Winter

Well, we live in interesting times. I thought I would send at least a short blog even though I’ve been tardy in writing it up. We’ve had winter and snowfall, with the landscape covered twice with a beautiful white carpet. Apparently it usually snows earlier and more deeply. I have learned the word for global warming. And state of emergency.

As autumn came to a close I was sent to the Hyogo Prefectural Education Skills Development Conference, a short conference bringing together ALTs and Japanese Teachers of English from all over the prefecture. Some interesting presentations were given, and interesting conversations had between us, although unfortunately not much chance to use or share what we learned. However Awaji Island where the conference is held is a beautiful place and it was an adventure getting there, by train to Kobe and bus to the venue.

As December came and the weather got cold, Tom arrived to visit me. It was lovely having Australian company after work and to introduce him to those I’ve met here, to say nothing of the things he did around the house during the day. He even got my kerosene heater working which was a godsend when the temperature got down to zero.

For Christmas and New Year, we took a trip to our dear friends in Kochi. We got to enjoy our Christmas in my sister Wama’s old stamping ground of Tsuno Town, complete with Christmas pudding which left them quite stunned. We did tell them it was very sweet so only a little would be needed; and also that they would need a good amount of icecream with it. They protested that until they tasted it. But they had school and work on Christmas Day of course, so it was a completely different experience for us. Furthermore, when Tom turned up with a fever of 39.5 it was off for a hospital experience. Fortunately, no influenza nor coronavirus that time, that we know of.

After a few days in Tsuno Town we went to Kochi City where we were surprised to stumble on a tiny espresso bar. It was called Tay’s Coffee Stand whose owner had learned to make coffee in Brisbane! It had been a long time between long blacks, which even special shops with espresso don’t make in Japan. Besides that we enjoyed a digital art festival at Kochi castle (like an international art festival in any Australian city, but smaller and installed in ancient castle grounds...) before heading to Ochi Town for New Year’s with our friends from there. For them, it was essentially Christmas Day. Lots of food, gifts and taking time to relax with kids. It was hard for Rieko Miyawaki however, who had had an injury recently, but she insisted on maintaining family traditions of New Year’s Day ritual meals, prayers and many things we had never before experienced. 

A kids' harp concert to mark the illumination of the Christmas Lights.

The Ikuno Christmas Lights. I normally don't get into them but here they were really beautiful!

After our trip to Kochi we enjoyed more time in Ikuno, going to an onsen and having a day seeing Himeji. Unfortunately no snow for Tom, although apparently it’s a common misconception that in Japan it snows at Christmas. By all reports February is the main month for it, at least in the past. However we were able to experience so many other unique things such as “osechi”, or traditional new year’s foods, all with special symbolism. For example, I think sweetened black beans are for good health, prawns are symbolic because they are bent over, such as one would be if we were lucky enough to have a long life, and herring roe, which is meant to represent abundant offspring.

Pounding "mochi" - a dough made from glutinous rice, traditionally eaten at New Year's time. This is a family tradition, with the mother apparently having the job of turning the dough in that big wooden mortar while the father pounds it with that massive hammer. They were making the below decorations, "mochi cherry blossoms" which hang in the entrances to people's homes. The poor bloke above helping me is my neighbor, and when I was pounding the previous batch it had the red colouring and his face looked like something out of psycho.

In Kochi, Tom and I helped the local meals-on-wheels equivalent brigade to make all these New Year's lunchboxes for the elderly. Can you see the little apple chunks with the skins cut into the shapes of rabbit ears? We made them!

Another Kochi New Year tradition: twining rice-straw rope. They make a large ceremonial decoration to hang at the entrance to their neighbourhood (I think). You can just see how it's two strands which are themselves twisted and then twined around each other, all in one deft motion. Tom got a lesson, because he gets the manly jobs.

One of various New Year decorations for the home. The ferns, twined rice-straw rope and mandarin are auspicious, as are pine, bamboo and plum which appear as a trio.

Celebrating New Year with our friends in Ochi.

As part of my internationalization role I held an Australia Day event at my house, with handmade sausage rolls (can you see them?), cakes, vegemite toast, barbeque and a fantastic playlist I still listen to now. They were very keen to put their flag stickers on their cheeks instead of their phones. Yes, it was absolutely freezing cold but we had a nice fire.

Around winter I was lucky to have a few sessions with the kendo club, and even instruction from the master and use of the protective gear. Kendo is the ancient swordsmanship tradition, which through the ages became a wooden sword and then a bamboo stick. It's still a popular cultural pursuit requiring strong concentration and discipline, which I appreciated.

How the school garden looked when it snowed.

The deer that roam wild in Nara, where I went when my father came to visit me.

In addition, there are many decorations which foods were sometimes garnished with, such as pine fronds, plum and bamboo leaves. Many of my students went to shrines and temples for prayers at the new year. One thing we share in common is celebratory fireworks at midnight on New Year’s Eve. I’ll let you research who started that and whether it was borrowed from one or another culture.

After seeing Tom off in Osaka I then got on with work as the Japanese academic year drew towards a close. With the coronavirus taking hold in February, after the all-important examinations and graduation ceremony, school was cancelled along with everything else. We were fortunate that Japanese infections seemed to be slower. While Hyogo seems to have had one of the highest per capita rates of infection, even as I write in late March the rate of infection remains still very low and is not moving from the established areas.

I do love the students, and I finally realise which teachers get so attached. Seeing them change and strive even in my short time has been a great privilege, and I only wish I could find out how they went later on. One, who I had not spoken a single word with, chose to give me and one other staff member, the office assistant, a new year’s card. It was written in English and had amazing drawings he had done himself. He kindly said he enjoyed my classes. 

Speaking of which, another activity we undertook at school was the Winter English event. This involved about 25 students from around the area coming together for English activities, much like the Summer Camp except just a day trip. This was a fun adventure, particularly because I was able to run an English Choir event as part of it. Using my skills obtained in a misspent youth in Australia, I taught them “Last Christmas” which seemed to go down very well. In other music news, I occasionally played the piano at school which was nice, although I could barely feel my fingers in the cold.

As I write, the world shuts down due to the pandemic, and while Japan is not completely locked down, all my trips and plans for my remaining time here have been cancelled. So I will have less to report next time, but it will include cherry blossoms, which are already fluttering to the ground. Until then!