||\ JOEL IN JAPAN /||

ju gatsu

so you get all of october in one day. as most of you know, i havent had internet for a month, and its been rough. i realize now how much i rely on the internet especially in japan. its probably been one of the biggest pains of living on my own, not being able to easily look up things and always feeling disconnected from people back home.. its been hard. but anyway here are some pictures of october, its too hard to get it all and ive definetly already forgot some funny situations. so much happens and there has been very little chance for tell anyone, anyway that i think i end up forgetting a lot. but heres what i didnt forget.

[i paid for my move in fee in cash, i have never no probably ever will again see so much money. note ¥10000 is about $100. ]

[ this is after i first moved in, i used a box as a table for about 3 weeks. ]

[ the mess when i first moved in ]





[ view from my balcony, striaght down ]


[ the view from my balcony, looking to the right. ]

[ looking directly center, straight across my balcony. ]
[ looking left. ]

[ dinners on a box. ]

section 2

japanese schools
well i am definitely developing an opinion of japanese middle school. the government's decision about ten years ago to relax the strictness of the school system has resulted in some strange things. the students still wear uniforms, clean the rooms, and serve lunch (which is very good) but despite that it's becoming in some ways a delinquent breeding ground. the japanese teachers are not equipped (nor is japanese society) for allowing students this much freedom. the japanese teachers do not punish because there is no punishment they are able to give. so the students (some) realize they can get away with anything. moreover they do not flunk students, so there is no motivation (for some) for them to try. all that exists is a confused super relaxed / super strict system.
all of that is, at least in part, due to the japanese, misunderstood copying of the american ways. they are always trying to conform to american style or ways of doing things, sometime this results in something good (a hybrid that takes the best of both worlds), but other times its not so good. and it may well be the downfall of japanese middle school and perhaps japanese society (extreme? maybe) they take one confused portion of american ways and interject them into a very non-american lifestyle, thought, approach, etc. its like jamming one of those off brand legos into a lego block, it doesnt fit unless you smash it in.

[ this is nishi chugakko. ]

[ these palm trees are in abundance here. this is near owariasahi train station. owariasahi is the town i teach in. ]




[ this is on the way to my friday school, nishi chugakko. ]

a disturbing occurrence

"all about lily chou chou" (for those of you that've seen it) is not so far off. friday i experience what i consider to be the result many things but at least in part due to the decision to change the school system, to be more "american-like".
i really dont know exactly what happened but i was in front of the class and the teacher was in the back talking to one of the students, the student a very large boy got increasingly mad and eventually got up in the teachers face, before i knew it and before i could do anything the student shoved the teacher (a small lady) so hard that she promptly fell over. i ran to back of the room and held the student at bay but he was finished, he then ran out of class.
as bad as that whole thing was, the REALLY frustrating part was how it was handled. the shook up teacher left the class room and i was left wondering what to do, she eventually told some of the other teachers while the angry student was free to roam the halls. it was lunch time and the teachers stay in the classrooms with the students for lunch so she had to go back to the classroom. he wasnt taken out of class and put in some kind of detention there was no scolding im aware of.. all that happened is the parents were called and they had a "meeting" after school with the teacher, the student, and the parents. that's it, no detention, no suspension, no penalty of any kind. there didnt even seem to be any kind of reprimand, leaving a feeling that the student is really in charge of the school.

this is exactly what im talking about, japanese dont confront and in the old system their was no need, the system didnt allow anything to happen in the first place but now its up to the individual teacher to bear the responsibly. this could be due to the whole idea of emulating american style school in the first place.

interestingly the principle, at one school, seems quite mislead about the state of japanese schools in comparison with american schools. telling me how japanese schools "the teachers speaks, the students listen." "he says 'stand' and they stand" but when in fact the teachers here have arguably less control of the class than in the u.s.

[ this is the bike im borrowing from tomoko... notice the chevy decor.... the irony never ceases. ]

[ this is ozone, oh-zo-neh, were i bought most of my apartment stuff and where i sometime grocery shop]

[ this is bread, it was super yummy. the center was jigaimo an, potato and azuki. i have to go back and try the carrot and azuki one. note azuki is a sweet bean. ]

[ when i was at the apple store, checking my email, i heard this "band" playing.. i liked them so much i stayed til the end of their performance. tomoko and i then approached the area they were playing and began to talk to one of the two guys. check out their site

section 3

all of the images from here to the next section are within 10 - 15 minutes of my apartment by bike. its hard to convay just how much is within such a small area. for those michigan-dwellers reading this, the distance from 15 mile road to 696 is about the same amount of distance that contains a huge temple, dozens of covered shopping streets, a castle, a park, a river, a tower overlooking the city, numerous tall buildings, dozens of subway and train stations, dozens of multi-story departments stores, hundreds of restaurants and cafes, and that just what i know about right now.


[ this was at the the nagoya fall matsuri, festival; tomoko is in the foreground. ]

[ this the park and area surrounding nagoya castle. its about 10 - 15 by bike, i like to come here whenever i can because its so peaceful. ]

[ this is me and the teachers from nishi chugakko. We went out to eat to this very mysterious japanese style resturant called ohobonji, the food was amazing and the atmosphere was very cool. of course it also cost ¥4000 per person, partially due to the drinks everyone ordered.... ]

[ i pass throught this area everyday on my way to the train station. ]

[ this is osu kannon, an old temple and a covered roads shopping area. a seemingly strange combination but actually quite common all over japan. this is about 10 minutes from my apartment by bike. ]

section 4

[ one of the most enchanting things about japan is the little surprises jammed in corners and allies everywhere you go. this type of old shrine, or sometimes house or temple, sandwhiched between two new high-rise buildings is a common sight. ]


[ "joel living alone in sadness" party part 2. the first one had a bigger turn out... ]

[ notice the price of these nashi, japanese pears, its about $6 for two. ]





[ more recent images of my apartment. but ive since rearranged things, im now back to sleeping on the futon. sleeping on the folding sofa was too much on my back. ]






[ this was my day before the halloween party in osu kannon. the food above is, the very popular tako-yaki, pronounced tah-co-yah-key. a kind of not sweet, round pancake. i went osu kannon to look for a costume. i eventually found a "samue" traditional japanese worker/commoner clothing, pronounced sa-moo-eh. it can be seen below, the dark green outfit.

halloween party

[ nori san, the guy i met at the apple store. hes the one who invited me to the party. ]

[ i dont really know anyone in this picture, except kiwako on the left side of the pic. ]