Adventures in Karate [Part Deux]!

 On Monday, I went to Yotsukaido City Hall to register myself and update my Gaijin Card. After about 1/2 an hour of pretending to understand the man explaining my health benefits, I made my way to the information desk to ask about Karate. It `just so happens` that the son of the woman working the desk is a JKA member and trains with the local chapter. She explained that she would be at tomorrow`s class and I should arrive at 7PM to watch and talk to Sensei.

 

So, the next day I rushed home, ate a quick dinner, packed my uniform (just in case) and went off in search of the class. Lucky for me the classes are given at Yotsukaido High-School which isn`t too far from my apartment. However, I still managed to get lost and 7PM was quickly approaching. I came across a tennis school and asked the instructor behind the desk if he could point me in the right direction. He told me to `Wait one moment` and ran inside the clubhouse. Less than 10 seconds later he ran out, locked the door, and motioned for me to get in his car. UNBELIEVABLE!

 

After I was dropped off (I owe that guy big-time), I walked up to the entrance and met a nice Japanese man who immediately began to speak English to me. He said, `Are you 8th Kyu? Woman told me about you. Would you like to join our party?` Now, normally I would laugh at something like that but I humbly said `Yes, thank you.` and entered the gym. Good thing I didn`t laugh at him. Turns out he`s a 5th degree black belt. Whatever party he wants me to join is fine with me! lol.

 

Anyways, good thing I brought my uniform because I ended up out there training with them. After class, Sensei handed me an application form and class schedule (all in Japanese of course) and explained the fees. Here is the breakdown...

 

Monthly Fee = 4,000 Yen ($40 US)

Tournaments = 4,000 Yen

Seminars = 5,500 Yen

*The first month is FREE!

 

As if the one month free wasn`t enough, Sensei gave me a ticket to attend the JKA National Tournament in Tokyo next month. AND, there is a seminar this weekend and he would like me to come (SWEET). Who would have thought training Karate in the motherland would be so cheap!?!?!?

-Sammy J.

Well, I'm Officially A Teacher!

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for taking so long to update this blog. I had a pretty boring few weeks stuck out in the tomatoe fields of Funabashi-Hoten. The only thing to do was sit in the one and only park and watch people walk their dogs. FUN!

 

(PS: Big thanks Cliff-desu for the one night of mischief in Shinjuku. Nothing beats posing as exchange students and getting kicked out of a college party for kicking too much game, all at a club named Ninja in New York. There`s no way I could make that one up! lol)

 

Anyways, now it`s time for the good stuff. Finally, after much waiting, I got placed. I am now officially living in the Yotsukaido section of Chiba, a 5 minute walk to the train station and 3 stops from Chiba City. To be honest, I got it made! I have plenty of shops, restaurants, and a 100 Yen shop all at my disposal. That doesn`t include Ito Yokado, the Japanese equivalent of Wallmart and Ali Baba, the best second-hand shop in the world. I managed to buy a 30 year old Japanese/nylon string guitar for $40 US. WHAT!?!?!?

 

Now, for the teaching (I did come here to work right?). I had my first 2 classes yesterday and they were AWESOME! During class, I introduced myself and the children hung on to every word making `ooh` and `ahh` sounds. Then, the JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) and I taught as a team. However, I did more acting and dancing than anything else. Gotta` love genki!

 

The rest of the day went very well. The JTE kept feeding me traditional Japanese treats and the school provided free lunch as a present for my first day. For lunch, they served a bowl of rice, some bean sprout looking stuff with corn, a small veggie omelet, a bowl of tofu/meat mixture, and a carton of milk. However, the greatest part of lunch is that you eat with the children and THE CHILDREN SERVE YOU! I have never seen anything like this before in my life. They wear aprons, gloves, masks, and hairnets and serve everyone the exact same amount of food. Then, after lunch, they clean up and bring all the dishes to the kitchen for washing. As if that isn`t enough, the children CLEAN THE SCHOOL AFTERWARDS! The only downside to this is I too have to clean the school, and my job is to weed the track/soccer field with a miniature sickel. That wasn`t so fun but I was happy to do it and spend some extra time with the kids.

 

So, as I write this blog, I am sitting in the teacher`s lounge drinking green tea and waiting for my next class. I was worried about having so much down-time during the day (since I only teach 2-3 classes) until the JTE asked me a very important question. `Would you like to take Gym class and Music class with the students?` ARE YOU SERIOUS? YES!!!!!

 

Needless to say, I am going to buy a track suit and sneakers after work!

 

-Sammy J.