Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Back in Canada...
On Sunday I left Fukuoka behind, only to be greeted by -23 degree weather in Lloydminster. Yay.
Here's a summary of what happened after the translation disaster...
The following weekend, myself and another student were given a guided tour of Dazaifu. This included visits to Tenman-gu shrine, several eateries, and our guide's sizable house featuring a very European theme. I was hoping we'd get a chance to mosey around the Kyushu National Museum, but that didn't happen.
The shrine was extremely busy due to the in-progress 7-5-3 Festival. Many small children in kimonos were being feverishly assaulted by parents armed with digital cameras. The kids didn't stand a chance.
At one restaurant we ate freshly made umegaemochi, and at another we were served a mostly traditional Japanese meal, and by traditional I mean the several-hundred-years-ago sense. (Lots of root vegetables.) Both were very very good. The umegaemochi restaurant is famous throughout Japan and had a ridiculously long line-up trailing down the rain-moistened street. Fortunately, we had purchased special train tickets that included a meal coupon allowing us to avoid the queue.
Some chrysanthemum bonsai thingy on display at Tenman-gu Shrine.
(click to enlarge)
A traditional garden behind a Buddhist temple built around 1275.
(click to enlarge)
The following Thursday, myself and three other students were treated to four free tickets to see day 12 of the Kyushu Basho. The tickets were 11 300 yen apiece! Needless to say, they were excellent seats located very close to the center ring.
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)
The next weekend I was given a guided tour to several used book stores, and returned home with 20 volumes of novels, short story collections, and essay compilations. At one shop I managed to find one of those infamous "revised history textbooks", but my faithful guide would not allow me to purchase it, referring to the authors as Nazi-like.
I actually wanted to purchase the book, partly out of curiosity, but also because this textbook is somewhat of a rarity. Very few schools actually used the book, and I've read that large quantities of unsold copies were destroyed, making it a kind of collectible novelty. For the record, it would seem future textbooks may be heading in an entirely opposite direction.
----------
On a closing note, I'd like to put in a brief note regarding Wahaha Japanese Language School.
As stated earlier in the blog, this is a sort of break-away school that emerged from GenkiJACS. I had found my previous years at GenkiJACS to be worthwhile, but in 2008 it was subtly apparent that the school's character had changed for the worse. Perhaps it was due to the increased number of classrooms, students, and teachers, but the overall instructional quality had become uneven. Although instructors from the previous two years were still as good as ever -- if not better -- the newer staff was a bit of a crap shoot.
In addition, the class sizes have been slowly increasing over the years, progressing from the initial four-to-a-class to the currently advertised seven students. (I've heard unsubstantiated reports of eight or nine in a class...)
Wahaha is more like the oldskool GenkiJACS, but better. Everything felt more personable and friendly.
For example, my total visit to Wahaha was four weeks, whereas my total visits to GenkiJACS add up to 12 weeks. My aggregate time at GenkiJACS featured three dinner parties, one gōkon (an awful experience, to be sure...), two student-organized parties, and only one field trip that was organized by a single student.
There was supposed to be another school-organized field trip, but that was a bust. I was informed they needed a minimum number of students or the trip would be canceled, and by the time the deadline had passed, the sign-up sheet remained disappointingly empty. I assumed a no-go. However, unbeknown to myself, the staff -- accompanied by family and friends -- went anyway. Hmph... A student trip turned into a staff get-away.
In summary, GenkiJACS equated to 12 weeks and seven events, three of which were student organized. In comparison, four weeks at Wahaha resulted in five dinner parties, three field trips, one field trip/lunch party combo, and two guided shopping tours. (One for used books, the other for Christmas presents.) All 11 events were organized by the school. Eleven! That's five more in one-third the time.
The only downside is they don't have a great number of students. I want to attend next year, but will they still be around? If you've reached this page via google and are thinking about a Japanese Language school, please please consider Wahaha. Thanks.
Coming soon, my second story. (Just after I complete a few edits...)
Here's a summary of what happened after the translation disaster...
The following weekend, myself and another student were given a guided tour of Dazaifu. This included visits to Tenman-gu shrine, several eateries, and our guide's sizable house featuring a very European theme. I was hoping we'd get a chance to mosey around the Kyushu National Museum, but that didn't happen.
The shrine was extremely busy due to the in-progress 7-5-3 Festival. Many small children in kimonos were being feverishly assaulted by parents armed with digital cameras. The kids didn't stand a chance.
At one restaurant we ate freshly made umegaemochi, and at another we were served a mostly traditional Japanese meal, and by traditional I mean the several-hundred-years-ago sense. (Lots of root vegetables.) Both were very very good. The umegaemochi restaurant is famous throughout Japan and had a ridiculously long line-up trailing down the rain-moistened street. Fortunately, we had purchased special train tickets that included a meal coupon allowing us to avoid the queue.
Some chrysanthemum bonsai thingy on display at Tenman-gu Shrine.(click to enlarge)
A traditional garden behind a Buddhist temple built around 1275.(click to enlarge)
The following Thursday, myself and three other students were treated to four free tickets to see day 12 of the Kyushu Basho. The tickets were 11 300 yen apiece! Needless to say, they were excellent seats located very close to the center ring.
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)The next weekend I was given a guided tour to several used book stores, and returned home with 20 volumes of novels, short story collections, and essay compilations. At one shop I managed to find one of those infamous "revised history textbooks", but my faithful guide would not allow me to purchase it, referring to the authors as Nazi-like.
I actually wanted to purchase the book, partly out of curiosity, but also because this textbook is somewhat of a rarity. Very few schools actually used the book, and I've read that large quantities of unsold copies were destroyed, making it a kind of collectible novelty. For the record, it would seem future textbooks may be heading in an entirely opposite direction.
----------
On a closing note, I'd like to put in a brief note regarding Wahaha Japanese Language School.
As stated earlier in the blog, this is a sort of break-away school that emerged from GenkiJACS. I had found my previous years at GenkiJACS to be worthwhile, but in 2008 it was subtly apparent that the school's character had changed for the worse. Perhaps it was due to the increased number of classrooms, students, and teachers, but the overall instructional quality had become uneven. Although instructors from the previous two years were still as good as ever -- if not better -- the newer staff was a bit of a crap shoot.
In addition, the class sizes have been slowly increasing over the years, progressing from the initial four-to-a-class to the currently advertised seven students. (I've heard unsubstantiated reports of eight or nine in a class...)
Wahaha is more like the oldskool GenkiJACS, but better. Everything felt more personable and friendly.
For example, my total visit to Wahaha was four weeks, whereas my total visits to GenkiJACS add up to 12 weeks. My aggregate time at GenkiJACS featured three dinner parties, one gōkon (an awful experience, to be sure...), two student-organized parties, and only one field trip that was organized by a single student.
There was supposed to be another school-organized field trip, but that was a bust. I was informed they needed a minimum number of students or the trip would be canceled, and by the time the deadline had passed, the sign-up sheet remained disappointingly empty. I assumed a no-go. However, unbeknown to myself, the staff -- accompanied by family and friends -- went anyway. Hmph... A student trip turned into a staff get-away.
In summary, GenkiJACS equated to 12 weeks and seven events, three of which were student organized. In comparison, four weeks at Wahaha resulted in five dinner parties, three field trips, one field trip/lunch party combo, and two guided shopping tours. (One for used books, the other for Christmas presents.) All 11 events were organized by the school. Eleven! That's five more in one-third the time.
The only downside is they don't have a great number of students. I want to attend next year, but will they still be around? If you've reached this page via google and are thinking about a Japanese Language school, please please consider Wahaha. Thanks.
Coming soon, my second story. (Just after I complete a few edits...)
# posted by thom @ 5:26 PM 
