Christmas insanity

It's been a tradition of mine to bake chocolate chip cookies (with red and green M&M's for a festive touch) for presents since high school. (Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the recipe.)

Back home with a regular big oven that can bake something like 50 cookies at once, it only took me about an 1.5hr to make around 100 cookies, but here in Japan all I've got is a regular toaster oven and a two-tier toaster oven. I can only make about 25 cookies in one shot so it takes me about 2.5hr to make a batch of about 70-100 cookies.

Still, that's an improvement from my first two years in Japan when I only had a regular toaster oven and it took me 3hr to make a single batch. (If I make multiple batches at once, the time savings are even more noticeable.)

Since this is my last year on JET I decided to be super ambitious and to give cookies to pretty much all of the schools I've visited regularly this year (thankfully there aren't so many--2 junior highs, and 4 elementary schools) as well as my Board of Education, Japanese dance teacher, and taiko group members.

The breakdown:
Tue. Dec. 6- 2.5hr for 67 cookies
Sun. Dec. 11 - 6hr for 281 cookies
Mon. Dec. 12 - 4hr for 189 cookies
Mon. Dec. 19 - 2.5hr for 89 cookies
Total = 15hr over 4 days for 626 cookies

It was an insane amount of work, especially since I also had the JLPT (where I flunked the N1 spectacularly) and English Day (two days of activities from 9am~4pm with 60 elementary 5th and 6th graders and junior high school students) in December.


But it was totally worth it. Some of my highlights from giving out cookies were:

1) at an elementary school, the student I was sitting next to during lunch noticed that I didn't have any cookies for myself and asked "Sensei, hitokuchi wa doudesuka?" (Sensei, would you like a bite of my cookie?). Of course I declined since I had had plenty sampling each batch to make sure they were OK, but it was soooo sweet of the student to offer. ^_^

2) at Kirita, after I gave out the cookies to the 3rd years, one of the students commented that they looked forward to the cookies all year (ichinenkan no tanoshimi--or something along those lines). And another student asked me for the recipe. =D

There's really nothing better than the feeling that you've brightened up someone's day even just a little.

Xmas night museum

For those sticking around in Japan over the holidays, some Christmas-themed events going on at the Towada Art Center from Dec. 23-24.

Christmas Workshop: Make Ornaments & Cards
Date: Dec 23, 2011
Time: 10:00-12:00
Place: Shimin Katsudou Space 市民活動スペース
Materials Fee: 700yen
*Limited to 20 people, reservations required*

Gospel Concert by GRACES
Date: Dec 23, 2011
Time: 18:30-19:30
Place: Kyuukei (Rest/Break) Space 休憩スペース
Admission: Free

Night Tour
Date: Dec 23-24, 2011
Time: 17:30-18:30; 18:00-19:00
Place: Meet at Reception 受付
Admission: 500yen (regular exhibit fee)

Cafe Extended Hours
Date: Dec 23-24, 2011
Time: 9:00-20:00
*Special Christmas Sweets Available*

Love Wari (Love Discount)
Date: Dec 24, 2011
Time: 17:00-20:00 (last admission, 19:30)
Admission: 2 for 1
**Please hold hands and ask for "Rabu wari onegaishimasu" at reception**

Also, completely unrelated to Christmas, the shimin (citizen) free days for December are the 10th and 23rd. On these days, admission to the regular exhibits is free for Towada citizens. Simply say that you are "shimin" to the receptionist and show proof of residence (alien registration card, driver's license, etc.).

Tohoku Expressway Toll Free Zones Dec 1, 2011-Mar 31, 2012

Portions of the Tohoku Expressway will be free for all cars, everyday from Dec. 1, 2011-Mar. 31, 2012.

See the map for more details, but basically you can go from Hachinohe to Sendai for free. (The roads marked in blue are free all the time for everyone; the brown is only free for ETC users on weekends and national holidays.)

For complete details, see http://www.mlit.go.jp/road/road_tk1_000022.html (Japanese).

Roppongi Hills

I went to Tokyo last weekend with a friend for a mini-vacation. Transport and accommodations were super cheap thanks to a great JR (Japan Rail) View package. The package included round-trip Shinkansen fare and a night's stay at an upscale (not business) hotel--in our case, the ANA Intercontinental Hotel in Roppongi.

Usually train fare from Shichinohe-Towada Station to Tokyo by itself is about 29,000yen (~$390 CAD) and the Ana Intercontinental starts from about 18,000 per night per room, but the package for both was 26,000yen!

Since the hotel was in Roppongi, we decided to do sightseeing around the area. I've never really had much of an interest in Roppongi mostly because of it's slightly seedy reputation as an ex-pat/foreigner trap. (I went to the Outback restaurant there once with some fellow JETs once, but that's about it.) However, other than the larger than usual number of hustlers on the street trying to drum up customers for clubs, etc., it wasn't really all that bad or even much different from other touristy parts of Tokyo at night.(Then again if I looked more obviously "foreign"perhaps my impression would have been different--like maybe the hustlers would've been aggressive/persistent.)

Anyway, we went around Roppongi Hills and were able to see a lot of things in a limited amount of time. Our timing was good since the streets were lit up for Christmas.

Our first stop (and one of the highlights of the trip for me) was "Le chocolat de H"a chocolaterie by the (apparently) famous Japanese confectioner Hironobu Tsujiguchi. (Japanese website: http://www.lcdh.jp)

It's definitely a place you go to splurge (a set of 3 chocolates matched to your choice of either coffee or black tea was maybe a little over 1000yen) but if you like chocolate and cakes it's worth it!

"maron" (chestnut) cake

chocolate soufle

After that we went to the Mori Art Museum, Mori Arts Center Gallery (Japanese only) and Tokyo City View (1800yen for admission to all three). The Art Museum had an exhibit on Metabolism: The City of the Future: Dreams and Visions of Reconstruction in Postwar and Present-Day Japan. It was interesting, but I don't really know much about architecture and the Metabolism style, while practical isn't particularly attractive to me.

I much preferred the The Dragon Quest Chronicle of a Quarter Century exhibit at the Mori Arts Center Gallery. Even though I've never really played the games, I enjoyed it because it was interactive. When you enter, you choose your character type--warrior 戦士, martial artist武関家, magician 魔法使い, or priest/cleric 僧侶--and get a quiz card to complete throughout the exhibit. If you answer the quiz questions correctly (the answers are fairly obvious) you get a small present when you leave! They also have a mini show/performance where audience members participate to fight and defeat a boss.

with my "martial artist" quiz card

quiz completion prize

Apart from the interactive aspects, the exhibit also brought back fond memories of old SNES (Super Nintendo) games like Chrono Trigger (same character designer, Akira Toriyama). It was also rather coincidental that there was a Dragonquest Exhibit on since prior to heading to Roppongi we had stopped by the Square-Enix Character Good Shop Showcase in Shinjuku and I had just been talking about how I love Final Fantasy but don't know much about Dragon Quest. (Ignorance about the games didn't stop me from buying a small "slime knight" stuffed toy and slimetower mechanical pencil, however.)

 After the Dragon Quest exhibit, we checked out the Tokyo night view from Tokyo City View. Unfortunately it was a rainy and slightly foggy night so it the view wasn't the greatest, but it was nice to be able to see Tokyo Tower and city lights.

By the time we left Tokyo City View, it was close to 11pm but it being Tokyo (and Roppongi) there were still plenty of places still open for dinner. We settled on a "spaghetti" place, "Spajiro"すぱじろう that was actually open until 8am. The interesting thing about the restaurant was that for the same price you could choose between a small, medium, or large portion of pasta. (I wasn't very hungry so we split a medium eggplant tomato sauce spaghetti and a tomato salad.) They also had a natto (with eggplant) spaghetti!

Art Station Towada - AST Grand Opening

Art Station Towada - AST Grand Opening
アートステーショントワダ　エィエスティー (十和田市観光物産センター) オープニングイベント
Date: Fri. Nov. 25- Sun. Nov. 27, 2011
Time: 10:00-15:00
Place: Art Station Towada (on Old Rte. 4 (awning street) just south of the Aomori Bank, parking is on the west side between the Aomori Bank and JTB parking lots - see map)
Admission: Free
Events: presents ("art goods") for the first 50 visitors; free samples (mochi, juice, etc.); performance by nursery school children (Nov. 26 only); junior high school brass band performance (Nov. 26 & 27 only); etc.

AST General Information
Hours: Sun.-Sat. 9:00-19:00
Closed: New Year's Day (January 1)
Includes: tourist information center (観光案内); local produce/products shop (特産品販売); rest area (休憩スペース); food area?(厨房スペース literally means "kitchen space"), etc.

Lake Towada Himemasu Festival

Towadako Himemasu* Matsuri 十和田湖ひめます祭り
(himemasu = kokanee, a landlocked variety of sockeye (red) salmon)
Date: November 5,6, 12 & 13, 2011
Time: 9:30-15:50
Location: Towadako-han Yasumiya Sanbashi-mae Hiroba (Lake Towada Yasumiya Plaza - in front of the pier) 十和田湖畔休屋　桟橋前広場
Admission: Free
Events: free ひめます汁 himemasu soup and hot apple juice (*limited to 500/day); shamisen & taiko performances; a 500yen sightseeing boat tour (湖上遊覧体験); etc. See the Yururira Towada site for a full event listing (in Japanese)

Oirase Gorge Road Closure

The road through Oirase Gorge from the intersection with the Shell gas station on Rte. 102 (coming from central Towada) to the Nenokuchi intersection exiting the Gorge (国道１０２号の惣辺交差点～子ノ口交差点) will be closed to regular traffic from 9:00-14:00 Oct. 29-30 for the annual Oirase Gorge Eco Road Festa. (See the green route marked on this map).

Bikes, buses, taxis and other modes of public transportation will be the only vehicles allowed to use the road during this time.

For more details about the Eco Road Festa, see the website (Japanese): http://www.eco-oirase.com

Towada Koma Festa 2011

Towada Koma Festa 2011 第１８回十和田駒フェスタ
Website (Japanese) | Flyer (Japanese)
Date: October 15-16, 2011
Time: 10:00*-15:00
Location: Towada Chuo Koen (Central Park)
(十和田市中央公園緑地)
Admission: Free
Events & Activities: yabusame (horseback archery) competition; show jumping competition; children's horseback performances; horse-drawn cart rides; horseback riding experiences; leather craft making, etc. 

You can view pictures of last year's event on the Towada Horseback Riding Club's Facebook page.

*The flyer says it starts at 10:00 but the schedule for competitors says that the opening ceremony starts at 9:00 and the competition starts at 9:30, so...

Towada Fall Festival on TV!

Some TV specials about this year's Towada Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) will be airing on Aomori TV stations this weekend:

【RAB青森放送】「空に響け　十和田市秋まつり2011」平成23年9月23日（金・祝）10：55～11：25
RAB Fri. Sep. 23 10:55-11:25

【ATV青森テレビ】「十和田市秋まつり2011」平成23年9月24日（土）13：00～13：54
ATV Sat. Sep. 24 13:00-13:54

Takko-Machi Garlic & Beef Festival

Takko-Machi Ninniku To Bego Matsuri  (Garlic & Beef Festival) 田子町にんにくとべごまつり
Date: October 1-2, 2011
Time: 10:30-15:00
Location: Ookuromori 229 Dome (Tapukopu Souyu-Mura)
大黒森２２９ドーム(タプコプ創遊村)
Admission: Free
Events: "Country Dance" and Yosakoi performances; large grills are available to barbecue your own meat/veggies,etc.
"BBQ Set": Pay 2000yen to get 250g of  Takko beef, plus veggies (presumably including garlic), tare sauce, a plate and chopsticks; tickets must be purchased *in advance* from select shops in Takko, Aomori City (Shinmachi Narita Honten), Hachinohe (Lapia, Miharuya, etc.)  Oirase Town (Shimoda Jusco) and Misawa (on base)--see flyer below (Japanese) for details; takko beef will be sold on site, but the 2000yen set will not be sold at the festival

BBQ Set (from 2007)

We brought our own yakisoba noodles (from 2007)

Support literacy!

Growing up, I was always encouraged by my parents to read. I have many fond memories of cuddling up on their big bed while they read me story books I'd borrowed from the class library.

Although I had an allowance that I was supposed to use to buy things I wanted for myself, books were always an exception. Pretty much every time the Scholastic book catalogue/order forms came from the school, I could count on getting at least a book or two. They also gave me extra pocket money to buy books from the school library book fairs.

Most recently, last year, they gave me a Kobo eReader for a Christmas present.

Not only did my parents support my reading habits, but I was also lucky to go to schools close by public libraries. In junior high school and the years in high school before my brother and I got a car, I often spent the couple of hours after school waiting for my father to come pick me up at the library.

Since reading has been and continues to be a big part of my life, I strongly believe in the importance of encouraging reading and literacy, particularly in children.

So here are some great and easy ways that I've come across to support literacy in your local community and around the world:

Indigo Adopt a School (Sept 11-Oct 1, 2011)

Did you know that most of our school budgets don't allow for one book per child?

The Indigo Adopt a School program helps puts more books in the hands of children by partnering with the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation. Its power is in the grassroots outreach between Indigo stores and a school in their community they raise money for. To date, we have raised over $533,000 to put more than 46,000 books into the hands of children at 305 schools across Canada. 

1. Choose a local school to support.
We’ve identified over 150 schools across Canada that need your help. For every 100 supporters of your school, Indigo will give a book to its library.

2. Give books by donating, or buying an Indigo e-gift card. 
For every $25 gift card purchased, Indigo will donate one book to your school - you can redeem the full value in any Indigo Chapters Coles store or at chapters.indigo.ca. You can also make a direct donation - every $12 will give a book.

3. Become a top fundraiser by spreading the word.
Tell your family & friends and get credit for every person that gives a book. The top fundraiser for each school gets a $25 Indigo gift card. Top three fundraisers in Canada will receive a Kobo eReader!

We Give Books

Sign up to read children's books online for FREE. One book will be donated to a campaign of your choice for each book you finishing reading online. Read classics such as "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," "Madeline" and "The Snowy Day," or new titles such as "You Can't Go to School Naked" and "Goodnight Goon."

Better World Books

Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than 8 million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders.


All books are available with free shipping worldwide. And in case you're concerned about your eco-footprint, every order shipped from Mishawaka is carbon balanced with Green-e Climate certified offsets from 3Degrees, a leading green power and carbon balancing services firm.

Here’s the best part: In addition to selling new titles, Better World Books supports book drives and collects used books and textbooks through a network of over 1,800 college campuses and partnerships with over 2,000 libraries nationwide. So far, the company has converted more than 53 million books into over $8.6 million in funding for literacy and education. In the process, we’ve also diverted more than 26,000 tons of books from landfills.

Because we believe that most every book has lasting value and the potential to help change the world, we see our job as helping to find new homes for unwanted books. Thus far, we’ve donated 3.3 million books to partner programs around the world. Our five primary literacy partners are Books for Africa, Room to Read, Worldfund, the National Center for Family Literacy, and Invisible Children. Good company, no doubt.

Every book purchased from Better World Books contributes to individual literacy throughout the world and the promise of a better life. Clearly, we can’t do this work without our customers. That's why we’re so passionate about trying to offer the best price, selection, customer service, and overall shopping experience.

[For a true story about Better World Books' superior customer service check out my blog post from July 11, 2009: http://melt-in-japan.blogspot.com/2009/07/superior-customer-service.html.]

Cozy night in

I ended up skipping taiko practice tonight in favour of spending a quiet night at home. I went grocery shopping and--for the first time in ages--cooked dinner for myself rather than eating out or buying a pre-made meal from a convenience store/supermarket.

Since the weather has gotten cooler lately and I just happened to get eggplants and tomatoes today from the Kirita vegetable patch, I decided to make tofu lasagna. I also had some dashi in the fridge (made using the super easy Just Bento method) so I made miso soup (with tofu and wakame) as well. To round out the meal (and to use up the veggies before they went bad), I also threw together a salad with apple dressing and baby leaf greens (from within Aomori), and cucumber, yellow peppers and mini tomatoes (all from local Towada farms). 

All in all, it was a very nice, comforting meal for a rainy night at home. ^_^

I also made banana chocolate chunk bread (the recipe was actually for banana chocolate chip bread, but chocolate chips are relatively expensive here so I usually just substitute them with cut up chocolate bar chunks ) using hot cake mix and my rice cooker.

Yes, my rice cooker.

affectionately nicknamed "Jiro"

One of the main reasons I decided to buy a new rice cooker with only a year and a half left in Japan was so that I could try out the "rice cooker hot cake mix bread" recipes from a magazine I'd bought not realizing that it was only meant for IH (induction heating) cookers.

I've tried out other recipes from the magazine (potato & bacon bread; kiwi steamed bread; sweet potato sesame honey bread) but the banana chocolate bread has definitely been the easiest and tastiest one I've made so far. 

Vote smarter

Let's start thinking about the bigger, long term picture and vote smarter. Quick-fix cost-cutting mostly just leads to higher costs later. If we cut back on our efforts for clean energy now, we will be paying for it later with our health and future (the Earth can only take so much damage).

 
Dear friends: It ain’t always easy being green, but it’s damn important.

Ontario’s election is beginning, and the future of our clean energy economy is at stake. Thanks to Ontario’s world-class Green Energy Act, thousands of people across our province have new, well-paying jobs creating clean energy for our economy, our communities and our future.

Yet, just as this landmark legislation is building economic momentum for Ontario, some candidates are threatening to rip up the Green Energy Act if they get elected. Gutting the Green Energy Act would kill thousands of clean energy jobs and halt billions of dollars of investments. Worse yet, it would make Ontario more dependent on dirty, expensive and unjust energy sources that pollute our air and heat up our climate. It’s actually a life and death issue: air pollution from dirty power in Ontario contributes to thousands of premature deaths, alarming asthma rates, and lung disease, especially among children.

In this election, we can do something about it. The bottom-line is simple: the candidates want our votes, and that gives us a lot of power if we act together.

I just signed the Power Your pledge by telling my provincial candidates that I will vote for clean energy, new jobs, and healthy communities. I’m joining with people from all accross Ontario to ask my candidates to show us their best plan to build on the success of the Green Energy Act. You can find the pledge, sign it and send it to your candidates here:

http://www.leadnow.ca/power-your-vote-ontario

In only two years, the Green Energy Act has spurred the private sector to invest more than $20 billion in green power projects in Ontario. This investment has created tens of thousands of new well-paying jobs for people like engineers, electricians, carpenters and forward-thinking entrepreneurs. People who used to build cars are now building turbines. This is today, and this is our future.

I want Ontario to continue to be an international leader in the race to build a clean energy economy that protects our environment; I don’t want to stop clean energy investment, kill jobs, or fall behind the rest of the world because of shortsighted political gamesmanship.

The fate of Ontario’s clean energy future depends on the choice we make today. If we work together, we can build on the success of the Green Energy Act and make Ontario a world-leader in the trillion dollar clean energy revolution that is sweeping the globe and giving us hope for a safe climate for all generations.

By working together we can build on the success of the Green Energy Act and make Ontario a world-leader in the trillion dollar clean energy revolution that is sweeping the globe, and inspiring hope that we can ensure a safe climate for all generations.

Will you join me in telling our candidates that we support the clean energy economy, and we will back up our words with our votes? Here’s the link again:

http://www.leadnow.ca/power-your-vote-ontario

Thank you.

Sources:

Ontario urged not to scrap renewable energy policy (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/ontario-urged-not-to-scrap-renewable-energy-policy/article2096481/
Populism beats good policy: the Ontario Progressive Conservative platform (David Suzuki Foundation)
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/panther-lounge/2011/05/populism-beats-good-policy-the-ontario-progressive-conservative-platform/

Hudak urged to support green energy law - Program spurs job creation, say local businesses (Ottawa Citizen)
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Hudak+urged+support+green+energy/4787642/story.html

Clean Energy Toolkit (Climate Action Network)
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/clean-energy-ontario/index.php?WEBYEP_DI=1

Towada 2011 Aki Matsuri

Towada 2011 Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) 
平成23年度十和田市秋祭り
(PDF Flyer - Japanese) 
Date: September 9-11, 2011
Location: Central Towada (various)
Events:
September 9 (Friday)
14:00~  
Parade　
パレード等の行列行進・山車合同運行
[三本木大通り　Sanbongi Odori, 旧国道４号　Old Rte. 4]
18:00~
Mikoshi, Yosakoi, Hip-Hop Dance, etc.
みこし運行・よさこい・ヒップホップダンス等
[Kanchogai Dori (Komakaido)　官庁街通り（駒街道）]
September 10 (Saturday)
10:00~ 
Geinou Matsuri (Performing Arts Festival)
十和田市芸能まつり
[Bunka (Culture) Center 文化センター]
13:10~
Opening Ceremonies　
オープニングセレモニー
[Intersection in front of the new City Hall building 市役所新館前交差点]
13:50~
Hayashi (Festival Music) Competition　
囃子競演会
[Sumo Dohyo 相撲所]
17:00~　
Kids' Performances
キッズパフォーマンス
[Intersection in front of the new City Hall building 市役所新館前交差点]
18:00~
Twilight Dashi (Float) Parade　
薄暮運行開始（１周目）
[Kanchogai Dori (Komakaido)　官庁街通り（駒街道）]
19:15~20:30　
Night Dashi (Float) Parade
夜間運行（２周目）
[Kanchogai Dori (Komakaido)　官庁街通り（駒街道）]
September 11 (Sunday)
14:00~  
Mikoshi, Parade, Ofukanai JHS Koma Odori　
みこし・パレード等の行列行進・山車合同運行・大深内中学校全校生徒による少年駒踊り
[三本木大通り　Sanbongi Odori, 旧国道４号　Old Rte. 4]
17:00~20:00
Hula Dance, Popular Song Show, Impersonation Show
フラダンス・歌謡ショー・ものまね
[People's Square (Horseshoe Statue/Fountain Area) 人口広場（駒っこ広場）]

Small joys

Lately there's been a lot of stuff going on and it's been taking a lot of energy just to get through the day. I feel like I'm getting by on fumes.

But this week I've had some reminders of why I need to really cherish all of my remaining time at schools:

On Monday I went to a junior high school (that isn't my base school) and taught the third years. To get back to the teachers' room, I passed by the second year classrooms and got a number of cheerful "Hello's". And in the midst of the "hellos," I heard one boy saying "Poo. Poo." At first I didn't realize that he was talking to me, but then I heard him say (in Japanese) to some friends, "Do you know what "poo" means in Japanese?"

And I realized it was a student I had taught when he was in the fourth grade of elementary school!! At that time, he asked me how to say "unko" in English and I told him without even thinking. After that he didn't even say "hello" to me, but always just said "poo" whenever I saw him. The ALT who visited that elementary school fairly regularly the following year (my second year in Towada) told me that the student continued the tradition with him.

So back to Monday.

When I realized what he was saying and who he was, I turned around (there were a bunch of boys so I couldn't pick him out) and called out (in Japanese): "You still remember that?!" The guys all laughed and I continued on to the teachers' room. Then at the end of the day the same boy passed me and again he greeted me with "Poo! Poo!" rather than the standard "hello."

I should probably feel guilty for teaching him the word, but, well, I find it pretty funny and almost touching that he still remembers something that I unthinkingly taught him so long ago. ^_^

(I've got to admit that even after that experience, I still--even up to now--tell students almost whatever word they ask me to teach them in English. I've taught "diarrhea" and "pawn shop" among many other words.Obviously I don't teach them anything completely inappropriate, however.)

Then another nice moment came today, when a former student of mine and sister of a current student at Kirita came into the school to wait for her mother to finish having a discussion with one of the teachers. Since I was free, I hung out with her in the multi-purpose room and helped her with her (high school) English homework.

It wasn't anything special--mostly I was just reading out the textbook sentences that she needed to write in her notebook--but it was really great to be able to spend time with a former student.

Oh, and I guess another "small joy"--although not school related--is that the July JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) results finally arrived today and somehow I managed to pass the N2. (The test has five levels, with N5 being the lowest level and N1 being the highest. So N2 is the second most difficult level.)

Actually, I'm not all that happy about it because I truly believe it was pure fluke that I passed. (Just look at my scores!) I didn't study at all for the test and I had signed up for it with the idea that by spectacularly failing this time around I would become motivated to study properly for the December test.

(And when I say I didn't study, I mean it quite literally. Not counting stuff like reading manga and watching dramas/movies in Japanese, I'd say I probably spent maybe 5-10 hours--and that's a generous estimate--specifically studying for the test from the time I registered til the day I wrote it. I've probably spent more time studying Japanese in the past week or two than I did before the test!)

So I really didn't actually deserve to pass. All the result tells me is that I'm a pretty decent guesser. Well, that and my listening is fine--that was the only section that I had confidence in, and I aced that part.

And it actually leaves me with a dilemma since I had never even considered that I would actually pass and so I bought the test application form planning on taking the N2 again in December. But since I did manage to pass, I now need to decide whether I will attempt the N1 or if I'll just try to sell my form to someone else.

Given that I barely passed the N2 (20/60 for the Vocabulary/Grammar section!), it would really be a waste of money to try the N1, particularly given that I'm going to be super busy until about the beginning of November and won't have time to do the hardcore studying that would be required if I seriously wanted to pass.

And given that my contract will end (and I'll have to go back to Canada) at the beginning of August, I don't think that failing the N1 in December would particularly motivate me to try to pass it in July because I know that I'll be way to busy with my departure preparations around that time.

But it seems like kind of a waste to not at least give it a shot while I'm still in Japan. Plus writing the test is a great excuse for taking a road trip to Morioka with everyone. (And since December is so busy, I don't think I'd go on the road trip if I wasn't writing the test.)

So yeah, I don't really know what I want to do. And I still don't actually feel particularly happy about passing the test since it wasn't something I accomplished by my own efforts/skill but simply through dumb luck/fluke. If it wouldn't be a waste of money, I'd almost like to write the test again (even though I've already passed once).

A good thing?

A friend of mine always says that being busy is a good thing. But I think this might be too much of "a good thing:"

Friday's schedule:
- elementary school 1: periods 2-4 (6th gr. classes) & lunch
- elementary school 2: periods 5-6 (2/3/4 & 5/6 split classes)
- junior high school: after school speech coaching (~30min)
- Japanese dance practice (~1hr)
- Towada Fall Festival Kirita taiko practice (1.5~2hr)

AND it's forecast to go up to 29 degrees tomorrow. @_@ Thank goodness I don't have any particular plans for Saturday, otherwise I think I just might die.

Sanbongi Kouta: Michael Night 三本木小唄マイケル・ナイト

三本木小唄マイケル・ナイト Sanbongi Kouta: Michael Night
Date: Saturday, August 27, 2011
Time: 19:00~
Place: Towada Art Park 美術館アート広場 (inside the Towada Art Center in the event of rain)
Details: Join in dancing to a traditional Towada song/dance, Sanbongi Kouta. Wear a yukata (Japanese summer cotton kimono) if you've got one! Admission free.

Japan's Festivals in Aomori 日本の祭り in あおもり

日本の祭り in あおもり Nihon no Matsuri in Aomori 
(Japan's Festivals in Aomori)

Location: 
Main Stage メイン会場: Aomori City Bunka Kaikan (Culture Center) 青森市文化会館 
Secondary Stage サブ会場: Aomori Bay Area 青森ベイエリア
Date & Time: 
Saturday, September 24, 2011: Main Stage: 13:30-18:00; Secondary Stage: 11:00-17:00
Sunday, September 25, 2911: Main Stage: 11:00-16:15; Secondary Stage: 11:00-16:00
Admission: FREE *tickets required for main stage; register by Friday, August 19th, 2011*
Parking & Access: Free parking lots (limited spaces - see map) and free shuttle service between the parking lots, Aomori Station (青森駅), and the main & secondary stages
Details: Watch festival performances (dances, Nebuta & Neputa floats, instrumental performances, etc.) from all over Aomori Prefecture, other parts of Japan, and even other Asian countries (Taiwan, Korea and China) 
Ticket Reservations:
To make ticket reservations online, go to this page http://matsuri2011.jp/cgi-bin/magic/ and fill out ALL the sections of the form:

郵便番号 - Postal Code
都道府県： Prefecture (set to Aomori by default)
住　所: Address (part of it should be filled in automatically when you type in your postal code, but you'll need to complete it)
お名前: Name
フリガナ: Furigana (Japanese phonetic reading of your name - although you can just re-write it in English if you want)
電話番号: Telephone Number
希望人数 （2名まで可）: Number of people you're reserving tickets for (max. of 2)
観覧希望日: The day you're reserving tickets for (you can only choose one at a time)
メールアドレス: Email address
メールアドレス （確認）: Confirm your email address

Click the button on the left (確認画面へ ) to get to the confirmation page. (The button on the right リセット is to reset the form.)
 

Double check the information and click the left button (送信する) to submit the request. (The right button　編集する is to go back and edit the form.)

You will get an email confirmation. In the case of more requests for tickets than there are spaces available, tickets will be allotted by random draw.

Eating in Towada

I never really thought about it before, but there are actually a lot of restaurants in Towada. And over the course of four years, I've probably visited more than my fair share of them. (The benefit(?) of being a lazy/indifferent cook at best.)

In recent years I'd started compiling information about restaurants in Towada--thinking I'd make a more detailed restaurant guide for new ALTs or something--but it seemed like a lot of work to take pictures and write descriptions, so my project never really went anywhere. Then this summer it occurred to me that it'd be much easier to just make a Google map!

So here it is, the result (well, it's actually still a work-in-progress, but anyway...) of four years of living and eating out in Towada: Eating in Towada - Google Map (English)

Hopefully people will find it useful!

(Observant readers may have noticed that I actually posted the link in the "Enjoy Towada City" sidebar under "Dining" a while ago. I just didn't want to draw too much attention to the map until I'd gotten it to a point where I felt like it was mostly complete.)

Towada 2011 Summer Festival Fireworks Display

Natsu Matsuri Hanabi Taikai　十和田市夏まつり花火大会
Date: August 14, 2011
Time: 19:00-21:00
Location: Fireworks will be set off from the track and field track, so anywhere along Kanchogai Dori (particularly around the City Hall/Library) is a good viewing place **Apparently the fireworks display will also be streamed live on the website: http://www.towada-kankou.jp/summer-fes/**
Parking: Limited free parking as well as pay parking available; see below map for parking lot and road closure locations (roads around the Chuo Koen (Central Park) will be closed from 17:30-21:00)

Towada 2011 Sumo Tournaments

All-Japan University Sembatsu Sumo Taikai 　全日本大学選抜相撲十和田大会
Date: August 14, 2011
Time: 9:00~
Location: Towada Sumo Dohyo 十和田市相撲所
Admission: 1500 yen advance tickets; 2000 yen at door; free for high school students and younger

High School Sembatsu Sumo Taikai　高校選抜相撲十和田大会
Date: August 15, 2011
Time: 8:30~
Location: Towada Sumo Dohyo 十和田市相撲所
Admission: 1000 yen advance tickets; 1500 yen at door; free for high school students and younger

Ticket sales: Tickets can be purchased at the Towada Sougou Taiiku Center (Gym)　十和田総合体育センター,  Towada sports shops　市内スポーツ店, and at the Towada Shiyakusho (City Hall) Seikyou　市役所生協

See the Towada Sumo 2011 Google map for tournament and ticket sale locations.

Blueberry Picking

Blueberry Picking ブルーベリー摘み取り
Date: July 9-August 14, 2011
Time: 9:00-17:00
Location: Risoukyo 手づくり村鯉艸郷
Admission: 500 yen (200 yen for elementary school-aged & younger children) for 1hr all-you-can-eat blueberry picking (1時間食べ放題  - 500円, 小学生以下200円)
- additional 150yen per 100g of takeaway berries (持ち帰り - 100gで150円)
Description: Enjoy a selection of 10 different varieties of blueberries: Earliblue, Northland, Bluecrop, Big Darrow, Coville, Blueray, Dixie, Late Blue, Chandler and Spartan
10品種（アーリーブルー・ノースランド・ブルークロップ・ビックダロー・コビル・ブルーレイ・デキシー・レイトブルー・チャンドラー・スパータン）の中からお好きなブルーベリーを摘み取りできます。

When the Towada ALTs went on July 10th, only 2 varieties were ripe for picking (Earliblue and Northland), but the guy predicted that all the varieties should be ready by the 20th so...!

Some advice: Bring a hat, remember to drink water and watch out for the spiders! >_<

Picked a little too early--still a bit green

Fully ripened

Namiki Gelato

Last summer was a scorcher (in Japan). And this year seems to be following suit. @_@ I'm fine with cold weather, but heat really kills me.

The only good thing that I can say about hot weather is that it makes frozen treats extra delicious. And Namiki, a gelato place in Shichinohe is the best place to indulge!

Address: 青森県上北郡七戸町字立野頭69
(Shichinohe-machi Aza Tachinogashira 69)
Telephone/Fax: 0176-62-2646
Website: www.namiki-gelato.com
Hours: 10:00-17:00* Daily
(*Or until everything is sold out--which happens pretty early on weekends in the summer)
Parking: Available (Free)

The gelato is handmade every morning using farm fresh milk and organic fruits and vegetables. Not only is it delicious, but it's also super cheap--250 yen for a single cone/cup, or 300 yen for a double. (Compare that to Baskin Robbins where a regular single cone is 320yen.)

summer flavours: tomato & pineapple

regular flavours: jersey milk & cheese

fall flavours: pumpkin & cookies 'n cream

It's off the Shichinohe Bypass (Rte. 4) just south of the 394 and there's a big NAMIKI sign with a cow and picture of gelato marking the turn off and plenty of signage showing the way from there.