22 August 2011
Trip to the Big City
Posted by Roland under: JET .
No, not Tokyo.
In what seems like a neverending stream of orientations (San Francisco/Washington DC/Tokyo) it was time to get orientated once again, this time in Kumamoto City. Whereas Tokyo orientation was for all JETs nationwide, Kumamoto orientation hoped to be a bit more localized in their advice, focusing on things at the prefectural level. I appreciate the thought, although one had to wonder how much orientated one could get. I mean, there are only so many things one can hear about being in a rural placement (the session on which was attended by most of the Amakusa JETs).
Doesn’t mean I was going to take up the prefecture on their offer of a free trip to the “big city” of Kumamoto. Compared to Amakusa, of course Kumamoto became the big city, although it definitely by no means a Tokyo. In fact, Kumamoto City just got hooked up to the national bullet train (shikansen) system in March, which is promising to be a big lift for the Kyushu region. So there were little inklings of growth and development to come in Kumamoto, but it felt more like a Kyoto or Hiroshima (a quieter big city) rather than a Tokyo or Osaka.
Nonetheless, it was good to get a taste of the big city after some time in Amakusa. I’m by no means tired of Amakusa but part of me still wanted the excitement of city life, seeing as I had just left from years in San Francisco. There wasn’t much time for exploring the city however, most of my walking around Kumamoto was limited to and from the hotel and orientation buildings. But it was enough to give me a taste that if I wanted the big city escape, it could be found in Kumamoto. I could drive myself over or take the bus, at least I knew either option was now feasible (and the bus stop in Amakusa being conveniently close to home).
In regards to the orientation itself, there wasn’t much I hadn’t learned before. While there was some Kumamoto specific advice, unfortunately I felt like it was Kumamoto city specific, which was unfortunate. I don’t expect anything Amakusa specific, as the size of newcomers to Amakusa can vary widely from year to year (last being only four while this year we came in at around ten). Then again, I don’t think I can take any more orientation anyway. At least we could network with people we had a reasonable chance of seeing again, as opposed to all the great friends I might have made at Tokyo orientation who would then be shipped off to northern Japan.
At least orientation provided validation that my Japanese was somewhat still reasonable. They made us take a test during our first day which then determined which language class we got placed into in our third day (from beginner to advanced). I would then be placed in the highest level class, although I actually wish I was in a lower level class by the end of the day. Our reward for being so advanced was a lack of a lesson plan by our teacher. In essence, it became, what did you want to learn about, because we have nothing to teach you. If I knew it was like this, I would’ve thought harder about the question at the end of the placement exam, which asked what we wanted to study in our classes. While there were brief moments of education (mainly around Kumamoto-ben), it was an all day exercise in just sitting around while having to listen to conversations about popular Japanese culture. Not exactly what I expected.
Probably the best parts, as with any business related trip, were the nightly activities. While the AJET group promised a bar hopping night after our first night all you can drink beer garden, I would bail on that in favor of karaoke with some of the Amakusa folk. Unfortunately, I would come late and only get to sing briefly (which really, was fine). However, the second night would be pretty much a repeat, although just for the Amakusa people. We would go to an izakaya, do all you can drink, and then some of us headed off to the same karaoke place again. I think it was the all you can eat ice cream that was the temptation. I got to sing more this time, for better or worse.
In any case, it was just a small taste of what Kumamoto City has offer. While I probably won’t come back there again in such the same scenario (with a bunch of foreigners in tow), it looks like it will be the place for Amakusa people to go when they need escape. And then when we’re finished with that, we can head on up to Fukuoka (which will happen!)