Last last week Thursday, I taught with Chikako, an English teacher who floats around the various Elementary schools. She invited me to join a yoga class with her. Since the class was only 100yen and I was free, I said okay.
While I don't regret saying yes, I will tell you firstly, that it was the weirdest class/workshop thing I've ever been to. We pulled out yoga mats, and individually stretched while the instructor told us to think about our five senses and about how we should experience all five senses in the class. She then asked us to go around the gym, open a window, and feel the senses. By the way, this is all in Japanese. Usually I can understand meaning and about 50% of the vocab, but she was using technical language so I only got about 25%. Luckily, there was a second grader who came with her mom, and the instructor would give out dumbed down instructions for her (and probably me). After "experiencing" the gym, we walked around in a square. It reminded me of that activity we did in Chemistry as a high schooler when everyone walked around the classroom slowly, then faster to represent the temperature rising. Next, we walked around the gym, and randomly lay down on the floor. Then stood up, and randomly lay down again in a different place.
We did two poses for a total of maybe 3 minutes.
Then came contact improvisation. The instructor explained to us that the goal of our next activity was to be in our partner's "inai" space. "Iru" is "to exist," "inai" is "to not exist." Basically, she said that we should be where our partner is not. Ultimately, we ended up doing an odd improvised dance type thing in a group of 5 people, one middle-aged house wife, the instructor's assistant, two (over 50) Japanese men who joked that they had no "inai" space, and the 22-year old who had no idea what was going on (me). Like I said, it was interesting (and no, we didn't taste anything).
I then met up with Dan for lunch where we discussed the common misconception that when two people of opposite genders hang out (especially without other people), they are dating. (In case you are curious, I'm not dating anyone.)
That night, Dan, Kaz, Zac, and I went out to Kawagoe where we met up with Pepe and Sabrina. Pepe is a guy we met last week Saturday night (see previous entry for details). He designs and makes leather accessories such as bracelets, wallets, etc. He's also a model/actor. Sabrina is a fellow JET participant in Saitama that is friends with Dan's friend from college (I'll talk more about Sabrina later).
It was a really fun night! We went to a yakiniku place for dinner, then followed it up by a visit to "Beer Saurus." We stumbled into this place, and were immediately attracted by the blue lights, large windows, and Tyrannasaurus(sp?) head. The guys at the table next to us made comments about the "gaijin" (foreigners), so Kaz went over to them and whispered to them that he understood Japanese and he would appreciate it if they stopped talking about us. They got super embarrassed and left soon thereafter. However, they came back about 10 minutes later and apologized profusely in Japanese. The guy who made the comments was extremely drunk, since he's getting married soon. A few minutes after they left the second time, we were informed by the server that they had bought us a round of Zimas as an apology. Around this time, Sabrina realized she had to leave to catch her train. I walked her to the station (since she had never been to Kawagoe before), and left when she went through the ticket gate. Unfortunately, she took the wrong train, and thus ended up spending the night in my apartment. If you've seen the photos of my place, you know its large enough where two people could each have their own room. We got along swimmingly, and I thought it was really funny since I literally met her six hours before she stayed overnight. She left early the next morning since she had plans to meet up with her boyfriend in Chiba, but after picking up some groceries, I promptly hopped back into bed and lazed around for the rest of the day.
Around 4:30, I met up with Kinuko, a housewife with two young children who studied English in London for 10 years. Her English skills are great, but she wants someone to speak to (other than her husband) to keep them strong. As a result, we met up through Kaz (she wanted a girl), and we made plans to meet every other week for about an hour and a half while her kids and husband are at golf.
So, that was 2/3rds of my weekend in a nutshell. Today is "taiiku no hi" (sports day), so its a national holiday. I'm thinking of heading into Tokyo for some shopping, but that requires changing out of pajamas.
Showing posts with label Chikako. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chikako. Show all posts
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
The Internets arrived!
I finally have the internet in my apartment, and I am a happy happy panda. I posted an extensively detailed photo album on my facebook page, so if you have access to it, I strongly suggest that you check it out. If you read this and you do not have access to facebook, send me an email, and I'll send you a link.
The past two weeks or so have been fairly busy. Here's a quick recap:
On Saturday, the 22nd, my junior high school had their 体育祭(sports festival). For you Japanese scholars out there, I recently learned that the difference between 体育祭 and 運動会
is that the latter is for elementary school while the former is for everyone older than elementary school. Essentially, the students compete in relays and races by classroom against the other students in their grade. Some schools form teams that combine one class from every grade (my elementary school had three teams, since there are three classes per grade). My fellow 1styear student's teachers decided to participate in the 100m relay and coerced me to join them. After the race (we lost so the students wouldn't feel bad about themselves), my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) came up to me and said, "Wow, I was surprised! You were so fast I couldn't see you!" I responded to this by hitting him with my towel and calling him "baka!" which means idiot. He laughed and walked away, then said the exact samething to another teacher, to which she responded in the exact same way I did.
After the festival (think 7:30-4 of standing outside in the hot sun), we had an "enkai." An enkai is essentially a work party that involves speeches, food, and all you can drink beer. I thought my speech was terrible, but I was assured that I did fine. I stumbled out some phrases about how the sports day was fun and we didn't have it in America, about how much I like Japan, and how my school is the best school in Hidaka (which they loved). Conversation during the night was amusing, as most Japanese people are restricted to talking about places they've been/want to go, food/drink, and the phrase "you have boyfriend?" when they speak in English. As a result, I talked a lot about Hawaii and places in Japan I want to go/have been to, whether I like sushi, wasabi, natto, and umeboshi, and if I had a boyfriend. I was also asked numerous times, "beer OK?" and my opinion of every alcoholic beverage known to Japanese people. Although it may sound contrary to my description of the night, I had a great time.
On Sunday night, we met up with Shane and his significant other for drinks in Kawagoe. We all had a great time (again, photos are on facebook). However, it seemed to be a bittersweet night, as Shane's bf and Kaz's gf (both of whom are awesome people) returned to their respective homes far far away a few days later.
I celebrated my holiday on Monday (Autumnal Equinox Day was on Sunday, so we got a substitute holiday on Monday) by sleeping in. Can't remember what else I did.
Tuesday was my substitute holiday for working on Saturday at sports day, so I decided to wander around Kawagoe. I lost BookOff, so if you're reading this and you remember how to get there, let me know! I bought myself some fabric to decorate my bathroom (which has been described as Martha Stewart-esque and oddly prompted someone to call me "Krystle Stewart"). I also got myself an icepack (which, if you know me, is no surprise).
Wednesday was speech contest day. My students' speeches were good, but not spectacular. Overall I had a good time. It was interesting to meet the Hanno AETs and the students and teachers that my friends worked with.
Wednesday night was drama-filled. I won't go into detail, but I will say that there was a point in which I was scared for the safety of my friend and that I haven't been so thoroughly insulted in a very long time (email me if you want more details).
Also, the internets arrived on Wednesday. Woohoo!
On Thursday, I met up with Chikako, a floating JTE who rotates around the Elementary schools in Hidaka. We taught 1st graders body parts and "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." The kids were super 元気 (genki, meaning lively and excited). It was a great change from the emo-ness of the junior high kids. However, I didn't properly stretch before teaching, and 18 verses of "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" later, I find myself feeling old. Luckily, I have my brand-new icepack. Chikako is super awesome, and she invited me to join a yoga class with her for a few weeks.
Speaking of new Japanese friends, next week Sunday, I'm meeting up with a lady who teaches English to kids. She's looking for native English speakers to practice with so she doesn't lose her skills. I'll keep you posted about how that goes.
Which brings us to today. I believe the plan is shopping in Omiya during the day, and hitting a huge club party tonight. We'll see how it goes.
The past two weeks or so have been fairly busy. Here's a quick recap:
On Saturday, the 22nd, my junior high school had their 体育祭(sports festival). For you Japanese scholars out there, I recently learned that the difference between 体育祭 and 運動会
is that the latter is for elementary school while the former is for everyone older than elementary school. Essentially, the students compete in relays and races by classroom against the other students in their grade. Some schools form teams that combine one class from every grade (my elementary school had three teams, since there are three classes per grade). My fellow 1styear student's teachers decided to participate in the 100m relay and coerced me to join them. After the race (we lost so the students wouldn't feel bad about themselves), my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) came up to me and said, "Wow, I was surprised! You were so fast I couldn't see you!" I responded to this by hitting him with my towel and calling him "baka!" which means idiot. He laughed and walked away, then said the exact samething to another teacher, to which she responded in the exact same way I did.
After the festival (think 7:30-4 of standing outside in the hot sun), we had an "enkai." An enkai is essentially a work party that involves speeches, food, and all you can drink beer. I thought my speech was terrible, but I was assured that I did fine. I stumbled out some phrases about how the sports day was fun and we didn't have it in America, about how much I like Japan, and how my school is the best school in Hidaka (which they loved). Conversation during the night was amusing, as most Japanese people are restricted to talking about places they've been/want to go, food/drink, and the phrase "you have boyfriend?" when they speak in English. As a result, I talked a lot about Hawaii and places in Japan I want to go/have been to, whether I like sushi, wasabi, natto, and umeboshi, and if I had a boyfriend. I was also asked numerous times, "beer OK?" and my opinion of every alcoholic beverage known to Japanese people. Although it may sound contrary to my description of the night, I had a great time.
On Sunday night, we met up with Shane and his significant other for drinks in Kawagoe. We all had a great time (again, photos are on facebook). However, it seemed to be a bittersweet night, as Shane's bf and Kaz's gf (both of whom are awesome people) returned to their respective homes far far away a few days later.
I celebrated my holiday on Monday (Autumnal Equinox Day was on Sunday, so we got a substitute holiday on Monday) by sleeping in. Can't remember what else I did.
Tuesday was my substitute holiday for working on Saturday at sports day, so I decided to wander around Kawagoe. I lost BookOff, so if you're reading this and you remember how to get there, let me know! I bought myself some fabric to decorate my bathroom (which has been described as Martha Stewart-esque and oddly prompted someone to call me "Krystle Stewart"). I also got myself an icepack (which, if you know me, is no surprise).
Wednesday was speech contest day. My students' speeches were good, but not spectacular. Overall I had a good time. It was interesting to meet the Hanno AETs and the students and teachers that my friends worked with.
Wednesday night was drama-filled. I won't go into detail, but I will say that there was a point in which I was scared for the safety of my friend and that I haven't been so thoroughly insulted in a very long time (email me if you want more details).
Also, the internets arrived on Wednesday. Woohoo!
On Thursday, I met up with Chikako, a floating JTE who rotates around the Elementary schools in Hidaka. We taught 1st graders body parts and "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." The kids were super 元気 (genki, meaning lively and excited). It was a great change from the emo-ness of the junior high kids. However, I didn't properly stretch before teaching, and 18 verses of "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" later, I find myself feeling old. Luckily, I have my brand-new icepack. Chikako is super awesome, and she invited me to join a yoga class with her for a few weeks.
Speaking of new Japanese friends, next week Sunday, I'm meeting up with a lady who teaches English to kids. She's looking for native English speakers to practice with so she doesn't lose her skills. I'll keep you posted about how that goes.
Which brings us to today. I believe the plan is shopping in Omiya during the day, and hitting a huge club party tonight. We'll see how it goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)