Jizo Statues - Shrine at Mt Nasu

These statues are apparently dedicated to the souls of departed children. They are statues of Jizo, which have been dressed in the hope that he will remember the child in the afterlife and lessen their pain. I think there are so many because the abortion rate in Japan is so high.

These statues are right near a vent that lets sulfurous steam out of the ground so they have turned black. It also stinks like crazy. 

Special Kids take a day trip to Mt Nasu Liz n me - awww... how cute
Hmm... we do look a little too special. Liz I think your dad is wrong - we CAN park in the handicapped spaces.
Too special

Me, Lizzie n Timmie post hike

Shrine - Mt Nasu

 

Autumn Colours - Mt Nasu

 

Halloween

The most American and (coincidentally? you decide…) my least favourite holiday of the year. I’m not even sure what this festival is about. It was probably conjured up by American pumpkin farmers in order to shift some old stock. Or perhaps that’s just my pessimism at work.

I had been asked about how Halloween is celebrated in Australia by one of the teachers and I think I painted a not-so-rosy picture of smashed bottles, shaving cream, toilet paper, broken windows and axe wielding teenagers in pursuit of strangers with lollies. Again there may be some exaggeration and bias here, but I take my role as a cultural ambassador seriously and knowing my own view of the world to be vastly superior to everyone else’s I’ll depict it accordingly.

None of this stopped me from attending a Halloween party in Shirakawa recently though. I’m not exactly sure why but all the ALTs (foreign teachers of English) in the area were invited, and it was free and included booze and some food, so I managed to squeeze it into my busy schedule.

The party seemed to be held for the benefit of local school kids, and some of my students were there, but I think it was mainly for the benefit of our hostess (although I’m not really sure how she profited from the whole exercise). We (Phil and I) were on a table that the cool, surly teenaged boys were sitting at, determinedly avoiding eye contact and not speaking to us. The younger, primary school aged kids seemed to have fun though, despite the way that the games were organized down to the letter. (We had received emails with the instructions and schedule for each of the games about two weeks in advance of the party).

The organizer of the party, whose motives are still a mystery to me, also sent me an interesting “thank you” email. Part of it follows:

Dear Damien,
I thank you soooo much for your attending.

Kids seemed to be happy to be with you.
Especially students of junior-high told me that they enjoyed talking with you.
MS, kanazawa, the writer of "Happy Halloween" was inspired with your hospitality, and told me that she wants to speak in English because she wants to communicate with you all.
Also some adults told me English teachers made splendid atmosphere.
I definitely agree. So I really thank you for your cooperation.

Didn't you find any troubles on your way home?

If you have any opportunities to come to Tokyo, please stay with us.
I thank you again.

Shirakawa!

Brought to you by the second grade students of Shirakawa Second Junior High School (白河第二中学校).

In the schools that I teach at, we are assigned to a different teacher every day. The first day that I was assigned to the second graders, one of the English teachers, Ms Endo, asked the students to prepare a presentation on the attractions of Shirakawa as a way of introducing the town. This was an awesome relief, because I was sick of doing my jikoshokai (self introduction).

(I think from memory, I had introduced myself to 23 separate classes within the first two weeks of arriving. I was getting sick of having to explain that a wombat is neither bear nor mouse, children guessing my age to be 30 or above, staring blankly when I asked them if they had any questions, or being asked whether I liked the teacher who was in the room at the time.)

The students presentations covered:

- Ramen (Shirakawa’s most famous product – and I thought the students would be impressed when I told them that it was my favourite Japanese food, but I was sternly reprimanded and told that ramen is in fact a Chinese dish)

- Teachers at Shirakawa Second Junior High (the portraits of the teachers were really good, but all of the teachers are frowning)

- The Paper Lantern Festival (see the various Chochin Matsuri posts elsewhere in this blog)

- Nanko Park (the largest and oldest park in Shirakawa)

- Daruma (papier mache dolls that look slightly creepy as they have only one eye; when you buy them you make a wish and if it comes true after a year, you paint the other one on – according to the poster, Daruma means “never give up” and “patience”)

- Kominejo (Komine castle – the castle in Shirakawa; according to the poster the “Otome” cherry tree is in it’s grounds: “ Otome cherry tree is in Kominejo. It’s very beautiful. Otome means young girl. Otome is a person name. Let’s go Komine castle!”)

After each presentation, I was told to ask a question. Trying to think of reasonably easy English questions was a little difficult. After the Komine castle presentation, I asked “How many storeys is Komine castle?”, and knowing the answer to be five, I was surprised at the students response. They stared at me for a while, before somebody started flipping through a dictionary. Then the teacher was consulted, and finally they came up with the answer, “600”.

I had really enjoyed all of the presentations, when, at the end, I was told to provide criticism for the students’ benefit. I think I got up and said something like “please use louder voices in future”, as I didn’t want to put the students off public speaking. Apparently this was not what was required, and they were berated for the next 10 minutes about their English presentation skills.

Tour of England Continued…
My trip to England in April was only about two weeks and most of that time was spent in London, but I did have time for a few side trips though. We (my sister and I) spent a day in Brighton, which was pretty interesting. Who’d have thought that a place where you can experience all four seasons in the one day (as we did), lying on a stony beach under a drab grey sky would have become famous as a beach resort? I guess you have to admire the Poms for their ability to make the best of a bad situation. Why knows why they chose to send a bunch of criminals to a large, warm, fair-weathered island continent 200 years ago, while they stayed at home eating mushy peas washed down with warm ale?
Despite the weird weather and paying excessive prices (even by English standards) for some ordinary fish and chips, it was a fun day out.

England – the Tour Continues…
Next stop: Rye.
According to my information, this was a definite “must see” in Southern England. How could you get it so wrong Lonely Planet??? I think I spent about 90 mins each way getting to and from the place, and then a grand total of 2 hours there. It was kind of pretty, but it was also full of day tripping senior citizens and bad English Weather. Take my advice: if you’re a bit sick of London, then spend the 20 quid (or whatever outrageous price they charge) and go to the movies. Do not waste 70 quid on the trip to Rye.

Last stop in England: Manchester
I have to say that I really don’t remember that much of Manchester itself. I know that we arrived by train, and I saw a bunch of rowdy soccer hooligans in the street throwing bottles. Apparently their team had just won, and they were celebrating by smashing beer bottles. I’m sure that a loss would be commiserated in a similarly tame fashion.
The gaps in my memory tell me that I had FUN there though. And I do remember going to a club place called Poptastic. Sydneysiders think Retro, or probably Palms. Cheezy 90s pop music, and a floor that you would stick to if you fell over. For all I know the place could’ve been a shed with a bar in the middle of it, but it was definitely a great night out. Thanks Joelene and friends!

London

Not much going on here at the moment, but found these photos of my trip to London in April (?) of this year. It’s such a cool city, and I had an awesome time there – can’t wait to go back!

Looking at these photos reminds me how different Japan is, and has caused me to come up with some important questions about Japan that need to be asked, such as:

“Why is it that Japan can’t do parks where the grass actually gets cut?”

“Why are there powerlines that ruin EVERY landscape?”

“Why are all the buildings made out of plastic?”

“Why can’t you people DRIVE?”.

If you know the answer to any of these questions, please send me a comment or email. I’d be interested to know. The first 10 correct answers will be sent to the Japanese Ministry for Urban Planning.

Goodbye Gloria, hello…Ellen?

It is with some regret that I am making public the news of my split with Gloria. We have decided to part ways. She was a reliable lass, but she did have a serious drinking problem that put significant strain on our relationship (as well as my wallet) and I think that she was smoking – at least she smelled as if she had a 6 pack a day habit. I did try to talk it over with her (yes, really), but all she did was beep at me (yes, really).

So a couple of weeks ago Gloria and I split up, and she has since been replaced with a younger model (isn’t it always the way?).

Gloria, I will miss your plush, pillowy softness, and your mood-lit back seat, but I think we both know it wasn’t meant to be.

So, say hello to Ellen, as I have tentatively christened my new car – a Subaru wagon. I have been reliably informed (thank you, Liz) that cars must be female. And apparently the Subaru is the the most lesbian car on the road … so… butch car + female name = Ellen. (And she is a sorta funny lesbian, though I’m not sure if she’s “ha-ha” funny, or the other kind…)

Anyway, if you have any better ideas for names, I’m open to suggestions…