some cute little waterfalls and is very clear. There are always men fishing there and is my newfound favourite place in Neo. I’m going to buy some inflatable tubes or something to go floating next weekend I hope.

Another thing that August in Japan means is more festivals! This week is Bon. It is a time where families all get together, have a feast and pray for their ancestors. I’m not sure I understand all the intricacies yet, but I am invited to Rika’s family’s Bon Festival tomorrow night. Tonight there are also fireworks in Neo that I am going to go to. Fireworks here are one step up from home- they have multiple colors in one burst and are sometimes in the shapes of soccerballs and smiley faces. Not sure if Neo’s will be quite that extravagant but should be a good evening none the less.

So other than go to school everyday, I also play badminton at the Junior High Gym twice a week with an adult club. Also I may join the Junior High Badminton club and help the kids out at practice—yes I shall be a badminton master soon! It’s funny because they use a lot of English (at least when I am there) with counting the score, and calling “in-desu” or “out-desu.” Everyone is pretty dedicated to their sport here. Even the kids practice in the morning for a few hours—although much of the time is not even hands on, it’s athletic training like running lines and doing pushups—in that heat, yikes! There is another night activity I may try called Indiaka which is apparently a game similar to volleyball but where the ball has feathers attached to the end. Also I have heard there is a tap class at Maleria--- oooh how I miss tap dancing (Yes I know you all think it is cheesy but it’s so fun!) so who knows—perhaps I will go try it out too.
Other things that have been keeping me busy are learning how to work all of the Japanese appliances and looking through my dictionary to understand all of the Kanji! Successful with the rice cooker, vacuum, washing machine and even microwave now! I also made a collage of home to make my apartment seem just a little more like home.
Last but not least I watch some CRAZY Japanese television –mostly BIZARRE game shows. Yesterday I saw West Edmonton Mall on one of the tv shows which got me soooo excited! Apparently I do miss home and am a proud little Canadian! I watch some English dvds and videos too that I brought, Duane burned or Kaki left. Yeah for English sometimes!!! I also have gotten into a great book called “Lamb” it’s the hilarious story of Jesus as a child as told by his best friend Biff. I definitely recommend it!

Random Food Observations:
Japanese people drink anything hot and anything cold. You can buy cans of cold coffee or MICROWAVE! the cans, saki hot or cold, lemonade the same.
I finally figured out where the artificial grape flavouring comes from—real Japanese grapes! You don’t eat the skins and they taste just like grape flavoured anything! (unlike at home—wow I hope that made sense)
Bread, margarine, pancakes, milk and pretty much everything is sweeter here than at home

Other Randomness
The other day I was walking home and got quite the fright by a scarecrow in a garden of my neighbours house. I will attach a photo but at night it scared the bejeezers out of me! And the next morning there was a second one!
Japanese children love bugs and beetles! They all want them as pets!

New Japanese Words
Chugakko- JHS
Shogakko- Elementary School
Seito- my student
Kore wa Nihon-go de nan desu ka.- What is this in Japanese
Sumimasen, mo ichido onegai-shimasue- I’m sorry, could you say that once more please
- still my favourite saying “ a so desu ka” oh I see/is that so—in whatever inflection you want in order to change the meaning


Anyways, time to go to the festivities!!! Bye for now! Thanks for all the comments and keeping in touch!!!

~Julie
P.S. I am still in love with all of the different Japanese toilets! I will write a whole blog on them one day!

P.P.S In one of the pics I have this funny little colorful thing next to me-- it's called a Babloon and I will write lots more about that later too!