Written during the winter...

At 6:43 am, my alarm would go off. I generally allowed myself to snooze for 5-10 more minutes, huddling under my down comforter and the two blankets on top of that. Japan does not have central heating in most homes. This was my one real complaint about life there. Everything else was fine; constant cold was not so fine. But I made do. My nightly attire always consisted of four layers on top, two on the bottom, and heavy socks. Upon waking, I definitely did not look forward to leaving my warm cocoon. When I would finally stumble out of bed into the cold, the first thing I did was turn on the kerosene heater and make my way to the kitchen, where I'd push a button to turn on the water heater. Hot water is not automatic in most Japanese residences... you must remember to turn it on every time you want it. I would let the water heat up while I shed my layers and hop into the shower. When my shower was done, I would be a little more awake, and my apartment would be slightly warmer. I generally checked my email while getting dressed, as I had a deal that allows unlimited online time between the hours of 11 p.m. - 8 a.m. for a flat rate of 1800 yen a month, and I wanted to get my money's worth. (Local phone calls are charged by the minute in Japan, and I was on a dial-up modem.) For breakfast, I usually ate corn flakes or toast. People often wondered if I ate fish and miso soup, but no- even Japanese people typically eat a Western breakfast in this day and age.

I was usually dressed, fed, and out of the apartment by 8:15 am. My daily apparel during those cold months included long underwear, a sweater, a jacket, gloves, a muffler, and a hat. I was apparently the most bundled-up person in Ube during the winter, with a bunch of little old ladies in second place. Even at the coldest parts of the year, the locals never even donned hats... Burberry scarves were rampant, but I think that was more of a fashion statement than anything else...

So, as a "one-shot" AET, I visited all twelve junior high schools in Ube, and thus my schedule varied from day to day. I usually taught classes four days a week, with Wednesday designated as an office day, meaning I would report to Ube's Board of Education office. This was not set in stone, though, as the schools often requested schedule changes. So if it was an office day, I would head off to work at Ube's City Hall, where the Board of Education is located. It was a 10-15 minute ride through the pleasant city centre, past cute little shops and plenty of Ube's famous sculptures, and then three flights of stairs to the Board of Education office.

Once I arrived at the office, I generally spent the day doing... well... not much, honestly! Office days were supposed to give me time for lesson planning and other such education-related matters, but the truth is, the lesson plans were generally done by the JTE's (Japanese Teachers of English), so there was never very much for me to do in the office. I tried to make good use of my time, though. I usually passed the hours studying Japanese (i.e. reading manga), chatting to the other JET who works in my office, working on the homepage for the Ube Educational Computer Network, or working on my own personal homepage. 

If it was a school day, as opposed to an office day, I would go either by bike or by train to the school that requested me for that day. The farthest I had to ride on my bike to a school was about half an hour. Yikes! It was good exercise, but not exactly fun in cold or windy weather, so I eventually learned the bus system. When I arrived at school, I would change out of my regular shoes and into my school shoes, which were Hello Kitty slip-on sandals. I loved them, and the students loved them too. They were quite a conversation piece! After changing shoes and making sure my hair was presentable after getting blown about during the bike ride, I would proceed to the teachers' room, where I was usually offered a cup of tea or coffee. I would then discuss the day's lesson plan with the JTE. I usually taught two or three classes a day, so the workload was pretty light. Teaching classes was so much fun. When I would walk into the classroom, I was often greeted by cheers, to my surprise! Being a JET is really is wonderful on the self-esteem! 

The first time I visited each class, I'd give my self-introduction speech. Since I was responsible for visiting so many schools, I ended up giving that same self-intro speech during my entire year in Japan! I had no problem giving my self-intro so many times, though- after all, who doesn't love to talk about themselves? ;) Having given my self-intro hundred of times, I eventually memorized word-for-word. I would tell the students about my hometown, San Diego, about my family, and my hobbies. Then I usually allowed time for questions, which would range from "Do you like sushi?" to "How many men have you dated in the past?" Junior-high students have no shame! It cracked me up. Anyway, in a typical class, we'd carry on with the lesson out of the textbook or play some educational games after my speech. 

Sometimes I ate lunch with the students... that was always fun. Japanese students are very rambunctious during their free time, running around the classroom, yelling, laughing, etc. It was fascinating to watch the lunch process, too- very different from American schools. The students always eat lunch in their homerooms, and take turns serving up the food to each other, and then cleaning up . It's very organized, and really teaches them responsiblity. When I ate lunch with them, I usually sat with a cluster of girls who inevitably wanted to know the details of my relationship with my fiancé. Very cute!

After work, I usually went back to my apartment and just relaxed. I did my grocery shopping at a store just half a block away- very convenient. It's called Maruki- the Circle Ki- no, not the Circle K. (Ki means happiness) I also frequented a video/CD/book store called Kotaro, which was just around the corner- it had a bookstore on the first floor, and video and CD rentals on the second floor. The CD section of the store was actually a Sam Goody- go fig! I'm proud to say that the Sam Goody around the corner from me was the only Sam Goody in Japan west of the major city of Osaka. (Other than the one in Okinawa, which isn't part of mainland Japan anyway) Yay for Ube!

So a typical winter day usually ended with me watching videos, huddled under my kotatsu- my favourite piece of furniture during those cold months. It's a wonderful concept-- the table has a heater under the top, and when it got cold, I would take the top off, drape a couple quilts over the table, put the top back on, turn the heater on, and voila! Instant warm. But of course it is only warm under the table. So I pretty much spent all my spare time sitting at my table during the winter- oh well! 

On Fridays, however, there was a break in the routine when I would go to my ikebana lesson in the evening. Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging.I thought it would be fun to get involved in a traditional Japanese art while I was there, and I figured it would be pretty hard to mess up on flowers... no matter how badly I did according to the principles of ikebana, and there are a LOT of principles- bottom line, it's still flowers. It positively could not look ugly! It's a really fun hobby- very challening, but I picked it up little by little. It was so pleasant to have a pretty flower arrangement in my apartment every week, and the class gave me a chance to get to know some people in the community.

So... that was basically my daily life in Japan. Quite pleasant... I miss it!