Exploring Aichi
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Hello from Hekinan, Japan!
A few stories from the last couple weeks here in Aichi.
Quaran-time off
Since initial training in Nagoya, I've had a lot of down to time to get settled into this apartment. My school start date has been pushed back to May 7th(!) I've been cooking at home, studying Japanese, catching up on Terrace House, and going on solo driving trips around the prefecture.
I'm planning on taking Skype lessons taught by native speakers through a language school in Tokyo to add more speaking practice and structure than my textbook offers.
Without a real daily schedule, it's been a bit too easy for me to put off writing these emails, but over time I'll find a good tempo for writing once my school schedule begins.
To be honest, as someone who's never taught professionally, I've had plenty of moments of self doubt about how I'll do in this job! I remind myself that there have been plenty of other ALTs in my position who've learned on the job and ended up loving the experience. I'm looking forward to meeting the kiddos and getting to know the other teachers.
Some of you know I'm a fan of Stoicism. A core idea repeated by the stoics is that you don't always choose what happens in life, but you do choose how to respond. It was easy to feel disappointed that Coronavirus canceled plans I made for Tokyo, but that was out of my control. Instead I can use the down time to my advantage by studying and making new plans for when the world returns to some version of normal.
How about you all, anything surprisingly positive come about because of this time at home?
Side trips around Aichi
I've taken some opportunities to travel a bit to nature areas and small towns, always with a mask on.
After getting acquitted with the new car, I took a driving trip down to the tip of Chita peninsula, to a promontory looking out over the ocean. It was my first experience time using the highways and toll roads here. I walked through a little mountain shrine before climbing up a weathered concrete tower to see the view.
I took another driving trip Nishio, a nearby city know for it's tea farms, and stopped by the visitor center. A helpful older woman and I tried our best to use English and Japanese to understand one another. I came away with two new spots to visit nearby: the Nishio castle grounds and the Sanganesan Skyline, a forested, winding road to a peak that overlooks the ocean and Gamagori city below.
Along with a new expat friend from the Reddit /r/japantravel group, I drove into the mountains east of Nagoya to visit Korankei Gorge, and area famous for its fall foliage and bright red wooden bridge. We hiked through red-orange Tori gates to Kojaku-ji temple, then continued uphill to the summit of Mt. Iimori. Asuke town
Finally, I took a much longer drive to Ise and Shima in Mie prefecture to visit the holiest shrine in the country, Ise Jingu. I walked the huge wooded grounds and learned how to approach a a Tori gate, representing the site of a "kami" or Shinto spirit, by bowing and clapping. I visited the famous wedding rocks along the coast at another shrine in Ise, then headed a bit further into the mountains see the view from Mt Yokoyama Observatory, wrapping up a fun road trip.
Futamiokitama Shrine Video here
Thanks for reading,
Tobin