久しぶり

Post XXIV

Like so many blogs before this one, it has fallen victim to a bit of neglect. It`s hardly surprising in many ways, I have been exceptionally busy. That said I don`t want to let it die on me, so I will attempt to spark some knew life in to it.

Summer was a long one and one that was mainly spent coaching some of my speech contest students for an upcoming English speech contest. The main thing for me has been that they have been having an enjoyable experience with English, though it seems like they are being pushed quite hard by their parents and private teachers too.

In the coming weeks I have another demonstration class, which of course means a certain degree of stress, though in all honesty I actually quite enjoy those classes! It`s a time to have your skills assessed and to get some feedback on how to improve your teaching and the programs that you teach. Once that has finished, I will be off to Korea for the first time! I am looking forward to a break from this country in many ways, as it can be a bit intense. What`s more, it has a habit of sucking you in to it`s way of thinking, which I am very aware is not very healthy,….

Japan is treating me well though, and with language comes greater integration with my community. I`ve managed to double the attendance of my English Conversation class and I`m involved with a society that promotes and organises local events, so I am feeling a much more involved in the community. Things are looking up! That said, it won`t be long before I am carrying that blimming portable shrine again, which is something that I am looking forward to and dreading in equal measures! 

Graduation Ceremony 卒業式

Post XXIII

Today was the 3rd Grade`s graduation ceremony. I was caught off guard and actually did cry. All the students were giving messages to the staff and students in Japanese. As such, I wasn`t expecting to be able to understand what was said to me. But, to my great surprise, my message was delivered in flawless English. Not only that, but the content was absolutely lovely. I am in two minds as to whether or not I want to try to write down what was said here, as I fear that I will report it wrong, and then forever remember the wrong way. Perhaps, I will just keep it in my mind, and even if I forget the words over time, I will never forget the sentiment.

 今日は三年生の卒業式だった。私は泣いた。三年生のみなさんから先生にメッセージをもらいました。学生が私に英語で話した。そしてとてもじょうず英語で話しておどろいた。

In many ways I was blessed to join this school at the time that I did, being able to interact with these students when they were at full maturity. At the same time though, I wish that I could have met them in 1st grade and watched them mature in to the wonderful individuals that they are today. That`s all ifs buts and maybes though, and I am glad I had any time at all with them.

The current second graders, who have seemed to spend a lot of their school life in the shadow of a very energetic, and large class, have also stepped up their energy levels since usurping the title of top of the school. This, of course, is only good news and I look forward to a year of getting to know them in greater depth - they were the class I saw the least out of all of my classes, and being somewhat more quiet than the other classes, it has been more difficult to get to know them.

Spring holiday is now just around the corner, but it is barely a holiday. There is a lot to do in preperation for next year - though I will bail on a lot of it because my family are coming to Japan and I want to spend time with them. Also, as you will have seen, I tried typing some of this post in Japanese too. Reading this through, there is a lot of stuff I feel like I could maybe say in Japanese, but I only tried out the first little chunk. Maybe as a little experiment I will try to write post in both languages from now on, though of course the Japanese will be much simpler condensed versions. Plus, it is likely to be wrong. So if there is any Japanese people reading, or even ALT sempais who have been here for a while, please tell me if I am inadvertently swearing my tits off!

 

Final memories before it`s time to say bye bye

Post XXII

Today, I was really reminded that sometimes it is the most unlikely places that you have an effect on these children`s lives. One of my graduating 3rd graders is rather the quiet type. He doesn`t have a lot of confidence in speaking English. Nonetheless, a while ago he wrote me a letter saying he wanted to get a pokemon card (my reward system intended to get them to write to me). Since then, we had a few small conversations about pokemon, and eventually he wrote enough letters as to get one. I gave him his favourite, Pikachu.

All of the children wrote me a small message to say thank you. Some of the notes were laughably impersonal, but about half of them were personal. This child`s just said: "We are Pokemon friends".

I didn`t think much of it, but then I was told, that in his diary (which all 3rd graders have to keep, in Japanese), he had written about how lucky he was to have met me, and that he is glad to have a pokemon friend. Not only that, but he had written it in English.

Unassuming exchanges with this kid have seemed to resonate with him - perhaps because, being the shy type, the Japanese education system has spent most of its time overlooking him. Of course, I have time for all of my students, but it seems as though having a teacher take an interest in him has had rather a large effect. Memories like this are the best ones to make whilst I am here.

Volley ball and Liquorice

Post XXI

Yesterday I finally had some time to attend one of the school clubs. I decided to go to volleyball, as a few of the students from that club had asked me to attend. This was my first time playing volleyball, and these kids were frikkin pros. Though I was very obviously a beginner, they were really patient with me, and seemed to enjoy teaching me in many respects. My arms are in rather a lot of pain now, I suspect as a result of bad spiking technique. But I`ll be heading there again today, and then leave them be, as they have a competition coming up and I don’t want to distract them too much!!

I have a small demonstration class again today, but it`s only one person who is coming, and I know him personally already so I am not too worried. I will also be giving some of my graduating students some Licquorice Allsorts. It`s not a flavour that they have in Japan, so I am expecting a lot of EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH s when they try them. A few weeks ago, the male teachers from primary school had some at my house, and they were so confused. They couldn’t decide if it was too sweet, too bitter, or just too weird! So I look forward to their reactions and shall report back……

Still writing, not posting

Post XX

You`d be forgiven for thinking that I had given up on this blog alltogether, but actually I have been writing the entire time, just not publishing anything that I write. Perhaps some would argue that that constitutes giving up on the blog, but hey ho. To me it highlights that writing for `the blog` has more of a therapeutic character to it, regardless of if I publish it or not.

Anyway, here is a post I wrote in the wake of my Winter Holiday. Reading it back, I don`t like it very much, but when do we ever like what we have written when we reflect on it with a sober eye?

So the New Year is in full swing, and I am yet again being terrible at updating my blog. Still no internet at home, and I spent the vast majority of my winter break traveling around Japan. I finally feel like I have done some of the more touristy places in Japan, so can now just kick back and do some exploring at my own pace.

But, having said that, it will be some time before my next holiday, and it`s taking a few days to get back in to the swing of school life (especially school lunch). My new year’s resolution happens to be school related too. I am going to make sure I attend club activities once a week from now on, regardless of how tired I am. Last term I really did savor my Wednesday afternoons, when I could go home at a reasonable time, but I decided that playing sports with the kids is a much better use of my time even if I get a bit (more) tired.

Speaking of being tired, I had some pretty sleepless nights whilst on holiday. In Osaka, for example, we stayed in a dark and dingy `capsule hotel`. It was cheap as chips, but not THAT much cheaper than some of the really nice `guest houses｀ (hostels) we`d been staying in. The accommodation was actually ok, but it was the atmosphere that made it a very uncomfortable stay. The place reeked of despair, radiating from middle aged Japanese salary men who were crying in to a vending machine cup noodle with a fag hanging out of their mouth. It was the kind of atmosphere where even a silent smile was met with a glare, as it threatened to shatter the overbearing misery. The hotel itself, like its clientele, had seen better days. It was old, and the toilets were of the Japanese squatter style, for which I have no time whatsoever. What was booked on a half whim half joke, had backfired on us quite radically. I would have been able to laugh at it if we were only staying one night, but we were staying two, so the joke was on us really.

In some ways, it was a blessing and a curse though. Because the hotel was so dire, we didn’t want to spend any time there at all. So, despite getting home late and drunk, we were still out before 8am the next day. In Kyoto, on the other hand, we wallowed in our hangover till around 10am, which meant we didn`t see everything we wanted to! But, it`s an excuse to go back even if it may be really busy and touristy.

Perhaps the highlight of my holiday, though I use the word `highlight` being fully aware that it may be a distasteful word choice, but for want of a better word it will have to do, was Hiroshima. Hiroshima was possible one of the most distressing places I have ever been in my life. On a par with Auschwitz in terms of soliciting a feeling of boundless despair within myself at my fellow man. An entire city, reduced in an instant to ash and rubble, at the hands of the USA. I won`t go in to all the details, but rather I will mention a few things that I found particularly hallowing. One thing in particular that stuck out is that alongside the plane that dropped the bomb, there were others dropping scientific equipment, and one to film the blast, which highlighted the American`s complete detachment with the human effects of dropping the bomb. It was as if it was any other normal test of the atom bomb, only this time the Japanese were the subjects. What`s more is that, at the time, most of Hiroshima prefecture`s Junior High School students had been mobilised in a demolition effort in Hiroshima city. Meaning, that an entire generation of children where right in the epicenter of the blast. Many of whom, not dying in the initial inferno, suffered skin-melting burns, and were miraculously able to struggle home before succumbing to their injuries the next day, or day after. There is a catalogue of victims, with stories far more hallowing than I can do justice to, alongside school uniforms so burnt one cannot distinguish the melted skin from the fibers of the cloth.

I think that Hiroshima is something that all civilized people should visit. What`s more I think that Americans have an obligation to visit. Because in the wake of one of the single most inhumane things committed by man, America and Japan have taken radically different policies. Japan, the victim, has pursued a policy of non-violent national security, and is now (though, of course, it was not always) a nation committed to peace. America, on the other hand, have continued to have a foreign policy centered around aggressively securing resources from other countries by means of force – with large levels of popular support no less. I think it is all too easy for people to get tied up in to the “us” vs “enemy” dichotomy that is constantly presented and supported by governments and media associations alike. It makes it all too easy for us to distance ourselves from the terrible human consequences of war. Take the “War on Terror” as a modern example. This is a war so vaguely defined that there are no achievable goals that could bring it to an end. It is also so vaguely defined that almost any group that one chooses will serve well as an enemy. This is a remarkably unstable situation for everyone, and could encourage popular support for future genocides by the Allies against, most likely, the Middle East or perhaps China. If governments have already gained support for the “War on Terror”, then all that’s left to do is to convince the public that any given group are “Terrorists”, and people will support killing them.

Of course I am not a proponent of terrorism, and any reader who takes me to be has not picked up on the message beneath my words. Of course, terrorism is a problem, and perhaps on its own a “threat” to the world. But, nonetheless, propagating war, propagating the dichotomy, will only serve to allow for more atrocities in the future. And that, above anything else, is what must be avoided, if we are to take anything from the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Productive days on The Island

Let`s Enjoying School Trips!

Post XIX

 A little while ago I went on the world`s most Japanese school trip. First, we visited a disaster prevention center, where we learned about how to cope with various disasters. There was a bunch of simulator rooms, which were all great fun, and some were actually quite scary (for example the earthquake simulator, which the kids insisted be set to the highest level, of course). 

After that, we went to the traffic flow control center to learn about traffic lights and other such things. It was probably the most boring two hours of my life to date, and the building was so hot that I just wanted to pass out. But, there was one highlight when a security guard crept up to me and whispered: "Hello, where are you from?" I said, the UK. He then said, "Ah. UK traffic lights, same?" to which I told him they weren`t. At which point he thanked me and walked away. I am sure this is not true, but it seemed like he had been waiting for some time for the chance to ask that question to someone. He could have used the internet, but I was glad to put an end to his anticipation. 

 Then we had lunch. This was the highlight of my day for two reasons. First, Japanese mums pull out all the stops to make sure their child has the cutest lunch. Second, every kid has more sweets that I could eat in an entire week, and they were fighting over giving me some! The bento boxes all had really cute food in them, and one mum even made a Kirby out of rice!!

 They were all so cool, and the sweets were awesome too. I was eating things that I hadn`t even seen in Japan yet, so who knows where they find all of these things! 

 After lunch we went to the local landscape garden which is very beautiful. I pretended to push one of the kids (one of the little “jokers”) in the water when he was feeding Koi, and he jumped out of his skin! He looked at me and said “Sensei not funny!!” which just made it even more funny for me. Of course, he saw the funny side, and appreciated that I was pulling pranks on him for a change. Then we had a tea ceremony, and headed home. On the ferry we bumped in to some of the younger kids who had also had their day out. Then began an hour of me being a fair ground attraction. Japanese kids, hyped up on sugar, were jumping all over me, wanting to be carried, spun around, thrown, chased, lifted, dragged and all kinds of other things. It was great fun, but absolutely exhausting.

Kidnapped in Japan

Post XVIII 

So last weekend was rather bizarre. I`ll set the scene. It had been a long week, and I was knackered, so decided I wouldn’t take the ferry to have drinks with my friends. Instead, I would cook a meal, have a beer, and read a book. I kept putting off cooking because I couldn`t be bothered, so I just sat reading and drinking, and all of a sudden it was around 8.30. I thought, I`ll get cooking now or else I`ll eat really late. So there I was, cooking away, and the doorbell goes. Now, the Japanese aren`t ones to disturb you late unless it`s important, so I wondered who it could be. I opened the door and there stood a lady whom I didn`t recognize. She started rambling at me in rapid Japanese. I could understand that she was saying that she was my neighbor. She asked if I had eaten, and I said no, but that I was cooking now. She said, no no its ok, you can eat at the bar. I was in my pajyamas so I insisted that I should change, she replied that I looked fine and that I didn`t need to worry. I just about managed to convince her I should at least turn off my gas, so I nipped inside (and quickly chucked on some trousers) and there I was being dragged out of the house to the only bar on the island. 

 She knew about 10 English words, but nonetheless we could hold a minimal conversation. She insisted she was my Japanese mother, and that I should frequently eat at her house, and so on. She bought me a plethora of drinks, and we played darts, and it was just generally a bizarre evening. 

 On the way home, she “boinked” me on the penis. I can think of a better word to describe it. It was like an exaggerated and comical pat with the palm of her hand, followed by the most childish outcry of laughter you have ever heard from a 60 odd year old woman. I suppose she was curious. It marked the end of an absolutely bizarre kidnapping and night out, that was actually surprisingly fun. After, I couldn’t help but ponder over the “boink” for a little while. I thought to myself, if it was an old Japanese man “boinking” a young girl on her tits, that would be completely inappropriate. Perhaps what she did to me was inappropriate too, but I guess I have got so used to all manners of attempted sexual assaults at school that I have just come to expect it. This is one of the Japan-isms that many foreigners draw the line at – the obsession, between same sexes, to attempt to sexually touch their peers (and teachers). Now, I think I don’t really have a problem with it as there is no sexual intent whatsoever, it is playful. Just like in English schools, we have “bundles” where one boy is piled on top of by all of his peers, the Japanese have “Kancho” where they try to grab your man parts, or sometimes worse…. Also, I have become a ninja at deflecting their attempts, so they rarely succeed. What`s more, my children don`t seem to try to kancho me as often as my friends kids try to kancho them.

 In any case, whether you see it as a playful part of Japanese childhood, or a fundamental flaw in how children are allowed to behave at school, it is still going to happen. I try to just be as little of a kill joy as possible, but I can understand why it can be a source of discomfort for foreigners working in Japan, too.

Heavy lifting

Post VXII 

 I have had a pretty crazy 4 days. The last two are completely boring, I had 7 demonstration lessons – more than the average ALT has in a year – which were just so draining, mainly because of all the lengthy meetings that go with them. But, at the weekend before the working onslaught I carried a Japanese portable (and I use portable very liberally here, as they weight just under three tones) shrine, known as a Mikoshi (みこし). I carried it for 2 2 hour stints, on Saturday and Sunday. So 8 hours in total. It was amazing! On the first day, it wasn`t actually a shrine, but a `portable` taiko drum (Japanese war drum). The people carrying it were some of the younger and more boisterous islanders, some of whom I have gotten to know through drinking and so on – in fact I was invited to carry it by the owner of a café I often drink at. Before we carried it, we all drank Shinto `holy water` - and lots of it. Of course, it was actually just Sake, which meant that some of the Japanese people were rather merry by the time we got to carrying it. Slightly worrying seeing as you are relying on everyone to pull their weight and not fall over. 

The style of carrying also involved a lot of bouncing up and down, and running down the street, both of which were a mixture of extremely exciting and extremely terrifying. But, it was a great party, and afterwards we went back to the café and all got extremely drunk. I went to bed, knowing I was going to wake up rotten hung over, knowing that I had to be up at 7am, and knowing that I would be carrying three tones of shrine again in the morning. My shoulders were in absolute agony, and the thought of doing it again made me feel sick (or maybe that was the drink). But, I decided to force myself to do it and I am glad that I did. The second day was much more like a ceremony. I wore a special ceremonial white robe and hat, and carried a beautifully ornate Mikoshi complete with God inside. We took the God (no one really knew which God) to chill out in the town, and just generally carried him/her for a few hours. I was given a huge bento for lunch, complete with beers, which was the perfect reward for the hard manual labour of carrying this thing! It was an absolutely unique experience, and one that I am very glad that I had, even if my body is absolutely knackered, sore, bruised and blistered. Looking forward to carrying it again next year!!

I take it all back....

I feel as though I need to retract my last post. Last night, when walking back to a friends house I fell in to what's known as a gaijin trap, or, foreigner trap. They are wide open drains by the side of the road. It was just under 5ft deep. I grazed my arm to shit, I am pretty sure I have broken a rib, and I just generally feel like a bit of a mug! Ah well. Stiff upper lip and all that.....

がいじん no more

Post XVI

Today I want to Okayama again (have I told the blog I have been already? Who knows. In case not, Okayama is fairly near me and is pretty awesome). I bought the new 3ds and super smash bros. Good bye what little free time I have!! So I am pretty excited about getting home. I also bought a tea set, which rather sadly I am equally excited about (a sign of aging perhaps???). 

Speaking of tea I popped in to a really nice looking antique shop, treating it more like a museum than having any intention to buy, knowing that it would be extortionately expensive. When I entered the shop I was greeted by the owner who began speaking to me in rapid Japanese. I asked him to slow down, and then realised he was offering me tea. Too polite to turn down is offer, I accepted, and was lead in to a small room crammed full of antiques with two benches facing opposite each other. Tea was poured and I was forced in to a very difficult conversation in Japanese. Much of what the man said went over my head, and I continually apologised for my terrible Japanese, but none the less we exchanged words for about 10 minutes until I exhoisted my Japanese vocabulary. I was then praised for my speaking ability (laughable if you had heard how bad it was), and got up and left. It was a lovely piece of Japanese hospitality, but what I enjoyed the most is that he recognised immediately that I was not a tourist. His imprinting statement was 'you live near here, right?' . So that made me feel chuffed. Perhaps I have finally stopped bumbling around like some clumsy Gaijin and started to fit in a bit more, even if my japanese does suck.

Tokushima Yu Ka Wai

Post XV 

I had a little excursion recently, to Tokushima, which is known for its natural beauty and remoteness. And god was it remote. We had planned to eat in the town, `Oboke`, once we got off the train, but there wasn`t a single restaurant. It was like the express train had just stopped at some arbitrary location along its tracks and let us off. It was very strange indeed.

Fortunately I recognized the Kanji for `Bashi ` which meant we hopped on a bus, heading for Kazurabashi, hopeful that we would find the Ryokan (Japanese guest house) on the way. Luckily the bus announcement was very clear, and the bus stopped right outside the Ryokan, so it was all relatively stress free. When we got there, the names of the people checking in were written in the entrance hall. The person checking in after me was called Yu Ka Wai. Which when read, sounds like “You Kawaii”, which is a Japanese word for super cute and awesome. 

 We had a couple of hours before we had to check in, so we went on a food hunt. We walked for about 40 minutes, following a hand drawn map, to no avail, so we headed back to the hotel. It then turned out that right next door to the hotel in the other direction from which we had walked, there was a small gift shop that also sold soba noodles. Typical, I suppose, but the walk was really nice and we had a great view of Oboke gorge and the river which name escapes me, perhaps the Iya river but I might be wrong. 

 Then, we basically had two days of Onsen! There was a range of outside and inside baths, but the most beautiful one by far was the Kazurabashi Onsen, which was up a cable car, and was just fantastic (I`ll try to put a picture on the blog post too!). Kazurabashi also has a very famous vine bridge, which we crossed and was terrifying! All in all, pretty nice weekend. I`ve put a link to a travel video of the weekend which was made by a Japanese iPhone app. The result is pretty hilarious but you`ll also get the idea of the beautiful scenery!

 http://magis.to/en4jAUxAA1kzLiEHDmEwCXh4

10 days worth of updates.... well at least the main parts

                                            Post XIV

 I cannot believe it has been 10 days since I last wrote on the Blog. I guess not having internet in the house has kind of made me forget that it exists. I find it surprising how little I miss the internet. Considering how much time we all spend on the bloody thing, one would think that you might not know what to do with yourself without it. But, that has not been the case really. I have barely even noticed not having it. It means contacting the family is a massive pain, but actually sending a letter is like 100 Yen (60p) so that’s the best way to stay in contact if I am honest. Might cancel the internet altogether (I would have to send A LOT of letters in a month to rack up a 5000 Yen bill in stamps – what I am currently paying for internet). But, at the same time, I really want to keep up the blog, as much for myself as for any readers that might happen to give it some time. So, I will decide about the internet later.

 So what have I done of late? Well, my student had her speech contest. It’s a very strange phenomenon the speech contest, and there seems to be two strategies: recite good English, or, recite bad English but cover it up by being extremely enthusiastic. A bit like the Eurovision song contest, it seemed less about the quality, and more about the performance. Which is a great shame as it meant that my student, who speaks extremely well but who is rather shy, didn’t place in the top three. Despite confidence building exercises, she just felt too uncomfortable with big gestures and smiles, and so, despite her near perfect speaking, she was overshadowed by the extra energetic students. I am still so so proud of her, and she has come an extremely long way since I met her (all down to me of course………..) and she has a lot to be proud of too. Not many people would have the confidence to speak a foreign language for 5 minutes, whilst being judged, to a room full of people at just 12 years old. I’ll also miss the practice sessions themselves, weirdly, as it was a great time to goof around and make a fool out of myself, and really try and help her to realise that the most important part of the contest was just to enjoy it.

 Other than that, I played a gig with some of my teachers at the island music festival. It was a good laugh actually, though we played really cheesy JPOP songs which probably didn’t do my ‘street cred’ much good. The kids liked it though. A bunch of the kids had various performances too, and so did a lot of factory workers, which meant that the festival was a miss-match of thrash punk, JPOP, Jazz Dance, Hula and acoustic Bruce Springsteen covers in hybrid Japanese/English. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this al got a bit much by around 4 so I went for an Onsen again. The Onsen on the island is interesting because it always has tourists (Japanese and otherwise) in it, which means it doesn’t have a ‘locals only’ type of feel to it which they often do. It also means that there are often people who want to talk to you. I find it very strange that once you are naked, everyone is perfectly comfortable to speak to strangers, foreigners and so on. The conversations are often similar, but it’s always nice to meet new people.


 I’ve also been to Okayama, which is a city with a castle, cool garden, and a shit ton of skate shops, guitar shops, second hand shops etc. Really cool little place and I’ll definitely be going back frequently as it is not too far from me!

 Well all of that was a bit of a stream of consciousness, but I don’t really have the energy to check it. I hope it’s remotely comprehensible, but perhaps not. I wanted to fill people in on what’s been happening, and though I have missed a lot of things out, I think the post is way too long as it is. So, to sum up, I’ll end with a cliché hope that I can post more frequently etc etc, and I think this week should be less busy than average, so perhaps I actually can post more frequently this week….

A quiet afternoon at school, and time to share some thoughts

                        Post XIII

Still no internet, but I don’t mind. I have been really busy at work and also socialising with the teachers so I have barely been home anyway. The workload is rather relentless, but the work is also rewarding so I don’t mind. My only issue is that sometimes I have very little to do during the school day, but once school finishes and I should be going home, all of a sudden I am given a million things to do. But yeah, I guess I have to fit myself in around the Japanese teachers schedule because they are significantly more busy than me. 

School lunch is always the hardest part of my day. I have eaten things that taste gross, things I didn’t even know were eaten, and things that the very concept of is gross. Example: the theme of one meal was “mother and child”. Which meant that we had an egg and chicken rice dish, served next to three whole fish about 4 inches long. I don’t like eating whole fish, but I have gotten used to it so I was like “fuck it” and just cracked on. After biting in to it, I quickly realised that the fish was very heavily pregnant, because it was full of tiny eggs. This is without a doubt the most disgusting thing CONCEPTUALLY I have ever eaten, but actually it didn’t taste that bad I have to say.

 Lunch is often quite fun too, there was this one kid goofing around who stole one of the other kids muffin and refused to give it back. I have like zero authority over the kids because I goof around as much as they do, so instead I offered the other kid “my” muffin. The little joker who stole the muffin’s face instantly washed out. You could see that he was thinking: Oh shit, sensei doesn’t realise I am joking and thinks I have actually stolen the kid’s muffin. He promptly returned the child his muffin, and gave mine back to me, with a look that said “alright kill joy” on his face. Then, he suddenly realised that I had two muffins. Then, it clicked that I had sneakily stolen his muffin, pretended to be offering my own to the child, but all the while offering the little jokers muffin. The look on his face when he realised he has been beaten at his own game was priceless.

 I also had my first Nabe party. You all cook a stew together on the kitchen table, and just continuously add food and drink beer until you can eat and drink no more. So that was pretty awesome. So much so I think I will buy a Nabe pot in time for winter. Other than that, it’s been practicing for the music festival, training my speech contest student for tomorrow, keeping half an eye on Scottish independence, sleeping whenever I get the chance, and parties. I often think “I wish I had more time”, but then I think to myself, well I am already just doing all the stuff I want to do anyway, so what would I even do with the extra time?

Little update

                 Post XII and a half

Today I showed my secondary school kids some of my Pokemon cards. They found them really interesting, but it turns out the cards were older than the kids. Holy fuck did that make me feel old!!  

I still have no internet, because the hotline for setting it up closes at 6, and I have rarely left school earlier than half 6 at the moment because of demonstration lessons coming up (a bit like ofsted in Britain). 

Also I am now in a band with some of the other teachers. We are called 'raw power' and we are going to play anime songs and Disney covers at a small festival on the island. The irony was lost on the teachers, unfortunately but unsurprisingly I guess...

First Week at School

                         Post XII 

Wow it’s been a while since I managed to sit down and actually write a post. I have lacked motivation actually because my internet has run out, so I knew I would have to type it up in MS word, take it to school and then upload it – which all seemed like a bit of a faff. But, it has been an interesting week and I finally have some time so I thought its worth sitting down and typing away. 

This week has been my first week of teaching. First thing Monday morning; kindergarten. From 2 years old to 5 years old. So damn cute! But fuck do these kids have energy! Also, none of the kindergarten teachers speak English so I had to completely wing it – which seemed to go ok. They can’t get enough of high fives, they will literally do it until they are told to stop. I also experienced the two extremes of affection. One kid just continually hugged me, another, too shy to give me a high five, instead punched me as hard as she could in my stomach. Fortunately she was 4 so it didn’t hurt, and it seemed to release her fear-of-foreigner tension, because after that she was quite happy to high five like all the other kids. As soon as it began, so it was over. I was back behind a desk at Junior high. Then all of a sudden, and Amazon delivery man appeared at the school asking for me. I signed and paid for my parcel (in Japan paying online for things doesn’t really happen, so Amazon offer a ‘cash on delivery’ option). Now, I had not put the schools address anywhere on my Amazon page. This delivery guy must have gone to my house, realised I wasn’t in, and then asked people where I would be, before tracking me down and making sure I got my parcel. In the UK, Amazon sometimes leave a ‘sorry we missed you’ not when you are in the fucking house!! I don’t know why I was so surprised, it’s not so hard to track down a foreign person living on a tiny island, but still – it was cool. 

I then met all the other kids, and I could go on and on with little stories about them but it would maybe get repetitive for you. Basically there is a wide mix of them, but they are all really cute and interesting! School lunch, however, has been the most difficult thing to understand. I have mucked it up 5 days in a row now. Firstly, all the kids eat in the classroom together, and all help to dish up the food. The food itself has been hit and miss. Well, it has always been prepaired well, but sometimes I have had to force down food that I would not usually eat. Ever. Like fried small whole fish and egg soup – that meal really was a struggle! But, if I made it through that alive, it can’t get any worse (it bloody better not anyway). Once they finish, this hilarious song comes on and all the kids brush their teeth. It really is quite a spectacle and I spend the entire 3 minutes trying to hold in my laughter. I have to look away because if I watch them for too long I just can’t help but laugh – it’s just so surreal! 

Then, we all go outside and I play a mixture of football with the older kids (who can talk to me), and them some game that I don’t really understand with the younger kids where I think basically I am some sort of monster they have to catch. So that just consists in me running away from a hoard of kids for 20 mins in the 30 degree mid-day sun! So as you can imagine it’s pretty tiring! All of this tom-foolery is over by half 1 and then it’s back to class – drenched in sweat and bright red (not a good look). I tend to recover about halfway through the class, get some energy back and continue to goof around and generally try to keep the kids engaged. Meetings and various other things keep me occupied till around 6, and then, after my 11 hour day, I come home and have a cold beer. Very tiring work, but already very rewarding and fun even though the kids barely know me! I look forward to more if I can maintain my energy levels….