Kyoritsu

Changing subjects, a bit about Russ’s classes. Russ is teaching three classes at Kyoritsu Women’s University in Tokyo: American Arts and Culture, African-American History, and American Foreign Policy. The students are sophomores, juniors and seniors who are majoring in international studies. Many of them are interested in jobs that require English (e.g., several want to be flight attendants) or in traveling to America. (One wrote down that she is interested in an International marriage!)

College classes in Japan meet only once a week (for 90 minutes in this case), and students are required to attend 2/3 of the time. At the beginning of class, they all automatically fill out little slips of paper to turn in for attendance record-keeping.

Russ has it to be a good challenge since the students are a little shy about speaking in class. He’s found writing or drawing activities to be successful. For example, one thing that worked well was when he was teaching about Jacob Riis and he had the students draw pictures of rich and poor live in Japan now (to parallel How the Other Half Lives). “Rich” pictures illustrated scenes like people sitting in Rappongi Hills (an area of Tokyo) drinking wine, while “poor” pictures showed people sleeping in parks or streets.

Russ always has a Kyoritsu faculty member in with him to translate if needed, so that has been very helpful.

We will be leaving for Hong Kong and Macau on Friday, so we may not get to doing another post before then. Next week is Golden Week in Japan, which officially looks like a holiday-a work day-a work day-a holiday-a holiday-a holiday (more or less), but is essentially a week off. Since everything will be crowded and expensive here, we decided to take the opportunity to see some more of Asia.

Nikko

On Friday, we took a overnight trip to Nikko. For those of you who read Shogun (or saw the miniseries!), this area is the "home base" of the shogun upon whose life the book was based.

The trip there was a bit long, mostly because we had first had to go to the immigration office in Yokohama to take care of another matter, then we had to take two long subway rides to get through Tokyo, to then get to a train to Nikko (a two-hour trip). We were all quite tired out when we got there, so we ate frozen pizza and cup o' noodles for dinner. However, the hotel was very nice, with very comfortable futons (see Laurea trying them out above) and an amazingly lovely hot springs bath that overlooked a river.

Well rested, the next day we explored the area. The top picture is the stone arch, the only part of Nikko that is original. The arch marks a Shinto shrine, but there are also a lot of Buddhist temples in the area as well.

The top left picture is the burial shrine of Tokugawa (the shogun). The was Mary's favorite part - you climb up 200 stone steps through a huge cedar forest. The ambience is amazing.

The temples are quite ornate, unusual for Japanese temples. The next picture shows a carving above the "sacred stables." Inside the stable is a sacred white horse (also associated with Shintoism), and monkeys are recognized as protectors of horses. You may recognize the picture (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil)!

BRRR

It's a cold and chilly day today, probably the coldest since we've been in Japan. So, this post will focus on the warmer weekend.

On Saturday, the big street near our house hosted the "Dog Festa." It's quite fashionable to have a small dog, dress him/her up, and bring the dog around in a purse (Paris Hilton style) or even in a special stroller. There were stations for dog tricks, best looking dogs, etc. Laurea enjoyed watching the street cleaning staff try to keep up with all of the, err, action.

More Mary's and Russ's cup of tea was the spring tulip festival at nearby Yokohama park, featuring loads of tulips. Very pretty, but a little crowded.

Eating Crepes

Here'a a picture of Laurea eating one of her favorite snacks, a chocolate crepe from the crepe-stand down the street.

Russ's first week of teaching went well. He is teaching three classes, with students of differing levels.

We are enjoying the spring weather immensely!

Sorry for the lack of posts

Our wonderful internet went away because a tenant moved from our house, so we have been working from Kinkos - hence, the lack of postings. Everything else is OK, but I do not think that the internet guy can come until the end of April. (April is a big moving month in Japan -- probably much like September in the US -- so everything is backed up.) We are trying to find free wireless sites, but I dont think they are as common as in the US.

Soon, will post pictures of Easter egg hunting, udon eating and such.

Sankei-en Garden

To take advantage of the warm spring Saturday, we went to Sankei-en Garden, on the outskirts of Yokohama. It was a nice park with a lot of old buildings scattered around the path, like tea houses and the pagoda in the picture above. Laurea enjoyed watching the kids feed the koi and the ducks with little pieces of bread. The koi were enormous and often fought the ducks for the bread. There were also turtles and a commorant sunning themselves in the lake.

Chukagai

Yesterday, during our lunch break, Russ and I explored Chukagai (Chinatown) a bit, which is the neighborhood adjacent to ours. Yokohama used to be the area in which all foreigners were required to live, and Chukagai is the sub-area in which Chinese inhabitants dwelled. Apparently, it was pretty much eradicated by earthquakes and war, but then came back in the early 1970s. Today, it's a nice area with lots of restaurants, import shops and Kantei-byo (the picture attached here, a temple to the god of business).

Laurea reports that her favorite things about Japan are cherry blossoms and sushi.

Laurea's First Day

Yesterday, was Laurea's first day of preschool here. We drop her off at the front, and then she is expected to go down to her classroom herself, put her lunch away, and change into her "indoor shoes." The teachers told us that the class went to nearby Yamate Park to roll down hills, and then Laurea did some "hard work" (a worksheet where she was to match people to a basket). Laurea came home very tired, so it must have been true.
The picture is of Laurea leaving school. She has her thermos around her neck, and she is carrying out her little bento box, in which we pack her lunch. In the doorway, you can see one of her teachers.
In the afternoon, we also visited one of our favorite spots, a 100 yen shop, to pick up some additional household stuff.

Getting a cellphone

After getting our alien registration cards, our next step was to get a cellphone. (Like the rest of the world, cellphones are quite big, but perhaps even more so since you can not only text and call with your cellphone, but also bank, and in some places, use it for the subway.) After three visits to the same SoftBank, we finally obtained one. As Russ's Kyoritsu colleague noted, dealing with cellphone companies can be very much like dealing with Comcast (an analogy Michiganders will appreciate).

Russ went to Kyoritsu today to attend a reception they held for all incoming students. They served sandwiches and green tea for about 300 people. Then, he toured the classrooms before his start of class next week. The campus is in the center and new, so the classrooms are very up-to-date: opaque projecters, DVD/VCRs, computer hook-ups and movable desks. The faculty offices are in a big room with desks and bookshelves, which the faculty aren't too pleased about.

A chilly and rainy day, so no photos.

Becoming aliens and so on

Yesterday, we had to handle a lot of business-related stuff. We applied for our "alien registration card," which upset Laurea, as she did not want to be an "alien." Fortunately, the process went smoothly and took only about 45 minutes.
We also signed Laurea up for her new preschool, which is right next door. Then, we found Donkihotei (this is the romanized spelling of the Japanese, but if you say it quickly, I'm sure you can recognize the name!), a discount store, for the school supplies Laurea needed. (Fortunately, it's a pretty lowkey school, so we didn't need to spend several hundred dollars for a uniform and school backpack, like many other Japanese private schools would require.)
On our way back, we did have some fun, discovering a new way back from the subway station. We found a nearby park (see picture). The fountain looks a bit Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired to me, but I think it's supposed to reflect that a Frenchman used to have a business in the area that would run fresh water from a spring at the top of the hill down to ships in the harbor below.

Cosmo Clock

Laurea and Russ went on one of the world's largest ferris wheels today, the "Cosmo Clock." (Mary let Russ have the honor after experiencing another very large ferris wheel in Chicago.) Russ found it quite terrifying, while Laurea thought it was great fun.

We also explored the neighborhood a bit more, walking down to the bayfront.

Jet lag has finally eased - thank goodness!