Last week I happened upon an English class that’s given to regular Konan students wishing to teach English with a couple of my friends that were going. I had no idea what I was walking in to but it turned out to be a really awesome chance! The class is geared specifically towards teaching English so every week a different student creates a lesson plan for one of the chapters in their book and actually teaches a class! So although I’m of course, not getting any credit for it, I’m learning all about different methods of teaching and how to plan lessons. Not only that but our teacher, Koji Sensei told us if we ever apply to JET (Japanese English Teaching), he would happily write recommendation letters for us! What an awesome happenstance! Unfortunately, the class is on Thursday which is usually when I go to Karate so Karate has been pushed down to only one day a week which is really not enough but all I can really handle.
I’ve also started tutoring on Tuesdays to Konan students who want to practice their English so I have a time slot from 4:30-5:30 and students stop by if they need help or whatever. I’ve only had one session but it was rather painful to be completely honest. I ended up with only two freshmen for 45 minutes who only wanted to practice their English, which is fine but leaves me to come up with enough topics to last the hour. Normally I’m not bad with something like that but all their answers were that they study, study, study. “What do you do on the weekends?” Study. “What kind of movies do you like?” I don't watch many movies; I study. “What do you do with your friends for fun?” I don't go out much; I study. It was so hard to continue the conversation that there were a few awkward silences as I tried to riddle out a way to get a different answer from them. So next time I’m going to try and bring cards or an English book to read together to see if that can spark some conversation. I think I may also get a few snacks to create a more welcoming environment, so we’ll see how that goes!
As the weeks go on, I’m getting more and more worried about my expenses here. Though I budgeted for spending the equivalent of about 100 dollars a week (sounds like an enormous amount for such a short period, I know), it’s actually really hard to keep to it. With all the traveling, entrance fees, food, and spending for fun (a souvenir here, a nomihodai there), my money is practically flying out the window. I’m trying to stay reasonably frugal but it’s proving difficult so I’ve started keeping a log of all my expenses to see if I can budget a bit better.
Last Friday we had another party held by a Konan group. Since it’s getting closer to Halloween, a lot of the Japanese students were dressed in costumes (advertised on the pamphlet as “fancy dress dress” so we thought that meant formal but it was apparently equivalent to “costume,” who knew?). We were again split up into several groups for forthcoming games and then we started mingling. After a while all the Japanese students gathered in the adjacent room and then when they were done having their meeting we were ushered in and onto a stage in the spotlight by a guy dressed up as a girl (love it). I don’t know why they really wanted us up there. They started making us do self-introduction but then let us go after only two had done so. After quite a lot of mingling they finally brought out the food that everyone was looking forward to! It was pretty good for a party: yakisoba (literally, “Fried noodles”), brown rice, even pancakes with jam!
They had games at this party as well. One that resembled the one where everyone grabs hands at different angles and you have to untangle yourselves. Although in this version everyone was given a number and told to go over the people in front of you or under the person next to you, etc. Not as difficult but I guess with so many groups, the simpler the better. They also had a gesture game, similar to the picture game at the last party but you had to make a gesture describing the word. And the last game was a group picture drawing game where every person draws one portion of the picture such as the eyebrows, the mouth, etc., and the best result wins. Our picture was Mickey Mouse, which you’d think would be an extremely easy task but our Mickey looked more like he was drooling at the mouth with mental issues. Anyway, the night faded away with everyone chatting and socializing.
The next day a group of us went into Kyoto to witness a traditional tea ceremony. The one we went to was rather informal but we were shown the basic customs that one is expected to perform at such an event. I happened to sit in the “first guest seat” by accident so I wasn’t very good at all the manners, having no one before me to watch but it was cool all the same. We had sweets (“okashi”) first which was delicious: mochi! My favorite snack! It was apparently the sweet usually given with thick green tea but we were served the light tea, which was really good but got bitterer with every sip. When you accept the bowl from the host, you’re supposed to turn the bowl two times so that the front is facing away from you and then sip slowly with your hand beneath the bowl. Turning it away shows a sign of respect.
The tatami room had a small but beautiful garden beside it, which was quite lovely. It also had a pottery bowl made by a very famous artist that the host said was worth the cost of a small house! o__O
When our session was over, our group picked up lunch from a supaa (supermarket) and headed in the direction of Kinkakuji, otherwise known as The Golden Pavilion, which is actually coated in gold leaf and remains one of the most famous sites in Kyoto. On the way, I managed to meet up with my friend who’s attending Ritsumeikan in Kyoto! She goes to my school so it was great to see her! We all ate lunch outside which was nice but we ate in an open area where I got eaten ALIVE by mosquitoes so I have a new 7 or 8 bites. =’(
We finally made it over to Kinkakuji and because we got there so late in the day, an hour before it closed, it wasn’t crowded at all! It was actually pretty nice to meander undisturbed despite the fact that it was cloudy out and getting dark. Guests aren’t allowed in the pavilion but you can stroll around it and just look at the scenery. The contrast between the man-made building and the lake that surrounded it was beautiful.
After we had looked our fill my friend and I broke off and went back to her dorm to drop my stuff off for the night. The room was pretty small and from what she’s been telling me, the classes aren’t run very well so I’m glad I ended up in the school and homestay that I did! We wandered into her town and discovered a random festival that was going on that night! They had lots of food you could buy (even the familiar cotton candy and popcorn!) and some kind of dance performance. There weren’t any games though which was kind of disappointing but it was still an awesome find! We continued on into the main part of town by train (her trains were so cute and tiny!) and bus, looking for nomihodai. We were getting a bit turned around so as we were standing there, looking confused a Japanese girl came up to us and said in English, “Can I help you?” and we answered in Japanese that we wanted to go to such and such station but we weren’t sure what line to take. She was shocked that we could speak Japanese and very helpfully pointed us towards the right line! I love Japanese people! The first nomihodai place we went in was really nice but unfortunately to do nomihodai there you had to also pay for tabehodai, an all you can eat deal which started at ¥2100. Combined with the ¥1000 for nomihodai, it was WAY too much for one night when you’re a poor student. I’ve noticed a lot of places in Japan have that catch where if you want to get one item that seems cheap, you have to pay for something else to get it.
We eventually found a great place with a reasonable price, good food and awesome drinks so we talked and had fun until we had to leave (unfortunately a bit early) to catch the last bus and get back. We ended up missing it after all though and had to grab the subway back (an option another helpful Japanese girl told us about!).
The next day, she was meeting up with her host father from a previous stay so I went home early. I was trying to find the cheapest fare back and her host father was told me one route but it was still rather pricey to me. When I voiced this opinion and started figuring out another option, her dad said, “Why don’t I just pay your ticket!” and he just up and bought me a ¥1050 ticket back to Kobe! I felt so bad. Here was this man I had known for a total of two minutes and he paid a ticket worth about 13 bucks! The generosity of Japanese people never ceases to amaze me!
After school today a few of my friends and I went into Sannomiya to attend an Ikebana exhibition! Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging so it was neat to see all the different styles and techniques though I still don’t know much about it. Afterwards we found a cute sweets shop where we bought ice cream sundaes (apple with cinnamon!).
Anyway, that’s the end of my update! それではまた次回！
Word of the day: 食べ補題 Tabehodai or “all you can eat.” Taberu itself means “to eat” so when you take the stem of this verb (tabe) and combine it with hodai which means “taking a sufficient supply of” you get Tabehodai! (the same happens with “nomihodai”)
