Blogs from Kamijima, Ochi, Ehime, Japan, Asia - page 2

January was a musical month. On January 20th I taught classes at the second annual International School Day. It was held on the island next to me that belongs to Hiroshima Prefecture. This is the same event at which I taught square dancing last year. It is an event sponsored by the rotary club for junior high school students in Hiroshima Prefecture, and is meant to be a kind of international exchange experience without spending all the money to actually go abroad. The classes can be about almost anything as long as there is no Japanese used. It is supposed to make the students realize that English is more than just a school subject and can actually be useful for learning other interesting things. It’s also a good opportunity for the students as they almost never ... read more

It’s been a couple of weeks since my winter break, but I’ve been so busy with the new semester that I haven’t had time to write anything about my trip to Okinawa. I did so many things and took so many pictures there, that I have decided to break this entry up into two parts. The first half of my trip was in the capital city, Naha, on the main island of Okinawa. The second half of my trip was spent on a much smaller island southwest of the main island of Okinawa. Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture of Japan, located in the subtropics and made up of hundreds of islands that stretch all the way from mainland Japan to Taiwan in the East China Sea. A very long time ago, Okinawa was its own kingdom, ... read more

Just before it started to get really cold her and winter came to stay, I took a three-day weekend trip to the Iya Valley region in Mideastern Shikoku. I had been there once before last summer when I went white water rafting in the beautiful Yoshino River. At the time I thought it looked like such a beautiful place for hiking, but I was with a group and we were on a time limit. So, I decided to return to this region by myself and hike around a bit. Besides the surprisingly clear Yoshino River and the beautiful Iya Valley, there are a couple other interesting places to visit here. There is Mt. Tsurugi at 1,955 meters (maybe about 6,000 feet?), and three of the only remaining “kazurabashi,” or suspended vine bridges, in Japan. These vine ... read more

“Where have you been today then?” I asked him. “We took the 4th and 5th years to the Asahi Beer factory for a school trip”, he replied. “How delightful!” I replied. So, another week. They fly by as the seasons tick by and the cool air begin to change the leaves a beautiful shade　of red and orange and amber once again. I never really had any opinion on autumn in England, or as I now like to call it Britain, (wild!) except that it was sandwiched in between summer and the cold and it spelled the beginning of the inevitable winter. The fact that it used to be the beginning of another school year and that the clocks would suddenly reverse, probably made me not like it very much either, however, Japan has made me grow ... read more

As I explained last year, Halloween is a very popular thing in Japan, but only commercially. Japanese people don’t actually celebrate the holiday in any way other than buying things like little plastic jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin cakes. Still, I can tell that Japanese people are really interested in the holiday and think it’s a fun idea. It’s just they don’t really understand what it’s all about, just like Americans might want to celebrate Oktoberfest or Cinco de Mayo but don’t understand what the holiday is. In fact, I’m sure many Americans don’t understand why we celebrate Halloween either. And why wouldn’t Japanese people want to learn more about Halloween? It’s such a fun holiday that countries all over the world are starting to celebrate it even if it isn’t traditionally a part of their culture. So, ... read more