Jack-o-Lanterns

Halloween in Japan is gaining popularity, but is still not like in America. On Thursday, the two little girls I tutor and I carved pumpkins together. The older girl is Neo (10) and the younger one is Moze (7). The pumpkins were quite large for Japan. I took the smaller one. I was cutting the smile, but I accidentally cut off two of the teeth, so my little pumpkin was left with only one.
The girls had fun cleaning out the pumpkin and making it’s face. They also love posing for the camera with silly faces.
On the way to their house, the pumpkins and I had a little run-in with a pole. As I was riding my bike, a small pole didn’t get out of my way as I was looking at a building on my left, so I had a small crash. Luckily my leg wedged between the pole and my bike and I came to an abrupt stop. The only damage was a warped front basket and a small bruise. But you should see the pole! :)

Nishiwaki

For the past three weeks I have been at a new school, Nishiwaki. I have one more week to go. This school has had its good and bad points. Some students and teachers have been difficult to work with. This past week has been a little better because I’ve been doing some actual “teaching.” I also had a chance to work with the Special Ed class. There are only three kids, and they are such sweethearts. I really enjoyed my time with them. I only had two classes with them, and on the second day, we did a little bit of Halloween stuff. I made Halloween puzzles for each of them that they really liked. One thing I like about these kids is that they are not embarrassed to speak English. One boy is so talkative, and actually speaks English quite well. The girl cracks me up because she throws her hands in the air and gasps at everything. The third boy does not speak at all, but laughed at my lame jokes, so I think he understood. Aside from some ripped shirt pockets, and occasional outbursts, they were great.
Another boy, who is not in the special ed class, but he is probably borderline, also is one of my favorites. We went on a field trip to Kyoto, and he kept me company the whole time, chatting away. When he couldn’t think of anything else to say, he kept asking me what time it was. He was so sweet. And by the way, we were the only two that were not allowed to go anywhere by ourselves. After about 4 phone calls, I was finally allowed to go off by myself for 45 min. It was a bit frustrating.
Until I had these special ed classes, I never saw or heard about these three kids. It’s like they are being hidden from the rest of the students. It seems to me that many Japanese are very embarrassed by disabilities. They are not integrated into society, but kept away from others. Out in public you rarely see anyone with any disabilities. And many public places are not fitted with accommodations like wheelchair ramps. The special ed kids always seem so happy and friendly. Always a big smile and genuine hello. I enjoyed working with them.

Belly dancing in Wakayama

Although Japan is still very monocultural (I know I just made up a word), I am able to find some different events. My friends/adult English students dance in a belly dancing group. They performed on the beach last weekend, so my friend and I went to see Chise (green) and Yuka (orange). It was a short, but very nice show. It was similar in many ways to the Tahitian dancing I did in my old group.
I also took a picture of a group of old women gaping at the belly dancing. Japanese people are really weird about showing skin. Every time I walk out my door without sleeves, everyone (including strangers standing in their yard) insist that I am cold and should put on a sweater. It’s like having a country full of overprotective moms.
But then on the other hand, the high school girls (and some jr. high) wear skirts up to about 1 inch from their butt. Strange.

Gobo

As I said in the last post, I was in Gobo on the weekend of the 8th. I stayed with my friend Susanne, and she showed me around the little town of Gobo. First we visited a small temple that had a scary statue guarding it. Then we went to a strange park with a squirrel enclosure (where you could feed them), a very painful slide, and many green rolling hills. I want to go back with a snow disk! Gobo apparently has many large animals for you to sit on too. It’s a cute town, but I’m glad I’m in the city!

Gobo Laughing Festival

Sorry! It’s been so long since I have posted anything. I have been quite busy. First I will talk about the Laughing Festival. It was on October 8th in Gobo, which is about an hour away by train. It was a small festival, but I enjoyed all the people watching. There were small shrines, mikoshi, that many people carried on their shoulders. Some contained 4 young boys who played drums, and would hang themselves outside of the basket upside down. They have great make-up. All the men who are carrying the mikoshi are also constantly being doused with sake, so we were all a little afraid for the boys. There were men in scary masks, and all the men were in kilt-like skirts. I asked my Japanese friends why. They weren’t sure, but they think since it is the laughing festival, the men were trying to dress funny. When everyone arrived at the shrine, there were priests passing out skewered fruits and vegetables. No one knows why. Maybe something about the harvest? Another thing they had were very large flags. More like a banner I guess. They were on long bamboo sticks at least 2-3 stories tall. The men lifted them to stand vertically, and waved them around. It required much strength. The challenging part was maneuvering them around and under the telephone wires. Overall it was an interesting festival. Although I don’t think I laughed much.

Mayuko's wedding party

Akiko (from hula), Mayuko, me, Chieko






I was surprised and pleased that one of my adult English students, Mayuko, invited me to her wedding party. It took place at the Daiwa Roynet Hotel, a nice hotel next to the castle. Earlier in the day, there was the ceremony and the reception. I went to the after party. Many of my adult English students were there too, so I had lots of people to talk to. The food was good, especially the dessert. The seating was interesting, tables were only men or women, not mixed. We played a game that I couldn’t understand, but two of the winners received an ipod and a handheld Nintendo! Then the guy who won the ipod decided to gamble it away to a group game of Junken (rock, paper, scissors). I was out in the first round. But at the end of the evening, I did receive a little party favor and a small bunch of roses. It was a fun experience that I did not expect to have during my time here. I am very glad to have my adult classes in the evenings. It’s busy, but I have made some nice friends and I’m learning a lot about Japanese culture.

Hula

I keep forgetting to write a blog entry about my new hula group! The name is Keola. I have had three lessons so far, and this week the teacher’s asked me to show them a few songs that I know. I’m not used to dancing by myself in front of people.
The teachers and other members are so friendly and nice. One girl has picked me up every week, and I just met her. She also doesn’t speak English, so the car ride is interesting. Lots of gestures, which while she’s driving makes me nervous.
The group, is very happy to have a foreigner join. They were all so excited to see my style of dancing. When we started doing basics, they all clapped and all eyes were on me the whole time. Since they only speak Japanese (except the dance commands in Hawaiian) I don’t understand what they’re saying, but I heard my name about every 5 seconds that first day. My friend, Akemi, who is taking lessons too, has translated for me, and all the comments have all been very nice. The teacher had said many times that she envies me because I look Hawaiian. Last week, they dressed me up in all sorts of lei’s just to see what I looked like in them. It’s kind of funny. By next week, I think my novelty will have worn off, and things should go back to normal. But it’s kinda fun being the center of attention.
We are learning a new song now called “Moku Kia Kahi.“ I like the teacher’s teaching style. She goes over everything slowly, and many times. There are about 6 old songs that they review each week that I don’t know, so another girl from the group, Kana, said she would help Akemi and I. As I dance, I feel very happy and content. I’m so glad I have joined this halau while I’m here in Japan. This feels like how a hula group should be, like family, not full of cattiness like my old group.
The two teachers will be in Hawaii for a couple weeks, learning some new dances. I wish I could go with them!