Tubby

Thursday, December 20, 2007

The wonders of Japan.......This is worth the read i promise

Where do i start....... well the other day i was on the bus and an American lady got on with a stroller. But when i looked in there, NO BABY!!!!! It was full of ferrets. I dont even know if that is how you spell it cause i have never used the word before in my 25 years. Anyway, she used to carry them around on her back but then she got two more and wanted them to be able to move around when she took them out. And so she got the stroller. It is so strange. Now i know she was American but i dont know anywhere else in the world where you cant talk on your mobile phone on the bus but you can bring a stroller of ferrets on there. One of the many interesting lessons/experiences i have each day here in Japan.

Today was just as brilliant. We had a fire drill. And the first years (grade 10)learn how to use the fire extinguishers. One student per class (there are 10 classes) has to put out a fire on the sports field while the others watch.

The second years (grade 11) had to learn how to go down the escape slide. YES, ESCAPE SLIDE. There was one on the balconey of the 4th and 5th floors. The one on the 5th floor was so long. Anyway, it is all enclosed and you have to slide down it to get away from the fire. Like the ones they have on airplanes but enclosed and only big enough for one skinny person. Thus many of the overweight people in western countries would not fit. Anyway, I was going to try the shorter one on the 4th floor but at the last minute decided to try the one on the fifth floor. My heart jumped abit when i first sat down at the top but once i left go it was fine. It was so fun. I wanted to have another go. Even some of the tough boys didnt try the long one.

And finally the third years (yr 12) had to go into a room full of smoke and escape safely. Which was hard cause there was this step that almost all the girls fell down when i was in there. I only didnt fall cause i saw them falling. LOL.....

How amazing is that. We also did the normal drill stuff like escaping when the alarm goes off and lining up on the sports field. But the highlight was really the slide. I have never seen anything like that in Australia. Imagine the kids in Oz going down the slide. It looks really scary but its not. I will include some photos for you to have a look at.

Monday, November 26, 2007

By the way...........

One of my mates in Alice said that she couldnt look at some of photos because of the link. So i have reposted them. And i would suggest you use the newer posts to look at the photos. Please let me know if you can get into any of the folders.

Cheers,
Laura/Tubby

November In Japan

Well, I actually started Nov in Australia. Or should i say MOVEMBER......... Now i am back in Japan. It was very hard to leave Oz again but i am starting to feel at home here again. Probably helped by the fact that i havent stopped since i have been back. I went to my first ever Thanksgiving Dinner with a bunch of American last thursday night. There was even roast turkey.....this is amazing cause most of us dont have ovens. My friend Kim made pumpkin pie for the first time ever and it was awesome. Then the next day Kim and I explored one of the stations near my house. And we found and saw some really crazy stuff. I will post those photos later.

Saturday the 24th of Nov will be now always be known to me as crazy Aussie day. The day when a big group of foreigners disrupted the streets of Roppongi on their way to vote in the Federal election. There was even a blow up Kangaroo.

Sunday, i went to see a close family friend and went to a seminar day with her. There was koto (Japanese Harp) playing and traditional Japanese dancing. Keiko also made me get up and do Kareoke. Luckily, the whole table got up and helped me. I am an awful singer and they take it seriously here in Japan.

And now today i am at school for the morning. And then i have ameeting elsewhere in the arvo.

Here is the link to the first of the November photos. More later when the month is actually over.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30382&l=f05b1&id=684506290

September in Japan - photo links

School Festival
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17324&l=ec9b7&id=684506290

Hiroshima and Miyajima
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23583&l=473b5&id=684506290

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23594&l=05fc7&id=684506290

September in Japan
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23595&l=e21b8&id=684506290

Sports Day at my school
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24960&l=8318e&id=684506290

July and August in Japan - photo links

October in Japan...........

Nothing too special to report. The most interesting things i did was going home for my Nan`s funeral and my sister`s wedding. It was so awesome being back in OZ. I gained back 2-3kg of the 4 that i lost in my first three months in Japan. I love roast chicken by the way. It is so great. They dont have it in Japan and i dont have an oven.

Here are the links for my photos of October and the wedding.

October in Japan
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24959&l=13ab9&id=684506290

Anna`s wedding
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29179&l=be17d&id=684506290

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29210&l=dc993&id=684506290

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29176&l=2155c&id=684506290

Family photos from my trip
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10100&l=5dfd7&id=684506290

Friends photos from my trip
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10102&l=a2f01&id=684506290

Travelling back to Alice and some Alice Springs shots
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30272&l=31748&id=684506290

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7266&l=8920d&id=684506290

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Link to photos from September in Japan, 2007

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23595&l=e21b8&id=684506290

School Sport Day - so fun!!!!!!!!!!

What an awesome day. It was nothing like the ones we have at St Philips. It was much more fun. The students practice in gym/PE class and then the students who are the fastests in each class are in the only running races of the day. Then it is all very fun races.

The first thing that was done after the races was tug of war. There were five teams. Red, white, green, yellow and blue. Each team had to play the other one. And each team was allowed 60 kids. It was really great.

Then we had the relay. It was awesome as well. First they had to jump in a potato sack. It looked really hard cause they had to jump on this mat thing. Then the next leg was going under and over the hurdles. The third leg was jumping ova a gymnastics horse and then crawling under a net held down by other students. And then the last part was finding a marshmallow with your mouth in flour and then running to the finish line. It was really funny but they all took it serious enough to compete.

Then they had centipede races. So many fell over and other were really good at it. It was great.

Then the white rabbit race which involved one student running along the backs of other students along the field. It looked really great.

There were many other races too but these ones were the ones that stood out.

But one race was special to me because i got to go in it. It was a sled relay and a teacher got to be on the sled last. There were four rounds and I was in the first one. It was so fun. I was so scared beforehand but it was so fun. I loved it.

I have put photos of this onto facebook. Here is a link to my photos.

Sports Day
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24960&l=8318e&id=684506290

Saturday, September 29, 2007

My October Schedule

1st - 2nd school
3rd - school and then tea ceremony lesson
4th - 5th school

7th - Visiting Aussie school arrives
8th - National Holiday for Health and Sports Day
9th - Party for the Aussie school
10th - Visiting Aussie school come to see my school + Board of Education Party
12th - Farewell Banquet for the Aussie school

16th - 19th Auntie Kathy, Miriam and Meredith in Tokyo

29th - Day off school to celebrate schools foundation day
31st - JET seminar

Then on the 1st of November JET seminar again and i leave for Australia that night.
YEAH!!!!!!!!!

School Festival - what an awesome couple of days.

Each senior high school has a festival once a year. It was awesome. The students spent the Thursday preparing for the festival. The main features are that each class comes up with a theme or games and decorate their classroom accordingly. There are ten classes in each year level and there are over 300 students in each year level. The third years (yr12) tend to have the better displays cause they have had more practice and are more mature and motivated.

Then Friday is the day when staff and students can experience the festival before opening it to the public on Saturday. I didn't enjoy this day as much as the Saturday. I think it was because the students went abit crazy. They were so excited and they were just going mad. Plus when they get excited I cant understand their Japanese or English cause it is so fast.

The Saturday was awesome. I really enjoyed it. There were many flea markets in the classrooms with lots of cute disney stuff. And many different types of food. Class 3-10 sold Onigiri, which are rice balls with filling in them. My favourite was the tuna one. I bought a whole bunch to try and that was good cause now when i have the option to buy them again I will know which ones i like and which i dont.

There was also a couple ice cream shops. One had the strangest ice cream in the world. It was little tiny balls of ice cream all together in a package. I mean tiny balls, just a little bigger than a mustard seed. I enjoyed it so much i had two of them throughout the day.

One of my English club girls, Mami spent the day with me, helping me by translating the really complicated game rules. Plus it was just fun to hang out with her and she spoke English all day whice made me very proud. Her English is really good and I was very grateful to have her with me. We went through two mazes. Which was hard work. We both had skirts on. Mine was much longer than hers but we had to go under desks and over desks and slip through small areas. It was very funny and very hot. I think we were both glad to be out of them. On one I just gave up and we left half way through.

One of the games i liked the most was done by one of the third year classes. You had to catch the person/s who killed one of the teachers. So you had to get five or six stickers from anyone wearing a purple shirt. But you had to get four circles, a love heart and a star. And some purple people had already given them away to others playing the game so it was a challenge to find the right people. I really enjoyed it. It was so simple but so fun. And interactive. You had to go through the room and look at the photos of the WANTED students and then go and find them. It was great.

I also went to the tea ceremony room and got to watch some of the students who are learning to do the tea ceremony. It was really good. Although i still dont like green tea and the sweets that you get in a tea ceremony.

I took lots of awesome photos. So here is the link so that you can all have a look.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17324&l=ec9b7&id=684506290

Cheers,
Tubby

Earthquake AGAIN..............

So i was lying on my futon last night about 11pm and all of a sudden the building started to shake. Not as big as the last one. I thought it was just a car going past or something. As ill-informed and earthquake innocent, as I am. It stopped and then began again and the lights in the room were swinging. I actually think that it was an aftershock from the earthquake that occurred at 8:30pm in the prefecture right near mine called Chiba. Have a look at the maps that are on this link to check out where the earthquakes were. The first one shows the earthquake in Chiba at 8:30pm and the second shows the ones all over Japan and you can see the one that i felt. I look at this website everyday to see where the earthquakes are. It is really interesting to see how many they have here.

Chiba Earthquake - http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/3/27203400391.html

Small earthquakes around Japan - http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/28224900391.html

This website is really good for tracking typhoons that might be coming to Japan. In case any of you are interested. I think all of this is very interesting because in Alice Springs we dont have any of these things.

On a really positive point, it is finally starting to cool down. I am so glad. And it is almost october so that means much cooler weather here in Japan.
Cheers,
Laura

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Hiroshima and Miyajima

Over the long weekend, I went to to Hiroshima and Miyajima. I took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima at 6am in the morning. I left from Tokyo and that meant leaving my local station at 4:45am. Needless to say, once we went past Mt Fuji, I was fast asleep. The train was not full at all so that was great. Once i arrived in Hiroshima, I went and got the local cable car to my hotel. My hotel was actually right near the Peace Memorial Park. I could see the A-Bomb Dome (the shell of a building left from the nuclear bombing) from my room window. I could also see the Peace Memorial Museum.

So i checked in and then headed off to the Peace Memorial Park. I first went to the museum. It was interesting. The most disturbing thing that was in the museum was the human skin and nails that was all that one family found. It was really gross. I also saw the step that has a shadow on it from when someone was sitting there when the bomb dropped. Also saw the Sadako cranes. Sadako is the little girl who made the 1000 cranes in hope that she would get better. She made some really small ones.

Then i headed to the other parts of the park. I took some great photos of the children's memorial. Which has Sadako on the top of it holding a golden crane.

Then i went to the A-bomb dome. I got some great shots of it. It is amazing that it is still standing. It is the only structure still standing today that was around during the bombing.

It then started to pour with rain. So i took a taxi to the Hiroshima Castle. Which was interesting cause the taxi driver didn't understand what i meant. But got there and learned a new word. The castle was awesome. I loved it. It was so beautiful.

Then it was back to the hotel for a nap and then a really nice italian dinner. I couldn't get into the hotel resturant so i had to venture out. I found this great italian resturant and had lobster for 2000 yen or $20.00 AU. It was awesome. Ate lots of garlic bread too.

The next day i went to take some more photos and make sure that I didn't miss anything. I went to take a photo of the burial mound which is huge and contain ashes of many of the people who died. Also went to ring the peace bell. You can also ring the bell at the children's memorial.

Then i headed to Miyajima. Which is an island off the coast of the city of Hiroshima. The famous thing about Miyajima is the shrine that is there and the huge red torii gate. Oh and the tame deer that will eat anything they can get. I will post some photos soon. The torii gate is one of the three most famous sights in Japan. Anyway, I stayed on the island for the night and just cruised around. I ate lots of Oysters. Cause Miyajima is famous for its oysters and its spicy eel dish. My hotel was really nice but was along way from the tourist stuff. I dont think i would stay there again because it was so far away. Anyway, so i wandered around the island did all the sightseeing. I thought the torii date was great. The shrine near it was not as awesome but still interesting.

I was patting this deer and then it tried to eat my shirt. It was crazy. I had to pull it out of its mouth. They really will eat anything they can find. Someone dropped a handkerchief and a deer was eating that.

On the last day of the long weekend i sat and watched the tide coming in. It was really awesome to be out of the city and to smell the sea.

Then took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.

Link for my photos of Hiroshima and Miyajima:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23583&l=473b5&id=684506290

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23594&l=05fc7&id=684506290

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The biggest bee I have ever seen in my life.....

Now, normally I am not scared of bugs....but this was the biggest bee I have ever seen. It also happened to be the most deadly in Japan. One of the male teachers was trying to get it out the window and he said that if it stung me I would have to go to hospital straight away.

It is called Suzumebaki.

Suzume means sparrow
Baki means bee

Which basically means that it can kill sparrows it is so dangerous. I thought it was because it was so big they called it a sparrow bee. I was wrong but if you had seen it you would have freaked out too. It was bigger than an Australian wasp. It is actually an Asian Hornet but in Japan they called it a sparrowbee.

I will post a photo later.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

My school - Kawaguchi Ichiritsu

My school is a high school and is called Kawaguchi Ichiritsu. It has about 1000 students. I had to give a speech at the first assembly and there were so many faces looking up at me. The school is a senior school so it goes from year 10 - 12.
They call the classes by 1st year, 2nd year and 3rd year. 3rd year being yr 12. It an old school but still very nice. The students are friendly and i cant walk down the hall without them yelling hello to me and waving. And then as I walk away, I hear 'Kawaii' which means cute. It is very strange being called cute. They also stare at me alot. I guess cause i am new and foreign but i feel very aware of all the eyes that follow me. It is very weird.

I have just finished teaching all of the 2nd year classes about Australia. They are reading a chapter on a lady who walked across the desert with her camels. I was getting sick of doing the same thing and then i had a break for a couple days and taught 3rd years. I made most of the 2nd years try vegemite so i am pretty sure many of them dont like me anymore. Just joking. They hated vegemite. Only two out of 300 students liked it. It was very funny watching their faces. I will post some photos later.

The classes here are very different to the ones in Australia. Some of them are so quiet and shy. I had one class that didnt speak or answer any questions the whole time i was in there. And then I have classes that are more like the ones in Australia. But you only have to ask once for them to be quiet and they are. It is very good.

I am starting to get involved in the extra curricular activities. I have an English conversation club on Tuesdays that is open to anyone. And on Thursdays, I have an English help class for Year 12 students who are taking the English Exam to get into uni. I also have a group of student who come and have lunch with me twice a week and we talk about new topics each time. We also read the English newspaper I buy. They get very excited when they see news about Japan in English.

This weekend, the school has its festival. Each school has a festival. Kinda like a fair and we are preparing for that tomorrow. It is going to be really great.

What's koala in English? HUH!!!!!!!!!!!!

So school has started and all is going well. I was abit bored to start with but am now teaching lots and enjoying myself. Today I had a lesson with the year 11 students. I asked one boy what Koala is in Japanese and it ended in laughter. Here is how it went.....

Laura: What is Koala in Japanese
Student: Koala
Laura: What is Koala in English
Student : I dont know (said in Japanese)

I have never laughed so hard in my life. The whole class just lost it. It was very very funny.

Then I was talking about the Kookaburra and one student was confused and said cucumber.

The really funny thing is that the students were serious about what they said. All the rest of us laughed and it was a good icebreaker.

It was so funny.

A good day.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

My schedule for September

10th - 12th regular days at school

13th - All day festival preparation at school
14th - School Festival (Bunkasai)
15th - School Festival (Bunkasai), My welcome party at school

16th - Hiroshma
17th - Hiroshima (national holiday)
18th - Hiroshima (replacement day off for going to school on the saturday for festival)

19th - School
20th - School
21st - School
22nd - Sumo Tournament in Tokyo (so excited to see this in person)
23rd -
24th - National Holiday

25th - 27th Regular School days
28th - Judging English Speech contest all day.

29th - Soccer Tournament in Nagano (that's right I am gonna play soccer)
30th - Soccer Tournament in Nagano

Links to my photos from July and August.....

Mt Fuji
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21555&l=eab72&id=684506290

August in Japan (folder 1 & 2)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17325&l=fa3f3&id=684506290

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21551&l=c1217&id=684506290

My Bday
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18450&l=51c1a&id=684506290

Travelling to Japan plus Tokyo Orientation
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16307&l=41d5a&id=684506290

Friday, September 7, 2007

My first Typhoon.....not such a big deal.

So I got to work on Wednesday and one of my teachers told me about a typhoon that was coming. I rarely watch Japanese TV because it is so strange and I cant understand it. Anyway, the typhoon was meant to hit my area yesterday at 6am. That much i got off the Japanese news. But by Thursday morning, it was sunny again. So I checked again and the internet said that it would be here at 6pm. 6pm came around and still nothing that huge. I imagined that there would be really strong winds that would rattle my windows and lots and lots of rain. Anyway, then the weather bureau changed it to midnight. I must have slept through the whole thing. The windows rattled a little bit last night but not much.

I am actually a little disappointed. Cause I thought it was gonna be a really huge storm that was spectacular. Today, it is windy but not like i would have imagined. Guess we are lucky here because we are inland. The TV footage showed really strong winds. The reporter guy was blown over and almost ended up in the ocean.

The only good thing about the typhoon, is that we got the morning off school. Not sure why. It was worse yesterday arvo. Not that i am complaining.

Yeah for the morning off. Thanks typhoon no.9

Monday, September 3, 2007

Harajuku with Beth Moyses

On Saturday night, I met up with a girl i knew in Alice Springs. She is just visiting for a week or so. Anyway, after being a half hour late because i couldnt find the west exit of the Shinjuku station. Man, that station is huge. Anyway, after Beth had phoned my mobile 5 times, i finally found my way. Then we headed off to Harajuku to see the kids all dressed up in costumes and goth etc. Got some really good photos of the girls but theboys were abit shy. Then we walked to this really nice shrine. And i mean walked. It was a long way. Once we got there it was nice because there were two weddings having photos taken. The women looked really beautiful. Then we headed back to have some dinner. We had pasta in a French resturant and people watched. Then Beth came back to have a look at my place.

She is now staying with me until her grandad arrives on Wed.

Visiting Keiko

Keiko spent one year living with my grandparents in Pt Pirie. So she calls them mum and dad.

I went to see Keiko in late August. We met up and then went to a really nice Japanese BBQ resturant. Her mother was also there. We sat in this cute little booth and it was a fun experience.

Then we headed to her mums house and there we had afternoon tea. We visited Keikos uncles cake shop to get some arvo tea and also they bought me some omeyage (gifts). While at her mums house, I met Keikos brother and her sister Masako. It was a really lovely afternoon.

Then Keiko and i headed back to her house in Fujioka. I was not in the city anymore. It was great. So quiet and I loved all of the rice fields. I had a nice dinner with her family and then we headed upstairs to watch the Osaka Athletics. I met her husband and children last year around this time and boy had they grown. I enjoyed spending time with her daughter Akio especially. She wouldnt even talk to me the last time we met so it was great to get to know her abit more.

The next morning, Keiko cooked a huge meal of both Japanese and Western food. It was really nice. Then i headed back home on the train. But not before i had a ride in their Hybrid car. It was really cool.