カレー パーティー

oooooh, the Kindergarten Curry Party... I've spent some time thinking about it and there is a 0% chance that I can narrow it down only a few pictures for this post, but I doubt you'd be disappointed by a bit of excess. Man, these kids are CUTE.

I wandered over to the kindergarten around 9:30 to help the "older" (5-6 year old) classes chopping vegetables for the curry. Since everything is designed for people under 3' tall, I had to kneel down on the floor to share cutting board space with the kids already working on carrots, onions and the potatoes that they had harvested from the school garden the day before. If you're not already amazed by this scenario, then I don't know what's wrong with you. These were 5 year old kids dicing raw vegetables (that they grew themselves) with sharp knives! No injury, no reckless behavior... just lots of patient kids in aprons and bandanas.
We reviewed the next steps in the recipe by singing the curry cooking song and the kids headed up to their classrooms for play time. I didn't want to stay inside just yet, so I sought out the "younger" (4-5 year old) classes to see if they were doing something more adventurous than coloring.
...and were they ever! I caught them just as they were putting on their cute little hats and being briefed by their teachers about the rules for recess. Wednesday was by far the hottest day that we've had so far, so the plan was for the kids to take off their socks and shoes to cool down even the slightest bit and play in the shade. We walked outside and pulled out all of the good equipment for digging in the dirt, then (to my surprise), the teachers pulled out the hose and filled two basins and left the hose running for the students to fill their buckets at their own pace. Predicting chaos, I took a walk over to the poles where barefoot 4 year old girls were climbing around like acrobats.
Surprisingly, the mud pit construction center seemed to be a chaos-free zone, so I went back to the shade to check it out. By this point, my little kindergarten boyfriend/bug-hunting partner had fastened himself to me and was running around posing, making faces, giggling and begging me to take pictures of him. Naturally, he's one of the cutest kids ever and I couldn't resist...
These kids played in the mud for an hour. Several things about this hour shocked me:
1- no one tried to break the "shady area only" rules and run out to the other side of the field where all of the fun playground equipment is. I've spent a lot time with groups of little kids, in America and now Japan, so while I know they can be very good, I'm still blown away that 30 munchkins listened to instructions, took them seriously and remembered them 15 minutes later. If some stray wandered 10 feet out of the shade, one of their peers would stand up and say "hey, come back into the shade, we're not allowed over there" ...and the escapee would return!
2- none of these kids soaked themselves or anyone else with the hose or mud water. How is that possible?
3- the shady area isn't very big at all, but there were no territory disputes or issues about "my" bucket/shovel.
4- the teacher looks at the clock and quietly says "maybe we should start cleaning up" and the entire process is completed in less than 5 minutes... including the cleaning/drying of muddy feet.
These are easily some of my favorite pictures that I've taken at school this year.

After the younger classes went back into their classrooms for inside activity/play time, the older group came barreling down the stairs to take over the field. I strolled around for a few minutes taking pictures of them in different places on the playground, then got recruited to play dodgeball and was too busy to take pictures.

This is part of my dodgeball team... they're as hardcore as they look.
Suddenly it was noon, so we split up to wash hands and regroup for the curry party. The teachers and I set up tables in the auditorium space and the students filed in one class at a time. Each student went to the back to get a chair and (with very little prompting) seated themselves evenly with about 2 students from each of the 4 classes at each table.
Deciding where to sit at these events is always the hardest part of my day because all 60 students seem to ask if I'll sit next to them (and you know I wish I could). I usually just loiter until the teachers put me somewhere, making it their fault, not mine when I can't sit next to everyone. Honestly, I was quite happy with my placement -- right up front with my little boyfriend and a handful of my most outgoing boys from each class. We giggled, took pictures and talked about bugs, trains, and cartoon characters for about an hour.
Then it was time to clean up, say goodbye and make my way back to junior high school... this amounts to endless high-fives, "see you!!"s and a little swarm of cuties.
These visits to kindergarten are magically rejuvenating. The summer humidity is really starting to set in and I've been having a harder time getting myself excited to do just about anything, but then I get there and their energy is SO infectious. I wish that I had time to stop by every day or two during play time.

On a sadder note, I just found out that I won't be visiting this kindergarten (officially) anymore starting in August. Even though I'll remember/miss them more than they will me, I really don't want to say "goodbye" instead of "see you!"

Bring on the heat!

ugh.

Actually, please don't.

I spent most of the winter in accidental hibernation under my kotatsu and am definitely making up for it now. The onset of hot, sticky, Japanese summer has brought my tendency to stay up too late to a near-hazardous level. I just can't fall asleep at night!

*sigh*

Curry party blog soon...

Sakuranbo!

It's cherry season!!

Most things in Japan are seasonal, but fruit is the most exciting. Cherries in early spring, then watermelon, apples in fall, mikan in winter, strawberries for the new year...yum!

The main differences between fruit in Japan and America is that "out of season" fruit is still available any time of year in American supermarkets. The quantity may be smaller, the price higher and the taste inferior to "in season" fruits... but they're always available. In Japan, out of season means just that, and if you somehow find it anyway, the price is staggering. Also, in Japan, seasonal fruits are still expensive and the quantity is small... but everything is fresh and locally grown! It's delicious. Besides, by the time a fruit becomes available, I'm so excited to see it that I'd pay almost anything for it anyway. So while I paid $2.50 for these 20 cherries, I was thrilled to do so (even though my dad immediately told me that he can buy several pounds of cherries for not much more). If only I could get my hands on some raspberries....

Other news... since I've been a terrible blogger, I thought I'd give a few bullet points of things that I've done but have no pictures to show for it (so I haven't blogged about them).

- May, Tokyo Sumo Tournament -- on the odd months of the year, sumo tournaments are held in the national arenas set aside solely for these 6 2-week sporting events. Tokyo hosts 3 tournaments and Osaka, Sapporo and Nagoya host 1 each. We had box seats with a great view and really enjoyed the afternoon... I'm working on digging up some pics from the people I went with...

- Pen pal exchange -- the 2nd year class from one of my junior high schools spent the better part of a month working through drafts of their pen pal letter written to 8th grade students from my home town. The letters were received at home and we are expecting the replies to arrive in Japan sometime soon. Though a lot of work for me, I'm really excited about this exchange. For the students in Japan, these letters were a way for them to put their hard work in English to use on something that is tangible and important to them. They've been so motivated and excited that it's almost overwhelming. If nothing else, I hope this experience teaches them that English can open many more doors from them beyond HS admissions tests and exposes them to personal interactions with foreigners their own age, which may give them a kick towards an interest in traveling/studying abroad. My job as an ALT is half English teacher, half international/cultural education... I like to think this project tied the two together nicely.

- JET Recontracing Conference in Tokyo, early June -- little more than a hotel room and a chance to eat dinner with friends during the week, it was also nice to see some of the JETs who I don't cross paths with regularly. Stumbled onto the Gunma Association of JETs Council, which should mix up year 2 a bit and give me something to do during the week. Plus I get to help with incoming JET Orientations... and you know that the nerd in me just LOVES that stuff. (^-^) <--- Japanese-style smiley

- Track Team -- whenever possible, I like to go outside during club activites at one of my schools and wander around. However, thanks of the flexible nature of track practices (and because my track team experience from HS enables me to help students with their field events), I find myself landing there most frequently. Old habits die hard though, as my favorite event is still lying on the high jump mats gossiping with the other girls.

- Celebrated my 23rd Birthday -- had 2 wonderful dinners/nights out with friends in Tokyo, nice Japanese course-set dinner on Friday and Spanish tapas on Saturday. A few more of my friends have moved to Tokyo recently, so it's been great to see them again.

- Operation: Reorganize Apartment -- completed! Spread over a few rainy days during the month of June, I've finally put everything away in a place that I like, including the proper storage of my winter clothes. I'm very pleased with myself. Motivation for hard-core cleaning doesn't come to me easily...

I think maybe that's it for this installment... but I'm going to kindergarten to make curry with the kids tomorrow! I'm so excited. They spent all day today harvesting their potato garden, should be wonderful. I'll take pictures and post asap.

Conquering China: Part 3

I know I've been a terrible blogger lately (and my dad won't let me forget it), so here's the stunning conclusion to my adventures in China!

XI'AN 西安
Day 7: May 3
Up and out of the hostel by 4:30am to catch our flight to Xi'an--easily one of the most exhausting mornings of my life--so I took advantage of the questionable weather and took a 3 hour nap immediately upon arrival. When I woke up it was lunchtime, so we decided to get out into the city a bit to eat and sightsee.

First stop, the Great Goose Pagoda.
...and the KFC Pagoda?
Then we wandered back inside the city walls to eat some dinner and wander through the Bell/Drum Towers and Muslim Quarter. There were a lot of small vendors selling the same souvenirs that we saw in Beijing, but the food market was a pleasant change of scenery. I bought some dried fruit and yummy sweets before heading back to the hostel for an early night in.(Xi'an's most pleasant surprise--while waiting for a stoplight to change we realized that there was a little dance lesson/activity taking place outside this McDonald's, so we stood and watched for a bit... so so cute.)


Day 8: May 4
Overslept a bit because there was no sun and my cell phone/alarm clock died in the middle of the night, but after a yummy breakfast we headed out of the city to see the terra-cotta soldiers. Five seconds after we walked out of the hostel it started to pour and didn't stop for a day or two. Perfect timing. We made it to the soldiers though (and thanks to our sketchy cabbie, to some other lovely tourist sights) and snapped a few pics amid the 10 million people who shared our travel itinerary.
Caught a bus home, enjoyed a hot shower, bit of shopping, yummy dinner and another early night...

SHANGHAI 上海
Day 9: May 5
We were at the airport before 7am again and, after a short incident where our cab driver tried to unload us on another cabbie en route, finally arrived in Shanghai sometime around noon. (Honestly, as you may have detected, I wasn't terribly disappointed to leave Xi'an--two days of bad weather, mediocre food and the shadiest hostel employees/cabbies that I've ever encountered was more than enough for me.) I needed to change some money, so I wandered out into the drizzle to find a bank that would be open on the holiday (along the way I also found some yummy gelato--Shanghai was already winning against Xi'an). The rain only got worse as the evening went on, so we welcomed the opportunity to relax and regroup for a good weekend to round out our trip.

Day 10: May 6
Woke up and caught a taxi to the Bund area along the water in Shanghai. Famous for its European architecture on one bank and the Pearl Tower on the other, we enjoyed walking through the area before lunch. Hoping to finish souvenir shopping at the antiques market we set off on foot into the city. Walking along the main roads proved to be noisy and boring, so we broke off the beaten path and wandered though some more residential areas. The narrow alleys, crowded electric/telephone lines and low hanging laundry reminded me of photos from American and European cities in the early 1900s. The open market-style streets were fascinating--every block had a different theme: prepared food, fruits and veggies, bicycles, tools, large appliances, small appliances, clothes and we even caught a glimpse into a dentists' office in the front room of a residential neighborhood. While this was one of my favorite peeks into China, it felt rude to photograph people and their homes, so there are no pictures for you to peek into my peek. Eventually we stumbled into the antiques market, ate some yummy food and finished our shopping.
Headed back to the Bund to see what the evening view was like.

Day 11: May 7
Woke up to sunshine for the first time since day 6! Decided to ditch our plans to spend the day at the National Museum in Shanghai and opted instead to spend another day wandering through the city--anything to be outside. Grabbed some take-out lunch and ate in the park behind the museum then set out toward our hostel on foot.
Once dinnertime rolled around we hailed a cab to take us the rest of the way to our hostel. After a bit of packing we headed to a nearby restaurant and had heaps of yummy dumplings and other yummy food for dinner.

Day 12: May 8
Another early morning trip to the airport and some office-omiyage buying before catching our flight back to Tokyo.

It's been a full month since returning from China, but I still think about it quite a bit. Like any other trip, it left me with an incomplete feeling--some unfinished business that makes me tell myself that I have to go back. That I'll go back some day and see the Temple of Heaven and revisit the other sites in Beijing that were being renovated for the 2008 Olympics. That I'll go to the south, or farther west, or catch the new train into Tibet. I feel the same about seeing Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, Pusan in Southern S. Korea, a million places in Japan and the other main islands in Hawaii. Then I really start to think about it and I begin to feel that way about nearly everywhere. *sigh* The JET Program has allowed me many opportunities to learn about living and working in an international environment, but more than that, it has made it possible for me to have experiences like this trip to China.

Looking forward to the next adventure!