Time flies when you're having fun! It has been exactly one year since I arrived in Japan and I can't believe how much has happened and how quickly the time has passed. It doesn't seem like all that long ago that Ally, Christine and I stepped off a plane in Narita Airport to be greeted by the smiling faces of Cindy and Dana. And yet, in the past twelve months, I've moved twice, improved my Japanese, started a new job, taken three amazing trips around Japan, and made some incredible new friends. On top of that, I was fortunate enough to be able to go home for a few weeks and see family and friends there.
I can honestly say that I've never felt more unprepared for a new job than I did when I first started teaching in Kumamoto. I had no classroom experience, no teaching certification, next to no training and, and no idea what to expect. The past six months have been a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, learn as you go whirlwind. I still don't really know what I'm doing, but I've gotten much more comfortable with going with the flow and figuring it out as it comes.
As with any job, there have been several times when I have wondered if this is something I should really be doing. The above mentioned lack of experience is, at times, daunting and a little disheartening. However, I have had two major “A-ha!”moments when I have only been able to sit back, smile, and say “This is why I do it.” The first was in mid-July when 11 of our junior and senior high girls entered an English speech contest. I spent about a month and a half with three first year junior high girls practicing pronunciation and memorization of a Japanese fairy tale translated into English. They worked SO hard and when it came time for the contest, they all preformed better than they ever had in practice. There are no words to describe how proud I was of them. I can only assume that it must be similar to what parents feel watching their kids play sports or perform in recitals.
Several of the girls competing in the IEC speech contest.
The three in front are the girls I coached.
The second “A-ha!” moment came later in July. Every year, the first and second year high school advanced English students have an English camp at the beginning of summer vacation. This year, we took 75 kids to a camp site just outside of Kumamoto in the mountains. We played several games, sang songs, and did a lot of activities (all in English, of course) and the weekend was a blast! The crowning moment, however, was teaching one of the students to play “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on the guitar. (Backstory: The Japanese LOVE John Denver and everyone and their mother knows at least the chorus to “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Since it is a familiar song for most people, it's frequently sung at bars, for karaoke, at Japanese Oktoberfest, etc.) There was one boy at English camp who really wanted to learn how to play “Country Roads” on the guitar. Since Ally and I both brought our guitars to camp, he played Ally's guitar while we taught him the song with mine. After about an hour and half, he had learned all the chords (many of which he had never played before,) the strum pattern, and could play the whole thing without any coaching. In one evening, he accomplished what would take most beginners hours if not days to learn. It was really amazing to sit back and watch him figure it out and put the whole thing together.
Learning to play "Take Me Home, Country Roads"
English Summer Camp 2011 participants and staff
By no means do I want to make it sound like these are the only rewarding experiences I've had in the last year. Walking into class every day is rewarding. It's a fantastic feeling to walk down the hall and hear students shout “Arison!” or whatever grammatically incorrect (and occasionally grammatically correct) English they can think of at the time.
I can't really account for the last year, but I can say that being in Japan has been an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything and I'm so blessed and so thankful for the opportunity I've been given.
HAPPY ONE YEAR JAPAN-IVERSARY TO ME (AND ALLY AND CHRISTINE)!!!!!
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I started teaching in Japan because I had very little training for the actual teaching process and almost no time to get oriented once the school year started. Adjusting has been an ongoing process. School life in Japan is VERY different than it is in the States. There are rules and regulations that I never expected and I learn new things ever day. Here is a list of some of the differences I have found between American schools and Japanese schools. Please keep in mind that I work at a private school, so what's listed below isn't necessarily true for every school in Japan. I hope you find this as interesting and eye opening as I did!
High school and junior high each operate on a three year system.
Going to high school is not required by law. Some students go into trade/craft vocations or training for trade vocations straight out of middle school.
Physical discipline is permitted in school. (Please note that I DO NOT mean corporal punishment.)
Because many schools require students to wear uniforms it is easy for people to identify which school students go to. When students misbehave in public( ex: two people riding bikes side by side and taking up the whole sidewalk; being really loud or bothersome in a restaurant) people will call the school to report them.
(going along with the above point) Schools are responsible for a lot of the discipline students receive. Parents EXPECT schools to provide strict discipline.
Having a cell phone in class can result in it being confiscated for a month.
Students stay with same class all day while the teachers move around to different rooms.
Student's schedules change every day. They may have English 2nd hour on Monday and 4th hour on Thursday. The idea is that teachers will have a chance to see students at various stages of alertness. While they may be wide awake first thing in the morning, they may be really sleepy right after lunch.
Students stand and greet teachers at the beginning and end of class.
Students and teachers are supposed to greet/acknowledge one another as they pass each other on campus as a way of keeping morale up and making everyone feel noticed and respected. (I kind of scoffed at the idea initially, but it's amazing how well it works. Nothing brightens your day more than a group of 14 year old boys calling “Herro!” as they pass you on the way to class, or calling “Good morning!” out an open window as you are putting your bike away.)
Many students are involved in classes or extracurricular activities that that require them to be at school on until 8pm week nights and some times on Saturday and/or Sunday.
Students are used to lecture-type classes and because of this, aren't accustomed to being asked or answering direction questions.
There is no central heating or air. While most classrooms have individual air/heat units, hallways have nothing. (This is true of most office buildings as well.)
If student's hair is longer than shoulder length, it is supposed to be pulled back. Teachers hand out hair ties in the hall to non-compliant students.
Students are not allowed to dye their hair. Students who have lighter colored hair because they are the product of an interracial marriage must bring documentation showing that this is why their hair is lighter.
Piercings of any kind are not allowed and must be taken out if students have them.
30% is considered a passing grade.
Students don't receive letter grades.
I'm sure I will discover more differences as the school year continues, but hopefully this gives you somewhat of an idea of what schools are like in Japan.
As different as it's been, I really, really love it here. The school is great, the kids are fantastic, the staff are friendly and so far, teaching has been a wonderful experience! :-)
My school!
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On a completely different subject matter, and yet still in the same vein, last Saturday was the school's Taiikusai, or Sports Day (which is different from Health and Sports Day, the national holiday.) It's comparable to field days in the States, where kids run relays and play games, but significantly more extreme. In addition to games and relays, the high school boys did some crazy acrobatics and then formed 3 human pyramids, while the girls did some impressive dance routines. I've posted several videos below. Some of them are kind of long but well worth watching!
I think I can finally say that my apartment in Kumamoto feels like home! Getting settled was a lengthy process, partly because I procrastinated with unpacking for much longer than I should have and partly because I have substantially more space to settle into than I did in Tokyo. I went from the equivalent of a one room efficiency apartment, where the only hallway was also the kitchen and laundry room, to an apartment with a living room, bed room, huge bathroom, full kitchen (!!!!!!!!!!!), and washer AND DRYER. The living room alone is about twice the size of my Tokyo apartment, so it has been a bit of an adjustment. Here are some pictures:
Entry way
And from the other side
Living Room
Living room #2
Living room #3
Kitchen
Bathroom
Ofuro
Ofuro #2
Bedroom
Bedroom #2
My apartment building has a cute little park behind it and on weekends and holidays (when the weather is nice) you can hear children playing pretty much all day. The cherry blossoms were blooming a few weeks ago and were gorgeous.
Not much of an update this time, but I figure its better than nothing. The next blog will contain some interesting facts about Japanese schools that you've hopefully not heard before. Stay tuned!
After an intense several days in Tokyo, Ally, Christine and I took a fantastic 10 day trip through the Kansai area. Days 1 and 2 were spent in Nagoya. We made up our own walking tour of the city and clocked about 15 miles, stopping at the Nagoya Castle, Space Park, and a series of temples and shrines. We spent the night at a fun little hostel run by a very friendly Australian named Sam. The next morning, we headed down to the Port area and visited the Maritime museum and Observatory. To cap off our stay, we found an amusement park with a ferris wheel down by the water.
Christine and I trying on masks at the Noh Theater.
Nagoya Castle.
The beginning of cherry blossom season at Nagoya Castle.
Oasis 21 at Space Park.
Space Park.
Giant ferris W\wheel.
Doraemon!
After our ferris wheel ride we hopped on a very crowded shinkansen and left Nagoya for Kyoto. Kyoto Lutheran Church has a tatami room they rent to travelers and we were happy to take advantage of their super cheap nightly rates. We used the church as our home base for the rest of the trip, taking day trips to several nearby cities and returning at night.
Days 3 and 4 were dedicated to Osaka. An incredibly generous woman in the tourist information center in Osaka station gave us a 2-day pass that covered the entrance fees for about 30 different sites around Osaka, for the equivalent of about $27. The pass was only available to non-native tourists (which we technically are not, since we have working visas,) but since we were clearly not Japanese and had just come from Tokyo she gave them to us, on the condition that we wouldn't tell our friends about it. :-) Oops.
Narnia-themed pirate ship we took a tour of the port on.
Storm rolling into Osaka.
Snow/rain storm...
...and 5 minutes later things are fine!
Osaka Castle.
Christine, Ally and I trying on Kimono in the Museum of Housing and Living.
The view of Osaka from ferris wheel #2.
Night view of Osaka from the Umeda Sky Building.
Night view of Osaka from the Umeda Sky Building.
Umeda Sky Building. Kind of looks like something out of Star Trek.
We spent days 5 and 6 in Kobe. Highlights included the Kobe Port Tower, a boat tour of the port area, Kobe bridge, Kobe beef (of course), at trip to Mt. Rokko via cable car and ropeway, an onsen, a spectacular night view of the city and a huge meal in Chinatown.
Christine, Ally and I on a boat, in front of the Kobe Port Tower.
Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Kobe.
Kobe beef!
Cable car up Mt. Rokko in Kobe.
Ropeway the rest of the way up Mt. Rokko, Kobe.
Another ropeway car.
Night view of Kobe from Mt. Rokko.
Chinatown, Kobe.
Christine left on day 6 to head to Kumamoto since she had already been to most of the places we were planning to go on the rest of the trip, but Ally and I continued on. Days 7 and 8 were spent exploring Kyoto more. We had originally planned to visit Fishimi Inari during this time, but because the weather wasn't great and we didn't want to walk up the side of a mountain in the mud and rain, we opted for Ginkakuji (“Silver Temple” which isn't actually silver), Kinkakuji (“Golden temple” which IS gold), Nijo Castle, and the Kyoto International Manga museum (not my choice, but interesting nonetheless) and the Gion district instead. If the weather is nice and its the right time of year, you can still see Geisha in the Gion district, but we were there a few weeks too early.
Ginkakuji in Kyoto
Kinkakuji in Kyoto
Nijo Castle in Kyoto
Kyoto International Manga Museum.
Day 9 was dedicated to Nara. From what I've been told, Todaiji temple is the largest free-standing wooden structure in the world. It also houses one of the largest Buddhas in the world. I don't have any pictures of it, but there is a pillar in the temple with a hole carved through the base of it. The hole is called “The Buddha’s Nose” and is the size of one of the Buddha statue's nostrils and if you can crawl through it, you're supposed to have good luck. I fit through it when I was here in High School with Booker T. but (wisely) decided not to try again. :-)
Todaiji temple.
Buddha in Todaiji temple.
After visiting Todaiji we went to Nara park, just outside the temple. The park is full of deer and many people sell rice cakes so visitors can feed them. The deer seem pretty tame until the rice cakes come out, at which point they become crazed, hungry beasts. The Japanese phrase you will hear the most in the park is “kowai shika” or “scary deer.” Other sounds frequently heard are squeals of laughter (from people watching the deer feeding) interspersed with cries of terror (from the people feeding/being chased by the deer.) Here are videos of Ally's and my first attempt at feeding the deer:
The second time we were a little more strategic and bought rice cakes from a woman who gave us helpful advice: “Go that way and don't stop moving.”
That's the spirit, Ally!
It turns out that there isn't a whole lot to do in Nara once you've seen the giant Buddha and fed the scary deer, and we were finished much earlier than we expected to be, so in typical Japanese fashion, we killed a few hours doing karaoke and then headed back to Kyoto where we had dinner at a little curry shop down the street from the church we were staying in. Green curry was listed as one of the daily specials so Ally and I both ordered it. The woman who owned the shop warned us that it was spicy, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. I very much enjoy spicy food, but am kind of a wimp, and Ally and the shop owner had a good laugh about me crying all the way through my meal. :-)
(Not so) Green Curry.
On the last day of our trip the weather was much nicer than it had been the previous few days and Ally and I went out to Fushimi Inari. The 4km walking path is lined with red torii...thousands and thousands of torii all the way up and back down the mountain. Parts of the path were paved, but most of it was steps. A 4km stair master, if you will. Click here for more information on Fushimi Inrari. It's an interesting place!
After checking out of our room in Kyoto, Ally and I boarded another overnight bus bound for Kumamoto. We were the first of many pick-up points on the way down and at the second stop of the night, someone boarded the bus who ended up sitting right in front of me. Despite the fact that it was about 7:30pm, she immediately reclined her seat ALL THE WAY BACK and went to sleep. Those buses aren't designed to accommodate anyone taller than your average Japanese person when the seats are fully upright, so needless to say, it was a cramped 12 hour ride. But we made it to Kumamoto at the far too early hour of 6am and were met by the wonderful Cindy, who took us to our apartments and spent the next couple days helping us get set up.
Much like the trip Ally and I took to Hokkaido, I was continuously amazed by how generous and helpful the Japanese are. From the woman in the Osaka tourist information booth who gave us insanely cheap site-seeing passes when she wasn't supposed to, to the countless number of people who stopped to ask if we needed directions while we stared at maps and scratching our heads, to the people who (after offering assistance) actually led us to the places we were trying to find, even when it was completely out of their way, Japanese generosity abounds.
My trip through Kansai could not have come at a better time. It was a much needed break from the stress of moving combined with the heartbreak of earthquake/tsunami news, and a very nice way to wind down before getting situated in Kumamoto.
I haven’t had a chance to work things out with my flickr account yet, so in the next few days I'll post another blog with pictures of the new apartment! Hopefully, by then I'll have some fun teaching stories as well! Stay tuned!
Updated map of where I've been and where I've lived/live.
Lessons learned:
Maps in Japan don't follow the “North is up” orientation that Americans are used to. In fact, two maps that are side by side may be oriented in completely different directions, occasionally creating some confusion as to where you are. (I actually learned this one fairly soon after getting to Japan, but have a tenancy to forget until I find myself in need of a map.)
“Unreserved seats” on the shinkansen mean exactly that. You may wind up sitting on the floor of the entry way between the actual car and the conductor's booth.
Running shoes and walking shoes are not the same thing and wearing running shoes on a trip where you end up walking somewhere between 80 and 90 miles will tear up your feet. I'm still recovering from the blisters and have a couple kind of gross pictures, if anyone would care to see. :-)
