Halloween Part I

So last Friday was the first of 4 major Halloween parties I'll be attending over a two week span. 8 out of the 9 of us ALTs went to an elementary school in Mine (pronounced meeh-nay, not "mine"), which is probably the most rural (ruralest?) out of the 6 towns in Tsushima. It was a lot more fun than i thought it would be, considering it was mainly planned by japanese people, but still had games resembling what i thought an American Halloween party should have. Wow, my English is going down the toilet.

ANYWAY, i unfortunately dont have pictures of that day, but i do of the following day. Saturday was the Izuhara Halloween Party at the new shopping mall. This party was advertised through my two largest elementary schools, and rumor has it that about 180 children were there. The lady with perhaps the best english on the island organized it (her name is Midori and was my predecessor's best friend). She asked me to recruit ALTs for the event. Little did she know that I'd be able to get all 9 of us here! That's right, all 9 of us got together for the first time EVER. It was quite glorious.

Just to back track a little, a few weeks ago, my town also had a big festival at the local shrine. There is where we met Japanese Hip-Hop Style for the first time. Lurch (David South) was accosted by this guy who was dressed all ghetto with this huge necklace hanging low (which upon closer inspection was this 2"x3" Jesus head), who said upon their first meeting, "[pointing at himself] Japanese Hip-Hop Style!" And ever since, the name stuck. We have no idea what his real name is, but the nickname is fitting. Now, wherever Lurch goes, he runs into him (the second night of the festival they ran into each other again, and that time he pointed at himself and said, "Japanese Reggae Style!") And of all the places, he happens to stroll into the 3rd floor of the new building where our Halloween party had just ended, and that was it. We had to take a picture of him:

Japanese Hip-Hop Style (left) and friends

Lurch and his buds

This one dude was particularly fascinated at the sight of a bunch of oddly-clad foreigners, so he posed for my picture:

Mr. Japanese Hip-Hop Style wannabe

All 9 of us together for the first time ever!! Who would have thought.. "Halloween: brings people together."

As my party was in the morning, we all had the afternoon to chill and do nothing. So we all went to Aaron's place and took a nap. Afterwards, Master Lees and I went to visit one of my JTEs at his home, as he had randomly met David last year. That was my first home invite since coming to Tsushima, and i have to admit, it felt nice to be in a Japanese home again.

Due to our inability to say no, my JTE (Matsumura-sensei), his wife, and daughter ended up coming to dinner with our gaijin crew. That night, since everyone was in Izuhara, i called out the Korean CIR (Coordinator for International Relations... basically, the Korean<->Japanese translator hired through the JET Program who works at the City Office). That was my first time seeing Sujin outside of work (i met her my first day at the City Office, and was shocked to find out there even was a CIR in Tsushima. Until Saturday, i was the only ALT who had met her. Most of the others didn't even know she existed).

Everyone at dinner: me, Rob, Sujin, Fiona, Alicia, Lurch, Yuko (Matsumura's daughter), Aaron, Sylvia, Mrs. Matsumura, and Matsumura-sensei.

Education being one of the steadiest jobs in Tsushima, everyone is somehow connected with someone else whether you're in school, your family member is a teacher, or you just know people at other schools. Check this out. In this picture is Aaron, Mrs. Matsumura (who is the school nurse at one of Aaron's schools), Yuko (the daughter, and one of Lurch's students at the local high school), Matsumura (one of my JTEs), Master Lees (who randomly met Matsumura through Lurch's predecessor), and me.

Times like these my island feels a little too small.

Despite the variety in personalities and people we had going on that night, i got the general feeling that everyone had a good time. Yuko spoke incredibly good English. And she's only a second year in high school! Shocking really. Sujin is from Pusan, and even though she's the Korean/Japanese expert, she could still form whole sentences in English, which after teaching nothing but students with no motivation to learn English or students too young to even know what English is, was absolutely remarkable. Now that i think about it, we had a pretty international night going on. Sweetness.

This Saturday is Halloween Party #3, and our neighboring islanders on Iki (about 2 hrs away by ferry) will be making special guest appearances. Should be a blast! Party #4 is on Tuesday at my special English-focused elementary schools. Hope it turns out well. Will keep you all posted on what happens!

Oyasumi!

--Evelyn

PS. if you're bored, check this out: California Love