Tuesday 22 July 2008

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"gasshuku" which is camp, much like the Shiramizu Summer Camp this past July 19-20th. For those who've been on the blog since the beginning, you might remember me talking about this last year as well.


Spot the Chinese-Canadian haha.....
(group photos courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog)

The camp itself is run every year, usually in August, taking place at the Nippon Budokan training centre in Chiba, near the International Budo University. It's also usually three days, two nights. This time, however, it was in July and only two days one night, simply because there's another, even bigger event in August- the Wadokai World Cup in Vancouver. And seeing as the majority of the 25 competitors headed to Vancouver are also in the camp, it was cut to two days just to keep from wearing them out. Also different was that this time around, I was signed on as staff, so I helped take care of the kids and teach during the training sessions and such.

But we still managed a lot in those two days. At 7am on Saturday, 100 of us from the dojo left for Chiba which is the prefecture to the east of Tokyo. After stopping for lunch at the Kamogawa Ocean Park (it's more like a water park with picnic areas), we arrived at the training centre at 1:30. After a bit of unpacking, 2:30 saw the start of our 3-hr training sessions for the day.

After that, the fun began. We had a huge BBQ (no, really, HUGE) and fireworks (mostly sparklers). At night, all the staff gathered in a room and we had ice cream and hung out. The next day, we went for a run/walk/me-racing/chasing-the-kids up to a look out point and we had a 5 minute practice looking out onto the Pacific Ocean. That was followed with breakfast and yet another practice.

At 11am, we left for Kamogawa Sea World which is a huge sea-side aquarium. I didn't know what to expect but it's quite surprising how much stuff was there. From giant crabs to this absolutely HUGE sunfish to killer whales, belugas, and dolphin shows. It was really rather impressive........... dare I say more so than the Vancouver Aquarium??....... hmm....... =)


The orca was desperate to get into the picture...

But the coolest site, for me anyway, was the chance to go through the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line. The bay is rather massive and while there is a ferry across is, the only other way across it is to drive the 100km shoreline from Tokyo to Chiba.

What interests me the most about the Aqua-Line is that it's a bridge-tunnel, where the Tokyo half of the road is under the water while the Chiba end is a bridge. At the cross-over point is "Umihotaru" (Sea firefly), a man-made island that serves as the cross-over, a rest-stop, and contains intricate on- and off-ramps that allow you to legally drive to Umihotaru, go to the restaurants or take in the view there, and then return the way you came.

If any of you watch Top Gear, July 13th's episode where they race a Nissan GTR against a bullet train across Japan, there's a great aerial shot of the GTR blasting out of the tunnel on its way to Chiba.

Why does it interest me?? I guess I'm just a sucker for feats of engineering...... the entire route is 14km long and its 9.6km tunnel is the world's longest underwater car tunnel in the world. It also took 31 years (!!) to complete at a cost of $11.7 billion USD when it opened in 1997. Hence why the toll to cross the thing is $30.........

But the camp was great fun. I think I had even more fun this time around because I knew everyone better there and I was better able to communicate with the kids. And now it's a few days off while I finished prepping for the school's home stay. We'll have 9 students from all over the world (mostly Canadians, both from Canada and by-way of Hong Kong) come stay for two weeks so I'll be helping them through all the activities we've planned for them....... fun!

Monday 14 July 2008

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"erai". Y'know how I used to pick two words that sounded really similar but had totally different meanings?? Well "erai", according to the dictionary, can mean an "eminent (person)" or "(something) awful"......... I'm not joking, it's written in there. I can understand two different sounding similar and meaning two things, but how can ONE word have two completely different meanings??

What I think is happening is that different dialects have different uses for the word erai but it seems, in Tokyo anyway, erai is usually desribes how great a person is.

Great people such as my English students, who've been so kindly giving me small cards or presents as they count down their last few classes with me. Cards like this one.......


Ok, I admit that, at first, it doesn't bode well for me as an English teacher but, if I may be honest, this student (Haruka) is 6 years old and I've never actually told her or her mother how my name is spelled. So they've just worked off the pronunciation and gave it their best shot. I actually think it's rather endearing =).......

At any rate, this is the last week I'll be teaching English (aside from the odd class here and there in the high school) which is good timing because I've got a lot in store for the next month and a half.

There'll be the Shiramizu Summer Camp where I'll be helping out as staff, then the school is hosting a two week homestay so I'll be taking foreign kids around Tokyo, then I move (actually I move during the homestay), and then I'm in Vancouver.

And then it's Sept and there'll only be 6 months left before my contract is over........ freaky how time flies........

But check back soon for pics of all the stuff I'll be doing!...

Monday 7 July 2008

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"jun" which, in the case of the one I'm referring to, means semi- or quasi-..... or half.... or just not fully one thing. So, for example, a junkessho is a "semifinal" match in a competition.


This past Sunday was the Saitama Prefecture Wadokai Championships which saw 7 different Wadokai clubs and just over 300 competitors vying for top spot. As usual, I entered both kata and kumite but this time around, there was more on the line than just winning or losing. I had made it my personal karate goal to receive some kind of award from a tournament before my internship was officially over (despite the fact that I'm still here for another 9 months). And, seeing as my internship officially ends July 17th, this was my last shot at accomplishing the goal.

It didn't help that in my kata division run in the morning there were only 7 people. In Japan, large divisions usually see the Top 8 be awarded with certificates and the best 3 with medals. This time around, with only 7 people, I had to place 2nd or higher.

And that's how this ties in. I extremely happy to say I came in 2nd place, otherwise known as "junyuushou", or "semi-champion". Aside from just accomplishing my goal, I had begun to think I wasn't getting enough done in my time here and this was a really nice way of proving to myself that I managed to improve at least a little bit haha......

But I still have much left to do though, as my kumite ended in the first round with a 4-2 loss. Despite that, I've gradually felt more at ease with being in the ring so with time, that will come as well.

The day ended off with yet another big "congratulations on a job well done" party which was also Carl and Amy's welcome party. Lots of food, drink, and laughs was a great way to cap off a good day's effort.

And effort I'll need considering the next tournament I'm entered in is the World Wadokai Championships this Aug 21-23......... although kata only this time haha.....

Also, Amy, as it turns out, studied photography and was kind enough to spend the tournament scooting around on the floor snapping photos of everyone. She was also kind enough to send lots of me being rather unphotogenic during my kumite match......... but I've picked a few least-unphotogenic ones to put up here haha...... enjoy!



Give...


... and take...

Thursday 3 July 2008

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"butsukete" which is one of the many conjugated forms of "butsukaru" which means to "run into/crash". Now, "run into" can be used in the same way we use it in English- as meeting someone by chance or literally colliding with someone. The form I'm referring to today is the latter.

Who did I collide with?? I'm not really sure...... I was coming out of the train station, heading to work, just like the hundreds (if not thousands) of other people and to bump into someone isn't abnormal. I mean, I'm pushed into or out of trains on a daily basis, having long since stopped trying to resist 600+lbs of leaning humans.

Nevertheless, as I passed through the gate, I bumped into someone but, not having paid much attention, I kept walking. It wasn't til 10 feet out that I felt someone invading my personal bubble and a quick check over my left shoulder revealed a Japanese man just inches off my arm, glaring at me......

*tap tap*, goes my shoulder...... "Butsukaru yo~ omae-RA", goes my ear..... Now, as a word of caution, if you ever get into a situation when the Japanese starts to fill with rolling R's or otherwise not full sentences, know that them's fightin' words.... Of course, I'm really in no mood to get into any type of confrontation (I never am, let alone before 8am), so I just apologized and kept walking.

Apparently not satisfied with that, he said it again. At this point, still walking, I turned to him and said, in English, "Sorry, I don't speak Japanese". Of course, he wasn't satisfied with that either.

I think he expected me to cower in fear and bow at the waist, repenting for my evil ways at the ticket machine. Either that, or perhaps some reflection of his aggression so that it could escalate into some situation where his could "out-aggress" me....... And, much to his dismay, I did neither. After glaring at me some more, he said "You push (sic) me."

Now this guy was, at most, the same height as me, though he puffed out his torso like a blowfish and tried to lean in to intimidate me. I counter with a blank and slightly quizzical look, "Oh... sorry about that."

"You really think so?", said the glaring blowfish.

"....... uhh yes, I really think I'm sorry......??", offered the blank face.

"You really no speak Japanese?"

"No....... I'm from Canada", saying it as if it was the world's greatest excuse.......

"You push me."

"Really, sorry about that...... there's just so many people moving everywhere that sometimes it's hard not to run into someone."

At this point, he started to look a touch confused and, sensing there was little else he could say to someone who wasn't offering any type of response back, told me to be more careful and huffed off some other way.

Now this isn't something that happens all the time and certainly it's one of the few times it's happened to me and the first time in Japan. But it did get me thinking about how being non-confrontational doesn't require a person to immediately admit wrong-doing or some other kind of inferiority nor does it require forcing the other person down with extra aggression (which will almost never work).

Oddly, having spent that entire conversation looking at him, I can't remember his face so if I see him again tomorrow, I can't be sure this won't happen again........... but at least then my quizzical look will be genuine haha.......

In other news, the next Shiramizu Intern, Carl Jorgeson, has arrived. He's spending a year here doing what I did and, this time around, his fiance's come with him. Not officially the intern, everyone's happy Amy's here and she'll soon find work on her own and the two of them will get to experience Japan for themselves.

So welcome, and hopefully you won't have to defuse any situations like this in your year here! haha