Cherry Blossoms and Easter

Time keeps getting away from me! Cherry blossom season was beautiful, as usual. I went to one hanami (flower viewing) event in Omiya Park. The park was full of people, as is usual for this time, but it was also full of food carts selling the usual festival fare: takoyaki, yaki tori, yaki soba, dorayaki, cotton candy, chocolate dipped bananas and marshmallows, candy apples, and many other things. 

Crazy multicoloured sakura or ume, maybe.

Beautiful sunny lunchtime hanami. During hanami season, I often have lunch at the river near school. It is lined with Sakura and it is a very picturesque spot for a lunch.

I like how they are pink in the centre. So pretty.

桜吹雪 Sakarafubuki, or Sakura blizzard signals the inevitable end of cherry blossom season.

This isn't 桜吹雪, it's actual snow! In April! Crazy! 

To finish off a lovely Sakura season, we had a dump of snow that coincided with the opening of school and the entrance of new students. It was a lot of fun to have snow, especially to wake up to snow. I already miss the cold :(

Next comes Easter! Easter is hardly recognized in Japan, and when it is, it's associated with Disney. In the spring, just like in the US, Disneyland in Tokyo decorates for Easter. So most people are only exposed to Disney's Easter. 

This is the tiny Easter display at my local grocery store, and this is pretty big and impressive. As you can see, the main candy is Disney-related and the symbol is an Easter egg, not an Easter bunny. 

The sign says "Happy Easter. Let's celebrate spring!"

So Easter hasn't caught on yet, but with any luck, Costco and Disneyland will educate the masses on the appropriate way to observe Easter.

Volunteering in Japan - Sports Camp

This last week I spent 3 nights/4 days volunteering as a foreign group leader at a sports camp for kids in Tokyo. I've volunteered in the past for English camps with high school students and short events for children, but this was the most epic volunteer work I've done in Japan.

The premise of this sports camp is to help 5th and 6th graders find a sport they want to do, as well as to encourage friendship, communication, confidence and all the other good stuff through sports. In Japan, elementary school goes to 6th grade and then the students enter junior high school (3 years) and high school (3 years). In junior high, club activities (eg baseball, brass band, or calligraphy) start in earnest and often kids choose a club activity in junior high and stick with it until graduation from high school. Club activities aren't usually casual affairs, either. Many clubs meet 6 days a week, starting after school and going until 7 or 8 at night. They don't stop training during summer, winter or spring, either. The only time they stop is when there is an enforced exam break. Club activities, in other words, are a big deal. They shape the school experience of Japanese students and take up any remaining time and energy they have after regular school hours. So, finding a club you like and can continue at such an intensity is an important but daunting decision for young kids.

The sports camp I volunteered for had around 70 children from various wards in Tokyo. The camp took place at the Nationional Olympic Memorial Youth Centre in Yoyogi Park. This facility is huge! I never knew it existed before this camp. It has dorms, restaurants, a sports centre with gymnasiums, a pool, tennis courts, etc, an all purpose centre which houses many rooms that can be used in various ways (for lectures, seminars, training, etc), an International exchange centre, and more (which I didn't get to see). While we were there, there were many diverse groups using the facilities: groups of foreigners, sports teams, company groups, police academy students, marching bands, etc. Then there was our group: about 30 adults, mostly Japanese, with some foreigners for good measure, and 70 5th and 6th grade children, 80% of which were boys. Mayhem. 

In the sports camp, the kids participated in sports clinics, ice breaking activities, introduction activities, international sports presentations, and at the end of it, a mini futsal tournament. The first day was arrival day, the children were separated into 4 colour groups with children they didn't already know. One objective of the camp was to make new friends. The first activities were ice breaker games, followed by an activity with a big parachute. In hindsight, I think it would have been good to have talking time in between the activities, because there really wasn't a lot of downtime for the kids. After that, it was time to go to their rooms and drop off luggage. The kids and most of the leaders stayed in tatami mat rooms, which could sleep many people. I was housed with the other two foreign females in a separate building, not so ideal. After unpacking, it was dinner time followed quickly by bath time. Already by bath time there was a problem in my group with a mean kid. He kept teasing another boy, finally resulting in tears. The boy was so upset he wanted to go home the first night. I and another group leader convinced him to stay, and after that he seemed to be okay. After bath time, the next activity was a group bonding session, where they brainstormed good cheer words and together they were supposed to make a cheer. My group did it, but afterward, I never saw the cheer again, and no one knew it... So it was a wasted effort. After the cheer activity it was back to their rooms to have some free time and then get ready for bed. By the end of day 1, everyone was already exhausted. The kids, being kids, were excited to be away from home and sleeping with other kids, so sleep didn't come quickly. Unfortunately, the morning did.

Day 2: wake up call at 6 am. Ugh. The kids were woken up at 6 am and they had an hour to prepare themselves for the day as well as for breakfast, at 7 am. I quickly learned a lot of new Japanese words, like line up, get in a group, go forward, quickly, etc. after breakfast, the day was to begin. This day was particularly challenging, the kids had 4 sports clinics, each 90 minutes long. Amazingly, they all had so much energy. The first sports clinic was Sepak Tekraw. It was really fun and interesting. The leaders got to participate a little in each clinic. After Sepak Tekraw, it was soccer. Each clinic was led by a national team athlete, so the quality was very high. The soccer clinic was led by Ogura, a famous Japanese national team soccer player (former, he's around 40 years old now). After the second clinic, it was lunchtime. By this point, there hadn't been many problems. But one could see a recurring problematic tendency in a few of the boys. After lunch, the third clinic was rugby. That was another fun clinic, but it resulted in a few injuries, like bloody noses and things. The last clinic of the day was badminton. After that it was dinner time and bath time. By this point there had been a few rough points in the day, some fights between a few of the boys and some injuries, nothing too serious though. The same one was the cause of most of them. After dinner and bath, it was time to do an international mingling activity. Each group was split into four shapes, and then children from different colour groups teamed up with others who had the same shape. The mingling activity was an English activity. It involved saying the following conversation: 

"Hi, my name is --."

"Hi --, my name is --, nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too! Do you like --?"

"Yes, I do." Or "No, I don't."

"Thanks! Bye!"

Each kid had a sheet of paper with boxes arranged in a grid (like bingo), and they had to collect as many names as possible by finding kids who answered yes to their question. It was an easy and fun little activity that got the kids speaking in English, and to other kids who they didn't know. After this activity, it was free time, followed by lights out (and hopefully bed time) at 9 pm. If you're keeping track, that's 15 hours spent with the kids and no alone time... 6 am to 9 pm. Exhausting. In addition, group leaders had meetings afterward. So we didn't get back to our rooms until 10 or 10:30 pm.

Day 3: it started with waking the kids up at 6 am. They weren't so eager to be woken on this day. The kids were starting to fade. After breakfast they found their energy  though and they had a "spoglish" activity and two sports clinics: basketball and volleyball. Spoglish is "sports" and "English" together. It was a short exercise workshop with directions given in English. The kids had to listen, watch and follow along, even though they probably didn't understand what was said. It was interesting, but it was done with everybody at the same time. I think it would have been more successful in smaller groups. Basketball resulted in a few injuries, like jammed fingers and getting hit by flying balls. Volleyball was okay. After the clinics, it was lunch time. Each lunch was a bento box, and the kids all ate together, picnic style. It was fun... Until the aforementioned problem child turned into a real problem. I'm not sure of the details, but the boy ran off and when chased by a group leader, there was some punching and biting. The kid ended up being picked up by his mom. It was unfortunate, but after he went home, things were a lot more peaceful. That kid was trouble from the start. He never paid attention or tried to do anything the instructors had the kids doing. He just distracted others and picked on a select few kids. Problem child. After lunch, the kids played crab soccer and the foreign group leaders joined in for a bit. Then we had to leave to set up for the international sports presentations. Everything was way behind schedule, so the presentations were rushed, unfortunately. I presented cricket with a guy from Pakistan. My job was to plan the activity, but we didn't get to do it as I planned due to the scheduling problems. The presentations were in easy English, and the kids took notes on "who," "where," and "what." Then in their groups they prepared a poster and short presentation to make in front of their larger colour groups. As before, the groups were split up and the kids watched different presentations. Aside from cricket, there was boxing, Mongolian wrestling, and soccer. The kids' presentations were really cute and the kids seemed to learn a lot. After that, it was dinner time and bath time. The final activity of the day was uniform making. Each group received tshirts in their colour (my group was yellow) and they got to design and decorate their own uniform. I had to do a lot of handwriting on tshirts that day. The kids thought my handwriting was so cool. That's a first. Hahaha. After that activity, it was free time and bed time. Amazingly, at bed time, the kids found their energy and were up late again... After the group leader meeting I was sooooo dead. Just mentally exhausted, I think it was partly due to operating in mostly Japanese. 

Day 4: As usual, wake up time was 6 am, but their was more panic and activity than usual because everyone had to pack and tidy up their rooms. Breakfast was at 7 and the kids returned to finish packing and cleaning. Then we had to leave the rooms and head to the tournament place. Everyone boarded buses going to a Sports Centre in central Tokyo. The buses were wayyy late, so in the end, the tournament had to be drastically shortened. Each colour was supposed to have 6 - 10 minute games, but they ended up with 6 - 5 minute games. This left the kids frustrated and feeling  like it was a waste of time. I couldn't help but agree. After that, we returned to the Olympic Centre and had lunch. After lunch, it was reflection time. The kids had to fill out a survey and then present their reflections about the camp to their team mates. At the end, one person was chosen to represent their colour and speak in front of all the kids, staff and parents that came to watch the closing ceremony. Then awards and certificates were presented and finally it was home time. Yay! But the group leaders' work was not over. After the closing ceremony and the departure of the kids, the staff and group leaders had our own closing ceremony and reflections. We spoke in Japanese. My brain was fried and I was the last to speak. I managed to say something in terrible Japanese. Then we had to fill out a LONG survey and then we could go. It was long and exhausting, but it was rewarding and fun as well. I would definitely do it again next time. 

 

Takao san Hike (高尾山)

March 21 was the Spring Equinox, the official first day of spring. In Japanese it's called 春分の日 (shunbun no hi). So what better way to celebrate than by escaping the confines of the city and going for a little hike?  This hike was the last of the year for the mountain climbing club and the last club outing ever for the newly graduated 3rd years. 

The event was a happy, memorable, but slightly sad event, as it was the last time to hike with the 3rd years. The last club event in Japanese high school clubs is usually something of a party or celebration where the younger club members honour and thank their sempai for their guidance and friendship as well as to wish them well in the next part of their lives. Instead of having a party, the mountain climbing club has one last hike where the kohai (the younger club members) plan and prepare lunch for the sempai on the mountain. Last year, the hike was Jimba san to Takao san, a fairly long trek. This year was just Takao san, a 2.5 hour hike. 

We let at 8:45 am at Shinjuku station and caught the train to Takaosanguchi (高尾山口), from which we started our hike. There are several trails going up to the top of Takao, which is around 600 m in elevation. We took trail 6, which is 3.3 km long and we reached the peak in about an hour. The trail is quite easy, but it can get get busy...

At the top we found a place to set our bags and the first and second years got started on lunch. They did a really good job planning, coordinating and hauling the supplies up the mountain. What did we eat? Cheese fondue with chocolate fondue for dessert. It was delicious! 

Our first and only rest on the way up.

At the top, the first and second years are preparing lunch.

Cheese fondue with lots of vegetables, meat, and bread.

Enjoying fondue. We ran out of cheese first, but we had a lot of vegetables left, so we got creative and dipped the veggies in chocolate. The best combos? Broccoli and chocolate, pumpkin and chocolate, and carrot and chocolate.

Can't really see anything from the top, it was overcast and kind of misty. That direction is Tokyo.

Same thing, can't really see anything... :(

Tengu! There are lots of shrines on Takao and many statues of Tengu, a deity with a long nose. He's a god of the mountain, and is usually represented by two statues, one with a long nose and the other with a bird beak for a mouth and nose. He's pretty scary looking.

Shrine 

Pretty yellow flowers

An altar or shrine with many little bells, I'm not sure what it was for.

Pink blossoms, plum perhaps?

Shrine at the base of Takao.

Everyone at the top.

Takao san is a quick and easy hike. It's not too far away from Tokyo and it's easy to get to. This was a fun last hike and it will stay in my memory.

The graduates :)

In which time runs away again.

Time always flies by and I forget to update my blog. Truthfully, I haven't done anything exciting, just the normal things. 

Since getting back in January, I have started playing futsal again, dancing once a week, and I haven't been surfing in 4 months :(((((( yikes! The drop-in futsal I go to now has two professional soccer players, making me look like a chump. But the guys seem to accept me, they randomly blurt out English, it's rather adorable. I also recently returned to play futsal with the high schoolers that are all graduating (see - time sure flies!), and I was warmly received by them again after a long absence. They were also quite adorable. Three of them insisted on walking me home after futsal, for safety reasons :) that's the most gentlemanly behaviour I've witnessed in Japan!

One thing that I genuinely miss here is care and courtesy for others. Certainly, Japanese hospitality is great, but it's not genuine. I think once you understand the language and the culture (language alone won't help), you begin to realize that the famous Japanese hospitality, or omotenashi (which was their campaign in the 2020 Tokyo bid for the Olympics, by the way), is just forced, in many cases the person doesn't want actually care about you as a person. They're just doing their job, and if they don't have enough omotenashi, they may get in trouble. So, natural, basic, human courtesy is absent from every day life. For example, people don't hold doors for others, people don't worry about others getting home safe, if someone falls, no one helps them, etc. Also, I miss the friendly and genuine chit chat between workers (like waitresses, cash register people, and other service positions) and customers.

That's not to say that all people are cold. Usually, if someone knows you, they will be caring and kind. Usually. So, when I witness the warmth of people genuinely caring for another invidividual that is not close to them, I get all melty. My heart warms and I often reminisce fondly about it. I'm still smiling about getting walked home by the boys, even though it happened two weeks ago.

In other news, I made chocolate chip cookies for Valentine's Day.

Then I made cream puffs for no reason. But, I gave them to my dancing buddies.

The root canal saga continues, the end is in sight. After one of my many dental appointments, I found the first Starbucks in Japan! 

I also reunited with the stage and performed with the teachers of this year's graduating class at Kasujo. I was in a dancing number called Dancing Samurai, and I was also in a singing number called Happiness. I was added at the last minute to the Happiness number, so I didn't know the words, I just pretended. The students, being excited and almost free, were super excited and didn't care about how bad we were. They were just happy we made fools of ourselves :)

Life Lessons Learned from Tokubetsu Shien

I've learned some good life lessons while teaching. The most valuable lessons have been learned at Tokubetsu Shien, which is a special needs school. Every semester I get to visit Kasukabe Tokushi, and it always makes me appreciate being a teacher and being in Japan. The students are wonderful. They are all developmentally delayed. To qualify for this school, students' IQ must be lower than 50. As you can imagine, the lessons I teach and the content of the curriculum in general are quite simple. Students at this school learn the skills they need to survive in society. Many of the graduates learn skills that will allow them to get a job in various places. So it seems that these schools are extremely valuable.

So what have I learned? The most important thing is how you treat others. The students at this school don't bully each other. They aren't mean or cold-hearted towards anyone either. The students have varying abilities and awareness of their surroundings, but the students always take care of each other and support each other. That's how we should act. It's heart warming, and everyone could learn a lesson in caring from these students. 

Aside from restoring my faith in humanity and reminding me to be more caring towards others, the ability of these students to accomplish tasks like singing, dancing or interacting in English, is amazing. They and their teachers work so hard, so when I get to see the fruits of their labour, I'm genuinely amazed and touched. The students learn and practice because they genuinely want to learn and do their best. They are a great motivation for me to be a better teacher, friend and worker. They are so inspiring.

Last year, I went to watch the soccer team play in a tournament. Their team was lacking players and there were some players with physical disabilities. Despite their challenges, the better players never showed frustration and each of them gave their all, even though they were exhausted. I was so proud of them. These students have so many barriers in life, yet they just accept it and they keep going and doing their best. They try hard everyday and they treat each other and the people around them with genuine love and decency. It's just so ... I don't know... Wonderful. 

When I go back to my regular school and face normal students with normal abilities and chances in life, I'm sometimes dismayed by how they treat each other and how lazy they can be. Mostly it's the ill-treatment of others that gets to me. Don't get me wrong, my students are generally wonderful, and I don't witness much bad treatment of others, but I know it exists. Working with teenagers is great because you see them developing into young adults, but sometimes it's sad to see the ones who shut themselves off from the world or who are so self conscious they don't make eye contact. I feel for those students and I want to encourage and support them, but a lot of the time they refuse to make any connection. 

Being a teenager is pretty tough, and I think these days it is even harder with the added dimension of the internet and social networking. My special needs students mercifully don't have to deal with that element, and I think they're better for it. Their innocence and ability to take care of their peers is so special, I wish I could get my other students to go back to those innocent ways and basic rules for treating others.

Christmas has come once again

It's that time of year. The leaves have changed colour and fallen on the ground, leaving the bare bones of the trees behind. The wind has a crisp cool chill. The nights are nippy and the mornings biting. My bed has become more of a nest. And I could go on. One more: I have the urge to clean! That must mean one thing - Christmas! Of course, the obvious signs of Christmas are present as well: Christmas decorations, commercials and adverts, red cups at Starbucks AND 7/11 (7/11 sells coffee now, and they usually have white cups. However, they totally copied Starbucks and have introduced some holiday-themed red cups with snowflakes.), Christmas cake displays, KFC chicken advertisements, illuminations (AKA Christmas lights), Pizza-la delivery guys dressed as Santas, Christmas music, fresh strawberries are available in stores (Winter is the growing season. It's this way in Korea, too.), etc. Christmas truly is drawing near.

Today I took a day off, let's call it a mental health day, and I got all in the Christmas spirit. I baked Christmas cookies, I decorated, I put up Christmas lights, I watched Christmas movies, and I drank Christmas tea. It was a good spirit-lifting experience.

I should say, "I tried to bake Christmas cookies." They didn't really work. Why? I'm pretty sure I know why. Butter. Or rather, margarine. In Japan, every year around Christmas time, there happens to be a butter shortage. At this time it is difficult to find anything but margarine. I have lucked out and been able to get butter. However, the other day I thought I was buying butter, but it wasn't. I used this "butter", which came conveniently wrapped in two sticks, to bake sugar cookies. It didn't work too well. When I was trying to figure out what went wrong, I looked at the package and realized I had bought margarine instead :( There were warning signs. The "butter" was softer and easier to cut than it should have been, it was yellower than it should have been, it smelled more buttery than butter does... But I ignored all the signs and my gut, which pointed out to me that something was wrong. When you try and make sugar cookies with margarine, the shapes distort as they flatten out, making for some very unattractive cookies. In addition to using margarine, I used too much sugar... Oh well. They were still edible in the end, and people ate them up. Lessons learned.

It looks fine at this stage.

Still doing okay!

Eh? What happened? Margarine :(

After the baking mishap, I decided to decorate my apartment. I already have my advent calendar out, which is gorgeous, but I added to the decorations by putting up stickers on the walls, stringing some lights and putting out my Christmas tree (it isn't ready yet). 

I inherited the Christmas lights this year. They look so cheerful! 

My advent calendar!

Close-up for details. Every day there is a new decoration to hang on the tree. So fun!

Amidst the baking and decorating I managed to watch "the Bestest Present" and "The Santa Clause". I watched them while drinking my Christmas tea :) 

Mmmmm! Candy cane lane!

Also spotted in stores, are some special Christmas treats. Some will have to remain secret, but I'll show you a teaser ;)

Pepsi Pink!

Also, this past weekend I attended a bonenkai (忘年会), otherwise known as a "forget the year" party. They are akin to our Christmas or holiday office parties. This bonenkai was with my dance friends. It was a fun evening to just talk and drink and reflect a little on the year (some friends got married, some had babies, some got a girlfriend... Hahaha).

踊りマンの忘年会 Odoriman dance group's bonenkai

So, while it's getting cold, and Christmas is foreign here, I'm finding lots of warmth and a lot of Christmas cheer :) Can't wait to get the real thing though ;p

I have a microwave oven!

Over the summer I acquired a microwave oven from a friend who was moving away from Japan. Up until recently it was too warm to use it for baking. However, I've been a busy bee making baked goods, something I haven't done for awhile, and have never really done in Japan. 

Before getting the microwave oven, I just had a plain old microwave, so if couldn't bake. I think most foreigners living in Japan, the ones that can cook anyway, miss their home kitchens. Having a microwave oven truly increases quality of life. 

So far, I have cooked two delicious things with my oven. The first thing I ventured to make was persimmon gingerbread loaf. Unfortunately, I couldn't find ground cloves, so the taste wasn't perfect. It was pretty good though. 

Persimmon Gingerbread Loaf

Since I don't have a mixer or blender, I mixed everything by hand, I was worried it wouldn't turn out, but all was fine. I chose this recipe because I received a lot of persimmons from a local farmer I know. There were too many to simply eat, so I made something with them. 

This recipe was well-received and I will make it again, especially since I just received another large amount of persimmons. 

My second adventure in baking was actually cheating. I used a muffin mix I found online. The mix is a high fibre, low calorie, wheat free mix. The muffins are a little bland, but they were very easy to make. I'll be making them again, too.

Chocolate Oat Muffins

Because they were bland, I will level up (Japanese English...) with cinnamon and maybe some coconut. 

I'm really happy to be baking again. It's so fun. At first I was worried, because I wasn't sure what I made would be tasty, but my guinea pigs gobbled it up :)

In other news:

At the grocery store near my house, I found these very large pumpkins. They're just being thrown away... What a waste! I would have loved to steal them, but they were too big.

Red cups were in Starbucks shops all over Japan on November 1... This isn't my first and it won't be my last, but the barista drew me a cute picture of a polar bear! It made me smile.

Played futsal with other ALTs. It was a gong show, but fun, nevertheless. In our group, there are many different countries represented, we have such an international group!

On the express trains, they have catalogues full if crazy things to buy. One morning on my way to Onjuku, I found this lovely suit. I need this. So. Bad. It's like a sleeping bag with arms and legs!

After surfing in Onjuku, I found a beautiful butterfly.

This contraption is to keep your feet warm while sitting. I want this too. It was so soft!

The fields in Onjuku have all been harvested. Fall is here and winter is on its way.