Volume XIV Issue 5 Colette English
Table of Contents 目次 Editor’s Note Prez Talk Write for Polestar! Waves. Lucky Pierrot How Not To Die From Missiles Events
4 6 8 12 14 16 18 Matthew Jones
Next submission deadline: September 15.
Edwin Arce II
To the new arrivals, welcome to Hokkaido. We’re really excited to have you here. I hope you can come to see this as your home, and maybe this newsletter could help you in that process. If this is your first Polestar, please check it out. We’ve always got some really cool photography going on, and the writing is usually pretty informative. There are some really talented people in our midst, so make sure you take a look at their work. Everything in the Polestar is created by HAJET members, so people the same people that you hang out with at meetings and see working hard to make this a nice place for you to be. Don’t be shy. You too can take part in this publication. Issues come out every month or so, so there’s plenty of opportunity to get involved. Please e-mail me at editor@hajet.org if you have any submissions or questions.
Editor’s Notes Samantha Peterson Editor Edwin Arce II Designer
Edwin Arce II
Betrice Yambrach, President
W
ith the arrival of August comes the beginning of a new year on JET. We’ve just finished up saying goodbye to some of our friends and right away we have to do a complete 180 and welcome our new ones. For everyone, new JETs especially, it’s a strange situation that is both exciting and scary. No matter how long you’ve been here, whether it’s years or just a couple of weeks, the beginning of every JET year though filled with a mix of emotions also brings new faces, opportunities, and experiences. That being said, Welcome new JETs! The first few weeks are a whirlwind of things, which includes a new understanding of boredom as you find yourself at school or town hall during the summer vacation when literally nothing is happening and even your
coworkers are trying to find ways to kill time (usually by checking baseball stats or going for long walks to the conbini). But once classes start again, things will really pick up, in a good way. In addition, we’re heading into HAJET Welcome Party season to keep you on your toes for the next month or so. This year’s Welcome Parties are being held at some pretty awesome locations around Hokkaido: Shimukappu – Hokkaido’s most central town; Otoineppu – Hokkaido’s smallest village; Tomisato Dam near Kitami city – the most populated city in the Okhotsk region; Nanae – home of Onuma Quasi-National Park; and of course Sapporo. We have a lot of exciting things planned for our Welcome Parties this year, so try to make it out if you can to explore a new place and meet some new people! Being on JET, autumn is essentially our
New Year. Like with any other New Year comes resolutions. Maybe not the same kind of resolutions you’d make on January 1st, but ones geared towards your goals for living in Japan and what you personally plan to accomplish or get out of the next year here. Irrespective of how long you’ve been on JET or in Japan, there’s always something to gain or work towards, regardless of size or significance. For example, at the end of my first year I realized that I had been to very few of my town’s restaurants. Despite my town’s small size, the restaurant scene here is pretty vibrant. So, I made a plan that throughout the next year, I would go and explore new restaurants. Now, I always know a good place in town to eat at and am quite close to, or at the very least on friendly terms with the people who own them.
up helping us out in more ways than one. While restaurant exploring, I met new people, gained a deeper understanding of my town, and even improved my Japanese (a welcome change to the textbooks and kanji practice). Though your goal or resolution might seem small or insignificant, you’ll find that they make a bigger impact than you initially expected. Making resolutions and keeping them is not always easy, which I 100% empathize with. But, I would have never eaten some of the most fresh and delicious sashimi if I hadn’t made my above goal and gone out of my way (and comfort zone) to try out a new restaurant. Put yourself out there, make a goal and accomplish it, or try something new! You’ll never know where it might lead you.
What will you do to make the most of your Sometimes these little resolutions end next year?
You. Yeah, you.
Edwin Arce II
You should write for the Polestar. Samantha Peterson, Editor
“M
an, I don’t wanna write for the Polestar,” you’re thinking. “I don’t have the time. It’s much more fun to spend hours staring blankly at my Facebook newsfeed. Plus, writing is soooo high school. Who even does that anymore after passing their college writing requirement?”
Hokkaido Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching’s official publication “Well that’s cool,” you say. “But I still don’t know how to write and submit an article. I’ve never touched a computer keyboard in my life.” Well, now’s your chance! For those still uncertain, here are some simple steps:
1. Have an idea. I know that’s easier said Well here are some little-known benefits than done sometimes. But you’ve already of submitting an article to the Polestar: got one floating around, don’t you? You just ~ You can display your vast and unpar- don’t want to admit it. alleled knowledge on certain subjects, like 2. Write! Also easier said than done. But how to make a pretty decent rice cooker the words will come if you let them. If you cake or where in Asahikawa to get absodon’t know how to start, just copypaste lutely hammered some of these convenient article starters: ~You get the glory and honor of having a. Yesterday I… something you made seen and appreciated by JETs around the island b. In Japanese culture, there’s something called a… ~ You would bring the Polestar Editor the great happiness she experiences just by c. Sometimes I play this game with my seeing an e-mail with a Word doc attachstudents where... ment in her inbox d. If I was stranded in the mountains ~ You can slap that on your resume. “Oh, after my car broke down with no cell what a well-rounded individual!” your future service in the middle of a blizzard in employers will joyously exclaim as they January and a horde of angry higuread that you contributed articles to the ma was closing in around me, the one
thing I would want to have is a... 3. E-mail it to editor@hajet.org. 4. Wait for it to appear in the next issue of the Polestar. 5. Send a link to your parents with the caption, “Look! I’m a published writer.” “Ugh, okay,” you’re saying. “This is starting to sound a little tempting. But still. What if I do something wrong? What if it’s not good?” For more specific info, our general guidelines are pretty much as follows: ~ Length: 300-1000 words ~ Topic: Pertinent to JET, Japan, or Hokkaido preferably, but if you’ve got anything else going on that’s cool too ~ That’s it This info is always available at https:// docs.google.com/document/d/1yc4-zyrOUiULItaC6LhcavEzAgqcmGkk85tIpKwIZ7w/edit?usp=sharing, so you should bookmark that! As for worrying about your writing ability, or the things you can produce, don’t worry. You’re more talented than you let yourself believe. You can definitely write a nice 500 words about your favorite shoyu ramen. I believe in you. (If you’re feeling really stuck, you can always reach out to me too, of course.) So new JETs and old alike, please give it a shot! It’s more rewarding than you might expect. If you don’t want to write but still want to contribute, we also accept art, photography, and submissions of local events.
Finlay Harnden, Northern Rep
I
grew up on an island surrounded by waves. Every morning, I opened the curtains above my bed, and my mood for the day would be partly set by the state of the sea. Calm and reflective, crashing and full of power, grey and troubled, or playful and sparkling in the sun. I’ve always been drawn by the sea. I’ve spent time on islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Indian oceans. I swim whether the water temperature is 5°C in the North of Norway or 26°C in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Here in Hokkaido, I find myself by the sea again. If something troubles me, I head to the beach.
accented by spray, and the vibration on the shore from the crashing all around. Salt, transported in the wind, coats your face. Lick you lips and you can taste it. There is the smell of water, seaweed, or a carcass washed up and rotting on the beach. The sound is pure and awesome. It drowns out the noise of traffic, smartphones, and voices, shutting out the world around you, leaving you with nothing but sea.
Your view is dominated by water. If you are down at water level, you can see a landscape of water spreading out before you. Rising mountains of water making their unhurried way towards the shore, growing as they come in. They break, smashing and On a windy day, the sea takes all of your booming; an explosion of white capable of attention. The relentless crashing of waves sinking ships, collapsing cliffs, and forever offshore surrounds you. It’s a full-body exaltering shorelines. Then: surf surging forperience. You can feel the movement of air,
Waves.
ward as freshly broken waves race towards escaping water is capable of washing the the shore. legs from beneath you and carrying away any evidence of its destruction. It retreats. The wave begins to slow. The surf thins, It will form again for another attack, maybe forming drifting webs on the water’s surhere, maybe in Greenland. The waves wrap face. Delicate and fragile while at the same themselves around the planet, never endtime vast, immeasurable, spreading further ing. than you can comprehend. The water rolls forward, tumbling over itself in its race to They demand your attention. They are the shore. pure, powerful and patient. On a windy day go down to the water’s edge. Stand facThe wave reaches land. Over the sand, ing the water and let the waves dominate it rushes up the beach, pushing rocks the your senses. The waves push your worries size of footballs, still capable of smashaway, far behind you, somewhere onshore. ing your skull. But the wave quickly loses It is a form of meditation. Soon, the weight momentum. It slows and slows and laps on your chest lightens and you are left with harmlessly at your toes. It stops, turns, and just yourself. You can think clearly again. makes its way back out. Slowly at first, but Reform your thoughts and set your priorquickly gathering speed. It drags thousands ities. You feel pure, powerful and patient. of pebbles down the beach and out to sea, You are a wave! creating an deafening sound. Soon, the
Finlay Harnden
Every month, Samantha Peterson explores a different aspect of Hokkaido-specific culture. This time she’s discussing “Japan’s best local burger”, or one of Hokkaido’s favorite restaurant chains.
I
form, either. Rather than having a patty, the chicken is thick, juicy pieces of fried chicken that’s listed on the menu as “Chinese chicken”. (You can, for the record, get Chinese chicken as its own separate dish, or order it on your yakisoba, which Lucky Pierrot does in fact provide.) All this is adorned with a sesame-seeded bun, lettuce, and Lucky Pierrot’s special sauce.
came straight to Japan from the land of In-N-Out. To say that the craving for a good burger hits me hard and leaves me suffering is a vast understatement. I don’t know about those of you from other countries, but to be honest, there’s no real substitute out here for a delicious, juicy burger from America. You can go to McDonald’s, Mos Burger, or wherever else you want, but nothing on this archipelago is going to quite match up to the good stuff you’re used to at And that’s only the beginning. Lucky home. Pierrot has an incredibly diverse menu. They have 26 different kinds of burgers, so Now that we have that established, we if you’re into squid and katsu burgers it’s can discuss what was voted as Japan’s the place to go. Craving pizza or spaghetti? best local burger, and what it means for You’ve got it. Katsu? Omurice? Curry? Yep. those of us living here in Hokkaido. Yakisoba too. And boy, if you’re in the mood for a milkshake, Lucky Pierrot definitely has Pierrot (ピエロ) is the Japanese word for you covered. They’ve even got mocha and clown, if you’re not aware. This becomes blueberry flavors. immediately obvious from the moment you arrive at any of Lucky Pierrot’s 17 locations. If you’re not in it for the food, you’ll at least Lucky Pierrot’s mascot is likely to be staring be entertained by the decor. Every location at you if you exist in any part of the restau- has its own distinct theme. The one that’s a rant. If you have coulrophobia, you might seven-minute drive from my house? Audrey want to pick somewhere else to eat. Even Hepburn. Every single inch of wallspace is if you don’t, he has a certain eeriness about taken up by framed pictures of her elegant him that might make you choose take-out features, some larger than life. So are all the instead of eating your meal in the store. De- themes actresses then? Nah. You can find spite him, or possibly because of him, the the Santa Claus-themed shop in Hakodate, chain remains wildly popular. It could also complete with 5000 Santa Clauses to welbe the burgers. come you. Its Bay Area location, the first one ever built, is like a Merry-Go-Round! Admittedly, “Japan’s Best Local Burger” isn’t quite a burger, in the strict sense There’s only one place in the world you that I would define it. Instead their most can find this kind of restaurant eccentricipopular “burger” is a chicken sandwich. It ty. That’s right: Hokkaido. More specifically, doesn’t even pretend at the classic burger
southwestern Hokkaido. The chain is centered in Hakodate and all its locations are scattered around the city and its surrounding towns. The Lucky Pierrot chain turns 30 this year. Its founder, who loved circuses as a kid, started it up in Hakodate as opposed to other locations in order to be something unique and special. He’s definitely reached his goal in that respect. The company stands out in plenty of other ways too, though. They pride themselves on using local products from Hokkaido, and they’ve made big efforts to go green and help out the community. Most of the napkins and receipts you find in a Lucky
Pierrot restaurant are made from recycled paper, and they have volunteer gatherings to clean the beaches around Hakodate. It’s pretty clear that as a local company they are devoted to the wellbeing of Hokkaido. They’ve certainly brought joy into this Hokkaido resident’s life. Although a Chinese chicken burger can never sate my craving for In-N-Out, it has become synonymous with Hokkaido living for me. And yeah, it’s pretty delicious.
Hey! Do you want to die? Not in a nuclear attack? Perfect! Read on! (a sensible guide to increasing your chances of not just, like, totally dying in the event North Korea decides to make roasted kimchi out of バムファック田舎北海道) by Edwin Arce II
?
T
he launching of a missile the other week was something of a rude wakeup call to many in HAJET, in more ways than one. First, there were the blaring phones and roaring sirens to wrest us from rest. Then there was the sudden, cold awareness that you couldn’t make out any more of the message on your screens than the katakana, mee-sai-ee-roo… Missile. Then terror mounting as you realized you didn’t know how to evacuate, or what to bring, where to go. This article is a short (emphasis on short— follow up with your own research and preparations!) primer on what to do to prepare for tomorrows ahead. While supervisors, colleagues, and friends are an indispensible help in times of crisis, ultimately, you are responsible for your own safety, so prepare, prepare, prepare. 1) Get in touch with your supervisor and find out what your town’s evacuation procedure is. If your supervisor doesn’t know, go to your town hall, the local website, the Vice Principal, etc. 2) If you are in the unique situation where there is no plan, prepare your own. Get on Google Maps and find the buildings within a few minutes that can be reached. You want structures that will insulate you from the outside. This means more than just the initial blast— this means being safe from radiation. Deep buildings with concrete, soil, and/ or basements. 3) Download Google Translate and the offline Japanese dictionary. You can screencap the message on your phone, or snap a pic of what’s on the tv and have the app read what’s written there.
4) Buy or create a first aid kit. Keep one in your bag and one in your car. Have a bag prepared with anything you might need if you need to leave your home in an emergency. This means a sleeping bag, a set of clothes, medicine, non-perishable food, water, water purifier, swiss army knife with can opener, portable radio, medical mask, duct tape, cash, etc. 5) In the event of an actual attack, if you can evacuate to a safe place, do so. After a nuclear detonation, you’ll have a handful of minutes to move to a space where you can take cover from the radiation that will last for a few days. 6) If your best and/or only option is to stay in your home, stay away from windows, stay away from things which might topple, such as bookcases, tv’s, etc. If you can, turn off your gas. Words that seriously would have been helpful to know the other day:
ミサイル
missile
発射
launch
北朝鮮から
from North Korea
頑丈な建物
sturdy building
地下
underground
避難
take refuge
通過
passing
上空
upper atmosphere
September Central Welcome Party September 9-10 Shimukappu Come on out to scenic Shimukappu to kick off a new [contract] year here in Hokkaido! Please join us, meet some new faces, and make some new friends! Save the date, it’s going to be a blast! Also, TELL YO’ FRIENDS! www.facebook.com/ events/333404817090348/ Sapporo Autumn Fest September 9-30 Sapporo Food and drinks from all over Hokkaido are available in Odori Park! www.sapporo.travel/event/autumun/ sapporo_autumn_fest/?lang=en Southwest Welcome Party September 23-24 Nanae It’s that time of year again! Join us for the HAJET Southwest Welcome Party at the beautiful Higashi-Onuma Campground! Aside from camping out in the wonders of nature, there are many activities to enjoy in the surrounding area including, but not limited to, fishing, horseback riding, hiking, and canoeing. Please bring your own camping equipment, as you cannot rent any at the campsite. If you’re a city-slicker, then you may want to check out the hotel in the area, but bear in mind that it is far from the campsite. www.facebook.com/ events/118170785466378/
EVEN イベ
NTS ベント
Sapporo Welcome Party September 30-October 1 Sapporo Some of you (or maybe a good majority of you) might have very shallow pockets by now from all the welcome parties and enkais. So like last year, we will have an outdoor party to keep down costs! This is a great opportunity to get to know JETs living in and around Hokkaido. Hope to see you there! The menu will be....pizza! www.facebook.com/ events/1593017730733153/
October Fall HAJET Meeting October 20-22 Muroran For the first time, we’ll be heading to the southwestern port city of Muroran! Highlights include delicious yakitori (I had some over Golden Week, so I can speak from experience that it’s incredible), the beautiful pictured Swan Bridge, and—of course—its close proximity to Noboribetsu’s famous onsen and sulfuric (a recurring theme this year) “Hell Valley.”
Karisa Whelan
Seasons change their gloves The three o’clock Trace of sun Of flower petals that bury the pavement A black and white screen Eyes are covered by clouds Evening sets on some promiseless day - Sagawa Chika, “Promenade”
Jordan Bauzon