Shocking News

The beginning of the week was pretty routine. On Monday Megan. Hoku and I had planned to go running, but it ended up raining so we didn't go. But it was nice sleeping in. I didn't have to worry about planning a lesson because Meg taught my class so that I could observe and she could see what level the students were at. Together in class we made up rules with the students. One of them is no speaking Japanese during class. Meg enforced the rule by writing the name of the students who spoke Japanese on the white board. At the end of class, those who had their name on the board had to do the Hokey Pokey as a “punishment.” I will probably be doing this from now on.



After class Megan and I got lunch and bought snacks for the ward family home evening that night. We looked around in the shops a little before going home. I wanted to buy shoes and an outfit I could wear outside of class because all I have right now is high heels and business clothes. Wearing high heels all day is harder than it looks. But we were short on time. When we got home I helped Sister Sato make dinner. I was able to learn how to make miso soup. After dinner, Megan and I went to ward family home evening. I couldn't stay for the whole thing because I had to teach the night class. But it was fun.

Tuesday Meg taught my morning class and I just observed. I was able to get some more teaching ideas. Then after class I went home right away because I really needed to study and work on some things for the English curriculum. Megan stayed and did the yoga class. I wanted to stay but I had promised myself that I would get a few things done. Plus, I told Meg I would teach the night class again so I needed to get the lesson ready. I got off one stop early at Kishiwada station so that I could figure out how long it takes to walk from there to the house. Meg and Hoku live just down the street from Kishiwada station, so I wanted to find out so that we can meet up on the weekends. It was a nice little walk. They weather was nice and cool and the sun was out. When I got to Kishiwada castle I stopped and took some pictures. It's so cool having a castle right by my house!






Wednesday was pretty rountine, just teaching and studying. Thursday I went to institute. We did a little shopping before and I was able to buy some flats, finally. So far from the shoe stores I have been in there are only four shoe sizes: S, M, L, and LL. Anyway, I was able to understand a lot more in institute this time because I read the chapters before hand in English. At first it seemed like Thursday would be a typical day, but when I came home from institute all the lights were on which is unusual because it was already 10 at night and everyone is usually in bed. Sister Sato was awake because she had to tell Megan and I what had happened. First, I just want everyone to know that nobody got hurt. The was a fire at the Yukimoto's house, where Meg and Hoku stay. It destroyed half of their house. And police are saying that it might have been arson. But what is really amazing was that only the part of the house that nobody lives in got destroyed. The house is over 80 years old and most of it is made out of paper and wood, so it should have all burned down. But the fire literally stopped at the door that leads to Meg and Hoku's room and where evryone else lives. God was truly watching out for them. I didn't take pictures of all the damage that was done, but Meg Bush as videos and pictures on her facebook from when it actually happened. Everyone seems to be doing fine and Meg and Hoku are staying with Megan and I until the Yukimoto's get the electricity and plumbing fixed.





On a lighter note there was a ward barbecue on Saturday. The food was great and I got to meet a lot of people from the ward. My student Hiroharu came even though he is not in our ward. He brought his friend Keisei from Kobe and Meg and I hung out with them. It was nice getting to know Hiroharu outside of class and his friend was pretty cool. We spoke mostly in Japanese. Some other people from the ward got a game of frisbee going and that was fun to watch. It was a really beautiful day; no clouds and a cool breeze. So I didn't notice that I was getting sunburned. Though, I only got a little on my arms. Meg got it a lot worst. Her face, chest, and arms are really red right now from the sunburn. After awhile Hiroharu drove Meg and I back to the church. It took us awhile because he kept taking wrong turns, but it was fun and we eventually got there.







At 5pm I went with Mari Takogawa to a missionary fireside at the church where we go to institute. She translated most of it and the talks were all interesting.

Today was Stake Conference so after church there was a potluck. The food was all really delicious! When I got home we all took naps until dinner. For dinner we had tempura donburi. After dinner all four of us took a walk around Kishiwada and discovered there were a bunch of stands out around the castle. When we asked Sister Sato about them she said they do that on certain days before the festivals in the summer. It was fun looking around at the food and the games they had.








This last picture is of a really cute prayer that we saw at a shrine. A rough translation is "I want to be with someone special/important always."

めっちゃ忙しい！(So Busy!)

So the reason I haven't posted in awhile is because all my time has gone to teaching and lesson planning. Since I have never taught before things are a little hectic. But it's starting to get easier now. Besides going to church today I mostly slept. I don't know but for some reason I was so tired! It pretty much rained all day so I'm blaming it on that, haha. Well, I'll post the entries I was intending to put up a few days ago. Enjoy!

5/17
This morning Megan and I got up at 6:00am to go jogging. At first we got a little lost, but we eventually found where we wanted to go. I probably mentioned this before but there is a castle right by our house called Kishiwada Castle. Sister Sato said that a lot of people jog around this area so that’s where we decided to go. I wasn't expecting a lot of people to be up this early, but there were a fair amount of people up and about.




There were people jogging, walking their dogs, and even fishing by Kishiwada Castle. Many of them would greet us with ohayou gozaimsu or good morning so we started greeting everyone else as well. We came across a park by Kishiwada castle and stopped to look because we saw that several people were gathered around. We then realized they were doing the radio morning exercise or razio taisho. We asked if it was ok then joined in with them. Maybe we will join them tomorrow as well.

Around 8:30am Sister Sato drove us to Kishiwada station so that Sister Yukimoto could help us buy a month train pass. Sister Sato was really nice and took all the textbooks with her in the car so we wouldn’t have to carry them with us on the train.

Today we just had our students take an English proficiency test. Overall it went smoothly. We were able to get all the tests graded and the students divided into their sections.

5/23
I’ve been so busy this week! Having never taught before it takes me awhile to plan a lesson. But I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I went to observe Meg’s class on Friday and got more of an idea of how I am supposed to teach. So I think things will start to go a lot more smoothly. Today I actually had time to study Japanese a little and to take a nap. I slept in until 7 this morning, then after making breakfast I studied and did my laundry. I got to skype my family too which was a lot of fun. I introduced my host family to my parents and Sister Sato got a chance to practice her English.

Before lunch, Sister Sato took Megan and I on a little tour of the town. She showed us where the post office and the bank was and also a place where we could jog. She showed us a small road that was the original road that Shoguns would use when traveling back and forth between the castles and temples in the Edo period. It’s paved now and there is a little traffic, but there are still houses from the Meiji Era that are still standing. I took a few pictures today, but I want to go back and take a few more. Sister Sato then showed us a little shopping street that she goes to when she needs to buy groceries and such. She also introduced us to a few people from the neighborhood. After that we went back home to eat lunch. We had ramen with bean sprouts and pork cutlets.




Tonight we went to the church for a sports night. Shiho, Naoki, and Mari from our class were there as well. We played soccer volleyball. The rules are you can’t use your hands; only your feet, head, and chest. We really didn’t keep track of points but it was still a lot of fun. There was this 11-year-old boy there (I didn’t catch his name) that was a lot of fun. He kept yelling heta kuso! which basically means you’re really bad at this! And he kept calling me and Megan by different names. Megan was Marrissa (emphasis on the arrr) and I was Melissa. He was just really fun and energetic. We then played four square for a little bit, but we ended up having a discussion about how to use ageru, kureru, and morau. The first two mean to give and the last means to receive. If you know any Japanese you know how confusing these can get.

Megan, Hoku, and I went home together. At Kishiwada where Hoku gets off at, we all went to the McDonalds by the station and got something to eat. We got it to go and on our way back to the station we stopped and listened to some street performers. There were two guys singing and one playing the guitar. They were pretty good from what we heard, though, we didn’t stay and listen to the whole song because we had to catch the train home.


Hopefully I will be able to post more often this week. Meg, the graduate student in charge of us, is teaching my class tomorrow. I guess it's for her to see what level the students are at and how I can best teach them. I hope it's not because I'm so bad at teaching that she has to show me how, haha.

I'll be going to Institute every Thursday. It's all in Japanese so It's hard to understand what's going on, but it will be good practice I think. Megan and I went this Thursday with our student and friend Shiho. She is going to be serving her mission soon. On Thursday after class she took us to a bookstore because I needed to buy a book for my Japanese class called Baka no Kabe or The Wall of Fools. They didn't have it so Shiho is letting me borrow her copy. But I bought The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Japanese That Japanese Don't Know. They are all in Japanese, of course. These are just the rough English translation of the titles. Anyway, we went and ate crepes at a little shop before joining up with Ayaka and Tomoe to walk to Institute together. There were a lot more people at institute than I expected. When I went to Institute in Kyoto last year there were only a handful of people.



Until next time! (That's a banana, custard, and chocolate sprinkle crepe. So yummy!)


I almost forgot! Sister Sato explained the about the shrine next door. The house we live in is the house her husband grew up in and I think it's been in the family for awhile. I'm not sure if her husband owns the shrine, but I believe his family has been taking care of it over the generations. Surrounding the shrine are small stone pillars with names of people and towns written on them. These are people, towns, and businesses that have contributed donations to the up-keeping of the shrine. It's a Shinto shrine so people come to offer prayers I think. Let me know if you have any questions because I can always ask my host-dad.


This is the view of the shrine from my window. I plan on taking more pictures.

First Sunday

When we left for church today, Sister Sato had us leave from the main genkan entrance. A genkan is basically the doorway except that it is lower than the rest of the house. You take off your shoes here and then step up to the main house. I haven't been able to upload my pictures yet, but hopefully sometime tomorrow I can. When Megan and I first arrived we entered the house through the genkan and then when our friend Hoku came over to wait at our house until her host mom got back from shopping, Sister Sato had her come through the genkan entrance. I am guessing that the genkan is only used for special occasions like when people first visit or, maybe on Sundays when leaving for church. Just a little observation.

Church starts at 10:00am which I don't mind at all. I got to sleep in until 6:30am today. It's weird, I wake up at 6:00am and I don't feel tired at all. Though, I don't mind at all because I don't want to waste my time here sleeping more than I need to. Anyway, today at church I was surprised by how much I understood! I didn't understand everything, but I was definitely able to tell what was going on. Right after church we had a meeting with Watabe Sensei about some last minute preparations for the English course and the proficiency test. Sister Sato packed some bread for us to eat and Sister Sugimoto was really nice and made lunch for everyone as well. I should have taken a picture... She made us fancy tuna sandwiches and hot dogs. The bread here is so good! I want to go to a panyasan (bakery) so bad!

After the meeting there was an orientation meeting for the students where Watabe Sensei explained the teaching method and how everything was going to work. After all that we didn't end up leaving church until 5:00pm. We drove to church with Sister Sato but we left with Sister Yukimoto, where Hoku and Meg are staying, so that we could figure out how to get to and from the church by train since we will be teaching at the church everyday.

When we got home we helped Sister Sato with dinner. We made a pasta with a sort of pesto sauce. Sister Sato mixes olive oil, basil, garlic, and pine nuts and then freezes a whole bunch in molds (she uses cute teddy bear ones) so that when she makes pasta making the sauce will be quicker. It was really delicious. Our host dad didn't eat with us today, probably because he had already gone to bed. He goes to bed early so that he can get up around 4:00am or earlier to clean the shrine next door. I was talking to Sister Sato and I found out that that shrine belongs to their family so they are the ones to take care of it. I thought that this was pretty cool. I can't wait to hear more about the history of this town; especially about the castle just down the street.

I made it!

I finally made it to Osaka! Taking a plane probably would have been faster, but just flying into Narita was a lot cheaper. When I got through customs at the airport Watabe Sensei was already there waiting for me. He had suggested that I send my luggage to where I was homestaying which turned out to be a really good idea. For two bags it's around 3500 yen from Tokyo to Osaka. We then took the train from Narita to Tokyo Eki. Watabe Sensei paid for my ticket and even got me some dinner at Tokyo Eki which was really nice of him. We went to a sushi bar where the sushi rotates around on a conveyor belt and you just take whatever you like. The plates are a different color to indicate the price. The plates have chips inside them so when you are done eating the waiter scans the plates to get the total.

After we were done eating, Watabe Sensei helped me find where the bus was going to pick me up. It took awhile, but we eventually found it. Watabe Sensei still had to get back to Yokohama and it was already late so he had to leave. I was fine by myself and there were still a lot of people around so I wasn't worried. I just wandered around until it was time for the bus to come.

The night bus wasn't too bad and I was able to sleep a little. The seats are small and they don't recline back very far so it was hard to get comfortable. After eight hours the bus finally arrived in Osaka. The bus dropped everyone off by a tunnel that led to Namba Eki. From there I rode the express train to Kishiwada then changed to the local train and rode it to Takojizou Eki where I used a public telephone to call Sister Sato, my homestay mom. The station is really close to the Sato's house so she just walked there and led me back to the house.

I love their house! It's an older Japanese style house. Mine and Megan's room is upstairs (the stairs are really steep!) where there is a great view of the garden and the shrine next door. We can even see the top of Kishiwada castle! I think I'm going to like staying here.

The first thing I did was eat breakfast and then after that I took a few hours nap. Once my luggage arrived I unpacked a little and had a late lunch of instant ramen with added ingredients of meat and gyouza. I then finally got to take a shower! After traveling for two days it felt so good! Around 6:30pm I went with Sister Sato to pick Megan and Hoku up from the airport. Hoku is staying with the Yukimoto's with Meg Bush. I found out that one of my TA's was Sister Yukimoto's son! When we got home I showed Megan around a little before we decided to go to bed.

Today I woke up around 6:00am and wasn't feeling tired at all so I went downstairs. I made my own breakfast and did my own dishes which I never got to do at my other homestay families. At 10:30am we went to a picnic with the relief society at Sakai park. It was really perfect weather for a picnic. Before we ate we walked around the rose garden for awhile. We just got back a few hours ago and Sister Sato is making dinner now. Tomorrow is Sunday and I'm looking forward to going to church and meeting new people.

Taking Off

I am finally on my way to Japan! I had planned on visiting my uncle before I left but packing took a lot longer than I thought it would. But I did have my friends Jaimie (she went with me to Japan last year), Jim, and Joey over to watch the first Death Note movie and that was fun. After they left I didn't get to bed until three because I had to finish packing my suitcases and everything in my room. No one has bought my contract for the summer yet, but I packed up my things just in case.

I usually take the shuttle to the airport but I've never liked doing that. So I asked my friend Jim to take me. Thank you Jim! Not taking the shuttle is so much less stressful. I think that I can say I was successful in actually packing light. I decided in the end to bring both big suitcases, but they are both under 50 lbs. Instead of two big suitcases I could have done a big and a small one, but I wanted to be sure I had room for the things I plan on bringing back from Japan.

I was reminded that in Japan there is a takkyubin (express delivery)service. I can send my luggage from the Narita Airport in Tokyo to my host family's house in Osaka for only about 2200 yen a bag (that is around $22 more or less with the exchange rate). So now I don't have to worry about walking around Japan with tons of luggage!

My roommate Erika (she's from Tokyo) is so nice! She hemmed all of my pants for me and she wrote directions to get from Narita airport all the way Osaka (she also helped me reserve tickets for the night bus that is going to take me to Osaka). I am really hoping that nothing goes wrong because I am on kind of a tight schedule. When I get to LA, I only have an hour to get to my next gate if my plane is on time. I am supposed to arrive in Tokyo around 5pm, then hopefully customs doesn't take me too long so that I can get on the Narita Express to Tokyo Station before 9pm. Before I do that I have to exchange money and send my bags to Osaka. We'll see how that goes.

Preparations

I decided to be smart and not pack the night before I am supposed to leave. Last year when I went to Japan I was doing everything the day before and I ended up not sleeping at all. Right now I am mostly done with my packing and already have arrangements where I am going to store my things while I am gone. Though, I still need to find a ride to the airport...

I am going to be doing an internship in Japan called Language Teaching and Learning. Basically, I will teach English classes in the morning and then study Japanese the rest of the time. I am a little nervous because I have never taught before, but at least I am not the only one going. This internship is sponsored by both Brigham Young University and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan. The program is run by Masakazu Watabe (I call him Watabe Sensei) with graduate and undergraduate students working under him. I am one of the undergraduate students and I will be with the group stationed in Osaka. There is another group already in Yokohama that started a week before we did.

Language Teaching and Learning (from now on LTT) interns have taught in Yokohama in previous years, but this is the first time that the LTT program will be in Osaka. Even so, there are more students signed up to learn English in Osaka than in Yokohama.

There is only three more days before I leave and I feel like there is still so much more to do! Tomorrow I will mostly be shopping for gifts for my host family and buying a few more things that I need. Today I mostly packed. I tried to fit everything into one suitcase but that was impossible without going over the weight limit. But I think I packed lighter than I did when I last went to Japan.

Well, next time I post I will be in Japan!