Last Round at Shonai Chuu

I just finished the first of my last 10 days at Shonai Chuu. This is my most difficult school, and I remember having some real difficult times the previous two rounds I was there last year. When I was there in December, I wrote that one of the English teachers would be leaving, and a new one would be starting there in January. I met the new teacher today, and his name is Yamanaka sensei.

One of the biggest issues I had with my previous times at Shonai Chuu was working with the English teacher of the older kids, san-nensei. I realized today how true that really was. At the risk of speaking too soon and/or jinxing myself, I'd say that Yamanaka sensei and the previous teacher, Deguchi sensei, are in many ways direct opposites. I can remember a few times last year having to play a human tape recorder for students in a classroom that was almost too loud to hear myself speak in. Today I had three classes with the san-nensei students and every class was kept relatively quiet and wholly in control by Yamanaka sensei. I am not looking to figure out why these teachers were so different in the classroom; my point is only that they are and it makes all the difference in the world. I had one of the best days of teaching I can remember in a very long time, and I hardly did anything as a teacher worth talking about.

In fact, I was a human tape recorder today, and I didn't mind it a bit. I read sentences for the students in my best American English so they could try to understand me and answer a few questions. I probably sounded like a voice on one of the audio cd's that accompany the textbook, except with a little more nasal tone (I am getting over a cold). I did do other things, and really enjoyed helping the students with their writing section of the review test. But, I have to say I felt really good about doing what I was doing in large part because Yamanaka sensei acknowledged the spot he was putting me in. Before the classes, he gave me a short head nod, or tiny bow, and said 'I'm sorry for using you as a tape recorder.' That really helped.

I saw students working hard on a review test today that probably wouldn't have bothered a few months ago. These same students listened to me and Yamanaka sensei today when their norm a couple of months ago was to talk to each other while consciously not listening to the teacher(s).

In a few weeks time all the san-nensei students will be taking their entrance examinations to get into high school, so I'm hoping the hard work keeps up till then and pays off. I've heard of high schools here full of students that don't pass their entrance exams; from these places it is much, much harder for students to then go on to university.

Shonai is the poorest of the four junior high schools I work at. The city of Shonai looks generally poorer and more rural than Iizuka city. Academically, it is no doubt one of the worst in the area. Matter of fact, I also work at the most academic junior high school in the area, Ichuu. Ichuu has many students from the wealthiest and more well-off families in the area. Many students at Ichuu attend private academic lessons afterschool, or 'cramschools' called Juku. A teacher told me that it costs families $200-400 a month to send their kids to Juku. As for students that don't have such opportunities, they must rely more on good teaching and personal effort to get ahead.

Bridge Opening in Iizuka

Hey y'all, last weekend I went to a ceremonial bridge opening in Iizuka, about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Since I've been here they've been doing a lot of construction around town - fixing sidewalks and roads, building this bridge, and moving a bunch of earth near the river that cuts through the city. Anyway, this bridge opening turned out to be a big deal for this town, and the turnout was kind of mighty (for Iizuka). I'm really happy one of my co-teachers told me about it, because the interesting dances and music were totally unexpected. Who would have thought such a display of Japanese culture could be present so close to my house at 10am on a Saturday?

I took some short videos of some of the dances that were performed. I especially enjoyed the last one performed, where older Japanese ladies dressed in fancy kimonos were cutting a rug on the bridge. The sight of these ladies reminded me of my grandma, Yoshiko - though I'm sure she'd rather be indoors watching sumo on TV and eating macaroni salad than be outside dancing in the streets like this...

Iizuka and Dazaifu

These are some photos of the weekend I spent last month with Elizabeth. We spent one day checking out Iizuka and a day in Fukuoka city and Dazaifu, a small historic town known for its temples.

Elizabeth and I on the train from Fukuoka city heading to Iizuka.

A temple very near my apartment in Iizuka.

A famous Shinto temple in Dazaifu city. When were there it was unusually crowded. This is the same temple I visited last October when Koki and Kazue came to see me from Tokyo.

Some Japanese koi in the foreground and fortunes on pink sheets of paper in the background. I just now read on wikipedia that 'koi breeding' originated in Japan in the 18th century. The red and white colored ones here (kohaku) are a product of this breeding. I love that website.

A crowd of people lined up to pay their respects at the temple shrine. There were a few priests doing some rituals for those praying at this moment.

Bamboo (take) trees near the temple. We were both interested to see such tall bamboo chutes.

The gate to the temple. Beyond this gate is a narrow road with lots of food and souvenir shops on either side. It was pretty crowded this day. As a sidenote, this temple was one of the most populated spots in Japan on New Year's day (this is what the news said around midnight when I was in Tokyo).

Me buying some Japanese treats filled with sweet bean paste (anko).