Hello
Yesterday I had ICES again, the club for international students at Kagawa University. All the people there are so friendly- I love it.
Today Yuichi asked me to sell a book about local architects in an underground plaza from 1-5.30. It was extremely boring. At least I wasn't alone, there was a guy only a couple of years older than me who I was with, but our conversation didn't get very far. Also very few people came which didn't help, and I had no reading material.
In comes Ando-san, aka miracle-worker. She is such a generous, selfless person- and when she heard that I was selling books, she came to support me. Anyhow, she ended up staying from about 2 till we finished at 5.30, 3 and a half hours talking to the 2 of us and even going to Starbucks and bringing us back drinks from there. I love her.
Tonight me and Ando-san went to karaoke with a friend of mine from ICES called Shinya. One thing I love about Ando-san is that, despite her being slightly older than my mum, her energy and enthusiasm make her really fun to hang out with. I often forget that there is an age difference between us. Shinya also likes 70's music, and both him and Ando-san are really friendly, so even though they'd never met before, we all got along really well.
On Thursday, we had a study circle with friends of Cathy and Ando-san's. They recently began the 3rd workbook of 7 which study circles are based on. Book 3 focuses on children's education and its importance. These women are all mothers and quite a few of them are teachers, so its a topic close to their hearts.
The weather in Takamatsu is gradually heating up. At the moment, the average maximum is in the high 20's. They recently flooded all the rice paddies and planted fresh rice plants, which has brought with it an influx of mosquitoes. Today when I rode my bike to karaoke, I kept getting hit in the face by mosquitoes. They're everywhere. In the first week after the rice paddies being flooded, I made the mistake of going for a walk in a skirt- and my calves each were bitten no less than 10 times.
Summer is supposedly terrible here- over a month of the temperature not dipping below 30 degrees, even at night. Humidity, also is a problem. A maximum of 38 and humid, for weeks, is not my idea of a pleasant experience. A Japanese book I'm reading at the moment said that Japan's summer is worse than that of many places in the Middle East, chiefly because of the humidity.
I can't believe it's only a month and a half until I go home! I love Japan and am going to miss it, but being able to see all my friends and family again makes the idea of leaving Japan more happy than sad. And I'm determined to make an effort to maintain my Japanese (and even perhaps improve it!) after I go back, but with busy uni life whether that'll be possible or not I don't know.
I think reading though is really important- and reading in Japanese makes me appreciate even more the importance of children reading lots of books when young. It is so incredibly good for every aspect of my Japanese (it even helps my spoken Japanese) and for vocabularly learning and retention, that it makes me want to tell every parent read to your kids! I remember the fact that I read a lot as a kid really helping me at school.
Sonia
Saturday 30 May 2009
Sunday 24 May 2009
Many things...
Hello again
On Sunday I went to Sanuki Gakuen, an orphanage, with Nahid. Nahid is a Baha'i who has lived in Japan for 31 years. Her and her family lived in Takamatsu for a long time and now live in Kobe, a city about 2 hrs away, but come back occasionally.
Nahid was 18, the same age as me, when she and a friend decided to move from Iran to Japan to support the Baha'i community here. The very next year, 1979, there was a Revolution in Iran and the heightened persecution of Baha'is under the new regime meant that she was unable to return to her homeland. To this day, like many other Iranian Baha'is around the world, she has been unable to return.
The kids at the orphanage were beautiful- although it was fairly clear that they were love-deprived, by the way they were kept on wanting physical contact with us. I tried to just hug them as much as I could and give them as much love as I could. We were there to do a children's class with the kids like we do with other kids in Takamatsu, basically teaching them how to be a good person and nice to others etc. Steph, a really good friend of mine, wanted to work in an orphange when I left, and this made me think of her a lot.
Here's an excerpt from an old blog draft which I didn't end up publishing:
Yesterday I went to the local primary school to help out with the year 5's English classes. I was mainly there to demonstrate "proper" pronunciation, and I also did a veeeery simple self-introduction. There were 3 classes, and each one seemed to be more enthusiastic than the previous one. When I walked into the last classroom, I was mobbed with eager English students, and when the class started, almost half the class was leaning forward in their seats, eager to hear what I said. [end of excerpt]
Today I went to the primary school to help them again. The teachers there are amazing, and its such a great opportunity for me to sample Japanese school life. The kids are also lovely- the last class (so enthusiastic!) I did heads, shoulders, knees and toes with and it was the funnest time I've ever done it. The kids yelled each body part at the top of their lungs- everyone was so happy. Last week we taught them "My name is... Whats your name?" and this week was about likes and dislikes, and "How are you? I'm ..." We practised the likes and dislikes with different fruit (Do you like banana? Yes.) etc.
I've been emailing Genn and Sigourney, two former classmates of mine who are partway through a year-long exchange in Japan at the moment, quite a bit lately. We were talking about homesickness, which led to discussing happiness, and Genn kindly sent me this quote about happiness which I really liked:
Apparently this quote was on Genn's family's calendar. I like this quote because it can be interpreted in so many ways. I like to take it in that happiness is an attitude, a state of mind; rather than a concrete destination, which to get to, requires certain things (eg boyfriend, own your own house etc)
We also had a youth group on Saturday. Recently, we've had quite a few new faces join the group, all of whom are in Year 5. I've been really impressed by the attitudes of these year 5's, they all seem really eager to help their community. These youth groups which are run by the Baha'is are a bit different from the general meaning of the term, and from other Baha'i activities. There is very little talk about religion, the word God only occasionally comes up in the workbooks (see below). They are more intended as a guiding hand for this difficult period, and to utilise the energy and enthusiasm young people have to make a difference to our world.
I especially like how these groups view young people in such a positive light. Sometimes I feel that the general image of young people is a bit negative (alcohol, drugs, image-focused etc), and that view certainly isn't very motivating. I guess everyone has the potential to do good and bad things.
"...It is during this period (youth) that the mind is most questing and that the spiritual values that will guide the person's future behaviour are adopted."
One of the main purposes of these youth groups is service projects; to as a group do things to contribute to our community. On Saturday we brainstormed "What is service?", "Why do service?", and "What kind of service do you want to do?". We then together read a story from a workbook specially designed for these groups, called "Walking the Straight Path". This particular story was about a king who meets an old man planting trees, despite the fact that due to his age, he wouldn't be able to taste the trees' fruit. The story highlights the importance of helping the environment for the sake of future generations. Each story in this particular book as a different "moral" though.
Because these stories are designed for 11-14 year olds all over the world, including areas where not everyone has access to education, the level of language is easy to understand. I was happy though, because it was good for my Japanese!
Sonia
On Sunday I went to Sanuki Gakuen, an orphanage, with Nahid. Nahid is a Baha'i who has lived in Japan for 31 years. Her and her family lived in Takamatsu for a long time and now live in Kobe, a city about 2 hrs away, but come back occasionally.
Nahid was 18, the same age as me, when she and a friend decided to move from Iran to Japan to support the Baha'i community here. The very next year, 1979, there was a Revolution in Iran and the heightened persecution of Baha'is under the new regime meant that she was unable to return to her homeland. To this day, like many other Iranian Baha'is around the world, she has been unable to return.
The kids at the orphanage were beautiful- although it was fairly clear that they were love-deprived, by the way they were kept on wanting physical contact with us. I tried to just hug them as much as I could and give them as much love as I could. We were there to do a children's class with the kids like we do with other kids in Takamatsu, basically teaching them how to be a good person and nice to others etc. Steph, a really good friend of mine, wanted to work in an orphange when I left, and this made me think of her a lot.
Here's an excerpt from an old blog draft which I didn't end up publishing:
Yesterday I went to the local primary school to help out with the year 5's English classes. I was mainly there to demonstrate "proper" pronunciation, and I also did a veeeery simple self-introduction. There were 3 classes, and each one seemed to be more enthusiastic than the previous one. When I walked into the last classroom, I was mobbed with eager English students, and when the class started, almost half the class was leaning forward in their seats, eager to hear what I said. [end of excerpt]
Today I went to the primary school to help them again. The teachers there are amazing, and its such a great opportunity for me to sample Japanese school life. The kids are also lovely- the last class (so enthusiastic!) I did heads, shoulders, knees and toes with and it was the funnest time I've ever done it. The kids yelled each body part at the top of their lungs- everyone was so happy. Last week we taught them "My name is... Whats your name?" and this week was about likes and dislikes, and "How are you? I'm ..." We practised the likes and dislikes with different fruit (Do you like banana? Yes.) etc.
I've been emailing Genn and Sigourney, two former classmates of mine who are partway through a year-long exchange in Japan at the moment, quite a bit lately. We were talking about homesickness, which led to discussing happiness, and Genn kindly sent me this quote about happiness which I really liked:
"It is always your heart that decides whether you are happy or not"
"幸せはいつも自分の心が決める"
Apparently this quote was on Genn's family's calendar. I like this quote because it can be interpreted in so many ways. I like to take it in that happiness is an attitude, a state of mind; rather than a concrete destination, which to get to, requires certain things (eg boyfriend, own your own house etc)
We also had a youth group on Saturday. Recently, we've had quite a few new faces join the group, all of whom are in Year 5. I've been really impressed by the attitudes of these year 5's, they all seem really eager to help their community. These youth groups which are run by the Baha'is are a bit different from the general meaning of the term, and from other Baha'i activities. There is very little talk about religion, the word God only occasionally comes up in the workbooks (see below). They are more intended as a guiding hand for this difficult period, and to utilise the energy and enthusiasm young people have to make a difference to our world.
I especially like how these groups view young people in such a positive light. Sometimes I feel that the general image of young people is a bit negative (alcohol, drugs, image-focused etc), and that view certainly isn't very motivating. I guess everyone has the potential to do good and bad things.
"...It is during this period (youth) that the mind is most questing and that the spiritual values that will guide the person's future behaviour are adopted."
-Universal House of Justice
One of the main purposes of these youth groups is service projects; to as a group do things to contribute to our community. On Saturday we brainstormed "What is service?", "Why do service?", and "What kind of service do you want to do?". We then together read a story from a workbook specially designed for these groups, called "Walking the Straight Path". This particular story was about a king who meets an old man planting trees, despite the fact that due to his age, he wouldn't be able to taste the trees' fruit. The story highlights the importance of helping the environment for the sake of future generations. Each story in this particular book as a different "moral" though.
Because these stories are designed for 11-14 year olds all over the world, including areas where not everyone has access to education, the level of language is easy to understand. I was happy though, because it was good for my Japanese!
Sonia
Wednesday 20 May 2009
Kimono Day
Hello
(note: I wrote this yesterday but because our internets been a bit dodgy lately, I couldnt post it- so the 'yesterdays' and 'todays' may be inaccurate but oh well)
I have blogworthy news! I'm excited. Yesterday, Nagano-san, the amazing woman who I went to Matsuyama with, dressed me and Angela in kimonos. ^^
The ability to dress others in kimonos is a dying trade. Usually when Japanese women wear kimonos (eg at graduation ceremonies, weddings etc), they get a professional to do it for them which costs a lot of money. So Nagano-san's gift to us was really special.
To do me and Angela's hair and put us in a kimono took a grand total of FOUR hours. I so admire Nagano-san, and also Ando-san who came to help out, for their concentration and patience. Poor Angela hadnt eaten breakfast that day, and once you're in kimono unless you feel like wrecking a $600 piece of clothing, it's better not to eat.
After finally getting us both looking lovely, it was suggested that me and Angela go somewhere with heaps of people, since we bothered to get dressed up, we should show ourselves off (was what they were thinking). The choice was between the local shrine, where noone ever goes, and Risturin Park (lots of people). Me and Angela, both being fairly shy, thought the idea of being blonde foreigners in KIMONOS in Risturin Park was a bit hard to take, but the adults were eager to show us off, which in the end I was grateful for.
On the way to the park, I kept praying over and over again in my head to ensure it would be ok. Getting out of the car, Angela was equally as terrified- while she said she was scared that all the Japanese people would think we were wanna-be Japanese people, I kept repeating "I want to die" out loud. Hahaha.
The whole time we were there, we were mobbed by cameras. It was actually ok though. We sat in the original house of the lord of the area on tatami mats, sipping green tea and overlooking a Zen garden and Japanese-style lake in kimonos. We both felt very Japanese. At one stage, as none of us had eaten for hours, Nagano and Ando-san bought us ICECREAM (kimono+ icecream = bad idea), before handing us facewashers to eat it with. It was incredibly stressful. But yummy. The whole time we had this amazingly helpful tour guide who was able to point out to us the best photo spots and give detailed explanations of the history of every place we went in the park. We took lots of photos with him in which was nice.
Before going, I had told Angela that I thought going to Ritsurin Park would be either one of those tests in life that actually ends up being really helpful, or... just testing. I am glad to say that it was the former one.
I think Nagano-san particularly enjoyed it, after all that time and effort involved in dressing us up, every time a stranger said (they're gorgeous!) , she glowed with pride. It made me very happy.
Today I went to a bookshop and bought 2 Japanese-language textbooks, designed as preparation for the main internationally-recognised Japanese language proficiency test. The level that I'm aiming for is being tested in July, but I thought that it would be too stressful for me (I would have to go insane insane insane with Japanese study), but I might do it in December. At any rate, getting to that level is a goal of mine. I also bought a Japanese children's book, called "Chocolate Wars".
I found it very frustrating trying to decide on a book- the ones for grade 3&4 kids were mostly hardcover and so too heavy, the grade 5&6 ones were all about fairies or teen love, neither of which I'm overly interested in! A lot of the chapter books were also too difficult, so I was happy. At the moment I'm still *slowly* getting through "No one's Perfect", the book I studied in Japanese Extension in high school, but because I've read the English 3 times already, its a bit hard to motivate myself to read.
Sonia!
(note: I wrote this yesterday but because our internets been a bit dodgy lately, I couldnt post it- so the 'yesterdays' and 'todays' may be inaccurate but oh well)
I have blogworthy news! I'm excited. Yesterday, Nagano-san, the amazing woman who I went to Matsuyama with, dressed me and Angela in kimonos. ^^
The ability to dress others in kimonos is a dying trade. Usually when Japanese women wear kimonos (eg at graduation ceremonies, weddings etc), they get a professional to do it for them which costs a lot of money. So Nagano-san's gift to us was really special.
To do me and Angela's hair and put us in a kimono took a grand total of FOUR hours. I so admire Nagano-san, and also Ando-san who came to help out, for their concentration and patience. Poor Angela hadnt eaten breakfast that day, and once you're in kimono unless you feel like wrecking a $600 piece of clothing, it's better not to eat.
After finally getting us both looking lovely, it was suggested that me and Angela go somewhere with heaps of people, since we bothered to get dressed up, we should show ourselves off (was what they were thinking). The choice was between the local shrine, where noone ever goes, and Risturin Park (lots of people). Me and Angela, both being fairly shy, thought the idea of being blonde foreigners in KIMONOS in Risturin Park was a bit hard to take, but the adults were eager to show us off, which in the end I was grateful for.
On the way to the park, I kept praying over and over again in my head to ensure it would be ok. Getting out of the car, Angela was equally as terrified- while she said she was scared that all the Japanese people would think we were wanna-be Japanese people, I kept repeating "I want to die" out loud. Hahaha.
The whole time we were there, we were mobbed by cameras. It was actually ok though. We sat in the original house of the lord of the area on tatami mats, sipping green tea and overlooking a Zen garden and Japanese-style lake in kimonos. We both felt very Japanese. At one stage, as none of us had eaten for hours, Nagano and Ando-san bought us ICECREAM (kimono+ icecream = bad idea), before handing us facewashers to eat it with. It was incredibly stressful. But yummy. The whole time we had this amazingly helpful tour guide who was able to point out to us the best photo spots and give detailed explanations of the history of every place we went in the park. We took lots of photos with him in which was nice.
Before going, I had told Angela that I thought going to Ritsurin Park would be either one of those tests in life that actually ends up being really helpful, or... just testing. I am glad to say that it was the former one.
I think Nagano-san particularly enjoyed it, after all that time and effort involved in dressing us up, every time a stranger said (they're gorgeous!) , she glowed with pride. It made me very happy.
Today I went to a bookshop and bought 2 Japanese-language textbooks, designed as preparation for the main internationally-recognised Japanese language proficiency test. The level that I'm aiming for is being tested in July, but I thought that it would be too stressful for me (I would have to go insane insane insane with Japanese study), but I might do it in December. At any rate, getting to that level is a goal of mine. I also bought a Japanese children's book, called "Chocolate Wars".
I found it very frustrating trying to decide on a book- the ones for grade 3&4 kids were mostly hardcover and so too heavy, the grade 5&6 ones were all about fairies or teen love, neither of which I'm overly interested in! A lot of the chapter books were also too difficult, so I was happy. At the moment I'm still *slowly* getting through "No one's Perfect", the book I studied in Japanese Extension in high school, but because I've read the English 3 times already, its a bit hard to motivate myself to read.
Sonia!
Monday 4 May 2009
Okayama
helloo
Today I went to Okayama, a city on mainland Japan, with Cathy, Yuichi and Obaa-chan to visit Yuichi's uncle and aunt. To get there, we had to cross the Seto-Ohashi Bridge, which Wikipedia tells me is the world's longest two-tiered bridge system (bridge with one lane on top of another one). Anyway, its pretty long, and was pretty exciting to cross.
Yuichi's uncle is his late father's younger brother. This uncle's parents died when he was 6 years old, and the aunt's when she was 3, which makes spending time with family even more important to them. Even with the current recession, modern Japan is nothing like the impoverished country it was before, during and for a while after World War 2.
They were such lovely people though. His uncle, who's now mostly retired, is also a beekeeper, and he took us to where he keeps his bees. But apparently lately the number of bees has decreased dramatically, which Yuichi's uncle attributed to the increasing use of agricultural chemicals, which harm the bees. Consequently, he hasn't been able to make any honey.
I was happy because on the 1.5 hr car drive there and back I sat next to Obaa-chan, and I found I was actually able to (mostly) have a conversation with her, despite her Osaka dialect which is really difficult to understand. I must admit I did still have to feign comprehension at some times, but until now I couldn't understand her at aaaall.
On Friday, I went out with ICES, the international club of Kagawa University. Pretty much the main reason I went was for the opportunity to interact with young people and as a "native English speaker" and also very obviously the only foreigner there, I was a bit of a magnet. Which I liked, cos I'm usually terrible with introducing myself to strangers. I'm going to miss the magnetising-effect of being a "native English speaker" when I go back home...
Anyway, we went to a nearby family restaurant and I sat with one guy who was pretty into learning English. And I must say I was pretty impressed by his ability and attitude, what I've found since coming here is that students can (apparently) write amazing essays in English but struggle to have a conversation. This is partly due to an education system in which there is a focus on exams, rather than using language as a communication tool, and that there is a fear of making a mistake (mind you before coming here I couldn't do either!). Confidence with learning a foreign language is pretty essential I think.
On Saturday we had the children's class, and the youth group. Its Golden Week at the moment, one week in which there's 3 public holidays, so many people just take the other 2 off work too and go on holidays. Because of this, we were only expecting 2 or 3 kids to come to the children's class.
Instead, 11 children, many of who were under 6, turned up. At first, it was pretty crazy, because the first part we had planned expecting an older audience who had been to these classes before (many of the kids who came hadn't), and thus it involved a bit of sitting still. In Takamatsu, the childrens class focuses on a different virtue, ie a good quality, every time and this time the one the kids learnt about was justice.
But when it came to making paper crowns to fit in with the quote below about justice, they had a ball. A young child was so happy that she ran around the room repeatedly, proudly wearing her over-sized crown. I then took some really cute photos of her, eyes scrunched up, smiling, with her fingers in the peace sign. Cute.
Today I went to Okayama, a city on mainland Japan, with Cathy, Yuichi and Obaa-chan to visit Yuichi's uncle and aunt. To get there, we had to cross the Seto-Ohashi Bridge, which Wikipedia tells me is the world's longest two-tiered bridge system (bridge with one lane on top of another one). Anyway, its pretty long, and was pretty exciting to cross.
Yuichi's uncle is his late father's younger brother. This uncle's parents died when he was 6 years old, and the aunt's when she was 3, which makes spending time with family even more important to them. Even with the current recession, modern Japan is nothing like the impoverished country it was before, during and for a while after World War 2.
They were such lovely people though. His uncle, who's now mostly retired, is also a beekeeper, and he took us to where he keeps his bees. But apparently lately the number of bees has decreased dramatically, which Yuichi's uncle attributed to the increasing use of agricultural chemicals, which harm the bees. Consequently, he hasn't been able to make any honey.
I was happy because on the 1.5 hr car drive there and back I sat next to Obaa-chan, and I found I was actually able to (mostly) have a conversation with her, despite her Osaka dialect which is really difficult to understand. I must admit I did still have to feign comprehension at some times, but until now I couldn't understand her at aaaall.
On Friday, I went out with ICES, the international club of Kagawa University. Pretty much the main reason I went was for the opportunity to interact with young people and as a "native English speaker" and also very obviously the only foreigner there, I was a bit of a magnet. Which I liked, cos I'm usually terrible with introducing myself to strangers. I'm going to miss the magnetising-effect of being a "native English speaker" when I go back home...
Anyway, we went to a nearby family restaurant and I sat with one guy who was pretty into learning English. And I must say I was pretty impressed by his ability and attitude, what I've found since coming here is that students can (apparently) write amazing essays in English but struggle to have a conversation. This is partly due to an education system in which there is a focus on exams, rather than using language as a communication tool, and that there is a fear of making a mistake (mind you before coming here I couldn't do either!). Confidence with learning a foreign language is pretty essential I think.
On Saturday we had the children's class, and the youth group. Its Golden Week at the moment, one week in which there's 3 public holidays, so many people just take the other 2 off work too and go on holidays. Because of this, we were only expecting 2 or 3 kids to come to the children's class.
Instead, 11 children, many of who were under 6, turned up. At first, it was pretty crazy, because the first part we had planned expecting an older audience who had been to these classes before (many of the kids who came hadn't), and thus it involved a bit of sitting still. In Takamatsu, the childrens class focuses on a different virtue, ie a good quality, every time and this time the one the kids learnt about was justice.
But when it came to making paper crowns to fit in with the quote below about justice, they had a ball. A young child was so happy that she ran around the room repeatedly, proudly wearing her over-sized crown. I then took some really cute photos of her, eyes scrunched up, smiling, with her fingers in the peace sign. Cute.
“Attire mine head with the crown of justice, and my temple with the ornament of equity.”
-Baha'u'llah
Can't think of anything else overly blogworthy...
Sonia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
