Blogs from Kamijima, Ochi, Ehime, Japan, Asia - page 4

Last week was Missy’s last week in Japan. It was also Golden Week, which is a week of several national holidays strung together. So, we headed up to Gifu and Nagano prefecture in the middle of Honshu mainland where the Northern Japan Alps are located. We took the shinkansen as far as Nagoya city, and then changed to an express train that headed north into the mountains, to Takayama city. The train ride was beautiful as we rode deeper and deeper into the huge mountain range. The train mostly followed along this huge gorge with the clearest water rushing through it. Most of the towns we passed by consisted of not much more than flooded rice fields. When our train pulled into Takayama station, I was surprised by how big the city was (I guess ... read more

My friend, Missy, from back home in West Virginia has just come to visit me. We’re leaving this weekend for Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand (!!!), so I wanted to put one more blog entry in before our departure. We’re both really excited about our trip. I’m taking two weeks off for the spring break so that I can get out of the country for just a bit. Our plane flies into Singapore, then we will be making our way through Malaysia (by train and bus), and finally ending up in Thailand where we will be flying back to Japan from Phuket! So, I’ll be adding three new stamps to my passport all in two weeks! We don’t have any kind of set-in-stone itinerary, but places to where I’m definitely planning to go are Tama Negara ... read more

The big news this week is that I’m not only famous on Yuge Island anymore, now I’m famous in both Ehime and Hiroshima prefecture! My picture was in both the Ehime prefecture newspaper and the Hiroshima prefecture newspaper for teaching in the international school day (see previous blog). In the Ehime newspaper I was pictured playing my fiddle with several students singing “Soldier’s Joy.” And in the Hiroshima newspaper I was pictured dancing in a square dance with the students. I think I like the Hiroshima newspaper picture better, because it is larger and in color! Anyway, I took pictures of the articles, but they are still a bit difficult to see. So, last Friday at my junior high school, there was a special ceremony held, called the Shounenshiki. I asked Eri if these ceremonies take ... read more

Well, all feelings of a relaxing, stress-free life have now passed with the winter break. I’m now back to my daily routine of lesson preparation mayhem. It’s been a good couple of weeks being back at school though. Actually, I think all the free time I had during the winter break was starting to drive me crazy. So, the big event of the season, the Yuge Ekiden, happened last weekend. An ekiden is a long-distance relay race. They are held all over Japan throughout the months of December, January, and February. A lot of the more famous ones (like from Tokyo) are broadcasted on TV all the time. The Yuge ekiden is actually quite a large event, since many teams from all over Ehime Prefecture come. And, believe it or not, I ran in it! I ... read more

Happy Holidays everyone!!! No, I did not go back to the U.S. for the holidays. I guess Christmas was a little lonely without my family, but it actually turned out pretty nice. Christmas in Japan is similar to Halloween in Japan in that it is mostly a commercial holiday. Most of the same Christmas merchandise we buy in America can be found here too. Department stores start playing Christmas songs from the beginning of December and sell everything from Christmas chocolates to Christmas lights to Santa Clause costumes. The difference between Halloween in Japan and Christmas in Japan is that people actually know something about Christmas, and some people even celebrate it in their own Japanese way. So, it’s emergence in Japan is not solely for the purpose of commercial advancement (as Halloween seems to be). ... read more