Mornings in Morioka: Too Much!

I have some time to kill before another Skype date with my parents, so let’s just get right down to it!

You turn your back and all of a sudden, boom! Spring!

This past Saturday was another training day in the good old city of Morioka. The weather, shall we say, suited the occasion. I mean, if the weather had been as beautiful yesterday as it was today, I think we all would have been seriously depressed. At least it was cold and wet, so being outside wasn’t much of a trade. At least the Iwate NS’s are a cheerful bunch: tends to make for a raucous good, if trending towards inappropriate time. 

For this training day, lesson plans were prepared by the teachers. Augh. That sentence sucks. Frickin’ passive voice…ah, but that was the basis of the lesson. Everyone had to prepare an original 35 minute demo based on the passive voice. And as guilty as I used to be of using passive tense in, oh, everything I wrote (my first college paper received an abysmal grade because of what I called “my writing style”), it’s a pain to teach. It’s really not a simple concept, especially when you’re teaching students learning English as a second language. Imagine trying to learn Pig Latin…in Ancient Greek. But that’s my opinion. Nevertheless, I rolled in there, delivered my lesson and believe it or not, I actually walked out feeling pretty good about the whole thing! I know! I had confidence…after the fact, but still. 

Green! Finally! Morioka Castle Ruins looking nice

If the lesson went as well as I think it did, I won’t be back for supplemental training this coming Saturday. Instead, a couple of schools my schools are having their Sports Days or I might take a little road trip. Adventures await! Fingers crossed!

Today was, as I mentioned, absolutely gorgeous! Proper May-type weather: clear sky, warm, light breeze to stir the remaining cherry blossoms from the trees. I finally got around to seeing the Morioka Castle Ruins.

I love arched bridges!

 It was a good day for a little hiking,…even if my feet are screaming bloody freaking murder at me for not packing a spare set of shoes aside from my work heels!

 

 

 

 

Morioka is a little farther north than Kitakami, so remarkably, some sakura are still at their peak! Holding on til their last breath...

 

 

 No regrets: I tracked my whiney feet into a second hand shop. 

Oh yeah. By the way.

 

BURBERRY: $34

VANILLA CONFUSION: $10

 

Second-hand shops in Japan are no joke!

Two things in Japan are going to by my kryptonite: the food and the fashion. Who would have imagined that the Japanese would be such fabulous patissiers? 

Of course everyone knows Japan is huge on fashion, especially if we’re talking about Ginza, Roppongi or Harajuku. But even here in Kitakami or in Morioka folks be stylin’! Fear not: I will revisit these topics again when I have bankrupt myself and gained 90 kilos and need a reality check.

Dirty birdie

Today is also Mother’s Day in Japan. Everywhere you turn are “Thank’s Mama” signs (yes, apostrophe and all), red and pink carnations in pretty cellophane wrappers and special desserts for mothers. Morioka was simply crawling with women wearing kimono! I have yet to master the discreet creeper photo op, so I don’t have evidence. Any mention of “pics or it didn’t happen” and I will make you take the long walk off a short plank, or as my friend Tom would say, “Stab you in the face.” 

So take my word for it: they were everywhere, and they were lovely! I mean it wasn’t the whole formal get-up, but they had the obi, kimono coats, tabi socks and geta…really it was quite a sight to sit on the train coming home and be looking across as eight little obaasans in varying shades of pastel kimono: nodding their heads with sleep but otherwise perfectly composed little dolls. 

So here I sit: I have two classes tomorrow, one of which is learning basic introduction dialog:

“Hi! My name is ______.”

“Oh! You are _______. I’m ________. Nice to meet you.”

Yeah. I have a class of five kids for this lesson, so guess what we’re doing? Arts and crafts! I’ll have them drill the dialog, then design their own meishi (business cards) with markers and cards I bought at the daiso (100 yen store). Yep, I’m a pretty awesome teacher. Here kids, have some markers and paper and go to town for the next 50 minutes! Hey, if I give them a sticker at the end and they can fill in the blanks appropriately themselves, I feel like I’ve done my job.

Because it was there