Sensei and Sensibility
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Another Interesting Conversation
With my Vice Principal (in Japanese):
VP: Sabine, when are you done?
S: Um... when?
VP: Yes, when are you finished?
S: I`m sorry, I don`t understand. Finished what?
VP: Your job.
S: Oh, August 5th is when my contract is over. Then I must go home.
VP: No, you don`t understand. When are you finished work.
S: Um... 4pm?
VP: No! When do you start at the elementary school.
S: OH! Next week, they`ve been on break because of the Sports Festival.
VP: No, no! When are you finished at th elementary school?
S: For when? Christmas Break?
VP: No, you can`t understand me. ( turns to English teacher for translation and tells her)
ET: Sabine, what is he trying to ask you?
S: I`m not sure. Didn`t he just explain it to you?
ET: He wants to know when you are done.
S: Done with what?
ET: I don`t know. He`s just asking when you are done.
S: (turning to VP) August 5th.
VP: (turning to ET) August 5th?
ET: August 5th
VP: ah, so this was your last sports festival.
S: Yes, just like I said in my speech.
VP: Oh,now I remember!
??????!!!!!!!!!
 Sabine . 8:44 PM . Comments
Sunday, September 21, 2003
If Bad things Come in Threes.....
...then I am in trouble!
You see, there I was, on a normal, windy and rainy Frday night, driving to my Japanese class an hour away. I stopped for gas at the cheap station and said the equivalent of "fill `er up" in Japanese and went on my way.
Five minutes later, I noticed a strange burning smell - not unusual for this time of the year when people are burning off the leftovers of the rice harvest. Then the smell turned rank, just as I was approaching the narrowest, most dangerous part of the road. Suddenly, my car filled up with smoke. I looked in my rear view mirror to check that I wouldn`t get rear ended and slammed on the brakes. Four way flashers on, I urged the cars behind me to pass by waving them frantically onward. Smoke was pouring out from under the steering column. On this lonely stretch of highway, nestled beside the narrow 1.5 lane road was a dirt patch, so I quickly pulled in there and shut off my car. I grabbed my water bottle and doused the area under the steering column from which the smoke was pouring out of. I grabbed my flashlight and peered underneath to make sure that the smoke had stopped. My clothes reeked of the smell of an electrical fire. I hopped out of my car and took stock, all the while shaking.
I knew I was on the 312 highway, where the road dips and narrows into 1.5 lanes and goes through a series of underpasses. It was dark, windy and raining, making visibility next to nil. On one side of me was a mountain, and on the other was the bank of the Ichikawa river. There was one big building (a factory) just up the road a bit, but I couldn`t read the Kanji. There were no other visible lights or houses. Just the occasional flash of lights as a car zipped by. I didn`t quite know what to do. The fire appeared to be out, but I was still a bit too scared to sit in my car. So, I grabbed my valuables and stood out in the rain, looking at my cell phone and contemplating who to call.
First I called Andrew, another ALT. His advice was to drive to the nearest convenience store and call the car-lease guy that we deal with. I didn`t feel comfortable with that - I mean, there was a lot of smoke and I had just gassed up! So I called Naoki, the guy who leased me the car and told him what happened. The problem is that he lives about 3 hours away from where I was broken down. He seemed a bit fearful about me driving, as we had determined that it was dangerous, but he seemed more fearful of me waiting where I was. I had a choice: I could either wait where I was, or I could risk explosion and drive to someplace better. Ignorance is bliss, and I didn`t see any risk to my location, other than the fact that it was isolated and dark, so I chose to stay. I even walked into the tall grass on the riverbank to pee, as I knew that i would have about a 2 hour wait until anyone could get me.
So, there I stood, out in the dark and the rain, every once in a while checking my car with my flashlight to be certain that the fire was out. I decided to call Yoshi to come rescue me, but he was at his parents place an hour away. Just as I was on the phone with him a tow-truck showed up - about 2 hours after the break down occurred. They towed my car back to their shop and I waited in the warmth of the office. Naoki was on his way down from Toyooka with a tow truck and a courtesy car on the back. It would take about two hours for him to get there, I was told. For some odd reason, they wouldn`t let me wait out there for him - I was told it was safer for my car to be towed twice - the first time away from where I was stopped.
I got a call from Yoshi, who was driving down that stretch of highway to look for me - he seemed very relieved to know that I was safe....a bit too relieved, if you ask me.
They took apart the area under the steering wheel. They told me that the brake lamp switch had short circuited and caught fire. I asked them if it would have been OK for me to have kept on driving. I got the gestures of "NO!" and "explosion" from the mechanic. Apparently, every time I stepped on the brake, I would have run the risk of having my car explode on me. I was reassured to know that I did the right thing.
I e-mailed Yuko, who had a dream the night before that I got into a bad car accident. I just had to tell her what had happened.
The next day, Yoshi and I drove down by the place where my car had broken down. I showed him the location. It turns out that the building was not a factory, but a crematorium. Apparently, the place where I had stopped is notorious for being one of the most dangerous places in Hyogo. Bad things happen at the crematorium (some gang related, so you can imagine), and there have been many murders and the like around there. Apparently, I couldn`t have broken down in a worse place, and this is why everyone was panicked about my safety! Even my teacher at my Japanese class was worried and was going to come rescue me! Apparently, it is also a very haunted place, and everyone is scared of it. It was absolutely inconceivable that a young woman could stand out there for 2 hours alone. And that I had gone into the bushes alone to pee!!!!! Well, all I could say is that ignorance is bliss, absolute bliss.
So, first my broken thumb, then my car catches on fire.... I wonder what the third thing will be....
;)
Sabine . 7:07 PM . Comments
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
The Mystery Deepens....
Whispered hushes filled the Teachers` room. Students were shut out. Groups formed around the teapot and everyone was anxiously discussing something. The police called. My principal called a teacher over, and the only words that were audible to me are "I`ll do it right away."
Finally my friend came over to where I was sitting. "A bad man is walking around Ikuno. We must make sure that the students are safe walking home. Please tell anyone if you see a man who is not from Ikuno walking around. He is in his 20`s."
I looked at her anxiously. "A bad man? Did he just get out of jail or something? Was he acting strangely?"
"No. They checked his licence plate yesterday. He`s from....Kyoto." she responded in a hushed voice.
"Wait a minute. So, all that we know is that he is young and he is not from Ikuno?!" I prodded, "Did anyone ask him where he was staying or why he was visiting?"
"No!" whispered my friend, "It might have been too dangerous! He is not from Ikuno!"
"But," I replied, "What if he is just a guy staying with a friend?"
"Still, he is a young guy, and he is not from Ikuno."
So, there you have it. The big danger of the moment is that we seem to have a visitor in Ikuno town. Perhaps he is bad, perhaps not. He hasn`t been hanging around the schools. Actually, he`s been spotted in mountain paths just walking like any hiker would. He drove here, parked his car at the side of the road and went walking in the forest - and this seems like a sign of a dangerous person to everyone here. What I want to know, is this: how on earth does everyone know for certain that this guy isn`t from here? His car is registered in Kyoto - but couldn`t he be someone`s son visiting or something?
I dunno, but if I see a young guy walking around whom I don`t recognize, I just assume that it is someone I haven`t met yet.....
:)
RG
Sabine . 9:54 PM . Comments
Yippeekay Yay!
I can type, I can type!!!!! With both hands and both of my thumbs!!! Yeeehaw!!!!!!!! :)
Sabine . 9:52 PM . Comments
Monday, September 15, 2003
One Helluva Weekend!
It all started on Saturday morning. Well, usually morning for me begins around 1pm on Saturdays....anyway, I was faced with the challenge of coming up with an 80`s outfit for a party with only the limited resources If Ikuno and the surrounding area. I had a choice: I could have either tried the grocery store, or the home improvement centre. Right. Home improvement centre it was, then! I ended up getting a plain t-shirt (of course I cut out the neck, sleeves, and bottom!), some safety pins to pin up my jeans, and a big chain to put around my waist. Done, for about 5 bucks. Made Pad Thai for dinner (while watching a programme where they were trying to attach cameras to sharks!) and then peed myself laughing as I got ready. I pinned up half my hair and teased it out soo high - used about half a can of hairspray on it. Yoshi was laughing at me too (all the while getting more and more scared: just what was going to take place at this party?!). I told him that he needed a costume too. The only thing we could come up with was a "men at work" thing. So we loaded into the car, me with my big hair and makeup, and him with his jeans and workbelt and nothing else. I tell ya, when we stopped off to get beer there were some looks! Unfortunately, when we arrived at the party we heard Japanese voices, and Yoshi got too scared to wear his costume. There were maybe 50 people there and the merriment making lasted until about 3am. YIPES!
The alarm went off at 8am - time to get up and make breakfast! The other day I went to a fruitstand to get some vegetables, and the owners came out and gave me some freshly laid eggs - so I decided that after a night of partying, it was time for good ole bacon, eggs and hashbrowns - yum! That is one of the things I miss from home! The phone rang - it was my teacher telling me to meet him at 10:30 to harvest rice.
Basically, I got to drive this...thing....part combine, part tank (it has to wade through the mud after all) through the rows of rice. The machine was a lot of fun to operate, but I am afraid that I suck. It was nothing like the harvesting of hay that I used to do as a child!
Still, the whole family was excited, and I joined them for lunch. They are very, very kind people - and I am so excited that I will be getting some fresh rice next week - that I harvested myself!!!
After lunch I was off to one of my Elementary Schools` Sports day. I ran, I jumped, I took pictures, I answered 5 million questions about my hand. I crawled to the coner store for some sugar flavoured ice to suck on because I was dying from the heat.
No longer did I sit down on the couch than I had to get ready to pick up Maeva and head to Yabu town to watch Kodo Taiko. WHY, you may ask, would the world famous Kodo Taiko group be performing in teeny tiny Yabu in a theatre that seats only a couple of hundred people? Because, I`d have to say, even though Kodo is WORLD famous, it seems that few people in Japan have ever heard of them! It was one of the most incredible concerts of my life. Actually, it was only outshone by U2 waaay back when. FABULOUS! If ever you get the chance to see Kodo (Sorry Toronto, they were just there in the spring!), definitely DO!!!
Interesting thing was that, waaaay out here in the countryside, there is absolutely nothing for the performers to do after they finish for the evening. So, a couple of them came over to Auggie`s house and we partied and chatted until about 2am. We had a lot of fun, and I hope to hook up with Yousuke and Kaoru if ever they come on a tour to Vancouver or T.O. - I have a feeling that these guys, and much of the troupe, sure know how to party, and would thrive in a city environment!!!!! :)
Finally, I got to bed. ACK! I only vaguely remember waking up in the morning. After going shopping, I came home to discover that the Hanshin Tigers had won their game!!! They are going to go to the championships for the first time in 18 years! The excitement and energy reminded me of when the Blue Jays won the pennant!!! Yippee! Osaka was the place to be - specifically in the area of Dotombori - standing on the railing of the bridge and getting ready to jump into the river. I don`t understand it, but that`s what always happens here when people are happy. They jump off the bridge in Dotombori, Osaka, into a slimy polluted river to express their happiness.
Go figure!
:)
Sabine . 9:49 PM . Comments
Skyperfect...sigh....
I am addicted. I got a satellite dish. Now, I can get news in English, reruns of Baywatch and Remington Steele and BOTH the Discovery Channel and the National Geographic channel. Someone stop me! Information overload!!!!! Too mush English!!!! Must...stop....starting conversations about bats in Thailand and Queen Nefertiti! Of course, I am still as addicted to Ainori as I ever was... ;)
Sabine . 9:16 PM . Comments
Sports Day!
This September, we have been blessed with two long weekends in a row! However, almost all of us had to stay close to home, due to a proliferation in sports festivals and such.
Sports festivals here are strange entities. They start already in elementary school, they are most serious in JHS, and then in SHS they are done, but not to the same extent as in previous years. My JHS students` Undokai (sports festival) took place last weekend. We prepared for it for two weeks straight - we were outside all day, every day (I was so sunburned this year that I changed my name to Rudolf). It is so hot out there (about 35C with no shade from the sun), in fact, that in one school, over 50 students collapsed. At my school, sports day consisted of the usual: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m races; shotput, running long jump, standing long jump, high jump, and various other serious events. Ribbons were awarded in the usual first, second and third place.
Sports day here is very, very different. The students are divided into two teams: red and white. The teams compete for two trophies - one for overall winner, and one for the winner in the dance category. The day begins with the students marching around the track in formation - as they approach the judges table, they thrust out their hands (and look like marching young nazi`s!)in a pledge to the judges and teachers to play fairly. Then there are the ubiquitous speeches by officials, all telling the students to "do their best." Then the flag is raised and the national anthem is played (at my school, that is the only time it is ever played. The flag shows up at graduation though). Almost the whole town shows up to watch - they all sit under tents that are divided by neighbourhood. The taiyaki and ice cream vendrs show up and there is a festival atmosphere. Before the games begin, the whole crowd must do what they call a "radio warm-up". The music starts, and everyone knows the moves but me. You see, every morning at 8am on the radio, this same song plays, and construction workers and others all start the day with this same warm up. It is a sight to behold, for it is the same all over the country. Millions of workers in their little green uniforms swinging their arms in unison to the same song....
After the warm up, the games are set to begin. First the races - boys 150m and girls 100. Points are given to the students who win and those points are tallied onto their teams` scores. Next, the PTA does a racket race. Then there is the boys strength show, where they take off their shirts and make pyramids and throw each other up in the air and such. Then there is the tug of war - first between the teams and then between members of the PTA. The girls do a dance (this year they did the "Yosakoi dance - an upbeat, strange dance with clackers in their hands). Then there is the block relay - teams are separated by areas of town and those areas compete. During the block relay, we submit a teachers team. Sadly, we are competing against 15 year-old boys. There were 2 men and 4 women teachers running this time on our team. We came in last....
Everyone stops for lunch and when we return, the marching begins again. This time, all the kids are in their club uniforms - they march around and show off trophies that they`ve won during the year. Next, we have the "team cheer", which is in essence a team dance. They get to choose the songs and choreograph the moves (usually copied straight from favourite music videos). Next come a string of fun events done by each grade: The grade one`s did a caterpillar race - one member runs on the backs of the other members and mustn`t fall off, the grade two`s did a fun relay involving crawling under things and hopping in burlap bags and throwing balls into baskets, dipping faces into flour, and spinning around 10x with their head pressed to the end of a bat. The 3rd years do a kind of scavenger hunt - they have to dip their faces in water, then flour, then they pick an envelope which tells them what to find. This year I was one of those "objects", but I hid out in the Shinmachi tent (my area of town). Then there is a weird version of basket ball - a basket is strung up on the end of a bamboo pole. There are two of these contraptions - one in red and one in white. There are about a million balls strewn about and each team has about 2 minutes to try to get as many balls into the basket as possible. This game is played all over Japan, and is taken very seriously!
I`m sure I`ve missed a few events, but you get the picture! The end is full of more speeches, and of course the rewarding of the trophies. This year, red won overall, and my team, the white team, won for the dances.
After it is all over, the parents pack it up, while the teachers and the kids strike the set. The best part is the ofuro/onsen (bath), and the enkai (eating/drinking party) that comes after. Burned to a crisp and sore all over, dcrunkenly we teachers fall into bed that night!
I, of course, spent much of the sports day this year cursing my stupid cast on my hand - who knew that a hand could sweat so much!!! ;)
Sabine . 7:54 PM . Comments
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
(^_^)
I went to the doctor today, to have my thumb looked at for the last time...or so I thought. He was very scientific about the whole thing - he took off the cast and asked me if it hurt. Nope, not so much. He looked at the x-rays and then at my thumb. He then pushed down on the spot where the bone was broken, at which point I shrieked and the nurse hurried to get the spatula to peel me off the ceiling. "Still broken," he declared. Then he pulled my thumb back to see how the joint moved - apparently, the crack is very near the joint bones. "Maybe no surgery," he announced, "will know for sure in 2 weeks." .......??!
Surgery??!
I better not need surgery - for I will absolutely refuse to have it done here!
And so, the cast must stay on for another week. After that, I only have to wear it half the time and exercise my hand the other half of the time. Then, we shall see...
All because some dickhead took a corner too quickly and banged me with his side mirror.
I guess it could have been worse though...
:(
sabine
Sabine . 7:12 PM . Comments
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
one more sleep...!
until my cast comes off and I can freely type!!!! I have so much to write about - I won`t know where to begin!!!
And this weekend I am going to my friend`s house to harvest rice - so nostalgic - it reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to have to cut and bale hay for the horses......
Ahhh - the best part is always the beer at the end of the day!
Also have to report on sports day, the Kodo Taiko concert, and my new friends (drinking buddies) that I have discovered in Ikuno!
:)
Talk to you soon - with both thumbs operational!
Sabine
Sabine . 6:33 PM . Comments
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