Sakura Sakura

It's the season for cherry blossoms here now, and Azuma doesn't disappoint. Check out the local scene here.

Bringing you up to speed

So it’s been a while since my fingers did any talking here; sorry for that.

Have had quite a busy time of late – penis festivals, music lessons, election dinners, surprise birthdays in love hotels…

The new teachers seem to have settled in pretty well. M-sensei, my new JTE, is really nice and has already asked me to start preparing things for class. As a result, I have drawn cards with a yawning and stretching sun for “Good morning”, and an ocha-drinking sun for “Good afternoon.” M-sensei is 27 and she has really good English. I think we will have fun teaching together.

Turns out that the new school secretary used to work at S’s Primary School, so given that we know someone in common, I-sensei and I are chatting more and more as the days progress.

Also, the new music teacher – K-sensei – seems cool. When I said I play the Electone, his immediate reaction was to say “Tomioka Yasuya!” who is a famous Electone player in Japan. So I’ve been chatting to him a bit too.

On Sunday 3rd April, J, L and I made a trip to Kawasaki to meet up with some other friends there and attend the Fertility Festival, which has fondly become known as The Penis Festival. Candy in the shape of male and female nether regions can be bought in varying sizes, and people carry “mikoshi” (portable shrines) with larger-than life penises attached. We arrived around 10am, and it only took L and J about 30 seconds to climb on the big wooden penises and pose for photos that will be forever treasured. The mikoshi were to be carried through the streets around 1pm but after being there for about an hour, we were all penised out so we headed to Akihabara where J purchased an ipod shuffle. Congrats!

Thursday 7th was S’s birthday, and our friend Y wanted to organise a surprise party. Now, S is one of the most organised people I have met, so organising a surprise party for her was a challenge. But we managed to pull it off. A friend of a friend (of a friend??) owns a love hotel in Isesaki, and that was chosen as the venue. The room had a king size bed, one of the biggest TV screens I have seen, an adult toy vending machine and a poker machine among other things. After practicing our “surprise” a few times, it was time to do it for real – and I think S was honestly surprised. Yacchatta! Memories of the night include the “How to body rubbing” mat in the bathroom, singing karaoke with about 5 people in bed and the massage orgy. Oh yeh.

Friday night was GAJET Election dinner in Maebashi. You are reading the blog of the new GAJET secretary. Thank you, thank you, no really, thank you.

This past Saturday was jabs in the bum in preparation for the Philippines, followed by Electone lesson in Musashi-sakai, and then back to Tutty-B to join the Hanami late. Friends had been out in the sun under the sakura (cherry blossoms) all afternoon, drinking, eating, playing soccer. Wish I could have been there the entire time.

After that we went back to Grow for a feed and a beer and then went to N’s house to watch the latest episode of DHW.

Sunday saw me sleeping in at N’s house before heading back to the Mae for a meeting about Habitat. Can’t believe we leave in a week and a half! Time has flown. I think we have a great bunch of people who will make it a fun, memorable trip. Let’s enjoying powerfully, to quote G.

After the meeting, D and I headed to Yamada-denki to check out digital cameras. I am leaning towards either the Casio EX-Z57 or the Panasonic DMC-FX7, and at the moment I’m favouring the Casio. Will go back to Yamada soon and hold them again, just to get the feel.

And now, here I am back at school. First class with M-sensei will be on Wednesday, and it will mostly be her introduction and her time to get a feel for the kids and their level.

So that’s it. I don’t have pics of these things yet, but when I do, I will update this entry with the link.

Happy New Year!

Today is the 1st of April, and it's the first day of the new school year. Seven new staff members arrived in Azuma today to take up positions at Azuma Junior High School. I went to the welcome ceremony at the Board of Education and then went back to school, as the new teachers entered the school gates for the first time.

The JTE I have been teaching with for the past 1.5 years left. We went out for lunch on Wednesday, and then yesterday he gave me a present, told me not to open it until I got home and then said goodbye. It was a Nike Tracksuit and a card with one of the nicest messages I have ever received. I will really miss him. But at least he isn't going too far - we can still meet up whenever we want.

So, today I met my new JTE, and she seems really nice. I think we will have fun teaching together. She took the textbooks home over the weekend to study them, which made me wonder if I should be doing the same thing, but then she explained that she hasn't used this textbook before. Phew!

The other teachers seem cool too, although we've really only said "hey" to each other so far. As time goes on, I'm sure I'll get to know them well. And while 7 new teachers have come to the JHS, no-one at the primary school left so no-one came. A complete reversal to last year.

So, yeah, looking forward to another good year in Azuma!