So I've been in Japan for a little over a month now and I'm finally settled in. I've been teaching for over week and slowly getting used to my job. I was basically thrown in headfirst with little-to-no training as a teacher but I think I'm doing pretty good now. The kids are awesome and I find that the younger they are, the more fun they are to teach. So far I've been doing self-introductions and basic english lessons for most of my classes. When the kids meet me for the first time they think I'm Japanese, but when I start speaking perfect english to them it blows their little minds. When we're not in the classroom I like speaking to them in Japanese so they can get to know me a little better. I think in a couple months when I acquire more teaching experience and get more involved in my town, I'll start to really enjoy my job.

I already mentioned before that I bought a car a few weeks ago. It was probably the best purchase I've made in Japan so far. The freedom to go wherever I want is awesome! I've been able to see things in and around my town that I would have never been able to without wheels, like visiting friends in different cities. I have a few more mini-roadtrips planned every weekend for basically the next five weeks, and I'm even driving down to Sapporo next month for a four day JET meeting/camping weekend. My goal is to see every part of Hokkaido while I'm here, which I figure is a two year task. The island itself isn't that huge, maybe 700km from tip to tip, and I'm fairly centred on the island so I can get to anywhere in a day by driving or by taking the train. I think after I conquer Hokkaido, I'll take on the rest of Japan... and then the world, muahaha! I'm also looking forward to when the snows starts to fall because then I can start to go snowboarding. I already have six hills in mind that I intend to hit up this winter. There's also a small ski hill in a town close by that will have a half-pipe so I think I'll probably get a season pass there. From what I've heard, the snow here is amazing and powdery, just the way I like it. The hills definitely aren't as big as the Rockies but some of the ones I've seen so far look really fun.

I've also started taking Aikido lessons again. I took lessons for a year around four years ago when I was in University. I figured that since I'm in Japan, it would be stupid of me not to take lessons. I found out that the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, grew up in a town an hour away from here and that he was councilman in my town way back in the day. How cool is that?! There's a long history of Aikido in this part of Hokkaido and there's an Aikido master, one of the three highest ranking people in the world, that lives in a different town that's an hour away. One of my friends trains with him so I'm hoping to go out there and train with them a few times a month. The dojo I train in used to be a house but is currently under renovations. It's really small, maybe 12" x 20", has tatami flooring, the ceiling is plastic wrap held up by bungee cords, there are wall beams smack dab in the middle of the dojo, the walls are patched and peeling, and two single light bulbs provide the light. To be honest, it's probably the best dojo I've ever trained in. The atmosphere is so authentic and I feel like I'm in a movie when I train there. I'll put pictures of it up soon.

As for homesickness, I haven't really felt it since I've been here. I'm really enjoying my time here and I think I've just already accepted this place as my new home. I definitely miss my family and friends back in Canada but I think I'm independent enough not to let it get to me too much. Also, if you're one of the few who regularly read this blog, thank you very much! I enjoy writing these and hope you enjoy reading them, but also let me know what you guys are up to. Leave comments here or send me an email at jhatnguyen[at]gmail.com and just write a quick blurb on how you're doing and what you're up to. I'd honestly love to know!

I spent an amazing five days in Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido. There was a three day Welcome Orientation for all the new Hokkaido JETs from August 18th-20th that ran from Monday to Wednesday, so I decided to go up early on Saturday and spend the weekend exploring the city. My friend Callie lives in Sapporo and was kind enough to lend me some floor space (literally) at her place. There were a bunch of festivals going on in the evening that weekend so during the day she took me around to all the big tourist spots. The first thing we did was walk around Nakajima Park which is gorgeous park just outside downtown that has a lake and houses the Sapporo Concert Hall. After an hour of walking around we started to get hungry so we went to for Jingisukahn, which is a popular Hokkaido delicacy where you cook mutton and vegetables over coals on a special hot plate (see picture way down below). Deeelicious! After that stumbled upon "Sega World" which is an arcade chock full of arcade games, crane games aannd... photobooths! Neither one of us had done purikura before so we thought it would be fun. It was a blast! On our first attempt (the one on the left) we couldn't read the instructions and only ended up with one picture. We tried it again a second time the next day and the results came out much nicer! After the pictures are taken you can spend time outside the booth decorating the pictures with millions of little images (we spent half an hour on the second set..) to turn your bland poses into wicked "Only in Japan" creations. Before that we did the taiko drumming game which I would highly recommend! It would be the first of many taiko sessions that week.

Afterwards we walked down to the Susukino district (which turns into a red-light district at night) that is lined with 10 story buildings full of stores and restaurants and neon lights. After that is the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade which is a covered street that runs for 8-10 blocks and is lined with tons of shops (It's walking only, so kind of like Stephen Avenue in Calgary...except a lot cooler). A few more blocks down is Odori Park which is a huge greenbelt in the middle of downtown where a lot of festivals are held. A couple of blocks more is Sapporo station which has the main JR Rail train station underneath it and a huge mall above it. The mall spans over four blocks and is connected through underground tunnels that also has stores in it. It was massive. There's also an underground shopping mall directly underneath Odori Park and they're doing construction to connect the two underground malls. If your a shopaholic, you could easily spend a few days (or all your money!) in Sapporo.

That night was the Bon Odori festival in Odori park. There's a children's version and an adult version and they both have their own 5-6 step choreography to it. Taiko drums are on a raised platform with paper lanterns hanging up everywhere and the same folk song is played over and over while people dance around the platform. The dance started at about 6:30pm so me, Callie, her friend Olivia and Olivia's friend watched the children's dance for the first little part. After a while, Olivia wanted to join in and wanted us to join in too. We were all for it! There were at least a few hundred people watching us attempt (and not quite getting..) this dance so we added our own western flair to it. Callie and Olivia are both blonde and stand out like sore thumbs in a sea of black-haired people so cameras were going off left, right and center. The Japanese watching were loving it! We ended up dancing this one for about an hour and then it was time for the children to depart to make room for the adult dance.

The second dance was a bit more sophisticated because everyone was dressed up in yukata (summer kimono's) or traditional clothing...except one guy there who was probably doped up on something. He had a yellow shirt on and wasn't following the dance at all. It looked like he was tweaking out; it was hilarious! (Check out the video on Callie's blog here). We were standing in the crowd watching when a guy standing next to us recognized us from the dance before. He told us we should join in but we said we were tired and were just going to watch. He kept trying to urge us and then yelled "Challenge!". This is what Japanese say when they want to pump themselves up. We decided why the hell not so we joined in the adult dance too. It was just as fun and lasted just as long as the childrens dance so by the time we ended - around 9:00pm - we had been dancing for almost two hours! We were pretty sore afterwards so we went to a place where we could sit down and eat amazing curry.

We woke up early the next morning and didn't waste any time to go exploring downtown Sapporo again. We hit up the Nijo Fish Market which is a complete block of fish and seafood stalls. They were selling different kinds of seafood, massive 10,000 yen ($100) crabs and weird stuff like bags of squid beaks, mmm. Then we hit up the Sapporo Factory shopping mall and saw dogs at the petshop (Callie has a dog obsession), played around Toys R' Us and then hit up another arcade for another taiko sesh. From there we headed back downtown to watch another matsuri (there was seriously a festival every day) and then went to meet some other JETs, Justin and Eddie who had just arrived from my area, to explore more of the city. First, we all went to Ramen Alley (which is literally an alley crammed with ramen shops), then we showed them the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade and then, of course, more...taiko! We wanted to check out the Hokkaido University so we headed there next and wandered around the beautiful campus for a bit. From there we took the streetcar (*arigatou gozaimasssssu...*) to the base of Mt. Moiwa where we got the tourist discount and took a ropeway to the top. We got to the peak right at dusk so we were able to get some amazing sunset and night shots of Sapporo from 531 meters up. It was a perfectly clear night too. We stayed up there for about an hour before our stomaches forced us to find a place to eat. We hadn't had okonomiyaki in Japan yet so we set out to search for an okonomiyaki restaurant. It was surprisingly difficult to do. After much searching and asking random people on the streets we finally asked some people who knew where one was but, not knowing how to explain how to get there in English, proceeded to just take us there.
The Sapporo Orientation officially started the following day. All the new Hokkaido JETs from around the island (about 102 of us) congregated in Sapporo for 3 days of informative goodness and socializing. The first day was filling our heads with general information on how to be safe in Hokkaido from earthquakes, tsunamis, STD's and whatnot... and then that evening was the welcome enkai (I'll just skip to the good part..). It started at 7:00pm at the Kirin Beer Gardens where we paid 4,000 yen for 100 minutes of unlimited drinking and Jingisukahn (All you can eat meat! how I missed thee). We had to wear body aprons to protect us from the fried grease (and probably vomit...if it ever came to that). Of course I don't drink, so I had to pull my weight in food, which I am glad to say I did successfully. The meat literally started to taste different by the end of the night, which I don't know is a good or bad thing..

The nijikai that followed (what you would call an "afterparty", sometimes followed by sanjikai or the "afterafterparty", and so forth..) was held at a nightclub called A-Life that opened on that night specially for us. It was a smashing good time full of dancing and drama (which I won't go into here, lol) that provided a good topic of conversation the next day. Me, Callie and Eddie were the first to get our grooves on until the point when everyone else got sufficiently drunk enough to start dancing too. It was midnight when I called it a night but some others went out for karaoke afterwards until 3:00am.

We all had to get up early the next morning (unnghh...) for the second day of the conference. We learned a bit more about our jobs, how to teach our classes and received some example lesson plans. It actually made me feel quite a bit better about what to expect in the classroom and some of those handouts were lifesavers on my first two days. That evening after the conference was a bit more mellow than the night before. Me and Justin hung out at Callie's place for a bit and then met up with some other JETs for our last night of an okonomiyaki-like substance called monjyaki. It looks like cat vomit but tastes like delicious, fried cat vomit (but seriously, it's pretty good). Afterwards, the others headed out for a 60 minute nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink) session so me and Callie went to explore the city at night and ended up at an arcade called Sugai! for some wholesome fun of more taiko (seriously, we are addicted) and bowling!

The next day was our last day of the conference and consisted of a scavenger hunt and a tour to the Historical Hokkaido Museum. For the scavenger hunt we were split up into groups based on Japanese language ability and given an hour and a half to find certain landmarks in the city. It was pretty fun getting lost downtown, finding random places and scaring strangers when six white people started talking Japanese to them. It was funny because they were asking one old lady how to get to a place when I walked up to the group. She automatically turned to me, mid-sentence, and starts explaining to me how to explain to everyone else where to go. I think she assumed I was Japanese (and ergo, fluent) but I only understood every 3rd word she said. It's been happening to me a lot since I've been here; people assume I'm Japanese or exclaim "Nihonjin mitai!" when they find out I'm not. No superstar gaijin status for me. It's actually great because I can blend in anytime I want by simply not speaking or using my Japanese skills, then "become a gaijin" by just opening my mouth. Some other friends are less fortunate and say they get tired of being stared at all the time.

Anyways, after that we boarded the buses for the Historical Hokkaido Museum. There's a tower there that looks exactly like Isengard from Lord of the Rings but we weren't able to get up close to it. I promised myself I would go inside it next time. Instead we played around the kids section of the museum for about an hour playing with stilts, teeter-totters and swings. I also had sakura flavored ice cream (cherry blossom) which tasted remarkably like cherries and tree leaves blended together! After that we headed back downtown where we said our goodbyes and departed for our homes. It was a little sad after hanging out with all these people in Sapporo and then being sent to opposite ends of the island, back to our little inaka villages. I'll be back in Sapporo again one day, but until then I'll learn to love my small town.

Stay tuned for Team Marimo's next adventure: Lake Akan, home of Marimokkori!

I went with a friend today to explore the area around my town and ended up at some waterfalls near a town called Maruseppu. The first waterfall we went to, Yamabiko Falls, was a quick five minute hike from the parking lot. Before we reached the water there was a torii gate and a small shrine where people could make offerings. The waterfall itself was about 28m tall with a Shinto shrine at its base. In Shinto religion they believe kami (spirits) live in nature so it's common to see shrines near waterfalls.

The second waterfall we went to, called Rokumei Falls, was about 500 meters from the first one and a bit harder to get to. Not as tall but just as beautiful.

That's what I've been called for the past two days. Yesterday was my first day at work at a junior high school so in the morning I did a self-introduction to all of the staff and met the JTE (Japanese Teacher of English). Shortly after that they assembled all the students in the school (150 in total) and I had to do an introduction speech to all of them. My first class were sannensei's (Gr. 9) and they were really active and involved which helped immensely. I had prepared a little introduction speech about myself beforehand and luckily the JTE handed out a worksheet that had some questions they were supposed to listen for and write down. I managed to do pretty well for the first class and left a really good impression. I thought, "If this is teaching, it's pretty easy stuff!". My second class of the day were ninensei's (Gr. 8) and they were the quiet, sullen class. No one wanted to answer and it was hard to coax them into asking questions and getting involved. Apparently these classes are really common in Japan. After that I ate lunch with the students and taught two more classes, which were basically repeats of the first two classes. Next thing I knew it it was the end of the day. My first day of teaching - ever - was actually pretty easy!

Today I went to work feeling pretty good due to the good impression from the day before. I was at an elementary school in the morning. I showed up a little early so I had to wait in the teacher's office until 9:30am, when the class was supposed to start. While I'm waiting, the vice-principal starts chatting with me in his broken english. He lets me know that the normal English teacher was on vacation and that there's a substitute teacher today. He continues to tell me to just settle down and wait and that she will come and get me from the teacher's office when she's ready. 9:25am rolls around and a teacher comes into the office. She immediately recognized me as the new ALT and came to greet me... when it quickly became apparent that she barely spoke any english. She started asking me something which I didn't understand at first. After the help of a Japanese-English dictionary I managed to figure out that that she was trying to say that she hadn't prepared a lesson for this class at all! She asked me if I had anything prepared and I realized that she wanted me to take over the class by myself. I had my self-introduction from the other day, a canadian flag, some picture books and canadian money in my bag so I said I would do a jidoshokai (self-introduction) lesson. She looked absolutely relieved and said that she would watch from the back of the class. As we're walking down the hallway, it dawned on me that I had to handle a class of Gr. 6'rs all by myself for 50 minutes. What the hell was I going to do?! This was my second day teaching and I didn't actually have anything prepared! It was going to be a tough hour...

My self-introduction ended up only taking up 15 minutes or so after I realized they weren't at a level of comprehension as the other school. I had to act quickly. I ended up doing the rest of the lesson on fruits, drawing them on the board, getting a student to write the name of it in Japanese, then writing the name in English and getting them to pronounce it. I realized they had done this before because they knew a lot of the names of the fruits in english already. So far so good. After a while I stepped it up and wrote the name of the fruit/vegetable on the board and asked them to pronounce it for me. In order for them to understand my instructions (since the JTE substitute barely spoke english) I had to recall Japanese that I learned years ago from the back of my head . I've never had to think so quickly in my life! Luckily this ate up the rest of the lesson and by the time the bell chimed for the end of class, I was a sweating mess from running around and pantomiming the whole time. It was a good lesson for me on being prepared. I'm going to make sure I always have a game or lesson handy in order for that to never, ever happen again.

I had to go to another elementary school after that but luckily this one was a lot more laid back. There are only 31 kids in this elementary so the first thing I did was do a self-introduction to all of them in the gym. Then we played a game called Fruits Basket and then another game called What Time Is It Mr.Wolf which are both english games. This was more like it! After that we had lunch and then taught a very basic english lesson to the Gr. 4 and 5's. Because the english program in Japanese elementary schools was just recently mandated, the elementary teachers have no actual formal training at teaching English, so they tend follow a MEXT issued textbook with very dry lesson plans. I think I can spice things up in this school with my own lesson plans now that I think I have a feel for classes. After that I played with the kids some more during their spare and then had an english conversation class with the teachers after all the kids had gone home. Overall, a much busier day than yesterday.

Next week I have a high school and a few more elementaries to go to. I'm looking forward to meeting all the kids but it will probably be looking forward to a few more weeks of self-introductions. I'm probably going to take this weekend to relax and recoup for next week.

When I first arrived in Hokkaido, I took the train from the airport with my supervisor to get to my part of the island. Once we got to our train station, my supervisor had conveniently parked his car there because we still had a 10 minute drive to get to my town. After loading my luggage in the trunk, without even thinking I walked over to the right side of the car to get in. My supervisor - already standing there - points to the other door and says in english, "Japanese car".

The first thing you notice about driving in Japan is that, obviously, everything is on the opposite side. The first time you ride as a passenger in one of these cars, it's a very eerie feeling. It's like riding in the backseat of a car that you usually drive everyday (you know what I'm talking about). I got used to it after a while but I sometimes still look left when I come to an intersection. Last week was when I had my first driving lesson in the town car. We drove to each of the schools I'll be teaching at in order to remember where they were. The driving itself wasn't all that different than driving back home, except for turning. If I remember to always stay on the left-side of the road, usually everything turns out alright.

The second thing you notice about driving in Japan is that everyone drives really slowly! In and around town the speed limit is 40-50 km/hr. On the "highways" (which are single lane in Hokkaido) or where it's unmarked, the speed limit is 60 km/hr. But, being like it is everywhere, it seems that the speed limit is just a "guideline" and it's normal to drive 10-20 km's above. Police and photo radar do exist, but they are clearly, clearly marked. Photo radar for example have bright fluorescent signs before the camera's, warning everyone that there is a photo radar camera coming up! Police also drive around with their light's flashing day and night so they are hard to miss.

Also, getting anywhere takes a lot longer. In Alberta for example, you could drive from Calgary to Edmonton in about 3 hours or less. That's over 300 km. In Japan, 300 kms would take about, let's see... maybe 5.5 hours? and that's in the summertime. The winter is a whole other story..

Overall, driving here isn't too bad; you get used to it really quickly. I've even almost forgotten what it's like to drive back in Canada. One thing I don't miss about Calgary are the bad drivers and the traffic jams. The bad drivers here are usually older people who get a little careless... but are going so slowly anyways that it's not a probem. Traffic jams are virtually non-existent in my area. So apart from taking hours to get anywhere, and gas being $1.60/L (enjoy your cheap gas while it lasts!!), driving around Hokkaido is really great.

I finally have a vehicle! It's a Mitsubishi RVR, 4WD, Manual, 166,000 kms which I bought for 120,000 Yen (~$1200) from an ALT who was leaving Japan. You would think buying a used car would be as easy as signing a Bill of Sale, getting insurance and then registration, but in Japan it's a little different. Here you need an international drivers license, the transfer of ownership papers, Shakken (car insurance + inspection that is mandatory every two years), proof of additional insurance, proof that you have a parking spot and a notification form to the police. I think there's more to it but I'm not sure. I had to give all of these papers to someone who knows what they're doing and hanko'd (a hanko is a personal seal, like a signature) at least 8 different forms then pay a fee of $140 in order to get all the paperwork done. On top of that, they are sending over a police officer to my apartment to make sure the parking spot and car are connected to my address. Gotta love Japanese beauracracy.

My new snowboard-mobile. Isn't she a beauty? No? ok...

Manual right-hand drive. It's like rubbing your belly and patting your head at the same time.

Last weekend I went to a goodbye party in Abashiri, a city about an hour and a half away from me. The ALT who was leaving was selling all of his stuff including his car. I was told I would probably need a car in my area so I started shopping for one before I left Canada. I told the grapevine that I was looking to buy a car so eventually I got an email from him with a few pictures of the one he was selling. It didn't look too bad but I wasn't sure how much money I would have at the time so I said I'd consider it. A few weeks later after I'd arrived in Japan, he still hadn't sold the car so he let me take a look at it at the party. I decided I would get it but didn't have all the cash yet but, being the nice guy he is (in case he's reading this), he said I could just transfer the rest of the money into his bank account when I got my next paycheque. He was leaving the country in two days so he said he would leave the car at his car garage and they would handle the paperwork for me. All I would need to do was to call them ahead of time and let them know when I would be picking it up.

The next week at work I told my co-worker (who speaks really good english and has been helping me out since I got here) that I'd bought a car and wanted to pick it up that week. There was a meet & greet/birthday party in the next town over that weekend so I was hoping to have the car by then. She was happy that I'd found one because they had been helping me shop for one the week before. To double-check if I could drive the car back from Abashiri she makes a few phone calls and finds out that I wouldn't be able to pick it up unless I have the additional insurance. I guess since I am a town employee and held in higher regard, it's required. I ask her how much that would cost since I'm a bit short of money at the moment (I had gotten my first paycheque on Thursday and it was a whopping $170) so she calls and talks to the insurance guy who handles the accounts for all the town employees and tells me its $550/year (if you do that math, that's $45/month!). I was a bit distressed at this point because I didn't have the $550. So much for having it by the weekend. I tell her I can't afford it right now and that I would have to wait a few weeks. She calls back the insurance guy and tells him I can't afford it right now. Luckily, he tells her that I don't have to pay it right now and they can take it out of my September paycheque. This is good! Unfortunately, he also tells her that in order to get the $550/year insurance policy, I have to be a member of the town employee union. She says that to become a member of the union takes at least a week to do. This is bad! Disheartened again, I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't have the car by the weekend. A few hours later the insurance guy calls her back and lets her know that he made a few calls himself and they would be able to fast-track my membership and have it by the weekend. All I would need was a copy of my driver's license and my hanko. w00t!

After getting that all cleared up, I came up with a plan of how I was going to get to Abashiri. On Saturday, I would catch an early bus from my town to the next town over, Nakayubetsu, which is about a 10 minute ride. From there I would take another bus that goes to Saroma, a town about 45 minutes away, where the leaving ALT's husband would pick me up from the bus depot. We would then drive to Abashiri to pick up the car and then caravan it to the party which was an hour and half drive away. The garage where the car was was supposed to close in the afternoon that day so I timed everything such that I'd be in Abashiri by 11:00am.

Come Saturday morning, I wait for the bus to Nakayubetsu which came exactly at 8:16am (the buses in Japan are always on time). After trying to get on through the front of the bus the drivers promptly tells me to go through the back doors. In Japan, you enter buses through the back door and take a little stub from a machine. On the stub is a number that you match up with a big board that has your number and a price next to it. The farther you go, the more expensive it costs, kind of like a taxi. When you want to get off you push the "Stop" button next to your seat then pay and exit out the front door by the driver. Anyways, I made it fine to Nakayubetsu without mishap (albeit a stop early). The next bus to Saroma didn't come for another 45 minutes so I wandered the area for a bit and took pictures. The bus was supposed to come at 9:15am so at 9:05am I went and waited by the bus stop. At 9:11am a bus rounded the corner and, assuming it was the one I wanted, got on. The fact that it was 4 minutes early should've given me a clue! Anyways... I had gotten on the wrong bus. I quickly found that out when the bus started going the wrong way. I went and asked the bus driver if the bus went to Saroma and got, "Ikanai" as a reply. I quickly got off the bus before I was carried off to God-knows-where and started walking back to the bus stop. It was 9:15am at this point so I had definitely missed the bus... the actual bus.

Not sure what to do and thinking about my friend waiting for me in Saroma, I started walking back to the bus depot. I looked up and saw a sign, "1km to Tulip-no-yu". Dammit. As I walked, grey clouds billowed above me and it started to downpour.. no, just kidding.. it was just a light shower. On my way there a man with his boy walked up to me and asked, "Yakuba?" (Town hall). I realized he was asking me if I work at Town Hall so I say yes. He spoke a little bit of english so he introduced himself and said that he works at town hall too. He recognized me from when I did my self-introduction to all of the town employees the week earlier. He asked what I was doing so I explained to him that I had missed my bus to Saroma. He thinks for a second and then, completely unexpectedly, says "I will drive you. Daijobou (It's okay)". I told him I would be alright, after all, we had just met! He said it was okay and that he wanted to go for a drive with his son. I was surprised and didn't want to be troublesome but eventually I agreed. After walking back to his car, he made a stop by his house to pick up his daughter to come along for the ride and to tell his wife where he was going. When she saw me in the car, she already knew where I was going because her friend (my co-worker who speaks really good english) had told her all about me buying the car and going to Abashiri that day to get it. Small world! She hands us a couple cans of juice and then we were off with me and his two kids in tow.

We drove to Saroma and chatted a bit on the way. When we got there I told him I was supposed to meet my friend at the bus station. Unfortunately I didn't know exactly where I was supposed to go and he wasn't sure where to go to either. After driving around aimlessly for a few minutes we spotted a bus ahead of us. As we pulled up closer behind it to read the sign in its window, it turned out to be the bus that I was supposed to get on in Nakayubetsu! I told him to follow the bus and luckily it led us straight to the bus depot. When we pull into the parking lot my friend was already there waiting for me. He was watching for me to get off the buses but instead I got out of the car that was following the buses.

When we got to Abashiri, the garage was still open so we quickly signed the car over and got all the necessary papers. After that we decided that we would stop at a grocery store to buy food for the party so I said I would follow him there in my new car. I was so stoked. I got into the car and turned the ignition, all ready to go... and nothing happened. I thought, "WTF?". I tried the ignition again and still nothing. I watched as my friend starts driving away before I could stop and ask him how to get the car started. Then, still not entirely sure how to drive a manual, I decided to press down the clutch and try the ignition again. Aha! There we go. I put it into first gear...and stalled. I tried it again... and stalled again. Dammit! I had driven a manual forklift before so I figured it would be the same. I tried once more and that time I was more careful. Slowly I got the hang of it.

It was interesting driving a manual for the first time... on the opposite side of the road. The drive to Rubeshibe was good practice for me, especially after going through Kitami and a kajillion stop lights. I'm almost a pro at it now. I took it for a drive today after work to explore my area. Having a car in the inaka is like a handicap person having a wheelchair... it's a necessity! I have so much more freedom and don't have to rely on anyone for the simplest things like getting groceries anymore. I've fought off all the car-gods who tried to prevent me from having a car and now I'm unstoppable. Here's hoping I don't get into an accident o_O

Well, I've now spent 7 days in my town and it's been a pretty awesome so far. It feels more like I've been here a month. I arrived here last Wednesday at night and was basically thrown into work headfirst.. well... more like being thrown into an empty pool and learning how to swim for the first time.. To be honest, I didn't have much to do for my first few days of work so I made work for myself! When they don't have anything planned for me I've mainly been studying Japanese and surfing the net all day (w00t Facebook). Since being here only a week, my Japanese skills have skyrocketed! I can listen to a conversation at normal speed, read text (well, Katakana/Hirigana) at normal speed and have basic conversations with people, even though it may sound something like this:

"In Canada weather same now?"
"In Canada weather more cool."
"Ah sou desu! How hot become?"
"Usually from 15 to 25 degrees."
"Ehhhh"

Another year here and I'll be fluent then I'll be able to understand this damn moon language. Yesterday I spent the morning at two different daycares in town... that was an experience. When I got there they were learning about the story of the Tanabata festival, which is connected to watermelon somehow...since that's what they fed me at both daycares. Then we played some games including a different version of Duck-Duck-Goose. They tried to explain the game to me but it was pretty apparent how to play just by watching it. Soon it was lunchtime so they asked me to stay for lunch. One of the girls took my hand and brought me into her homeroom so I sat down in one of their miniature tables feeling like a complete giant. My knees came up to the tabletop. While waiting for the food to arrive, the kids slowly congregated around me and were asking me questions in Japanese.. at least I think they were questions. Imagine a bunch of 5 year olds standing around you as you're sitting down, asking questions that sound like gibberish and then waiting in eerie silence for a response. All I could do was stare back and trying to furiously translate what they just said. Of course it doesn't help they're using slang half of the time. Eventually I would just say something in English or throw out a random Japanese word that I think was the answer and they seemed satisfied. A few of them were pretty cute though and would bring over parts of their lunch and say "Pan" (which means bread) or point out anime characters on their lunchbags. After lunch they went to play outside in their swimsuits with waterguns and buckets. Around that time was when I had to leave, after all, I had forgotten to bring my bathing suit.

A few days ago I was also required to attend a history lecture held at the town museum. It was part of a summer lecture series where high school teachers travelled around the area to different towns to attend lectures on different topics. It went from 9:30am until 3:00pm and was entirely in Japanese. Luckily it was a powerpoint presentation with lots of pictures so between those and being able to pick out the occasional word in Japanese, I was able to understood most of the lecture. It was also interspersed with activities such as grinding wheat into flour with two rocks, watching it bake on a rock frying pan in a fire, a tour of the museum (which was actually really interesting), trying three different kinds of rice (I'm still not really sure why we did this..), trying on traditional clothing (including ninja pants and tabi..now I understand why they wear them. Tottemo benri desu!), and doing "traditional activities" like...chopping wood! Yay! I was talking to the curator of the museum who happens to speak really good English and he explained to me that Japanese people don't do this often. Being from the land of the lumberjacks, I told him we do it quite often in Canada while camping. After that we took a tour of full-sized Jomon and Meiji period houses and then it was time to go. I actually learned quite a bit without even understanding over 80% of what was being said but I'm a hands-on learner anyways. Now if only there was a way of learning Japanese like that..

Many people who've never been to Japan before probably have a picture in their head of what Japan is like, maybe due to pictures, movies, whatever. Maybe they picture a sprawling metropolis full of people, neon lights, cute characters on anything and everything, a silhouette of Mt. Fuji, shinto shrines, moss covered Japanese gardens and painful-looking gameshows (which are pretty awesome btw). Don't get me wrong, these things do exist here...but in maybe only 25% of the country. The rest is what you would call the inaka, rural Japan.

Town of Engaru, about 10 minutes away. Population 23,000.
The rest of the country consists of rice paddies, wheat fields, onion fields and whatever else they grow (I'm not quite sure) in order to sustain the entire nation. It may not be downtown Tokyo but it's beautiful in its own way. I'm in a valley that's surrounded by small hills, life here moves at a slower pace, the countryside is very quiet, everything I need is within walking distance (my work is only 8 minutes away) and all the locals are super friendly. The sun rises at 4:00am and sets early at 7:00pm so I've kind of adapted to it and have been waking up at 6:30am and going to bed around 9-10:00pm.

Each small town around here has it's own unique features; they are all known for something that is associated with only that town. My town has one of the best onsen in the area and holds a large tulip festival each year. We also have other attractions and festivals in my town that occurs nowhere else in Japan.
I would say that the tourists who only stick to the larger cities are definitely missing out on a lot. It's definitely no surprise that the Japanese are their own biggest tourists.

This weekend was the Tanabata Festival (七夕まつり), a Japanese star festival. It celebrates the milky way and the coming together of two stars that only happens once a year. It's traditionally on the 7th day of the 7th month, but in Hokkaido it's usually have it a bit later. It ran for the entire weekend and consisted of a parade, school concerts, a food pavilion, comedian, live music, bingo (it's apparently very popular here), traditional dancing, a kids corner, hip-hop groups, and fireworks. There was also a showcase of posters made by different groups throughout the city and the entire main street was strung up with paper lanterns. Also during this festival it's tradition to write your wish on a piece of paper and tie it to a bamboo tree. It's been rainy here all weekend so it put a little bit of a damper on the festival. There were supposed to be a big fireworks display tonight but it's postponed until tomorrow night.

I got a clip of some Yosakoi dancing with my digital camera. The quality isn't the greatest and I was moving it around a bit but you get the idea. It was pretty amazing to see live.

I also tried out the local cuisine, including squid-on-a-stick... it was quite chewy.

Here are some pics of new apartment. It's a one bedroom with kitchen/dining room and kitchen. The kitchen has a medium sized fridge and a two burner stove with "fish oven" (it's like a long, flat toaster oven used only for fish). The living room fits a couch, tv, desk, coffee table and small bookshelf and is fairly comfortable. The bedroom has a big closet full of futons, a normal-sized bed and a dresser. There's also a toilet room and a shower room (I don't know what they're called in Japanese). The toilet is pretty sweet; everytime you flush, you can wash your hands with the water that refills the septic tank. Sugoi ne! The shower room is a little room that's an entire uh.. shower room... The shower head is outside the bathtub and your supposed to clean yourself before you get into the bath. The bath is narrow and deep so you can sit in hot water up to your neck. I have a washer but no dryer. Drying is done by hanging the clothes up using that rack thing in my bedroom or on the patio. Garbage disposal here is like pulling teeth. Garbage has to be seprated into their respective garbage bags (green for plastics, clear for recyclables, blue for styrofoam, etc... gah!) and taken out on designated days. So if you miss the 1st or 3rd saturday of the month for plastics your hosed and have to wait until the next month. It's a good system though compared to Calgary where everything you put in the garbage actually gets thrown into the landfill.

I'll be living here for at least a year or two. It's pretty comfortable and spacious for one person and has everything I need. I'd say it's about 600 sq. feet which is big enough for another 2-3 people to stay here temporarily. So if you want to come and visit me, I have a place for you to crash!

The genkan, where shoes are taken off before entering.

The living room complete with Canadian flag.

My toilet room and shower rooms?

My view of Japan from the patio.

The kitchen just off of the living room.
My bedroom as seen from the kitchen.

The bedroom again, with a real bed!

The living room and patio.

The garbage day schedule. It's so confusing..

My personal gym behind the couch.

I made it! I'm finally in my new town, Kamiyubetsu, and pretty much settled in. The past week has been pretty insane and busy. On Sunday, I arrived at Narita airport in Tokyo after a 10 hour flight from Vancouver. Right when I stepped off the plane it literally felt like I was in a sauna. The humidity was insane! It was around 37 degrees and luckily it was a cloudy day or the sun would’ve made it even hotter. After shipping a few of my bags to my new apartment they shuttled us to our hotel, Keio Plaza in Shinjuku, on buses which took another hour and a half. By then I had been awake for almost 18 hours (trying to sleep on an Air Canada flight is impossible, to put it nicely).

When we got to the hotel we checked in and I met my roommate, another ALT from Alberta who was also headed to Hokkaido. We went out that night to a few izakaya’s (Japanese pubs) with some other Canadians and by 11:00pm I was dead tired and crashed. The next two days were full of speeches and workshops in order to prepare us for our new jobs and for general living in Japan. The evenings consisted of more izakaya’s, tabe and nomihoudai's (all you can eat/drink) and more exploring in Shinjuku. We also visited the Canadian embassy which involved taking the subway. It was literally an underground maze. On the way back from the embassy it started to downpour and there we were in our suits and ties... but no umbrellas. Luckily, we managed to navigate the subway tunnels to get back to our hotel without even going outside. The tunnels are like a mini-city with tons of shops, stores and restaurants, it was crazy. I'm convinced you could navigate Tokyo through the subway tunnels alone.

Yokoso Japan! Tokyo from my hotel.
The next morning marked the end of the orientation and the departure to our home prefectures. At 9:00am, all 45 of us Hokkaidoans boarded a bus and headed to Haneda airport. We flew ANA airlines (which kicks Air Canada’s ass any day) to New-Chitose airport in Hokkaido, about an hour and a half flight. When we arrived they brought our delegation across the airport into a large meeting room where we met our new supervisors. Mine didn’t speak English very well so after a converstation in broken Japanese, he explained to me that we would be taking the train to my town. From New-Chitose airport it was a 30 minute train ride to Sapporo city and from there another 4 hour ride on the "express train" to Kamiyubetsu. It was 7:00pm when we arrived and I had been travelling for over 10 hours by then. My supervisor took me to his house to eat supper with his family and then I was dropped off at a ryokan (Japanese style hotel) for the night.

EDIT: If you are planning on coming to visit, this is not the only way to get to my place! It's in fact the long way. The short way would be to fly from Haneda airport to Memanbetsu airport (about 2 hours) which is only 15 minutes from my place. It's a lot faster than the trains and cuts off about 4 hours of the trip.

Hokkaido from above.
On my first day of work I was shown my desk at city hall and then taken around to see the mayor, vice-mayor, and the employees from all the different departments to do a self-introduction in Japanese o_O (a bit nerve-wracking..). I registered my new inkan (personal seal), alien registration card, opened up a bank account, signed my contract, brought my luggage into my new apartment and was left for an hour to get unpacked. That night, my supervisors took me around to go shopping for groceries, helped me pick out a new keitai (cellphone), buy everything else I needed for my apartment and then waited around with me to get my internet hooked up. After that I made supper (salmon and ramen) and then fell asleep at 9:30pm due to sheer exhaustion. Today my supervisor gave me a tour of the entire town and brought me to all six of the schools I'll be teaching at to meet the principles. All of the kids are out for the summer but school recommences on August 18th. We also went to the culture center, library and basically every other landmark in the town. The rest of the afternoon I spent at my desk at city hall trying to get more settled in and figuring out exactly what I'll be doing for the next year. I don't have any transportation right now but I am only an 8 minute walk from my apartment so at the end of the day I walked home. I should have a new bicycle in a few days though and once I do I'll be able to explore my town a bit more.

Anyways, I will be putting pictures up of Tokyo, Hokkaido, my apartment, the festival happening this weekend and I will also be posting a lot more soon. I promise!