So this past Sunday I went to have fun with the PTA and some teachers. We went on a ship owned by the Miyazaki Marine School. I did fishing (caught like 7 little ones) for the first time, had lunch, then did some water recreational activities. The PTA, despite being very intimidating because they essentially control Japanese schools, were made up of nice people who were genuinely interested in me and where I come from. Some of them even taught me some more Miyazaki dialect and I think when I leave, I’m going to stick with it. Before I came here, I thought that would have been soooo cool if I could learn a Japanese dialect and use it to speak to people not from my area in Japan. Awesomeness! XD
So….I went on a banana boat. I really, really didn’t want to because I couldn’t swim. But, I was essentially forced to go on because of the pressure from 15 people pushing me towards the edge of the ship -.-. Like, wow….woopie….I’m being forced to go on a banana boat…how fun. Lol 
Luckily since it was me, a German study abroad student and my supervisor on the banana boat, along with 3 men, they didn’t try to make us fall over. I only mention that since that was their main goal for all groups that go on it. I was on the hover…mini-boat…thingy that was dragging the banana boat along and I heard the two guys who took turns driving the thing trying to figure out the best way to make the banana boat tip over. I mean, if I could swim then I wouldn’t care, but I don’t know how, and I’ll definitely learn when I get back to the States since I’d like to be able to swim. 
They only had a banana boat and a guy who goes around on a jet ski. The jet ski guy can only take one person per session so I had to wait a bit. Honestly, once I finished the banana boat I knew I was never going to go on it again, despite everyone trying to force me to do it. One even went so far as to say “….wow..even though you made all that effort to come Japan….” like trying to make me feel guilty lol. It didn’t affect me because I told him that banana boats and jet skis have NOTHING to do with Japan because I can do these things in any other country. I only did the banana boat because the study abroad student wanted me to so I was like “sssiighh…..fine.” 
I just didn’t want to fall into the water because I can’t swim. I saw how fun the jet ski was so I decided I’d like to try it….I fell -.-. All I saw was the water coming at a rapid pace and I was in the water. It wasn’t that bad, but I was still freaking out lol. I just remembered what they told me to do and tilt myself backwards according to the life jacket I had on, and I was floating with no trouble. I was still freaking out though lol. I was more upset about how I couldn’t swim and if I could then I wouldn't have freaked out so hard. So, I get back on the ship, soaking wet and a little bummed out by the whole thing, when I get 15 people trying to force me to do the banana boat thing again. No.
In retrospect, I’m glad I did it for the study abroad student and even though I did have fun, I’m sure I could have had more if everyone wasn’t trying to force me to have fun.
After that, we’re all back in the lunchroom and that’s when I really get to know the PTA. I enjoyed answering all their questions because the questions consisted of things that I never heard anyone ask me before. One Japanese woman, who was born in Brazil and moved to Japan later, was talking all sorts of stuff about Japanese drinking culture to this older Japanese man. She said that unlike Japan, Americans don't drink to drunk everyday. I didn't want to start bashing Japan with a Japanese lady, in front of a Japanese man who, like most people, aren't ready to hear criticisms. 
I just spoke about it from the American side and said that if someone does drink to get drunk everyday, then in our culture, that person has a problem and needs to get help. The guy, respectfully nods, actually thinks seriously and goes, "Wow....I drink everyday too..." I mean I didn't tell him that to make him change his behavior since it doesn't affect me, but I think the Japanese lady was kinda going overboard (har har - pun intended) with bashing Japan. Unlike Japanese teachers, he didn't even flip out and get all nationalistic. He just accepted it as a difference in culture. Despite his open-mindedness, he's just a parent of one of my students. The teachers here can learn a thing or two. Hopefully, before I go back, I can hang out with them again.
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The other teachers were trying to figure out a movie to show the students because the semester is winding down. Last year they showed "You've Got Mail" -.-. Ugh. No. It isn't even socially or culturally relevant anymore lol. Not to mention they were knocked out in the first half hour. Awkward. They also suggested showing "Ice Age" or "Shrek." That would be fine, if this were middle school. So...I suggested "Drumline" lol. It's better than their ideas, damnit! It's a part of my culture and I think they would appreciate the "One band, one sound" ideology within the movie. So, I bought it at a giant book/game/DVD/music store here to make sure it has Japanese subtitles and gave it to my supervisor to watch over the weekend. If she likes it, she can vouch for it to other teachers and they'll be passive-aggressively convinced to show it in their classes too. I'm not sure if I'm expecting her to like it, but I can definitely say that I won't be surprised if she wouldn't want to show it. I know it's just "Drumline" and it's not even all that spectacular in the States, but it's a completely different culture, people and beliefs. Perhaps watching this might help destroy some stereotypes, but like I said, I won't be surprised if she wouldn't want the students challenging the same ideas that they were taught in high school about "foreign countries." So...standby and I'll tell you how it goes.
The official Sports Festival was a couple of days ago. It was quite nice! The students put their hearts into it and it went great. Even the speeches in the beginning weren’t so bad. The groups were set up by their classroom and color. The sports consisted of running, crossing the bridge, some kind of rope grab, climbing monkey, giant group jump rope, and performances.
The running is just the simple, class vs. class showdown. All of the races were interesting though. I was surprised at some fast ones. The rope grab was just a giant group of them making a huge circle around broken pieces rope and everyone had to dash and grab as many as possible. There were some mini-tug of war games within that game, but that’s to be expected. 
The climbing monkey one was interesting. A giant group of the students all tightly grab a wooden pole, two of them are kneeling, with their backs facing the runners, while the remaining 6 runners wait for the signal. All of those 6 have to dash to the pole, use one or two students’ backs to jump on and get a good grip on the pole. Then they have to climb up and stick a little flag at the top, slide down then hit the hand of the next person like a mini relay race. It’s a bit dangerous because they fall sometimes but they all seemed to have fun.
Crossing the bridge is a fun looking, but another potentially dangerous game. One person, while getting their hand held, stands up on a students’ back, and walks down a line of back of students. There are only about 6 or 7 students so they have to continually run in place. Some of them fell, but they were okay.
The giant group jump rope is exactly how it sounds. Here are some pictures for it.
The performances were great. Most of them really had it on point, while others even though they were a little sloppy were great. Two groups did a small number to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’ They weren’t bad lol. I was more impressed than anything because they actually tried to do the movements. Some of them half-assed it but I think that just came from having no confidence.
In the end, the all girl’s class one, the yellow team. Of course they were crying, that’s to be expected in these things. I….participated in a race. It was alright; I mean you can’t put a math and social studies teacher in a race and expect them to win, lol. But it’s okay. It was funny that even though all classes cheered for their own color, they all cheered together when I passed by. They’re cute lol. In any case, it was a good day, despite my going to work on a Saturday….at least I get Monday off.
Today, I was able to go to work with a regular t-shirt and sweatpants because of the Sports Festival preparation. This is my second Sports Festival but for some reason, this one seems more exciting. It could be because around this time I had just arrived so I wasn’t used to anybody yet. Even so, it’s like a holiday without being at home because I’m able to lounge around in comfortable clothes or just stand around and chat and watch the students do a practice run of the festival. It’s one of the most relaxing days at Japanese high schools and the students get to relax and spend time with each other outside of the classroom. I’ll get to the actual Festival another day, but something ridiculous happened.
So, after the morning schedule of practice, I decided to go to Hotto Motto and come back. I come back, sit down with my drink, prepared to eat it when the boss (who was currently not in our office) told all of the Guidance Counselor teachers to come meet him in a certain office. I’m in the Guidance Counselor’s office, but I’m assuming that I don’t have to go so I just tell them to tell me whatever happens. They leave to see what’s going on. I’m half-way into my lunch when one of the teachers comes back and tells me that two students were caught smoking, while a third, an accomplice was seen trying to alert them to a teacher coming so they can escape. Yes, it’s as serious as it sounds, unfortunately. 
So, at first I was told that three students were caught smoking and two of them were caught while the other one escaped. Then I find out that they were all spotted, tried to run, but were caught by the Guidance Counselor Boss. They brought in the accomplice and demanded answers. He sat right in front of the fridge, while the G.C. Boss was directly in front. On the desk was his written statement. He was accused of being the lookout and telling them to escape when they saw the boss coming. He completely denied it and said that even if he made the hand waving motion to tell them to get away, then he did it unconsciously. See…that would make sense if the G.C.Boss who found those three didn’t see him do it. Therein lies the problem, doesn’t it? In any case, he got yelled at for a while, was told to write down his story on paper and get out. He was only a small fry…an appetizer, if you will.
The next kid that comes in, he’s the third grader (senior) who is graduating this school year. He’s not a bad kid at all, a little headstrong, I guess. Not really judgmental, more like, you have only like two chances to prove to him that you’re cool, otherwise he won’t give you the time of day, kind of guy lol. He’s into baseball as well and is the star pitcher because he’s very good. He was one of the kids caught smoking, but I’m guessing they didn’t interrogate him in this room, so I didn’t see that. 
The second kid caught smoking comes in looking simply bewildered and/or blindsided. It was as if he was confused about what was going on. I’m assuming it’s a bit worrisome if you get caught smoking and you have to have your parents come and take you home. That’s what happens to all of the kids, when something this serious happens. He didn’t stay long in here, but his school bag was packed to the brim with all of his books but his school slippers stayed here. I’m not sure what was going on with him, but he’s a second grader, so he has the chance to make stupid mistakes, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen since he’s the main cause of this, or is he?
The mother of the last student came in. She and her son sat next to each other, the side closest directly in front of the wall, while the Boss and a different teacher sat across from them. Her son was of course, one of the kids who were caught smoking so he’s in trouble as well. He and his mother had to sit there while the G.C. Boss yelled at the student for being stupid. He asked him if this is the kind of behavior a senior should have and why did he come to this school since it seems it certainly wasn’t to graduate because he’s being an idiot and all that. I think the saddest sight wasn’t that this “manly” student was near tears, but how his mom was trying hard not to break down and sob. Like, she was crying, but it wasn't sobbing. I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m wondering; why the hell is the mother crying? Well, this is what happens when you decide to have teachers act like a surrogate parent. The teacher/parent can yell at student, thereby the parent indirectly. The parent should take more responsibility but she knows she’s at fault because at the end she thanked the teachers. It’s a painful embarrassment for the biological mother.
I’m sure that’s not the only reason why when the G.C. Boss was done yelling at them, they were both crying though…but this is the third time this student got his mother called in to the school because of bad behavior. According to the school rules, that’s grounds for immediate expulsion. I’m sure they were well aware of that too. Another sad thing about this is that he’s a senior and since he wasn’t a bad student, he already had a job lined up after graduation, but he got the job through the school, so does that mean he no longer has a job ready for him? I don’t know. So, at the end of the day four students’ lives were interrupted because the G.C. Boss (who is a smoker) would never mistake a cigarette scent. 
This is the full story. The 2nd grader was the one who bought the cigarettes. He bought them that morning at the damn convenient store. Why the hell are they selling cigarettes to high school kids?! The mandatory H.S. uniform is essentially an I.D. card in and of itself, is it not? Not to mention, yes there are cigarette vending machines everywhere, however, you have to scan your ID card in the machine before you can buy them. Despite that, the idiots working at a convenient store will gladly sell them to high school kids? Whatever. So, he manages to get the cigarettes from there in that morning. Shows them off to the older kids and of course he would. That dynamic of wanting to seem cooler to slightly older people doesn’t change. If only it was something more positive because the next thing they know, they’re busted and a kid might get expelled. Who is at fault anyway?
Honestly, I can’t blame the kids. These nicotine-addicted teachers smoke all the time on school grounds! Whenever the teachers have no classes or if it’s during lunchtime or something, you can always see them hanging out together and smoking. Not to mention, Japan still has that belief that you look cool when you smoke. I’m pretty sure the States discarded that notion by the mid-late 90s. Even so, one stupid mistake by a convenience store clerk potentially resulted in a student being kicked out school, thus losing his job offer. Who is responsible for this? Could it be the kid for purchasing them in the first place? Could it be the idiot who sold them? Could it be a social problem? So many people need nicotine that almost everywhere we go has some kind of smoke room, or if there isn’t one, you can smoke where you sit. Could the youth who are clearly influenced by all of these factors be responsible for his response to his own culture? I don’t know.
So, there was a typhoon yesterday. Nothing much happened other than everyone continuing work as usual. That’s all well and good if you have a car, but they had students come in too. Now, I’m not going to get into the cultural significance of teachers coming into work and kids being forced to bike to during a typhoon, only to be sent home an hour later and be expected to bike home with the typhoon worsening, but it’s something ridiculous.
The vice principal was supposed to decide if teachers would be able to go home without having to take nenkyuu, but they weren’t fooled. He used the Japanese equivalent of, “….I’ll think about it.” Yeah…those teachers weren’t going home without taking a vacation day. A lot of teachers did take paid holiday, but I don’t think that should have been necessary. However, there were enough teachers who, believe it or not, didn’t want to go home, but I don’t think they were part of the reason why the vice principal made teachers take paid holiday just to go home during a typhoon.
One of those people is one of the English teachers, the most progressive one. She told me and everyone else in the office that even if she had the opportunity to go home early, she isn’t going to go. She would never go home early. Why, you ask? According to her, her kids are too difficult to deal with and she could never do things that she wants to do…..whaaat!? So, she doesn’t want to go home because then she’d have to take care of her own kids…..and what’s wrong with that? It was the same thing with the kids; some of them didn’t want to go home and would rather hang out with their friends at school. Based on one of the previous posts, I inadvertently ended up finding out why young kids don’t like going home because it’s either too awkward or, like I heard from one of my English contest students, “There’s nothing to do.” I don’t think I’ll ever understand that.
I suppose I can kind of understand where the teacher is coming from, about her raising her kids is difficult so she wouldn’t want to go home early. I just can’t understand how she can say that so casually to the other males in the office without thinking twice about it. The men laughed about it, but little do they know that their wives are feeling the exact same way lol.
Then she’s going to turn around and complain to me that she has too much work. She was always slightly frustrated at the fact that other English teachers are able to go home at 5 sharp, and why she never seems to be able to. She said that because she’s been in our office the longest that she has the most information, so everyone asks her questions. She finds herself helping everyone else with everything during the day, while she’s staying until 7, 8 o’clock finishing her own work. Once again I get the true feelings of another Japanese person just because I’m not Japanese. Since I’ve been given that privilege again, I take the opportunity and tell her honestly that she’s stretching herself too far for people that just want you to do their work for them. She’s like most women in whom they’ll do anything and everything for people, sometimes without even asking, just so people will talk positively about them. After all, rude chicks don’t get husbands ;-).
While she’s already married with children, it seems as though she can’t shake that off and she finds herself doing everyone else favors. I told her that she start saying no and not think twice about it. Now, I shouldn’t have to tell a 33 year old mother of three about these things but it seems as though she’s never been told things like that. Well…I’ll be more than happy to let her know. ^_^
Lol Well okay…I’m exaggerating a bit. He was selected to be a model by his teacher. If you met Keith, you’d know that he doesn’t really like being the center of attention. Most of these people here have never seen a cute black guy from New York so he gets an outrageous amount of attention and people coming up to him daily asking for pictures and wanting to talk to him or kids emulating him. Not only does he deal with that on a daily basis while heading towards the studio, but all of this month, he has to sit for two hours and get stared at and drawn by everyone in the studio lol. However, it’d make a good addition to his resume, yes?
He was telling me about it and it’s pretty much how most of those art modeling sessions go: he walks in, sit and hold still for 25 minutes, take a break for 15 minutes, and continue on until the 2 hours are up. Yes… he keeps his clothes on -.-. I haven’t been there to see it in action, but he has told me quite a bit about it.
Most of the people that attend are the regulars at the studio, but we’ve never met them because they come on different days. Also, they are Japanese people who have traveled! So, that means he’s been meeting a completely different type of Japanese person. There was this guy with purple hair and he asked Keith in good English how old does he look. Keith said 40, but he actually turned out to be 70. Like, what the hell? Lol I have a feeling he asks people that all the time so he can surprise them with the answer.
There’s another lady who loves Keith’s hair and would ask him a ton of questions on how he got his hair to “do that.” Lol Eerr…nature and genetics?
He, of course, gets a lot of compliments, ranging from “beautiful boy (!!) to handsome face...err…not the ones I was expecting, but they embarrass Keith all the same lol. They also told him that they wish they could meet more black people like him in Japan. They also told him that they want him to bring me one of those days and gave us some candy out of kindness. Wow. I was ALWAYS under the impression that you cannot change the minds of Japanese people. Simply on the principle of how you’re not the first foreigner they have seen, so most Japanese people have already decided what they’ll think and feel about you before they have even met you. Terrible? Yes, however unavoidable.
Also, based on some ignorant people that I’ve met, who will continue to say negative things about non-Japanese people despite one in their face; that’s what I thought. Especially after this warm treatment, Keith could go outside and some other Japanese old lady would be scared of him because he has a foreign face. For the people willing to see the good in foreign folks (also known as, the non-ignorant, well adjusted Japanese person), it will all depend on whom they meet because these particular ladies have never met any black people before Keith. From now on, however, they’re going to be kind and sweet to the next black people they see. Trailblazing FTW!. lol
This is mainly a pictures post, so please look at the pictures!
I’m helping out another one of my students for the same competition. This one, however, she’s practicing for a different category. I’m not too sure if her category includes awards, though. She was selected by the teachers because she’s so good at English, but she secretly told me that she didn’t want to do the speech she has. I was shocked because…ya know… it’s her speech, so how could she possibly not want to do the one she picked? Oh..right…she didn’t pick it; one of the teachers gave it to her. Sigh. This is exactly why I try and make the students pick their own speeches because I mean based on her attitude, it’s clear that she would rather do a different one. Sigh.
So, it kind of showed when I would give her the same pointers as Kenta-kun (The Rockstar Cicada) and while he absorbed it, internalized it, and show me that he’s listening by using my corrections, Chisaka-san would make the same mistakes over and over again, at the same parts of her speech. Er….okay, but I’m just going to make the same corrections, while just explaining them in different ways. When teachers talk about whether or not a student is good English that usually just means that they do their English homework very well in comparison to other students. You would have never known if you heard her complain about how difficult the speech is, even though Kenta-kun has a much harder one, in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary level. At the same time, I can understand why she is not as excited about it, simply because the speech wasn’t her choice. 
She would constantly ask me how Kenta-kun is progressing and would ask how often he comes and practices she immediately gets all competitive and always goes, “Okay! I’ll do my best!” and work that much harder. I just don’t know why she doesn’t do the speech just for her own benefit lol..but I’m not going to knock her motivation. I can safely say that she’s doing a lot better than when we first started and she’s trying to break out of the “katakana” way of speaking English. Katakana English is just Japanesing English. It essentially used to make English words easier to pronounce for Japanese people, but I mean, they should pronounce it in the way it’s supposed to be pronounced. Every other language requires that you try to sound as natural as possible, not settling for pseudo-English. For example, “I love the view from here,” in Katakana English is, “Ah-ee rabu za byuu furamu hee-ya.” That’s not English!!!
........ I think I’m going to do a class on proper consonant and vowel pronunciation. Yeah, I’ll do that when school starts again. Now, I’m well aware that there are plenty of different ways to speak English, simply because there are so many different languages in the world. HOWEVER, most of those other countries more than likely insist on sounding as natural as possible. I know that most students write words out in katakana so it’d be easier for them to pronounce, but that isn’t how it should be. Why? Well, the Japanese language doesn’t distinguish l’s from r’s and b’s from v’s. Even their way of making the v sound is “bui.” What’s that!!! You know….I’m gonna stop here since this isn’t the main focus of this entry lol.
In any case! After she got tired from using so much English, we usually end up chatting. She’s quite bright and simply adorable (like most students at MY school ☺)! I asked her about her other schoolwork and how she has been doing. She’s always complaining about things being “too difficult” or “troublesome” but she has no choice but to do it. The students here have a lot of homework to do during the break…which would make sense if they didn’t have to come to school during summertime! She and the other students have an outrageous amount of school homework. She has to do about 10 pages of Japanese, 20 pages of English, 10 pages of Biology, and about 15 pages of math problems.…kinda makes your high school summer reading list seem like fun, doesn’t it? lol
I look at all the work she has to do and she tells me, quite honestly, that she hasn’t finished it, nor does she want to….like most high school kids. I sympathized with her, but she’s well aware of the fact that she will be tested on all of those subjects in the first week when she gets back, so she NEEDS to finish that work. Then she says, “Hey sensei! Since we’re speaking Japanese and you know so much kanji (-.-), me and everyone else thought that you must be some sort of a genius. You can LITERALLY do anything right?” I immediately get suspicious, but then I realize that she ACTUALLY thinks that because then she whips out her math homework and asks me to help her!
Wait, wait, wait. My being here is SO completely unrelated to your math homework lol. Not to mention, foreigners speaking Japanese DEFINITELY doesn’t make that foreigner a genius. Also, what does my speaking Japanese have to do with any mathematical knowledge?
So, after laughing, I explain that it’s likely that I have no idea how to do her difficult math proble--- wait! I looked at the problems and realized that, after drudging up what I can remember from high school, I can actually help her! It was only multiplying binomials, quadratic equations, linear equations and multiplying fractions. Phew! I was expecting some outrageous SAT like math, but it wasn’t bad.
Unfortunately, I don’t know much math related Japanese so I had to ask her some questions before I can actually help her. Her main issue though was that she makes little mistakes so while her work is correct, the final answer would be off. Also, she didn’t really seem to understand the fundamentals of multiplication and division. As in, she would know HOW to get to an answer, but couldn’t explain it to me. Like no, 25 over 25 is NOT zero and no you can’t divide anything by zero, a negative minus a negative is still negative, and the best way to do most of those problems is to remember that you’re searching to isolate the x. I also taught her FOIL for the binomials since they don’t use that method here. Why don’t they use that! After I helped her out with math, she tried to push Biology on me and I chuckled before pointing to the door, telling her to leave because it’s 1pm during the summer and she’s at school with her uniform on!!
I tried to break things down easily for her because she refuses to see her math teacher about it. I completely understand lol. He’s a jerk. I told her that she should get a group of her friends together and do math and science in a group. It’s the easiest way to properly do your work if one of your friends knows how to do it, right? She says that she’ll try and get them together, but she doesn’t know if they’d want to meet up just to study. Okay…lol. 
I remind her that it’s summer and how she’s still in her uniform, so she needs to go home, change, and go have fun somewhere. She agreed but she didn’t have any idea of where to go. I mention the giant amusement and games place that Keith and I always go to. It’s 10 minutes by bike from our school. It’s an awesome place to play the newest arcade games or do coin pusher, crane games and pachinko. One floor is completely dedicated to bowling, since apparently it’s gotten quite popular here. It also has a pay section in which you pay 10 dollars for 3 hours of arcade games and sports like rollerblading, golf, badminton, pool, basketball, darts, fishing (!), soccer, tennis, archery and they even have a batting cage with pitching practice at the top floor. They also have a relaxation and spa section where you can change into some slippers and sit down in an expensive massage chair with the other people in that room and just watch tv. There’s also a giant kids section where there are more of those awesome massage chairs for the parents. However… her eyes widen and she quickly shakes her head and freaks out, telling me, “No! No! No! That place is way too dangerous and scary! Tatum-sensei, do you really go there?! Aren’t you bothered by the people there and do scary people come up to you?” You know?.…I’m going to just leave that alone lol.
I was lazy one Sunday and decided to wait until the afternoon to get lunch…like at around 3pm or so because I was playing some games. I usually get something small for lunch on the weekends though. I was holding it off since I should have went for lunch earlier, but whatever. As I’m walking out of my apartment, I come face to face with this random girl that I never saw before who was about to knock on my door. So I jump, startled but quickly gain my bearings and ask who she is. She told me that her name is Tomoko, she’s the daughter of my downstairs neighbor and that she was told to come upstairs by her parents because they told her that we are “ nice foreigners.” Lol Thanks, I guess.
After that however, we ended up talking for a long time in English. She started off by asking what we do in our apartments because when she was at this apartment a couple of years ago, they lived under an American guy and across from a British guy. They hated them because they were so loud and obnoxious and threw parties a lot. Ugh. She went on to say that everyone is aware that we are here, but we are so quiet. To me, it sounded like they liked the fact that they were able to hear foreigners making noise, but at the same time appreciate that we’re quiet, but can’t help but be ultra curious. I personally thought that we made too much noise because Keith and I blast our music, but I guess the paper walls seem to hold sound in alright lol. It could also be because she lives below and one door to the left so they don't hear noise. The family below us moved because the father was transferred to a different school, so we can literally be as loud as we like and no one would be able to hear. Sweet! 
We ended up sitting outside near her door and talked about a lot of things, one thing in particular about how she would really, really like to swim (?) and if there are any public pools here. Um…what? I couldn’t help but chuckle and wonder why she’s in desperate need of a pool but I don’t think I would be able to help her. So I mentioned that there are some surfers that live next to her and that if she asks them then I’m sure they would know. Like… why the hell wouldn’t they know, right? So I told her to ring the bell and she was like,”No, no, no! I can’t just go up and ring some random guy’s doorbell!” I pointed out that she did that to me no more than half an hour ago and she commented that because he’s Japanese, she would not do that. So I’m like whatever, let’s just wait and see if he’s in there, but apparently he wasn’t in because his car wasn’t there.
We continue talking for a while then his car pulls up! I tell her there he is, so….she can ask him then. She still wasn’t going to make the first move so I ask him about a pool first, THEN she decides to take it away. -.- Well, that’s how it works here I guess. He tells her that there weren’t any public pools here but just in case, he will ask someone and if we’d be kind enough to wait, he’ll go in his apartment, put down all of his stuff and come back out. So after he came back out, we all talked about pools and how there aren’t any, when another neighbor comes! I told Tomoko about her before we spoke about the pool and how she is a very wonderful woman and her daughter, Natsuho is adorable. Yuko was the first Japanese person to actually not care that we were foreign and welcomed us with open arms. She’s also been quite busy so I haven’t seen her in a while, so I’m glad I was actually able to see her. So after she had the answer of where there was an actual public pool in Miyazaki (!), it was like an impromptu neighbor “party” because there is 4 out of 6 of us in the apartment, so a decently sized group of us were chatting outside. It was nice! So, afterwards, when they had to go inside and make dinner and whatnot, Tomoko and I make plans to have lunch or just hang out in my apartment since she lives downstairs.
When we can finally get a day to hang out, we usually just chat about random things. She was telling me that her culture puts way too much pressure on her and she hates it; she’d rather leave Japan and deal with another country. Imagine my surprise when a girl who was born in Miyazaki, lived in Osaka for a while, comes back, then tells ME that Japanese people from Miyazaki are rude! If you know enough Japanese people, you realize that they are quite proud of Japan, some of them, to the point of ridiculing other cultures. So, meeting a Japanese person who would rather bash their own culture than praise it is probably something that most foreign people won’t get to experience. However, she has pretty good English because she went to college in Australia, so I don’t really have to speak Japanese, but even she gets tired of trying to figure out what she wants to say in English and she’ll switch to Japanese.
She told me that when she got back to Miyazaki, most people stare at her and are rude to her because they can tell that she’s not from here… but I’m like…you’re Japanese. It doesn’t seem to matter though. She told me about when she first arrived in Osaka, she was wandering around lost, and this Japanese girl walked up to her and asked her if she was alright. She explained that she was lost and the girl that spoke went up to her told her where to go, and gave her the number to her cell phone and told her if she needed more to call. Unbelievable! You would never know that because the people here say so much bad things about other places IN Japan. They always say to stay away from the city because there are too many people and so, way too many bike gangs and yakuza. I always sigh every time I hear that and it’s clearly a country bumpkin type thing, but I still can’t help but roll my eyes. If they say such things about other Japanese people, I can only imagine what they think about foreigners.
She also told me that her boss has a kid but he’s always inviting her to drink like three times a week. That’s unfortunately, quite common. I know so many of these teachers drink every night. I asked one of the English teachers (the one that doesn’t like to team teach with my lesson plans) what does he like to drink, and his response was, “…night time or day time?” What!? Wow. 
A different English teacher told me that he drinks every night to “train” himself and build up a tolerance to alcohol. Right. A couple of other Japanese people told me that they drink and smoke because they are very stressed and it’s the only way to calm them down. I can understand that, but you guys….ya know…have children to take care of. When I say that they drink, I mean that they go out with coworkers to drink after spending WAY too much time at work. It’s kind of like… go home guys! Not to mention: they drink and smoke NEAR their children (way too common here), and one jerk even had the nerve to bring her newborn baby to a smoke room! –holds back expletive-
In any case, hearing this Japanese girl talk negatively about her culture isn’t new. In the span of about 8 days, Keith and I have met random ladies who bash their own culture. This one lady, in broken English, said, “My foreign friends and foreign people…open. Japanese people…closed.” I didn’t even ask her what she thought about Japanese culture, but foreign-friendly Japanese people seem as if they can’t wait to complain about the culture that they are living in. I’ll get into more reasons that I was told in a different post, but from a foreigner’s angle, all one might see is the surface pride of their culture. Knowing enough Japanese people however, you’re bound to hear complaints…even without knowing a lick of Japanese.
So, I went to another hip hop club this past Saturday. It’s actually a very good experience and you can see that hip-hop is a legitimate subculture in Japan. Keith and I once again received invitations to the club from our DJ friend (who is going to be performing), and we went with one of our Japanese friends who work at a hip hop store. It’s quite exclusive; no more than like 60 people were there, even at the height of the evening. You have to be with Japanese people to feel like you fit in. Not only so it’s not awkward when it’s just your foreign ass walking into an all-Japanese party; also because you’re going to want someone to talk to and to introduce you to other Japanese people and buy you drinks!
The club scene is quite interesting. It's not similar to the states at all; it's more like a concert for DJs to show their skills and for people to dance individually while listening closely to the DJ. The party itself starts at like 10pm, but it’s not really jumping until around midnight. So we learned our lesson from the last one, and meet up with our friend in the city near McDonalds at around midnight, then we head towards the club. It was at a different place from the last one, it’s closer to the main part of the city. So we walk in, and it’s already packed. To the left is the bar and stools and to the right, it splits. To the right is a comfortable looking, decently sized lounge area where you can sit and drink before you dance. The other side is the actual dance floor. So we get some drinks and go to the lounge area. My friend Rie (pink earrings) brought one of her friends, Shouko and I wanted to get to know her better so we chat for a bit. She met Rie because they lived in the same area. 
I knew there was going to be trouble when Rie told us that she thought the guy sitting next to her was hot. All of a sudden, me and Shouko share an evil look and at the moment, Japan and New York didn’t even matter; it became two girls that only wanted to see their friend get a boyfriend! So we start talking about different ways to get him to look over here, or even to get him to talk to us. So our idea was for me to ask the guy if he can take a picture of all four of us and chat him up afterwards lol. Keith was like “Haha…no. That doesn’t work with guys,” but what does he know? -.- It was all just harmless fun even though Rie’s friend REALLY did get up and was about to talk to him lol, I was like “naaahh...let’s give Rie a break lol….for now!”
After a couple more minutes of chatting, we decide to go dance. So I have to tell you; dancing hip-hop in Japan is not hip-hop dancing in the states…they all tend to line up at certain spots in the little dance room and sway to the beat. We’ve done this before so it wasn’t that ridiculous looking lol. So Keith and I get dragged to the front of the line-dance thing, and that wouldn’t be a big deal if Keith wasn’t half a foot taller than almost everyone else in there -.-…so clearly we’re sticking out more than we usually do. But even that wore off and once the party really got underway, it didn’t matter where anyone was. Our friend did his DJ thing, he's always quite good! He tends to do old school, early 90s hip-hop and rap. We figure that the music he DJs is the music that made him first get into hip-hop. After him, the guest DJ, DJ Soulja (lol), took it away at like 1am. I was pleasantly surprised! Most of his DJ-ing was old school reggae! It was nice to have my culture represented well, and not just for some fashion crap. It was great!
Unfortunately, the room was getting quite hot because it was a lot smaller than the other one. Also, after repeatedly getting surprised at how much good music our DJ friend knows, then getting even more surprised from the guest DJ’s music selection, some of the dancing from the guys ended up dying down because after a while he only played “girl music,” according to Keith. Then, we got quite tired. Not to mention after about like 2am, it wasn’t really music as much as it was just a lot of bass because we were so close to the speakers lol. So we left like 3 hours later, exhausted, thirsty, slightly deaf but happy. We had to walk home from the club since we don’t want to waste 20 bucks on a cab that we know can take a fast, cheaper way but WILL take the longest way, while pretending to not know where the teacher’s housing is. Whatever. It was about a 45 minute walk back, but it was alright since we had each other to talk to and we’ve done it plenty of times before. I was more concerned with the next one... :)
I’ve heard quite a lot about the horrors of a Japanese hospital visit so I was a bit wary. I had to go there because of the mandatory check up that teachers have to do. Last month, I had to sign my name for a specific day since it’s one person per day. So fast-forward to last night when, in preparation for the hospital visit, I couldn’t eat anything after 9 pm. Not a problem. Next morning before I went, I couldn’t eat breakfast, smoke (not that I do anyway), drink tea (!), alcohol or milk. Not a problem. So I wake up a little earlier than normal since check-in is from 8am-9am, and head out to look for it. Let’s see if it’s easy to find since everyone told me it’s quite cut and dry so I should be able to find it….
No, it’s not. While I’m biking over there, I took a little turn because I saw people standing near their office, spraying the sidewalk and windows with some water. So I walk up to them and ask them where the hospital is. They point down the road they were facing and told me that’s the way to go. I thank them, find what I think is it then go in. They look at the paper I have and they let me know that this isn’t the place and since I got over here by taking a turn, I just need to go straight down that street without turning and I’ll find it. So I sigh, seeing as how I was led in the wrong direction, then I head off on the bike. I pass by the same guy that told me to go the way I came from and I told him that it was a no-go. He asks me what I was looking for and even though I already told him, I repeated that I’m looking for the hospital. He goes ”Oh you wanted the hospital! The hospital is down that way! You can’t miss it! The hospital!” -.- In any case, I don’t give him a hard time about seemingly not being able to read the paper that I showed him the first time then head there.
I biked for like 7 minutes or so…but… I’m not seeing the hospital that I’m looking for…I see a giant hospital now, but the kanji for the hospital I’m looking for is completely different, so the name is different. I go a little further and notice that the road splits so I’m like alright…it can’t be this far. So I turn back around and look at the giant hospital, I realize that I need more help. Luckily, a Japanese woman just happened to be walking by so I tell her what I’m looking for and she told me to park my bike because she’ll show me where to go. Yes! So I hurry back to her, (forget my bike key in the bike!!), since I don’t know if she has somewhere to go. In any case, she leads me to the big hospital that has a different name, but I don’t say anything since she’s Japanese and she lives here. She told me that she works at a different hospital nearby as a nurse. I ask her if it’s hard and she says it is. So it’s been like 30 minutes since I left the apartment and headed towards the hospital, she finally leads me inside….only for the receptionist to awkwardly say that this isn’t the hospital we’re looking for. Awkward. She was bragging and everything too lol, only for her to lead me to the wrong hospital. I figured it couldn’t have been the right one because it’s a different damn name.
So, afterwards I thank the other lady that helped me, then the receptionist from the hospital leads me to the back somewhere. I ask her if it’s just because the hospitals are connected she was like “it’s a completely different hospital.” Awkward. Then we go down a long flight of stairs, then to a long corridor that leads to the back of the hospital. We’re facing to hospital like places. She smiles and tells me that the building I want is on the left side, and I have to go to the second floor. What the hell, man. There is absolutely no way I could have known that the actual building I’m looking for is behind the biggest hospital ever -.-. Well in any case, I get in there to begin the hospital business.
Before I enter I have to take off my shoes and put slippers on. Not a problem. I walk up to the receptionist desk, they’re all shook because a foreigner just walked in and they don’t know if I know Japanese or not lol. You get used to that. So, I confirm that I’m in the right place, and she gives me a health questionnaire. It’s similar to the one you get when you’re about to give blood, seeing as how there were like 45 questions.
So after I answer those with some help, I hand in the paper, get a key and I was told to pick an outfit based on my height. I asked her what height do I look and she told me, so I got one and went in the changing room for women. Now, the outfits look like elaborate scrubs/pj’s for patients. No flimsy material with the ass out. None of that. An actual sleeved shirt that covers everything, and long pants. Not to mention I have slippers on so I feel quite comfortable. After I change I was immediately given a pee cup. Nothing different about that…except how they looked like regular cups that you’d drink water from lol, no top or anything, but it’s okay.
Afterwards I had a blood test….they didn’t use any gloves….I know what you’re thinking! “OMFG NO!” Right? Yeah…me too when I saw the lady just wash her hands thoroughly with soap, but not put on any gloves. They don’t use gloves for the dentist here either. Ewwwww lol. Yeah…I didn’t go to find that out; I was told that by someone who goes to the dentist here. Not my cup of tea. I take care of my teeth anyway so I’m making sure that I don’t have to go….it’s a hygiene thing, you know what I’m talking about?
After that it was pretty much just the standard business: height and weight check, eye sight, hearing, blood pressure, breast check (!), heart and that was about it. The strange thing about the eyesight test is that it’s not one with numbers and letters. It’s just the letter C in different directions. So you’d have an upside C, downside C, regular C and inverted C. I’m not sure if that’s a good indicator for eyesight, but they’re the professionals. Also with the hearing, there were only 4 beeps for you to hear; not the 7 or 8 or so in the states. I’m sure (hoping) they know what they’re doing. For the breast exam, I had to meet with this old man (!),get into a dark room, and hug this giant machine that was doing some check thing. I didn’t know that he wasn't in the room until he was talking to me from the PA system in a room next to the one I was in. I’m pretty sure they were using radiation to check them, but whatever…I’d rather Dr. Old Japanese Man not touch them anyway…real talk.
The order of the checks was kind of like those random games you play in school with stations. Everything was done in a different room, in a different part of the hospital. Like, I literally went around the floor in a circle once I completed everything. I started at the receptionist desk; I ended up adjacent to it when I was finished. It seemed like we were rounded up and called on like cattle. The waiting was about 5 or 6 minutes per “station,” and there were like 7 or so “stations.” It just seemed shorter to me because I would get nervous before each call lol, but I guess even that was all in my head since they were mainly women that knew what they were doing (yes!). Well in any case, that’s my experience; it’s quite different from what I’m used to, like can you imagine if they did it that way in the states? A doctor will go to see you, he’ll take your blood pressure, tell you to leave, and call on the next person and do that rotation until everyone is finished? No thanks.
My mother and sister visited me in Miyazaki. It took a bit of getting used to for them simply because they’ve never been to Japan. One of the main things people do when they get here, or any other country for that matter, is to assume that you’ll have the same benefits and that life in a different country would be exactly the same as if you were home. So being forced to do small things, like slightly changing up the way you eat in public, expecting more than 2 napkins at McDonalds, being stared at while you eat, are some things that people have to get used to. Being here for 8 months only makes you realize small things, like when an old lady decides to stand 8 feet away from you until the bus comes, or when they’d cross the street when you’re coming. Once my family got here, I never realized how much I’ve actually become accustomed to Japanese culture and how unbelievably foreign my family was. Something like that is never really glaringly obvious until you’re told to ask someone who is selling plants to give a discount, or when you’re usually given one packet of McDonalds, to ask for 3, or to walk into a mom and pop shop and being told that your family found nothing to buy. 
Even common rights and privileges like having someone to complain to when your freezer turns into a giant ice/snow cube, don’t necessarily come with the package of being in a foreign country. I think my mom and sister butted heads with the culture and didn’t really like what they saw. They liked plenty of other things here, but certain things they weren’t willing to bend to, and that’s okay! Even if they don’t like this foreign country, they can explore other foreign countries and see what they like. However, I think that’s one of the biggest problems with people going to foreign countries: leaving one’s home country and expecting everything to be the same. Once people get that out of their heads, living anywhere can be much easier. 
Despite the slight cultural showdowns, I was so happy that I was able to see them, and completely distraught when they left. I think I was sadder then than when I actually first left for Japan when everyone in my immediate family came with me to the airport. It was good because their being here reminds who I’m doing this for; not just for me, but for my family as well. They left right when they were beginning to really like Japan, too… so….who’s up for round two?
Most native speaking English teachers know that there is a serious problem with the way English is taught here. It doesn’t take that much time to realize it, especially when you’re in class and you say, “Hi guys!” to 2nd year high school students (that I have taught for a year by now) and they stare at you blankly to know that there is a problem. However, the problem isn’t with the students; it’s with the teachers. How are the some teachers, who don’t even seem to have interest in English themselves, are supposed to teach students a language that even they themselves don’t understand? I suppose it makes sense, since I hear all the time from my school’s Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs from now on) that either they “should have done something more interesting” or “yeah…it was either teaching English for a career or doing History as a career, haha!” and it’s this kind of attitude that doesn’t make it surprising that the kids are just as apathetic about as English as some teachers.
To them, unfortunately, English is just seen as another subject in school since English is mandatory in the country. So the people that are truly interested aren’t really allowed to shine amongst other students who don’t have an interest because for them (using something that most of us can relate to), it’d seem like the nerd who was a genius at Math and couldn’t wait to show off their skills. In Japan, that’s quite insulting and that person would be ostracized and mocked for seeming to do better than everyone else, so everyone kind of pretends to know less than they actually do, for fear of being isolated. This doesn’t really happen in my school though. Maybe for other subjects, but in English my students are always pleasantly surprised when one of their classmates can answer one of my questions and they always get some kind of praise or an applause.
Some other kids, however, simply do not have an interest in English and see no need for English because they will never leave Japan. Then there’s the other group that like English and the native speaker of English in the class, but don't understand 80% of what’s going on because of holes in their education. Those holes are glaringly apparent when they don’t know simple words that they should have learned in middle school. This is more my school.
Today for example, I played a game called Sentence Auction with a younger teacher. Sentence auction is when teams buy correct and incorrect sentences and of course go to the highest bidder if they believe the sentence to be true. Once the game got underway, they were quite bright and a lot of them were quite thrifty in dealing with their finances and most of them knew the correct sentences. Before that however, we had to do an explanation of course. The explanation took 20 minutes in a 50 minute class. The kids took about 5 minutes to break up into groups; so ONE part took 15 minutes. What part might that be you ask? It was the simple fact that NO STUDENT knew what the word “sentence” meant in Japanese. WHAT?! Second year students in high school who took 4 years of English before this, didn’t know what the word “sentence” meant? Coupled with this, the JTEs thought that using Japanese during our team teaching class was a waste and how the students won’t be able to listen to my English, so we should try and use ALL English in the class. That's a very noble, lofty, but ultimately naïve dream. However, reality dictates that my just speaking English to them won’t make something click in their brains, and all of a sudden they can absorb everything I’m saying. Proper PRIOR teaching is necessary for them to be able to grasp meanings.
Not to mention, I went to a JTE’s English class just to see how they teach… it’s ridiculous. She barely touched on grammar and during the class she would just say English words in a rapid pace while the students quickly repeated it. Then she had me just say the words fast and I felt like the biggest dunce ever, mainly because the kids just stopped repeating the words so it ended up me just saying random English words because it’s fun. This is the extent of the English “teaching” that goes on here? That wasn’t all. Afterwards, the Japanese teacher said a Japanese word and then I would say the English definition in a rapid pace again, then the students would repeat the English. That would have been alright…if there wasn’t 50 words including long phrases, like “the meeting begins at 10:35am,” or other words that are completely unrelated to each other. So then I stand there and I just think to myself that of course they’re not learning anything. Not to mention the whole lesson was taught in Japanese. That’s understandable, but then you can’t go around and do ALL English for a class that they’re constantly unprepared for. It just makes them dislike English, or slowly start to dislike English all the more. 
I think the JTEs believe that I only want Japanese in the class so I can do less work, but they’re so stupid because they continue to forget that it’s NOT ABOUT ME. It’s about the students that look at me like little lost kittens and puppies whom so desperately need Japanese, while I’m left to stand there awkwardly because it is NOT my job to give Japanese translation and the JTE look at me and seem to like watching me sink because they don’t provide Japanese translation. So all of this crap gets put on the shoulders of the powerless foreigner regardless of whose fault it truly is. The problem is maybe the teachers think that the lesson went well if we use all English but they’re so frustratingly oblivious to students quickly losing interest without Japanese because they DON’T UNDERSTAND and just end up chatting to the people next to them or start doing something else. So I get pissed off for the students because of these stupid teachers who are so focused on which language is being spoken, that they completely forget the students and that the main focus should be whether or not the students know what’s going on. It’s naïve to think that students won’t need Japanese all the time, especially if agricultural schools are known for having low-level English. Why is it so hard for JTEs, who also went through the same classes to figure that out?
Eventually though, when my simple English doesn’t do the trick, the JTEs would “take the reigns” decide to repeat what I said in English, as if it’s going to suddenly click for them (I’ve been saying the same thing for 10 minutes, if they didn’t get it 5 minutes ago, maybe you should try a different method). Then, they get to go through the same slight frustration of having students not understand you in the slightest. They’re completely unwilling to speak Japanese in the class, but you don't need the foreigner to tell you that it’s necessary since that’s been the same way they’ve been learning English since they started. During the lesson he asked them over and over again, “What is sentence in Japanese? Sentence. Sentence. Sentence. Seeeenn-teeeence,” as he points to the 10 sentences on the worksheet he goes, “THESE are sentences. What are they? Sentence. Sentence,” while he’s repeating that, I feel a sense of retribution in that I hope he understands that bringing in the native speaker once a week won’t suddenly make the students geniuses at English and it’s best to just do what you have been doing, and what you will continue to do when we’re not team teaching, which is…USE JAPANESE.
After a while, I saw him breakdown and saw clear frustration on his face, then he decided, after 15 minutes of precious time, to write the meaning of the word “sentence” in kanji. I mean, even I’d say that kanji wasn’t necessary; he could have just said it, but I think he was that frustrated that he didn’t even want to say anything. Oh well. He should have said it 15 minutes ago so we could have just moved on with the lesson, but if he wanted to learn the hard way, I was more than happy with letting him experience that and realize how impossible using English cold turkey is. JTEs simply have the most important job when it comes to team teaching since they are supposed to be the bridge of understanding between students and the foreign teacher. If only more of them felt that responsibility and weight and didn’t use English as a means to escape a “greater evil.” 
What’s even more frustrating about this is that he was the exact same guy who told me, ”Yeah...a lot of these kids are too stupid to realize simple things. A lot of them are slow. I have to speak slowly, even in Japanese, and sometimes even then they don't understand, haha! It’s sad,” despite this guy who said that he lived in the Washington D.C area for a year during study abroad, and yet still can’t understand simple English at regular speeds. Stfu. It’s a lot easier to blame the students and the foreign English teacher for your own pathetic shortcomings…maybe teaching the students the word “sentence” could be a nice start?
Slow day today. I have no classes today and the Vice Principal isn't here, yay! I mean it's not only fun and exciting for me though. When the VP is here, the atmosphere is always quite stifling so I'm always leaving the room and doing something, whether it'd be talking to students or just dropping in random classes. It helps me out because I get to talk to students and I'm not in the room, and it wakes the students up because they get all excited when they see me coming. I remember the first time that the VP wasn't in the office, it was like two months ago...
Whenever you walk in to a room, you have to greet. Whether it's morning, afternoon, whatever, it brings attention to yourself so everyone knows you're here. The person who enters the room is the one who must greet everyone first, then wait for a response back, since that person is the one who's intruding...well okay maybe not intruding, but some people make it feel that way. Some people, after giving a greeting, are ignored. It has nothing to do with that teacher as a person, just if people in the office are too busy, or aren't paying attention, the person entering won't receive a greeting back. I mean the culture insists that you must say some kind of greeting when you walk in, so it sucks to not get a response back, according to Japanese people. There are about 8 regular teachers that are in my office (including the VP), but only like 4 or 5 would be in the office at one time, because of classes and stuff. So when I walk in and greet, only like 2 or so would say anything, and that's okay! As long as one person greets back, then it's acknowledged. When the VP is in the office, that's the norm. Only rarely have I gotten no response, but it doesn't really "hurt" as much as Japanese people describe when it happens to them. Sometimes I would walk in, and the VP wouldn't be at his desk, but there would be books open on his desk that shows that he was there, so that just means he's not in the office and he'll be back soon. So, imagine MY surprise when I walk in, VP's not there, no books out showing that he's there, and when I say my greeting, I get 7 voices at different sound levels greeting me back. So I'm like, okay, what the hell is going on and what's this strange atmosphere of relaxation and amiability? Only to find out that yes, the VP was on a business trip and won't be here for the rest of the day (Wednesday). I'm like, "Oh....(YES!!)," and just the way the teachers were when the VP wasn't there shows that they too feel this weight lifted off of them for 9 hours. This happens two more times in a row and those three days were three of the most relaxing days I've had at the job. The VP is important because he takes care of vacation days, so all teachers have to go to him, ask if it's okay if they can take nenkyuu, then withstand his stupid and unnecessary questions. I mean, it's not only me that thinks that! The Japanese teachers of English and even other teachers tell me all that time, "...he asks questions that make no sense and expect me to answer them," or "he complained that my kanji is too big," and other stuff like that. I mean he did that to me once.
I was getting Golloyds set up (you can send money from your Japanese account, to your home country's account, good stuff), and I needed to photocopy my passport. Most foreigners in Japan know that you have to carry your passport with you at all times, in case you're harassed by a police officer. If you're caught without a passport, the officers will chuckle and put you in jail. After living here for more than a month, you need to get a foreigner ID card and after you get that, you don't have to take your passport with you everywhere, because(of course) you CANNOT lose your passport. So, I had no classes, and it was quite the relaxed day so I wanted to hurry and finish the application. Although I don't think I had to ask him, I was told that I should ask him if I can go back to my apartment and pick up my passport. I don't feel as though I had to, simply because I wanted to do it during lunch time and whatever I do during lunchtime is my business. But anyway, I was told that I should, and I did. I go, "Hi. (while showing him the forms that are in Japanese) I need to complete this form to send money home (which is mad obvious because it's in Japanese, but you have to be specific), and my passport is in my apartment so may I please go get it?" This moron, "Why?" I go, "????....to send money home to my family....here it is on the application that I'm filling out right now that says that I need a copy of my passport." This guy, "Yes, I see that...but why?" I'm like, "???????????" I don't know what the hell he's talking about, it's quite simple really. Then he talks to one of the JTE's in Japanese about me, and obviously I understand him, he indirectly asked me why is my passport in my apartment. I indirectly answered that I don't have to bring my passport everywhere after I get my foreign ID card, if I lose my passport then I can't leave. You would think though, that someone who has dealt with other ALT's and must have for years would f***ing know that. Whatever. I still think I didn't have to ask him.
He's the annoying father figure of EVERYONE, even people slightly older, or the same age as he. It's due to his position of course, but he watches over everyone and jumps on their case if it seems like they're not doing work. He's the one that scolds students AND teachers, so teachers feel an extreme amount of pressure to do well and not be scolded, so I can only imagine how the teachers that are in this room feel. It's quite the position of power, perhaps TOO MUCH power.
So most people at the office have long since mastered the ability of looking busy without actually being busy. It's quite the thick veil, I mean I'm always fooled until I ask one question, and I end up getting speeches and history lessons, all the while thinking, "Yes...this is your fault...you shouldn't have asked about tangerines and Korean snow...." and just patiently wait until it's over before I smile, give a slight "thank you" nod and go back to doing something else. So when the VP comes back, it's back to that stifling atmosphere.
Today though, it's quite relaxed...people are laughing lol...like so. I can't sit in the office all day, despite that, so I'm going to go the crazy kid class since they're going to watch a movie..."You've Got Mail," ugh...I know, but the lady JTE here LOVES Meg Ryan...for whatever reason.
I've been here for 8 months now...it really doesn't feel like it though. The ALT position arranges it so new ALTs end up coming in during the 2nd semester of Japanese high schools, which is a little silly, but I think that convinces me that JET prefers recent college graduates. I arrived here in late July, early August after graduating from college in May. The new school year in Japan starts in April, there are 3 semesters and seniors graduate in March. So I got here during the 2nd semester, during the month long summer break that the students had. I'm not sure if it's ACTUALLY a summer break because there were still plenty of students coming because of their club activities.
The graduation date for high schools, Japan-wide, is March 1st. I've only known the seniors for about 7 months, but I've gotten to know all of them because this is such a small school. Of course they had their annoying moments; the "cool" ones who decide English isn't worth knowing so just sit there or just talk to their friends. Strangely enough though, it seems like the ones who are "bad" kids tend to be the ones who know more about Jamaica and reggae than just Bob Marley :-\.....
There were the girls that didn't really give a damn and would fall asleep, despite sitting in the front row...yeah...that's MAD rude lol, but it's okay; a giant book accidentally falling near their ears tend to clear that up quite easily. Even those girls though, would be incredibly chatty outside of class, in Japanese of course. One time, I ran into them at the arcade and those girls were dressed in very....I guess you can say provocative clothes, tight short dress, tights and thigh high boots with more than enough make-up. I'd look at them and go "Aahh! Where are the rest of your clothes??" in Japanese, of course, and I'd get, "Haha, sensei is soooo cute! Picture! Picture!!!" (No that's not me, it's a friend).
However, there were some students that were genuinely interested in learning English and would try and use it outside of class. Those tended to be the ones that wouldn't need Japanese translation and would translate for everybody else in class. At times I would speak Japanese to them outside of class and I'd get the not-oft heard "ENGLISH PLEASE" demand. Then I'd have to go "Okay okay.....if you want!" There's this one girl who is literally one of the cutest girls ever. She is sooo shy! She's only like 5 years younger than me since she graduated, but still! She participated in an English debate contest, in which those results REALLY pissed me the hell off.
A little about the debate contest: For whatever reason, the judges seemed to give points to high energy, not the difficulty of the piece that students choose. They also decide to give EVERYBODY praise and not give any actual constructive criticism, so the students would be left to wonder they received comments like, "Good energry! Wonderful speech!"... only to be in last place. The judges were other ALTs from different parts of Miyazaki. Also, you'd have some cheery girl who memorized the easiest English fairy tale ever (which was actually a Japanese story just translated into English), against two of MY students who actually picked substantial material. My male student picked one of Obama's speeches, and the cute girl picked an excerpt from Charlie and Chocolate Factory. They both struggled with some pronounciation, which is natural since it's a little difficult to get the English intonation while trying to pronounce "religion." In any case, the pieces didn't seem to matter, so I was quite bitter. I was and so was another ALT from Miyakonojo. She had her best student (all of her students have a higher level of English than my students because of the type of high school she has) memorize and act out a college level piece, and she didn't even place either, but whatever! That's how the (faulty) grading system works.
Also, in Japan, if you have a Japanese parent and a non-Japanese parent, you're called a "half." Yes, that's quite offensive since of course it's not supposed to be honoring the pairing. There were some kids who competed that had a non-Japanese parent, but it's a toss up. Some parents decide to not teach their children the language of the non-Japanese parent, while some do. However, the ones who do teach their children the language of the non-Japanese parent, whether it be English or not (I will talk about non-Japanese, English speaking people because of the English debate contest), clearly have an advantage over the students who don't hear and speak English at home. At the same time, there are some children who know zero English and struggle with consonant and vowel pronounciation like any other Japanese child there. So, is it unfair that those children, who are taught English at home, are allowed to compete and are almost guaranteed to win? I don't know. It can be said though, because some Japanese people are completely intolerant of a bi-racial child (When I say that, I'm referring to one parent being Japanese), being fluent in another language and knowing about another culture might be the only advantages they have when living here (unless they become a famous entertainer, singing, dancing, dramas, whatever).
Getting back to the topic at hand:
There were ups and downs, once time was drawing closer and they had their post high school plans figured out (out of 168, most of them are going straight to work, about 17 of them are going to college), most of them had some serious senoritis. Even the good ones that understood most of my English would just kind of...hang around...stare blankly at everything. Most of the teachers were shocked and angry at how the students acted, so I had to explain that this is quite common... worldwide, I'm sure.
So, you know, if the good kids had senioritis, the bad kids DEFINITELY had it and made my life slightly more difficult for 50 minutes. It was all in good fun though, I would call on them for answers and chuckle about how they didn't know anything. Fun stuff...
So fastforward to March 1st, typical long, drawn out speeches from random people, which had like, half of the people in the audience (kids, parents and teachers) knocked. Everyone must know by now that long speeches put people to sleep, but everyone does it...without fail. Even though the graduation felt unbelievably long, it was actually only like 1 and a half, 2 hours. It started at 10am. That's not TOO bad, but that was only because there are technically two graduation days. It's March 1st, and the day before. However the official graduation day, where parents come and people dress up, is March 1st. I CANNOT imagine what would happen if graduation happened only one day. ;-\
Once everyone woke up to sing some songs (one of the Japanese graduation songs is actually that "Auld Lang Syne" song that everyone sings for New Year's..I don't know either), it was the students' turn. The way this graduation goes is, they call out one student at a time, the student says, "Hai!" and stands up. Then one representative from that class goes up on stage and formally accepts a graduation certificate for the whole class, then everyone bows together and sits down. After 4 of those, during the last one, there was one student who was chosen for the WHOLE graduation class to go up on stage make a speech to everyone. That someone...was my cute, serious student from the English debate and from class. She goes up there, and her voice is so shaky when she talks because she's so nervous. It was a very nice speech about the good memories that she had being here...then as she was thanking parents and teachers and saying goodbye to her high school friends, her voice broke and she started crying as she was talking. I could not tell you, how that made me feel. Everyone in the room felt the emotion and sadness as she was talking, and some students were crying because she started as well. Once she returned back to her seat, the formal exit of the students started. While the students leave by class letter, you have to clap for about 10 minutes until it's over. I had to be one of the strong ones for students, but then I saw so many students and teachers, especially my best students crying and even some of the male teachers and students crying (one of them was my Obama speech guy), there was nothing I could do. Quite a few tears escaped, even though I didn't want them to. After that emotional scene, me and plenty of the other students were on the verge of tears for the whole day. Afterwards though, it was just joking around in a relaxed setting until the eventual parting.
After the graduation, you would think that they would leave since they've graduated right? Nope. The students had to return to class with parents and all the students were given individual official certificates of graduation and had to say a few words. Homeroom teachers are with the students for the whole year and they are regarded almost as parents to the students because the students are in school for so long. So it was understandable that the teachers getting extra emotional were the homeroom teachers. I went into all of the classes and took pictures, I didn't want to say anything because I was still near tears by then, so I just cracked some jokes during picture taking and went along to the next class.
I told the students who were in the English club (the 5 who were quite helpful during class and knew more English than most students) to find me so I can take pictures, and they pointed out that they wanted me to sign their yearbook. I didn't mind. The rest of the day though...was quite hectic. My camera died during picture taking so I had to bike back to my apartment during lunch time to get my charger, order some food along the way, and make sure to get back before they leave. They were going to leave at like 130, and lunch time started at like 12, so I didn't have that much time left. It was quite an exhausting day, to make the rest of it short though: I picked up the wrong USB charger, so I had to run all over the school to find the teacher who was in charge of the school digi camera. The "bad" kids kept on following me around because their "bad friends" wanted to meet me since they told them that I'm Jamaican. They followed me around just so they can say "BOB MARLEY!" but whatever. I got the food but I wasn't able to eat it for another 2 hours since I had to take all those pictures of the students and chat with their parents who were very adamant about meeting me and touching my hair. I already had food, but one of the parents "honorably offered" that I take her giant bento box. Some of you don't think that's a bad thing, BUT those of you that are here realize that it's a just another freakin' thing that I'm gonna have to properly recycle.
It was all worth it however, as I was walking down a hallway after I returned the camera, I ran into the girl from before who I told to find me. She was like "Hey! There you are! We're all waiting for you in your office!" I was like "Ooh crap", so then I had to run back to find that damn teacher again to get back the digi cam then run up to my office. There were a lot of students there, more than those that were in English Club of course because they all wanted me to sign my their books in English, I didn't mind. After I translated it for them, the ones from the English Club gave me hugs and wished me luck in the future. One of the last girls, her voice broke as she was saying goodbye to me and I was like "No, no no! Don't cry! If you cry, I'll cry! Don't do it!" as my voice was getting all shaky. Yeah, we both failed that... but overall, all of them, including the "bad" kids, were good kids and I hope they do well in the future.
All that happened before 2pm, so after the students finally went home, I found some of the other students, 2nd graders and 1st graders still hanging around for club activities. There's this 2nd grader duo, one plays the guitar and sings back up while the other sings. They performed for the cultural festival and decided to do an impromptu concert for the chicks. They attracted a giant group of adults and students. They're quite good! One girl started crying while they were singing..... yeah, I dunno either...I mean it's not like she won't see them like...tomorrow lol. Most of the 3rd graders who were still there stuck around just for the impromptu concert and everyone sat around until the singer was like "Alright....I'm done singing..." I left school normal time, around 4:15. The graduation was on Saturday and Sunday, I had a day off on Friday and had another one on Monday. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I saw my futon....sweet, sweet futon. :-)
It's interesting seeing the new students, and getting the "Omg it's a black girl!!!" stare, but I'll just do what I did when I first got here. That was a sad day, but then life moved on and in come the new wave of students. I have a feeling though, that this is going to be a good year.