Kanazawa Weekend

Hey folks. So, Kanazawa was amazingly wonderful. The city has the reputation of being like a more manageable version of Kyoto, and you know, it's kinda true. It really is a fantastic place to go, even for just a weekend. Highlights included:

• Kenrokuen, one of Japan's most famous parks and a *perfect* place for picture-taking
  
• Ninja-dera, Edo-era hideout for the Maeda clan, complete with 23 rooms, 29 staircases, pitfalls, trap stairs, and a well that is rumoured to contain a secret tunnel to Kanazawa Castle
  
• Yasue Gold Leaf Musem, an informative place to learn about Kanazawa's most famous craft (and drink tea with real gold leaf in it!)
  
• Yakiniku *three times* in three days
  
• The new Harry Potter movie
  
• Renaiss Aqua Park, home to spas, pools, food, and amazing massages (and a perfect place to end a great weekend)

Anyway, Chan and I had a lot of fun. Despite my desire to see as many different places as possible, I wouldn't mind going back again. Highly recommended. Here are some of the pictoral highlights:


Yakiniku in Kanazawa
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Kanazawa Station
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Ishikawa-mon Gate, Kenrokuen
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Japanese Wedding, Kenrokuen
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Kotojitoro Lantern, Kenrokuen
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Kenrokuen, Kanazawa
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Demonstration at the Yasue Gold Leaf Museum
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Yasue Gold Leaf Museum
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Click here to check out the full set if you have time. I had lots of fun with my camera. Anyway, it's time for me to get some dinner and figure out how I'm going to teach "does/does not" tomorrow morning. Oh, and shore up those Berkeley essays, which are finally coming along. Why does the first app have to be simultaneously the most difficult and the most important? Figures. Take care, people.

Another Monday, Monday...

Went to Tagami Jr. High today, one of the "one-shot" schools that I only visit every two weeks. I generally enjoy this school. The two female teachers are great; one of them is a complete sweetheart. And I got to see some of the posters the kids made about me last time:


Kristi's Profile
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Kristi's Profile
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

That last one cracks me up, too. "She looks like Japanese." The "We like her" is sweet though. Sweet kids. I should mention that the "facts" listed on the above posters are not necessarily true though. You've gotta give answers the kids can understand, ya know?

Anyway, did a chunk of work on my Berkeley personal statement this afternoon. And I just finished eating what turned out to be a pretty tasty beef and tomato stew. I'll get the hand of this dish yet. Off to maybe do some more work. Time is passing so quickly today...

Had a rather nice day at school today. Taught three fairly successful third-year classes, with activities primarily prepared by myself. Even the petulant ones warmed up a little (I have a feeling they appreciate me not crucifying them on their last speaking test). Also got a fair amount of Japanese studying done. It's nice to remember how much of this language I already know. I'm taking the advanced level of the JET correspondence course and have yet to come across any new grammar. New (or forgotten) kanji? Of course. But not grammar. And not too much vocab. Granted, it's not really that legitimate a course. But it's still gratifying. ;)

Oh, I forgot to mention that yesterday my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) at Kamo Jr. High brought my back some omiyage from Kamo Norin, the city agricultural high school: cucumbers, mushrooms, and pears grown by the students themselves and eggs from the chickens they raised. And some cake things that they evidently made, too. Nice, huh?


Omiyage from Kamo Norin High School
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Feeling cheerful and happy to be in Japan (still wish they had central heating though).

Grad app extravaganza...

I finally made myself settle on a grad school list. The lucky contenders are: UC Berkeley, Princeton, Cornell, Harvard, UC San Diego, UCLA, University of Michigan, Columbia University, University of Chicago, University of Washington, and University of Wisconsin. The heartbreakers were Stanford and GWU. But after finally wrenching out a decision, I went for it and sent out all my transcripts and GRE score reports. And I got the informational packets sent out to my letter writers, with a month's notice til the first deadline. At least I can concentrate on writing now.

Just for fun, I thought I'd post my teaching "stats" for last month. My Board of Education makes me compile a report every month, so I might as well put it to some use, right? ;)

October 2005 Teaching Stats
Number of days visiting schools: 18
Number of days actually teaching: 14
Number of classes taught: 37
- 1st year: 14
- 2nd year: 9
- 3rd year: 14
Vaction time: 1 day, 4 hours

Back to Japan (mentally)

So, I'm pretty much back to my normal living-in-Japan routine--no more visitors for a while. Feels a little weird, but it's also quite nice not to have to spend hours and hours on the shinkansen every weekend. Spent most of today lying in bed, watching mindless TV and working on the new website for the Northwest Film Forum. No better way to numb the brain. Also had lunch with Grace and Rosalind at Pinokio's.

Anyway, I think I'll share some school pictures with you. The first is from a [very belated] welcome enkai that Grace and I went to with our Osaki Jr. High teachers on Thursday night. It was quite fun. And I got to experience daiko for the first time with Grace; daiko is a service that will drive your car home for you after you've gone out drinking, since Japan has zero tolerance for drinking and driving.


Osaki Welcome Enkai
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.


The next ones are from the big research presentation festival at Wakamiya Jr. High. The students have been working on various projects for the last couple of months, resulting in my sometimes getting interviewed about everything from traffic laws in America to anime to cold prevention strategies. Tuesday was their chance to show off their research via poster presentations and speeches. The latter gave me the first opportunity to experience the truly Japanese phenomenon of adherence to a program. Normally, what happens when part of an event finishes early? You move on to the next part, right? Well, not in Japan. In Japan, you sit quietly until the assigned time for the next activity comes along and then proceed. During the last part of the day, third-year students were supposed to give 20 minutes speeches that really only lasted 5-10 minutes, resulting in a lot of this waiting. I thought I was going to die. But except for that, it was a good time.


Wakamiya Research Day
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.



Wakamiya Research Day
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.


The girl in the last picture is one of my favorite students. I recently discovered that her mother works at one of our local karaoke haunts--I totally see the resemblance now.

I think that's all, folks. More to come.

Traipsing around Tokyo and Niigata

It's been so busy lately that I haven't had time to post at all! But it's been tremendous fun. There's too much to tell to compress into one little entry, but long story short? Adam came to Japan for eight days and we had an amazing time sightseeing in Tokyo and around Niigata. We had crazy adventures and made random Japanese friends at almost every turn. Some of the pictoral highlights are below.


Classic gothic lolitas in Harajuku


Studio Ghibli Museum, Mitaka


Sensoji, Asakusa, Tokyo


Gotokuji, Setagaya: The origin of the maneki-neko

Click here to see more photos from Tokyo


Kamo Jr. High Choir Contest


Approaching Yahiko Village


Kristi at the Yahiko Chrysanthemum Festival


Little girl at Yahiko Shrine


Yahiko Mountain


Morning at the Omi Shrine, Kamo


Kamoyama Squirrel Park, Kamo

Click here to see more photos from Niigata

There's a lot more to tell, but I think I'll just leave it at that for now. More stories to come!