Recent Stuff

[Taylor]

Over the weekend I participated in the Noheji Go Club’s monthly Go tournament.  I managed to win 3 games out of 5, which ended up being good enough for second place (there were seven people competing).  My prize?  The usual four boxes of tissues (awarded to everyone who enters the tournament) and three bars of soap.

Also over the weekend we celebrated the first day of Hanukkah with some friends in Towada City.  Our host, Bryan, went to a nearby second-hand store and picked out a gift for everybody.  Here’s the gift I received:

Here’s what it can do:

Catching Up

[Taylor]

Well, it’s the middle of November and Fall is heading out the door.  The temperature has dropped significantly.  I now wear a coat on my morning walk to school, but there’s still no ice so I can get a way with tennis shoes for at least another week.  Another sign of winter’s arrival:  The river I walk by every day is full of spawned out, black and white zombie salmon.  While we’ve been teaching and attending seminars they’ve been facing upstream, swimming just enough to stay in the same place.  It’s as if the river has become their treadmill for training for the afterlife.

We’ve been busy.  Fall is definitely the time of year where we have the most classes to teach.  There are also quite a few seminars to attend, most of which are helpful and/or awesome.  Just last week Julie and I went to the Misawa City to help some high schoolers get ready for an upcoming school trip to Hawaii.  The day was spent practicing English conversation and learning more about Hawaiian culture.  In addition to helping out with homestay simulations, shopping, and calling a hotel, we taught the students a little bit about the Hawaiian language.  It was a very fun day.

What’s on the horizon?  More work, more use of our heater, probably less driving around, and lots of warm drinks.  Oh, and a blog post about the Noheji Trampoline Club.

Mt. Eboshi 2009

[Taylor]

My entire school climbed a nearby mountain a few weeks ago.  We did this last year too but this time I was able to climb with the students up to the top and back down again.  The hike, to and from the school, was 24 km.

Mt. Eboshi in the distance

At the summit. Mutsu Bay, Noheji Town, and Yokohama Town in the background.

More Mutsu Bay, Hiranai Town, and Natsudomari Peninsula

Most of Aomori Prefecture looks like this. When the lighting is just right, you can see why they call it the "blue forest."

Awkwardly smiling in the wind.

As you can see, at the summit we were treated to a glorious view of Noheji Town, Mutstu Bay, Shimokita Peninsula, Natsudomari Peninsula, and our neighboring towns of Hiranai, Shichinohe, and Yokohama.  To see all the places where we spend the vast majority of our time all at once was breathtaking to say the least and made each kilometer on the hike worth it.

As for wildlife, no frogs this year.  However I did get a few photos of some large grazing mammals.

Yellow Rice Fields

[Taylor]

Here’s what it looks like around here right now.  Lots of yellow rice fields, blue skies, and green mountains.

Last Days of Summer

[Taylor]

Actually, summer is over.  Typhoon season is officially in session and fall is right around the corner.  However, we still had some fantastic summery weather this weekend.  To celebrate the last bit of summer, as well as some birthdays, an ALT gathering was held at a beach on the outskirts of Hachinohe this weekend.

Hardcore fishing. At one point this guy had three rods going at once.

Those two pictures were obviously taken with my cell phone. I wish I’d have taken my camera with me because the light was just about perfect in the late afternoon.

As for the event itself, it was an awesome time. There was a healthy mix of conversation, swimming, frisbee, football, and barbecue.  I was able to meet a bunch of new ALTs in our area and catch up with some not-so-new people who I hadn’t seen in a while as well. The new crew is a pretty solid bunch.

In what was probably the most surreal moment on the weekend, one of the (awesome) new ALTs told me that I looked familiar.  Then he realized he had seen pictures of me on our blog before his arrival to Japan.  He’d Googled for Hachinohe blogs and stumbled upon our entry about the concert and unexpected springtime blizzard amidst cherry blossoms.  I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised as we purposely tag entries so people can find them, but I was.  It’s a small world I guess.  Or maybe just a small Aomori-ken blogosphere.

Anyway, we may have a few more entries in the works later in the week.  Julie wants to write up an entry or two about her trip to Tokyo and Kyoto with our friend Britni.  There may also be an entry about omnikin ball and I’m debating about whether or not I want to type something up about the recent election here in Japan.  We’ll see.

Where have we been?

[Taylor]

We haven’t posted in a while and with good reason.  Two weekends ago we were busy planning for an English barbecue at our apartment.  Our friend in town who teaches English privately to elementary and junior high school students invited approximately fifty people over for hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and soda.  Yes, that’s right, we celebrated the 4th of July…in August.

A few days before the big barbecue, our friend Britni arrived from the States.  As you can imagine, we’ve spent a lot of our free time showing her all the good things Aomori has to offer.  Since it’s August, this included participating in the famous Aomori Nebuta festival, watching the brilliant Tachinebuta festival in Goshogawara, attending a tea ceremony, exploring Hirosaki Castle, meeting Julie’s coworkers, meeting our ALT friends, watching wacky television shows, and of course, eating delicious seafood and ramen.

On top of all that, I helped out at an English camp for junior high and high school students in Aomori City over the weekend.  When I wasn’t running English activities I was running around in the gym playing basketball, American football, and wall ball (a game I taught them how to play).  It was exhausting, but a ton of fun.

Highlights of English Camp

Eight other ALTs attended English Camp this summer.  In addition to running activities, we were each put in charge of a group of ten students who competed against other teams in various English activities.  This included writing and performing a skit with props.  My team, team Ultraman, had to write a play incorporating the phrase “Does he have influenza?”  In the skit, Winnie the Pooh invites his friends over for a Halloween party where they decide they should go skiing later.  Two months later, they go skiing, Pooh gets lost, rescued, and it is feared he has influenza.

The main activities I was in charge of included an English logic puzzle and a shopping simulation.  Of the two, the shopping simulation was my favorite.  A Japanese teacher and I sold Alaskan products to students including totem poles (badminton poles) and bear meat (sold by the kilogram).  Towards the end of the simulation, my coworker would steal an item.  I’d wait for my students to yell “Help!  Help me!” and then I’d chase after the teacher and arrest him with some toy handcuffs.

But my favorite part of the weekend was just hanging out and talking with students.  As far as camp counseling goes, I’m not the kind that exudes enthusiasm and effervesces Fun! and Excitement! everywhere I go.  I take a much quieter approach and try to get to know the students.  It’s a balance.  Those rowdy leaders are certainly necessary for a successful camp but I think having a few people take a more subdued approach helps make it more inclusive.

Look for more updates on the blog soon.  I’ll be typing up posts for Nebuta festivals in Aomori and Goshogawara soon.  Tomorrow I’m attending a Go tournament for the teachers of Aomori Prefecture so I’ll be sure to post a few pictures and comments on that as well.

As I alluded earlier, Julie will be sightseeing with Britni in Kyoto and Tokyo this week.  When she gets back, I reckon we’ll have even more blog entries for you to read.

Trivia Weekend

[Taylor]

Last weekend we ventured South to the Oirase Gorge to participate in the annual Aomori trivia contest.  Fun was had before, during, and after the actual contest.  Here are some pictures of us exploring famous Lake Towada before the competition on Saturday afternoon.

Swan and pink dinosaur paddle boats.

Our friends opted for the swan boat.

Oh, and our team tied for third.

Lawn Mowing

[Taylor]

Although it’s not quite summer, the grass is green and growing in Aomori.  How do people mow their lawns here?  I’ve seen people do it three ways.  People who have a large territory to cover seem to prefer riding lawn mowers.  I’ve also seen a couple people with a small amount of grass to trim use simple push mowers.

The most popular method, however, seems to be Japan’s version of the weed wacker.  Most weed wackers that I’ve used in the United States cut plants by whirling a hard plastic wire around in a circle at a high velocity.  There is also a safety guard preventing grass, twigs, and other debris from flying into your face.

All the weed wackers I’ve seen in Japan are basically buzzsaws on a stick.  There is a safety guard, but it’s much smaller and affixed halfway up the pole rather than directly atop the cutting mechanism.  Japan’s weed wacker is essentially a terrifying, circular metal blade at the end of a pole that loudly spins around with the push of a button.  It doesn’t look very safe.  Sometimes when I’m at my desk at work I can hear the metal screech loudly against the ground or a the edge of a building or sidewalk.  I know our grounds crew are trained professionals who know exactly what they’re doing, but that sound is still cringe-inducing and makes me nervous.

It’s also not uncommon for people to let the grass and other plants, flowers, and weeds grow tall before cutting them down.  Often the debris is left in the field (like in the picture above) rather than raked up, collected, and disposed.  I suspect all the caterpillars we’ve seen lately appreciate this.

Well, congratulations for making it through this post.  I know it’s not particularly illuminating or interesting, but we’re trying to update more regularly.  We had to start somewhere.

Rainy Season

[Taylor]

Spring is over. We’ve been experiencing the rainy season of Japan for at least the past two weeks, if not longer. Here in Northern Honshu the weather is cool but humid, the landscape green and gray. Although it’s the middle of June, it doesn’t feel like summer at all. We’ll have to wait until the end of July for that.

In the meantime, with all the extra humidity, we’ve had to step up our mold prevention effort. This weekend we swapped out all the moisture absorption packets in our closets and drawers.

Over 48 packets replaced.

Rainy season is also, apparently, caterpillar season. We’ve seen them everywhere we go. Most of them tend to look something like this.

Slightly smaller than my index finger.

Weekend Stuff

On Friday we had a wonderful time hanging out at a yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant with friends. The following morning Julie helped out at a local nursery.   She met many kids under the age of five and, for most of them, it was their first time meeting a foreigner. In the afternoon I played Go at the community center.

On Sunday, I went hunting.

By “hunting” I mean watching animals in the woods with my friend Bryan without weapons (though to be fair Bryan surprised me by brandishing a fake pistol that he hilariously explained would be used for self-defense). We ended up in a moist forest on the outskirts of Shichinohe and at times I felt like I was back in Oregon.

Bryan thumbing through a guide book of birds in Japan.

So did we find anything? Yes. Just when we had given up hope of spotting large, interesting creatures, a Japanese serow (wild goat-antelope) came trotting across a ridge about twenty feet away from us. It was, understandably, surprised to see us and stared us down for a few moments before venturing deeper into the woods. Success.

Looking ahead to this week, we’ll both be pretty busy with school visits. However on Thursday afternoon I’ll be participating in a teacher softball match. On the weekend we’ll be heading to the Oirase Gorge for a night of trivia, charity fundraising, and fun with friends.

Weekend Update

[Taylor]

We had another eventful weekend in Noheji. On Saturday morning, Julie began a language exchange with a friend of ours who helps Julie at one of the local elementary schools. She teaches English privately and wanted Julie to help her brush up on a few things. They spent about 40 minutes going over English and another 40 minutes after that going over Japanese. It was a practical lesson for both of them and they’ll be able to use their newly acquired knowledge at work this week.

After the lesson we drove to the town of Rokunohe to visit some other friends. Julie works with a person who plays classical guitar. We sometimes meet up with him and his wife for conversation, food, and music. When we visit Julie brings her flute and we watch her and the husband perform duets after lunch. It was a lovely afternoon. This time we also got to meet the family’s daughter who was visiting from Tokyo. She’s awesome and, as it turns out, the same age as Julie.

On Sunday morning we went to the local church in Noheji. The previous week it was revealed that one of the members found out I liked to play Go and was interested in challenging me to a game. I brought my board and stones in my backpack and we played a game during coffee hour. While we were playing, Julie set up another language exchange with a different friend who also goes to the church. With this person’s help, she also figured out most of the names of the people in the congregation (an arduous, but obviously very rewarding task).

In the afternoon I went to Go Club and had some decent matches. The stronger players in the club seem more willing to play me now. The third game I played was particularly memorable. I ended up losing by 6 points but had a huge comeback in the middle of the game. I managed to cut off my opponents stones in the middle and forced a KO battle that nearly saved a group of my stones on the left that I initially thought were all but captured. Of all the games of Go I’ve played here, that one was probably the most fun.

All in all, a great weekend. We again seemed to find a nice balance of activity and relaxation.