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 >< 

Rejoice for a Dream

May 16, 2011

The title is a play on Mozart's 'requiem for a dream.' The humor you see, is that my dream is not dead. On the contrary it is alive and well.

I wrote another entry called 'relief' not too long ago which was the short dramatic story about how I found out that I had passed the first stage in a very competitive job-selection process. Well, now I'm here to tell the dramatic tale of how I landed the job! Yup! I got it!!

I interviewed in late February and felt that I had done an exceptional job after a month of practice and preparation. A wonderful friend of mine (and former JET participant) helped me and my bf practice with mock interviews. As for preparations, well, there were many months put into research, internships, and volunteering to give myself every chance of proving to them that I was a perfect fit for this program. On the day of the interview, I did my best and let God do the rest as the saying goes. I was relaxed, professional, conversational, and intuitive on how to respond.

We had been told that the results would be announced in mid-April. So at work on exactly April 15th, I began to wonder about my fate. People around would ask me if I was nervous about or anticipating the results. Honestly though, I barely had time to think about the results throughout the month of March. I was fully consumed with finishing strong in my graduate studies and accordingly, planning graduation celebrations. However, when April 15th did arrive, I started to stare off in the distance more often, prompting those around me to ask, "So, when will you know?" My answer, "sooooon."

I had every confidence in myself that I was a perfect fit for the JET Program but as I said in my last post, even the most qualified are not always accepted. So with that in mind, I applied to second program called Interac. Although JET was my dream, my determination to live in Japan knew no bounds. Even with the tragic earthquake of March 11, my resolve did not waiver, but it did make things more complicated. Naturally, concerned family members and friends feared for my future safety but I wasn't about to give up that easily. This dream had been years in the making after all.

Friday, April 15th, 2011: A quite normal day if you don't count the plans to go on a ghost tour for a friend's birthday that night. My boyfriend (who was also awaiting results) and I were arguing one of our pointless arguments when he noticed a new email on his computer screen.

He was placed on the Alternate list which is not a no, but not a yes. A limbo of sorts unless a position opens up. He got up, laid on his bed, sighed, and closed his eyes. At the same time, I ran to my computer and skimmed my email in a nanosecond and saw it, "Congratulations, you have been selected to be on the short list of candidates.." basically meaning,
I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED!

This wasn't how I imagined this moment to be especially since my boyfriend was distraught in the next room. So instead of jumping for joy, tears of joy came down my face.

I found out about the JET program in high school and always saw it as not only a great experience, but my ticket to living in Japan, my dream. Here I was eight years later being told that it was going to happen. It was overwhelming and made me overcome with how proud of myself I was.

Right now I am still in the process of conducting background checks, visa applications, and all the other necessary and timely steps that it takes to employ someone in another country, but come July 30th, I will be officially starting the next chapter in my life. I am SO excited!

Ironically this was my fortune from a fortune cookie last night:

Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake

Until then, I will continue rejoicing for my dream come true.

Relief

February 4, 2011

I'm not in yet, but at least I can say I got this far which is a huge relief to me. I'm talking about the JET Program application process. Everyone I know believes I have this in the bag, but I've seen people just as qualified as I am not make it in. And so, I had the most nerve wracking experience on Wednesday night as I was out to dinner for my mom's bday. Next to me, my boyfriend exclaimed, "I got an email from the consulate... I have an interview!!" Needless to say I grabbed my phone and forgot to breathe as my mailbox is refreshing.

I didn't get an email.

He's looks at the screen and back at me in mingled shock and horror while everyone else around the table is waiting to hear whether or not I have an interview as well.

Realization setting in, some says, "check the website!" so I did.

The website must have been updated in the past 24 hours because I had been checking every day and had not been presented with this new PDF file labeled 'Interview Applicants.' This file had hundred of numbers. We were issued applicant ID numbers for just this occasion, but I had written mine down on a paper that was currently in a drawer at home...

Just then my previous stroke of genius came back to me. I had taken a picture of that paper on my phone as a convenient way to always have it with me.

SUCCESS!! I started breathing again and smiled as a way to silently pass on the good news to those around me.

Suddenly I wanted to tell all my well-wishers and those who had helped me with the grueling application. I promptly told all those I had easy access to the good news and felt very blessed at that moment to have so many people to tell... 

One of my mom's friends actually told me not to share the news so openly because then those who don't wish me well know as well and put that out into the universe. I was barely able to contain my excitement though so I've already alluded to it in other ways that might let the haters know, but whatever.

Inwardly though I was still a bit concerned that I hadn't received an email confirmation of my interview like my boyfriend had....I triple checked every part of the application before I sent it. Could they had entered my email address wrong?

A few days later, my fears were settled and question answered. I received a call from the Consulate to discuss my preferred interview date and time. Something went wrong with my professional email (not sure on who's end), but just asked them to use my personal email from then on instead.

Interview prep - Start!!