I. HATE. GRAMMAR.

Day 5

Friday 30 September

Higashi Hiroshima: 23 degrees, rain and mostly cloudy

Thanks for passing on the bad weather Melbourne!! Waking up to rain is not my idea of a great start to the day. Just to make it even worse, our lessons today were on grammar.

I. HATE. GRAMMAR.

Not much else to say really. Other than grammar, we talked about how to ask questions: the appropriate way to approach people and then phrase questions. We then headed downstairs and spoke to the staff and asked them for information on Miyajima and their recommendations for our trip tomorrow. Very embarrassing….

Then it was off to Fuji Grand our new favourite shopping centre. I’ve been shopping for shoes since I arrived here…..but do you think I can find any I like??? Hell no! However, I have found some cool Converse…..they’re about ¥2000!! So around $30 as opposed to $60-90+ in Oz. Think I may just have to go back……

Other than that, not much to report today. A bit disheartened by all the grammar. Did I mention that I HATE grammar?????

Tomorrow Miyajima beckons…..

Sake and drinking games....

Day 4

Thursday 29 September

Higashi Hiroshima: 27 degrees and mostly cloudy

Sake Brewery tour!!! Thankfully no hangover from last nite’s shenanigans….in fact I woke up before my alarm went off!!

After breakfast, it was off to Saijo Station and then a wander around the local breweries. We started off at Kamotsuru Brewery (Saijo was previously called Kamo and tsuru means crane). It was here at about 10am that we had our first sake tasting. Unlike wine tasting or the like in Australia, you help yourself to a small plastic cup and then pour your own sample. What a trusting bunch the Japanese are!! Good thing I don’t like sake or they would have had to put out more bottles!! We also watched a video about how sake is made. At this particular brewery, the sake is still made by hand.

The brown bauble-y looking thing is made from a tree and the brown colour tells people that the sake is ready to drink......

The most famous places to buy sake from are Niigata, Hyougo and Hiroshima. The reason being that all of these places have beautiful, clear water. So much so that in many areas surrounding the breweries in Saijo, you can help yourself to water. People around town come with empty bottles to fill up.

Our next stop was at Fukubijin Brewery where the sake was actually quite good. Sake or Nihonshu is an acquired taste I guess……don’t think I will ever acquire it. 

We then visited Kirei Brewery (Kirei = beautiful). At this particular sakagura (sake brewery) we were very kindly given a souvenir by one of the ladies who worked there. She had lived in Brisbane many years ago and was excited to hear that we were from Australia.

Then one more sakegura named Saijotsuru and by this stage all I wanted was some food to stop the burning feeling in my guts!! At the last sakegura we sampled some umeshu or plum wine. This was quite sweet and much nicer than any umeshu that I have tried before…..I may go back later on to buy myself a bottle….or two….

Next it was off to Youme Town for lunch. Being the guts that I am, I chose to indulge in the Matsuri or Festival set: Tempura, rice, fish, tsukemono or pickled vegetables, chawamushi or a savory custard (blergh) and dessert which was a kind of sake flavoured sweet (blergh again!). All, of course, washed down with a beer. Tough life I’m leading!!!

The walk to Youme Town....a mix of old and new....

What did Dad used to call me ??? Guts-ache??? Seems appropriate!!

After lunch we headed back to HIC for our tour briefing on Miyajima. We also were shown a geisha drinking game: bekku hai. Basically there are three different types of sake cups: one has a hole in the bottom of it so you need to skoll it, the second has a long stem (the nose of the character on the cup) and lastly, there is a small cup which represents the ladies. You spin a top to determine which cup you will have to drink from. Hopefully I can find one of these to buy on Miyajima!!

After dinner we had our shodo or calligraphy lesson. Bloody hell it is difficult! Not only do you have to write neatly but you have to ensure that you exert the right amount of pressure on the brush to produce a perfect piece. After many attempts of writing sushi, umi (sea), hikari (light), and tori (bird), I settled on writing hana (flower). My final attempt was not so bad….

I asked the shodo sensei to write yume (dream) for me as it is my favourite kanji and my favourite word. Hopefully I can get it home safely.

Then beers on the balcony (or Coke Zero in my case) with Travis and Ken. It’s almost like our nightly ritual!!

Studying, shopping, izakaya-ing and karaoke-ing....

Day 3

Wednesday 28 September

Higashi Hiroshima: 26 degrees, sunny and humid

What a day so far!!

Today we worked out butts off in class! We started off doing mind maps about ‘fun food’….so I thought of watermelon and how it is fun to eat in summer; sukiyaki and how fantastic it used to be when Masako made it for me and crab and the fun of pulling it apart and eating it. Others talked about the joys of eating with family….blah blah blah….just give me the food!! Hee hee!!

Then we completed a mind map about our image of Japan. We then had to present it to our class and were videotaped doing it. Nothing like a bit of pressure to make you feel inadequate about your language skills!!

We then watched our presentations and pulled apart our speeches. Embarrassing, but VERY enlightening!! We will have a number of speeches to make throughout the trip: to the school we visit and also at the end of our stay here. Let alone speaking to our host families! Yikes!

After class, we headed into Saijo again. A trip to ‘Youme Town’ (a combined department store and supermarket) for some supplies and the obligatory 100 yen shop visit was followed by dinner at an izakaya (the Japanese version of a tapas bar…..for want of a better analogy….). Hilarity ensued!!! Beer and grapefruit sours were on the menu…..along with gyoza, ramen, sushi and a variety of other food stuffs. The food at HIC has been pretty average and we made sure we ate up!

Fortunately, our room in the izakaya was equipped with karaoke….WOO HOO!!! Microphones were soon ditched for group singing of such classics as ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘California Dreaming’, ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Everlong’, ‘Under the Bridge’, 'Can't Get You Outta My Head' and all of your standard bogan hits…..We could be heard from the front door and in the male toilets (or so I was told!!). Diana, Indra, Ken, Travis, Bianca, Margaret, Fi and I all managed to destroy every song put on the karaoke machine!! Top effort from all!!



L-R: Margaret, Fi, Diana, Indra, Ken and Travis.....Bianca is out of frame.....



Ahhhhh.....Nama (fresh) grapefruit sour....how I've missed you....

After consuming much alcohol and destroying our vocal chords, we had the obligatory photo out the front of the izakaya….A lovely ‘salary man’ (looking a little worse for wear from his own nite of drinking) kindly took out photo out the front of ‘Watami’ (the name of the izakaya).

The drinking and singing gang....

It's important to make friends when you travel....

A giggly taxi ride back to HIC and then one more beer on the balcony before bed. Tomorrow is our trip to a sake brewery (sakegura) and hopefully we will be fit and well for the days activities!!

Wednesday nite looks like becoming "let's-go-out-and-have-fun" nite! WOO HOO!!

Yokoso Hiroshima....

Day 1 and Day 2

Sunday 25 September – Monday 26 September

Higashi-Hiroshima: 25 degrees sunny and humid

The first day of the trip consisted of a 24 hour plus trip to Hiroshima. Melbs to Honkers, Honkers to Osaka and then 3 shinkansens (bullet trains) and a bus ride to arrive at the Hiroshima International Centre.

A long day of travelling, but great people on the trip. Names have been hard to remember and I forget how I’ve told which story to….guess I’ll be repeating myself a lot! Have found some fellow footy tragics and we’ve already decided that our day on Miyajima will be spent trying to watch the Granny. Go Cats!!

We have our own rooms (thankfully!!) which are fully equipped with a TV, DVD player, fridge and our own bathrooms. Couldn’t cope with sharing. There are laundries on each floor and the soon-to-be-frequented beer vending machine!

My room....

The staff here are FANTASTIC!! We’ve had an orientation tour and there are all sorts of facilities available:  a cafeteria, gym, soccer field, full equipped library, computer rooms, billiard tables, massage chairs, bikes and more!! The library has some fantastic books on Hiroshima and hopefully I can find some to bring home: real gut-wrenching stuff, but the kind of stuff that needs to be remembered and told!

The lovely librarian has sorted us out with maps and we’ve established where all the important things are: shops, supermarkets, post office and the main shipping areas. Now if we can find a couple of izakaya and sushi ya……I’ll be sorted!!

We have also been placed into our language groups for the three weeks that we are here. I’m in the ‘top’ group with two other people!! How’s that for a bit of one on one instruction!!

After our lesson today, we headed into Saijo, the town closest to where we are staying. A bit of a wander and some grocery shopping and then back for dinner. The consensus seems to be that dinners need to spent elsewhere (think dodgy cafeteria food….lots of curry rice). The evening was rounded out by beers on the balcony and time well spent in massage chairs.

I’m having a blast! However, we have six hours of language study tomorrow…..who said this was a junket????

The Junket Queen....

Konnichiwa! Welcome to my next study tour *cough* junket.

Now in all fairness, it does sound like a junket: 3 weeks in Hiroshima, tour of a sake brewery, attendance at a medieval warlord festival, kimono lessons, calligraphy lesson and so on. BUT....I will be doing some intensive Japanese study whilst I am in Hiroshima. It is not going to be all shits and giggles but will involve some serious studying.

Last year I was awarded an Asian Language Teachers Qualifications Project (ALTQP) scholarship to retrain as a Japanese teacher. At the end of Term 2 (July) this year, I was sent an email about the study tour and as I had received the scholarship, I was eligible to apply....to cut a long story short, I am off to Japan in about 13 sleeps time.

The purpose of the study tour is to:help in-service teachers, as well as would-be teachers, of the Japanese language to improve their language proficiency, especially oral communication skills, by providing them with opportunities to build practical knowledge of the language as well as to use the knowledge in various situations.

During the three weeks of the tour, the other nine participants and I will be based at the Hiroshima International Centre and receive about 30 hours language instruction and also be involved in a variety of culture activities.....including a 'farm stay'.....god help me!!

The purpose of this blog is to, once again, eliminate any need to talk to you....or more to the point: eliminate your need to talk to me!! As I found out with my previous blog (http://www.kristysoaptour.blogspot.com/  Nice plug!) it became a great way for me to reflect on what I was doing. And to keep a record of stuff that I do. The old memory ain't what it used to be! So whilst it does feel self-indulgent, it becomes a great way for me to remember my experiences.

So どぞう　よろしく　おねがいします　(dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu) and ゆっくり　読んで　下さい (yukkuri yonde kudasai).

 

Token Japanese photo
(not of Hiroshima....Kiyomizudera in Kyoto...one of my favourite temples)