After a whole week of intense work, I've been attempting to recoup. Unfortunately, it hasn't been the easiest task as every other day afterwards was just as intense. Japanese people work hard. With that said, I said f$#^ you to exhaustion and decided to get out and have some fun this weekend. Don't misread that and expect epic stories about getting drunk and fighting robots or whatever you invision nights out in Japan may constitute. I'm a resident of old Ikata-cho, my weekends are a little more subdued.
On Saturday I went head to head against my co-worker, Kyouhei, in one of five matches to determine who is The Best. The official events are as follows: bowling, sprints, soccer, baseball and basketball. Specifics of each event will be TBA. Unfortunately, I left Honai bowling alley with a L. I scored a whopping 124, 135 and 124 and managed to lose every game. Afterwards, we decided to check out the arcade in Yawatahama. My friend proceded to kick my ass in air hockey (okay, maybe not kick my ass, I managed to split the series), virtual car racing and some punching game that determines your strength. Apparently he can throw punches that are about 70kg stronger than mine. Dammit. Now I owe him lunch or dinner. Perhaps I can win a lunch or two in the upcoming events, wish me luck. Perhaps I should start training at the arcade? I capped the night with a movie at Jessamine's. We finally finished Lord of the Rings. Such a long movie, I don't understand how that woman knows every single detail about that movie. "According to the book, so and so of Rohan was the long lost brother of that monster's uncle". Next on our list: 300. We're all about the epic battle scenes and the carnage, what can I say.
Sunday was almost spent chillaxing in my apartment without a care in the world. Instead, I decided to check out the tail end of one of my elementary school's sports days. The kids at Mizuura are fantastic, it was worth the trip. And several of my students from Ikata junior high school were present at the event...once I waas spotted, they proceded to run over to me and ask a series of questions. Afterwards, I decided to go on an adventure to Ozu (about 40 minutes away?). While I failed to get an eletronic dictionary, I did get some new speakers and a dictionary at the bookstore. I also bought a book titled "Rebound" which probably has no relation with the Martin Lawrence movie but it still brought a smile to my face. Back home, during movie night, my friend Cory was vehemently arguing for the movie "Rebound". It was alright. At least with this book I have a tangible goal: get good enough at Japanese to read this damn book.
Bored? Sorry, I suppose this weekend was more exciting for me. I plan on going to Osaka this coming up weekend and I just bought tickets to Bangkok (leaving Jan 2nd) so perhaps my next blogs will be more captivating. Ohh, I want to go mountain climbing/hiking at the tallest mountain in Shikoku sometime next month with some JET people, I'm sure I'll have something amusing to write about. Pictures? Yeah, I've taken alot on my phone, perhaps I'll upload it sometime. They're kinda shitty quality, I'm debating if I should get a real camera. Probably have to if I go abroad.
One final thought, it's completely unrelated to everything I've talked about. On my first day of class, my kids asked me a shocking question, "Do you like to play sex?" Putting the inappropriate question aside, the whole "play sex" part got me chuckling. And after today's lesson at my elementary school, I finally understood why my students made that mistake. In my 6th grade class, my JTE and I were teaching the students "I like _____". There were a series of pictures of kids doing stuff: I like to play basketball, I like to cook, I like to play soccer. All was well until we stumbled upon swim and unicycle. "I like to play swim" and "I like to play unicycle" began to be uttered by my students. I guess my junior high kids were taught to put "play" in front of any action, be it a sport or sex. And another mystery was solved. btw, speaking of mysteries, if you didn't catch my tirade on facebook, the new Sherlock Holmes trailer sucks really bad. Downey Jr. is some terrible combination of James Bond, Captain Jack Sparrow and the Hardy Boys. On drugs. That is all.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
You say Good Bye, I say Hello
Apparently the Beatles are still a huge hit in old Ikata-cho. Before every class, my JTE (Japanese teacher) plays either "Hello Goodbye" or "Hey Jude." It's really quite pleasant. And so as I walk through the hallways, I can't help hearing Paul McCartney and John Lennon insisting I say "Hello" and "Goodbye" to every student. Maybe that's why Japanese kids are so friendly?
Enough about the Beatles. It's been quite a long week. We just had our Sports Day this past Sunday. It was freakin awesome. The degree of decipline and committment the students and faculty had for this event amazes me. And so, everyone at Ikata Junior High School, from Monday to Sunday from 7:30am to 6:30pm, toiled in the blistering heat to practice dance routines, marches, sprints and games over and over and over again. I'll be honest, the whole event was tough on me: not only did I have to deal with the ridiculous hours but the language barrier and the utter confusion of the event often left me feeling helpless and frustrated. One minute I'd be doing something right and getting pats on the back and the next, they were all gone, doing something else. And so I tried to desperately create a niche in this chaos. I constantly asked people what was going on and how I could be of any help, deligently tried to decipher the kanji in the daily schedule (as futile as it was), and tried to get to know the students and the teachers on a more personal level. Coming straight out of college, where you're slowly becoming more and more independent, it is a challenge to go back to being dependent and helpless: I don't like that feeling. Until I learn the language fully, however, I imagine I'll constantly struggle with this feeling. Perhaps this should give me the proper motivation to study Japanese.
With all that said, this event was very special for me. As some of you may know, as a baby, I lived in Japan for 3 years with my aunt and uncle. Eventually my mother and father came to pick me up. I was only 3 years old but that day is quite vivid in my memory. You see, I had grown up viewing my aunt, uncle and cousin as my immediate family...they were my mom, my dad, my sister. I still remember taking the grim walk out of my apartment holding my aunt's hand, confused by the crowd of people gathering outside. They were all my friends and their parents, neighbors who got me treats, the old lady with the white dog, and others looked at me with sad faces. I didn't understand the situation until my aunt, all teary eyed, took me to a cab in the distance where two stranges were sitting in the back seat. There was a bearded man who was absolutely furious and a woman frantically trying to plead with the man. My father was firm about taking me back to America while my mother toyed with the idea of raising me in Japan. In the end, I was put in the back of the cab with my parents as I cried my eyes out on our way to the airport. I felt betrayed by my aunt. How does this traumatic childhood memory relate to Sports Day? Well, after I went back to the States, I always wondered what it would have been like to have been raised in Japan. What would the school have been like? What kind of person would I have been? Would my life have been different? Growing up, I was always curious, asking "what if". And so, the opportunity to participate in Sports Day, a tradition only found in Japanese schools, in some way, gives me a small taste of what could have been. There were so many games: 5 man skis, tug a war, relays with batons, relays with silly masks and nets, 5 man ball race, tire pulls, lasso tossing, and of all things, folk dancing. My favorite game by far was the horse/cap game. Basically 3 people support 1 person on the "horse's" shoulders with the person on top wearing a cap. Two teams of roughly 6 riders gather at two ends of a huge field. Object of the game: steal the other team's cap. In addition, each team has a cap bearer with a jersey to signify the captain. If his/her cap is stolen, that team automatically loses. It was got pretty damn crazy, people were falling, people were screaming, people were having fun. Man, I was bracing for the kids but I REALLY wanted to participate. I guess the kids couldn't support me but still. As competitive as these games were, it was surprising that there was a level of comedy integrated in the games. For example, for some of the relays, the children were made to wear animal wigs/masks, crawl through nets, and pick up signs with written instructions that included finding family members in the audience to finish the race. Other games incorporated the teachers and the audience as they did 5 men ski races, the rugby kick challenge and some awkward game involving lots of bean bags and a basket on a 5 meter pole. Kinda like basketball but not. To cap the event, the upper classmen were responsible for collagraphing a dance routine with their respected colors (I was with the seryu or blue dragons). Under the steady leadership of Tanaka, a very impressive student with fantastic leadership skills, our kids put on an epic show involving taiko-esque drums. All the kids were great, I was just glad I didn't have to dance, it looked pretty damn hard. Well, they made me folk dance. Yeah, it was a good day, to say the least.
And so the event is over and I tried to recoup on monday and tuesday with a fantasy football draft and running errands. But I won't ever forget how I felt after the event, there was a sense of accomplishment and pride connected to my school. All the faculty members felt it, all the students felt it. As the Japanese flag was lowered during the closing ceremony, the children sang their school song. I didn't understand the lyrics but with the blue sky and lush mountains in the distance, I let my mind wonder. I finally felt at home. Amongst these children, who are roughly 10 years younger than me, I have made younger brothers and sisters. With the teachers, I have made friends and senpai. Sure, it's not always going to be blue skies but hey, can't forget to take the time and smell the roses.
Good bye to Sports Day, Good bye to my old home, Good bye to everyone back home. Good Byes are hard to do, change is never easy. So I say Hello to my new students, Hello to my new future in Japan, Hello, Hello, Hello. If history says anything, though, my good byes are not permanent. I left my home and came back home 20 years later. I hope to be back in the States soon but there's no telling how long I'll be away. A year? Two years? Five? Time will tell. Until then, Good Night everyone, hope to see you all soon.
Enough about the Beatles. It's been quite a long week. We just had our Sports Day this past Sunday. It was freakin awesome. The degree of decipline and committment the students and faculty had for this event amazes me. And so, everyone at Ikata Junior High School, from Monday to Sunday from 7:30am to 6:30pm, toiled in the blistering heat to practice dance routines, marches, sprints and games over and over and over again. I'll be honest, the whole event was tough on me: not only did I have to deal with the ridiculous hours but the language barrier and the utter confusion of the event often left me feeling helpless and frustrated. One minute I'd be doing something right and getting pats on the back and the next, they were all gone, doing something else. And so I tried to desperately create a niche in this chaos. I constantly asked people what was going on and how I could be of any help, deligently tried to decipher the kanji in the daily schedule (as futile as it was), and tried to get to know the students and the teachers on a more personal level. Coming straight out of college, where you're slowly becoming more and more independent, it is a challenge to go back to being dependent and helpless: I don't like that feeling. Until I learn the language fully, however, I imagine I'll constantly struggle with this feeling. Perhaps this should give me the proper motivation to study Japanese.
With all that said, this event was very special for me. As some of you may know, as a baby, I lived in Japan for 3 years with my aunt and uncle. Eventually my mother and father came to pick me up. I was only 3 years old but that day is quite vivid in my memory. You see, I had grown up viewing my aunt, uncle and cousin as my immediate family...they were my mom, my dad, my sister. I still remember taking the grim walk out of my apartment holding my aunt's hand, confused by the crowd of people gathering outside. They were all my friends and their parents, neighbors who got me treats, the old lady with the white dog, and others looked at me with sad faces. I didn't understand the situation until my aunt, all teary eyed, took me to a cab in the distance where two stranges were sitting in the back seat. There was a bearded man who was absolutely furious and a woman frantically trying to plead with the man. My father was firm about taking me back to America while my mother toyed with the idea of raising me in Japan. In the end, I was put in the back of the cab with my parents as I cried my eyes out on our way to the airport. I felt betrayed by my aunt. How does this traumatic childhood memory relate to Sports Day? Well, after I went back to the States, I always wondered what it would have been like to have been raised in Japan. What would the school have been like? What kind of person would I have been? Would my life have been different? Growing up, I was always curious, asking "what if". And so, the opportunity to participate in Sports Day, a tradition only found in Japanese schools, in some way, gives me a small taste of what could have been. There were so many games: 5 man skis, tug a war, relays with batons, relays with silly masks and nets, 5 man ball race, tire pulls, lasso tossing, and of all things, folk dancing. My favorite game by far was the horse/cap game. Basically 3 people support 1 person on the "horse's" shoulders with the person on top wearing a cap. Two teams of roughly 6 riders gather at two ends of a huge field. Object of the game: steal the other team's cap. In addition, each team has a cap bearer with a jersey to signify the captain. If his/her cap is stolen, that team automatically loses. It was got pretty damn crazy, people were falling, people were screaming, people were having fun. Man, I was bracing for the kids but I REALLY wanted to participate. I guess the kids couldn't support me but still. As competitive as these games were, it was surprising that there was a level of comedy integrated in the games. For example, for some of the relays, the children were made to wear animal wigs/masks, crawl through nets, and pick up signs with written instructions that included finding family members in the audience to finish the race. Other games incorporated the teachers and the audience as they did 5 men ski races, the rugby kick challenge and some awkward game involving lots of bean bags and a basket on a 5 meter pole. Kinda like basketball but not. To cap the event, the upper classmen were responsible for collagraphing a dance routine with their respected colors (I was with the seryu or blue dragons). Under the steady leadership of Tanaka, a very impressive student with fantastic leadership skills, our kids put on an epic show involving taiko-esque drums. All the kids were great, I was just glad I didn't have to dance, it looked pretty damn hard. Well, they made me folk dance. Yeah, it was a good day, to say the least.
And so the event is over and I tried to recoup on monday and tuesday with a fantasy football draft and running errands. But I won't ever forget how I felt after the event, there was a sense of accomplishment and pride connected to my school. All the faculty members felt it, all the students felt it. As the Japanese flag was lowered during the closing ceremony, the children sang their school song. I didn't understand the lyrics but with the blue sky and lush mountains in the distance, I let my mind wonder. I finally felt at home. Amongst these children, who are roughly 10 years younger than me, I have made younger brothers and sisters. With the teachers, I have made friends and senpai. Sure, it's not always going to be blue skies but hey, can't forget to take the time and smell the roses.
Good bye to Sports Day, Good bye to my old home, Good bye to everyone back home. Good Byes are hard to do, change is never easy. So I say Hello to my new students, Hello to my new future in Japan, Hello, Hello, Hello. If history says anything, though, my good byes are not permanent. I left my home and came back home 20 years later. I hope to be back in the States soon but there's no telling how long I'll be away. A year? Two years? Five? Time will tell. Until then, Good Night everyone, hope to see you all soon.
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