In an Instant we were there

Living in Japan for the last 6 weeks has been an amazing experience for Janice. She’s met lots of people, traveled across most of the country to some of its biggest cities, and eaten almost every style of food that Japan has to offer. What’s good for her has also been great for me. I’ve basically been able to do everything (and then some) that I did in my first month here, but with the added wisdom that being here for 6 months has brought me. Also, it is Janice that has taken over the role of wide-eyed astonishment, while I get to be her somewhat seasoned guide.

Also, because she is new to Japan, all of the Japanese people that I know and that have grown bored of my particular breed of foreigner, treat Janice with the same great hospitality that I received when I first arrived. Not only does she offer a fresh perspective on where we come from, but she also has such fresh enthusiasm for everything Japanese. It probably doesn’t hurt that she has light hair and blue-green eyes. I sometimes imagine that the Japanese people around me feel partially ripped off by the fact that their foreign Assistant Language Teacher doesn’t look quite like the North Americans that they are used to seeing in the movies. As such, the two of us have been invited to many dinners and have been afforded great hospitality over the last few weeks.

One teacher I work with offered to take us for sushi in Onahama the other night. I had been in the area a few times before where there is a massive building on the water that sells fresh seafood. One of the Japanese people that I was there with mentioned that this is the market where many people will shop at when they come to Onahama; the locals that live in the area however, know that the fish is usually cheaper and fresher at a smaller location just off the water across the street. I was delighted when we found out that the sushi place we were going to was just above this market.

Not only was the fish delicious – I had a tuna sushi donburi, while the other two had a sushi sampler with many kinds of sea foods over rice – but the teacher we were with also brought her new Fujifilm Instax camera. A year or so ago, Polaroid discontinued all production of their instant film cameras and film and now, in reaction to this massive hole in the instant photo market, Fujifilm is filling the void. I’ve never owned an instant film camera – and neither has anyone close to me. In fact, the only film camera that I owned was one that I bought about 6 years ago, which I replaced with my first digital camera about a year or two later. Now in the year 2010, I’m seriously considering buying my first instant film camera, which seem reasonably cheap.

We took a few photos of each of us as we ate, and we ended up with four of them by the end of the night. I think they look great. I’ve included some images that I took of the photos while they’re still here in Japan. The two photos with each of Janice and I are my favorites and I think they look great together on my kitchen table. Unfortunately, one of the photos will be leaving on a plane in the next few days and they won’t have a chance to be seen beside each other for another 6 months.

Asuka II, Seafood, and Touch Rugby

A cruise ship came into port in Onahama today. Because one of my schools is a fishing school and works closely with the harbour, a few teachers and students were invited for a tour of the ship. I was lucky enough to receive an invitation.

One of my JTEs was kind enough to pick me up and drive me to the harbour. We wanted to see the ship come in, so we met up at 7:45 this morning. I woke up at 7:00 thinking that 45 minutes should be enough time to get ready. Unfortunately, after last night’s festivities at the bar, showering and putting clothes on took me all of 50 minutes to accomplish. I didn’t even have time for breakfast.

On the drive to Onahama, my JTE surprised me with some Canadian music. He had Metric playing on the radio, which took me back home and helped to ease my throbbing mind. Good for you Metric for getting exposure in Japan.

In preparation for the ship’s arrival, a festival had been organized and thousands of people went to see the ship come in. We saw a few other teachers there and managed to get some delicious festival food – I’d say even more delicious than the usual festival fare; There was lots of fresh seafoods, soba noodles made on the spot from buckwheat, breads, mochi… I could go on.

The ship itself is called Asuka II and it is pretty amazing. Some people have told me that it is the largest ship in Japan, but I wasn’t able to confirm this with a few Google searches. I do know that it has 8 decks. It is a big ship; it may be larger than the aquarium that we went to a couple of weeks ago, and which it had docked beside.

We enjoyed, with a few thousand people, watching the ship get moored and the passengers lined along the rails waiting to disembark for the day. We were of a privileged few that actually got to go for a tour. I don’t think that I saw anyone else who got to visit in the time that we were there.

As for the inside, it was fancy. The place looks more like a fancy hotel than something that floats. It features its own bars, ballroom, casino room, theatre, swimming pools, tennis court, fitness room, etc. My favorite part was going up to the bridge where we had a view of the harbour.

After the tour, we walked through the festival stalls for a bit. Had fish burgers for lunch and my JTE got some crab miso soup, complete with half a crab. I also got to go to the fish market, which was new to me. I ate a delicious freshly shucked – right in front of me, oyster. I think that I will try to ride my bike out there one day and pick up some fresh fish.

Once we finished our tour of the market, we went to a nearby park where several others were having a picnic and playing touch-rugby. We spent the afternoon there and now I am home and exhausted. Tonight should be an early night for me. I’ve started watching Battlestar Galactica and my only complaint is that I didn’t start watching it sooner.

Global Citizens Festival

I've been pretty busy over the last week. I realized that i have my Japanese exam in about a month and a half and i am no where near ready, so i've been trying to put more effort into my studies.

Last weekend, i went to the Global Citizens Festival, which was held in Iwaki this year. It is organized by one of the JET Coordinators in Fukushima and many ALTs participate. It took place on the waterfront in Onahama and featured several performances, activities, a market, and a gathering of NGO's in the area. The coordinator asked me to take a ton of photos, so a ton of photos i took. Here are a few that i thought turned out well.

There was also a woman performing at the festival who became a bit famous in Japan for her Fyakitori dance. I had the pleasure of going to dinner with one of my JTEs and her family. Her 8-year old daughter was a big fan of the song and dance -- although the mother had never heard of it. You can watch a video of the dance here: Fyakitori dance. You can also see a photo of her below, where she is wearing the same clothes as the video. The song -- and i imagine the dance, is quite infectious.

On another note, we were playing a word game in one of my classes the other day. The game consists of writing a list of words where each word begins with the letter that corresponds to the last letter of the last word. Teams race each other to come up with the most words. In one particular round, I asked them to only list adjectives. One of the responses that came from a small girl who sits around middle left in one of my classrooms, came up with the word, "shiteating." The JTE couldn't be in the class at the time, so I did my best to try and explain this word to the class, but i don't think they understood.