Wednesday, June 16

IN A NUTSHELL: Remedial English

Class in the Principal's Office I had no classes today so somehow I ended up doing one of Tamai-sensei's classes because she was not there. It was a Remedial English class for about six 9th graders, including Rie-chan. For some reason, we had class IN THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE. So, we were all sitting on comfortable chairs and I had no idea what to do. I had an hour before class. I ended up doing eikaiwa stuff: putting a bunch of objects on the table and having them pick one and write three words about it. That sort of worked. Then I had a "write as many English words as you can." Unfortunately, I forgot to tell them to put their books away first, which is the whole point. Oops. Anyway, they enjoyed that, but it was generally a hard class - I couldn't even get them talking about music. Rie was the best and happiest student oddly enough.

Carryover I met with Nishida-san, who had not done much for me. However, I found out that I could carry over 10 days of my vacation and, wouldn't you know it, I have exactly 10 days left of my original 20. On top of that, I get three days of 'summer vacation' which is nice. I didn't get that last year that I remember, but I also had all my stuff (like bank accounts and car stuff) taken care of over working hours by my old supervisor.

Of Note Today was the first day I used my air conditioner. I didn't use it very long, but it was too hot to sit comfortably in my house.

Lots of Visitors Odagawa-san rang the bell in the evening. I walked to the door and when I opened it, I saw that Odagawa-san had her shirt folded over. On the inside was a whole bunch of big fireflies! She had come over to show me them. Cute! Then Yamashita-san came over later with a surprising request. He wanted me to translate four pages of a Japanese project description into English! Normally, I'd be like 'hello, I should paid for this' but on the other hand, I would pay someone to give me deadline-oriented motivation to study Japanese, so actually it evens out pretty well.

IN A NUTSHELL: Random Water Bill Stuff

You Came All The Way Over Here To Tell Me That? So some guy came to the school to see me and we both sat in the principal's office as if we were having an important meeting. All he came over to tell me was that because of the city merge, I'm being overcharged for water so I will get a 200 yen refund for the next few months. Talk about Not Being Worth The Time for this guy, but it was nice of them I supposed. Maybe they don't realize that I rarely pay attention to any bill besides electricity and rent, because those are the Big Ones. (Okay, Internet is big too, but I'd pay five times that for Internet, so I don't mind.)

The Cutest Question Ever! In my question box was a question that asked, in Japanese, how long I was staying because he (I knew it was a boy because he wrote "boku") wanted me to stay until he graduated! How cute is that? I wrote a nice response with a happy-face sticker.

IN A NUTSHELL: Driver's Test: Part 2

Interview Test Before I left for the driving center, I helped administer a one-on-one interview test for the 8th graders. It was quite eye-opening to talk to each student on an individual basis, even if it was scripted. I was surprised which ones messed up and which ones did well - not who I would have guessed. They were all SO nervous, poor kids. Tomomi and I were trying to be good and administer the script exactly the same to each student, but as time ran out and second period started to end, Tomomi hurried things along a lot, which was a bit unfair, but what do you do?

* * STUPID THING OF THE DAY * * At the driving center, I went up to the window and gave them my application and all my documents again and the lady told me to wait. So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. They were not calling me back to the window. What could possibly be wrong with my application this time? I walked by the window a few times so they knew I was there, but nothing. I saw testers heading down. It was about quarter to 1 and I thought "the driver's test will start soon, you better send me down!" I finally just went up to the window and asked. The lady said, "Please wait on the course." ARGH!!! I realized that's what she meant the first time, I just didn't get it! Feeling like a royal moron, I booked it down to the driving course, running as fast as I could. There were three Brazilian guys on the bench in the air conditioned waiting area. They made room for me. I tried to ask the only one that spoke any English if the tester had come down or anything, but he misunderstood me. I waited a long time until the tester finally came and I realized I was not late after all. Still, can I do this test without doing something stupid to cause me a massive case of the nerves?

Useful Japanese While the two Brazilians were taking their test, I talked to their friend who they had brought to translate. He had excellent Japanese, but no English. I can't describe how amazingly neat it was to talk to him - and have a good conversation - using Japanese as a shared foreign language. More than almost any other time this year, I felt like my Japanese was improved and, more important, useful. I'm so used to being surrounded by people who want to speak / try to speak English, that it was liberating using the language the way language is meant to be used: as a communication device between cultures.

Overconfidence Is My Weakness I drove smooth - maybe I'm getting used to the test car's clutch finally - I know I did not miss any over-the-shoulder checks or turn signals. I stayed left and successfully executed the crank (I always think I will mess up the crank.) Toward the end, I felt a bit defensive. As I drove down the last stretch of road, I was thinking "OK, mister tester, I DARE you to find something wrong with my driving." I thought I heard him mumble something, as if replying to my thought, but he did not follow up. I pulled up to the spot and he asked the guy in the back seat to leave. He complimented me on my driving and asked if I had been to driving school in Japan. I said yes. Then he said I did really well except that I made one pretty major mistake. Driving through the obstructed view the second time, I flew right past, not slowing to check like I had the first time. That obstructed view had come by right as I had been thinking my "I DARE you to find something" thought and I'm sure his mumble had been a mumble of shock that I had missed something so glaringly obvious. So yep, I failed. And once again, it was a fair fail. I have big confidence next time. I think the Brazilian failed too. I've never actually personally witnessed anyone passing.

IN A NUTSHELL: Working on Projects

All the Stuff I'm Doing I had a fairly productive day. I worked on the translation for Yamashita-san's paper. I worked on my story. I worked on my AJET Driving book. Then I stayed up far too late reading the Da Vinci code which, if nothing, is a page-turner.

IN A NUTSHELL: See Saturday, June 19

IN A NUTSHELL: Rowdy Kids

Typhoon? Everyone said there was a typhoon. Maybe there was. All we got was some misty non-stop rain and humid enough weather that I was sweating even though it was not hot. I think Sakugi is about the farthest inland you can get in this area of Japan so I would think that typhoons effect us the least, but I really could be wrong.

Popular! The third graders loved my weather card game so much that they played it again today, even though I had something else planned. Oddly, they played it better than the 4th graders.

What Happens When the Teacher Leaves The 5th grade homeroom teacher did not show up during my final class of the day. Then he did not show up when my class was over. The kids were REALLY rowdy. Not misbehaving so much, just really loud and active. I asked where the teacher was and the Fukada girl (I love her!) told me that the teacher had to leave because his wife was pregnant and in the hospital. I asked her who was in charge and she said the principal. I hung around for awhile, but the kids obviously knew what to do and were not being sneaky just because there was no teacher, so I reluctantly went downstairs and reminded the vice principal that the 5th graders were alone so she went up.

Ah, Suspense Novels I finished Da Vinci Code. I don't remember the last time I read a book so fast. I felt so proud that I figured out two of the mysteries before the characters did, but I guess that was the point of him putting the clues in the book. I enjoyed his theological theories a lot.

IN A NUTSHELL: Pool Cleaning

No Professionals I saw "Pool Cleaning" on the schedule today and wondered what it meant, as Sakugi Jr. High does not have a pool. I asked and found out that they use the pool near the former Town Hall. I walked across the field out of curiosity and saw all the students - the boys wearing only bathing shorts but the girls in their gym uniforms - as well as the PRINCIPAL in a straw hat with his pants rolled up all standing in the 6-inch deep water. All were fanatically scrubbing the algae off the bottom with long-handled brushes. A few others had been assigned the locker rooms nearby where more scrubbing and sweeping was going on - teachers and even some city hall workers included. I was impressed that a: they cleaned the pool themselves and b: that adults joined in too. I was only wearing nice clothes, but I helped sweep for a bit.

IN A NUTSHELL: Crappiest Day of the Year So Far

My First Student Conflict I taught at Miyoshi Jr. High today and had trouble in one of my classes. Here is the course of events: In my 9th grade class with Sakane-sensei, there was a boy throwing a washcloth around to the back of the classroom and such. At the fourth throw, I went over, forced it out of his hands and hung it on the back window, resisting the temptation to throw it out the window. Eventually, he went back to retrieve it, but he didn't throw it at anyone anymore, so I didn't do anything. Then he started tilting the table he was sitting at. He shared the table with one other boy in the front row. I ignored the tilting for awhile. Once, I walked by with my nose in my book as if I didn't know where I was going, my hip clipping the corner of the table "by accident" and pushing it back down. My subtle technique worked for the time. Then he started tilting again. I ignored it until the other kid's books fell to the floor. Then my patience ran out. I went over and slammed the table back down to normal. It surprised him considerably, which was the point.

Thirty Seconds Later Not long after I had forced the table straight, the kid suddenly stood up, grabbed the collar of the boy next to him which forced him up, then pushed him toward the corner of the room. Sakane-sensei intervened, getting between the two since it looked like it could be a fight. The guy then started hitting Sakane-sensei. Not hard at all, but threateningly and repeatedly. I was frozen and stunned. Finally, she took him out into the hall. I fumbled around and then found the next handout in her bag and handed it out. Sakane-sensei came in after a few minutes, a male teacher now talking to BOTH boys in the hallway. She finished class smooth as can be. Afterwards, I told her I was really upset by that kid's behavior, but she brushed it off. I thought he should be suspended but she said he was not even close to the worst and that they rarely suspended. I don't know if I was overreacting but it seems like touching a teacher is sacred territory.

Stranger Still The male teacher (who I until then felt indebted to for coming up and talking with the boys) came up and talked with me. Suddenly, it seemed like I was partially to blame. He said that when I pushed the desk down that "it surprised him" and that maybe it scratched the other kid. I said sorry if it hurt the kid who was not misbehaving, but that "surprising" the bad kid was the whole point, of course. I don't even see what the two had in common except that the fight started thirty seconds after I pushed the desk down. I was having trouble focusing on the Japanese, and Minokuchi was not doing a great job of translating either him to English or me to Japanese (I was too flustered to speak Japanese coherently) but it sounded like he wanted ME to apologize. HUH?!? (Minokuchi translated something very strange that sounded like "Well, that kid - the kid who was attacked - mother is very overparanoid about scratches and so might be upset that he has a scratch from when you pressed the desk down." HUH?!? ) I kept trying to explain what I thought was pretty logical but he kept saying strange things that I didn't quite understand. It seemed like he believed the two boys' story (whatever it was) over me, even though Sakane-sensei could back up everything I said. Finally, he said he would try to get an apology from the boys. I thought this was ironic as recently I was just reading an article LAST NIGHT about apologies in Japan as a form of punishment. I said bluntly that I don't care if he apologizes, I just want his behavior to change. They seemed to think that such a thing was too much to ask. I suppose it is a step up from nothing, but apologies mean very little to me if I have doubt that it is meant. Anyway, I was really upset. I was upset that it happened and the kid wasn't going to be punished I was upset that I got a bit of blame placed on me even though I was just trying to keep a reasonably disciplined classroom. I'm upset because I'm trying SO SO SO hard everyday to be friends with the kids and be genki, happy, and inquisitive no matter how tired I am. I'm trying so hard its killing me, and now I have at least two if not several more kids hating me and this teacher seems to think I'm to blame too, even though Sakane-sensei doesn't and she is a respected veteran. She and Minokuchi-sensei seemed to agree that I did the right thing and Sakane-sensei said that this event was pretty minor. I still was not calm until after lunch, though. Maybe I just don't remember that well, but I don't recall ever seeing a teacher threatened before. I've seen a few fights between students when I was growing up, but never a teacher. I have a low tolerance for misbehavior and violence, but I don't know how to cope with it. I don't have enough experience to discipline effectively, but Sakane-sensei doesn't do anything. I think I finally understand when people get frustrated with the Japanese school system. if you can't expel/suspend/discipline students, how do you deal with the troublemakers? But, still, it seems like she could have done SOMETHING. I preferred the kid who slept through my class. I don't want to teach that class again. I don't know what to do if something like that happens again. After thinking it over, it seems a lighter approach might be more effective. Maybe a "please, please, please" like I do with Nakano-san (the slacker Sakugi kid) or something subtle like pretending I'm doing something else while 'accidentally' fixing the problem. Or like that one time I listened to the kids headphones and asked him about the music before taking them off his ears in class.

I Still Don't Get It Later, when I felt better (my last class of the day went very well) I tried to be nice to the male teacher and thank him for helping out with the boys (even if he was rude to me) and I swear he said something standoffish like "I guess you'll adjust to our system soon enough, let's work hard at that." What a jerk! I feel just really frustrated and helpless because I feel like I ruined the good connections Kate made with the bad boys and I feel like I did not help my successor either. ARGH.

The Only Good News of the Day Well, it looks like Sungreen will be open until 9pm instead of 7:30. About freaking time. Maybe someday, we'll progress to 24-hour supermarkets.