Getting into the Swing of Things...I Think?

It’s hot.  It’s humid. Really humid.  I now remember the feeling of living in a green house.  I didn’t miss it. 

However, despite the muggalicious weather, I’m trying my best to explore Shingu and the surrounding areas as much as possible.  This past weekend, I went to the Shingu Fireworks Festival and a Turtle Park in neighboring Kiho in Mie Prefecture. 

The fireworks display in Shingu was stunning; the last time I saw fireworks live was at Disneyland a couple of years ago, and I saw a bunch of fireworks I’ve never seen before.  Most notably the Niagara Falls fireworks; they suspended a cable over the river and strung fireworks across it so that when they were lit, it was like a domino effect until, once all the fireworks were lit, they allowed gravity to send the sparks downwards to the river below (hence the Niagara Falls moniker).  Also, because we sat on the river bed, the fireworks were lit so close to us, you could feel the heat of the explosions and had to crane your neck to look at them properly.  Pretty cool. 

KABOOM!

As for the Turtle Park, those turtles were bosses!  Not only were they massive, they were so well trained (from years of practice, I’m sure) to be fed, they just opened their mouths and expected you to toss the turtle chow (a mixture of fish heads and squid) down below.  I could have sworn I saw one roll its eyes when I missed and it had to dive for a piece of squid. (“Stupid foreigner….Chomp.”)

Om nom nom nom.  Eating squid guts, like a boss!

If you want to see photos and video of my weekend adventures, click here, especially if you want to see the Niagara Falls Fireworks!  So cool!  :)

This week, I’ll be going to a summer festival in Kiho and the Kumano Fireworks Festival (which, I’ve been told, is one of the biggest fireworks festivals in the country.  I’m pretty stoked).  In between that, I’m getting more accustomed to the layout of the town.  I can now get to the Board of Education, City Hall, the grocery store and the train station all by myself! ;)  Although, to be honest, I made a wrong turn while trying to get to the train station the other day, and a very nice gentleman (who didn’t speak any English) was able to help me get back on the right path. 

Although I was able to ask him in stagnated Japanese which way I needed to go, he still went out of his way to show me which street to take, and walked with me a little while to make sure my foreigner-self didn’t get lost again.  I appreciate the man’s kindness, and the kindness of those I’ve met while I’ve been here, but the language barrier is still really frustrating.  I’ve always felt as though it’s part of my job to learn as much Japanese as possible while I’m here (if only for my own sanity), and I feel badly for pantomiming all the time.  In an earlier post, I made comment that I hate in when people on shows like the Amazing Race yell at their taxi drivers and implore locals for English, but I feel like I have a mild case of ARLBS (Amazing Race Language Barrier Syndrome) every time I’m at the grocery store. 

For example, every time I check out, the cashier always (politely) tries to make small talk with me and tells me the price of each item she scans.  All I can do is smile and nod my head.  Although I seriously doubt it, the cashier could very easily be asking me “Americans are idiots, right?” (Amerika-jin baka nan desu ka, naa?) and I would be nodding my head like an American idiot (2003 music reference FTW).  I pick up words and phrases here and there, but I still don’t feel comfortable replying in Japanese.  I don’t know what’s worse, saying something wrong or not saying anything at all.

Today, a delegation of students left for a trip to Shingu’s sister city, and I joined the send-off crew.  A couple of students said “hello” to me, and I tried striking up a conversation with a few.  Even then, the language barrier was evident.  My original question of “Are you excited for your trip?” morphed into “Happy you go to America?”  While the English scholar in my cringed, I commend the students for at least trying their English with me – the new ALT – and eager to show off their stuff.  However, this is just another perfect example of what to expect when school does start.  Learning a new language is hard (trust me, I know from personal experience :P), but English is an especially difficult language to learn – it has a lot of tricky rules and “sometimes laws” (remember “i" before “e,” except after “c”?  Why does “c” get so much special attention among the rest of the consonants in the alphabet?).  And everyone will be at different levels in terms of understanding.  While my job is to teach English, it seems the bridge between theory and practice is Japanese.

Since I don’t have much to do at the BOE yet (read: nothing), I’m resolved to learn more Japanese during my downtime.  I have a computer program that’s supposed to help me learn conversational Japanese, and hopefully that will tide me over until October when JET sends me their official language study program (really JET, we’re here in August, yet we don’t get the program until October?).  Everyone keeps emphasizing to me that I’m an ambassador; aren’t ambassadors supposed to have at least some basic understanding of the predominantly spoken language of the country they are visiting?

So, until school starts in September (which will include a lot of “Hajimemashites” and introductions in pantomime, I’m sure) my mission will be to get as comfortable with the town as possible and learn as much Japanese as I can.  I honestly cannot remember the last time I was excited about school starting up again (read: Disillusioned NERD).  Only two more weeks until school starts!  But, then again, who’s counting?