In the Time of Love and Onsen: Fun in Yufuin

The weekend before last, one of my good English teacher friends and I decided to take a mini-trip to one of Miyazaki's neighboring prefectures, Oita, to explore, eat and generally check things out. There was tons to see and do, but by far, my favorite spot that we stopped by was Yufuin.

A tiny town about two and a half hours from Kadogawa, Yufuin is absolutely adorable. It's known all over Japan for it's amazing outdoor onsen, which are public hot spring baths. I was surprised to learn however that it also has an amazingly cool little downtown area. It reminded me of a Japanese Nevada City, CA. Yufuin is petite, but not lacking in character, chock full of hip little shops and natural beauty. Just make sure to get into town early, as most of the public onsen close at 3pm!

First stop in Yufuin was "Shoya no Yakata" onsen, located on a scenic hillside about ten minutes outside of Yufuin. The drive up was breath-taking, and we could even see the steam from the natural hot spring rising up from the site. The actual baths themselves are incredible. Since Shoya no Yakata sports a natural hot spring, we were basically bathing on the mountainside, in warm, milky blue water, surrounded by trees. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I really tried to relish in the moment.

Next it was lunchtime. Julia and I visited Siesta, a organic/vegan cafe in downtown Yufuin, which serves vegan versions of traditional Japanese set meals, along with a nice little cup of coffee and a small dessert. Not to mention it was actually the cutest cafe I've ever seen.

After that, it was time for onsen #2, which was called Musoen. Another outdoor wonderland, we found ourselves with an view overlooking Yufuin town, the mountains, and the big open skies. The resort area was really beautiful as well. I can't get over just how scenic everything was. I think every four minutes I was just screaming, "Wow! I've died and gone to heaven!"

After that, we had a final stroll around downtown Yufuin before it was time to pack it in and head home. We had a lot of nice chats with friendly Oita folks and tried many, many free samples.

We were treated to a lovely Yufuin sunset as we drove our two and a half hour drive back to Miyazaki. I truly couldn't recommend Yufuin highly enough. Honestly, I wouldn't mind going back. There are still so many treats to try and so many onsen to relax in! Thanks for an amazing day Yufuin!

If you're planning on visiting Yufuin anytime soon, I used the Japan travel guide for information on places to visit and it was incredibly helpful.

Thanks for reading!

A Day in the Life of an ALT: Halloween Edition

Hey folks! Sorry for the inconsistent updates, but technology really hasn't been my friend lately, so I haven't exactly been on point with writing on here. Sorry about that! However, I got things sorted out recently, so there might be an influx of posts coming up soon. 

As for today's post, I thought I'd chronicle what a (sort of) normal school day is like for me, considering that the JET Program application deadline is coming up. If you want to work as an Assistant Language teacher in Japan, you should definitely submit an application. So far, it's been a very rewarding occupation for me. I know I was really curious about what a typical day as an ALT would be when I was applying, so I wrote about mine as I went along. Hope you enjoy it!

I wake up around 7:05 am. It's just starting to get a little chilly here so waking up is slowly becoming more and more difficult.  I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock.

I wake up around 7:15am. I browse tumblr on my phone and fall back to sleep.

I wake up around 7:30am. I jump out of bed promising that tomorrow I won’t snooze (though inevitably it will happen again). I punch the “go” button on my coffee maker, turn on my Japanese children’s television shows to play as I put on makeup, throw on some clothes, get my teaching supplies together (a scary Halloween mask, my flash drive, and Mickey Mouse stickers) and browse tumblr a bit more. Soon (not soon enough), I’m out the door.

If you're wondering what my sweet Halloween mask looks like...

I ride my bike to Kadogawa Junior High School, only five minutes away from my apartment. Scrambling to get inside before the bell rings, I toss my awesome nametag lanyard around my neck, and throw on my inside shoes, all the while waving and being generally adorkable to every student and staff member I meet. It’s just my way.

First period: It’s reading test day. I read a textbook excerpt about a nursery school teacher named Yuki aloud with the students. To try and make it more fun, I use weird voices. Sometimes the students will chuckle a bit. Sometimes students fall asleep.

Afterwards, students come to me individually and recite the excerpt again, without my help. I grade them (but as I’ve never really graded a reading test before, I think I go a little too easy on them).

Second period: Today is Halloween, so I start the lesson by asking students, “What’s the date today?”

“It’s October 31^st,” they say, yawning.

“IT’S HALLOWEEN!” I shriek, snapping my Halloween lion mask on and twirling around like an idiot. 

A student begins to clap, but then stops when no one else joins in. I scream, “YAY!”

After that, I teach them a Halloween tongue twister (“Creepy crawling critters crawl through creeping creaking crates”), we play some fun games involving Halloween monster worksheets and karuta, and then show them unflattering pictures of me as a student celebrating Halloween in America. All in all, it’s a pretty good time.

This is me as "a child who got dressed in the dark."

Here's a great costume: "girl in crazy pants."

 This is me as: "a scary rock musician with pink hair." Thank God I grew out of that phase, right?

Oh, I guess not...

Third period: I have a reading test with another class. This time, to compensate for my easiness in first period, I grade tests slightly harder, which is unfair. After I tell my senior teacher about my bias, and she seems unconcerned.

Fourth period: I have the same Halloween lesson with another class. It's fun and none of the students fall asleep this time.

Next is lunch time. I run downstairs to the teacher’s room, pick up my pink tray of food after proclaiming (in Japanese) to the school office workers, “Wow! This looks so good! Thank you! I’m hungry!” and run to one of the classrooms to eat lunch with the students.

Everyday, I eat school lunch with the students. The students, donning masks, scrubs and hairnets, serve school lunch for each other in Japan. Before anyone takes a bite, everyone has to have their meal in front of them. This is quite different than the run-to-the-lunch-cart-as-fast-as-possible-so-you-can-eat-first method that was implemented at my middle school. 

School lunch is great because I get a nice filling meal, although sometimes I am surprised by the ingredients (quail eggs? fingernail-sized shrimp? lotus root?) and I get to spend time with the students one on one and ask them about their lives. Usually, conversations go something like this:

Lauren: What do you do after school?

Student: *speaks a new Japanese phrase that Lauren hasn’t covered in her textbook*

Lauren: Wow cool!

I really get to know the students this way.

After that, it’s hiru yasumi (recess), where everyone goes outside and plays sports. I change into my outside clothes and jog out to the field as undigested quail eggs slosh around in my belly. 

Four girls with short hair are standing by a tree and chatting. I rush to join them.

Students (in English): Oh! Hello Lauren!

Lauren (in Japanese): Hello! What are you doing?

Students (in English): Hmm… What… do… you?

Lauren (in English): Dodgeball?

Students (in English): Oh yes! Ha okayyyy! Not soccer! Dodgeball! Yes!

One of my favorite students, a rambunctious second year who everyone calls, “Chibi Chibi Small Person” runs around the dirt field, dragging her foot to create a square. Chibi chibi small person has told me in the past that she doesn’t like English, yet I understand everything she says, and she does incredibly well in all my classes. “Court, I make,” she says. “Then we play dodgeball.”

After a few rounds of dodgeball, the bell rings and it’s time to return to school for cleaning time. Everyone will clean their classrooms together, something I love about Japan. I wish students cleaned their classrooms in America, because everything is just so much cleaner this way.

As we walk back to the building, Chibi Chibi Small Person turns to me.“Lauren sensei, did you enjoy?”

“Yes, I did.” I reply. “It is so fun!”

“Now I will go clean a toilet,” says Chibi Chibi Small Person, holding her nose with a grimace on her face. 

My love of cleaning time is apparently not shared by everyone.

During cleaning time, I choose a random classroom, take a broom out of the little classroom cleaning closet, and sweep the floor, while other students wipe down the floor with damp rags, smack erasers together, or do other general cleaning tasks. As I clean, I like to imagine I am Cinderella. Not that it's important to my day or anything. That's just a fun fact about me.

The bell chimes for the beginning of fifth period. On this particular day, I only have four classes scheduled, so I say goodbye to the students and teachers, pick up my things from the teacher's room, and bike back to the town hall. I have a desk there where I sit and plan lessons or study Japanese when I don't have any more classes for the day. 

At four thirty, I pick up my things again, bellow a hearty "You look tired, good work today!" sort of day-ending greeting (which is returned by the other folks who work in my department), and bike home.

I enjoy my days as a Kadogawa Assistant Language Teacher. As my predecessor put it, it's a "low stress, high reward" sort of position. I feel like I'm really getting to know the students and the community, which is really a cool feeling. I hope to keep improving my Japanese though, as I'm pretty sure I should understand more things than I do at the moment.

Little by little!