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."