Summer begins!

Here are some of the fifth graders enjoying one of the last day of school:After graduation (for some reason I didn't take any good photos, sorry), Lori and I biked to Tenjin for ramen on the Nakasu River:


Here is a bowl of Fukuoka's famous tonkatsu ramen:
With my tenth graders on the last day of school:
The first graders invited me to their end-of-the-year party:
The staff also celebrated the last day of school:


Me and Kumi:
Me and Lori:
My friend Akino (in the middle below) is getting married soon so we had a special karaoke lunch party to celebrate. Masami and Jenny supported Akino's rendition of Celine Dion:
Our karaoke club: (back row) Fumiko, Mee, Me, Lori; (front row) Masami, Akino, and Jenny.
I'm looking forward to more karaoke next year and hope Akino comes back to visit us from Osaka. I'll be working on my Olivia Newton-John and other 70s hits!

I am currently at the airport in Seoul, en route to Beijing. I'd hoped to spend the night sleeping on the heated floor of a jimjilbang (spa), after a good soak, but alas, I was told there was no spa (at least in this terminal) and was directed to sleep in the "rest area". Incheon was recently voted "best airport in the world" and I was impressed by the free sleeping lounge, until the construction workers started up directly across from the lounge at 1:30am. Miserable, I am. I hope my trip to China is more enjoyable than my first night away from Japan. It's 5:41 and I have another three hours to wait for my flight. At least there is free wi-fi. I might go start looking for bibimbap for breakfast...

(End of) School Days...

While my school is ending this week, Japanese schools only began the academic year in April. Kindergarten students are easily recognizable by their bright yellow hats and backpacks.
We had two awards ceremonies at school today, one for elementary and one for the high school. Here is a wonderful 10th grader receiving the "Spirit of the School" award.
Me and my 10th grade ancient history class:

My Favorite Things About Japan

These are a few of my favorite things:

• Soaking in a hot tub at an onsen (natural hot spring), rotemburo (outdoor onsen), or spa center. Also, sand baths!
  
• Japanese people are incredibly nice and many, both friends and strangers, have gone way out of their way to help me.
• Festivals!
  
• Bicycles!
• The food: sushi, tempura, ramen, and my favorite: the all tofu restaurant.
  
• Beautiful gardens, temples, and shrines.
• Extreme appreciation of flowering trees.
• Every town has a local specialty food and everybody knows it.
• The smell of fresh tatami (straw mats).
• Traditional Japanese inns, or super clean youth hostels.
• Efficient public transportation.
• Volcanoes!
• Karaoke!
  

Observations on Japanese culture...

A few months ago my friend Emma was doing a school assignment on Japanese culture and asked me to share my thoughts on the subject. As I wrap up my first year teaching in Japan, I thought I'd share some of that email here, updated for your enjoyment:

• Japanese people work and study very very hard. Kids go to school and then they go to school after school and then they go to another school until late at night everyday, it seems. They wear horrid uniforms and have strict rules about haircuts and makeup and they just study study study. Then they get into university and they don't have to study anymore. Apparently Japanese universities are very lax and students are not really expected to do anything. They just party party party. And suddenly become very fashion-conscious. Then after university they get jobs and work very hard again, but continue to party and drink a lot with their work colleagues after work. Unless they are women. Then they get jobs and must also work very hard taking care of their families. I am generalizing, of course, but it is striking to me how different the gender roles are in Japan compared to in America, or Portland, at least.
  
• Japan is very safe. It was very strange to me that they don't use credit cards or even have ATMs open all hours, so one is expected to carry around huge wads of cash at all times. Very twentieth-century. And yet very safe. I will leave hundreds of dollars of yen in my wallet on my desk at school or in my purse on my table at a coffee shop and leave it without any worry.
• Japan has some very high tech things but is also way behind the states. I have not encountered public wi-fi anywhere. People are addicted to their cell phones but the Starbucks is virtually laptop-free. Cell phones are equipped with special scanners so you can get contact information from your friends' phones or directions to businesses that include bar codes on their advertisements.
• There are no garbage cans in Japan, it seems. But there is also very little litter on the streets. Another paradox of Japanese living...
• Everything is wrapped in plastic. If you buy a plastic bag full of snacks, the snacks are also individually wrapped in plastic. It is way too much plastic for me, and it is incinerated with other combustible trash to produce energy for the city. I don't know how that works, but this is how someone explained the waste management system to me.
• Japanese people are very kind and will go out of their way to help you. But they are also very shy and will not speak English to you unless they are super-confident, even though every one has studied English in school. Drunk old men will suddenly remember how to speak English, though.
• People don't seem especially interested in politics, perhaps because the society functions pretty well without any major controversial issues. So a few corrupt politicians seem to run the country and there is a new prime minister every year. The only young people who seem interested in politics are the mysterious members of right-wing nationalist cults, who sometimes parade around town marching with giant flags.
  
• Japanese people are super-polite, except when they are protected by the anonymity of the driver's seat. Even though half the population seems to commute by bicycle, cars will often pull into the crosswalk right in front of cyclists. I'm surprised I don't see more accidents. There doesn't seem to be any organization to sidewalk traffic, either. Cars here drive on the left side of the road, but cyclists ride all over the sidewalk, weaving through pedestrians. Cyclists can carry umbrellas, cigarettes, and/or cell phones in one hand which navigating through pedestrians with the other.
  
• Not all buildings are equipped with wheelchair access, but the entire city is laced with bumpy sidewalk-braille for the blind.
• Forms must be filled out properly. They seem more anal about this than in the States. Black pen only. No crossed-out mistakes. And your signature must be the same, always. It is your seal, unless you have an official stamp seal.
  
• Vending machines are ubiquitous.
• One is expected to bring back souvenirs from vacations and weekend excursions, usually a box of treats of some local specialty. On many Mondays there will be a box of such treats (wrapped individually in plastic, of course) on the table in the staff lounge at school. I need to pick up this generous habit next year.
  
• 95% of meals out are eaten with disposable wooden chopsticks.
• Teachers in Japanese public schools miss one of the greatest pleasures of teaching (in my opinion): vacation. Seriously, they never take vacation. The school year begins in April and I think they only get national holidays off plus a brief break from kids in March. Apparently there is pressure to work through this break and any other non-school days. They work super-long hours, too, often visiting their students' families in the evenings. I love teaching, but I don't think I could do it with the much-needed breaks!
  
• Baseball is practically a national religion here. Every boy plays baseball, every mom spends each weekend attending their sons' baseball games, and everyone loves going to the professional games, it seems.
• Speaking of sports teams, when the students at the junior high next to my school aren't playing baseball outside, they are marching and/or chanting. There is something creepy about this military-style activity.
  
• The Japanese women I know will not drive if they have had even one sip of alcohol.
• Most Japanese people I know have never traveled to China, but nearly all of them have been to Hawaii.
• Many businesses advertise by paying people to hand out free tissue packets stamped with their logo on the street. If you need tissues for your purse, just walk along the sidewalk downtown.
• To express surprise, people make a noise that sounds like Scooby Doo. I cannot type this sound for you, but it is one of the only things I can "say" in Japanese.
• Traveling in Japan can be very expensive, and there are hardly any budget flights, except for your birthday, when you and 3 friends can take a one-way flight anywhere in Japan for about $100 each.
  

Random Japan...

Here are some of the things I've seen in the last week, as my first school year in Japan draws to a close:
Yesterday Lori and I went to the Hakozaki Flea Market, where I looked for souvenirs to bring home to friends and family. It was also good for people watching! I want to take more pictures of random Japanese people, to capture their style which is quite distinct, but I often wimp out. My 2009-2010 school year resolution will be to take more/better such pictures, of ladies like this, for instance, protecting their delicate skin from the summer sun:
Or perhaps I could take up drawing, like this guy, sitting on the ramparts of the old castle sketching the first lotus blooms of the summer:
Lotus! Good to look at and to eat!
Fukuoka has more hair salons per capita than any other city (according to my eyes and corroborated by my hair dresser). So why not choose a salon called Beer?
The sun came out yesterday, but the humidity is still mild, so the sidewalks were full of bikers. (Fully dressed bikers, alas, as this is no Portland!)
Do you think I could pull off this look?
I've had a persistent cough so I went to a doctor, who looked at my throat for 30 seconds then gave me a bag full of pills and these handy instructions:

Movin on up!

Last winter, on a day when I was feeling rather cold, lonely, and miserable, I noticed a ray of light shining through the clouds, hitting the balcony of the upstairs apartment. Since then I dreamed of moving upstairs, and this week I had my chance. Here is a shot of my old place:
And here is a shot of my new place! I am now on the third floor of the same building where I've been living on the ground floor since August. It is brighter, breezier, and has a view!It's not a beautiful view, but it is a view. My old view included a wall and a parking lot. Now I can see the hills in the distance (and the expressway).
I love all the light and the cross breeze! This is my tatami room:
And here is my bedroom:
The view from my bedroom into the living/dining room:
The view from the kitchen to the living room:
The view from the kitchen into my bedroom:
The bathroom even has more light!
I am so grateful to friends who helped me move, and the landlord for making this possible. The landlord also provided extra manpower to move the heavy items. In just two days I pretty much completed the move. I had a little party to celebrate and hope to have many more next year. Now I just have to pack for the summer and I look forward to living in my new penthouse digs in the fall!