In each class various role plays are carried out. A foreign person plays the part of a patient (who can’t speak Japanese) and a member of SPIRA plays the part of a doctor (who can’t speak English). The Japanese volunteer has to interpret between the two people. Each role play is scripted so all you really have to do in the class is read from the script. Although they need someone to translate the scenes into English from Japanese, so you would have to have some Japanese ability, although if you just have a basic grasp and don’t mind looking up some medical words in the dictionary, that would be fine.

The dates are:
August 12th 9.30-11:00 (One person required)

August 26th 13:30-15:30 (Two people required)

The group is really good fun and its a great chance to learn some more Japanese whilst doing something to help the foreign community in Saga.

Please email Kitamikado san at: spira03@star.saganet.ne.jp

Many of you may have already received notifications about the Dragon Boating but here is the version on Sagajet!

DATE: 31st August (08:00)

DATE of PRACTICE: 23rd August (09:00)

DEADLINE: 1st August

On Sunday August 31st, starting at a bright and early time of 08:00 people will gather at the Kasegawa River and race each other in Dragon Boats. This year insurance is inluded and so is the price of drinks and food. Total of 3000 yen altogether! So all you need to bring is yourself, suntan lotion (a hat?) , a towel, and I advise another drink to carry around with you.

There will be a practice day on the 23rd of August which is voluntary. This starts at 9:00 and lasts till 12:00. Beware, it does coincide with the Nanayama Homestay. If you can’t make the practice, don’t worry, you can still attend on the main day!

DIRECTIONS: Take the train from where ever you are to Kubota station near Saga station. The location is near the Saga prefectural baseball stadium. I have included a nice little map with this message. Hopefully it comes out…

Saga station is one station to the right of Nabeshima station which is shown on the map above.

If you need any other details don’t hesitate to call or email me! It might be useful to store my number in your keitai’s for use on the day!

Here is my email and mobile phone details! i.kt.cheung@gmail.com

080-1786-6395

Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=32663996632 for you facebook freaks like me.

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.

It’s time again to play up the famous, the spectacular, the most amusing way of trying to kill yourself:

The Nanayama Waterfall Climb!

(or, International shower climbing in Nanayama as it is sadly written on the sheets…)

Date: Sunday, August 24th

Place: My home of Nanayama

Fee: 1000 yennies

So, we’ve got these waterfalls in Nanayama, and someone decided we should all climb them. There’s usually over 1000 people climbing the falls and we’d like over 100 of them to be foreign folks.

It seemed like a rather easy climb for me last year. There’s usually two courses at every waterfall. The easy course and the hard course. Either way, there’s plenty of ropes and people to keep you from dying. It’s fun, it’s exciting and it’s almost entirely in the river, so you don’t feel horrible and sticky the whole time.

There is provided transportation from Saga City allll the way to Nanayama. Alternatively, you could drive there.

Additionally!

There is a homestay program this year. We’re looking for 10-20 people to come to Nanayama at around noon on Saturday 23rd and stay with a family for the night. They’ll feed you and the like and you might even get a free trip to the great onsen up here. Then, they’ll take you to the waterfall climb and you can have fun.

Since this is Nanayama, there’s a surprising amount of decent English ability to be found. Plus, the families will usually have junior high or high school kids that will probably get a kick out of talking to you. They’re supposed to be showing you how good live is up in the mountains, so expect fresh food and stuff too.

The homestay is, of course, free. Also, you don’t have to pay to participate in the waterfall climb either.

Date: Noon Saturday, August 23rd - 5PM Sunday, August 24th

Place: Nanayama (and maybe Hamatama)

Fee: FREE (The Waterfall climb is also FREE)

For this one, there is no free bus from Saga, but there is one from Karatsu station. Alternatively, you could drive.

I will be helping coordinate the monies and the applications this year, so it should go smoother than last year.

HERE IS THE APPLICATION. You can fill it out on your computer and send it me [Josh] as well.

I’ll also be sending emails and probably a facebook invite as well. One thing I’m not entirely clear on is that you can also form teams and win prizes and such for the climbing. (Not just fastest, but best costume and such) More information on that as I get it. New people will be here at this time and they are also invited.

Deadlines: Waterfall climb July 31st; Homestay mid-July

I live in one of the most beautiful places in Saga. Come, visit, be happy.

Questions? Comments? Quibbles? email, pm, message, call, text, fax me

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:

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.

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

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).

Here are directions to the JAF in Saga City. It’s possible to have you materials mailed there if you can’t get to it, but it seems like more people opt to go there in person.

Also, if your license does NOT say “ISSUED ON: xx/xx/xxxx” then you will need to order a copy of your driving record – or some other proof of when you got your first license. JAF will not translate this. You will have to find a translator, but anyone can do it. Just get your translator to write his/her name, position, contact number, and stamp it with his/her inkan.

Back to JAF’s role: the cost to do the driver’s license translation is about 3000 yen. JAF also sells English copies of “Rules of the Road” which is worth looking through before you take you driving test (and also to bone up on the differences between Japan and your own country so you can drive better). It’s 1000 yen. Check your apt. to see if your predecessor left a copy. Chances are s/he did. While the newest versions will have the newest laws noted, the vast majority of the information doesn’t change from year to year.
Here are the directions, from Saga Station’s North exit. I recommend doing this in a car or possibly a bike. It’s too far to (happily) walk.

Go directly north from the north exit of the station. Pass the Sports Grounds. Instead of turning at the Lawsons for the ken apts, keep going straight. You will pass all kind of stuff. You should pass a car place on your left (I think Suzuki).

Eventually, the road (263) will fork off, with one branch going to Mitsuse, I think. You should stay on the left fork. Then, look for a big, gaudy pachinko parlor (”Tiger”) on the right. I think it’s at a big intersection. If you pass the Mc Donald’s you have gone too far. If you get to Jusco, you have REALLY gone too far.

This all happens very quickly. It’s the next left after the split, I think. I had to go back and try again. But maybe you will be okay. Here is a picture of the JAF from the side street that it’s on:

And here is a picture of it from the main road:

Notice the gas station that is in front of it. Turn left into the road JUST before it and you will be okay. It’s pretty nondescript. Finally, here is a Google Maps link to it.  View Larger Map

Good luck, road warrior!

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. 

Table of contents for Nanayama Waterfall Climb

1. 2008 Nanayama Waterfall Climb!

Hey folks, just letting you know that this years waterfall climb will be held on Sunday 24th August. I’ll post more information on the application process when I get it but mark it in your diaries for now.