Who Would Have Thought Barbecues Would Be So Big Here?

     
     As the busy season at KEEP approaches, each department likes to have a little party and celebrate with some fun before the real work starts. In true Japanese fashion, they have taken the American barbecue tradition and made it their own! Since I work within so many different departments, I was fed well during this season. When you think barbecue, you think hamburgers and hot dogs and potato salad, right? Not in Japan! This is time to break out the flat top and grill up some yakisoba noodles and kobe beef! The one thing that remains that does translate of course are the libations that are involved when work people get together off the clock.

     The first barbecue I got invited to was for Seisen-Ryo, the hotel here. Now the guys manning the grill weren't just some guy from accounting that thinks he is a grill master because he has a grill set at home he got for Father's Day. No, these were the people from the professional kitchen at Seisen-Ryo that were cooking up our food. Nary a burnt hamburger in sight, we feasted on some of the best 'barbecue' food I have ever eaten! The party went well into the night and after a few drink we all got to talking casually about things and of course people wanted to practice English with me. This was the first time I really felt at home here in Japan.

One of the front desk staff starting up the yakisoba.

The staff from the kitchen cooking up the most tender, melt in your mouth meat I have ever had. 

Not your every day hot dog--heavy duty, stick to your bones sausage over here.

Local Kiyosato sake--the bottle is now a flower vase in my room.

     In the international relations department, since there are so many American interns, we wanted to show our Japanese coworkers and the other interns from France what an American barbecue looked like. The provided us with sushi and we showed them things we either missed from home or we thought were musts at a cookout. The day also coincided with probably my favorite Japanese holiday tanabata--or the star festival. The story goes that tanabata

"celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively).The Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar". 

Pretty romantic concept if you ask me. One of the customs for this holiday is to write wishes on strips of paper and to hang them from bamboo trees. You can see these trees all around the city, even the local grocery store and J-Mart. This year it rained on the holiday, so not only did we have our cookout inside, but legend has it the star crossed deities couldn't meet this year. Tough break--there's always next year, right?

Obi-chan manning the grill. We told them we MUST have corn on the cob--of course we didn't have it dripping in butter. We couldn't go full American.

Of course there must also be sushi, right? My first time trying uni, or sea urchin. Japan finally presented me with a food I am not a fan of.

Jonathan, one of the interns from France, with our wine and potato salad and guacamole in the back. The idea that a food item is used to bring another food item to your mouth just blew everyone's mind. "I take this chip, pick up some of this green stuff, and then eat all of it?!"

Talk about fusion food.

Gon-san, Zack, Jaimah and me preparing our tanabata wishes.

Putting my wish on the tree!

I know my wish will come true--it already is!

The best wish by far came from Kazu-san.

     I am a firm believer that food transcends all language barriers. You don't need words when "mmmm" works just fine.

Until next time, 

         Charlotte

Tea Ceremony and Story Time at Seisen-Ryo

    
     So I know one of my main purposes here is to provide international exchange and share what I know and teach about my culture, but sometimes I am the one that gets to learn and those are some of my favorite days! Not only do I get to break the monotony of the work day, but I get to try something new.

     During the busy season at KEEP, Seisen-Ryo will cater to their guests by setting up a casual tea ceremony in the lobby. I say casual in the sense that guests can check-in and stop by for a quick cup of green tea before heading to their room. By no means is the setup itself casual. A few of the ladies that work in the different departments of KEEP are traditional tea masters and they so graciously showed me how to prepare a proper cup of green tea.  A lot more than you would think goes into this ritual which is best explained in pictures.

Sign inviting guests to come in an have a cup of tea.

It's all about the bamboo brush to get the tea nice and frothy.

First, I got to play the guest. You're first a served a sweet to coat your palate and prepare it for the bitterness of the tea to come.

Enjoying my cookie.

Receiving my cup of tea. Much different than a tea cup. The whole display of the tea ceremony coordinates with the season. The flowers there are to represent summer.

Now it is my turn to learn! The big ladle there is to scoop out the hot water into the tea bowl to wash it out, which you then pour into the decorative vase there. Then you use your special cloth to wipe out the bowl in a specific way, making the shape of one of the Japanese hiragana characters (like making the shape of an A). Next, you put two of the tiny spoonfuls there of the green tea into the bowl and then ladle more hot water in, then you mix it up with the bamboo brush there to make it all frothy. And voila! Proper green tea.

Frothing up the tea!

My first guests!

     Seisen-Ryo doesn't like to forget about the kids during the busy season! One of the women I work with, Hoshii-san, used to be a teacher before she came to Seisen Ryo. She has a whole stash of children's books under her desk and she puts on story time a few times a month during the summer. I got to be the special guest reader for this last time. The kids come after dinner, right before bed and we set up a story corner. This time Hoshii-san read from one of her HUGE Japanese books first.

Story time with special guest Charlotte File from America!

Large group this night.

     The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a very popular book here in Japan amongst children just like back in the States which was a nice surprise seeing as it was one of my favorite books growing up too! The kids were really excited when Hoshii-san got it out and then did the old bait and switch and got out the English version for me to read. Japanese kids are extremely interested in American culture so I was pleasantly surprised how well they listened. 

Special guest reader.

All the Eric Carle books are popular!

     At the end of story time, I get to interact with the kids. The parents like their kids to practice their English they have no doubt been paying out the eyes for. We give the kids some stickers, play some rock, paper, scissors with me (which is the go to way to settle anything in the kid world here) and just hang out. Then it's off to bed for the little ones and I go home and realize teaching will never and should never be in my future.

Rock, paper, scissors--or janken as it's called here.

Showing me his dormouse museum pin--you can see his extensive collection of pins on his shirt.

Family that comes to Seisen-Ryo every summer for vacation and know Hoshii-san well.

Until next time,
        Charlotte

The Interns Have Arrived!

     KEEP is hosting a whole gang of interns this summer. Just recently, the first crop of them arrived. This group is from Berea College in Kentucky. They are four really incredible students if you think they picked up and moved to a strange country for two months of their summer holiday. Their tasks here at KEEP include working on the farm, two of the students are studying agricultural related subjects at school, and working at the camp with students that come to KEEP. If you want to see what they are up to, one of the students, Aja Crouteau, has been keeping a blog to keep everyone at home updated. It's a great read if you're interested in other on-goings at KEEP besides what I am involved in. Because they're only here for two months, they have been given the gift of bikes, which unfortunately will get them to the 7-11 down the hill, but that is about it and I feel like it is my duty, as the English speaker with a car, to take them to the grocery store or mall whenever the need. I know how awkward it can be to ask someone that is your superior to take you to get something that is totally American, like peanut butter, so I am constantly bugging them to see if they need anything. There is also another intern right now that is here from Brazil. Tomorrow, our intern Emily from Wellesley College arrives and will be living in the same dorm as me. Over the summer, we also will have interns from France, the Philippines and possibly Afghanistan coming here to KEEP. I like to think of myself as the intern Momma because I am going to see them all arrive and then leave and I'll still be here. It's a really weird way to think of it--I'm five months in and still have another seven, but these students are going to be spending their whole time here within my remaining time. Time seriously is flying.

     The other night, the international relations department had a night out at a local izakaya ("a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are casual places for after-work drinking." --Wikipedia) called Zenzow. It was kind of an official "welcome dinner" for the Berea students and was a really enjoyable night and kind of the first night I had spent not hanging out in the dorm. I felt like a barrier between me and my coworkers has been broken and now they know they can invite me out. The next day my coworker at the hotel told me about their department dinner party this upcoming month. I feel like I have finally made progress! This is also the time right before the super busy season at KEEP and people are taking advantage of the calm before the storm.

Jaimah and Victoria trying umeboshi--or pickled plums--for the first time.

The Berea students' first full day in Japan--discussing what their jobs at KEEP will be.

Victoria, Zack and Aja at Zenzow

International Relations department outing.

Victoria trying something for the first time.

The damage at the end of the meal.

Aja, Victoria, Zack and Jaimah at the meeting for the Hokuto City student exchange to Canada. They will be helping me teach the English classes for the students that take place while they are still here.

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

Easter Services

     Easter is my favorite holiday in the church. I've always loved the Easter Vigil and the build up and anticipation. I was worried that this year I wouldn't really get to experience that because I was so far from my home church. Of course I should have known that whenever you walk into an Anglican church, it's going to be fairly easy to follow along, even if it is in another language. For the Easter Vigil, there were very few people there, maybe they were saving up to come on Sunday? There was no English program for me to follow, but luckily having my Book of Common Prayer there with me, I was able to use my deductive reasoning, educated mind, and handy Bible book translations I've been working on to follow along. Whether I got every single thing right wasn't really my concern, I just enjoyed being in the company of the five or so other people.


My supplies for the Easter Vigil--trying to keep up was easier said than done.

Before the Easter Vigil services.

Easter Vigil.

     REJOICE AMERICANS! We are not the only country with "Chreasters" out there! (People that only go to church on Christmas and Easter) There was a record turn out on Easter Sunday. All of the tatami and pews were full. I found that to be oddly comforting, a characteristic of church at home. After the services we had a really lovely brunch. I sat at a table with an uncle and nephew on holiday from England, the presiding bishop's parents and Mr. Kazunori, who invited me out to dinner with him and his wife and his daughter when she was back in town for Golden Week. They had lived in San Fransisco for many years until moving back to Japan recently. It was a really great time and made me feel like I was at home. I did get to Skype with my family that morning so that was a bonus, too!

Easter Sunday packed house.

The altar with the gifts.

All the children receiving communion.

One of the parishoners' sons made Easter eggs for everyone.

Father Shimada giving the prayer before the meal.

Great company during Easter lunch.

My really sweet Easter gift from my coworker Hata-san!

 Until next time,

                   Charlotte