Renewal

Incidentally, just to keep you posted, I did renew for another three months. Which would mean I'm due to finish in August.
However, I realised my offer said that if I renew for "less than 3 months" I won't get a re-offer; but I am renewing for 3. This means I may well get another contract offer next year.
If they do offer me another, well, it will be nice to be able to keep my options open. Also, it would be nice to be able to make a decision *after* going back to Australia for a visit. My feelings (as to whether I want to leave or stay) tend to vary with the weeks. Right now I'm very happy with everything.
If they don't offer me another, well, at least I don't have to spend weeks agonising over a decision again. ^_^

Thanksgiving

Today (well, yesterday - it's now 1:20am) was Thanksgiving Day. American Thanksgiving, anyway. (And come to think of it, I suppose it's still Thanksgiving Day in America, due to the time difference.)

Anyway, it was my first time to celebrate Thanksgiving. A bunch of us - mostly teachers from various schools, and a few friends of friends - met at the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi. I'd never been to a Hard Rock cafe before. We had a turkey dinner with cranberry sauce (admittedly, the turkey and vegetables came served with rice. It seemed somehow a fitting blend of cultures...)

We were quite an international group. There were ten of us, including 2 Aussies, 1 Pom, 2 Canadians, 1 Japanese guy, and 4 Americans.

We went around the table and said what we were thankful for.

Actually, I am thankful for a lot of things. I'm thankful to be here, in Japan. I'm thankful for a job I mostly like. I'm thankful for really nice co-workers. I'm thankful I'm starting to make more friends. I'm thankful for my social life - it's actually been really good the last few months. I get to do lots of interesting things; it seems like every weekend I'm having a blast.

I'm thankful for my friends back home. I'm thankful for my family, who are great. I'm thankful I can go to Australia next month and see everyone (thanks Mum and Dad!). I'm thankful I can enjoy my life so much and there are so many nice people around me everywhere.

Weird sickness

I'm slightly sick but I've never experienced this before.

So, on Saturday I woke up feeling nauseous, threw up a few times before going to work. Worked a full day, felt nauseous for some of it. Had many moments of feeling extremely strange, kind of feverish. In one class I thought I was going to faint.
Felt totally normal Sunday and Monday.

Tuesday, I mostly felt normal but this evening started getting some weird symptoms again and again with the dizziness/nausea and strange feelings.

By strange feelings, I mean... well, you know when you have a fever, and you think in a strange way? For example, you get one particular thought or idea stuck in your head, and you can't get it out? Or you remember - or think you remember - some long-forgotten event or story you once read, and it seems incredibly important and profound, and yet you had no memory of it before you got the fever?

On Saturday the weird thing was deja vu. I had indeed taught all those lessons before, but I felt extremely acute deja vu. I actually felt as if I had already experienced everything on that day - I heard the exact same questions, I replied using exactly the same words, we went onto exactly the same tangents, students made exactly the same points. Even when I talked to a staff member about a student report, I felt as if we'd had an identical discussion - right down to the exact sentences we were using - a few weeks earlier.

Apart from sudden attacks of nausea and dizziness, which have never lasted more than a few minutes, I've felt fine apart from moments of slight headache or sore throat. Today I again had a couple of moments of panic where I felt so dizzy that I wondered if I was going to throw up or have to lie down on the street.

Any thoughts on this? I'd peg it down to some kind of weird virus and a touch of fever, but it seems very strange to me that I should feel totally fine on the weekend and then sick before and after it. Right now I feel pretty normal except for a very slight headache.

I had an awesome weekend, incidentally. I must post about it soon. ^_^

Fujisan ga mieru

The last day or two, it started to get really cold (again). Right now it's about 7 outside. It will get worse in winter, of course, but for November, it's cold enough!!

However, the cold weather has brought really clear, crisp skies. Two of my students today told me they could see Mt Fuji this morning.

I think I've mentioned this before - all around Tokyo and Kanagawa, where I live, on a sufficiently clear day, you can actually see Mt Fuji from any vantage point if it's high enough, or if there aren't many tall buildings around. For example, I can see Mt Fuji from the train to my Japanese teacher's house. However, I haven't seen it since last winter. I realised that the entire last 8 months have been mostly cloudy or hazy. Ironically, even when I *climbed* Mt Fuji, I couldn't see it until I was actually on it. Even driving away from it, five minutes away from it and it was so cloudy and foggy I couldn't see it! And it's a big mountain!!

So it's nice to have such clear blue skies again, even if everyone is rugged up in enough clothes to go to Antarctica...

***

Oh, I forgot to mention it here but my co-workers gave me a surprise birthday party last week! I was really touched. :) A couple of students also gave me gifts (most people didn't know it was my birthday though). I have some chocolates from Godiva here, lucky me. ^_^ My co-workers cooked for me, and we had oyakodon, ratatouille, and some other things, including shiitake mushrooms... I already enthused about shiitake mushrooms a couple of weeks ago, but these were stuffed with mince meat and negi. I liked them so much I tried making them myself last night. Really good!!

My coworkers - and other people around me - are so nice.

Seafood

My day started with an upset stomach. For some reason I just felt sick. I threw up three times before leaving for work, and wondered if I'd be able to make it through the day. I even brought a plastic bag into my classroom, just in case the worst should happen and I couldn't make it out in time. I couldn't eat breakfast and I only had a few mouthfuls of lunch.

My day ended with me eating a wide variety of weird and sometimes disgusting raw seafood.

Now, as I've blogged previously, I've eaten a few strange things in Japan, mostly of the horumon (offal) variety. Chicken heart, intestines, liver, tongue, heart, fish fins (eaten like potato chips), diaphragm, raw horse, sea urchin, and raw octopus in wasabi. (The latter two were by far the worst.)

Tonight I can add substantially to my list.

Pete and I went out to a sashimi* restaurant with one of my favourite students, and his friend. I went for the company, not the food; I still felt a bit seedy and thought I wouldn't be eating much.

*(Sashimi is raw fish. As opposed to sushi, which is raw fish on rice, often with wasabi.)

So what did I eat? I tried whale, for the first time. We had whale sashimi, and deep-fried whale pieces. They were both really good. The deep-fried whale tasted a bit like deep-fried chicken (same type of deep-frying as 'karaage') but the meat was softer. The whale sashimi was pink, it looked much like raw tuna. Dipped in soy sauce, topped with negi and daikon, it was tasty.

I had raw fugu, sliced very thin, white and transparent. Again, dipped in soy sauce. Fugu is pufferfish, and is famous for being that dish which is fatally poisonous if prepared incorrectly. Apparently, fugu is most poisonous in its liver. And naturally, it's the meat closest to the liver which is considered most delicious. So only specially licensed chefs who attained certificiation are allowed to prepare fugu.

Then came the shirako. What to say about shirako??
Just look at this picture.

That's shirako.

When it came out, I thought we were getting fish stomach lining. Our student's friend really recommended this and liked the taste of it. When it came out, it really did look like raw stomach lining. But it wasn't stomach. To quote wikipedia, shirako is "the male genitalia of fish when they contain sperm".

I've never seen Pete quail before any dish, ever, but even he had to psych himself into this. Each piece is quite a big mouthful. The student and his friend watched expectantly. "It's delicious, right?" Pete disagreed, lunging for his beer. He remarked that it tasted exactly like what it was...

I refused to try a whole piece but had a minute amount. Actually, it was small enough that I could mostly only taste the sauce, which tasted nice enough, but the shirako was cold and slimy. I would not be talked into trying more sperm-filled testicles. Incredibly, the student and his friend ordered another dish of it to eat for themselves...

Somewhat nicer was ankimo - the liver of angler fish. This is something of a luxury dish, like foie gras. Pete and I mused that it tasted vaguely of canned salmon or canned tuna. "But much more expensive," pointed out our student somewhat indignantly, at which we hastened to say it was MUCH better than those things. I guess, being from Australia, I don't have much history of eating raw seafood, so I don't have much reference point to explain these tastes. All these raw seafood dishes are very unique-tasting.

I also enjoyed the river shrimp. They're really small shrimp, fried and crispy, and you just eat them whole, heads and antennae and all.

For me, the worst challenge of the night were the raw oysters. These things were huge. 'Milk of the sea' is what Japanese people call them, because they're creamy. And sea-y. The others each slurped theirs down in one huge, disgusting mouthful, but I had to dispose of mine in three bites. I wasn't planning to have one at all and I had to psych myself, for about five minutes each, into each mouthful. They were creamy, and slimy, and tasted like sea water and something indefinable.

After the raw oysters was the marginally better - mostly because it was smaller - frozen raw squid. I mean, small pieces of marinated raw squid, frozen like ice treats. Only once you start eating them, the ice melts away a bit and you just have the chewy, red, raw squid in your mouth.

Japan is weird sometimes.

Hakone

Today I went to Yunessun in Hakone. Hakone's a popular day trip from Tokyo. It's in the mountains and has some nice scenery. At this time of year, it's wonderful because the autumn colours are perfect.

Anyway, in Hakone we went to Yunessun, which is a hot spring theme park. Unlike traditional hot springs, you wear a bathing suit. The indoor part of the park has a kind of ancient Mediterranean theme. They had a big, hot spring spa pool, various smaller spas and hot baths, including one full of roses, one with imported salt from the Dead Sea (you float in it really easily, but it stung my skin), a hot spring outdoor waterslide, a rose-scented spa and a traditional Roman bath.

They also had 'doctor fish', those same fish I got my feet eaten by in Oedo Onsen Monogatari. They weren't as intense as at Oedo though. Fewer fish, and more people. But, included in the entrance fee. ^_^

The outdoor part of the onsen was really cool. They had all these 'flavoured' hot springs. So you could go and bathe in coffee, red wine, green tea, sake, etc. The red wine spring was really pink! A few times each day they come and dump more coffee/wine/etc in the bath. We got splashed by coffee when they replaced that one. Fortunately, it wasn't especially crowded, and the autumn leaves surrounding us outdoors were really nice.

It was really quite cold - the maximum today was 13, and it was probably around 10 in the late afternoon - so we kind of moved from hot spring to hot spring very fast! There were also various hot spring waterfalls, and a charcoal

The park used the same 'wristband' system as Oedo. You get an electronic wristband when you enter, which can be scanned if you want to buy food etc within the park. That way you don't have to carry anything around with you.

It was good fun, and it was nice to see Hakone again, on better terms this time. The bus ride up to the park was really stunning.

Washing the dishes

Housewife 1: My husband bought me a dishwasher. I was having problems with my hands. I had skin problem, so he bought a dishwasher.
Housewife 2: My husband bought me gloves...

Outings and work

Next weekend is my birthday weekend and I wanted to do something interesting, but so far my plan is: get a haircut and get my visa status updated. The former task will be very enjoyable as I like my hairdresser a lot. The latter task fills me with a decided lack of enthusiasm. Three hours of waiting in that immigration office, followed by a merry trip to the ward office, is not appealing.

However, I'm bookending that weekend with two Fun Outings. Tomorrow I'm going to Hakone to a hot spring theme park. I'm really looking forward to this. It's getting nastily cold here, so it will be perfect for hot springs, and also a good chance to see the autumn leaves at their peak.

Then, in two weeks, I'm going on a day trip to Nagano, where the Winter Olympics were held. Tanoshimi! (I'm looking forward to it!)

I got my contract renewal offer. I'm going to think about it a bit more first to see if I change my mind (very possible) but so far am still inclined toward the 'renew for 3 months so I can enjoy next summer' idea.

Work has been quite busy lately. When I say 'quite', I mean 'very'. Three weeks ago I was super busy because we were organising a party for kids and one for adults. Two weeks ago I was super busy because I was planning heaps of 'special classes' of my own devising. (I rarely have to create my own classes.) Last week we offered a bunch of special classes. I taught classes on music, cooking, cultural differences, phone English, pronunciation, and Internet English.

It was good fun but a little stressful too. I think they went fairly well though. The last time I designed classes from scratch was for our 'fun day' in January. I could see a huge difference in quality. That's the difference between having two months' teaching experience, and having one year's teaching experience.

From this week, I'm back to 'normal', which is 30 classes a week! It's the fullest my schedule has ever been. I might have to start coming in a bit early because otherwise I rely on every second of my 'office hours' to prepare my kids' lessons, and that means I'm not very free to do other things like chat to students or help the office staff.

However, my lesson prep time for each class (except kids' lessons) is pretty low now, and I'm coming into the third time teaching some of the classes.

From this week I'll be teaching a short course of my own devising. It will require some extra work and so far only one student has signed up. So I really hope a few more will join. Fingers crossed!

From this week I'll also have a new challenge in the form of two new students for my little kids' class. Until now it's been two children, but this week two more are joining. I'll have four children aged 2-3 in the room with me, no parents. (This is theoretically the idea, but one girl won't stay in the room without her mum.)

I can't honestly say I am a natural at working with small children, and I'm not sure how it will work, having more children than hands (before, I could do things like open both children's books at once). My progress in learning how to teach little kids has mostly consisted of figuring out how to remove distractions. (For example, clearing all the 'fun' toys out of the lobby before they come, hiding stickers so they don't find them and go nuts, putting all my extra materials in a box so they are not playing with everything at once, etc.)

Still, I think it will work out okay. It will probably be a little shaky at first, but after that, it might even be better than now, because both the new students seemed to be a lot better at following instructions and participating in activities, so they could set a good tone for the class. ^_^

Aki (autumn)

Well, we're heading into late autumn, and the start of my second year in Japan.

At this time last year, I was doing my first week of teacher's training, and everything was too new for me to notice much of the seasonal things. I've mentioned several times that Japan tends to draw attention to the changing seasons. Since mid-autumn, most people have been decked out in ridiculously warm coats and thick puffy vests. Yesterday it was sunny and pleasant, and I was in a t-shirt, long pants and sneakers, and my Japanese friend asked me 'aren't you cold?!'

I must say though that it is becoming quite cold at night. The sun sets at 5pm (I know, I know -_-) and in the evenings it's been getting down to 10, or 12, or so. I've had my balcony door wide open for the last few hours because I bought some new cleaner from the supermarket, being completely unable to read what it was, and started spraying it liberally about in the bathroom before realising that it's quite strong chlorine bleach.

My apartment is small and poorly ventilated, so I've been huddled in here cold while trying to get the bleach fumes out.

The vending machines have started re-stocking hot drinks, and this weekend I started seeing my first 'winter' signs. I suppose in a week or two, the 'autumn leaf' posters in the stations will be replaced with snow scenes.

Japan has certain foods that are good in different seasons - nabe in winter, etc. So I asked some of my students what I should eat in autumn. Mushrooms are good now, they said. And indeed, these days, supermarkets have quite a large section of good mushrooms. There are a lot more varieties than at home.

My pet favourite is shiitake mushrooms. I'm eating them right now. I could wax lyrical about them. They even look delicious.

You know, I rarely cook in Japan. Recently, whenever I have decided to cook, it's usually because I've seen some shiitake mushrooms in the supermarket and thought 'man, I gotta eat me some of them'.

November also means new contract time... and I still haven't decided... right now I'm thinking I *might* just renew for another 3 months. Doing so would allow me to enjoy another summer in Japan, but would negate any chance of being able to renew again. I suppose if I came to the end of my contract and decided I really, really wanted to stay in Japan, I could try to find work elsewhere. On the other hand, my coworkers and students are a major reason for me to stay here.

However, I've still not made up my mind, there's a chance I could renew for longer, or not renew at all. I like living in Japan a lot, but I miss Australia a little. I almost wish I was going back for my trip now, so I could see how I feel after. Maybe going back to Australia for a week or two will give me enough 'fix' of Australia, and family, and friends, so I feel I can easily continue in Japan for a lot longer. Or, maybe going back to Australia for a week or two will make me realise I want to go back to Australia... I dunno.

My main three choices are:

not renew; then I'd be finishing at the end of May

renew for 3 months or so; then I'd be finishing in August

renew for another 6 months; then I'd be finishing in November next year, but with the option of continuing longer

At any rate, thanks everyone for your patience and support... I'm lucky to have good family and friends...

Basashi

Tonight I tried raw horse meat.
And no, it wasn't great.