So you read the date backwards?!

09.3.3 is the 'used by date' on my milk carton.  If today is the 5th March, it should still be good for a few more days - at least until the 9th, right? Wrong!  My milk expired on the 3rd March, 2009. While I'm able to make the necessary adjustments most of the time, before breakfast is not one of those times.  On Tuesday I smelt the milk and noticed that it was on it's last legs, but used it anyway, yesterday I also used it, (it wasn't great, but it didn't kill me), last night I looked at the carton and read the date - yep, no wonder it tasted off!!  This morning I had an apple for breakfast!!    

Happy birthday Paul, glad it's not past your "used by date"!   

The joys of downtime

One of the frustrating things about my job is the downtime.  This week, for instance, I had 2 full days of classes, but for the rest of the week students are doing exams, so there are no classes and I will spend the next three days sitting at my desk in the staff room amusing myself...

So, catching up on a bit of paperwork, talking with other teachers when I get the opportunity, reading, studying Japanese.... and writing blogs!  

So, after an hour, I've finished most of my paperwork, talked with teachers, looked up some Japanese and started a blog... it's going to be a long few days!  :P

Now leaving the gai-jin zone...

Well, it's been a busy week .... or two!  Had a great time with Mum and Ben, we played lots of cards, did lots of walking, did lots of sight-seeing, ate lots of strange things and had lots of fun.  Mum also took lots of photos!! 

Mostly we stayed close to home, but we did go to Osaka and Kyoto (on the big ferry).  At Osaka Castle a tour guide latched onto us and took us all around the outside gardens and buildings, telling us all the interesting stories.  He showed us a building which was a giant money box - literally - it was a treasury, built to survive natural disasters (especially fire) and very difficult to break into.  It even looked like a money box!  He also took us to this garden, where Dan took this photo (promised I would give him credit for it :P )  

It seems the fires in Australia are big news - all the Japanese people who talked to us asked if our homes were safe.    

We also went to Kyoto.  Kyoto was interesting - we stayed in a traditional Japanese Inn, ate a very interesting breakfast (dried, salted baby fish, tofu in broth, half  raw egg, a variety of pickles, miso soup and rice - the staff were rather surprised when we didn't finish all the food), dodged oh-so-many bicycles while walking on the footpath, found a New South Wales street directory in a bookshop and set off an alarm by trying to look inside a gate at a palace.   Setting off the alarm was rather disconcerting, but we noticed that the gardeners didn't even bat an eyelid, and figured that it must happen quite a bit.  This was reinforced by the four other people who set off the alarm while we were there.  The poor emperor - I wouldn't want to live close to that!!  

Anyway, we've left the gai-jin zone and back to being stared at.  It was nice to blend in for a few days.   

Today...

Mum and Ben have safely arrived in Japan and have been keeping busy.  We haven't done much yet - we went out for dinner with my teachers, went shopping, played cards all night, and done a little sight seeing.  Today Mum came with me to school.  I'm not sure she knew what she was getting herself into... She was asked to introduce herself to all the staff in their morning meeting.  She made good use of her small amount of Japanese and everyone was happy to meet her.  She came to my special education class, (we told them how she was looking after my cats and gave one of them a haircut! and then played games!!) and to a year 7 class.   After that she made her way to the station and will explore the countryside on a train.    

I'm only working a few days while Mum and Ben are around - I'm taking a few days off this week (11th Feb - my birthday - is a public holiday!) and I'll have next week off too.  It's been a long few weeks so I'm really looking forward to it.  And it will be fun looking around Japan more.  

We didn't spend much time in Tokyo, I had to go to work on Friday, but Ben and I did have a quick look around Akihabara, and decided that we will be spending a bit of time there on their way home. 

Traveling around Japan has been getting easier - even Tokyo wasn't all that difficult.  Who knows where I'll get to next week, but for the moment enjoying spending some time with Mum and Ben.  

I have to admit that this blog is a week or two old, but it was true then and nothing much has changed... so here it is.

Well, another week over.. this one has gone a bit slower than most.  Our third year students (Year 9 equivalent) are in their final few weeks of junior high school and are basically just preparing for entrance exams to get into senior high school, so I haven't had many classes with them.  

I think I've had on average about 3 classes a day.  

It has been very cold and rather wet (no snow this week!).  One of the disadvantages of wearing inside shoes at school is that I'm forever putting on cold shoes!  Shoes are kept in lockers in the front foyer - with the door open.  My shoes have been freezing!  No sooner do they become warm than I have to swap them for the cold pair!  

I have applied to do a Certificate of Education in Special Education, distance education through Flinders University.  I don't know whether I've been accepted or not yet, but that's the plan for my spare time at school.    

I've often toyed with the idea of doing special education and my time here has reinforced some of those ideas.  At both schools I am involved with students who have disabilities and/or learning difficulties.  I'm often surprised by the patience I have for students who are struggling.  I'm also been surprised that students have been willing to work with me even though it must be a bit scary for them to learn from someone who doesn't really speak their language.  I love seeing even very small improvements or an increase of their interest.  

Did I mention that I don't like the mayonnaise here?  I'm forever scraping it off sandwiches!!  (Eating lunch while writing this).

This week has been rather intense for the teachers (with lots of students sick, students smoking and running away to name a few) and I feel rather like I did at my first job - not really knowing what's going on..  It's been difficult knowing what to do in these situations.  At at the end of the day thinking that perhaps it's easier for the teachers to just let me do my own thing at those times.  That me helping isn't really much help at all.   

With that in mind I organised a Japanese tutor to really get my Japanese better.  While I've improved while living here (mostly listening) I'm still not very good and I think getting a tutor will be the best way to improve this.  First lesson is not for a fortnight (as fits around life..) but I'm looking forward to it.  One of my biggest problems with learning Japanese, is that their teaching isn't very flexible and they want to give me all the situations I can and can't use what they've taught me.  And yet, in real life they don't talk like that anyway!  So, hopefully this teacher will be more flexible... one can only try.    

Hyakunin-isshu (Traditional card game)

I spent my afternoon playing a traditional Japanese card game, which is apparently played in January.     

Cards are placed on the floor (about 100 - plus or minus).  They are covered in writing.   Yes, in Japanese writing (it was a good thing I remembered that Japanese writing goes top to bottom and right to left - or I would've really been stuck!).  The writing was the second half of a poem/song that was sang/chanted.  Obviously we had to match the card with the song.  Much easier said than done!  

It was difficult for a number of reasons - 1.  it was all Japanese to me :P  2. I had difficulty knowing where they were starting to sing the part on the card.  3. The students were all faster than me (I guess if didn't take them as long to translate the random sounds to writing) and some of the kids even knew the ending to the song before they got to the card!    

I have to admit that it was fun, it was also challenging, frustrating, uncomfortable (sitting on my legs for an hour and a half) and cold (my poor feet were frozen by the end of it).  I felt like I had quite a distinct disadvantage.  But I was pleased to be invited and included and for someone who doesn't know the language, I felt I did ok, picking up 2 cards and being slightly slow at 3 more (I was reading the card - making sure when a hand sneaked under my nose and got to it first).  So sad to be defeated by all these ichi-nen sai (year 7) kids! 

                      

I did a little more research and this is what I discovered....

About 750 years ago, a famous poet, Teika Fujiwara, selected 100 excellent poems among the poems written by the poets from the 7th to the 13th centuries. Hyaku-Nin-Isshu is 100 poems by 100 poets in Japan.

There's more info on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakunin_Isshu

Snow watching..

I guess, seeing as it was a Saturday morning, you all slept in and had a nice, quiet and relaxing morning.  Yes, I remember those days... Us on the other hand, were first disturbed before 8am, and then again at 8:30 and on and off all day by trucks with loud speakers on top.  It was probably just the communist party again, but boy was it annoying!  

But we were awake all morning, day and night to watch the snow...!  Our neighbours were probably laughing at us with just our heads poking out from the curtain.  We really were fascinated!  The snow changes direction so much due to wind, and it can fall different directions depending on where you're looking.  

Once again, looking like a silly gaijin, I took my camera and went for a walk.  It was really interesting and fun.  I wouldn't have been quite so cold if I hadn't forgotten to take my gloves, but the tingling has almost gone away and none of my fingers dropped off.