The Occidental Tourist The Occidental Tourist Welcome to Robyn's 2000/01 Asian Odyssey! From May 2000 to June 2001 I was away from my native country of Canada, living in Japan. I had an amazing time! I lived in a small city called Fujieda, which means "branches of wisteria". I worked at the Bowers English School, a cram school in Haibara town, Shizuoka Prefecture. Shizuoka prefecture has a moderate climate, averaging 8-10°C on a winter day and 30-33°C on a humid summer day. Snow is extremely rare. In winter most homes are heated typically by kerosene heaters, because electricity is ridiculously expensive in Japan. Shizuoka is where you would find Mt. Fuji. On a pollution-free day I could see it from my place! It's unfortunate that around 70% of the time the smog is so thick that this mountain is entirely hidden. Shizuoka is also relatively famous for Shizunami beach, where surfing is a popular activity. Shizuoka is also renowned for its green tea, muskmelons, and tiny dried shrimp (a popular snack/condiment).
I arrived in Narita International Airport on May 16th, 2000. I was met by Rob, a fellow teacher, who then guided me home via the Shinkansen, or bullet train, local train, and then by car. I was exhausted after my 14-hour flight, and only wanted to eat and rest. I wandered across the street to the grocery store, and boggled at all the items with Japanese writing on them. So... I did the sensible thing, and got sushi. :) Next step was to put away all my things and do a bit of cleaning. Okay, a lot of cleaning. I had to scrub the place down, which made me happy that it was so small. :)
The next day I started working. I followed another teacher around for the week, observing her for a bit, and then she sat back and observed me. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous, but it went really well. My classes were all very small, which was nice- my biggest class topped out at 10 people. My children's classes were a blast. The kids really got into learning, and I got to learn a lot from them, too. A great way to get Japanese kids talking is to ask them about their schools, friends, favourite characters on TV, and let them talk! I used a lot of games, and of course, stickers were a perfect reward. I also had adult classes, which were fun for different reasons. They were all there because they had strong interests in learning English, and really put in a lot of effort. It almost felt as if they were teaching themselves, sometimes. We spent time together outside of school too, having karaoke nights and going out for dinner together. They really became more like friends than students. I had company classes for a little while, at a large firm called Nikkiso, which makes parts for airplanes, medical equipment, and the like. That was quite intimidating, since I was teaching to people who were engineers, and were probably a lot smarter than me. My other unique class was my preschool class. Nothing is quite as fun as playing, colouring, and doing activities with the most adorable 3-year-olds ever. :) They learned incredibly quickly, got the pronunciation down without problems, and were truly a joy to teach.
I didn't have a lot of free time, but what free time I did have, I spent exploring my city and other parts of Japan. I did a lot of shopping at Apita, the local department store, or Seiyu. I biked around or went rollerblading to wherever I wanted to go, since all the interesting things to do were close by. My area was quite rural, and there were rice fields behind my apartment building, with narrow, paved roads running between them. It was a very peaceful place for a walk or bike ride. During the day, you could watch people working in the rice fields, look at all the fabulous flowers in bloom. At night you could wander around safely, listening to the chirping frogs and enjoying the clear night air.
After work in the evenings I sometimes visited the little karaoke bar downstairs from my apartment, called Pure. The owner, Hiroko, was a wonderful woman who kept me sane by helping keep me from getting too homesick. When I went in there, I'd chat with the waitresses, or Hiroko's son Mi-chan, and they'd often sit me down with other customers, who'd be surprised to be sitting with a gai-jin and try frantically to remember the English they'd learned in high school. :) Yet another reason that I kept a purse-sized dictionary on me at all times. I also spent loads of time at the "gaijin" bar downtown, called The Skin Flute. This place was usually full of ex-pats from Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Taka, the bar owner, spoke excellent English, mostly from his multiple trips to Las Vegas. I even got to meet up with my friend John there, who was living not so far away in Fukuroi at the time. I visited a few arcades, too, particularly when Mike and Neal came to visit me, got many "purikura", little photograph stickers. I also got to try my hand at Pachinko, a game which is like a cross between pinball and a slot machine.
While in Japan, I also had the opportunity to travel outside my city. During my August holiday I was able to visit Kyoto, a fantastic, old city that was once the capital of Japan. In September I went to Tokyo Disneyland for a day! Disneyland is actually outside Tokyo, in Chiba prefecture. Next I went to Kamakura with my friends John, Kate, and Carolyn. Another traditional city, Kamakura is most famous for an enormous bronze statue of Buddha. At Christmas time I went to South Korea to visit a few friends teaching there, Mike and Neal. Korea is a very popular destination for English teachers, since they are in such demand there. In February I went to Nagano to try my hand at snowboarding. Some people are naturals... I'm unfortunately not one of them. I also went to Nihondaira with Rob, my co-worker, which is a large mountain near the city of Shimizu. Once you reach the top of this mountain, you have a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji, and can see as far as the Izu Peninsula. In the spring I went out to Fukuroi to visit John in his hometown. Then, during Golden Week, I took a fantastic trip to Tokyo.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. I finished working in the end of May 2001, and took a well-earned vacation. My first stop was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I spent a lot of time exploring the city by foot, and taking a tour that took me to a fantastic (yet somewhat depressing) zoo. Next, I spent 8 days in Bali, Indonesia, otherwise known as paradise. And finally, I came back to Canada.
Now I've compiled the series of e-mails that I sent to my friends and family into a travelogue, so you can read about all the wild and crazy things I was able to do. Enjoy! (I know I did!)
And after all my experiences abroad, I've put together a list of tips for people who wish to travel abroad. Sound advice, common sense and hopefully some ideas to make your next trip more enjoyable!
Links
I survived my adventure in part due to my trusty Lonely Planet guide!
If you're interested in teaching in Japan or anywhere else, you should
check my page on teaching ESL, Dave's ESL Café, Ohayo Sensei, TEFL.net.
