{"id":2663,"date":"2013-05-02T09:19:52","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T00:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/?p=2663"},"modified":"2013-05-02T09:25:12","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T00:25:12","slug":"may-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/2013\/05\/may-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"May 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Message from the Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

They closed my Mister Donut!<\/p>\n

With no warning at all, the 1st of April found a sign on the\u00c2\u00a0door thanking everyone for 2 years of custom and saying\u00c2\u00a0that my coffee providing study zone was no more. I was\u00c2\u00a0informed of the closure by a friend who came over for\u00c2\u00a0dinner on the 2nd and had to go to the ex-misudo in\u00c2\u00a0person to confirm on the 3rd \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I was that certain my friend\u00c2\u00a0was mistaken. I know people who had been there on the\u00c2\u00a029th, 30th March & heard nothing of the impending doom\u00c2\u00a0of the establishment. Reading that little piece of paper, a\u00c2\u00a0part of my Sasayama soul died. It’s sounds pathetic, especially\u00c2\u00a0as it’s only been around for 2 years, but I was skipping when\u00c2\u00a0it opened. Free coffee refills right by Japanese class? It was\u00c2\u00a0so perfect for pre-lesson study sessions. And I got to eat\u00c2\u00a0doughnuts. I wasn’t always a doughnut freak (and ice-cream:\u00c2\u00a0had a beetroot, apple and ginger one recently) but misudo\u00c2\u00a0opened my eyes (I don’t understand the queues outside\u00c2\u00a0Krispy Kremes, they’re too sweet as far as I’m concerned.\u00c2\u00a0And overpriced). Wondering which of my ex-students\u00c2\u00a0I would get to chat with… it’s all gone.<\/p>\n

But now, after a month of mourning, marvellous May is\u00c2\u00a0finally here. I’ve put away the kotatsu, ready to contemplate\u00c2\u00a0evenings spent basking in the setting sun. The frogs are back\u00c2\u00a0croaking their little hearts out, but I have yet to see any\u00c2\u00a0squished in the road; my laundry dries in less than a week.\u00c2\u00a0Happy times after my sudden loss. If it wasn’t for the fact\u00c2\u00a0that I really like the food and colour scheme that Autumn\u00c2\u00a0brings, I would say we’re in the middle of the best time\u00c2\u00a0of the year. It’s not too hot, but the sun is shining. The rains\u00c2\u00a0haven’t really started yet and students are getting used\u00c2\u00a0to their new positions in the hierarchy of the school. The\u00c2\u00a0mountains and fields have lost their grey tinge and are\u00c2\u00a0gradually returning to vibrant green. I think about May and\u00c2\u00a0I smile. Definitely a good time of year.<\/p>\n

Hopefully everyone is getting used to their new schedules\u00c2\u00a0and students right around now. I would like to say that I have,\u00c2\u00a0but that would be fibbing. Between first year orientation,\u00c2\u00a02nd years needing to finish the textbook from last year, and\u00c2\u00a0me disappearing off to Germany and the UK last week (my\u00c2\u00a0aunt’s 60th birthday celebration \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I surprised her; it was\u00c2\u00a0fantastic. I didn’t even need to feel too guilty as orientation\u00c2\u00a0coincided with me being away \u00e2\u20ac\u201c huzzah!) I haven’t had a\u00c2\u00a0‘proper’ week yet. That day will come, but Golden Week\u00c2\u00a0isn’t exactly helping. I’m not really complaining about extra\u00c2\u00a0days off, it’s just frustrating when I thought that school\u00c2\u00a0starting up again would give me back some of the\u00c2\u00a0routine that I’ve been hankering after.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But what\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I hear you cry \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pray tell is in this month’s HT?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0Well, I’ll tell you. If you’ve a longing to see ladies dressed up\u00c2\u00a0as men and relating great works of literature through the\u00c2\u00a0medium of song, check out the Takarazuka Revue review\u00c2\u00a0(you see what I did there?). It might be a little late for GW, but\u00c2\u00a0get some ideas for a short city break to Taipei. Or why not\u00c2\u00a0head out and up some of the mountains we’re blessed with\u00c2\u00a0in Hyogo, perhaps following up with a celebratory Kobe beef\u00c2\u00a0dinner at Wakkoqu? All present and correct, plus other bits\u00c2\u00a0and pieces to boot.<\/p>\n

Is it still hot beverage season, or have we moved on? Eitherway, have a read over a morning (or other) break and we’ll\u00c2\u00a0be back next month!<\/p>\n

Imi<\/p>\n

Message from the Prefectural Representative<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already May and, despite making a brief comeback in Mid April, winter is definitely over!! Thank you to everyone who came to the Hyogo AJET Hanami event at Sumarakoen despite the weather that weekend. I had a great time sitting in the sun under the cherry blossoms, having a bevvie, sharing some food and looking at the ocean. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d especially like to thank Pete for doing a wonderful job organizing. Unfortunately, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any events organized for this month, but, the farewell party is coming up soon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the run up to the new school year, I went more than a month without regular classes. As I write this I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just taught my first two classes for the new school year. They didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go so well. It definitely was a struggle \u00e2\u20ac\u201c remembering what comes next & trying not to look at my lesson plan every 3 seconds, working with new teachers, trying to remember students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 names, using classroom English and most importantly, trying not to speak too fast. I hope everyone is settling back into the teaching (with any luck more easily than I appear to be).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is my third May in Japan and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always felt it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a funny time of year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the new school year has started but some of our friends are leaving in 3 short months. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a topsy-turvy time of year. As you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading this you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re probably either thinking about your plans for the second half of Golden Week or just getting back from your holiday. Last year I went to Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia during GW. Coming back was really difficult. I kept finding myself sitting at my desk, dreaming of Beng Mealea, mangoes, spicy food and late night Teh Tarik & tissue prata in Kuala Lumpur. This year I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m planning to go to Tottori for a weekend over Golden Week and really looking forward to venturing west.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those of you who will be leaving us in the summer, there are some fantastic resources moderated by our P.A.s Ben & Liz. Please have a look at the Hyogo AJET Wiki for a handy checklist, visa advice, useful information on the pension refund and shipping stuff home. Finally, the Hyogo Times has a useful online classified section for getting rid of things you aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t taking home. You could also try using gaijinpot or the Kansai flea market magazine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have a great month!<\/p>\n

Arj<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Message from the Editor They closed my Mister Donut! With no warning at all, the 1st of April found a sign on the\u00c2\u00a0door thanking everyone for 2 years of custom and saying\u00c2\u00a0that my coffee providing study zone was no more. I was\u00c2\u00a0informed of the closure by a friend who came over for\u00c2\u00a0dinner on the 2nd…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false},"categories":[278,344],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/wales.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}