Why I'm going to miss my students

Elementary

Good evening!

It's been a cold cold week in Shiga. It's nothing compared to Upstate-NY, but that doesn't mean I haven't been huddling underneath a blanket all week. I've been running as quickly as possible between one heated room to the next, trying to avoid the chilly hallways.

Today was an elementary school day! 5 days a week I teach at my base school, which is a Junior High, but once a week I spend half a day at elementary school teaching 5th and 6th graders. On these days I also eat lunch with a pre-determined class, which today was 1st grade, class 2.

Fact: small children are adorable.
Fact: Japanese children are especially adorable.
.... this, coupled with...
Fact: White people are pretty non-existent in Japan.
When you put this all together, what does it add up to?

Annica becomes a celebrity at lunch time.

Seriously, I "signed" about 10 notebooks. AUTOGRAPHED. They should keep them. Some day they might be good for kindling. I also read aloud every one of the kids "Engrish" shirts, recited the names of many household objects, and shared my love of Pokemon.

Today reminded me that children are pretty fantastic. If I could get each of these kids' signatures, I would do it. They have so much energy and happiness. Their outlook on the world is so young and innocent. Just the fact that they couldn't stump me with an English name for something was mind boggling to them. "You really ARE an English teacher!!" (Never mind the fact that I speak the language natively).
One boy wanted to know how I was getting home. When I said, "by car", he seemed surprised. "America?!"
"No, I live in Minakuchi."
"........!" <------- SHOCKCONFUSION!

My sixth grade classes have been going less smoothly, and it's mainly because I'm not a novelty to them just by existing anymore. I'm that person that they know who teaches them English. I love that I've gotten to know them, and today made me realize that I need to work harder to make sure that I keep their class just as fun and exciting as it used to be. If it means that I have to be over the top and work twice as hard to find good material for them, then so be it. I am determined to not let their apathy towards English continue! And not to let myself be apathetic as well.

Although I didn't have too much time to ponder my lunch, I was able to snap a picture before I went to the classroom.

WHALE! I ate whale today.

That is all. 

Sports Day Aftermath

Good morning / afternoon / evening!! (Depending on your time zone)

Sports Day was quite successful, although very very hot. It's been an exciting weekend, and I thought I'd post some pictures of how the day went and talk about what kinds of events they performed.

I got to school 7:30am, around the time I usually get there on workdays. There were already a lot of teachers there and preparation was in full swing. I tried to figure out if there was anything that I could do to help, but there wasn't much. I did what I could and then set out to talk to the kids and prepare to cheer.

This sign was made completely out of PET bottle caps. Pretty amazing! 

An empty field! Soon to be filled with students. 

The day started with the opening ceremonies, a few speeches, and exercises. There were seven teams, each consisting of a 1st year, 2nd year, and 3rd year class. The teams had colored bandanas to identify them. The events were all pre-organized and the teams knew where to line up and stand so that each event would follow the next one without (too much) chaos. The events include things like three-legged- races, relays, tug-o-war, ball tosses....

The opening stretches. Everyone did exercises together to stretch out their limbs. 

Tug-o-war!

Ball Toss. The team with the most beanbags in the bucket by the end of the time limit won!

AND THEN CAME THE DANCE!!!

All in all, it was a pretty awesome day. I don't know how the kids survived through that heat, but they worked super hard and did a really good job. The teams with the most points at the end of the day received awards and certificates. Regardless, everyone had a good time! 

I am sporty in my sports day outfit! The shirt was an event shirt from last year that one of the teachers lent me for the day. I felt very cool and hip.

Completely unrelated: Went to Nagahama for a BBQ and to see more of Lake Biwa. I <33 Shiga!

Soran, Soran

Summer is over, and it’s back to school for me! I don’t know about most people, but I have always looked forward to this time of year. Fresh notebooks and pencils, seeing old friends after a long absence, meeting new friends… The beginning of classes feels like a new start and an opportunity to change things up and learn about something completely different. The end of vacation also signals the start of fall, my favorite time of the year.

Being in Japan has not stopped my happiness that it has finally become September. I’ve been officially back in school for a week now, and I feel refreshed and ready to take on the new semester. This week has been incredibly busy, but not with teaching. Every year at the beginning of fall junior high schools across Japan hold the 体育祭 (taii-ku-sai). Taiikusai is a “sports day” in which teams of students participate in athletic activities and compete against one another in a show of school spirit. This week the entire school has devoted itself to preparing for the taiikusai. There is a lot to be done, and the students and teachers are all busy. The students spend the first part of the day in classes taking their beginning of term tests, and after lunch everyone is devoted to practicing for the events.

My desk is fresh and ready for work...

...and here it is. Around 280 summer diaries to correct. Whee!

Sports day will be held tomorrow, a Saturday, and goes from about 8am until late afternoon. I will know more about it once I’ve experienced it for myself, but as far as I can tell the students compete in various relays and track and field events. The school is split into a number of teams, each of which consists of a 1^st year class, a 2^nd year class, and a 3^rd year class. Each team has their own color and the teachers of the corresponding classes wear clothing of that color. The team with the most points by the end of the day wins. (I’m not quite sure what they win, but I can tell it’s a big honor!)

The highlight of the day, however, is the dance. After lunch the entire student body gathers together on the field and performs a dance. The dance that my school will perform is called the “Soran” (click on the link to see a video of performers doing this dance). The students have spent the better part of every afternoon this week learning and practicing the “Soran” dance. The color teams are competing against one another to see who can master it the best! I’ve watched a couple of the rehearsals, and this dance looks pretty amazing. The 3^rd year students are responsible for teaching their younger teammates how to do the dance properly. Japanese schools use a student centered classroom education system which definitely fosters an independence and responsibility that I don’t remember having in middle school. It’s pretty amazing to see how this really affects the productiveness of the festival preparations. Instead of the teachers being responsible for teaching the dance and keeping the students in line during rehearsals, the upper classmen take charge and make sure that no one falls behind and that everyone has the skills they need to succeed. They are highly motivated by their desire to win, but they also take it for granted that it’s their responsibility as the upper classmen to take care of the younger students.

Anyways, the kids and teachers are all excited, and I hope that tomorrow goes well! I will be cheering everyone on as enthusiastically as I can, and hope that I can be of use. Apparently I’ve been roped into running in a relay race with a team of teachers sometime within the course of the day, so that should be, uh, interesting. As the Japanese say, 頑張ります！(I will try my best!)

If anyone is interested I can make another post after the 体育祭 is over and hopefully give more details about the events. I’m sure that I will have an interesting day.

じゃあ、ね！

P. S. Here's an article I found on the Japan Times that talks about Sports Day. Check it out, if you are interested!

Happy 七夕

Today was Tanabata (七夕), a holiday that occurs every year on July 7th (7/7). The name Tanabata translates to "the seventh evening". Every year on Tanabata, Japan celebrates the love story of the princess Orihime and the cowherd Hikoboshi.

According to legend, Orihime was the daughter of the Tentei, or Sky King. Every day she wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the heavenly river, the Milky Way. Her father loved the beautiful cloth that she wove so she worked hard every day, but she was sad because she could not fall in love. Seeing this, her father arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (the cow herder star). At their meeting the fell deeply in love and were soon married. However, after their marriage Orihime stopped weaving her wonderful cloth and Hikoboshi did not perform his duty as a cow herder. The Sky King became angry and separated the two lovers, sending them to opposite sides of the heavenly river. Orihime begged her father to let them meet again. He was soon swayed by her sadness and capitulated, saying that they could meet on the seventh day of the seventh month if the princess finished her weaving. Orihime worked hard to finish in time, but they were not able to meet each other because the river was uncrossable. Realizing this, Orihime began to cry. Her tears drew a flock of magpies who promised to make a bridge for the princess to cross the river. The legend says that if it rains on Tanabata the magpies cannot make the bridge and Orihime and Hikoboshi must wait another year to see one another. 

Traditionally, Tanabata is a day to write your wish on a colored piece of paper. The wishes and other decorations are tied to bamboo and sometimes set afloat in a river. I have heard that there are several "matsuri", or festivals, throughout Japan and some people visit shrines on this day to make a wish. 

It has been raining since last night, so I guess the lovers will not meet this year. Regardless, Tanabata was honored the junior high school today. Kyuushoku today was Tanabata soup with star-shaped vegetables, star-shaped croquettes, and Tanabata Jelly. Students wrote their wishes on colored sheets of paper that were hung as decorations inside the school. Although it doesn't seem like a huge holiday as far as Japan goes, I think that it's an interesting story and a great excuse to hold a festival in the summer! 

Is 検便 happiness?

*Italics are spoken in Japanese*

Teacher 1: Annica-sensei, please teach Teacher 2 how to say "kenben" in English. 
Me: Kenben? I don't really know... what is kenben?
(I pull up my internet dictionary and type in "kenben". Some kanji comes up.)
Teacher 1: Yes, yes, that's it! In English?
Me: Uhh... "feces examinations".
Teacher 2: Ahh... THANK YOU VERY MUCH.... Feces... Examinations? In Japanese, "unko kensa".
Me: Oh... thank you...

(Thirty seconds later)

Teacher 2 (to another teacher): Hmmm... What is happiness? In English...?
Me: Uh, "happiness".
Teacher 2 (to me): Please... teach me about happiness!
Me: ..... I don't really know...
Teacher 2: Shall I teach?
Teacher 1: NO.
...
...
...
The things I learn in the teachers' room.

Questions?

Questions I often receive from students:

1. How old are you?

2. When is your birthday?

3. What comic do you like?

4. What member of KAT-TUN do you like? (Part of my self introduction is that I like KAT-TUN. They love this.)

5. Are you Angela / Do you know Angela? (According to my students and fellow teachers, I greatly resemble a Japanese pop-star named Angela. I'm pretty sure this is who they are talking about. I'm not sure I agree, but it's highly entertaining!)

And the best questions yet...

6. Do you love me?

7. Do you love (insert other English teacher's name here)?

Of course I do. Let's be friends. 

Working in a Japanese Junior High

I've been at working at my school for about a week and I'm just barely starting to teach actual classes. I think it has been a blessing, however, because I have been able to adjust to my new environment and get to know my fellow teachers. Now that I am more comfortable, I am easing into teaching actual classes. There are so many little differences between Japanese and American schools. It has been a mixture of fascinating and confusing moments that I have for the most part thoroughly enjoyed!

In my school there are about 60 teachers. Most of my time has been spent sitting at my desk in the teachers' room. Unlike in American schools (where teachers tend to have their own room), in Japanese schools the teachers share one large office. Each grade of students is divided into classes, for example there are 8 classes of first year students. Each class has their own classroom (1-1, 1-2, 1-3 ... 1-8). The students remain in the same classroom throughout the day and the teachers change classrooms depending on their schedules. This makes the teachers' room the "base of operations", so to speak. Because of this, it has to be huge to accommodate all of the desks. Students and teachers are forever rushing in and out, making it a very interesting working experience.

Another unique feature of the Japanese teachers' room is how little privacy you have. There are no cubicles or separators between desks. They are all pushed together into clusters of tables organized by the year (first year teachers together, second year teachers together, etc). It's very cozy and it definitely fosters a community feeling in the workplace. Here's a wiki link to a picture of a teachers' room in a junior high school: click here! There is a definite hierarchy to the way the desks are arranged and everything appears to have a purpose, although I don't quite understand all of it yet. 

Another interesting part of my day has been the school lunch. Japanese school lunch is called 給食 (kyuushoku) and it has been integrated into the students' education. The Japanese government has insured that lunch will teach as well as nourish, therefore it is compulsory for all Japanese students to eat kyuushoku. Nutritionists are hired to create menus for the schools and each month a calendar is sent out telling students and staff what to expect each day. The lunch is a set, and since it has been planned to ensure good health, the students are required to clean their plates (for the most part). I have been eating kyuushoku for the past week. So far I've gotten a lot of nutritious and delicious food for a very cheap price. The meals are eaten in the classrooms (or in my case, the teachers' room) and are served by the students and staff themselves. People take turns serving and cleaning so that everyone has a chance to play their part in the community. It's a very interesting system and it involves lots of cooperation and coordination. It's amazing to watch how well everything fits together. 

Here are some examples of meals I have gotten this week for kyuushoku!

Fried Tofu, Soup, Rice with seasoning, and a Japanese treat (I'll put up a better description later...)

Cocoa Bread, Minestrone, Tuna Stir Fry, and a Croquette

Frankfurter, Salad, Chiken Soup, and Veggies

There is a lot of interesting info out there on kyuushoku, if you are interested in reading more. 

Here's a blog... and here's another one! Every ALT on the face of the planet (or I guess in the entire country of Japan) seems to do an obligatory "kyuushoku" blog. SO HERE'S MINE! Ha!

It's getting pretty late, but I will write more later regarding other random adventures. Here's a sneak peek: 

水口はとてもきれいだね！