Wednesday I went exploring a little in the mountains. There is an area by the Aso Volcano Museum where can cows wander in these mountainous fields and people can go on pony rides! I did a little hiking by the water and thought a couple of times that some cows might be coming at me, but they just passed by. I'm sure they're used to people grazing that close to a touristy museum... A few people asked if I would be in some pictures with them, which is especially fun after hiking around in the Kyushu humidity, but it was one of those "I'm an ambassador for my country" kinds of moments, so I chatted with them in my poor Japanese and their broken English. It ended up being a fun conversation and they were quite funny, so all in all and great day!
At night I went to another festival with a girl that works at a Thai restaurant down the street from me. She and her boyfriend took me to the festival and fireworks, where I learned some Japanese slang that could be useful later on!
On Thursday, the superintendent of the Aso-city schools took me sightseeing with a co-worker. She is 28 (everyone here looks ridiculously younger than they are - it's pretty amazing!) and had been living in Aso for 20 years, but had never seen the volcano before! (It's one of the biggest attractions in the prefecture!) We both had a great time, and it's always nice to get to know a co-worker outside of the professional work setting.
I was blown away by how beautiful the volcano was. I had expected it to be red, but was shocked by the bright blue!
After walking around the area and driving through the mountains, the superintendent bought us some ice cream - he really knew the way to my heart - and I went home to get ready for the evening's festivities.
That night was my welcome party, where basically everyone from the BOE came for dinner and drinking. It was a lot of fun, and everyone wanted me to try everything! At work, everyone is expected to put on a professional face, so these drinking parties are really a chance for everyone to blow off some steam and cut loose. While everyone has been extremely nice at the BOE, it was extra fun to see them more relaxed and in their element.
Afterwards, we went to the second night of the festival that I had gone to on Wednesday for dancing. They gave me a happi coat to wear, which shows which group or association of the local area you belong to. Then everyone dances around a fire to some music and drumming. There are drummers of all ages playing, even some adorable little kids, as well as dancers that show the motions to everyone else (since a lot of people are really drunk for this.)
I was pretty much mesmerized by the whole experience. I absolutely loved being in the festival and doing the dances. I was sad when it all ended but knew that I had a fun weekend ahead!
Friday started with my formal Japanese introductions at my Junior High and my elementary schools. I only messed up at one, but they still loved it. The bar on foreigners is not really set too high here...
This weekend a group of JETs headed to Aso for an organized hiking and onsen trip. I invited some friends to stay with me if they wanted and six people loaded up their cars with sleeping gear and stayed at my house. They all arrived on Friday, and on Saturday we explored the volcano and some pretty rocky hiking trails. After we cleaned off at a really nice onsen:
then we headed to Denory's for Denory's night. They had different bands playing, and it was great to take my friends to the place I had been telling them about! On Sunday we slept in and headed to Uto for another festival! We met up with some other JETs and we all watched the fireworks together.
All in all a great weekend!
Monday I started going to my Junior high school instead of the BOE. It was nice to settle into my desk and start to get to know my JTEs (Japanese Teacher's of English - from now on I'll refer to them as JTEs and myself and other JETs as ALTs, or Assistant Language Teachers, so as not be too confusing)
I kind of feel like a celebrity at the school, it's very strange. All the kids stare and giggle when I walk by, the most outgoing of which will say hello and try to introduce themselves. I often overhear them asking other teachers at the school what my name is, how tall I am, etc. They don't have "L's" here, so Nicole is a difficult one. My name in Japanese is pronounced Nikoru (Nee-koh-roo) with extra emphasis on the ko and only a little on the ru. I'm really excited to start teaching! Friday is opening ceremonies (everything in Japan has a formal opening and closing) and then Monday is my first full day! I'm sure have have lots to report on after that!
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