September 2

Today was my first day at Nayoro Koryo High School. It's about a 1 hour 30 minute train ride north of Asahikawa. The scenery in Nayoro was fantastic, especially the mountains in the background. I had three different classes with three different teachers. They all went well, though. Nayoro Koryo high school is actually a merger of two other Nayoro schools, so the students there have a wide variety of skill levels when it comes to English. It was a lot of fun though, I think I just might get a hang of this whole teaching thing. haha

September 3

Higashikawa again today. While I was there, I was reading some of the textbooks and saw a note in one about how English is the "Global Language." HA-I keep thinking about the numerous times this has come up in discussions with other JETs. Usually no one leaves happy from those conversations, but they do make for good arguments.

September 4

Before I came to Asahikawa, I was able to get in contact with the person whom I was replacing. My predecessor (who shall remain nameless since I do not want to be associated with him) said he was going to sell me various articles in the apartment for about 30,000 Yen (about $280 US). They included a kitchen table, a low table, a TV, a sofa, a computer desk, a rice cooker, and various other odds and ends. Well, when I got to the apartment, the TV and computer desk were missing, as well as the rice cooker and any other odd or end that could have been of use.      A few days later at the office, it was explained to Julianna and myself that my predecessor had decided to skip town two weeks before his contract was up, leaving all his bills and apparantly one heck of a messy apartment. So, when they came to check out the apartment before I moved in, they said it was filthy. They had to throw away the rice cooker because he had left rice in it and it had rusted out. They also took the computer desk and TV, just in case he was found so that they could return it. In the meantime, I had emailed him and asked where the stuff was. He said that he didn't know, but that I did not need to pay him for any of it. I believe the reason why I didn't have to pay him was because in order to pay him I would give the money to the office to send to him. However, he has cut off all communications with the office and will not answer their phone calls or emails. Anyway, the office agreed to give me the TV and computer desk, so they delivered that stuff tonight.      Yeesh, it's people like that who give foreigners a bad name in Japan!

September 7

The lifeblood is BACK! Today I got my dial-up Internet access hooked up. What a relief and convenience it is to be able to check my email and update this page from my apartment, instead of going all the way to the manga store in Nagayama.

September 10 - 11

The district that my office covers is fairly long in the North/South direction. As such, there are a few schools which require an overnight visit if we are to be of any use to the school. Julianna visits one in Shimokawa. My farthest school (the farthest north high school in the district, I believe) is Nakagawa Commercial High School. It's about a 2 hour and 10 minute express train ride north of Asahikawa (I use slower local trains for all my other schools). Then, the office has me spend the night in Nakagawa, then teach and return home the next day.
Now, the office will pay for me to spend the night at an inn. Julianna stays at an onsen (hot springs) when she visits Shimokawa. However, one of the English teachers there, Arae-sensei, is very keen on having me spend the night with him and his family. At first I was hesitant, because I didn't want to be a bother. However, I thought it would be kinda cool to spend the night in a Japanese house. So, I accepted.
When I got to Nakagawa, I was greeted by two of the school's teachers (not English teachers) who drove me to the school. When I got there, Emma, the ALT from Nakagawa, was there to greet me. It was a great surprise. I hadn't seen Emma since Sapporo, and I didn't even know she was in that town. That evening the teachers, Emma, and I went out to dinner, then we went back to his house and I settled in for the night.
This is the room that I slept in	It was the little girl's room, she spent the night in her brother's room (sorry)
A nice fluffy futon...
The next morning, Arae-sensei's wife (I forgot her name) made us all breakfast. She also made me lunch for school that day. I have to say, it was a great experience! I can't wait until next time!

September 20 - 22

This weekend, Tammy, John, and myself made the trip out to Tanno-cho (Tanno town) in the eastern part of Hokkaido to pay a visit to Travis and his lovely little hamlet. Tanno is considered a "sun-town" since it received more sunlight than most of the rest of Hokkaido. It's also a big onion-farming community, made apparant by the vast onion fields and the occasional onion peel on the sidewalks. It's actually a very cute town, and it was fun to get out of the city for the weekend.
The mascot of Tanno-cho is "nonta-kun" (no-n-ta is ta-n-no spelled backwards in the Japanese syllabury). He's a round yellow seed with a big hat and a green smile. Here's a few pictures of my friends mugging with him:
Travis and his town mascot	Tammy and some adorable kids
I'm not quite sure what John is doing to Nonta-kun...	Nonta-kun's backside
That weekend, Tanno was having a 5K marathon run followed by a curry and rice eating contest. (That's Japan for you) Travis and John both competed in the run, while Tammy and I decided we enjoyed being able to move around without pain instead. After the run, the curry contest commenced. The winner was a high school student who ate eleven (I think) bowls of curry and rice. UGH! I had two and felt like I was going to throw up! In addition to the running and eating, there was also a costume contest ensuing. Nothing like a bunch of people stuffing their faces full of spicy curry after having just run 5K in the sun while wearing ridiculous costumes!
A group stretch before the race	They are ready to go!
This costume won the contest	I don't think I'm OK with men in red tights...
Watching the festivities	An adorable little kid
Too...much...curry...	At a nearby fountain
That night was bowling...	...and 4 hours of karaoke
John is too pooped to go on
Many of the Hokkaido JETs (especially those in small towns) live in houses rather than apartments. Travis's house was huge. Whereas I have way too much stuff for my little apartment, Travis has way too much apartment for not enough stuff.
On Sunday, we took a trip to Abashiri, where there is an ice flow museum and an old prison museum (as well as a new working prison). We payed a visit to the ice flow museum which was pretty neat (as neat as ice can be). There was one room in the building which was kept at like -15 degrees Celsius, where they house some of the ice that has flowed into the area. They give you a wet towel when you walk in. While you're in there, you're supposed to twirl the towel around and it will freeze while you twirl it. The view from the top of the museum was pretty good, too. After that we went out for Indian food, then we all took the long train ride home.
Ahoy, matey!	After this, Tammy's hand froze to the ice (just kidding)
The view from the top	The prison
More vieiwing	The prison mascot

September 30

I was scheduled to visit Asahikawa Commercial High School today. As luck would have it, today was the day that the students of that school were going to one fo the city hall buildings to watch a musical performance for half the day. Therefore, I ended up teaching one class then got to go to the performance. The performance ended up being some kind of musical play, and I couldn't make heads or tails of it (I suppose the fact it was in Japanese could have had something to do with it). Afterwards, Tadano-sensei asked me if I liked it. I told him I did, but that I didn't understand a lot of it. He told me not to worry. He said that he is Japanese, and he didn't get it either.