Blogs from Sendai, Miyagi, Japan, Asia - page 2

Orommel mondhatom, hogy sikerult foltoltenem 156 kepet (a 3200-bol) a netes fotoalbumba, es el is kuldtem tegnap a meghivokat. Aki nem kapta volna meg, kerem, irjon az email-cimemre, es megoldjuk. Itt kovetkezik a folytatas az utolso elotti nap tortenetevel. A hangya es tarsai utan is jol tudtam aludni, nem voltak remalmaim sem :) Reggel kicsit kesobbre kerult az indulas, mert csak a 10 utan kicsivel indulo vonatra volt helyjegy, es ezt a vonatot csak helyjeggyel lehet igenybe venni. Szerencsere erre a napra meg ervenyes volt a hetijegyem - foleg jol jott a jegyarat tekintve. Nagyjabol 2.5 oras vonatozas utan (shinkansen) megerkeztem Sendaiba, Japan keleti oldalan talalhato kisvarosba, ami elsosorban a kozeli termeszeti szepsegekrol hires, ezert is mentem oda. A Csendes-ocean partjan van, es itt talalhato egy kulonleges es talan egyedulallo szigetvilag kis, feheres szinu sziget... read more

I love my students. Especially my Mom students. They are so welcoming and willing to share anything that they think I would find interesting. Since I have already done some study on Japanese culture and language, they like to ask me questions about what I think about certain aspects of Japanese culture, and it's great for class. Tonight I had a Mom that only has a 30 minute lesson and all we do is talk. Sometimes our conversations are a bit strained because her English is a bit low, but tonight it was a great night. I shared my plans for Golden Week, which is totally planned and reserved, and she asked me, "Do you know what today is?" Since I had no idea I told her so and she said, "It's the Hina Matsuri". The ... read more

Earlier this week, one of my JTs asked me, "Are you going to the Aoba Matsuri?" Which I responded with a, "Is that what all the flags are around the city?" Needless to say, the Aoba Matsuri is a big event in Sendai. My JT told me that the Aoba Matsuri is to celebrate Date Masamune, I believe. There is also a special dance that is performed. The Aoba Matsuri webpage says, Sendai Suzume Odori Contest(Yoi) It is said that stonecutters danced Suzume Odori (a dance with gestures of sparrows ) at a celebration for building Aoba-jo Castle in the days of Date Masamune, and that it was the beginning of Suzume Odori. Three kinds of the dance are performed in this festival: Kosuzume Odori(a dance by children,) Butai Odori(a dance on the stage) and Nagashi ... read more

One of the things I had wanted to do while visiting Japan was to attend a baseball game over here. There aren't too many countries outside of the US where baseball is as greatly appreciated and played. I hadn't been to a game in years and I was eager to see what the Japanese take on America's past-time might be like. Before I could decide on which team I would go see, a little good luck was blown my way. Matt and I were out in a pub in Nagoya after an event-filled day, which is another story all together, when we met another American, Bob. Bob had been living in Japan for about 12 years and happened to know one of the coaches for the Sendai Eagles baseball team. He told us he could get ... read more

I am sorry for the late update but it has been a little crazy around Sendai the last week. Well, Christmas has come and gone for me but I must say that it has been an amazing one. This was my first Christmas away from home and I must say, since I'm not in the US it sorta flew by without much thought on my part. When your in the US you hear Christmas music from the end of November until Christmas. In Japan there is, obviously, no Christmas music to be heard. I never really thought that I was so conditioned to think, "hey it's Christmas" when I heard Christmas music until I came here. My co and her predecessor decided to have a Christmas Eve bash at my co's apartment. At around 3:30 I ... read more