AJET Connect MAY 2014

Trail mapand a disastrous turn of events—which led to a delay of severalhours before the cooking utensils arrived at the campsite—all ofPenny’s hard work in planning the meal ended up in somewhatof a free-for-all. Note to self: taco shells don’t fare well in bumpycar rides! Thankfully it was all delicious.Oh, and now I think of it, the purchase of several litres of Aquariusturned out to be one of the most popular decisions of the trip! Ihad no idea that drink would be so popular, but as it transpired,that drink is seriously like the nectar of the gods for thirsty ALTson bikes. I just thank the Buddha I didn’t go for the non-brandedversion!Well, Penny is aiming to become a Japanese language teacheronce time on JET is up, so that should give you an idea of herlevel! As for me, I’m aiming to take the JLPT N2 in summer. Weonly had a couple of non-English speakers this year—somethingI hope to improve upon next time round—so the majority ofour communication with our participants was in English, but inorder to get in contact with the police, book the campsite, ordert-shirts from the printers and so on, I’d say a conversational levelof proficiency was needed at the least.What is the greatest thrill for you?The event itself was great fun. Seeing everyone’s smiley faces ateach pit stop, and at the end, was really very rewarding. I haveto say, though, that one of the most memorable parts was whenI got home in the evening and poured everyone’s cash donationsout onto my kotatsu. It was seeing it all there together in physicalform, rather than just some numbers in a bank book, that I wasstruck by the tremendous efforts and generosity of everyone whohad contributed to and taken part in the event, coming togetherto help people in need.What is the greatest challenge? What was theworking environment like?It’s hard to say. I think on the whole everyone did a great job,especially considering how inexperienced some of us were in thissort of thing. The delegation of roles—who would take care ofwhat part of the planning—was challenging sometimes, and washeightened by the fact that one of our members couldn’t make iton the day. Compounded by some very unfortunate bike troublesand a couple of subsequent hiccups with the support team,tensions were running high on the day of the event, but eventuallythe arcade girl. Once fully dolled up, the arcade girls will strut74 everyone pulled through and kept it together commendably. I amtheir way to the relay station and back in a final dash. Though75eternally grateful to the volunteers who offered to be a part ofvictory goes to the first team to finish, the real winners are theWhat level of language skill was needed to the support team, who really did a tremendous job and withoutspectators.organize the event?whom we really couldn’t have done it.Do you have any advice for other groups thatwould like to plan an event of this scale?Embrace Google Drive! It was seriously a tremendous helpduring the planning stages having shared documents in thecloud modifiable from everywhere. Also, don’t procrastinateand get your plan sorted out as early as possible. Lastly, have acontingency plan! We really suffered from some big hiccups that,while unavoidable, could have been dealt with better had webeen better prepared. Oh wait, one more: no matter how manytimes the campsite tells you they have futons and bedding, donot believe them until you have seen them with your own twoeyes.Will you do it next year?Absolutely.Support vehicles are always appreciated, by David WebbJoshua Grover is a 4th-year ALT from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,who lives in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, in the Kanto Plain. He enjoyscycling, snowboarding and has recently taken up surfing. Hisinterests involve pretty much anything that is outside, fast,and allows him to explore Japan’s landscapes.THE NAGASAKI ALTUNDOUKAIUndokai are a big deal in Japan. The weeks leading up to themare chock-full of sore muscles and sweaty brows as studentstrain and practice well past suppertime. When the big day finallyarrives, the air is abuzz with an anticipation and excitementthat’s almost electric. Sports days are no joke.While undokai are more often than not “serious business”, ALTundokai are a little more light hearted. Ok, maybe a lot more. Infact, it may be more of a farce than anything else. But that maybe the whole point. The participants are energetic, the eventsare absurd, and of course, the name of the game is to have fun.Nagasaki AJET’s ALT Undokai is a chance for JETs from all overthe prefecture to get together and exercise their basic humanneed to be silly. While all the sports day standards like obstaclecourses and tug of war will be featured, there are a few eventsthat are Nagasaki originals. Nagasaki is famous for mikan, so ofcourse, there’s a mikan-eating contest. It’s really not as easy asone might imagine. There’s also the “Arcade Girl Relay”, whichis inspired by the fashion-forward femme fatales who can befound roaming Sasebo’s Ginza Arcade. In this event, teamsdesignate an “arcade girl” to be adorned with questionableclothing choices. The rest of the team runs one by one to the relaystation, dons a single article, runs back, disrobes, and dressesThis is big part of what the ALT Undokai is all about—thespectators. ALTs can watch each other humiliate themselves ina variety in entertaining ways. Through this mutual humiliation,we’re often left with a better understanding of one another anda stronger sense of community, kind of like how most familieswork.Of course, ALTs are not the only spectators present. The venueis the Matsuyama athletic field in the heart of Nagasaki. Withsuch a location, the general public will get to see a bunch offoreign nationals in matching outfits engaged in wacky activitiesand generally having a great time. Whether this makes us moreor less approachable may be unclear, but one thing is certain:activities like this can show Japanese citizens that gaikokujinaren’t so scary after all, that and we may even be a lot friendlierthan they originally thought.This year’s ALT Undokai will offer plenty more of what made pastundokai such a runaway success. We’ll be running some brandnew events this time around as well. For example, there will bea “frozen t-shirt contest”. As the name suggests, the event willinvolve a soaked t-shirt that has been folded and frozen in place.The first team to thaw out their shirt and have a team memberwear it will be declared the winner. It’s like a wet t-shirt contestin reverse, but much cooler. So cool, in fact, some may say it’s…ice cold.EVENTSCONNECTCONNECTEVENTSMay Issue 2014 May Issue 2014Andrew Massey, NagasakiThe human-pyramid contest.A good ol’ fashioned tug o’ war.The deceptively challenging mikan eating contest.Andrew Massey is a 1st-year ALT from Toronto, Canada, wholives in the suburbs of Nagasaki City. He enjoys looking atthings and thinking about them. His more frequent activitiesinclude sitting in chairs and describing himself poorly.