It has been awhile..

Huge update! Unfortunately haven't had time to edit the photos yet so that will come later.. I promise!

I think the last time I was on the internet was two Fridays ago at school, and since I was away on what is classed as 'business trips' for most of last week (doing prefectural orientations and attending this teachers' course to help improve the teaching techniques of the Japanese teachers of English (JTEs)), I could not update my blog or check my emails. Apologies to all who emailed me and didn't get a response. We will hopefully have internet set up at home this week!! (Most of last week was Obon (if I understand correctly, it's a time where people pay respect to their dead ancestors) and a lot of businesses were shut)

Scenery, apartment and school

There is so much green here in the Noto. And the terrain is so mountainous! Certainly a change of scenery for us. Our apartment is very nice. Rob was so excited to see the shoji (paper thingos for windows and doors). He was even excited about the bathroom which has a stool to sit on and shower like you do at onsens (hot springs). The toilet seat has a built-in heater which would be so handy come winter time. Our location is great - we're right across the road from the centre of our small town. Our town (called Ukawa is pretty small, but we can get relatively fresh fruits and veges in the small shops (only on Saturdays because I think they receive new stock of fruits and veges only once a week on Saturdays). And the fish! They're so fresh! We walked around town the other day and found a few fish mongers with super fresh fish for really cheap too! I was so excited about my purchases :) The fish was delicious!

My school (in Ushitsu) is a 15 minute drive away from our apartment along the coast, and the view is amazing. There's a shopping centre nearby my school so I can do groceries shopping after work during the week. The school itself is right on the coast, and it is the only school in the prefecture of Ishikawa to specialise in marine courses, which is something I think I can use to my advantage in my lesson planning.

Mahtsuri

Anyway, I have been absolutely flat out with all these work commitments as well as attending mahtsuris, or festivals, happening around the Noto. It's amazing - summer is known as the festival season in Japan, and we came at the time when all these mahtsuris are springing up all over the place. Individual towns hold their festivals for up to three days and apparently we missed a pretty big and awesome festival called Fire and Violence in Ushitsu which was held in late July. It is a festival well known all over the country for its craziness. We'll have the chance to witness it next July :) A few families in the towns hold huge feasts and boy the food is fantastic!

Miscellaneous observations

In the meantime, it is absolutely hot AND humid. It gets up to 35degC in the arvo and the mugginess is enough to drive you nuts!

A few more interesting observations I've made during our time in Japan:

- there are not enough rubbish bins around! Seriously, you could walk for ages without encountering one (in the meantime you're itching to rid yourself of the rubbish you're holding)

- chicken is so cheap here! It's about AU$5.00/kg chicken breast (I think in Perth it's around AU$11/kg).

- On the other hand, most fresh vegetables and fruits are pricey. Carrots are around AU$2.50/kg. All fruits are quite dear (except for bananas which are around $2.50/kg) - it really is more of a treat than necessity to eat fruits in Japan. There are two grades of fruits sold here - the ones you buy to eat, and the ones you buy to give. The latter is obviously very expensive. I have personally encountered a medium sized melon on sale for the equivalent of AU$120!!! A fellow JET from the US said that the fruits here taste a lot better here so the price is justified. Perhaps the people in US get it bad, but I think that fruits are nicer back home in Perth (for much cheaper too!). Sigh... I can see us burning a huge hole in our wallets just to eat as healthily here as we did back in Perth.

- pan (bread) is so sweet and pricey too. I think fellow JET and neighbour from US said that it tastes like Hawaiian bread. I'm not used to it. And you can't find wholemeal bread anywhere in the Noto. Not even at the nice bakery owned by an Australian guy about 5mins drive from our apartment. Rice is expensive (about AU$5/kg compared to AU$2/kg back in Perth), but it works out slightly cheaper to eat rice and noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner rather than rely on bread.

- the language barrier experience has been interesting - sometimes frustrating, but damn it feels good when we manage to walk away with what we need.

- the low regard for women here is subtle but definitely present. We had an amusing encounter with patriarchal dominance at the town hall when we were applying for our alien registration cards. My supervisor and the office man helped us to fill out the form, and the form had a question about who the head of the household is. It honestly does not matter either to Rob or myself whose name is used, but I asserted that since he is here on a Dependent Visa that perhaps it was technically correct for us to put my name down. And oh.my.gosh - the two men had a lengthy discussion lasting almost 5 minutes with the two ladies assisting us over that issue. The men reluctantly agreed with my suggestion and my supervisor even asked Rob for his passport so that he can closely examine the visa where it says "Dependent". At the feasts held at the locals' houses during mahtsuris, the women are always running back and forth serving food, drinks etc whilst the men sit back with their bottomless glasses of biiru or sake, laughing and eating and drinking. The only females seated at the tables are guests.

- It's unfortunate, but it does not look like it is practical for me to ride my bike to and from work. And there are no decent gyms around. I feel so unfit! We'd definitely be joining sports clubs or take up martial arts classes. I think it will take us awhile to find our little routine..