Shibukawa Festival: January 29, 2011

Today, I explored the small city of Shibukawa. It is about 25 minutes by JR Train from Takasaki. The thing I love about Japanese trains are that the slower trains are affordable and it is easy to hop from one town to the next. The shinkansen (bullet train) is a whole other story! ;)

After arriving at the station, the five of us were kindly chauffeured to the community center. Our destination was the Shibukawa community center where there would be delicious lunch, Japanese games, and music waiting for us. When we first arrived, we could try out pounding rice mochi with giant wooden gavel-type instruments. It is very heavy and the rice is very sticky, so one must be careful not to get the wooden "stick" stuck into the rice...it very difficult and a great workout! Each foreigner was given five "hits"--this was hilarious to watch and fun to try.

After, we were greeted by the community members and requested to dive into the food. The food was delicious: I ate strawberries, sushi, sandwiches, chocolate cake, and a few other delicious treats. After lunch, we were invited to play Japanese games, including karuta (memory card game) and the Japanese version of "pin the tail on the donkey," which was with a person's face instead. One person is blindfolded while the other person must figure out where the parts of the face go!

After the games, the international music began. There were several groups that performed...music from different countries of the world. There was a group of women singing Philippine love songs, Peruvian music and instruments, and a Japanese pop group that danced to fast-paced music. At the end, all of us foreigners came up to the stage to "improvise" with the music groups...it was hilarious!

It was really great communicating with the locals in English. Everyone was really eager to speak with us in English and get to know us. We even tried out our Japanese with some of the locals. At the end of the festival, we played bingo for prizes!

Enjoy the pictures!! :)

Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo: Jan 15, 2011

This weekend, I witnessed a quintessential Japanese event: sumo! Many JETs flocked to Tokyo this weekend to watch the grand sumo tournament in Tokyo--the best of the best battle it out in not much more than a g-string bathing suit.

Before the battles began, all of the sumo players came into the main ring for a traditional ceremony. They wore colorful traditional robes from the waist down and clapped several times to signal the beginning of the games. A player is not allowed to see their opponent before the match began, so two sets of circles were formed before the matches began to ensure that opponents did not see their opponent before their time came. I am sure this heightens the anticipation and allows for the sumo players to either release their minds or build them up in fear...it is certainly a way to psych your opponent out!

The event was traditional and fun: the stadium is enormous, covered in tiers of seats and thousands of spectators. Instead of a quiet and serene event, the sumo matches are loud opportunities for the crowd to shout out the name of their favorite players followed by munching. It's basically like going to a live movie with popcorn--you can eat, talk freely, and watch the show! A scoreboard at the top of the stadium allowed the audience to see which pair was up next and which sumo players had won the previous matches. It was almost like a basketball game but without the players...instead it was large, muscle/gigantic men clad in skimpy sumo clothes around their loins :)

Much to my surprise, a majority of the best sumo wrestlers in Japan are from Mongolia. There were even 3 or 4 Caucasian sumo players battling it out with Japan's best. It was interesting to witness this traditional event where East really did meet West head on...

The entire sumo tournament (of the professionals) lasted for two hours. There were about 25-30 opponent teams with two men each battling it out for the win. I took many photos during the event (please see more on my facebook page) of the intense battles, traditional ceremonies, and costumes.

Before each match, the opponents bow, throw salt into the circle for purification, and stare each other down for intimidation. The entire match between two opponents might not last longer than 10 seconds, while others battle it out for 1-2 minutes. The pace is fast and exciting and the event was certainly worth the two hour train ride each way. I am so excited that I got to witness a traditional Japanese event in Tokyo.

The battle were intense to watch. Before the judge calls the match to begin, each opponent balances on one leg to show "balance" and strength. There is also a moment for the crowd to shout their favorite names and for the sumo players to pound their chests hard in excitement and anticipation. The event was certainly exhilarating and intense...enjoy the photos!

Japanese School Life

In Japan, school is no joking manner. Students are expected to arrive on time, in their proper uniforms with no excuses. I was amazed at how strict the uniforms are here. I grew up with uniforms back in California (Catholic high school), but we even had a little bit of wiggle room to be "individuals" with our shoes and jewelry. In Japan, even the girls cannot express themselves through jewelry, hair clips, and other accessories that make a person "unique".

At school, boys are expected to wear the black trousers and black jacket picked out by the school. Girls are expected to wear a long pleated blue skirt, white blouse, and blue jacket picked out by the school. The best part about their uniforms are the color-coded shoes they must wear! Each grade level in the middle school is assigned a "color" to represent their class. This year, the first graders are yellow, the second graders are green, and the third graders are blue. This is so that teachers can easily identify the grade level of each student just by looking at their shoes. I think it is amazing that the students wear these tennis shoes to school with color stripes on the side...very fun for me to observe! At my high school in California, we had the liberty to where the shoes of our choice. Here in Japan, students must remove their individual shoes at the door, place them in shelves, and put on their "school shoes", which cannot be worn outside. The Japanese are very aware of keeping the school clean by only wearing "indoor" shoes inside. This also took some adjustment for me...but eventually all things start to become "normal."

Each student must also wear a name tag on their uniform (written in Kanji) to identify their first and last name to all teachers and staff. Unfortunately I cannot read the name tags, so I have done my best to memorize students' names and with the new year approaching in April, I will ask students to create their own name tags in English!!

After school, the students put on their "P.E." uniforms. For about 2 hours after the school day ends, students take part in after school clubs: sports, art, and other clubs. They all have to wear the same P.E. uniform. A little side note: they wear their P.E. shorts under their uniforms to save time when changing! They quickly change as soon as the last bell rings in their classroom...this was a bit odd for me to witness at first. Boys and girls taking their skirts and pants off right in front of their teachers! But this is normal to them...they want to save the time of having to go change in a locker room...so they wear double layers (shorts under skirts and pants) to save the time! Incredible!

During assemblies, all the students file into the assembly/gym hall and sit on the floor during speeches. They must sit with their legs tucked under their chin. They are not allowed to spread out, but must sit in straight lines according to their homeroom class. The students are always in their homeroom during the day, never moving around to different classrooms (except for science lab and P.E.). The teachers in Japan must move from classroom to classroom, carrying their materials and texts on their own. I find this extremely unpractical and annoying; I am use to having my own classroom where students enter and leave during each period.

In the teacher staff room, ALL teacher desks are located here where teachers work and socialize. This took a while for me to adjust to because I am usually in my own classroom reading and grading, rather than in a large staff room with other teachers from other disciplines. For the most part, the room is quiet enough for teachers to get work done. Occasionally, a teacher will strike up a conversation and socialize near my desk. I try to pick out words I can understand (a game for me) and sometimes I chime in if the Japanese isn't over my head. Now that I have been here for almost 6 months, I am often part of the conversation with some teachers who feel comfortable enough talking to me in English/Japanese.

Each day, we are served a HOT meal that is cooked from the kitchen on the ground floor. The food is very delicious and is very affordable. Usually, the meal includes a hot soup filled with delicious Japanese vegetables, noodles/rice, and a small side salad. I have even eaten spaghetti with meat sauce, curry with rice, and clam chowder! It is fun to see the Japanese eat international cuisine and try new things each day. Every day, the meal is different and only 2-3 times per month, they serve fish (lucky for me!)

The best part of my week is going to the elementary school! They are so adorable and eager to learn English. During recess, all the kids put on baseball caps, color coded for their own class. It is really cute to see a whole flock of kids running outside with green, yellow, and red caps!

More to come! Hope you enjoy reading my blog! :)