Work week three has come and gone and with it my memories of anything good that happened. Last week was rough. On Tuesday while I was eating lunch with one of the sixth grade classes, I was asking the students the questions that they've learned in their years of English study. How old are you? When's your birthday? What color do you like? etc. Apparently one of the girls had had enough of my questions because after a while she got up from her desk (There is no cafeteria in most Japanese schools. Students eat in their classrooms.) and said something to the teacher's assistant. He then said to me something along the lines of there not being enough time. So I told him that I'd eat fast. And I stopped talking. But later as I thought back on the lunch period that day, when she got up to ask him to tell me to stop talking, there were at least 25 minutes left of the lunch period. I guess she wanted to save her English for when it was required, which was to come during the next period.
On Wednesday, I went to my one-day-a-week kindergarten to teach. Since it was raining, I nixed the biking out of deference to the rain and bike's victory over me during my commute two weeks prior. While walking in front of the kindergarten, I noticed the playground had been turned into a parking lot; and when I tried to enter the front gate to the school grounds, I found it locked. Several buses were parked beside the kindergarten. But they appeared to be on the elementary school grounds, which is located next door. So I walked past them and through another closed but unlocked gate to the front door only to find a bicycle blocking the entrance. A teacher I didn't recognize got off the bus and started talking to me in Japanese. Following behind her were a teacher I did recognize and the principal. The principal told me that the school was headed to a nearby aquarium for a field trip. I told the principal that I would go back home; but she told me to get on the bus. So I loaded onto the bus and before I could even take off my jacket, we took off. I literally arrived to school moments before the buses departed. And upon getting off the bus at the aquarium, the other teachers were surprised to see me. Clearly they all forgot that it was my day to teach at their school. And I can't really blame them since I'd taught only once before at their school due to the Golden Week holiday. But apparently this happens with great regularity - schedule changes that aren't passed along to the AETs. And I so didn't enjoy myself at the aquarium, since I have a hard time seeing animals in captivity. Tomorrow I head back to the school. So let's hope that the third time is the charm for having a good experience there.
On Friday one of the fifth graders I was eating with told me that my hair looked like Michael Jackson's. (I think there was a curly lock that had fallen in front of my eyes.) When I asked her if she liked Michael Jackson, she hesitated and drew in breath through her teeth, which means no. So I'm not sure if she was telling me that she doesn't like me or just my hair. Then later that night while eating ramen with S.K., one of the AETs' contacts at the board of education office, I ate a piece of meat that I had thought was beef but quickly came to realize had to have been something else when it tasted the way a grossly unclean public bathroom smells. (That was my first and last time to eat liver.)
Thankfully the weekend ended up redeeming the work week, as I had a lot of fun at scooter safety school, shopping for furniture for my apartment, and spending time with other AETs.
Until next time...
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Bamboo Forest
When I woke up on Wednesday morning of Golden Week, my tired eyes decided to rebel against my contacts with considerable burning and tearing. So my plans to go to the seaside park were thwarted, as I had to go back to bed to give my eyes a rest. However, I had the last laugh over my uncooperative eyes by visiting Kairaku-en Park, a local city park, later that day instead.
Kairaku-en Park was built in the mid-1800s by Lord Tokugawa, a local feudal lord, for regular people to enjoy. (Parks in those days were intended solely for the enjoyment of the aristocracy.) The park is quite large, having upper and lower portions separated by Senba Lake. As it would have taken quite a while to enjoy the entire park, my friend, C.G., and I visited the upper portion. The park itself was quite beautiful on the day we visited but is at its most beautiful in late-February or early-March when the more than 100 varieties of pink-, white-, and red-flowered plum trees blossom. I found the bamboo forest to be quite fascinating.
My friend, C.G., thought that these immature bamboo trees looked like poo. But to me they look like the tail-end of those creepy, giant, burrowing worms from the movie "Tremors." What do you think?
Until next time...
Kairaku-en Park was built in the mid-1800s by Lord Tokugawa, a local feudal lord, for regular people to enjoy. (Parks in those days were intended solely for the enjoyment of the aristocracy.) The park is quite large, having upper and lower portions separated by Senba Lake. As it would have taken quite a while to enjoy the entire park, my friend, C.G., and I visited the upper portion. The park itself was quite beautiful on the day we visited but is at its most beautiful in late-February or early-March when the more than 100 varieties of pink-, white-, and red-flowered plum trees blossom. I found the bamboo forest to be quite fascinating.
My friend, C.G., thought that these immature bamboo trees looked like poo. But to me they look like the tail-end of those creepy, giant, burrowing worms from the movie "Tremors." What do you think?
Until next time...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Golden Weekend
Friday evening began Golden Week festivities. On Friday, A.T., a Japanese friend I met in 1998 while I was in another city doing Let's Start Talking, picked me up from work to take me to his home for dinner with his family, one of his wife's American coworkers who's an AET for a private company, a member of the church, and the missionaries in residence at the church. I had such a great time! We had good conversation, ate yummy beef curry and rice, and had completely homemade rice crackers (The rice was grown in the church member's mother's rice field, ground into flour, and then baked.) and store-bought pastries for dessert. (I'm amazed at Japanese bakeries. They give the French a run for their money.) Spending time with the other AETs is a lot of fun. And I'm glad that I have that network of other Americans. But spending time with the people of the country I'm visiting/living in/working in makes my experience of that country so much richer.
On Saturday I went to Yokohama with fellow AETs N.P., C.G. and C.T. We were going to Kamakura to see the bronze Daibutsu (Great Buddha) that has been standing since the mid-13th Century. It is one of the most noted images of Japan, having endured numerous storms that washed away the hall that contained it. And with it being the beginning of Golden Week, there were large crowds of people who wanted to see it as well. (Click here to see more pictures of my visit to the Daibutsu temple.) While we didn't have problems with the crowds on the way to or in the temple of the Daibutsu, we ran into problems with the crowds at the train station.
Japanese people are very polite most of the time. But when it comes to standing in line and catching a train, they can become downright aggressive. People were getting swept off their feet as people behind them pushed to get off or on the train. Children were crying as they got crushed by pushy people and torn away from their parents' hands. N.P., one of the guys I was traveling with, was literally carried onto the train under the power of the people pushing from behind him. He didn't want to board the train at that time, since there wasn't going to be room for all four of us to board. But one person's strength isn't enough to withstand the force of dozens of people from behind and around pushing to get on the train. I'd joked earlier in the day that I wanted to ride a train in Tokyo where the white-gloved train employees push on people to cram them into every available space so that the doors can close. But now that I understand first-hand how people die from the crush of the crowds at soccer games in Europe and how N.P. said that his left foot never touched the ground during that train ride, I never want to experience that again. (Unfortunately, though, I think it's inevitable, since most of my traveling will be done while taking advantage of these national holidays.) When all was said and done, N.P. and C.G. were able to make it on to the second or third train that left the station while C.T. and I weren't able to make it on a train until the fourth or fifth train came through, causing us to stand in line on the train platform for almost one hour.
Kamakura is a coastal town. So before heading back to our hotel in Yokohama to pick up our bags before catching the train home on Sunday evening, we visited the Pacific Ocean. I can't remember what the Pacific Ocean off southern California feels like, if it's warm or chilly. But the Pacific Ocean off this portion of Honshu was quite chilly and felt wonderful to our feet after our miles of walking that day and the day before. While there, we got asked by a Japanese girl if she and her family could have their picture taken with us. Since she said that they live in the prefecture neighboring Tokyo, we doubted that this was their first time to see non-Japanese people. And there were other non-Asians on the beach; so who knows why she singled us out. Maybe we were acting like typically obnoxious (read: loud) Americans. So perhaps she'll blog about us the way I'm blogging about them!
Today was a relaxing day. Tomorrow I'm off to a seaside park with the A.T. family and others from church. I've heard it's beautiful; so I'm sure I'll have pictures to share.
Until next time...
Japanese people are very polite most of the time. But when it comes to standing in line and catching a train, they can become downright aggressive. People were getting swept off their feet as people behind them pushed to get off or on the train. Children were crying as they got crushed by pushy people and torn away from their parents' hands. N.P., one of the guys I was traveling with, was literally carried onto the train under the power of the people pushing from behind him. He didn't want to board the train at that time, since there wasn't going to be room for all four of us to board. But one person's strength isn't enough to withstand the force of dozens of people from behind and around pushing to get on the train. I'd joked earlier in the day that I wanted to ride a train in Tokyo where the white-gloved train employees push on people to cram them into every available space so that the doors can close. But now that I understand first-hand how people die from the crush of the crowds at soccer games in Europe and how N.P. said that his left foot never touched the ground during that train ride, I never want to experience that again. (Unfortunately, though, I think it's inevitable, since most of my traveling will be done while taking advantage of these national holidays.) When all was said and done, N.P. and C.G. were able to make it on to the second or third train that left the station while C.T. and I weren't able to make it on a train until the fourth or fifth train came through, causing us to stand in line on the train platform for almost one hour.
Today was a relaxing day. Tomorrow I'm off to a seaside park with the A.T. family and others from church. I've heard it's beautiful; so I'm sure I'll have pictures to share.
Until next time...
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Work Week Two
Monday was my first day to "teach," as indicated in my previous post. But Tuesday was my first day to actually teach a lesson. For some reason, the first graders were combined into one class that day. So my first class had 90+ students! The lesson didn't go according to plan. But thankfully six-year-old kids don't really notice when something isn't quite up to par. And they appeared to have enjoyed their first lesson with me. So while I'll consider it to have been a success, I'm happy that my classes won't usually have that many students in them at one time.
Wednesday, on the other hand, was a complete fiasco. I biked to school; and having not been on a bike in seven years, I felt like I looked like an intoxicated person as I tried to stay upright. But added to the ignominy of long-forgotten-bike-riding skills was riding in cats-and-dogs rain so that when I arrived at school after my 15-20 minutes commute, I was thoroughly soaked. But, as I'm finding to be the rule when talking about Japanese people, the teachers at the kindergarten were incredibly nice and gave me a towel to dry off and some hot tea to warm up before they introduced me to the kids.
I'd been forewarned about the behavior of kindergartners, and their tendency to kancho others. But foreknowledge and actual experience are two different things, for the word kancho means enema. The kids will clasp their hands together with their index fingers forming a gun and jab people in the rear or crotch while yelling kancho. Thankfully, when the teacher heard me saying "No!" to the offending kids she told them to stop and had them apologize. So I was never kanchoed again. But later during snack time other kids grabbed my chest. They'd also grabbed my sides, as if they were tickling me. So I'm not going to make anything of the kanchoing or grabbing, since they were done by innocent kids. But, it is rather disconcerting to be grabbed at and poked in one's private places, regardless. Added to the drenching commute and the kanchoing was the fact that I didn't know I needed to bring my lunch with me. (I eat the school lunch at my other school.) So when it came time for the kids to eat their obentos (boxed lunches), I planned to eat a candy bar I'd had in my purse for a week. But the principal (I assume) had the teachers' room manager go out in the pouring-down rain to get me lunch. No sooner had I finished eating a portion of someone's miso soup, tomatoes, and cheese than the manager walked in with a large selection of sandwiches, sausage rolls, and other items for me. To cap off the day, I had coffee and snacks at a table by myself, like I was at the kids' table, rather than at the empty desk in the teachers' desks bullpen before having to ride back home in the rain. My first experience at this school was unfortunate in many ways. But the teachers are extremely nice. The kids really are adorable. And I know it wasn't indicative of all the Wednesdays to come.
Thursday was the holiday known as Showa's Day. Showa (I believe this is more of a title than a name.) was the emperor of Japan prior to the current emperor. And April 29th, his birthday, is a national holiday. So what did some Americans do to celebrate the former Japanese emperor's birthday? We ate Mexican food in Tsukuba (affectionately known as Scuba) about an hour away. It was by no means like the Mexican food I've grown accustomed to eating. (Do Tex-Mex restaurants in the States serve a poached egg on arroz con pollo?) But it was great to eat chips and salsa nonetheless.
Friday was back to work; and I taught three classes of third graders and one class of fourth graders. My third grade lesson was delivered differently each time. And the students still need time to adjust to my teaching style. But I felt that the lesson went more along the lines of how I'd planned it to go than did the first grade's lesson.
Friday night began the Golden Week holiday. Golden Week 2010 is three one-day holidays (Constitution Day, Greenery Day, and Children's Day) that occur on May 3rd, 4th, and 5th. So it's a time for the entire country to be on holiday. I've enjoyed Golden Week so far, as I've spent time with old and new friends on Friday and visited Yokohama and Kamakura on Saturday and Sunday. But I'll save those stories and photos for another post.
Until next time...
Wednesday, on the other hand, was a complete fiasco. I biked to school; and having not been on a bike in seven years, I felt like I looked like an intoxicated person as I tried to stay upright. But added to the ignominy of long-forgotten-bike-riding skills was riding in cats-and-dogs rain so that when I arrived at school after my 15-20 minutes commute, I was thoroughly soaked. But, as I'm finding to be the rule when talking about Japanese people, the teachers at the kindergarten were incredibly nice and gave me a towel to dry off and some hot tea to warm up before they introduced me to the kids.
I'd been forewarned about the behavior of kindergartners, and their tendency to kancho others. But foreknowledge and actual experience are two different things, for the word kancho means enema. The kids will clasp their hands together with their index fingers forming a gun and jab people in the rear or crotch while yelling kancho. Thankfully, when the teacher heard me saying "No!" to the offending kids she told them to stop and had them apologize. So I was never kanchoed again. But later during snack time other kids grabbed my chest. They'd also grabbed my sides, as if they were tickling me. So I'm not going to make anything of the kanchoing or grabbing, since they were done by innocent kids. But, it is rather disconcerting to be grabbed at and poked in one's private places, regardless. Added to the drenching commute and the kanchoing was the fact that I didn't know I needed to bring my lunch with me. (I eat the school lunch at my other school.) So when it came time for the kids to eat their obentos (boxed lunches), I planned to eat a candy bar I'd had in my purse for a week. But the principal (I assume) had the teachers' room manager go out in the pouring-down rain to get me lunch. No sooner had I finished eating a portion of someone's miso soup, tomatoes, and cheese than the manager walked in with a large selection of sandwiches, sausage rolls, and other items for me. To cap off the day, I had coffee and snacks at a table by myself, like I was at the kids' table, rather than at the empty desk in the teachers' desks bullpen before having to ride back home in the rain. My first experience at this school was unfortunate in many ways. But the teachers are extremely nice. The kids really are adorable. And I know it wasn't indicative of all the Wednesdays to come.
Thursday was the holiday known as Showa's Day. Showa (I believe this is more of a title than a name.) was the emperor of Japan prior to the current emperor. And April 29th, his birthday, is a national holiday. So what did some Americans do to celebrate the former Japanese emperor's birthday? We ate Mexican food in Tsukuba (affectionately known as Scuba) about an hour away. It was by no means like the Mexican food I've grown accustomed to eating. (Do Tex-Mex restaurants in the States serve a poached egg on arroz con pollo?) But it was great to eat chips and salsa nonetheless.
Friday was back to work; and I taught three classes of third graders and one class of fourth graders. My third grade lesson was delivered differently each time. And the students still need time to adjust to my teaching style. But I felt that the lesson went more along the lines of how I'd planned it to go than did the first grade's lesson.
Friday night began the Golden Week holiday. Golden Week 2010 is three one-day holidays (Constitution Day, Greenery Day, and Children's Day) that occur on May 3rd, 4th, and 5th. So it's a time for the entire country to be on holiday. I've enjoyed Golden Week so far, as I've spent time with old and new friends on Friday and visited Yokohama and Kamakura on Saturday and Sunday. But I'll save those stories and photos for another post.
Until next time...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)