This coming Sunday and Monday is the All-Saikai Junior High School Sports Tournament and things look to be pretty serious. Every sports team (club) from all eight of the junior highs in Saikai City will be competing at locations throughout the area (remember that in this case "city" is more like "rural township") and unfortunately it is physically and temporally impossible for me to make it to all of the various games and matches. Perhaps I should say "we", since Drew (my old roommate) will be arriving on Friday for a long visit.
In preparation for all that, we had a pep rally today at school. Well, "pep rally" would be the equivalent event in the US, but I would hardly apply that word and all that it entails to today's assembly.
To start, there are only about 130 students in the school, making it substantially more difficult to have crowds of yelling and cheering students. Another barrier to crowds of yelling and cheering students is a bit more formidable: Japanese culture. First though, some context.
There is only one non-sport club at Oshima JHS, and the art club's only been around since this past April. This is fairly common, from what I can gather, or in the very least the majority of clubs are sports clubs. Students only belong to one club, and that club becomes their group. Occasionally students will change clubs between years, but this isn't overly common I don't think.
So for the assembly, the students that aren't on one of the teams sat and waited in the gym, seated on the floor as usual (only the graduation and entrance ceremonies merit chairs, and that's because they put down a special rubber floor). They put some marching music on the PA (the same as in the Sports Day last weekend, which is its own story), and all of the teams marched into the gym in turn, to the applause of those of us waiting inside.
That was about as "peppy" as it got. It bears noting that the applause was the standard "I have to clap" applause, and there was certainly no "hooting" and / or "hollering" involved in any way whatsoever. Well, except from me, but I'm a crazy foreigner.
Once in the gym, everyone stood up and bowed to begin the assembly, and then the teams took turns hustling up on stage, introducing their members, bowing with a hearty "onegaishimasu!" and hustling off the stage, with varying levels of loudness and enthusiasm. After that there was a speech from the principal, a speech from a student council member, and then we all sang the school song. The assembly was closed with a bow, and then the each team got together for their team picture.
Not quite the old "rah rah siss boom bah!" is it?
forget love, let's crush the future opposition!
-greg.
ps: oh, "onegaishimasu" means... hm. well, it gets used all the time actually, but it is kind of like asking someone for a favor, or for support, or as a nice way to ask for something or.... it's polite, and it's important, but don't quote me on the rest.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
this is your life [2008.05.14]
You work your way on top of the shard of broken pottery sitting in your little plastic basin and look up at the children hunched over, staring at you. They are excited, but eventually they lose interest or else are hustled along by one of their teachers. You try to climb up the plastic, only to slide right back down the side.
You stop and listen: you hear no scraping from the basin next to you. In fact, there probably isn't even a basin there anymore. Only you.
They put you in the metal trough sink sometimes and wash the brown water out of your tub, cleaning it and putting fresh water in. The little ones throw you your food and squeal in delight as you eat it down.
Every Wednesday, I look down at you as you look up at me, trying in vain to scale the plastic sides of your tub, thumping when you inevitably hit the bottom after losing your grip. You might as well be Sisyphus, except you tricked no one to be here; you are simply slow and interesting to children.
You are Biggest Sad Turtle, and this is your life. You are Biggest Sad Turtle, and you are possible the only thing that is sad in all of Oshima Kindergarten.
But you are very very sad.
in the future, deserve's still got nothing to do with it,
-greg.
You stop and listen: you hear no scraping from the basin next to you. In fact, there probably isn't even a basin there anymore. Only you.
They put you in the metal trough sink sometimes and wash the brown water out of your tub, cleaning it and putting fresh water in. The little ones throw you your food and squeal in delight as you eat it down.
Every Wednesday, I look down at you as you look up at me, trying in vain to scale the plastic sides of your tub, thumping when you inevitably hit the bottom after losing your grip. You might as well be Sisyphus, except you tricked no one to be here; you are simply slow and interesting to children.
You are Biggest Sad Turtle, and this is your life. You are Biggest Sad Turtle, and you are possible the only thing that is sad in all of Oshima Kindergarten.
But you are very very sad.
in the future, deserve's still got nothing to do with it,
-greg.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
employment opportunities [2008.05.09]
If I ever fail in pursuits related to computers or languages I know that I will always have a future as a cat-herder. It's close enough at least to what I do every Wednesday when I go teach at the kindergarten here in Oshima.
In Oshima there are two classes, divided by age group. The Flower group is for the 4-5 year olds and the Rainbow group is for 5-6 year olds. The Rainbow kids graduate up to elementary school at the end of the year, and the Flower group becomes the new Rainbow group.
Now, the Japanese school year runs from April to March, so up until the end of the previous school year I had 31 crazy, wonderful, all-over-the-place little munchkins running around every Wednesday morning during my hour long English class. Twelve of them graduated in March but I got a fresh crop of 11 itty-bitty four year-olds in April, and that's just a totally different animal. That could almost be a literal statement, based on the difference that four months of kindergarten makes in how these kids behave. The cat-herding description is even more accurate now.
My days at the kindergarten run from 10am-3pm. Technically the kids generally leave at 2pm, but afterwards the teachers clean a little and then have "tea time". That's what the they call it, a little pinch of English mixed into the Japanese. English class itself runs from 1030-1130, and then after that it's chaos, lunch, then some more chaos, with general kindergarten-type learning stuff thrown in for good measure.
Overall these kids are warm, friendly, curious, innocent, and adorable. That's a lot of adjectives, but they deserve it. Of course there's the kid who cries as soon as he gets to school and then refuses to eat lunch, the one who cries if he gets too excited, and the little spoiled one who's always bothering the other kids and throws a tantrum if he doesn't get what he wants, but they're four years old, what should one expect?
All of the different schools have their own perks and charms, but I really love the simple joy and fun of the kindergarten and the younger kids. Ironically, I get to talk to them almost more than the junior high kids because I realized that English Only with five year olds is stupid.
walking through the future jungle,
-greg.
ps: speaking of six year olds, some of the first graders asked me yesterday if i was from the US. when i said yes, one of the girls asked me if i was going home to America that night. she couldn't believe it when i said i lived in Oshima. i love it.
pps: "walking through the jungle" is quite possibly their favorite book. crocodile!
In Oshima there are two classes, divided by age group. The Flower group is for the 4-5 year olds and the Rainbow group is for 5-6 year olds. The Rainbow kids graduate up to elementary school at the end of the year, and the Flower group becomes the new Rainbow group.
Now, the Japanese school year runs from April to March, so up until the end of the previous school year I had 31 crazy, wonderful, all-over-the-place little munchkins running around every Wednesday morning during my hour long English class. Twelve of them graduated in March but I got a fresh crop of 11 itty-bitty four year-olds in April, and that's just a totally different animal. That could almost be a literal statement, based on the difference that four months of kindergarten makes in how these kids behave. The cat-herding description is even more accurate now.
My days at the kindergarten run from 10am-3pm. Technically the kids generally leave at 2pm, but afterwards the teachers clean a little and then have "tea time". That's what the they call it, a little pinch of English mixed into the Japanese. English class itself runs from 1030-1130, and then after that it's chaos, lunch, then some more chaos, with general kindergarten-type learning stuff thrown in for good measure.
Overall these kids are warm, friendly, curious, innocent, and adorable. That's a lot of adjectives, but they deserve it. Of course there's the kid who cries as soon as he gets to school and then refuses to eat lunch, the one who cries if he gets too excited, and the little spoiled one who's always bothering the other kids and throws a tantrum if he doesn't get what he wants, but they're four years old, what should one expect?
All of the different schools have their own perks and charms, but I really love the simple joy and fun of the kindergarten and the younger kids. Ironically, I get to talk to them almost more than the junior high kids because I realized that English Only with five year olds is stupid.
walking through the future jungle,
-greg.
ps: speaking of six year olds, some of the first graders asked me yesterday if i was from the US. when i said yes, one of the girls asked me if i was going home to America that night. she couldn't believe it when i said i lived in Oshima. i love it.
pps: "walking through the jungle" is quite possibly their favorite book. crocodile!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
goooooooooaaaaaaaaal [2008.04.24]
Today was BEAUTIFUL.
Really I could just end this there and it would be a pretty accurate characterization of the overall theme of the day, but I might as well expand on things a little.
Today was a sort of field / recreation day for all of the Oshima / Sakito schools. Yep, all of them. We were all supposed to be together, but for some reason it ended up just being the junior high, East Elementary, and the kindergarten being in one place, with the other schools off in other locations. Maybe it had something to do with the crazy heavy rain yesterday, but I don't really know.
The day's festivities started out at each individual school, so I can only comment on the junior high. Everyone assembled on the school's field for the opening business, and then it was a big hunt for 100 or so little cards that the student council had hidden around the grounds. After that the cards were collected and we all set off for Wakkodo no Mori (maybe I spelled that right?), which means something like Young People's Forest and consists of some sports fields and a small mountain / big hill looking out over the ocean. The park itself would have been enough but we were surrounded by hills covered in trees filled to the top with all sorts of green leaves. A couple times I just stopped and looked around to take everything in.
It was maybe a few kilometers to the park (after the beach but before the high school, for the five or six people that know what that means), and it didn't take us very long to get there. Once we arrived, everyone assembled once more before the chaos was unleashed. Myself, I went straight for the soccer field.
Basically, with the exception of the time specifically allotted for lunch, we were constantly playing soccer. We were there for four hours. It was phenomenal. We had representatives from all three years of junior high school as well as a couple elementary school kids. This does not include all of the random kids that would run across the field in the course of their own games. As far as teachers go and in addition to myself we had Nakayama-sensei, Nakamura-sensei, Hayashi-sensei, and Nagano-sensei, so it was a pretty ridiculous array of players. The field got a little crowded, but it was wonderful.
I only stepped out for a bit to go play with the kindergarteners, partly because I want to get a lot of face time with the new kids to make them comfortable, but also just because I love them and they are adorable. Mostly we played what amounts to a variant of Red Rover (with added Rock Paper Scissors), but a couple kids challenged me to sumo as well. Like I said, they are adorable.
Now of course though we are all tired and thinking that maybe Friday would have been a better day for the outing, especially because you can't have a big school event without having a celebratory party that evening. So, we're not quite done yet. Since it is only Thursday though, there probably won't be any second or third outings after the main event...
So the recap: tired and sunburned after a day chock full of running around and playing with some great kids. I told you it was beautiful, right?
ridiculous mexican soccer announcer future love,
-greg.
ps: but oh MAN i had no idea how badly i got sunburned until i got home. maybe it's the lower latitude?..
Really I could just end this there and it would be a pretty accurate characterization of the overall theme of the day, but I might as well expand on things a little.
Today was a sort of field / recreation day for all of the Oshima / Sakito schools. Yep, all of them. We were all supposed to be together, but for some reason it ended up just being the junior high, East Elementary, and the kindergarten being in one place, with the other schools off in other locations. Maybe it had something to do with the crazy heavy rain yesterday, but I don't really know.
The day's festivities started out at each individual school, so I can only comment on the junior high. Everyone assembled on the school's field for the opening business, and then it was a big hunt for 100 or so little cards that the student council had hidden around the grounds. After that the cards were collected and we all set off for Wakkodo no Mori (maybe I spelled that right?), which means something like Young People's Forest and consists of some sports fields and a small mountain / big hill looking out over the ocean. The park itself would have been enough but we were surrounded by hills covered in trees filled to the top with all sorts of green leaves. A couple times I just stopped and looked around to take everything in.
It was maybe a few kilometers to the park (after the beach but before the high school, for the five or six people that know what that means), and it didn't take us very long to get there. Once we arrived, everyone assembled once more before the chaos was unleashed. Myself, I went straight for the soccer field.
Basically, with the exception of the time specifically allotted for lunch, we were constantly playing soccer. We were there for four hours. It was phenomenal. We had representatives from all three years of junior high school as well as a couple elementary school kids. This does not include all of the random kids that would run across the field in the course of their own games. As far as teachers go and in addition to myself we had Nakayama-sensei, Nakamura-sensei, Hayashi-sensei, and Nagano-sensei, so it was a pretty ridiculous array of players. The field got a little crowded, but it was wonderful.
I only stepped out for a bit to go play with the kindergarteners, partly because I want to get a lot of face time with the new kids to make them comfortable, but also just because I love them and they are adorable. Mostly we played what amounts to a variant of Red Rover (with added Rock Paper Scissors), but a couple kids challenged me to sumo as well. Like I said, they are adorable.
Now of course though we are all tired and thinking that maybe Friday would have been a better day for the outing, especially because you can't have a big school event without having a celebratory party that evening. So, we're not quite done yet. Since it is only Thursday though, there probably won't be any second or third outings after the main event...
So the recap: tired and sunburned after a day chock full of running around and playing with some great kids. I told you it was beautiful, right?
ridiculous mexican soccer announcer future love,
-greg.
ps: but oh MAN i had no idea how badly i got sunburned until i got home. maybe it's the lower latitude?..
Friday, April 11, 2008
let's do the time warp again! [2008.04.11]
I usually get up at five of seven or thereabouts, so when I woke up today and saw that it was a quarter after I jumped out of bed and started getting ready.
Well, okay, I rolled over and grumbled inwardly to myself for five minutes and then grudgingly worked my way to a standing position. It is mighty difficult to "jump" out of bed when one's bed is a mat on the floor.
Semantics aside, I rushed through a slightly compressed version of my morning routine, went out the door, and looked over at East Elementary. I was a little confused to see two lone people jogging around the field as opposed to the expected hoard of small children, but I brushed it aside, thinking that perhaps they had already gone inside.
Riding my bike out of my neighborhood I surprised someone else who was jogging, which seemed strange because I had never seen anyone jogging in the morning before. My suspicions were even further aroused when I passed Nakayama-sensei's apartment and his car was still sitting cozy in his space. This was completely unprecedented and provoked great confusion on my part.
When I turned out of my block and onto the street next to the little harbor (or "boat basin") my mind was in full revolt. Where were all of the shipyard workers?! There should be a steady stream of men in brown jumpsuits riding bycicles, but there was barely a trickle! I looked across the water to the junior high and saw only two cars in the parking lot. Eh?! My fears were confirmed when I turned the corner and glanced at the clock across from the little square: SIX fifty five, not seven!!
I turned into the school's parking lot and Kawaguchi-sensei opened the door laughing as I rode up to her car. She had come early to prepare for her day, but the Vice-Principal wasn't quite there yet to open the school. I was so stunned, I just kept saying "I don't understand.." and she kept laughing. A whole hour of sleep! Why?!
On second though, let's not do this particular time warp ever again.
future love, now with 4% more future!
-greg.
Well, okay, I rolled over and grumbled inwardly to myself for five minutes and then grudgingly worked my way to a standing position. It is mighty difficult to "jump" out of bed when one's bed is a mat on the floor.
Semantics aside, I rushed through a slightly compressed version of my morning routine, went out the door, and looked over at East Elementary. I was a little confused to see two lone people jogging around the field as opposed to the expected hoard of small children, but I brushed it aside, thinking that perhaps they had already gone inside.
Riding my bike out of my neighborhood I surprised someone else who was jogging, which seemed strange because I had never seen anyone jogging in the morning before. My suspicions were even further aroused when I passed Nakayama-sensei's apartment and his car was still sitting cozy in his space. This was completely unprecedented and provoked great confusion on my part.
When I turned out of my block and onto the street next to the little harbor (or "boat basin") my mind was in full revolt. Where were all of the shipyard workers?! There should be a steady stream of men in brown jumpsuits riding bycicles, but there was barely a trickle! I looked across the water to the junior high and saw only two cars in the parking lot. Eh?! My fears were confirmed when I turned the corner and glanced at the clock across from the little square: SIX fifty five, not seven!!
I turned into the school's parking lot and Kawaguchi-sensei opened the door laughing as I rode up to her car. She had come early to prepare for her day, but the Vice-Principal wasn't quite there yet to open the school. I was so stunned, I just kept saying "I don't understand.." and she kept laughing. A whole hour of sleep! Why?!
On second though, let's not do this particular time warp ever again.
future love, now with 4% more future!
-greg.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
special uninvited guest [2008.04.07]
... came in through the back door.
Except that's not right at all. Tomorrow is the entrance ceremony for all of the new students at the respective schools and, just like they did for graduation, East Elementary has sent me an invitation to attend. Katsuki-sensei, the new English teacher, said that being a special guest is certainly something to experience; he has never been invited as an honored guest. Maybe I am not really normal, but I think I would rather not be.
In this role I am included with all of the various important heads of everything: Board of Education, city representatives, principals, distinguished members of the community, police chiefs... pretty impressive eh? Generally everyone is taken into a special room and given some tea, some little cakes or something, and they can chat and whatnot until they are led to their special seating area right before the event begins. So what have I done to merit rubbing elbows with such an illustrious group? Absolutely nothing.
I am there because I am the foreign English teacher, the perpetual guest. While I do try to appreciate the consideration and honor of it, in many ways it is just another reminder that I do not really belong.
At the kindergarten graduation I was on the side of the room with all of the important people when I would have much rather been on the other side of the room with the teachers that I work with and have become friends with. When I sat with all of the specially invited guests at East Elementary's graduation I would have vastly preferred to be sitting with Nagao-sensei sharing in the happiness and pride of his daughter's graduation. Only at the junior high's graduation did I sit with the other teachers, and there is nowhere I would have rather been.
But that's pretty rare I guess, so tomorrow I will drink my tea and eat my cakes and enjoy it. To be fare, being a sometimes teacher at four schools means I am not a full-time teacher at any of them, and I am incredibly grateful for the ever-present kindness. This is not a complaint in any way, it is simply an alternate perspective. In the pre-Japan prep they say that being the "gaijin star" is simultaneously the best and worst thing about coming here. Damned if that ain't the truth.
mom always said i was special,
-greg.
Except that's not right at all. Tomorrow is the entrance ceremony for all of the new students at the respective schools and, just like they did for graduation, East Elementary has sent me an invitation to attend. Katsuki-sensei, the new English teacher, said that being a special guest is certainly something to experience; he has never been invited as an honored guest. Maybe I am not really normal, but I think I would rather not be.
In this role I am included with all of the various important heads of everything: Board of Education, city representatives, principals, distinguished members of the community, police chiefs... pretty impressive eh? Generally everyone is taken into a special room and given some tea, some little cakes or something, and they can chat and whatnot until they are led to their special seating area right before the event begins. So what have I done to merit rubbing elbows with such an illustrious group? Absolutely nothing.
I am there because I am the foreign English teacher, the perpetual guest. While I do try to appreciate the consideration and honor of it, in many ways it is just another reminder that I do not really belong.
At the kindergarten graduation I was on the side of the room with all of the important people when I would have much rather been on the other side of the room with the teachers that I work with and have become friends with. When I sat with all of the specially invited guests at East Elementary's graduation I would have vastly preferred to be sitting with Nagao-sensei sharing in the happiness and pride of his daughter's graduation. Only at the junior high's graduation did I sit with the other teachers, and there is nowhere I would have rather been.
But that's pretty rare I guess, so tomorrow I will drink my tea and eat my cakes and enjoy it. To be fare, being a sometimes teacher at four schools means I am not a full-time teacher at any of them, and I am incredibly grateful for the ever-present kindness. This is not a complaint in any way, it is simply an alternate perspective. In the pre-Japan prep they say that being the "gaijin star" is simultaneously the best and worst thing about coming here. Damned if that ain't the truth.
mom always said i was special,
-greg.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
a curious array of footwear [2008.03.26]
Imagine, if you will, the school gym. All of the students are here, sitting on the floor in rows according to grade, class, and gender, and all of the teachers are standing beside or behind them. Everyone has just finished singing the school song before sitting down, and the principal has gone up onto the stage to address everyone for the closing of the school year. You look around and are impressed by the seriousness of it, the students all in their uniforms, and the teachers garbed in their finest business attire.
Until you look down and realize that all of the teachers have basketball shoes on.
This is something that never fails to make me smile. People don't generally have "nice" inside shoes to go along with their normal casual ones, and they certainly don't generally have two pairs of gym shoes (which are different), which leads to all sorts of interesting footware combinations when circumstances dictate that a higher level of dress is required. I have seen special exception taken only once, for the graduation ceremony that just recently happened, but that is it.
While the suit + basketball style brings a smile to my face and I wish that it would catch on more in the US, it didn't really serve to change the mood from a solemn one this past Wednesday for the closing ceremony, because it was also the farewell ceremony for the teachers that would be leaving.
The school year in Japan runs from April to March, and generally teachers are moved between schools every three or four years. Teachers that graduate with their teaching degree but have yet to pass the wicked hard prefectural exams have a maximum of one year to work at each school, after which they have to wait to see if any openings appear.
Between those two factors, Oshima Junior High said farewell to 11 teachers on Monday, almost half of our total staff. Included in that group is Kita-sensei, one of the English teachers that I work with, and our vice-principal, who is just pretty great. Umino-sensei, Nagao-sensei, and Matsuo-sensei, three out of five of the third grade teachers that I sit and have become really close to, are leaving as well.
It was pretty easy then to relate to the students who were crying as all of the teachers made their farewell speaches. Afterwards each teacher was presented with a bouquet of flowers by one of the students that they had developed a close relationship too. It was a really nice moment, but really sad too.
You might think that having to rotate so often would make it just another part of the job, but it's just not like that. Almost everyone up on that stage had tears in their eyes, even the guy who is always joking. There were a few dry eyes I guess, but they were not the majority.
It is hypocritical to not want them to leave, because I will eventually do the same, especially since it is not their choice. I do it anyway. Apparently the new teachers are all announced, and the new office manager was even in today to learn how everything works. I've heard that the new English teacher really loves ping pong. We shall see.
Meanwhile everyone helps the old teachers with the moving out process: cleaning, carrying, stuff like that. One of the good things about the rotation being a regular part of the Japanese school system is that there is an established process for it, much like the rest of Japanese culture, and everyone knows what is going to happen and what they are supposed to do.
Unless, of course, you've never done it before and miss the first day of move-out help because of a miscommunication. Dammit! Sorry Nagao-sensei.
frustrated love from the future,
-greg.
ps: i recently got some more new (old) pictures up. old cause they are from when i went to Nara with Alice... in november. i will catch up eventually. (flickr)
Until you look down and realize that all of the teachers have basketball shoes on.
This is something that never fails to make me smile. People don't generally have "nice" inside shoes to go along with their normal casual ones, and they certainly don't generally have two pairs of gym shoes (which are different), which leads to all sorts of interesting footware combinations when circumstances dictate that a higher level of dress is required. I have seen special exception taken only once, for the graduation ceremony that just recently happened, but that is it.
While the suit + basketball style brings a smile to my face and I wish that it would catch on more in the US, it didn't really serve to change the mood from a solemn one this past Wednesday for the closing ceremony, because it was also the farewell ceremony for the teachers that would be leaving.
The school year in Japan runs from April to March, and generally teachers are moved between schools every three or four years. Teachers that graduate with their teaching degree but have yet to pass the wicked hard prefectural exams have a maximum of one year to work at each school, after which they have to wait to see if any openings appear.
Between those two factors, Oshima Junior High said farewell to 11 teachers on Monday, almost half of our total staff. Included in that group is Kita-sensei, one of the English teachers that I work with, and our vice-principal, who is just pretty great. Umino-sensei, Nagao-sensei, and Matsuo-sensei, three out of five of the third grade teachers that I sit and have become really close to, are leaving as well.
It was pretty easy then to relate to the students who were crying as all of the teachers made their farewell speaches. Afterwards each teacher was presented with a bouquet of flowers by one of the students that they had developed a close relationship too. It was a really nice moment, but really sad too.
You might think that having to rotate so often would make it just another part of the job, but it's just not like that. Almost everyone up on that stage had tears in their eyes, even the guy who is always joking. There were a few dry eyes I guess, but they were not the majority.
It is hypocritical to not want them to leave, because I will eventually do the same, especially since it is not their choice. I do it anyway. Apparently the new teachers are all announced, and the new office manager was even in today to learn how everything works. I've heard that the new English teacher really loves ping pong. We shall see.
Meanwhile everyone helps the old teachers with the moving out process: cleaning, carrying, stuff like that. One of the good things about the rotation being a regular part of the Japanese school system is that there is an established process for it, much like the rest of Japanese culture, and everyone knows what is going to happen and what they are supposed to do.
Unless, of course, you've never done it before and miss the first day of move-out help because of a miscommunication. Dammit! Sorry Nagao-sensei.
frustrated love from the future,
-greg.
ps: i recently got some more new (old) pictures up. old cause they are from when i went to Nara with Alice... in november. i will catch up eventually. (flickr)
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