I became a soybean

At last!  At long last, my own internet!  Rejoice, for I have returned and can now update more regularly!  I think we’ll try to stick to the once-a-week on Saturday schedule I mentioned before, seeing as I’m updating on a Saturday to kick off the arrival of a modem I get to keep.

A lot has happened since I last updated, mainly in the form of some super cool gatherings in and around Tsuruoka.  Dan from Haguro invited a bunch of us out to his house (yes, he gets a whole house!) for a little housewarming party.  Block leader Corey combined this event with a birthday party for Virginia, and it was off to the races!  For reference, Dan’s house is owned by a Japanese man who once ran a shop out of it.  One room is off limits due to storage, but the place has a massive kitchen, sizeable tatami room (i.e. the traditional mats woven from straw), another big living room, a full bedroom (or possibly two), and as Corey put it, “rooms Dan hasn’t even found yet.”  As such, we have dubbed the place Haguro-jo (Haguro Castle), and suffice it to say we all had an awesome night, complete with a wicked good Irish music set courtesy of Scott, Corey, Virginia, Kaoru (an awesome Japanese fiddle player) and Pierre, who comes from France.

First, though, I want to share a photo of a little dish I made called “Let’s see if marinating chicken in some pineapple juice works.”  The answer is “not really,” but if you add slices of canned pineapple and some broccoli, and put it over rice, it can turn out okay.  So long as you match each bite of chicken with a bite of pineapple.  Without further delay:

Also, trying to caramelize the pineapples in their own juice kind of failed. Live and learn!

So after that (thoroughly mediocre) meal, Alex and I made the bike trek out to Haguro-jo, where we were the first non-Japanese to arrive and keep Dan company.  It was a great time spent with wonderful people, as you will see!

Yu-chan got Virginia a present. It obviously wasn't a volleyball, but Virginia liked it. Dan's in the background there.

All the girls! Yu-chan's in the back, Rie-chan is in front of Yu, Anie (Canada) is making the heart, and Hiromi-chan and Ran-chan are in the very front. The other two...I can't remember their names! What else is new?

"We baked you a birthday cake / If you get a tummy-ache / And you moan and groan in woe / Don't forget we told you so!"...was not sung when the cake was presented.

The night was spent trying to find the coolest spot in the house (usually the tatami room, where we weren’t crammed in like sardines), and chatting pleasantly with all the guests.  I did of course mention that nice little Irish band set, and for your viewing pleasure I have uploaded it here.  Corey’s already a YouTube star, and he’s read the blog before (hey there!) so I’m going to post this one to publicize their awesome musical skills.

As you can see, there was no shortage of entertainment!

Pierre, Alex, Kaoru and Susie hanging out as the party winds down

So as you can see, I am surrounded by the most awesome people in the world, period.  And I got to go to karaoke with them at the new JET welcome party in Shinjo City a week later!  Shinjo is a good half hour and change from Tsuruoka by car, and Richard was kind enough to drive me.  We all met up for a nice little snack at one of the bars in town before karaoke time, and what a time it was!  Just a few pics courtesy of Alex, as I forgot to take my camera.

Amber (from the original Jersey!), Susie, Johnny (Ireland) and myself, belting out...Lily Allen I think?

Amber, Andie (New Zealand) and I working through Travis' "Flowers in the Window"

And of course, no karaoke session is complete without a couple really drunk Japanese guys invading your karaoke room!

Lovely face!

It was a wonderful night, and my streak of loving every single Yamagata prefecture JET I’ve met remains intact.

Whipping through the days (which at this point were still mostly play-and-settle-in time), we arrive at this Monday just passed, whereupon I had long considered buying a Playstation 3, and decided that since I still had some cash left over from when I first arrived, and since we had just received our first paychecks, now was the time.  I was of course on a mission to find a cheap one, however, and this proved more difficult than I imagined it would be.  See, there are some older models of Playstation 3 that play Playstation 2 games, and therefore these editions of the hardware are sometimes sold used for more than a brand new system is worth.  There’s also an interesting cultural dynamic that drives the pricing of used systems as well.  See, Japan loves to collect things, and they love to collect special editions of things.  It seems that for a time, there were silver Playstation 3 systems available, but you rarely see them anymore because the hardware has changed once again.  So silver systems are frequently far more than new systems, even though the new systems are sleeker and smaller.

Enter the system at Otachu (The Big Black Barn).  I was about to just swallow my pride and go for a new system when I was wandering the packed aisles at Otachu, and Alex pulled me aside to show me a used Playstation 3 on sale for 14,800 yen.  The going rate for a new system is about 30,000, or a little over $300 US.  This system, therefore, is just under half the price.  I wondered what could possibly be wrong with it.  The tag on the system itself said: “Scratch on the front.”  Surely, that couldn’t be the only problem?  All the cables appeared to be there, and there was a controller included as well.  I asked for assistance from the staff member nearby.

“Where is the scratch?  I can’t see it.”

“There’s one on the front here, and a couple on the top here, and here.”

“Is there anything else wrong with it?”

“No, it should work perfectly fine.”

Remember, Japan like to collect things.  They like to collect PRETTY things, in addition to their special edition obsession.  So yes, this system was essentially half-off because of a couple little scratches on the front and the top.

“I’ll take this one, then.”  In an aside to myself, I thought “I love you, Japan!”

So I am now the proud owner of a shiny used Playstation 3 with a couple of minor scuffs and no other issues.  Huzzah!  I picked up Tekken 6, Virtua Fighter 5, 3D Dot Game Heroes, and Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (Yes, it’s an American game, but I’ve played a great demo for the sequel, and you have to start from the beginning to get the full effect!).  I’m pretty pleased with the purchase, and it gives me something shiny to fill what little leisure time I’ll have once school gets into gear.  Don’t expect any reviews or impressions though, that’s not what I’m here to blog about!

Anyway, if you haven’t asked yourself by now what the hell the title of this post has to do with anything, ask yourself now.  I’ll wait.  Good.  Lovely human being and friend of the JET Program Ran-chan (photo from Dan’s party above) has been working at a farm nearby in order to save up some money, as she is moving to Canada in September to spend a year working on her English.  This is a good get for Canada, but that’s beside the point.  She sorts out edamame (soybeans) to sell to market.  The ones she rejects—which are a little imperfect but by no means inedible—she gets to keep.  She ends up with about two huge bags of edamame every day.  But these aren’t your granddad’s edamame; oh no.  These are the local strain of edamame known as dadacha mame, and they’re bigger, fatter, and juicier than your everyday soybean.  In other words, they’re delicious times 10.  She was kind enough to bring some over, and I’m still eating them!  This was about a week ago now, and I’ve still got a quarter of the bag left.  I’m very much in danger of becoming a soybean, I’ve eaten so many.  But I have determined that they’re so small you can never get full from eating them.  It’s just not possible!

Part of the reason I still have so many beans left is due to the Yamagata Prefectural Orientation, which took place this past week from Tuesday to Thursday out in Tendo City, about an hour or two from Tsuruoka.  Ishikawa-sensei drove Alex, Dan, Richard and myself out to the Education Center in Tendo, where we stayed in the dormitory and had several very helpful orientation seminars and workshops that were actually targeted to the schools at which we will be teaching, as opposed to the Tokyo “well, it might be this, but everything’s different everywhere” orientation.  Not that Tokyo wasn’t helpful, it’s just that an orientation in your home prefecture tends to be worth more in the long run, as the people orienting you actually work in and around the cities you’ll be working in, and they know how the Board of Ed works in said cities.

When we arrived, we had a quick greeting ceremony, and then it was off to the onsen (hot springs).  The trip was optional, and I’m not a huge fan of hopping in 40º C water when it’s nearly 40º C outside, so I stayed behind.  Everyone was wearing their traditional yukata though (provided by the education center), and we all looked as Japanese as we could.  Some people, however, decided to put a little spin on the traditional yukata look.

Scott, looking like an Eastern European grandmother.

Everyone wants a picture! Corey and Johnny approve of Scott's look. Corey perhaps a little too much.

Corey then had to raise the stakes.

Adorable or creepy? Discuss.

After the crew got back from the onsen, the remainder of the group (Corey, Johnny, Dan, Richard and myself) joined them for our first (formal) enkai involving members of the Yamagata educational institute and such.  Everyone was still wearing their yukatas, so we all looked uniformly presentable.

We all clean up pretty well!

Everyone's getting settled in, and eyeing all the food on the table. But we cannot eat until after the toast!

The bigwigs from the Education Center are seated at a table perpendicular to ours.

So, with everyone seated and all the bigwigs installed in their proper places, it was time to formally open the enkai.  Kato-sensei from the Center made a nice little opening speech, everyone yelled “kanpai!” (cheers!), and the festivities began.  As I mentioned before, no one is allowed to start until the speeches have been made and the toast completed, and similarly it’s very rude to let anyone’s glass go empty.  There are big bottles of beer on the table, and this particular enkai was 2 hours of nomihoudai (all you can drink)  It doesn’t take much math to figure out that the enkai is designed to get people drunk, bigwigs included.  It’s all culturally sanctioned stuff, and it even happens among the schools at which we’ll be teaching.  At some point, I will probably see one of my fellow teachers three sheets to the wind, and it will be interesting and awkward I’m sure.  But first, we ate!  There was a lot of tofu involved in this meal, and not all of it was delicious.  In fact, most of it was pretty iffy.  There were some pickled veggies that were pretty good, and a little cold veggie mix that was just what the doctor ordered for a hot summer’s eve.  Tempura also factored in here, and it was nothing short of spectacular.  There was other food too, but it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea (I’m looking at you, tofu).

Megan and Alex approve of the food. Andie (right) will probably tell me to take this down.

After a while, it was time for a skit on enkai etiquette!  All the continuing JETs put on a skit with the staff from the Education Center.  It began with Kato-sensei imploring us all to read a book on enkai etiquette “as much as humanly possible,” at which point he handed it to Sandy, at right in this photo.

Sandy, Aido, Andie, Corey and Michelle await the start of the skit. As much as humanly possible.

Sandy is handed the book, and promptly tosses it aside.

For the crime of drinking before the toast is complete, Sandy is summarily executed by Suzuki-sensei.

Aido, undeterred by Sandy's dead body flashing some leg, begins to pour his own drink...

...and is struck down where he sits.

Two down. Will Andie fare any better?

Andie goes to greet the head honchos, but she's all touchy-feely and disrespectful. Out comes the sword!

Corey starts off well, pouring a drink for Suzuki-sensei

Then he just grabs Suzuki-sensei's rice and starts wolfing it down.

And for that, he must die.

A supposed two hours later, Michelle finds the book, reads it, and performs flawlessly at the enkai: she waits until the toast is finished to start eating and drinking, she doesn’t pour her own drink, she treats the big kahunas with respect, pours them a drink, and doesn’t swipe their food.  Well done Michelle, and great acting job everyone!

Hooray!

As you can tell from the skit, the enkai is great fun, but it’s also very structured and formal.  It’s important to show respect to everyone involved, and you never pour your own drink.  This means your cup is always magically full, which is a blessing and a curse if you’re drinking alcohol.  Generally, what happens at the enkai stays at the enkai, but I hope they’ll forgive me for breaking that rule in order to share a cultural lesson with all of you!

The night continued after the skit, and everyone got to know each other better, as this was the first time all the newbies in Yamagata Prefecture got to meet each other.  Everyone was having a great time, and some silly things happened.

Johnny, another Alex, and Scott. Somewhere, this could be an album cover or band photo.

Amber, Richard, and 2 Meter Mike (he's taller than me!)

Alex, our new Prefectural Advisor, hijacked my camera for a self-portrait.

I borrowed Anie's Canada hat for this ALT group photo.

Scott helps Dan deal with the weight of his new iPhone 4.

Me, with just a few of the reasons why Yamagata Prefecture rocks.

The evening drew to a close once nomihoudai was over, and we all headed back to the dorms to hang out for a bit longer before crashing.  We did have to get up by 7:30 for breakfast, after all.

The second day of orientation was filled with a lot of useful hints on how to teach with the Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs), how to go about implementing games in the classroom (we were the guinea pigs, of course—very fun!), and how to do a proper self-introduction.  All well and good, but not necessarily great blog fodder, amiright?

And so we turn to the area in which the dorms are located: beautiful Tendo City!  Surrounded by mountains on just about every side, the dormitory offered some spectacular views.

Ya-ma-yo yama-yo! (clap clap) yama-yo yama-yo!

This little bit of pretty is actually on the grounds of the dormitory and Education Center complex. Not too shabby!

Mountains, actual size. For comparison, two humans are walking on the pavement.

There was a really neat sky on this particular night

Obligatory cool sunset photo. Looks like volcanic ash, but it's not.

The third day was filled with more (very helpful) workshops, but soon it was time to stop living out of a suitcase (yeah!) and head back to Tsuruoka to prepare for my first day of work (boo—wait, yeah!).  Ishikawa-sensei again came wayyyyyy out of his way to pick us up, and we began making the long journey back.  Along the way, we stopped to pick up some snacks at a store with a bunch of tasty pastries.  That’s when I saw this:

Uh...

Hm...

Now if you’re anything like me, your first thought was “Huh, butt cakes.”  I realize that’s an unlikely scenario, but that was quite literally my first thought when I laid eyes on this little thing.  I then noticed that the tag said akachan no, loosely, “A baby’s.”  Okay, now I’m really curious.  I read the first like of the description under the name: “Baked in the shape of a baby’s buttocks…”

Wait, WHAT?!

Yes, quite literally, when they say this little cake is “A Baby’s,” they are implying that it’s a baby’s butt.  It’s even got a light dusting of powder!  The cake is breadlike and sweet, and the powdered sugar is delicious.

And here’s the kicker: it’s cream-filled!

I’ll let that sink in for a moment.

Upon returning home, Alex, Dan and I made a beeline for Dosanko, a local ramen shop (part of a larger chain) whose zanmai ramen (three sheets ramen) has earned a special place in my heart and gut.  There were quite a few vegetarians at the orientation, and as such the menu was largely geared toward veggie-only dishes.  Vegetarians, I love you, but I also love meat.  A lot.  I was having a bit of a protein crash, so I immediately ordered the zanmai ramen, which consists of your usual ramen noodles and broth (though Hokkaido style, so the broth is super thick), the usual assortment of shoots and seaweed piled on extra high, and the crowning achievement: generous slices of pork prepared three different ways.  One set is lightly battered and fried, another pan-fried, and another boiled.  It’s just the thing to get when you’ve gone three days with a small salmon filet as your only meat.

After a (leisurely, that ramen is killer) bike ride home, it was time for me to prepare for my first day of real work.  I visited Yutagawa Elementary School, and I think the details of that will have to wait until tomorrow, as it’s already 2:30 in the morning, and I’ve broken my “update on Saturday” rule.  Ah well, it’s still Saturday in the States, so I win!

I can’t wait to tell you all about my first day, but I wouldn’t want to miss any of the details, so to sleep I go!

Mata, ne!

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