Celebrations
Spring is a time of rebirth. When the flowers emerge from their hibernation and herald on a new year on glorious splendour.
Schools in Japan are the same. I had to dust off my tie and suit jacket (I only have the one of each), because lets ceremony!
1. A few weeks back we had to farewell the 3rd year students at our school. They were really a great bunch of kids, and everybody wanted their graduation ceremony to be perfect. However, before this ceremony, the younger students put on a Thank-you ceremony for the graduating class. This was rehearsed for several days, as far as I know. It was sweet. They all seemed so shy, as if they didn’t want to do it. The younger students performed skits, which were so terrible, it made them funny. There was more elbow nudging than 12 rounds of Thai kickboxing.. Following that was a quiz, and an over-sentimental slideshow, which would’ve been nice, except the projector wasn’t functioning properly.
2. Then came the graduation ceremony. Even I was present for the practices. Well, they weren’t “practices” as much as “full dress-rehearsals”. I did well to disguise the fact that this was highly amusing. The students and teachers were fully dressed up, as was the hall- right down to the bonsai up on stage (maybe it was graduating too). Every single detail was rehearsed: The school brass band, the speeches by the students, the speech of thanks to the parents by the Vice Principal and the Principal’s speech of advice to the graduating students... The graduating students were at the practice too! That kind of deflates the speech, don’t you think? Furthermore, the graduating students practiced accepting their diplomas. The actual diplomas!
On the actual morning (after a half hour of learning how to stand up, sit down, and how to clap), it all went off perfectly. There were the 4 groups of people: teachers, parents, students, graduating students and the distinguished guests (including, I believe, a fireman). Some of these dignitaries made some boring speeches from deep down in the beaurocracies. In the end, I actually felt slightly bad for making fun of the rehearsals, as it was a very tasteful, and at times, tearful occasion. I actually found myself shouting to myself “noooooo”, as my favourite student accepted her certificate... (yes I have favourites...).
That night, we teachers all had a drinking party... Just the usual: a lot of alcohol, and food I wouldn’t normally eat on purpose. Of course, this was on a school night.
Now, this was only the beginning of the ceremony season. For sanities sake, I will quickly skim over these, but just keep in mind, the same attention to detail was taken in each one.
3. I also go to primary (elementary) schools. See, in New Zealand, when we finish school one year, we just don’t come back the next. We certainly don’t “graduate”. For us, the word “graduate” is a very important word used in times of great achievement and is celebrated by wearing a ridiculous hat. We generally feel that not choking ourselves on a crayon should not carry this honour. However, this is why Japan is so much ahead of the rest of the world; even 11 year olds “graduate”. The ceremony was mostly the same as before. Or, I assume I didn’t miss anything by dozing off.
4. I go to two primary schools. Both ceremonies were held on the same day, so I quickly drove off to the 2nd school. Perhaps on behalf of oversight, I had no designated seat with the teachers at the 2nd school, so they put me down by the dignitaries. The dignitaries, speakers and speeches were exactly the same; I simply had a different viewpoint to sleep from.
5. The school term finished a few days later. This, naturally, required another ceremony. Speeches and bowing..
6. I am also gaining another elementary school. Hence, I needed to be present at their New Teacher Ceremony. This time, I actually had a part to play, as I had to make a speech. The students had been forewarned about having English lessons from a genuine foreigner, and the effect of me entering the hall and being seen was electric. Gasps of “kakkoii” accidentally emerged from many mouths. It was the only time I can remember at any of the ceremonies (and there are several more to come) that the formal atmosphere was broken.
7. The new teachers at my main school also needed to be initiated. Bowing and speeches, and another drinking and eating party followed that night.
8. With the short spring holidays over, there needed to be, of course, an opening ceremony. Speeches and bowing.
9. Naturally, as our school is getting a new shipment of new students, we need them to be initiated too. Since they were all from the same school in this small town, it was basically identical to the 2nd elementary school graduation, except the uniform had gone from 3 years too small, to 3 years too big.
10. The teachers who left our school, came back to give a final farewell speech.
At the end of it all, I think I can see the value in all these ceremonies. An ignorant outsider might say that it’s a waste of time, and they may as well condense all these ceremonies into one super ceremony. But I’m not an ignorant outsider. I’m hoping that I can ride out the rest of my remaining 15 months left on my contract by going to these ceremonies. Although, with all the bowing, sitting and standing up, I don’t think my vertebrae could handle it. And really, neither could my sanity. I don’t want to jinx myself and speak to soon, but I am glad that ceremony season is over, and that my suit and tie can go back into hibernation.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Spring Holidays and Spring Changes
Before you get all excited for me, it is not what you think. Classes have stopped, but unless you want to take your paid leave days, you have to come to school. So I have named this week: “The Week of Boredom”. I have almost nothing to do (more so than usual), apart from sitting at my desk for 8 hours (I will have earned a few meals at McDonalds by the end of this entry). It’s not quiet at school though. In fact, a lot of students come to practice their instruments at school so as not to annoy their family at home. That makes the 8 hours pass by much faster.
I have been told by my English teacher to prepare a little bit, for THE REST OF THE YEAR! She gave me a helpful list of things I needed to keep in mind. The mission statement was very long, and in Japanese, but one of the aims was: To make the students think for themselves. Japanese adults can’t even do this, so I don’t see how this is even possible. Basically, they want me to concentrate less on teaching English, and more about “internationalising”, and teaching the students about the world beyond Japan. (“There is a world beyond Japan?” many students accidentally say out loud.). However, I am supposed to teach them this, in English. Great. Simply put, all I have to do, is teach the children about a world they will likely never go and see, while teaching them how to think for themselves, through the medium of a language they can’t understand.
This is going to be fun.
This is not the only thing that will change when the new school year starts in a few weeks. (Actually, when does the new school year start? Someone? Anyone?). From sometime next month, I will be teaching at a third primary (for all you Americans: “elementary”) school. This will be another half day per week. The problem is, this has replaced my weekly Nursery School visits, which I can be quoted as saying was “the highlight of my professional week” [December]. At first, I had no idea what to do with kids from 5 to 2 years old.
Anyways, the ladies working there would always ply me with coffee and sweets, and then I’d go and play with the kids, trying to teach them some English words in the process. After a few months, I really got the hang of it, and I was told that on the mornings of my visit, when they were told I would come, they’d get very excited. One time, as soon as I walked into the classroom, one 4 year-old girl threw her hands into the air, “ルーベン先生とけっこんしたい”. (“I want to marry Ruben sensei”).
Every month, I would come with a new talent to show. I became an “amusagician”. On top of being a human jungle gym, I played guitar, showed my card tricks, juggling routine, kendama, and on my final lessons, I brought my ukulele. Yes, a ukulele is an absolute must-have for thelazy ALT. The Japanese love all things small- cars, shoe sizes and serving sizes are but a few examples. I bought my uke very cheaply, and I play it like-wise. See, that is the beauty of a ukulele. Whenever you see one, you can’t help but smile. The mere sight of it makes everybody happy. And what’s more, nobody expects you to play it well. I quickly learnt a few chords, and now I have a new substitute for actually teaching, which I am a fan of. I have seen the potential of the ukulele, and this will not be the last you hear of it.
There were some sad farewells from all four nursery schools. One school didn’t actual tell them until home-time. The chimes of 40 kids’disappointment was both chilling and heart warming. The Board of Education obviously thought that teaching another primary school was more important than this. I politely disagree, and not just because of the snacks and coffee and milk and all the fun we had. It can be argued that the kids don’t really learn any English from my visits, but then, neither do most of the kids at any of the primary schools. Here, at least, I made a huge difference to everyone’s day, and showed the children from a very early age that foreigners really aren’t so different from anyone else. (Except for that they all do magic, juggling, play guitar, kendama and ukulele.)
Or maybe, just maybe, my work at nursery schools is done. Meanwhile, the Week of Boredom continues.
Before you get all excited for me, it is not what you think. Classes have stopped, but unless you want to take your paid leave days, you have to come to school. So I have named this week: “The Week of Boredom”. I have almost nothing to do (more so than usual), apart from sitting at my desk for 8 hours (I will have earned a few meals at McDonalds by the end of this entry). It’s not quiet at school though. In fact, a lot of students come to practice their instruments at school so as not to annoy their family at home. That makes the 8 hours pass by much faster.
I have been told by my English teacher to prepare a little bit, for THE REST OF THE YEAR! She gave me a helpful list of things I needed to keep in mind. The mission statement was very long, and in Japanese, but one of the aims was: To make the students think for themselves. Japanese adults can’t even do this, so I don’t see how this is even possible. Basically, they want me to concentrate less on teaching English, and more about “internationalising”, and teaching the students about the world beyond Japan. (“There is a world beyond Japan?” many students accidentally say out loud.). However, I am supposed to teach them this, in English. Great. Simply put, all I have to do, is teach the children about a world they will likely never go and see, while teaching them how to think for themselves, through the medium of a language they can’t understand.
This is going to be fun.
This is not the only thing that will change when the new school year starts in a few weeks. (Actually, when does the new school year start? Someone? Anyone?). From sometime next month, I will be teaching at a third primary (for all you Americans: “elementary”) school. This will be another half day per week. The problem is, this has replaced my weekly Nursery School visits, which I can be quoted as saying was “the highlight of my professional week” [December]. At first, I had no idea what to do with kids from 5 to 2 years old.
Anyways, the ladies working there would always ply me with coffee and sweets, and then I’d go and play with the kids, trying to teach them some English words in the process. After a few months, I really got the hang of it, and I was told that on the mornings of my visit, when they were told I would come, they’d get very excited. One time, as soon as I walked into the classroom, one 4 year-old girl threw her hands into the air, “ルーベン先生とけっこんしたい”. (“I want to marry Ruben sensei”).
Every month, I would come with a new talent to show. I became an “amusagician”. On top of being a human jungle gym, I played guitar, showed my card tricks, juggling routine, kendama, and on my final lessons, I brought my ukulele. Yes, a ukulele is an absolute must-have for thelazy ALT. The Japanese love all things small- cars, shoe sizes and serving sizes are but a few examples. I bought my uke very cheaply, and I play it like-wise. See, that is the beauty of a ukulele. Whenever you see one, you can’t help but smile. The mere sight of it makes everybody happy. And what’s more, nobody expects you to play it well. I quickly learnt a few chords, and now I have a new substitute for actually teaching, which I am a fan of. I have seen the potential of the ukulele, and this will not be the last you hear of it.
There were some sad farewells from all four nursery schools. One school didn’t actual tell them until home-time. The chimes of 40 kids’disappointment was both chilling and heart warming. The Board of Education obviously thought that teaching another primary school was more important than this. I politely disagree, and not just because of the snacks and coffee and milk and all the fun we had. It can be argued that the kids don’t really learn any English from my visits, but then, neither do most of the kids at any of the primary schools. Here, at least, I made a huge difference to everyone’s day, and showed the children from a very early age that foreigners really aren’t so different from anyone else. (Except for that they all do magic, juggling, play guitar, kendama and ukulele.)
Or maybe, just maybe, my work at nursery schools is done. Meanwhile, the Week of Boredom continues.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
So my brother finally came up to Toyama to visit. I don’t blame him for taking his time in coming up. Never mind that he was very busy, but it makes more sense, entertainment-wise, to go to Osaka. Still, it turned out to be a very eventful weekend. Maybe I’m being the over-adulating younger brother, but this guy really knows how to party. I hadn’t been drinking while the sun was up, since summer. Anyways, we got to work on a beer can pyramid. This seems to have become a family tradition. For the afternoon and early hours of the night, we made like Egyptians. (Drinking beer and building pyramids).
In order to show my brother a good time in Toyama, we left Toyama. Kanazawa city, over the hill, just under an hours’ drive away. It literally means “gold-a-plenty”, and compared to any city in Toyama, it really is. Our ride was waiting outside, and I wanted to get a picture of the beer pyramid before leaving. “Just take one in the morning”, he told me.
It was a pretty good night out, yada yada, we came home at 6am. It was fair to say I was ready for a good long sleep. I mean, I actually fell asleep at an eatery in Kanazawa before leaving.
9:42. Rude awakening.
In order to show my brother a good time in Toyama, we left Toyama. Kanazawa city, over the hill, just under an hours’ drive away. It literally means “gold-a-plenty”, and compared to any city in Toyama, it really is. Our ride was waiting outside, and I wanted to get a picture of the beer pyramid before leaving. “Just take one in the morning”, he told me.
It was a pretty good night out, yada yada, we came home at 6am. It was fair to say I was ready for a good long sleep. I mean, I actually fell asleep at an eatery in Kanazawa before leaving.
9:42. Rude awakening.
My 3rd floor apartment began shaking like crazy. I’m from New Zealand, so I am used to it. But this was a relatively large earthquake. Things started falling., and I was now fully awake. So much for taking the picture of the beer can pyramid... It turned out to be a large earthquake. Maybe it was in the news overseas (if so, thanks for your email and phone-calls of concern...) There was considerable damage to some villages in the next prefecture.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6492473.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6492931.stm
In Toyama, the quake was about a 5 on the Richter scale. Apart from the tragedy of our beer can pyramid, my DVD player fell off my TV. But that was a piece of crap anyway.
Later on that day, I drove my brother back to Kanazawa to drop him off at the train station there. We had a quick thought that the trains might be delayed by the quake, but again, I was assured “the trains won’t be cancelled all day”. It was that kind of weekend. I dropped him off, and drove back home. Once I was on the outskirts of the city, I got an email saying the trains were in-fact cancelled. He wasn’t able to call me, and I couldn’t call him, because of the chaos of the earthquake. Disaster zone communication breakdown....
Luckily, the trains were restored early that night, and my brother was able to get home that night without missing work. But this is just another example of my bad luck with trains and transport in Japan. Just a quick reminder
¨ A catastrophic power failure of my car at a relatively busy intersection.
¨ Missing the last train in Osaka, having to ‘sleep’ at an internet café until the first train.
¨ Going to Tokyo, when someone throws themselves in front of our train.
¨ Being unable to go home from Tokyo by train, due to “heavy wind”.
So, in conclusion, the causes of my misfortune with transport are: Mechanical Error, Human Error, Terrorism/Tragedy, Extreme Weather, and now Natural Disaster. All I need now is “dangerous animals” and “act of God”, and I will have achieved complete Transport Incompetence.
Later on that day, I drove my brother back to Kanazawa to drop him off at the train station there. We had a quick thought that the trains might be delayed by the quake, but again, I was assured “the trains won’t be cancelled all day”. It was that kind of weekend. I dropped him off, and drove back home. Once I was on the outskirts of the city, I got an email saying the trains were in-fact cancelled. He wasn’t able to call me, and I couldn’t call him, because of the chaos of the earthquake. Disaster zone communication breakdown....
Luckily, the trains were restored early that night, and my brother was able to get home that night without missing work. But this is just another example of my bad luck with trains and transport in Japan. Just a quick reminder
¨ A catastrophic power failure of my car at a relatively busy intersection.
¨ Missing the last train in Osaka, having to ‘sleep’ at an internet café until the first train.
¨ Going to Tokyo, when someone throws themselves in front of our train.
¨ Being unable to go home from Tokyo by train, due to “heavy wind”.
So, in conclusion, the causes of my misfortune with transport are: Mechanical Error, Human Error, Terrorism/Tragedy, Extreme Weather, and now Natural Disaster. All I need now is “dangerous animals” and “act of God”, and I will have achieved complete Transport Incompetence.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Getting Some Wear.
I mentioned a while back that I had joined the local basketball team. This amounted to a very expensive home and away uniform set, one of which I never used, as I apparently joined at the end of the season. Well, I am pleased to report that the uniform is finally getting some wear. 4 weeks back our team traveled to the far reaches of our prefecture to play 2 games in one day. I still don't know whether these are practice games, or a competition, or a sudden death match where the loser is beheaded and sacrificed afterwards. No-one tells me these things; I just play basketball.
These two games were a good measure of me and my team. We had 8 of us for the games, of which, one was severely hung-over from drinking until 4AM, one has the fitness level of a wet rag, and another felt sick and sat out the 2nd game altogether. Then there is me. I'm at least 5 years younger than all other members, and as the only non-smoker I was denied a sub for the whole 2 games. I was a good 4 months out from the last game, and the only regular excercise I was getting was changing shoes.
I, personally, still had a good game, twice. I don't mean to brag, because I've never bragged in my life. Not even when I scored 59 points in one game, did I brag. But I am a decent player. I know, it is very easy to get big headed when playing basketball in Japan. The skill level is lower, they play with the strength and agression that I would expect in a mixed gender social grade for the elderly, and of course, the average height is much smaller. So much so, that I, who usually plays small forward, spent a lot of time playing centre. (this basically means that I get pushed around by the opposition's biggest player for the whole game. It was quite annoying.)
Both games I played pretty well, getting just over 20 points and pulling down a lot of rebounds. It's funny that most opposition (and referees) seem intimidated by me, as a foreigner. Maybe it is more just in Toyama, as there are only 2 other (western) foreigners playing in our entire league. If you have ever seen a basketball game, you might have observed that a disproportionally large amount of the players appear to be of African-American descent. It is to the point, that being called "white boy" is a basketball insult. White men can't jump, yada yada... Yeah, well now I kindof know what being black is like...
Anyhow, the white boy had two good games, without getting a rest. Afterwards, I was completely dead. I have never felt that tired before. I slept the whole trip back to our corner of the prefecture, I nearly fell asleep in the shower (lucky I wasn't taking a bath), and collapsed to bed. Somewhere in that sleepy hazy memory, I decided that enough was enough. For the next 4 days, I couldn't so much as cough without collapsing in pain. I could not go through this again.
Once that wore off, I began my montage hitting the treadmill at the gym. It paid off. This weekend, we had another game. I wasn't told much; only that the opponent was probably strong. Well, we quickly proved that theory wrong. Not to brag, because as you know, I have never bragged in my life, but I was a complete animal. I scored 14 in the 1st quater, and ate rebounds like they were fat-free. I ended up with just over 30 points and an estimated 30 rebounds. Not since a guy called "Moses" did people get 30 rebounds in a game. MOSES! It was ridiculous. Now everyone really was afraid of me. Its good to be black.
What was nice about this game, was some ALT friends came to watch. It's odd, but I almost become a different person when I play basketball. (I used to have the Alias "Mad Dog"). When I play basketball, I'm confident. I'm strong. I'm good at what I do. People respect me. None of of these qualities are ones I posess in real life, so it was nice to put these on display, if only for a little while.
The reward for winning the game, was a 2nd game, versus the Grouses B team. The Grouses is the new professional team in Toyama. They are rubbish, but that's not the point. Their B team plays in the same grade as us, and is easily the best team. For one, they have a coach, and regular practices that all members attend. So, we got blown out, losing by 40 points. Even so, I had a good run around, and I wasn't wrecked afterwards. It's great to finally give my uniform some game-time.
I mentioned a while back that I had joined the local basketball team. This amounted to a very expensive home and away uniform set, one of which I never used, as I apparently joined at the end of the season. Well, I am pleased to report that the uniform is finally getting some wear. 4 weeks back our team traveled to the far reaches of our prefecture to play 2 games in one day. I still don't know whether these are practice games, or a competition, or a sudden death match where the loser is beheaded and sacrificed afterwards. No-one tells me these things; I just play basketball.
These two games were a good measure of me and my team. We had 8 of us for the games, of which, one was severely hung-over from drinking until 4AM, one has the fitness level of a wet rag, and another felt sick and sat out the 2nd game altogether. Then there is me. I'm at least 5 years younger than all other members, and as the only non-smoker I was denied a sub for the whole 2 games. I was a good 4 months out from the last game, and the only regular excercise I was getting was changing shoes.
I, personally, still had a good game, twice. I don't mean to brag, because I've never bragged in my life. Not even when I scored 59 points in one game, did I brag. But I am a decent player. I know, it is very easy to get big headed when playing basketball in Japan. The skill level is lower, they play with the strength and agression that I would expect in a mixed gender social grade for the elderly, and of course, the average height is much smaller. So much so, that I, who usually plays small forward, spent a lot of time playing centre. (this basically means that I get pushed around by the opposition's biggest player for the whole game. It was quite annoying.)
Both games I played pretty well, getting just over 20 points and pulling down a lot of rebounds. It's funny that most opposition (and referees) seem intimidated by me, as a foreigner. Maybe it is more just in Toyama, as there are only 2 other (western) foreigners playing in our entire league. If you have ever seen a basketball game, you might have observed that a disproportionally large amount of the players appear to be of African-American descent. It is to the point, that being called "white boy" is a basketball insult. White men can't jump, yada yada... Yeah, well now I kindof know what being black is like...
Anyhow, the white boy had two good games, without getting a rest. Afterwards, I was completely dead. I have never felt that tired before. I slept the whole trip back to our corner of the prefecture, I nearly fell asleep in the shower (lucky I wasn't taking a bath), and collapsed to bed. Somewhere in that sleepy hazy memory, I decided that enough was enough. For the next 4 days, I couldn't so much as cough without collapsing in pain. I could not go through this again.
Once that wore off, I began my montage hitting the treadmill at the gym. It paid off. This weekend, we had another game. I wasn't told much; only that the opponent was probably strong. Well, we quickly proved that theory wrong. Not to brag, because as you know, I have never bragged in my life, but I was a complete animal. I scored 14 in the 1st quater, and ate rebounds like they were fat-free. I ended up with just over 30 points and an estimated 30 rebounds. Not since a guy called "Moses" did people get 30 rebounds in a game. MOSES! It was ridiculous. Now everyone really was afraid of me. Its good to be black.
What was nice about this game, was some ALT friends came to watch. It's odd, but I almost become a different person when I play basketball. (I used to have the Alias "Mad Dog"). When I play basketball, I'm confident. I'm strong. I'm good at what I do. People respect me. None of of these qualities are ones I posess in real life, so it was nice to put these on display, if only for a little while.
The reward for winning the game, was a 2nd game, versus the Grouses B team. The Grouses is the new professional team in Toyama. They are rubbish, but that's not the point. Their B team plays in the same grade as us, and is easily the best team. For one, they have a coach, and regular practices that all members attend. So, we got blown out, losing by 40 points. Even so, I had a good run around, and I wasn't wrecked afterwards. It's great to finally give my uniform some game-time.
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