edits in progress

Due to the fact that I write most of my posts on the fly and without much brainstorming, I have noticed that I make some grammatical errors. Since I caught up my readers in the last post, I now can go back to previous posts and add, replace, or cut out confusing sentences slash words. Although I will make many changes, please just leave a comment if you would like clarification on an event.

i just need to do it

my fellow readers (of course I am speaking in the millions:-))

Well I just need to do it, and I need to do it quick. No, it is not quickly packing my bags and taking the red eye back to the States; I am having too much fun here in Japan, although I think I have a job as well. No, I just realized that if I am every going to be caught up in my blog, then I need to just do a quite summary of events up to today. So here I go. By the way, pictures, pictures, and more pictures from these events will be posted sometime this week. I will post them with their respective post, so be on the look out.

Well I left my last post with my first party with the school, so I will continue from there. That weekend (August 27), I went down to Toyoshina, about a half hour away, to go to a JET BBQ at Brandon's house. There was about 20 people there, or so, and we had a great time at his house cooking meat on the grill, and then we went to a Karaoke place later that night.

The next week (Aug. 29-Sept. 2)we had a hiking day for the first year students. We went hiking in the mountains for the whole day. The location was about 20 minutes from the school. It was a lovely time just to have a beautiful day. However, along the path I did get stung by 3 bees through my wool socks and right on my right ankle. So, for the next few days my ankle was really swollen and I couldn't walk that well.

Also that same week we had the yearly painting day. Painting day is where a student goes to some part of the village to paint a picture all day. Then, for the upcoming school festival, all the paintings are displayed. The teachers paint as well, and with all of my artistic ability, I tried to do a black and white painting of the mountains in the Chinese tradition (even though I am in Japan) with Lao Tzu riding on an oxen on a mountain path. I am not sure how well it will be received, but I know I will be buying a picture frame to hang it in my house after the festival.

The next weekend (Sept 3) I first went down to the Jet Block 3 party near Lake すわ(Suwa). We had a very good time at the いざかいや(izakaiya, bar) and then went to go hang out by the lake till pretty late at night. The next day I went to Matsumoto with Craig to go meet Sarah for lunch. After that, we meet some more people who work down in しおじり(Shiojiri) and went to a pretty cool campsite near おまちし(Omachi City). This was not a proper campsite, but rather just a place off the road that has a cool atmosphere. Everyone (25 people) set up camp under this huge rock that served as our roof. We had a generator going, so there was music playing all night long. At this party, though, I did meet a few people of interest. First, I met Matt (aka Sheep), who the party was for (it was his birthday). Now Sheep used to live in my house and work at my school a few years back, so that was quite interesting. But then, I also meet Randall, who I had skied with back when I came to 白馬(Hakuba) a few years back. Just randomly I heard someone call out the name "Randall," but I thought it couldn't be him. Then when I was able to look at his face, I knew it was him. It was great to meet up with him, and he has helped introduce me to many of the main players up in the 白馬(Hakuba) area.

Ok, I am getting a little tired of writing, but I will keep going to finish up my quick wrap up. In 日本語 Japanese, you would tell me to :　願ばて(Ganbate), or keep my chin up. Okay, now you say 願ばて(Ganbate) with a loud voice. Oh, thank you so much; now I can continue.

So now it is the weekend of Sept. 10, and this was the big weekend for the Block Five party in 松本(Matsumoto). The night began in a place called Sunny Place Cafe, where about sixty people crowded into the little place. For 2 hours we had のみほだい(nomihodai, all you can eat and drink). It was a great time and saw a lot of people that I had met before, and also met some new people. After Sunny, some people went to the Sonic night club, and the other, more cool people, including myself of course, went to the Old Rock to have a few more drinks and just hang out. Once that place was about ready to close, some of us wanted to stay out all night just for the fun of it. So Dennis, Ryan, Craig and I went to Lawsons, a convience store, purchased a few six packs of beer, and then went down to the train station. Now Japan, although they have a zero tolerance for drinking and driving, do allow the public consumption of alcoholic beverages. This makes it nice when you just want to hang out in a park, or by the station, and have a few drinks with friends. Back to that night, so after hanging out at the train station we then found an all night cafe, had some snacks, and just chilled until about 5:30 in the morning. At 5:30 we walked back to the train station and caught the first train back home at around 6:30. I got back home at 7, and then preceded to take a long (five hour) nap.

Now the finally weekend in my quick wrap up. This weekend is for Sept. 17. Earlier during the week I got a call from my friend Randall (remember him) and he told me about an adventure race that was going on in Hakuba. The race was called the HIAQ (Hakuba International Adventure Quest) and included mountain biking, kayaking, and orientearing. I did not participate in the race, but I did work as a volunteer. I got there on Sat. night to the main base camp. It was located on a small ski mountain called みねがた(Minegata) and the camp was located near the top of the mountain. Since there were no housed around, they had a stage set up with both live music and a DJ later that night. I stayed up quite late (I find myself doing that on the weekends) and then got up early, 7, to prepare for the race. My main job was to check people off at Checkpoint 3 during the race, but after everyone had passed my check point I went to the kayaking area to help with the boats. Later that evening, we had the awards ceremony. After that, all the people who helped in the race went into 白馬(Hakuba) to go have dinner at Uncle Stevens. We had a great time there talking about the weekend events. I stayed there Sunday night, because we had holiday on Monday.

Okay, I did it. I am finally caught up on my blog. Now, I can write about events as they happen. Sweet. Cheers.

As mentioned early, pictures will be posted this week under their respective post, so be on the look out.

my first school えんかい(enkai)

This particular post covers Aug. 24, 2005.

After my first few days of classes, I had my first えんかい(enkai), which simply means a party. I was pretty excited about this event, and I was not disappointed in the least. Now, the traditional Japanese えんかい(enkai) occurs a bit different than most parties, as I shall explain.

Now, usually every Wed. we have a meeting after classes are done in the office. All of it is in Japanese, but nonetheless I sit there and listen, and usually do some work on the computer. The meeting started at 3:30 and ended at around 4:45. After which, I went home, took a shower, and got changed. I arrived back at school at 5:30, to check my email and stuff before the party was to begin at 6:00. At around 5:50, my Japanese teacher told me that I needed to give a speech at the opening of the party. I thought to myself, ok, that is do able, but then he added one slight caveat: it needed to be in Japanese. While I had given my intoductin in Japanese, I had an idea what I would say, but I did not know how to say it. I told him this, and so we got on the computer and he translated my English in Japanese. So all is well.

At 6:00 on the dot, everyone assembled at the party. The actual location was on the school grounds in a little building that sits off center in the middle courtyard. During school, this building is used for counseling and such, but it also serves as the teachers’ party house, which is quite cool. I don't think you would ever have such a place at any of the public schools I went to. So then the party began. First, Mr. Yamanagishi served as the Master of Ceremonies, first introducing the vice principal, and then the principal. First the principal gave his speech, all in English, which welcomed me to the school. I felt honored and really happy that he had taken the time to write and give this speech (If I can find the text of this speech, I will post it). And then it was my turn. While the principal had probably spent a significant amount of time and effort into his speech, I had spent all but 10 mins. Although I spoke a little slow Japanese, I believe that all of the teachers understood what I was saying, so I was pleased. Although I don't have the translation, here is the speech that I gave:

ここにきて、１かげつ、しかたっていませんが、みなさんが、わたしを、うけいれてくれて、なんねんも、いるような、かんじがします。みなさん、とても、ナイスで、かんたんな、えいごや、にほんごで、こみゅにけーしょんができそうです。よろしく　おねがいします。

So then the party began, and it was a really good time. The food was really good, a huge variety of dishes. And of course there was also a bit of alcohol, which included ベール(Beer), さけ(sake), and しょちゅ(shochu), which is a type of Japanese disstled liqur. Everyone was eating and drinking and having a good time, until it was a few minutes before 8:00. All of the sudden, all the teachers got up, and then went to the health center and turned on the TV. At first I was a bit confused and perplexed, but then I understood what was happening.

Well it seems that there is a Japanese show on TV that goes around to small villages all over the country to talk to the residents and explore what the town had to offer. After seeing this show, it reminded me of across Indiana, except with a weird Japanese kind of humor that I have yet to understand. I digress. The reason all the teachers wanted to see the show is that on this episode, there were coming to さかきたむら(Sakakita Village), which is the town that I live in and one of the two towns that make up the Junior High School. So, for a half hour, we watched the program and it was a great time. After which, we went back to the party, had more food and drink, and also had a great time. Cheers.

first week of classes and such

This particular blog covers Aug. 22. Well my first week of classes at せいなん(Seinan) Junior High School went quite well and it was very exciting. Starting on Monday there was a school assembly in the morning. The school assembly served many functions, and included speeches by the class leaders from each grade, a musical performance, a speech by the principal, as well as my speech. Once again, I had to give a speech. This time, though, it was a mix of Japanese and English. During the English part, the Japanese English teacher translated for me. Here is the speech I gave:

おはよう　ございます。はじめまして。わたし　は　ZACH SUNDSTROM です。わたし　は　AMERIKA の　INDIANA から　きました。はやく　しょくいん　の　なかま　として　かつやく　できると　よいと　おもいます。よろしく　おねがいします。 I am very excited to come to Seinan J.H.S. and to become a member of this group. It is with great pleasure that you have accepted me into your school community. Being so, I hope to achieve numerous goals during my stay in Nagano. First and foremost, I will strive to become an effective assistant language instructor.　Hopefully, the students will understand the fundamentals of this English language in the areas of not only reading and writing, but especially in the area of conversation. Being a native English teacher, I believe, will provide a valuable asset to the classroom. Furthermore, through team teaching with うすい　せんせい, I hope that the classroom will not only be informative, as it ought to be, but that it will also be a fun and exciting learning environment. Beyond my important role in the English classroom, though, my opportunity to be at Seinan gives me a chance to interact with you the students. Not only will I be a teacher in the classroom, but I also hope to participate in club activities. I love to play all types of sports, including volleyball, soccer, and swimming. Furthermore, I have other club interests, such as music and art. Finally, I hope to start an English Club where we could do fun activities related to the English language and English speaking countries. In summary, I hope to be an interactive participant in and out of the classroom. However, I do have one request to all the students. That one request is to talk to me, ask me questions, and ask me to participate in club activities. I am sure I will be happy to oblige. ども　ありがとう　ございました。

It does seem like I have to give quite a few speeches, but now I am building up a bank of pre-written speeches that I can use on a short notice. Sometimes I am only given a few minutes to prepare before giving a speech.

During my first class for each grade I gave a little PowerPoint presentation that included many pictures and facts about me. Once I got through with the presentation I still had a few minutes to spare that I didn't plan for (as if I planed for anything). So I had to think of something for the students to do. Well I didn’t want them to have to listen to me any longer, so I asked them to pair up in groups of two and think of a few questions to ask me. A lot of the questions were like "What is your favorite Japanese food," or, "How old are you?" But, in at least the first or second question, each class asked: "Do you have a girlfriend?" To answer the question, I at first looked a little confused, and then I began to count to 5 on my hand. It seemed to get a kick out of the students.

The rest of classes seemed to go real well and I felt that I was getting the hang of the whole teacher thing, even without formal teacher education. Classes are fun, and the kids, at least 99% of the time, want to learn English. Well, my next post awaits.

nagano orientation, and an unexpected trip

As per my previous blog, the next few posts will be updates from a while ago. This particular post is starting from Aug 19 and I will not use かんじ(kanji) in this blog. かんじ(kanji) are Chinese characters. For example, Monday looks like 月曜日 in kanji, but Monday looks like げつようび(getsuyoubi) in hiragana. Until I learn more kanji, I will not use it. If this plan is good, please leave me a comment. If this plan is bad, please leave me a comment. I am hear to serve my readers, because I know there are so demanding.

On Friday morning, I went into school to give my official introduction to the teachers of Seinan. Although I already new all the teachers by this point in time, it was a ceremony that was quite special. It began when I went into こちせんせい(the Principal's) office to wait to enter the main office. As I entered the room, all the teachers were standing at their desks and then the speeches began. きょうとせんせい(Vice Principal) gave the first speech, followed by こちせんせい and then I gave my speech. Although I will not give the full translation, here is what I said in Japanese: "おはよう　ございます。はじめまして。わたし　は　ZACH SUNDSTROM です。わたし　は　AMERIKA の　INDIANA から　きました。はやく　しょくいん　の　なかま　として　かつやく　できると　よいと　おもいます。よろしく　おねがいします。" After this speech, I then left for the train station with my English teacher 臼井せんせい(Usui) for my weekend trip to Nagano.

Now I had to go to Nagano for a couple of reason. In the morning/afternoon, we had the official Nagano Orientation meeting. While being the first time that all new Jets in Nagano were together, as well as quite a few second and third years as well, on the whole the meeting was pointless and very boring. The only highlight was the visit by the governor, たなかさん(Tanaka), who is a very nice man. I don't want to get into Japanese politics, because I don't know a lot, but I do know that　たなかさん(Takana) is a very interested politician not only in Nagano Prefecture, but in all of Japan (I am sure if you google Tanaka, you will find lot of information, like he was a very famous author and left writing to become the youngest governor in Japan). I digress. There was light at the end of the tunnel, though, and that was the party after the meeting.

The えんかい(enkai), or party, took place at the Washington Plaza Hotel which is located downtown. The いざかや(izakaya), or bar, offered something called のみほだい(nomihodi). The concept for のみほだい(nomihodi) revolves around everyone paying a certain amount, usually around 3400 yen, and you can eat and drink as much as you want for two hours. At this place, the food was buffet style, but it was very good food and tasted nothing like an Old Country Buffet or anything like that. Plus, you served yourself your own beer. However, you did so with an automatic machine. First you place your glass under the spot and hit a button. The glass raises and then tilts to a 45 degree angle, the perfect angle for pouring beer. Once the glass is halfway full, the glass moves to a 90 degree angle, which is also the proper method. Just as the beer is an inch and a half from the top of the glass, the beer stops and then a nice head is put in the glass. For me, though, I thing the Japanese like a little too much head in their beer, so I would stop the process early.

Beyond the wonders of the automatic tap system, and there are certainly more I could mention, I also did get to meet a look of other Jets at the party. This was probably the best thing about the entire ながの(Nagano) Orientation . At the party, I did meet the girl who lives and works in はくば(Hakuba). If you remember, I went to はくば(Hakuba) a few years ago to ski with the Indianapolis Ski Club and now I meant someone who lives where I want to go every weekend this winter. Sarah, who also loves the winter, is also a huge skier, so it was great to meet her. I should note that most Jets it seems are snowboarders, which is not bad, but sometimes it is hard for skiers to ski with snowboarders. After the party was over, I went back to Peter's place, with whom I roomed with in Tokyo, and we barely, by 1 min, made the last train. The next part of my busy weekend was a surprise to me, but nonetheless a welcomed and happy time.

As I said earlier, Friday at the party I met Sarah who lives in はくば(Hakuba). Saturday, I got a text message from her asking if I wanted to back to her house with a couple of other Jets. I could not pass up the opportunity. Sarah and her friends picked me up at the station and we drove to はくば(Hakuba). Now, when I was in 日本(Japan) a few years back, when we went to ながの(Nagano), we took the same highway that we took on Saturday. So during the whole ride I remembered a lot of the same scenery. However, once we got to the actual town and were able to see the mountains, I instantly remembered はくば(Hakuba); the only difference was that the scenery was green instead of covered in a blanket of white. That night, we went to dinner at Uncle Stevens, which is said to be the best Mexican place not only in ながの(Nagano), but in all of 日本(Japan) as well. It is also another place that I visited a few years back.

That was my first weekend with a lot of traveling and fun times, but there is certainly more to come. Now it wasn't too bad sitting down and writing all of this, but it did take a little more time than expected. However, I was surprised at all the details that I could remember. Well I don't have access to my computer right now, so I will have to update the pictures later.

a proposition

Although I don't consider my self a lazy person, I have been quite inept at updating this blog. I really enjoy writing for it, and hopefully people enjoy reading it. I think the problem lies in the fact that I have yet to get into the habit of writing. I propose, and my proposition is still early in the works, to write a little ever morning before classes. I usually get to work around 7:30 or 7:45 and my earliest class never starts before 8:40. So, instead of just aimlessly searching the internet, I will just write a little to keep this up to date. Weekends, however, will take a little more time on Monday morning, but this plan ought to work out nonetheless. I think that if I can get my weekend summarized on Monday, then I shouldn't get backlogged during the rest of the week. If anyone else has a suggestion, please just leave a comment. P.S: after I finish this blog, I will begin the summary writing from the past couple of weekends.