Protected: My First School Festival
October 30th,2011 Japan, JET Programme | tags: school festival |
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Okinawa Update
Two weekends ago, we went on a magical trip to Okinawa. The trip was perfect, starting from being the first on and off the plane (which was more about the fact we had a wheelchair)
We ate lots of yummy food. Here, I’m about to dive into a lovely bowl of soba. I’ll save the rest of the food photos for a separate food-update.
We went for a stroll down a colourful market in Naha.
And came across some amazingly coloured fish! The rainbow spectrum of fish available was stunning.
And some bigggg blowfish 
This was the first ‘tropical’ resort hotel I’ve been to, and I was amazed at how beautiful and awesome it was. Ocean, Pool, Spa, great restaurants, lovely rooms…
As you can see, we had a tropical theme going.
The trip was actually Kapu’s birthday present trip. So we had a lovely birthday cake!
And here we are taking a rest from the rigours of holidaying.
And enjoying an amazing cocktail at dinner.
Swimming in the sea was the highlight of the trip! It was amazingly fun.
I could do it alllll day long!!
Unfortunately, on the second day it rained. But we still went swimming in the pool.
Visiting the famous Churami Aquarium was another fantastic experience.
Here we got to see the amazing Okinawan tropical fish – alive and swimming.
But the most amazing part was the massive shark tank. Words do not do it justice.
The glass is a couple of foot thick.
Everyone enjoyed looking at the hundreds of fish, sharks, mantra rays and who knows what else inside the massive tank.
Okinawa is reknown for their Shisa Guardians.
We visited a traditional Okinawan village and met hundreds of different sized Shisa everywhere. They are traditionally on rooftops, at doorways, in the middle of paths…everywhere.
We even stopped to have a drink with one.
Ooops, slipped in another food picture. Yummy Okinawan rice!!
At the village, there was the opportunity to dress in traditional Okinawan clothes. History shows that Okinawa was heavily influenced by neighbouring countries, such as Taiwan, Korea, etc.
Okinawa was an amazing experience. Returning/going to other tropical islands is definitely on my to-do list.
Now, back to work!
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First Calligraphy
This is my first ever Japanese calligraphy attempt. Fun!
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Protected: The Big Update
October 9th,2011 Food, Japan, JET Programme, Travel | tags: Japan, JET, Kenka Mikoshi, onsen, school, teaching |
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Kenka Mikoshi 2011
Today I, and several other JETs, participated in the Minomi Kenka Mikoshi. It was quite the experience! And one I would love to do again.
The morning started before 5, with us gathering to get changed into our white ‘shirts’ at 5.30. Breakfast was sake, fish cake and some dried fish with salt. Which was pretty good actually (not everyone agreed with me, so I got to eat theirs 
).
The Mikoshi, which is the shrine pictured, weighs 500kg. And we had to ‘battle’ with it against other teams from other shrines. We then had to carry it around for a few hours while singing. Also, a Mikoshi singer would at times jump onto the Mikoshi and sing from up there. A couple of the places/shrines were a bit far away, so 50 odd people piled into the back trays of two small trucks. That was interesting and fun
The battling involved 2 Mikoshi running around in a circle, with the non-carriers in the middle. And we’d swap ppl in and out, as it’s quite heavy. We did quite a few battles, and I’m not exactly clear on the rules or criteria for winning. It got quite intense and crazy. But it was heaps of fun.
The festival is linked to the harvest. There was dancing, as well as children doing this cool smashing lime… Dance/activity? There was also lots of beer. The lunch was also pretty awesome. A beautiful Bento!
More photos on Facebook.
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One Piece
You’ve probably realised that I like the anime One Piece. And guess who struck it lucky today? A 500yen raffle draw saw me come away with the B prize. Which never happens to me. Super lucky!
A massive Mihawk figurine.
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School’s In – First Week
The first week of teaching has whizzed by unbelievably fast. The last 5 days has seen some 15 classes and hundreds of students from Grade 2 to 3rd year junior high have their first English lesson with me. And it’s been fun. Heaps of fun!
I have been assigned 5 schools. 2 junior high schools (years 7-9) and 3 elementary schools (years 1-6). I also have 2 attached kindergartens which I’ll visit infrequently. The schedule is pretty mixed up, changing from week to week. This week had me at my elementary’s 4 days and only one day at a junior high, but next week is 4 days at junior highs and 1 day at elementary. This week saw me visit 4 of my 5 schools.
The schools I have are awesome. The teachers are friendly and helpful and the students are enthusiastic. The school sizes also vary quite a bit. My junior highs are fairly large with some 400-600 students. One elementary has some 400 students and I visit twice a fortnight. I was also super lucky to be there at the right time and be in their school’s commerative photo! Talk about ra-ki-! Another elementary has some 50 students and I visit once a month, and it was a packed day with lessons all morning.
My third elementary only has 12 students. And I visit weekly. And it’s on an island. Which really means it’s twelve times as much fun I was playing tag with all 12 students at lunch, which, while sounding (and being) tiring, was amazing fun and super natsukashii. They made me meishii (business/name cards), which was super cute!!
I really enjoy being able to play with the students at lunch, not to mention, being able to eat school lunches.
My lessons so far have just been self-introductions, of myself and Australia. So they haven’t been too hard, but that doesn’t last that long. I have to prepare my first proper English lesson for this coming Wednesday already.
I’m super looking forward to next week! I’ll meet my 5th school, hundreds more students, and learn more about teaching.
September 9th,2011 Japan, JET Programme | tags: elementary school, Japan, JET, junior high, school teaching |
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School Lunch 2 & 3
Taught at 2 elementary schools the last two days as well, so I got kyuushoku. =)
The dango on the left was pretty special, and yum.
And we don’t always have rice. The tomatoes were grown at the school.
A super quick blog. Will blog more about my schools this weekend.
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September 8th,2011 Food, Japan, JET Programme | tags: elementary school lunch, Japanese food, Kyuushoku |
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