Hakari Beach & The Music Playing Windmill.

Just to prove I have actually left my apartment since I arrived here (sorry, these few blog posts have been remarkably uninteresting), here are a few photos from this past weekend. The local Yamaguchi JETs had a beach party in Hikari. I got bored on Saturday morning so I headed to Hikari a bit early and found a Shinto Shrine. Briefly:
The Stairway.

The Temple.

And this dripping water thing that would make a sweet bathroom sink.

Then there was a beach party... beach parties are internationally identical:

After the beach party a few of us crashed at Michael’s (kiwi JET on the right) apartment and the next day decided to climb the hill to a windmill the supposedly played music.

There is the climb.

There is the windmill.

And lo and behold, it actually did play music. Check it out, it’s like one of those old piano/organ dealies; but has cymbals, bass drum, and puppets with little bells to go with it. 

A couple of Japanese dudes who worked at the wind mill really got a kick out of us, played us more songs on the puppet organ thingy, and then the dude on the left taught us how to walk on Japanese stilts while the dude on the right carved us each a Japanese puzzle game and a “helicopter” out of wood. Nice guys.

Japan is kind of like Alice in Wonderland; after climbing to a music playing windmill to be met by old Japanese men who carve you puzzles you don’t walk down the mountain, no that would be too predictable, you take the slide down (yes, there was a slide back down the mountain). I didn’t take a picture of this for some reason; was too busy sliding.

I will be getting internet at my apartment on the 11th, so hopefully I’ll be better about sharing pictures and stories once that happens. Also, I’ll be able to Skype folks once I get that. Hopefully get to see/talk to you then. Cheers.

川西にようこそ

Welcome to Kawanishi.

Well, I have been in living in Japan for just over a month now and am starting to feel a bit settled. Ironically, maybe, that’s because I haven’t actually been to one of my schools since the 11th nor have I been home for more than one consecutive night.  I’ve been traveling around the prefecture helping other schools run their summer English camps; picture going to camp as a 14 year old, but none of your counselors speak your native language, or at least they pretend not to, that’s my take on the kids’ perspective. Nevertheless we had a dozen tearful eyes when everyone left the last one, so apparently we’re doing something right. I haven’t been alone, JETs from all over the prefecture come to these things; it’s a great means of getting out of the school office during the summer, and also a good way to pick up some new tricks (English games and things) and practice the whole “teaching” thing. The teachers seem to really dig it too as it acts as a little 3 day vacation while being at work. Life at school will be changing real quickly here as well, classes will be back in session on Monday and I am beginning to better realize the responsibilities of my job.  Rumor has it that I was handpicked to become the JET at my base school because they are the only school in the prefecture to maintain a cultural education program (also the only one with both a middle and high school, usually very separate here). Why I was picked I still haven’t figured out, but teachers both at school and at the prefectural office keep mentioning things. Anyways, it would be pretty cool if my job were geared toward cultural awareness just because that means I can research cultures I find interesting, make it a lesson or game, and call it a good days work… not too shabby, really. But we’ll see what happens. Anyways, I digress. Here’s a quick photo tour of Kawanishi:
Our Welcome sign.

My apartment building.

A few minute walk from my place is the famous Kintai bridge, Iwakuni Castle, and the cherry blossom tunnel (pictures coming soon [well, in April]).

 

Summer time is festival time in Japan, this is a festival I went to at Kintai bridge.

The dairy department, eh hem, I mean daily department at the grocery store.

Someone told me the statistic that, in Japan, there is 1 vending machine for every 4 people. Its probably true, you’ll be walking through a rice patty and then BAM, vending machine.

 They don’t really serve junk food here though, mostly coca cola and iced coffee.  And yes, the one on the right IS a beer vending machine. They’re real tough on underage drinking here.

Now I may live in a town with only a train stop, supermarket, and a beer vending machine to its name… but just two stops away is the bustling metropolis that is Iwakuni.
Heres the view from the train station.

What a typical street looks like (they even have bicycle parking garages at some stations).


Alright, thats all I have for now; but if I ever get around to doing something interesting you'll be the first to know.

My Apartment in Kawanishi

Hey! Some of you may have noticed you haven’t seen or heard from me for a while now; that is because I have moved to Japan to teach English for the next year. I won’t be able to get internet access in my apartment until the beginning of September, so I’ll likely be pretty detached from the outside world until then; but in the mean time I figured I could write a Blog to keep you all posted on life across the Pacific (i.e. I can write a blog while I’m at work and it looks like I’m working [not that I have any work to do anyways {its summer vacation here, and everyone else pretends to be working too, strange and hard to get used to}]). BUT that’s a cultural discussion for another time. Anyways, I took some pictures of my apartment yesterday so I could give you a little taste of what I come home to over here. First off, I live in a town named Kawanishi, it is very small (apparently not large enough to warrant a Wikipedia page), hosts a single grocery store, a train station, and a beer vending machine (I’m told these only exist in the boonies these days). But it is walking distance from many really interesting and historically significant sites of Japan, due to its existence as a feudal lord’s territory at the end of the samurai era, such as: Kantai-kyo bridge, Iwakuni Castle, a Shinto Shrine, many historical residences, and is also home to an albino snake which apparently exists nowhere else in the world, Japan or otherwise. I’ve been running up the mountain to Iwakuni Castle a couple times a week and exploring Kawanishi very thoroughly, but haven’t yet figured out a means of getting out and exploring the rest of Japan (working on it though). Here are a series of pictures of my apartment (it’s not as dark and dreary as it looks, my camera flash wouldn’t go off):

My bedroom. Notice the tatami mat floor and rice paper sliding doors, yes these things are still widely used. I did however manage to get an actually bed which is pretty lucky.

The Living Room. Inherited a nice couch, table, and TV/DVD… TV even works if you hit it hard enough. Channels however are all in Japanese, so I’ve been relying on my predecessors’ taste in film for entertainment; highlights include: Bad Boys 2 and Xena (i.e. I’ve been reading a lot of books).

The Shower Room. People don’t really have water heaters in Japan, not in the American way anyhow. So, the thing to the right there is my gas powered water heater; you have to light it when you want a hot shower or bath. The whole setup takes some getting used to, but it’s really energy efficient and actually kinda cool.

The Kitchen. Simple, but not too many notable differences other than the size of the fridge (left) and there’s no oven, just a gas stove (right).

Bathroom/Toilet Room/Laundry. All in a compact little package, my drier consists of a pole on the balcony, haven’t yet figured out what people do during monsoon season.

Here’s a close up of the washing machine. Can you read the buttons? Yea…. me neither, but if I push enough of them it fills with water and starts spinning, so that’s good.

Guess Room. I also have a large guest room (family sized apartment) just in case someone feels so inclined as to visit (highly recommended).

The Little Room. I have no idea what this room will be used for, I can’t even figure out what it’s supposed to be used for (tea room?). For now it’s the little room with the coffee table in it.

The train going by from the balcony; this is the train I would normally take to work.

Here’s another one that has me stumped. This is the microwave…. And there are no numbers!

The view of Kawanishi from the train station, my building is on the far right.

That’s all for now. Hope everyone is doing well, I will do my best to keep you posted on my life on the other side of the pond. Email is still the same (conroyna@whitman.edu) , but they kick me off the that in a year so I phasing into my new address (conroyna@gmail.com). Thanks for tuning in.

nate.