A lovely day in Kyoto

Kyoto temple detail
Originally uploaded by danabree.

Kyoto old painting
Originally uploaded by danabree.

It's been a while since I updated this site, so I apologize for that. Between going back to Canada for Christmas, starting 2 university courses part-time, and going out with friends it seems like every night, been really busy recently!!

Christmas in Canada was great, the weather was about the same as it was in Nagoya. Great catching up with the family, although it took a while to realize that I could understand everything around me language-wise, and that everyone could understand me. Except for the guy at the Starbucks on Robson Street in Vancouver, not sure what was up with him!! Certainly gives me a newer perspective on living in Japan. Things that really used to irritate me (like really terrible tv commercials, what are the Gulliver people thinking?!!) seem not as bad now, after seeing endless dumb cleaning product ads on Canadian television!! There does still seem to be a lack of logic a lot of the time here though. For instance, recently the UFJ bank machines have an alternate language option, so you can do a deposit or withdrawal in English, Chinese, Korean, or Portuguese. Makes sense to me, as there is a decent amount of people who live here who speak those languages as a mother tongue. However, a friend pointed out that it is probably just a promotional thing happening while Expo is going on, and that when Expo disappears, so will the other languages. I don't understand why, as they've already done all the hard work doing the programming and stuff! It's not like there's a little guy sitting in the machine, translating away! Another thing that doesn't make sense is that bank machines in Japan close at night and on the weekends. You can't get any money out except during banking hours. I knew about that before I got my bank account, which is why I am with UFJ bank, they actually have 24/7 bank machines. However, they sometimes have them in little booths that are only accessible during banking hours, the rest of the time they are locked! Huh????? I am slowly learning that the worst question to ask about anything in Japan is "Why?". Either there isn't an answer, or it's something like "It's always been done this way, so that's the only way it can be done". I'm trying not to pay attention to stuff like that, or else I would go nutty! Well, I already am a little nutty, so maybe too late!!

Went to Kyoto last week with some friends from work, it was great going back there. I haven't been back since I left to move to Nagoya, so it was nice seeing it again. I just love the temples, and I love the scenery and cute little shops in Gion. It was nice being able to actually appreciate the city. When I was living there last year, I was trying to be really careful with my money, as I didn't know when or if I would get a job. So, I didn't go into stores and such, as I knew I would just be too tempted to buy things. There are some really beautiful things in those little stores, some of them just look like someone's house, until you walk in and see stuff for sale! Through a friend, I discovered the joys of yattsuhashi - like a soft chewy pastry with filling inside. Yummy, especially the choco-banana variety!! The traditional ones are nice too, but choco-banana rocks!! Also, when I was living in Kyoto last year, I was very culture-shocked, which really affected how I saw the city. It was nice going back, now that I am basically acclimatized to Japan. It was a beautiful day, even though it was a little cold. The photo of the painting was at Kitanotenmangu shrine, and an old guy there said it was about 300 years old. Very cool!! The detail of one of the shrine buildings is from the same place.

Teaching going ok, but right now we are deciding on which kids go up to the next level in April, which ones stay, etc etc. My boss is totally stressed!! Most of the kids are nice, but it seems like a lot of them don't get any discipline at home, which carries over into the classroom. They're smacking you and telling you to shut up, and the mothers are just sitting there going, "Isn't my child so cute!!". No honey, not cute. Either that, or they're terrified of their mum and are so quiet they kind of freak you out. Luckily, compared to some of the kids the other teachers have, most of mine are relatively well-behaved. I think I'll be able to teach for a few more years without losing my marbles, but that's why I'm doing some university courses from New Zealand, to give me some options later. Studying towards a BA in Politics, taking World History since 1900 and Politics at the moment. I hope one day to work for the Canadian or NZ government doing counter-terrorism work. Endlessly challenging and interesting!

So, life in Japan is proving to still be interesting, if at times befuddling. But, as I just found out, I passed my level 3 (sankyuu) JLPT test, which is great, and at least gives me hope that one day I'll actually be able to communicate! My boyfriend keeps trying to get me to speak in Japanese, but my vocab is so low that it's really difficult. A friend suggested I start studying the kids cram school (juku) books, so that's what I'm doing now. Just started with the grade 1 book, and it's proving really useful for learning new vocab and practicing kanji. I now know the Japanese for lumberjack, sunflower, and woodpecker - I know, they will be terribly useful in everyday life! I certainly get some strange looks on the train, studying using a grade 1 kids book!! Good practice though, and then I can go up level by level, and actually start to read stuff like books and such. The only thing I can read at the moment is stuff designed for foreigners learning Japanese. Interesting, but not exactly the kind of stuff that I would find in daily life, or that will help me learn grammar and vocab easier. I love reading, and I figure if I can get to the point where I can read stories and such, then I can just start to absorb the grammar and vocab that way, like you do when you are learning your own language.

So who knows when my next post will be, but I'll try to make it more than one or twice a season!!