School enkai =)

Ok, I am really really behind w/ this picture a day thing. Anyway, I better document my first school enkai for the new school year. It was supposed to be some time last month, but we had to cancel because there was a typhoon. After some re-scheduling, we had our enkai yesterday.

Not many teachers signed up for this enkai. Out of the 60 something staffs, only 15 showed up. We had yakiniku and of course, nomihodai. I always get a bit nervous going to school enkais because I usually don't interact with the teachers a lot on a daily basis, so I wasn't sure how it would be like. Yesterday, I sat with my school secretary and 2 other young teachers. I'm glad the secretary went because she is the person whom I chat with the most in school. She is cool, nice, and cute! =) Although I sit in front of one of the young teachers, we don't talk much. However, I could see those 2 young teachers...the "boys", would be fun to talk to. We had a good time chatting during dinner. It was fun. =)

Well, what's a Japanese party w/o nijikai (2nd party)????? A few teachers, including the secretary, went home after the enkai. I was going to go too, but after finding nijikai was karaoke and the 2 young teachers were going, I went as well. Actually I think going to a karaoke box wasn't really for the karaoke, but more for the chatting. We had another nomihodai and 2 hours of karaoke session. After we went in the room, everyone was just chatting. As a karaoke person, I was thinking to myself......"why isn't anyone choosing song????" Well, since I was just a small potato in the group (vice principal was there too....), I didn't say anything. I sang "Edge of Glory" by Gaga since they asked me to choose a song. Ugh, bad choice....cuz my voice wasn't ready yet. Oh well, it was fun. Haha! People slowly chose more songs. It was fun.

THEN, another teacher came. He was......MY PREVIOUS JTE! Haha, I still remember I was a bit scared of him....and he gave me various "surprise" teaching incidents before he transferred to another school. Haha, we were both happy to see each other! Well, since I was surrounded by all Japanese people, we had to sing Japanese songs. With the help of one of the young teachers, we sang one of my favorite songs by Funky Monkey Babys - あとひとつ. Haha, somehow I surprised the teachers by being able to sing Japanese songs. My ex-JTE, Mr. H., was surprised and said my Japanese became very good. XD Haha, thank you for your compliment. Later on, he sat beside me and we were chatting. I've never really chatted with this JTE before. In fact, I've never really had good chats with any of my JTEs other than my supervisor. Haha, like he said, alcohol loosens up people.

It was a great chat. He was like..."I can't tell if you're Japanese or Canadian anymore!" He said that he was happy to see me grow as a person. I am not as "shy" as before, and I'm more active in social settings, according to Mr. H. Haha, I will continue to improve my Japanese! Well, since I'm leaving next year, I've gotta get the most out of this opportunity!! =) At last, a teacher chose a song from ゲゲゲの女房. A few teachers asked if I knew the song, and I ACTUALLY DID KNOW THE SONG!! Haha, a teacher had a mic and I had the other mic. I was singing w/ Mr. H. It was very interesting. At last he said, "I'm glad I came!" Awww, that was so sweet! I was glad I went too!! =)

Haha, when a few of us were walking towards the subway station, the younger teachers and I were saying we should do karaoke next time again! They said they are going to practice some English songs. Haha! tooooo funny.

It was definitely a great evening! It's great to chat with my colleagues outside of work...cuz it seems like that's usually the time when I could chat with my colleagues.

Thanks, God! You always give me pleasant surprises. 真是超乎我所求所想！！ =)

Day ??? - 2nd birthay in Japan

October 2, 2011

Ohhhh my... yea, haven't updated for the LONGEST time! Well, I'll slowly catch up. =P Wow, it's my birthday again! Where did time go??? I still remember Amanda, Winsy, Sophie and I went for pancake last year...then we chilled at Sophie's for the afternoon. Dinner was a solo meal at Royal Host. It was good.

A year has passed, and this year, I was very very very very fortunate to have a group of awesome friends celebrating my bday with me. =) Thank you sooooooooooooo much for planning and organizing the party, Hung and Mayu!!!!! I love you guys! =) and of course, thank you alllllllllllll who spent my bday w/ me and/or sent greetings to me. What you guys have done are very very heart warming. I'm tooo fortunate, tooo blessed. =)

Sooooooo Oct. 1...It wasn't my bday yet, but that's when the activities started. =) Melissa and I had a spontaneous shopping day at the Mitsui outlet mall near Sendai port. Seeing an outlet mall reminds me of the West! When I went in the Coach store, I just felt like I was in the States. We first had something to eat to get some fuel, then we did our own shopping. Haaaa, we were supposed to meet in an hour, but both of us figured we needed more time, so 1 extra hour it is! Well, since I'm not an easy buyer, so I didn't really buy things. I saw some sweaters that might be good for winter, but they weren't fabulous enough for me to spend on them. In order to "motivate" myself to go to the gym, I decided to buy a pair of runners. I saw a pair from Nike that looked quite nice and cheap! However, the size they had was a bit too small for me. Boooooo!!! Zannen! =( Ahhhh! because of the shopping time, I WAS LATE FOR THE PARTY!!! Ugh, one of my bday wishes/resolution is try my very best not to be late for things. Man.....and it's a party for me, how bad is it to be late???!!!

Party plan: dinner + karaoke. =)

We had dinner at a restaurant with sort of fusion Japanese food. Well, it's a party, so it was a nomi thing! =) Then, everyone was sooooooo sweet that they gave me different presents!! Wow, I haven't received so many presents for a looooooooong time!! Thank you soooo much!!!! It was my great great honour to know you alllll!!!!

Haaaa, what's party without karaoke right?? =P We then went for karaoke til 2 something. It was a lot of fun singing with all these cool friends! =)

Oct. 2 - the day.

Man, God, You are toooooo goooood to me! The girls gathered at Emily's place for Lasagna, cake, and cookies. Well, it's ALWAYS good hanging out w/ the girls. I feel like I've had a bit too much sugar. Well, but I guess you gotta indulge yourself once in a while.


Ha, so the "new year" will start tomorrow and I'm continuing to go to work...etc.

Yes, You are taking care of me and people around me, Lord. May I truly be a blessing to every single person around me!!! Again, thanks everyone!!!!! =)

Day 126 - Kobe day tour

July 31, 2011

Since Osaka and Kobe are quite close to each other, we decided to do a Kobe day tour instead of merely staying in Osaka.

Because of the number of kids and the super hot weather, we didn't go to that many place, which was ok. haha! We took their "loople bus" to tour around town. Before taking the ferry to see the Kobe port, we decided to eat Kobe's most well-known food - Kobe beef. Well well, it was an adventure in itself! We found a restaurant in the guide book. We went to the restaurant's area, BUT we totally ignored the possible size of the area....so we ended getting off the bus at a place that's about 20 minutes on foot from the restaurant. It was almost 2 at the time... so hungry and hot...

Now here comes Japanese's superb hospitality! We got off the bus in front of Daimaru department store. Using my super limited nihongo, I went in to ask for kobe beef restaurant recommendations. They were super helpful. A number of staffs were discussing which ones were good, which ones were nearby, etc. They even searched online for us! At last, this is the map they gave me:



すごいでしょう！

so at last, we went to a kobe beef restaurant nearby. That place was quite famous actually. We were lucky to be able to eat there because most restaurants' lunch services would end at around 2:30. By the time we got to the restaurant, it was probably something like 2:40. When we were browsing the menu that's outside the restaurant, we once again encountered Japanese's great hospitality.

The nearby store owner heard that we were speaking Mandarin and potentially had problem understanding the menu and stuff, so he came to help us translate. After we entered the restaurant, he came once more to make sure things were ok. Well, the store associates all know each other. It was very nice of them. =)

Ok, as for the beef, I've had Kobe beef before. I've had it in 3 different styles the last time I came to Japan: sukiyaki, teppan yaki, steak. I didn't really like the teppan style because the fat in the beef was very pronounced. I was not a big fan of it. Because Kobe beef is expensive, we ordered different sets. By chance, I ate the cheapest one. I was very satisfied to be honest. They gave me some of the expensive beef to try, but I think it was toooo fatty for my taste.

After our late lunch, we separated into small groups and along w/ my aunt and cousins, we did a brief tour of Kobe Chinatown. It was a nice small little Chinatown. It made me miss Chinese food!

The kids were very happy when we went for the ferry tour in a "kids friendly" boat. It was all well. We ended up having dinner at 10 something back in Osaka. They all really wanted okonomiyaki. Well, true. How can we not have okonomiyaki in Osaka?

Long day, but it was fun.

Next stop: USJ! =)

Day 125 - Osaka day 1 (walking tour…)

July 30, 2011

After the 13 hours of being in a moving object, I finally arrived Osaka! It actually wasn’t that bad. I still remember I went for my last washroom break at 1 something. When I became conscious again, it was 7 something and I was in Kyoto already! Well, it took an extra hour or so to go to Osaka, but it wasn’t bad at all.

Yeah…..It is a big city. Compared to Sendai, it does have a lot more stuff…even only near the station! I believe there were around 5 department stores within walking distance to Osaka station. Although I had been to Osaka before, that place still seemed vvvvery foreign to me. Luckily, the hotels I booked were really close to the station, so I had nothing to complain. =)
After spending some time by myself navigating the place a little bit (oh, I went to Koshien, the pro baseball field…so couldn’t see or feel anything. Ha!), I met up with the group. It was our first group picture in Osaka station. What a group from different age groups eh? Yup, that’s right! That’s our group. =)

We actually didn’t do much on our first day. We met at around 3 at the station, then we immediately went for food since the little persons were complaining about their empty stomachs. Haaa, went to a ramen place with a not-very-good-service server. Anyhow, small things like that would not affect my mood. =)

At night, we went to the Umeda..um…observatory..? I have no idea what that place was called. It was basically a place for people to see the night view of Osaka. It was very nice and chilled. It was probably the “chill-est” time of our day.

Well, gotta get a good night sleep for the next exciting day!

The next stop is…Kobe! =)

Day 124 - Last Sendai supper w/ Winz & getting ready for Kansai!

July 29, 2011

Sooooooooo the start of my trip has finally come!! I had been looking forward to this trip for the longest time. I was initially a bit nervous about the big group… (from 4 to 11), but I was still looking forward to the trip. Well, at the end of the day, it IS a vacation. Of course I want it to happen. Haaa!

Well, but unfortunately, I couldn’t see Winz off to her next adventure in HK, so Winz, Amanda, and I went for dinner. Hehe, it was so cute. We exchanged gifts. =) Hope you like it and remember the good times we spent in Sendai!

Now here I go for my Kansai trip. Wait…before that, let’s try the 13-hour bus ride! It’s sure gonna be fun….right?

Day 123 - Winz' "bye for now" gathering

July 28, 2011

Yup, it's just “bye for now” because I’m sure we’ll see again. =) Haaaaa, had our free “bigger than your face” okonomiyaki near my place, then desssssert at my place. (of course there HAS to be dessert!) I’m glad you liked the love potion. Hehe~~

Well well, all in all, it was fun times, as usual. =) It was definitely my honour to have known you and we’ll misssss you big times for sure!

Gooooood luck w/ your future and seeeeeee u again soon! (HK? Haha!)

Day 122 - The new bloods are here!

July 27, 2011

Hmmmmm, yeah, where was my picture??? Obviously the above picture wasn't taken this year. Oh well, you get the idea. I can’t believe I actually forgot to take a picture in the Group A new ALT welcome party. Although I’m not so much a party person, it is nice to meet at least some of the newbies and show some support.

Well, I didn’t get to talk to everyone, but the people whom I talked to seemed quite nice. =) Haha, one of them was really keen on learning Cantonese! =P sure, let’s speak Cantonese~~ haha!

Welcome to Sendai everyone! Please have an awesome and fulfilling year in Sendai! =)

Day 121 - Kashiwa mini farm

July 26, 2011

The special ed. Kids in my school help plant stuff in their little farm. Today, the special ed. Teachers harvested some veggies. They packaged them in little packs for the teachers to purchase. I bought a bag too. =)

Perhaps similar to other schools, my school gives the kids opportunities to do different stuff in life. For example, the class has a turtle that they have to take care of, or they sometimes go to different places to see different things.

Planting is a good way for them to see where their food comes from. Not only it is good for special ed. Kids, I think it is good for every single kid!! Hmmm, reminds me of FNH. =P

Cheers!

Day 120 - パインアイス (Pineapple icicle)

July 25, 2011

Ohhhhhh, back to the hot school. Well, I’ve been studying Japanese when I go to school. However, it’s very hot and humid in school. I sometimes walk around the school and see the kids play sports to prevent from “fishing” at my desk.

In the afternoon, my supervisor was handing out something extra cooooool at the time – pineapple icicle!! Hmmmmm…it was awesome to have something icy and cool during a hot day.

It probably wouldn’t taste super good under normal conditions, but having it during a summer humid and hot day seemed like I was in PARADISE~~~ Thanks Konno sensei! =)

Day 119 - 雀踊りDay!!

July 24, 2011

Yes, the day has finally come. After months of practice, my dance team, Tsubasa, is performing in this summer festival in Sendai. Around 2000 people were performing today! It was a festive day~~

I believe each team dance 3 times during the day. The first one was the “stage” dance. The next dances were both parade dances. Thabisa, Pepi, and I were the “foreigners” in the group. It was Pepi’s last day in Japan! It’s great that we could all participate in this traditional event together.

The day started at 8:30. I was fortunate enough to have friends who came to take pictures. Thanks Mayu, Eriko, Emily, Winsy, Amanda, Andy, Lisa, etc.! I felt very blessed to have supportive friends like you. =) At the end of the event, all the teams danced together!! I was fun fun fun!

I’m so glad I joined this group. They are all very nice people and I want to do it again next year! =)

Day 118 - アンパンマンが大好き！

July 23, 2011

Ok, anpanman (麫包超人/bread superman) was part of my childhood. When I was still in Hong Kong, my sister and I used to watch anpanman cartoon all the time. For those who don’t know anpanman, he is a…superman. The antagonist in the cartoon is “baikinman” (細菌超人). He always tries to destroy the town (I think…) and do bad things to other characters. Anpanman, sometimes with the help of other supermen, saves the city and others.

Soooooo the Anpanman museum in Sendai opened yesterday. I wanted to go ever since I knew it was going to open. After suzume odori practice, I saw the little anpanman flags everywhere near the station. I followed the signs and arrived anpanman museum!! =)

WOOOOOOOW!! SOOO MANY ANPANMANS!!!! My eyes were wide-opened and I wanted to get the balloon!!! They were anpanman & baikinman balloons in balloons! When I saw many kids holding the balloons, I was telling myself…”I’m getting one..or two…too!!” When I approached the balloon cart and saw the price………………………, I had second thought. Wait, it probably wasn’t a second thought because I simply decided not to get it from the price tag. It was something like $13 cdn for the balloon. I just thought I could get other things w/ this money. There were sooo many anpanmans in the museum! The buns were made of characters in anpanman; the rice balls were in the shape of anpanman; the garbage cans were painted with anpanman….EVERYTHING was anpanman!!! =) This place is not a good place to come w/ money… I could easily spend a lot in this place. I saw so many things I wanna get for my niece/nephew. Imagine my niece/nephew wearing an anpanman yukata……… Woooo..that would be a cute scene. =)

I’ll perhaps go there again w/ my cousins and take a picture w/ anpanman (ok, I know it’s a very kiddish thing..) After going to the museum, I felt 10 years younger. Haa!

Day 117 - Chilled day~~

July 22, 2011

Today will be day 2 of summer “holiday” in school. I actually wouldn’t mind this little break since I can study Japanese at work, and I have more opportunities to talk to my co-workers since everyone is more chilled. N3, here I come!!!

Like I said, some students still come to school for club activities. For example, the Home Ec. Club (生活文化) did some cooking today. One group made pancakes, one group made ice cream parfait, and one group made jelly. This is a picture of the parfait group sharing their parfaits with the teachers. One of the 1 nensei groups made jelly using fresh juice. Haaaa, I bet they didn’t read the instructions because they seemed to have mixed the gelatin with the juice or something…..so the gelatin solidified in pieces in the juice. When I saw that, I told them (with simple English, a bit of Japanese, and gesture) how to use the gelatin. Luckily they had another pack of gelatin so that they could make it again. They succeeded the 2nd time! =) I’m not sure if they followed what I said, but they kept on thanking me. =P It was cute.

Wooo, here comes the weekend. I can’t wait! =)

Day 116 - Summer holiday!! But why is everyone still here???

July 21, 2011

Summer holiday officially starts today. Instead of having to arrive at school at 8:15, teachers can arrive school at 9. Haaaa, I totally didn’t know that I could come later, I was reeeeeeeeeaaaaaally rushed this morning!! Ugh, if I knew, I would probably picked up lunch from Seiyu beforehand. Oh well, that’s life.

That’s right. Many students are in school. They are all here for their club activities. Some of them come to school to practice for their prefectural competition that will happen in the next few days. Some of them just come to school….because they have club activities. When I visited the table tennis club, I was talking to the coach. I told her how different the education systems are in Japan and elsewhere around the world. In probably all the countries that I know (well, mind you, I don’t know the education systems of THAT many countries), summer holiday means holiday. People don’t go to school. However, in Japan, their mentality is that students will just be left at home alone during the day anyway, why not come to school and do things with everyone? Haaaaa, this concept is also very similar to………………babysitting. =P True, I guess when most students are in school with the supervision of teachers, there will be a lower chance of getting into trouble elsewhere.

Haaaaaa, my brain is definitely everywhere. I meant to write this yesterday, but I think I don’t have as much things to say today..XD

We had our speech contest audition yesterday. 7 students in 3rd year joined the audition. Out of the 7, we need to choose 1. In Sendai, each JHS can have 2 representatives for the speech contest. One of them will do an original speech, and one will recite a passage from the textbook. We were choosing the one who will do recitation. First, we got the students to read a passage from the textbook. Then, we did some pronunciation practice and I gave them some tips on speeches. Finally, they had to read the passage again. It was very difficult to choose! There was one girl whom I was impressed of her trying. She is a quiet and somewhat chubby girl. I have heard students tease at her size. I was not happy about the students who teased her. Haaaaaaa, the situation of that girl somewhat reminds me of myself when I was her age. XD Ok, so I guess I was a bit biased. I really wanted to give her this chance to possibly shine; however, because doing a speech well can be quite involved training-wise, and the other teachers think she might not be able to handle all these training, we chose the other candidates. Awwww, I wished we could choose more people for the speech contest!! Conversely, I wished there would be some sort of just school-wide English-related events. Wait……that means I should think of the possibility of doing something like that. Hmmmmmmmm…….

Anyway, it had been a good chilled (my mind and the outside temperature) day. I managed to study…something. Man……I am really really bad in remembering vocab! Who can give me some suggestions in effectively memorizing vocab????? どうしようかな～～～？

Day 115 - MY study "leave"

July 20, 2011

Summer “vacation” is going to start tomorrow. To those who don’t know, the reason why “vacation” is quoted because teachers here REALLY don’t get vacations vacations. It’s just that there are no classes, but teachers still need to come to school. Some of you might think (and I have thought of this too…..): what are you going to do at school?????? Well, I’ll think of stuff to do. It’s nice that I don’t really need my brain for work during these holidays~ =P (fine, I’m a bad teacher perhaps. Ha!)

Sendai JETs can get special study leave during the year, and summer is probably the best time to take it. People can take some sort of courses as a ProD without needing to take annual leave. Some ALTs would choose to do some sort of TEFL courses whilst many would take Japanese classes. I have also considered taking Japanese lessons elsewhere, like Sapporo; however, because it is quite pricy and I will be spending a chunk of money elsewhere, I would be better for me not to take study leave. Nonetheless, I still wanna study Japanese!! Thus, this is when I borrowed my first book in school: a supposedly humorous book in nihongo.

I found this book from a student. I went to the library yesterday after lunch. I asked a random 3rd year student to recommend me a book, and he recommended this book to me. Hmmm, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make sense out of this book, but I guess you never know until you try eh? Well, I’ll try try see. =P

During my time at school, I’m also going to do a lot of Japanese worksheets and study for my JLPT. My goal this year is to do N3 in December. Although my tutor, myself included, is a bit skeptical about me passing the exam since I haven’t had time to study, I am gonna try.

がんばろう！ to you and me!

As an aside, I had an interesting dream yesterday. I dreamt of me having to leave Japan, and I wasn’t mentally ready to leave yet! In my dream, I was at the airport with a few other ALTs (I have no idea why they appeared in my dream…XD), and I was regretting of not staying in Japan. Wait, I still have at least a year to go…. Why do I have such a dream? Some things in life just make me feel perplexed.


Interesting.

Day 114 - 土用の丑の日 (Doyou no ushi no hi)

July 19, 2011

Wooohoo, I love learning new things. =) Yesterday I was wondering why there are shttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo many eels on sale now. I’ve always loved eels. I have heard eel is especially good for men… (?) To “expand” my Japanese culture knowledge, I asked my tea lady why there are so many more eels on sale now.

Apparently, eel is very nutritious (Hmmm, I should have known it eh?). According to a website, eel is very rich in many vitamins, and it helps lowering one’s cholesterol and blood pressure. Well, I’m not sure how reliable the info on this site is, but eel sounds like something good to eat. =)

Ok, then what does it have to do w/ that 土用丑の日？ According to the Japanese calendar, it’s a day in summer, and it changes every year. Eel-eating is good especially during hot days. Because eel is very nutritious, it’s healthy to have ell during hot days to replenish energy and nutrients. The “丑” in “丑の日” is pronounced as “ushi”. Since eel in Japanese (unagi) also starts with “u”, it has been a tradition to eat eel (unagi) in this 丑の日 (ushi no hi). Hmmmm, to be honest, I’m still not a hundred person sure I know what this 丑の日 really means, this is just a rough explanation of this unagi-eating tradition.

Ha, anyway, I actually haven’t had any unagi since I came here because unagi tends to be somewhat expensive. It’s interesting to hear this cultural stories in this Japanland.

I am happy to be here! =)

Day 113 - Good job, 日本！

July 18, 2011

Yeah, I guess I had a bit too much fun the last few days. I was going to help a friend clean her place, but I had a really bad stomachache after I woke up. I ended up staying at home for most of the day.

After I turned on the tv, the tv kept on showing the Japan woman soccer won the world cup!! 世界一！ Wow, I totally didn't know that was happening....or else I might watch it with others. Well, I guess cuz no one I hang out with mentioned anything about it.

Yay, Japan!! Please keep the energy going!!! =)

Disney sea, I'm coming!! =P