Jean Of mArc

If you read that sentence and were wondering “the opening of what?”, then I guess the answer is the opening of a new year! In Japanese, they say “Akemashite Omedetou” which roughly translates to the above. Of course, an interpreted translation is “Happy New Year!”

Originally, I wasn’t sure what a Christmas and New Year’s in Hirosaki-land would be like, especially because many of the other foreigners went home for Christmas. Having to work on Christmas Day, initially, took out the ol’ Christmas cheer, stomped on it a few times, and fed it to the wolves. However, it ended up being just fine.

In our English Club here at the school, the students and I made some home-made (school-made?) Christmas decorations, and later that week I brought in a Christmas Tree, which we decorated with the decorations we made. It was actually quite amusing because it was right near the entrance to the staff room, and every time a teacher came in they would look at it and give a inquisitive “eeeeeeh?” This is much easier and funnier for people living in Japan to imagine. Here are some pictures to prove it!

As mentioned in the previous post, on Christmas-Eve Eve, Travis, Angie and Takarou went out to sing Christmas Carols. Sadly, it was somewhat rainy that evening, so not many people were passing by, however it involved singing, which automatically makes it awesome. Takarou, one of the least-shy Japanese people I’ve ever met, was belting it sometimes. I don’t know if he understood what he was singing, but he sure gave it all he had! Then on Christmas Eve proper, I attended a pleasant Christmas service at the Japanese church I attend. I didn’t understand the message, but my guess is it had something to do with a baby and a manger. We had flashlights that we shaped like candles and used those to light our hymnals enough to see them.

On Christmas Day, the staff let me into the kitchen for the afternoon where I made some banana bread and eggnog. Perhaps banana bread isn’t traditional Christmas food, but a) it’s something I know how to make without messing it up, and b) most Japanese people have never had it before and will never know that we eat it year-round. The banana bread was quite devoured by the staff and students after making it available…. however the eggnog mostly sit there getting warm and gross. Maybe bright yellow liquid with foam on top is scary for miso soup drinkers. But a few brave teachers, including the vice-principal, gave it a shot and gave an affirming “umai”, which is a manly way to say that it tastes good.

After that, I disassembled our English Club Christmas tree and brought it home to re-assemble it in my apartment, where it still stands and will likely continue to stand until winter is gone, since I seldom make any adjustments to decorations once they have been placed.

That night, I skyped into my immediate family’s Christmas morning, although for me it was Christmas night. Thankfully, I had received a package from my mother on time, so I was able to join in the present-ravaging fun… on my turn, of course. It was really neat to be able to join it, and will stand out for being so unusual. I had to keep asking my mother to turn the camera around so I could see what was going on. I felt like I was sitting there and had to get someone to move my head in the right direction or something. I also got to see Winston’s hilarious new trick, but I won’t spoil it by telling you what it is. Instead I will leave you in suspense. Mwahahahaaa!! (<– Dan O’Shea tribute)

The next day, I had a Christmas party at my apartment! I’d like to say that I was so motemote that everyone came, but because of a mixture of “already have plans” or “not in the country” excuses, only Travis and Angie were able to come. It was still a good time though! We mostly chatted, ate a lot and played board games, as seems to be the world-wide standard for parties that I’m involved in.

After that was English camp! The English camp takes place twice a year at the Aomori Christian Center. Because it is both for learning English and about God, it incorporates both Biblical lessons in (mostly) easy English… although I thought a lot of it was difficult! This year the theme was “Battling the Goths”, which focused mostly on temptation and fighting against it. As a result, we learned about Gothic literature, Gothic movies, our assumptions about what is and isn’t a threat, Gothic architectures, and modern goths.

The “goths” were originally the barbaric bunch who came down from the north and trampled over the Roman empire. The word “goth” since had a negative connotation, meaning “ruthless”, “barbaric” and “uncouth”. The French built a number of buildings in their own “French” style, but during the age of Renaissance, people felt like their architecture was much more artistic, and that the old French style was “Gothic” at best. It was intended to be an insult, but the name stuck. Gothic novels and movies usually take place in these kinds of scary buildings, and there are a number of key elements that characterize it: a damsel in distress, a huge, old building with tons of secrets, a dark and spooky atmosphere, etc. Modern goths don’t directly come from this, but rather compare their dark looks to that of Gothic times.

Anyway, there were 12 campers, 4 teachers, and others were taking care of logistics and over-whelming quantities of delicious food that I don’t often get the privilege to eat here in the East. There were 5 high school boys, 1 university-aged man, 2 high school girls, and 4 women. It was a fun and pretty relaxing camp, with a mixture of study time, eating time, movie time, game time, sermon time, discussion time, skit time, sleep time and do-whatever-you-want (ie. free) time. If you so desire to check out some pictures of the aforementioned camp, there are pictures on this website, maintained by John and Laurie Elliot, who are Christian missionaries who’ve lived in Aomori, Japan for 30 years. They are also the ones in charge of running these English Camps twice a year. I just recently came back from spending three pleasant and relaxing days at their house in Ajigasawa.

New Year’s was a similar story to my Christmas Party, except for the following differences:

1. Fiona, a student from South Africa studying at Hirosaki University, joined in the fun.
2. It was hosted by Travis and Angie, not me.
3. It was New Year’s, not Christmas.

So, we stayed up late, CEPing (chatting, eating and playing board games) until midnight, at which time we went out towards one of the temples, just like the Japanese do. It was PACKED with people, which we were quite surprised by, and many younger people at that. We of course didn’t take part in any of the worship rituals, but it was very interesting to watch people clap their hands, pay money to ring a giant bell, and yell “Happy New Year” (in English) to us as we passed by. Here are some pictures:

Prior to the people packed at the temples, it was strange that as I was talking through town on New Year’s, there were almost no people on the streets, and almost no commotion. Unlike Canadian New Year’s which have people out on the streets partying and such, it seems that most Japanese people are at home celebrating with their families by eating mochi. What is mochi? It’s a traditional treat eaten in Japan at New Year’s! It’s sort of a sticky, doughy treat that you wet and dip into various things, like soy flour or sugar. Here’s a picture I nabbed from another site:

While at church, I had a local tradition: eating mochi with melted cheese on it with a hot dog wrapped in seaweed and dipped in soy sauce. I thought it would be an incomprehensible mesh of flavours in my mouth, but it was actually super delicious. Of course, I’m not a picky eater.

And this almost brings me to the end of my fingers’ typing quota.

By the way, for those of you who’ve been wondering about that Japanese Language Proficiency Test that I was talking about back in the day, I took it on December 6th, and I feel it went okay. However, I won’t have the results until February or so, so I can’t really let you know anything until then.

Speaking of February (one of my favourite months, by the way), for those of you who don’t know, I will be heading back to the land of the rising tide (Nova Scotia) at the end of this month. That’s right! I’ll be somewhere between Halifax and Wolfville (inclusive) at all times between January 29th and February 14th (exclusive)! If you like me to any degree, please make sure that I get to see you while I’m there, assuming you are there as well. If you are not there, then you should consider a similar trip yourself during an overlapping period of time. Please do not deny me the privilege of your company!

Oh, and for those of you who have decided not to talk to me anymore because I don’t update my blog often enough, I hope that this long post makes it up to you. If not, come here, I’ll give you a hug.

Jean Of mArc