Intruder!

Today I was in the office after lunch, trying to find some pictures (and slyly checking my email :). As I was leaving, one of the secretaries told me that there was going to be a "shelter." I figured out that this meant that there was going to be some kind of drill. I thought it was an earthquake drill (you can't have too many of those here!), but when another teacher said "suspicious" I realized that the drill was in case of a suspicious person lurking around. My other school had the same drill a few weeks ago. Apparently there was a suspicious person that drew quite a bit of attention near both schools awhile back. Anyways, I decided just to stay in the office instead of go wandering around the school during the drill. As I was waiting in the office this REALLY suspicious looking guy came into the office, following the vice-principal and principal. He had on a big, black, down jacket, a black beanie, black sunglasses, and a mask that Japanese people wear when they are sick (think surgical mask). At first I was taken aback, then I realized that instead of just IMAGINING a suspicious person, one of the teachers actually dressed up like one! He even had a fake knife! I was so surprised, and explained to everyone that we just imagine suspicious people in America! So, as we're waiting for the drill to begin, the suspicious looking teacher actually enters the school from the outside, comes inside, and runs to a classroom! Talk about simulation! I wasn't sure the students knew about the drill, and was thinking about how scary it would be if a scary guy with a knife came running into my classroom. But as the students shuffled by I saw them smiling, so I knew they were aware of the drill! From the window of the office I had a great view of the drill. After the students evacuated to the gym, all of the men teachers ran to the classroom with the "intruder." It looked like they were all carrying sticks, and I thought that maybe they were supposed to grab whatever they could find to attack the intruder (metersticks, brooms, etc.) But when I asked the secretaries, they showed me what the men were using. They look kind of like cattle prods. They are long metal sticks that have a U-shaped metal ending. You use this stick by holding the long end and containing a person in the U-shaped ending. Apparently they are all over the school, and are supposed to be used to fend off dangerous people. It was very interesting... All the staff were so surprised when I told them we have the same drill in America, but our drill is usually for suspicious or dangerous people with guns. Makes America seem pretty dangerous... But I told them that American teachers don't have guns as weapons! Overall, it was quite interesting to see the teacher dressed up like a creepy intruder, and then watch him actually run into school and be detained with cattle prods! You can check out pictures from the school's website- try to find the pictures under January 30 at http://tateyama3.exblog.jp/

Wakashio Marathon!

Today, after a month of intensive training, : ) I ran in the 26th annual Wakashio Marathon. Of course, I only ran the 10 kilometer race, but to me, that's more than a marathon! I ran it with another English assistant, my friend Melissa from the neighboring town. It was an absolutely beautiful course because it was all along the water (and all flat- another bonus!). In my training runs I often ran on the road paralleling the water because it is so close to my apartment. We were surprised that we were supposed to get to the race so early- about 2 hours before it started. But once we got there, we realized why we were supposed to arrive so early. The park where the race started was transformed into a small festival-site. There were tons of vendors, booths, and people sprawled out on tarps and in tents. It seemed as if some people had camped all night (though I don't think they had- it's far too cold!) Anyways, the whole race seemed like a much bigger deal than any race I've participated in at home. When we lined up to start running, I felt like a monster- the men and women were separated and I was quite tall : ) The run itself was a little more challenging than I thought- partially because my lovely running partner's pace was a little faster than mine, and I wanted to keep up with her : ) But it was so fun to see my students and other people from the community cheering us on. In fact, a friend of mine even wrote my name on a small flag to wave for me as I passed by! The course was pretty straightforward since we just ran from the starting point along the water, turned around, and then came back the same way we had come from. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and it felt like we were running in June rather than January! After the race (and a triumphant ending- I'm not sure because I finished or because I was noticably foreign : ) ) I got to talk with some of my students who were working at the race. The only disappointing part of the day was that were wasn't a lot of free stuff. One of my favorite things about fun runs in America is that there are so many free samples of food and products after the race! In Japan, there are lots of food and products, but at a cost : ) We walked around for awhile before getting really cold and heading home. The rest of the day was spent gloriously lounging around, staying warm, and eating! A nice reward after a morning of running!

Super Mineral Water

For some reason, the students (and sometimes teachers) at my school are really interested in my Nalgene water bottle. One of my teachers always jokes that I have "o-sake" in my water bottle. Yesterday some students kept eyeing my water bottle from the hallway outside of the teacher's room. I could see them pointing and whispering. I went over and showed them that it was indeed just a regular water bottle, and I tried to explain that it's very convenient to use instead of buyin new plastic water bottles. At the end of the day, the same students came back to the teacher's room and started talking about my "suu-pa mi-ne-ra-ru u-a-ta!" (Super mineral water) I'm not sure where they learned this phrase from, but I thought it was pretty funny! It made it seem like I had this special, exotic water that was somehow giving me special powers!

Mrs. Ex-Brad Pitt Part 2

Disclaimer: I am not telling these stories to boost my ego. The only reason I tell these stories is because I find them absolutely hilarious, seeing as how there is no possible way I resemble any famous people. With that said, here goes: Yesterday I was telling the stories of people comparing me to celebrities to my favorite office lady. Of course, she agreed with everyone else as I continued to try and explain to her that I do not resemble these celebrities, and that no one in America thinks I resemble these celebrities. But, the story doesn't end there. Today, after I had been in the small copy room next to the office for about 10 minutes making copies, I went back into the office to make my way back to my desk. When I entered the office, my favorite office lady told me that everyone (the principal, vice-principal, other teachers and office workers) had been talking about how I really do look like the tennis star Anna Sharpova (I don't remember how to spell her name...) I, for the thousandeth time, tried to explain that no one at home thinks I look like her... but they just shook their heads. Perhaps it makes them feel good to pretend there is a real celebrity in their midst, but it never ceases to amaze me who I am compared to!

Mrs. Ex-Brad Pitt

Yesterday I had lunch and hung out with a new friend. The story of how we met is actually quite interesting. I was looking for yarn at the 100yen shop a few weeks before Christmas (when I bought new yarn almost everyday!) I was trying to decide whether or not I could mix and match yarn by taking it out of the plastic bag when someone said, "do you need any help?" At first I thought the woman who'd asked me worked at the shop, but I soon realized she was just a friendly customer who spoke English. After briefly chatting about yarn, we ended up talking for a while. her English was really good, and she had just moved to Tateyama, so she was looking for people to hang out with. We decided to exchange information and meet again. When I got home, I wanted to make sure that I didn't lose her number, because I really wanted to meet again. When I looked at the paper with her number written on I, I saw my own handwriting, with my own name and number! We had been so busy talking that we never got to the exchanging part! I was bummed because I wasn't sure how we'd ever meet again unless we ran into each other. But the story doesn't end there. A week or two later my vice-principal called me over to his desk when I was in the office. I wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about, but I thought he was asking me something about a woman I met in the store. My first thought was that he was indeed talking about the woman I'd met while buying yarn, but I figured that would be too outrageous. How would she have contacted me? But after more talking, I realized that it WAS the woman, and she had sent a note to my school via a student's mother. I had told her the name of my school, so she knew how to contact me! I was really excited, and we've since met a few times to go to church, eat, and hang out. So, back to yesterday. While we were eating lunch, Mitsu told me that the first time she saw me in the 100yen shop she thought I looked like- wait, you might not believe it because I sure dont't- Jennifer Aniston! I have been learning that many Japanese people think foreigners look like famous people. When I told one of my teachers it today- I expected her to laugh, but instead she looked at me sideways and said, "yeah, you kind of do." Right! But, I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts, because certainly no one at home would compare me to anyone famous- well, perhaps I am occasionally mistaken for Cameron Diaz or Julia Roberts : )

Blood was shed!

On my lastest visit to Funakata Elementary School, I decided to play Steal the Bacon with the students to practice numbers. In Steal the Bacon, there are two rows of kids, each assigned a number. Each row faces each other, and in the middle of the two rows is a "Bacon" (my Bacon was a bright pink stuffed rabbit puppet). When I yell out a number, the two students, one from each row, who have been assigned that number run to try and snatch the "Bacon" first. I often played this game in elementary school, and thought it would be a fun way to practice numbers. Everything was going smoothly- the fifth-graders were really into the game. When I yelled out "15!" two boys ran to the center, and collided as most of the previous pairs had done. However, when one boy didn't get up right away, I thought he was throwing a mini-tantrum because he hadn't won. However, when his teacher came over to see what was wrong, there was a huge pool of blood on the ground! At first I thought he had broken something, but then realized it was just a bad bloodly nose. I felt so bad! I had introduced this dangerous game that had caused blood to be shed- and a lot of it! I asked the teacher if we should continue, and she said it was ok (she gave the students a small lecture about being careful). What surprised me even more is that the teacher cleaned the blood only with a kleenex. With so many health issues and concerns in America, I think it's standard for rubber gloves and disenfectant to be used when any amount of blood is shed. But after the blood was wiped away with a kleenex, the kids continued to play the game, running sliding over the spot where the nose had bled. I still felt so bad that someone got hurt when I came to visit! To ease my guilt, I gave the boy an extra penny. I had given all the students a penny during a BINGO game. The extra penny sure made him popular, making me realize that sometimes money can indeed buy love.

Freak Show

Sometimes I just feel like a freak show. Not often, but sometimes. During my last elementary school visit I had a Q & A time with the students. They asked me the standard questions, one of which being, "How tall are you?" When I told them my height (about 173cm), the class observed a moment of awe. Then they decided to compare me with the tallest student in their class. What started out as one student coming to the front, turned into every student coming to the front. Each new comparison got an even louder round of laughter than the previous one. The game started out pretty fun- I was laughing along with the students. But after about half of them came up, I started to feel like a giant freak! The laughter was relentless, and I was transported back to the days of being laughed at for making a mistake in front of your classmates : ) Of course I knew it was all in good fun, but I still couldn't help but feel like I was on display in front of them. Ah...the life of a foreigner. But sometimes being so different isn't so bad, like when strangers come up to you in the store and say how beautiful you are...

Cho Bikurishita!!! (I was very surprised!!!)))

Yesterday I was helping my teacher in one of her third-year English classes. This particulary class is notorious- my teacher actually calls them animals! She constantly apologizes to me under her breath during class because the class is pretty rowdy. Two boys hadn't brought any of their books or supplies to class, so my teacher pulled them out of class and asked me to kept reading the listening exercise to the rest of the class. Usually teachers never take students out of class unless they are being really bad, so I was surprised because she seemed pretty calm. About 30 seconds later I hear what seemed like the loudest yelling I have ever heard in my whole life. Another teacher (I only know because a man was yelling and my teacher is a woman) was practically screaming at the two students. They were only in the next room over, and the teacher's voice was a lot louder than mine. I tried to keep reading the listening activity but, needless to say, the students were more interested in listening to the teacher shouting than the listening passage about Freddie the leaf changing colors during autumn! What made the whole situation worse is that the yelling lasted for about 5 minutes. It just kept going, and going- not once lacking in strength or volume. It was super-awkward, especially to try and ignore it and keep class going without my teacher in the room. After class my teacher apologized for the awkward situation, and explained to me what happened. The teacher was upset not because the students weren't prepared, but because the students gave him attitude when he started lecturing them. Whatever the reason was, I have never heard such shouting in my years as a student. It was scary for me, but perhaps not so uncommon in Japan. Quite an interesting class...

More Jogging Tales....

I decided that since it was Saturday I would go for an extra-long run. Usually I have to fight the sun when I run afterschool (it gets dark here so early!) It was surprisingly warm and humid today, especially after yesterday's absolutely freezing weather! There were a few sprinkles throughout my run, but nothing too bad until about 40 minutes into my run- then the heavens opened up! It was raining so hard my clothes were sticking to me, water was running into my eyes, I stopped avoiding puddles, I could open my mouth for a quick refreshment, and I no longer felt tired because I was just running to get out of the rain! I realized how ridiculous I must look to all the cars splashing by me- a crazy foreigner running in the pouring down rain! About 5 minutes from my house a car slowed down beside me and the person inside waved at me, but I couldn't see who it was and I wasn't about to stop to say hello! Around the next corner I realized that the car had turned around and was following me. I didn't recognize the driver as he rolled down the window. I wondered why he was slowing down until I noticed that he was motioning for me to get in his car. He wanted to give me a ride because it was raining so hard! I yelled out, "I'm OK" a few times before he drove away. What a nice gesture! If I had gotten into his car, I would have absolutely soaked it, but he still offered me a ride. I quickly ran home, peeled off my soaking clothes and hopped in the shower, even though I was probably wetter outside than I was in the shower!

When you gotta go, you gotta go...

After living in Japan for almost half a year, there isn't much that surprises me anymore- well, maybe I should say there isn't much that shocks me. But today, I was jaw-droppingly (not a word, but an accurate description) shocked. I was waiting by the park near my house for a friend to pick me up for dinner. She had gotten lost, so I was waiting for about 15 minutes. There are a few really small (like 5 chairs!) restaurants across the street from the park and there were a few people milling around the restaurants- smoking, going to their car, talking on their phone... Anyways, this old man comes out from one restaurant as I look up from my phone (I was sending someone a text message). When I looked back down at my phone, I heard water start running. "Hmm...where could that be coming from?" I thought. So I look up, and not 5 yards in front of me, on the other side of the small street, the old man is peeing!!! He had his back facing me, and it was really dark outside, but I knew that's what he was doing!!! I think I must have stared in disbelief at the back of his head until he finished. After he finished his business he just walked back into the restaurant while I continued to look on in disbelief. It was one of those moments when you are so shocked that you need to verbally express your disbelief, but I was alone, so I just had to stand there and make sure I had really seen what I just saw. And then he was gone, disappeared into the restaurant, and the street went back to normal. I asked my friend if it's common to go to the bathroom on the street in Japan, and she said not really, but some people do it. I guess it saves the restaurant from the hassle of cleaning a bathroom if they just send their patrons outside to relieve themselves...

Hi, My Name is Ellie. What's Your Name???

Today at the fifth and sixth grade classes at Funakata Elementary School I must have introduced myself 50 or 60 times. Let me back up...I was in the computer room after lunch working on a lesson plan about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day when the phone rang in the computer room. Usually I never answer the phone because, yeah, I can't speak Japanese so it's kind of pointless! But the phone kept ringing, so I figured since I was the only one in the room someone was probably trying to get ahold of me. So I answer, and I was right. The office manager had called to ask me why I wasn't at Funakata Elementary School. I was supposed to be there at 1:30, and it was 1:40 now. Right...somewhere along the line I had missed the memo. I tried to explain on the phone that I didn't know I was supposed to be there- that didn't really work. So, I ran down to the office and talked to one of my English teachers who was like- "Oh, you didn't know you're going today?" Um...no. So he said, "Well, you better go soon." Ok. So, racking my brain as I drove the short distance I didn't come up with much- I thought of a few random games, but nothing really significant. Thankfully when I arrived I talked to the teacher who coordinates with me and we decided to do the same lesson plan that we had done with the first and second graders last year. Since it was my first time, we did the "greeting" lesson. But to kill time due to a lack of planning, we practiced "Hi, my name is ______. What's your name?" many many times. It turned out alright, but I was pretty irritated that my school had forgotten to show my the fax from the elementary school. On another note, you really feel like a celebrity sometimes. When I told the fifth-graders that I play tennis, they all said I looked like Sharapova. Right...like I resemble her in the least bit! But it certainly boosts my ego! "Arigato!" I told them. As I was leaving school one of the sixth-graders asked me if I was going back to America now. As if I came all the way to Japan just to come and have one English lesson with them today!

Let's Party 'Till the Sun Comes Up....

So there we were, celebrating my friend's birthday at a little bar/restaurant in the Shinjuku District of Tokyo. As the evening wore on, it became apparent that we would have to cut the party short because some people had dorm curfews, and the trains were going to stop running soon OR stay out all night. Although I protested the latter choice, mostly due to a long train ride home the next day, work starting in the next few days, lack of sleep the night before, and my old lady tendency to prefer to stay home and knit rather than go out on the town, I was far outvoted. Seeing as I had no other choice, I was determined to make the most out of my first (and last?) all-nighter in Tokyo. Of course, being in Tokyo, the best activity to pass the wee hours of the morning is karaoke. Many karaoke places have special deals where you pay a set amount for a karaoke room from 11pm to 5am (when the trains start running). We ended up paying 2300yen (about $23) for a room and free drinks all night. Not a bad deal- much cheaper than a hotel! Thankfully, we got a pretty big room so I could sleep on the benches! After gallantly staying awake until about 2:00 I hit the hay. I must have been tired because I was able to sleep through my friends' beautiful renditions of the latest Japanese pop songs and classic American hits (only one other person fell asleep the whole night!) When our night out ended, I thought it would be bright outside (there are no windows in karaoke rooms), but as we walked outside it was as if nothing had changed and it was still only midnight! However, as I wearily made it back to my friend's dorm, looking forward to sleeping in a bed after a night dozing on a thin bench, the sun began to come up. I didn't see too much of it, however, because we were asleep by 6:00. So, although I wasn't awake the whole time, I have officially pulled an all-nighter in one of the biggest cities on earth!

Sumo Memoirs

I figured that while I was in Japan I had no excuse not to go to a Sumo Wrestling match- and besides, when else can you watch near-naked, long-haired, foam thong-wearing, gigantic men try to push each other out of a small ring? That's right...never. So, with camera in hand I made my way to the tri-annual Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo with my friend Aya. When we arrived at the train station near the stadium, we were greeted with huge billboards of sumo wrestlers and vendors trying to sell sumo souvenirs and sumo "food" (the food that apparently makes them so big- mostly a meat stew thing, I think). As we walked around looking for a place to eat we saw sumo wrestler's milling about, eventually making their way to the stadium. They were all wearing traditional Japanese robes and shoes. Being the star-struck nerd that I am, every time I saw a sumo wrestler, I would turn to whisper to Aya (to my defense, she had the same reaction) about how crazy it was to see these sumo wrestlers walking around on the street! After a lunch of udon noodles at a small shop nearby the stadium (a sumo wrestler and his family were eating there too!) we went to the stadium to find out seats. The Sumo tournament lasts all day, starting at 8:00, but the big matches don't start until 4:00, so the stadium was pretty empty until late afternoon. It was fun watching the amateurs, but I wasn't really too interested until the big matches started. Perhaps the highlight of the day was seeing the upcoming Bulgarian sumo wrestler. I've seen him a lot on TV, so he was pretty famous to me (especially because I didn't know any of the other famous wrestlers). Just a random note...I later learned (some sumo research after the tournment) that the Bulgarian sumo wrestler is my age! I thought he was 35 or 40!!! Maybe I'm becoming a Sumo fan...who knows!? What was particularly interesting is that each sumo match lasted between 5-20 seconds, and there was only one match about every 20 minutes! There was lots of foot-stamping (yes, the stereotypical stomp of the sumo wrestler!), crouching, salt-throwing, and muscle-slapping before the match would take place- and then it usually only took a few seconds for one sumo wrestler to push the other to the ground or out of the ring. But all the ceremony and preparation almost made the few seconds of fighting that much more exciting! It's kind of like other things I've experienced in Japan- the practice and preparation sometimes seems more important than the actual performance. I recommend Sumo to anyone coming to Japan- in fact, if there was another chance for me to go- I'd be there- this time with a closer seat!

Jogging Tales

I'm running in a 10K in about 3 weeks, and, seeing as how I devoured everything I could get my hands on while I was at home (you know, Christmas cookies, ice cream, cheese, cinnamon rolls....all the good stuff) I really need to get serious about preparing. My first run back in Japan was not so fabulous- I had to walk most of the time! Today, as I set off for my second run (with hopes that it would be better than my first run), it started snowing! About halfway through my run, I heard a car slow down behind me (I was on a narrow residential road). Usually I see a couple of people I know when I run, so I figured a friend saw me running and slowed down to say hello. When I turned around, there was a guy I didn't know leaning out of his window. I kept running as he said "samui desu ne?" (It's cold, isn't it?) I just smiled and said, "It's not too bad...." And then he said, in English, "It's very cold!" with a thick Japanese accent (E-tsu be-ri ko-ru-do!). Then he zoomed off. This guy wanted to talk to me because I was a foreigner, then he practiced his textbook English from junior high school on me before driving away, all while I was jogging....only in Japan : )

A New Year

I'm not really into the whole New Year's resolution thing, but, seeing as how the new year does mark some sort of new beginning, I thought now would be a good time to become serious about having a blog. It just may prove to be easier than sending out mass emails about my life in Japan. Time will tell... : ) I returned to Japan last night after a very smooth flight (thankfully with no usage of the sick, aka barf, bag that I usually require during long flights). The movies weren't that great, but I guess anything is entertaining when you're stuck in a cramped space for 10 hours! Some family friend's were able to pick me up from the airport, which was a huge blessing! Riding the train for 2 and a half hours with all my luggage would not have been a warm welcome back to Japan! By the time we got back to Tateyama, I was ready to hit my bed (well, fouton...) I went to bed at 8 and didn't wake up until my alarm went off this morning- it was glorious to sleep that long! I woke up early to go to City Hall to check in with my supervisor. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to stay all day, because there really isn't any work for me to do there (and school doesn't start until next week). But other ALTs in other cities have to stay at their board of education all day, even if they have no work to do. Thankfully, all I had to do was show up, and say "Happy New Year" to my supervisor's bosses- more of a formality, really. So, after I bowed and politely said, "Happy New Year" (in Japanese, but I can't remember it anymore : )), I was able to come home! So, I basically have until next Tuesday off, which is really nice. I'm going up to Tokyo this weekend to hang out with friends and enjoy the long weekend until school starts again. For now my job is to try and stay warm. I figured out how to work the heated carpet that a friend gave me- I forgot how cold it was here when I was back in Washington!