Gujo Bon Odori Matsuri

Just got back from a 3 day 'English World' summer camp up Mt. Norikura. There were 11 ALTs, 5 of us newly arrived last week, 65 elementary school kids, and a huge amount of energy and excitement (mostly on behalf of the students). No other parents or teachers were present. This is not something that could have happened back at home! It could have been a total disaster, but I'm happy to say that things went smoothly. We taught them names of bugs, how to make lemonade stands, and how to play capture the flag; we had a 'crazy olympics' tournament, a world passport game where they had to run around the Norikura compound and complete tasks for stamps, and at the end we introduced them to pinatas. The kids had a blast and the ALTs also had a great time (especially after they went to bed). The lack of supervision wasn't a problem at all. The kids woke up on time, bathed themselves and put themselves to bed, were always in the right places at the right times -- which was more than could be said for us ALTs -- and were darlings at meal time. They took reasonable portions and ate more salad and rice than french fries! What sort of kids do that??? Maybe the Japanese put something in the water... That being said, it was bloody exhausting. Having to be genki all the time really takes it out of you. However, I was also introduced to Japanese public baths. Yes, you get to get soapy with a room full of other naked women, but then you get to slip into a pool of blissfully hot water and soak the day away. (and afterwards pay a visit to the beer/chuhai vending machine down the hall).

I don't have any pictures, but I do have pictures of my visit last weekend to the Bon Matsuri at the town of Gujo Hachiman. Obon (or just Bon) is a holiday that celebrates the spirits of one's ancestors. People take time off from work and return to their home towns. Bon Odori is the dancing that takes place during the matsuri (festival); it is slow and repetative, and people take part in great numbers. Everyone comes out to dance, from the very young to the very old, and people wear their yukata (summer kimono) and wooden sandals. Last Sunday, several of us ALTs from Takayama met up with some ALTs from Gero and went to Gujo. The Gujo festival is famous because they celebrate for 31 nights, and for four nights in August the dancing goes on until dawn. We joined in and after a bit of practice and a lot of stumbling managed to catch on. You wouldn't think that slow, repetative dancing in large circles would be very interesting, but it becomes quite medetative. We had a great time, sampled some delicious festival food, and afterwards found a lovely little stream to cool our feet in. Gujo is a beautiful little town and I would love to go back one day.

The busy food vendor strip

The musicians were in the middle of four main streets and people formed enormous circles in each of the four streets

The musicians again

Dancers

More dancers

Festival food includes anything and everything deep fried, beer and roasted fish on a stick

And here's mine! It was quite salty and tasty, but they don't clean the fish they just shove a stick down it's throat and throw it over the coals. That means it is better to simply munch away and not look inside...

In addition to food there are the games and contests. And what's a matsuri without the perennial favourite "Hook an eel and then take it home in a platic bag" game. Fun times.

And finally, the perfect way to relax after a hard night of dancing.

All work, and some play

So the next day after arriving in Takayama, we were immediately thrown into the deep end and had to participate in a 2-day English Workshop for students, Elementary to Highschool. We also got to meet the rest of the Takayama ALTs, and some others from the surrounding area. I was hot, tired and still pretty jet-lagged, but it was a great experience and was actually fun. The first day I got to sit-in on the Highschool student's cooking with gaijin class. :-) Yum. I got to 'talk' with teenagers and sample: Hoba sushi (seasoned rice wrapped up in a hoba leaf), miso soup with pork and burdock, daifuku (sticky rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste), okinomiyaki (a savoury pancake cooked with vegetables and spread with a tangy sauce), and grilled mochi (sticky rice cakes) coated with shoyu (soy sauce). It was a great way to spend the afternoon! I wish I had pictures... The next day I helped do a little excercise where we pretended that various groups of students were stranded on a desert island and needed to name 10 items they would want. Charades, over acting and overall ridiculousness ensued. Finally, in the afternoon the students 'travelled' around the world visiting various countries and then had to answer simple questions about said country. Myself and another Japanese English teacher -- who had spent some time in Thunder Bay -- represented Canada. We talked about Niagara falls, the maple leaf, the Canadian anthem and bilingualism. I had my passport with me and was able to show the kids how everything is written in both English and French. They either really were impressed or just pretended to be.

Some of students during the opening ceremony

On the Friday night some of the new and old Takayama ALTs, plus some Japanese friends, got together for drinks and Karaoke. Enough said, here are some pictures:

Wow, we rocked!

To Takayama

So, on the Wednesday morning everyone got up, said our final goodbyes, and departed for our various placements. I met up with the GifuPrefectural group, and by 9am we were on the bus to the Tokyo train station to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train).

The Gifu group waiting for the train.
The Shinkansen! Bear with me here, the next several pictures will be for my Dad :-)
The Gifu group on the train. We travelled about1.5 hours or so, and got off in the city of Gifu where we were met by our supervisors. Everyone said goodbye and hello, and we were off! Oh, and yes, the bullet train is extremely fast, devoid of any bumps or jolts, and makes your ears pop like crazy.
Myself, and three other new ALTs - Katie, Ryan and Dan - were driven up to Takayama by our supervisor, Hikage-san, and another woman from the Board of Education whose name I've forgotten.
On the way up, we stopped at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. It was pretty damn cool, and cheap! Fun, delicious and colourful. Oishi.
Driving up into the mountains
First we stopped off at what looked like a magazine/stationary shop and ordered our hankos (official stamps that people here use in liu of written signatures). Then were were taken to the Board of Education to meet various officials, and had to do our introductions in Japanese. I was happy with the results of mine :-) Then the four of us were each taken to our schools for more intruductions, and suddenly very little English was being spoken. Charades became all important. I met my Kyoto-sensei (vice principal) and one of the English teachers, Hori-san, and they took me to my apartment on the nothern edge of town. As I mentioned before, it's absolutely lovely. I'm not going to post any pictures until I've have things in order, but here are the views from balcony: Looking north
Looking south - on a clear day you can see more of the mountains

That evening several of the new and current ALTs were going to the Takayama fireworks festival, but since I didn't have a phone and nobody really new where my apartment was, nobody knew how to find me. So after doing some grocery shopping and buying onigiri (rice balls) from a combini (convenience store), I decided to explore and found the festival myself. It wasn't exactly difficult ;-)

What you can't see in this picture are the people holding on to the fireworks on the ground. Pretty crazy!
Again, it's hard to see, but this is a shot of a Taiko drummer in front of an enormous Tori gate on one of the main bridges.

Tokyo 2: Toilets and more toilets

So, a week ago back in Tokyo...















We arrived at Tokyo Narita International Airport. You can't tell from this picture, but from the moment we emerged from customs there were dozens and dozens of volunteers helping us out and showing us where to go. After being in transit for most of the day, it was greatly appreciated.




















My very first Japanese-style toilet! Piece of cake! (but now I realize why you always take off your shoes before walking inside a Japanese house - you just don't know where a person's shoes have been, or what they've been standing on)















On the road from the airport to the Keio Plaza Hotel. We did drive by Tokyo Disney, although this is just some random ferriswheel. Dad? You up for Tokyo Disney? They have Pirates of the Caribbean!




















Our first night in Shinjuku, Andrew, Leanne and I stumbled around looking for a place to eat. This picture doesn't do the sensory overload justice. We eventually found a little shop that sold Udon, ordered some and tucked in. Oishi.




















After eating with some other new ALTs from Winnipeg, we walked around some more and stopped by an arcade. This is a super fun and super cute Taiko drum game, which can also be seen in Lost in Translation. You go, Andrew!















This was my room at the Keio Plaza, which I shared with another ALT from Toronto named Kaleelah. It was spacious and beautiful: we were spoiled.




















The bathroom had a cool 'non-fog' section of mirror.




















It also had a heated toilet with various functions (though it didn't recommend 'America Town')




















The view from my hotel window.















Monday morning was the official welcome ceremony (or something like that). All the new JETs were brought together by prefecture and we listened to speeches. This picture doesn't show the size of the room nor the number of people involved (there were a lot).
















Me and Chris, both of us looking professional in our suits.
















The lovely Ms.Galina(na-na). Grammy, you'll notice I'm wearing my 'Terumi' pendant :-)




















Tokyo street shot















I believe this is Shinjuku station

On the Monday night we were invited to a reception at the Canadian Embassy, a big, grey building with lots of granite and which screamed 'CANADA' !! Unfortunately it was rather disappointing: they served us sandwiches, Lays potato chips and Canada Dry gingerale, and nothing interesting happened. Luckily, however, the spectacular sunset and gorgeous washrooms made up for the lack of civic excitment. I don't have any pictures of the washrooms (Galina! email me), but I do have some of the sunset.




















What's a Canadian embassy without an inukshuk? This guys gets a great view of Tokyo.















Wow, purple sky. Thank you pollution!















Oooooh...















Aaaaaw... Even though we're jetlagged, we're still hott. That would be me, Galina, Audrey, Mia and Leanne.















We managed to brave the subway system, and eventually get back to the Keio Plaza.















That's right Kevin, Huzzah!















Finally, before heading off to bed, Galina and I made the trek up to the 47th floor, and took some pictures of the surrounding night-time lights of Tokyo. Mine didn't turn out so well, but you get the idea.