meeerp

In a comment on the previous post, my friend Ellyn had this to say: "nope."

Thanks for reading, and I anticipate more thoughtful commentary.

Obviously I still have not figured out which way I should tilt the phone to get the photos to transmit correctly.

TONIGHT Sam and I are meeting with our kocho-sensei (principal) for a dinner. Then there's a welcome party at you know where for a late-arriving new JET in the area.

More later.

I have no idea if this photo will be tilted correctly. It shows Ise from a limited express train boumd for Kyoto. There I will meet a friend who studied English at OSU. I will stay at his place in Osaka and return home tomorrow.

Back to School

After more than two years of no formal Japanese language study, I had my first local Nihon-go class this morning at some kind of community center just down the road from our regular bar in central Ise.

Normally the sessions for me will be on Thursday evenings, but since I'm off this week I decided to sample the Tuesday morning session as well. It's not a class in the traditional sense -- as in, it's not one teacher lecturing to a group of students. They break people off into roughly the same skill levels and one teacher handles their tailored lessons.

Myself and Elizabeth, another new local ALT, ended up with the same teacher for our introductory lesson, some of which was review and some of which was new to me. It seems that most of the new area JETs, along with a couple of the folks who have been here for a while, will be taking the Thursday class, which is regularly followed by a stop at Nanaimo for dinner and or drinks.

In addition to the Thursday class, which costs less than $1 per lesson, I'll be taking a free correspondence course offered by one of the governing bodies which administers the JET Program. Material for that course arrives later on this year.

Today was also the first time I attempted some real exercise. Every day include some cycling or walking, but today I actually went for a jog. There is a path along the river that's just few steps from my place -- a river that I didn't know was there for the first week living here or so. As the weather begins to cool a bit in the coming weeks, I hope to get out and exercise with a greater frequency. It's hard enough in the brutal heat to bike to school without dripping sweat.

So day one of our vacation period has gone well so far. Not sure what I will do this evening, but I may shower and check out a cafe that is just around the corner and see if it's the kind of place that doesn't mind me ordering a tea and opening up a book for a while. I'm currently seeking some leisure activities that do not cost as much as going our for a beer. The party season, fueled by leaving JETs' going away parties and new JETs' welcome parties, is winding down, with almost everyone settled in or back in their home countries.

That is all for now.

Various family members have requested more photos showing me and friends and what I have been doing. The problem of course is that I am never in any photos that I take, so I need my friends to send me photos before I can share them on the blog. So stay tuned and hopefully I'll have some photos soon.

Taiko drumming near the grand ise shrine.

EDIT: So the above was done with my cell phone. On the phone, the picture was tilted correctly. Somewhere between the Softbank network and Blogger, it moved 90 degrees. Why?

I am pretty much at a train station right now

Spending the yen

Turns out it was really easy to change the blog publishing thing back into English, but I just found it today. And that meant I could finally change the settings so that the time on each post is Japan time. So from this post on, you will be reading the future. Think about it.

---

As you can see in the previous couple of posts, I set it up so I can update the blog from my cellphone. I can do basic text posts or I can send photos I've taken with the camera on the phone. For some reason it took me several tries to get the photo to turn up right-side up (I left one of the messed up posts below but deleted three others). Anyway, my phone has a pretty decent camera -- and I'm out and about alot -- so the phone=posting will be a good feature.

---

This has been another active/expensive week and weekend. Most of the new Mie JETs were led to Nagoya on Thursday to get our re-entry permit in our passport, allowing us to leave the county and enter again on our 3-year visa. After that I blew a couple hundred dollars on a few things I needed (we just got paid). I bought a nice small bag for my Macbook, some pants, a hat and various other small items. We also went to both Starbucks and Outback Steakhouse, indulging in the benefits of a big city.

On Friday we went to Nabari, about an hour away by express train, for an English seminar for high school students consisting of games, songs, skits and demonstrations by the dozen ALTs and Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) running the show. Friday night, back in Ise, we went out to a going away party for one of the leaving JETs. As is often the case, this was followed by karaoke.

Today was much more laid back. I slept in, watched a movie, and just now I got back from Nanaimo (that bar I wrote about before) where I had nachos and a cafe aulait with a few other area JETs and Mami, our first "close" or "main" Japanese friend, if that makes sense.

Tomorrow I'll probably fork over a little more yen on some new sheets for my futon and a "welcome back" party for yet another area JET. Oh, my. I assume this never-ending party schedule calms down by the fall. If not I'll be forced to moonlight on the weekends.

---

We have a mandatory medical checkup on Monday that probably includes a blood test and who knows what else. I wish I could avoid it ... and I did just have a physical to get IN to the program ... it seems a little unnecessary at the moment but hey, I'm not paying for it. Then Tuesday through Sunday is vacation! Woo! I may stay firmly planted in Ise with the aim of saving money, but I might dart over to Osaka for a couple of days to see a friend or two. That's the story, then. I'm behind on the blog obviously so I'll try to add more "observation" posts so it's not all just a log of what I've been doing. And finally, I cleaned the main room of my apartment today (the main room being the dining room, living room and sleeping area, as I've noted), so soon I'll take some photos of the place and get them posted on here. Good night.

Testing cell phone posting

Busy Week Ahead

We've got a fairly busy week in progress here, despite the fact that the term doesn't start until the beginning of September. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Yamasho is hosting an "open school" for prospective students. Sam and I will each give a five minute presentation four times over the course of the two-day event, talking about our background and our country. I'll use some photos of family and home as well as a couple of cool colorful maps showing the states and the Northwest.

Then on Thursday we have a day off to travel to Nagoya with several other Mie JETs to get re-entry permits stamped onto our passport in case we ever decide to travel abroad while our 3-year visa is valid. After the Nagoya trip we'll head to Nabari where we'll stay until Saturday -- we're helping with an English camp there on Friday but staying overnight because it's a bit out of the way from Ise. At the English camp we'll lead small groups of high school students in games and other activities aimed at English conversation.

Meanwhile, backtracking to Wednesday evening, we have our first official "enkai," or office party. From what I gather, this will include most English teachers and several other teachers from the school. Not sure if the principal or vice principal will be there, as we have a separate dinner meeting set up for them, I think.

So this week is really going to fly by. The following week, except for a couple appointments, is vacation time. I don't plan to go anyway big but I might try to dash off to Nagoya, Osaka or Kyoto (all within reach by a couple of hours on the train).

Then after my summer holiday, our truly busy schedule will begin. I am definitely looking forward to starting up classes. Today we attended a session of a special summer class of the first year (10th grade) international track students. We gave a quick introduction in English and then assisted with a few activities. It was a nice intro to some aspects of "team teaching" and the students were quite good an English and pretty high energy for being in school during what is technically summer break (here, summer school isn't for slackers trying to catch up, but over-achievers trying to jump ahead ... I think ... I may be wrong but that's what I gather.)

Now, we're heading out to meet a Japanese friend we've made, and I'm hoping the outing includes dinner because I had only a tiny sandwich for lunch. Gotta run ... I'm due outside in 120 seconds.

A couple more photos

On the way to work. I wasn't actually lost, just letting the map sink in.

Me at work.

Ya-Ma-Sho!

I had already been chatting with the pair of 50-somethings in the izakaya in Tsu, already enjoying a glass full of the booze they offered. But it wasn't until they heard I worked for Yamasho that they really lit up. One man reached over to shake my hand when he heard this development.

That's because Yamasho had been playing at Koshien, the national high school baseball tournament. After their 15-inning tie no decision opener, which I attended, Yamasho lost, ended their run. Nevertheless, Mie still appears to be proud of their representatives to the Big Show. And why not. Making it that far is certainly an accomplishment.

My trip to Koshien began early Tuesday morning, when I filed on to bus 11 -- one of dozens making the trip -- and headed west for Osaka/Kobe. Six hundred of Yamasho's 800 students, and nearly all of the 60-some teachers were making the trek, along with members of the PTA and family members of the players.

In the cheering section, a brass band, cheerleaders and rank and file students sit quietly while the opposing team is up to bat, unless they want to politely cheer on the pitcher toward the end of an inning. But when Yamasho came up to bat, the entire section stands up and begins a cycle of cheers, each player earning his own theme.

Right in the middle of all of this, I tried to keep up, learning at least the clapping rhythms of the cheers and when to sit and stand. I applied and re-applied sun screen often, hoping to avoid a repeat of the beach party burn.

The whole experience was like a flash of excitement, bookended by marching to or from the bus and driving to or from Ise.

Back at the bar, it turns out the pair of 50-somethings were teammates at the Koshien tourney back in their high school days, also representing Mie.

AND now it's late Saturday afternoon and I'm heading to some kind of festival in a nearby town. Fireworks are involved. More later.

quickly!

It's bed time, but quickly here is a shot taken by Sam the other ALT:


This is our building, which mysteriously holds six dwellings. Not sure if they're all the same size, but Sam's and mine do match. I live toward the left.

I'll post about the baseball trip later. Turns out, it was hot.

Some photos

The beach at Shima. Lots of people were surfing but the waves weren't so big. I got sunburned
(surprise!) but thankfully Japan has the aloe vera.

This is my desk at school in the teacher's room, which is perhaps one of the only places on the whole campus which is air conditioned. This makes up for not having much to do this week at work, because, as I've mentioned 304 thousand times, it's hot and humid here. Really. You would have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. You have a version of hot and humid, but this version is worse (I'm speaking here to my friends and family in Oregon ... surely there are places much hotter out there, such as the inside of a volcano).

I'm not sure what this river-stream-creek is called, but I cross over it every time I head to the post office, the train station or the busier more happening parts of Ise-shi.

I've been bad about taking photos; it's probably because I feel no sense of urgency since I'm not leaving after a couple weeks. I'll get more photos of other things up later. For now, good day. How is America?

Exploring Ise

As my previous post suggests, I drank a bit too much at the Ise JETs welcome party on Friday night. The evening started at an izakaya, a Japanese style pub which serves a variety of snack items and drinks. Rather than ordering a "meal" all at once, you press a button on the table that calls over the staff and tell them what you want. This goes on over and over until it's time to move the party on. On Friday, round two was karaoke. This explains the excess drinking. Or perhaps the excess drinking explains the signing. At any rate, I had too many beers from the conbini (convenience store) downstairs, and I was not feeling so grand in the morning. (In Japan, karaoke is usually among friends in private room rather than the open mic style more common in the U.S.).

Despite a nasty hangover, I woke up Saturday with a couple hours to spare before heading about 90 minutes away to a beach in Shima for the Mie prefectural welcome event for new JETs. I wanted to find a cooler to transport food and drink to the beach, as well as an ATM to replenish my Yen-on-hand supply. I failed on both counts after walking a few laps around my neighborhood. I've since found the postal ATM which works or foreign withdrawals ... it's a quick bike ride away.

And it seems that most everything is a "quick bike ride away" if you allow "quick" to stretch once in a while. In my time off on Sunday, I cycled around the area a bit. My neighborhood is a patchwork of rice fields and two-story structures. To walk or bike to school, most of the trip is through one-lane roads separating homes and rice fields. To get to the post office, the train stations, or several bars and restaurants, you head the other way down a some busier roads.

I've still only seen a small slice of this little town (about 100,000 people live here I'm told). But having been here for only a few days, that is not a problem.

On Monday after work I'm heading to a birthday party for one of the other Ise JETs who has been here for a couple of years (she is the one tasked with organizing the social events for Mie JETs ... and her boyfriend drove us all to the beach ... many thanks to her and her people). The party location is "Nanaimo," a fantastic bar that we visited after the beach party last night. Just a short bike ride away from home, the bar's night menu offers a lineup of Mexican food, a rarity in Japan. I had the nachos, which were great, and I can't wait to sample the whole menu as the days pass (the prices are not bad). They also offer a small lineup of international beers, including Corona via Mexico. Sadly, the offering from the United States ... is Zima. So we've established that the menu is great, but the real fun of the place is the atmosphere. I was only there for an hour at most, but the owner was very kind, funny and welcoming. Another English teacher from the area says he often eats there twice a day (there's also a lunch menu which I haven't seen yet). He's so close with the owner and staff that he helps buss tables, refill water glasses, and even suggest new menu items. I have a feeling I'll be visiting fairly often.

It's another day at the office tomorrow morning. I hope to spend the day reading through some "team teaching" guidebooks or other material I may be using. Unless something else comes up, which would be great, because we really truly don't have much to do right now.

BUT -- no worries, because on Tuesday we're going to the Koshien tournament to watch our baseball team vie for the national title. Then this Thursday and Friday we have to head up to Tsu for the Mie orientation for new JETs. Then, all of a sudden, the next term will start at school, and I'll have to figure out how, exactly, to be a teacher.

Nonde Nonde Nonde

The term of hangover in Japanese translates to "second-day drunk."

The second day has arrived.

Now, to the beach.

Networking

My free wireless service provider, whomever he or she may be, is great, but it isn't always on. The sporadic connection at home along with no Internet at work so far (working on that ...) means I'm not online so often, so blogging will be sparse until I get this stuff sorted out.

Yesterday was our first full day of "work," but really we have very little to do until the students come back to school at the end of the month. We can use the time reading of textbooks or teaching material, preparing our self introduction speeches, arranging photo slideshows, etc. But that can only take us so far.

We also registered yesterday for our "gaijin card," simply a card working as an ID for a foreign resident of Japan. Today we're going to open our official bank account (the future home of my salary deposits, I assume) and begin a cell phone plan.

Meanwhile, not even a week from the three-night party that is the Tokyo Orientation, we've got two party events going on beginning tonight with a welcome party for new JETs in the Ise area, capping tomorrow with a beach party followed by obligatory after parties.

It's 10 to 8 and blazing hot/humid out there, and it's about time to begin the trek to Yamasho. Oh, and Sam (the other ALT at my school; she is from Singapore) and I have been invited to go watch the school's baseball team vie for the national championship next week ... exciting, yes?

Gotta run ... err ... walk into the death blaze of the rising Ise sun.

Home Again

Thank God for the aircon (Japanese for air conditioner). The "main room" in my apartment features this unit. When entering this main room, there is a small kitchen inlet to the left, featuring a medium sized fridge, a sink, a couple of burners (no stove) and a few other appliances. Staight ahead is the open area, which is a combination living room, dining room, party room, and bed room ... err futon room. It has a couple tables and bookshelves among a few other things, plus a TV. Oh, and this is important -- the computer is picking up wireless Internet from a mysterious source. If the signal keeps up then I'll be enjoying free onlinery at home (and at school).

At the other end of the aparto (Japanese for apartment) there is another room, more traditionally a bed room ... but I will sleep in the main room where the AC lives for now. There's also a toilet and a bathroom, of course, and a couple of closets here and there. Finally, outside the main room there's a veranda where you hang your clothes to dry (I've got a killer washing machine, but not so much with the dryers over here). I think that covers the nuts and bolts.

The building itself is two stories and about five or six apartments wide. You enter the door at ground level and climb stairs to get to the living area. Of course you remove your shoes before you step up into the house.

So what does all this mean to you? Not much, but hear this. I do have plenty of room to host visitors. It would be a tight perhaps, but if I'm sleeping in the main room I could fit several people on extra futons in the bed room, and there's room in the main room for another futon spread. So basically, get on over here, yes? Let me know first, you know, so I can go meet you at the train station, assuming I can find said station. Give me a few weeks.

Jumping backward, we left Tokyo in the mid-morning on the shinkansen (bullet train) and ended up in Mie mid afternoon. We toured the school, met various people including our supervisor and the school principle and a few students, who greeted us when we got off the train in Tsu-shi to drive down to Mie (trains do go all the way to Ise but we all got off at the prefectural captiol).

Anyway, there's much more to say but I'll leave it for another time. It's after 1 a.m. and I've got an early morning. Once I get to know my apartment and the vicinity I'm sure I'll have some more interesting things to write on the subject. Gotta sign off then, adios.

Oriented, Intoxicated, Saturated

ORIENTED

Day One of Tokyo Orientation is finished. It all happens at the Keio Plaza Hotel, a 47-story, double-tower dwelling in the heart of Shinjuku. My room is on the 39th floor, from where we have an amazing view of a skyline that goes on until the horizon, where we can only imagine it goes on until another.

INTOXICATED

The morning began for me at 5 a.m., when I suddenly awoke assuming it was several hours later. So I took an early shower and found myself ready for the day before I needed to be. We were all a bit hungover after our night out, which wasn't too over the top when you consider that another guy named Daniel who came from Portland informed me just now that he was out until 6 a.m. For those counting at home, this means he was still drinking when I was in the shower trying to recover ... from drinking. Tonight at the welcome reception dinner, he was drinking ginger ale, cursing his heavy evening on the sauce. But then he caught a glimpse a whiskey and coke and started anew.

SATURATED

You do a lot of sitting and listening at this orientation, and most of the information has been given to us several times all ready. They are very careful to make sure we get certain points, like that even if you only have one beer, you can be arrested for driving drunk. I've probably been warned about this 353 times, roughly. But it's hard to complain when we're being put up in a very nice hotel and get a few nights to explore Tokyo. Which is wear I'm headed now -- more drinking, probably, this time with some Japanese students brother Phil worked with all seven years ago ... the very first Japanese people I ever met. I blame them for my current state of affairs.

The blogging Web site has decided that since I am now in Japan, I want to operate in Japanese. It's intuitive, is it not? But really I'd prefer to blog in English. I assume I'll figure that out eventually. This assumption is how I expect to get through most new things here. I've visited three times, sure, but I don't know how to become a temporary resident.

I'm now in the Keio Plaza Hotel in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, roomed with two other guys who flew in from Portland. We decided to trek out into the lively neighborhood with no plan, which turned out to be a success, be it an expensive one. First, we grabbed a drink from a corner shop that is somewhat like wine but higher in alcohol content -- and distributed in a box that reminds me of fruit punch or some other kind of kid-like beverage which requires a straw-through-foil piercing to begin enjoyment.

Eventually we found a billiards hall with a full bar, and this is where the three of us ended up with a $100 tab (not each but all together). In Tokyo, we suppose that's not too shabby, really. We played pool for more than an hour and each refreshed our drinks a couple or few times.

We face a 9 a.m. wakeup call at latest, with a 10 a.m. start to Monday's orientation events.

We decided a few moments ago that we should go ahead and drink the beer in the hotel room fridge, because either we'll end up getting it for free because the JET people booked the room, or they'll bill us for a couple drinks. No worries. Maybe we'll win out.

More tomorrow.

City of Books

It's 8:30 in Portland, and from Phil's uptown condo, I'm enjoying my final glances at Portland's growing skyline. At 10 we'll make way for the airport, at 11 I'll check in among 60 other PDX-departing JETs, and some time after 2 we'll be in the air, for 11 hours, until we touch down in Tokyo to begin the beginning.

In my final, pre-airport moments in the United States, I'll take a walk down Burnside, stopping in at Powell's City of Books to make some last minute purchases. A perfect Portland finale, I feel.

Meanwhile, I do have my Japanese physical address. I may post it here some time after getting settled in, but it's also on Facebook and I can give it to you on request.

I'll check in on the blog once I'm in my room at the hotel in Tokyo, before hopefully doing some exploring if it's not too late.

For now, Powell's opens in 15 minutes, so I better get on the road.