1. Reflections on 3/11

I meant to write this blog on the anniversary of the great Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011. It's hard to say why it took me so long to bring myself to write about it, maybe because I feel like it's so hard to express everything that happened.

There are few events in life that you will ever remember clearly and never forget every single detail. The Tohoku Earthquake was one of them for me.

It was 6th period and my first year students were doing presentations in English in front of the class in the AV room. The children were nervous because it was the largest part of their English Conversation grade. I was incredibly exhausted and had a headache from hearing the same speeches 100 times in a row. I called my last student to the front of the class, this cute girl with a wonderfully happy and friendly personality, the type of girl who lights up the room when she smiles. I looked at the clock 2:46 pm. Just 14 more minutes left of class. The exact time the earthquake had it Sendai, though in Nara everything was still peaceful.

As my student was speaking I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. I had thought it was because I had a headache and I was tired, then I realized that the trees outside were moving as well, and not in the way the wind would blow a tree, but in a strange rocking motion. I looked to my co-teacher sitting beside me and ask "Is that an earthquake?" He looked to me and said "What? What are you talking about?" That's when I thought it was just my imagination and went back to watching the student preform.

One minute later, as my student is walking back to her seat, the students start to say "The TVs are moving!!" I looked and all the TVs in the AV room were slowly moving back and forth. It was such a slight motion, but very odd because they are stationary objects. That's when my co-teacher jumped from the desk and yelled "Earthquake! Everyone don't get up! Don't move!" And he ran across the room and slammed open all the doors. For such a small movement his reaction really scared me, especially since I had just felt the same earthquake earlier and he had no reaction. I had asked him later why he had opened the doors, and he said it is a safety precaution, if you ever feel an earthquake you should open the doors in case the foundation of the building gets shifted then you wont be trapped inside the room you are in.

About 2 minutes go by and finally the TVs stopped moving. It was the first time I had ever felt an earthquake at school, and really had thought nothing of it. Small earthquakes happen all the time in Japan, and the one we had felt was so small, it didn't feel like anything at all.

It wasn't until I had gotten back to the teacher's room did I see just how bad of an earthquake it was. The teachers had turned on the TV to find out the epicenter for the earthquake. I was greatly surprised to see the words "Sendai, Miyagi" on the TV screen. Sendai? That's 500 miles from Nara, a two day train ride, in other words very VERY far. My first thought was how strong an earthquake could be where you could feel it all the way in Nara? My second thought became fear as I realized one of my co-teachers had recently moved there. Everyone was in panic thinking about the safety of our co-teacher as we saw the magnitude number of the earthquake go from 7.0 to 7.5 to 8.0. We couldn't even fathom the damage that was done in her area. Then the number got bigger, 8.3 then they changed it to 8.5 then it was changed finally to 9.0. The most powerful earthquake to ever hit Japan. And one of our beloved co-workers was in the mess of it all.

The TV was flooded with information from the earthquake, they were showing the same videos over and over again of offices in Tokyo shaking, papers flying everywhere, items falling off shelves, windows crashing.

It wasn't until a few minutes later did we hear any word of a tsunami. Images on TV didn't show much yet, only a few areas that were flooded and where cars couldn't drive. At the time, it didn't seem too bad, but at the time no one knew just how much damage had happened.

I remember sitting there, glued to the TV with my coworkers as more and more information came out. Around 4 o'clock was when the more frightening pictures and video came amount. Video of the tsunami. Video of cars trying to race away as the waves swallowed them up. Video of boats being washed onto shore, and left on top of houses. Video of giant waves crashing over walls, walls taller than most people, as if it were nothing at all. We were glued onto the TV. We couldn't look away. Thinking about it now, the 15,854 people who died, it still brings tears to my eyes, it still breaks my heart to think about. Everyone who lost their homes, their families, their lives. Everything.

I will always be eternally grateful that I was safely located in Nara, far away from everything that happened. I will always be grateful that my sweet and loving co-worker was safe through it all. And I will always be grateful that I knew no one that had lost their lives, that everyone that I knew in Japan was safe from the danger. Sadly, not everyone living in Japan can say the same thing. 

The days after were plain chaos, people flooding me with e-mails asking if I was safe, the news going on about the nuclear reactor that was severely damaged in the destruction, people talking about leaving Japan in fear of another earth quake or of nuclear radiation. It was a lot to process, and a lot of information. Being in Nara I felt safe, and I never was afraid of any radiation, but it also made the idea of going to Tokyo less than appealing.

The months and months after involved hard labor and clean up, I am proud to say I donated as much as I could to the Red Cross to help with those efforts, though a part of me feels slightly ashamed I never went up there myself to help. A few people I know in Nara, very kind giving souls who would do anything to help others took the time and energy to go up to the heavily damaged areas and volunteered their strength. If any of them reading this write a blog, I would gladly post it a link. I greatly respect my friends who put so much energy into helping people in Tohoku. They are such kind and wonderful people, and the world needs more people like them.

There is still a lot to be done, still more donations that are needed, and a long way before people can go back to living "normal lives." But the progress in the past year has been amazing. Children happily go to their schools, roads are clear and drivable, more and more has been done every day to expand the clean up and make Tohoku and brighter and more beautiful place.

I will always greatly respect and look up to those people who have survived so much, who lost everything in their lives and are able to look forward onto life with a smile and a positive attitude. It shows just how strong we as human beings are, that no matter what life will deal us, we will survive. We will win.

I pray for the safety and prosperity of Tohoku, I hope that all survivors live a long and happy life, and that all the people who passed away rest in peace.

This is a video I saw on youtube "Arigatou from Japan Earthquake Victims." Please give it a watch, it makes me cry every time.

The final countdown

Counting on my calendar there are only 20 weeks left until I venture into the world that is "life after JET." And what a scary world it seems!

I have spent a lot of my free time lately freaking out about my future, thinking of all the possibilities. Going over my resume over and over again. Trying to see if everything looks just perfect. (Any volunteers to look it over are more then welcome!) I have been focusing so much on that big dark abyss that I haven't really been thinking about and enjoying my time in Japan. I have just been slowly counting the weeks down, and watching them pass by all too quickly.

So now it's time for a change.

What better way to focus on the now, focus on Japan, than to write about it? I have about 20 weeks left on the JET Programme. 20 weeks until the great unknown abyss swallows me. It's a scary world out there. So I decided that from now each and every week I will write a blog. I will give myself 20 assignments, each due Friday evening. Below I will write a list of 20 things I want to write about within the next 20 weeks. I welcome anyone and everyone to follow this list and even write their own sharing their own thoughts and feelings on each topic. You don't have to be leaving Japan, you don't even have to be living in Japan! But I think that it helps just to reflect on all the experiences I've had in the past 3 and a half years.

Let this be my Japan Blog Bucket List.

1. Reflections on 3/11
2. Favorite moment teaching
3. Most difficult moment teaching
4. Festivals in Japan
5. Japanese food
6. Japanese people, Safety
7. Japanese trash system
8. Conveniences in Japan
9. Inside/Outside
10. Favorite temple/shrine
11. Favorite city
12. Travel in Japan
13. Dating in Japan
14. Japanese music
15. Customs, omiyage
16. Trains
17. Japanese stores, customer service
18. Night Life
19. Life as an ALT
20. Things I will miss in Japan

So that's it! That is my list! I am sure there is more, and maybe as time passes I may do some edits. But I think it's a good direction to start.

Wish me luck!

Looking forward and looking back

My third year in Japan is soon coming to a close. With only one year left (that I currently plan) I feel like now is more important than ever to really keep a blog of what has been going on in my life in Japan.

It's really crazy how three years can go by so quickly. I remember just three years ago when I was checking my e-mail 10 times a day waiting for any updates or information on where I was going to in Japan. I was always so excited and nervous.

Now it feels like things have passed in almost no time at all. Where did the years go? I just turned 25, when I first came here I was 22 years old. I would tell my students and they would say "Wow!! You're so young!" Now... they don't say anything at all. It's just a number to them... am I really that old?! Does three years make such a difference?

I have a lot to look forward to this summer. I will be taking the JLPT in the beginning of July and I am going to be a presenter for Tokyo Orientation at the end of July! Tokyo Orientation is when the new JET Program ALTs come to Japan and they spend 3 days in Tokyo going through an orientation that is supposed to help them develop as a teacher. The bad part is everyone is so jet lagged that they can barely stay away let alone learn anything at all. Honestly I barely remember anything from my Tokyo Orientation. All I remember was how much I really just wanted to get some sleep... But! I am really excited and this is a huge opportunity for me!

Today I was watching TV and they were showing places in Tokyo that are completely free. Apparently there is a place where you can get onigiri (rice balls) and miso soup for free! But I forgot the name... When I go to Tokyo next week I should make it my goal to find as many free things as possible. Then go to Sweets Paradise for all you can eat cake!! Bad for the diet, good for the soul.

A rewarding moment in teaching

There are many days when I feel my job is very tiring, but I still enjoy teaching every day. Sometimes I will have an insanely difficult class where none of the kids listen and they just scream and fight and behave very badly. Then, I have the total opposite, where the kids love English and will work their hardest to listen and understand every word I say.

The most rewarding though is when I know I can make an impact on a child.

Today I had a class with a bunch of 2nd graders in elementary school. These are usually very fun because we can play simple games and just have as much fun with English as we can. At the beginning of this one class, I was with my supervisor and she asked (in Japanese) "Ok so last week you learned 10 animals. Was it difficult?" and this one girl yelled out "It was too difficult! I hate English!"

That was when I turned to her, made a big sad face and said in English "Awwww! I am sad!!" then in Japanese "Do your best!!" Then all the kids laughed because I spoke in Japanese. I find that with the much younger kids, it is best to let them know I understand Japanese so I don't seem as scary and different. I become closer to them and they actually want to get to know me.

Afterward we played a game, where the kids come up and say with the class what animal they like. I could tell that the little girl who hated English wanted to participate so I had her come up with a friend, I knew she wouldn't come alone so it was a good way to get more kids involved.

Once we played a few games, and everyone was having fun, the girl who hated English came up to me and said "My name is ___!" and then she said in Japanese "I like English now!" I almost wanted to cry from happiness. She asked me many questions in Japanese and so I talked with her and her friends and I think it made her really happy. After class she folded me an acorn in origami and then during her recess she would come up to the teacher's window and wave at me and then run away.

What an adorable kid! It makes me so happy to think that I completely changed a child's view on English, that I made her enjoy the class and want to participate, I can only hope and wish that she will keep that love forever.

I think this really shows me what kind of impact being a teacher really has on a child, how you can be such a large influence on their opinions and ideas just by saying a few kind words. This is one reason why I truly love my job, I can meet many students of all ages, spend time with them and let them actually enjoy English. Hopefully, if I can just make a couple kids really love English then I think I have done my job right.

Finally some Fall

(Side note: Hopefully I will post some pictures later. I still need to put them onto my computer.)

So it's been a long time! I know it has, I get so distracted with so many things, I forget that I have a blog to update! I think I wanted to have this blog full of pictures of everything I am doing, so I didn't want to update until those were posted. Probably a bad idea.

Anyways, the leaves are finally changing! The weather has cooled down a lot, but it's still not too cold. This week is in the 50s during the day, at night it goes down to about the 40s or 30s. It has not even gone below freezing yet. But I keep warm with good ol fashioned Japanese baths and my nice heater that I bought on amazon.co.jp. I love it because it is a oil heater, which just radiates heat instead of blowing hot air. The oil stays in, you never even see it, so it's probably one of the safest heaters you can buy, and the warmest.

The one thing that is so crazy is that even with the leaves chaning, you can still see flowers everywhere! There are roses and sunflowers and so many others. It feels so odd to think that the flowers haven't died yet from the cold. I am so used to Michigan where it will be super cold mid-October and you dont see flowers again until April or May.

With the cold I've been trying out a whole bunch of new recipies. I have attempted to make tomato soup, it turned out great! I am really happy with it, and I have some frozen leftovers still. Good for those days when I dont want to cook! I also tried to make Chicken lemon rice soup. That turned out okay... it tasted pretty good, sort of strong though, and the egg in the soup didn't cook right, but it was still yummy!! I will have to give it a try again. Nothing is better than a hot bowl of soup on a cold day.

A couple of weeks ago I went on a trip to Mt. Kouya (or also known as Kouyasan) it was a lovely adventure. A friend and I stayed the night in a temple, where we got to eat vegitarian monk food, and meditate with the monks. We also got a couple of tours of the famous places on the mountian, like Okunoin, which is a famous grave yard that has people from all over Japanese history either buried there or have a memorial there. Also we saw the famous temple and lecture hall that the mountian is known for. It was a great trip, I loved going and I want to go again when it is a bit warmer.

This past weekend I showed a friend around all of Nara park. We saw Todaiji temple, Nigatsu dou hall, and then we also got to see Kofukuji temple. We were really lucky because at Kofukuji temple they were having a special exibition of the 5 story pagoda, the east lecture hall, and the octagon hall, which only happens for one month once a year. We got there on the last day, and we were able to see some really beautiful things, but no pictures were allowed for anything inside. It was a great trip, I got to see a lot of Nara that I don't normally take the time to see.

Well, that is what I have been up to lately. I will be having a couple of Thanksgiving parties with my friends, that way we can cure our homesickness a bit during the holidays by eating tons of yummy food and being with friends. It will be a lot of fun, but I will sure miss not being able to be at home!

First post in Japan!!

So I have been here a month and now I finally have internet, which means I can finally post things online! For the past month I have been contacting my family and friends through e-mail when I was able to get to an internet cafe.

Wow so much to say and i have no clue where to start!

First off, I love it here, I love Nara, and I love my job! Classes started this past Monday, and I finally got to be in my school and get to know my students and fellow teachers. The teachers are all super nice, and a lot of them try their best to talk to me even though they don't know any English and my Japanese is very poor. Our conversations end up being very simple things like what movies do I like and such, but it really makes me feel welcome. The students are super friendly, until you get them in the classroom. Then these kids are too shy to raise their hand for anything!

This past week I've been getting used to teaching, the only thing I have been doing is giving my self introduction to all of the kids over and over again. By the end of the week I had it down perfectly, and I was able to get the kids to really interact with me and have fun in the classroom. I am really learning as I go along, and improving with time this whole teaching deal. By the end of the year I think I will have gotten so much better that to look back at this past week I will just laugh. For now, I am proud of my accomplishments. I am learning how to teach to kids, and at the same time I am learning more and more Japanese every day.

Before classes started I had time to do so many things! Of course it was all during the weekends, because I still had to go into my board of education, but there was so much to do! First I went to the Tokae in Nara Park. The Tokae is a festival where people will put many candles all around the park to celebrate the dead coming back to earth to visit the living. The candles are to lead the spirits back to the spirit world. It is almost a week long festival, starting on a wednesday and ending on Saturday. On Saturday both Nara and Kyoto celebrate the end of the festival by burning giant chinese characters, called kanji, into the mountians. I was able to see the kanji buring for the word meaning "big" while I was in Kyoto. It was an amazing experience, and breathtaking to see something like that just burning on a mountian side. I was able to take a lot of pictures, but there were only a couple that weren't blurry and they really dont give the scenery justice.

Also last week I was able to go to another festival in Nara called Basara Matsuri. This was a festival dedicated to dancing, it is actually very recent, this was only the 10th year in people actually. Even though it is a newer festival, there were a lot of amazing groups that preformed and it really was a great thing to watch. There were so many groups with different colors of costumes and styles of music and dancing. sometimes it was hard to believe I was in Japan while other times I felt like I was in ancent Japan! There would be a group dressed in traditional kimono dancing to an elegant song followed by a hip-hop group and then followed by a belly dancing group! The range of music and dancing styles is really what made the expeience worth going to. Plus I was able to watch fellow JETs who preformed for a group as well. I didnt do it because I really just wanted to watch the whole experience and plus I wanted to make sure I could relax if I wanted to before classes started. That being said, I think next year I will join the JETs and dance around the streets with everyone!

Needless to say, my first month here has been great! Next weekend I am finally thinking of going to Fushimi Inari, the fox shrine. Last time I went to Japan I really wanted to go, but we never had the time because it is an all dat trip. So i promised myself that it would be one of the first things I did when I came here. now that the weather is cooling down, I figure this is the perfect opprotunity to go and climb that giant hill, take many lovely picture, and eat lots of inarizushi (sushi wrapped in fried tofu, oh so yummy!)

Welcome! Off to Japan in two days!

Hello everybody!

My name is Heidi, this Saturday I will be leaving for Japan and working as an Assistant Language Teacher for the JET Program. For the next year I will be working at various junior high schools and elementary schools in Nara, Japan.

In this blog I will be recording my travels, posting many many pictures, and just talking about my thoughts and feelings about the whole experience. Please feel free to leave me comments, or send me an e-mail at sleepyrivet@gmail.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Right now I am in the process of packing. After several tries of packing and re-packing, I have concluded that there is no way I can fit my whole life in only two bags of 50 pounds each. Being I can't buy clothes in Japan (I am a much larger size than the average Japanese person) I have the extra worry that if I forget something I will have to have it mailed from home. As much as I hate to do it, I will be packing one of my bags extra heavy and then just pay for the costs that they are going to charge me.

Packing aside, I am extremely excited to be leaving so soon! The excitement has been driving me so crazy that I can no longer sleep at night. My mind keeps on thinking of things I need to do and get done. It wont be until I am finally on the plane, that I can finally allow myself to relax. Of course I will probably be too excited on the plane to relax.

With all the excitement, it also makes me slightly sad that I am leaving home. It will be realy difficult to be away from friends, family and my boyfriend. I did get a vonage phone, so I will be taking the box with me and have an American number that people can call me and I can talk to them without having to pay exorbitant amounts of money. (If you want my number, just send me an e-mail) Getting letters in the mail helps too! Feel free to send me letters to Japan, and I will write you back on awesome Japanese stationary!

Here is my address

Heidi Hawkins
Nara shi, Nara ken
Akishinosatsuki Cho 10-10
Sanwa Mansion #216
631-0812 Japan


Tel- 0742-33-3116 (This is a Japanese telephone number... so I wouldn't recommend calling if your not in Japan)

Now, I hope that is right... it is the address my predecessor gave me. She showed me pictures of the apartment, and it is adorable and so very Japanese! Once I get there I will have to post my own pictures.

Now I just need to sit and wait until Saturday! I will be flying in Tokyo, where I will be staying for 3 days. During that time there is a giant orientation for JET Program participants where we learn how to do our job, then we are shipped off to our respective cities and start our jobs! I can't wait, everything seems to be going by so quckly yet slow at the same time.

Wish me luck!