Voyage Junkie

Matt as the hungry crocodile. On October 16th, Matt and I worked our second English Concert.  It was great fun, and yet another opportunity for us to engage with the community in a meaningful way.  I was asked to choreograph another ballet, this time to "Think of Me," as part of the "Phantom of the Opera" skit.  I also played Tinkerbell in "Peter Pan," which involved a lot of flitting around and setting off the magic wand at opportune (and inopportune) times.  Matt made a star turn as the crocodile, then came back to play Monsieur Armand in "Phantom." Here I am, pointing out Peter Pan's hideout to Captain Hook (who also played Peter Pan's shadow) and Smee.  The wand, which I borrowed from one of the girls in the ballet, made a ridiculous musical sound when turned on.  I made sure to flip it on whenever I wanted to motion with it, so it rang out with each move of my hand.  Annoying?  Potentially.  Luckily, the skit (and my...

Approaching Aikawa Higashi Junior High School from the south, as I have done every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday since April, one must round several mountains until one finds the right hill, ringed with perfectly spaced cherry blossom trees and comfortable homes.  Behind that hill sits the school, with stairways down to its dusty grand field.  The students are among the most well-behaved in the city of Gifu, and the athletics are fairly successful -- it produced an Olympic Gold Medalist.  So, as you may imagine, Sports Day for them is a day-long Leni Riefenstahl film. Abigail's post below should give you a good sense of the setup of a grand on Sports Day, and the general shape of the events.  My aim is just to supplement her post with the flourishes Aikawa Higashi put on the day.  These start with the special guest appearance by Minamo, the mascot of Gifu City.  If you've seen Hikonyan on a previous post, you know that each town in Japan has a character...

This month marks the anniversary of my first year living in Japan.  Now I've started to teach lessons for the second time, and I recently attended my second sports day.  This year, I'm known by the students, well-liked by the faculty, I know a bit more Japanese, and I'm generally a lot more comfortable here than I was last year.  It's noticeable, too - several teachers commented that I seemed "healthier" than last year - and I'm glad.  There were exciting relays and  kibasen  fights just like last year, which Matt can describe more in full in the next post - at my school, the best part this year had to do with the adults. First up: the principal and I dressed in the same color!  As he put it: "Red plus blue plus white is purple."  We were representing all three teams and the message of school-wide teamwork that dominated his speeches before and after the games.  Love that man! Second: one of the teachers had a broken hand due to a...

This year has already been an improvement on last year in terms of students.  All the new first-years (seventh graders) are friendly and unafraid of speaking English.  It helps that I am better at Japanese this year, so often I can translate words for them and help them translate for me more successfully.  The second-years (eigth graders) are still a rowdy bunch.  The teachers are starting to split them into leveled groups, so some can do the "challenge" course and some can go a bit slower.  It's nice for both students and teachers.  I don't think as many students will be "left behind," if you'll pardon the reference to current American doctrine.  The third years (ninth graders) are certainly the most morose of the school, having toned down the antics and tantrums from last year.  They're all in new groups now, so the "bad" kids can't be bad together, and they're all losing their thunder. Today I helped with a second-year "cha...

Matt here.  It's been a while.  Just wanted to tell you about a conversation I had today with an old friend. Last year I worked with a very kind and knowledgeable man who traveled to both of my junior high schools as a school psychologist.  He and I had the same long commute to my once-a-week school, so we often talked on the bus ride home.  I'm at a different main school this year, so I'm commuting to both now.  To my surprise, about five minutes into my trip home my old friend got on the bus I was riding.  It turns out he's working at the neighboring school this year, so we share a commute again. We got caught up, and as we were discussing our new placements and situations, he said something that I thought deserved to be heard by more than just your humble narrator.  (What follows is my poor translation of our dialog.)  "My salary is reduced this year," he said.  I asked him to explain.  "I get paid from two sources.  The first...

As our first year (6 months, really) draws to a close, I think it's important to display the winners of this year's worst (as in best) English sentences. Coming in third place is a very silly dialoge written by some third-years at my school.  Another ALT discovered this and thankfully showed me.  It's obvious what they're trying for but they really miss the mark: A: Hello. B: Hello.  This is H.  May I speak to T please? A: This is T. B: Great!  I'm going to prikura (sic).  Can you come to porice (sic) office at midnight? A: Yes!  Of course!  That sounds fun!  Do you want me to bring anything? B: Sure.  Could you bring some monneys (sic)? A: Yes.  Thank you for inviting me.  I'm so bad!  See you! B: You're welcome.  Fuck you! Second place is two sentences that can be taken as a pair or as stand-alone awesomeness.  These were written by one of my third year students when we had a unit on debates: A: ...

Dear Japan: When students use their packaged noodles for hand warmers at lunchtime, maybe it's time to turn on the heat. Thanks, Abigail

A few weeks ago, my school had a parent's day. This consisted of two classes in the morning where parents came to watch, lunch, and a parent v. teacher volleyball tournament all afternoon. The morning passed without incident, although I did get to see many fashion victim parents, which was fun. The volleyball, however, was some of the silliest, strangest activity I've ever been involved in. Let's begin with the ball. A true volleyball has some substance to it, does it not? It packs a punch. It doesn't travel obscenely high. It is often white. Our volleyballs? Foam. Bouncy. Yellow. Moving on to the rules. To be fair, it's been such a long time since I played volleyball that I can't remember most of them. I think I have a vague memory of a 3-hit rule on each side of the net with the basic setup being bump, set, and spike, and just get it the hell over, already! I remember that anytime in the 3-hit limit the ball can go back over the net, you just...

Cute update: two 9th grade boys looking in their English books during lunch, discussing questions to ask me. They did a great job, too!

1. Why the windows and doors are always wide open at school, no matter the weather. 2. Why it's November 9th and the heat isn't turned on. 3. Why in such a cold country, there is no such thing as central heating. 4. Why you can heat a table. 5. Why the girls can't wear tights in winter, or any kind of leg covering.

Today I had the most wonderful time with a third-year class during lunch. I had the good luck to be seated in the group with the most outgoing and gregarious girl in the class, who guided her group in asking me many questions. We talked quite a bit, about everything from "Who makes your lunch?" to "Do you live with your boyfriend?" Yes and yes. They were very sharp, asking follow-up questions such as "How early do you get up?" to which I replied, "6:30, but I make my lunch the night before." It was the first time a group of kids began to carry on a full conversation with me on their own during lunch. I don't know if the success of that conversation carried over into cleaning time, but my luck continued. Two girls came shyly up to me and asked, "Will you clean with us?" in sweet, halting, and very clear English. Well, of course! So they handed me a broom ( hoki ) and told me to sweep ( haku ). As we worked, they continuousl...

Matt and I attended a Halloween-themed English production on Sunday night. We proudly donned our costumes again and headed out in quite a lot of rain for a three-hour show (yes, THREE HOURS). A mom of one of Matt's students runs a juku ( cram school), and asked me to choreograph a little dance for three girls as part of the show. They wanted to do "Chinese Tea Dance" from The Nutcracker, and I was happy to oblige with a little Western-influenced ballet. The girls are amazing, as you can see from the video. I set the dance in one rehearsal of less than an hour, and practiced it with them only one other time for about a half-hour. What I wouldn't give to be this talented! Check out the video, linked via youtube: Our new ALT friend Tony, who actually taught at both of our schools last year, came and participated as well. He played Sherlock Holmes in one skit: Tony also created "animal charades" where teams of one parent and one child ...

On 9/17/10 I attended my first undokai , or Sports Day.  It's a day filled with various athletic events that is supposed to build teamwork and camaraderie between the students.  Although there are three teams (at my large school), the message of the day is that they are all part of one large group and as such should treat each other well.  It's inspiring as well as slightly ridiculous and militaristic.  The kids seem to have fun, and that's all that really matters.  One event at my school is the onawa , or a very large group jump-rope.  A whole class (35-40 people) gathers, in two rows, by the same rope.  Two class members "twirl" said rope by using their entire wingspan to make giant circles.  This is unbelievably difficult, yet they manage to jump for long periods of time.  We tried this at our training a few weeks ago and failed miserably.   Kibasen , which means "mounted knight," is a game I particu...

Okay, brief post: I have two kyoto-sensei (vice-principal) at my school, and while both of them are very nice, one is superbly hilarious every day. When I first met him, he insisted on being called the vice PRESIDENT, emphasis on PRESIDENT. Mostly he finds new things to come up to me and say, or to give me. They are always random, and I think they are things he needs to get rid of, so he tries them out on me. He has also clued into the fact that I won't get paid for some time (first real check is end of Nov) so that's part of the offerings. He is truly a funny, funny man. Things I have obtained or been offered: 1. The ability to swim in the school pool. ("But you must wear the bikini.") 2. A fruit jelly cup. 3. A hornet's nest cut from a bush outside the school. When I said no, I don't want that, he asked why not. I said, "what am I supposed to do with it?" And he laughed. For a long time. 4. A sushi bento (lunch box). 5. A...

OK, so it's just got a heated seat, but it still looks more advanced than most American cell phones. Japanese cell phones look more advanced than most American sci-fi movie props. This is Matt, blogging for you as promised. And I must begin by saying, my first week was just about as awesome as Abby's. I can't remember the last time I was so happy to be somewhere, let alone the last time I was doing something so rewarding. Sharing the experience with Abby makes me want to write embarrassingly sappy things on an otherwise perfectly serviceable blog post, so instead I'll cut to the funny. I had to talk about Hiroshima on my first day. The third-year textbook contains a story called "A Mother's Lullaby" about a young boy taking shelter from the flames under a tree and being comforted by a young woman who successfully tricks him into thinking she's his mother long enough for them both to die a little less miserably. "Please," said th...

Nagamori chuugakkou (middle school) is a friendly, clean, and very large place where I now spend my weekdays. I am mid-way through my first week as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), and things are going very well despite my distinct lack of Japanese language skills. I teach full-time at Nagamori, which is different from most of my ALTIA colleagues who teach at two schools (Matt included). I enjoy staying at one school because it is much easier for me to handle the language barrier: I am able to see the same kids and teachers every day, and I am continuously improving my communication skills. Mostly the kids are great. They are, as a whole, interested and engaged. I have been doing a lot of jiko shoukai , which means "self-introduction." Third day in and the kids have got a pretty good handle on me even though I haven't officially been in their class yet. I no longer can ask them if I am from Australia, for example, because they all know I am from America....