Written on the evening of April 23...

Peter is slicing a daikon radish in order to make our new favorite salad - thinly sliced daikon and cucumber sprinkled with soy sauce and black pepper. Crisp and cold. Simple and delicious.

I was sitting at my desk today correcting a bunch of self-introduction worksheets from the 8th graders when I decided it was time to take note of their names. Some roll off the tongue and some leave you tongue-tied but I find them so uniquely Japanese - adorable and sometimes hard to decipher. Here’s a sampling for you:

I almost separated these between girls’ names and boys’ but then realized that I’m not yet familiar enough to make that call! In fact, last week I was reading a student’s information card and asked the class, “She likes basketball and her birthday in on April 24th. Who is this person?” No one volunteered to tell me that “she” was really a “he” until the Japanese teacher came shuffling up and whispered in my ear, “It’s a HE!”

Let’s start with some first names:

Saki

Hideka

Hiraishi

Ayumi

Natsumi (One of my favorites! It means “picking a spring flower”)

Akihiro

Yuta

Hideto

Shintaro

Shiohara

Katsushi

Daisuke

Now try out these full names:

Maeda Megumi

Yurika Tatsuta

Ayaka Nakajima

Shiori Sado

Yuki Kosugi

Keita Yasuda

Hideki Yamada

Hiroki Ise

Haruto Matsuda

Teaching has been going better. After a rocky start (trying to shout my instructions over a sea of forty raucous students), I feel I’m starting to get the hang of things. I have figured out that if I can capture the students’ attention in the first 5 minutes of class, my life becomes immeasurably easier for the next 45! This means that for my self-introduction class I stated my name and where I was from, then I explained, “Today you have two new teachers. I am one new teacher and the other is outside,” pointing to the door. At this point, the students were confused and a bit intrigued (a good combination). I told them, “My friend from America is here to help me teach today. His name is Eddie and he is very nervous so please be nice and speak only in English to him.” Ok, now they are asking each other, “Who hired this nutcase of an English teacher?” I stepped outside the classroom and motioned for “my friend” to come in. Someone who looks a whole lot like “Ms. Cait,” but now with glasses and a moustache. “Good morning! My name is Eddie,” I said using the distinct “nasal-congested-boy-voice” some of you may know : ) I jumped back and forth in front of the class about 6 times, switching between myself as teacher (“Eddie, don’t be shy! They are very nice and they speak English. It’s alright!”) and this new Eddie character (“Uh, mmmm, ok... Hello everyone. It’s nice to meet you!”) The kids were either silent with open mouths or giggling furiously and asking their neighbor if this was all for real. It was pretty entertaining for everyone, myself included.

I was taken back to the “V-sister Years” (Vix and Victoria) when Jamie and I used to prop up a camera, throw on some ridiculous clothing and speak with British accents as we filmed infomercials, cooking shows and the like. One of my all time favorites was the “Ski Lesson” series when Jamie and I (wearing fake fur and silk skirts) filmed ourselves learning how to ski during a vacation in Russia (Maine in February). I remember that there wasn’t actually very much snow that winter and the camera picked up sounds of us grating over ice and plummeting onto our knees on the frozen ground. Jamie’s little, white legs wobbled about as her lipstick smeared and I almost dropped the camera from laughing so hard! I recall walking away that day with pulled muscles and top-notch footage! Anyways, I’ve been thinking that perhaps all the skits at the family Christmas parties, the talent shows I did in middle school and even big presentations I had to give in college were great skills learned for this job! Interac was not joking when they told us trainees, “You are not here to teach as much as to entertain.” Point taken.

Written on the morning of Saturday April 25... Weekend time!!!

There are many things about my school that didn’t surprise me upon arrival, like the long hours teachers put in here, milk every day with lunch initiated by the Americans after the war, the daily clean-up of the school by students and teachers alike, etc. I guess somewhere along getting to Japan, I had read a blurb on these details. However, what no one tells you to expect is the flood of memories you experience once back inside a junior high school, in addition to the web of thoughts attached to those memories. It’s incredible to be somewhere so different than where you grew up and to imagine that this place has always existed. While we ourselves were attending middle school and passing through the awkwardness of adolescence, Japanese kids the same age were experiencing these stages here in Toyama. Very different places and yet, perhaps very similar experiences. So many times now, I have pictured who I was at age 12, 13 and 14. How funny are the changes that age and experience bring! I feel at an advantage being 23 years old in this situation. Even though junior high seems like ages ago, it really was only ten years. Although I wish some of my students would engage themselves in class more, I completely understand that “class with Ms. Cait” is not a priority for them. I don’t take it personally because I know that when I was that age, I meant nothing malicious towards my teachers if I goofed off or closed my eyes during class. I had things on my mind that involved the soccer team, what’s for lunch, the movie I saw last weekend, the boy I had a crush on, the upcoming school dance, etc. In 7th grade, kids have no clue how much time teachers put into lessons plans and correcting papers, nor how much additional energy it takes to teach five classes a day. Being on the other side now makes me appreciate all my past teachers that much more, plus teachers like my Mum or Peter’s mum, Robyn, who work their buns off to make class memorable! It also intrigues me to know how much potential each one of my students holds. If I can make their day more interesting, more fun by playing some crazy game in an English context or if I can boost their confidence an ounce that day by rewarding them with a “high-touch” (high-five), a sticker or just a “Great Job!” then it’s been a good day.

Impressions

Written on April 13...

Since moving into the new apartment Peter and I have had limited access to internet and I’ve not posted a blog in weeks. I’ll write tonight not because I’ve gained an internet connection, but rather, there are too many details of life that deserve commentary before they are forgotten. Who knows when I will actually post this! Here goes nothing...

Brief update on the living situation: Peter and I were able to move into a nice apartment in downtown Toyama just two blocks from the train station and right along the canal. This is an exceptional location for many reasons but most recently, for the cherry blossoms along the canal. Incredible! Outstanding! Trees like I’ve never seen! Like bursts of cotton candy along the spindly branches, only when you get up close can you see each individual flower and how delicate they are. This past weekend was the best. The sun came out, temperatures rose to mid-70’s and everyone and their mother (literally) was outside enjoying the blossoms. Along the canal and in parks there were picnics and gatherings all afternoon and late into the evenings; sushi platters and mini grills, sake and beer, the young and old all outside just socializing and enjoying the flowers. Thanks to our buddy, Dave, who also went to Lewis and Clark and is here teaching English, we were invited to such a picnic on Saturday afternoon. It was great to meet some Japanese people our own age (no offense to the sometimes incredibly boring teachers at school) and watch the festival activities.

I started working at Horikawa Junior High School last week. It is one of the largest schools in the area with roughly 1,000 students. There are ups and downs to this. The downs are: I’m not in a pristine mountain village teaching smaller classes and my students seem to have a bit more “tude.” Ups: I can take the tram to work every day, which runs by the apartment every 10 minutes and I only work at one school. To put this into perspective, Lindsay (Peter’s sister) and Sune (Peter’s brother-in-law) are working at eight and seven schools, respectively. Not to say that one situation is better than the other overall, only that my first few weeks of school will be less hectic.

Most shocking thing today: I was in the middle of an English lesson when a male teacher walked up to the window of the classroom (via the balcony that extends past all the classrooms) and pulled one of my students out the window... with beaucoup de force! This student had ditched out on the first 15 minutes of the lesson and Ms. Omigachi (the Japanese teacher) noticed this and reported his absence to the office. The student had returned to class, took his seat and promptly fell asleep on his desk... until Mr. Muscles came by and ripped him from his chair! Apparently, it is acceptable to use physical force on the students here. Not that the teachers hit students or anything, but they do not hesitate to grab a student’s arm and drag him/her to the principle’s office (or out the window). Although I have seen two such incidents up to this point, it seems to only happen when the student is being extremely difficult and disrespectful.

Written on April 18...

To go off of what I was mentioning before about physical contact in the school, I witnessed some heavy taunting by a group of 2nd-year boys towards another boy as I was leaving class the other day. As soon as this boy stepped out of his classroom, I heard sneering and yelling and turned to see them pull his arms behind his back and begin twisting with force. The Japanese teacher with whom I had just taught stepped in to break it up, though hardly bigger than her students, the boys seemed barely intimidated by her presence. She demanded they stay back and had me walk swiftly to the teacher’s office with the targeted boy. I don’t believe this group of boys would have dared touch me or the JTE but what surprised me was their obvious indifference to a higher authority’s presence. One kid from the group came running down the stairs as the boy and I headed to the office. It was only when I put up my hand and yelled, “Stop!” several times that he retreated. But man oh man was there animosity in his eyes towards the other boy!

I have no idea about the history between these individuals but do feel sympathy towards this one student who I have now seen seek refuge in the teacher’s office almost every day between class periods. You see, the class rotation system keeps students in their home rooms while it’s the teachers who rotate from one class room to another. With ten minutes in between each class and sometimes no teacher supervision during these breaks, this particular student has been avoiding assault by running to the teacher’s office at each break. It seems so ridiculous to me that this can happen every day, even though the teachers are well aware of the situation. But I am realizing that although most students are very well behaved, the trouble-makers are just terrors because they can get away with almost anything. Most teachers are too worn out to do any serious disciplining.

The role of a Japanese teacher extends way beyond the classroom. They must prepare lessons, correct tests and homework, coach a club sport (every afternoon and weekends, too!), eat lunch with their homeroom class, do home visits, monitor students as they clean the school, etc. I have even seen teachers standing by the tram stop near my school as students unload in the morning. Why? They are there to check skirt lengths on the girls, to see that those biking to school obey traffic laws, to make anyone chewing gum spit it out, etc.!!! Teachers here operate within a realm of mentor, parent, coach and advisor to their students. Clearly, it’s an exhausting position to hold and the teachers at Horikawa, after week two, already look haggard! Many I hear coughing and sneezing at their desks as they hurry to finish tasks between classes. (I have been washing my hands furiously any chance I get!)

I was working with one JTE last week who told me as we walked to class that he was feeling feverish and nauseous. I told him I could manage the 50 minutes on my own while he should rest a bit. Towards the end of class, I noticed him leaning against a desk in the back of the room with his head down and arms held close to his chest. “My god, this man is killing himself!” I thought. And the crazy part? (Yeah, there’s more...) It is frowned upon in Japan to miss work due to illness; it is actually highly respectable to show up to work when you’re sick because it demonstrates perseverance! Therefore, even if I take oober-good care of my health, the chronically-sick teachers at work are bound to pass me something to knock me off my feet... Oh but then I’ll just pass it on to the students when I show up to work for my “tough points.” Some things in Japan I love, others I simply don’t understand.