week three!

So up until now my job has mostly been just translation, but I do have some events lined up that are more interactive! One of these is an event at the library, where I'll be reading some picture books out loud (in English) and playing some games like Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. So this Wednesday I went with Satou-san to talk to the people at the library about it, and to get a tour of the library! I picked two books to read: Goodnight, Moon (because it's famous) and And The Doorbell Rang (because I remember reading that as a kid). I'm not really sure what the English ability of the kids who'll be there will be, but hopefully they'll enjoy it.

Afterward I got a tour of the library, which is a pretty cool place! It's a fairly new building (or at least looks that way), and they have plenty of books and cubicles where you can watch DVDs or tapes, which is great since I don't have anything that can play region 2 DVDs but love Japanese movies. They have a reasonably large foreign-language section, too, which is not just English but also includes things like Korean, French, and Portuguese (to name just a few). We also got to go into their story time room, which is a little round room that also happens to be a kind of mini planetarium! Our guide turned the lights off and we got to see the ceiling light up with the constellations in all four seasons. It was pretty awesome. I definitely plan on going back to explore the library a little more sometime!

Today was a pretty busy day, too! It started out with my first courtesy visit (when people visit the mayor), with the high school exchange students from North Vancouver. I was just there to observe and see how these work, because after this I'm supposed to be the interpreter (scary). There were some opening remarks, a speech by the mayor, a speech by the North Vancouver chaperone, an exchange of gifts, a period of open conversation (to ask questions), and then a commemorative photo. I was impressed because the North Vancouver kids asked some good questions about things like environmental efforts in Chiba, until I remembered how in the future I'm going to have to interpret questions like that. -.-' But I guess that's something that'll get easier in time.

My predecessor was also there to help interpret, so I finally got to meet her! I think I'm pretty lucky to have a predecessor who's still in Japan (relatively close, in fact), so I can still contact her pretty easily if I have questions. After the courtesy visit I basically just stuck around with her as she got some stuff done at the immigration office (which is right below my office) and gave me advice about things. We had lunch together and then went to the Chiba City International Association, which is where Gina works and where my predecessor spent most of her time. They were having an intercultural event all day, for Japanese people and foreigners to hang out together and enjoy some performances, so we spent some time there. It was also good because I got to talk a little bit more with the people who work at the CCIA, who we work with pretty often.

After that I stopped by home really quick before heading out to have dinner with some other Chiba JETs! One of the Chiba PAs, Laura, had suggested that we have dinner sometime since we both live in Chiba City, and she also invited one of the other CIRs, Sikiru. I was pretty impressed because he lives two hours away, but apparently he loves driving and makes the trip to Chiba City pretty often! We had dinner at a little cafe, which was really tasty! I'm glad I got to meet another Chiba CIR (apparently there are only 4 of us) and he seems like a really cool person. I'll be seeing them both again next Friday for Chiba Orientation, which is another fun thing to look forward to.

On Sunday I'll be participating in the Three Generations Festival with a group from the CCIA! I brought the yukata I'd bought in Nagoya two years ago back to Japan with me, and apparently they'll help me put it on before we all head out to the festival. We're going to be dancing and maybe also carrying a portable shrine! I'm pretty excited, since I've never actually been part of a festival in Japan.

But for now I'm pretty tired out from the day, so it is time for bed! Until next time. :)