Last Tuesday the 20th was the last full day of work for Brad and I until September 1st. So with the weather being excruciatingly hot (in the 90s and really humid), we've been staying indoors and studying some but also enjoying what our little city has to offer. This last weekend our city had a little block party/festival. I'm not sure what the purpose of the festivals are but almost every city has one at some point throughout July or August. This was a shinto festival that started at the shrine right by our house.
I apologize ahead of time since I'm not a very good videographer.
This is where all the floats were stored and where the processional began.
Pictures of the Shrine:
There are foxes on either side of the shrine and in front of it. They watch over the shrine. You're supposed to throw change into the box in the middle.
These gates are at the entrance of every shrine. I don't have a picture of it but there is a gigantic one that goes over the road at the entrance to this shrine by our apartment.
This is the main street where the festival was happening and also the street that I take to get to school every day. And by the way--the octopus is good!
This is one of the floats (it started near our house) that goes around the city. Again I'm not sure what it symbolizes but it's cool all the same. Although that was a kind of a creepy dance by the guy... Anyway, the cart is made out of wood and pulled by people holding onto 2 gigantic ropes. There were about 2 or 3 of these carts going around.
These were portable shrines that different groups were carrying around the town. I'm not sure what they're chanting but there is a bell at the top of the shrine and apparently the more times that it is rung, the more good luck you have. It was fun to see but by the looks of the people carrying it also very hot, heavy and difficult! By the way, it is customary for the women to wear yukatas (these are the summer versions of kimonos) and the men wear happis. Not everyone follows this tradition but there were still a fair amount of people dressed up. The students that I ran into at the festival said they hated wearing their yukatas!
Brad was at an enkai (drinking party with his elementary school teachers) so I went to the festival by myself, but our city has another Brazilian festival coming up in another week and a half. On Brad's way home and at the end of the festival, it decided to start pouring down rain. Brad got stuck at the train station for an hour in the downpour, and even felt the heat of a lightening strike nearby! The power went out all over the city and subsequently the rest of the festival was canceled. Luckily I was able to get a plastic bag to cover the camera with and then I ran home sopping wet. This is a video of a similar rainstorm that we had a few weeks ago--when it rains, it pours!
This is the festival we went to in Omiya with Chris last weekend:
These are parents and kids holding a small version of a portable shrine. The girl in the front is fanning them with a big paper fan.
This guy was awesome and gave us free beer and food. We didn't know it at the time but he is also a close friend of Chris' boss.
Mini portable shrine (what the kids carried)
Me with some girls dressed in yukatas.
How cute!
And we can't finish the night without some good 'ol kareoke. Chris won the sheet at a claw game earlier--I think she was helping us sing. ;)
Anyway, thats what we've been up to lately. More fun to come!
I've learned some interesting cultural differences over the past couple months. Recently I learned that a person's blood type has a lot of weight when it comes to whether or not you are compatible with a company or a potential partner. What?! Here's some info that I found.
Brief summary: there is no scientific data that blood type has anything to do with personality however it is still a popular subject especially in matchmaking. Magazines and morning news shows have blood type horoscopes and in 2008 there were 4 books outlining blood type characteristics in the top 10 best selling books in Japan.
And coincidently all teachers have Type A blood (earnest, creative, sensible).
Moving on... While my principal has limited English skills and I have even less Japanese skills, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him because he more than a lot of other teachers has made me feel welcome and comfortable at the school. Because of my lack of Japanese skills I miss a lot of what happens around me at school. I noticed that he had been gone for a few days but I didn't think too much about it because the principal is gone a lot of times to attend different conferences and meetings. I learned however, that his father-in-law had just passed away. I learned this as he was passing out gifts of food on everybody's desk. When I asked about this I was told that all the teacher's had given money to help pay for the funeral costs. Apparently whenever anybody has a wedding, birth or death in the family the teacher's pool their money together to help cover costs. This gift was a way of thanking the teachers. I had no idea what was going on and didn't contribute any money but he still gave me a gift. What a nice gesture from everybody!
This is the "thank you" omiyage that my principal gave to everyone. It had 4 different snacks in it. Usually omiyage consists of only 1 snack.
It is now almost the start of our summer vacation. Woohoo! We still get paid for the full month of July but our last day of school is Tuesday (although we're still on call--we could be called in to sub or help with a speech contest). Then we have the full month of August off. I have signed up to take the GRE on the 10th. It is a test that most graduate programs require for entry. I thought that I would be able to apply for PT school while I was here but that probably isn't going to happen. Most PT schools narrow down potential students from the applications turned in and then do a campus tour and interview to determine whether or not they want you in your program. And they don't do phone interviews...so that's that. My GRE score is good for 5 years and I'll be able to shadow some in-patient and out-patient PT facilities making me eligible for more programs when we return. So much for my 1 year off turning into 3!
Brad and I are planning some fun adventures for August though! Hopefully we'll go to Tokyo Disney Sea, and have an overnight BBQ at a cabin on the river that Yuta (Chris' former student who took us skiing earlier this year) is putting together, and we also booked a couple nights at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn where they cook you food and they have a natural hot springs) in Nikko.
Although I've heard of the term before, I've never really done any research or known about UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Unknowingly Brad and I have already visited 3 World Heritage Sites in Japan and will add a 4th when we go to Nikko in August.
I'll leave you with some funny pictures:
We went shopping for funny t shirts to give to our family. These took honorable mention.
Build a Happy Feeling: Happiness flows from heart to heart and from breast to breast.
I <3 ice cream and kisses
Apparently "Silence is a Woman's Best Garment"
For the golf lovers in the family. :)
some cool 3D nail art that we saw on the train
We finally found an import store near us that has a good collection of Mexican food. We had everything else ready and then went to get our $3 can of refried beans ready and realized we didn't have a can opener. (We debated getting one earlier, when we first moved in.) There's nothing that a pair of scissors and a knife to scoop out the beans can't do! (We also have to slice the cheese instead of shredding it because we didn't get a shredder either. But don't worry, they do have those. We're just lazy and haven't gotten them yet!)
June is rainy season, and while it hasn't been too rainy man-oh-man has the humidity hit. This is when I know I'm a Colorado girl through and through--my lungs need air! Cool, crisp, thin, dry air, not the water that is air here. When Brad and I first landed at the airport in February I was almost gasping for breath as I got used to the thick, humid air here. Now it is a million times worse and its only supposed to get worse.
I have to ride my bike to school everyday, there is absolutely no other option. It takes about 20 minutes give or take to ride to school. I start by our apartment, cross the train tracks, wrestle with the morning traffic of main street and then finish in the countryside by my school, but not before I have to make it up 1 big hill. It really isn't that bad and honestly I like that I have no other option because it feels so good to have actually done something at the end of the day. However, because of the humidity I can't even get to school without being soaked in sweat. So now I change into my work clothes once I get to school. I also "love" when its raining out and I get to wear my nice plastic pants and rain coat and then bike to work. It's illegal to ride your bike with an umbrella here but everyone still does it. It makes biking in the rain a fun game, let's see how many people we have to dodge with umbrellas today... Oh the pluses and minuses...
Last week the students had club tournaments, therefore they had no classes on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday and were out throughout the city playing against other Junior High Schools in the area. To be sure, it was incredibly boring for me since there wasn't anything for me to do but I did get the chance to be personally escorted by the principal to watch tennis matches, a baseball game, a soccer game, and a volleyball game on Thursday. And I got paid to do it which is a definite plus. The students put so much time into their club activities that is was a fun chance to see them do their best!
Today at the morning staff meeting I noticed a spider on the blackboard directly behind me. It was huge and gigantic and probably one of the most active spider's I've ever seen! It was going up and down the blackboard and then started making its way across the bulletin board and onto the wall and it was all I could to to stay still and silent during the meeting as it slowly made its way closer and closer to me. (Although I did scoot my chair around to the other side of my desk. After the meeting I briefly reflected on what would happen if I didn't kill it, but then I came to the conclusion that I would not be able to work if I didn't know where the spider went. For all I know it could be in my bag by the end of the day just waiting to ambush me later on. I also briefly thought about Buddha and his teaching but then I figured that a lot of Japanese people aren't strict followers. But just to be sure I called my principal's name and had a wad of kleenex in one hand and my shoe in the other. I pointed to the spider and was about to kill it when the principal stopped me, grabbed the kleenex from me and carried the spider outside by its thread. Then in broken English and Japanese sentences he said something about Buddha and I went on with my day. Later in the afternoon he handed me a sheet of paper and told me to have one of my English teachers translate it. They weren't able to translate it very well but did say it had something to do with a spider and Buddha. I just did the research and I'm pretty sure this is the story he wanted me to read.
Now I feel bad. But what can I do? I hate spiders, and I don't want to kill them, but I also don't want them to bite me or crawl on me when I'm not looking. It is also spider infestation season now too. To be truthful, I've had to get over my fear of spiders a little bit because otherwise I wouldn't be able to go outside at all. But my bike has to be stored in spider city at our apartment so I have to brave the webs and potential spiders hiding in my bike. (One time there was one hiding in the bell on my bike and decided to crawl onto my had as I was riding down the road...nearly lost control!!) Also I try to ride on the street rather than the little pathways to the side because the spiders like to make webs across there too. (But I also don't like riding there because it's narrow and I have to balance my bike between the drain and the road which takes a lot of concentration and if I lost control I would likely bang up my knee pretty bad on the guardrail. Yeah, Japan needs to learn how to make side walks like the US.) So anyway I guess I'll just have to hope that not too many spiders come my way so I don't have to debate the moral dilemma of me getting work done or me going to hell. Who knew I'd be getting life lessons at school?
One more thing...Brad and I take our clothes to the dry cleaners every once in a while and in the process have met a really cute girl named Ringo who goes to the all girls high school right down the street. She is a Junior and loves speaking English with us. We have now become pen pals and are writing letters back and forth. She invited us to her school's open house this last weekend so we went and had a look around. Their open house is like after prom at high schools at home. They go all out with decorations and have food, crafts, and games for sale to benefit all the different clubs. Each room had a different theme and was dedicated to one club activity. There were the regular clubs like sports, but they also had an ikebana club (flower arranging), history club, English club, photography club, calligraphy club (they had a cool video of a calligraphy performance too-the students would dance and write at the same time, very cool!) and many other clubs. I also saw cursive hiragana for the first time. Ringo couldn't even read it!
Just watch this video from about 0:45 to 3:00.
We had a pretty relaxing weekend, no big plans but I did finally sign up to take my GRE test. (August 10th--yikes!) We also solidified plans to travel to Nikko during our month off in August. Nikko has many famous temples but is probably most know for the monkeys that "hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil". We will hopefully be staying in a cool traditional Japanese style inn that serves traditional meals and has a hot springs pool. Very excited!
