Kameoka Christmas Light Up

So, Kameoka does a huge Christmas light display every year out in front of the station. It is....tacky. And therefore awesome.












This one is my favorite...a sheet of lights draped messily over a tree. Merry Christmas!

I can't staple!!!!!

Today I learned how much like a child I am when it comes to Japan.

I was finally put in charge of a project completely. I had to fill out the form that gets passed around for approval, completing the project (although it was nothing more than Christmas cards), and putting it all together.

At the very end I had to staple to form, an example of the card, and a list of the address to where they would be sent together into a little packet to be sent around the office for approval.

So I put them together and put a staple at the top left corner. When I turned it in to my boss she handed it back and said, "No no, you have to put two staples on the side."

So I went back to my desk and re-did it. when I handed it to her again, she laughed and said "No no no. They have to be in a perfectly straight line and further apart than you have them."

Apparently stapling in Japan is an exact art and I failed miserably (T_T).

You've Gotta Show Me, I'm From Missouri

Today The Boy and I decided to go see the exhibit on the Ainu at the Kyoto Museum. I had studied the Ainu people in college but did not know much about them.

It was a really interesting exhibit. There was no English so I took what I could from it, but I really enjoyed seeing how the Ainu lived. They are from the Hokkaido region which is far north and therefore very cold. It was amazing to see they ways they devised to avoid the cold and also their jewelry and tools.

The most shocking thing however came toward the end of the exhibit. I was looking at a few formal necklaces when I saw one with a very large silver pendant. It seemed a bit out of place so I looked closer.

Then, I saw that it was actually a large coin. A coin with the phrase "You Gotta Show Me, I'm From Missouri" engraved on it.

I was floored.

There I was, in Kyoto, JAPAN and there was a pendant from the indigenous people of Japan that had a coin from Missouri. It turns out that a group of Ainu had visited Missouri in 1904 for the St. Louis Worlds Fair.

I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. I really wanted to take a picture but there were too many people around (T_T)

Oh, it's just an Earthquake

So today I was sitting at work. At about 3 pm the floor shook a bit. It was barely noticeable, but I looked around. No one else seemed concerned to I thought I had imagined it.

Then, one of the men in the meeting going on at our center table stops and goes "Oh, an earthquake." They all nod and go back to work.

Oh, just an earthquake. That's like saying "Oh, just a tornado."
Crazy.

Halloween in November

Today I gave a presentation on Halloween at Nishi Betsu-in Elementary School. Yes, it is November 30th...so it's a bit late. I was actually supposed to give the presentation on October 19th, but because a group of students came down with swine flu school was cancelled and my presentation was postponed (T_T) But I was glad I got to do it because I had put in quite a bit of work to prepare. Also, that region of Kameoka has a tradition that is somewhat similar to Halloween so we were able to connect the two.

I presented to the entire school all at once. However, it was a really tiny school so it was only 64 students. The issue was that I was working with 1st graders through 6th graders so creating a presentation that would be interesting to all ages was difficult. Even worse was finding a game that all the kids would enjoy playing and that all the kids could understand.

It went really well actually. First they sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" ad I learned that my toes are now much further away than they used to be. Then Kojima san and I introduced ourselves before starting my presentation. My computer was asleep and it took a bit of time to warm up so I had to make small talk at the front of the room, but once it started up it was good.

I had one challenge though. I was at the front of the gym and the children were all sitting on the floor in rows in front of me. There was a screen behind me but if I stood near the computer (which I had to because I had a lot of animation in my slideshow) I would block the screen for several of the kids. So, I made, what I now look upon as being a bad decision, the decision to sort of squat next to the computer while talking. Luckily they were small children so I was still much taller than all of them, but in hindsight it was not the most professional of positions.

But the kids seemed really interested in what I was saying and they listened quietly except for when I wanted them to participate. I was gratified that they were suprised when I expected them to be, which is good because it keeps them interested.

After the presentation I put my game up on the wall. It went really well. Since it was a Halloween themed presentation I made six large skeletons and took off one of the arms. Then I made an arm for each kid with double sided tape on the back of the very top so we could play "Pin the Arm on the Skeleton." It went really well. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun.

I was really impressed with this school because it was so small, with only 64 students total, and the kids seemed to get along well. The older students helped the younger students. And there was a lot of yelling. "Go left! left!!!" etc. Of course some kids did try to steer their friends in the wrong direction.

But all in all I think it was a huge success.

After the game, the kids introduced their tradition, Inoko, to me. I'll admit I didn't quite get it, but it involves going door to door collecting food. Apparently it coincides with the harvest.

Before I headed back to the office, I read "The Little Matchstick Girl" in English into a tape recorder so they would have a native recording. They were going to perform it for some kind of Christmas concert or something.

How is she?

Today was another global session. One of the women who helps me with the newsletter I make was in attendance, and seeing as I had let it slip that I gots me a boyfriend last week, she was very suspicious when I showed up with The Boy.

She pulled me aside afterward and asked me if he was my boyfriend. I probably should have lied or evaded, but I can't. I am terrible at that. So I told her yes.

We ended up getting a ride from her...Which is when she attacked. She asked The Boy if he was my boyfriend. And then she asked... "How is she?"

In Japanese, the phrase どうですか is translated as how is~ or how about~.

The Boy was at a loss. He didn't even know how to respond to it so he just repeated her in a confused tone.

My friend responded by saying "Isn't she a good girl?"

Oy.

Then she told him to take good care of me.

And I wanted to die.

A Very Kameoka Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving in Kameoka. We all got together and did a potluck dinner so no one was left making it all themselves. Needless to say it was good fun and The Boy got his first taste of Thanksgiving.

Jason was kind enough to let us use his apartment even though he didn't show up until well into the night. I'll let the pictures do the talking for this one.


Our amazing spread, complete with pumpkin pie and mini corn dogs.


Laurel made us mini pumpkin pies :)


Nanami had cake mix from the states so we had real cake and not J-cake :)


We even had cheesecake


A little inside joke with The Boy (Japanese women make that gesture so their faces look smaller in pictures)


No clue





Kanpai!


Our host arrives!