There is only one week of classes left, and after that the students are off on their summer vacation until September. This means I have five days of classes to go. Only five opportunities left to experience teaching in Japan.
The students don't know that I'm leaving, and I've been given instructions to keep it that way. There are to be no long goodbyes, no fond farewells. I won't even get any cake. Instead, I am to be quietly whisked away during the break, never to be heard of again. It's a little saddening, but my supervisors inform me that it's for the best. I may be the last red-head those kids ever see.
After the 16th my days will be free for exploring and optional pillaging. I may have to visit the office on occasion, but essentially I'm going to have three weeks of nothing to do but play. What to do??? So many places to go and things to see. I'd like to visit a museum, see some art. I'd go to a play, but I wouldn't understand what was being spoken. I may try a movie -- renting one, that is; theaters are too expensive here. Which makes me wonder, I haven't seen any popcorn the entire time I've been here. Maybe instead of serving popcorn at theaters, the Japanese sell sushi.
Come August 5th, I'll be touring and shopping around with some friends flying in from Utah and various parts of Japan. The plan is to visit the Kyoto area and see what's up for grabs there. If anyone knows of some great hotspots in Kyoto, send me a line; we're taking suggestions.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Food
I've been trying to think of some variety for my home-cooked meals lately. Here's the list of my major supplements thus far:
Feels like I'm overlooking a couple of other simple meals. If you readers out there have any ideas, help me out.
I finally ate some cereal! Any cereal here is usually pretty expensive (it's about $5 for a very tiny box of Frosted Flakes or Cocoa Pebbles). However, just the other day I noticed a good-sized bag of granola for a decent price, so I snatched that right up. And it was good! I love granola, but it's hard for me to find a brand I like; a lot of granola I've tried has been either hit or miss. Anyway, it was a good little treat for me. My breakfast is normally a banana and a peanut butter sandwich, which is an odd lunch to start the morning with.
The school lunches are always a surprise and a treat. They're quite filling, too, and for a very reasonable price. The school's lunches have been a big help in getting me acquainted with a good variety of Japanese meals. Some of the things I've eaten have been absolutely delicious, but others.... I have trouble with the fish. For one, the fish is always served whole -- if it were just the meat, that'd be perfectly fine by me. The skin is never stripped, though. The eyes that the fish used to have are typically burned away into the now crispy flesh. The kids eat it right up, head to tail. I eat it, too -- I always clear my plate -- it's just odd for me. It's like eating crunchy meat.
I love the variety of candy here, and I'm sure the dentists do too. I buy a new type of candy every time I'm in the mood for some, and everything tastes better than the last. Such fun treats. No boring brick-shaped hunks of chocolate. You get inflated graham bears with chocolate bellies instead, or chocolate-covered potato chips, or an ice cream sandwiches wrapped in a chocolate-coated waffle (everything's got chocolate on it). It makes eating junk food fun again!
Haven't been eating out any. Much too pricey. For my first week here in Tokyo I didn't have a kitchen or anything, so I was eating three ten-dollar meals every day, which adds up quick. Again, if anyone has some inexpensive meal ideas, help me out.
- Spaghetti
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
- Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- Mashed Potatoes
- Fried Potatoes
- Potato Salad
- Rice
- Steamed Vegetables
- Pancakes
- Ramen / Udon / Soba
- Boiled Eggs
Feels like I'm overlooking a couple of other simple meals. If you readers out there have any ideas, help me out.
I finally ate some cereal! Any cereal here is usually pretty expensive (it's about $5 for a very tiny box of Frosted Flakes or Cocoa Pebbles). However, just the other day I noticed a good-sized bag of granola for a decent price, so I snatched that right up. And it was good! I love granola, but it's hard for me to find a brand I like; a lot of granola I've tried has been either hit or miss. Anyway, it was a good little treat for me. My breakfast is normally a banana and a peanut butter sandwich, which is an odd lunch to start the morning with.
The school lunches are always a surprise and a treat. They're quite filling, too, and for a very reasonable price. The school's lunches have been a big help in getting me acquainted with a good variety of Japanese meals. Some of the things I've eaten have been absolutely delicious, but others.... I have trouble with the fish. For one, the fish is always served whole -- if it were just the meat, that'd be perfectly fine by me. The skin is never stripped, though. The eyes that the fish used to have are typically burned away into the now crispy flesh. The kids eat it right up, head to tail. I eat it, too -- I always clear my plate -- it's just odd for me. It's like eating crunchy meat.
I love the variety of candy here, and I'm sure the dentists do too. I buy a new type of candy every time I'm in the mood for some, and everything tastes better than the last. Such fun treats. No boring brick-shaped hunks of chocolate. You get inflated graham bears with chocolate bellies instead, or chocolate-covered potato chips, or an ice cream sandwiches wrapped in a chocolate-coated waffle (everything's got chocolate on it). It makes eating junk food fun again!
Haven't been eating out any. Much too pricey. For my first week here in Tokyo I didn't have a kitchen or anything, so I was eating three ten-dollar meals every day, which adds up quick. Again, if anyone has some inexpensive meal ideas, help me out.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Final Three
Children are such adorable little creatures. Sometimes that creature is an angel, sometimes a demon. Regardless of their current form, I can't help but laugh when I am with them. They exist only to play, without a care for appearances or wealth or a career. A child just wants to have fun.
Making sure that a kid is having fun is not difficult. In fact it requires no effort on my part whatsoever; a child will make fun where there is none. I had a class just the other day, certainly not one of my best, where many of the kids had grown tired of the game that I had prepared for the last couple of minutes. The kids that weren't paying any mind to the activity had started some of their own. Four of the girls were playing a clapping game, some of the boys were teasing and hitting each other, and one had found a book and began reading.
I recognized the division of activities and social groups, and saw two options. The first option was the dictator's approach: "Everyone will play this! We will enjoy it, and we will like it. And afterward we shall all drink tea!" The other option, which I took, was to do nothing. It didn't seem ethical at the time for me to force unity upon the children. They were playing. Did it matter if they were all playing together? Not one group was being overly disruptive, and I couldn't see any single child who wasn't doing something, so I just continued on my merry way with the children who were still enjoying the game at hand. For how it appeared, it might as well have been an in-class recess.
I have exhausted two of my three months here in Japan. There are only three more weeks of classes left for the students, and it won't be much longer after that until I return to Utah. In these final weeks, I have started to examine what this entire trip has meant to me. Things I've learned, great experiences I've had, etc.
First thing I've learned is that I'm not a very good teacher. I'm a much better friend. When I'm with the students here, I feel myself wanting to join them rather than instruct them. This leads to a lot more play time than study time in my classes. If the children do poorly on their English tests, that will be my fault.
As a bit of validation for my actions, almost every school I have been to has at one point or another called into my work's office to tell my bosses about how much fun the kids had while I was there. I've received numerous praises by the school's principles that I'm doing a fantastic job.
Am I doing the right job? I am supposed to be teaching English, but more and more I end up only teaching new games. The games are all centered around one English grammar point or another, but it's a very thin veil.
"Yes, Chase. Of course you're doing the right job. The kids are having fun, and that's what matters most."
You know something, I think you may be right.
Making sure that a kid is having fun is not difficult. In fact it requires no effort on my part whatsoever; a child will make fun where there is none. I had a class just the other day, certainly not one of my best, where many of the kids had grown tired of the game that I had prepared for the last couple of minutes. The kids that weren't paying any mind to the activity had started some of their own. Four of the girls were playing a clapping game, some of the boys were teasing and hitting each other, and one had found a book and began reading.
I recognized the division of activities and social groups, and saw two options. The first option was the dictator's approach: "Everyone will play this! We will enjoy it, and we will like it. And afterward we shall all drink tea!" The other option, which I took, was to do nothing. It didn't seem ethical at the time for me to force unity upon the children. They were playing. Did it matter if they were all playing together? Not one group was being overly disruptive, and I couldn't see any single child who wasn't doing something, so I just continued on my merry way with the children who were still enjoying the game at hand. For how it appeared, it might as well have been an in-class recess.
I have exhausted two of my three months here in Japan. There are only three more weeks of classes left for the students, and it won't be much longer after that until I return to Utah. In these final weeks, I have started to examine what this entire trip has meant to me. Things I've learned, great experiences I've had, etc.
First thing I've learned is that I'm not a very good teacher. I'm a much better friend. When I'm with the students here, I feel myself wanting to join them rather than instruct them. This leads to a lot more play time than study time in my classes. If the children do poorly on their English tests, that will be my fault.
As a bit of validation for my actions, almost every school I have been to has at one point or another called into my work's office to tell my bosses about how much fun the kids had while I was there. I've received numerous praises by the school's principles that I'm doing a fantastic job.
Am I doing the right job? I am supposed to be teaching English, but more and more I end up only teaching new games. The games are all centered around one English grammar point or another, but it's a very thin veil.
"Yes, Chase. Of course you're doing the right job. The kids are having fun, and that's what matters most."
You know something, I think you may be right.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
The Current Situation
I went to a Junior High this week that had only 12 students. The staff and faculty to accompany those dozen students consisted of about 10 teachers, a nurse, a gardener, two lunch ladies, and maybe three or so other miscellaneous people. Nothing wrong with the students, just that the school was scheduled to be closed down in the near future. It was kind of odd roaming the empty halls of a Junior High that easily could have supported a few hundred students. Kind of sad that the school was even closing, considering how old some of Japan's schools can get (I went to one school that had its 80 year anniversary last month, if that gives you an idea).
Been spending more and more time inside my apartment with Japan's "rainy season" on the prowl. Should be called the "sticky and unpleasant mist-water in a hot furnace season." You walk outside, and you're blasted in a layer of heat and water. A few seconds of that and you're dripping as if you had just gotten out of the shower (even though it's not raining). Needless to say, a large pile of my clothes is quickly collecting by the washer.
I normally visit some place new on the weekend, see a different part of Japan. This weekend, though, I'm resting. After standing in front of kids all week and running this way and that on my 70 minutes of daily commute, I'm just plum tired.
On a lighter note, I visited a few bookstores last weekend. I found it quite amusing that the "Foreign Books" section was all English novels. I bought three books while I was there. Been running out of things I can read.
Been spending more and more time inside my apartment with Japan's "rainy season" on the prowl. Should be called the "sticky and unpleasant mist-water in a hot furnace season." You walk outside, and you're blasted in a layer of heat and water. A few seconds of that and you're dripping as if you had just gotten out of the shower (even though it's not raining). Needless to say, a large pile of my clothes is quickly collecting by the washer.
I normally visit some place new on the weekend, see a different part of Japan. This weekend, though, I'm resting. After standing in front of kids all week and running this way and that on my 70 minutes of daily commute, I'm just plum tired.
On a lighter note, I visited a few bookstores last weekend. I found it quite amusing that the "Foreign Books" section was all English novels. I bought three books while I was there. Been running out of things I can read.
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