The weekend was great. In fact so was last week’s two day work week. Okay, alright, it was a little more than that. Last week’s two-day meant that I was up and out to go about to Sapporo for a business trip. Business trip? Well, you could call it that. It was instead our mid-year seminar for JET Programme participants.
This wasn’t just an excuse to out and spend loads of time shopping and lulling about. No. The two days of the latter half of last week were filled with listening to speakers, taking notes, and exchanging ideas with other ALTs here on JET, some not from JET; and chatting with our invaluable Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) without whom our work would be impossible, really.
I have to say that I am a sucker for wise fellows and/or learned people. One of our guest speakers was a professor from Sapporo University. I was nearly clawing at the walls, or at my handout feverishly taking notes; and simply gaping while we were delivered a speech on various histories revolving around Japan-America relations, presidents and their need for sound inter-Asia Japan advisors etc.
Now, I won’t ask for your excuse if you were at the conference and didn’t take to, but having already mentioned my like for learned lustre you won’t get an adverse babble out of me.
And so, I am amazed. Recently I have been whittling up a little word document making a fine list about what is pleasing and trying about my position. Without re-upping the list here a few things stand out to me about my work.
First, and then just a few, I love that I can go on business trips; dress in shirt and tie, take pride and interest in developing lessons, being creative in what and how I teach. I am glad that I can continue to read and study to better myself as a teacher. And above all I love being in the classroom seeing school and education from another walk of life. I almost feel like I am a fly on the wall, in no better regard, with the chance to see school life from kindergarten to high school in Japan. Would it make sense if I said its almost like I am living life anew? Forgetting that I am a teacher in the class and sometimes learning right along with the students. Maybe this is what is meant be reincarnation.. as I laugh out loud at myself.
Thanks for the patient reading. Let me get to some highlights.
In Sapporo at recent one can enjoy the Winter Illumination -photos to follow. An entire central strip of park along street spanning for city blocks along -city blocks where way down the way I was able to pick up a re-entry permit now allowing me to travel from and back to Japan- city blocks alight with Christmas lights like I have not seen with these eyes on my continent prior. You may boast that the House of Commons due Ottawa may look special with winter lights, but Sapporo has even a television tower that is kind of look-ish to the Eiffel Tower all bright up with Christmas colours.
With a nearby friend, I enjoyed the stroll through the icy park -it was like skating for free- trying to keep balance while lolling through the Munchen Christmas Town and staring at caribou hides and matroshka dolls.
Another bit of fun was the Hokkaido Association for JETs social event that took place after day one of the seminar. The DJ was jammin’ and at a flashy and fun hotel venue it was a great opportunity to slap one’s name down for an item at the art auction or to chat, dance, or eat your way to fun in a warm space on a cold Sapporo evening.
Beyond the two days of listening and speaking, I had the chance to do a bit of shopping and then to find my way to Sapporo University. The campus is huge and something inside of me was beating louder than my heart as I addressed the bust-statue of Dr. William S. Clark, wandered through the cafeteria, and snapped photos of cockish ravens bathing in the chilly waters of the campus grounds, and stared at the remarkable old university buildings just imagining I was a student there -or something like that.
When I go back next time, and yes, a next time there will be, I will buy myself a tiny mug to commemorate my wanderings there.
Let’s get to the break-down,
I found a great and reasonably priced sports store, picked up a snowboard that is temporarily binding-free, ate good chinese (don’t hate for not eating Japanese cuisine alone. They do other foods really well here. Almost too good…), wandered for hours around the station, caught up on life via the web in a stylish internet cafe, sang karaoke, watched some girls play guitar in a shopping arcade, watched a guy dance and sing while wearing feathers in the same arcade, bought a handsome city-scape palm-sized vignette, strolled around the city to breath the cold winter’s air with tall buildings around doing the same, almost fell a few good times on the slippery ice that coats the roads -but so almost did everyone else, and on, and on the list goes.
If you haven’t a good idea of what the trip was like I would advise you to stop here and start reading from the beginning again. Hah. But no need. For I am nearly done.
The last note that I will stake is about coffee. Having worked at a tremendously popular coffee chain twice in my part-time work career I even once asked during a training meeting at said coffee shop if it would at all be possible to get my hands on a burlap coffee sack from the wicked countries where they grow the fruit-ish beans we consume as coffee. I did two better this weekend.
Not only did I find a coffee shop and a hidden stairwell leading to a network of who knows what under some bit of Sapporo station, I also found a coffee roastery selling burlap sacks -from the wicked countries that grow the fruit-ish beans known as coffee. Oh, and the coffee was the best I’ve had in Japan to date. My heart melted. And with a melted heart I rode a busy bus back home to my country town nearby roaring ocean.
I don’t know why our ocean here is so roar-ish all the time but I am sure it has good reason to be upset at something.. but what?
Right. The entry of a nonsense remark like that one bades the end of today’s post.
I had scribbled notes on vocabulary sheets about school that I wanted to share with you today. But if we’re all lucky I can get around to those this week. If the end-of-year workplace party/celebrations don’t get to me first.
There is just too much to share.
Well I hope that you are finding happiness and warmth wherever you are dwelling in wait of Christmas. If you don’t like this special holiday, you should -or maybe you have your reasons not to. But whatever the case my hope is that you find some-thing to delight you this holiday time. Be it egg nog or some hot wine with spiced berries.
Have you a great week and should you feel the need to connect, let’s chat again soon. Farewell to foolish days, for their delights were best had though now no more.
ciao
The Traveller's Typewriter 