This article was originally published on 9 April, 2008. It’s been reprinted below for the new school year.

By now you know that in Japan, the school year starts in April and a few teachers leave at the end of March, with new ones rotating in to replace them.

The holidays are dead if you are not vacationing. Likewise, the first week of school will be a testing time for the students. It might get boring for you. But you should NOT (just) veg out at your desk! Here are some things you can do:

Network with the new teachers.

At this point, if you have not introduced yourself to the new teachers at your school, you should do that. Especially if the teachers are either administration or teachers whom you will be directly working with.

The stock phrase here is “Hajimemashite” and of course your name. If you can say in Japanese “I’m the ALT for xx school” or “I come every week on Tuesdays,” this would be good. The teacher may or may not ask about your history. I don’t give a jiko shoukai to them, though, because I think it’s unwieldy. They can slowly find out about you over the next few months. The last thing you should both do is a “yoroshiku onegaishimasu” to express your desires for a good working relationship.

If I am working with a teacher (for example a JTE or a person who coordinates schedules at the school) I always give them contact information. You can make neat little business cards on the computer during your free time. It’s easy. I got fancy and printed English on one side and JP on the other. It sounds hard, but you don’t really need to know much grammar to make business cards in Japanese! On them I have contact info for my base school (base school JTEs might get keitai email or my home/keitai number for emergency use). I might handwrite my email address and stuff like “kantan nihongo demo ii desu” — you can email me in simple Japanese, as well.

If you don’t have a card, when you are first introducing yourself, that’s cool. Just put it on their desk later, or stop by when they look free.

*I* think it is VERY important to attend the farewell enkai (the last chance you may have to see teachers you’ve worked with all year!) as well as the welcome enkai for new staff. You can not only show that you are NOT an island off on your own, but that you are a nice person. You can also get a feel for what they are like–and how they drink!

Last year, I made a coffee cake to welcome the new teachers. It might be a little over the top, but I wanted to ensure that we got off to a good start and was too cheap to buy omiyage or welcome gifts. Occasionally when the office seems tense or unfriendly and there are no enkai in sight, I find it helpful to bring food to work to share. Last week, one of the leaving senseis thanked me for bringing food the summer before. I had totally forgotten, but evidently, it made an impression on her.

Think Ahead!

If you have more than one school, this is the time to coordinate your schedules. Some ALTs have more freedom in scheduling than others. I am allowed a bit of leniency: I cannot control my outreach schools’ schedules but I can choose my classes at my base school to work around them.

You should have received a big master calendar (ours was in a packet) at one of the meetings over the break. In this calendar, we have the school’s schedule for the year. The important stuff to note is when your school holidays are, when you have to work weekends, and if your school makes everyone take daikyuu (a compensory day off for weekend work), what day that is.

I found that a lot of times, my daikyuu for one school fell on a workday for another. So in essence, I wouldn’t have a “day off”. This year, I am informing my shougakkou of when my base school is not in session so we can pre-schedule make-up days.

If you plan your shougakkou curriculum, this needs to be done now. Some schools plan it, some schools don’t. But I find that at least having a year-plan (even if you don’t have specific vocab words and games worked out) fill give your lessons direction. Sarah Cardenas gave a workshop on elementary teaching and she has great resources for lesson planning. Also, even if you think you are too hip for Genki Richard’s style, his website has great sample curricula.

If you are working from a previous curriculum, consider what worked well and what didn’t. (Too hard, too boring, too useless, whatever.)

In my opinion there are two kinds of curricula: short term and long term.

Short Term

* Also called “1-year”
* Good for ALTs who might not be around much longer.
+ Easier to plan.
+ Reinforces knowledge
- Boring for the kids. Especially if it covers material they had last year.
- Limited in Scope. You can only teach so many topics.
- Doesn’t account for varying interests of different ages.
- Might be hard for the ALT to adapt between grades.

Basically, you teach the same topics across the grades. 1nensei and 6nensei learn the same thing. The ALT needs to rework the lessons to make them easier or harder for kids at different ages…but the theme is the same for everyone. This is good because it requires a minimum of lesson material preparation. I think it’s popular with teachers, but I don’t think it’s very good. It’s incredibly repetitive, which might make your job less fun, and the kids will be turned off if they feel they already learned this. Another big minus is that it limits the topics you can teach in a given year and that the kids learn.

Long Term

* Also called “vertically integrated” or “multi-year”
* Good for ALTs who will think they will be at the same schools for a good while.

+ Interesting for you and for the kids because it doesn’t repeat very much.
+ Wide in scope: you can teach many subjects.
+ Works well for schools with lots of siblings: older sibs can teach their younger brother/sister English, too!
+ Considers the students’ ages and levels.
+ Easier for the ALT to keep track of who was taught what. Lessons don’t have to be modified as much.
- May not offer enough review.
- More involved planning and preparation since (in a given year) you don’t repeat.
+ But pays off the following year(s).
- Can get disrupted. If you schools change or your school changes HOW they teach English.

This is how I teach. I give the 1-2nensei the same topics, 3-4nensei the same topics, 5-6nensei the same topics. That way, the learn certain things at certain points in their elementary school tenures. It also allows you to work on more complex or abstract topics or projects for the older students and use simpler concepts (”hello/goodbye!”) for younger students. MEXT emphasizes the differences in kids’ development, and I think it’s really important, too.* The biggest problem is that if another ALT takes over or your schools change or if the school decides to use their own curriculum or discontinue English education for certain grades, those kids are left out in the cold. But this is a risk you have to take. The benefits are worth it, I think. Your students have a sense of pride in learning stuff their siblings aren’t. You also have more freedom to integrate with the subjects the kids are studying in other classes.

–
*See Resource Materials and Teaching Handbook, p.96 in the 2006 ed.

Work Ahead

I actually find this one the hardest to do: I’m not motivated until I have a deadline looming. But if you are inclined, consider actually working up lesson plans (for shougakkou) ahead of time. Print out flashcards, buy magnets, etc.

For chuugakkou, go through the textbook and try to remember the worksheets and props and activities you used last year. Scrape up these materials and get them organized where you can pull them up when you need them.

I can’t offer advice for high school ALTs, since I have no idea what their work is like. Please comment if you have experience with this!

Also consider extra projects: planning/making English boards, planning a skit, making a mailbox for your kids to write you with, designing fake money or “sticker passports,” writing small quizzes or talks for announcement time or whatever.

Refresh

The other teachers do this in the days before they move the desks in the staffroom: get rid of crap that’s accumulated at your desk: old papers, books you don’t need, post-its, memos, old schedules.

Give everything a dusting.

If you want to reorganize your desk layout (by making a hutch for your laptop, adding a small bookshelf, etc) this is a good time to do it. If you are unhappy that your LAN cable is wonky, now’s the time to swipe a new one!

Don’t Forget About Japanese

If you are taking the CLAIR Japanese course and plan to be gone for Golden Week, you should get an earlier than usual start on the CLAIR test. Remember that you will come back once May is underway, so you will also have less time to complete the final book.

If you are interested in the JLPT, you only have about 6 months at this point to get ready for it. Now is a good time to grab a guide or two and start drilling kanji or whatever.

Fun Stuff

Now that you have the master calendar for the year, you can also figure out when you want to do travel over the next year. This allows you to not get into a rush to get all of your travel plans in at once, to request nenkyuu earlier, and to book flights while they are still cheap. At the very least, get an idea of when you want to take off and how much you will have saved up between vacations.

It’s getting chilly outside! Time to get your kotatsu / fan heaters / kerosene / heated carpets / water bottles out of storage! One thing I’ve noticed about Japan is that hot water is always readily available, either for bathing, making tea, or making soup.

BUYING MISO

If you have never purchased miso, it can be a little overwhelming. It comes in bags, tubs, packets, oh my!

There are several kinds of miso. But the two real distinctions are light or dark. The white kind is sweeter (I don’t personally like it very much) and the darker kinds are saltier and more flavorful. You don’t have to use just one kind in your soup– you can mix them (although, confusingly, you can also BUY miso blends. These are called “awase miso” I’m guessing the kanji would be like this: 合わせ (awase) 味噌 (miso).

Considering the number of servings you can get from a tub or bag of it, miso is dirt cheap. Also, I swear by it as a hangover remedy, so it’s good to have around.

Technically, miso soup is made with : Dashi (broth) + miso paste + 1-2 veggies (including “sea veggies”) and perhaps a garnish.

I just like to drink the miso paste with hot water. If you are also too lazy to make or acquire broth, the other option is to buy a miso paste that has the dashi in it. look for　出し or 出汁 (dashi) and then the kanji for “put in,” 入. If you want to try your hand at making dashi, you can hit up friends or neighbors. I would suspect that most middle aged women in Saga know how to make it. OR, you can check out this page, which has instructions and recipes (including for vegetarian dashi!).

As far as brands go, I like the one that comes in tubs and has the scary baby one it. Or maybe it’s a little bald man. I don’t know the name off the top of my head. UPDATE: It’s Marukome マルコメ that I was talking about. He’s officially called マルコメ くん. So he’s not a gnome from your nightmares! (Or maybe he is, if you dislike miso.)  I think this is the kind I bought before that I liked.  Based on the description and ingredients, it seems to also have the dashi components mixed in.

If you still are at a loss for which miso to buy, consider having a miso party with a few friends: everyone brings a small package or tub and you can sample and find one you like (and then donate the unwanted ones to students/neighbors?)

Once opened, you should refrigerate miso. It keeps for several months. I have some that was 2 years old and it was definitely due for being thrown out–it was sort of dehydrated and hard. But if you keep it sealed up tight, you can get a lot of use out of it.

USING MISO

To make your miso soup (or miso and hot water), just mix as little of the paste (a tablespoon or two for a big bowl) with some water to thin it and then add hot water (or dashi) to fill the cup. Don’t use boiling water, because the miso contains microorganisms that are supposedly good for you. You can either use water from one of those electric pump-thermoses or boil some water and wait for it to cool a little bit.

When it’s in the water, the miso “blooms” or sort of floats up to the top. I love watching it. I’m not sure if that’s because I appreciate simple beauty, am easily amused, or if it’s really just that boring in the winter. Probably the latter two.

SOME TIPS

Here is a miso tip on a useful website I discovered : http://nihonhacks.com/japanese-food/a-short-guide-to-faster-miso-soup/ Nihonhacks looks a lot like Lifehacker, Japanese edition. If you don’t wanna go to the site, basically the tip is to use a ladle as a mixing area for the miso paste.

Put the paste in a ladle, dip into the water or broth, mix with a spoon, pour out the mixed miso (but not the clump that’s still in the ladle). Repeat until there is no more unmixed miso clump.

Finally, here is a tip for the office: In the wintertime, I buy bags of instant miso (they come as a package and inside are little packets of dashi and dried seaweed and stuff and then little packets of miso paste). Anyway, I keep a sack of these in my desk drawer and when midmorning hunger hits–or when I need a pick-me-up, I mix up a mug of miso soup and have it at my desk.

So you want to go skiiing or snowboarding in the winter? Here are some things you need to know to get started.

The number one thing you should keep in mind is that January (and early February) are great times to go skiing…but you will have just finished the big Winter Break and New Year’s holiday… so both money and nenkyuu will be tight. You can alleviate the money cramp by putting away some money each month starting in the fall. If you can spare 5 man yen a month, then you should be in a good position later. Put it into an envelope or another banking account or something. And for get it’s there until you need to start paying for things.

Hokkaido is a good place to go: Niseko is popular among international tourists. Rusutsu is wonderful and a bit less trafficked. Resort hotels are expensive but have the added benefit of getting you out on the slopes quickly and, if you are renting equipment, letting you keep your equipment between ski days (rather than getting back in the breadline for skis every morning). I recommend a trip to Hokkaido. But be aware that round-trip airfare from Fukuoka is rarely under 5 man(!) yen. Another option for lodging are 民宿 (minshuku–Japanese Inns / boarding houses). Compared to big hotels, these are hard to find (you may need a Japanese-reading friend to do online research for you or get a recommendation from someone). Another option is hitting up Tatami Timeshare (login to AJET’s website first) and find a JET in Hokkaido. Be aware that although buses do exist, you really need a car to see Hokkaido–so your best bet is to tag along with Hokkaido JETs who are planning to go skiing and have a car with some space.

Tottori-ken also is famous for skiing, though I can’t comment on what it’s like.

The Japanese Alps are another option. I’m going to give them a try this year.

For smaller (cheaper) trips, consider Hiroshima-ken. You and some friends can get a weekend skiing there for around 3 man yen each. Travel agents in Fukuoka are good to consult about this. The usual routine is:

THURSDAY: pack.

FRIDAY NIGHT: go to Fukuoka City , get on an overnight bus.

SATURDAY: go skiing starting from 5 or 6 am (it takes awhile to get gear and get oriented). Stay overnight at a ryokan .

SUNDAY: take a shuttle/bus back to the ski area for another day of skiing (finish up around 4 or 5) and then get back on the bus and get home that night.

These small trips are a good way to try your hand at the “other” winter sport (skiing for snowboarders/snowboarding for habitual skiers). I learned the basics of snowboarding in Geihoku, Hiroshima two years ago. If you are taking a huge, expensive trip to Hokkaido, you may be loath to spend one of your (expensive) days falling on your butt. Closer to home, it’s no big deal.

Finally, Kyushu skiing, while not fabulous (I hear) is available. For a trip you can actually drive to, consider Miyazaki ken. They have Gokase, the southernmost natural snow skiing in Japan, but I have heard that the pistes are a bit crowded.

And what article about skiing would forget to mention Tenzan, Saga’s very own ski area? A typical exchange about it goes something like this:

Co-worker: “And you can go skiing on Tenzan!”

You: “Uhhh… in Saga? It’s too warm.”

Co-worker ( a bit defensively/blithely oblivious) “They MAKE the snow! You can go skiing no matter what the weather!”

You: (silently consider the role ground temperature plays in keeping the manmade snow…snow. Ultimately, you decide not to argue about it and just smile and nod thoughtfully.)

–

BOOKING:

Especially if you want to go around the Snow Festival in Hokkaido, BOOK NOW. Things fill up fast. If you are a procrastinator, you can always go on the HAJET (Hokkaido-AJET) annual ski trip. In the past, they have set their deadline in December (yes, December is “procrastinating” when it comes to booking ski trips). They already have a sign-up/inquiry form on their website if you want to take a look. The biggest problem with the HAJET trip is that they only do one day of skiing, and if you are going to Hokkaido, that is just not enough. One option might be to work out your own accommodation and airfare and then go skiing for a couple of days before the event, joining up with them after. Actually, I kind of want to do that now. But no, Jesse, this year it’s Japanese Alps…which will ALSO be kickass. The HAJET trip will usually require a day or two of nenkyuu, so be sure you can handle that. Finally, if you are fond of mutton/lamb, the HAJET trip usually includes an option for a farewell enkai which is almost always ジンギスカン (”Ghengis Khan”– all you can eat mutton yakiniku, veggies). They give you these HUGE bib-apron things. Oh, good stuff!

ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT:

I don’t recommend busing to Hokkaido. There actually IS a ferry that goes 3 times a week from Fukuoka to the Muroran in the southern part of Hokkaido. It takes a long time, something like 38 hours, and makes one stop in N. Honshu. The length of time it takes is the biggest detractor. Another alternative might be to ferry to Kansai (Osaka, for example) and then take trains the rest of the way up. But be sure to compare prices.

NIGHTLIFE:

Aside from nomihoudai (I don’t drink the night before skiing because of the risk of being dehydrated), another great way to increase your ski trip enjoyment is to go to an onsen. Certain JETs, who shall go unnamed, have been known to sneak into ski resort onsen after a hard day on the slopes. Somehow, the snow outside makes soaking in hot water that much more sugoi.

Make this article better! If you have questions or comments, please use the contact form to send a quick note to me.

Ed. note: This article has been reposted. The original publication date was July 24, 2007.

So right now you are sitting on your hands, wanting to do something to get ready also and to let you procrastinate from packing, right?

I recommend thinking about the things you will be teaching about in your Self-Intro Lesson; since I had only a vague idea of what I was supposed to be talking about. The two most useful things for me were 1) Sergio’s talk last year at the orientation workshop and 2) seeing another JET’s slideshow.

Here are some topics to think about treating:

* your name, age, country.
* your family
* pets you have
* things you like and dislike : sports, foods–anything concrete, really. “I dislike gratuitous violence” is not a good choice. “I don’t like beets”–with the translation for ‘beets’ in hiragana, is good. (Emphasis on the positive, though!)
* your house
* your friends
* Why you like Saga prefecture (or your town)

TIPS

– Make your lesson interactive. Consider building a mini-quiz into it. Ask the kids questions and let them ask questions, because it’s a lot of sitting for them.
– DON’T make the jiko shoukai the whole period long! Twenty or twenty five minutes is good. If your JTE is good at English, let the kids ask questions in Japanese through him/her. Otherwise, tack a mini-lesson and game onto the end. I did fruits and then played fruitbasket. Today, I taught greetings and we played Duck Duck Goose with “hello” and “goodbye” (these were 6 year olds.)

– Hang onto your self intro lesson. Not only will you be giving it A LOT (I think I counted over 39 times), but each time you get fresh students (i.e. new 1nensei in elementary) you will need to pull it out, dust it off, and give it again. (Which is why I am giving one today, in June)

The good thing about this repetition is that you get REALLY good at:
– timing the lesson
– anticipating questions
– integrating new vocabulary/review material.

It also gives you a break the first term, because really all you will be doing is giving the same self-intro lesson. It’s nice not to have extra lesson planning when you are still figuring out living-in-Japan things.

– the kids seem to be introduced to infinitives WAY later than gerunds. I like swimming = ok. “I like to swim” will confuse.
– Again, CONCRETE things. If you are giving the presentation to really little kids, they won’t have a handle on abstract concepts anyway, even if you gave the lesson all in perfect Japanese.

I teach kids who run from 5 years old to about 15 or 16. It might be good to have a young kids and older kids version, again, with fewer abstract concepts and brighter colors for the younger kids.

I do two versions: The High-Tech version and the Lo-Fi version.

* High Tech is a Powerpoint-style slideshow (done with the free OpenOffice.org Presentations program). It has clearly labeled transition slides, animation effects, embedded video (of my family’s dogs), and maps. There are lots of captions in simple English (not for the kids–for the Homeroom Teachers to read and explain to their kids.) and even katakana for city names and kanji/kana for certain words.

* Lo-fi is basically pictures that I put in the slideshow, but printed in color (use your school’s laser printer or the 7-11 copier) on A4 paper (though bigger is much better), laminated, and with little mini stick-on magnets on the back. You can make this at your school or BOE in August.

I use hi-tech at the schools that can accommodate a projector setup and low-fi when I forgot to ask for a projector or if the school just can’t do it or doesn’t want to.

---

THE JIKO SHOUKAI (Self-Intro) SPEECH

Your jiko shoukai speech is a different thing. Having that ready is actually MORE important than the lesson–especially if you do not speak Japanese. In Japan, establishing relationships is very important, and you can’t really interact with people from your school/town/etc. until they know who you are. So you will HAVE to give this speech when you meet people, from your first day in Saga.

Luckily, the ever-helpful JET Diary comes to the rescue. In the back, they have a fill-in-the-blanks version that will get you started. Feel free to ask your DR or other Saga JETs to help you embellish yours.

I recommend that you at least draft your jiko shoukai to have THREE variations:

1.

Jiko shoukai for staff

. This one is the one you will give when you are introduced to all of the teachers in your school. Typically, you will meet with the principal and vice principal, and possibly the English Department in a little reception room. THEN, you will be marched out into the staffroom and ALL of the teachers will politely stand. One of the administrators will say a couple of words to introduce you. Then, you’re on!

* Basically, I just change the last line of the introduction to say something like “Let’s have a good year together” or “Let’s work well together”

* In a pinch, you can give this self-intro in English. Remember: These people are academics and ALL Japanese people have at least basic English education. I find that the staff–especially the younger teachers– may not talk a lot in English, but they understand most of what I say. If you can, start using your “simple English voice”: Speak slowly and a little more carefully than you speak to native speakers and try to use fewer complex constructions and multisyllabic or Latinate words.

2.

jiko shoukai for Student Bodies

:
At some point after this, you will be marched into a gym or auditorium filled with the school’s students. This is where you get to introduce yourself to the students.

* Same jiko shoukai, but change the last bit to something like “Let’s have fun studying English together”.

3.

jiko shoukai for enkai (work-related banquets/drinking)

:
Another time you might give a jiko shoukai is at your welcome enkai. Bear in mind that you will likely have more than one of these: one with the Saga JETs (no speech involved!), one with your BOE (Board of Education. If your town was merged, you MIGHT even have two BOE enkais–one for the big city that you officially work for, and one for the town that you actually work in.)

* Same jiko shoukai. Change the last bit to something like “Let’s drink beer together!” Obviously, if you don’t drink, you should use something like “Let’s relax together” so people don’t try to give you alcohol.

** Be aware that you might need another speech on hand besides your j.s. For example, I was invited to an enkai about a month after I arrived to celebrate the start of the school year (actually, the fall term). I made a speech (which I begged Nirav to translate into Japanese) about how the people at my base school were all so kind to me and how I would try hard to learn Japanese and do a good job this year.

ed. note: this article is reprinted from a post published on July 13, 2007. Aside from the reference to Man-Yi, the information is still relevant.

You too can ride out the storm with the gusto of Slim Pickens on a warhead!

….okay, bad comparison there…just read the article.

As typhoon Man-Yi rolls up towards Kyushu, it’s a good time to consider your personal emergency plan in the event of a natural disaster.

Before newbies start re-watching all of those awful nat. disas. summer blockbusters for notes (”What would Bruce Willis do?! Why, he’d fly up to the damned asteroid and show that mo-fo who’s boss!”), it’s important to say that Saga prefecture is one of the safest (”Most boring? Hush!”) prefectures in Japan, in terms of natural disasters. Most typhoons have to travel over enough land to considerably weaken before they can hit Saga.

Nevertheless, a good emergency plan never hurts: some things to consider:

■ Many of us live alone.

■ Many of us do not fluently speak or read this country’s language. How well would you do in an emergency situation?

■ We have various housing conditions–some of our residences are more solid than others.

■ Many of us live on the second floor. This could be a positive thing (in case of floods) or a negative thing (in case of tornadoes).

■ Some of us have not really managed a household before–we were with family or at school.

■ We rely on the Internet for information and voice-over-IP telephony (Skype/Vonage/BB phone/etc.) for communication. The equipment that powers these services relies on electricity.

■ I for one, RARELY hear about typhoons at my school until RIGHT before they hit…or after they’ve come, in some cases.

I actually HAD this conversation last September:

Me: Good morning.

Coworker: Good morning! Is your house okay?

Me: Yes, but I was REALLY scared this weekend. The power was going off and on every five minutes and I thought the roof was going to come off– the apt. was shaking so much.

Coworker: Yeah! My house STILL doesn’t have power. Lots of your neighborhood was knocked out for more than 24 hours. You’re lucky! In fact, this was the strongest one we’ve gotten in 15 or 20 years!

Interior Monologue: I see. That might have been good to know before I had to weather it.

---

Here are some simple things you can do as precautions:

1. Prepare an emergency kit. It should reflect your needs in the event that there is no electricity or clean water for a few days. The Weather Channel provides an extensive one here: http://www.weather.com/ready/supplykit.html . Here is another example supply kit guide: http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/index.html . Don’t just set it and forget it– check dig it out periodically to be sure the batteries still have a charge and that kind of thing.

2. Consider the consequences of a power loss. If you REALLY feel that your electronics are important, consider a battery backup. Also called an Emergency Power Supply or Uninterruptible Power Supply, They are basically big batteries with built-in outlets. They function as power strips/surge protectors normally, and if the power goes out, they start drawing electricity from their reserves. Since that vast majority of ALTs have laptops, this isn’t really as crucial. However, remember that your modem and/or routers will need electricity to get you Internet access. Sometimes it doesn’t matter (say, if the servers at your Internet Service Provider are affected by the storm) but I have used it before in the States to keep my Vonage line active when the power goes out. Again, this option is not for everyone, but it doesn’t hurt to know about.Even if you have a cell phone, you are limited by your phone’s battery. In my experience, lithium-ion batteries, like the ones in our phones, don’t hold a charge very well. Even if you don’t use them, after a couple of days, they start to lose power. I highly recommend those keitai battery backup kits you can get at keitai shops/Best Denki/Yamada Denki/AEON/konbini/etc. Basically, it’s a charger that runs off of AA batteries. I use rechargeables and take a few when I go on a weekend trip away from an outlet. You can either get the kind that attaches directly to the side of your phone, or the kind that connects to your phone with a cable (you keep the pack itself in your pocket). With one of these in tow, even if your cell battery is dead, you can still make a few calls or texts. They cost between 900 and 1800 yen, depending on the maker and how fancy they are. If you have an newer phone, just match the maker and the model number on the back of the package. Otherwise, call over a store clerk for help.

3. Establish an emergency contact nearby. This should be your supervisor, plus one other person, possibly a neighbor or one of your JTEs. Make sure this person knows where you live and how to get in touch with you.

4. Register with your embassy. The Japanese consulate in Houston encouraged us to do this before we left. Americans can do it online at https://travelregistration.state.gov. I’ve assembled as full as list as I can at the bottom of this article. Also consider letting people know you are safe on Facebook or another social networking website once the disaster has passed. Your keitai company should provide an emergency message board service for English-speakers to let other’s know their status. AU does. I think the others do, too. Learn how to access and use that.

5. Study Japanese. Do you know the correct emergency numbers for Japan? (Psst! Check your yellow AJET card!) What do you say once you’ve actually gotten someone on the line? Make it a point to teach yourself Japanese vocabulary that you might need. Learn words related to flooding and storms, as well as the vocabulary you need to describe your location and situation. Don’t forget that your JET Diary is a good resource–but that it might not always be at hand.

6.  Finally, keep on top of the weather during typhoon season.  The Japan Meteorological Association publishes information in English on their website: http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html.

With any luck, you will never have to endure a natural disaster while in Japan, but if you should, you can feel more confident and in-control by being prepared.

Other Links
For people who actually get off on disaster planning, jackpot:
http://www.fema.gov/plan/index.shtm

---

Travel Registration Websites:

AUSTRALIA
CANADA
INDIA (paper form)
IRELAND: ?
JAMAICA
NEW ZEALAND
SINGAPORE
SOUTH AFRICA (online registration is not up yet)
UNITED KINGDOM*
UNITED STATES

* Oddly, the UK website seems to imply that people living in Japan can’t register (”Japan” is not in the list of countries they specify).

Speaking of waterfalls, I went to Mikaeri Waterfall last weekend and the smell of the stream made me long for the next Nanayama Waterfall Climb! Mikaeri Waterfall is so-called because once you see it, you will have to come back.

The next time you are in central Saga Ken (near Ouchi, to be precise), consider giving it a look. You will see a sign for it on Route 203 (between Ouchi and Honmutabe stations)

It’s about 5 km from the sign. You will have to follow a few signs, but it’s not too hard. One of the signs is in kanji, I think, but you can just match the symbol for “waterfall” 滝 (TAKI)

If you go during June, you will arrive for the あじさい　まつり (Hydrangea Festival).

The hydrangea bushes planted along the walking trail make it quite unique. If you are not up for walking, there is a shuttle bus (the first few days of the festival, if I remember.) But you would do better to take the trail. It’s much more relaxing. I was awed by the vastness of the forest around the mountain stream that the waterfall feeds.

Pictures just don’t do it justice. Also, the trail is well-maintained and pretty easy. This is not a difficult hike, and you don’t need special shoes or equipment (though, I wouldn’t advise wearing your heels, as I saw some Japanese girls doing. Silly fashionistas.)

Before and at the end of the trail, you can buy hydrangea plants. The ones at the end of the trail, just before the waterfall are the cheapest. They are 200 yen a pot. The ones at the base of the mountain are between 600 and 1200 yen. They are bigger, though.

It’s possible to drive all the way to the waterfall, but during the festival, the spaces are all full and there are large buses/shuttles on the road. Parking is free just before the village at the foot of the mountain anyway.

Just uphill from the waterfall, behind the rows of potted baby hydrangeas, you will find several jizou, or guardian statues, adorned with colorful aprons. Take a peek up there before you head down!

The festival runs from until 4:00 pm, June 1st ~ June 30th.

Tel. 0955-51-8312 (probably just JP) for more info. 

Office dress can be confusing when you’ve come straight out of uni and suddenly need to not wear t-shirts and jeans. Here is a basic guide for what to wear in the office. Since I’m male, my advice will focus on that. Maybe one of the female ALTs will add her thoughts.

There are two basic rules of thumb to follow:

1. Dress up REALLY nicely the first day. You will need a suit and tie.
2. From then on, it’s up to your BOE/schools’ culture. Look at what other teachers of your sex and approximate age are wearing, and match them.

But how, then, can you possibly pack if you haven’t yet SEEN your school? Here are some more guidelines. Bear in mind that you can buy clothing here at UNIQLO (or the GAP or wherever). You can also order from online stores and either have them ship to you in Japan or have your family/friends forward them to you.

Remember when I said to look at your “closest peer teachers”? The obvious exception is P.E. teachers, who are always dressed down. You probably won’t be able to get away with this, except during the vacations (like summer!)

You’ll want to wear a suit the first day (ick) and probably on “special days”– that is, open/observations classes and formal events like graduation. Conversely, I found that when I arrived, ALL of my school’s teachers were dressed down because classes were not in session. Actually, on my first day, we had a Big Cleaning– and it kind of sucked to be in a suit doing dirty work, but I think my teachers appreciated that I was game enough to do it.

Many teachers change during the day (especially before club activities). I do not like hauling clothes around and I really don’t like changing clothes gratuitously. So I don’t do this.

For men,
I usually wear khakis and polos (solids, not patterned) on shougakkou days.

For non-shou days, a short sleeved shirt in the summer or a broadcloth, button-up oxford shirt in the winter/fall/spring. I sometimes wear a tie–but never on a day when I’m around elementary school kids. It’s dangerous!

I the winter, I throw a sweater over the shirt, collar out English style). I justify this because I teach in unheated classrooms. And, honestly, the other teachers wear coats and things as well. The sweater thing has the added sneaky benefit of making ironing unnecessary, which makes my mornings happier.

You don’t have to spend a crazy amount on your work wardrobe. With the exception of the suit, everything I wear to work comes from either UNIQLO or Old Navy.

Shoes are a funny thing here. Your workhorse “outside” shoes need to be the kind that slip off and on. I have some brown ones that have a little elastic on the sides so they are easy to slip off and on. And slip them off and on you will. I think I must change shoes about 6 times a day–so the easy on/off thing is of utmost importance.

Inside your school, you will wear sandals or slippers. The most important thing here is that they never have been worn outside. Outside shoes and Inside Shoes are delimited in certain (but oddly, not all) places in Japan (read: schools). I see a lot of shower shoe style here. It’s really bizarre to see men in suits wearing these super casual sandals, but whatever. I wear birkenstock knockoffs. Note that the slippers are what you will actually be wearing throughout the day. Also note that they are not worn barefooted (pantyhose is okay for ladies). So thongs are not a good idea, unless you have toed socks.

Speaking of socks, I usually just wear white or black cotton ones. It’s not too big of a deal. But they DO need to be in good condition (no holes!) because you will sometimes be in your stocking feet when you go to special rooms like the gym or computer lab.

I have two pairs of slippers: one for my base school, and one I keep in my car for whenever I’m doing an outreach school. If you somehow forget your slippers, you will have to wear the narsty plastic ones that guests wear and they won’t fit well and they will be ugly. But probably not as ugly as the slippers your kids will be wearing as part of their uniform. Don’t worry about a second pair of slippers if you aren’t sure that you will need them: I was able to pick up my second pair here in Japan for about 9 bucks.

That’s about it. I hate wearing dressy clothes, but I think that dressing at least somewhat professionally is important if you want to be taken seriously. However, elementary schools tend to let the teachers dress more casually, and I know of JETs who wear jeans and t-shirts to elementary. It’s probably best to start out on the conservative end and gradually loosen up as you figure out what you can get away with.

By TOMOKO OTAKE
Staff writer, Japan Times. Original here.

Imagine being in a sauna for a few hours. Then imagine getting out of it and walking straight into a giant freezer for another few hours. Do this several times a day and continue the routine for a couple of months. Some people say that’s what spending summer in Japan is like.

Japan’s summer months are notoriously hot and muggy, which can lead to a range of health problems. Natsubate (summer fatigue) leaves people feeling tired, lethargic and/or sleep-deprived. Many people lose their appetite and become irritated, while others suffer digestive problems such as diarrhea, constipation and/or giddiness.

Originally referring to a condition brought on by prolonged exposure to the sweltering summer heat, these days natsubate starts early even in late June for some people, because of sudden changes in the weather and freezerlike air conditioning in trains, buses and buildings.

Dr. Takao Matsumoto, deputy director of Tokyo Rinkai Hospital in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, who occasionally sees patients with heat-related illnesses, says summer fatigue is primarily caused by perspiration problems. Body temperature rises in hot weather, and the body tries to cool itself via perspiration. But when exposed to the heat for too long, some people’s bodies become incapable of making such adjustments.

Matsumoto noted that natsubate should not be taken lightly. If left unattended, it can lead to dehydra- tion, cramps and heat stroke.

“Many people start having problems when the temperature rises to around 25 degrees,” Matsumoto said. “Ideally, the temperature differences between outdoor air and indoor air should be kept within 5 degrees.”

So what can we do to avoid the summer’s perils? Matsumoto and other experts offer the following no-nonsense tips:

Carry clothes that are easy to put on and take off: Many offices are excessively air-conditioned. Bring a cardigan or a long-sleeved shirt to your office and wear it when you feel cold. To counter the air conditioning, some office workers nowadays bring to their offices a yutampo (hot-water bottle), which many Japanese traditionally use to make their futon warm in the winter. You can buy yutampo at a drug store for a few thousand yen apiece. Another tip is to ask your office to turn their air conditioning down (which conserves energy, too.)

Get enough sleep: It might sound elementary, but sleep is indeed essential to avoid and recover from natsubate. If you have problems going to sleep because of the heat, place a bag of ice on your pillow for a few minutes, or turn on an air-conditioner with a timer, making sure that it switches off after several hours. Turning air conditioning on throughout the night is often a cause of natsubate.

Work out regularly: People who can sweat effectively are less likely to suffer from natsubate because their bodies are better conditioned to accommodate temperature changes. Regular exercise can prepare people for that. It also helps them build stamina to survive the summer.

Diet is key

Keiko Kamachi, a registered dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at the Kagawa Nutrition University in Tokyo, meanwhile, says a regular, balanced diet is key to staying healthy through the summer.

“Eat three meals regularly,” she said. “You can also choose to have food that makes you less likely to feel tired.” Summer vegetables such as tomato, eggplant and cucumber contain antioxidants that help protect against ultraviolet light, Kamachi says. Local summer fruits such as suika (watermelon) and nashi (pears) are rich in the minerals that are lost due to perspiration. Natsumikan (summer tangerine), rich in potassium and magnesium, is also good because its citric acid helps people recover from exhaustion, she said. The key, however, is not to gorge on any particular food item but to “eat a little bit of all (of them),” according to Kamachi.

When you are tired, try taking B vitamins, as they help the body convert food into energy, both Matsumoto and Kamachi say. Not that popping a pill is going to work magic.

“Vitamin supplements can irritate the stomach, so it is better to get B vitamins through regular food,” Kamachi says.

Foods rich in B vitamins include pork, soybeans and milk. Soba noodles are also known to be rich in B vitamins, she said, noting that when you have soba, you should also drink the sobayu (the hot water used to boil the noodles) served at most soba restaurants after the meal.

The use of food to ease summer exhaustion dates back to the eighth century in Japan, when the poet Ootomono Yakamochi recommended a suffering friend eat eel to regain his strength, and people in different regions of the country have developed their own particular remedies, often using food locally grown or produced. Junko Yokota, a travel consultant who lives in the Aizu region in western Fukushima Prefecture, says that it has long been a common practice for families in her area to pick ume plums that naturally grow in their gardens and put them in jars with rock sugar. Local plums a brand known as Aizu-takada ume make great plum juice, she says, noting that, when she was a girl, her grandmother would make her drink a glass of the homemade nectar every day during the summer.

“Plums are picked in June and placed in jars, and a year later they are ready to be served,” Yokota said. “You would drink the juice, and then eat the plum as well. It’s probably thanks to those plums that I have never experienced natsubate.”
Stay cool as a cucumber soup

Suffering from the heat? Want to try a Japanese solution to a Japanese problem?

Masahiro Kumamoto, a 46-year-old owner of a seafood-products store in Miyazaki Prefecture, western Japan, says he cannot do without a bowl of hiyajiru (cold miso soup poured over cold rice), to deal with the region’s notoriously hot summer. It has traditionally been a “work-time dish” among farmers and fishermen. A self-confessed hiyajiru otaku (obsessive fan), Kumamoto, whose store is named Kumaya Shokuhin, offers the following recipe for hiyajiru, which he claims, if properly cooked, is a culinary experience as rich as the French soup vichyssoise.

The method

1. Choose the type of fish you want to use. The most common fish used in many households is iriko (dried small fish). Fry the iriko in a pan, then crush them with a mortar. You can also use hiraki (fish cut open and dried), in which case grill them and separate the flesh from the bones.

2. To create a soup, fill a sauce pan with water, add katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings) and kombu seaweed and let the water boil for a few minutes.

3. Spread miso on tin foil and heat it for several minutes, giving it a nice roasted flavor.

4. Put the fish and some mashed-up tofu into the soup and bring it to the boil. Add the miso little by little, using a touch more of the paste than usual, because sliced cucumber (to be added later) thins out the taste.

5. Now the most time-consuming part: Let the soup cool to room temperature. Add the cucumber, chopped oba (Japanese basil) and ground sesame seeds. Prepare a portion of rice as usual.

6. Cool the soup in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Cool your rice to room temperature. Finally, don’t forget to chill your rice bowls in the refrigerator.

The Japan Times: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
(C) All rights reserved

Karatsu Kunchi is easily one of the best festivals in Saga-ken, maybe even in the world. Well, I can’t really support that, but suffice it to say that I like it. There is a feeling of excitement that emanates from every karatsu-jin in the last few weeks of October. Since the dying embers of summer they have been practicing the flute or the drum in the streets of the old center every night. They have been counting down day by day to the most important day of their year. They have plenty of beer, shochu and sake stored away so that they will not run out in this time of great need. They have prepared huge feasts, enough to feed their extended family five times over. They have been dreamily remembering the excesses of the year before. They have thinking about Karatsu Kunchi!

The first night opens up after nightfall as the 14 hikiyama, or floats, are dragged through the streets of central Karatsu. The streets are packed, people squished together like sardines. People come from all over Kyushu to see this. There are games to play and countless food stalls. A visit to the shrine is a good way to start the evening. It is a nice little one, heavily decorated, where you can purify yourself with holy water; buy a lucky charm; throw five yen, ring the bell and make a wish; or even have the future year foretold.

The hikiyama themselves are a wonder to behold as they are dragged past at high speed, executing sharp turns, with the ropes pulled by tiny children at the front and the gregarious drunk men at the back, and children are precariously perched, playing music, on the hikiyama itself. Each of the fourteen is in the care of the inhabitants of the 14 oldest parts of Karatsu. These hikiyama used to be changed every year, but about 200 years ago they decided on certain designs for each area and have stuck to them. There are lions, helmets, fish, dragons, cockerels. The one which is unquestionably the best is Kinjishi, the golden lion, the float of Honmachi, resplendent and awe inspiring. As they make their way through the city the cry of “enya enya“　is shouted by the very drunk men pulling the floats to cheer themselves on and by the very drunk crowd for them to redouble their efforts. When you come, why not join in! This continues well into the night.

I’m not sure what happens on the following morning. From my experience, mainly pain. Lots of pain. Kunchi hangovers are some of the worse of the year. I remember hearing the music and the shouting so I suppose they are pulling the hikiyama through the streets from early on, but I couldn’t say for sure. If you feel like a small gnome is trying to punch his way out of your head, why not try the traditional Honmachi Biru Breakfast. Fry some eggs, eat them with toast while downing lots of orange juice, and collapse back on the bed swearing you will never drink again.

Of course this oath is usually broken by the afternoon as you are invited from house to house to partake in the aforementioned feasts. The Karatsu people will open their houses and hearts to you, and only ask that for all the food you eat and drink you quaff, that you make small talk with whatever Japanese you may have.

Also, in the afternoon all the hikiyama are drawn up to a point near the beach and lined up. This is a fantastic photo opportunity, all these fearsome creatures side by side. This day is a national holiday too, so no worries about taking nenkyu. You can also take some time out to chill on the beach if the weather is good.

On the third day, the end comes. Exhausted by days of alcohol abuse and shouting at the top of their lungs, the hikiyama pullers and guardians drag them back to the museum next to the shrine, taking part in goodbye ceremonies. The very next day, the schoolchildren will write on their blackboards at school “362 days left until Kunchi.”

I’d just like to add a quick note. If you do go to Kunchi, remember that you are the guests of the generous people of Karatsu, so please be friendly, pay your bills in restaurants and bars, don’t get in fights, don’t make fun of any of the ridiculous vans you will see around and don’t complain that it wasn’t as good as you thought it would be. Bar that, anything goes. Thank you.

Generally speaking, most foreigners are treated pretty well in Japan. Sometimes shamefully well. However, legally the Japanese police can engage in behavior towards foreigners that would qualify as discrimination in most other democracies. This happens more frequently in some places than in others. I’m told that the Tokyo police, under the instruction and tutelage of the ultra-nationalist governor Ishihara, can be particularly difficult to deal with, routinely stopping foreigners on their way to work for a “random” I.D. check. In Kyushu, this behavior seems to be less pronounced, though in recent months two Saga ALTs (possibly more?) have been stopped for no reason other than their obvious non-Japanese ancestry. In both cases, the police were polite and the whole episode lasted less than five minutes, just enough time to check the ALT’s gaijin card before diving into the topic of Chicago’s two baseball teams. A minor inconvenience really.

Nevertheless, some foreigners are rightfully upset at this treatment since most of us were invited here on the behest of the Ministry of Education. While there is little that can be done to overturn this legally-sanctioned conduct, being informed does help. Activist, journalist and full time Japan resident Aruduo Debito has created a wonderful summary of foreigners’ rights under Japanese law when dealing with the police and anyone else asking for ID. In the meantime, try not to look foreign.

(Note: This article contains information specific to JETs who arrived in 2005, so some details will be different for your arrival.)

Your first day

After your short stay in Tokyo, you’ll be fully accustomed to the heat and humidity of the Japanese summer, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise when you experience Saga’s climate for the first time. Shortly after touching down on the tarmac of Saga Airport, you’ll be whisked bleary eyed (after the 7:55 a.m. flight) to a prefectural welcome ceremony, where you will get to meet your supervisor for the first time. You’ll be expected to dress in business attire for this event and there won’t be much opportunity to get changed, so it is probably best to travel smart from Tokyo.

Your supervisor will accompany you back to the town or city where you will be based. The structure of the first day will vary based on whether you are a ken ALT/BoE ALT or CIR and what your supervisor has planned, but if you are very tired, don’t be afraid to tell them! They might take you for lunch, show you around your new town, introduce you to the other members of your office/school or take you straight to your new apartment. It’s not even unknown for ALTs to attend a welcome enkai (party) on their first evening, although hopefully this will be arranged for a later date.

Either way, it is likely that you will have to introduce yourself many times in the first few days, so it is best to carry your self introduction around with you written on a small card which you can keep in your pocket.

Your new home

By the time you leave Tokyo, you’ll be sick of hearing the phrase “every situation is different” attached to the response of every probing question you ask. The fragmented nature of the JET Programme, with ALTs employed directly by their respective boards of education in different sized schools and in settings varying from very isolated/rural to the concrete jungle, complicates the creation of generalized rules about the life of an average ALT. This is certainly the case in terms of housing. There are some considerable variations in terms of size, condition, furnishings and location.

The housing situation in Saga is on the whole generally very good. However, try to arrive open minded, without too many expectations about where you will be living. Your predecessor is the most qualified person to advise you on what to expect, so don’t be afraid to ask them plenty of questions.

When you are taken to your apartment for the first time by your supervisor, try to find out the following;

1. How to turn on/set the temperature of the water heater if applicable
2. The location of the fuse box
3. How to use the air conditioning and shower
4. How to turn on the gas stoves

If you are lucky your predecessor will have left you instructions on how things in your apartment work. There is a great article containing some useful tips on dealing with mould, sorting rubbish and using your washing machine in the “Living Basics” section of the Fukuoka JET website.

Your first month

There are no lessons during the month of August at Japanese schools, although some students might still be there for bukatsu (club events), so your first month will probably be relatively quiet, giving you a chance to adjust. In your first few days your supervisor should:

1. Take you to set up a bank account where your wages will be paid
2. Help you apply for your foreigners (alien registration) card
3. Give your inkan (personal stamp)
4. Tell you what days rubbish is collected and what colour bags to use for the different types

They’ll also be able to help you get a phone line or the internet connected, buy a mobile phone, sort out the paperwork for your car and teach you how to understand and pay your bills.

Don’t worry about giving your omiyage on the first day. Take a few days or weeks to work out who everyone is, and who you will have the most contact with during your time in Japan.

Your district will be organising district orientations and parties, so you can meet those who live nearby and ask any questions about things you are having difficulty with. In addition AJET will be organising welcome events and there will be a two day orientation/summer conference in Saga, so you can get to know the other JETs in the prefecture!

Useful links

Fukuoka JET: Living in Japan. If this is your first stay in Japan, the Fukuoka JET Guide to Living in Japan is very comprehensive and offers some useful insights and tips about what to expect.

Related workshops

There will be a workshop on “Your First Month” at the Tokyo Conference for groups A and B. It will take place in the Hana D room on Tuesday 26 July at 16:15 and Tuesday 2 August at 14:15. (Don’t worry, you will receive a full program of workshops titles and times when you arrive in Tokyo).

(Note: This article contains information specific to JETs who arrived in 2005, so some details will be different for your arrival.)

You’ll have already received some general information on the Tokyo Orientation in the welcome information from your DRs. Here is my take based on this year’s schedule and my experience last year.

One of the first things you’ll notice as you place your first few steps on Japanese soil is the summer humidity. Although average temperatures in Tokyo are only between 28-30 degrees Celcius, the humidity peaks at 90 percent — just what you need as you emerge groggy, hot and sweaty from your long journey. To make matters worse, it’s a bit of a marathon between the arrivals gate and the air conditioned bus waiting to transport you to the hotel. The good news, however, is that 50 JET orientation assistants will have invaded the airport and will be positioned on every corner to keep you on track and herd you through it all, without you having to think. Please be aware that the one piece of luggage rule is strictly enforced, so you will have to send any other pieces on before being allowed to board the coach.

You’ll be staying at either the Keio Plaza or The Hilton in Tokyo’s lively, bright, neon Shinjuku district. Depending on what time you arrive and how tired you feel, try to be brave and leave the cool air conditioning of your hotel to explore! If you are completely burnt out and just need to hit the sack, then the good news is that the orientation does not start until 10 a.m. on Monday (25 July/1 August.).

The orientation will commence with an hour long prefectural meeting, which will probably include a few announcements but is predominately an opportunity for you to chat and get to know the other new Saga JETs. This will be followed by an hour of welcome addresses and introductions by various dignitaries.

In the afternoon, CIRs and ALTs will attend separate meetings with general information about life and work in Japan (speeches, videos, etc.). You’ll also get to add to what will by now be a mounting pile of books, pamphlets and leaflets at the AJET bazaar. There might be a few decent freebies on offer, such as free trial phonecards and English newspapers, so it is defintely worth checking out. When you sign up for AJET you’ll be given the opportunity to buy the latest version of an ALT teaching resource book called Team Talk Pizza. If you are considering buying it, it is worth checking with your predecessor before you come if there is already a copy of this publication in your apartment or at your school and what edition it is.

The first day concludes with a welcome reception between 6:30 and 8 p.m., which last year was comprised of free booze and a buffet. It is a great time to mingle! There are approximately 1,400 people at the A and 1,100 people at the B orientation, so it can be a little overwhelming, but it is a good opportunity to make new friends who you can visit or who can visit you. No doubt they’ll be a group of Saga ALTs hitting the town afterwards, so if you have snoozed through most of the days proceedings, you’ll be raring to go!

Tuesday morning will be comprised of a number of teaching workshops and a question and answer session. General workshops will take place in the afternoon, of which you can pick four to attend. These seminars/workshops can be useful, but it is understood that you will be jet lagged, and so they are not too strenuous. The topics include: adult conversation classes, behind the scenes at a Japanese school, community involvement and making friends in Japan, driving in Japan, elementary school visits, first year prefectural advisors, forum des JETs Francophones, German JETs forum, independent Japanese study, Japanese etiquette for beginners, life as a female JET, life as a JET, thriving as a rural JET, your first month and life as a JET with a family. In addition there will be other workshops run by AJET.

The program coordinators from Saga will be around on Tuesday afternoon to welcome you and make some general announcements. Most countries, excluding perhaps the USA due to capacity constraints, will invite their new JETs to attend a welcome reception at their embassies on Tuesday night. This was one of my personal highlights last year, and although it may involve a taxi/subway journey, you’ll no doubt be rewarded with free beer, food and entertainment when you arrive.

After forcing your luggage back into your case and discarding the majority of the leaflets and handouts which you have accumulated, you’ll begin to realize just how short your sleep will be before the extraordinarily early flight back to Saga on Wednesday morning.

Welcome to Japan!

Useful links

• AJET Homepage
• JET Programme Homepage
• Keio Plaza Hotel Shinjuku
• Hilton Hotel Shinjuku
• Japan Customs
• Yamanashi JET (YETI) : What to Bring

During my pre-departure preparation for Saga, I asked my soon-to-be DR if he knew of any ice hockey teams in the vicinity. He said he would check around for me, and a week or so later I got an email from him saying that he didn’t think there was. Since I am a size 12 shoe (size 30 here in Japan), I knew that skates in my size would be hard to come by, so I packed those just in case and left the rest of my gear behind.

It’s a good thing that I did because I was pleasantly mistaken. After about a month of settling into my new surroundings, I got a phone call at my school from someone I had never met before: Jeff Potter, a “lifer” who is married with three cute girls and has been living in Saga for 14 years now. He had heard that there was a new Canadian ALT in the area and was wondering if I could play hockey. Every year he looks for new foreign recruits to join the team. There are only two hockey teams in Saga Prefecture: Saga Club and Saga University. Of course, the Saga University team is restricted to university students and so the only real team to join is Saga Club.

The Saga Club team consists of men of all ages, most of which have known each other for years and as a result are all close friends. They are truly a great bunch of guys and are very welcoming. For me personally, they share some of the best experiences I have had with Japanese people here. I have also been extremely lucky in having Jeff there to be my intermediary should there ever be a communication problem, since his Japanese language ability is fluent. One problem is that some of the guys are aging and might not be playing much longer. Also, as expected, the guys all have jobs and live scattered throughout Saga, so sometimes it is difficult to gather enough guys to play a game. On the plus side, this is probably part of the reason for their very welcoming hospitality!

Apparently there was a hockey rink in Saga about seven or eight years ago, but it went bankrupt. So now the team practices in Kurume City, which is in Fukuoka Prefecture but is next to Saga’s Kitashigeyasu town. There is only one rink in Kurume, and it is the only rink for miles, so there are a few teams that practice there: Saga Club, Saga University, Kurume Club, Kurume University and Wendy’s (the women’s team). Oddly, there isn’t a league schedule of games. All of the games are played in tournaments except for the odd fun/exhibition game. The tournaments are pretty much the same year after year with the same teams participating.

What is ice hockey?

Growing up in Canada, to me there was only one kind of hockey: ice hockey. So only after coming to Japan have I learned to refer to it as ice hockey, since some people are left wondering if I play field/grass hockey or ice hockey. Since most people from outside North America here on the JET program don’t know too much about ice hockey, I recommend going to Wikipedia’s ice hockey page for a quick synopsis.

Team information

Saga Club (men’s)

• Contact: Jeff Potter (090-5296-6719)
• Fees: 6000 yen/month
• Time: Wednesday and Sunday nights from 8:15 to 9:45
• Where: Kurume City’s Sports Garden

Wendy’s (women’s)

• Fees: 5000 yen/month
• Time: Tuesday nights 8:15 to 9:45 and Saturday nights 8:15 to 9:15
• Where: Kurume City’s Sports Garden

Kurume’s Sports Garden

The Sports Garden is located along Route 264, which turns into Route 322. It is near the Sunday Sun and Mr. Donuts restaurants just past the Route 3 intersection and Nishitetsu Kurume train station.

General admission is 1,500 yen, high school students and younger are 1,200 yen. With your admission fee you can come and go as many times as you like and skate for as long as you want. Rental skates are available. Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays. There is also a bowling alley and batting cages.

Teams in Kyushu

Fukuoka Prefecture

• All Blacks (perennially the best team in Kyushu, there are a couple foreigners on the team)
• Bruins (a very close second to the All Blacks)
• Hakata A
• Hakata B
• Iizuka Club (they have their own arena and are home to a tournament in April every year)
• Bombers (a team of very skilled and fast high school kids from all over Kyushu)
• Prince (a team from Kitakyushu)
• Kurume Club
• Kurume University
• Wakato
• Red Wings
• Kyushu Sougyou University

There are some other university teams that I forget or don’t know of probably because their skill level isn’t very high.

Saga Prefecture

• Saga Club
• Saga University

Nagasaki Prefecture

• Nagasaki A (there are some foreigners on this team, which made it into one of the best teams in Kyushu)
• Nagasaki B

Oita Prefecture

• Oita Club

Miyazaki Prefecture

• Miyazaki Club

Kumamoto Prefecture

• Kumamoto Club (Black Crow, a good team that we consistently battle with and have a little rivalry going on)
• Kumamoto University
• Kumamoto Jr. Club
• Score

Rinks that I know of

Fukuoka Prefecture

• Papio Ice Rink. Located in Hakata, is open year-round and has a summer tournament every year.
• Fukuoka Prefeairport Ice Rink. I forget the name of this one, but it is a swimming pool in the summer.
• Iizuka Ice Rink. Located in Iizuka.
• Kurume Sports Garden. Usually only open from September to April, but this year they are open year-round.

Nagasaki Prefecture

• Apparently there is a half-sized rink, but I have never been there.

Kumamoto Prefecture

• ASPA. In Kumamoto City on the second floor on top of a Jusco. It is home to a tournament every year in February.

Feel like there’s nothing to do on a rainy afternoon in Saga? Have your science needs suffered upon arrival in Japan? Are you looking for hot destination to impress your date?

Well, two out of three isn’t bad. Look no further than the Space and Science Museum south of Takeo.

Basic information

Hours: Open between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. everyday except Mondays (unless Monday is a public holiday – then it’s open) .

How much?: 500 yen gets you in the front door, but if you really want to test your space-related Japanese language skills or are looking for a dark place to spend some time with your date, another 500 yen will buy you a ticket to the planetarium show.

Getting there: From the Takeo/Kitagata Highway interchange, hop onto Route 34, turn left at Ringer Hut (towards Kashima), go past Takeo Seiryo High School and continue to a “T” intersection. Turn left at the light and look for signs for the Space Museum. You will turn right and go up a hill.

Museum extras

There is also a romantic¹ 7 p.m. Saturday night planetarium showing where you can sit back, relax and let the melodious Japanese language tumble across your cerebrum. And that’s not all. There’s also an 8 p.m. Music and Star Journey that’s probably even hotter¹.

Once inside the museum, nothing can get in your way except your imagination and all those adorable little Japanese kids. I’ve found that dressing as a scientist², complete with white laboratory jacket, my hair in disarray and a pocket protector is enough for the staff to give me a personal guided tour of the museum.

Personally, I recommend the earthquake machine, because we are getting shortchanged on our living-in-Japan experience being in earthquake-free Saga. You can also fool around with the mud skippers (Saga’s beloved mascot), pick up sea cucumbers, watch seaweed grow, take a moon walk, play the simulated spaceship game with friends, look through the eyes of animals, stand in a really cold room and watch an ice crystal form, be strapped into one of those gyro machines that spins you in five directions at once and makes you puke, and the list just goes on and on.

If you do go, be sure and have a cup of coffee. You choose the ceramic cup you fancy made by a famous Saga potter.

Notes

1. Author has never actually, physically attended either showing and there are no guarantees regarding the romantic nature or hotness of the planetarium shows.

2. The author has never dressed as a scientist at this museum, but his hair must have been suitably disheveled as he was personally escorted around the museum.

Wellington-boot throwing competition. Cock fights. Standing with a vegetarian friend and gaping at an atrocious parade of slain moose mounted on the back of pick-up trucks. Sleeping rough in St. Mark’s Square, with nothing but a box of tic-tacs for nourishment and torn pages of a magazine for warmth. Up until the last weekend of May 2004, I was content with my repertoire of absurd experiences. Not bad, ne? I hadn’t expected to add to the list. Well, not in Japan, and certainly not whilst living in my new adopted home called Kashima.

But, as a recent importee to this fair town, locals were persistent in their attempts to explain all that Kashima has to offer. The Yutoku Shrine (the third largest in Japan), the onsen and many pachinkos for the gamblers. I’d heard mention of an olympics of some kind and immediately thought “agggggggggg!” There’s nothing like the hint of a participatory sporting event to put the fear of God into comatose muscles.

“Oh, Tatami-san, I can barely contain myself until the end of May. A sports day! And in the sweltering heat, bring it on (?)! Dehydration; sweat-saturation, (linguistic) frustration, isolation, exasperation, (shogakusei) inundation. Don’t make me go!”

It had slipped my slippery mind to inquire as to what gata meant. Gata, blah, potatoes. Lie low, they’ll forget about it.

Well, gata, I discovered, means mud. And olympics is fairly obvious: images of leaping ensembles of finely tuned muscles triple-vaulting, steeple chasing, playing chess. What in the name of shrouded Afghans has mud got to do with all this?

Let us fast-forward ourselves to the day of the spectacle. Suitable attire? Nothing you’d deem valuable or ever hope to wear again. Setting? The shores of the Ariake Sea (any beach scene works; imagine the collection ground of the excesses of a diahorea epidemic and you have the picture). Mud took the place of sand.

The list of events to be considered: surfing, 100m swim, lady’s wrestling, tug of war, cycling, Tarzan jumps. The 100m mud swim could be equated to those dreams where you’re trying desperately to run but whilst tied to a burdensome hundred pound weight. You’re going nowhere fast. Able-bodied men mounted bicycles, looking out to the mud-soaked subversive fifteen-inch wide ramp of danger they must attempt to orienteer. It’s an achievement to manage one full pedal rotation before veering into the chocolaty waters. The mud’s subliminal urge to derail contestants could neither be subdued nor defied.

Six hours later, none of the participants were recognizable. A menagerie of sea-urchin-like athletes posed for pictures under a crepuscular sun whilst waiting to be hosed down by firemen.

I’m afraid I lack the literary wherewithal to do justice to the regality of the day. I can pledge, though, that this experience will surely top the yardsticks in harebrained-ness and hilarity. I think the photos speak for themselves.

Created in the late 1980s, Global Village has prepared and sent hundreds of teams to almost fifty countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Carribean and North America to help build houses.

Habitat houses are built by people who have donated their money and time to those in need. The new homeowners contribute to more houses and Habitat families through a programme called “sweat equity” and mortgage payments on their no-interest house loans.

Such a programme exists on the Filipino island of Pallawan, in a small fishing community called Baranguay. Some forty houses have already been constructed since the project began five years ago. Previous to this construction, locals were living on a strip of marsh which was subject to flooding and which didn’t belong to them. The houses were rickety and on stilts.

Ours was the first international group to visit this site, and what a welcome we received under armed guard. We spend four days on site, helping build a house with the family who would live in the house and the materials our donations bought. The methods were basic but effective, if grueling. Tasks were digging foundations, making blocks, block-laying and shoveling sand — all this in sweltering heat and with fragile nails. Corny it may sound, it was the jovial children and the welcoming locals who made the trip what it was. It’s the amazement of seeing people react to you like you’re actually someone special when you know yourself that you set upon this trip begrudgingly. For me, this was my first charitable endeavour. I think that I got far more from my time there than I gave. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Seeing is believing. For more information consult the Habitat for Humanity website.

1. Plan your English classes
2. Study Japanese
3. Learn an easier language
4. Conduct “research” on the Internet
5. Read a book
6. Write a book
7. Write a play
8. Act out the play in your teacher’s room
9. Write an article for a magazine or newspaper back home
10. Write an article for this website
11. Learn HTML and make your own website
12. Download music onto your laptop
13. Take a distance learning Masters course
14. Become a better teacher by taking a TEFL or TESOL distance learning certificate program
15. Oxygenate that brain by taking a vigorous walk around the school grounds
16. Head off to the dojo and do some yoga, dance, or meditation
17. Attain nirvana at your desk
18. Check out the gym and shoot some hoops
19. Go to the music room and practice or learn the piano
20. Finished with the piano? Try the guitar
21. Serenade your students and teachers during the lunchtime
22. Start a lunchtime movie and make some movie posters
23. Start an English school newspaper
24. Put that library to work and start a section for learning or studying English
25. Make an English bulletin board that changes weekly
26. Write pop songs at your desk to sell for vast amounts of money
27. Write haiku poems about your existence or non-existence at school
28. Organize an English camp at your school
29. Order your food online at The Flying Pig
30. Granola junkies can order your food at Alishan Organic Center
31. Get another book or CD at Amazon Japan
32. See how many students you can talk to in one day by wandering the halls between classes
33. Come up with a school song in English
34. Try to get your teachers to stop using disposable (wariboshi) chopsticks
35. Start a recycling pile of old worksheets in the printing room
36. Plan your next trip inside or outside of Japan — check out the Japan National Tourist Organization