New School Year!
April 15th.
Something new! I’ve been really busy at work lately. It ’s a new school year and I teach the exact same classes, but the students have changed (as well as my teaching style). Since the year began I have taught half the classes without a JTE (Japanese teacher) since they’ve had various meetings and pseudo-meetings. But that’s okay because I teach my students like they’re dogs now. I’m just barely kidding. The best part is that they seem to like it. Commands are given. Orders are followed. Treats are dispensed for a job well done. It’s a slap on the nose if they make a mess in the classroom (joking! They came to me already house trained). One of them actually started shaking her entire desk in anticipation for the possible candy for winning the little English game I invented (she won the 4th round of it later). Her English isn’t the best I’ve seen out of any of my students… but she is the most eager I’ve ever seen. You’re not suppose to have favorite students but… sometimes a few students just make themselves much more likable than the others.
My Japanese is definitely better than last year (although still pretty awful) and now I no longer need to use it in the classroom. In fact I refuse to. Japanese questions are answered with English and gestures. For some reason I lacked the confidence to do that with less Japanese ability… or maybe because it was my first year as an ALT. Either way, the results are good. No longer does everything just get explained in English and then Japanese. Although I worry that we will start do that again when the assignments get more difficult at the end of the year.
Today while I was walking down the hallway a student shouted out at me (in Japanese) “Will! Will! … Will’s friend!!” I’m not sure why this was so shocking for me. The only ALT I’ve ever heard my students mention before was Thomas (my predecessor), and that was usually when they forgot my name. But I now have a whole new label from students who came from Kamioka’s JR high. I’ll take it as an improvement over being called by my predecessor’s name.
One more thing. A bunch of new teachers got transferred in and a few transferred out. All in all, my school seems to have somehow traded up. I lost an awesome English teacher and Kyoto-sensei (as well as some others)… but gained two new English teachers who are teaching for their first time ever (age’s 28 and 30, I believe). One spent a year in Canada and the other lived in England for a year. Both want to go back. Most importantly though, the 28 year old (previously in England) fella is named Ito-sensei and seems like an awesome guy. The only problem is that the school baseball team is devouring all the poor guy’s time. I don’t even know if he likes baseball… Whatever the case may be, we’re hitting up the local bar together on Friday.
Thing I miss most about Canada today: Being able to talk to students about more than just superficial things. (And watching hockey games live!! Go Canadiens, Flames, Wild, Rangers, and Sens (if you’re capable)!)
Thing I miss most about Australia today: Traveling around and living out of one backpack!
Thing I love most about Japan today: My new energetic students! It’s like someone supercharged them!
Australia!
I have returned from Australia! Here’s what happened:
March 28th
Woke up late, so I rushed out of the house (having luckily packed my bag the day before). While speeding down the highway I realized that, in fact I wasn’t late at all… and slowed myself down to a regular pace. I even stopped by a store to pick up my new “beginner’s marks” for my car (by the way, Aiko claims these are actually a blessing because it means people will always give me the right of way!). I parked my car at George apartment (thanks again!) and took a bus from Takayama to Nagoya train station. Once there I questioned my way to the proper train line to the airport and jumped on board.
Nagoya airport is brilliant. It’s new, and amazing. I came really early because I always give myself “screw up time” for when I do new things in this country. So, I had lots of time to relax around the airport, which featured some really good restaurants and a great deck where you can watch the planes depart and arrive from. I also exchanged some money and bought travel insurance. I only had to use a little Japanese because airports are magical places where everyone speaks some pretty good English. I waited to have supper until after I was past security (because I remembered there being lots of restaurants near the gates back in Vancouver). This was, unfortunately, a mistake. There was only one restaurant and it was the single most mediocre meal I’ve ever had in Japan. Oh well. Got on the plane and headed for Australia.
March 29th.
Didn’t manage to sleep at all during the flight, but I brought an audio book to listen to so I could close my eyes and at least rest them. I mention this because it was absolutely brilliant and I recommend it to everyone else who is going to take a long flight.
I arrived at the airport and immediately missed Japan, feeling almost sick because I was away from it. I couldn’t possibly tell you why, but that’s the feeling that I felt. It soon passed, but the memory of that strange feeling stayed. At the airport I picked up the necessities that I couldn’t bring on the plane with me (toothpaste, deodorant, razor, shaving cream). I then took a train to Sydney’s town hall and met up with Aiko. We spent most of that day at the Australian zoo, where I could get my fill of strange Australian animals. It was shockingly interactive as they actually let you walk around with some of the animals like the kangaroos. Lunch was Chinese and supper was African. Both were delicious. We also went to a lively bar where I got to have pizza (hooray)!
March 30th
We checked out “The Rocks”, which is like “The Forks” in Winnipeg. Lively and touristy. My favorite item that they had for sale was Kangaroo’s testicles bottle opener. I would have bought one if I thought I could bring it back on the plane with me. We also saw the Sydney opera house and took a ferry to the edge of Sydney to see the cliffs along the ocean. In the evening we went to Aiko’s friends’ place for home-made Italian-Greek style pizza. The friends were a couple, the girl being Canadian-Greek-Australian… having received her citizenship in those countries in that order. The guy was just Greek-Australian, but he cooked up some mean pizzas.
March 31st
Took a plane to Ayer’s Rock (Uluru). We stayed in a dorm room with another couple (they were from around Montreal) and I began to become aware of the fact that the people around me were mostly Australian and Canadian, with only one American exception. I didn’t realize what a popular vacation spot Australia is for Canadians! We hung around the resort for the remainder of the day, enjoying the pool and cooking our own store-bought hamburgers so that we could save a few dollars. (Speaking of Australian money, the 50 cent pieces are ridiculously huge. And the one dollar coins have a kangaroo on them… making me want to call them “roonies” for the entire time I was there (I restrained myself))
April 1st
We woke up at 4:30 to catch the 5:00 bus to King’s Canyon. On the way there we stopped at a fantastic little breakfast place that served mostly locals and had a real Australian outback breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast… and I got to try Vegemite (tastes like salty beer)!) After that we drove a little further out (almost killing several red kangaroos that tried to jump in front of the car!) and arrived at King’s Canyon. We walked up to the top of it, then halfway around the rim, finally dipping into the oasis before climbing back up and finishing the walk around the rim. It was hot, dry and beautiful. Pictures will be up on facebook to prove it. After the walk we had lunch at a restaurant, where a wild dingo walked around like it owned the place. We then took the bus to nearby Mt. Connor and saw a salt lake before going back to the resort.
April 2nd
Woke up at 5 to catch the 5:30 bus to Ayer’s Rock (Uluru) itself. We sat in front of the rock waiting for the sunrise so we could see it when it turns it’s famous bright orange color. It was a little cloudy that morning and we almost missed the sight of it because of the clouds. Then, the bus drove around the rock, showing us it from all the different sides. At a few points the guide got out and showed us some of the finer and more interesting points. This was all concluded with a visit to the cultural center, which showcased aboriginal culture in the area. Finally we took a plane back to Sydney and stayed at the youth hostel there for the night.
April 3rd
Jumped onto the 8 o’clock bus to Port Stephens. There we had splurged on getting a real hotel room at a really nice hotel because things were actually reasonably priced for once. That day we went to the beach for the afternoon. At the beach I tried to swim out to where the dolphins were jumping, but was unable to get there fast enough. For supper we had Malaysian food… and I now want to go to Malaysia. The food was absolutely brilliant. I think Malaysia is a cheap trip, so, we’ll see if I can find the time and funds for it.
April 4th.
Fishing day. Took a taxi to the public wharf so that we could begin fishing at 6 am. I saw my 3rd sunrise in 4 days, this one on the ocean. Dolphins continually jumped around our boat as we drove around looking for the fishing spot. Unfortunately, the ocean was rough that morning and everyone started to feel a little sea sick. On board the boat with us were 3 other couples and one guy, along with the captain and his deckhand. All the girls got sick except for a 40 year old woman and spent most of the morning either staring intently downward at the ocean (and the remainders of breakfast) or lying down with their heads covered in misery. One of the guys occasionally joined their number as well. I’m proud to say that Aiko, trooper that she is, never lost her breakfast and even ate lunch on the ship. The deckhand was hilarious. The captain couldn’t make one sentence without the deckhand giving his two bits immediately afterwards. It was precisely what every movie and book had promised me the deckhand would be like on a ship like this. The fishing itself was fun, but I caught mostly pike (which are junk fish apparently) as well as some others who’s names I forget. After lunch Aiko felt better and we worked as a team on one rod with her reeling the fish in. We caught a really nice red snapper (?) this way, but that was about it as the afternoon was less productive than the morning.
The fishing trip ended in the early afternoon and we spent the rest of the day looking around Port Stephens and in the hotel’s pool and hot tub.
April 5th
Caught the 9 O’clock bus back to Sydney. Spent the afternoon around the beach and wandering around the city. In the evening I met Aiko’s whole host family. Four children, age 1, 3, 6 and 7… if I remember right. Paul (the host father) BBQed up some food for us and I spent most of the evening in an outrageously long game of hide and go seek. When the children had gone to bed, Paul explained the differences between the two rugby leagues and Australian football to me. All 3 are absolutely brilliant and several times more interesting to watch than American or Canadian football since the game keeps moving. National Rugby League (NRL) games were on constantly at places we went to and on our own TV at the hotels went to, so I got to watch a good bit of it over the course of my week in Australia.
April 6th.
4:30 wake up call, again. Aiko joined me in a taxi to the international airport. Once there, we realized that since I had to switch planes in Cairns I needed to be at the domestic airport. So, another taxi ride found us at the right airport. We still managed to get to the airport early and after I checked in we parted ways. Once on the plane I got to wait for an hour because of mechanical troubles… with me sweating the entire time over whether I would catch my next flight or not. But it wasn’t a problem and I easily had enough time in Cairns because my flight there turned out to be delayed too. Actually, in the whole course of things… I’m not sure even one of my planes boarded or departed on time. On my way through Australian customs the man cleverly called Winnipeg “Winter-peg”, having spent some time there in the past. He then laughed it off and said that the only other country he’d want to live in would be Canada. He wished me a safe trip back to it… ignoring the fact that on my form I’d written that I was going to Japan. I always wondered how carefully airport people looked at the forms they make me fill out. Now I know.
Eventually the plane left, I was surprised to find myself among about only 10 other foreigners on the flight. During the flight I watched Golden Compass (awful), Juno (good), and about 2/3rds of Sweeny Tod (so-so). I also spoke intermittently with the Japanese old man next to me. The conversations always went like this. First he’d say something using really easy Japanese. I would easily answer. Then, thinking my Japanese was perfect, he would say something long, fast and difficult. I would apologize and tell him I didn’t understand. Then he would say something easy again. I would respond again. Then he’d go back to complicated. Repeat and repeat again. He went back and forth from being convinced my Japanese was horrible to thinking it was awesome. It is, of course, somewhere in between… but probably closer to horrible.
Arrived in Nagoya… and waited for just over an hour in immigration. Fantastic. This caused me to miss my last bus back to Takayama (by only 20 minutes!), but I had asked for the next day off because I had expected this to happen. So, I took a walk around Nagoya station…. and it felt brilliant. I don’t why, but Nagoya always makes me feel good. Like I’m more alive and energized. It was late, so I picked up a hamburger from McDonald’s and went to my hotel room. The hotel clerk greeted me like I had arrived home. Big friendly Japanese smiles from everyone I met… it felt good to be back.
Thing I miss most about Canada today: Clever phrases like “Winter”peg. hahaha.
Thing I love most about Japan today: Friendly hotel clerks!
