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Week 2
The Plan According to my schedule, I have five classes today. Although they are back-to-back, there is a twenty minute break between classes. (I'm not really sure what they do during that time. It can't take that long to clean a classroom.) It would normally be a time to 'cool off' except that, once again, they did not have the air conditioning turned on in the staff room. Anyway, according to what me and Nakamura-sensei planned, I'm doing Fruits for my double 1st & 2nd year class, Vegetables and later Shopping for my 3rd & 4th year classes, and Countries for 5th and 6th. The 4th Graders (My First Elementary Class!) Nakamura-sensei, the fourth grade teacher, was absent today so the other Nakamura-sensei, the principal, sat in on my class for me. Conclusion: fourth graders are the best! And this class is wonderfully, wonderfully small: about 15 students. The class started out with a little girl giving an intro ("let's study hard" or something along those lines) and the class bowing. I started out by saying "Stand Up" then had them say "Good Morning!" really loudly twice. Then I told them to sit down, followed immediately by telling them to stand up again. They got a kick out of that. Next, I played the name game. I said "My name is Melissa. What is your name?" and tossed a beach-ball globe at them. When they successfully said, "My name is..." I gave them a sticker. (I did not bother asking a teacher about giving them my excess chocolate since I figured that it could get messy fast, especially in this persistent HEAT.) Then I had them throw the globe to the next person and so forth. That worked pretty well. When I was thrown back the ball, I pretended to look for America on it, then said 'Mitsukarenai' (which means, I think, "I can't find it") and had one of the kids help me (rewarded by a sticker). After that, I passed out lots of pictures of my family and school as well as some American money. That ended my self intro and about 15 minutes. I then began the vegetable flash cards. These kids know their vegetables! Even cucumber! I was impressed. We then played 'Battle Janken' which is basically kids lining up on both ends, then going through the vegetable cards starting from either end and when they reach each other, they do rock paper scissors ("janken") to find out who can continue. They got a little rowdy, but were having lots of fun. Since the battle ended five minutes before class was over, I had an 'uh oh, what do I do now?' moment before deciding to simplify the alphabet game and simply went down the row, having each of them think of a word that started with the next letter. Then we did some "see you next week" bye-bye greetings. Afterward, some of the kids seemed to want to give back the stickers, but I assured them that they were presents. Then I was finished my first elementary class! I received some positive feedback from the principal who genuinely looked as if she enjoyed it and said it was good fun. Happy happy! Culture Note: Janken Rock, paper, scissors. Sure we have this game in the states, but nowheres near the level of usage and detail in Japan. They have a little chant that goes with it "Saisho gu, jan ken pon!", which I think means "First rock (put out your fist), jan ken pon" then if there is a tie, they say something I can't decipher and immediately do it again. The speed at which these kids can janken is phenomenal. The Littlest Ones Twenty minutes later, I was rearing to go. I went upstairs with the 1st grade teacher and we walked into the auditorium room. (I was relieved. Since it was a double class (both 1st graders and 2nd graders) I did not want to play big games in a small, crowded classroom. There is plenty of room here, however.) I realized a little bit later that the air conditioners were on! The kids lined up and we waited until everyone was there before starting. A few kids were late and the teacher had four of them stand up and apologize to the rest of the class for being late. Anyway, I started my schpiel again (including the good morning, the standing up, sitting down, the standing up again and even jumping this time), but the throwing the ball globe around took a lot longer because there were twice the amount of kids. A few first graders did not know what to say, but they were usually told by their teachers and friends to say "My name is..." and figured it out. The kids liked to compare stickers to see who got what. (I believe, in my sticker set, there were about five or six different smiling critters with things like "Super!" and "Good work!" written under them). One little girl in the corner really did not want to participate, despite being fondly encouraged by her friends. I had no idea what was going on with her but, by the end, she did finally say her name and get her sticker. I skipped the handing out photos and coins because it would have taken the rest of the class. Since I made an effort to bring in real fruit to use, I wanted to use it today since it would go bad before the next class. Okay, let's be honest, here. Buying the fruit was actually easier than making flash cards (especially since I had a great deal of fruit sitting around my house already.) Anyway, I was amazed how many fruit words the kids already knew. One they did not know, though, was "Pear." Naturally, I had brought some pears. I laid a bunch of fruit all out in a row and demonstrated Battle Janken with the teacher (who I had to give instructions to in broken Japanese). Once they figured it out, they were much more organized about it than the last class. It went pretty well, but I should have been paying closer attention at first. Only later did I realize how many kids got stuck at 'pear' which I had placed first. I started helping them after that. There was a significant difference between the fast second graders and the slow first graders. I realized after the class that I should have gone through the fruits more than once. The Gods Have Spoken I returned to the teacher's room and nearly fainted from shock. Someone had turned the air conditioner on! I wondered what happened to cause this Ultimate Decision to be made, but I did not dare ask. Maybe the temperature reached a magic 92.7 degrees, maybe we were having guests, maybe they noticed I was dripping sweat on the nice desk, who knows, but I have proof that it does happen! The 3rd Graders First off, I really like the third grade teacher - he (Hanatani-san) is just a way cool laid-back sort of guy. This is the first time I've worked with him, but within minutes I knew he rocked. I did an almost identical introduction schpiel as I gave to the fourth graders (the teacher helped me explain how the quarters varied by state) which was followed by the veggie flashcards again. This time, however, they did NOT know all the vegetables. Onion and cucumber were two they had not heard before, so I actually felt like they were learning new and exciting stuff (I also taught them the two different ways to say tomato). After we went through the cards (and a random 'apple' card to toss away since it was not a veggie), we played a game sort of like Karuta. I split the class into three teams because the desks were conveniently arranged that way and had one member from each team come up to the front. I put four vegetable cards (or a 'bonus' vegetable: I brought in broccoli and eggplant) on the teacher's podium. They had to put their hands behind their head and, when I called the vegetable, they had to slap it as fast as they could. After going through it about six times, I had the team members switch off. Team 2 and 3 were neck and neck for awhile. The only tough round was when one boy won every single slap; the others did not look very happy. I did not give prizes, just kept track of the score, which kept them quite interested enough. It was very convenient to have something like janken to fall back on when the slap was a tie. Anyway, I learned this version of Karuta during the Tokyo Orientation. That elementary school workshop I attended had to have been one of the most useful ever in giving me an idea of what to expect. The Most Adorable Thing Ever! During the next twenty-minute interval, the 1st grade teacher came over to my desk and brought me a small stack of drawings that the kids had made about my class! They had also written comments which she thankfully read to me since I could barely read their kana. The pictures were great! Most had a line of the fruit with kids on both ends... I loved all the fruit. One kid, who was lamenting his inability to figure out the word 'pear' drew a picture of the kid on one end thinking "Wakatta!" (I understand) and him on the other side of a line of drawn fruits with a "?" in a thought bubble. Despite that he barely had a chance to go, he said the class was still fun. In fact, tanoshikatta ("it was fun!") was the most common response. Lunchtime! But I've Yet to Be An Expert Since I thought I was good at this by now, I went to help dole out the food. I found a little bag with a hat thing and an apron. I half put it on when a teacher rushed up to me and told me that I could go without. The aprons and stuff were only for the kids and kind of dirty anyway. Oh. Ew. She told me the table I would be sitting at and so I started helping. Since I already had the hat on, I kept it on and did things like placed trays everywhere (though I did not know who was absent so just placed them at every chair) and doled out food, taking bowls, spooning hot vegetable soup into them with a big spoon, then placing them on various trays around the table. Anyway, the bowl pile was getting short, so I added it to the other pile. A few bowls later, someone told me I was using the wrong bowls. The teacher explained that the big bowls were for rice and the small bowls were for soup. The bowls looked identical. She had to hold them up right next to each other for me to see the difference. One indeed was larger. However, she said, since the designs on the bowl were the same, she could understand how it was hard to see the difference. I'll say! Anyway, the best part of the whole lunch-preparation thing was this little boy in second or third grade. He became my self-appointed guide. He told me, after the bowl thing, that it was okay to make mistakes. His tone was very matter-of-fact and serious. During lunch (where he used English words like 'hungry' and 'yummy' fairly well), he told me when it was okay to leave and when 1:00 came, he did not leave until he persuaded me to leave with him. He was not overbearing or clingy, he just seemed to genuinely want to make sure I was adjusting okay to the lunchtime procedure. Then he proceeded to show me where to put the various dishes and trash but after that he went about his business. What a great kid! Oh, by the way, the food consisted of rice (as always), the delicious soup, and a plate of something rather unappetizing looking with lots of big chunks of not-quite-potatoes and little black things. The girl on the other side of me (one of the ones I played with on cooking day - in particular, the one that jumped on me the most) said she did not like it but I found it delicious once I tasted the odd pile o' stuff. I cleaned my plate, as did the girl next to me after some prodding by the teacher on the opposite site. Lunch is made, according to the teacher, by four people in a lunch room beyond the cooking room. I wonder what food for 100 people (since they make it for the Jr. High too) looks like. The Announcement Room Both here and at the Junior High, there is a little room one can only get to from the teacher's room where one can make school announcements over the intercom. To my surprise, kids walk in often to make announcements, only saying a short greeting to teachers before doing so. I saw one little girl walk in and make an announcement after lunch before classes started. I heard something to the effect of, "Cleaning time is about over. Is everything spotless? Be sure to wash your hands before preparing for class." Woah. The 5th Graders When I walked in, I was surprised that the kids did not look older. I thought I had the wrong class and almost walked out to double-check the sign above the door. Anyway, they were quiet, but responsive, and enjoyed my introduction. I was worried that my country activity was not game-like enough, but I think it turned out okay, even if it was not quite as competitive. I gave everyone a sheet with a country on it; I picked six random countries - Brazil, Israel, Finland, Indonesia, South Africa, and Russia. (I used my "Resources and Teaching Materials Handbook" country descriptions to make the handouts.) Since there were always at least two people for each country, I had each group come up to the world map (which the teachers thankfully arranged after my sudden request) and show the class where their country was. Then I threw a globe around, playing the "Where are you From?" song from Genki English and asking the student, "Where are you From?" when I stopped the music. I should have, however, explained better or written "Where are you From?" on the board since most kids were baffled and had to have the phrase repeated to them every time. I used this opportunity to hand out stickers instead of during the name game (where I threw around a stuffed sesame street Count that I inherited). Afterward, I played a little Bob Marley and grooved to it. Then I played some Cheb Mami. I told them, and I hope I'm right, that Bob's music is from Jamaica and Cheb's music is from India. I don't have any of my CD jackets so I don't know for sure. Anyway, I have an idea. Next class, I'm going to make the students stand up and dance with me! I had the 5th graders grooving in their seats a bit, but I could make that more fun, I bet. Let's see what happens... The 6th Graders! These guys were smart (amazing how much English they knew compared to the other classes) and energetic! In the back was Tsuyoshi-kun, who is the talkative one I had talked to after the concert. I'm not surprised he turned out to be a sixth grader. I did the same lesson as the 5th graders but, of course, improved it since I knew what needed to be fixed. After my intro, which STILL amazingly worked (I added 'Spin' to the Stand up, Sit down, Jump routine), I explained "Where are you from?" and wrote that and the response, "I'm from ... " on the board, which helped later. I knew the students learned the alphabet in 4th grade, but I really was not sure how well they could read English. They seemed to be able to read it well enough, though. And, at the end, I had them all stand up and said "Dance time!" before turning on my reggae and Cheb Mami. I had them all dancing, especially one brave girl in the front who did a lot of dancing - granted, it was mostly imitating what I was doing but it was imitating it pretty well. I danced around the room having a grand old time and the teacher even turned UP the music. Whee! One student closed the door, though. I imagine we were making quite a racket. In Conclusion... I have the coolest kids! In fact, I don't even want to go back to the Jr. High, I just want to teach Elementary. I feel for my friends with lots of big schools in big cities who don't get to have small classes or kids who already know you. And compared to my poor friend Glynis who is being harassed by her kids in one of her city's high schools... I am so lucky! Whee! Stuff That Did Not Happen At The Elementary School At about 4:30, I went to the bunka center to have my mail checked (i.e. have someone read the Japanese of the letters, etc, that I received so I know if it is important or not) and check my email. Just like every time I walk into that office, I was given an important piece of information. Last time, I got a bill. This time, I was told I was supposed to be going to the bunka center on Wednesday mornings instead of the Jr. High. I think if Kato-san already knew where she wanted me to go when, she should have written it down or even, gasp, given me a weekly schedule? I'm not sure why she wants me at the bunka center (her reasoning was that my predecessor did it) but actually I can't object, given that it will give me an excuse to be online for a few hours a week. My lesson-planning materials are all at my Jr. High desk, but I suppose I could do with a break. I'm confused, though, about all this 'free time' JETs supposedly have. I feel so, so busy. Lesson plans and organizing are taking up way more than my allotted time. I went back to the Jr. High after checking my email and calling back the first woman who had offered me a teaching position (She had called to say she found someone else. Whew. No more guilt.) I wanted to get a start on the stuff I needed for tomorrow's lessons. You see, Tomomi-sensei told me what he was going to be doing on Friday, but on Friday I was preparing for today's elementary lesson, so tonight is the only time I have. Because the computer at the Jr. High is flaky, I handwrote my games. I was getting near exhaustion, however, and decided to call it quits when everyone else started leaving. But I did not miss Conan! It was a plottish episode to boot. Woo hoo!
Schedule Woes It was time for class but no Tomomi-sensei. Hmm. I went upstairs on my own. The 2nd year room was dark. I found Tomomi-sensei in the 3rd year room administering a test. I walked about a step into the room and gave him a questioning look and he came over and quietly told me at the door the New Schedule for Today. I was a bit put out because I had spent the last forty minutes not doing much because I did not want to start some big project then have to go to class. What's the deal? To his credit, he did come over after class with an apology. Right as I was going to ask him if these sort of changes were written down somewhere, I saw a blackboard over his shoulder with the changes written on it. Bad timing for me to notice that when I was all set to go on a whining spree. So I confirmed with Tomomi-sensei that the changes would be written there. He said they would. Not Fixing a Non-Problem Later in the morning, Moriguchi-san said she was having trouble printing from Nosohara-sensei's laptop, so I went over to troubleshoot. I thought she was trying to print to the NEC printer so I spent awhile confirming the location of the printer on the network, then found out that there was no driver for XP unless we went online. Then she started talking about the Epson and I realized she was trying to print to the much newer Epson printer, not the NEC printer. So I start over. I found it on the network and tried to print a test page, but I was never sure if the page that EVENTUALLY came through was from that computer or the computer I was comparing settings with. So naturally, it irritated me when Tomomi finally came over, just hit print, and it worked. ARGH. I really should have just double-checked that there WAS a problem in the first place before trying to fix it. I think this whole episode irritated me more because I used to be that person who came over and did the exact same thing, but it would work for me. No one else is supposed to have Magic Hands. Battlesnooze My battleship game was very confusing for the students. I wrote two grids on the board, one for each team, then drew some ships between them and said the ships were hidden on the board and told them to try a grid square to find a ship. Instead of A,B,C and 1,2,3 I used sentences like I have to, She has to, We have to and Sleep, Read, Study. They did not get it. Maybe I should have made it a pair game instead of a team game. I explained and explained in Japanglish, then Japanese, but Tomomi-sensei had to explain even more before they got the hang of it. Once they did, it was fun. Luckily, just as Tomomi-sensei said it was nearing time to quit (the bell had already rang), the first team happened to win. Whew. Need to do something simpler next time. Heat Wave HOTHOTHOT! It is so hot outside! Normally, I would want rain, but here when it stops raining, it is even more humid than before. The temperature listing along the road said '35' on my way home, which is 95 Fahrenheit. Ouch! Isn't it autumn yet??? This heat wave is supposed to continue through this week but start to end as the typhoon comes through. Where's that typhoon when I need it? Miyoshi in Japanese I went to Miyoshi for my first Japanese lesson. I was a little late, which irritated my overgrown sense of punctuality, but at least I found the place without getting lost. Both teachers were there because Kate cancelled and I was set to have a great lesson. I even had ideas of what I wanted to do if they did not have a plan. But the main teacher had a plan. He took a textbook out that looked identical to Minna no Nihongo, except it wasn't. Maybe it was a rip-off? The actual Minna no Nihongo was on order, but this book was usable enough for now. I was ready to get going, maybe go through some of the later lessons and practice passive voice. But, no. He started from the first lesson in the book and had me repeat every sentence in the lesson TWICE. I felt like I was cruising in fourth gear and suddenly hit bumper to bumper traffic. I knew this lesson already. Besides that it is the same textbook I have back at home in Colorado, the one I studied before I came (and he knows this), he still went through every single sentence! To make it more difficult for myself, I tried to memorize the sentence, but sometimes that was hard to do. I asked some questions I had in the middle to break up the monotony, but it was very frustrating. He made the comment that I did remember it well, but then he continued at the same pace. Granted, it would have been a fast pace if I did not know the lesson or the vocabulary, but he knew I did. Maybe he is used to teaching beginners. Anyway, I was relieved when his next student (a Korean with fantastic English and Japanese) came and left me with Iwato. Iwato-sensei was about to continue where he left off, but I took control of the conversation. I told her I would not mind going through some of the later lessons, but I really would rather her correct sentences I made up on my own in regular conversation. For the last half hour, forty minutes, I had a great lesson and learned more about a few particle problems I was having as I spoke. Making Use of the New DVD Player I rented Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The story beyond the few musical numbers I had already seen was quite different than I expected, but nice and non-Hollywood. I was hoping the songs would be translated and sung in Japanese too, but they weren't. I wonder if Chicago's songs will be. The Japanese usually develop their own lyrics to plays (like Les Mis and Lion King) so it might. My favorite song in the movie is Origin of Love so I watched that one twice. I tried to read the production notes but the kanji was way too small to make out.
The Typhoon Cometh Even now, it is all very dream-like. I don't remember what happened, but I remember half waking up a lot, possibly due to loud crashes of thunder and lightening. I woke up early, feeling kind of like I had been up all night, but I did not remember if I really had been. I looked outside. Indeed, it was raining and looked like it had been for some time. It's Plaza Time Again I went to the bunka center and back to my desk which already seemed reminiscent as I had not sat there since August. It was nice and quiet so early in the morning so I decided to organize my desk. In my drawer I found the CD that I had burned my Melissa's World files onto. I had been on the verge of asking Tamura for the CD back because I knew it was the time of month when the Sakugi News Magazine files were due and I did not want to burn them on a new CD. In addition, Tamura-san happened to call when I was there (had she called before??) and told me to bring her the files ASAP. She preferred them in Photoshop, she told me. Later I realized that made no sense. My computer doesn't have the Japanese fonts she used so I could never replicate what she made. Anyway, I guess I better get to work on finishing it. For my Cool English segment, I promised 10 ways to say "How Are You?" I came up with stuff like How's it going, What's happening, What's up and Como estas. Because the Seats in the Principal's Office are More Comfortable My one morning lesson went fine, but after class, Nosohara-sensei called me over to talk to me. We went into the principals office. First I was kind of concerned, but knew I had done nothing that I could not defend and was pretty sure I was fitting in fairly well so I was not that worried. It turned out that she just wanted to talk about lesson planning. The principal was there at his desk doing his own things and making some phone calls and such so I guess we were just borrowing his comfy seats? Anyway, she started out by saying that she did not think memorization of dialogues was the best way to teach. I'm thinking, "Well, no kidding. I was just doing what you asked me to until I got the hang of things." I just nodded in agreement, though. She asked me to come up with new and better communication activities (she gave me a list of useful phrases to know) maybe including gestures. I'm all for this except I have no idea what to do exactly. I kind of thought they had been doing it this way all along and wondered what my predecessor had been doing for the last two years if not improving it. Anyway, I do have a better guess now what level of English the students are at, but still, I'm not sure how I can make such a big change on my own without a little guidance. Back to Neverland Nursery school today is how I imagine it will normally be. This time, there were not so many extra kids and parents around, just the core staff and main kids. Not that I noticed this right away because within seconds of walking to the door, I was surrounded by half a dozen kids. Little hands were taking mine and leading me in different directions before I even saw a staff member. It was quite cute. They were not so curious the first time, I wonder why. Anyway, due to wetness outside, the kids played inside and were therefore rowdy. I did plan ahead and dressed comfortably but even so, I think I should dress even MORE comfortably next time. I might even bring jeans to change into. Although it was fun, it was a long hour and a half. I ran around a bit, playing chasing games and spun kids around and did my favorite thing - the tickle monster. I was playing samurai (or something) with a few kids while others did 'kagura' in the background. Playing kagura has to be a uniquely Japanese thing. Playing kagura is similar to the real thing and involves banging on drums, cymbals, and taking turns being the demon (I got to be the demon once and chase everyone around. That was fun.) The constant drums made for unique background noise. Later, one kid was rude and poking me in places he should not have been and making what I thought was a lewd comment. My response to this was to ignore him. If I gave him any sort of reaction, he would do it again to get the reaction. It seemed to have worked since he did not do it again. A dark look might work, too. I did that to one kid who hit me a little too hard to get my attention. But the kids in general were good. Rowdy, but good. I switched off rooms and played different games. I started trying to read a Japanese story in the book section. I think I was doing fine reading since it was pretty much hiragana, though they were turning the pages way too quickly for me to get it. According to the pictures flipping by, the story seemed first to be about a boy, then it focused on the journey the piece of food he ate was taking through the digestive system, into the colon and intestine and coming out as, well, you know what. Ew. Around ten to noon, the kids gathered in groups. The group I chose this time did a soccer obstacle course, but instead of a soccer ball, if was four PET bottles taped together. I was invited to join in to even things out since there was a kid absent. I was teamed up with (against? though the race aspect did not seem as important as it first appeared) a pretty nifty girl. She was six, so on the high end of the age group and fairly smart and not so rowdy. I sat with some boys during lunch that I had not played with as much (though it was hard since another table was also begging me to sit by them). I'm amazed how well little these tiny kids use chopsticks. The adult lunch was bigger than the kids lunch of course, but almost too much bigger. Our cook made delicious bacon-wrapped pepper things that had to be a million calories each. There were about seven on my plate (compared to the one or two on the kids plates). They were so good, I ate 'em up, but did not really need quite so many. In general, though, my food intake has been much more balanced than it has in awhile due to these carefully constructed lunches that always include rice, vegetables, and protein.
If No One Tells Me, I Won't Know
This will be my mantra, I know. In the case of the 'expensive color printer' I'm using it to my advantage.
Since I only heard second hand that printing color is expensive, I'm using it until I'm told otherwise.
This week, it is the copy machine. I've always noticed two machines in the room and was using the
one that looked familiar and newer. I finally asked one day if I should be using this one.
They told me that if I'm printing more than 10 copies, to use the Other one. Oh, okay.
The Other one
is not quite as user friendly (then again, we're talking all kanji here, anyway) but once you
get it to work, it does to amazing things like spit out massive numbers of copies very quickly .
It does need to buzz and make strange noises including a particularly disturbing crinkly noise
to put the handout into memory, but one it is in, it is amazingly fast
for a copy machine that feels like the original Star Trek compared to the new Next Generation copier.
Melissa's Corner
My Corner of the Bulletin Board I spent all afternoon on Melissa's Corner, cutting and pasting construction paper and printouts as well as collecting magazine cutouts. Around 6:15 (later than I had anticipated), I had just about everything ready to go and carried the pile out to the main hall. I could not believe how hot the hallway was compared to the teacher's room, even after six. I was dripping sweat within minutes. I hung up my Melissa's Corner sign that I was so proud of (and heard coworkers say was 'pretty' and 'cute' so I think I'm on the right track.) I was sort of in a hurry since I knew the teachers could leave at any time and needed to lock up. I kind of wish I had not felt rushed while putting up everything because I wanted to make it the best it could be, but my end product (with some movie poster cutouts from Premiere, some 'Hot Stars Under 25' from Teen People, and my Popular American Names for the 12-16 age group) did not look bad. I had more to put up but somehow there was less room than I had imagined. It was probably a good thing that I just went ahead and did it since it could have taken potentially hours more to make it 'perfect.' But I do want to add a question/answer section later. I just need TIME TIME TIME (and maybe a key to the Junior High? I'm hoping it will occur to them to get me a key.) Need a Time Turner! I think the fact that I've hardly had any time to myself is bugging me more because I kept reading in JET books how boredom was a big complaint and how much free time JETs had. I'm tripping over myself trying to keep on top of things and I'm still behind. Partially, I think it is the Beginning of the Month Craziness (since that's when I do my Corner, the Jr. High Newsletter, the Elementary bulletin board which I've totally neglected, and my Sakugi News page.) I am overwhelmed at the moment. The Elementary school planning is also overwhelming because I have to think of 3 different lessons and bring handouts and/or props for all of them. It's like the work I did for the rest of the week, but all on the same day and all stuff I take more time on.
Air Conditioner Authority I'm just curious. Why such a delay in turning on the air conditioner this morning? I swear it was 3rd period by the time someone got around to Ending the Sweating. Am I sensitive to heat or something? Why doesn't the first person in just turn it on? Who makes the Decision? Schedule! Tomomi-sensei came over to my desk and told me the schedule for the next week. It is completely different than usual. Although it roughly the same amount of classes, they all are at different times and now I don't have any classes on Wednesday. Isn't constantly switching class times stressful for teachers and students both? Isn't is confusing at the very least? Maybe it makes the monotony more interesting. In the Principal's Office Again Kocho-sensei (the principal) called me into his office to chat and to make a request. He talked in a useful Japanglish where he would speak in Japanese grammar and use Japanese in-betweeners but then stick a bunch of English words in to replace the Japanese ones. It worked pretty well since his bilingual vocab is better than mine. His request was sort of vague. It seems that he wants me to try to do some sort of Exchange if I can? Like exchange info and pamphlets about my school, and maybe even letters? I think I understood him. I really would have rathered such a request come from a teacher who sees the students every day and knows what they are interested in. It is not my favorite thing to do, but maybe I can make it work. Despite that I went to a private school, it might have more in common with Sakugi than a public school because it is roughly the same size and everyone wears uniforms. We chatted for awhile and one of the first things he asked was if I was adjusting okay. I have been asked that probably a dozen times by random people. "Sakugi wa Naremashita?" ("Have I adjusted to Sakugi?") Also, I'm constantly asked if I'm homesick and if I'm doing okay and if I'm having any problems. I sort of appreciate the concern, though wonder if they are worried if I suddenly will get homesick. I think my predecessor did. I did tell the principal about my thing with Bugs when he asked if I was having any trouble at the house, but said otherwise, I'm doing great. I half wanted to bring up the issues of internet at my house and what the deal is with the satellite, but my comments came out vague and that did not get anywhere. Anyway, I had been hoping to go home earlier today, but I suppose it's the principal and all... * * STUPID THING OF THE DAY * * This isn't exactly my fault, but I'm mad about it anyway. I realized today that the air conditioner in one of my bedrooms was on and had been for at most three days (since the last time I was in there). How in the world did that happen? I tried to use the remote control, but it is on acid and pretends like it is working except for the whole on/off button thing. I suspect that my Living Room remote control turned it on. That would explain the 'double beep' I hear when I turn on the air conditioner. If it was that, then it means it might have been on during other intervals that I was not aware of, which is rather irritating for my bill. In the end. I gave up trying to turn it off manually and unplugged the darn thing. There's Water in My Bike Pump I know what you're thinking. Pump it out! I did. But there's still more water! I don't know where it is all coming from and I pumped for awhile, but I do know my tires are getting low and I will need this working soon or will need a new one. Young Superman On my never-ending quest for televised entertainment, I turned on the tube. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was pre-empted by Judo (or as a friend put it, it's the new version: Who Wants To Be Kicked In The Head?) so I found a funky fantasy, sci-fi, drama high-school angst, every genre in the world anime to watch. Then, while I was waiting for my rice cooker to beep, the next show started. Comic book images of superman flipped by, as well as a few clips of some movie or show showing superman as a child, and it said the next show was "Young Superman" I thought, it couldn't be... But it was! Smallville! Right here on commercial-free NHK educational. Woo hoo! My First "English Newsletter, by Melissa" I finished my newsletter! Okay, I finished it a few days ago, but as requested, I made a few changes (to make it 'fun' and to use 'less complicated English') and Nosohara-sensei approved it again. I was so, so cool and got the funky Star Trek copier to do sixty copies and let me double-side them. It is a bit fancier than the newsletters I was given as a guide. Do I spend too much time? Mexican Independence the Internet Can't Agree On I researched for about an hour in order to do a section on Mexican Independence Day (so the Newsletter had a, you know, international feel). I want someone else to try this: go to Google and look up "Mexican Independence September 16" and see what you get. I got several articles, history websites, college websites, etc and although they agreed on the names and places, they did NOT AGREE ON THE CENTURY. I saw both 1810 and 1910. If it was just one website that was confused, then I would have ignored it, but it seems this mistake has traveled to rather official looking websites (like ones specifically about Mexican history and culture). I finally tallied my results and found one website with a lot more dates and details. Result? Mexico celebrates their independence from Spain that resulted from the revolution that started September 16, 1810.
Positive Feedback! During First Period at 8:40am, I did a good lesson! Having done a similar dialogue (about Gestures) for the dead-faced 3rd years, I knew what to expect and explained a bit better to the 2nd years. It went well; everyone had no trouble memorizing their dialogue and most used the gestures I taught (one pair even really getting into it). I got a "good job!" from Nosohara-sensei right after class. Then later, she said she was very happy and very satisfied with the class. YAY! Positive feedback! * * STUPID CAR THING OF THE DAY * * I decided to do the stuff I normally do on Saturday, which is food shopping, 100-yen shopping and maybe video-renting, tonight. I also wanted to pick up the cell phone case I ordered from Docomo. So I was driving a different way because I wanted to drive over the Big Red Bridge to go into Miyoshi instead of the normal, boring way. So I was making a big left turn onto the street before the bridge and I'm cruising along fine. Ooh, there's the big, red bridge up ahead. Isn't it pretty? Oh, look, the bus in front of me has its turn signal on; it is going to go over the bridge too. In fact, most of the cars in the line ahead at the traffic light are turning. Odd. Why is the bus in a different lane than I am? Why is it in the left lane? OH SH*T, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE LEFT LANE, TOO! Ladies and gentlemen, witness my first lane problem of my stay. Luckily the car behind me waited a bit of distance behind me (read: the stupid foreigner) so I could book it back into the left lane when I realized I had been driving in the right (read: wrong) lane. I wondered what the driver behind me must have been thinking, but at least he let me back in. Only after I was safely back on the left side did cars start coming from the other direction. No car even came close to me once, but boy did I feel like an idiot. Mold On My Clothes! Yes, I discovered a couple weeks ago that a few of my articles of clothing seemed to be dirty. But it was not dirt, it was mold, growing on my clothes. It especially likes silk. One word: ick! I wiped some of it off, but what am I supposed to do about it? I have a de-moisturizer in my closet, but tonight I bought something that I actually hang up among my clothes that will apparently keep the mold away. It smells strong and a lot like mothballs, but if it works I don't mind a bit. Video Finding Mission Anyway, so the shopping and Docomo went off without a hitch. Now I wanted to find that Other Video Store. This is the store that Kate and Katie told me about on Kagura night. This is a place that sells books AND rents DVDs, so I wanted to go. But the only information I had was that it was "on the same street as Honda Primo, but WAY down there" and that there was a red sign with the kanji for 'Book' on it. So I start driving. And driving. And I really wish people would not WALK ON THE SIDE OF THE STREET when there is barely room for one car to go by, let alone two and especially when one when one of them (not me) is comfortable driving in this needlessly narrow-streeted town so is going very fast. Anyway, holding my breath during several narrow moments, I did spot one store with 'hon' (book) above it but it turned out to be just a regular book store. So I decided to cross back over the main drag and follow that road southeast. I followed it for quite a long time. I passed a school, some houses, some trees, some more houses. I was about to give up when I saw bright, blinking lights and neon over a big, welcoming building ahead in the distance. Yep, a Pachinko parlor. But next to the pachinko was a huge sign that said there was a video and DVD store 3km ahead. To be fair, the sign actually pointed right to the pachinko parlor on the corner and so it was not clear whether it meant for video-store searchers to go straight or left. I opted for straight. Yes, I was wrong. When I eventually got myself going in the correct direction, I saw a video store within 300 feet of the sign. It could not be the one, so I kept going straight and... Lo and be-freakin-hold, there it was! A big, red sign with the kanji for book. I had to pull off quite the maneuver to get onto the VERY NARROW entrance when a car was right behind me and two more exiting. Anyway, I made it in and there was no question: I had found the cool Video Store. The Adult Section Well, the place was packed. I went to the video store side (instead of the books and magazines side) and was happy to see there was no adult section. All the way to the back was, in general, good wholesome movies. NOT. It took me quite a awhile to realize it, but the top row of the regular selection did not have Tom Cruise in Minority Report or Tom Hanks in Catch Me If You Can or Pierce Brosnan in the new 007. No, no, no, my friend. There were naked ladies. Lots of 'em. The videos were rather high, but cleverly placed enough so that an adult-movie seeking patron could appear to be looking at the new Scooby Doo movie, but actually be googling over something quite different. But After All That... Their DVD selection was no better than my regular video store. I was a bit disappointed and think Miyoshi needs to catch up. Their regular video section and their anime section was phenomenal, though. Their CD collection was not bad either. (I found the soundtrack to "Rhythm and Police" That's a movie not just a DDR song?? I should look for the movie!) I decided to take a left when I exited the parking lot, just to see where this big street went, despite that it might get me lost. And I could NOT believe it when a minute later, I passed PAL karaoke. I was ON THE MAIN ROAD again. Ironically I passed a Primo Honda car dealer, too. One I had never been to. So even though the directions were wrong, they did eventually get me there since the sign leading to the video store was WAY down there on the road the other Primo Honda was on. Whew!
So, I guess, Mission Accomplished.
Professionals and Planning Since I did all my errands last night, I didn't even leave the house today. I decided, since it was a three day weekend, to call my friend Erik down in the islands to see if he wanted to come with me to visit a nifty-looking temple tomorrow. He was all for it, so we figured out a plan. He consulted his Vice Principal who lived upstairs from him about what to do with my car and found out there were both Free Parking Lots and Car Ferries to choose from. Afterward, I watched "Leon" ("The Professional") for a reminder that Natalie Portman can really act. There was a moment when I thought it might be in French since all the advertisements were, but nope, just a French director. Whew. Once of these days I'm going to forget and rent a foreign movie.
Woah, shortest entry ever, dude.
Route 375 Again! It is not an exaggeration to say I was a BIT nervous about taking route 375 down to Takehara. After all, I was barely able to keep up a speed of 30 kph last time I was on the construction-filled, narrow route. However, two fellows at the office agreed that it was the best way to go and told me that the construction section was only between Sakugi and Miyoshi, not anywhere else. And so, after checking my email (I had missed a week of great emails - I need to get internet at home), I took off! I put in the new AfroCelts mix tape I made, ate the PB&J I packed, drank the coke I bought at a vending machine, filled 'er up, asked the station attendant for directions, donned my one-dollar shades, and followed the signs to Route 375. Takehara Confusion The route was actually a nice road! I had no trouble getting myself to Takehara in two hours. I did not even need to be shown the kanji for it since the signs were in English. Finding the Ferry Port was a bit more tricky since every building had the word 'Port' on it and I did not know the Japanese word for Ferry. (For future reference, the Japanese word for Ferry is "Feeri".) After getting directions and using some intuition, I found the place, but there was no Free Parking that I could find. I had been debating whether or not to take my car to the island so I could drive there, but my confusion in trying to get enough information from clerks to make an informed decision took me enough time that I missed the departure. Part of the problem was that there was only one woman working and a long line of Japanese people that knew exactly what they wanted - if I started with the questions, I'd be holding everyone up. Luckily, a woman who sensed my dilemma pointed out the parking lot that the clerk had mentioned during my quick few minutes with her. The stranger was quite nice. Another fellow tried to help, too. It made me much less frustrated. So I parked at the fish market for 10 bucks. The fish market parking is smaller than it looks since most of its spots are reserved (and, I'm not making this up, a giant bird in a cage is guarding the entrance), but I pulled myself into an open spot, walked back, bought some tea and waited for the next Ferry. The Ferry Ride The Ferry was way cool. The weather was sunny and the view to the hill-islands was quite pretty. I followed along on my map, trying to figure out which island was which. It was a good thing I did because this ferry stopped like a bus randomly along the islands with JUST enough time for one or two people to get off before departing again. I kept worrying that I would miss my stop. However, since my stop was the shuuten (the final destination) there was no reason to worry. I made it to the island no prob.
Yutaka Jima This island is very beautiful. It has a pedestrian path
(okay, who am I kidding, it's a road for those who dare) along the clean port and curvy roads up through
the residential area of the town. Everything is close together and even has a small-town Annapolis kind
of feel, but not as commercial. The island is famous for its mikan (oranges) so there are gorgeous mountain roads
up into the groves with a good view of a city and bridges. Very cool for such a small place.
There are no convenience stores, though, and
not any major supermarkets. Hence, people shop in Takehara and bring their food with them in plastic
bags back to their respective islands.
The Drive There The only way to get to Setoda by road is to take the newly erected Nishi Seto Expressway. It is basically a high, fast road (Speed Limit 70 kph; I got to use 5th gear legally) that jumps from island to island all the way off Honshuu (the mainland) and onto Shikoku. It's a lot of fun and costs it. Setoda island is maybe a third of the way down and costs 1300 yen each way. I followed signs and made it to Kosanji. I wanted to see Kosanji only because the tour map said someone built a replica of the gate in Nikko and anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with Nikko.
Kosanji I'm a temple nut to start with but this place would even impress
the layman. WOW! The Nikko-esque temple gate alone would have satisfied me, but that was just the tip of
the iceberg. The complex was a beautiful arrangement of all sorts of things. Garden paths
made to be explored, tall golden
statues, hilltop shrines with hidden statues in the greenery, the stone figures 'holding' small coin offerings
(usually
one yen), and that is not even counting the two best things. I don't want to say too much about it because
a lot of what makes the place so great is the unexpected, but if you go, make sure you do the underground
"Path of 1000 Deities." I've never seen anything quite like it. It reminded me of Myst: Exile.
Also, check out the hilltop walk among abstract White Stone. You will feel like you are part of a modern art sculpture.
Definitely one of the most amazing (and obviously well-funded!) temple areas I've ever seen.
Kosanji Temple in Setoda (and there's so much more than this)
My Camera Multiplied! I did not get lost on the way back but I kept thinking I did. The road signs in Japan are very nicely laid out and predictable, it just took me some time to appreciate that. Once I trusted the map and signs, returning to Miyoshi was no problem, even at night. I was wiped, though, by the time I got home. So I was more than a bit confused when, unpacking a few things, I found that I now had not one, but two cameras. I brought one black-and-green disposable with me to Setoda and now I have two black-and-green disposables, one in Japanese and one in English. Eh?
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