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!