JET Conferences

As I was looking through some posts which I never got around to publishing, I came across this one. This was my opinion from December 2017 about JET conferences. In 2018 I actually led a workshop on Elementary School Curriculum Changes. This year I will lead a workshop about the Four Skills English Test which will be administered to all 3rd year junior high school students. This will to teach ALTs and JTEs about this exam and how to prepare their students for it. Anyway, for now let’s look at how I felt 2 years ago…

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Hey guys! I’ve been pretty busy for the last few days as I’ve had 2 conferences, one of which was 2 days and one of which was 1 day. 3 whole days in the city is a lot, especially when your BoE (Board of Education) deems you at a “commutable distance.” But, I’m here to tell you all about it!

So, the 2 conferences I attended (which were both mandatory for all ALTs on the JET program) were (1) the skills and development conference – hosted by the Kochi city education center and (2) the midyear conference – hosted by the PA (program adviser) system in Kochi. While not all JETs have the same experiences or even program lineups for these events, every prefecture has at least the skills and development conference, if not both conferences, once a year. What were these conferences all about? What was good? What was bad? Take-aways and more.

Skills and Development Conference

The skills and development conference was hosted by the education center center which is located in the largest city of the prefecture – Kochi city. This conference was mandatory for all ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) on the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program, and also offered to all JTEs (Japanese Teacher of English) in Kochi prefecture. While some JTEs were forced to go by their schools, others weren’t even aware of the fact that this conference was open to them. This year, the conference attempted to accommodate JTEs more than they had in years past by providing Japanese versions of handouts and feedback sheets which had only been in English in years past. (Side note: I was the translator for this little project – and translating feedback sheets is an incredibly overwhelming process at first.)

This conference lasted 2 days, and offered sessions on lesson planning, lesson building, team teaching, and more. With many opportunities to work in mixed groups of ALTs and JTEs, we had a good exchange of ideas and insight from both perspectives. Unfortunately for ALTs who teach both middle school and elementary school, we had to pick one or the other for each type of workshop – limiting our take-aways. Despite the fact that my base school (the school which I “belong” to the most, and the school which always takes precedence over the other schools I work at) is a middle school, I decided to attend the elementary school lessons. The main reason for that is the fact that Japan is changing it’s curriculum in the coming years, and the biggest changes are going to be made to elementary schools. The secondary reason for my choice is that both of my middle school JTEs are quite competent, and I don’t feel that the middle school sessions would have been as beneficial to me as the elementary school sessions.

One thing I learned from this conference is that elementary school students can understand more English instruction than many of us give them credit for. It’s good to give as much instruction in English as possible, and to only fill in with Japanese where necessary. Another thing which many participants agreed on is that minimal Japanese instruction – or Japanese explanations of games – is totally fine and will not harm the learning environment but could boost it instead.

Midyear Conference

This conference was a bit more laid back – casual. Midyear conference is an event arranged by the PAs, used as a way to convey necessary information as well as address the concerns of some BoEs without attacking any one JET personally. It’s a good way to address specific issues that JETs from a certain prefecture cause or face. The session on these concerns was quite concerning really – because it was hard for me to imagine that some of these things were happening. For example, one piece of warning was to be careful of flirting with your students. When we arrived it was forewarned that you shouldn’t have romantic relationships with your students (which I thought was pretty obvious) but the fact that it was mentioned again at midyear conference is a bit concerning to me. Another big issue was professionalism. Don’t even get me started on this…I don’t understand how you could be a teacher and then act like a misbehaved child and keep your job. It’s unfortunate that the local BoEs have to put up with some employees that somehow slipped through the cracks. Here’s to hoping I’m not mentioning the splinter in someone else’s eye without noticing the log in mine! (If that didn’t make sense to you….well the simple translation is “calling someone else out on their minor flaws while ignoring your major flaws.”)

In the afternoon sessions, we participated in culture activities. The two activities that I took part in were (1) chigiri-e (a Japanese art in which a picture is made by tearing or cutting paper and gluing it together again) and (2) shamisen (a traditional 3 stringed Japanese instrument which is becoming more and more rare). While I wasn’t very good at shamisen, my chigiri-e turned out just fine, and I even finished with time to spare! I enjoyed talking to the women in the club and discussing zodiac signs with them. For those of you who don’t know, this year is the year of the bird and next year is the year of the dog! I was born in the year of the bird which means this year was my lucky year. I suppose that’s why I got accepted into the JET program!

America

Despite the fact that I’ve only been in the country for a few months, I’ll be heading to America for Christmas vacation! I leave next week and am looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family, but I’m sure I’ll miss my kids. My flight is on Thursday, and there will be a few layovers on the way, so I’ll be travelling for around 24 hours from door to door. Wish me luck!

 

Until next time!! xx

A Teaching Moment

Living in Japan, sometimes the holidays and memorials in America don’t affect me as much. My realization that it was the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks the other day resulted in a teaching moment at my schools. We talked about the attacks to the students after asking them what the date was. They were shocked by the story, and asked questions like how old I was among other things.

I know that things like this can be quite heavy for children, but I also think that it’s important to educate children of the bad things that have happened to keep history from repeating itself.

Sorry for the short post which ended up just being a snippet! I promise those vacation posts will come out as soon as I get around to uploading the pictures…

 

Until next time!! xx

Injuries and Japanese Health Care

So, about two years ago I broke my ankle, right? It’s been flaring up on and off since, but nothing too crazy…and I’ve twisted it a few times doing sports but it was never anything serious. Here’s where the story get’s fun – I got to go to a Japanese hospital!

Okay, maybe that’s not the definition of fun you were looking for, but it’s not exactly my first pick, either. So, I was meeting a friend in town on Saturday, and decided to go a bit early to grab some lunch because cooking sounded like a pain. I get my things gathered up and I’m ready to go! Anyone who knows me knows that I can’t go too long without injuring myself in some way, but it’s generally not too serious! Well, this time it was a bit worse than normal. I fell down the stairs and twisted my previously broken ankle very hard while landing on my other knee and destroying my jeans (and the skin on my knee, but I was more devastated about the jeans to be honest…).

I sprawled out onto the ground and cried out in pain – something I generally would try to avoid. It hurt so bad! And then I realized I couldn’t stand up…my ankle felt like there was electricity running through it and not in a good way. I pulled myself into a sitting position and leaned my back against my car as I waited for the pain to subside. All I could think is “the stairs to my apartment are not going to be fun to climb if I rebroke the darned ankle!” But as time went on, the pain lessened and I was able to put weight on it again. At first there were still intense pains if I put pressure on it in the wrong way, so I was just very careful – but I had plans! So, as the reckless person that I am, I didn’t go to the hospital and I went shopping instead. First I had to go back upstairs and change out of my now damaged and bloody jeans…and bandage myself up a bit. I at least had the sense to wear an ankle brace for the time being!

I got to the mall and realized that my bandage was bleeding through so I had to go shopping for medical supplies – whoopee! It was just one thing after another!

Finally, though, I got through the weekend. Monday rolls around and I am still in pain as I’m walking around school so I mention it to the English teacher who tells me to take the afternoon off to go to the hospital. I decide to go since there are no classes in the afternoon that day, and I get to the hospital. They take x-rays of my ankle and then I go in to talk to a doctor – all of this happened within an hour and I didn’t even have an appointment. Tell me why socialized healthcare is bad again? Anyways, I get in to see the doctor and he tells me that I didn’t damage the bone, which is awesome news! Then he tells me that it’s so incredibly unlikely that anyone could have twisted their ankle just the way I did because the damage is in such a strange place. Leave it to me! It turns out, though, that the damage was minimal. I have a slightly torn ligament but he expects that it should be healed in about 2 weeks time. Until then, I’m not allowed to play ultimate frisbee or run or anything like that, unfortunately. This doctor’s visit cost me ￥1700 or about $16 USD.

I was prescribed some ketoprofen patches for the pain and inflammation to help with the healing process. I got a 2 weeks supply for about ￥500 or just over $4 USD. All in all I spend just over $20 to go to a hospital and fill a prescription. Seriously grateful for the healthcare here. If this happened in America, I probably wouldn’t go to the doctor.

I hope you enjoyed my story of my health issues! And I hope it was more entertaining than cringey to read about a 24 year old woman falling down the stairs!

 

Until next time!! xx

Valentine’s Day Across Cultures

Happy Valentine’s day! In Japan, Valentine’s day has a slightly different connotation than in the west, and it involves a lot more chocolate giving than you can imagine…

Valentine’s in America

Firstly, I’ll briefly discuss Valentine’s day in America…or at least my experiences and impressions that define Valentine’s day. In elementary school in America, it’s a big thing to give all of your classmates a valentine card and/or some candy. However, as you get older, Valentine’s becomes more of a romantic holiday, limited to lovers and couples. Generally, Valentine’s day is meant for people who are already in a relationship in America, but Japan has something else to say on that…

Valentine’s in Japan

In Japan, Valentine’s day is a day where (1) women give chocolates to men and (2) many people confess their attraction. Yes, while in America, men generally give chocolates and flowers to women, in Japan it’s quite the opposite. However, Japan does have a holiday called White day in March where men pay back the favor. There are many types of chocolates to be given on Valentine’s day. Firstly is giri-choco or obligation chocolate – this is the chocolate you give to your (male) coworkers. Second is tomo-choco or friend chocolate – this is the chocolate you give to your (generally female) friends. Thirdly is honmei-choco or homemade chocolate – this is the chocolate you give to your boyfriend, fiance, husband, or love interest. It’s the perfect chocolate for expressing your attraction to the man you’re interested in – but it means you’re serious about liking him. And lastly is jibun-choco or self chocolate. Just as the name suggests, this is chocolate you buy for yourself! Because you should love yourself, too.

What kind of chocolate will you be giving this year?

 

Until next time!! xx

Back to School

It’s the third semester, and I’m back at school for a few more months until spring break. My trip to America was great, but it’s time to get back to reality! Honestly, there are some huge immediate differences between my life at home and my life here in Japan. The first is work vs. pleasure. Obviously I don’t have a job in America, so when I’m home, I’m just full of free time! It’s crazy, really. Second is the weather. It’s so cold and far below freezing in America, but here in Japan it’s actually pretty decent temperature-wise – though it’s been raining a lot lately here.

The biggest change is my loss of communicative ability – and no, I’m not talking about the disappearance of Japanese. I was actually pleased to find out that I haven’t lost much if any of my ability. The break may have been just what I needed to really come to terms with some of the new things I’ve learned since being here. No, what I mean is that I lost my phone on my flight to America (with no response yet from the airlines on finding it), and when I got home, I found that my internet wasn’t working. I tried turning it off and on, resetting it, and anything else I could think of to no avail. So, for now I have no internet, and no data. The worst part is, I don’t know how to get to Softbank from my house, so I can’t even go in to resolve the issue. It’s a real dilemma at this point. On the bright side, I can survive with limited communication, and I’ll make it work!
The hardest part so far was driving home from the airport with no GPS! But I somehow made it back, so I guess it’s not too much I can really complain about.

One big thing in Japan is souvenir culture, where coworkers bring back small treats from wherever they visit to share a bit of it with their colleagues. It’s a really cool thing that keeps a flow of communication in the workplace and gives people an opportunity to talk about their travels. The downside is that this culture doesn’t exist in America, making it quite hard to find something to bring back from America for your colleagues. Usually people bring back small individually packaged cookies or chocolates – oftentimes with the name of the place they visited written on the package or imprinted on the cookie. But in my case, I had to find something makeshift to bring back, and I already brought saltwater taffy the first time I came. So the dilemma – what is uniquely American but also small and individually packaged? We took a trip to Costco and found Rice Krispies Treats! I don’t remember ever seeing these in any country I’ve been in outside of America, so I went for it. Now all that’s left is to pass them out and hope for the best. On the bright side, people are always grateful for the gesture even if they don’t like what you brought back. It’s also important to remember that you don’t know everyone’s individual tastes and won’t likely to be able to please everyone. Just get something that’s indicative of the place you went, and everyone will be happy.
As for my kids, I didn’t bring them back any souvenirs per say, but I did bring back some card games for practicing English that should be fun!

It’s crazy how quickly things have started up again – but for everyone else this is pretty normal. I’m likely the only one at any of my schools who took such a long vacation and went to such a far destination. But it was definitely nice! Spending the holidays with loved ones is truly the best way to spend them.

 

Until next time! xx

Christmas in America

So, for the past week or so, I’ve been in America! Living it up and getting my fix of American foods and luxuries I’ve missed, I’ve neglected to post about it! While I still have so many things that I plan on doing while home, none of it is exactly blog worthy, but nevertheless I’ll fill you in on what I’ve been up to and what I plan on doing! And, I’d also like to apologize for neglecting to publish two posts that I’ve been intending to publish for some time now. They’ll probably go up when I find myself back in Japan.

As for food I’ve been to:

• Steak and Shake
• Texas Roadhouse
• Olive Garden
• Starbucks
• Wendy’s
• Taco Bell
• El Camino (my local Mexican food restaurant)

And I still plan on going to

• Igloo
• Buffalo Wild Wings
• etc.

But honestly, one thing I love about the food at home is the access to cilantro (coriander) that I don’t have in Japan. I’m in love with the flavor – apparently it’s a love or hate situation – and I can’t find cilantro in Japan. It’s incredibly frustrating as many of my recipes call for it. Well, many of those recipes aren’t actually recipes, I just like cilantro….a lot

I had an amazing Christmas with family and look forward to an amazing New Years with family and plenty of visits with all of my favorite people back here in America! I also hope to take back some American necessities that I can’t get back in Japan!

It’s good to be home, but I have to admit that I definitely am missing things from back in Japan. Central heating is a huge plus of being in the states though!

 

Until next time!! xx

Travelling Sick

So, I’ve had a cold for a few days now which has progressively gotten worse. At first I was just tired all the time and have been putting off all of the packing and cleaning I need to do for my trip home (my flight is tomorrow). What does that mean for me? It means navigating an airport in a foreign country with a disappearing voice and a tired expression. I’m not sure how well this could go…but it seems that the odds are against me!

Despite the fact that I’m travelling sick (and therefore am technically in the most need of help/advice), I’m going to talk about some things that are good and bad to do when travelling sick!

First, keep warm! Especially if it’s winter time. It’s important to keep yourself from getting any more sick during travel (which can be stressful even when you’re healthy). Second, be mindful of those around you. Especially when you’re travelling in an airplane, it’s important to keep your germs as contained as possible. By taking medication and wearing a surgical mask, you can do a lot for the people around you. It’s also quite possible to be sick but no longer contagious – which is the best situation, but can’t be guaranteed.
It’s also important to get a good night’s sleep and to be well hydrated when travelling sick! It’s always a good idea to do those things, but when travelling sick, it seems particularly important.

What shouldn’t you do? Well, drinking alcohol on your flight certainly won’t help your health. Alcohol is supposed to be bad for jet lag as it is, but alcohol when you’re sick can cause a whole new slew of problems.
Don’t cause others around you any discomfort or trouble due to your condition. It’s easy to play the sick card, but that’s not really fair of you to do unless you’re seriously ill.
That being said, don’t travel if you’re seriously ill. Colds that are contained are passable, but too much more than that is entirely unfair to those around you. It may feel unfair to you that you can’t travel in this scenario, but you have to take others into account when making these decisions.

So travel safe, and travel healthy! And wish me luck.

 

Until next time!! xx

Japan and Recycling

Many of you know that Japan is known for recycling – but do you know just how intense it is? To any American, it could be overwhelming…but I’ll tell you why it’s actually not.

Most of the time when we think of recycling, we think of separating out paper or cans or plastic and glass bottles. But even thinking of separating all of those things to the average American seems daunting. It doesn’t have to be. The reason that recycling is such a daunting and minimally rewarding task to so many Americans is because of the hoops you have to jump through in order to recycle. Let’s talk about the Japanese system (and keep in mind that much of the world does things like Japan to some extent).

First of all, in Japan there are multiple types of trash bags which you use to separate different types of trash – (1) burnable garbage (2) recyclables (3) non-burnable garbage.
(1) Burnable garbage – this includes “raw” garbage, or food. You can put plastic waste in here but you’ll be damaging the environment if you do since they literally burn this garbage to dispose of it
(2) Recyclables – this is pretty straightforward. There are different types of recyclable waste, though, making it a bit less straightforward. You can dispose of different types of waste on different days, and different types of recyclables are also on different days. For example; plastic and plastic bottles are separate types of recycling – but they are put out on the same day. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that they should be in separate bags from each other. Then there are days for cans and glass as well.
(3) Non-burnable garbage – so far I haven’t had any of this, but this is garbage that can’t be burned or recycled. This is landfill garbage, and something you should avoid if at all possible. There are some cases where it can’t be helped, but in general you should be able to sort most of your garbage into burnable and recyclable.

This is the recycling chart from my town.

Separately from bagged garbage is big garbage. There is collection for big garbage, such as furniture, about twice a year. If it’s really bothering you, you can take it yourself to the dump. But there are also a few pieces of garbage that cannot be thrown out through any method other than taking them to the dump yourself. The reason for this is that they are extremely bad for the environment to dispose of – this includes things such as tube TVs. You have to take them to the dump and pay a fee to dispose of them. This is to discourage the use or purchase of things that are so incredible detrimental to the environment.

When recycling in Japan, you’re supposed to rinse things before separating them. This is to ensure that they can be successfully recycled and that food residue doesn’t become a permanent installment of the recyclable material. However, despite the work involved in cleaning and separating your recyclables (which isn’t all that hard or time consuming if you do it as you’re using) Japan picks up your recyclables for you unlike many places in the US, making it so much easier to recycle. Not to mention that recycling is actually required in Japan. How do they enforce it? Well, remember those bags I told you about (that you actually have to use for disposing of trash)? They’re all clear – and if a garbage man sees something in one bag that shouldn’t be there, the bag won’t be picked up. Instead, it will have a red notice attached to it telling you why your garbage wasn’t picked up. Considering how there are garbage receptacles for groups of houses in Japan instead of a garbage receptacle at each house, this can be quite embarrassing if your neighbors see your failure to sort your trash.

All in all, I think Japan’s recycling system is a rather good one. The way to sort your garbage is pretty easy to understand (especially since everything has pictures) and the fact that the garbage man will pick up your sorted recyclables makes it that much more convenient.

So, what are those hoops I’m talking about that Americans have to jump through? Unless you live in a city like Seattle, forget having your recycling picked up at your door. Instead, get ready to throw those bags in the back of your car and make a trip to drop them off yourself. America has a large carbon footprint – largely impacted by the fact that we don’t recycle. What does that mean, though? It means we are making a large negative impact on the environment, and our government clearly isn’t too concerned in combatting it. If they were, they’d issue recycling trash bins alongside the regular trash bins, and they’d begin picking up recycling from our front door.

 

Until next time! xx

Driving in Japan

So, awhile ago I made a post about my car. It’s cute and small and not very strong, but it definitely gets me where I’m going and is pretty ideal for mountain living. I’ve taken it on long trips already and that’s a bit more of a struggle than just using it for my countryside driving, but it has held up just fine and can go a decent speed, so I’m thankful for that. But this time, I’d like to talk about the differences between driving in Japan and driving in America.

Tolls

I’ve already complained about this in my previous post but – tolls are so expensive here. Even just driving for 20 minutes on a toll road to practice costs me ￥380 which is pretty expensive if you ask me…the largest city in my prefecture is nowhere near the size of something like Chicago but the tolls are comparable. Tolls in larger cities are much more ridiculous. There is an option called ETC which cuts down on costs BUT there are two requirements (1) you must have a credit card and (2) your car has to have an ETC slot built in. So I don’t have that…

Terrain

Mountains and curves. While I’m not familiar with mountainous roads in America as I’m from good old flat Indiana, I can tell you what I’ve experienced here with the mountains that I currently live in. The speed limit in the mountains is 50 km/hr which is about 31 mph – but most people drive closer to 60 (37.5 mph) or even 70 (44 mph) in most areas. While this is not hazardous in most areas (it’s definitely better to stick closer to the speed limit when you don’t know the area well), there are some ares where even 50 km/hr is far too fast. While most curves are slight enough that they don’t need to be marked, other areas warn of sharp curves and suggest that you slow down. Even so, some sharp curves are marked as normal curves and that makes them particularly dangerous. For example, there’s one curve on the way to my friend’s house which is particularly sharp, making nearly a 90 degree angle and requiring speeds closer to 30 km/hr (19 mph). The first time I encountered this I had to slow down suddenly significantly. On the bright side, the experience has helped me to learn to expect the unexpected when driving in the mountains.

Road Markings

I understand the road markings in America quite well – and when I say this I’m particularly talking about the lines on the road which indicate traffic direction and passing ability. If you are unsure exactly what those lines mean in America, let me tell you. First of all, there are 2 colors used on roads – these two colors are white and yellow. A white line means one direction while a yellow line means opposing directions. This is why, on two way streets, there is a yellow line in the middle to indicate that on one side of the line, direction of traffic goes one way while on the other side of the line, it goes the opposite way. White lines are used to separate multiple lanes of traffic which are all going the same way, and also to mark the extremities of the road. Similarly, how the lines are drawn on the road indicates allowed maneuvers. For example, a dashed line indicates the ability to pass while a solid line prohibits it. Furthermore, 2 solid lines are an even stronger statement that one should not pass in a certain area
However, in Japan this is not true. At times white lines are used to separate opposing lanes of traffic while other times the lines are yellow. One cannot assume anything based on the color of the lines concerning the direction of flow. Solid yellow lines simply indicate a stronger prohibition against passing than solid white lines. You have no idea how confusing this is when trying to figure out if you’re on a one or 2 lane road…

Animals

Okay, so Indiana is known for deer running into the street and causing accident after accident…and there are deer here too…but there are also other animals that get in the way often. For one, there are far too many stray cats in Japan. It’s a problem that is well known but not very well maintained. I have had to stop multiple times to avoid hitting them on my drives home. We also have monkeys here. My adviser warned me not to look them in the eyes if I encounter them because apparently they are very mean and quite aggressive. I haven’t come across any yet, but it seems that’s actually quite surprising to anyone I’ve told. Among many other animals, the one I find to be the most interesting (and dangerous), and one that I’ve seen signs for multiple times but not yet encountered is wild boar. They can be hundreds of pounds, and can cause serious damage to your car if you were to hit one. My friend told me a story of an accident she had with an 800 pound boar. The boar had wandered into the street from a blind spot immediately in front of her car, giving her no time to brake let alone come to a complete stop. She hit the head (and subsequently broke its neck) but her car wasn’t damaged due to the fact that she hadn’t hit the body of the pig. The car behind her stopped in order to collect his freshly killed pig (they are actually quite common game here). Either way, I hope I never hit one! My car is not built for collisions.

While there’s more, these are the biggest differences I can think of for now. Likely, my next post will be when I take my driving test here…but if I hit a wild animal, I’ll let you know about my totaled car!

 

Until next time!! xx

Monday Blues

Well, it’s Monday – an end to my weekend. I love my job and my kids, but sometimes I just want to sleep in…especially now that it’s beginning to get cold here.

Through the night and in the mornings, the temperature gets down to around 7 degrees Celsius (about 44 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s not all that terribly cold until you consider the way older Japanese homes and apartments (like mine) are built. There is minimal insulation and central heating is not a thing. I come home to a freezing house every night and heat one room to save on cost and effort. That means that only my bedroom is heated. The results? I have troubles convincing myself to cook in the freezing kitchen, using the restroom is absolutely awful, and showers are torture the second you step away from the hot water. My showers are getting longer and hotter as the temperature decreases.

Based on the beginning of this post, you can likely guess what I will be talking about today…things I miss from home. One of which is central heating. I love the warm houses and apartments that I became accustomed to in America. On the bright side, this situation is better than my study abroad experience where they would only turn on the heat for a few hours every day. Needless to say, I got sick a few times that winter.
And, once again, winter is coming. Sorry for making a reference that I don’t understand…

Lately I’ve been craving American food a lot. Or, rather than American food, food that I can get in America. While there are some of the “same” things here, they aren’t entirely the same. I miss my Mexican restaurants and hot wings among other things. I love Japanese food, and that’s definitely something I always miss when I’m in America…but now I’m in Japan so of course I want what I can’t have.

The next thing I miss about America (or Indiana, rather) is the lack of tolls. To drive 4 hours in Japan, you pay close to $100 in tolls. Of course, it’s to encourage public transport which is better for the environment, but sometimes you live somewhere where that’s not exactly an option without planning your life around it. There are exceptions where you can get a decent distance with no tolls – namely the countryside (because there is no other way to travel than by car), and in some cases there is a roundabout way to get to where you’re going in the city. Don’t get me wrong, I love the public transportation system in Japan…if I were living on the main island. Unfortunately, the system isn’t quite extended to those of us living on Shikoku. My prefecture has 2 trains, one running north to south and the other running east to west. We have a few trolleys and buses as well, but compared to the rest of Japan, public transport is nonexistent here. The only ways onto the main island are (1) driving and subsequently paying around $100 in tolls each way (perhaps closer to $80) (2) taking a night bus – therefore conforming to a time when the bus is actually running (3) taking a plane – travel light and make your way to an airport. Compared to the main island, these methods are quite inconvenient.
Honestly, public transportation is something I miss about Japan while I’m in America, but I sure do hate these tolls…

Of course, I didn’t think it was necessary to mention it, but I love having my family close by. I can’t properly wish birthdays or spend time with family while I’m here. I’m sure that the trips that I make home over my time here will definitely be trips that I will always look forward to.

To end on a positive note – one of the biggest bonuses of living in Japan for me is the opportunity I have to become more comfortable and fluent in speaking Japanese. My English is also tested as I constantly invent new ways to explain grammar rules, pronunciation particularities, and sentence structure in order to accommodate each student’s learning style. (The alliteration in that previous sentence was almost on point…what’s a g word that I can replace “rules” with? grammar guidelines?) I’m quite grateful for my ability to spell, especially considering how often I’m asked to spell something for my students. How awkward would that be?
Oh, and I have ultimate frisbee practice tonight. Wish me luck! I hope I don’t freeze…

 

Until next time! xx