Kyoto

First published: 30 Oct 2011

(Above) At the base of Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine, Kyoto (with Rainer Wessels).

(Below) Standing by the beautiful Golden Pavillion, Kyoto.

On September 16th 2011, I headed down to Kyoto for a long weekend.

Travelling with a group of friends, this was our first "big" trip since arriving in Japan, and we'd planned it for weeks in advance. Our team consisted of friends from all over Japan, having met at the JET Tokyo Orientation. We'd initially intended a very big group to come, but sadly so many had to drop out due to various work commitments and so on. However, we still managed to get together our group of eight people, and so we headed on down.

 We're in Kyoto!

Kyoto is famous in Japan for being one of the places to experience true Japanese heritage. Many consider Kyoto a sort of "spirtual capital" - a place where the essence of historical Japan has been preserved and where one can really go to experience the fascinating culture at the heart of this country. Of course, as newcomers to Japan, this was naturally a place we gravitated to - in our quest to truly get a sense of Japan at it's core.

 The controversial Kyoto tower;

a symbol of modernism in an otherwise historical city.

During our time in Kyoto, we managed to fit in some fantastic visits to amazing places rich in cultural history. On Saturday, our team made our visit to the famous Kinkaku-ji temple: the  Golden Pavillion. This beautiful 14th century Buddhist temple is exactly what it says without any pretension; it's golden (well, gold leaf anyway!). The current temple is actually a sort of reconstruction / restoration, as the temple burned down in 1950. Sitting in the middle of a beautiful garden in a large lake, it's a staggeringly beautiful sight to behold, and truly has to be seen to be believed.

 

The Golden Pavillion in Kyoto. Very, very pretty indeed.

Sunday's highlights included a trip to the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine - a fantastic walk up the beautiful mountain Inari filled with toori gates and long, winding paths on the way to summit. The Inari shrine is worshipped as a Shinto shrine for prosperity of business and wealth, and is the head shrine of Inari Okami - the kami (spirit/god) of these attributes. Amazingly, this shrine was established in the 8th century (!), and is still revered and worshipped today.

  

 'Cleansing' my hands before the journey to the summit.

I cannot describe the sheer beauty of walking through the lovely red toori gates. The path to the shrine contains the most staggering display of these archways that I've ever seen, all winding up in various paths through the mountain.

 

  

 The Toori Gates.

 

Rainer enjoys the scenery.

These toori represent a transition into the sacred - a gateway into a spiritual place. These, couple with the gorgeous scenery on display, makes walking up this mountain to the srhine a serene and beautiful experience. The walk is also juxtaposed with with beautiful small displays along the way - including places to stop and take 'wishes' on white paper, for example.

One of my favourite shots that I took on this trip!

Taylor Moyer takes a shot at Fushimi Inari Shrine.

 Taylor's recreation of the same shot.

This staggering display was definitely one of the highlights of our trips. I've had to show real restraint in uploading the photographs that I have - there were so many amazing things on this walk which I photographed, but to upload them all would make this blog post last for a very long time indeed! The historical nature of this shrine makes it a pilgrimage well worth doing for anyone interested in Shnto and historical Kyoto.

Of course, to my mind, it's wrong to think of Kyoto in purely historical terms.

  

Chilling with Pikachu!

He was kind enough to share some of his hats!

From the spectacularly large underground shopping mall that hides beneath the train station to the giant Pokemon walking around and greeting children, there's certainly a lot more to this city than it's past. While it's true that it's rich with cultural and historical heritage, from my experience it's also a vibrant city full of the energy and modernity of contemporary Japan, too.

To my mind; if it's got McDonalds, then it's modern!

On the Monday morning, of course, we had to head on home to our own seperate prefectures. Not before - of course - Taylor and I managed to fit in a small trip to the Kyoto Manga Museuem! A really fascinating place to learn all about the history of Japan's internationally famous art style and unique comic books. Needless to say, I took the opportunity to get myself sketched in manga style...

The likeness is uncanny!

I'm totally framing that on my wall.

Our time in Kyoto ran out all too quickly. We left Kyoto much in the same way we left Tokyo - happy and fascinated, but yearning to see so much more. There were so many things to do that we simply couldn't get done in the time we had.

Needless to say, a return visit is definitely on the agenda.

Teaching in Japan: First Impressions

First published: 21 Oct 2011

So, yeah... I'm an English teacher now.

In Japan.

 

Meet Gavin-sensei!

Wow.

Funny how that worked out. I always knew I wanted to live and work in Japan at some stage in my life; during my high school years, I fantasised about having my own dojo and learning bushido. Never did I think that it would ever become the reality (admittedly, I'm still working on getting the dojo - and I'm not doing too well on the samurai front, either!).

A view from the windows of Shimokasai Junior High School ("chugakkou").

It's a joy to be able to work in such a beautiful location.

However, a teacher? Well... that wasn't something I expected. I'd toyed with the idea; after all, I'm an English graduate. What exactly do you do with that degree? (Note: I don't believe there is a right answer to that question!) It certainly was something I'd considered at a young age - teaching English in Japan - but never did I think the opportunities would be readily available, or that if I did actually do it, I could actually enjoy it. So the idea was placed on the backburner while I dreamed of life in the movies and Hollywood.

(That one might take a while, though!)

Flash forward only a few years later, and here I am.

And man... I love this job.

Teaching in elementary schools (known as "shogakkou").
My introductory lessons included explanations of Nessie and haggis!

During my working week, I visit one of six schools that I'm assigned to within my local area. For me, that includes two junior high schools and four elementary schools - all of which have a unique character and warm and friendly staff. I'm based at Katsuga "chugakkou" (Junior High School) - the biggest school in my area and only a brief cycle from my house!

As a native English speaker, I'm obviously attuned to pronunciation and grammar and can help the students from my own experience - though of course, I'm a Scotsman! Our pronunciation isn't always the easiest to understand, so I find I have to rein my accent in and speak rather slowly a lot of the time...

I perform various cultural lessons with an aim to acting as a sort of "cultural ambassador"; with an aim to introducing children to foreign cultures (with a focus on Scotland for myself) at an early age. Other duties involve evaluating students in speaking tests, coaching individual students for the regional speech contests, and of course - my primary, everday task! - designing and conducting English lessons for the students.

And it's a lot of fun!

A (semi-)organised looking blackboard (for a change!).
Typically, I find writing with chalk incredibly difficult.

Outside of class, I spend a lot of time interacting and socialising with the students. I eat lunch with the students every day (rather than the other teaching staff), to engage with them in conversational English. During free time, I try to talk to the students and at elementary school often find myself playing games with the students in the school yards!

Additionally, I'm a member of different sports clubs at different schools; at Katsuga, I'm a member of the tennis club, while at Shimokasai I play basketball with the kids after school. It's a lot of fun! Since starting this, I've noticed fantastic progress in my relationship with the students. Taking part in these clubs outside of class has given us a solid bond from which to build upon in the classroom.

My desk at Shimokasai Junior High School.

Marking my home-made worksheets.
Using a red pen to do this is strangely satisfying.

One thing to note is that Japanese schools are extremely different to schools in the UK. There are a LOT of fundamental differences that I didn't (and couldn't anticipate). While not extensive; here's a brief list of the things I've had to get to grips with;

1. Students bow at the start and end of every class.
2. Students usually stay in the same classroom all day - the teachers are the ones who move around!
3. No vending machines!
4. Students all eat lunch (kyushoku) in their home classrooms. They all eat the same set meal, and they serve it to one another in turns. There's no running off to the corner shop here!
5. There's no janitors! At least, not regularly. After lunch, students and teachers take part in a short "cleaning time" where they work as a team to clean the school - everyday. I always get stuck in!
6. Pretty much every single student is part of a sports team. And they play every single day. This is especially intensive for the martial arts clubs, who often train later than the other students (and on weekends)!I've never made it through a full week yet!
7. Of course, you always have to change you shoes when you go indoors - but that's very common in Japan!

As you can see, a lot of changes to what I'm used to. Yet every one of these school's is a pleasant environment, all of them with their own unique character and personality.

One of the class flags made by students.

It's not always perfect, of course! Some days are challenging and there's always problem students that you have to deal with. Occasionally a lesson can go completely wrong and you utterly confuse the kids, or else the language barrier can occasionally be frustrating - I'm often restricted to only speaking with the other English teachers! Yet I try my best to speak Japanese to the fellow teachers, and a friendly smile and bow always works wonders. I like to think I have good relationships and friendships at all my schools, and I'm very happy for that to be the case.

Outside of teaching assisting back at Balwearie High School (where I helped first year drama classes), I've never worked as a teacher before and it's all very new to me. It's a learning curve, but an enjoyable one.

I'm one of the lucky people who can say right now that they love their job - and that means more to me than anything.

(And of course, the uniforms are a lot cooler than what we've got in the UK.)