Back from training

We are back from training and heading into our last week of not teaching, then we finally start in with what we came here to do.... teach english. the kids come back to school thursday, where we will have opening ceremonies and then immediately start in on testing, which is why vicky and i have taken this coming friday off. the kids test until tuesday and then we start teaching. so we start actually teachin in about a week and two or three days.
as for the language training that we just finished, it went very well. the japanese classes were very helpful and we both feel like we learned a lot. the culture things they had for us to do were not quite as helpful, but still had things to offer. along with the training our week was also very productive in a few other ways. Vicky located a nice set of art supplies for her to use here in Kure, I found out I'm the current undisputed dodgeball champ of JETS everywhere, and Vicky, Bernard (a jet), and I found out there are amazing 9 floor buildings were you can play all the video games you want at a price of 10 dollars for three hours. anyways, here are some pics from the week, hope you like. love you all.

Culture and Language Training

Well another week has flown by and moday we are off again to a culture and language training class in a city near Hiroshima city. We've heard that this city is up in the mountains and there is not much to do around there, so it should be a quite week. This weekend we just relaxed by watching movies, going to the beach again, going out to dinner and playing darts with our friends, and having Julie over for dinner. We are looking forward to this week and we hope that we learn a lot.
We love hearing from everyone either through the comments on our blog or e-mails. We probably won't have internet service over this week, but hopefully we will have a lot of e-mails when we return hearing about how everyone else is doing. We are having a great time, but of course we miss everyone! We look forward to hearing from you in a week.
Love, Vicky and Scott

A busy couple of days!

This past Sunday we went to the island on Miyajima to see the fireworks. Their fireworks show is the most popular in all of Japan. One of the teachers from my school and her friend took Scott and I there. We got to walk around, eat a great dinner, and watch fireworks. The fireworks lasted about an hour, but half way through we needed to be on the ferry back because if we weren't we might not make the last ferry since there were SO many people. We got to see most of the second half from the ferry. They were so spectacular. Miyajima is the island which you can see the famous floating shrine. If you look at our picture you can see it.
On Monday we didn't have anything planned. We were just sitting up in our apartment when we hear music downstairs. We went outside to the park across the street and our landlord and family we hosting a traditional celebration for the Japanese holiday that honors the dead. They were so excited when they saw us. They started giving us food and drinks. They even got Scott to join in the on dancing! We got to meet a lot of our neighbors. Everyone was speaking Japanese to us a mile a minute! We watched them do traditional dancing, drum beating, and of course Karaoke! At the end of the night they gave us bags of crackers, candy, brown sugar, and beer. What a combination!

One year

Just wanted to point out that today begins our one year countdown to our wedding. It is still a ways away, but we are enjoying our pre-marriage anniversary.

Secondly I have wanted to write about a custom that I think you all would find interesting. In Japanese schools there are no janitors - instead the students do all the school cleaning. Every day there is a designated time for the students to clean. And I don't mean grabbing Windex and wiping the windows. I have seen them cut back bushes and trees, sweep the halls, rake, the bad kids clean the bathrooms, take out garbage, dust, wash sidewalks, and I have even seen some kids climbing up on the overhangs and roofs to sweep! Scott says his school cleans 15 min a day and 1 1/2 hours at the end of each term. And the teachers just sit back and monitor. So, what do you think of that? Interesting concept...

Back from the city...

Vicky and I have just walked in the door from three days in Hiroshima City. We had to go there for yet another orientation, this one with every other jet in the prefecture. While some of the meetings and lectures were a bit long, this trip did provide us with our first extended stay in Hiroshima City. We left feeling fairly comfortable with knowing our way around. The city itself is great, there is tons to do and see. Anyone that comes to visit us will surely enjoy going there. Other than that, we are very tired and glad that we have the weekend to relax now. Maybe the beach again tomorrow...who knows. Well I know this was short, but hopefully Vicky or I can write more later when we aren't so worn out.
-scott

The Beach (Last picture post)

This past weekend we went to the beach that is three stops away from our town's train station. We went with Julie, another JET from England, that just moved here last week. It was so beautiful and we had a lot of fun.

Miyahara High School

Here are some pictures of my high school. (Vicky) And a picture of the view from the English Department office.

Kure from our roof, and some Hiroshima City pics

Here are some beautiful views of Kure from the roof of our apartment building (the ones of me and vicky), and also a picture from the top floor of a mall in hiroshima city looking out on Hiroshima city. the last pic is of vicky on one of the main drags of Hiroshima City.

Pictures of our friends and Kure

Here is a picture of our friend Travis and Scott, and Kim and I. There is also a picture of the street we live off of and a picture of the main shopping street here in Kure with Scott.

Tokyo Pictures

These are the pictures of Tokyo that we took when we were there for our orientation, they consist of views of our hotel room(you can see Mt Fugi in one), our hotel room toilet (which is like the one in our home), view from the bridge of Tokyo, and Tokyo Tower.

Our first full week

We are ending our first full week of school. It has been a little boring since we have little to do and school doesn't start for another 3 weeks. Today there were three students from America visiting my school, so I got to join the festivities. We played games, had a traditional tea ceremony, and watched a dance routine. Tomorrow we go to Hiroshima City for a conference/gathering held by JET.
-vicky
So the first week is over and it has been interesting at times, and boring at times. I only say boring because we don't start teaching until September, and we are required to be there right now with nothing to do. I study Japanese some, read the English newspaper some, ask if there is anything I can do a lot, and watch club activities. Club activities is what has made this week interesting. I've never seen a more dedicated school full of kids. They only can choose one club to be in so whether it is baseball, kendo, judo, basketball, etc. That is it. They work harder during their stretching drills than any high school team in America practices or maybe plays. The baseball team for example stretches and works out for at least an hour and a half before they even touch a glove, ball, or bat. And unlike American kids who would half ass it, or complain the whole time, these kids are giving it 100% out there in the 95 degree heat with unbelievable humidity. Not to mention they completely respect the game in every aspect and genuinely look as though they feel like they are the one is privileged to be practicing out there. I have a whole new respect for sports after watching them practice. And its not just baseball, its every sport I've watched. The most amazing part is when I see them out there all day right now practicing their butt off, and the coach is only there for about and hour or two max. It makes no difference in the effort or quality of practice if the coach is not there, I was completely amazed. Anyhow, you've read long enough, hope everyone is good back home and I hope you can even somewhat grasp through my writing the things I've seen. Love you all!
-Scott

3 in one night!

I know, this is the third one tonight, but actually this time I'm writing instead of vicky. one thing she forgot to mention is that our name on skype is scottandvictoria so you can add us if you want, otherwise sign up and then tell us what your name is so we can add you. anyhow other than that, everything vicky wrote today is accurate except stuff about me and my cell phone, i put it down once in a while. it is still hot here, and that plus wearing pants, dress shirt, and a tie everyday is a bad combination. fall winter and spring will be nice i'm sure though. I'm sure your tired of reading, so i'll check you later.

OUR CONTACT INFORMATION

There are many ways to get ahold of us. E-mail and this blog as you know. Also we have 2 cell phones, a house phone, our apartment address (for letters and envelopes sized 5 x 7 or smaller), and our school addresses (for large packages). So here it all is:
Home Phone - (0823) 21-7217
Scott's Cell - (090) 6418-0825
Vicky's Cell - (090) 2801-9792

Apartment address: email us and ask us

Vicky's School Address: 1-1 Miyahara 3-chome, Kure City, Hiroshima, Japan 737-0024 (you need to write "c/o Miyahara High School" under my name)

Scott's School Address: Soon to come...please do not send things to Scott at my school because they will be very confused and it will not get to him.

Lastly, we have downloaded a program at www.skype.com in which we can talk to people through the computer for free. The only thing is that both people have to download skype to talk to one another. If you want to talk to us let us know that you have downloaded the program and we can figure out a time to talk. (Remember that you don't need to give out personal information even though it may ask). Hope this helps!!

The supermarket adventure

Scott and I went to the supermarket to do our first serious grocery shopping. It started off good because I found a package of fresh cocktail shrimp for a little over a dollar! Then things started to look a little less familiar... I think Scott spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out what bottle contained sesame seed oil. We found a huge bottle and then used it to figure out the smaller bottle. It was a very long process. That night we cooked rice and shrimp (chicken for Scott) However the directions to use the rice cooker were in Japanese and so we had to guess how to make it. Unfortunately our rice turned out a little bit on the crunchy side. Oops.
Last night I was able to go out to a buffet dinner with the other English teachers in my school. They all try very hard to speak English to me. Even with the little they know, they all have a great sense of humor! One of the teachers is the girls basketball coach and she invited me to play with the girls at some of the summer practices. Another teacher invited me to a concert this September. Everyone works very hard to include me in their group, which makes this transition much easier.
Today Scott and I went with his supervisor to set up a bank account and get cell phones. Scott of course has been glued to his phone since the minute they put it in his hands! haha.
In case some of you were wondering...we have been taking some pictures, however we left the USB cable for my camera at home in Deerfield. I will put pictures on here as soon as I get the cable and upload the pictures on my computer. What would a major move be without forgetting something important?!