So it begins...again

As the spring trimester is coming to an end, the students have begun practicing for the fall sports festival. This means each class has begun practicing the same short cheer that everyone sings every sports festival. I just don't understand why there is so much practice. Everyone except for the first-year students sang this song about 200 times (no joke) last year in preparation for last year's sports festival. Why do they need to practice it this early? (The sports festival is two months away). As much as I'm going to miss my students, hearing this song makes me realize that I don't think I would last another year in the Japanese school system. I admire the dedication and discipline, but I just can't understand it sometimes. But it seems as if the students are enjoying themselves most of the time. They sure are tough!

Motivation

Three American junior high school students came to visit my school for a few days this week (this is a whole blog in itself...I'll save it for another day.) Needless to say, the boys were quite beside themselves at having these girls in their school. In an awkward display of adolescent affection, the boys were all over the place, often almost scaring the girls! One of my favorite students, Shota, was particulary taken with the girls. One of the girls (who is Japanese, but lives in America), was a childhood friend, and her grandma lives near Shota's house, so he is planning to see them again. So, for the first time EVER, English words are coming out of his mouth and his is begging me to teach him every time I see him. Now that he has a real motivation to use English (read- talking to cute girls), he just can't get enough. Maybe they should bring more students over to inspire students to study in the hopes of getting a cute foreign boyfriend or girlfriend. Whatever it takes : )

Offense

I was offended for the first time a few days ago. At lunch, a second-year boy started talking about his trip to America. He had gone to St. Louis and New York with his elementary school baseball team. I was really excited to talk with him until he started saying, "Big Boy," and "Big Girl," and holding his arms in a wide circle around his torso. It is no secret that Americans are much bigger than Japanese people, and I've had many interesting conversations about this fact with many Japanese people, but the thing that bothered me was that all the students at the table, and the classroom teacher as well, started laughing really hard as the boy continued to gesture. Now, I do have to take into account that I could have misunderstood what they were laughing and talking about (they were speaking in Japanese, of course), but it really seemed like they were laughing at obesity in America. It was the first time I became offended by Japanese people making fun of American culture. I guess I just hope I misunderstood them and was being overly sensitive.

Nostalgia

I play tennis every week with a bunch of Japanese and foreign friends. The last few weeks a first-year student at one of my schools has been on the court next to us. He just started learning soft tennis (tennis with a rubber ball and smaller racket) this April. Anyways, him and his dad practice for about an hour while his mom watches from the sidelines. Yesterday it struck me that about 10 years ago I was doing the same thing. I remember spending hours at the Bennett Elementary School undercover gym perfecting my basketball shot with my dad. I guess some things are the same in all countries and cultures. Thanks Dad. I'll always remember the time you spent teaching me!

Can you see?

Sixth-grader's question: "Are there glasses in America?" My answer: "Yes, there are glasses in all countries." Next question: "So, your glasses are from America?" My answer: "Yes."

DisneySea

DisneySea is the Disney theme park next to Disneyland in northern Chiba (near Tokyo). I went there last Saturday with my buddy Kana. A bunch of people were supposed to go but it just ended up the two of us. I woke up SO early to catch the train (it's about 2 1/2 hours from Tateyama). We met at 9:30 to begin our LONG day trying to cram as much of DisneySea in as we could! The coolest part of DisneySea was that there were so many different themed areas that looked like different countries. There was an Arabian area that had big buildings and mosques, an English castle, an Italian waterfront (with gondolas!), a Maine coastal town, and Central American temples and markets. I have always loved miniatures replicas of different places (like the "log cabin" I spent half of my childhood pretending I was a pioneer in!) so the atmosphere of DisneySea was right up my alley. We hit all the big rides- Indiana Jones, this roller coaster (my first time to go upside down! It was quite anti-climactic, probably because I kept my head down the whole time and the loop was really small!), Journey to the Center of the Earth (in Japanese pronounciation, "Earth" becomes "Ass"- no joke...we got more than a few laughs out of that one), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Perhapsh my favorite part of DisneySea was the Broadway show. I have never been a huge fan of the shows at Disney theme parks because I love the rides so much, but we decided to go to the Broadway show towards the end of the evening. I was pleasantly shocked at how professional and entertaining the show was! It consisted of a variety of clips from famous Broadway musicals. There I was, singing along (and unable to stop myself from dancing in my seat), when I turned to Kana to serenade her with some "Hello, Dolly!" only to find her slumbering away! I don't know who was more shocked, me, or Kana when I woke her up. I have never seen someone wake up and be shocked that they had fallen asleep. Anyways, I think I probably enjoyed the show more than anyone in the theater because I was familiar with almost all of the music (and it was all in English and most of the actors were foreigners!) It was very cool and made me want to get on a plane and head to Broadway! Our last ride of the day was another round of Indiana Jones (such a great ride!) After our ride we ran to try and catch the end of the fireworks show. We weren't 10 yards from the exit of the ride when Kana told me she lost her cellphone on the ride. Laughing, I told her "funny" and kept running. She said, "Ellie, really, I lost my phone on the ride!" Again, I didn't believe her- how could you lose your phone on a ride when you take so much care NOT to lose it before the ride begins? But she wasn't pulling my leg- apparently it had fallen into the pouch we put our bags in during the ride. She quickly told a staff member and, sure enough, true to Japanese service, it was retrieved in only 15 minutes. I was pretty impressed...I thought for sure the cellphone would have been eaten by the ride. We ended up being able to see a bit of the fireworks before heading out. I had a long ride ahead of me so I had to catch a 9:30 train. Nothing can replace Disneyland in my heart, but DisneySea was a great time! I was ridiculously tired and fell asleep on the way home...but it was all worth it!

Where am I?

Every week I play tennis with a group of Japanese and foreign friends. The tennis courts are outside of the city, at the base of a small mountain (read hill), which means that there are LOTS of bugs, especially in the summer. Last summer I got used to the hair-raising sizzle of bugs as they hit the bright lights surrounding the courts (not a soothing sound). Now, I don't consider myself sissy or a classic girl when it comes to getting grossed out by bugs, but last week I thouroughly grossed out by some of the exotic bugs that were flying around our tennis game. I felt like I was in a remote South American jungle or the marshes of the Nile. These bugs were freaky! (And actually kind of poisonous!) The two worst were a millipede (or centipede...I don't know the name, but all that matters was that it had about a thousand small stick legs that were allowing it to zip across the ground at an alarming rate!) and this small beetle thing that was entirely too big. I took pictures. If you're interested, I'll show them to you and you can be grossed out for yourself. After this experience, I'm not sure if I would be able to handle a really exotic location. Having a permanent shiver running down your spine is not a pleasant experience!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

I watched this movie for the first time yesterday. The scene where John Candy and Steve Martin are driving on the other side of the road is a fairly accurate re-enactment of my driving-on-the-other-side-of-the-road story. I blogged about it a few months ago, but if you would like a more visual telling of the story, please consult this film. The only difference is that I'm slightly more attractive than the characters in the film and there were no semi-trucks involved in my experience (thankfully :).

Hisashiburi (Long time no write)

I've been blogging in my head ever since I got back from my short trip to the States, but haven't actually made it to the computer until now. And so much has happened in just one week! (The result of living in a foreign place = everything is interesting, even after a year.) I'm getting in good-bye mode, because there is so much to say good-bye to...people, my job, places, food (mmm...gotta soak it in), my lifestyle, and the excitement of living so far away from home. It seems so early to say good-bye, but this next month is going to go by so fast that I need to start now. But I'm also not trying to focus on leaving...I guess my job for the next month is to try and maintain a balance between living in the moment and saying good-bye- a difficult task.

Musings

As I was biking to the grocery store after lunch at my friend's house, I started thinking about all the things I'm going to miss about living in Japan. I guess that means I have begun mentally preparing to leave (less than 2 months to go) and am starting to realize that there are many things about Japan that I have come to love. Here are a few (not in any particular order):

-Being able to bike or walk to work/the grocery store/the post office/the bank/the train station
-Being a celebrity at work (read- not really having to do real work because I'm a foreigner)
-Getting gifts from strangers (again, just because I'm a foreigner)
-10-minute walk to the beach
-Hanging my clothes out to dry (how environmentally friendly!)
-Soft Cream Cones
-Having something interesting to take a picture of everyday
-The office staff at my school
-Text-messaging
-A 3-hour train ride from my Japanese friends
-Green tea
-Convenience stores
-Recognizing/being recognized ever time I go outside
-Sesame salad dressing
-Being invited to awesome, 3 or 4 hour dinners
-My students
-Tea time

On the other hand, there are many things that I won't miss about Japan. Here are a few (in no particular order):

-Recognizing/being recognized ever time I go outside
-Hanging my clothes out to dry (they sometimes smell and are stiff)
-Sleeping on the floor
-Eating in front of my computer (due to a lack of table...)
-Trying to bake in a microwave
-Garbage disposal (still haven't figured it out...)
-School lunch
-Always being told I'm cute, beautiful, have nice skin, speak Japanese very well (ha!) etc. (although I love compliments, they can get a little old!)
-Long train rides
-Being far away from friends and family

I guess I started thinking about these things because I'm coming home in 2 days for a friend's wedding, and it made me start thinking about what it's going to be like when I move home. I think it will be a surprisingly melancholy transition. I've had lots of challenges and a pretty boring job, but in some ways life for me is easier here than it is at home. People are very aware of my limitations as a foreigner in Japan, so I am babied in many ways, and don't have to deal with "adult" things. But as soon as I'm back in the states, I won't have that special status anymore. I'll just be another young graduate trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. But it will be good to get on with my real life. This probably sounds really corny, but living in Japan is like living in a dream. Guess I'm gonna wake up soon :)

You should be so proud, I can speak English quite well!

This morning in a first-year English class I was doing the routine stuff- flashcards and dialogue repetition. After I read the first dialogue (which consisted of: "This is my teacher Lisa Brown. She's from Australia." "Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you, too."), I was quite surprised that I got a round of applause from the students! The first-year English teacher is pretty funny and relates really well with the students (sometimes he's like a comedy act!), so he explained to them why it was so weird that they clapped for my English pronounciation. He had a small conversation in Japanese with a student and then started clapping and saying how the student spoke such good Japanese and had such a good accent. I think the students could understand that my English pronounciation is nothing to clap about- it wasn't achieved after years of practice and intense study. Nevertheless, it just goes to show you how impressed some Japanese speakers are with good English pronounciation (this isn't this first time I've been applauded for my pronounciation!).

Everyday should be your birthday...

This was probably one of my favorite birthdays ever because I got so much mail! Thanks everyone for inundating my mailbox with letters this past week!

Luggage Company

I'm coming home for a friend's wedding next week, so I thought I'd start moving home by bringing a bunch of stuff I don't need back home with me. (I can't believe I'm already starting to move home!) Since I'll be taking the train alone to the airport, I decided to have one of my big bags shipped to the airport from my apartment (a commen and very useful service!) My friend recently had some luggage shipped to the airport, and she gave me the name of an English-speaking luggage service. When I called them this afternoon, there was no one who could speak English. I thought I would have to call back or get a Japanese speaker to make the arrangements, but the women just started asking me questions, so I figured I would try to make the arrangements myself. Although it took 20 minutes and a lot of "I don't understand's" in Japanese, I finally was able to successfully make arrangements (I hope! I'm still not 100% sure!) with the company. Everything went pretty smoothly (context is everything!) except for about five minutes in the middle of our conversation when I just could not understand what the woman I was talking to was talking about. I seriously couldn't understand any of the words she was using, except for "luggage." Finally, putting context into effect, I asked her if she was asking me when was a good time to pick up my bag from my apartment. Bingo. That's was she was talking about, but she was using unfamiliar words to me. I was pretty proud when it was all over, but I felt extremely bad for the woman who had to put up with me! She was so patient and gracious, especially when I kept saying I didn't understand over and over (what else can you say when you really don't understand?!) I just hope I really did understand her :) I guess we'll find out!