You may have heard about a “traditional” Christmas in Japan, and I’m talking about food here – KFC and Christmas cake. There is lots of information out there on Christmas in Japan, let me throw you a link to Tofugu whose post is nice and quick and easy to digest. I had a talk with my middle school kids about Christmas, and I think the general consensus was they didn’t really celebrate it. About half had Christmas cake, I think they were all too young for the romantic experience of it all. My English teacher is a bit different perhaps from most Japanese in that she is very interested in Western traditions, she celebrates with her children, they each get one present and they put up a Christmas tree.

I think it is also important to note that at least in my area, kids think that Santa comes from Finland, rather than the North Pole. So I think they have combined more closely Santa and Saint Nicholas, even though wikipedia says St N was from what is now called Turkey, something I didn’t know… There is one man who I haven’t had the pleasure of introducing on this blog yet. His name is Chatty Man, and I have had many pleasant experiences with him. One was him explaining in a condescending way about St N, how he is actually Santa. I believe I had to control my reflex to eyeroll and explain that yes, I know who the big N is…. Sorry, I had to get that frustration out. Lucky for me Chatty Man is at the school I have just left. It is also interesting that kids in Japan don’t know what elves are. Some of my classes know who Dobby is from Harry Potter, and I was like “yes! He’s an Elf!” Although he is only an interpretation of an elf and the Christmas elves are a bit different, but at least that is a concept of an elf they can grab onto. My 3rd graders at Middle school knew who Dobby was, and then my 2nd graders in Primary school knew too, but then my 5th Graders in primary school didn’t know who Dobby was. (Interesting fact about Carlie: I dislike Harry Potter with a passion). The kids also got confused when I ended classes with “Merry Christmas!” “It’s not Christmas yet…” Yes, we do say it during the Christmas period, and I wasn’t going to see them again until after Christmas… Christmas this year felt very un-Christmas like. If I didn’t ask for holidays I would have had to go to work. Instead I went to Nara and had KFC for lunch, the most “Christmasy” thing I did. I have to say I like KFC in Japan. The chicken tastes just as fatty but you don’t have the oil running down your arms as bad. Also the bread on the burgers doesn’t taste as floury and cheap as it does back home. Some nice pluses.

My Christmas feast. Not a good substitute for Christmas food back home, but as far as KFC goes it was pretty good. I didn’t have any Christmas cake, I think this was enough calories for one day… Merry Christmas!   Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.  

Related posts

Spew Shoku! Soon To Be Invading Mie-ken Pungent Hamburgers at the Kansai Airport Merry Christmas ‘09 Let’s Shopping!

I want to come up with a list of my best memories of 2009! Here is what I will remember 2009 by… Dramas

Jin, with out a doubt, I was glued to the TV screen. The characters were awesome. I loved the bromance between Ryoma and Jin. It was one hell of a love quadruplet or something like that… And the foetus… just when you thought you could sleep at night the foetus made a reappearance. Great show, but I hope that they make a special because I want the ONE question answered. Not the one about Mikki, the one about who the hell…. Runners up: Buzzer Beat was more about the change room than the basketball, and Tokyo Dogs was amusing too. Also, to check out what I actually watched in 2009, as far as my memory can remember, check out my Watched List, 2009. Opening Music/Sequence for Dramas

Jin again. I always got goose bumps whenever it played and wouldn’t think about using the fast forward button/using it as a toilet break. Runners up: Liar game, I always enjoyed the quick opening sequence for that show and the feel of the music. With Season 2 they’ve left it short and sweat but still bouncy. Also loved Tokyo Dogs opening (even better than Liar Game…) – the closing music was rubbish but the opening theme was upbeat and made me look forward tot he show. Also love the graphic sequence! Movies I didn’t watch as many movies as I would have liked this year, so by default it is Ballad. It stars SMAP’s Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and Aragaki Yui. I can’t wait to see it with English subs to pick up on some things I missed, and it wasn’t a perfect movie either, but I enjoyed it and it was great seeing it at the movies. I hope I will make an effort to see more movies in 2010.

Best Song Bz’s イチブトゼンブ, theme song of Buzzer Beat. Nice upbeat and catchy song! Here’s the lyrics, in Japanese, so you can practise your reading skills and get ready for some karaoke!: Show ▼

「アナタは私のほんのイチブしか知らない」 勝ち誇るように笑われても　それほどイヤじゃないよ 生まれてくる前　聞いたようなその深い声 それだけで人生のオカズになれるくらいです すべて知るのは到底無理なのに 僕らはどうして あくまでなんでも征服したがる カンペキを追い求め 愛しぬけるポイントがひとつありゃいいのに もしそれが君のほんのイチブだとしても 何よりも確実にはっきり好きなところなんだ 困った時　少しまゆげを曲げてみせたり 抱きよせるとホッとするような柔らかさだったり すべて掴んだつもりになれば また傷つくだろう ほんとに要るのは有無を言わせない 圧倒的な手ざわり 愛しぬけるポイントがひとつありゃいいのに 君にしかわからないこと　僕だけが見えていること どれもホントのこと すべて何かのイチブってことに 僕らは気づかない 愛しい理由を見つけたのなら もう失わないで 愛しぬけるポイントがひとつありゃいいのに それだけでいいのに

Maybe it’ll last, maybe it wont, but here’s the video:

Merry Christmas from ME! I have taken 5 paid holidays and added them together with holidays I already get, to create just under three weeks holidays. Woo! I’m going away for Christmas and still haven’t decided what I’m doing for new years. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas

Related posts

Voice – Episode Two – Review and Caps Voice – Episode One – Review and Caps The Cat In The Red Boots Summer 2007 Dramas – MORE! Spring Dramas 2009 – What I’m Looking Forward To

給食.　Kyushoku. School lunch. Some people love it. Not me. When it’s bad, it’s very very bad, and when it’s good it’s pretty bland. Lunch time is a time I fear at school… If you are curious about what school children eat in Japan, here is a collection of photos of school lunches…

I go to five schools, but from Monday onwards only four. At the school I’m leaving on Monday, it’s a sizable school of about 500 children. At this school I go to individual classrooms and eat lunch with only a class. It is my understanding that this is the usual in Japan, that students eat in their own classrooms. I pay $2.40 for lunch at my primary schools and $2.80 for lunch at my middle school. Usually the money is collected monthly which i put in a nice little envelope. So it is cheap and good value for money – after all one of my complaints about it is that it is too much food! The rest of my schools have 38 – 110 kids. It’s a bit unique in Japan, but at these schools we all eat in one room. I sort of end up at the same table all the time which is nice I guess.

The Proceedure Some students put on aprons and masks to serve food. The actual serving changes per school and class – some the children line up with plates and go through conveyor belt style, others the servers serve up everything to the table and then the students arrive to their spot with the food already there.

The Food I don’t get the food at all. I mean, I guess I just assumed that these would be balanced, healthy meals. They aren’t. The base of the meal is either a bread roll or a large bowl of rice. And there is always milk. From there… it could be anything. I thought perhaps it would be meat, veges and fruit, but it could be anything… My main concern, however, is the amount of seafood. My predecessor told me that seafood is rare. I knew I shouldn’t have taken her word, as seafood is maybe every second day. I don’t like seafood at all, and because of this I look to lunch with dread…

This here is actually a good day. The shreaded cabbage is a taste I’m a bit over, and I don’t get how this carb overload is balanced, but pasta is a win for me. At the start I had trouble eating so much rice.  

Another thing for me to complain about! I have never really been a fan of soups. I find them really bland. Lucky for me, soup is often a common feature in school lunches However, the plus side is you can dip your bread into them. The bread is so dry that I find it really hard to eat by itself (I’m the kind of person who likes butter on my bread) but it is a bit more bearable after being dipped in the soup. On the plus side, even though there is a lot of rice with meals, I do find it to be really nice rice.  

Lunch is either eaten with either a fork or chopsticks. It is always interesting to see if people eat things by picking them up whole or trying to break them apart with the utensil provided. There is never a spoon so soup is to be had by picking up the bowl. I can’t help feeling a bit rude every time I do this. Note the shredded cabbage again. Yay!  

The stuff to the top left is mochi – pounded rice, which I find waaaaaay too sweet. The middle stuff, I’m not sure what it is besides seaweed, but with this stuff I’ve gotten to the point where if I have more than a mouth full I want to throw it back up. It’s gross!! The stuff to the right are local grown vegetables. They are potato and carrot and daikon, and are actually really nice but they put on/cook them in some kind of sauce which I am not a big fan of. So it makes it a bit of a challenge to eat. There is something missing from this dish too:  

Now, deep fried fish I’ll try. Grilled fish too, you know. It’s gross, but I might be able to bear it. With this, I’m not touching it with a ten foot pole… It’s some kind of fish with babies inside. And you eat the head and tail. Um… no thanks. I think only non seafood eaters can truely understand the horror of this.  

An article about how schools use local grown ingredients in school lunches.  

Another popular serving is the salad doused in mayonnaise. Which can either be a welcome change to a bland salad or sweetness overkill. This lunch is another one of those good lunches! Yay! The Rest… Before lunch everyone always says “Itadakimasu!” and after everyone says together “Gochisosamadeshita”. After you have finished eating you separate all the rubbish. Milk cartons are always washed and then flattered out. And then finally I can breath a sigh of relief… It’s over and I wont have to face that enormous, seafoody event for another 24 hours. Yay! Yeah, I know. Not liking seafood… I moved to the wrong country.   Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.   If you like this post, please soc it at JapanSoc, a social bookmarking website for everything Japan related!  

Related posts

Soon To Be Invading Mie-ken Pungent Hamburgers at the Kansai Airport Let’s Shopping! I do not like green eggs and ham Goodbyes are always so hard…

Today I had a goodbye ceremony at one of my primary schools. I have two days left there, then I may never go back again… It was such an awesome memory that I want to share with everyone and makes singing songs with grade one kids and a sore throat… a bit more bearable! Hehe.

This is my large school of about 450-500 kids. I have to say the kids here have been awesome – I’m fairly shy but the kids come up to me to talk to me, always say hello and the kids get so excited to see me. There are also some kids that I feel I have come to know, even if just a little bit, and it makes me sad to think I wont see them again! I wont forget!!

The ceremony started with me walking into the school’s gym. At school, of course, you have to wear your indoor shoes. Well, in the gym you have to wear a different set of indoor shoes. So I was stuck wearing the school’s slippers (which means I was only a second away from falling over and dieing). I walked through the centre of the grade one students and gave them all high fives. Yeah! The speaches were half in Japanese then half in English, but the kids of course didn’t write the English (and don’t get me started who is considered an authority on English at this school ) and the echo of the place made it very hard for me to understand their English! But I got the gist

Next we played a Janken game. Scissors, paper, rock has been a bit mangled in this country (in English) I guess to facilitate learning the game. When I was a kid all we did was “one two three”. Here we start off “rock, scissors, paper, one, two, three”. Anyway, we played this where if they lost against me they had to sit down. Then was a whispers game where I whispered (and spread a cold to the entire school) an English word to the kids and they had it go down the line.
And finally a “maru batsu” game – or a true or false quiz. I am still not sure what the second question was but apparently it was true, whatever it was about me.

Representatives from each class came up and gave me a poster or card that everyone had signed. So sweet, but the vast majority just say “Thank you for teaching various English” (in Japanese), but it is a great reinforcement of Vて　くれる pattern I guess. I’m only joking, I love these! some had photos too which was awesome!! After some speeches everyone sang Chiisana Koi no Uta, the song from Proposal Daisakusen and one of my favourites!! Here’s the lyrics. I was very moved by this!

An abundance of origami, which is apparently a huge hit with the grade one kids.  

A pile of my goodbye cards!! So sweet. And next, the kids in the special needs class. They were learning impared, but to me they still seemed pretty smart, just a level or two below what their peers.

Later after school three girls came in to the staff room and gave me these cute little popup cards! You can see one on the edge on the left of the above photo! It’s the little things like this that make me happy. Also, for those who want a little Japanese reading practise, here’s the write up in Japanese of the event. Happy nihongoing! (What’s up with the “stone, scissors, paper” bit… I’m pretty sure I know who typed this up and am not surprised…) 英語の授業でお世話になったＡＬＴのカーリー先生とのお別れ会が行われました。 9月から豊が丘小学校で英語を教えていただいたカーリー先生とお別れのときがやってきました。 １２月１５日(火)５限目、体育館で児童会主催の｢カーリー先生とのお別れ会｣が行われました。 カーリー先生の入場です。 児童会の人が先導しての入場です。 みんなは大きな拍手で迎えました。 はじめに児童会役員さんがお世話になったカーリー先生へ、日本語と英語を使って「はじめのあいさつ」を言いました。 次にカーリー先生と「じゃんけんゲーム」をしました。 やり方は、児童会の人が「ストーン、シーザー、ペーパー、ワン、ツー、スリー！」と声をかけます。 カーリー先生に勝った人だけが勝ち残りとなります。 とっても白熱したゲームでした。 最後まで残った人に大きな拍手がおくられました。 次に「伝言ゲーム」をしました。 カーリー先生が列の先頭の子に英語の言葉を伝えて、後ろへどんどん伝えていくというゲームです。 舞台で先頭の子がカーリー先生から言葉を伝えてもらっているところです。 今回は、「ブラック」と「ショルダー」を伝えていきました。 次に○×クイズをしました。 カーリー先生に関する楽しいクイズを児童会の人たちが考えてくれました。 「カーリー先生の名字はキムである。○か×か？」 子どもたちは、頭の上で○×で答えを示しました。 「答えは○です」 「○」があがると、みんなは大歓声をあげました。 お世話になったカーリー先生に各クラスで心を込めて書いた「お礼の寄せ書き」をお渡ししました。 各学級の代表の人に渡してもらいました。 カーリー先生からの「お礼のあいさつ」がありました。 日本語と英語をつかって心のこもったあいさつをされました。 その後、校長先生からも英語と日本語でお礼のあいさつがありました。 最後にみんなで心をこめて元気よく「小さな恋の歌」を歌いました。 この曲はカーリー先生もオーストラリアで聞いたことがあるそうです。 カーリー先生の退場です。 カーリー先生、楽しい授業をありがとうございました。次の学校でも頑張ってください。   And there we go! Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Related posts

Proposal Daisakusen SP – Review Proposal Daisakusen – Reviews Index Proposal Daisakusen – Episode 9 Proposal Daisakusen – Episode 8 Proposal Daisakusen – Episode 7

While at the Kansai International Airport I thougt about having food. So I went over to the food stand. What to have, hmmm, so many choices. Should I have the ham and chadder cheese panini? Hmmm… something about that just doens’t sound right…

A plain hot dog sounds alright but a pungent cheese hot dog sort of turned me off the thought of a hot dog…    

prawn and hot Sand of grill vegetable… well, the trouble is I like prawns even less than I like eating sand… The menu turned me off so much that I instead decided to wait til I was back in Osaka to get some food. What I guess confuses me the most is how this happened at an international airport – one would perhaps think more thought would go into a translation in a place like that…

This post is my submission to the October 2009 Japan Blog Matsuri, hosted by Sleepy Tako. This month’s theme: hamburgers.   Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.  

Related posts

I do not like green eggs and ham Train Ticket Masterpieces in Kansai Airport Making the Most of Japan Let’s Shopping! A Night In Osaka

So, incase you don’t know, I recently moved to Japan as part of the JET program. I moved from Australia to Mie-ken in Japan to teach English. I arrived in August, which is school holidays for the kids. So my first time teaching in Japan wasn’t at a school but was at a Summer “camp” for children aged 5 to 11ish. It was at two locations each with two sessions. It wasn’t exactly a camp, but more like a class that the kids came to. It involved all the middle school/elementary ALTs, some JETs some not, in my area.

The above photo is our preperations for the classes. The program itself was called “Let’s Enjoy English”, of course using the “let’s” form which is everywhere in this country.
    We broke each day into three sessions of about 30 mins each. We wrote down a whole heap of topics we could perhaps use and then finally narrowed them down to the ones we would use. Then we broke ourselves into groups and put each group in charge of a topic to come up with the activities. They were all fairly simple topics such as feelings and fruit as most of the children were in grade one.

The two days were lots of fun. My topic was fruit and we were lucky to have some plastic fruit with us. First we played the missing game, taking away different fruit each time and the kids had to guess what was missing. And then we put blind folds on the children and made them guess what fruit they were holiding.

It was lots of fun, but oh my goodness I was worn out afterwards! The kids were so cute – shy while by themselves but really got into the games. So luckily my first experience teaching children was a very enjoyable experience. I have quite a few photos but unfortunatly I was requested not to put them up on the inernet. In stead you’ll have to put up with this photo of me covered in body part stickers.

A job that involves playing all day is pretty sweet
  Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.  

Related posts

No related posts.

Here is my Statement of Purpose. I don’t know if it will be much use to you, but it got me an interview and now I’m in Japan, so something from it must have worked. I think the SOP is very important in the written application. Perhaps the most important part, but who knows. Here is a page where I got advice from: The Jet Programme, Statement of Purpose. Basically I went all over the internet and got inspiration from everywhere. And now, here is my SOP, in all it’s (lack of) glory. No editing here from me for spelling or to turn down the arse kissing, this is how I sent it in… Perhaps you can take away something from it, even if it is a couple of giggles. Enjoy

Statement of Purpose With a love of both language and culture, I would love to work as an Assistant Language Teacher in the JET Programme. At university I majored in English Literature and the Japanese Language, combining my two passions. I have also studied Australian popular culture and intercultural communication. With this background, along with my enthusiasm and passion for teaching, I would make a perfect candidate for the JET Programme. I chose the JET Programme so that I will be able to improve my understanding of the Japanese language and of Japanese youth culture. While assisting in the teaching of the English language and culture, I would be gaining valuable experiences and knowledge that I would like to use in post graduate research. My overall aim is to teach about Japanese popular and youth culture to an English speaking audience. Within the JET Programme, I will have first hand access to the youth of Japan. This experience will help me stand out against my peers and broaden myself as a person. In learning the Japanese language, I have a better understanding not only of Japanese culture, but also of my own culture and the English language. I would love to share this sense of understanding with the youth of Japan, so that future generations gain a tolerance and understanding of different cultures. I enjoy teaching, and look forward to team teaching. In my current job as a sales assistant in a scrapbooking store, part of my job is to demonstrate scrapbooking techniques and also run scrapbooking classes. I enjoy not only teaching but preparing material for classes and coming up with exciting ways to present the material. I also had an opportunity to teach one lesson at my university. This was a valuable insight into teaching in a class room setting, and confirmed my passion for teaching. My international experience has helped me appreciate and understand cultural differences. Having visited the USA and Canada, while similar to Australia in many respects, these countries have many differences as well. While Japanese youth may be exposed to North American culture through Hollywood productions, they may not have an opportunity to experience Australian culture. I would love to share this with them so that they gain a deeper understanding of western cultures. If I am accepted, I would work hard to ensure that I am a valuable asset in the JET Programme. My passion for both Japanese and Australian culture makes me an ideal candidate. I will aim to instill this enthusiasm into my students, increasing internationalization and fostering cultural understanding in future generations. Thank you for your consideration.

Related posts

Goddess Carlie To Invade Japan Awesome Youtube Vloggers

Daiso is a hundred yen store in Japan, the equivalent of a dollar store. Unlike Australian dollar stores where nothing actually costs a dollar, pretty much everything costs a hundred yen. There are some exceptions, but they are clearly marked with the price and are often good value too. And you can get everything there, from awesome stationary, kitchen goods, gardening goods, bathroom goods, make up, laundry goods. The list goes on. Yes, I am a fan of the 100 yen stores.
Daiso, however, is also an awesome place for amusing English. Even though there is a “no photography” sign at the front door (well, I assume this from a picture of a camera with a line through it), the English on these is just begging for their photos to be taken. And they shouldn’t complain because I definitely spend up big there. Turns out 100 yen (plus 5 yen tax) an item can add up…

The stationary, my favourite part of the store, is a source of awesome English. This one says “Two bears went to the travel of the sky. It is very happy feelings.”  

“This notebook might be wonderful writing feelings for you.” On the front cover of a book meant for writing English in. Fantastic.  

“Unintentionally with idividuality and nonchalantly with sensibility.” I wish I knew what they originally put into google translator to make this come out. I wonder if the people making this stationary can speak perfect English but do this kind of stuff for fun. It could be fun to do with my job too…  

Moving away from stationary to dog atire. And what dog wouldn’t look stylish and warm in a little jacket that says “wanko”.  

And to end we are at animal repellent. Have pesky cats annoying you? Well, get yourself some “Don’t Cat.” Cat’s are surely to don’t.  

Maybe it is just me but I was also amused by this. It’s fireworks for repelling birds and beasts. “It’s very effective against wild boars, monkeys and crows.”   Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.  

Related posts

Shopping with YamaPi and News Let’s Shopping! A Night In Osaka

Let’s go shopping at the local grocery store! At my local you use baskets – either carry them or put them on the trolley. Luckily the grocery store is pretty close so I don’t have to buy large quantities of items at a time.

Mmmm chu hai Having alochol in the supermarkets is novel for me, even though there are states in Australia, as well as many other places in the western world that does this. Fairly large selection if you are into beer or sake.  

Cheese! I have heard that cheese can be hard to find in Japan. Well, not in my Japan. I have a wide selction of cheese from parmesan, camembert, to sliced plasticy goodness. All for what I percieve is a pretty reasonable price.  

Meat is cheap, but tastes cheap too. I am planning to check out the local butchers for some better quality cuts.  

There is a good selection of milk as well with both low fat and no fat avaliable.  

Taco flavoured Doritos! There is a large selection of chips and lollies, some things familiar, lots of new things.  

Bread only comes in this half loaf style with like 5-8 slices. If you get five slices, they are quite thick, or eight thinner slices. No crust bread in sight, or anything other than white. If you want to get adventerous with your bread, you are better off trying the many flavours of bread rolls you can get.  

Assortment of cereals. The boxes are ten times smaller than those from home. And for some reason the kids at my school still don’t know what cereal is even though it is in the shops…  

Beef here are all thinly sliced for ease of eating with chop sticks. Heavly marbled with fat too which is good for the taste bads but bad for the waist line/heart  

Section for hot foods. Sitting in hot oily goodness. Who said that Japan was a healthy place?  

Rice. Even though I live next door to rice, even though it is eaten at every meal, it is damn expensive here.  

Some smellies. Some familiar brands. Make sure you read the katakana carefully though…  

Here is some fruits and veges. The prices are expensive, but over all I don’t think they are as bad as I have heard prices can be. Also there are lots of stalls around here with fresh local fruit with decent prices. Fruits here are mostly large and very juicy.
 

At the end you pack your own bags. You can buy plastic bags for 5 yen each or you bring along your own bags. As I have previously been employed as a check out chick I am a pro at the awesome bag packing. I hope you enjoyed the tour of my local food place

Related posts

A Night In Osaka Tour of the Neighbourhood Soon To Be Invading Mie-ken Living In The Land Of Japan I do not like green eggs and ham

Here’s a quick little tour of the area around my home. I am loving living here.

Of course there are vending machines. I love vending machines. In Australia I was always forgetting to bring a drink with me when I go out walking etc. Here, it’s something I don’t really need to worry about. Not only are beverages cheaper here, there is usually a vending machine around somewhere. I haven’t seen any hot food vending machines here yet, so far only drinks, cigarettes and alcohol machines (which I suppose is also a drink machine).  

Rice fields! There are rice fields in the smallest spaces between buildings. However, rice here is expensive.  

A karaoke joint. Haven’t been here yet.  

A scarecrow in the field  

Japan has a lot of buildings that look soooo old and run down.   Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Related posts

Soon To Be Invading Mie-ken Living In The Land Of Japan

Here is the view of my backyard! A rice field
I have been in Japan for over a week now and in Mie for a week exactly. I am having a really great time, but of course I haven’t really started work yet. I have a mobile phone, internet, bank account, everything set up, and have now finished orientation. Today is sort of the first day I’ve had a break and time to myself! I really love my placement and (most of!) the other ALTs in my area. We are a pretty fun bunch so it’s been a blast. I haven’t visited my school yet, I think that is happening next week. My supervisor is very helpful and speaks pretty good english. My house is still a pigsty, but I hope to finally get most things sorted and put away today. Speaking of sorting, the garbae is sort of a nightmare. Anyway, expect lots of updates of my adventures soon!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Related posts

Soon To Be Invading Mie-ken

Remember those ninjas I talked about? Turns out I’ll soon be living with them!! OK, I am not going to be in Iga-Ueno, which is where the Ninja Museum is, but soon I will be living in the same prefecture as them. I’m so excited and can’t wait - it’s only about a month away now. I will be teaching in a small village of about 4000 people. There is a middle school and three elementaries. The schools are all small, with the middle school only having 98 kids. I’m very excited!

Related posts

No related posts.

I haven’t talked about this at all here (in case I failed miserably), but I have hinted/talked about it at twitter, so if you have been following me there you may know what I’m talking about oh-so cryptically right now. That is, today I received a letter from the Brisbane Consulate of Japan to say I have been short-listed into the JET Programme. Or, in simpler terms… I’m going to Japan!!! As long I’m healthy and the criminal background check doesn’t dig deep enough to find my secret past, I will be flying over to Japan this August. I’m sure that the next three and a bit months will go very slow but at the same time very quick. I plan to go all gung-ho with my Japanese study - mainly because I have a lot of excellent texts that I don’t want to lug with me to Japan! I am looking forward to many exciting times in Japan.

Related posts

Awesome Youtube Vloggers