Jeremy in Japan

Hello All! It has been awhile since I have updated the blog. I have been working hard all summer, but have also been having a great time here in Oita City. During the month of August the students had summer vacation, but the Japanese teachers were still required to work Monday through Friday. Teachers at some schools were able to take several days of vacation. I over heard from some other teachers, however, that they were not able to take any vacation days for the entire summer!

The Oita City Board of Education employed twelve ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) before the start of the summer. Four of those teachers went back to their home countries at the end of July, so the Oita City BOE hired 4 ALTs to replace them and 2 additional ALTs. They arrived during the first past of August. Two of the ALTs are from Australia, two are from England, and two are from Canada. Meeting not only Japanese people, but also other teachers from around the world is one of the great things about teaching here in Japan on the JET program.

During the month of August, we made visits to the 50-60 elementary schools at which the 16 of us are assigned to teach. During the visits we discussed with the teachers how to improve English education. Even though we didn't teach during that month, we were still extremely busy.

I still managed to enjoy the summer despite the heavy work load. When I arrived back in March, my predecessor left me a free bike. It lasted almost 6 months which was great because it was free and I road it extremely hard. So last month I bought a new bike. Another English teacher, Yogi, and I took a hour and a half ride to the beach one weekend. Towards the end of August, my friend Adam, a Japanese elementary school teacher named Nino-sensei and I hiked Mt. Tsuwado. The following pictures are from that hike.

Adam and I met Nino-sensei at 7 AM one Saturaday morning in August. We made a quick stop by the konbini (Japanese 24 hour convenient store), bought breakfast and lunch and then headed on our way. The konbinis here sell onigiri (rice balls) that many people eat for breakfast. Most of them are in a triangular shape. There are a variety of fillings within the rice: tuna, shrimp and mayo, chicken and mayo, fish eggs, etc, from which one can choose. I bought a shrimp and mayo onigiri, a large chicken ramon bowl for lunch and a couple Snickers bars.

Next, we packed in the Nino-sensei's car and started the hour and half drive to Mt. Tsuwado. It is not often that I ride in a car in Japan. Every work day I ride my bike, take the bus, or the train. So, its seldom that I see the outskirts of Oita City from the highway.

Oita City is considered to be rural with a population of around 430,000. Which seems strange to me considering it is the most populous city I have ever lived besides maybe Fairfax, VA. On this trip outside of the city I felt as though I was in rural Japan for the first time. It was awesome! Anyway we arrived at the base of the Mt. Tsuwado and parked the car. Nino-sensei pointed out Tsuwado's peak which you can see on the left side of the crest in picture below. Mt. Tsuwado's peak is not very high, but as Adam and I were soon to find out the climb was extremely difficult. Many of the sections required intense rock climbing. At some points there were chains bolted into the side of the mountain to assist climbers! The after world awaited with one bad slip.

After a short distance through farming land and small Japanese homes, we reached the trail head.

Mt. Tsuwado was a very challenging climb with great views, but the 88 Ojijo-san (Buddhist Monk) statues were what made this my favorite place in Japan to date. This mountain used to be home to many Buddhist Monks and according to Nino-sensei, if you have a wish and pray to all 88 Ojijo-san statues your wish will come true. We didn't have time to do so on the day we were there, but I would have prayed for world peace and for the Georgia Bulldawgs Football team to win the national championship. Go Dawgs!

See if you can spot the Ojijo-san statue in the picture below.

The trail wound in and out of wooden areas and alongside mountain streams. Some areas of the trail followed atop skinny and rocky clearings. At one point we came across this rebuilt temple seen in the picture below. Inside the temple, there was a small altar and candles.

The peak of Mt. Tsurumi Dake, the other mountain Adam and I climbed can be seen in distance in the picture below. I can't recall which peak.

At the peak, we ate lunch and did our man-conquering-earth strength poses.

It was really kind of Nino-sensei to take Adam and I on this hike, especially since he and his wife had a child the middle of June.

During the descent I took the following pictures.

We took a different trail down the mountain and came across this giant Ojijo-san statue. I can't remember exactly when it was craved, but I'm thinking it was about 100 years old.