John Stupart.com

Living out in the middle of nowhere deprives one of many things I had previously taken for granted, as well as several things I’d hoped to partake of while in Japan. And to be certain living out here has repaid this deficit tenfold in other areas which I would never have dreamed of, there are still certain things I wish I could have done.

First and foremost is a Japanese martial art, particularly Kyudo, Japanese archery. It always intrigued me and it certainly looked like good fun, but obviously finding even half-English instruction this far out is impossible. Indeed, the sport isn’t even that popular way out here. Kendo is the main thing being taught in my village, and it certainly looks cool what with the armour and bamboo swords and whatnot, but that equipment is expensive, and I’m pretty sure the 1st graders here could kick my ass if I were to even begin learning!

Kyudo, in case you were wondering.

Secondly is Ice Hockey. In Sapporo I know there is a league and active players, and I think even in Asahikawa such a community exists. I’ve played normal field hockey for most of my life, and ice hockey is something I’ve wanted to try for years. It strikes me as the perfect balance between violence and skill, and it’s pretty damned fast to boot. Alas the nearest ice rink is in Nayoro, 2 hours’ drive away, so that’s out as well seeing as I’d probably have to learn to skate before I could play hockey…

… thirdly is Japanese language classes. With virtually every damned JET person in Hokkaido speaking near-fluent Japanese and possessing an impressive command of Kanji and Hiragana, I feel woefully unequipped in my language capability. I’ve certainly learned plenty of Japanese on the job and through simply listening and conversing with the locals, but it would have been great to have been able to attend some proper lessons conducted with English, so that I might understand just why I should append the mo instead of the wa at the end of my subject noun, and so on. Nonetheless, I’m not staying here much longer, so I’m not too fazed about it anymore. I can more or less converse in horrid 3 year old Japanese and it’s enough to get by on, so that’s ok!

Fourth is the access to shops. Even in Wakkanai finding decent non-Japanese food, English books, computer hardware and other assorted things is nigh impossible. I certainly miss having a grocery store at the end of the road. With the local convenience store being the largest thing we have here for food, it’s a bit inadequate! I can go to Hamatonbetsu to get my groceries, but it’s just the more complicated foodstuff and miscellany which I wish I could get. In Sapporo it’s all terribly easy, albeit frighteningly expensive, so perhaps I shouldn’t gripe too much as I can save a considerable amount of money by NOT buying all that stuff at these horrid prices!

And although I regret not being able to do these things, I’m very grateful for where I’ve been put. Out here in the wild, with a car and the freedom to go wherever I want, whenever, I’ve been able to see parts of Hokkaido that I don’t think any city ALT’s would ever see in their first year (and perhaps beyond if they never get a car). The cities are great to visit, but I think I would be missing out on a LOT of really beautiful countryside, weekly snowboarding trips and visiting other towns if I wasn’t placed in a position where a nice comfy public transport system existed. I may not have experienced nearly the traditional Japanese lifestyle I was expecting, but in exchange I have been able to explore Hokkaido and see it on my terms, which is ultimately, I think, pretty damned awesome!

Every April sees the ‘shuffle’ of staff throughout Japan. Old teachers wanting a transfer for whatever reason can put in an application and, by April, move out to new posts with no seriously career-ending consequences. It’s a way, I think, to prevent conflict within the office place, as the staff generally don’t fight or engage in passive aggressive chicanery, so anyone dissatisfied with their current job situation can get an annual chance to move out if they so wish. It’s also, I have been told, a way to prevent unionisation of the workers, which is probably more plausible than the government caring about worker happiness. I wonder if it’d catch on elsewhere… 1st of April, or April fool’s day to the rest of the world, is a day when everyone working for the municipality gets their new contract, signed by the Mayor’s incredibly huge personal ‘hanko’ or seal/stamp. I have one too, but it’s tiny and insignificant when compared to such stationery prowess as the village mayor. Anyways, I got a new shiny contract (ending in July 29th, much against protocol I’m sure), along with the rest of the office drones, and it’s now sitting somewhere in the bowels of my desk. I should probably find it as proof of my first salaried occupation since leaving university…

Back on track, this week saw some 21 new teachers entering Sarufutsu, of whom I have met but a few. At the Junior High we have borne witness to the first proper art teacher at the school, which is cool, and a replacement science teacher. I quite liked the old guy, Shin-sensei, as he could speak pretty good English for Sarufutsu and was quite active academically in writing and researching Chinese air pollution patterns across into Hokkaido. The new science teacher, however, also seems to speak decent English, so that’s OK. I must ask him sometime if he too is writing journal articles for environmental science journals.

On a good note, it seems my fax issued to the elementary schools has borne results, as I now am happily scheduled to teach in them until July, which is great. It also means I have to learn all the new teacher’s names. I had barely just gotten my head around the old lot, some of whom I STILL cannot remember. It should make for an interesting last few months in Japan!

Still no new pictures, unfortunately, as the camera place in Sapporo sent me the wrong charger for my battery, leaving me with no option but to resort to Amazon.com to get the right one. SIGH! I had hoped to get some pictures of Nayoro and so on, but alas this was not to be. Perhaps the next time I head there I’ll have a camera with a charged battery!

Having to delve ever deeper into the bowels of Hokkaido in search of boardable snow, last weekend saw me driving back to Nayoro and Piyashiri Ski Resort for what is almost certainly the last time I shall be snowboarding for the foreseeable future. On the plus side, I drove a different route this time, coming inland from Hamatonbetsu instead of heading South from Wakkanai, and it ended up being a much faster trip, with me making it there in just over 2 hours.

The snowboarding was, to be honest, less than awesome, as the powder is by now long-gone, with only the icy surface of the slope remaining, which in turn transformed into slush by midday. This meant that falling hurt. A lot. Also the table, rails and generally FUN trick things on the slope were removed, most probably to prevent plucky yet woefully-naive snowboarders like me from breaking our necks on the icy ice shelf of hard crystalline iceness. Nonetheless, I enjoyed just going out one last time, and it was certainly far from miserable. The ice also meant that one went a helluva lot faster than normal, so it was enjoyable regardless.

In the evening I went bar-hopping with Shelly, one of the resident Nayoro ALT’s, who in turn was hunting a particular Japanese guy she has her eye on. In the last bar we went to (‘Soul’ I believe) I met a remarkable gentlemen who turned out to be a warrant officer in the JGSDF (Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, or ‘Army’ to the rest of the world). A warrant officer being effectively the highest rank an NCO can get short of being offered a commission. Anyway, it turned out this fellow had been to Mozambique and SA back in the day on various peacekeeping capacities, and as an added bonus was also quite fluent in English. Me being the warmonger I am, we became instant friends and thus chatted along happily for several hours about all things martial and militant.

Sunday saw a monstrous hangover and drive home, and then blissful sleep.

The past couple of weeks has seen the so-called ‘spring shuffle’ in the office and schools around Japan. Anyone wishing to transfer out of Sarufutsu or their current place of employment can apply and be relocated somewhere else in Hokkaido (or Japan maybe?). What this means is a ridiculous amount of time spent at farewell ceremonies, farewell parties, and farewell speeches. Just go already damnit!

Of course now is the time all the NEW replacements come in, so that means an equal amount of welcoming ceremonies, speeches and parties. At least now I’m officially not going to be the new guy any more. So while gaijin, and thus perpetually an object of constant attention and befuddlement, I at least will not be the rookie anymore.

On that note, I also received a shiny new contract paper from the mayor (contracts run from april to april, so my JET contract and village contract are different pieces of paper) today, April Fool’s day. I don’t think anyone here would appreciate the humour in this!