The Weekend Review - The Beginning of Fall

Another excellent weekend with a bit of hiking, something I am so grateful to be able to do in the beautiful place. The leaves are only just starting to show a hint of the forthcoming hues (we're apparenly behind on the already dramatic MN colors back home), but the weather has been generous and the landcapes beautiful.

While the weekend was relaxing, however... I think I needed it. Friday was a really busy day and I left work kind of upset after a run-in with a coworker. I wouldn't normally post this kind of stuff on my blog, but for some reason I feel like the story is worth sharing (or maybe just documenting for me to remember?). Anyways...

The Situation
So I've really never had any problems with anyone at my job here (a few little cultural differences but it's much to the contrary, actually; I've been really lucky and love where I work), but I guess the situation I found myself in (and sort of trying to get away from when I left school on Friday) was just an annoying case of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Basically, it all surrounds this junior high school (JHS) teacher conference one of my teachers has been planning and a conflicting business trip I'm supposed to take to Tokyo. The conference is actually at my school and teachers from various JHSs will visit our school to watch us do samples classes in various subjects and talk about our pedagogy and what our school has to offer. I told my office and coworkers a while ago that I would be in Tokyo for a conference on the dates they chose for the conference, but they forgot about it, need me to teach a class for the JHS teachers, and now I'm being told I might not get to go to Tokyo at all. OK, I can understand it's my office and all... but I gave more than fair warning about this trip and we've been working on the reports we'll be presenting to CLAIR, MEXT & MOFA (government ministries in charge of education) for some time (I can't take all the credit for them, but my committee has worked hard and needs me there). The think that got to me was that the teacher who did the planned actually yelled at me (people were watching) and I had to literally put my hand on her arm, ask her if she was angry and tell her to calm down. She did, but it was a surprising encounter (stemming from this teacher just being totally overworked) that I just didn't want to deal with.

The Conference in Question
The conference itself sounds pretty cool. We're planning on demonstrating examples from the International Studies course we've established over the last two years (and I've been very involved with), which includes me giving sample lessons and probably participating in a discussion. 　I've actually been looking forward to the event since I heard we might do it, and normally I would say my base school (and everyday job responsibilities) comes before volunteer stuff, but this Tokyo trip is with representatives from the three government ministries responsible for the education system in Japan. I really thinking getting perspective at that level is more beneficial than the JHS event, and to be honest, I did everything I was supposed to do and it would be really unfair to the other people working on these reports (and on the committee in general) if I told them I wasn't coming this late in the game.
The meetings we're going to will span two days (held at CLAIR headquarters), with an additional two days of meetings with just the committee members (only one of only a few times a year all the members of the non-profit I'm working with can meet in person and we're from all over Japan).

I'm sure everything will work itself out, but it's unfortunate to have to choose between the two events (or present a case for one and hope I get permission to do what I prefer).

Coworker Collision
Oh, and as for this colleague, I still really like her. I just need a break. Normally she's not that bad, but she's been really stressed with counseling duties (helping with college apps), coaching badminton, as well as all her regular classes, and I think the thought of her seminar going awry just upset her so much that it sent her over the edge. Professionalism isn't usually an issue in Japan (and especially not with this teacher!), where it is considered a weekness to raise your voice or show anger, so I suppose I'll just take the positive approach to all of this and take it as a compliment she actually shared her emotions with me and move on. Yeah.


So after the intense end to the week and a smidge of speech training with my student, I headed into Kobe for my language class. I love my Friday-night Japanese teacher (he's really animated and funny) and class went well, so I decided to treat myself (versus going home to study or sleep) and stay out in Kobe for a bit longer than originally planned. I was going to go to my friend Dustin's birthday party, but the group was still at an all-you-can-eat/drink dinner so I headed to Polo Dog, a local expat pub, with some people from the Hyogo International Association (where we take classes). Had a few drinks, took last train home... it was fun.


I wasn't feel very well on Saturday morning (the cold & flu season has arrived), so I spent half of the day in bed. In the evening, I went to my friend Katie's birthday dinner at Ippus, a really famous ramen restaurant in Kobe. I had the red ramen with pork, which I recommend, and have to admit the bathroom was one of the (weirdest/coolest/most interesting) I've seen in a while, with tilted ceilings and mirrors on all sides and above. It's definitely strange to see yourself from all angles when you're going to the bathroom!

Afer the party, we went to Chris's place for a bit and then stayed up talking past 5. Most of the talking was me listening to a debate (observing can be more amusing than I had realized), but I probably would have gone to bed sooner had I realized just how late it was... especially considering we all had to be up early to meet for a hiking adventure on Sunday morning.

I've been to the Rokko Mountain chain before, but this was my first time actually hiking to the top. We started the hike in the morning, going about 8 kilometers in three hours (parts were hilly and we took our time, also stopping for lunch) and finishing at Arima Onsen town, where we all took some time to divulge in a relaxing soak in the famous gold-colored hot spring. The leaves were starting to change color, but only in a few, sparse spots, so I think we're going to do the same hike again next month, when the colors will be more drastic. I was also dissapointed that I didn't see any wild boar, which are supposed to be really tame and easy to spot, so maybe I'll catch them on the next trip.

After the hike, we took the Shintetsu (most expensive train line in Japan!) to Kobe and had a quick dinner with the group at La Pause (cheap italian joint in Sannomiya) before heading home.