Kajiki Spider Fighting

I meant to post this a couple of weeks back while this story was still fresh in my mind, but due to being busy, I didn't get around to it...and I also became slightly addicted to a few youtube channels a couple days ago.  Nevertheless, here comes another blog entry, this time about an annual tournament that takes place in my neighbouring city:  the Kajiki spider fighting festival!

Some of you may be aware that Japan has beetle fighting competitions in some places, or that children here are fond of bug catching.  In Kajiki, a town that's part of a city in Kagoshima Prefecture called Aira, residents take these two things to the next level by bringing pet spiders to an annual fighting tournament.  Before hearing of this, I had heard that boys in the Philippines regularly have spider fights with friends just for fun, but here was was an actual tournament, broadcast on local TV and journaled about in newspaper articles, happening right next door to Kirishima.

I went with a few other ALTs, one of which who lives in the area and has been looking forward to this all year.  As soon as I walked into the large room where the tournament was being held, I was overwhelmed at how many spiders there were.  And these weren't just ordinary small spiders or the odd daddy long legs that you crushed with a shampoo bottle the other day while you were having a shower.  These are big-bodied, colourful, home-bred creepy-crawlies, the kind arachnophobic individuals such as myself have nightmares about for days on end.  (Just as a side note, I surprisingly didn't have any nightmares that night.)  There were three different tournaments going on at the same time:  an elementary division and two adult divisions.  The rules for the competition were as follows:  if your spider's opponent gets bitten or its web is cut, causing it to fall, you win.  The most wins advanced you to the quarter- and semi-finals and ultimately to the finals.  There was a judge at each station, decked out in traditional Japanese garb resembling a casual samurai.  He was in charge of making the spiders fight by brushing his hands against them to turn them in the right direction or dashing sand on them to get them irritated.  At the end of the tournament were several very generous prizes and the quickest raffle I had ever taken part in.

This particular festival has been taking place for the past hundred years or so, but the practice of spider fighting dates back to samurai times.  Before battle, samurai would watch spider fights to boost their morale.  Nowadays, it's just a fun tournament bringing the community together.  Elementary schools in the area take part by catching and raising their own spiders.  Adults, who have probably been at this for years, go out and catch them in fields, bring them home, and raise them in their houses for about a year before the competition.  That's probably why they get so big.  In the excitement of cheering children, the local ALT joked about raising her own spiders and letting them crawl around in her apartment.  Well, I guess that rules out staying at her place after a night out on the town (not like I ever go out anyway).

The competitors at the tournament were walking about or sitting, their pet spiders close at hand.  Most carried their brood in mesh bags, exposed on sticks, or on their hands and arms.  Some would brush past me with an "sumimasen" (excuse me) while carrying their spiders on sticks, and I couldn't help but freeze in my tracks and stare at their creepy pets.  It was hard enough to keep myself from jumping and fretting about in fear.  After about ten to fifteen minutes, the initial shock had passed and I found myself becoming rather comfortable with the spiders being all around me.  However, unlike my ALT friends, I couldn't gather enough courage to actually hold one and let it crawl up my arm.  One kid let a spider crawl on his face.  Another very small girl cried when her father took a spider away that had been crawling on her, the very opposite of what is characteristic of most children.  Despite not holding one (I'll be sure to work up enough courage to hold one next year!), the whole experience of being there helped me get over my fear of spiders a little...just as long as I don't find a huge one infiltrating my apartment this summer...

One of the spiders.  The girl holding it explained that she had been raising it for about a year and a half.

Mesh bag full of spiders.

Judge for the elementary school division.

Into the Rainy Season

The beginning of this week marked the start of the notorious rainy season. Having experienced this last year, I can safely say that this is probably the worst time of year. So far, it hasn't been that bad. Monday and Tuesday were wrought with rain, but the weather cleared up with overcast and even some sunshine. It was enough to make me wonder where the rainy season went off to. I know better than to forget about it, though.

Last year, the worst of the rain lasted for two weeks straight. It was a memorable time, and not so much in a good way. I come from a pretty dry place in Canada. Sure, the weather can change on a whim with 15 minute storms passing through. In Kirishima, torrential rain can come in waves for an entire day. During those two weeks of rain last year, I had elementary school every day and had to be "genki" for the whole 7 hours of interacting with children. My mood those days was the very opposite of energetic (the rough definition of genki).

When the season starts, it actually isn't that bad. It's still cool enough to go for a pleasant jog. But when the end of June comes around, it's hot, humid, and excruciatingly uncomfortable. Every morning begins and ends with a shower to wash off the sweat that's accumulated on I body. That's right, two showers a day, sometimes even three if I feel disgusting in the afternoon. Right now, though, it hasn't gotten that bad.

Kirishima's rainy season lasts for about a month and a half on average. Following that is the nearly unbearable humid heat of August, but I'll save that for another time. For now, I have the loud frogs to fail falling asleep to and bad hair every day. The one good side to the rainy season are the flowers that only bloom this time of year. I have no idea what they're called, but they sure are beautiful, possibly one of my favourite kinds of flowers. They make this season slightly more bearable than just the two showers every day.

Mt. Karakuni and Other Tales

It’s been a pretty busy past few weeks, full of hard work, non-hard work, not work at all, and whatnot.  The other ALTs and I have gotten so used to using a bunch of Japanese words in everyday English conversation, mostly because it’s easier to say or there’s no English equivalent.  So here’s some new vocabulary for you.

shougakko – (show-ga-ko) Elementary School

chuugakko – Junior High School

kyuushoku – school lunch

ichinensei – (itchy-nensay) first grade

ninensei – (nee-nensay) second grade

sannensei – (san-nensay) third grade

I hope that hasn’t boggled your minds too much.  Last week and the week before were lesson observations whereby my supervisor comes and watches my classes at my Junior High Schools.  Unlike my fellow ALTs who only have one or two visits, I had three.  My supervisor observes how I teach, how the JTE (Japanese teacher of English) teaches, and how we both interact with each other and the students.  Overall, they went pretty well, but the observations weren’t with my favourite classes.  In fact, they were with the classes that I generally have a harder time teaching: twice with ichinensei and once with ninensei.  I got a lot less feedback than my JTEs, but the good news is I passed and I’ve re-contracted to stay another year in Japan.  Yay!

Because of those observations, I missed a whole week of studying Japanese, which put me behind and I had to cram the following week.  I had a little more time between classes, so while my brain was full, I still managed to get everything done in my textbook.  I managed to finish my 50 question test last night and send it off to Tokyo where it’s marked.  I get a new textbook for the intermediate course every month.  The test is thus based on all the grammar in the book.  Now, don’t think that I’ve gotten brilliant at Japanese.  I swear everything I learn goes in one ear and out the other.  I have an awful time trying to learn vocabulary and I’ve come across grammar that means the exact same thing.  Oh well.  I must be doing all right because they keep sending me textbooks.  I, however, have no idea on how I’m doing in the course.

There’ve been a couple of small events on the weekends, too.  Two weeks ago on Sunday, there was an international event held in Kokubu (south Kirishima).  I met some new people there, got to make mocha (smashing rice into dough with a wooden mallet) and partake in a tea ceremony.  Japan’s the only place where I can go to an event do see a traditional Japanese dance, followed by a tutorial (in Japanese) on self defense for women, finishing with a brief activity of throwing peanuts at people wearing demon masks.  What fun, eh?  Everything’s surreal here.

Last weekend on Saturday, I sang “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” with a bunch of shougakko kids at an event promoting library books.  After that, my Canadian friend from Gifu (another ALT like me) came down to visit.  We climb one of the volcanoes of the Kirishima mountain chain called Mt. Karakuni.  It’s apparently the tallest of the all of them, rising to 1700m or so.  From the top, you can see the other volcanoes, a crater lake, and off in the distance, Sakurajima.  (Just as an FYI, Sakurajima literally means “flower island.”)

Anyway, that’s what’s been happening.  I’m enjoying a six-day streak of shougakko at the moment because the chuugakkos are having their entrance exam time this week.  I’ve decided to take this weekend off and relax, clean my apartment, go to church, and enjoy myself.  It’s nice to take it easy every once in a while.

Culture Festival

Assume that it's December 11, 2012 while I'm typing this.  That'll help put things into perspective.

Junior High schools city-wide have just had their culture festivals this past weekend.  I went to two of them:  Yokogawa-chu’s on Friday and Makizono-chu’s on Saturday.  (This was a week ago.)

The students do a number of different things from plays to singing, to speeches.  While the idea is the same, the culture festivals atYokogawa and Makizono were quite different.  Yokogawa began with a series of English skits (which I had helped them with).  I was very proud of them and they put on quite a show!  They’re good actors.  That pretty much concluded the only part of the festival I understood.  But I enjoyed the dancing.  The dancing was probably the only time the students got to dress in street clothes. The second years at Yokogawa did a skit on Hiroshima, which was so packed full of emotion, I nearly cried.  The third years also did a skit, which for the most part I didn’t really understand, but they at least had good props and good acting.  They ended their festival with choir singing, and my JTE’s (Japanese teacher of English) class was by far the best out of all the classes in the school.

Makizono also had an outstanding performance.  One of my third year students had an English speech that she had been practicing for the past two weeks.  The first years did an interesting skit that, again, I didn’t understand at all.  But it was still entertaining and kind of funny.  The second years, like the ones at Yokogawa, did a skit on Hiroshima, but I have to say, Yokogawa’s was much better.  The morning performance was rather dull in my opinion, but I guess they were just waiting until the afternoon before the third years blew me away.  For three weeks, a professional taiko drummer had been teaching the students.  I had dropped in and participated on the first day of their training, so I knew it was coming.  But I wasn’t expecting the actual professionals to put on a show.  It was so spectacular!  There’s really no other way to describe it.  It was so loud that every beat of the big drums had my chair shaking.  They did two performances and then the third years joined them for one last performance.  I honestly couldn’t believe how much they had improved.  They must’ve practiced so hard.  Following that performance, the third years did a play, which just so happened to be the same play the third years at Yokogawa put on.  Makizono, however, put on a much better show.  They added humour and Super Mario sound effects, and the main character acted so well.  I was really impressed.

Kireina Kirishima

Assume that it's December 11, 2012 as I'm typing this.  That'll help put things into perspective a little.

Even after living here for three months, I’m still captivated by Kirishima’s beauty.  There is so much green, and it’s everywhere.  The mountains I’m used to are snow-capped and barren, which, I admit, are still very beautiful.  Not here in Kirishima.  Every bit of space on a mountain is covered in thick green forest.  I honestly can’t believe how many trees can fit on every one.  The only mountains that aren’t tree-covered are the volcanoes.  Sakurajima is definitely the most popular of the three main volcanoes in this city.  It’s frequently active, and often greets those living around it with a burp or two.  In the summer, ash from Sakurajima drifts over to the west towards Kagoshima City.  In the winter, the ash floats over to the east towards Kanoya.  And then there is the occasional burp that sends ash flying toward Kirishima, but that only happened once that I’ve witnessed (indirectly, as I’m up in the mountains, but my fellow ALTs live by the sea in Hayato and Kokubu).

There is another volcano to the northeast of Kirishima, called Mt. Kirishima.  I get a clear glimpse of it every time I drive to Kirishima Junior High School.  There is a huge park with a long hiking route all around the volcano.  Most of it is closed off due to an eruption that happened a couple years ago.  I’m waiting for it to be reopened so I can go hiking up there for a day.

A few weeks ago, the rice fields were harvested, and now the fields are a beautiful golden yellow.  That and the newly begun kouyou (changing of leaves from green to yellow to red), and Makizono is starting to look like a colourful mosaic.  I’ve heard that kouyou is most spectacular in Kyoto, and it will be at its height when I go there in two weeks.

The weather has gotten a lot colder in the past week and a half, and I found that I was not prepared for it in the least with my plethora of tank tops and lighter clothing.  I just recently went shopping to battle the cold with new turtlenecks, a cardigan and a vest.  There is no heating in any of my schools, and since it can be a bit pricy, I try to spare the use of my heater in my apartment.  Now is the time of year when people dress in layers.  I go to school wearing a tank top, a long sleeved undershirt, a turtleneck, a cardigan, thin under-pants (I mean pants that I wear under my work pants), ankle socks, knee-high socks, and my work pants.  And even then, I’m still cold.  Maybe I should pig out on junk food and store up some fat for the winter.

On the way to Kirishima JHS, with Mt. Kirishima in the background.

Makizono looking northwest

Makizono looking southwest.

Hayato Festival: WHOOOAH!!!

Long time no update!  Things got pretty busy, so I haven't been able to keep up the blog so well.  But I did send updates home to my family last month and managed to save them all.

Assume that it is December 11, 2012.  That's help put things into perspective a little.

A few weeks ago, the other Kirishima ALTs and I went to a festival in Hayato (the southwestern part of Kirishima).  It came to us as a surprise as this is the first year that ALTs were allowed to participate.  I’m not too sure why they like us so much…

            I woke up at 5am just to get dressed, eat breakfast, and have a cup of coffee, before heading down to the Board of Education (the BOE, for short).  Once we were all accounted for (one guy was late. He’s almost never on time for anything), we drove up to the Kagoshima shrine, which is located in Kirishima.  I’m not sure why they called it the Kagoshima shrine because it’s not in Kagoshima city, but there’re a lot of things I don’t understand.  So there we were, at an elementary school nearby, and laid out before us was samurai gear!  That’s right, we dressed up as samurais.  The mens’ armour was quite heavy, and helmet was a pain to wear over a long period of time.  The female armour wasn’t nearly as bad.  We wore layers upon layers, so you can imagine how hot it got with the sun shining at its fullest like a typical summer’s day in Canada.  I didn’t have any sunscreen (as usual), so my face turned beat red in the hot sun.

            At the shrine, there was a ceremonial thing, and then we all paraded down on a long 8km walk down to the sea.  Now, normally a walk like that wouldn’t be so bad, but you should’ve seen the footwear we had.  They were sandals made from string that was woven together.  I couldn’t go jogging the following day because my feet were still sore.  So there we were parading, and occasionally (which means all the time), us women would shout out a chant... “Chesto ike! Oh!  Chesto!  Oh!  Chesto!  Oooohhh!”  That made the walk much more exciting, and the other two female ALTs and I got to lead the chant quite a few times.

            Periodically, we would stop and watch as the priests did a special ritual with a flute song and slow dancing.  There was a lot of standing up, sitting down, standing up, sitting down, and bowing.  (I didn’t bow because of my Christian values, but it was challenging not to with everyone around me doing it, especially considering it was a great honour to participate in the festival in the first place.)

            At long last, we reached the sea, and there was yet another ceremony where the priests, and even one of the ALTs, put a fish in the water.  I’m not sure exactly what it signifies, but it probably has something to do with giving back to the gods.

            Overall, despite how tired I was afterwards, it was a great time, and a worthwhile experience.

Using Japanese?!

The past couple weeks in Kirishima 霧島 have been crazy awesome gong show of elementary fun!  That's right.  I've had nothing but elementary schools.  Japanese kids are some of the cutest I've ever seen.  I had plenty of practice using my Japanese at these schools because none of the teachers really knew any English.  I also got the hang of doing my self-introduction 自己紹介 (jikoushokai) half in English and half in Japanese.  I'm also playing futsol once a week in Kokubu, with almost all men, and now that my Japanese is getting better, and I'm starting to understand a lot more, I've been able to talk a bit with the guys.  I found out that all of the ones on my team that night were foresters, one lives in Kokubu, and I told them that I was an English teacher teaching at 18 schools in northern Kirishima, and that I lived in Makizono.

Now that I apparently am learning more Japanese, sometimes my instant reaction to a circumstance comes out in Japanese instead of English.  For example, a couple weeks ago, I was driving using my GPS and I ended up on some road I didn't know.  I blurted out 何だ！(nan da!) which means "What?!" in English.  Sometimes a small phrase such as "doko da" (where is this place <--rough translation) or Soo desu ka? ("Oh really?") will come out instead of its English equivalent.

So I can safely say that "I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think soooooo!"