Christmas is Coming!

This week in OC class we're doing a lesson with a Christmas theme. We'll listen to songs and write some Christmas cards. The English Club at school helped to decorate the classroom so it looks very festive. We even have a little Christmas tree!

Thinking about Christmas, I'm realizing that many of the important symbols or people associated with Western/European holidays are magic in some way. Santa Claus magically brings presents to everyone in the world on Christmas Eve. The easter bunny magically leaves eggs and easter baskets (filled with treats). On Three Kings Day, the three wise men bring gifts to children in the night. 

Are there any holidays like this in Japan? Do any Japanese holidays involve magical creatures that bring gifts or food? I'm very curious. I'm still learning about Japanese culture and I'd like to learn more about this. What's your favorite holiday? What do you do to celebrate? 

マラソン day!

Today was marathon day at our high school! It was supposed to be last week, but the weather was very poor and it was canceled. Today, the weather was also very poor, it rained and rained, but this was our last chance for the marathon so everyone went and did their best, despite the weather. 

Some students and teachers have asked me: Do they do things like this in America? The answer is no. Or... probably no. I don't know of any schools that do marathons like this, but there are many different kinds of high schools in America. Maybe there are some that run big races. 

When we are younger, it is very common to have a sort of "Sports Day" at our schools. (We call it Field Day.) In high school you may have a gym class each day, but some times you don't. For example, I went to an art high school. It was a little different, because our whole high school focused on art (drama, dance, painting, singing, music... etc.). To graduate I had to do a little sports at school, but it was just one class for one semester. That's just three months! My school was a little different though. Many American students have gym class and many different sports teams at their school. It depends on the kind of high school you go to.  

I am so impressed at how active Japanese high school students are! Yes, in America we do sports, but it usually isn't for hours every day at school. It also probably wouldn't be on the weekend. Not unless you had a game. The students here are so active! After school, there are so many students practicing different sports and they work so hard. I'm really impressed. I don't think many American students would be willing to put that much time and effort into their school activities. Not unless they were really really good and maybe training to be a professional athlete. 

I really respect how hard the students at Gotemba Minami work. Everyone trained for the marathon for many weeks and then almost everyone ran and finished the race. This is really cool.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, America celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving is about "giving thanks." Americans take a day to share a meal with their friends and family. Many people also collect food to give to charity or volunteer their time to help the poor. At Thanksgiving we try to stop and appreciate the world around us and say thank you to our friends and family for their help and support. 

But Thanksgiving isn't just a serious holiday.  It is also about eating a lot of really good food and spending time with your family and friends. Each year there is a huge Thanksgiving parade in New York City. Thanksgiving is also a big day for sports. There are many different (American) football games played that day. Many people will go to these event with their friends and family or watch them together on television. 

For many Americans, Thanksgiving is also a sign that autumn is ending and Christmas is coming. After today, Christmas is less than a month away. 

President Obama!

 Wow. This is a very exciting day in America. Whether you supported Obama or not, his win means so much in terms of American history. Obama's victory does not mean that America has solved or eliminated racism and prejudice-- it hasn't and we have a lot more work ahead of us-- but it does mean a major, symbolic barrier has been broken.  It is a very positive sign, to Americans of all ages and races.  

Election day 2008

Right now in America the clocks are about to hit midnight. That means election day in finally here. Each year in the United States the first Tuesday in November is the day that Americans go to vote. They vote for many different political positions (from Mayor to President) and ballot questions (to ask for new laws or governmental changes).

We vote for a President every four years and this year we'll be deciding on a new President. Will it be the Republican, John McCain? Or the Democrat, Barak Obama? There are some very big problems that the next President will have to deal with. The current financial crisis that is hurting so many countries and the war in Iraq are two of the biggest issues for most Americans. But there are still several other areas many Americans are concerned about, particularly jobs, the environment, and health care. 

The election this year has gotten very tense. There are some scary things happening in the world right now and everyone is very worried about choosing the right person to be President. No matter who is choosen, however, something exciting will happen in the White House. We will be electing either our first woman Vice-President or our first African American President. This gives us something celebrate, whichever candidate wins. 

If anyone out there has any questions about the election, please feel free to ask! I'm happy to try and answer. 

Happy Halloween!

To celebrate, I'm getting together with a bunch of other ALTs. We're going to wear costumes and do karaoke. That seems like a fun way to celebrate Halloween in Japan, doesn't it? 

I haven't decided what my costume will be though! I might dress as Mount Fuji. What do you think? Any ideas?

the history of Halloween

Halloween originally comes from Ireland. It is a very old holiday and it has changed a lot from the original version. Because it is so old, the history gets a little unclear. You may hear a few different versions of where Halloween comes from. This is most accurate version that I know.

Today’s Halloween has its roots in Ireland and the holiday of Samhain. Samhain is a very ancient traditional holiday that celebrates the end of the harvest season. The ancient Irish believed that the barrier between the living and the dead disappeared during this time of year. Because of this, it was considered a scary and dangerous time of year. People were afraid that the dead would come visit them and cause sickness or damage crops. To scare or confuse these evil spirits people burned bonfires. They also wore costumes and masks to make themselves look like spirits. At some point people also began going from house to house. They collected offerings (usually food) to be used to appease the spirits and protect both the people and the land. This is where the custom of trick or treating began. The people believed that doing these things would either scare evil spirits away, confuse them, or keep them from being angry. 

Many of today’s American Halloween traditions come from these ancient practices. The costumes which people once wore for protection have now become part of the fun. The jack o'lantern used to be made from turnips, rutabagas, and gourds to keep evil away. But in America, big orange pumpkins are now carved at Halloween. Instead of scaring away visitors, the jack o'lanterns encourage trick-or-treaters to visit and celebrate the holiday. 

a month of Halloween

In America we celebrate Halloween on October 31st. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. As a child, I loved thinking of costumes to wear and how I would make them. My mother is really creative and good and making things so she was always able to help me as well. 

Over the years I have dressed in many different costumes. Some of them were: 

• Little Bo'peep
• Little Red Riding Hood
• The Sugar Plum Fairy
• A Gypsy
• A Book Worm
• The Season of Autumn
• A Mailbox 
• A Princess

I also really enjoy carving pumpkins to make Jack o'lanterns. Each year we would go to the pumpkin patch to choose a pumpkin. There are hundreds to choose from but you look and look to find one with a shape that is right for you. Then you take it home and start to think about what you're going to carve. Will it be a scary face? A funny one? Will you do a picture instead of a face? 

Our pumpkins are usually pretty big so we use a big knife and huge spoon to carve the pumpkin. First you cut open the top (around the stem) and scoop out all the seeds inside. (Usually we save these and will eat them later.)  Next you start cutting the eyes, nose, face and other details. (It's a good idea to draw these in pencil first, just in case you make a mistake.) When you're finished, you put a candle inside, put the pumpkin outside your house and you have a jack o'lantern!

Why do we dress in costumes and carve pumpkins on Halloween? To answer that I have to explain a little more about Halloween. I'll do that in my next post. 

Happy October!

I can't believe it's already October. Time is going by so quickly! This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the whole fall season. The weather is cool and refreshing, but not too cold, and the leaves begin to change color. Autumn is also when we eat many of my favorite foods. I love pumpkin flavored things and I love Halloween. 

If I were in America right now, I would probably also be eating many apples. It is apple season at home right now. Many people will go to apple orchards to pick their own apples or they will buy them at the supermarket. American apples are a little smaller than the ones in Japan and we have many different kinds with slightly different flavors. 

Instead of eating lots of apples, in Japan I've been trying more food with chestnuts. We have chestnuts in the USA, but we just don't eat them that much. Here in Japan, I see chestnut flavors everywhere! I really like the taste, so I've been trying as many different kinds as I can. The flavor is something new to me, but it still reminds me of the fall season when I eat it. 

favorite things...

Last week in class we talked a bit about our favorite things. I told the students about me and some of the things I like, but then I asked them to tell me a little about what they enjoy. Many of the students mentioned things from America like the singer Gwen Stefani or the television show Full House. I find it really interesting to see which bits of American pop-culture are popular in Japan and which aren't.

For example, in my English club the students have all heard of Britney Spears, but they were not familiar with Justin Timberlake. Justin is another singer and he is incredibly popular in America (he also used to be Britney's boy-friend). Given this, I thought both of them might be known here in Japan. On the other hand, Hannah Montana and High School Musical both seem to be really popular with a lot of students. Just like they are in America! I wonder, are they on MTV here? (I think there is an MTV Japan, but I'm not sure. I just get the basic television channels here.) I have caught some "top of the charts" type shows on television and the American/English songs at the top seemed to include a lot of slower, pop and country ballad-type songs from the USA and elsewhere. I'm not sure if those types of songs are more popular overall or maybe just this week?

In America, we get some Japanese anime on television, but none of the regular television shows/dramas. Anime and manga are popular as well in America as well, but more with certain sub-groups. One group manga is particularly popular with is teenage girls. Girl's manga features a style of drawing and a type of story that just isn't found in most American comics. (Mainstream American comics traditionally feature story-lines that focus more on action and intrigue than emotion and relationship development.) As a result, Japanese manga publishers have found America to be a great market in which to sell their books.

I also wonder why certain types of pop-culture from one country succeed in another. Each kind seems to have its own particular reasons for connecting with an audience in a new country. I love to watch foreign movies and television or listen to music from other places because it gives me a little glimpse at what another culture enjoys listening to and talking about. As an American, I wonder, what do other places learn about me when my country's pop-culture makes it into theirs?

classes begin

This has been my first week of teaching here at Gotemba Minami High School. This lesson I taught about myself and where I'm from in America and talked about some of my favorite things. I also brought the students some of of my favorite food to taste: peanut butter and banana sandwiches. 

Have you ever heard of a peanut butter and banana sandwich? I taught at an English camp for Yoshiwara High School in August and the students there had never heard of them before. If you think it sounds really weird, that's okay! There are a some people in America who think that too. I love them though. So did Elvis, but he put all sorts of extra things on them. I prefer the simple version. Give it a try sometime! All you do is make a peanut butter sandwich, just like you were making peanut butter and jelly. Only, instead of jelly, you slice up some banana. 

If you try it, let me know what you think! Did you like it? Or do you think it tastes weird? (It's okay, I don't mind if you didn't like it.)

ようこそ日本！

みなさん、はじめまして！

My name is Katie and I am the new ALT at Gotemba Minami High School. I am from the United States in America. Before coming to  Japan I lived in Washington D.C. I have been in Washington D.C. for the past two years attending graduate school. I attended Georgetown University and studied communication. 

Living and teaching in Japan is a big adventure for me! I have never lived outside of the United States before. Actually, I have only left the country twice! Once, when I was younger I travelled to the United Kingdom. More recently, I traveled to Japan with my mother. In the summer of 2007 we were in Japan for ten days. I loved my time in Japan and I decided to try very hard to come back and work in Japan when I finished graduate school. It took some work, but here I am! 

I am very excited to be teaching English here. I hope I can help the students with their speaking skills and teach them more about America. I also hope that learning in my classes will be fun! 

For myself, I hope to learn as much as I can about Japan, to meet many people, and try many new things. I have just begun studying the language and my Japanese is still very poor. I hope that I will get better with practice. In the meantime, please be patient with me. 

Thank you for your time! どぞよろしくおねがいします