week 10

What a week….

School was ummm interesting. I had my first experience of feeling slight despair! Living and teaching in Japan is not the holiday many envisage. It is actually really hard to try and fit within such a different society without the familiarities and support networks from home. At school it is frustrating to work 11hr days, put in a lot more effort than is needed and get very little response or thanks. I know my working days are a lot shorter than theirs but I work hard and I have the same if not more lessons than they do on some days. Japanese teachers work from 7.30am ish until at least 7.30 or 8, with some mad fools staying at school until 12pm. But not only do many look unhappy, it isn’t actually necessary. But they do it to look dedicated to their jobs.

I got frustrated when I was approached an hour and a half after I’m supposed to finish work, by a teacher stating that ‘we’ needed to prepare two worksheets for the following morning. It would be so bad if I heard the odd sentiment of gratitude or thanks. But from a couple of teachers there is literally none. I don’t expect a great deal to be made of it, but the odd ‘thank you’ or ‘that lesson went well’ would be greatly received.

After my first few days of being down and frustrated at school I settled into the realization that it is simply a difference in culture. I think I’m doing an ok job, so I have to just evaluate and praise myself. Rant over….

I went rock climbing and to tennis this week and on Thursday I had a welcome party at a restaurant with the people from my adult English class. It was a lovely meal in Harue and I had a great evening. They are a nice bunch of people. My interesting experience was eating the appetizer that appeared in front of me. It looked like mushroom, tasted quite nice but not like chicken. It was chewy. I asked what it was and received the response ‘chicken’ ok thought I. It doesn’t really taste like chicken either, but I’ll continue. 10 mins after finishing eating it, the lady next to me got out her electronic dictionary and on the screen it said pigs intestine. So not chicken after all. But like I say it did actually taste nice so I am pleased that I tried it and that they told me afterwards!

















On Saturday morning I met Rebecca and Megean and we headed on the express train down to Osaka. Some of the other JETS were also there to go to the International Beer Summit. The train ride only took 2hrs but cost quite a hefty 26 squid for a single journey. We arrived in Osaka in the station which was huge and really busy and complicated. It was odd to be in a big city once again after so long in my little town. Big sky scrapers, many suit clad people, lots of congestion, and so much noise and activity. I felt like a lost child! We walked over to the Umeda sky building which was the location for the beer summit. It had only just started by the time we arrived so there wasn’t much going on. In fact it wasn’t really what I had expected at all. It was outside in the very windy area between the two towers of the building. There were a lot fewer stalls than expected and not much vibe at all. So we decided to go off and try and see a bit of the city. We purchased subway tickets and attempted to get somewhere. We didn’t get very far. Firstly we were halted in our exploration by the scrummy floor of food shops on the 7th floor of huge department store. We spent a fair bit of time salivating and admiring the food in this ‘john lewis esque’ shop. We purchased the most divine ice cream which was made by taking a scoop of vanilla ice cream and then mashing frozen fruit into it along with sweets, biscuit or cream cheese. It was very oishi!!





















The rest of the afternoon was not particularly productive really. We went to a very average garden and played on the play equipment (zip wires will never grow old) and had a gander at the herons and turtles in the lake. Around 5.30 we decided to go back to the beer summit to see if it had livened up a bit. There were heaps more people and it was odd to see so many gaijin again. There was entertainment on the stage which included various dancing from different countries and taiko. Many of my fellow JETS were substantially merry, and I decided to try some of the more girlie beers….the cherry beer from Belgium was scrum. After some madness from Mr Hart and his friend, some cool dancing and a few nice beers, the rain started to fall and I was getting really cold, so we headed to the hotel to get ready to go out.









We were staying at a capsule hotel which was crazy but so funky! It was situated in the entertainment area of the city, jammed in between many ‘love hotels’. Such hotels are as could be obviously assumed, places for love struck Japanese couples to go and stay. They have sickening names and are adorned with lots of lights, hearts and soppy vomit making decorations. I haven’t yet been inside but I have heard that they are unbelievably tacky, but a must see! The capsule hotel on the other hand looked quite grey and run down. Inside it had that dirty look and a musty smell. We paid our money to the man at reception and he gave us our keys. We then went to a little locker downstairs where we had to put our shoes, in exchange for some ‘jail’ slippers. We went up the escalator and through some double doors. Either side of the long corridor that existed the other side of the doors had about 14 small capsules. they looked like little space pods and inside they had usual bedding, a mirror, tv (for preordered ‘entertainment’) and a little shelf. They were bigger than I imagined and quite good fun. Although I still managed to find those concerning stains that one tends to find in cheap hotels….

After a quick spruce up, we went into the main nightlife district to find the other JETs who were at a bar called Zerro. I was pretty tired already but walking around this part of Osaka was amazing! So many colours, lights and young Japanese people buzzing around. It was unlike most cities I have seen. It had such a great atmosphere. I did have to question the need for quite so many ‘love information’ shops, or those with similar names. There were literally hundreds of such establishments. How much information about love can one get?!?! I really wanted to go and ask what the latest info was, but I feared I might be psychologically damaged by what I was shown!

After a RUBBISH night’s sleep where I listened to every door slam, every loud voice and every footstep, I got up and went with the others to an American café for breakfast. After which we all split up to do our funky stuff. I went with Megean to Osaka jo. It is a pretty cool sight situated strangely in between sky scrapers. The original castle was destroyed in 1583, only 13yrs after its erection. It was built and then rebuilt a further three times over the course of history, and so the current castle is actually only built in 1931. nonetheless it is beautiful, although a little plastic looking when up close. After this visit, we met up with Jill and Jordana to ride a Ferris wheel that was placed on top of a very tall department store. Thus it had super views over Osaka. It was a lot of fun especially seeing as neither Jill could remember ever going on one before.

Then we took the train to a suburb of Osaka to visit the museum of human rights. It had displays regarding groups in Japanese society who have been discriminated against. The museum was immaculate and had some interesting information, yet it left me with lots of questions and unanswered queries. The sections about disabled people, Okinawans, Ainu people (the ethnic people indigenous to Hokkaido who were forced to lose their identity and become part of Japan) and the Bukurian people (these are people that are racially the same as all Japanese people but who were the lowest caste in society when such a system existed. Discrimination towards them is denied as occurring by most Japanese, but is still strong). We followed this thought provoking trip by going to a Mexican restaurant. It was fab to listen to Jordana’s fluent Spanish although I am of course very jealous (and of the fact I am not in possession of a cave of wonder).
The food was good although a little on the small side. We got the train home at 8pm that night. It had been a great trip and I was ready for a good night’s sleep and rest.