ishigaki, part two~

Okay, so picking up where I left off: Saturday, or day 5! Almost all the interpreting volunteers had the day off, so a few of us started out by visiting Taketomi Island, which is only about 10 minutes away by boat. This was also the first day with sunny weather, which was amazing! We spent a lot of time marveling at how much difference the sun made. :)

Since the island isn't very big, we decided to rent bikes, which I think is pretty common. Our first destination was Kaiji Beach, which is known for its star sand! It looks like stars or suns, and to be fair it isn't actually sand, but rather the shells of tiny crustaceans - but it still looks really cool. Naturally the first thing we all did was scoop up some sand to try and find some star bits, with varying degrees of success. Definitely super cool. Then we went to Kondoi Beach, which was gorgeous with surprisingly warm water (though only one of us was smart enough to bring a swimsuit) and then we had the famed soki soba for lunch, which is basically noodles with ribs and spectacularly tasty. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around, eating dragonfruit popsicles and seeing sights like Nagomi Tower, which looks over the whole tiny traditional village.

Star sand!

Water buffalo here too!

Nagomi Tower - climbing up was an adventure!

When we got back, plans were made for us to go see the fireflies at Banna Park, which is one of the sights the mayor recommended to us at our courtesy visit. At first we tried to rent a car but instead the owners of the rental place got a taxi for us at a good deal, with the driver even agreeing to guide us all the way to exactly where the fireflies were (and a good thing too, because we probably wouldn't have found it otherwise). Anyway, it was amazing! There were tons and tons of fireflies everywhere, twinkling like Christmas lights! I've never seen so many fireflies at once before, or flashing so often, either. I didn't even try to take pictures because I knew it wouldn't turn out, but just take my word for it - it was breathtaking. Then we went back and joined some more JET volunteers for food and drinks at an izakaya with performances of Okinawan music!

The next day was the big day: the Sunday of the triathlons! I didn't get there for the start of the Ishigaki Island triathlon, but I did get to see the first person who finished, and also cheer on all the rest. It was super cute to see people run across the finish line with their families or teammates (for those doing it as a relay), especially when they included babies! I did get to see the start of the women's World Cup race, though this was also when it started to rain so I have no pictures whatsoever. I did see the end of both the men and women's races though, and it was pretty cool to realize that these were world-class athletes, in a qualifying race for the Olympics! Super impressive. Then in the evening, there was the award party, which was a chance for the citizens and athletes and volunteers to hang out while eating food from stalls like the ones they have at festivals. Good times.

The first amateur finisher!

Monday morning was spent assisting some athletes with check-out at the hotel and making sure they all got on the right shuttle to the airport (which they did). Then my host parents took us to a few places around the island, starting with the marine research center where my host dad used to work, where they had lots and lots of sea turtles! We got to see them in their tanks (including one that was separated from the rest because it was on a diet and another one that apparently had the opposite problem) and I even held a little one! Then we went to the Hirakubo Lighthouse, at the northernmost point of the island, which had the most spectacular view. I couldn't get over how gorgeous the ocean was, with its many different shades of blue, and eating chinsuko (a famous Okinawan treat) ice cream there was pretty much perfect.

Apparently when they are resting they put their fins on their backs!

Northernmost point of Ishigaki Island!

The last evening consisted of dinner and karaoke with some other JETs, my host sister and her friend, and more, which was a great way to wrap up the end of the trip. The next day was pretty much just spent going home, but not before my host parents let us each pick a bowl they had made to take home with us! I definitely think staying with a host family was one of the best parts of what was a really awesome trip. I met new people, saw new places, and experienced so many new things. Hopefully I'll be back to Ishigaki someday!

ishigaki triathlons, part one!

So two weeks ago, I boarded my first (Japanese) domestic flight and headed off to Ishigaki, Okinawa! I went there as a volunteer interpreter for the not one, but two triathlons that were happening there that weekend: the Ishigaki Island Triathlon and the Ishigaki ITU Triathlon World Cup. It was my first time going to Okinawa (though hopefully not my last) and my second time volunteering at a triathlon (which I only remembered after I got there, haha. Oops) and basically a super fun time. :D (I'm also splitting the post into two parts because I think otherwise it will be ridiculously long.)

The first day was mostly spent traveling and then meeting my host family and fellow JET volunteer who was also staying with them. It turns out my host sister lived in Georgia for 9 years, which is a crazy coincidence because she was also in a place super close to my house, my host parents do ceramics, just like my mom, and my fellow JET house buddy was somebody I met at our mid-year conference! What a small world.

Ishigaki's brand new airport!

The next day we had our volunteer training with the resident Ishigaki CIR and a courtesy visit to the mayor! It was kind of cool to be on the guest side rather than the interpreting end, though it was also very short. Then all the (visiting) interpreting volunteers went out for yakiniku (of the famed Ishigaki beef) - we were all JETs from basically all over Japan, so it was great to meet everybody and get to know them a little better. The afternoon was just spent wandering around Ishigaki City, where we discovered the Shinei Park World Peace Bell and learned that Taiwan is only 270km away, among other things. I thought it was amazing how different it felt to be in Okinawa though - you could definitely tell that we were on an island (even though the weather was not ideal). And then I went to the airport to welcome some triathletes from South Africa!

The World Peace Bell

I had all of Wednesday free, so a couple of volunteers and I went to the nearby Iriomote Island! It's the only Yaeyama Islands I'd heard of besides Ishigaki before coming, because it's the home of the Iriomote cat, which is a wild cat (not much bigger than a housecat) that's only found there. Apparently there are less than a hundred of them left and some people live there their whole lives without seeing one, though our bus guide had seen them 5 times! Anyway, our day in Iriomote consisted of a short cruise around the mangroves and a short ride across to Yubu Island via water buffalo (ours was named Yumi-chan), where we had lunch and saw things like a butterfly house. And then we went back to Ishigaki for a welcome party with all the interpreting volunteers, including Ishigaki residents!

An Iriomote cat!

A very cool tree

Yumi-chan!

The next morning was free for me too, so I took the opportunity to have my first scuba diving experience! The weather wasn't the greatest (cloudy and not quite warm) and the water was a little cold even with a wetsuit, but it was definitely worth it. After stopping to snorkel a little, it was time to try scuba diving! I'd never done it before so I was a little nervous (especially since I'd always thought you needed to go through proper training before scuba diving), but they explained everything clearly and I didn't run into any problems (other than occasionally tipping over from the weight of the tank being imbalanced), which was awesome. We saw a bunch of fish and also a group of cuttlefish (I think), which was really cool.

Trying hard to breathe properly

Then I went back to Ishigaki City Hall to prep for my next volunteer job: interpreting at the World Cup welcome party! The three of us were originally supposed to use the time to translate prepared speeches, but we found out that one of them didn't have a written copy, and because one of the other volunteers wasn't a native English speaker and the other had never interpreted before, I agreed to do it on-the-fly (which is always terrifying). But it actually went pretty well (he kept it short and sweet), so I got to enjoy just being at the welcome party. I didn't actually talk to any of the athletes, but I watched some performances of traditional dances/music by local high schoolers and ate some yummy food!

And that's all I'll recount for now - stay tuned for part two (hopefully shortly)! :)

pre-okinawa

So as I mentioned last post, I'll be headed off to Ishigaki, Okinawa for a week starting on Tuesday (aka in two days)! I'm super excited and totally unprepared, but before leaving I figured I should post a quick update!

This week at work has been pretty uneventful, besides the whole adjusting-to-a-new-office thing. On Tuesday I went to see the movie Cloud Atlas with Cory, which was way better than I expected (probably because I had no expectations whatsoever) - they did some crazy cool stuff with makeup and effects, especially as an independent film. On Wednesday I went swing dancing again for the first time in like two months, which was super fun as usual.

 On Friday we had our welcome/farewell party for all the people leaving and coming into the section, which was a really good time, although one of the new people had to leave early to go to another party, which was a shame. It was really good to see everybody who switched out - hopefully we'll still see each other from time to time!

Then on Saturday I was supposed to go down to Kamogawa to see my friend Ella, but there was a forecast for a really big storm in the afternoon and I was worried about getting back so I just stayed home. Which I ended up regretting a little, but I spent the whole day in my pajamas and Skyping with my dad and some friends, so it wasn't a total loss! :)

This morning I went into my kimono classroom for a kimono hair and makeup trial and ended up buying a kimono! Or rather, the fabric to make one, since really kimonos are supposed to be custom-made. I wasn't planning on it, but I had put in a deposit before going to the kimono festival last weekend and I was able to use that for this fabric, and I figured it was probably worth getting my own kimono made instead of just getting a used one (which was my original plan). Still, I'm pretty happy with it and looking forward to getting it back in two months! Like I said, it isn't really a kimono yet (also I still have to buy an obi and other accessories to go with it), but here's what it looked like earlier today:

And then tonight I went out to dinner with another friend, whose friend was singing Okinawan music at an Okinawan restaurant! She was super talented, and I even got one of her CDs, which I'm looking forward to listening to. I didn't know anybody else there, but I had a good time getting to know them while tasting Okinawan food (in preparation for my trip, maybe). Perhaps it's a premonition of good times to come during my trip! :)

So after a day of work tomorrow, off I go on my first airplane trip within Japan! Definitely not packed yet and probably haven't thought about it as much as I should, but I am very excited for warm weather and beaches and meeting some other JETs! :D

finishing the fiscal year

As expected, the last half of March has been a whirlwind! The new fiscal year starts in April in Japan, so on top of the visit from the Houston delegation, we also had to prepare to move our office (we're going from the community center to actual city hall, for better or for worse) and also get ready for some personnel changes - three people are being transferred out (which happens periodically in Japanese companies/organizations), which was surprising and very sad. :( I'm sure I will enjoy getting to know our new people though! A new office and new people and a new fiscal year all in a new month - April definitely won't be boring, at least! After showing up yesterday to help finish moving, today was my first day in the new office! Since I hate change I think it will take some adjusting, but really, I think it will all feel normal very soon. The new office does have really huge windows, some of which overlook the park nearby, which I like.

So naturally the biggest event in the last half of March was the visit from the delegation from Houston! It involved me setting and breaking records for the latest I've stayed at the office, spending a full day working by myself in the office on a weekend, and enough overtime hours that I don't have to use any vacation days for my upcoming trip to Ishigaki, but actually I really enjoyed myself while they were here. :D More details here!

Other fun things I've been up to:
- A few random days/afternoons off to use up some built-up overtime, mostly just spent wandering around and shopping
- A day spent with my friend Ella in Tokyo! The sakura (cherry blossoms) have been in bloom for the past few weeks (starting to disappear now, sadly), so we went to Ueno Park to take a look! We just walked around instead of properly sitting and eating (and drinking) in true Japanese hanami (flower-viewing) style, but really it was very pretty, even on a cloudy day.

- A farewell party for the Economic Planning Section! Actually it was probably a little strange for me to be there, since I had never actually spoken to most of them and didn't know the person whose farewell party it was (and may actually not see many of them again any time soon due to personnel changes), but I did enjoy getting to know them a little and even won a bottle of wine from name bingo.
- The same salsa dance party I went to at the end of February (it's a monthly thing), which was just as fun. I hardly danced at all during March because I was so busy, so it was great to get back into it.
- Swing dancing under the cherry blossoms! This time it was a proper hanami in Yoyogi Park, complete with dancing! Again it was cloudy and actually a little bit chilly out, but the combination of dancing, drinking, and practically non-stop eating helped keep me warm. :)
- Ichiru Festa: a big kimono event run by my kimono school - apparently students from all over the country came to participate! Basically there were kimonos, obis, and their accessories from all over the country on sale for really cheap, plus a few hands-on activities. I tried painting a han-eri, which is something you put over your collar, and though I didn't end up buying anything, I did 'try on' a lot of different fabric, which was lots of fun. We also had a yummy bento lunch at a nearby hotel, even though the participation fee for the whole event was only 500 yen!

And that was the end of March in a nutshell! The big thing coming up for me this month is my trip to Ishigaki, where I'll be volunteer interpreting for the triathlon there. I'll be leaving in a week, for a week, and I'm sure once I get back I'll have lots to post about. Stay tuned! :)

delegation from houston!

Last week, a delegation from our sister city in the US, Houston, came to Chiba City! 2012 was the 40th anniversary of our sister-city relationship, but since we count them in fiscal years, having them come in March still totally counted (or that's what I keep telling myself, haha). Getting ready for them took a lot of time and effort (and much, much more on my coworkers' parts), but I think it was a great success! I had a lot of fun with the delegation and hopefully they did, too. :)

They arrived on Sunday, and for their (unofficial) welcome dinner, we went to Sakae Zushi, which is a sushi restaurant run by sushi chef Masayoshi Kazato, who holds all sorts of important positions in the sushi world and actually went to Houston last year to teach about proper sushi hygiene and was made an honorary citizen of the city. So this trip was his chance to return the favor to Houston on his home turf, and I'm glad I got to be there - interpreting for him with sushi terminology was not easy, but the meal was more than worth it! I also learned some new things about making sushi, like how vinegar is important as a disinfectant and not just a seasoning and how it usually takes three years of training before a beginning sushi chef is allowed to actually make it (though Chef Kazato did it after just two).

The next day was full of official/formal events: courtesy visits to the mayor and the chairman of the City Assembly and a welcome luncheon/dinner reception hosted by each, including traditional Japanese koto and American Country Western dance performances. It was a big day of interpreting for me, and while I definitely had some less-than-stellar moments, all in all I felt like things went by better and more easily than the past, which is encouraging (to say the least). The highlight of the day for me, though, was successfully carrying out our flash mob in the city hall lobby, which my coworker and I, along with several of our fellow city hall workers, had been practicing for weeks! It started out with the country dancer from Houston dancing by himself, followed by teachers from the Asian Western Country Dance Association (who came from all over Japan) joining in, and then us! The delegation members (and probably any random passersby) were pretty surprised, so it was a definite success. :) We also went strawberry-picking at a nearby farm (because Chiba City actually has quite a fair amount of farmland and agriculture, too), which was delicious.

With the bulk of the official stuff done, Tuesday was much more relaxed! Though different people had different activities to attend, the group I accompanied went to the Chiba City Folk Museum to try on traditional clothing and armor from the Heian period (which actually anybody can do once a month or so if you sign up in advance - a pretty cool experience, I think).  Then we were off to QVC Marine Field to watch part of a pre-season baseball game from one of the VIP rooms! The head of the delegation read a letter from the mayor of Houston aloud and took part of the first pitch ceremony, and the rest of us got to go down on the field with him, too. I also got to see a slideshow I helped make projected on the big screen, which was pretty awesome.

After that, we visited Mihama-en, a traditional Japanese garden in Makuhari, to experience the tea ceremony while admiring the view. Fun fact: Houston also has a Japanese garden in a place called Hermann Park, which is home to a stone lantern sent by Chiba City! I'll definitely stop by there whenever I end up visiting Houston (having decided I should make it a goal to visit all of our sister cities at some point in my life). The last thing scheduled for their visit was a reception hosted by Houston, at a restaurant near Chiba Port called Ocean Table, where food, drinks, and line dancing meant a good time was had by all. :)

On Wednesday we got up bright and early to send the delegation off to Tokyo, but since they had an open spot on the day tour they had reserved and were gracious enough to offer it to me, I ended up spending the day with them as well (since it was also a holiday)! I got to visit some famous parts of Tokyo I hadn't gotten around to seeing yet like Meiji Jingu, the Imperial Palace garden, and Odaiba and take a (very) mini cruise around the bay. They also invited me to have dinner with them and then wouldn't let me pay for it, which was super nice of them.

A couple getting married at Meiji Jingu, on the first day of spring!

So that was the visit from the delegation from Houston! It involved a lot of last-minute translation and on-the-fly interpretation, but also new experiences and connections - it's things like this that really make me appreciate how cool my job can be. :)

(semi-)quiet before the storm

So I've been lax about updating again, oops, but in my defense, an official delegation from our sister city of Houston is coming to Chiba in roughly 17 hours, so things have been crazy in terms of preparation! Yesterday I was at work until 11pm (but if that sounds late, at least one person was there until 3am and I suspect another one may have just spent the night) and today I went in for basically a full day of work even though it was Saturday, but at last hopefully things are just about ready! We only confirmed their visit in January and it's a full-on delegation including business and cultural representatives, so things have been crazy last-minute, especially compared to our last sister city visitors from Quezon (only 3 people that time)!

So in preparation for some future exciting posts about this visit from Houston, here's a quick catching-up of what I've been up to until now:
 - a spur-of-the-moment exploration of Chiba Park, one of the bigger parks downtown that has a lake, pool, and sports facilities - I don't know why it took me so long to finally go check it out but I'm glad I did, especially since the weather was gorgeous that day
 - discussion for foreign residents of Chiba City about how the city transmits information and whether or not it's efficient, which was definitely for work but still pretty interesting (and hopefully helpful)
- my first outing to Tokyo in a kimono with my class! Lots of details here.
- taking a random day off work to use up the replacement hours I get instead of overtime before they expired, which was mostly just spent shopping
- frisbee practice! Super glad these are starting up again, especially now that it's warmer.
- practicing every day at lunch with my coworker and other City Hall employees for a country western dance flash mob during the visit from Houston! I have heard this song and done the same  30-second segment of steps so many times I could probably do it in my sleep, so hopefully that's a good sign.

I'm both excited for and dreading Houston's arrival tomorrow, since it means four days of basically non-stop interpreting (at a whole bunch of formal events) and running around back and forth and lots of stress, but it should also be pretty fun and interesting. The schedule includes things like strawberry picking and watching part of a pre-season baseball game from the VIP room in QVC Marine Stadium, so that should be exciting!

On Wednesday we will be seeing everybody off to Tokyo and then I plan to take Thursday off, so here's hoping I survive until then! >_<

kimono trip to tokyo

For last week's kimono class, we took a trip to Tokyo! It was supposed to give us a chance to actually do stuff in a kimono for (most of) a day to see if we had managed to put them on properly and to get used to doing more than just standing around in them for a few minutes, which is usually what happens in class. It was certainly an experience, though to be honest I'm not sure it's one I want to repeat any time soon - moving around in a kimono and zori (traditional footwear that is basically a fancy, uncomfortable, and very pretty version of flip-flop) all day is no joke!

After putting on kimonos at the classroom,  we headed off to the station! Even though it's less than a 10-minute walk away, we managed to hop on a bus there, which my feet (in brand-new zori) really appreciated. Then we got on a train to Tokyo! Navigating the stairs and the gap between the platform and train was certainly trickier than usual (you can only step so far in a kimono), but about halfway through the 40-minute ride I realized that I could still lean back even with my obi, which was an excellent discovery.

Our destination was another classroom of our school (they're all over the country) in Nihombashi's Ningyocho, which I don't know very much about but is apparently a place with lots of traditional flair. The classroom we visited was right next to a place that dyes the fabric for kimonos, where we stopped first. Originally we were supposed to be able to see the man who owns the shop actually work on dyeing something, but unfortunately he was having medical issues so we just got to look around - it was still pretty cool, though. There was a long table in the center that was exactly half the length of the fabric necessary to make a kimono, and we saw some of the screens they used in the dyeing process (though I didn't have my camera at the time so no pictures, unfortunately).

After that we went into the classroom for some lectures - first they divided us by class level (beginning to advanced) for a short session. In the beginning level, they taught us practical things like the proper ways to sit down in a chair, sit on the floor in seiza position (without your feet falling asleep too fast) and get back up, go up and down stairs, etc. Next we all came together for the main lecture, which was about kimonos and obis made from materials other than silk and cotton, where we had the chance to see and touch (very expensive) examples that they told us normally would be basically impossible to get to see. Since everything was in Japanese and I know basically no vocabulary about nature, I didn't really know what most of anything was made of, but my impression was that the materials were things like thread and fibers from tree bark, grasses, etc - though they weren't stiff or anything at all. All in all, a pretty cool experience.

Next there was a long period where everybody could pick out fabric and "try on" different kimonos (since new kimonos are essentially always custom-made this actually mean draping the fabric on in a very complicated way to make it look just like a kimono), though I spent most of the time just looking at all the different patterns and materials instead.

After that, we had lunch together at a French restaurant, which was delicious (though since by then it was like 2pm we were all hungry and not picky at all). I found out that you can get something that's basically a giant bib to put over the front of your kimono while you eat, though those of us who didn't have those just used our napkins instead.

And then it was time for the long trip home! I managed to go the whole day without any wardrobe mishaps and only discomfort from my zori (not the kimono itself), so I would call the outing a success! Here's a picture of my tired but triumphant self on the way back to our classroom in Chiba:

This past week was my last official class, which was a practical and written test of my kimono knowledge! The goal was to be able to put the kimono on from start to finish within 50 minutes (it is beginner level after all) and then answer questions about the types of kimono/obi, names of parts, etc. Though when I say a test, it was very low-pressure, which is good because I definitely would have failed the written part if they actually graded us (oops). I don't think I'll be continuing onto intermediate for now, since with frisbee practice starting up again and the start of spring I think I'll just be getting busier, but who knows? There may still be more kimono adventures in store for the future. :)