Cabbage and Nakedness

Another weekend already, it seems like time is just flying by! I guess that’s a good thing...

On Friday we returned from Kamae, a town on the Southern coast of Oita Prefecture, which is where a local high school held their English Summer Camp. We were invited to help out, and it was pretty much our first interaction with students since we got here. It was only three days, two nights, but admittedly, it was long enough. This was the view from the Marine Culture Center we stayed at. It was quite beautiful.



Since it was run by Japanese people at a Japanese facility it was probably one of the few times I will really get to see what Japanese life is like. A few things were hard to get used to, and it made me glad I have my own apartment so I can still live with my own habits. For example, breakfast food doesn’t really exist. For breakfast each morning we had raw cabbage salad, miso soup, rice, and there were usually some meat things. Really, it was no different than lunch or dinner meals. Cabbage for breakfast. cabbage for lunch, cabbage for dinner. It was funny at first, but I was all cabbaged out by the end! Also, there were no private shower stalls. There were only the public baths which was a shock. I knew at some point I’d have to get over it and just get naked, but I wasn’t expecting to do it so soon! So in the women’s onesen (public bath) there was a room for the cubby holes where you put your clothes, etc. Then you go into the room with the giant bath (kind of like a hot tub) to soak in. Before you soak you are supposed to clean off. So on the walls there are about 10 shower stations. Japanese people sit down to shower so there are little seats facing mirrors, each with it’s own shower wand thingy. This is hard to describe. But people just sit there, wash their hair, body, whatever. Everyone in the same room! Naked! Free! And no one cares. It was really an experience, but by the third day I was fine with it. It’s actually really nice. Haha.

For the camp, Shawn, me and this other ALT named Justin were in charge of one group of 8 students. The ALT to student ratio was great! All the ALTs brought an object to represent themselves and the students had to choose one to ‘sell’ in a commercial. We were going to perform the skits in front of everyone the final day. Our group chose to sell the stuffed shark Justin brought. We made up a cute little jingle and skit that included a guest appearance by David Beckham. The shark was protection from bad people. It was pretty cool and we had it all ready to go. Then, the final morning we had to leave early because a typhoon had just struck Kyushu. We didn’t even get to perform them! It was quite disappointing.

This is our cute group. It may look like they are all girls, but there is one androgenous (sp?) boy in there...can you find him? :)



Even more disappointing was this supposed typhoon. I’ve never been a typhoon, but I don’t think this was a good representation of one. Of course, I don’t want to be in a scary tropical storm, but this was no more than a windy rain storm, similar to some storms in Oregon! I’m not really sure why we felt we had to leave early, but of course, safety is the first priority, especially when there are kids involved. Once we got back to the high school we couldn’t get home because the trains don’t run when there are typhoon winds -they derail to easily. Isn’t it ironic that a typhoon (which are quite common in this area) can cripple and entire nation’s infrastructure!? Every day millions of people take the trains, and a typhoon - even the mention of a typhoon - shuts them down. This was strange... So, trains were either not running or running incredibly slow with huge delays.


Luckily the charter bus drove us all to various areas, and we could get home, but ALTs who lived farther away had a more difficult time. We invited a friend, Will from England, to stay with us because he lived farther away. In addition, Phil - our friend from Willamette - stayed. AND, last night another friend from Willamette/TIUA, Naoko, came to visit from Tokyo. In our little apartment we had 5 people staying over! It was really funny. No one else could have fit, but it was just like a slumber party! It was really fun. We picked up Naoko in Oita City from the train station then we went to Karaoke. Which, by the way, is SO FUN. In the US, karaoke is really really scary and horrible. You’re all alone on a stage with bright lights and judging eyes. But in Japan, you’re in a tiny room with 5 or 6 other people. Although there are microphones everyone chimes in and if you are off key or a bad singer, it doesn’t matter! You can’t hear yourself or anyone anyway, because the music is so loud. And the English karaoke selection is amazingly impressive. Old stuff to new stuff. It’s crazy. So we did that, then because we missed the last train home we had to take a taxi. It was so expensive, I couldn’t believe it! None of us were prepared to pay 28,000 yen, which is almost $30.00. It was probably the first and last time we will take a taxi from Oita to Tsurusaki, unless it’s a really great party :). The 11:00 train is only about two dollars.

When we got home we all went to bed. Our predecessors left us some futons for guests and although we had to lay some in the kitchen, one in the living room and Shawn and I in our bed, we could all talk in normal voices and hear each other. That’s how small our apartment is. It was really hilarious and we stayed up talking and joking around for a while. It was cool. It takes me back to the good ‘ol days of slumber parties...

It’s safe to say that Shawn and I are really exhausted and ready for some down time. It seems like there is never time for that. But it has been really fun getting to know all the other JETs in our area. Oita City is where lots of people come into on the weekends, so we are really close to all the action. I have met people from more countries here in Japan than anywhere! There are JETs from India, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Canada, Portugal, and all over the US. It’s really fun to listen to the accents and vocabulary from different regions. And sometimes I catch myself sliding into British vowels if i spend a lot of time talked to those from the UK. It’s so great. I feel really lucky to meet so many different people! All the ALTs are really cool so far, and it’s great to have that support system.

I’ll go to school for my first full day on Monday. Last week I only went for half days on Monday and Tuesday. At the morning meeting I have to give an introductory speech in Japanese! eek! I think I can do it, but of course I will be nervous.

Hope everyone is well! Love the comments!