My Island

I have mentioned before in previous posts that I occasionally visit the island off Kunisaki Peninsula called Himeshima. I say occasionally, but up until recently that had only been 3 times. On two occasions it was to for the famous Fox Dance Festival. On my last trip I took a group of ALTs with me who at one point became convinced that I had lead them into a trap and they were about to have their livers stolen. Almost funny if the island didn’t make for such a great horror movie setting.

Anywho. In September the schools on Himeshima made a request to have an ALT assigned to them. The island only has an elementary school and junior high school and all the kids wishing to continue their education at high school have to come to the mainland. I am the high school ALT for the Kunisaki Peninsula and there are two other ALTs who teach at the elementary and junior high schools – which out number my two high schools quite substantially.  So the result was that I have been assigned to Himeshima.

Now, once or twice a month I get to take the ferry to the island to teach little kids. I love it.

My first day was just an introduction to the schools and the island. I felt like a rock star. After getting up an hour later than usual, I was met at the ferry by the teachers and the mayor of the island. I was then chauffeured around the island and taken to each school to meet my new teachers and principals.  This was followed by a lunch of the local speciality Kuruma ebi, or Tiger prawns. Which if you have read my previous posts will know are generally eaten by ripping the head off while they are still alive and eating them raw. Thankfully the two that I ate were cooked.

Lunch was followed by a tour of the island, which is a lot bigger than I had realised. And, as luck would have it, it coincided with the migration of the butterflies, which happens twice a year. I finally got to see this and it was amazing. I was taken to a special field of bushes that are grown specifically to attract the fluttering insects and there were hundreds of them – and this was just one small patch.

We were joined by a surprisingly large number of tourists. I really do love how the Japanese take so much pride in their own country by visiting all of the small, out of the way places – like a tiny island off the coast of nowhere. South Africans just don’t do that.

The following day was my first official day of work. My personal driver who was to drive me the half a kilometre to school, just in case I got lost, greeted me at Himeshima port. I taught my two classes in quick succession and then taken to my pre-ordered lunch at yet another restaurant where I had the best tonkatsu I have ever eaten. I was totally spoiled.

I am really glad to have been given this opportunity because I love the island and it is something out of the usual. Life has become a bit stale of late, and my visits are something to look forward to. The kids are also fantastic. They don’t see foreigners often, so on my first visit I was getting more stares than Lady Gaga in her meat dress. They little ones are totally adorable. They also have more confidence than my usual sullen, over worked teenagers.

Though while I do thoroughly enjoy getting to take 2 naps a day on my visits (one for each ferry ride), I keep getting warned that when winter finally gets here the boat is going to rock harder than a Rammstein concert. But until then I am just going to enjoy my new found popularity and star status.