Extra Eigo (English) Lessons

Hi All,

As you are all busy with your own lovely lives, so are Chris and I. Getting settled into life in Japan has meant that posting updates hasn't felt quite as urgent or essential as it once did. We talk to family members and a few friends over Skype fairly regularly, and they get the mundane, every day stories. All the rest of you get is the Big News, which doesn't happen much these days.

Anyway, I thought that I would share a bit about my non-regular lessons. As you know, I teach 5th and 6th graders pre-planned and pre-provided English curriculum. But nearly every day I also teach an extra lesson for one of the 1st-4th grade classes, and these I get to plan myself. The smaller schools combine the 1st and 2nd grades (ichi and ni nensei), or the 3rd and 4th grades (san and yon nensei), and rotate the lessons so I see each grade a few times a month. Because of the length of time between these special classes it's not really feasible to create a progressive English curriculum that we keep building on; the kids usually forget at least 50% of what they learned between classes anyway. As a result, I just plan good stand-alone lessons: Colors, Animals, Food, etc. My goal is for my students to have a good time and to develop a positive association with English (and foreigners).

They generally love me; this is not actually a result of any of my personal qualities. The kids are naturally curious about foreigners and find me a total novelty. I may be the first English-speaking person some of them have ever seen in the flesh, let alone spoken to. They like my blue eyes and light-colored hair. Nearly anything I teach is a) new to them, b)reminds them of the "cool" English TV shows and movies they watch, and c) not real schoolwork, and therefore way more fun.

Many times a day I hear "Hello!" or, "Tessa Sensei, Tessa Sensei!" along with a hodgepodge of English they have learned from me or their older siblings. They love when I eat lunch in their classrooms because it gives them a chance to show off. For example: I'm sitting, eating my rice, and feel a tap tap and one of the kids has leaned over to me to say, "Tessa Sensei, Yes We Can!" (giggle giggle giggle). Or "nice to meechu", or my favorite, "Hello, mayonnaise Yuka!" (they sometimes hear "my name is" as "mayonnaise"). I'm grateful the kids are having fun with me and my lessons, because by the time they're the age of Chris' Junior High students, English class involves actual homework and tests and loses a bit of its cool factor.

These last two weeks I've taught my favorite 1st-4th grade lesson yet: Body Parts & Monsters. Isn't the correlation obvious? ;) First I teach the kids the names of the more basic body parts, we sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes several times (getting faster and faster each time of course), and then I call out Monster body parts for them to draw. For example, 2 green heads or 6 yellow eyes, or 10 short rainbow legs. They have to pass their drawings down the row after adding each body part, so they end up with really funny pictures. Then I have the kids walk around and share their pictures, wishing each other Happy Halloween.

In Japan it seems like personal expression and creativity isn't always encouraged, and valued much less than fitting in with the group. For example, whenever my 5th and 6th graders have to draw pictures of their favorite foods, sports, animals, etc, they all draw things the same way. And if there's a picture in the textbook of what they want to draw, they make sure to copy it exactly. Literally, if kids are drawing grapes, the grapes all look exactly alike. And they get frustrated if they can't make something look "perfect". It's a bit unnerving for me, actually. Anyway, with the Monster Body Parts lesson they kind of had permission to exaggerate and just do whatever they wanted. It was really neat to see so many completely unique monsters ;)

By the way, today marks the 210th day we've been in Japan - we have about 5 months left in this adventure. Coming up, we're going to another Kashima Antlers soccer game on Saturday, a Halloween party with other ALT's on the 31st (still not sure about costumes - no Value Villages over here to find costume pieces at), and looking forward to 3 different Japanese holidays (read - days off!) in November.

Hope Fall where you are is as beautiful as it is in Japan!

-Tessa

Happy Accidents

Yay for happy accidents! Tessa and I were driving through Itako (a town near where we live) looking for an Italian restaurant to got to for Tessa's birthday. We did find the restaurant (though it's unclear whether or not it is currently open for business, I guess we'll find out later) but we somehow also found an amazingly beautiful field of flowers. We didn't even know it existed, but apparently it is free for people to walk through, enjoy, and pick! The weather was nice, and we had a very pleasant stroll among the flowers (that we don't know the name of). Pictures below:







Guarded by Japanese scarecrows!






The flowers that we brought home. And yep, that classy vase was a $3 bottle of wine.

Japanese JHS Student Pop Culture

Aaaaaaand, we're back. Sorry about the lack of updates lately. Tessa and I are done with the summer vacation and back in the rigors of the school year, and we've been too tired/lazy to update. We really, really appreciate you reading though!

So anyway, Japanese Junior High School students, like American JHS students, have their own niche in the realm of pop culture. They are taken in by the various fads of fashion, music, memorabilia, and entertainment that are rife in any capitalist society. I would like to share with you some of the current ones I have witnessed.

First, memorabilia. Almost everything the students bring with them to class has some type of slogan or character imprinted on it. The most popular character (by far) is the character of Stitch from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch. Disney has a HUGE draw in Japan. I'd say they control almost all of the non-anime cartoon/comics in Japan. Which is not too surprising, given what we know about the Disney company. Tokyo Disney Land is a very popular destination for Japanese vacation goers. The surprising thing is how Japanese culture has latched onto the character of "Stitch", especially given the fact that it was released 6 years ago (in Japan). Though Lilo and Stitch was made by Disney, it was certainly not one of their high budget/high grossing movies. I always thought it was an underrated Disney movie that never got the play it deserved, but in Japan it is EVERYWHERE. Stitch's likeness is by far the most popular cartoon likeness I see on an everyday basis, and I see him on everything from folders to pen cases to random sketches the students draw. I think the allure might have something to do with the Japanese's fascination with Hawai'i, another popular vacation destination. Of course the Pixar movies are well represented, as well as the Japanese anime/manga industry.

Second, music. Ah, to be 13 again. remember the crap music you used to listen to? Well, Japan has the same stuff, just (mostly) sung in Japanese. The J-Pop the kids listen to is mostly terrible, and I sometimes have to listen to it during lunch at the schools. The current faves are: Glay, Greeeen, Hey! Say! JUMP (the "JUMP" stands for Johnny's Ultra Music Power), and many others. They sing pop music in Japanese and sometimes English (hilarity ensues!) but usually the English is confined to a few lines like "Because I love you", etc.

My students also love Japanese comedians. I don't know much about them, but they always want me to say "Toose!" like the Japanese comedian in this youtube video (see it at about 20 seconds in). Whenever I do it, they crack up, but I don't really know why.

That's it for now ja, ne!

P.S. "ja ne" is sorta like Japanese for "see you!"

Undo Kai - Sports Festival!

Since the first day of the 2nd Term (Sept 1st), schools across Japan have been practicing hard for their sports festival. Chris and I have had few lessons to teach (in C's case, none last week) as the students are all extremely busy working on the individual events of the festival, as well as all the transitions between activities, order of events, etc. Families attend the festivals, and if they are involved in the PTA, they may even participate in certain events. Typical of the Japanese culture, order and perfection in the presentation of the school's festivals are almost more important than how the competitions turn out.

Last Saturday, we went to the festival of one of Chris' schools, Sakuragawa Junior High. It took place on the track field, and families basically camped out all around it, sitting on tarps and putting up huge umbrellas. No one wears sunglasses here (too reminiscent of the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, or so I've heard...) so umbrellas and sun visors are everywhere. Anyway, we got to sit under the teachers' tent with a great view of the action. After what seemed like endless speeches from the Principal, team captains, and random old men (we think they were PTA....?) and a solemn salute to the Japanese flag, things got underway.

The festival lasted all day, and featured such events as sprinting, tug of war with huge rope and bamboo poles, relay races with inflated waist-high colored balls, beanbag toss into baskets on high poles, and the Samurai game. This was one of the most-anticipated events, involving one boy (the "Samurai") sitting on another boy's shoulders with his legs held up by two others. These boys represented the Samurai's horse. Then all the units ran into the middle of the track and the Samurai tried to knock each other off their "horses". No punching or kicking was allowed, but it was still pretty barbaric!! Seeing puny 7th grade boys being wrestled down by huge 9th graders was hard to watch - still, American football's no better. The day also involved the 3 teams (named Galaxy, A Fixed Star, and Comet) doing a cheer routine before each event they competed in.

The elementary school festivals are happening in the next few weeks, and they have some different events. Instead of waist high ball relays, two teams form semi-circle lanes around the track, and try to get huge, 5 foot tall inflated balls pushed down their lane, around a cone, and back up the lane again. There are also dance routines (some humorous, some more traditional), marching bands, and special obstacle relay races where the runners have to grab a card along the way, which tells them which obstacle they have to face: running under a long net, jumping several times through a hula hoop, or running around a standing baseball bat 5 times with their forehead on the handle.

These festivals are all oriented towards building school spirit and team efforts. It's been really fun getting to see these public school traditions!

End of the Summer

Tomorrow is our first day back to school after 6 weeks off. Truth be told, it got boring at times (there ain't much to do where we are if you don't want to spend much money), but we had a lot of fun and relaxed a lot. A few days ago we went to the Ueno Zoo near Tokyo. It was really great, had a variety of animals, though unfortunately no Giant Panda (their famous one Ling Ling died a little over a year ago). Working the last two summers at the Woodland Park Zoo, I couldn't help but compare the two, and while you probably have a little better view of some of the animals, their living areas often seemed a little too small and sparse. WPZ in Seattle has some really amazing natural-looking enclosures. Pictures of the zoo trip at the bottom.

We also had a really fun BBQ on Saturday in Kashima on the beach with some other English-speaking ALT friends. Good people + good food = good times. We had wagyu beef burgers (!!) and fresh scallops cooked over the grill on their own shells (!!) along with chicken, veggies, chip and salsa, etc. A nice Western-style BBQ this time. Afterwards we went lakeside and viewed perhaps the best fireworks show we've ever seen.

I'm going to let this go now, with woah there's a typhoon going on outside (see Tessa's post below about it) and today I've had my worst allergy attack in months. Yecchh! Anyways, bye for now!

America= Hurricane. Japan=Typhoon....

Hi All,

Reporting live from Namegata, where we've been in the middle of Typhoon Krovanh all day today and most of last night. It's our first one, and while we haven't seen any trees uprooted we've definitely been impressed.

Apparently, a typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane, or tropical cyclone. The name just refers to geographic locations: typhoons for west of the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, and hurricanes for east (typhoons in Asia, hurricanes in America).

Anyway, we've had heavy gales and blowing rain for the last 18 hours or so. In Japan, many homes and apartments have big metal sliding panels that cover your windows, which you would definitely close in case of a typhoon. But each of our two windows has a stuck slider, making the wind blow through them, causing it to feel almost like an earthquake. It's not very serious where we are, but I know that in Kashima (45 min away on the Eastern coast, and very windy most days) they cancelled classes at the English school where our friends work.

As some of you might have heard, yesterday Japan held Parliamentary elections and there was a huge power shift. It was expected by many, but the Democratic Party won by a 3 to 1 ratio over the Liberal Democrats who have been in power since WWII. As evidence of Chris' comedic influence on me, I say that this typhoon is merely the winds of change......

get it? Winds of change? Yeah, I know. . .

Well, tomorrow we go back to school for the start of Term 2. I actually had to iron today for the first time in 6 weeks. We've been here 5 months now, and look forward to getting through this next term quickly.

Enjoy the beginning of Fall everyone!

Japanese Style Barbecue or "Yakiniku"

Yesterday we went to a BBQ hosted by our coordinator from the company we work for and some of her friends and family. A couple of the other ALTs in the area were also invited, so the 4 of us piled into one tiny Suzuki Alto (the backseat of which I assure you is as or more uncomfortable than that of an old VW Beetle) and we carpooled to the beach city of Oarai about 1.25 hours away. While riding on the way, I noticed a small green tree frog had attatched itself to the outside of the car, very near the window of the front of the car. The windows were down because it was hot and the air conditioning didn't work, and eventually the little frog hopped inside the car, across the dash, to the driver's side. After a few tense minutes in which we were worried the little frog would then jump onto the driver, he hopped out the other window and began to cling for dear life on the side mirror. Ken (the driver) rolled his window up so it couldn't hop back in, and the frog stayed attached for a good 20 minutes until he (Justin decided its name was Gary) got uncomfortable and tried to move but lost his grip and went flying off the car. Godspeed Gary, wherever you are...

When we finally found the BBQ site we were greeted by our smiling coordinator Naomi, a very nice Japanese woman our age who is our contact to the company we work for. Her sister, nieces, and friends were already there, and we helped get things set up. The site was not quite on the beach, but very close to it. Justin and I helped start the fire and get the coals burning (without lighter fluid) and we munched on veggie snacks while we waited for the coals to heat up. They tossed in potatoes wrapped in foil to bake, and we set up a wire mesh-like pan over the coals and tossed on veggies like onions, eggplant, bean sprouts, and others. They then laid on some fatty strips of pork (bite size, but not actually bacon). The way the Japanese do BBQ is after things are done grilling, they grab the bits with chopsticks and dip them into this amazing thin sauce called "ebara" and eat. Very, very tasty. After the pork, they added thin strips of beef, and just kept piling it on. Then came the fresh prawns. Later, they even put on this big flat pan and fried up some yakisoba (grilled noodles), which apparently is common at Japanese barbecues. Everything was delicious, and there was as much beer as I could drink to wash it down with. We also played a lot with Naomi's niece and nephews (age between 2 and 3) who were completely adorable. They were very shy at first, but in the end they were challenging me and Tessa to races and repeating things we would say to them in English. A good time all around.

One of the interesting things about Japanese BBQs is that instead of a kind of potluck where everyone brings something, often times they will have one person bring everything, and charge a fee to those attending. It cost us about $24 each, but it was worth it for the food, beer, and chance to interact with some great Japanese folks around our age and a little older.

The next day (today) we found out the true price of that BBQ, in the form of mosquito bites. Tessa has over 20 on her legs, and I have about 10 on my legs and 3 on my arm. They itch just as much as they do in America. Luckily, Tessa had the foresight to bring hydrocortisone creme with her from America. Only 1 more week left of summer break! :( We go back to work on September 1st. Thanks for reading, we miss you all!