Stef Sensei

Blind Canadians, Suntory Time and my new Palace…

2009-04-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

April 22nd

Welll… We finished training on Saturday and the training group decided to celebrate by spending a night out in Nagoya. We found a small bar in Sakae which served only Suntory whiskey and beer.
We had some young guys from the local army barracks extend us some hospitality. When I tried to speak some Japanese they said “No, no… We want to speak… English!” They were awesome, and really fit. They did some of their army drills for us. People love Barrack Obama here. I know most of the world loves him (except Kansas and Texas), but here they REALLY love him. At one point they started chanting “O-BA-MA! YES-WE-CAN!” over and over. They were lots of fun.

When we left in search of another bar we asked some local girls if they could give us directions. They agreed to help us in exchange for some photos. Cheeky girls. As you can see, the two Canadians are looking a little worse for wear… It was a very fun night, apart from the fact that we had to take care of these two blind Canadians.

On Monday I moved into my new pad in Okazaki. My new palace, in fact. I met up with my supervisor, who got me registered as an alien and he showed me around the local area. After a good stroll he shouted me to Mexican, Japanese style Mexican. Tasty.

I must say… my apartment is pretty sweet. It’s got a loft bed with a wardrobe underneath, which solves most of my storage problems. It’s also got a large bookshelf and comes with internet, a microwave, toaster oven and a TV (although I haven’t really used the TV yet). It’s got a balcony and is right next to Okazaki River, where they hold the annual fireworks festival. There are often young people playing guitar and hanging out at the steps of the river. I've included a video tour of my apartment at the bottom of this post.

I’m also less than a kilometre from Okazaki Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okazaki_castle). When I walk out of my apartment complex I walk straight into the castle grounds. They’re great to have a stroll around at night. Traditional Japanese music is always played there during the day. It’s the place where one of the three great Shoguns was born, Ieyasu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyeyasu.

All in all I’m very happy with my placement. The teachers in my area are nice and fun, the area itself seems lively enough and my apartment is great. =)

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Stef xo

Training, Reunions and Lovers in Japan.

2009-04-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

April 17th

Well… I’ve have had quite a busy week. Nat and Nicole (friends from Melbourne) came to Nagoya on Sunday. It was really great to see them. It was the first time I’ve seen them in almost 9 months! They were too kind. They brought me heaps of presents and things they thought would help me get settled in to life in Japan. Nicole put heaps of effort into making flashcards and burning DVDs. All I had for them was some food from Melbourne they had been craving and a bunch of flowers… I have been outdone.

We went into Fujigoaka then on to Nagoya. Nicole helped me (and the others in my training group) get an ‘Inkan’. An inkan is a personalised stamp. They use them here to lieu of signatures. Other than that we just shopped and spent the day catching up.

Training has been a lot of fun. On Tuesday I caught a train to a little place called Mizunami. I can’t believe I didn’t have my video camera. The train was in a valley covered in foliage with a river to one side of it. It had been raining quite heavily so there was a heavy mist rising out of the valley. It was incredibly beautiful. Don’t think I’ll ever see the valley exactly like that again (if I ever go back there!).

They’ve changed my placement; I’m now going to be in Okazaki City. I’m happier with this placement. They’re both very close to each other (about 7 minutes by train) but Okazaki is bigger, has a university and has lots of shops. Also, there are more foreigners in Okazaki than there was in Anjo. The minus is that I’m paying more in rent per month. I’m moving in on Monday.

Thanks for reading!
Stef xo

Shopping, Sake and National pride

2009-04-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

April 11th

As odd as this may sound, I’ve really been enjoying shopping since I arrived here. Not ‘shopping’shopping; just grocery shopping. It gives me a chance to practice what little Japanese I know. At the moment I’m purposefully buying just a little bit at a time so that I have to go back more often. Sometimes it’s a struggle, but it feels like I’m getting a little better every time I go back. I can’t read Katakana (yet… I’m going to have to get onto that asap.), but I know a lot of the food names, so that helps. Everyone here is always happy to help if I ask.

Last night was a lot of fun. We (our training group) played card games (alcohol is sooo cheap here. 500 Yen for a bottle of Vodka, Sake or Gin). There were three Australians and two Canadians, so it naturally became Canada vs. Australia. It’s very funny to hear us impersonate each other; ‘banana’ comes to mind. I won cheat, so I guess I did Australia proud. The picture to the left is me trying to dress like the guys here. (well.. it was part of a challenge...)

All the Sakura petals are falling down. It feels a little magical when the wind blows and thousands of tiny white and pink petals drift …. . They’ll all be gone in a day or two. They don’t last very long at all.
It’s been a very different Easter for me so far. I had some fish yesterday (Good Friday) but there isn’t really any mention of Easter here.

Thanks for reading!

Stef xxo

Canadians, children’s performers and wholesome family entertainment.

2009-04-07T04:12:00.000-07:00

April 5th

My room-mate arrived yesterday. He’s from Toronto, Canada. I spent some time showing him the Hongo area and trying to indoctrinate him into/with some Australian music. He liked Sarah Blasko.

After an extended session in the internet café we (Fellow trainees: 3 Canadians, 4 Australians… No time for names) went to see a street festival in Fujigaoka. It was scheduled to coincide with the Sakura. The people were sooo happy. I’m very glad I went. There was lots of colour and music.

The first act we saw was an a cappella children’s group. I was very impressed. Looking at the picture, the man on the right was giving a bass line and the petite girl in pink to his left was beat boxing and adding the “doo-wops.” The three on the other side were singing and adding “doo-wops.” While most of what they sung was fast/fun for the kiddies, they did a great version of amazing grace. The kids loved them, as you can see by the look on the face of the little girl pictured.

The next act was a country/bootscooting band. They were hilarious. Much of what they sung was in English. Considering the level of English we’ve encountered, I don’t think the audience actually knew what they were saying. The guitarists were bootscooting together while play the guitar. Classic.

Later a solo performer came out and did tricks involving juggling, plate spinning and some kind of Yo-Ho Diablo. She was impressive… Her tricks were pretty good, too. It was particularly impressive when she balanced spinning plates on three long poles on her chin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a children’s performer wear such a short skirt. Come to think of it, there were more dads watching than there normally were. I guess they wanted to make it something the whole family could enjoy.

Later on I saw some real Geisha. I told them they were “ki-re” (beautiful) then asked them “watashi wa sha-shin o tote mo i desu ka” (if I could have my photo with them). They were more than happy to. I’m pretty sure they appreciated the compliment, too. I’m a touch miffed that I look so scruffy and dull next to them in the photos. I wish I had shaved or worn some brighter clothes. Take a look at their sizes… Now consider that Geisha’s are meant to be the taller girls. Hmm…

I’ve been trying as much of the food as I can. We had some really great rice sticks with some kind of Honey soy/teriyaki sauce with sesame seeds. Quite tasty. I thought they were fish when I looked at them. They were a touch confused when I asked them for “Sakana…” They quickly corrected me.

Tomorrow I start training. I am very much looking forward to it. I thought I was the youngest in the training group, but it turns out a young man from London is 3 days my junior.

Well, thanks for reading! Have a great day.

Stef xo

Zen gardens, Saruka and “Kawai” celebrity Gaijin

2009-04-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

April 3rd

Today was another great/full day. I met another bird from Australia named Brandy. She is a fellow trainee from Brisbane. Today was forecast to be the peak of the Sakura (cherry blossoms) in Nagoya, and it showed. We saved some of the best viewing spots in Nagoya for today.

First we (Emma, Brandy, Amitesh and I) went to the Noritake gardens. There were lots of people painting the Sakura. Also, there was an awesome lion gargoyle (left) guarding the Nitto shrine.

Afterwards we went on a bit of an excursion out of the city into a place called Shinkiyosu. It had a real small town feel. There were families every celebrating the sakura with Hanami, flower viewing parties. People everywhere would set up a kind of picnic under the sakura and stay there till well into the night, sometimes they will sleep there. It is quite common for them to get well and truly inebriated. Employees who go to their company one are not allowed to leave until the boss is finished.

In Shinkiyosu we saw the Kiyosu castle and Zen garden. The colours on the Sakura were amazing. I was a little hesitant to travel this far out from the city, but I’m soo glad we did (thanks Emma!). Actually, we took the wrong train at first. We took an express which went past our stop. However, that was easily rectified and didn’t cost us much time at all.

Later that day we took a stroll down to Nagoya castle. The castle has 3600 cherry blossom trees and they were all in full bloom. The castle itself was originally completed in 1612. However, it was partially destroyed during the allied bombings in 1945. The Hanami at Nagoya Castle was hugely popular.

A very kind older man showed Emma, Brandy and I his collection of photos of Nagoya Castle. He then gave us each one as an ‘okurimono’ (gift).

Earlier that day I had my first real ‘celebrity’ moment. They say the Gaijin feel like celebrities due to the reactions (gasps, stares, giggles) from locals. When we were getting a snack two 19ish year old girls gasped, start giggling and saying ‘Kawai,’ which means “cute.” I didn’t fell very cute; I was in the middle of eating a hamburger (my first ‘Western Food’ since I’ve been here-promise. I love Japanese food too much) and waiting for my fellow trainees to get their food.

I’m not sure that ‘Cute’ is what I aim for, but I’ve been told that ‘Kawai’ is considered a great compliment here.

Well… Today was a whole lot of fun. I’ve got two more days till training starts and I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing. A few of us are talking about seeing the baseball at Nagoya Dome tomorrow night, which could be fun.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Sayonara!
Stef xo

Picturesque Shrines, Night Time City Vistas and New National Sports

2009-04-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

April 2nd

Today was another great day. After unsuccessfully trying to find the other new trainees (who had already left for breakfast) Emma and I wrote up an Itinerary for the day, which included: Heiwa Park, Toganji Shrine, The Higashiyama Park, Nittaiji Temple, Yamada Denki (a music/electronics store) and the Nagoya Sky Promenade. All the while we were trying to meet up with the two new trainees from Canada.

Everywhere we went we found ‘Sakura,’ or cherry blossoms. The sakura marks the advent of spring. Since ancient times, the blooming of the cherry blossoms has marked the start of the rice-planting season. Traditionally, the quality of the blossom reflected the quality of the next rice harvest. Offerings were made to the cherry tress to in exchange for a good harvest. Today, people mark the cherry blossoms with a celebration called ‘Hanami,’ which means flower viewing.

My favourite place today was a smaller, but historically significant shrine called the Toganji Shrine in Motoyama (pictured left). It had a shrine for people’s deceased cats and dogs. Also, it had a giant green Buddha, about 17 meters tall. It was built in 1555.

While we were taking in the view, three construction workers were having lunch. One came over to us and tried to tell us about the statue (in mostly Japanese). From what we could decipher, he was telling us that the ears, eyes, nostrils and lips of the statue were made from 24 carrot gold!

Also, he told us which of the elephants on the statue were female and which were male. His method of indicating which were female was quite humorous. It involved cupping his chest and pointing (although we both already understood “female”). He tried very hard to explain to us the significance of the statue’s hand gestures, but we failed to understand.

The workers then invited us for some koocha (tea) and snacks. They were very welcoming. One continually referred to us as ‘Sensei’ after we had said we were here to teach English.

As we were leaving the monk at the shrine gave us a whole bag of snacks; date biscuits and rice puffs. No reason really. It just seemed like he wanted to find some way be nice. He saw that we liked them when the construction workers gave us some, so he gave us a whole bag! We’ve been inundated with this kind of hospitality, really.

When we came back to our apartment we met two new trainees from Canada, Amitesh and Ajmal. Together we all went into Nagoya to see the Sky Promenade. The lift in the building is the fastest in Japan, going from the ground to the 42nd floor in about 40 seconds. The night time vista was quite a sight, indeed. Some of the architecture is quite remarkable. I couldn’t really capture it properly without a tripod

I think I found my favourite restaurant so far. It is a chain of restaurants called Yoshinoya. All the meals come with Miso soup, green tea and steamed rice. Over here people add pickled horse radish to their meals. It’s quite strong, but, if used conservatively, can be very tasty. In fact, I’ve really enjoyed all the Japanese food so far! I could definitely live on this stuff!

From first impressions, the girls seem much more shy than the guys here. Emma and I were looking for a music store in Hoshigaoka. We walked around the corner and saw a group of girls (late teens? Early twenties?) who were chatting and laughing. The second they caught eye of us “gaijin” (foreigners) they all gasped in surprise and stared. A few of them put their hands over their mouths, almost in disbelief. Their gaze was fixed on us until we walked past.

I’ve head some people say that baseball is the national sport of Japan, but I would challenge that… I would purport ‘staring’ as the national sport of Japan.

Anyway, today was another great day. It’s been a great adventure so far. Till next time!

Stef xo

Vending Machines, Western Celebrities and Flogging Off Japanese Merch

2009-04-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

April 1

Haha. Just thought I’d tell you how amused I am when I see Western celebrities in ads on the sides of vending machines or buildings or shops. Does Tommy Lee Jones REALLY drink that particular brand of Ice Green Tea? I somehow don’t think that Brad Pitt uses a Soft Bank phone. Amusing none the less.

Departures, Arrivals and Japanese hospitality

2009-04-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

April 1st
I’ll take this opportunity to thank everyone for allowing me to have a great last memory of everyone home in Australia. I had a blast at my farewell and am going to miss everyone.

Also, I loved reading everyone’s goodbye notes. Some of them get 10 points for creativity (Tim and Nath, Jacqui and Amy, John). Departures are always hard and the flight from Australia to Bangkok was no exception. To be honest, I had trouble speaking to the lady at the hand luggage as I was a bit of a blubbering mess. But, while I still miss everyone, excitement and intrigue has well and truly become the feelings of the day! And thanks again to those who saw me off at the airport (sorry for making you cry Febe).

Anyway, on to Japan…
I was picked up from Nagoya airport by a man from London named Jeff. He was very helpful. He showed me my apartment in a part of Nagoya called Hongo. He showed me where to shop, where to eat how to buy train tickets and a host of other useful things. Nagoya is a city of 2.2 million people.

He then introduced me to the only other trainee to have arrived; a girl from Sydney named Emma. She was so excited when she heard another Australian accent (she had been in Japan for a couple of weeks.) In spite of the fact that I hadn’t slept for over 27 hours, we decided to go into Sakae and Nagoya and do some shopping (and try and talk with the locals).

We had lunch at a little café where we ordered our meals from vending machines! They looove their vending machines here! We put our money in the machine and it gave us a ticket, which we then took to the counter to collect our meal (which, by the way, was ready in a jiffy.)

Our shopping was quite successful, despite our combined Japanese being terribly low. We managed to find and purchase everything we were looking for and had a blast while doing it. The level of English in Nagoya is really quite low. Most people smile and blush a little when they try to speak even a little English. It seems majority of people know almost no English whatsoever. That’s a good thing though; it’ll force me to learn some more Japanese quick smart!

Emma got us temporarily lost on the way to an internet café in Fujigoako. It took my experienced map reading skills (thanks Geoscience at Monash!) to get us back on track. Keep in mind that the map we were using was entirely in Japanese. We had to gauge by the angles at which roads were to each other.

However, if we hadn’t got lost we might not have ever seen a beautiful part of the city that we did. We went found a street lined with Sakura (cherry blossoms) in bloom. It was absolutely gorgeous. On the way back at night it was even more stunning.
All in all today was a successful day. I’ve fallen in love with this beautiful, cosy city.
Sayonara.
Stef xo

Konnichiwa!

2009-04-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog about my time in Japan! I’ve never done anything like this, so I’m not really sure how to go about it. I’m going to try and post as often as I can. I’ll post most of the material on both Facebook and this blog; so if you feel like you’ve read something said here before, it’s quite possible you have. At the moment I have very little access to the internet so I’m sure how often I’ll be posting. Much love, Stef xo