日本の秋 ーーー ハロウィーン・紅葉 etc

It’s autumn! I’m really happy because autumn is one of my favourite seasons. Although the typhoon came over the weekend, I explored some more of Inokashira Park and I keep being surprised by how beautiful it is! I also found this small cute place that served really delicious udon and hot soupy udon feels so great to eat in cold rainy weather. I know Halloween is coming up really soon too and I hear there’s a big celebration in Shibuya, which is interesting because I haven’t really celebrated Halloween before! It’s not as big of a holiday in New Zealand as it is in America. It’s funny because in New Zealand, Halloween always happens during spring time, so this is the first time the feel of Halloween matches up with the season and atmosphere! Also, now that it’s autumn, I’m really looking forward to seeing all the beautiful autumnal colours throughout the different places in Tokyo. Tomorrow, I’m planning on going along with some friends to Hakone so I’m really looking forward to that; the venetian glass museum sounds so beautiful! Another friend and I are planning on going to Nikko soon which I’m really excited about too! I’m glad there are so many places filled with nature in Japan. The diversity between the urban city environments and the quieter, less busy places is truly amazing.

華道部の活動

On Monday this week, I had the opportunity to visit Ikebana Club! I was so interested in seeing what it would be like because I have never done flower arranging before, and we don’t really have anything similar in New Zealand. It turns out you need a lot of patience and attention to detail for it! It was so cool to see the pile of leaves and flowers coming together beautifully while trying to follow the right angles and positioning. Since it was only my first time doing it, I wasn’t that good, but it was pretty amazing to see the students’ arrangements and all the things they’ve learned to do with the flowers over time! Namiki sensei’s arrangement was beautiful too! I also read up a little bit on the history and meaning of flower arrangement and I thought it was really great how the arrangements are a reflection of your personality. I had a lot of fun meeting everyone in Ikebana Club and I hope I can visit more clubs soon and learn more about the students and what they like to do. I’m especially interested in learning more about dance club!

大久保での体験

Surprise! I accidentally found myself in a part of Koreatown this week when I went to visit Okubo. I kept walking past shops and I could hear K-pop songs from many bands I know which made me happy, but I was so confused at the time about why all the shops in this area were playing Korean music! It was a really cool place though because it had many different types of people and shops and food. There were many more foreigners there than in Kichijoji, and they were from all over the world, so it was so interesting to see such a huge range of people together in one place! I found an Indian shop which was really exciting because it had all the ingredients and food I am used to at home with my parents’ cooking. There were many Japanese people shopping there which was really great to see! I even bought a kebab for dinner at a little Turkish kebab stand where the man was wearing a red and gold fez (a type of hat) and a matching vest, kind of like what Aladdin wears! I was really glad to see all the different people and cultures Japan is opening up to and I hope it can continue to grow in the future.

文化祭

　　This week I had the pleasure of attending Fujimura’s bunkasai! Back at home in New Zealand, we don’t really have anything like this, so I was really excited to see what it would be like. I attended on both days and I was so glad I did! The school had transformed beautifully with all the decorations and I absolutely loved watching the students doing the things they love, they are incredibly hard workers and so talented. The gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics performances were so amazing, I almost couldn’t believe it was real! Walking around the classrooms and visiting the various things students had set up was so interesting; I was really impressed by how students had made things such as the ride in the classroom and the haunted house, and it makes me wonder when they found the time! One of my favourite parts of the bunkasai was the end of the first day when students who had volunteered went up on stage and performed the things that they had come up with themselves. In my school, we had something similar to this called ‘Variety Show’, where students who volunteered would prepare some type of performance such as singing, dancing, and playing instruments. However, I found the performances at the bunkasai a lot more fun! The energy was awesome and I was very happy to see all the K-pop dance covers the students did, especially with how the other students cheered them on. It was truly a great experience!

NZでは経験できないこと

I still haven’t been here for that long yet and life in Japan is already quite an experience! Of course, moving and setting up your life alone in a completely new place comes with challenges, the biggest one being how much I miss my family, but there is a lot to be grateful for. I’ve been having amazing encounters with both Japanese people and other foreigners and have made some really great friends. There are also so many more events and festivals here than there are in New Zealand which is really exciting, especially because there’s a lot more people to celebrate them too!

Fujimura’s own Mass Games was a great experience; I took so many photos and videos that my phone ran out of storage space! Back at my school in New Zealand, we didn’t really have anything like this, and I’ve been told that it’s a pretty special thing even amongst Japanese schools, so I feel very lucky I got to experience that. The students had said they had been practicing since April which is amazing and I was really happy and proud to see the beautiful outcome of all the hard work they put in. I can see people rushing around even now, getting ready for the school’s culture festival, so I’m very excited!

9月1日 ダニア先生をお迎えしました。

9月1日、新しくALTの先生をお迎えしました。

Hello!
My name is Dania Rathod and I come from Wellington, New Zealand. I was born in India and moved to New Zealand when I was five years old. I am now 21 years old! I live with my mother, father, younger sister, and my very cute dog! I miss them a lot but everyone has been kind so far which makes living alone in a foreign country feel much better. Although this is my first time to Japan, my mother has been to Japan before and she said it was a beautiful country, one of the best she’s been to, so I’m really looking forward to travelling and experiencing different parts of Japan and Japanese culture! I hope I can learn Japanese quickly as well because I’d like to be able to talk to more people, but kanji is very hard! I’m already learning about many things being at this school so thank you very much for accepting me into Fujimura. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

 

 

お別れーーーエマ先生、マーレン先生

This past year at Fujimura has been an amazing teaching opportunity. We are thankful to all our wonderful students and supportive JTEs that have made this past year such an enjoyable experience. We’ve loved teaching and getting to know you all. As you move forward in your education, please remember to keep studying English! There is a huge world out there to explore and English can help you navigate it. We hope to see you all again someday.

 

Thank you all!

~Marlene Pierce and Emma Sletteland