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Published: August 21st 2006
Foliage
My school's hiding behind these trees somewhere! There's pretty much a jungle in the courtyard. It's beautiful!The last time I checked my e-mail was Thursday and although I didn't write a blog entry for that date, I did e-mail many of you. My week to that point had been pretty positive with only a slight crisis on Tuesday morning as I searched in vain for a bus that would take me to the office in Iwagawa (most of the buses had been halted for Obon - a Japanese summer holiday used to honour their dead relatives) and I was in a bit of a pickle until Andrew took pity on me and drove me to the office despite having the day off. That day happened to be my turning point for waiting to have other people organize my life for me and I ended up getting many things accomplished with the help of my supervisors.
In order not to strain your eyes too much with this entry, I'll pick up the string from Thursday. After logging off and paying for my time at the internet cafe I proceeded to bump into the owner of the cafe as I was heading out the door. We had met before through our mutual friend Stephanie (the New Yorker) and
Passage
Protection from the rain! he invited me to have a beer and a chat with him. My evenings are very free these days so I obliged and we sat discussing our life stories and dreams as best we could in a mix of English and Japanese for a couple of hours. He and I hadn't had much of a chance to talk when we had met previously and it was really nice to get to know him. It turns out his daughter is one of the most popular girls at Shibushi High School; I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her. Since he owns the cafe the beer was on the house, and he even drove me home after we had run out of energy for translation so I didn't have to walk in the "typhoon" rains. This typhoon was actually disappointing for all the new ALTs as it was more tame than some of the thunderstorms we've seen here, but I digress.
I ended the week on a high note, visiting Shibushi High School (a 2-minute walk from my house) instead of going to the Board of Education office in Iwagawa (a 30-minute bus ride). Summer classes had been cancelled
for the day in anticipation of the typhoon so I had the English teachers all to myself. The day was very relaxed and I actually spent the morning reading the english newspaper that gets delivered to the school. I know that I will soon tire of not having anything to do at the office or at school (apparently the teachers try to avoid team-teaching with Andrew because they are embarassed about making mistakes so he found himself with a lot of spare time last year) but it was very nice to catch up on what's happening in the world.
There was also a funny coincidence... When I walked into the English teachers lounge one of the new female teachers (Mai-sensai) commented on how we were the same age. In Japan that's a really auspicious sign for having good relationships (especially between men and women, though I suppose it applies to friendships too). Mai spent a year studying in Wisconsin and speaks really great English so we immediately hit it off. At noon all the English teachers decided to go to "Joyfull" (a western-style family restaurant that is prolific in Kyushu) for lunch and somehow we got to talking about
Home Road
The very bumpy road leading into Chirori Mura, the teachers' village. our ages. As it turns out, not only are Mai and I the same age, she is my Japanese twin - we were both born on November 11th! We got along well to start with but this revelation sealed our friendship and we ended up hanging out together most of the weekend.
Saturday was one of those anecdotal days that I will probably never forget. I had planned a trip to Kagoshima City to watch THE Natsu Matsuri (summer festival) fireworks of the season with some friends and we were scheduled to head out at about noon. Though I thought I had given myself ample time to catch the bus, I found myself racing through the streets of Shibushi trying to find the right bus stop to get to Iwagawa from whence we would carpool to the city. I thought I had the buses figured out after last week but as it turns out there are many buses that go from Shibushi to Iwagawa and they don't all come to the same stop. Cursing my ignorance of Kanji, I had to rely on word of mouth from kind pedestrians who were trying to refer me to the proper stop
Home
My little old house and car. using hand signals and many facial expressions. After speaking to about 10 different people, I finally managed to find the stop I needed to be at, only to realize that I was about 10 minutes too late. The next bus would only be there in another hour.
Having resigned myself to staying in Shibushi for the weekend, I began my walk home. I must have looked pretty flustered, though, because I hadn't walked more than two blocks when a truck driver stopped in mid-turn to ask if I needed help. I eeked out that I had been trying to get to Iwagawa but had missed the bus and was headed home. Then, much to my surprise he said that he was headed to Iwagawa; he had some business to attend to on the way but said that if I didn't mind waiting he would give me a lift. I know many of you would scold me for taking a lift from a stranger, but the alarm bells that would usually go off in my head remained silent.
To be honest, I hadn't really minded the thought of spending the weekend in Shibushi but decided that this might be
Japanese Dream
I even have a lawn! fate telling me that I should see the fireworks. So I hopped in and we headed off, stopping for about an hour at a grocery store where the driver had to unload his delivery and stock the shelves (I couldn't believe he had to do both!) As I waited for him to finish stocking I began to imagine the worst-case scenarios of what could happen to me in the hands of this stranger. I started to get impatient and considered going home but how could I realistically get myself back to Shibushi? I decided that my only option was to continue on in the truck. To his credit, the driver did let me use his cell phone to call my friends and tell them about my situation and he turned out to be a fine man ("very kind man" as he put it) with a wife and child in Kagoshima City, wanting nothing from me but to listen while he practiced his English. I was relieved to arrive in Iwagawa but his gesture reaffirmed my impression that the people down here are very kind indeed.
Once in Iwagawa, things went smoothly and Lucy and Joe (both first year ALTs
Entrance
It is spider-and-insect-laiden but a welcome site after a long day at the office nonetheless. from Britain) and I caught a ride with one of Joe's Japanese co-workers. As we entered Kagoshima City I called Mai, who had met up with another English teacher, Ai-sensai, and the bunch of us spent the afternoon and evening together, seeing the most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen (the Japanese must spend billions of dollars on their pyrotechnics) and having a great time. Although Lucy and I had planned to stay in the city overnight, we headed back with Joe and his friend with a promise from Mai that she would take us shopping in her city, Kanoya, the next day.
Although I was faintly worried that Lucy and I would have to go on yet another bus hunt, Iwagawa's stops were much easier to figure out and we had no trouble getting to Shibushi and then to Kanoya from there. As promised, Mai met us at our pre-determined station and we went laptop shopping for Lucy and then cellphone shopping for both of us. I will be eternally greatful to Mai for her help as it took us several hours to figure everything out even with a Japanese person there to assist! Once we were done
Toilet Room
Just a toilet in this room. Funny looking isn't it? Did I mention I also have salamanders living in my bathroom walls? shopping, Mai took us back to her house where her mom had cooked us an incredible dinner of traditional Japanese and Taiwanese dishes with sides of salad and rice (Mai's mom is Taiwanese and her dad is Japanese). I am going to ask Mrs. Setoguchi (Mai's mom) to adopt me while I'm here. To end the evening, Mai accompanied Lucy and I back to my place and helped us set up/figure out our phones before heading to Ai's house for the night.
And thus ended my most amazing week in Japan to date. I feel reassured to have made a couple of Japanese friends now. I think my experience will take on a whole new level of authenticity with their interepretation of the culture and their guidance on how to survive here. Mai has already volunteered to give me cooking classes, help me shop for a Yukata (basically a cheaper version of the kimono) and to come touring around Kyushu. I'm not sure how I'll be able to repay her for her kindness so if anyone has any ideas fire away!
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scotto-san
non-member comment
Glad to hear you're genki. Neat to see the home pics, it's have what I'd expect and half completely different! Glad to hear you're steadily making more and more friends. Considering you've probably seen fireworks competitions in Montreal before, Japan's must be pretty special to still amaze you!