Fire! Fire!

I'm not sure this man could pull me out of a burning building, but god bless him if he tries.

To further explain... at about 8am on a Saturday, we awoke to the sound of horrible bugling. I thought it was just for a game in the school playground, but it continued on and off for another hour... and then another hour! So finally we decided to get up and check out what was going on. We walked over and saw a bunch of firetrucks parked in the playground and a ton of volunteer firemen in uniform (who looked really tired of standing for 3 hours!). Apparently it's an annual event. After 3 hours of bugles and announcements, there was a parade.




It was a pretty big deal with a local TV crew, the mayor, and several of my principals and students in attendance. Some of the students were also in the parade, holding banners and shouting out fire safety tips.



The firetrucks and firemen also marched down in the parade, some of the trucks narrowly making it down the tiny roads. At the end of the parade, the trucks parked by the ocean and sprayed their hoses into the air. Just goes to show you never know what you're going to wake up to here!

Winter wonderland

Last week was the coldest its been here (0 celsius) so naturally we decided to head up to the mountains for even colder weather. We took the ferry over to Kumamoto and then drove about an hour away from the city to the town of Aso. The biggest volcanic mountain in Japan is called Mt. Aso. We noticed the mountains around us were snow capped, but we had no idea it would be so snowy out there. We really should’ve had snow tires, but our tiny K car survived it all.




Once we got out of the city, snow was all over the curvy roads and tall trees. We drove through to the Aso Kuju National Park. We’d never seen such fresh, untouched, clean snow before. The trees were covered in soft snow like a cake with powdered sugar.


Our first stop was Komezuka, a volcanic cone. It was covered in snow and dry brush, but in the summer it turns into a bright green. We had some lunch in the village and then thankful that the car started and didn’t get stuck in the snow, headed up to the main event, the active volcano Mt. Aso.




As we got higher up, it got colder, but undaunted we took the trolley car up to the top. There were all these warning signs about the gases emitted by the volcano which were a little worrisome, but we tried not to breathe in too much. At the top, you couldn’t see much but white steam that smells a bit like old eggs. It was still cool to be so close to a volcano though. I hear they offer helicopter rides for about $50 over the mountains. We might have to check that out when it’s warmer.




We stayed in an inn below the mountains that they call a Pension. It’s usually family owned and run like a hostel, but it looks like a log cabin. The owners were nice and friendly and they even had an onsen bath. For dinner, we ate at a steakhouse where real Japanese cowboys were eating. Who knew we’d see real cowboys for the first time in our lives in Japan.



Looking back we got a lot done in one day! The next day we drove around small towns and went to see a “fountainhead”. Apparently this region is surrounded by different fountainheads which are waters with warm, bubbling water. You can drink the water and even buy empty bottles to fill up. At the bottom, you can see little bubbles of water percolating or dancing as some people say. Another new thing we’ve never seen.

More Christmas joy

Happy New Year!! あけましておめでとうございます！

It's already the night of the first day of 2008 here. Hope you have all rung in the new year happily. We've been enjoying our time off just relaxing at home and hanging out with new friends in the area. For New Year's Eve, we met up with other foreign teachers and Japanese friends at a local bar owned by this really cool guy named Shin. He has an amazing collection of records, rock, jazz, reggae, you name it. So we always have a good time there. We actually saw some snowflakes whipping around and it's been chilly the last couple days. It's been in the single digits in Celsius. It doesn't snow down in our town but in the mountains, you can see snow patches gathering. Standing outside, we could see the stars, snowflakes, and in the distance, you could hear people ringing the bells at temples around town.



Speaking of chilly, we are maintaining warmth in the house but for Christmas, Scott got a traditional Japanese housecoat from Santa. It's like wearing a big warm comforter as a coat. Now there's a genuine smile!

Tomorrow we're off on a little trip to Mt. Aso in Kumamoto. It's just across the water and through some mountain roads that are supposed to be beautiful. We're hoping to make it through with our tiny car and sans snow chains! Mt. Aso is the biggest active volcanic mountain in Japan and one of the largest in the world. Sometimes they close the roads nearest the volcano if it's too windy because the gases can be dangerous to breathe! Should be an adventure. We're also staying in a cabin-like place that they call a "Pension" here. Hopefully the pictures from their web site are accurate and it's cozy.

Well, happy new year to all! Wish you the best for 2008!

Merry Kurisumasu!

Happy holidays everyone! It's hard to believe that it's actually Christmas Day. It's been a busy month as I'm sure it has for everyone. The last couple weeks have been a blur, just waiting for a little holiday break. Christmas is not as widely celebrated here so we don't have a holiday on Christmas Day, but some people do buy gifts and toys for their kids and decorate their houses with lights and some even with Christmas trees. New Year's is the big event in Japan and everything shuts down from January 1-3. On New Year's eve, people visit temples to welcome in and literally ring in the new year by praying and ringing the bell at the temple.

In any case, our fellow foreigner neighbors invited us over for a Christmas party this weekend. They managed to buy a turkey (from the US military base in Sasebo) and used the bbq grill to cook it. It was such a treat!



We also got invited to a Christmas party for kids in another friend's town. Anna is also a JET teacher from the US and she organized a party for her schools in her town, Minamibashi. It was crazy to be surrounded by so many excited kids, but it was such a good time. We had a scavenger hunt and other games, and the local mothers made dinner for us. We also dressed up for a traditional Japanese dance, and one of us also dressed up as Santa and got mobbed by all the kids. It was pretty fantastic.





We're excited for the holiday break next week. Although it's winter break for students, us teachers still have to show up in the office this week. I suppose it will give me time to catch up on some things.



Well, happy holidays everyone! I will add more pics and news soon again!

Bright leaves, big city

It's gotten chilly here and the biggest difference is that the houses are not heated and there's much insulation. I miss those old steaming radiators! We're managing to keep warm with our A/C that pumps out hot air and lots of blankets, but I've been told by locals that the best thing is either a dambo (small gas stove heaters) or a kotatsu (a table with a heater inside that you cover with a quilt and cover yourself with). The school offices have dambos and it keeps things pretty toasty with a lingering smell of gas, but most of the classrooms aren't heated and the junior high and high school girls still have to wear skirts through the winter and aren't allowed to wear tights! My buddy working at one of the high schools said that in an assignment he gave out asking students what they'd like to change about their school, the girls answered that they'd like to be able to wear tights or pants!


Despite the chillyness, we've been able to see lots of pretty fall leaves in all kinds of bright colors, red, yellow, green, orange. I really like the Japanese maple tree leaves. While my father was visiting we got to travel around and see new sites. We went to a different part of Kyushu called Saga. It's north of us and it's famous for ceramics art which my dad is involved with.

We stayed overnight in a hostel in the mountains and then head off for the town of Arita. Driving around to new places was a whole other adventure too. None of the highways or roads go straight so there's no north, south, east, west. It's a nightmare! We were all at a loss looking at signs and maps, but we managed to get where we wanted to go.


In Arita, we met this random woman in the ceramics museum who ended up showing us around. She was a volunteer tour guide and had lived in Canada and spoke English. I guess she was excited to practice her English and touring skills with us. She'd grown up in the town and was pretty proud of it so we had a great tour.



We went to this spot where they dug special rocks to make the white ceramic color that Arita invented and is famous for. Their ceramics is a smooth, classic style. We also saw this amazing 1,000 year old tree in the middle of town. They were having a ceramics arts fair that weekend so there were lots of visitors and festivities.


Then we drove up to Karatsu where they have a whole different style of ceramics. It's more earthy and rough and experimental. Though we didn't have too much time to spend there, it was also a beautiful town. We visited the castle there and the view at the top was amazing. Completely surrounded by sea and islands. We watched the sun set and then had a fun dinner with sake in town. The roads back home were once again an adventure, but we got home safe and sound!

Wild turkey

Well, we did it! There wasn't quite a turkey but we had all the fixings. My two fellow American JET teachers and our Brit buddy Alex came over and we had a proper Thanksgiving dinner. The guys drank some Wild Turkey with my dad in honor of the day and we had stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams with marshmallows, green beans with bacon, salad, and bbq-ed chicken. Good stuff!

The guys did most of the work which was very impressive! We had a quite a feast and had a good time chatting and playing a few rounds of UNO. I think it was my dad's first time playing and it was pretty funny because we all made our own original cards with various consequences. Hee!

It was nice to have some comfort food and good company. Thanks Greg and Nathan for coming all the way over! Hope everyone had a great holiday.

What's a turkey?

Hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving! We are delaying ours a bit and having some friends over tomorrow for a dinner. Unfortunately though I've heard there are places to buy a turkey, no one around here (including me) has ovens so it would be way too hard to cook one. Sniff sniff. But we we still have a little dinner with a possible BBQ and my mom sent me Stove Top stuffing (thanks mom)!

Ok, I wrote that and then got busy doing stuff so now I will report that Thanksgiving dinner was a success! My dad came to visit me for the last couple weeks so we've been busy hopping around Kyushu trying to see as much as possible. I will post new pics and bloggies soon...!