Polestar October 2018 by Polestar

POLESTAR HOKKAIDO

OCTOBER 2018

Table of Contents President’s Corner Drive-Thru in Samani: An International Event PA Interview Autumn Recipe: Pumpkin Bread Three Great Fall Treks Curb Your Enthusiasm How talking to grandads about their toilet paper helps us to understand life and making every year count Around the ’Do: Nakatonbetsu Developing Yourself Through New Skills Gallery

Photo by Rehan Nel Cover photo by Rehan Nel Design by Andrew Gerber

Note From The Editor: Have you heard about Yuki-Mushi? It’s a white-haired bug that seemingly only appears a little while before the first snowfall. An old Japanese tale states that when you see a Yuki-Mushi, it will snow 10 days after you see it. I had heard this as a first year, and was baffled. “Do these things actually exist and do they actually predict snowfall?” I thought. Being a first-year at the time, I knew nothing about Hokkaido. From what I had heard at the time, these bugs had a very short-lived life; very ephemeral, indeed. They would come to life in cold-turning autumn days, and would then disappear without another thought. I personally thought that this was a good symbol of us JET’s outlook on winter. We would feel the cold and get antsy, coming to life at the first sign of winter, only to realize that the cold sucks, leaving us to endure until the following summer; essentially dead. Well, all the information I had about this bug was wrong. Apparently, Yuki-Mushi, is only a popular name for the insect, meaning that there isn’t even a thing such as a “yukimushi”. They’re actually just Abura-Mushi (Aphids) that have grown hairs in preparation for the winter. Despite learning all of this and being mind-blown, it didn’t really go against what the yuki-mushi symbolized for myself, but rather strengthened it because of the new representation these bugs had. These guys have been around all summer, got a coat because it got cold, then died. Sounds similar, right? Essentially, what I’m trying to say behind the stupid metaphor that doesn’t really make sense is: Get ready for winter. Winter is cold! But don’t be like a yuki-mushi that did all that preparation only to die weeks later; find a hobby you can do indoors, use your heater, invest in a good jacket, etc. There’s lots of things you can do without having to even go outside. Always be prepared for the worst, but at the same time enjoy the cruel beauty of Hokkaido’s winter!

—A lex R eyes

President’s Corner Hello HAJET, With swabs of colour and chilly winds sweeping through the mountains and woods into our towns and cities, it’s undisputedly fall here in Hokkaido. Fall is a time for steeling oneself for the coming winter, enjoying the last few summeresque days, and entering deep contemplation and self-reflection before turning those thoughts into actions over the winter. Here are a few (haiku-style) poems I wrote to try and capture some of the pensive feelings of the season so that they can be felt, remembered and ultimately, understood. Note: For readability, non-standard readings of kanji are written in katakana in the right column. —Devan Hawkins

Leaves of Luxury

ぜいたくのは The tears of a tree As winter draws ever close ぜいたくの葉きのナミダ Can’t be afforded. ふゆがくるほどよゆうない

木の涙冬が来るほど余裕な

Sync

呼吸 Heard from the chorus As the curtains start to rise, 合唱や One collective breath.

こきゅう

幕が上がってともに息がっしょうやまくがあがってともにいき

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Respite Moon-viewing sake* 休み Sipped little bit at a time After an earthquake. 月見酒

ちびちびと飲む地震あと

やすみ

つきみざけちびちびとのむじしんあと

The Next Generation A new leaf now falls Above the still, dried old leaves. It touches the ground.

Fading Colours Autumn’s falling leaves; Admired by everyone, Useless to the tree.

落ちている色

次の世代

落葉してつぎのせだい枯れ葉の上やおちばしてチラッかなかればのうえやちらっかなおちているイロ

落ち葉かなおちばかな皆に愛され木に無用ミナにあいされきにむよう

Drive-Thru in Samani: An International Event

Haleigh Chasteen

In our first class, we compared America and Japan’s fast food culture, centering on drive-thrus. We had our participants make hamburgers and onion rings, and to our luck, a reporter from the Hokkaido newspaper was there to dress his own hamburger and eat with us. The next day, our class was in the prefectural newspaper. This class which was our second of four American food classes, featured dining in America, highlighting things like tipping waiters and portion sizes. The JETs in my town and I discussed many differences we have encountered while dining in Japan, and since many people in our town haven’t been to America, we wanted to bring our culture to them. In addition to this, we prepared a meal for them that can only be found in an American restaurant, specifically one from the south, where our CIR is from (chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli and carrots).

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About International Event Funding Hello everyone! Your HAJET treasurer here for a quick low down on international event funding. Do you have an idea for a wonderful event that could help promote international exchange in your local community? Are your pockets not lined with gold and neither is your town/village/city? Then maybe HAJET can help! HAJET members can have an event funded up to 15,000 yen as long as the event adheres to HAJETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision of promoting internationalisation and cross-cultural exchange.

Process

Head over to the HAJET website (http://www.hajet.org/international-event-funding/) and fill in the application form, either before or after your event. Send off the application to our President at president@hajet.org. (You can apply up to two months before your event and up to one month after!)

Wait until the HAJET Prefectural Council (PC) votes on whether to fund your event! (If your application is denied, you still have the chance to re-apply following revision of your event)

Your event has been approved. If you applied before your event: you can go ahead and make your purchases. Please make sure to save all your receipts! After your event: send off a financial report with receipts, a summary of the event as well as pictures of your event to HAJET (president@hajet.org).

Step 4: Get reimbursed! The treasurer will be in touch with you in order to sort out the finer details of getting reimbursed, usually through bank transfer.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the simplified version, for more details visit: http://www.hajet.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/OFFICIAL_HAJETEventFundingPolicy.pdf

An Interview with

Terrence L. Wissick by Alex Reyes

Many of us know you on a surface level, but tell us who you are and a brief story about how you got here. My name is Terrence L. Wissick, Jr., although most of you call me TJ (which I most definitely prefer). A smaller number of you refer to me as “Banjo”, but the origin of that title has been swallowed by the mists of time. As you may have noticed already, I have a rare genetic condition that renders my body incapable of producing the chemicals required to give a straight answer to practically anything. Still, here it goes! My JET Story™ is likely similar to a lot of others. Fresh out of college, I had not even the slightest idea of what to do with my still piping-hot Bachelor’s degree. Over the course of a gap year spent in the workforce, I did some soul-searching while struggling with a newborn addiction to Mountain Dew Kickstart, and eventually came to realize that I needed to be doing something with my life where there was always room for growth. Learning Japanese during undergrad had always inspired that feeling in me, and so I decided that I’d like to pursue it as a profession. Speaking with a number of people in the “Japanese education community” (which is a thing, believe it or not!), I realized that one answer was consistent across all of the accounts I heard: if you want to work with Japanese, there’s no better option than JET. So began the stressful several months of “hurry up and wait” that is the cornerstone of the JET application process. After several long trips to my embassy and confusing my coworkers by speaking in tongues when they tried to get fresh with me, I was accepted aboard “the JET” to start my journey in Hokkaido as an ALT.

So you first began your JET career as an ALT, what made you decide to take on the PA position? I’ll answer this question by rewinding far into the murky past of two-ish years ago. During our first prefectural meeting in Tokyo, where all the new JETs Japan-wide are crammed into a single room and sorted off – you know the one – I can distinctly remember listening to the PA’s presentation and thinking, “there is absolutely NO way I’d ever be able to do a job like that.” It seemed so far out of reach. Naturally, the universe caught wind of that, and by the middle of my second year as an ALT, I had the thought, “I’ve taught this material before. Time for something new?” I wasn’t ready to head home to the US, though. There was still plenty left to do here in Hokkaido. So I racked my brain. I remembered being tremendously impressed with the support that the PA was able to offer those who needed it, and as an ALT, every time I spoke with a JET having trouble, I’d wish that there was something more I could do. Applying for the PA position seemed like a natural next step.

Furthermore, how was your time as an ALT, what are the big differences between the two jobs? Since becoming the PA, are there certain aspects of being an ALT that you miss? My time as an ALT was tremendously valuable. I still am in regular contact with a number of teachers I worked with, and was fortunate enough to have a placement where several of my coworkers eventually became friends as well. Even on particularly gloomy days, the students had a way of zeroing in on ways to make me laugh and not letting up until I’d at least crack a smile. I really miss having that sort of rapport in my new position. It’s not that I don’t have any now, but there’s a certain level of goofy and overthe-top that, in a classroom setting, is welcomed. In an office, it’s more or less frowned upon, although I do try my best to dance on a desk at least once a week. As an ALT, I was also blessed with a lot of personal time, which I (mostly) put to good use, sharpening my musical skills, studying Japanese, and learning to actually get out of the house every once and a while. Now, I definitely have to strike a much firmer work life-personal life

polestar balance. If I was to whip out a textbook and start studying at my desk right now, it definitely wouldn’t go over well. The plus side of this new position, and also one of the key differences from being an ALT, is that speaking Japanese at work isn’t just a nice added benefit that comes in handy sometimes. It’s now the main focus of my job, and without it, even the basic day-to-day could easily become a slog. I’m really grateful for the push that this shift has inspired. The pressure to communicate myself better and more naturally, I believe, will keep me driven to improve. Coworkers here will often make corrections to my Japanese, as opposed to the nearly ubiquitous, “I said ‘how are you today?’ in Japanese and was told that my Japanese was really good” that we often get as foreigners. That kind of praise is good for the ego, but it can be hard to focus in on your own weaknesses when they aren’t pointed out to you.

How was the transition between the two jobs? The transition was…hectic! As you might imagine, packing up your belongings and driving them into the city over several trips is a bit draining. But the actual moving remains a good memory, thanks to the help of some of my coworkers from Naie. Turns out that one of my Japanese friends is very good at headbanging. It’s probably no surprise that the responsibilities of a CIR/PA are drastically different from those of an ALT. I was fortunate enough to have a week of work that overlapped with the previous PA, Emily. It was incredible, and extremely humbling, to watch her doing various jobs with barely a second thought while I repeatedly asked such questions as, “Okay, so remind me again how to log into my email?” I’ve finally come to accept that all new jobs have a learning curve, and maybe it’s okay to not know everything from the get-go. I’m still really eager to see what new things I’ll learn during my time here. All the while, I’m immensely glad that I have this chance to help people.

Do you have any funny stories from working as a PA? Honestly, the entire experience has been more or less a complete blur up until now. The one memory that stands out is our first “missile drill,” where they simulate what would happen if a missile came. Step one is to hide under your desk, so that falling debris doesn’t crush your noggin. The “alarm” went off, and everyone else tucked neatly into the space underneath their desks. Meanwhile, there sat my awkward self, gangly legs haphazardly sprawled out, with my torso only half-protected by what little of the desk I could fit under. Every time there’s mention of another safety drill of any sort, I’m now asked if I’ll be able to fit my legs into the evacuation space.

What advice do you have to any wide-eyed first years who are beginning to settle in? I kind of touched upon this in a previous question, as I’m still learning it myself. Be patient with yourself. Understand that you aren’t your predecessor, you’ll do things differently, and when you eventually leave, your successor will do things differently, too. Those around you understand that you’re trying, and if they see the efforts you’re making, they will come to your aid when you need it. I think that the most important things in starting any new adventure are open-mindedness and patience. I’m personally pretty bad at the latter. Past the super-philosophical life advice, my biggest suggestion is: get out there! Do something new! Go hang out with people, see new places, and make the most of your time here. I can still scarcely believe that I’ve been here for two years. Don’t let a moment go to waste!

What is your survival tactic for winter? When the snow starts to fall, I do my best to stay active and do new things. Generally, that takes the form of new recipes, and tasty meals while huddled up in front of my heater watching The Office for the six-dozenth time. Unfortunately, this also has the unpleasant side effect of “packing it on” in the weight department, and from there I make my way through the cycle of selfloathing and begin exercising again come spring. Let’s be honest though. Homemade nabe and oden? Totally worth the weight gain. I also end up being far more creative in the winter. I think it’s a convenient benefit of not really

leaving your house, except to open the door and swear at the snow like an old man brandishing his cane at the band whippersnappers on his lawn. If you’re ever in the Sapporo area during winter, come see one of my, “it’s-dark-at-4pm-and-I’m-definitely-not-projecting-my-rage-through-music” performances!

If you had to choose a single restaurant in all of Hokkaido, which would be your #1? Choosing a single restaurant is like choosing a favorite song, but I’ll give it a shot! I’d opt for 奥芝商店（おくしばしょうてん） which is a soup curry restaurant with, frankly, no equal. When I first came as an ALT, my predecessor treated me to a meal here, and I’m really not sure whether I was crying because it was so delicious, or because my mouth was filled with fire. Either way, it was an excellent experience. The tragic ending to this saga, though, came to pass when my predecessor came to visit several months ago. As a way to bring things full-circle, I suggested we make a pilgrimage to the holy land of soupy spicy goodness. Already salivating at the thought of freshly-made sausage, and chicken so tender it could’ve replaced the main character of any romance novel, we came to the door to read a sign that truly, only the cruelest being alive could’ve written: Permanently Closed. The date? One day prior. This time, the tears I shed were those of loss. Fare thee well, soup curry restaurant. We hardly knew ye. But wait, M. Night. Shyamalan plot twist. There’s another branch of this beautiful place in Sapporo. Though it do be lacking in nostalgic value, it do also be full of soup curry. It’s a compromise I’m willing to make.

Did you have any “senpais” that helped guide you when you were a first year? As a first year, I was lucky enough to be welcomed to events hosted by ALTs in nearby towns like Sunagawa, Takikawa, and Iwamizawa. Having a train that ran with some regularity is still something that I’m grateful for. As I’d also mentioned earlier, a number of coworkers in Naie made my transition to inaka Japan life a smooth and pleasant one. I still go back to pester them with some regularity! More recently, of course, I’ve had the fortunate pleasure of working with Emily Schuster, the previous PA, who made the transition into this job far easier than it had any right to be. Even now, she’ll get the occasional panicked, “WHERE IS THIS THING?” and she’s answered every time. I’m immensely grateful for all the help she’s provided along the way, and I hope that someday I can match even half of her grace under fire.

What’s a place in Hokkaido that you want to visit, but haven’t had the chance to yet? My greatest shame thus far has been that in my two years here, I’ve never made my way out to any part of eastern Hokkaido. I’d very much like to visit Akan and Kushiro, but I’ve just never mustered up the courage to get my dinky little kei-car out that way (also long trips make me grumpy, but if I’m being honest, what doesn’t?). If you like road-tripping, listening to DnD podcasts for literal hours on end, and complaining about any car that has the misfortune of being in front of us no matter the speed they’re going, then hit me up and explore eastern Hokkaido together with me!

Questions from HAJET PC Is there anyone from the academy you would like to thank? I would actually like to thank the academy itself. As in, the building. There’s an academy building somewhere, right? Or do they just like, stand outside and give awards to each other? Does the academy even teach anything? Does it have any relation to the Star Wars Force Academy, and if so, how do I join? These questions keep me up at night. Thank you, academy. Your walls are walls, and you are a building. I think. (Also, thank you everyone for always checking in on me and being excellent people in general. The community here rocks.)

At what point did you realize you were Jim Carey’s clone, and how did it affect you?

Wait, wait, wait. I’m his clone?! I was not informed that these questions would contain a Dr. Phil-styled intervention in which you shatter the foundations of everything I’ve ever held dear. So, to answer your question, I guess literally right now, this instant, is the first time that I’ve ever realized that I had a direct genetic connection to Jim Carrey. I was Ace Ventura for Halloween last year, but sadly the vast majority of Jim Carrey’s characters (Carrey-cters?) aren’t distinctive enough to stand out unless you’re actually doing the physical comedy aspect of them, as well. I might make an attempt at The Mask somewhere down the line. I can actually naturally make my eyes do that weird thing where they get really huge and shoot out of my head. I always figured it was just a special talent. Now, I see that it’s genetic.

What’s with the face you make in all your photos? It has become a full-fledged, unpreventable physical reaction to the sight of cameras. There are no small number of unsuspecting tourists who have been lucky enough to get my gaping maw and goofy grin on full display in the background of their photos. I got yelled at by one of said tourists once. Given that I still do it anyway; I clearly do not learn from my mistakes. You know when you’re told, “Be careful not to make that face too long, or it might get stuck that way?” They’re not joking. Take heed, friends.

Can you describe what’s going through your mind when your picture is being taken? Here’s a play-by-play: “Hey nice, a camera!” “Wait, oh God. A camera.” “Uhhhhhh, alright. Let’s just be cool this time, alright? Normal smile?” “Yeah, normal smile. What does one of those look like again? I don’t remember.” “What do you mean you don’t remember? How do you not remember what a normal smile looks like?” w. Just imagine someone smiling. Yeah, that’s it. Wait, no that can’t be right. That’s not a smile. They look like Taz from Looney Tunes.” “Man, Looney Tunes was a great show. Remember that time that the coyote tried to eat the bird? And then the bird ran all the way over the canyon but the coyote couldn’t and he didn’t realize it until he was halfway across because sentient mammals don’t have a clear grasp on the laws of natu—“ “THEY’RE TAKING THE PICTURE. PANIC AND DO THE THING.” *click*

photo by Yukino Yamamoto

Pumpkin bread -

Greg Emond

Good month of October, dear HAJETers and HAJETettes. Halloween is now in everyone’s sights, so I’ve decided to annoy you all with more pumpkin goods. (Insert evil grin here) “But why?” “Why must you punish us with such torture when our bellies are already overdosing on excesses of those darn pumpkins we received as gifts!” you may ask. Well, I have many reasons. First of all, I have never turned down the opportunity to torture my peers for no apparent reason, and this was too good of a chance to let it pass by. More importantly though, pumpkins are pretty popular in Hokkaido, and giving back pumpkin bread to your benefactors is a sure shot to suddenly become the most popular gaijin in town, even if you are the only one. Also, pumpkin has a really nice property when incorporated in bread dough. This magic vegetable makes it become as easy to work with as play-dough, which allows you to get pretty creative and make really cool decoration bread. The only limit is how good you are with regular clay. See, pumpkin has a lot of fiber in addition of a really unique protein that gives bread dough a completely different texture when working with it. The beauty of it is that the end result is still fluffier and more delicious than anything you’d attempt to make without it. To top it all off, it gives the bread a really cool orange crumb that gets people talking a lot! So, without further adieu, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients 300g pumpkin puree (half a medium pumpkin plus 40g water) 800g flour 2 eggs (=100g) 80g fat 80g sugar 100ml cold water 100ml milk 16g salt 25g yeast 0.5g cinnamon 0.3g nutmeg 1 extra egg (for egg-wash)

As you can see, this is for a pretty big batch, and I did this on purpose. You’ll probably want to try a couple of different times to make sure that at least one of your creations turns out nice after proofing. You can always eat the less than perfect ones. If you do half the recipe, it is much easier to knead, and will fit in most bread machines.

1. Make the damn puree.

Method

To make the puree, just cut your pumpkin in half, remove its entrails and put it in a microwaveable bowl. Add some water at the bottom of the bowl. Just a little water is fine. You don’t want to boil your pumpkin; you want to steam cook it. Cover with cellophane film, and nuke it in the microwave until it becomes soft to the touch. It takes me about 7-8 minutes at 800W in my microwave, but yours might take a bit longer. Once it’s soft, peel it and mash it like you were making mashed potatoes. Instead of adding milk, add a bit of the water that was in the bowl. It has all of the pumpkin’s vitamins. You pretty much want the same texture as mashed potatoes.

2. Whisk, whisk baby! Mix the yeast with the water, and wait until it makes froth.

3. I have mixed feelings about this. Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl with cooking chopsticks or a big wooden spoon. Once the dough becomes too stiff to mix with chopsticks, it’s time to knead.

4. Muscle kneaded.

Before you start kneading, you want the dough texture to feel like a somewhat malleable chunk of play-dough. If it’s too soft, add a bit of flour; and if it’s too hard, add a little bit of water.

If you don’t have a bread machine or a stand mixer, I highly recommend watching this video. (https:// youtu.be/BJiucv88flM) It’s extremely short, but the technique is simple and sound. You should keep on kneading until you can do a satisfactory window test, or until your arms die of exhaustion. A window test is basically taking a piece of dough and stretching it between your fingers. If you can stretch it until the light passes through without it ripping apart, you’re in business. There is a downside to this recipe however. The pumpkin’s taste doesn’t stand out a lot since it has a very similar flavor profile as bread, when you think about it. That’s why the cinnamon and nutmeg are really important additions. This is the “tamed” recipe if you want local people to be able to eat your bread. However, if you make it for yourself or other foreign nationals, please feel free to go nuts with the spices. Next, round the dough, let it rest for 15 minutes and you’re good to go.

5. No time, brah! If you are somewhat familiar with bread making, you’ll realize that the yeast to flour proportion is completely insane, and that this dough should be rising before you even finish kneading. This is where the magic of milk happens. Milk has a lot of lactose (obviously), and that thing acts as a buffer between the yeast and its food. As you probably know, yeast feasts on the starch contained in the flour, and produces gasses along with alcohol. However, when in presence of lactic acid, the reaction is dramatically slowed down until enough alcohol is produced, which then counterbalances the acid’s effects. TL/DR: Milk gives you about 30 to 40 minutes before the dough really starts fermenting. So now is the time to have fun with the dough, but don’t mess around. It will start rising soon. Cut the dough in many separate pieces, and work it however you want. Here are a couple pics of stuff you can do. Enjoy the food porn.

6. Always finish in a wash. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl and apply with an egg wash brush, or a paper towel. Let proof until it’s doubled in size, and bake off. You might realize, to your horror, that some pieces of bread don’t look as good when proofed. I know, it sucks… but the more you make, the better you’ll become.

7. Get baked. Bake at 190 Celsius for roughly 20 minutes, or until your creations are dark brown on top. The beauty of the egg washed bread is that it can be baked in any oven and still look good. Even that crappy 5,000 yen microwave/oven combo will do.

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Enjoy the ride, and happy baking! â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Greg

Three Great Fall Treks

mountainsofhokkaido mountainsofhokkaido.com

Look, I’m going to be honest, here: these aren’t the best fall hikes in Hokkaido. The best fall hikes in Hokkaido are going to be stacked up to the ears with people going to see the changing leaves. Resist the urge to visit the Daisetsuzan. It’s tempting because it’s beautiful, but the trails will be packed, and you’ll wind up waiting 2-3 hours for a ropeway car down from Kuro-dake. Ask me how I know. Instead, if you’re looking for a proper autumnal escape, let me suggest a couple of terrific spots to get away into the clean chilly breezes of Hokkaido’s fall forests.

photo by Colette English

Panorama-dai is a little-known trek up the north rim of Sounkyo that takes you through the thick softwood forests opposite the Kuro-dake ropeway. The start of the climb is tough but beautiful in an old-growth kind of way, before making its way into rows and rows of cultured evergreens. Before you know it you’ll be up on the plateau; and from there it’s just a short jaunt out onto the rocky outcrop overlooking the whole valley at the northern Daisetsuzan alike.

パノラマ台

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雄阿寒岳

photo by Andrew Gerber Oakan-dake is the little brother of the much-better-known Meakan-dake. Between you and me, Meakan is the better hike, but it’s also likely to be packed in the fall. Oakan is a great substitute, since it’s a little more off-the-beatentrack. The forests are lovely, dark and deep, especially from the summit, where you’ll have a great view over almost all of Akan.

Teshio-dake is one of northern Hokkaido’s best kept-secrets, with a hike that takes you through forests in the valleys and big plateaux of sasa bamboo and scree in the highlands, crossing three different peaks, each with their own character and style. The drive to the trailhead alone is worth it in the fall. And there’s a relatively modern A-frame hut at the trailhead, if you’re planning to stay the night before. Only downside: it’s bit of a drive to an onsen afterwards.

天塩岳 17

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Reality v Expectations in Japanese English Classes

The Japanese Education System is more or less analogous to that of the West. This is inevitable in today’s global community where it becomes necessary to measure/rank ourselves across a standard gradient – cue the death knell of the Bell Curve heralding the grim spectre of standardised testing. How many of us were taught in elementary school that any number divided by zero is zero? This, of course, is not quite true. In fact, it is most certainly incorrect – a simple workaround for an undefined problem. Nevertheless, in Jamaican primary schools, this is how we are introduced to basic arithmetic, and much of our math curriculum at the primary level is “simplified” in the same way. Actually, it’s not just math and it doesn’t just happen at the primary level. Most subjects are usually introduced in stages, starting out like conveyor belt pop songs – rudimentary and superficial – then going more in-depth the more one advances or specializes. The apothegm, “choose your battles”, comes to mind. Inescapably, English is also taught in the same way. For instance, in the current elementary school curriculum, there is an entire year between when students are taught uppercase and lowercase letters and not much time is spent teaching grammar. It is, at the very least, not inconceivable that students might benefit from being taught the past tense while on the topic of “My Summer Vacation”, but doing so would require them learning the rules of conjugation, including

the common exceptions and so on. In its current state, the lesson introduces the concept but keeps the content light and the delivery simple and accessible. Perhaps it is wise here, to sacrifice depth for breadth. Currently, unlike students at the secondary level, elementary school students do not have English exams at the end of each term. As a result, teaching styles will most certainly differ – you might find that JTE`s at the secondary level are more by the book, quite literally, while elementary school teachers are apt to take a more flexible approach in delivering English lessons. However, with the recent curriculum reform, English tests might soon become part of the elementary school curriculum for the fifth and sixth grades, where English is now an official subject instead of gaikokukatsudo (foreign culture activity), as it was previously categorised. One could weigh the pros and the cons of the curriculum reform but, for better or for worse, it seems that this is the path that the Japanese government is determined to take. Students and teachers will undoubtedly adapt but, despite the ministry’s ambitious guidelines, whether or not this will improve fluency in English for the average Japanese is unclear. In any case, at the elementary level it is probably more important to get students excited about learning English while building a solid foundation for further study in junior high school. Building enthusiasm might seem trivial but, for the average Japanese person, English is not seen as a necessity, nor is there

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By Jordane Delahaye

much opportunity to put the English taught at school into practice and so disinterest can easily take root; without interest, students are unlikely to work hard at or even retain much from English lessons. Admittedly, having ALTs in the classroom is a good move in this regard as many elementary school students tend to be excited about communicating with and impressing these English speaking foreigners. On the other hand, JTE’s at the secondary level have a considerably more difficult task set before them because of English exams. The various government bodies are prone to lofty (and often vague) vernacular in describing curricula goals – “deep learning through proactive efforts and dialogue”/the cultivation of a “zest for living” – but what this all trickles down to is how well students do on exams. Like it or leave it, standardised tests are here to stay and, just like teachers elsewhere, a JTEs’ main responsibility is to prepare students for these exams that will almost certainly dictate their future. The question is, at least for ALTs, what does this mean for English classes? By the end of my first week attending classes (a.k.a. that week I spent going through my jikoshoukai over and over again like a seasoned performer – Gene Kelly, eat your heart out), it had dawned on me that I would be hard pressed to have even simple English conversations with most of my junior high kids. This became apparent when it came to Q&A time – I was left wanting for dialogue. My kids at the junior high level have an

photo by Alex Reyes

extensive English vocabulary but a woeful understanding of how to use it, it seems. Yet they seem to understand so much. They are generally great with expressing phrases that they have already been taught but outside of that, go get blood from a stone. Part of it, understandably, is shyness (this was suggested by one of my JTEs). Another thing I had to consider is the cultural dissimilarities between ALTs and Japanese students – in my abounding ignorance, I asked questions that were just not appropriate to their culture (it was suggested by another JTE that my kids would not be willing to answer such roguish questions as “who is the better player, you or Kanto?” …out of loyalty, no less). However, the general consensus seems to be that the students simply did not have a response – either they had never given much thought to the question before, the question was not relevant to them, or they simply did not know the answer. Regardless, in either case, there is a simple response that my junior high kids know the vocabulary for (also a response that is used often in their own language): “I don’t know”. So why won’t they employ their vocabulary? Furthermore, whenever I asked a question, I would react to their (usually one word) answers but when I gave an answer to their question, they would simply say thank you and sit down. Where is the dialogue? What happened to the good ol’ back and forth? I’m blaming standardised tests.

Curb Your

As previously mentioned, JTEs have a curriculum to cover and students will be tested based on this curriculum. The reality is, no matter how much fun students have in class, no matter how much English they learn or how much their diction improves, just like in the West, it all seems for naught if they do not pass their exams and what’s more, the results need to scale favourably on the graph. Because of this, teachers naturally focus on drilling the material that will be tested on the exam (from which many students are disconnected) which leaves little room for conversation practice. That’s where ALT’s are supposed to come in but in most cases, as has been my experience in junior high classrooms, we are relegated to the role of voice recorders.

Japanese is necessary in English classes to bridge the gap between the content and a thorough understanding. However, it’s not so much that the task is impossible, but more so that it makes English classes exceedingly tedious for both students and JTEs. I suppose that the expectation is that, in the long run, especially with the bolstering of English activities at the elementary level, conducting classes in English will improve overall competence in the language but, it has long been established that anxiety and academic performance have an inverse relationship, especially with high stress subjects. It is therefore not baseless to conjecture that making English classes more difficult than they already are might have the adverse effect of impeding performance in the subject while simultaneously leading to decreased interest and added stress at school, which could affect overall academic performance.

So, we choose our battles. I remember the moment when I found out in high school that a number divided by zero does not actually equate to zero. The impression was profound – hello, compounding existential angst – life felt like a lie and my entire universe seemed alien to me. What else was “not quite correct”? I quickly adjusted however and since then I have come to recognise that this Nevertheless, given this challenge, “scaling down” is constantly being done JTEs are also expected to conduct in classrooms everywhere, in every subject. classes exclusively in English. Of It is inevitable that if you can’t at once course, no one expects that anyone give everything, something’s gotta give. should hold strictly to this task. Regardless, we all go on to specialise

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Enthusiasm,

cont.

inner French man… “sacrebleu!” in different fields and most of the information gathered in school that we do At the end of the day, it is good enough not apply is resigned to oblivion. that we have improved upon existing communication skills. My elementary As native English speakers, we might and junior high school kids do not need feel compelled to drill our kids until to leave the classroom ready to migrate to their enunciation sounds like ours; or Englishville, nor do they need to be versed we might want to introduce some extra vocabulary so that our kids can say more on the nuances of the various English dictions (to-may-to, to-maw-to). It’s not or speak more naturally in English but a matter of whether or not these kids are if you think about it, all we are doing capable, they are more than capable. Yes, is increasing the workload for our kids, we could make them learn more words, and why? So we can feel accomplished we could spend more time improving as teachers? So they can speak better pronunciation, we could suggest any English? The latter justification might seem pertinent but, to reference my inner number of ways to improve their language acquisition, all of which would no doubt French man, “How about you speak increase their workload, but we choose our better Japanese, sacrebleu!” The future is battles. Notably, the task of acquiring multilingual. Speaking fluent English any language is a hefty one and so is is only relevant to the students who the task of teaching it. The most learned want to or need to for future endeavours. English prescriptivists will tell you that We provide a good foundation for them they are still students of the language and there are kids who will go above and and even English writers struggle with beyond just because they are interested, grammar and spelling from time to and we support them – I know plenty time. The reality is, our students will (there is one 6th grader in particular never learn everything, nor will they be who astonishes me every time with his perfect at communicating in English adeptness at conversing in Japanglish). Every day I encounter Japanese people with (we all have miscommunications and little to no English ability and their lives misunderstandings in our own language). seem in no way diminished. Furthermore, Still, all is not lost. Just studying a neither the present nor the former English foreign language alone is tremendously beneficial to the brain, and every lesson curriculum prevents Japanese students from going on to become competent or even is an opportunity to improve competence, aptitude, and enthusiasm to learn English. fluent English speakers. I know enough Japanese English speakers (in high school, But, as the adage goes, Rome was not built in a day. even) to outright refute any such claim and if you have any gripe with their accents I would refer you again to my

photo by Andrew Gerber

Max Turner

How talking to grandads about their toilet paper helps us to understand life and making every year count

“Y

ou know what?”, my brother said after a short silence.

We sat on a chocolate brown leather sofa, sipping on cocktails in a quiet bar the night before his wedding. A fire was warming our cold feet in front of us, filling the gaps of conversation with gentle crackles. My brother and I were alone in the cigar room of the Edinburgh hotel. Both sitting up on the edge of the seat, our eyes were set on the flickering flames. My brother was rubbing his hands together. “Grandad said something quite depressing recently”. I raised an eyebrow and took a short sip from the froth of the espresso martini I had ordered. Stressed about the big day, I wondered. Let’s get a hard drink down him. “I asked him how he’s been getting on recently” – A few years ago, my brother lost his grandmother to cancer, and it had greatly affected the side of the family in ways that only losing a loved one can. “He said life used to travel so slowly, year to year.”

Grandad was always busy and had a young family. “But now,” my brother said as he was swirling his glass in his hand, “Life’s moving too fast, and he knows what’s coming”. “What did you say?” I asked. I didn’t know what to say, I kind of just listened. At first I was expecting some kind of dark, dry punchline; something lighthearted to bring the mood back up. The night before the biggest day of his life, I wondered how much was on his mind at any second. “He said life was like a toilet roll.” I let out a short giggle. Half from nerves, half thinking that was the punchline. My brother smiled. “You only realize you haven’t got any when you need it most? Or that it’s usually covered in shit?” I asked. “Not the most elegant of metaphors, to be fair” my brother grinned. We finished our drinks, wrapped up in scarves and jackets to protect us from the Scottish bite of cold outside, and walked

polestar around Grassmarket. It was a bitter cold December night, especially being after midnight. Moths fluttered beneath streetlights as we walked off the martinis. On the stumble, he recalled that his grandad explained the toilet roll analogy like this. “When you start off, the roll spins slowly around as you take paper, sheet by sheet. It looks like there will be paper forever. It just keeps spinning. But the closer you come to the end of the roll,” he said, “the faster it spins and the more it rattles around. You know it’s only a matter of time before it’s the end of the roll”. “You’re not wrong.” I looked down and paused. “It’s not an elegant metaphor.” We got back to the hotel and ordered one more espresso martini. Easing the nerves and giving us another opportunity to sit in front of the beaming fire. We sat again facing the flames. After slipping off his shoes, my brother looked into his drink and wriggled his toes. His socks were thick and orange, and the glass he was spinning in his hand was flicking in the firelight.

and family younger than I am, but to say goodbye to loved ones, as an old man? There’s a sense of certainty at that point in our lives. Until that point, we can spend time with family, friends, doing the things we love, or spending time going through motions of the everyday. More elegant a symbol, maybe, but I see the martini glass as a way of expressing anything that’s enjoyable to pass. Our lives on JET start rich with adventures and possibility, but time moves on as we drink from the glass. Thinking back to that day as I write now, its a question about how we enjoy our time and what we do with it. I guess in my young years, now, I’m in a position where life is moving along. The toilet roll is full, my glass topped up to the brim. But as the journey continues, the glass will empty faster and the roll will spin around. Nowadays, I can’t look at a toilet roll without thinking that time is running out. It’s great to keep me going, but I can’t just relax and take a newspaper to the toilet anymore.

“I’d suggest something a bit more refined, personally.” I said, interrupting the silence. “How about a martini? That’s a metaphor, and maybe a better one. It’s dark and dry and bitter.” He smiled at me and I smiled back. “At first, the glass feels full, but each sip pushes the foam of the drink towards the bottom of the glass faster than the last. Eventually you’re on the last swig and then the drink is empty” What does it mean to think of life as so short? I’ve unexpectedly lost friends

なかとんべつ

中頓別町

Jacqueline Witwicki

About 45 minutes from the Eastern Coast of Hokkaido’s Soya region, nestled between mountains on both sides, sits the small but vibrant town of Nakatonbetsu. Nakatonbetsu is known for its agriculture industry, particularly dairy farming, and its historical gold rush. Nakatonbetsu also uses uber as a form of transportation. Despite its reputation as a sleepy inaka town, there’s plenty of fun shenanigans that you can get up to in Nakatonbetsu; whether you’re outdoorsy, a foodie, or an onsen enthusiast.

photo by Jacqueline Witwicki

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Outdoor Adventures Pinneshiri A major draw to Nakaton is the prospect of conquering Mt. Pinneshiri. A 4 to 5 hour hike total, Pinneshiri’s “peak” climbing season is from August to October. On a clear autumn day, climbers are treated to gorgeous views of the ocean, Hokkaido’s fall colors, and views of the surrounding mountains, including Mt. Rishiri. Very lucky climbers may even catch a glimpse of Sakhalin Island! In the winter the mountain is open to brave snowshoers.

Limestone Caves This cave network is free to explore independently on the cave trail. Lights have been placed in the cave allowing guests to observe all of the stalactites, stalagmites, and natural rock formations. You may also book a guide to explore deeper in the cave or to explore out of season and see the cave coated in ice. The area around the cave is famous for Shibazakura, which bloom in spring. Open season for the cave is from late April to October, and guests are welcome from 9:30am to 4:30pm.

Foodie Paradise Ramen Challenge

Ramen Challenge at Hachiban Shokudo 八番食堂: While this family owned ramen shop is fantastic, one thing sets it apart. 八番食堂 has a massive ramen challenge that can serve up to 10 people! Come with friends or test how tough you really are. 八番食堂 is open from 11am to 7pm and closed Sundays.

Ton Ton

This specialty community restaurant and café with an international feel offers set meal lunches made from locally grown and sourced foods. On occasion, Ton Ton will also have guest chefs who prepare foods from their unique backgrounds. The owner also speaks incredible English, so don’t be shy! Ton Ton is open Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays for Lunch, 11am-2pm.

Onsen Pinneshiri After climbing Mt. Pinneshiri and visiting the Michi no Eki to pick up some of Nakaton’s famous “Gold Dust Ramen”, walk across the street and soak away your woes at this onsen. The onsen itself has two hot tubs, one cold tub, and a sauna. They also seem to be tattoo friendly, although I’ve never explicitly seen this written anywhere. After soaking, grab a snack from the restaurant. I recommend the Original Gyoza set.

Koganeyu While smaller than the Pinnishiri onsen, this bath house offers an amazing opportunity to really get to know the people and unique culture of Nakatonbetsu. Conveniently connected to Ton Ton, this sento has an incredibly friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

Festivals Milk Festival First Saturday in September. Come eat yakiniku, get free meat, free dairy products, and compete in a milk drinking contest!

Shibare Matsuri Winter Festival Last Saturday in January. Nakaton’s version of the Sapporo Snow Festival. Come ride snowmobiles, a banana boat in the snow, and slide down a giant snow slide.

Limestone Cave Festival First Sunday in June. This festival takes place when the caves open for the summer season and the Shibazakura are blooming. Expect lots of local food and yakiniku.

Latitude 45° Summer Festival First Saturday and Sunday in August. While having all the hallmarks of a standard summer festival, this festival also draws national attention for its water balloon toss contest, which welcomes foreigners and has a grand prize of 50,000 yen!

Developing Yourself Through New Skills Mitchel Lange

Do you want to learn a new skill? Was there something you always kinda had in the back of your mind that seemed really fun, interesting, or useful? It could be anything -- maybe a new language, developing a new talent, or honing an old hobby into something more useful or professional. Heads up -- whatever the new skill is, it’s probably not going to go like you imagine! Trying anything new is going to be difficult, but when you add in the fact that you don’t have any experience to know what you are doing in the first place, then any unexpected difficulties that arise can sometimes seem impossible to overcome! Here’s some background about where I’m coming from. I always enjoyed writing music in my free time, but not much came out of it. I would start a lot of songs, but only a few would ever get finished. On top of that I wasn’t using any professional grade software or anything, so none of it was very presentable. I wrote mainly just for me; with most of my songs consisting of lyrics jotted down into a note on my phone, a few chords on a piano, and that was it. I had a basic song that I was able to perform when I wanted to, and I left it at that. However, eventually I got to thinking -- what was the point of writing music if it wasn’t in a form I could actively show people and be proud of? When I tell someone I write music in my free time, they don’t want to look at the notepad app in my phone. They want to hear it. That’s what motivated me to try some professional grade software instead. After I got my hands on a friend’s copy of some software, I got to work writing my first polished song. The thing is though, it didn’t happen at all like I had planned. I got really demotivated, really fast. After pouring my heart into the first song for about 2 weeks, I had a pretty good demo. I went to export it and… it sounded like crap. The finished file sounded nothing like what

it did when I was working on it, and the song I had in my head was so different! The end result wasn’t as loud or clear as I had wanted, there was a bunch of distortion, and it wasn’t as groovy or catchy as I had imagined. Googling the issues didn’t seem to get me anywhere either. Most of the solutions used jargon I didn’t understand, and everything I read just seemed to be talking so casually about concepts that were way over my head. It made me feel inadequate to read all this. Was everyone using this software supposed to know things like the difference between peak and RMS compression, or understand the effect audio normalization can have when your master track isn’t in the red? Where was I even supposed to start? I gave up then and there! That first song I was working on? I just considered it a waste of time and tried to get it out my mind. I figured using this software to make music was probably just “not for me”. After all, I could always go back to making music like I used to. Why change? After some time though, I remembered how close I was to finishing that song. I started thinking, maybe I should go back and try to power through the setbacks I had? After all, I had worked pretty seriously on it for those two weeks. I thought that maybe with some more work I could overcome the problems that held me back before. So I gave it a shot. I sat down at my computer to look for solutions to the audio problems I was experiencing. I started doing some HEAVY googling, and I wasn’t going to take “I don’t understand” as an excuse to give up. If the explanation I found was just way too over my head, I changed my search query and looked for another result that had a simpler explanation. After finding a few possible solutions (and googling a lot of jargon), I fiddled around with the software some more, and sure enough, I was able to get it to work! Granted the song wasn’t perfect, but it was

coming out louder and clearer, plus there were less problems with the audio than before. This anecdote happened about 2 years ago now. Why am I bringing up such a long winded explanation about music production into this conversation about skills? It’s because I learned a lot from this experience. Entering a new field of knowledge can be intimidating, with concepts over your head and jargon that makes it difficult to wrap your head around even the simple explanations. However, it’s all about overcoming those first difficult steps. No matter the skill, learning something new is going to take some time getting used to. The beginning is full of setbacks, but it only gets easier as you go on. Of course, it can be quite easy to get demotivated, but being able to power through the difficult stretches is important to get the result you want. In the case of music production, I realized how difficult it can be to make the end result, a song, come out as you imagined. You are fumbling your way through a project using skills you aren’t experienced with, and you’re in uncharted territory. This is a concept that isn’t limited to only music production though -- it really resonates with me for language learning, too. Whether it be Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, or whatever language, you’re often going to make mistakes making sentences and speaking to people. It’s unavoidable. You’re using a skill you aren’t accustomed to, and it’s not always going to bring results like you imagined or hoped.

explanations is how you learn. It’s how you rewire your brain to think differently, and to make the new mental connections that make it easier to learn languages and use new technologies. On the language side, I know that the best learning experiences I’ve had, have been when I was making mistakes. It’s hard to forget that one time I said something unnatural to my supervisor and had to deal with an awkward silence afterwards, or when I said my coworker’s baby was “kowai” and not “kawaii”. As far as music production goes, it’s those difficult problems that confused me so much in the beginning that I won’t forget. Straining your brain to figure out how to solve something makes it that much easier to recall the solution in the future, which is why it’s important to power through those difficulties. There’s a lot of overlap between learning new skills in different fields. Even if the content is different, they can both put you into a similar mental space; a state of mind where you focus on not giving up, pushing through difficulties, doing the proper research for things you don’t understand, and dealing with your mistakes. Music production and language learning definitely did that for me. Even if things don’t always go as planned, skill development can give you the confidence to overcome new problems and push forward until you progress. Even if it means you need to spend an hour googling variations of “music production why does my song suck.”

But all of this is a part of progression; making mistakes, being confused, and trudging your way through difficult

Photos by Colette English

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Photos by Rehan Nel

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Photo by Rehan Nel