About
I am a 23 year old Manitoban (that’s a part of Canada) working as an ALT (Assitant Language Teacher) in Hida Kamioka High school, in Gifu prefecture, Japan. I’ve been living in Kamioka-cho (part of Hida city) since August 2007, and have agreed to a contract to stay until at least August 2009.
Kevin Morrison said,
January 2, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Really enjoyed reading your comments.
I worked at Furukawa Chugako about 14 years ago and can relate to much of what you’re going through. I was what they used to call an AET and had many friends that were JET program participants in many of the towns you speak of, including Kamioka.
I have been a teacher in Burnaby B.C. since returning from Japan and presently teach grade 6/7. I lived in the area called Sugisaki in Furukawa and when I was there I was the only “gaijin” employed in the schools….surprised to learn there are now 4! Things have certainly changed.
It would be interesting to know if any of the teachers I used to teach with are still around. If you get a chance say Kevin Morrison says hi. Perhaps some will remember me.
I also wrote a “How to live in Furukawa” “book” that was supposed to be handed down to( and added to) each succeding AET who took over from the one leaving.
Wonder if it still exists?
Anyway, good luck to you and it would be nice to hear about more of your exploits on your Blog. By the way , are there still bars called Oscot, Anon or Blanko in Furukawa?
How about a restaurant called Kiraku?…in front of the train station…great tofu steaks, fried shrimp and Hida-beef…I had a great two years there.
Cheers,
Kevin Morrison
fulmen said,
January 3, 2008 at 6:08 am
Hey Kevin, I’ll ask around for you but I think all the teachers I know are high school only, so I doubt they worked back at your school.
However, my friend (Greg) works at Furukawa chugako and he might be able to find some old colleagues of yours. I tried calling him to ask if he knew anything about you or your book, but he didn’t answer… he’s often hard to get ahold of my phone.
I’m sorry to say that I haven’t heard of any of those bars or that restaurant, but I usually don’t know the names of the restaurants I go to unless they’re in Kamioka. I usually go to a bar named shinanoya when I drink in Furukawa… it’s really popular now with a lot of the locals.
If you’re on facebook you can add me as a friend (the only “Warren Klassen” in Japan, I believe) and then you’ll be able to see a lot of the pictures I’ve taken while in Japan. Some of them may remind of your home here in Hida!