999 and Jumping Rope While Running

Unfortunately this will be another post with no pictures. Due to circumstances, it is frowned upon to post pictures that have my students in them on the internet, which makes some sense I guess.

The last week or so has been interesting here in the land of the rising sun. My crappy bike that I mentioned earlier is sending me a message that it wants to retire. I woke up one day to a flat tire. How this happened, I am not sure. I could get it fixed but considering the brakes are worn out, the chain keeps falling off and it is a pretty small bike, I might as well spend about $150 getting a new bike instead of spending $100 to get this one fixed. So needless to say, I have been walking to work the past few days which isn't that bad since I only live about a 10 - 15 minute walk from my school where I work.

Speaking of work, I have continued giving my self introduction to my students. I have now finished all the 7th and 9th graders and just have the 8th graders left next week. The students seem about as unenthusiastic in class as ever. But outside of class they always seem to have plenty of energy. I was even lucky enough to get what is called a "kancho" which can be roughly translated as a "poop needle." It seems like the cool thing to do in Japan (and I guess Korea too), to try to sneak up behind someone (I guess a teacher is double points) and jab your fingers into their butt. Pretty weird if you ask me, and honestly I hope it doesn't happen much more after this...

I also taught a special education class to about 12 students. This was definitely a challenge since, they really don't know any English and either have a short attention span or are just super energetic (hyper). But since I kept the English really simple, I could fill in some gaps with some simple Japanese. Also the Japanese homeroom teachers were really great in trying to help me out. Although I was nervous about this class, honestly it may have been one of the more fun classes that I taught. I felt less confined by curriculum and some of the students seemed more enthusiastic than most other classes. I got asked all kinds of questions such as "Do you like pear? I like pear" and the infamous "Do you have a girlfriend?" "How tall are you?" "What size shoe do you wear?" and even some pretty challenging ones like "Who is your favorite historical character?" Granted most of these questions were fired at me in Japanese, not English. Oh yes, and of course all the kids wanted to feel my arm muscle before I left class. Like I said, it was fun...I think because it was a little crazy!

Anyway this week has been filled with preparations for sports day. So most of the time, I am doing nothing because I am not told to prepare anything. But a couple days I just decided to watch the kids prepare their "dances" for a completion that happens on sports day. It is interesting, I think Japan is the only country where I will see a 14 or 15 year old strong wrestling kid waving around pink pom-poms...and these kids are usually the trouble makers that try to act like bad-asses in school...part of me laughs inside, and part of me finds this awesome at the same time! I will go into further details about the sports day which was held today (09/11/09) but first I want to talk about what happened on 09/09/09.

999, not to be confused with 666, is the day I turned 24 years old. It is actually pretty weird to have a birthday in early September. It seems that around this time I am always in a new place with few (if any) familiar faces. Last time I was in Japan when I turned 22, I had a relatively lonely birthday since I only arrived 2 days prior, and when I turned 23 I returned to the U.S. only about 2 weeks before. Anyway, this birthday wasn't bad though. Another JET who also lives out in the middle of nowhere Japan decided to drive up here (she just got a car, she lives farther away from a train station than I do) and have dinner. At first we were going to cook something at my place, but after not having any good ideas on what to make, we just went to a local restaurant. After a little chit-chat and finishing our meal, I got a call from one of my English teachers from my school. She is pretty cool and I also consider her my friend. She is also about my age so is a good resource on things to do in the area, although she actually doesn't live in my speck on the map but in a city about an hour or so away. Anyway, it was a relatively quiet birthday, but I was in good company so it was satisfying in that respect.

Anyway, back to sports day (today). I would have to say, Japan LOVES its sports. Sometimes I think it is more important in Japan for students to learn and play a sport than it is for them to study English. Actually, I am almost positive about this. The amount of effort and time put into practicing and preparing for a sports festival in Japan is almost ridiculous. But, I did have a fun time watching, minus the crazy sunburn that Japan always seems to give me.

Maybe the most amazing thing I saw was a race that combined all kinds of crazy things. Running while tied to about 6 other people, 3-legged race, etc. But the most impressive I thought was watching a kid run super fast around the track while jumping rope. I mean, he was running FULL speed and swinging this rope around him. I would say it was a sight to behold. Then I also helped judge the dances I talked about earlier, and helped cheer some students on in some tug of war. Overall I felt pretty useless, but eh...it was a good experience even if my students were saying I looked like a gangster when I wore sunglasses.

After sports day we had an "enkai" which is like a party, but formal and done with all your co-workers. I was both looking forward to this and dreading it at the same time. Super formal things don't allow for me to relax, so it is kind of tiring. I was hoping to get to know more of the teachers though. Anyway the place was nice, and very traditional Japanese style. It reminded me a little something out of a yakuza movie or something like that, where there is a large room, one end there is a scroll hanging on the wall, sliding doors, tatami mat floors...very Japanese! Unfortunately I didn't really get to know many of the teachers though. It seemed that either they just didn't want to talk to me, or they were too afraid to (language barrier thing, which I guess I can understand the intimidation).

My problem with Japanese is it is hard for me to start a conversation, basically because my vocabulary is limited. I am much better off answering questions and miming a topic that someone already has brought up. With this being said, I could carry on short conversations with a few people that approached me, which was great. But for me to try to talk to teachers that haven't talked to be before and get to know them better, it was a little impossible. I think I am going to try to memorize a few simple sentences that would be good for approaching co-workers at these types of meetings.

One thing that bothers me in Japanese society is all the social rules in the workplace that are never spoken about, but somehow known. This makes it hard for me to just approach some random co-worker and be like "Sup, hows it goin'?" like I did with most of my Japanese University friends. I mean, my co-worker might be my superior and then, oh shit! Now I am thought of as that rude foreign guy with no respect for Japanese culture.* Anyway, I will try to figure something out before the next one of these "enkai" things. It was my first time to a party like this, so I will take it as a learning experience.

*I would like to note that I am not calling Japanese people snobbish or uptight. Part of this opinion probably comes from my own phobia of disrupting harmony or something like that. I would point out though, that the Japanese people of the island of Kyushu (where I lived before) generally seem way more laid back than the people of Honshu, the mainland (where I live now). Granted I am lucky to live in Kansai which probably has some of the most easy going mainlanders in Japan.

Well, that's about it for now. Tomorrow I am heading to the beautiful city of Kyoto to purchase an overnight bus ticket for my upcoming trip to Kumamoto to see some old friends! Hopefully my next entry will have some awesome pictures.