Children's Convention

     Earlier this week Hata-san, from the Paul Rusch Memorial Museum, and I took part in a local Children's Convention. At least that's what I assumed it was. It was all museums and exhibits in Yamanashi that welcome children. Realistically I think it was just an advertising opportunity for the museums and a way for parents to just let their kids run in a big space and have lots of activities to do. Each "vendor" had an activity to do; a worksheet, a craft, a game, you name it. The PRMM, as we lovingly called it, had activities having to do with football since Paul Rusch was the father of American Football in Japan. I got to play Charlotte sensei again and teach words like 'touchdown' and 'cheerleader'. Do you know how hard it is for a child to say 'referee' when their native language doesn't really have the 'r' sound? It is very hard. So I got to spend the Saturday hanging with kids and throwing a football around...not exactly what I thought I would ever be doing in Japan, but it was fun to see a different side of this country--pretty much a normal day-to-day activity. Plus, the hospitality student inside me liked seeing the prefectural convention center.

Papa Paul and Charlotte sensei.

You get to do your activities in a helmet!

Football fun--even for girls!

The kids in Japan generally are more excited to learn than any American kid I have ever seen.

Kids harassing the poor local mascot.

          Until next time,

                   Charlotte

English Class? But You Don't Even Speak Japanese?

     That is definitely one of the most common phrases I have said to me. How can you teach someone your language when you don't even speak theirs? I will admit it was pretty daunting at first, but I realized that most people here were as nervous to learn and speak English as I was to teach. I will say, everyone was very enthusiastic about the classes starting. Every time I was in the employee cafeteria, staff would come up to me and tell me how excited they were for the classes to begin, so that gave me the boost of confidence I needed.

     In Japan, you have to do a lot of preparation and research before you do a lot of things, so the classes started off with "orientation" classes. With Hata-san, my manager at the Paul Rusch Memorial Museum, and Urakabe-san, my manager in the international relations department, as my "teacher's aides" a.k.a. translators, we held three different informational classes to gauge people's interests, what they wanted to learn, what time and days worked best for them, and what they wanted to accomplish by the end of my time here. They were very informal gatherings, ones I always started off with "This is a safe environment, it's ok to make mistakes here. I'm not going to laugh at you for anything because I don't want you to make fun of me for my Japanese." Hata-san and Urakabe-san were there to interpret what people didn't understand. From all the information we gathered from people, we decided to have a beginner's English class every other Monday and an Intermediate class every Thursday. Many Japanese people have taken English during Junior High, but they have lost a lot of it and I have noticed some of the English is a little outdated. A question I had was about the proper time to use 'supper' vs when you would use the word 'dinner'...Those are my favorite conversations to have. Most people wanted to be able to think first in English by the time classes were over, which was an entirely new concept to me, but what I thought was the most interesting thing to me was that a lot of people wanted to learn how to speak like an American. Turns out Japanese people are interested in learning our mannerisms and how we talk with our hands and how we stand while we're speaking. You don't think about those things until someone points them out. Oh, and there was also an overwhelming request to learn about American Pop Culture, which I was happy to oblige. My favorite idea suggested was that we have a field trip to a karaoke bar and everyone is ONLY allowed to sing English songs.

List of questions to determine how to set up the formal English classes--and phrases that needed explanation.

Discussing class objectives

     So with one to two classes a week, I am pretty busy. People choose whichever level they want to join and I encourage them to come to both if they can. I am a pretty laid back teacher, not like some of the language drill sergeants you had back in high school. The format of class is usually the same, we have a topic we discuss with a worksheet to fill out and then usually we just kind of branch off from there. I use the topics as a kind of jumping off point. People are very interested in the terms I use that I don't even think twice about, phrases like "right off the bat", or "killing two birds with one stone", or trying to translate an English play on words that makes me laugh hysterically and it just doesn't translate to Japanese. The first week for both level classes was "Introductions and Greetings" where we discussed the most formal way to greet people all the way down the "Hey. What's Up?" Of course I don't encourage them to use this in their daily conversations, but they are always very curious about the funny things foreigners say. Other class topics have included 'Learning Small Talk'--telling them it's not usually proper form to ask someone their age in a first meeting setting, 'Talking about your Favorites'--the term 'favorite' is a term I have noticed that many Japanese don't know from their previous English classes, 'Telephone Etiquette'--people wanted to know how to speak to foreigners when they call, "Days of the Week and Months"--being able to tell people when their reservations are or tomorrow the shop is closed, and "Talking about your Family"--I have found that trying to describe my family and how people are related is difficult and the fact that we have about eight hundred different ways to call our "mother" and "father." I love when I teach something and they ask questions about a topic I didn't even think about teaching to them, but it really makes me so excited to see that they're thinking beyond just the information I am giving them.

Beginner English--that's the attendance sheet there. There will be awards at the end of the year for best attendance and most improved!

First formal Beginner English Class.

I always write the date the way Americans do--some people didn't know there was a difference, which can lead to confusion in the hotel.

First formal intermediate English class--that is GM in the suit. He is the general manager of Seisen-Ryo and the Paul Rusch Memorial Museum.

 
     My favorite class so far definitely has been teaching about the question words "Who, What, When, Where, Why and How". In my last care package my dad had sent all of my People magazines I had received up to that point, so I had about twelve issues or so just sitting in my room, so I decided to bring them to use as textbooks. It actually worked out perfectly because that night it was only women that came and they all were the ones I spend the majority of my time with, Hata-san, Urakabe-san, Hoshii-san--my manager at the hotel, and Kaori--the pastry chef I work with in the kitchen. I had them go through the magazines and come up with questions for each of the question words. It could be about anything they found in the magazine. Some of the questions were "What is a socialite?" "When did the Academy Awards start?" "Whose dress to the Oscar's did you like best?" "What is a 'bodice'?" (As you can tell these were all issues from Awards Season) It was neat to see how much of American culture they actually knew. I think America needs to be more aware of what we are putting out there because foreigners know more than we think. Class usually only runs about an hour, but we ended up being there for two and a half! I had a lot of fun because we all called it a girls' night. Some people may say that's a silly way to teach, but I am always trying to find new ways to explain American culture while still being fun.

Everyone said they love American magazines so much because they always smell nice--Japanese magazines don't have the perfume ads like we do

Devouring American culture

     My next English teaching project is to help another coworker, Murata-san, teach English to junior high students from Hokuto City that are going on an exchange trip to Canada in August. I told them I was more than happy to help, but I know nothing about Canada except their our non-confrontational neighbor to the North. We had our first meeting this past weekend and the kids all seem so young. There are eighteen students from nine different junior high schools in Hokuto City, ranging in age from 12-15. I am really looking forward to it because teaching the staff at KEEP has been one of my favorite jobs here and seeing the kids and how eager they are to learn English made me really excited!


Well until next time,

Charlotte

Home is Where the Wifi is

     Now I know a lot of you have been wondering where exactly I am on the other side of the world. Let me break it down a little for you. Obviously, as you might have already guessed since you are reading this, I am in Japan, although some people are still asking how "China/Korea/other Asian country" is. Hopefully this can clear that up a bit! Japan is the little island country, roughly the size of California, just West of mainland Asia. Within Japan there are prefectures, which are kind of like states with their own governing bodies and such. KEEP is located in the Yamanashi Prefecture. The big city here and capital is Kofu.

Yamanashi is in orange...the prefecture to the Northwest is Nagano, the site of the 1998 Olympics. The prefecture is only a five minute drive from KEEP, but Nagano the city is about and hour away.

     Once inside Yamanashi, there are a bunch of cities that I like to think of as counties within the 'state' of Yamanshi. I am living in Hokuto City, which you can see in the top corner in the pink on the map. It is a very mountainous area, which adds to the fun of living and driving here.

Nirasaki, to the south in bright green, is where the big shopping mall I go to is located.

     Once inside Hokuto City, Takane is the city I live in and Kiyosato is kind of like the village within Takane that is home to KEEP. To the North are the Yatsugatake mountains, like you can see on the map. You could say those are the mountains I live in since we are at a fairly high altitude and pretty much the only place left with snow and ice. To the East and West are other mountain ranges. Japan's second tallest mountain, Kita-dake is visible on the map, is located in this mountain range to the west. Then to the South is a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji. It gets dark here quite early, so the sun sets around 5:30pm. Between about 4:50 and 5:20 right now is my favorite time of night, because the colors of the sunset reflect off the mountains and create this glow that is just stunning. Not bad scenery for a place to live, if I do say so myself.

More in depth map of Yamanashi with natural landmarks included

     So think of it as Japan>US, Yamanashi>Indiana, Hokuto City>Marion County, Takane>Indianapolis, Kiyosato>Broad Ripple. At least that is how I keep it straight in my mind.

     Once you are inside Kiyosato, the biggest thing in town is KEEP. The town itself was created when the KEEP founder, American Paul Rusch, introduced the high altitude dairy farming and the idea of democracy to the region. Right now, most of the town is closed for the winter season, but up at KEEP you can see a few tourists here and there coming for lunch at the Farm Shop, staying at the hotel, Seisen Ryo, participating in the environmental programs, and, of course, stopping by the Jersey Hut for the famous soft cream. It's a weird feeling, but it already feels like I've been here for months. So now this is home!

Giant ice wreath they make every year with the founder of KEEP, Paul Rusch, and Mt. Fuji in the background.

My walk to the cafeteria and offices-those are the Yatsugatake mountains to the North

Families getting ready to go on a nature walk, one of the programs the Environmental Education department puts on for the public.

     A lot of people have been asking where I am living at KEEP. Unfortunately, I am no longer in the picturesque lodge, Seisen Ryo, but I can't complain about my new digs in the Lancaster dormitory. Being on the mountain, it gets extremely cold especially when the wind whips down and burns your face, so the fact that I've got a room to myself that stays very warm, I am a happy camper. I live with six other woman in the dormitory, with a shared living room, kitchen, bathroom and shower room. We are all on extremely different schedules, one girl works at the bakery and is up and at 4:00am and gets off at 1:00pm so our only interaction is hearing each other through the wall, and another girl works at the restaurant and works the lunch hour and into the late dinner hours, so it definitely doesn't have the sorority house feel, but when I do see people, they all are extremely nice...even if there is somewhat of a language barrier. After a day of work dedicated to Japanese customs and business practices, I think of my room as my little American oasis because it has wifi so I am able to text all my friends and get online and watch tv shows and such. There are a lot of hours spent on Buzzfeed and Pinterest and I'm currently working on how to get Game of Thrones to stream when it starts in March. It's nice that it's the only place I get wifi because I like to keep the two cultures separate. I don't want to ruin my experience here by giving into the temptation of constantly being in contact with everyone at home, but at the same time I need to have the time to myself and be able to talk to friends and decompress. 

Home sweet home Lancaster. Not a fan of the pack of deer that hang out around it, though.

The dorm is traditional Japanese and we all take our shoes off at the front door. Those are my Wellies, Uggs and hiking boots in the foreground. This is taking some to get used to.

The common room right inside the front door. Currently it's kind of under construction and I'm hoping to get some more seating in there so we can have a place for us all to socialize someday!

Our shared kitchen. Japan is hyper vigilant about sorting their garbage, even down to the different type of plastics, so that's also taking some getting used to.

The hallway I run down in the middle of the night to get to the bathroom, which is so cold because we each heat our rooms individually, not the rest of the dorm.

Yes, Harry Potter on the laptop. With all the overweight luggage, they were the only movies that made the cut. I do have to admit I have I accidentally turned off the wifi to the whole house before because that's the router in the window there...whoops.

My desk and tiny little dresser and vanity. It's interesting to try and do your hair while bent over while trying to look into the mirror.

     Once I got settled in, my coworker, Makoto Urakabe, took me to the Hokuto City office to register my residency. Because I am going to be here for over three months, I have to register as a resident, and subsequently I then lose my foreigner status to get Bullet Train-or Shinkansen-tickets at a discounted price. Bummer! In Japan, you also have to register for their national health care. I was a little hesitant about enrolling in that because of how tricky that can be in the US, but all I had to do was sign some forms. Urakabe translated for me, so I very well may have signed papers saying if I have a cold, I consent to them cutting me open to donate my organs. 

Hokuto City office---so official

It's official...Japan's version of a green card. No illegal alien here!  I can now give people my card now too!

You have to provide your own picture for your residency card....I only needed one, so let me know if anyone is dying to have one. I've got lots of leftovers!

The scenery of the Yatsugatake mountains, where KEEP is located, on the drive home on the main highway, 141. I've gotten lost enough that I have become very familiar with the area and different ways to get home.

     In my free time, I really enjoy going to the mall in nearby Nirasaki, which makes me feel like a total Valley Girl, but they play a lot of American music in the stores and having worked in retail for so long, it's somewhere that feels comfortable and relaxing, suprisingly. It's not a good habit for my wallet to be continually going there, but they really have some great stores. The mall has a "Hundred Yen" store which is just like a dollar store, but is 100x better, Muji, which is like Ikea meets Bed Bath & Beyond with clothes, and my absolute favorite, Uniqlo, which has the same price point and similar product to H&M, but again 100x better. So you can all rest assured I am not suffering 24/7. I will say, though, the radio is lacking. It is like one song for every ten minutes of talking, which of course I don't understand. If you're looking for a simple gift for me, mixed CDs for the car would be great! 

Laza Walk-the shopping mall, my stomping grounds

The English on the clothing here doesn't always translate into something that is coherent and is one of my favorite things to look at, but this store had a table of sweatshirts of some of the US's most picturesque areas...I'm gonna keep an eye on the Indy one and wait for it to go on sale and then snatch it up.

     There you have it. My little home on this side of the world. My next post I will go into what all I have been doing for work here at KEEP. This weekend we are celebrating the Environmental Education initiative's 30th anniversary in Tokyo at Rikkyo University, which has deep connections with KEEP, so I'll have lots of stories and pictures to report back. 

Until next time-

             Charlotte