Just a little something to help Katie keep up with all those who matter to her.
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| We're Not in Japan Anymore... Just a little something to help Katie keep up with all those who matter to her. |
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Friday, November 28, 2003 I finally saw a movie in the movie theater. (: Aren't you proud? I'd been wanting to, but I really didn't have the time... and it's not a whole lotta fun to go alone (even though you really don't talk to the person you go with while the movies runs, huh?). And also... it sounds strange, but I wasn't really sure which building the movie theater is in... Nothing here looks like a typical American theater... they just don't have the room to build stuff wide here--everything is tall. So Kazuyo took me to the movies and I found out which building is the movie theater. (: Hooray. Maybe sometime I'll go check out another flick on my own. But only on Fridays, I think... that's 'ladies' day'--my ticket was only ￥1000 (about ten bucks), opposed to the typical ￥1800 it costs (you guessed it, about $18). RIDICULOUS. Don't EVER complain about American movie prices again, okay? If you do, I'll make you treat me to a movie here in Japan. So there. We saw "The Matrix: Revolutions." It was what I expected--which was not much. The first movie was really cool--special effects and action and a really interesting plot/idea. The second one kinda lost grip of all that neat stuff. I even thought the CG went down a notch. Well, part 3 did okay in the CG department (at least I didn't notice anything that bugged me), but the story is still waaaaaaaaay too funked up. Oh well... I guess that's what you get for not planning out the WHOLE story before you make a movie. At least we'll always have "The Matrix" to enjoy. I also FINALLY got an account at a video/DVD/CD rental place. I was hoping there was another closer to me, but no luck. Oh well. (It's right across the street from the second-hand bookstore, so I don't mind so much!) I rented "Bend it like Beckham" and two CDs. Isn't that keen? Renting CDs? And they aren't like the classical stuff you find at the library--they are CDs by some very popular artists. I'm listening to the first one now and it's really good. (: Yay. Well, I'm terribly tired, and looking forward to sleeping in as long as I can tomorrow. Yeah... I'm considering blowing off poor SailorMoon... Soooooo tired. Goodnight! posted by Katie Suttles | 10:20 AM Comments-[ comments.] Wednesday, November 26, 2003 It's 6:30AM on Thursday here, so it's Thanksgiving for me so... Happy Thanksgiving!posted by Katie Suttles | 4:28 PMComments-[ comments.] Hi again. Just had some time, so I thought I'd jot down a few ramblings. (: It's only been two days, but I'm already begging for this weekend to get here... dunno why. I think I'm just tired of working. :P Not that I do a WHOLE lot... I mean, compared to the 'real' teachers at the schools. Although... reciting my self-introduction 3 times today wasn't a cake-walk. I actually had a sore throat by the time the last class was finished... Weird. I think the kids were interested... ? They weren't as vocal sometimes as the Dai Ni or Oohira kids were... Oh well. I really impressed Ms. Atsumi today, I guess. She was surprised at all the Japanese lingo I know, thanks to Inuyasha... Which, really, shouldn't be that surprising... I mean, I've watched, like 135 episodes in Japanese (about 120 of those have been subtitled) and I try to read the comics when I can. (Crap! I just realized I forgot to get my Inuyasha magazine today! POOOO) So after watching, like 70 hours of a Japanese cartoon, you'd think you'd pick up a FEW words, right? Especially ones you hear in every episode... Oh well, it was fun talking to her. (: In the fourth class I had today, with the 1st years, they learned, "How do you --?" so they asked, "how do you say '--'" questions. That was a lot of fun. I wrote them on the board too, and by the end of class the list contained: elephant, giraffe, camel, super senior, pi, demon, trash can, mole, and Earth. Quite an array, no? (: Like I said, it was fun. Wednesday evenings are always crappy for TV, so I finally decided to watch the video present Becca and Dan gave me way back in September, at Misha's wedding. (: It was a lot of fun--just like I expected. I mean, it was Becca and Dan after all. (: They just did a lot of random taping of my home, Flushing, and her apartment in Ann Arbor, and lots of friends and loved ones I miss a lot. Oh, and there were tons of bad jokes. (: And pizza.... they ordered a pizza..... God, I miss pizza.... ): But it was great--it made me laugh and smile a lot, and I even got a bit choked up at parts. So a BIG 'thank you' to those two, for such a great idea, and another 'thank you' to everyone who had a part in the tape. (: It was a wonderful birthday gift. (: posted by Katie Suttles | 7:59 AM Comments-[ comments.] Tuesday, November 25, 2003 I was planning on filling you all in on my happenings this past weekend, but Fusako asked me to proofread the next Numazu Newsletter (in English) and finishing it by her 'deadline' has kind of left me sapped. So here's a rundown: Sunday Fusako took me to the NICE (Numazu Assoc for International Cultural Exchange--or something) International Fair. All sorts of people from other countries who are living here had booths--Thai, Chinese, Peru, etc. We went straight to the Kalamazoo booth, though, since she is like, the boss of all stuff Kalamazoo, and her friends were working there. After a quick visit, I was shuffled off to try on a kimono. I wasn't all that keen on it... I mean, I OWN a kimono back home... but Fusako said she wanted to see me in kimono, and how am I supposed to refuse? Besides, I figured, take a few pictures, get told I'm pretty, then I'd be back in my normal duds. Well, no... after I had my picture taken about 5 times, I got taken back to the Kalamazoo booth, and kinda paraded around for a while wearing this kimono. There were 'Japanese things' to try (calligraphy, flower arranging, attending a tea ceremony, playing the koto (something like a Japanese harp)) and Fusako asked if I wanted to try any of that stuff, but I already have.... JCMU kinda took care of all those areas. I may not be an expert, but I know quite a bit about the Japanese culture, and I've been lucky to have had the change to experience a lot of those things. But, you know... it was the OTHER countries that I was a little curious about.... I've never been to Thailand or Peru... I was hoping to see some stuff about THEM. Oh well... At least we stopped at a few booths to get some food... I was so hungry. (Quick note here: I thought this party would be at the cultural center with lots of foods to eat. Hardly. It was outside--so there went my brilliant idea of wearing a skirt to look nice... I was so cold. And there were no 'big dishes'... so I really should have munched on something before I left home.) So after a while... yeah, probably 30 minutes or so, I got to change back into my clothes--without ever looking in a mirror, can you believe it? So yeah, I really don't know what I looked like--or even what kind of shape my obi got tied into (the obi sash is always tied into a pretty bow in the back, for those who don't know). But I'm sure I'll eventually get handed some pictures by someone who took a few. So then we stood around in the Kalamazoo booth for about another 30 minutes... I was kind of hoping to see the OTHER countries, since, well, you know I've never BEEN to any of them. Kalamazoo? I lived there for 5 years... there wasn't a whole lot on display at that booth that I hadn't seen before. But people kept talking to me, and asking for pictures and stuff, that it was pretty impossible to get away. Well, a bit later one of the ladies asked if I wanted to see the rest of the fair. "Yes!" So we wandered off, but many of the people were cleaning up their things! Sheesh.... The rest of Sunday (before and after the Fair) I spent mostly at home--cleaning and working on stuff I had to work on. And talking lots to Jeremy. This weekend was really good for that, which was nice. We'd kinda been missing each other online earlier last week. ): Monday, like I said before, was ANOTHER National Holiday--so no school. I decided that maybe I'd go explore the "Numazu Alps" that day. Fusako told me earlier in the week that she would pick me up to go to the fish market... at 6:30. Ugh... but I was curious, so I agreed. She said she would also take me out for fresh 'breakfast sushi' (asazushi, the Japanese say) afterwards. I wasn't so sure about having raw fish for breakfast, but after having sashimi (thinly sliced raw fish) for breakfast while I stayed with Madoka last summer, I figured 'what the heck.' And I really like sushi, anyway... So yeah, up at 6:15 and out the door at 6:30. Fusako and her husband, Toshi, both came to get me, and we headed to Numazu Port. The place was full of fishermen and fish. Honestly, it was hard to believe that something like this can happen every day. I mean, there must have been tons and tons of fish sitting on that dock... and still, there's enough fish in the sea to do this day after day after day.... I should have taken pictures, but I felt a little out-of-place. Not only am I quite obviously a foreigner, but I'm also quite obviously not a fisherman. :P These guys were just rushing around, trying to do their daily work (at 7am, and on a holiday no less!) and here I was, gawking at them. So I never pulled my camera out. Oh well... I don't think that the fish market will be dissolving anytime soon--I might go back again. Ever seen a three-foot, frozen solid tuna being pushed through a bandsaw? I have. And I should get a picture, so you can say so, too! After wandering around a bit, we went to a sushi restaurant and had some mighty delicious sushi. Well... the chef did use a bit too much wasabi sometimes, for my tastes... so now I know next time to go ahead and ask for no wasabi. (The first few pieces only had a hint of it! So it wasn't so bad. But my last two pieces, I swear... he musta snuck a grape-sized hunk in there or something cuz my throat was in agony!) After that, I went to the Nakamura's for some coffee and we chatted, then I got my ride home. Jeremy was around when I got back (which was only, like 9am! Sheesh!) and we talked for a while, but soon he encouraged me to go out and hike in the mountains here. I wasn't feeling too up to it, but I figured I'd regret it later if I didn't... so I went ahead and left. I packed some mikan and a bottle of tea in a bag with my camera and set out to find the start of the trails. I saw some bikes parked along this road that looked like it might be the start of a trail... so, I went ahead and parked too and began walking up the road. It was paved, and there were a few cars and other people on it, and it really wasn't what I had expected... Where were the trails? But eventually, on my right, I saw a stone staircase leading up to a pagoda... The pagoda you can see from the city, peeking out among the trees in Mt Kanuki! I was so excited! I had been wanting to climb up to this pagoda, so see the view! And here it was. (: So I took the staircase and wandered around near the pagoda. But I could see that there were more trails branching off of this area, actual trails, not paved roads, so I picked one and hiked on. Whew! It was pretty tough hiking in some spots, but I took my time since I was in no rush. There were a few signs along the way, and I could make out a few kanji, but to be honest, I really had no idea where I was. But it would be easy enough to figure out my way home, so I kept going. It was really lovely up there, and I seemed to just be going higher and higher. (: I got some great shots of the city from the mountains, and I'll load them up soon. Eventually I reached this 'observation deck' and could see 360 degrees around the mountain--it was gorgeous (even on this cloudy day!). But way down below the deck, hiding in the trees, I spotted that pagoda! I couldn't believe how much higher I was! Wow.... well, at least I knew the general direction to go home... and I think I'd been wandering for about 2 hours, so I decided it was time to go back. I picked a paved road that looked like it might head back in the direction of the pagoda and began walking. Wow, I wish I had timed myself, so know how long it took me to come down from that observation deck. (: As I walked down, though, I could peek up through the branches and see the deck getting farther and farther away... neat. (: Eventually I was back at the pagoda, I took that stone staircase back to my original road, made it back to my bike, and pedaled home. And that was really about it.... huh, 'rundown'... :P Right. Well, today wasn't anything special--just a few classes at Dai Ichi. Lunch was fun, I spoke with a girl in Japanese quite a bit. (: Dunno if that's bad (for her) or good (for me), you know? Oh well. I think the kids enjoy listening to me struggle with their language--it makes it easier for them, when the struggle with mine. (: It rained a bunch today, and I heard my first claps of Japanese thunder since I've arrived. Weird, huh? And WOW, they were big ones, too, it was awesome. (: Maybe only three times, though... and I didn't notice any lightning. Well, tomorrow I have to recite my self-introduction 3 times... and my back and neck are killing me (this "no chairs in my apartment" thing is starting to take it's toll!) so I'm going to get to bed early! Goodnight! posted by Katie Suttles | 7:45 AM Comments-[ comments.] Saturday, November 22, 2003 Today was just the right mix of 'lazy' and 'got stuff done'. I woke up a bit later than I had planned, and I missed all but 3 minutes of the live-action SailorMoon TV series this morning. Oh well... Next week looks like a good episode, so I'll make sure I'm up. (; I got to talk to Jeremy a lot this morning <3 as I did my laundry and vacuumed and just basically straightened up. About 4'o'clock, I went out for groceries and the like. I splurged on some Inuyasha goodies for myself, so I am quite content. First I got a calendar for next year--the pictures are really cute! The first one, for example, shows Inuyasha making mochi with Kagome's family. It's a traditional activity on New Years, to pound rice with a special mallet, until it makes this gooey treat that is quite common here. It's a great picture. (: Next, I got a big fat Inuyasha comic. It's really just a gathering of some of the old major plot points, but since all my books are in America (and buying new ones to read here would just be stupid), it'll be kinda handy. And I'll have no qualms about writing in this one (like I do with the weekly publications), so I can translate stuff. I wouldn't want to write in my Inuyasha volumes. ): Lastly, I got a handful of capsule toys. (: You know, put in the quarter, turn the crank, and get a cool toy! Well, in America you get CRAPPY toys... fake tattoos and cheap jewelry and dumb stickers and those creepy sticky hands that really never work like they should. HERE, in Japan, there's actually stuff you WANT in the machines. Yeah, so they cost about 100yen. Some are 200yen, like some of the figurines I got today... Because they're kinda big, and you actually have to assemble them! I should get some pictures.... yeah? (: When I came home from shopping, I talked with Jeremy some more and finished cleaning up the place. I put up the message boards I got from the Oohira kids and also the Inuyasha poster one of the 2nd years gave me. (: What a sweetie! Oh, I also spent a TON of time this morning gettting pictures uploaded to my site, so now I just have to make pretty pages for them. Should be some pictures to look at soon, then! Yay! But... it's 2am. I gotta get to bed if I want to be up for cartoons in the morn! Goodnight! posted by Katie Suttles | 12:03 PM Comments-[ comments.] Friday, November 21, 2003 Ahh.. another week is over. How many has it been now...? And how many left? It's funny... I was counting when I first got here, but I seem to have lost track. Hmm... well, I arrived on August 25th, and it's nearly November 25th.... 3 months, then. Wow. My friend Doug (his journal link is to the right) is working in Hikone, Shiga, Japan right now. We studied at JCMU last summer together--several weeks ago he said to me, 'it's funny--we've already been here longer than our stay last summer.' I couldn't believe it... So Dai Ichi is treating me well. Today was only my second day, but the kids are warming up to me a little. At lunch, I talked with several first years about comics and anime in America. (: It was fun. After school I had my first 'class' with the Numazu Junior High English teachers. It's more of a seminar, I guess... to help them practice listening to and responding to English. Each meeting, two teacher-students will read speeches they have written, then I will read a short story or something and give them questions, and then they will write short stories themselves based on picture cues I have for them. That's what we did today--and it went pretty well. At the end of class, I asked what they thought (I mean, this IS for THEM after all) and they were pretty happy with the way the class went. So, yay. (: And I enjoyed teaching it--it should be fun, and good practice for me (and for them!). We had a bit of a hassle getting class started, though! Oogawa-sensei drove me from Dai Ichi to Dai Go, where class was to be held, just before 6pm. When we parked, she commented that she didn't see any of the other teachers, so maybe they had gone to the restaurant we were supposed to head to first already. So we headed over to the Chinese restaurant we were going to eat at before the class began at 7. When we got there, the waitress said we were the first in our party to arrive... Strange... it was just after 6. Oh well, the traffic was bad. So we sat down and waited. A few minutes later another student arrived, and we three chatted for a while. After several more minutes, a group of about eight teachers showed up (including Morisue-sensei--who had 4 more message boards for me from the Oohira kids! What sweethearts... I miss them so much!). It was practically 6:30 so we just decided to order. They asked me lots of questions about working in Numazu, and what I'll do when I go home, and I talked about teachers' lives in America (substituting and whatnot). A little while later, one man's dinner arrived. Of course, we were running out of time, so we encouraged him to eat (which is kinda hard for Japanese to do sometimes, even Americans I think... we consider it rude). A bit later, some more dishes arrived, but about five of us were still without food. Soon, the others were finishing up, but still our dinners hadn't arrived... it was creeping up to 7pm. So we called to the kitchen (seriously CALLED, there was a phone in our room!) and they said it'd be another minute, so the others went ahead and left. We had to wait a bit longer, until about 7:05 before our food arrived. We gobbled it down as fast as we could and then rushed downstairs, where the waitress apologized and said our meals were free. Score! (: So we accepted her kind offer (after trying to decline the offer, of course) and rushed to the school! And then we started class. It went like I said before: shared speeches, commented on them, I read a short story and gave them questions, then handed out the picture cards for homework. I hope the 'make a story' activity isn't homework every time... I'd rather do it in class. Oh well. I have s'more stories lined up for future classes, from these English practice books, but I hope to use some famous American lit sometime, instead. (: And MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech was in two of the three books, so maybe I can get a recording of that to share with them. (: So... I'm looking forward to a decently lazy weekend. I have LOTS of dishes to wash... an embarrassing amount, really... laundry to do, and so so much cleaning to do. Whee. posted by Katie Suttles | 7:27 AM Comments-[ comments.] Thursday, November 20, 2003 First day at Dai Ichi Junior High: Complete. Dai Ichi is a very nice school--recently built (remodeled?), and so it was quite warm in the teachers' room. (: It was always pretty cold at Oohira, the last few days. The majority of Japanese schools (I can't say "all" you know, though it may be true) do not have heaters (or air conditioners, which may be more necessary in a climate like this). Personally, I think it's kinda crazy. I mean, why make the poor kids (and teachers!) suffer? Yeah, I know it's less expensive... but it's hard to learn when you're cold! :P I remember in high school, even when I worked in K Central, we would always fiddle with the thermostat, perfecting the room temperature. Do schools down south have ACs? I would think so, instead of heaters. Perhaps. So yeah, Dai Ichi... The kids are nice so far, but quite shy. I haven't really talked to any of them yet. I had two classes with the third year students (the oldest ones at the jr high) and they're at a pretty good level. Oogawa-sensei and Atsumi-sensei both speak really great English, but most of the other teachers don't speak much English (as far as I can tell... from one day.... which isn't much, to be honest :P). But, all of the teachers were really friendly, of course. (: It should be a nice place to work. Still though... I wonder how today went at Oohira... I thought about those kids often today. Did they talk about me, in English class? Or in a different class, even? I hope they know I miss them... I can't wait for Jeremy to get here (He bought his tickets the other day!), because I want to take him to Oohira, and to Dai Ni. (: It will be really fun to see the kids again, and I think they would love to meet Jeremy. (: Okay, well, it's time for bed. I need to check my schedule for tomorrow one last time, make sure I'm prepared for tomorrow, then I get to prepare myself for bed. I think I'll sleep pretty well. It's been a long week, and I'm looking forward to a relatively plan-free weekend. posted by Katie Suttles | 8:09 AM Comments-[ comments.] Wednesday, November 19, 2003 My month-long stint at Oohira has ended... While today was a very nice one (there was a 'farewell assembly' for me, I got more flowers, some really sweet messages, two more 'message boards,' and lots of "thank you!"s from teachers and students), it was certainly very very sad... I came close to crying a couple times... One girl did cry, as her classmates sang a song for me... This is the worst part of this job... If I ever find myself coming back to Japan to teach, I hope I can stay at one school. >sigh< Of course, if that had been the case with THIS job, I never would have met the Dai Ni students AND the Oohira students... and all the others that are soon to follow... I know that... Doesn't make it much easier, though. "See you again," they say. At Oohira Elem, and now today, at Oohira JHS. "See you again!" Not "goodbye" or even "sayonara"... So they will. They'll see me again. (: Kitto. It's a promise. posted by Katie Suttles | 7:25 AM Comments-[ comments.] Tuesday, November 18, 2003 So tomorrow is my last day at Oohira Jr High. Another last day... I think it's feeling a little easier this time, having done this before... and feeling a little more comfortable here. It's still pretty sad for me, though. These kids have been a really great bunch. Many of them tried really hard to speak with me. (: And there are a few there who have really amazing English skills--I hope they keep up with it. Even those who aren't so great at speaking English... I hope I did something for them, too. I hope I at least helped them have fun with learning a new language... made it seem exciting and interesting... Because it is! Yeah, it's hard and annoying and frustrating sometimes... I hope I helped keep their curiousity alive a little bit longer... And I hope I see them again. I'll need to find some excuse to bus my butt all the way back out to Oohira someday... (: I should have Morisue-sensei give me email updates, in case there's some goings-on out that way. I could make a surprise appearance. (: I'll keep my fingers crossed... posted by Katie Suttles | 8:29 AM Comments-[ comments.] Sunday, November 16, 2003 So today was pretty nice. (: Kazuyo said she'd take me to a big outlet mall, and to an amusement park, if the weather was nice. On Friday the forecast said 'rain', but it ended up being a really beautiful day! The wind was really storng, but it kept the sun from getting too hot. (: So we met up at 11 and headed to Gotemba. The Gotemba Outlet Mall is full of all these fancy brand name stores (lots of them I don't know!) that have their stuff at about half price (which is sometimes still pretty steep). I kept my eyes out for nice sweaters and pants I could wear to school--since sweaters take up so much room, I didn't bring any from home... and the weather's kinda calling for them now. I saw some nice ones... but I'm used to big deals at Target and stuff, getting sweaters for, like twenty bucks... so 5000 yen price tags weren't really exciting me. :P And I didn't really get motivated to give any pants a try... I haven't really found a pair at any store that have fit me nice... I just don't have a Japanese woman's figure... Even though, I was thinking I might have more luck at the outlets since most of them are American stores to begin with... but again, I was looking at 50-60 dollars for pants, and it just didnt' sound like the best deal. Of course, if I DID get any pants, I'd have to make sure I had shirts and stuff to go with them... ugh... So I got a bag at the Gap. (: It was 600 yen. That's right 600--that's not a mistype. (: It's a nice shoulder bag that should hold a lot of my school junk, and it was 600 yen--I mean, come on! (: Kazuyo got a really smart jacket. (: I'd like one, too... but I'd have to get pants and a shirt to go with it.... :P heh So we headed off in the direction of the amusement park, and found a sign: Closed because of the wind. Dang... so no fun rides that day. ): Oh well. I had a really nice time with her anyway. (: I saw some nice stuff at the outlet; so one day when I feel like trying junk on and spending some decent money, I'll go back. (: And the view from the mall is really spectacular. Kazuyo said it used to be an old amusement park, but it went out of business and they built the mall. As you stroll down this one 'street', you can see Mt Fuji before you. (: It was kinda cloudy today, so I was waiting to take a picture til later.... but it just got cloudier. :P POOP. So hopefully I'll get a really awesome view on one of these last three mornings that I walk to Oohira Junior High. Yeah... three days left... It's going to be hard switching again. Especially in the middle of a week--how dumb is this, huh? OJH has exams on Thurs and Friday, and Ms Morisue said it's likely my new school, Dai Ichi JHS, will be the same. Will I even be doing anything, then? I'd be nice if they gave me two days off... but I'm not holding my breath... Ms Morisue may have contacted the Ich-Chuu English teacher while I was gone, so hopefully I've got some sort of meeting Mon, Tues, or Wednesday. And you know what...? I just realized I haven't heard from Ms Morisue at all this weekend... I hope there isn't something I need to have prepared for 1st period.... >sigh< posted by Katie Suttles | 7:57 AM Comments-[ comments.] Friday, November 14, 2003 So here we go, I'll give you a general rundown of my adventures at Oohira Elementary this past Thursday and Friday. You can see pictures now up on my site, too. (: DAY 1: ThursdaySo I took the same bus into Oohira, just got off a few stops earlier, in front of the Elementary school. So for these two days I DIDN'T have to walk the 10 minutes to the school's front door. Yay! I was greeted by a few children as we walked through the gate. "Ohayou gozaimasu" (Good morning) they said quietly, kind of awed (yeah.. I get this all the time!). I replied and (as usual) got a chorus of 'She speaks Japanese!' So I said, "Of course I speak Japanese, I'm in JAPAN, aren't I?" Makes sense, doesn't it?So I walked in, found the teachers' room and got to rest a bit before my first class. My first class was with 47 4th graders in the library. They were all sitting on the floor, with a small blackboard stand in front of them. So after greeting me ("GOOD MORNING!") I told them a bit about myself, using my maps and postcards. They got real excited when I passed around the money and English comic books I had. (: After that, we tried a game of "Color Karuta." Karuta is a game Japanese children play often, to help them learn the Japanese 'alphabet' or anything else, really. I made "Color Karuta" the night before--it was just a small deck of 8 different colored cards. (One deck for each small group of students) I would call out a color, and the one to slap the correct card first got to keep it. The "champion" of each group got a sticker from me. (Which doesn't seem like much, but WOW are stickers effective motivators!) I think they generally had a good time. (: Right after that I went to work with 42 first graders. WOW... it was hard to keep them under control. We were in the music room this time, which was a little narrower than I would have liked... because I wanted to teach them "Duck, Duck, Goose". It worked really well at Dai Ni Elem, so I thought I'd try it here. So, we had to split the kids into two groups, and one had to watch... which I would rather have avoided--its hard for little kids to sit still! Well, it went over pretty well. I think they generally got the idea of the rules, but we could have used s'more space... We tried "Color Karuta" in this class too, but it was a lot more hectic... it's really hard to get 42 first graders to all be quiet at the same time so everyone can hear what color I shout... oh well. Next I got to rest for about 25 minutes. Thank god! I needed time to relax, and to reorganize my mass of karuta cards! After that, I visited tea 2nd graders, also in the music room. There were 36 of them, and they worked pretty well. (: I talked a bit about myself, showing them the maps, postcards, money and comics. They went pretty berserk seeing "DragonBall" and "Yu-Gi-Oh!" in English. (: After that, we played some karuta, and the champs got stickers. Then we had a little Q&A, which was fun because I was able to practice my Japanese. (: After that class ended at 11:00, I was 'free' until 2pm. I had lunch in between then, with the teachers. The VP and two young females teachers ate with me and we talked a LOT, in JAPANESE. (: (: (That's one nice thing I've noticed about visiting the Elem schools.. not many of the teachers speak Engish! At the Jr Highs, I usually only have talked with the English teachers... in English... the other teachers, I guess, just kinda figure I can't communicate...) I told the Oohira Elem teachers that, since my job here is pretty much 'speaking English', I don't get much of a chance to speak Japanese, so I was very happy today. (: So my last class that day was with the 5th graders. I went to their classroom, and stood in the middle of a sea of 36 desks. Whew! Well, with students in their seats, it feels a lot easier to 'teach', so I taught them our basic greetings (Good morning, afternoon, evening) and 'My name is... Nice to meet you.' I offered stickers for anyone who wanted to give the greetings a try, and I think almost everyone gave it a shot! (: I hope they remember this tomorrow... I also told them a bit about myself and showed them the goodies I brought--including a few pictures I had (since one boy asked about my family). We had a short Q&A after that, and then class was over. (: While I was in the break room, waiting for 3:45 to roll around, so I could head to the bus stop, the teacher I met with a few days back came in, leading 4 young girls. (: One of them, I think, speaks English very well. But she was incredibly shy to speak it in front of her friends, so we only spoke in Japanese. (: They just had a few questions for me. (: They were all pretty shy, so we didn't talk about much... (: Oh well. So I got on the bus just before 4 and headed home to recover... DAY 2: FridayOn Friday, I was only scheduled to visit 2 groups of kids, and had from 10am to 4pm of nothing. Weird... So I met with the sixth graders first, 45 of them, in the library. I introduced myself and passed around the stuff I brought. They seemed to have a pretty good understanding of English, so that was kinda nice. (: After that, we played the karuta game (no matter what age they are, it's still fun! (: We've even done versions of it in the Jr Highs) and I rewarded the 'champions' with stickers. (: We had a short Q&A after that, and then the class was over. (: Next, the third graders came piling into the library before I even left (I was gathering my things back into my bag). But that was alright--I didn't have to leave. (: So they all plunked on the floor and we started class soon after that. Again, I talked about myself and showed them my map, money, postcards, etc. They were a little harder to keep quiet... lord knows why... or maybe I was just getting tired by that point... Whatever the reason, they did not like to stay quiet. So I tried to press on, trying to shush them when I could... They loved the money, and loved the comics even more. Actually... as I went to hand one book out to a student, about six hands pushed forward and tried to snatch it from mine. I had to bark at them for a moment... my patience had run a little thin by then... and I've always taken good care of my books... It made me angry that they were carelessly grabbing my things... So I pulled it back and cried, "be careful. This is my book." Perhaps they understood my meaning... no one was scared of me or anything. It was still too loud for it to sound like I yelled. :P Water off a duck's back, anyway... they were shrieking and laughing again in no time... Next, the students had to run the track for 8 minutes. They invited me.... ugh geez... I haven't ran in so long... and I'm not in the best shape to put up with an 8-minute run... but I guess my excuses of "I'd really just like to take pictures" didn't do any good and I ended up jogging with them... I was able to run for about 4 minutes before I had to take a one-minute walk. I ran for another 3.5 minutes and then walked the last 30 seconds... ugh. No fun. But, I guess... at least it made the kids happy.... I tried to get some shots of the grounds then, but, as you can see on my site, the kids had other ideas. After that, I went and took a break in the break room... it was good to sit alone by myself for a while, and to recover from the run... But, after about an hour, no one had come in to see me... I was hoping the VP or one of the teachers would volunteer to show me around the school or something... but, I guess not. So about 11:30ish I had to use the bathroom, so I got up and walked out through the teachers' room. The teacher I had met with before saw me and jumped up and said something about the 6th grade class... I said that I was just going to the bathroom... I was kinda confused. So as I walked to the bathroom, I went past the art room and saw the kids in there. He must have asked if I wanted to check it out, I guess. So on my way back, I peeked in. They were doing watercolor paintings. It was kinda fun to walk around and see what they were doing... except there was one little girl who kept poking me and tapping me and asking me questions I didn't understand (and I don't think she understood that I didn't understand...) >sigh< So when the class was over, I left and went back to my break room... Lunch began after a few minutes, and I ate with the same two ladies again, and two more this day. They asked me a bunch of questions again, so I got to speak some more Japanese. However, they kinda talked among themselves quite a lot, too. Oh well. After lunch, I just retired to the break room again... I was sure how to ask to take a tour of the school...? But after a little while three girls peeked in. They asked if they could talk to me. (: They had little pieces of paper from "friendship books" that they wanted me to fill in. So I gave them my address and phone number and sign and wrote down my favorite movie star and what I'd do with 10man-en (approx 100,000$). They had to try to explain some of the questions to me, and we spoke all in Japanese, so it was fun. (: Though, I think two of the girls said they had taken English tests and done really, really well... I wondered how proficient they were... but I understand their feeling of being nervous about speaking a foreign language... so I let it lie. (: Cleaning time began at 1:35 and they had to go. So I sat around for a bit, and eventually decided to just venture outside of the teachers' room to see what they were doing. In the hallway, some kids were sweeping and cleaning and such and spoke with me a little (it was mostly just the little ones, and they don't say much). Around 2 everyone had scattered and I was alone in the hall, so I went back to the break room. About 2:30 I heard the kids outside again, so I went out to check. The club activities had begun, so I grabbed my camera and went outside. The 'Phys Ed Club' was playing games in the school yard, the Ping Pong Club was practicing in the hallway, and the Art Club was in the art room. I wandered among the groups for a bit, taking a few pictures, playing some ping pong. (: Outside, a bunch of the little ones heading home gathered all around me and begged for pictures and autographs and such... so I didn't get to watch much of the club activies... so I retreated inside after a while. But there I encountered two engergetic little girls who kept crowding around me as I tried to watch the kids practice Ping Pong. Sheesh... About 5:15, two gangs of girls ran up to me, bearing crepes. They were in the Cooking Club, and had made me some desserts. (: What sweeties. So I headed back into the break room to eat them--it was kinda hard.. I wasn't too hungry, or really in the mood for a crepe quite yet, but what can you do? (: I finished them off and took the plates out into the hall where I asked a little girl where the cooking room was. She lead me upstairs and showed me. I peeked into the room and told them 'Thank you, they were delicious!' and gave them the plates. (: I think they were pretty pleased. (: Soon after that, the Club Activies ended and I watched the Ping Pong Club close its meeting. One boy said he was happy today because he got to play with me. (: Hehehe. After that, I gathered up my things, and practically had to swim out the door, through the little ones who kept crowding around me. Achhh.... Oh well, at least they had fun... and I did too, for the most part. It was just a tiring pair of days... My next elementary school visit isn't until February, perhaps. And that's fine by me. (: There. I think this post is long enough. And I have to leave for Japanese class. So, bye! posted by Katie Suttles | 10:59 PM Comments-[ comments.] So they didn't end up killing me. But they came close... I'm so beat, after elementary school visit #2. Maybe because this time I went on a Thrusday and a Friday.. at the end of a very long week. And I just had two more very long days. MAN, those kids are genki. So I'm super tired and am not going to go into too many details. Yet, that is. Tomorrow, I will have time to get some pictures on the site and write a nice long post about my two days at Oohira Elementary. I know how much you love my long posts, after all. :P Ha. So, yeah. I visited 6 classes--1st through 6th graders. The classes are actually split into two groups (so there are, like, 12 classes in the school... get it?) but, lucky me, I got to work with each class as a WHOLE. So that meant between 36 and 50 kids each time. On top of that, the 'class' was held in either the music room or the library... y'know, generally, when kids don't have to sit in their seats in their normal classroom setting, their behavior tends to slide towards the "crazy monkeys" end. Thank god the other teachers were there, too! So, hopefully they learned a little something from me... though I feel like I did less actual teaching this time, and more, well... sharing, I guess. But I suppose that's okay... there isn't a whole lot you can teach a class of 42 third graders in one hour that they are going to remember 30 minutes later... For the most part, I think they enjoyed my visit. Perhaps a little more than I did... I just got so tired... It's kind of hard being treated like a zoo animal, or a television camera, or some movie star... All day long, the students gasped when they saw me; I gave my 'autograph' out several times--even signing pencil bags; they cried out and waved and made silly faces and said silly things, as if I was some TV camera; they would creep by the room I spent most of the day in and stare at me, like I was some zoo animal.... And I guess I can't blame them... I'm sure they don't see foreigners too often. Heck, I don't see foreigners too often, even, and sometimes catch myself giving them second glances. 'Did she look my way? Is she as surprised to see another foreigner as I am?' So yeah... I don't blame them for being curious, or excitied, or anything like that... but that doesn't make it much easier. :P Ugh... was I too honest today? I hope no one is hurt by what I've said... it was just something I needed to get off my chest. The kids were great--very fun and so sweet and VERY energetic--I did enjoy my visit! I'm just kinda glad that these elementary visits are short ones. (: It reminds me of why I want to end up in a Jr or Sr High school.... (: posted by Katie Suttles | 8:14 AM Comments-[ comments.] Tuesday, November 11, 2003 So this second elementary school visit has finally snuck up on me. I met with one of the teachers from the school today, after school, and he gave me a schedule. Well, I guess none of the teachers have any requests for me... so planning for the classes is all up to me.... which doesn't excite me all that much... I don't have much confidence in my ability to teach young children... having never really been trained for it. >sigh< My previous experience at Dai Ni's elementary will, of course, help me figure out what to do... and I guess I'm grateful that it's gone THIS way, instead of an indecisive school first... I probably would have flipped if I didn't have some sort of guideline to follow. So... I guess I just have to think of fun stuff to do, right? I mean, the purpose of me visiting these poor kids for one hour out of my whole yearlong stay here is to make them excited about English, to make it fun. I'm not supposed to worry about teaching them grammar or junk like that... teach them fun stuff they'll use, stuff they might take home and tell mom and dad about... stuff that's easy to remember. Okay... so what is all of the above? And how do I teach it?? Ugh.... And guess what? I only had 2 classes today... out of 8 hours at school. But I really couldn't plan anything because I didn't know what they wanted. All I knew is that I would be working with groups of about 40 kids this time... instead of about 25 like at Dai Ni.... ohhh boy.... So now I have to plan these 6 different classes (one for each grade level) ALL tomorrow. And I have four classes this time. And subtract a fifth hour from that 8 for lunch. And I loose two hours every day travelling to and from school... and dinner? And just relaxing..? Tomorrow won't be fun.... Anyway, anyway... enough complaining! I'm sure I'll have a blast. (: Like before. But I'm so scared they are going to wear me out! Oh well... I'll just recover what energy I can Friday night. Wish me luck! I'm going to start planning what I can... posted by Katie Suttles | 6:40 AM Comments-[ comments.] Monday, November 10, 2003 Hey, did I mention my camera is back??? (: (: And I got to watch Inuyasha again today! Yay! It was a good episode, and I think I caught quite a bit, because I could follow along with my comic. (: As three'o'clock rolled around, the Principal came over to my desk today. 'We teachers have a meeting at 3:45 today, so you can go home half an hour earlier than usual.' How come I always find out about this stuff at the last minute? This is, like... the third time this has happened to me at Oohira. :P Oh well... not like I had much planned anyway. Of course, it was raining as I walked back to the bus... and I had remembered to take my umbrella, but I left it with my bike... back at the train station. :P So I walked in the rain--but at least it was light. There was this lady in front of me, with an umbrella. Turns out she stopped at the bus stop, too. Seeing the poor little foreigner without an umbrella, she offered to share. I declined at first... I mean, it wasn't raining THAT bad. But she offered a second, or maybe even a third, time so I just decided, 'what the heck.' She asked (in Japanese) if I lived around here. I said no, that I lived in Nishiki-cho and that I was teaching at Oohira Jr High. So she asked a few more questions and I answered a few more. I think I understood everything she asked me. (: And I think I expressed myself well--maybe not elloquently, but I told her what I wanted to say. (: Hooray for another chance to FINALLY practice Japanese in JAPAN. (Basically, coming here hoping to learn more Japanese while I am an ENGLISH teacher isn't proving as easy as I expected. Well, I really didn't EXPECT much... I mean, I'm in JAPAN. Wouldn't you figure I'd just LEARN Japanese? Well... not when everything you do is connected to English! Ugh.... oh well. I'm working on it.) posted by Katie Suttles | 5:53 AM Comments-[ comments.] So it rained today. Again, on a Monday. I swear it rains every Monday here--especially if we have a holiday. >sigh< Weird. I forgot to mention yesterday that I broke my frist dish here in the apartment. Ugh... one of the stupid little plates I use all the time. So now I (and all the future ALTs) are down to three... I'd replace it, but I have no clue where it came from (or even who got it. Lord knows how long it's been here!). However, what is concerning me more that the moment is what "type" of garbage it is, and how I'm supposed to throw it out! Are you asking yourself, "What the heck is she talking about? Garbage is garbage!"? Well, you haven't lived in Japan! On Tuesday and Saturdays I throw out my 'burnable' garbage. On Thursdays I throw out my 'plastics'--but only special plastics with the "プラ" (PURA) picture. Which is, like, plastic wrappers and bottle caps.. but not the bottles themselves. They are PET, and are thrown out once a month on the first Tuesday. Steel and aluminum cans (from beverages, canned goods, etc) are thrown out on the same day as PET--along with other recyclables like newspapers/comics/magazines, cardboard, and clothing. Stuff that's kinda leftover, like bicycles, CDs and videos, etc... they get picked up once a month on the third Tuesday. Sound like I've got it all down? Well, yeah... it's one thing to type about it... it's another thing to try to remember to sort and throw your garbage out on the right day! But, well.. as annoying as it sometimes is, I think it's really good for the environment. Since the Japanese have such a small amount of land, they really have to take care of what they have. So they've developed this really great garbage system. I'd be nice if the USA did the same. However... I do miss the days when I could just toss everything into one stupid garbage can, instead of examining it for the "garbage legend". :P posted by Katie Suttles | 5:46 AM Comments-[ comments.] Sunday, November 09, 2003 So today was pretty decent. I made my way out to Kojima, the larger electronics store.. and found myself relatively unimpressed. I didn't notice a whole lotta difference between it and Nojima.. But, at least I've been there, now. And if I can't find it at Nojima, then I might have better luck at Kojima. I headed to Kojima first, since I would need to cross a wide highway and I didn't figure I could take my bike with me (and I didn't wanna have packages sitting in it while I was so far away). I guessed I'd have to leave it kinda far behind... and I did. Actually, on my walk back to the bike, I saw a crosswalk in the other direction, so next time, I can bike right up to the front door. So on the way back I stopped in a few stores that looked interesting. Got a few goodies on the way. (: Went to the cheapie bookstore but found nothing. ): Went to Nojima for kicks and again got nothing. (But I DID find the converter Marisha will need.) After that, I went to the grocery store because my apartment is in desperate need of replenishing. Oh, and I dropped off two more disposable cameras for development, and ordered some of my old digicam pix to print (I hope to get a scrapbook started soon). So I wandered and shopped around until it was time to get the photos. After that, I was kinda hungry, so I stopped at a curry stand before shopping. It was tasty, but a little hot for my tastes. (: Oh well. So then I went grocery shopping... ended up buying more than I had anticipated (which was really just milk, bread, and some fruit... that's all that was on my list....) but that's okay. I got it all in my one, stupid basket somehow. When I got back, I realized I'd kinda forgotten about the school art show at the Culture Center! So I ran back out and headed for the Center. As I biked over one of the bridges, I saw this 'stage' I had noticed earlier in the week... it was built up over some of the steps along the Kano River bank. Well, there were TONS of people there, and some of the dancers from the day before were performing on the stage. But I had to hurry, so I kept on going. I got to the Center at about 4, and they were still open. >Whew!!< So I got to wander around and look at all the students' art. There were pieces from all over Numazu (which has 17 public schools), so it was really interesting. And very fun, of course. (: About 5-ish I started to head back, and passed near the stage again. I paused to watch the crowd, which had gotten even bigger, and listen to the music. No one was performing now, but I could see the dancers wandering around among the people. I wondered if there would be fireworks... And I wondered why no one had told me about this 'festival'...? What was it for? Well, it was getting chilly, and nothing was really going on, so I headed back home. Well, okay, so about 6pm the phone rings. It's "Kimura Camera" telling me my camera is fixed. >sigh< Earlier, when I was there at the store, it had crossed my mind to ask about the stupid thing.. but I wasn't quite sure how that would go... so I didn't. I mean, they'll call me when it comes in, right? Well, yeah, they did... and I've been missing my poor dear so much that I ran BACK out and went back to the department store. Of course, it started to rain as I pedalled back out the the store... I got there, he handed it over, I handed him ￥8032 ($73.09) and I shuffled off to test it. I haven't gotten to play with everything yet, but it seems okay. HUZZAH!! My camera is back!! So THEN, after biking back in the rain, I got home and got to stay here. I did some vacuuming and some remodelling.. (: Did I tell you I got a small desk from one of Fusako's friends? She's in the Guide Class, too. Yeah, she gave it to me Thursday, but I really hadn't had a good chance to put it where I want it, and load it up with junk. So I did that today. (: FINALLY got to vacuum again, too. Thank god. Worked a bit on stuff for school, but there really wasn't that much to do. Good thing I didn't need to go back out, too, because it started to rain a little harder. Hard enough for me to be concerned about my clothes drying outside, so I brought them in. Around 7pm I heard some 'booms' outside, and sure enough, they had started fireworks along the river. But it was still raining pretty fiercely. I poked my head out my patio window thing.. but I couldn't see. So I pulled on my coat, and rushed up to the 5th floor of my building... but still nothing... oh well, so I just went back inside. By 7:20 I could tell they had stopped the show. So... yeah. That's about it. (: I'm starting to yawn now, so I think I'm gonna hit the hay. Or, the beans? My pillow is full of them... :P Good night. (: posted by Katie Suttles | 8:23 AM Comments-[ comments.] Saturday, November 08, 2003 Ah, what a nice, relaxing day. (: Even though I did get up at 5:30.. same as during the week... :P I had to be outside at 7:15 to wait for a ride to Kadoike Jr High, though. I was asked to come to the school today (on a Saturday!) to help out with a lesson. There ended up being about 17 foreigners there today! (Including one of the New Zealanders! It was nice to see her again!) There were other Americans, a few Canadians, two Australians, a woman from Thailand, several Chinese, and a woman from Peru... it was really great for the students, I think! We visited two classes and just talked with them in small groups for a bit (rotating every 5 minutes or so). We talked about ourselves, our countries, and our customs. We also encouraged the students to ask questions and just speak English. (: There were lots of parents there, too, taking pictures of their kids. Hehehe Afterward, I went to Japanese class. Li-san was there again, and Atsuko was our teacher this time! (: We didn't do too many book exercises this time, but we talked a lot! Which is something I need practice with. (: So we had fun, I think. (: Li-san and I talked about the things we did this last week. He works as some sort of car designer, I think... He lives the life of a 'traditional Japanese company worker', it seems. He lives in a company dorm next to his workplace; he eats his meals in the company cafeteria (where they all have assigned seats...) and he works from early in the morning till late in the evening.. and often takes work home with him.... Tough!! Of course, I was able to talk with one of the Kadoike teachers before the classes started today, and we were talking about the roles of teachers in the lives of their students. Japanese teachers are MUCH more involved with their students' after-school lives, I think. She told me that the other day, she was called to come to the school around 9pm because some of her students were bullying someone. She didn't get home until midnight. I think it would be a rare occasion for the teacher of an American student to be called out to help. Especially so late in the evening... Unless the student requested the teacher, or if the 'incident' happened at school. I have a hard time deciding which system I like better, though... Ah, okay, so after Japanese class, I was going to go out shopping. But as I biked away from the library, I peddled through crowds of people dressed in traditional-looking Japanese clothes... they looked like dancers... and groups were all wearing the same thing.... Then I biked past this park and there was loud music playing and people were dancing, and tons of people were gathered all around watching. So yeah, I guess there was, like, this huge festival scheduled for today and I had no clue. Pah... Guess that comes from not speaking the language too well. (; Well, so I found the parade street and stood back and watched the show. A big truck with speakers loaded on the back (and two men singing and chanting) drove slowly down the street, leading its troupe of dancers. It was really interesting! The dances seemed very traditional, with maybe a little mix of modern steps. Behind the dancers were two to four young men carrying huuuuge flags. They swung them around to the music, with a lot of effort! It was fun to watch. (: I only got two pictures, though.. that's all I had left on my last disposable camera... I'll get two rolls developed tomorrow. After that, I went shopping. I checked out the big bookstore downtown (<3) and a stationary store (I love those!). After that, I picked up some McD's for dinner and headed home. I've been messing around online, watching TV ever since. (: It's been a good day. (: Nice and lazy! I haven't had one of these in a while! Tomorrow will be even lazier, perhaps. I have no plans. (: Well, no 'offical' plans, that is... I do plan on visiting the supermarket, getting my film developed, and maybe making it out to the big electronics store I haven't gone to yet. (: Oh! And the students of Numazu are having an art festival at the Culture Center! I have to make sure to check that out. (: Sorry about an update-less week... ): It hasn't been too exciting. I'm so tired after work, that I don't do much. Although, on Friday, Fusako took me to Mishima for a Chrysanthemum Festival. It was at Rakujuu-en, where Kazuyo took me two weekends ago. But many more of the flowers had begun to bloom, so it was even prettier this time. (: If you go HERE, you can see some of the stuff I saw. Just click on the links at the bottom of the page--there are only six to see. (: It was really pretty--and after that, Fusako treated me to a crab dinner! It was soooo good. We had this crab and rise soup-----yuuuuum! (: I hope to go back there again! (: Ah, okay! I'll leave you be! Thanks for reading! posted by Katie Suttles | 6:59 AM Comments-[ comments.] Sunday, November 02, 2003 Well, I attended my first Japanese wedding today. (: It was really something; really different from your typical American wedding. I was invited to attend the ceremony, as well as the reception afterwards. I arrived at the Castle Numazu Hotel at 1:30 in the afternoon, and left when everything had finished at 7pm. Whew! At least I was sitting from about 3:30 to 6:30, so it wasn't so exhausting for me. (: So, I arrived about 1:30, but the ceremony began at 2. I sat with a couple from New Zealand, and a Japanese woman who is an English teacher. We had coffee and such and chatted till we were escorted to the chapel. It was kinda small for such a large crowd, so we had to get cozy. On the walls in front of the two rows of pews (on either side of the altar), were two large picture frames. Inside the frames were TV screens. There were two cameras that panned over the chapel as we sat there! When the ceremony began, we could watch the groom walk down the aisle without turning around. (: It was kinda cool. And then the bride entered. Her gown was really gorgeous. They both looked so lovely! (: The ceremony was conducted in both English and Japanese, so that was kinda cool. (: We were the only three foreigners there (that I could tell...) so it felt like they were translating especially for me and the NZ couple. (: After the ceremony (which was quite similar to American weddings I've seen) we were escorted out to a very narrow courtyard of sorts. At one end was a trellis-like thing, with a bell on top. There was a long rope hanging down from it. We all lined up along the long sides of the courtyard, with rose petals in hand to shower on the new couple. Soon they walked in and stood beneath the bell. When the MC gave them the cue, they rang it together, and then walked between the guests (veeeeeeery slowly), and got a rose-petal shower. Then they walked back to the bell and let some guests take pictures with them, if they wanted. (: After that, we were led back to the lobby where we had been drinking and relaxing before the ceremony started. It was just about 3pm, I think. The reception was supposed to start at 3:30. So I talked with the couple, and the English teacher, and we were greeted by a few guests as well as Mr. Hara (the father of the bride, and one of my 'friends' here in Numazu). Eventually the bride and groom showed up, but now they were both wearing traditional Shinto wedding ceremony outfits. They posed for a few pictures, and then we were led inside--past the couple and their families so we could thank and congratulate them. (: When we got inside, the tables were already covered with plates of food. And I mean COVERED. One of my plates' rim was resting on a dish next to it, the table was so crowded with food! But we had to wait to eat, yet. When the couple was seated, finally, the MC began the reception. Almost every single couple who gets married in Japan has a 'matchmaker' or 'go-between'--even if the couple found each other, without any help. I think they kind of serve as wedding planners... And marriage councilors later, if needed. Well, at the head table, with the bride and groom, sat a male and female 'matchmaker', on each side. The families of the two were seated around two large, round tables at the back of the room. The farthest from the couple. Interesting, huh? Our table was right about in the middle of the room. So the couple came in, sat down with their 'matchmakers' and the speeches began. First, "Mr Matchmaker" gave a little speech. I think he talked about the groom, Kiyoto, and kind of introduced him. He may have introduced the bride, Koyuki, a little too. He also gave the toast, during which we raise our glasses and cry, 'kanpai!' (cheers!) for the couple. After him, "Mrs Matchmaker" spoke, and said some of the same things, I believe. After that, honorable Mayor Saito gave a speech for the couple. (Yes, the mayor of Numazu came to this wedding! Impressive, huh?) After these first three speeches, we were allowed to start eating. Of course, the food was really tasty--if you're into the raw fish kinda stuff. (: As we ate, the speeches continued. One of Kiyoto's professors from college, and then one of Koyuki's stylist teachers spoke next. Other friends and family gave a few speeches as we continued eating. As we were finishing plates, the waiters were bringing out more. There was a small piece of paper at each placesetting as we sat down; it was a menu, and it had 15 'courses' listed. This actually includes 'salad' and 'desserts' and 'coffee'... but it's still quite a list, don't you think? A little while later, Koyuki got up and walked out of the room (with a bit of fanfare as she crossed the room). We were told she was going to change her dress again. Someone else gave a speech while she was gone. Then Kiyoto got up and left too, to get her apparently. I think the karaoke started somewhere around now... we got to listen to about 4 songs as we sat there. When the new couple finally returned (to a big fanfare) they were both wearing new outfits! (: She had on a gorgeous pink ballgown, and he was wearing a really sharp white tuxedo. They were holding a long 'candle-lighter' together, and began walking from table to table, lighting the candle centerpiece at each. (There were 16 tables of guests, with about 8 people at each table..) When the reached the front of the room, where their table was, there was this pretty candle 'statue' majig... ugh, hard to describe.. but I'll have a picture or two in a few days... Well, in the end, they lit one large candle together, and then sat down again. There were a few more speeches (I should have kept track, really...), including the New Zealand couple! Mr Hara had asked them to make a short speech. So he first spoke in English, and she translated into Japanese after he had finished. It was really cool. I think that the room was the quietest during their speech--everyone was so interested! Hehe. After one other speech, my name was called and I just got to stand up and bow. (Whew! Off the hook!) Mr Hara thanked us very heartily for being there that day. (: I made sure I thanked him later, too. It was really wonderful of them to invite me. (: (: Let's see... after that, things kinda came to a close. The last karaoke song was played, and then the bride and groom stood up and stood together in front of their table. Mr and Mrs Hara stood at the other end of the room--and Koyuki (the bride) read a little speech to them that she had written. She got so choked up, it was really touching... Then the couple crossed the room and she handed Mr and Mrs Hara two bouquets. (: Kiyoto gave Koyuki's parents flowers, too. Mr Hara spoke next. During his speech he thanked the three of us again for coming. I got a little choked up! (: It was really sweet. Then it was Kiyoto's turn. His voice was a little shaky, too... and then he started speaking English and thanking the three of us for coming. He said he was very honored that we came, and that I --from the Sister City-- was there. It helps strengthen the ties our cities have, he said. And right there and then I knew that I wanted to have the Hara family at my wedding. (: So I hope they'll be happy to see invitations in their mailboxes about 2 years from now. (: After that, they left the room, and the guests soon followed. We walked by the couple and their families again and got to thank them. "Arigatou gozaimasu" (thank you very much) didn't seem like enough... I hope they know how sincerely I meant it... After most of the guests had gone, we got a few pictures with Mr Hara and the couple. (: I hope my pictures all turn out okay... I can't wait to get my digital camera back... >sigh< And then that was pretty much it... I grabbed my gift bag (yes.. in Japanese weddings, the COUPLE gives gifts to the GUESTS--funky), said good-bye to everyone, and headed out. I made a pitstop at the post office to pick up a letter, and then I came home. Nothing exciting after that... so I'll end here! You've already read enough, I think! Hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to get my pictures up soon! posted by Katie Suttles | 10:33 AM Comments-[ comments.] |
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