In which Sarah adores her students

Today marked another great day! My first class was with my fourth years and it was my first time with them so I brought my intro lesson which is so much fun for me! I begin with telling them what I like with actions and they all get a giggle and then I compare Japan to Canada with some silly flashcards I drew. I have flags for each a sumo wrestler, a hockey player, Mt Fuji (which it really just a triangle with some zigzags for snow but bless them, every time I pull it out the shout out 'Fuji san!') the Rockies and a sakura and maple tree. Then I show them a magazine about British Columbia and they are all amazed by totem polls. Man I love how easily I can impress them. Next is my family photo, a photo with me and the girls at the Grand Canyon and then of course Charlotte who they think is just the cutest! Me too! Then I get them to draw their family or things they like and we go around and talk about them. Finally we play the Jungle Quest game where they have to find the hidden items in the picture and colour it with the colour I tell them too! By the end of it they are all shouting 'what colour?' when I say to find something. They are so clever! I had a blast and I think they did too.

I got to eat lunch with them too so we had lots of time together and they all asked me question like what was my favourite food, TV show, character, flower, Japanese food, word, Japanese word, animal, sport, baseball team, and children's book. You name it and they wanted to know if it was my favourite even if I didn't know what my favourite was or didn't think they'd know what I was talking about XD. They asked my age and birth date and if I was married. Pretty much no privacy but I answered every question the best I could. They are extra adorable when they speak Japenglish. And I'm getting to the point where I could understand most of their Japanese questions. After lunch I asked if I could clean with them and they all thought that was the coolest.

So, apparently I had some fans because after the first class a couple of girls came and gave me an origami flower and then after cleaning time they each gave me a picture they drew of me!

After school the teacher's invited me to have tea with them. This just means that when they go together at the end of the day in the corner with their coffee they asked me to join which is a big step! I understood bits and pieces until the conversation turned to me and they asked about Canada and if I drove a car. I said I did and told them how I'd found it difficult to drive on the left side of the road and told them that sometimes when I wanted to flick the turn signal I ended up turning on the window wipers instead. They laughed and said 'mistako' I nodded and added 'Saru mo ki kara ochiru...' Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes. They laughed and asked me how long I'd been in Japan when I said five weeks they couldn't believe how good my Japanese was. Hahaha as long as they don't venture the conversation out of familiar territory! All and all it was a great day!

A couple of my older grades have been working on an introduction lesson. Where they have to make little cards with their names in English and a picture of what they like and exchange it by say 'Hello. My name is~ What's your name? Here's my card. Thank you! See you!' It's harder than it sounds when they speak very little English. Anyways for each of my classes I made a few of my own with a little cat on them. I didn't realize how popular this would be but in my first class I ran out because everyone wanted one and then in my next class they had heard about my cat cards but I'd rushed out a couple of lame cards with my name and some stars. They all lined up for my card and were, I think, a little disappointed to discover they just received one with a star. So after class I went around and drew a cat on everyone of my cards. XD. It was worth it though as I ended up with a small collection of their cards which are now also posted on my wall!

Mt. Fuji and beyond

So after a full week of rain the clouds finally parted for the best possible day ever. The sakura has all fallen in Otsuki but in Kawaguchiko, a city at the base of Fuji, it is 500 meters higher and thus Spring is at it's peak. The day was absolutely gorgeous and I had a second sakura season!

But back to Saturday for a moment. After a lovely morning of sleeping in and just generally relaxing and getting caught up on chores. This wonderful Japanese man, Tommy san, had invited us to a concert that we attended. It was in this building that was 200 years old and was where the Emperor stayed on his way through the mountains.We sat in this beautiful tatami room and listened to some pretty cool music. Everything from choral to an ocarina and guitar duet. The man who played the ocarina had made it himself and it played in three octaves so he could literally make it play more than one sound at once it was so neat. On intermission we were severed chilled sake and sweet cakes and were introduce to the mayor or Otsuki and I got to see a bunch of my students who introduced me to their parents. After the second half of the concert Tommy san generously took us to dinner and we sat for hours trading Japanese and English. He's a really interesting man who opened as restaurant in Hawaii at one point in his life so his English is great. He now owns the kindergarten across from my house and has offered me Japanese lessons. It was a fabulous day! But... we had plans to go to Fuji the next day and it was still pouring buckets by bedtime.

Sunday, true to it's name, against all odds of a miserable week in the clouds, rose bright and blue! And Rhee and I went to Fujiyoshida/ Kawaguchiko to see what we could see. After getting lost for the first little bit we finally found ourselves at this amazing shrine that overlooked Mt. Fuji called Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine. It's one of the famous spots to snap photos of Japan's beloved valcano.

Next on the itinerary was Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Segen Shrine! This is the shrine at the base of Fuji where pilgrims traditionally began their climb. (When Rhee and I climb it we plan to start from halfway up which is still a six hour hike to the top in the middle of the night to catch the sunrise.) It's a beautiful place tucked into this old growth forest where the trees soar above a path lined with lanterns. The main building is surrounded by four huge trees that are each over 1000 years old that are said to protect the shrine. The main torii is one of the biggest in Japan and every 60 years they rebuild it a little bit bigger. Next year marks another 60 so maybe I'll be around for that festival!

After wards, it was down to one of the five lakes that surround Fuji to take more beautiful pictures of sakura. And then we went for an early dinner to this place called Moose Hill. It was so wonderfully Canadian! The owner actually spent some time living in Vancouver, I felt so at home. There were British Colombian flags and totem pools and other you know Canadian stuff. And, the second most delicious burger I've ever had! (The first being one I had at this old 50s diner on Route 66) It was as tall as my hand from finger to wrist and tasted like everything I've missed about American food. It felt like we had gone through a portal to home for a bit. So good!!!

As the day began to wind down we had met up with the boys (Kevin and Tony) and another friend who lived in Fujiyoshida named Sheena, who took us to Oshino village which is famous for their eight springs. They are designated one of 100 of Japan's most unique water sources. This thatched roofed village was built around these almost perfectly round pools of deep cool water that are fed from the glacier water off of Fuji. The catch... the water rises through the soil and the water in the ponds now was what was snow on the mountain 79 years ago!!! They were perfectly clear and some ranged from a few feet deep to I think 8 meters deep... and I could still see the bottom! One even had an underwater cave I could see. They would be a lovely place to swim except two things. One the water is always close to freezing and two there are these huge scary fish that live in them but are really cool! The trick is to see if you can keep your hand in for 30 seconds because it's so cold it was difficult!

And then it was time for my favourite part of the day: desert!!! Sheena took us to this amazing cafe where they have eight pages of parfait to choose from. I chose something with creme brule and chocolate and caramel and ice cream and magic! It was sooooo good and almost a foot tall! It was another lovely weekend with many more planned! I love it here so much!

An amazing weekend

My first full week of school was wonderful! I'll never get tired of my adorable students calling me Sarah sensei and they are so eager to learn because the think I'm the coolest novelty! Anyways, after a brilliant week of classes the next challenge arose, what to do for the weekend... Problem solved when Rhi said we should go exploring! So I picked her up from the train station and we just drove about all day Saturday. First we hung about my park only five minutes away and I showed her my special place in the gorge and my bridge. Then, we went looking for this waterfall, which we found... but it was a bit uneventful so we kept going. I had seen a tori gate along the way on another drive and thought we'd pop in and see the shrine. Where there is a gate, there will always be a shrine.

A ten minute stop turned into a two hour breathtaking adventure. We found two temples that I'm sure no tourist has even heard of and climbed up the hilly graveyard behind them to catch amazing glimpses of Mt. Fuji and the sakura. We found little hidden shrines with brass gongs and golden treasuries and a temple that while usually was closed was preparing for an event so they invited us in. I tried to pray, I really did, but when the whole room before you is painted in intricate golden designs it's hard to keep your mind on inner peace. "I can't take my eyes off that heron candle stand," I whispered to Rhi. "I haven't gotten any further than the incense pot," she replied, which sat right in front of us with two dragons around it. It was all truly amazing, I can't believe they welcomed us so easily. They were so kind. Eventually we decided we couldn't kneel any longer so we left after making a donation and thanked them greatly. Afterwards, we came across a young mother and her young son and baby, the little boy tried so hard to talk to us he was totally cute!, and she invited us into her private stroll garden with a beautiful red shrine and sakura tree. People are so generous it makes me want to cry.

Next, we returned to Otsuki in hopes of climbing our first Japanese mountain. Iwadono san! it was hard work considering it was over 20 degrees and hot. (In April I know it's really weird) And I was totally out of shap but we made it first to the castle site and then with Rhi's encouragement I made it to the top which was worth it because there were spectacular views and we were up there for the evening song that played from the town below. it was one of those perfect moments in the warm spring breeze with raining petals and an accomplishment!

We figured we hadn't done enough so next up was a couple hours of karaoke with us and the boys. Lots of fun!!! Rhi and I enjoyed a `Don`t Stop Believing` duet! Then we headed home and Rhi slept over and the next day we finally had a chance to sleep in.

Then we had an invite to a Japanese shop for dinner by the shop keeper. The served us this amazing miso soup with thick dumplings and tons of local vegetables! There was also this weird fish stuff but I ate it... And then this little green rice pastry with red bean paste that was very sweet but so filling! We decided to climb up to the Iwadono castle site again just to work it off.

We ended the weekend with a local festival at the Saruhashi bridge. There was so much food and I feel like I ate almost everything! Chicken, chocolate pancakes, some little cake things, candy apples, a meet pita yummy thing and even some octopus! A lot of our students were there and came over to greet us and show us off it was so nice to be loved! And as is Japanese tradition at festivals, (at least for the little kids) I caught some gold fish! Our Japanese friends laughed when they say and kept asking me if I thought the were delicious... No! I mockingly gasped, they are my friends!

Finally, after a weekend where nothing else could be packed into, it was time for Rhi to catch the train and go home... oh well we have more adventures planned next week!

Sakura and Updates

So in case I haven't been clear, Japan is famous for it's Spring sakura! Japanese cherry blossoms! They are revered as beautiful yet fragile and have always been considered a sign of hope. Hence the blooming of the sakura following the events after 3/11 have been a good thing for the country. The flowers are taken very seriously and I almost can't go anywhere without passing one Japanese person saying: "Ah, kirei sakura desu ne," which mean aren't the cherry blossoms pretty, "hai, totemo kirei, tokoro wa subarashi desu," I'll reply which means: yes, very pretty, this place is wonderful. Then they smile at me with this knowing look. It really is a magical time of year. It breaks my heart that they only last a couple of weeks and then they fall like pink snow in the breeze. I spent a very lovely recess with my younger grades running around under the trees catching the petals as they rained down. And then when I was playing baseball later with some boys, two girls came up to me, "Sarah sensei, dozo!" please take this, and the handed me the most perfect little pink flower. I could have cried it was so beautiful, I thanked them and ran into the teacher's lounge to press it in my agenda! The sakura have magical powers to stop anyone in their tracks to admire them.

So as you can see, I'm having the most wonderful time! I could not have asked to live in a more beautiful town! In the shot of Otsuki, it isn't visible because the sun is behind it, but that's where Mt. Fuji is and it can be seen on a clear day. It's only a half an hour away and every time I see it, it takes my breath away like it can't be real.

In addition to the landscape being beautiful, my schools are wonderful and my students are adorable and we get on so great! I love playing games with them and some of them speak English really well! Also, I get to eat lunch with them and during lunch we exchange languages so I'm learning Japanese from them. Almost every recess and lunch they invite out to play with them which is so fun and they don't even care that I don't speak Japanese. My only challenge is the teacher's who speak very little English but between us we communicate just enough in Japenglish that we get the job done and they are all very nice and try really hard to communicate with me! I love going to work!

I've also met quite a few friends! One to note, is a girl from Whales named Rhiannon, who lives in a couple towns over. We met during training in Osaka and get together on weekends to explore! Across the street from my house is a really cool man who runs a kindergarten named Tommy-san (at least that's what he wants us to call him) He's amazing! He's been all over the world and speak really good English and has invited me and the two other teachers living here to a concert event next weekend. And tomorrow, a really nice lady name Ako-san, she runs a shop by Saruhashi bridge, has invited us to a festival and to have a traditional lunch with her! I'm so fortunate.

Take care my friends! All my luv! Ja mata ne!

The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom

I've just returned from a sunset walk to the gorge to where I ate my dinner and watched the cheery blossoms while celebrating my first full day of school. Everyday I wonder why I'm so lucky to live in such an amazing place. And now I'm eating a ice cream sundae and because it's all in Japanese I don't even know how many calories I'm consuming! In the meantime enjoy my pictures of the sunset and a hawk and the first of the cherry blossoms.

But I'll back up a little bit. When I met with the principal and vice-principal and head english teacher on Tuesday it was a disaster. They were talking only to my translator and almost totally ignored me and were horribly surprised to discover I only poke very little Japanese. They then asked if I had ever taught before... again no. The whole room went silent and you could just tell they didn't want me there one bit. The atmosphere was so harsh I wanted to cry. And then they asked, 'well how do you expect to communicate with the teachers?' I didn't have an answer beyond, 'I'll do my best.' But...

When I went today, they were happy to see me (even though we did struggle with the language barrier) and I had most of the day to do lesson planning and walk about the school. They didn't give me much instruction so at recess I went out to meet the students and they were so excited to see me! They all ran up and started speaking whatever english they knew and before I knew it a group of girls had me playing tag with them! Then at lunch a group of boys got to me first and we played soccer! It was so much fun and I think I made a really good impression on both the students and the teachers because they all came up to ask about me playing with them later. Also, in Japan the schools don't have janitors, so the students are expected to clean the school, so at cleaning time I got included and me and a small group of children swept and mopped one of the halls. It was so cool to be a part of it. The Japanese teachers think it's crazy that the Canadians don't clean their own schools lol. It was a really great start to the year!

Then I got home and took my dinner to the gorge and watched the sunset. This place is amazing. I feel like I'm living a dream. At my school yesterday, I can see Mt. Fuji from my desk! I'm loving it here!

Oh and here are some random pics from my day to day life: A purifying dragon at a little shrine in the woods, the pothole cover of Otsuki (Saruhashi and Mt. Fuji) and berry scented toilet paper!

Settling in

My first impression of Otsuki was that is was beautiful my first impression of my house was that of dismay. It was so shabby and depressing looking on the outside and inside it was cold and dark and the kitchen was terribly ugly. And the bathroom... the same tap at the sink was the tap for my bath and it had no shower curtain or anything. But! With a bit of love and opening the shutters it was a whole new room and I think it will do great for the year!


So there you have it! A little piece of my home for you. I had a beautiful walk this morning and it was really warm out although it's still quite cold at night. The cherry blossom should be blooming in about a week which will be gorgeous. Also, I can't see it from where I live but if I got into central Otsuki I can see Mt. Fuji! It's such a beautiful area and I'm looking forward to swimming in the river in summer. I'm off now to meet the first school I'll be teaching at. Wish me luck!