So today I went to my smallest school, Mitani Elementary. This school boasts a whopping 58 students spread throughout 6 grades. Yet oddly enough, the school is a fairly large, 3-story building equipped with all the amenities I’ve seen in my other, larger schools. Mitani appears to be a frightening example of Japan’s plummeting population size. While driving to school this morning my supervisor informed me that the amount of kindergarten-age kids in the area has declined so much so that the grand total of next year’s first graders will amount to only five students…in the whole grade!
Classes went well. I taught a combined 5-6th grade class as well as a super energetic 3rd and a docile 4th grade class. After lunch I went to the school gym and played with the 2nd graders, who were eager to show me their proficiency on stilts (?!?!) and unicycles (?!?!?!?). I kid you not. They don’t use balls or jump ropes for playtime recreation—they use circus equipment. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome! It just struck me as a bit unusual.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
September wrap-up
Apologies for not posting regularly, but more than that, the lack of pictures. It takes too long to put them up, so for a visual update on what’s going on, see my facebook albums (or ask me for a link to photos).
It’s been incredibly busy the past few weeks and today is my first day back at the office since the semester began. I have now been to 7 of my 9 schools at least once, and have met several hundred kids and dozens of teachers and staff. I am generally picked up in the morning at the BOE or somewhere near my apartment by the principal, vice-principal or some other senior staff member and driven to school at times ranging from 7:40am to 11:00am (although on the days when I start later, I have to be in the office at 8:30, getting prepared or making materials for future classes).
They’ve so far all been interested in who I am, where I come from, who I had to kill to become a teacher at age 21, and how on earth it’s possible for me to stomach Japanese food. This food phenomenon often evolves into a 20 minute quiz from when I step into the car to when I enter the staff room on all the foods they can think of, with me responding, ‘’yes, I can eat that, too…’’, which is met with further gasps of surprise. I can only assume they’ve met foreigners with palates so limited that stomaching anything beyond cheeseburgers and fries would be simply impossible. Thankfully, though, I believe the staff at my schools are simply looking out for my best interests, or they would probably not proceed to ask me the same questions again come lunchtime, which is inevitably the case:
Teacher: Mike-sensei, can you eat Japanese food?
Me: Why yes, I can.
Teacher: Really??? Sugoi (amazing)! Even rice?
Me: Yep, hasn’t done me in so far.
Teacher: Sugoi! How about miso soup?
Me: Yes, even miso soup…
Teacher: Sugoi! How about *every other dish on the tray*?
Me: …
I guess that’s just part of the fun of cultural exchange. By and large we have a good time, and the teachers are friendly and receptive, quick to offer their help or extend a cup of tea when they’re not running around.
Last night my fellow foreigner friends (say that ten times fast) and I took a bus to Yamanaka, part of the greater Kaga area that is relatively close by, hoping to have a great time at a festival that was taking place there. Unfortunately, there was a massive rainstorm, which meant that the festival, which was all outdoors, was going to………....continue as planned. So after going to a traditional Yukata-wearing ceremony and dance practice (for the ladies), we ended up going outside in the misery and walking around disappointingly underpopulated vendor stalls, eventually getting some food and a beer, but eventually wrapping it up early.
Between myself and my three other English teacher friends, we cover pretty much every school in Kaga, elementary, junior high, and high school, so amusingly enough, we saw our students everywhere that night. It was pretty cool, actually. You’d see some young kids glance in your direction, go wide-eyed, and then exclaim to their friends ‘’Look, it’s Mike-sensei!!’’ And the same happened to the others, pretty much the entire time we were there, students recognizing us as we strolled up and down the booths.
After that, we went to Yamanaka Onsen, which is a famous ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) and onsen (public bath created by hot springs for people to relax in). We were in an outdoor one, with no one else around, so with the rain and the cool night air it was perfect.
It’s been incredibly busy the past few weeks and today is my first day back at the office since the semester began. I have now been to 7 of my 9 schools at least once, and have met several hundred kids and dozens of teachers and staff. I am generally picked up in the morning at the BOE or somewhere near my apartment by the principal, vice-principal or some other senior staff member and driven to school at times ranging from 7:40am to 11:00am (although on the days when I start later, I have to be in the office at 8:30, getting prepared or making materials for future classes).
They’ve so far all been interested in who I am, where I come from, who I had to kill to become a teacher at age 21, and how on earth it’s possible for me to stomach Japanese food. This food phenomenon often evolves into a 20 minute quiz from when I step into the car to when I enter the staff room on all the foods they can think of, with me responding, ‘’yes, I can eat that, too…’’, which is met with further gasps of surprise. I can only assume they’ve met foreigners with palates so limited that stomaching anything beyond cheeseburgers and fries would be simply impossible. Thankfully, though, I believe the staff at my schools are simply looking out for my best interests, or they would probably not proceed to ask me the same questions again come lunchtime, which is inevitably the case:
Teacher: Mike-sensei, can you eat Japanese food?
Me: Why yes, I can.
Teacher: Really??? Sugoi (amazing)! Even rice?
Me: Yep, hasn’t done me in so far.
Teacher: Sugoi! How about miso soup?
Me: Yes, even miso soup…
Teacher: Sugoi! How about *every other dish on the tray*
Me: …
I guess that’s just part of the fun of cultural exchange. By and large we have a good time, and the teachers are friendly and receptive, quick to offer their help or extend a cup of tea when they’re not running around.
Last night my fellow foreigner friends (say that ten times fast) and I took a bus to Yamanaka, part of the greater Kaga area that is relatively close by, hoping to have a great time at a festival that was taking place there. Unfortunately, there was a massive rainstorm, which meant that the festival, which was all outdoors, was going to………....continue as planned. So after going to a traditional Yukata-wearing ceremony and dance practice (for the ladies), we ended up going outside in the misery and walking around disappointingly underpopulated vendor stalls, eventually getting some food and a beer, but eventually wrapping it up early.
Between myself and my three other English teacher friends, we cover pretty much every school in Kaga, elementary, junior high, and high school, so amusingly enough, we saw our students everywhere that night. It was pretty cool, actually. You’d see some young kids glance in your direction, go wide-eyed, and then exclaim to their friends ‘’Look, it’s Mike-sensei!!’’ And the same happened to the others, pretty much the entire time we were there, students recognizing us as we strolled up and down the booths.
After that, we went to Yamanaka Onsen, which is a famous ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) and onsen (public bath created by hot springs for people to relax in). We were in an outdoor one, with no one else around, so with the rain and the cool night air it was perfect.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Today was my first day of class. Actually, that’s a bit of a stretch. I was picked up at the crack of dawn at the Board of Education by the principal of Sakumi Elementary school. Sakumi is the second biggest elementary school in the Kaga area, topped only by Yamashiro Elementary. A relatively large school, it has a massive outdoor sports area, 3 floors, and 2 large swimming pools. I’m not sure what size the student body is, but I bet it’s not small. When we arrived at school, little kids were filing into the building and the place was bustling by 8am. I actually recognized one of the 6th grade students who took me on a Kaga tour a couple of weeks earlier. After briefly introducing myself to the staff, I met the 3rd grade homeroom teachers I was supposed to teach with, and then 1st period started.
However, instead of heading off to class, I was told to wait in my seat for my escorts. As I was pondering the security implications of this ominous command, a couple of tiny little kids came into the teacher’s office, walked up to me and ordered (not asked) me to come to their class with them. I did as I was told.
The class was great! The kids were pretty young and more than a little excited to see me. Overall it was a success--I had to cut down my photo self-intro to make it go by quicker and simplify it for the 3rd graders’ comprehension abilities. I would lift up a picture (i.e. of a family member or hobby) and they would yell what they thought it was. According to these kids, both of my brothers are my dad, my sister is my girlfriend, and my parents are my grandparents. One thing they really nailed was my dog’s name, Kuri, which apparently means ‘chestnut’ in Japanese. Also, Anna was right about using your voice a lot…I met all the students in the class individually and asked them what sport they liked, plus had to yell to get people’s attention a few times during games, so my throat was getting scratchy after only about an hour.
I had a couple of free periods, so I watched some of the kids and teachers prepare for their sports festival, which is coming up, and then went to my second class, also with 3rd graders. The lesson plan was virtually identical to the previous class, except these poor buggers were told by their homeroom teacher to raise their hands before speaking, which you could tell took every effort on their part. From time to time it looked like they would burst with the need to ask what I can only believe must have been the world’s most important question. This class was a little more raucous, and I got crowded at the end of class with a flurry of questions about everything imaginable. Most kids thought I dyed my hair and told me so. Others were shocked at the colour of my eyes (one kid ended up calling me ‘aoi-mei-sensei’, which means ‘blue-eyed-teacher’). Still others asked if I was married, what my favourite kind of bug is, who I like, etc. It was fun answering those questions.
I had promised to have lunch with my morning class, so I returned there to find a bunch of students had gotten it in their heads to ask me for my autograph. Pretty sure I laughed out loud at that request, but hell, happy to oblige the loving masses! I’m just glad I bought a stamp to replace my signature, but they were crafty and got it out of me anyway. So then of course the kids with my signature and a stamp told the ones with only a stamp that I gave them my signature too, so everyone and their uncle came at me with even more pieces of paper. One cheeky little bastard got it into his head to make me sign several piece of paper, presumably to trade or sell to other classmates after I’d gone, until I caught on, laughed with surprise at his entrepreneurial spirit, and then told him to get lost. After an untold number of notebooks, arms, and scraps of paper were stamped and signed enough to pass laws, I left the class with promises of a swift return. An entourage of about 15 kids followed me down the stairs to the door, but just as I was leaving some of the groupies from my second class came running to the door begging for my autograph as well, but sadly I had to turn them down.
So my first day went really well, I think. Because these were the youngest kids I’ll be teaching, chance are it won’t be as easy to wow some of the older grades, but I’m sure it will be fine. If today taught me anything, it’s that I’m a celebrity with the under-10 crowd and that in itself makes it way easier to teach because if you can impress them, you can get their respect. Also, gotta remember to carry around a coloured pen and stamp around to quell the overeager fans.
However, instead of heading off to class, I was told to wait in my seat for my escorts. As I was pondering the security implications of this ominous command, a couple of tiny little kids came into the teacher’s office, walked up to me and ordered (not asked) me to come to their class with them. I did as I was told.
The class was great! The kids were pretty young and more than a little excited to see me. Overall it was a success--I had to cut down my photo self-intro to make it go by quicker and simplify it for the 3rd graders’ comprehension abilities. I would lift up a picture (i.e. of a family member or hobby) and they would yell what they thought it was. According to these kids, both of my brothers are my dad, my sister is my girlfriend, and my parents are my grandparents. One thing they really nailed was my dog’s name, Kuri, which apparently means ‘chestnut’ in Japanese. Also, Anna was right about using your voice a lot…I met all the students in the class individually and asked them what sport they liked, plus had to yell to get people’s attention a few times during games, so my throat was getting scratchy after only about an hour.
I had a couple of free periods, so I watched some of the kids and teachers prepare for their sports festival, which is coming up, and then went to my second class, also with 3rd graders. The lesson plan was virtually identical to the previous class, except these poor buggers were told by their homeroom teacher to raise their hands before speaking, which you could tell took every effort on their part. From time to time it looked like they would burst with the need to ask what I can only believe must have been the world’s most important question. This class was a little more raucous, and I got crowded at the end of class with a flurry of questions about everything imaginable. Most kids thought I dyed my hair and told me so. Others were shocked at the colour of my eyes (one kid ended up calling me ‘aoi-mei-sensei’, which means ‘blue-eyed-teacher’). Still others asked if I was married, what my favourite kind of bug is, who I like, etc. It was fun answering those questions.
I had promised to have lunch with my morning class, so I returned there to find a bunch of students had gotten it in their heads to ask me for my autograph. Pretty sure I laughed out loud at that request, but hell, happy to oblige the loving masses! I’m just glad I bought a stamp to replace my signature, but they were crafty and got it out of me anyway. So then of course the kids with my signature and a stamp told the ones with only a stamp that I gave them my signature too, so everyone and their uncle came at me with even more pieces of paper. One cheeky little bastard got it into his head to make me sign several piece of paper, presumably to trade or sell to other classmates after I’d gone, until I caught on, laughed with surprise at his entrepreneurial spirit, and then told him to get lost. After an untold number of notebooks, arms, and scraps of paper were stamped and signed enough to pass laws, I left the class with promises of a swift return. An entourage of about 15 kids followed me down the stairs to the door, but just as I was leaving some of the groupies from my second class came running to the door begging for my autograph as well, but sadly I had to turn them down.
So my first day went really well, I think. Because these were the youngest kids I’ll be teaching, chance are it won’t be as easy to wow some of the older grades, but I’m sure it will be fine. If today taught me anything, it’s that I’m a celebrity with the under-10 crowd and that in itself makes it way easier to teach because if you can impress them, you can get their respect. Also, gotta remember to carry around a coloured pen and stamp around to quell the overeager fans.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
