email

Hello and good day to everyone! The day started off rainy and then turned to sleet and now to snow. And to think I thought the relentless winter was over! Cherry blossoms are blooming in Tokyo and 80% of the snow had melted when I returned from my spring break but now it feels like the spring of the last couple of weeks was just a dream. I’m going skiing tomorrow too, which will further prolong the onset of spring in my mind. Spring is definitely in the air at school though. The students graduated March 3rd. It was a very touching ceremony although I didn’t understand most of it, I felt the emotion in the students. I went into their classroom to say goodbye to a few of them after the ceremony. They had written on their chalkboard in paper flowers “go away”. I thought it was really funny because they obviously didn’t understand the English connotations of “go away”. I wrote in many of their yearbooks and they all said “wakaranai” ( I don’t understand). I hope they will someday. I am sad to see the 3rd year students go because they were my favorite and smallest classes (around 20 students per class compared to the 40 some students in other classes). Very few of these students will go on to college. Maybe 50% will go to trade school. I’m also very sad because every spring there is a changeover of teachers and administrators. They go by the lottery system and the prefectural government randomly decides who will go and who will stay. The teachers who must leave are given just under 2 weeks and are told they have to change to said school in said location. Usually they also have to move from their apartment. This is done ostensibly to prevent corruption in the school system that could occur if one person remains in the same location for too long. I think it is both good and bad. It sucks because the teachers don’t get much say in the matter. I think they can put in a request if they want to leave, but sometimes it is not granted. It also sucks because some teachers are very well established and do well at their current school. However it is good because it gives the teachers a chance to work at a variety of schools that they might not otherwise get to experience. In Japan they group schools by high academic, low academic, technical, agricultural, and industrial. So if you are at a low academic school for your entire teaching career you are bound to become a little jaded. I went to both going away parties for the teachers and administrators who were leaving. I’m very sad because my 2 closest Japanese friends at both schools are leaving. Also, the cute science teacher is leaving :(. One friend who is leaving is my supervisor and my lifeline. We have built up a very strong relationship over these past 8 months and it is hard for me to see her go. But its good because she is going to a high academic all girls school and I think it will be really good for her. Also, both Kyoto sensei (vice principals) are moving and changing jobs. This is also sad because I really like both Kyoto sensei. One of them will be promoted to Kocho sensei (principal) which means I won’t see him as much since he won’t be working in the staff room. The Kyoto sensei is the supervisor in the staff room who okays everything and with whom I clean the staff room after school everyday. The Kyoto sensei at my technical school keeps everything playful and fun. You can always count on him to slurp down a huge bowl of ramen with the other teachers at lunch. Unwittingly I got myself into the dangerous realm of sake wars at the going away party. I would pour Kyoto sensei some sake (because that’s what you are supposed to do at these parties) and immediately I would have to drink the next cup he presented to me. But he kept wanting more so I kept having to refill and the cycle continued. My Japanese magically got better.

Onto spring break and the penis festival. I wrote a little about this in my blog already and posted some pictures. I will also post this email in my blog. At the penis festival there were drunk men, free sake, and wooden penises abound. Nuf said. The farm was fun and I think I might find another one to work at during golden week but I hope I get to speak more Japanese for the next one. I learned a lot at the farm but want to learn more.
pics that are sometimes and randomly updated: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwickizer/

penises, farms, sakuras

What a week! Haru yasumi is over and I am sad. Its cold back home! The shink back to Nagai was ridiculously packed. Even the aisles of the unreserved cars were filled. Anyways, vacation. Its difficult to retell everything that happened because there was so much.
I'll start with the penis festival. There was a 2 meter, 620 pound phallus and a group of men paraded it through the town to the shrine with the waiting female counterpart, i.e. vagina. The festival was orginally celebrated to herald new growth and fertility. Regeneration, new growth, substenence for survival, all encompassed in penis and vagina. The paradigm of reproduction.
I will put some pics up of the festival. When I arrived in town, it was very early because I had taken the night bus to Nagoya. It was almost like a ghost town, but by 1pm, the town was full of gaijin and Japanese people waiting to catch a glimpse of the phallus, chow down on choco penis banana, penis sautee, yakisoba, penis pops, and food on a stick. When the crowds were starting to grow, a man wanted me to pose with him in a picture with the penis and all of these huge nikon lenses and expensive looking cameras popped out of nowhere. I have no idea why, but he wanted me to put his yellow cloak over my large pack too. I had to stand there for almost 5 mintues while numerous pictures were taken. Other Japanese people who were waiting to have there photo taken with the phallus were visibily annoyed. I still don't know why there were so many pictures of me with this man and the penis.
Nagano ken rocks! Other stuff happened like a party at Logan's with a very interesting keg. It was good to see where Logan lived. He has some nice inaka life going on there.
Then it was on to the farm in Yamanashi ken. I thought I would be staying with the Farmer's mother who only spoke Japanese. But apparantely there had been problems with that in the past so all current Woofers stay at his house. So, it ended up just being me and the farmer hangning out one on one all day for 4 days straight. I was dissapointed because he spoke mostly in English and I didn't get to practice nearly as much Japanese as I would have liked. Also it was a bit strange hanging with this old dude who kept calling me cute because of my blonde hair. All in all, it was good though, planted some grapes, learned a few things, went to a winery, strawberry farm, etc. He also had a really cute hyper black retreiver. Not golden, black. So I got to walk/run the dog every morning.
The night hike for wednesday night was canceled because of rain. I was really dissapointed. Then the alternate hike for thursday fell through too because of weather. Bummer again. But I met a random Yamanashi JET and we went to a nice Italian place, then to Tokyo.
Later, in Tokyo, I met up with Erin and Gengo. Went to the museums, Ueno, tokyo tower, harajuku, etc. The usual Tokyo fanfair. This is ending now because I'm going to bed.

graduation, etc

Recently I started remembering why I decided to stay in Japan for another year. I want to watch the seasons change again. Its beautiful watching spring come. Some days winter seems to resurface with a vengeance. But then the melt of spring quickly overtakes. Clare, Joey D and I went to Zao on Saturday, most likely the last ski of the season. The end of my first year is quickly approaching.

So graduation was the other day…It was weird to be on the other side of graduation, watching all the students graduate instead of being the one graduating. Some of the girls cried and I felt for them. And afterwards some students came up to me and actually told me “Rebecca, Thank you” It was very touching. Then, I went into one of their classrooms to find they had written “Thanks” and “Go away” in paper flowers on one of their chalkboards. It was hilarious. Shows how much English I have taught them over the past 6 months. Then I got to sign all the yearbooks and make the peace sign repeatedly for numerous pictures. I will really miss the san nen sei, they were my favorite students. Today, the new students are in for testing which means the teachers are really busy but of course…not me!! I got rid of 3 years worth of Bang the Drum ALT publications, old contracting procedures, and tons of other paperwork that my predecessor never bothered to clean out. Yay cleanliness!!! Lets see…what else has happened lately? I woke up at 6 to go see the swans and sunrise with Kyoko Koyama. It was beautiful. We fed them, watched them squawk and pur, I saw a fox. It was a good morning. Ill put some pictures below….maybe.

ooki iee

So my desk neighbor just told me to go to Kanazawa but told me "take care not to abduct" "north korea very close". hes so funny. Earlier we were on Google Earth and he spent almost 15 mins trying to find Randy's house in California. Then I found my houe in Maryland, and he announced it to the staff room and about 7 teachers plus kyoto sensei came over to see my house. Everyone commented on how big it was. Talk of my large house continued throughout the day. I stupidly found the house I grew up in in California...which appeared to be even bigger. My house was compared to the size of Yamagata university in Yonezawa. Definately an overstatement. I kept saying, average, normal. But they all continued to laugh at the absurdity of America's super-sizedness. Oh well. At least they like to talk to me at this school. Days at this school are much better than Arato. Although I don:t get to interact as much with the students here aside from the occasional cooking class and sometimes staying after for softball. The teachers here at Nagai are much more friendly and kyoto sensei rocks. Last weekend my friend from Tokyo came to visit and we went skiing at Zao. We also had a very busy day on sunday. I want to go skiing this weekend but my ankle is still hurting from the Sapporo trip and its probably not a good idea. Work has been aweful lately. No classes leaves me feeling depressed and down. And when I do get i front of the class and try to act out a dialogue, the students sometimes dont react. I shouldnt be complaining though. Free time is great. Free time when you are chained to a desk is overrated. Sometimes I just wish my desk would absorb me. JET knows right when to get you for recontracting. Right before the depression of winter and no classes sets in. Its also depressing because it seems like many friends are having visitors from family, friends, boyfriends, exboyfriends. And I dont think my family can come. But anyways I think spring is coming...Im hoping to get to travel and see a little more of Japan. ok, back to the good old nihongo.

omigaye

oh yea, and somehow my secret Hokkaido trip got out and the teachers found out about it. I had asked my JTE not to tell anyone but I think he did. Then on tues, all the teachers asked me how Hokkaido was and I felt like a complete ass becuase I hadn't brought back any Omiyage (sovouneirs).
Later on tuesday some other teachers asked me to help them bake some cakes and I really enjoyed staying after to help them do that. It gives me a chance to practice Japanese. Yay, ikebana class tonigh to look forward too!

homesick in napjan

the seasoned ALTs are right....February and March are the worst times to be an ALT. No classes, cold outside, not much to do about it. They know right when to get your for recontracting before you change your mind. Recently I have been really tempted to change my mind. Although I have friends here, its not like being home with old friends. I feel sad. Not having any classes contributes to this sadness and makes the days much longer. Its killing me just having to sit here at my desk...at least I can search on the internet for exciting things to do. I think I'm going to go to a fertility festival on March 15th near Nagoya then go work on an organic farm for a few days. Unfortunately we get so little vacation that thats all I can afford to take off. I don't get it. Graduation is March 3rd...a sunday. So I have to come to school for that and then on top of that, I have to take 2 hours of my vacation to go to a graduation party in the middle of the workday on a monday because all of the other teachers are doing it. Not only do I have to take vacation time, but I also have to pay 5000 yen (50 dollars) to go to the party. I don't get it! The other teachers seem to think my Japanese has gotten better, but thats only because my vocabulary has increased....I still have trouble making good sentences. But its good to know that some studying is paying off. There is a big snowstorm outside right now. Craziness. This weekend I will go skiing at Zao for the first time. I am excited. Gengo from Tokyo will come up to visit and I will go with 2 other teachers from school. Yay! Hokkaido was brilliant. Went skiing at Niseko mountain. Wish I could have skiied more though. The snow and ice sculputures for the snow festival were amazing. I don't have them on my computer yet, but will get them up soon. Sapporo brewery was also a highlight of the trip. I want to go back to Hokkaido in the summer for some hiking. its a nice place and beautiful.

kyoto sensei

so, I haven:t written much on this blog, but for a quick update--kyoto sensei at Nagai kongyo is awesome. I love him. And the teachers here are really great too. thats not to say they aren:t great at my other school, but its just 2 completely different atmospheres. Anyways, I had asked a while ago about going skiing with the students. The answer was a tentative, indirect no. Fueled by by the thought that I would have no classes at this school for the next month, which meant endless hours of desk sitting, I asked again today. Kyoto sensei asked me about my other school (Arato koko) and what their opinion on the matter was. I told them what the other kyoto sensei (Kenshyu) said. My JTE and the cool kyoto sensei responded with a lot of grumbling and Japanese that I didn:t understand. I asked what it meant...and my JTE said "ehh, uhh...goddam Kenshyu". hahaha, it was hilarious. I couldn:t manage to hold back all of my laughter. My JTE is so cute. Anyways, the ski answer was better this time. I still couldn:t go with the students because it meant the school would be liable for me, but kyoto sensei would ask the "young teachers" to take nenkyu (vacation days) to take me skiing during the week. I feel really bad about this because I don:t want the other teachers to have to take nenkyu on my account. But thats kind of how it works here. The Japanese teachers take nenkyu instead of sick days and their vacations are really short. I've decided not to tell them about next weekend's trip to the Hokkaido snow festival because I feel like every weekend I go somewhere and do things and they are probably tired of hearing about it. Today at lunch a teacher was asking me where I had not been in Japan. I don:t know how I would feel if someone came in doing a similar job as me with the same pay but with loads less work...not to mention less hours. This job sometimes feels like a joke because my JTE does all the difficult work. And thats why Im staying a second year.