Once Upon a Time in Japan

It has been a little while since I posted anything here, mostly because I have been fairly routinely busy and also have not had that special bit of inspiration that usually precedes such an endeavor. I must also confess that I do not particularly feel inspired at this point, but there is some information I would like to convey about my life in the recent past. I have settled into a “work” routine (I am still working on trying to figure out a “leisure” routine). Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, I work at Shio Junior High School, where there are about 250 kids, and at some point I teach all of them. Let me clarify. It is not exactly teaching, nor is it even assistant teaching. Since I cannot speak Japanese enough to clarify grammar points of the English language, and because the kids’ skills are just at the beginning level, most of the teaching is done in Japanese by the JTE (Japanese teacher of English). What is required of me is to read in standard English and have the students repeat. That is the barebones of what is in my job description. If I was at a high school, where the level of English was higher, perhaps the situation would be different, but such are the circumstances that I am in. Of course, this is not to say that I do not take a more active role. I do plan some activities and games so that the kids can have some fun with practicing the language and get away from the monotonous routine that is English language instruction in Japan (they have been reading the same passages every day for the last six months, most have it memorized by heart and do not really understand what they’re saying, but everyday there is “reading practice” and that is exactly what happens.) Some of the kids are good, others not so good. Again, because all abilities are placed in one classroom, I am just amazed at the striking amount of differences between the kids. In each class, there’s a group of 3-6 boys who do absolutely nothing in class, except talk, make paper airplanes, and engage in general hooliganism. I try to do what I can to control them, but the English teachers I work with have come to accept this behavior as a necessary part of teaching and do relatively little to control it. So, at times, it seems a little absurd. There’s teaching going on and at the same time, in one or two corners of the room there’s so much noise and extraneous activity that I can’t really understand how the other students can pay attention. But they do diligently and its something that has to be accepted. On the whole, the job is easy and provides me with no real worries. If I choose, I don’t have to do much more than just show up and do what is asked of me. I choose to do more than that, but at the same time, I have to keep my expectations realistic (i.e. these are centered around language ability, which is low). Is it rewarding? Still too early to tell, as I’m still getting to know the students. Once I know them better, then I think it will improve tremendously.

And then there are the elementary schools. I go to two every week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, where I teach grades 1 through 6 (ages 6-12). This is a whole other experience. In Japan, the shyness and timidity do not kick in until after the kids leave elementary school, so their desire to learn, to practice, to try new things, to interact with something as foreign and as big as myself is amazing. For the lower grades, I am a jungle gym. Whenever I’m walking down the halls and one of the kids spots me, he/she yells “Marchenko sensei” and then I have a veritable flood of 6-7 year olds running toward me, all yelling, all diving, all trying to grab a good spot to hang from. It is unbelievable how these kids never get tired. Maybe this will change once they have become more used to me, but it is quite a pleasant experience just to be walking in the school and receive this kind of reaction. Its quite difficult to describe even. In terms of the classes themselves, here I have a lot more freedom. The teachers don’t really speak any English, and because they are responsible for teaching all subjects, they just leave the teaching of English to me. They provide me with the basic outlines of a curriculum and then set me free to do what I want, which is mostly playing games with the kids. The idea is to get them interested in learning English, to get them used to its sounds, and to maybe learn the very basics. Thorough English instruction does not take place until junior high, so all of this is like a six year introduction to the language. The hard thing about it is that if I use English, they don’t understand what I’m saying, but if I use Japanese, there really isn’t all that much I could say. But again, that doesn’t really matter. I’m not there to ensure that the kids can pass an exam in English, but rather just to give them a chance to talk and a be around a foreigner. Recess is especially interesting and the kids routinely drag me out to the playground for an hour’s worth of mad hustling about and all sorts of chaos. I’ll have to think of various games I can teach them so that recess can be a bit more organized. Any ideas? Oh, and then of course there is school lunch. As I’ve said before, everyone eats the same meal (usually consisting of rice, some type of salad, some type of meat, perhaps some miso, another side dish, and milk). Its contents are centrally planned, and I guess are meant to be very healthy. Usually, its pretty good, although I must admit that sometimes the lack of real variety is somewhat saddening. But anyway, at on of the elementaries, all the kids eat in one big lunch room (in the other and at the junior high, the kids eat in their classrooms). Each class has its own long table. The lunch is prepared by the kitchen, but it is served by the kids themselves. The first time I saw this sight, I absolutely could not believe it. Each class designated five or six kids to serve lunch. So each one of them puts on a big white smock and a chef’s hat, gloves, and a face mask. And of course they’re all miniature sized as these kids are very young. And then the procedure begins. Plop some food down here, place a plate here, put the milk out, pour out the soup. It looks like some sort of hospital or something with all the little doctors running around, knowing precisely what do to. I absolutely could not believe it the first time, but getting more used to it. I eat with these kids (that’s quite a sight as well because the chairs, tables aren’t really designed for my height but rather for 6-12 year olds; did I mention I stick out like a sore thumb in Japan?) Needless to say, the elementary schools are the funnest but also the most exhausting parts of my working week. I cannot emphasize enough how cute these kids are, especially the younger ones and their eagerness to mimic the world around them makes them a highly enjoyable group to be around.

On a different note, about two weeks ago, the J.H.S. had its annual Sports Day, where the kids are divided up into the red team and the blue team and spend the whole day competing in all sorts of athletic events. These included stuff like tug of war, relay races, a bizarre event where teams had to hold up these poles with flags on them and the opposing team had to knock down the poles in order to try and steal the flags, another where the kids had to run to the center of the field to grab as many tires as they could and if one was contested, there would around twenty kids around it, trying to drag it back to their sides, teams of two kids carrying a third on their backs trying to grab the hat of the opposing side, teams carrying a long stick having to run around cones, “big pants” races, where two kids are in one giant bag and have to hop around, racing the other team. It was pretty fun and active. I participated in the last event which was a relay race (the first leg was a sprint, the second was a backward sprint, the third was a jumprope sprint, the third was a hop (with both legs tied together), and finally the anchor was also a sprint. The teachers formed a team and competed against some of the boys teams. I was the anchor for the teachers’ team. I received the baton in second place and had a reasonably good chance of getting first, but naturally I had to confuse the finishing line and thought that the race was over when there was actually like thirty meters left, so the poor old teachers team got fourth place out of five, all thanks to the foreigner. It was a long, hot, exhausting day, but the end was rewarded with another unique Japanese work experience, the enkai, or office party. All the teachers got together and drove to this resort (a hotel, restaurant, and public bath). First, naturally, was the communal bath. Yeah. No questions, no choice. You strip down to the skinnies and take a bath. Probably a usual experience in many lives and cultures, but not in my own. Here’s the routine. In the locker room, you strip down, then proceed to the shower area (Japanese showers are all taken sitting down on these stool in front of a mirror, with the shower in front of you). Go for a nice scrub down, get all the dirt out. Then you get into this steaming hot pool and chill out and relax. This one had an indoor one and an outdoor one. We all sat there, relaxed, talked. (Its unisex of course, cause everyone is naked, but I do know of some that are coed). After a while, you go to the sauna and then shower off and get dressed again. Let me just say that once you’re naked around the people you work with, you somehow feel closer to them, like you’ve all shared something vulnerable together. It was quite a good experience. After which, we all had dinner. Again, a big room, everyone sitting around. Some speeches (this was after all a welcome party for me), and then the “kanpai” (toast), and then the drinking. You can’t pour your own glass and the others will not allow your glass to become empty, so there’s no way of keeping track of consumption. But it don’t matter. You eat, you drink, you talk, you’re merry. Here was a chance to drop all the formalities of the work place and just hang back. Everyone was merry, talking, chatting up on all sorts of subjects. I talked to many of the teachers that I only nod at at work, so it was quite a good time all around. After about two hours of that, about half went home, and the other half went out for the second party at a local karaoke joint. Whiskey and water, and snacks. And let me tell you, there’s nothing like getting up on stage and singing “Like a Virgin” with a fellow teacher, who barely knows the words and can barely stand. And of course, I sang “Baby One More Time” with my English teacher. As some may know, I can’t sing at all, cause there’s only one pitch to my voice, and singing requires a bit more than that. But, the great thing is, it doesn’t matter one iota. Its all about getting up there and doing it and not caring. So that’s exactly what happened. Maybe it’ll get better with time, but probably not. Anyway, after about two hours of this, the night drew to a close, we packed into a cab (again, nothing like four drunken men in the back of a cab together) and happily were driven back home. Great times. What more can I say?

Oh, time to teach a bit now. Will have another post really soon. Again, sorry for the delay. So much more to say. Hope everyone is doing well. I’ve been in Japan for about two months now, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way. Life is interesting, to say the least. Ok, happy campers, write me something. Carry on.

First Day

After being in Japan for one month (even more) I was asked to perform an absolutely minimum of what we would normally consider work. So, the fact that classes started last week and this week I have actually been at the front of the classroom constitutes another major milestone for me. Not enough time has passed yet to come to any sort of formative judgment or conclusions but I can at least jot down some initial impressions. The first of which is, unfortunately, that I am not at a high achieving school, at least in terms of English instruction. Sure, there's a handful of students in each grade (there are three, equivalent of 7, 8, and 9th grades) who are very much willing and eager to learn English, but most just want to get through the requirements and forget about it (hm, perhaps reminiscent of our own school experiences) and some simply do not care. The first time I was with a particular class, I did a self-introduction. Basically, I made a worksheet and a bunch of posters (one about Chicago and its "landmarks," a couple about my family and friends) and I asked the kids to respond to questions about my presentation. Not a one was able to fully complete the assignment (which is a good indication to me of the skill levels I will be working with). I also asked them to draw a picture of me, some of which were pretty good, others were funny, and some even downright offensive. During each class, I got a chance to walk around and meet the students one on one. Basically, it was asking them what their names were and how they were doing. Most struggled a bit. And, in Japan, the universal answer to "How are you?" is "I'm fine, thank you, and you?" 100%. No exceptions. And a brief comment on student mentality in Japan. Whenever they're asked a question, they will not answer unless a brief consultation takes place with their friends. For example, I ask a kid, "how old are you?" After a confused look at me, they turn to their friends, one of whom goes, "nan sai," translating my question. Then another says "thirteen." At this point, the original victim braves an answer. Next, I ask the same question to the kid who gave the original translation, and he/she in turn will ask classmates for a translation, even though he/she just did it. That's just the way it works. Unless there's consensus, there will not be progress. And if you ask a kid to do something in front of the class without the ability to consult, there may be interesting situations afoot. For example, we were doing some reading practice, and two kids had to stand up and practice a conversation out of their books, simply reading something like "There are many vending machines here." So, two kids stand, and the first simply wouldn't read. He simply stood there and the class waited. It was literally five minutes before the teacher allowed him to sit down, but otherwise there was complete silence. I almost died. What's the point? I don't yet know.

Another minor point. In each class, there's usually a group of boys who are the "cool" kids, which means they don't do any work and to show any interest in school would be an absolute outrage and humiliation. So they just talk all period. It is quite distracting, but the teacher seems to allow this to happen, as if its something that is taken for granted. I'm like, jesus be quiet, some of us are trying to learn, but they don't really care, and nor do the teachers. Classroom management is its own little unique Japanese experience here.

So, where do I fit into any of this? Well, I want to have a positive role here, to encourage the kids to learn English for the sake of becoming able to speak another language, not for the sake of passing a required school subject. But, in an environment where there is absolutely no tracking, all abilities are clumped together (up to 40 students a class), and motivation for learning seems to be extrinsic, this turns out to be quite a challenge. As the school year goes on, I will have to carefully monitor my own assumptions as I reflect upon what is required of me and search the field for what I can bring to the school. I don't have a solid enough grounding yet to figure out what I can get away with and what they won't let me do. When more time passes I will write about it more.

Other that all that, not much is new. Japan had its own little natural onslaught in the form of Typhoon Nabi, but my area of the country went considerably unscathed, but of course, its not over yet, so I'm not fully confident it will remain this way. But they certainly were worried enough about it to cancel classes today (but naturally the teachers had to come to school, and when I asked for a justification for this, I was told, "oh, in case of emergency, teachers have to be in school, i.e. if windows start shattering or what not - I didn't really get it) Anyway, now I'm sitting here, and everybody is busy as usual doing God knows what. I'm going to join the effort as well. (I get the sense that the overall tone of this post was somewhat moody, dark, gloomy - that's not really the case, its just the wrong time in the morning to be writing this...anyway take care)

Here's a little image of the classroom.
(p.s. look at the pencil case on the desk; probably too small to make out, but the picture/words on it absolutely shocked me, especially in light of the laws in this country; leave that to you to decipher)

What is the world coming to...

Being in relative isolation over here from world news and what not, and especially news from back home, my picture of what is happening is very vague and ambigious. From what I gather, however, there's some tragic stuff going on right now around New Orleans. I can't even really put it into words, but having just been there last April, I cannot begin to imagine the devastation that people are going through over here. To those reading this who are geographically closer to it, can you give me a sense of what is happening, what people are talking about, what you're generally going through because of it... I have read that there are thousands feared dead, can that be true? Some one fill me in please...

Also, I read that gas might top $4/gallon? Is that really true? How much is it right now. And then that stampede in Baghdad that killed close to 1,000 people? Unimaginable. Plus all these airplane crashes recently, and flooding, and what not? Ladies and gentlement, boys and girls, is this the second coming? Is the world doomed? Rhetorical yet perhaps thought-provoking. Or not. Someone please let me know...

In my news, met the kids today, the elementaries...they are cute. More later..