Merry Christmas クリスマス おめでとう

Hey everyone. Merry Christmas! Actually....I'm just getting around to writing this post in late February. Oops. Anyway, as you can see below, Japan isn't completely devoid of Christmas celebrations. However, things here are, not surprisingly, a little different. For example, gift giving is a very small affair between people in a relationship (usually boyfriend/girlfriend), and Christmas cake is a really big deal (they were really confused that no such thing existed in the States).





Sendai City celebrates the season with a festival they call the Pageant of Lights, during which they line the streets with countless Christmas lights. The final product was rather lovely.





Christmas time is also the time for special holiday themed lessons at my Elementary schools. The lesson plan was more or less the same for all grades, with some variations made for age/ability differences of course. First, we sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," followed by a quick game that introduced holiday vocab words, and finally we finished by making Christmas trees out of cutouts of our hands. On one side, students would decorate the hands to look like a Christmas tree and on the other half they would write want they wanted to receive. This years most desired gift? The Nintendo Wii.

Holiday English Boards

Nikko

This weekend I went to Nikko with my friends Evan and Satomi. Not only was this my first big trip out of Miyagi prefecture, but it was also my first trip on the Shinkansen (Japan's famous bullet train). It was pretty cool to be moving so fast, but because you accelerate so gradually, you don't really notice how quickly you're going. That is, of course, until you pass another Shinkansen going the other direction.





We spent 2 days and 3 nights in Nikko, spending one full day exploring Nikko's natural beauty and one day exploring its cultural heritage. Nature day involved pleasant walks through woods, strenuous mountain climbs, and scenic waterfall viewings (Nikko has more natural water running through it than any other place I've ever seen). We were hoping to catch the changing leaves, but because we were in the mountains we were, for the most part, too late. Nevertheless, Nikko does have a lot to offer in terms of the outdoors.





Of course, what Nikko is primarily know for are its temples and shrines. Arguably second only to Kyoto in regards to its concentration of religious landmarks, Nikko is teaming with beautiful architecture and points of cultural interest.





I don't have any pictures of the more famous landmarks such as Toshogu or Shinkyo (sacred bridge) because a) you can see them elsewhere, and b) I like these pictures better. Deal with it. But I think the pics will back me up when I say Nikko is a beautiful city that makes for a relaxing and interesting weekend.

Bunkasai (School Festival)

Yesterday was our school's Bunkasai. Literally, 'Cultural Festival,' but I think 'School festival' is a far better description. The day started with each class giving a short skit about the school year which usually included several humorous impersonations of teachers (luckily I was excluded), and replays of important events over the past few months.



Next were several speeches given by the students, two of which were English speeches given by students I had been working with. They were, needless to say, awesome. After that came a brief recorder concert, whose highlight was, in my humble opinion, a breathtaking rendition of the Beatle's 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.' Actually, I think everyone appreciated the ironic value of the concert as each song was following by clapping and quiet chuckle.



After lunch was a choir concert. Actually, a better word would be competition, as at the end of the concert, two groups were crowned winners. This was apparently a rather big deal as there were a few joyous tears shed. After this the whole 'festival' got noticeably more casual as kids got on stage and tried their hand at rapping, playing the guitar and, for some, just jumping around on stage.



With the rise in informality also came a rather substantial dip in quality, but the kids were having fun. (A LOT of fun) Actually, maybe my favorite moment of the day was when two students sung a song with teachers playing the background instruments. Not only were they good, but it was funny to see our head teacher shredding licks on the guitar.

Naruko

This weekend my friend Evan (see Japan Photo Guide in the links sidebar) and I went to Naruko. Known for its Onsens (hot springs) and its scenic gorge, Naruko is an ideal place for Koyo (Fall foliage viewing). Another pleasanty Naruko offers is the pervasive smell of sulfur thanks to its natural mineral springs . Aside from its distinct funk, Naruko does offer some beautiful landscapes. Unfortunately, I think we hit the gorge a little early; the leaves probably won't be in full effect for a few more weeks. But since it was such a perfect day, I'm not complaining. After spending a few hours walking through the gorge, we hit up a famous lake in the area. It's claim to fame is that it is one of the most acidic lakes in the world with a pH of 1.4, which I believe is on par with stomach acid. Yum.

Sports Festival Redux

Recently, we had another 'sports festival' in my area, although this one would be far more recognizable to western eyes. Essentially, the way the festival worked was middle schools throughout the Higashimatsushima area got together over the weekend and competed in a number of sporting events including soccer, volleyball, basketball, kendo, baseball and probably a few more that have slipped my mind. I personally spent the day driving around the city with my school's principal to watch a number of the sports. Because my principal had to make an appearance at most of the happenings I got to see a lot of different events, but this also meant I never stayed more than 30 minutes to watch one specific thing, so to be perfectly honest, I have no idea how we did in any of the events we participated in. I can only assume that won handily in each case. That is, of course, the most logical conclusion.

Jazz Festival

I honestly don't remember when this was. I think it was the first month of September, but who's to say. In any case, this was the second Jazz Festival I've been to in 6 months (the other being in New Orleans). Not surprisingly, the two are slightly different. The Jozenji Jazz Festival is a two or three day event (like I said, it was over a month ago) that takes place over several blocks and a few parks scattered around Sendai. Bands are placed in a number of places, some more formal than others. Some simply set up shop in front of a building while others get proper stages. Music ranged from Soul/R&B/Funk covers, a sort of Asian Blues Brothers if you will, to more 'traditional' jazz. The first day I went it was a bit rainy, but main for a somewhat subdued atmosphere that I thought strangely complemented some of the chiller Jazz ensembles. The second day was fiendishly hot, but was the only sunny day in the period of about three weeks. Typhoon season isn't as fun as Lonely Planet made it out to be.

On second thought...

I've decided to keep the pics from the previous post up for a host of reasons:

1. Popular demand. (i.e. Evan)
2. Shameless self-promotion
3. I post far too infrequently. It would be a shame to destroy such a rare creature.
4. To remind myself that when I forget to shave I look like a middle-schooler trying to grow his first mustache.
5. To remind myself and the world how painfully handsome I am. (see point 2)
6. They make me laugh.

Facial Expressions

It should be noted that I am merely uploading these photos so that I can print them out at school tomorrow for a class on facial expressions. By this time tomorrow night they'll be gone. I guess what I'm trying to say is, catching this post might be roughly akin to witnessing Haley's Comet while having diarrhea: A once in a lifetime experience that you'd probably rather forget.

Sports Festival

Well. Seeing as I have ANOTHER sports festival coming up this weekend I thought it might be prudent to sit down and write about the first sports festival. It was a few weeks ago, so details might be a bit fuzzy. The basic format of the festival was that the students were split into two teams, one red and one white. From there, the students competed in a number of sporting events, most of which would be quite foreign to the American sports enthusiast. The most recognizable events were various relay races. There was also a tug of war, a game similar to chicken where students get on others shoulders and try to steal hats from the other teams shoulder-sitters, mass jump roping, and kendo (traditional Japanese sword fighting) to name a few. The whole day was really fun. I had a good time cheering the kids on. I started the day rooting for the red team and the switched during the afternoon to team white. Unfortunately, when the event results were tallied up, the red team came out on top. Whoops! This weekend, apparently, the sports festival will be a little more straight forward: kids playing their respective sports and competing against other schools. Gambatte Naruse Daiichi chuugakko!