Hikami High School's Cultural Festival!

So many exciting things have been happening, but I've been occupied lately with a series of challenges on my personal blog, a.muse.d *sorry!* (now go check it out, hehe)

Earlier this month, my school had one of it's two biggest festivals, the bunkasai or cultural festival. (the other big festival is sports day). I was not only looking forward to this because it landed on a weekday, meaning that I wouldn't have any classes, but also because my school's bunkasai would definitely be unique due to the agricultural aspect of my high school. This meant that the students made food products from our own cows, chickens, and pigs; made these products using skills they had learned in their cooking courses; and were showed off vegetables and plants that they had grown themselves. Also, the girls from home economics had a fashion show with outfits they had made themselves. The clothes looked great but the show itself was hilarious!!

Adding to the fun, my students, who are usually semi-comatose in class, were excited and talkative. My bf was allowed to come so they were all curious about him and gushing at us, making hearts with their hands and saying "ラブラブ!" (love love!) which is something you would basically say to any cute couple...but especially us. ~.~ Another ALT friend came as well, so we all had a good time walking around being appreciated for merely being the only foreigners there and being sucked in by the students to buy from their stall. (er, wait, that was just me..)

Everything was delicious. I know this because like I said, the students pulled me into every stall to buy from them. I ate a version of katsudon, oreo chessecake, cream pan, salmon nabe, karaage, consume french fries, caramel popcorn, and milk. The milk was the only thing that I didn't like because it tasted like strawberry. That doesn't sound bad but when you take a huge gulp anticipating milky goodness, it can be a little off-putting. I also took home mochi, strawberry jam, and soba noodles.

But I wasn't pigging out the whole time - there were activities going on as well. The school's brass band which is lead by my supervisor JTE, Taniguchi-san, played nice renditions of Pachalbel and AKB 48. The school had also hired two performers to come and do their act for the spectators which, even without being able to understand all the Japanese, the slapstick comedy and juggling fire batons was fun to watch. Easily entertained as I am, I also quite enjoyed a contest to collect various stamps from posts set up around the school. The first 10, then 25, then 100, etc., people to get all the stamps got a prize of varying scale. The biggest prize was one of the house plants that I had bought anyways, so I was in no rush. In fact, I didn't need a prize at all, just the satisfaction of collecting all of the stamps was enough to satisfy my compulsion for perfection for me.

I should mention that this was the last day out of three for the bunkasai. The first day was just an opening ceremony (something that is done for nearly every occasion in Japan) and the second day was conducted entirely in the gymnasium. In the gym, each class sang songs and presented projects they had been working on all year. True to form, on the last day there was a closing ceremony as well.

Little things like this have made me appreciate my placement in this quiet little town. These are definitely unique experiences that I might now have had, had I been placed in a bigger city like I wanted. I have to make the most of it while I'm here!

Points for Tamba and Hikami High School!

Hikami High School

Our student body

The Fashion show

The Fashion Show with some teachers who volunteered

Their personal reports on their projects

Home made oreo cheesecake

Class 2-2, selling home made cream pan

Third year girls selling pins they had made for Tohoku Relief

Candy apples or as they like to say, ringoame リンゴあめ

Fresh pork meat..Mmmmm

One of the vegetables a student grew from a seedling

The bunkasai took place in every part of the school

Student artwork on display

Student crafts

Some of my second year boys selling their mochi on the go

First year students have chado 茶道 as an elective

The home made jam and milk

The entertainers doing their fire juggling act

Salmon nabe

Chi-tan! the Tamba city mascot. This was the project of one class who made him out of painted  pet bottles. 

All of the stuff I bought from different booths.
I couldn't say no to my students >< 

Heart of Japan

July 14, 2011

The one thing I was most curious and anxious about when I applied for the JET Program was my placement, a.k.a. my new home in Japan. Unlike the interview and acceptance notices, the placement notifications were unprecedentedly late (by a whole month). It was great news to know that I was accepted but then surreal to believe I'd actually moving to Japan in only three months when I hadn't heard from the consulate in so long.

The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami happened a month before I was informed that I had been accepted. At first, the fears of my loved ones had been completely unfounded seeing that I hadn't even been accepted yet. However, as that terrible situation continued to unfold, news of my acceptance brought about genuine concern and anxiety. On the application that I submitted in November, you are allowed to request up to three places (with no guarantee that you'll be placed in any of them). Not heeding the advice given to me about the likelihood of receiving a popular request, I put choices like Kyoto and Hirakata (near Osaka). These places are familiar to me since I had studied abroad at two universities in the area, but weakened my chances of actually getting a requested location.

As suspected, the delay was in fact due to the March 11th events. When the events happened, CLAIR, one of the JET Program branches, had to drop everything concerning getting the new applicants established with a contracting organizations (CO) and instead confirm the safety of their current JETs. This was, of course, completely understandable but it created a unique set of circumstances for this year's batch of new JETs. Being accepted into the program is not the end but more like being three quarters on your way to moving to Japan. The more time you have knowing where you're placed allows you to prepare more effectively, get in contact with your predecessor and schools, mail boxes over, and so on.

The days of June 13 / 15 / 28, 2011:

This odd assortment of dates represent when I finally knew the details of my placement. On June 13th, I was contacted via an unknown email that turned out to be my CO. They had a random question about my preferred living arrangement. This was a very perplexing way to find out my placement because 1) your CO should not be contacting you before your consulate does, 2) I had only been told the prefecture I was in, not the city, and 3) how do I tell them my preferred living arrangement without outright stating my exact preference of city? The last one I handled well. I volunteered that there was only one city I had been to in that prefecture and that I wouldn't mind going back to live in it. This strategy either went unnoticed or failed in the end. ::le sigh:: So which prefecture? Hyogo! But, but where in Hyogo?! Hyogo is ginormous! So that city I mentioned? A little place called Kobe. You might have heard of it as one of the most popular, well-known, cities in Japan. Kind of exciting right? I practiced restrained excitement, but already knew I'd be in Kansai, my area of preference and thus was hugely relieved.

On June 15th, I was contacted via email by my Consulate with the kind of subject line I had originally anticipated - "JET Placement!" This was nothing but a huge tease since I was hoping to find out more concrete information. It turned out I am what is called a Prefectural JET and so my Consulate only knows my prefecture until my CO contacts me with more information. Considering I had been asked nearly everyday if I had heard my placement, I decided to let my family and friends know the prefecture even if I didn't know the city yet. They were so happy and relieved as well.

So without much else to go on, I finally started researching my prefecture!

 

Hyōgo Prefecture is know as 'The Heart of Japan' because it is geographically the center of the country. When I think about it, Japan has always been in my heart so I found it fitting that I'd be living in its figurative heart as well. As I mentioned earlier, prior to learning my placement, the only time I had been in Hyōgo was to visit the capital city, Kobe. I loved the ultra-modernness of Kobe even though I was only able to see the port area. I hadn't tried Kobe beef either so I was excited to go back and have some ridiculously expensive and delicious meat! Hyōgo is also known as 'Japan in miniature.' This is because the prefecture is rich in traditional and contemporary culture, full of natural beauty, and home to a highly modernized society and business market. Japan as a whole is often remarked upon for having these contrasting yet appealing aspects and considering this one prefecture possesses all of these traits, makes 'Japan in miniature' a fitting description.

I was very excited to live here after just reading a few things about this place. But like I said, Hyōgo is a large prefecture and my eyes couldn't help but roam towards eastern Hyōgo where I could be more closely located to my requested cities of Kyoto and Hirakata as well as other large cities like Kobe, Osaka, and Nara.

Finally, on June 28th while away in New York visiting my brother, I was watching a Project Runway marathon, having a conversation, and checking my email at the same time (ADD or great multi-tasker? you decide) when I noticed the email from my CO. Quite matter-of-factly, he wrote that I would be at Hikami Senior High and gave me a link to the school's website. My first shock was that I was at a high school. I had requested elementary but I later guessed the teaching experience listed on my application better suited me for high school. Next, I rushed to find out where in all of Hyogo Hikami was, only to find out that recently, Hikami had been merged with six other towns to form the city of Tamba - in eastern Hyōgo!! I must admit that this wasn't how I felt at first. I had foolishly hoped too much for Kobe and had also seen some other towns even closer to Kyoto and Osaka. In the end I realized I was being ridiculous though since I definitely could've been on the other side of the prefecture, way too far from my favorite places to go often at all. The town also seems a quite rural, something else I hadn't requested, but at least people have heard of it which was definitely a good sign.

Here's Tamba City in Eastern Hyogo!

As you can see, I am not that far from the major cities I requested (total city girl here). In fact, according to Google maps, I'm about 2 hours all these major cities, making them definite options for weekend trips!

There you have it! Though I'm excited and grateful for being placed in Hyōgo, at the moment I'm more focused on soaking up Miami and making sure I'm ready for the transition.

丹波市、兵庫県、日本

Here I come!