The Countdown Begins

Tokyo Sky Tree Tower, under construction - the tallest tower in the world.

It will open to the public in Spring of 2012

It was just too hot...

'Fight Ibaraki!' - signs like this one have been displayed all over Ibaraki since the earthquake. All the prefectures affected by the disaster in March have their own signs. Adding 'ppe' to the end of 'Gamba' is Ibaraki dialect.

At my surprise farewell party, organized by my san nensei (third year) students. When I walked into the classroom, students started parading around me carrying balloons while dancing and singing to 'It's a Small World' in English.

Guess Who?

http://shishido0.tripod.com/ishihara.html

It's okay, I didn't know who this was at first, either. But somehow, my trip to the dry cleaners last week ended up with me walking out the door carrying this picture.

This is Yujiro Ishihara. This picture was leaning against one the tables in the room at the dry cleaners across the street from my apartment. I asked my old man friend who works there to explain to me who was in the photo and why it was in the dry cleaners.



Hitachi Cleaners

Like usual, the old man started speaking to me in Japanese really quickly, probably explaining how he got the picture and who the man was. It was pretty difficult to understand him because his Japanese is a little different from what I'm used to and he uses 'Ibaraki-ben,' one of the less known dialects of Japan. But I managed to catch that he got the picture from a neighbors house after the big earthquake. After that, I caught the words for 'movie' and 'production,' I think. And he said something about how all Japanese people know who this guy is. I felt pretty special having learned about a Japanese figure that apparently most people here know about.

After our conversation, my friend handed me the picture. I explained to him that I really didn't need it. I had only asked about it out of curiousity, but he kept insisting that I take the picture. So finally I did.

I decided to do a little research on the guy after getting home. It turns out that he was a pretty big hit in the Japanese movie world in the 1950's and early 1960's. I read somewhere that he has been referred to as the Japanese version of Elvis Presley, although when I mentioned that to my supervisor at school today, she seemed to disagree. I also found out that Yujiro's older brother is the current governor of Tokyo.

But the best part of the whole thing was when I was walking up the stairs to my apartment after receiving the picture. The lady who lives below me had her door open and was talking to a friend right outside. They saw me walk by and I heard one of the ladies whisper to the other one, 'Oh! Ishihara Yujiro!'

A Sad Day for Japan

March 11, 2011 - The aftermath. Story to come...



My apartment. I was lucky, only one broken cup in my kitchen!




The desk.



My neighbor and I passed the time at night by building Nanoblocks beside candlelight and flashlight.

Finally our turn to get water after waiting in line for about an hour!

The newspaper distributed on Saturday, March 12th. A man was handing them out to drivers for free in the middle of the street by my apartment. At that time, many cell phones didn't have service, and there was no power and no water in my area. This was most likely the first good source of information about what had just happened.

The gym across the street from my apartment.

My friends and I spent a lot of time at the evacuation center across the street. We charged our phones, used the bathrooms, and even got free miso soup and a riceball one day!

Hitachi evacuation center at night.

The gym at my high school.

This is where I was teaching when the earthquake happened.




In the class I was teaching, students usually practice for the Eiken exam (an English language test that many Japanese high school students take) for the first half of class, and we use a listening textbook for the second half.
But this was a special day because it was the last day of the school year. Spring break would start soon and the new school year begins in April. I had a board game prepared for students, but unfortunately the earthquake struck at about 2:46p.m., so no game that day.

On Monday, everything at school was exactly how students had left it when they abandoned the building on Friday.

 People waited patiently in straight lines for food and water during the whole ordeal. I didn't see any looting or negativity, even when it was clear that food and water were becoming scarce.



May 2nd, 2011 - Piles of what remains from houses that were destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in Hitachi.



The main damage to houses that I noticed all throughout Ibaraki was on the roofs.   



January 2011




January 9th - On the way to Nagano prefecture, home of Winter Olympic Games in 1998 and 2005.

 


But that's not why Ben and I went there... :D 

 

We visited 'Jigokudani Yaen-Koen,' or as we like to call it, 'the monkey onsen.' Onsens are public baths that are popular in Japan, but this bath was unlike any other we've been to...



This bath is for monkeys only.




 





http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/livecam/monkey/index.htm





January 10th - Nekomise Cat Cafe in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Unfortunately, we weren't very impressed by this one.  



The first day of snow this year in my town, Hitachi. This is the view from the balcony of my apartment. The big tan colored van belongs to one of my teachers. He drives me to school every Tuesday. 



January 22nd - Strawberry picking in Hokota, Ibaraki. 



'Ichigo' or 'いちご' = 'strawberry' in Japanese





Ben, showing off his perfect strawberry.



Right before I surrendered to the strawberries.



My neighbor, Jen, and I.

 



Gunma prefecture

January 29th - Cake Shop in Gunma

Chocolate Mint Cake - BEST piece of cake I've ever had.