Mike's Meditations

New Link!!!

Just added a link to Hunkabutta to the links section in the sidebar (bottom right). Its a nice site run by a guy in Tokyo. I've only had a quick look through so far but it looks interesting and fun. Has a lot of photos too for those interested in seeing pictures of Japan (and don't want to wait for me to get round to it).

I found this site from an article in this months Kansai Timeout magazine. The article is about blogging in general with some reference to blogging in Japan and a list of blogs both Japan related and not. Hunkabutta was at the top of the list of Japan-based blogs and so was the first I looked at. I may add more links as I look through the rest.

This has all made me think I should raise the standard of this site a little!

The sun is shining, the birds are singing...

I just realised that due to my lack of posting for a week the layout on my page has gone funny at the bottom, so I am writing another post!

For most of last week it was wet and rainy. I got wet coming back from school more than once and properly soaked once as well. Yesterday and today though have been good days. The sun is indeed shining, and I expect the birds are singing, though not near my apartment (the only bird I've seen near here is a pigeon and if you've ever lived around pigeons you know I hardly want to hear them singing - its loud, constant and boring).

The mountains are hazy now but were clearer this morning. You could see how far up the houses go (higher than I had realised anyway). They are as near as I get to a garden as I live on the fifth floor in a box with a small balcony. Makes me miss the garden at home and I think I need to have somewhere to go to regularly, just to relax outside. I really wanted to sit outside and write something today but I couldn't think of anywhere to go so I sat inside and did it instead.

Enough complaining. I have to get going as I am going to meet Yuka in Osaka today (finally, I'm going outside!)

My First Sonnet!

I actually wrote a summary for my week but lost it before I could post it and didn't feel like rewriting it. This (or something similar) happened a few times last week which is why there were no posts.

Anyway, I was reading Holly Lisle's website and came across a description of what a sonnet is. I've never written a sonnet and thought I'd give it a go. Its nothing groundbreaking (and not really very good) but I thought I'd post it anyway. So there!

Things are on the floor again,
as they are won't to be.
Can hardly see the floor again,
such laziness in me.
Resolved to make my world more clean
and keep it that way too.
My eyes have opened to the scene
but they're not happy with the view.
With brush in hand I sweep away
the dust and dirt and grime.
And in my heart I truly say,
"I'll keep it clean this time".

But now again, for world to see,
my dirty room reflects on me!

Not bad for a Physics major huh? Now I'd better go tidy my room.

Snap Happy

I went out and bought a digital camera yesterday, a Nikon Coolpix 4300. I've been planning to get one for quite a while and I got payed a couple of days ago so...

Anyway, today I have been experimenting with the camera both around school and in the botanical gardens near where I get the bus home. I haven't time to tell much just now but below is one of the pictures I took in Kitayama Botanical Gardens in Nishinomiya. I'd show more but I've got to rush out and meet Yuka for dinner so you'll have to wait!

(Click on the image for a larger version)

KKK (Kofu's Kool Klubs)

It was with much trepidation that I agreed. I had been asked to say something about the ESS club (English Speaking Society) for the Club Introduction thing. Doesn't sound so bad does it really but I can't say as I've ever been keen on public speaking. That combined with the apathy from more than 6 weeks of nothing to do made it seem decidedly unappealing.

Being late I sneaked in the back of the auditorium,took a seat and watched the "difficult" audience's response to one student who fumbled his prepared speech. I didn't much like the idea of being heckled like that.

As more clubs were introduced though, I was reminded that this was Kofu, and everything is pretty casual here. Plenty of students just went and said whatever came into their heads while encouraging the audience to look at the pretty pictures projected onto the screen above them. So I said my piece and recieved a whole load of undeserved applause (I didn't exactly say much).

Just goes to show its good to be a foreigner in Japan. Especially if you say something in a language almost no-one seems to understand (English).

On to the point of this post. I realised after sitting down and watching a few more presentations that Kofu has some really cool clubs. There is really something for everyone and you can be a member of more than one club too (unlike at Kita where it seems no-one ever joins more than one club). I was really impressed with the practical clubs like the art/pottery/woodworking clubs so I'm thinking of trying to tour the clubs a little. I didn't do so before because a lot of them don't meet until very late at night (otherwise the night students couldn't join) now I'm thinking the odd late night won't hurt. Besides I work monday nights anyway so I should be able to work something out.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes and if anything interesting happens I'll probably write about it.

The Great Outdoors

After walking the length of Rokko-San a few weeks ago I've been craving the outdoors. After a quick internet search I found two useful sites: one is the Outdoor SIG which is associated with the JET programme and the other is the International Outdoor Club (IOC). IOC is in Osaka and has a mix of Japanese people and Foreigners (from 14 different countries no less). They have a meeting every month and the next one is tonight. It says on the site that newcomers are welcome so I'm going to go take a look.

On a side note, since I started this site I haven't been able to make so many excuses to not do things. Why? Because my next thought is usually "Well it would be something to write about on the site...".

Its a bit late...

... but here is todays post. (I know I haven't been posting daily but bear with me here).

I have recently been inconvenienced by buses. There are now less buses going to my base school (Kita) than before which is darned awkward. This morning we were crammed in the bus like sardines. The reason (I heard) for reducing the number of buses is because the schools these buses serve have taken in less and less students. Unfortunately, of the new students this year a significant number of them seem to be taking my bus so it is really crowded. OK enough complaining, on with the show.

Today was measuring day! What is that I hear you cry (no really). Well, it seems that all schools in Japan measure their students at the start of the school year (i.e. now). That is they measure height, weight and seated height. I'm not sure quite why this is done but I guess the Japanese government is never short of statistics. As I'm never sure what my height is in centimetres (give me feet and inches anytime) I got myself measured as well. I forgot what my seated height was but I am 179(and a bit)cm tall. I think thats just under 6' which seems taller than I remember being, not that I'm complaining. I helped out with measuring heights after that, it wasn't exactly exciting but it beats sitting at a desk.

Finally, we had an ESS (English Speaking Society) meeting today to discuss what we are going to do this year. The consensus seems to be on making a newspaper and singing (one girl was very emphatic about the singing!). I'm just glad that we have some kind of plan. I was pretty useless with ESS for the last six months and I think it dragged, mainly because we didn't really have any idea what to do. We have one new member so far but he didn't hit it off well with the other ESS members. Apparently he wasn't very polite in speaking Japanese and he did seem a little, well, odd. I can understand how they feel but I've never felt right about excluding people on this basis because I know its not something they do on purpose.

Well, I have to go to bed. Much as I would like to stay up I am on a new drive to become responsible and I have to get up early tomorrow. Goodnight.

Writer's Links

I don't think I can claim to be a writer just yet but the idea is certainly appealing. With that in mind I found these two sites Forward Motion and Holly Lisle's Vision. Forward Motion is an online writers community and Vision a free online magazine. I only found them last night but I think anyone who writes or wants to write would find them interesting (the community's pretty big so obviously I'm not the only one who thinks so).

Continuing the linking theme I've updated the links on the right a bit and divided them into categories. At least now you have more than the name of the site to go on. Expect more minor alterations as I try to get organised.

Becoming Famous

Well I was surprised to find out today that I've actually been linked! I was checking out the stats and was surprised to see so much traffic over the weekend as I didn't access the site at all. (You can tell I'm new to this, usually most of the traffic is generated by me!)

Anyway, a quick look through the referrer logs took me to Hmmn which I discoverred has linked me as a personal view from Japan.

I guess this means I'd better get my act together if people are actually going to visit this site.

Working with textbooks

Having not really done anything teaching related for a day or two I decided I had to do something. Feeling undermotivated I read a bit from the book Planning Lessons and Courses by Tessa Woodward. This book is a great motivator for me. I can't be sure how much of it I am actually taking in but it goes a long way towards making teaching seem somehow manageable. There are many ideas for activities as well as personal anecdotes. The style is just really friendly.

So after having read through a bit on using a textbook I thought, "I know, lets have a look at the textbook I'm going to use." I hope I get to keep the copy I have on my desk as I've just scribbled all over it. I'm starting to appreciate the textbook a bit more now without the feeling of dread that used to arise at the prospect of teaching another boring textbook lesson - or worse a lesson with no textbook (and therefore no guidance) at all.

What did I scribble? Just little annotations to some of the activities or main dialogue to introduce some variations in what we are doing and hopefully draw the students in a little bit. I'm hoping the students will be able to adopt English as their own rather than as an abstract subject or unobtainable ideal. If that happens, then they will be able to learn English by themselves without always relying on a teacher. Otherwise I think even the best student will never really be comfortable with using English for anything other than passing exams.

So there it is my expert (?!?) opinion as to how to learn English. All I have to do now is turn it around and use it to learn Japanese!

Some things are just obvious

Something occurred to me today which is really quite obvious:

This site is an opportunity for me to practise writing!

Ever since I was very young I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to write novels mainly but came to realise that its necessary to start small and work up. After all, most novelists wrote short stories, prose or poetry before they made it as novellists (or even managed to write the material for a whole book!). Many successful novelists were Journalists first.

I wanted to have a website for a long time but I didn't have any idea what to do with one. Its kind of like when I wanted to start a magazine at the age of around 12. I'd read all the material about home publishing using my little 8-bit Amstrad CPC+ and be full of enthusiasm. Of course I had no idea what to put in a magazine so I thought about layouts and names and never actually made anything.

So here I am with these two bits of history finally put together. I have a website which I can design to my hearts content. I can have a sense of achievement in having produced something. On top of that, I have content. This is my playground in which I can write whatever I feel like when I feel like it.

For a change I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.

So here's to more writing and to taking things a step at a time.

The Great Rokko Mountain Trek

Its a few days late but here goes...

In the early hours of saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. Why? To hike the length of Rokko-San a group of mountains (I don't know if I should call it a range or not) extending from Suma to Takarazuka. The route we took was about 56km (37 miles).

Japan is a convenient place, and as such we were able to stop by many a drinks vending machine as well as the occassional convenience store or restaurant either on top of or between mountains. Rokko is a popular place to go hiking or to just enjoy the view and so there are plenty of facilities at rest areas and roads to and from those areas. This means that if you can't continue its possible to get on a bus (or train or cable car depending upon where you are at the time) to return home and rest up.

Nine people started the journey at around 6:15am from Sanyo Shioya station in Suma. These were one teacher from Kofu High school, students from Kofu, an older sister of one student and me.

The day got lighter and warmer as we walked and everyone seemed in a good mood. The difference in scenery was amazing. One moment we would be walking in the suberbs, then walking along forest trails and then peering down at whichever city was below from a baretopped mountain. As the day progressed there were gradually more and more people on the mountain(s) with us. One group would pass us and then later we would pass them each time encouraging eachother to "Gambarou" (keep it up) and apologizing to anyone who stepped out of the way to let us pass.

We lost two people to a train station before starting up a mountain which we were told was "hard". Not really understanding what "hard" meant I went up the mountain a bit too fast (it was very steep) and was completely worn out by the time I reached the top. After a lot of rest and encouragement I continued down the mountain and for the rest of the journey at a more sensible pace. Two of the students didn't seem to have any difficulty at all for the whole trek and the rest of us were affected to different degrees.

When, after a lot of hard work and discomfort we reached the highest point of the Rokko mountains we took pictures to celebrate. As I only had my phone with me I took a picture with that. Expect copies of the pictures other people took soon.

By about 8:30pm we reached Takarazuka after 14 hours of trekking (and resting). To celebrate we soaked away aches and pains in an Onsen (public baths) and had a meal in a local restaurant.

What did we learn from this tremendous journey?

Obviously not much as we decided the next trek should be up Mount Fuji! :p