Paul's Experience Teaching English in Japan

Saigo no hi (my last day)

2010-03-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Minsan ohayo gozaimasu.
Ima made osewa ni narimashita.
Mina to isshoni isshokenmei hataraite, tanoshikatta desu.
Mina ga sugoku yasashikatta. Jimusho no hito mo yasashikatta.
Mina no goshinsetsu wa, wasuremasen.
Takasu chuu no seito mo zettai wasuremasen.
Mo chotto America ni kaette, sensei ni naritai desu.
Shakai no sensei ni naritai desu.
Daitai ichi nen nanaka getsu mae ni Nihon ni kite, subarashii keiken ni narimashita.
America ni kaette mo, kono ii keiken o ikashite, gambaritai to omoimasu.
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. (followed by a bow)

Good morning everyone.
Until now you've taken great care of me.
Together we worked as hard as we could together and I had a good time.
Everyone is so nice. The office workers are so nice too.
I won't forget everyone's kindness.
I won't forget Takasu Junior High's students either.
Pretty soon I'll go back to America, I want to become a teacher.
I want to become a social studies teacher.
I came to Japan about 1 year and 7 months ago and it's all become a wonderful experience.
I'm going back to America, but I will make the most of this good experience and want to do my best.
It's been a pleasure.

This was my goodbye speech to the teachers at Takasu Junior High School on my last day of work, two days ago. It's a little hard to translate because the over-simplistic tone of it in English is part of what makes it sound more natural in Japanese. In any case, knowing it was gonna be kind of a big deal, I didn't sleep that well the night before. But, I think it turned out quite well and was a great way to finish out my time at this school. I also had to give a speech to the ichi and ni-nensei (7th and 8th grade) students (the san-nensei graduated over 2 weeks ago) in the gym during the closing ceremony. That one turned out well too, and was more a mix of English and Japanese. And for both of these speeches I was fortunate to have my brother Matt there watching me speak to all the teachers and students on my last day of work in Japan.

So I'm all done with work, I've moved out of my apartment, and tomorrow Matt and I leave for Korea for our last hurrah before going back to the states. These past 2 weeks have been especially busy for me and I'm ready for things to slow down some so I have more time to sleep, think, etc... really I shouldn't worry about these things as my next move after Korea will be living at home with my parents in sleepy Medford, OR, looking for work and maybe trying to get into graduate school.

Really I think this might be my last post, lest I decide to post a few pics I'll take in Korea in the next few days. Being in Japan has truly been a wonderful experience overall; I wasn't lying when I said that to my co-teachers a few days ago. And as much as I can try to describe how life is here on my blog, it's not even a close substitute to seeing things in person; since my brother Matt arrived a week ago he's been doing just that and I feel lucky to be able to share some of my life here with him. About a year ago my parents, grandma and aunt came to visit, and my girlfriend Elizabeth has visited me a few times as well. I feel really happy to have had these visits.

I have to say that this whole experience would have probably sucked without all the love and support of my family, friends, and Elizabeth. I know that sounds tacky and simplistic but quite often it wasn't easy being over here, many times feeling alone and way out of my comfort zone. Without all your support I can't imagine how much more difficult it could have been. So to you all nothing you've done is lost on me. Arigato gozaimashita!

As I heard one graduating student say, 'Ima kara arukitsuzukemasu' - from now I will continue to walk. I like the sound of that.

A Staff Retreat (Shokuin Ryoko)

2010-03-01T03:34:00.000-08:00

The weekend before last I went on a staff retreat with some teachers at the smaller school I work at, Ogura Chuu. Rather than rewrite what I've already written, I'll just post a letter I wrote my girlfriend right after I got back from the trip.

2/21/10

elizabeth ohayo!

yeah the trip was good! really the weather was perfect all weekend and the countryside looked beautiful where we went. yesterday a few of us climbed a mountain, a two hour hike, and saw an awesome view from the top. it was all snowy up top and the trees had icicles on them - yokatta! it was pretty steep actually and im happy we took the ropeway the way down.

gosh i took 3 baths this weekend. the first thing we did was stop at an onsen place to take a soak before lunch and the hike. then after the hike and checking into the hotel room we took another. i think this pre-dinner bath was like a given for these sensei. and i took one by myself this morning after breakfast while the other teachers were eating or still sleeping. honestly after so much time feeling a little out of my element it felt good to be alone for a bit.

what else...our first meal was japanese style korean bbq - yakiniku, which was bomb! we had that after taking a dip, and last night we had a pretty good feast too - fugu, or blowfish, (real expensive here) in different forms - sashimi, in soup, tempura style, and lots of beer. the group of teachers were more or less informal so there wasn't a lot of speeches or things like that - and there were just 18 teachers who went. anyway after the feast we had the 2nd party outside the hotel - at a 'snack bar' - like a lounge joint where we drank more. i was a bit sleep deprived then and lacking in language skills but everyone was so nice to me the whole time so i never really felt uncomfortable.

really im happy i went. and on the way back we stopped at a place that had these old buddha statues carved from stone on the sides of small cliffs - they looked really interesting and again the weather was good so it was nice to be out by the big bamboo trees and in the sunshine too. anyway we did a mini tour there before heading back.

for whatever reason i ended up bunking in the same room as the kocho sensei (principal)! im not sure how that worked out, i think the room plans weren't totally worked out and they were trying to figure out where to put me and whatever. kind of funny sleeping on a futon next to this guy but he was so polite and a kind of reserved guy anyway that thank heavens nothing awkward happened...
i remember waking up this morning and saying 'ohayo' to him after seeing he'd been up for a while and, because the night before he came back from the snack bar early to sleep, he asked me what time everyone got in last night. i squinted and said 'wakaranai' and felt it too early to be trying to come up with more polite japanese.

and the place we stayed was beppu, a town on the ocean, in a neighboring prefecture, famous for hot springs. i actually stayed there when my family came to visit me last spring for a weekend. anyway those are really the highlights and i wish i had pictures to send but my camera died cuz i was an idiot and forgot to charge it! i'll ask for some pics from the teachers who took pictures tho and email em when i can. it might be 2 weeks tho.

i had a moment today when a nice breeze hit my face after i saw some budding cherry blossoms and i thought gosh i totally love the weather. we most definitely, gotta, have to kick it outside this spring and enjoy fresh air, beautiful views and nature together.

hope u have a sunny sunday

paul

That's it! The only thing I wanna add on this post is that fugu is a poisonous fish and needs a skilled chef to remove the poisonous parts to make it edible.

Thorns and Roses

2010-02-18T04:25:00.000-08:00

When I was 13 on a Boy Scout hiking trip in New Mexico, the group I was with closed each night with an activity called 'thorns and roses' where we sat around and said one highlight and one challenge we had encountered that day. Two days ago at a work meeting, we did a similar sort of activity reflecting on highlights and challenges of the past year. Though I could have named many different thorns and roses regarding my work experience in Japan, nothing came to my mind so clearly as the thorn, or challenge, of dealing with the disciplinary system I've seen in these schools.

Maybe yesterday's lessons are a good starting point. Yesterday one of the ni-nensei (8th grade) classes had to give short speeches concerning one of their favorite experiences, sports, movies, etc. This particular class has a few kids who are regularly disruptive and rude to other students and whoever happens to be teaching. Yesterday was no exception. They began the class by interrupting me as I was trying to explain the difference between saying 'good morning' as a polite greeting among colleagues and 'morning' as a greeting among friends. After the JTE (Japanese English teacher) said something to him, one of these students muttered something about not being able to understand me as his reason for interrupting me as he did.

During the speeches, the two boys, who sit next to each other, continuously interrupted the other students as they spoke; they kept laughing among themselves, and even made fun of some of the students as they were speaking. I was at the back of the room while the JTE was at the front and we were both trying to evaluate the students' speeches. About halfway through the speeches, after noticing the JTE wasn't doing anything to quiet them down, I moved closer to where the boys were sitting so I could get them to shut up. I had to keep hushing them up for the rest of the class period because they would only be quiet for a few seconds and then resume their chatting and laughing.

Neither of these students did a speech because they had spent the entire previous period messing around while the other students did their speech preparation. Really, I don't think them acting as they did is what really bothers me, though at the time it bothered me a great deal. Rather in a deeper sense what bothers me is how their sort of behavior gets dealt with by the school. The easy fix in my mind would be to separate the two boys so they don't sit next to each other and get each other going. But as far as I can tell, they've been sitting next to each other for a while now and there are no immediate plans by any of the teachers to separate them; and because in Japan the teachers, not the students, move classrooms, they continue to sit next each other for almost every class and subject, covering most of the school day.

The same day in another ni nensei class, two students, friends, were sitting behind a new student, making fun of him, throwing bits of eraser at his head, and trying to tick him off. This student is new to the school and to my surprise the JTE did nothing to stop these kids from bullying him. During class I literally had to walk over and tell the two boys to sit down as they were getting in his face and taunting him. After class I told the English teacher about the bullying I saw and mentioned that the three students should be separated. She gave me her usual nod and smile and that was the end of our conversation.

Though in this particular instance I think the JTE was wrong to not stop the two boys from bullying another boy, most of the time she seems to be doing the best she can with the situation she's in. She's not a teacher who has by any means 'given up' trying to control her students. Often it seems to me she's acting with prudence, having little to no good alternatives. There's no detention at these schools, nor is there much in the way of expulsions. Compared to my middle class suburban junior high, at this middle class suburban junior high fighting and horseplay tend not to be as big of a no-no. Also I have a strong suspicion that the parent teacher conferences tend to supress these problems because the teachers avoid direct confrontation with the parents about their kids.

Discipline is more indirect here. When I'm in class I feel like there are unspoken rules being followed by the really bad students, depending on their relationship with the teachers. These, as opposed to set in stone 'school rules' more or less dictate the boundaries of how they can or can't act. Also I've heard that in most junior high schools (around here anyway) the teachers move ahead in grades along with the students, so if they teach ichi nensei (7th graders) this year, they will teach the same students as ni nensei (8th graders) the following year. By the third year of junior high school, the same teacher will have taught a group of students for three consecutive years. The teachers tend to really get to know the students and vice-versa in ways that transcend professional boundaries and lean more towards familial relationships.

It's been a real challenge trying to understand and cope with such a different disciplinary system. It aches me to realize that in the hundreds of classes I've been a part of in Japan, working with 14 different teachers at 6 different junior high schools, I've never once seen two troublemakers get separated by a teacher during a class. Nor have I ever seen a student get kicked out of class for being too disruptive. When I was living in Iizuka, one of the JTE's told me that the climate of learning in one of her classes all revolved around one student's mood. 'If he's in a bad mood he'll turn 3 or 4 other students against me, and class will be ruined.' `But,` she said, 'If he's in a better mood those 3 or 4 other students will actually pay attention and class goes alright.' No wonder these teachers so often let rotten students sleep in class.

Overall I wouldn`t say the disciplinary system is broken, but to allow some students to, from class to class and day to day, ruin a junior high education for others simply because they happen to be in the same class as them seems to me an instance of total failure.

Anyway hopefully I can get on with some of my roses in my next post.

Two highlights from last week

2010-02-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I went to the school gym to watch the first year students participate in an event called 'Hyaku nin isshu.' This roughly translates to '100 persons' poems.' The students got into groups of 10, with teams of 3 on 3, a judge, and scorekeepers. They sat on the gym floor with each team facing each other, in between them lying 100 cards the size of playing cards. The cards all had the second half of a Japanese poem called a 'waka' written on them. The whole waka was read out by a teacher on the stage with a microphone, and when the students were able to recognize which was the second half of the waka among the cards, they slapped or took the corresponding card in front of them. With about 240 students and 10 students per group, the entire gym floor was covered with small groups of 13 year-olds, all taking turns getting poised, searching quickly with their eyes and slapping the gym floor.

There was a big drum called a taiko on the stage next to the teacher reading the waka. Before the next poem was to be read, a different teacher would hit the taiko with a drum stick, making a deep BONG! sound that echoed throughout the gym. And the wakas were read with a certain tone and rhythm that made their 900 year old roots come more alive for me. When I saw the principal walking around observing the kids I asked him what the meanings of the poems were, and he told me he didn't know because they were written too long ago. In fact all the writing on the cards was in hiragana, the phonetic alphabet used for Japanese (as opposed to foreign) words; another teacher told me this is because the original Chinese 'kanji' characters they wrote the wakas in aren't used at all anymore.

Some of the kids were really fast. If the teacher read just a few syllables from the waka these students could grab the corresponding card almost immediately. It was fun watching these kids, often grabbing or slapping a card on their opponents' side after hearing just a few of the beginning sounds of the waka. A teacher told me that the students could officially start practicing as early as December for the event. But he also said some families play or practice it at home, and a few of the wakas are exceptionally well-known to Japanese people.

Watching this event was a great highlight for me. This game was not something I would expect as part of a curriculum at a junior high school. In that way, and with the drums, old poetry and rhythmic reading of the poetry it all seemed so Japanese. And after the event came another weekly highlight. After all the games were finished, one of the teachers took an opportunity to address all the first year students regarding recent complaints from teachers.

Apparently some students had been using the classroom key to lock teachers out of the classroom when classes were about to begin. It was interesting hearing this teacher speak because I found myself following his Japanese much better than I expected. I found myself understanding him explain to the kids that they shouldn't do that sort of thing cuz they wouldn't like it being done to them. He spoke at a medium pace and his pronunciation was very easy to follow. This same teacher had just spent time reading poems for the kids during the previous games and there his voice was very full and clear as he followed the rhythmic and tonal pattern of the wakas. I thought his voice much, much clearer than the other teachers' who had also read some poems. I decided if I had the chance I'd compliment him.

At the end of the day as he walked by my desk in the teachers' room I said to him (in Japanese) 'You know your Japanese is easy to understand.' Immediately he smiled, said thank you and something like 'wow, that makes me happy.' Right after I said this to him two things happened very quickly. First, I happened to catch the vice principal staring at me from across the room as if he were following our conversation. This immediately brought to my mind the sound of his Japanese, from day one slurry, usually indecipherable, and in total contrast to the Japanese I had just heard spoken in the gym. Second, right after he said this another teacher happened to walk by and asked him what he was so happy about. He smiled and said 'Paul told me my Japanese is easy to understand. I've gotten praised!' At this time, the teacher who asked him why he was so happy I remembered had just given a speech to the students as well, and done it in pretty clear Japanese too. So I said to him 'Oh and your Japanese as well. It's also easy to understand.' He smiled. 'Oh me too? Thank you very much,' he said, as the vice principal continued to stare with a curious look.

After this I packed up my backpack and began my daily walk out of the teachers' room. As I passed by the vice principal sitting at his desk I said my habitual goodbye phrase regarding honorable work being completed. I noticed that funny look he had in his eye, but ignored it and headed towards the door. Then I heard him say (in Japanese) 'Is my Japanese hard to understand?' I turned around and sort of cocked my head a little to the side like a dog and said back to him (in Japanese) 'uhh it's a little...' He said 'You just told Takenaka sensei and Kobayashi sensei their Japanese is easy to understand. What about mine?' He was smirking. I had no excuses to give him. Since last April I've had many uncomfortable conversations with this tall man that ended with 'Sorry I don't understand,' sentences left unfinished or ended only because we had been interrupted. Then he asked 'Is it too fast?' This made me think of his particular pattern of speech where I thought his words were not spoken too fast but all blended together as if he were chewing with a mouth half full every time he spoke. I lied. 'Yes, too fast' I said. Standing there not knowing what to say next I said, "Well, I'll just have study more huh.' Maybe knowing I was in a tight spot he repeated the phrase about honorably finishing work which any other day meant 'good job today' but the way he said it and flicked his hand I'm pretty sure this time meant 'Just go home ya little smartass.'

On Cuteness in Japan

2010-01-31T00:40:00.001-08:00

I'm going to try to write more about my experience and impressions of Japan in my final two months of living here. The first topic I've chosen is a light one, cuteness. So from time to time, if I can stick with it, I'll be posting one of these longer entries, like the one I'm posting today.

On cutess in Japan

I don't know if there's a country on earth that values 'cuteness' more than Japan. To start with, I'd bet serious yen to say that no other country in the world makes a greater effort to 'cutify' the most basic and naturally 'uncute' sorts of things. On a trip to Nagasaki, my girlfriend and I walked by a gas station and saw, on the side of one of its buildings, an oil spill, a gas can, and another petroleum related object, all turned into cute little characters. And if you've looked at my photos from winter vacation, you've probably seen 'Mr. Poo,' a piece of smiling toy poop you can by from toy dispensers in Japan. Really these gas products and Mr. Poo are only a few of countless examples of cute characters I've seen while I've been here. Also, since I left Iizuka, a much smaller rural town, more and more of these characters have been popping up in my life. I think in Japan today, it's hard to go out in the city and not see cute, friendly characters smiling and greeting you inside trains, buses and stores; also at railway stations, construction sites, and even police stations.

Admittedly, the creation of many of these characters seem rooted in advertising - like the Japan Railway (JR) company's cute frog mascot that holds hands with a small clock that is smiling. But that doesn't explain the myriad examples of state and city sponsored signs I've seen hanging in bus windows, bathrooms and neighborhoods often giving out information related to public safety or utility by means of these cute little characters.

These characters seem to define a pattern of cuteness that conforms to an age-old cultural trait often attributed to the Japanese - a profound love of simplicity as an aesthetic expression. That is, these characters are not cute in a big, flashy sort of way but rather in an easy, simplistic sort of way. Take, for example, Japan's most famous animation (anime) characters who, aside from having their own cartoon shows on national cable television, are always guaranteed prime shelf space at any bookstore, selling serious after series of their spin-off comics, or 'manga.' And I'm not talking about any of those intricately drawn characters like those you see in much of Japanese manga. I'm talking about the children's classics: the ones more often doodled in notebooks by the students I teach to and the ones more generally well known in Japan.

Maybe the best example of these is 'Kitty-chan,' or, as she's known where I'm from, 'Hello Kitty.' Last week as part of a school exercise I happened to be drawing her face on the blackboard and realized that she has no mouth! Also she has barely a nose and has eyes the size of Minnie Mouse's pupils. The 3 next-biggest-name anime characters I can think of fit this same cute, simplistic pattern: there's Anpanman, whose face is really just a few dots and 4 circles, Pikachu, the yellow Pokemon character who may be the simplest and cutest of all monsters, and, in my opinion the cutest of all Japanese characters, Doraemon. In my first month of living in Japan I was told that Doraemon was actually made into a firework pattern that lit up the sky (as well I'm sure as a bunch of cute little Japanese kids' eyes) at a fireworks festival somewhere in Japan.

Characters aside, I think nowhere in Japan does cuteness make its mark stronger or deeper than with its kids. I've reluctantly come to believe that, on the average, Japanese kids are way, way cuter than American kids. And, for a long time, I ignored this semi-conscious thought because it just didn't seem rational. But, after 17 months of observation and sound confirmation from a few trusted people, I've come to accept this fact.

The other day I saw a little kid coming back from school wearing a school uniform consisting of mid-thigh length black shorts, medium high white socks, black shoes, a black jacket with gold buttons, a matching black hat with gold trim, and a shiny, boxy black backpack that resembled the shape of a mailbox. The way he was dressed made it seem like he was out that afternoon delivering telegrams. He was beyond cute, but in my experience not at all a rarity in that respect.

I think in trying to understand the cuteness of Japanese kids, it's important to note the kinds of clothes they wear. At school, clean, well-fitting pressed school uniforms really help. Outside of school, many times these kids look like they're dressed as little adults. For example, the little girls I see with their families often wear dresses with simplistic patterns that, if larger, would fit grown women, and make those women look cute. Beyond the kids' clothing, I think another big advantage they have in being cute comes from the fact that in public these kids all seem so darn well behaved. Last, there's gotta be something in the language, or tone of the language, that helps gives them an edge. Japanese seems softer and more rhythmic to me than English - a little easier on the ears in general; I think you get less 'funk' and 'sharpness' coming from Japanese kids' mouths when compared to English speaking kids'. So, dressed up like little adults, these small, well behaved, often toothless Japanese kids speaking their softer language seem to me unrivaled in cuteness when compared to children in America.

Another example of prevalent cuteness I find in Japan is in Japanese lunchboxes. Everyday at school, many students and teachers bring a 'bento,' or lunchbox, to eat at lunchtime. These bentos are basically small containers, usually half the size of any American lunchbox. These small containers of food are wrapped with a clean cloth, usually patterned with an eye-pleasing design and often with bright colors. At the top of this wrapping is a knot holding a smaller rectangular box, which contains a pair of chopsticks. Nearly everyday around lunchtime I watch teachers and students carrying these small bundles that look unmistakably like presents, done up with a cute, simple wrap-job.

But inside the bento may lie the greater cuteness. Now, keeping in mind I haven't seen this example myself, I've heard stories from other foreign English teachers that there are Japanese mothers who use cute cookie cutter sorts of shapes to cut out their kids' cooked veggies with - like a little star shaped cooked carrot to go along with their fish /meat and rice. Worse, I've also heard about mothers' getting competitive about how cute they can make their child's bento; but remember these last two examples are only hearsay.

Speaking of cute food, I distinctly remember the first moment I realized such an adjective such as 'cute' could be so applied. Running late to work one morning I stopped at a convenience store to grab some breakfast. Being the only kind of banana available I bought a small, individually wrapped one and brought it to school. As soon as I reached my desk "How cute!" were the first words I heard from the young teacher sitting across from me. Before she spoke those words of my mini-banana I had never in my life thought that fruit could be cute.

The word for cute in Japanese is 'kawaii.' Hearing so many students and particularly young girls say the word since I'v been here, I kind of figured it was a newer word. But, recently I asked my Japanese relative Koki about it and he told me it's actually an older word, as he recalls his parents and their generation using it (Koki is 37). But, he said, back in the day it was applied only to 'truly' cute things like babies, or puppies. Nowadays, he says, for young people, anything is cute. Older people get angry, he said, because the word is used so loosely now. I think my small banana wouldn't have looked so cute to the older generation, at least not enough to be described as 'kawaii.'

2010-01-26T04:53:00.000-08:00

I have momentarily run out of things to say so I am forced to bring up the weather. About 2 weeks ago it snowed around here enough to pile up a tiny bit. The first 2 pictures I took from my apartment early in the morning after a night of falling snow. The mountain in the background is called Mt. Sarakura, or Sarakurayama. The next 3 photos are from what looks like a railway company poster, which hangs prominently in the halls of a local busy train station. These kinds of posters are often tacked up inside the trains as well.

Beeches and Peemps

2010-01-15T19:03:00.001-08:00

A short conversation I had with a 9th grader (san-nensei) student yesterday. This student listens to a lot of hip-hop, which is probably where he heard these words.

Student (to his friend): Hey, beech.
Student (to me): Beech to iu kotoba, otoko no kotoba aru?
Me: Sore wa warui koto.
Student: Nani?
Me: Boku wa hanashite wa ikenai.
Student: Ah, wakatta. Demo beech wa do iu imi?
Me: Beech wa honto ni onna no inu to iu tango desu.
Student: Mesu?
Me: So so.
Student: Peemp wa do iu imi?
Me: Peemp wa onna o katte iru janakute. Peemp wa onna no bosu.
Student: Shacho?
Me: Shacho janai. Minna hataraite iru. Demo kaisha ga nai.

Student (to his friend): Hey bitch.
Student (to me): Is there a word like 'bitch' for men?
Me: That's a bad word.
Student: What do you mean?
Me: I'm not allowed to say it.
Student: Got it. What does bitch mean anyway?
Me: Bitch literally means a girl dog.
Student: A female animal?
Me: Yeah.
Student: What does 'pimp' mean?
Me: Not a guy who owns girls but... a few girls' boss.
Student: Like a CEO?
Me: Not like a CEO. Everyone works, but there's no company.

(At this point I had to get ready for a class so I left).

2010-01-13T04:56:00.001-08:00

Winter Vacation (Fuyu Yasumi)

2010-01-13T02:56:00.001-08:00

I'm just gonna sum it up like this- yokatta! This versatile word literally means 'it was good.' But if I had to make a short sentence in Japanese to describe my winter vacation I'd probably say 'boku no fuyuyasumi wa totemo tanoshikatta yo' or 'I really enjoyed my winter vacation, yo'. To start with, I wasn't alone in my apartment all day on Christmas. I took the bullet train (shinkansen) that day and met up with my relative in Yokohama. Overall, I spent 11 days in and around Tokyo and was able to met up with my Japanese relatives and American girlfriend, who I hadn't seen for 4 months. We went lots of new places, saw lots of new things and ate a lot of good food; every single day was full and enriching.

Please check out the pictures above if you haven't already.

Winter Vacation Plans (fuyu yasumi no yotei)

2009-12-22T03:51:00.000-08:00

I finished my final English lessons of the year today. Tomorrow is a national holiday because of the emperor's birthday and Thursday, the 24th, will be a day for closing ceremonies at the school. On Christmas Day I am taking the shinkansen (bullet train) up to Tokyo to stay with some relatives in Yokohama. And this weekend, on the 27th, my girlfriend Elizabeth flies into Narita for a 10 day trip in Tokyo with yours truly!

Though I am more than excited to spend this time in Tokyo for the winter holidays, I have to say that this year's holiday season has left me more homesick and nostalgic than last year's did. For me there's nothing in the world like being with the rest of the Meuse family or my friends around these days - chowing down on awesome cookies, opening a pack of Gary West beef jerky in my stocking, Christmas day with the fam, celebrating New Year's with buddies...

Nevertheless there will be some nice highlights around here for sure. Roughly, the plan is this: spend Christmas Day on a train during the day and with Koki and Kazue at night; stay with them for 2 nights in Yokohama; go to Narita and pick up Elizabeth; stay in Asakusa for 2 nights; meet up with Koki and Kazue and go to Hakone (a famous day-trip spot with onsen, hot spring, and some other natural sites) for a day and a half; spend New Year's in Yokohama; spend another 3 days of sightseeing with Koki and Kazue around Tokyo; and spend the last 3 days with Elizabeth, probably checking out some museums and having an adventure at Disney Sea, while staying in Ueno.

Anyway Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone this year! (meri kurisumasu de yoi otoshi o!)

Really Tired Students

2009-12-08T00:37:00.000-08:00

Last week I worked at the smaller of my two schools, Ogura Junior High. On Friday, during one of the English lessons with the 7th graders (ichi nensei), the Japanese English teacher and I began as usual by asking the students a few questions to review what they've learned. The Japanese English teacher, Ms. Imamura, asked one student 'Do you like Fridays?' He replied 'No I don't.' Naturally she found out why and it was because he had to go to cram school, or juku, after the regular school day. She asked him 'How many times do you have juku this week?' - he replied 'Three times.' She then turned to the rest of the class (about 16 students) and asked them how many went to juku. Half the kids raised their hands.

I asked the kids 'How long do you sleep every night?' Two girls raised their hands and said 6 or 7 hours. Then Ms. Imamura asked the students who got 8 hours of sleep to raise their hands. Two students out of 16 did. I raised my hand, too. 'How about 7 hours?' she asked. Maybe 6 or 7 students raised their hands. '6 hours?' she asked. Another 4 students raised their hands. That covered nearly everyone save the couple who abstained from answering. 'What about on the weekends?' I asked. 'Do you sleep for longer?' The students had some trouble understanding this question so Ms. Imamura asked just one student to answer. A boy answered in Japanese that he gets 8 hours of sleep on Fridays. 'Wow,' Ms. Imamura said and looked at me. 'The students have regular school, then after school a club activity, then juku at night.' She left out homework they had to do after juku and their club activity happenings on the weekend. All the kids in the room are no older than 13.

This was kind of eye opening for me. I and everyone I knew in junior high and high school slept a solid 8 hours a night and longer on the weekends. I had really till then just kind of 'figured' these kids were sleeping about the same amount. Also hearing these kids talk about their sleep habits made me flashback to the numerous times they looked and acted awfully tired during the lessons and not just because I and the Japanese English teacher were totally boring them. And though I'm sure some of my (unspoken) criticism of these kids' motivation was justified at times, I realize now some of it wasn't at all.

In the following class I saw one student sleeping pretty soundly at her desk. Usually the camp counselor, disciplinarian, strong-willed part of my personality would kind of yearn to wake this student up so she could push herself during the 50 minute lesson. I could tap on her desk and say 'Gambare!' (Do your best!). But, after my previous lesson she looked less like a student to be pushed and more like a kid to be nurtured. Really if they're only 12 or 13 and not getting nearly enough sleep it seems clearer to me that there are times when it's fair to let 'em do their best in catching up on sleep during a boring English lesson.

Amway part 1 and 2

2009-12-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a little while since I last posted, and since my last post I caught the flu and was feeling real out of it for a few days. I don't remember the last time I caught the flu so it surprised me how fast it made my body weak. And after catching it I began to feel more empathy for the kids at school that have been catching it left and right - but also curious as to who was the bugger that got me sick...

I had an experience last weekend I think worth sharing but first I need to backtrack a little bit to put it into context. In October my buddy invited me to a sort of 'dinner party' that he said had something to do with a company called Amway, which I later found out was from the states. My friend got invited to this by an acquaintance he used to work with and this acquaintance is now affiliated with Amway. I being a friend of his friend got invited too.

So we arrived at a house and walked into a living room full of older Japanese men - ranging from a couple of guys around 30 to men in their 40's and 50's. We were the youngest by far and I felt a little awkward just stepping (bare)foot into this living room. We sat down and all turned to our host, the oldest among the Japanese men. He began the evening by playing a promotional DVD that was animated, had something to do with how to succeed, and was naturally in Japanese. After we watched the DVD our host began his introductory pitch about Amway, an American company. He, knowing I was American, looked at me a few times during the speech and I, knowing that I had some kind of distant relationship to this company, felt obliged to keep good eye contact and nod a few times in agreement with statements that may as well have been in Estonian.

Despite the entire speech being spoken in (fluent) Japanese I believe I caught the gist of the gist of what he was talking about. The rags to riches narrative of the 2 dudes who started Amway was a springboard from which this man leaped into an overview of Amway's 'ethos,' which had something to do with a formula for success involving time, capital, risk, etc... At one point he did bring out one of Amway's cleaning products, demonstrating the cleaning power of its solution vs. an ordinary solution in removing a stain on a small mirror. At this point, about 2 hours into the evening I realized I didn't know a few important things: what the heck Amway really sells and how much longer this schpeel was going to last. I did know this was an unusual Saturday night activity for me and one that I felt okay about not having to repeat. To be fair after the speech we did have food and drinks and talked informally amongst ourselves and and I generally enjoyed the rest of my evening.

Two days ago I went with my friend to his acquaintance's house to have lunch. This is the house of a guy he knew, not of a guy's he didn't. Also this lunch was only among 5 people - me, my friend, my friend's acquaintance, his wife, and his friend. I can't say there was anything at all formal about the invitation (I made sure ask) or the lunch. The experience became interesting after I noticed an entire cupboard full of Amway products in their bathroom cupboard. Then I saw vitamins and supplements from Amway lining an entire shelf in their kitchen. Then he and his wife began explaining a few products from an Amway catalog. "So they like Amway crap a lot," I thought. Then after lunch he began giving my friend and I an Amway pitch that sounded way too similar to the one I heard the month before. He even pulled out an Amway portfolio that had a couple of pics of those Americans who started the company (Rich who used to be poor and the other guy whose name I can't remember).

What started to make me sick was when I heard those same bullet points that were blasted at me before - something about having time, money, chance, etc... it was more than enough for me to interrupt him. I said (in Japanese) - "No thanks." "I don't want to own a company," "I don't need this right now." I told him my dream was to become a college professor. He replied to the effect of "This isn't necessary?" I said yes. He began to talk about how I would still need money, time was still a factor (I think a review of the bullet points) and turned to my friend. "What about you?" In a more finessed Japanese style response he gave him the runaround. And after leaving we agreed once more the food and drinks were tasty.

Intanashanaru Baroon Festibaru!

2009-11-08T00:33:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to Saga, a neighboring prefecture, to check out an international balloon festival held every year. Jay and I took a 2 hour train ride from Kitakyushu to Saga City to see the event. We stayed with Jay's friend Jackie, who like Jay is from the Phillipines and working as an English teacher in Japan. Honestly I can't think of anything else to write and I'm not really in the mood to anyway so please just check out the pics!

Everyday Pics

2009-10-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

I realize my last post (and previous ones) might leave people thinking Japan is a really beautiful place and there is a 'lack of ordinary' that characterizes my everyday experience here. I don't want to leave that impression so I'm gonna try harder to take pictures of everyday things as well - things I more or less take for granted but are interesting in their own right. Here's a few pics I took lately:

My apartment on the 8th floor.

I've been learning how to cook! I actually just watched my friend Jay cook this one but I think I could do it on my own. Pork, veggies and chinese noodles - I'll find out the name later - famous in the Phillipines but I think originally from China. This meal was delicious!

Where I load the bus most mornings.

A typical bus ride to and from school.

Here comes my bus!

My desk. This is a large room shared by all the teachers and for me its probably the worst spot in the entire room. The sink you can see at the top right is used by the teachers for gargling, brushing teeth, washing, spitting and other things throughout the day that I'm used to being done in the bathroom. It can get real nasty.

Pics of Nara and Kobe

2009-10-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

The Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji

The Great Buddha

Kobe Port

From the ferry leaving Kobe port

Akashi Bridge

Same, from the ferry ride back

Nara and Kobe

2009-10-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my friend Jay and I went on another excursion, this time staying in Japan. On Friday night we took a bus from northern Kyushu to Osaka. We left at 11pm and arrived in the morning around 8am. We overslept our stop on the bus (Osaka), arriving in Kyoto a half an hour later. From Kyoto we took an hour long train to Nara, where we spent the day checking out a few sites.

Nara was Japan's first permanent capital, before it was moved to Kyoto. The town is full of old buildings, though many have been rebuilt since the 8th century (Nara was the capital from 710-794 AD). The most famous site in Nara and maybe in all of Japan is the Great Buddha Hall in a temple called Todai-ji. After checking it out myself, I can understand why. The Buddha itself is inside one of the largest wooden structures in the world. In addition the temple gate is guarded by two enormous, impressive looking demon statues. Then there's the Buddha. This dude is HUGE with the most calm face you've ever seen; it is a wonder to me how it was made and got moved around.

Also, knowing that Buddhism was introduced to Japan around the 7th/8th century and has been a big part of its history ever since, I had another moment of wonder as I was staring at this Buddha's large face. When Buddhism was introduced to Japan from India, moving first through China and Korea, what was it about the religion that made it resonate like it did? I mean they built this massive thing to worship, right? I had a little feeling of awe to realize that I was living in a place where this religion became hugely popular in a way Christianity did among people in the West. The cultural differences between East and West really fascinate me, and as I think about this feeling I had, I know it raises more questions for me than it gives answers.

After Nara we stayed the night in Kobe with Jay's Indonesian friend Mazy. The trio we made included an Indonesian, a Phillipino and an American - perfect for this city. Kobe is a city famous as a port for trading and cultural exchange, like Yokohama and Nagasaki. It's also famous for being affected by the large earthquake that hit Japan in 1995. And of course there is the famous kobe beef (Kobe Gyuu) that comes from there. On Sunday we took a cable car up a hill to get a nice view of the city and the port. In the evening we took a ferry to a nearby island and passed beneath Akashi bridge, which connects Kobe to this island. We saw a beautiful sunset from the ferry. The weather was beautiful for us all weekend - on and off sunny/cloudy with a nice autumn breeze blowing crisp air. We took off on Monday morning by bus and arrived back in Kitakyushu in the evening. This was a great, relatively cheap weekend adventure for us and I'm happy I went. A Big Thanks to Mazy our guide and host in Kobe.

Stay tuned for pics!

A Trip to Korea (Kankoku no Ryoko)

2009-10-04T04:28:00.000-07:00

This year a string of three national holidays in September fell on Monday-Wed., leaving a five day holiday for us in Japan to enjoy. These holidays, which include 'respect for the aged day,' 'children's day' and 'green day' are informally called 'Silver Week.' For this year's Silver Week, my friend Jay and I went to Korea - specifically Seoul, Incheon and Busan for 4 days. Here are some recollections:

The ferry ride from Fukuoka to Busan was a puke party. It was a very windy morning and the ocean was extremely choppy. The ferry we took was a 'jet-ferry,' which makes it from Japan to Korea in about 3 hours; this is the fastest ferry you can take from Japan to Korea. It was also, because of the weather, the most uncomfortable and sickening boat ride I've ever had. The driver weaved left and right to avoid large waves and, of the ones he couldn't avoid the ferry just slammed into them. A few times these slammings caused passengers and stewardesses walking in the aisles to be thrown against a seat, probably leaving them sore the next morning. As for me and a lot of others the weavings, slammings, and up and down motion of the ferry on the water forced us to breathe deeply to keep from heaving. Many did heave, and Jay and I weren't able to laugh about it until much, much later.

After arriving in Busan, we took Korea's fastest train, the KTX, up to Seoul. In Seoul we stayed in Itaewon, a place famous for its cosmopolitanism and diversity; it was remarkable to see and hear all the diverse people banter about on Saturday night, when stalls line the sidewalks and a lot of people are out late. We saw people from Africa, the Phillipines, America, England, India and elsewhere, and even more diversity in the restaurants. Though we stayed in Itaewon, we did more exploring elsewhere in Seoul. And we were fortunate to have Jay's friend Beck, a Korean and born and raised Seoulite, show us around the city.

Some of my best memories of the trip were in the trendy shopping district of Myeongdong - not of shopping but of some great meals we had there. On the first night Beck took us to a dakgalbi (pan-fried chicken) restarant. This meal was probably my favorite, and it made me sweat quite a bit. The next night Beck took us to a korean barbeque restaurant that was also quite a feast. The restaurant was filled with Japanese tourists, taking advantage of a meal that costs about $9-15 in Korea and around $35-50 in Japan.

Our bleakest day was in Incheon, a port city an hour and half train ride from Itaewon. Jay and I wanted to check out the Chinatown there and spend a day exploring outside of Seoul. Unfortunately it rained pretty hard on us in the morning and was real gray and cloudy in the afternoon and evening. Though nice weather would have helped a great deal, Chinatown was deserted, and the small seaside village we saw (Wolmido) looked like a broken down circus town. Also going there on a Monday wasn't a good idea, but I think after that trip I needn't ever go back to Incheon.

On our last day in Korea we spent some time in Busan, a port city on the southeastern edge of the peninsula. My highlight in Busan was walking through a market and gazing at all the interesting food and items for sale. Kimchee was in abundance, as were fish, veggies and cheap clothes and nicknacks. In one stall we saw a man scraping what looked like caterpillars or worms from twigs into a large wooden crate. The crate was full of these wriggling grey worms, which I guess were being sold as food? We also saw two different beach spots in Busan. The novelty of seeing so much street food and food stalls as part of the regular marketplace in Korea (not nearly as common in Japan) came alive for us near the beach. We saw plenty of these food stalls as we walked towards a nice beach spot called Haeundae, making our choice for dinner very difficult.

This trip to Korea showed us some real extremes, going from a neon shopping area filled with trendsetters in Seoul to the grittier places and people of Busan. If I return to Korea, which I really want to do, I would like to see Gwangju, the old capital of Korea, filled with temples, burial mounds, a large pagoda and an old star-gazing tower - and also Jeju, the island south of Korea with volcanic terrain, beach and countryside landscapes and a different lifestyle and culture from mainland Korea.

The JR 'Beetle" Jet-Ferry in the port of Fukuoka

Myeong-dong, in Seoul

Dakgalbi

Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) - super cheap compared to in Japan ($10 vs. $30-40)

Our sleazy motel in Itaewon - $40/night

Me, Jay and Beck inside Gyeongbokgung (Palace of Shining Happiness)

Wolmido, in Incheon. I wanted to capture some of of the dreary atmosphere...

A marketplace in Busan

In the marketplace, kimchee!

Live worms at the market.

Sports Day (Undo-kai)

2009-09-23T03:52:00.000-07:00

Every year Japanese elementary, junior high and high schools hold a 'sports festival' - a day of competition, ceremony and school pride held outdoors in the schoolyard. I didn't make to any of my schools' sports festivals last year, so watching the preparation and festival this year was new and interesting. The week before the festival was held much preparation was made by all the students, teachers and staff.

In this preceding week the kids practiced marching in unison in the schoolyard, created team flags for each class, and helped set up tents, ropes, etc. to aide the festivities. I was really surprised how much time the students spent outdoors in the hot sun preparing for this day. It seemed like every detail of the event was poured over - from the angle the students carrying the school flag should turn to the pitch and loudness they should be singing the school song. I was also struck by the idea that the event wasn't exactly a show for parents and families; though many families did show up, there were a limited number and most of their viewing of the events was obstructed by large tents. It was as if the sports festival was first and foremost held for the school (students and teachers) and as a part of the school tradition.

I kept wondering if this sort of event would somehow fly in the U.S., but it's hard to imagine such an event transplanted in a totally different culture. It seems like most students' and teachers' lives here revolve more around their school than you would find at any public middle school in the U.S. The only event I can remember in school for me that was even close to being similar was 'field day' held at my elementary school. Yet for field day no ceremonies were held, no preparation made by the students, and the events weren't all mandatory. Maybe it's because I now have an unforgettable image of hundreds of students in matching uniforms marching together under the beating sun (including the cutest non-athletic kids you've ever seen!) but when teachers and students asked me if there was such a thing as 'Sports Day' in America, I told them not at all.

And after all the hard prep work it turned out to be a really fun event. I'm real positive most students and teachers enjoyed the sports festival. I sure did. To recap the day, I remember an opening ceremony with flag raising and speech making, different relay races and tug of war contests, a dance intermission, lunchtime, a display and presentation of school clubs, a short relay competition between teachers and the PTA, a closing ceremony, and clean-up time. To top it off I ran with some teachers in a relay vs. the ichi-nensei (7th graders), but in the end we were beaten and came in 4th. I think my legs are still a little sore from my all out 200 meter sprint.

Preparation week

Blue and white team getting ready

The 'centipede' race - all the students' legs are tied to a large rope

From the schedule, dancing and pump-you up music before lunch

'It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight..."

Back in Japan and avoiding the flu

2009-09-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

I'm writing from my apartment in Kitakyushu, enjoying my first weekend back in Japan after taking a month break in Oregon and California. My summer vacation was more than I could have asked for. Spending lots of time with family and friends, plenty of time outdoors in Oregon, eating steak and delicous tacos, drinking beer that tastes beautiful, watching a buddy from grade school get married, taking a road trip to the coast with my parents and older bro, speaking lots of English - these are just a few highlights. But, it's also good to be back in Japan.

I had work this week, Monday through Friday. So far I'm actually feeling comfortable and more or less 'in the swing of things' again. It helped being welcomed back by a few friends, opening my apartment door to a (mostly) clean room, and going back to work and seeing lots of cheery, nice teachers and happy, bright-eyed students.

On Tuesday, all the students returned to Takasu Jr. High and were scheduled to have an opening ceremony for their last term of the school year. To my surprise, the formal ceremony wasn't held in the gym as planned but rather conducted through the P.A. system, as all the students sat at their desks in their respective classrooms. During the lunch break I asked a student why everyone didn't go to the gym. He replied that the teachers were concerned about influenza. He also told me that he didn't know of any student so far affected by influenza.

Two days later one of the English teachers told me that a few students had been affected by the virus. In addition she said one of the local elementary schools had been closed for a little while because of the flu. And, she said that if any teacher came down with the sickness they would have to stay home for a week. I'm still pretty unclear how serious the flu thing is around here, having not read up on local news for a while and only going off of what I hear. It does seem to be a hot topic at my school, because I've received a few handouts having something to do with it (but really hard to decipher) and I keep hearing the word 'in-fu-ren-za' spoken at the morning meetings.

With the school being as large as it is, 2 students being infected out of 800+ doesn't seem all that bad. Also, if the school policy for an infected teacher is just to stay home for a week, the virus itself doesn't sound all that scary (for adults, anyway). And everything else at the school is back to normal - classes, lunch, after school clubs, etc. Aside from curious happenings with influenza, the rhythm of daily life feels the same and it feels good not having to greatly adjust myself.

Summer Vacation (Natsu Yasumi)

2009-07-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

The school year in Japan has a summer vacation during the last week of July and entire month of August, with the new term beginning September 1st. I'm really excited about summer vacation because I've been in Japan for about a year now and I get to spend a month with family and friends in Oregon and California. Just reflecting on this past year, I really feel blessed to have had so many varied, enriching experiences in Japan. But, I'm also looking forward to experiencing some of the great things I love about where I'm from. Here are a few reasons why I am happy to go back, in no particular order: I can eat food that has, for the most part, ingredients I can identify with - everyday the lunchbox (bento) I order at school has 6 or so small compartments of food, and I can usually only understand 3 or 4 of them; I can drive my Toyota 4-Runner again, on my own schedule; I can drink quality tasting beer with friends (there are about 3 major beer companies here, which make up the bulk of what you can buy in cans or on tap, and the beer they make all taste hobo-cheap); I can speak English at my normal pace, using a rich and slangy vocabulary, and not have to slow down my pronunciation or repeat myself; I can get and eat good and spicy Mexican food (of the Mexican-American style); I can play my guitar, which I miss a lot; I can walk around the house, barefoot, and not have my feet stick to the floor because of rich humidity of the air; I can enjoy watching people outside walk their large-sized dogs, not just their really little ones; I can avoid the curious, and often too long stare-downs of strangers in public; I can be around enough friends to get a game of pick-up basketball going on a whim; I can instinctively, half-awakenly cross the street and understand that people drive on the right side of the road; I can eat with my hands - fried chicken, shrimp, big, thick slices of pizza; I can enjoy again the wonder of cheese in all its forms; I can be openly sarcastic most of the time and be totally understood (one bullet I dodged was not using sarcasm or jokes during my self-introductions at my schools); I can go to a local church service in English, and understand the songs, sermon, and prayers (though I do particularly like the Japanese word for our father - watashitachi no chi-chi); I can go swimming in backyard pools; I can lay around on couches; I can check out parts of Oregon I've never seen; I can go back to places in Oregon I miss...

P.S. I finally edited my settings so now anyone can comment on my posts, something I should have done last year. Anyway happy summer to everyone!

A Few Pics from Spring and Summer

2009-07-13T05:14:00.000-07:00

A few spring and summertime pictures in Japan and Korea:

A field in Iizuka, around March.

My distant cousin Koki (grandma's cousin's son - ?) and I posing as sumo wrestlers in Tokyo. Koki and his wife Kazue took me to an awesome museum on modern Japanese history (in the background) - which happens to be in the part of town famous for sumo shows.

Cherry blossoms (sakura) in a park in Iizuka. The park is really beautiful, and its unfortunate I only checked it out during my last month or so living in Iizuka. It's quite a contrast to the rest of the city, which I wasn't super keen on taking photos of.

A garden at one of my current schools, Takasu Chuu. The English teacher there said this garden won some kind of award for being the best garden among middle schools in Japan. This picture doesn't do it much justice but now the flowers are in bloom and the grass is bright green and real pretty.

'Banana Man,' a statue in Mojiko, a port town near Kitakyushu.

A fish market in Karato, a ferry ride from Mojiko. My mom and I walked through this place and saw people scrambling around to get fresh sushi at low prices.

The famous 'Peace Statue' in Nagasaki. I came here in early May (Golden Week) with Elizabeth.

A famous Catholic church in Nagasaki, near the site where the A-bomb was dropped. We were suprised to find out that the Christian population killed by the bomb was disproportionately affected because of where it was dropped. I was also surprised when I first saw the church from farther away - as a prominent Christian building it stood out to me in Japan, but it's also set on top of a hill.

I checked out a 'sake tasting' convention with a few friends. It was held inside the Yahoo dome, where the Fukuoka pro baseball team (Softbank Hawks) play. I preferred the Japanese whiskey over Japanese sake (nihon shu, rice wine) and Shochu, a sort of Japanese vodka.

Outside the 'War Memorial Museum' in Seoul, which shows the history of warfare in Korea. The crowd of people are going to see a rock concert in a venue next to the museum.

From Orio station, near one of my schools. This is where I board a train back to Yahata, where I live, sometime around 5 pm. on the weekdays.

Nationalism, History and Violence

2009-06-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

This afternoon one the English teachers I work with, Imamura sensei, invited me to watch a movie with the 8th grade students. She told me the movie was about Okinawa - the southernmost island of Japan - and that it was a sad movie. After having four classes in a row this morning, I was up for taking a break and checking it out.

The movie, though dramatic with a good story, turned out to be pretty violent. And it was all about Okinawa, but set during World War II, right after the Pearl Harbor attack. The war scenes had a lot of bloodshed and there were plenty of violent close-ups. What made me feel ok about the movie was the story, and how it depicted the American soldiers and Japanese soldiers. It didn't come off as biased because, though it did show lots of bombing, shooting and killing coming from the American side, it also showed the cruelty and mercilessness of Japanese commanders. One scene in particular I thought was telling: after showing bombings and firings from American tanks on villages in Okinawa, the following scene showed a Japanese commander shoot one of his own men because he refused to kill a wounded American they came upon in the jungle.

The reason I bring this is up is because I think telling this history is a real sensitive topic, and if it's going to be taught in Japanese schools it should be done with care. There were a few times when I was sitting in that room where the movie was being shown, genuinely hoping for a more or less unbiased account of what happened, lest my country be given a bad name because the film was taken out of historical context, or I get loads of stare downs from the students when the film finished. It was at one of these moments I remember thinking back to when Elizabeth and I visited the 'Peace Museum' in Nagasaki. The first exhibit there shows footage of the atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki (in slow motion, on several different screens) and I remember hearing a small Japanese boy say to his dad, while looking at this big mushroom cloud, 'America warui' (America is bad). And after recently reading a biography on the Japanese emperor at this time, Hirohito, and learning about all the wicked things that he and some Japanese leaders had done leading up to the war, I wanted to scream 'Look kid, you don't understand!' He was only about 5, so I let it go.

Though I disagree with showing a film with so much violence to these junior high kids (it would be classified as a drama but would have to be rated R given the scenes depicting violence), I think the film was balanced and empathetic. I couldn't understand a lot, it being all in Japanese, but I really think if there were some overtly racist or otherwise scenes I would have caught on. That kind of bend didn't fit this director's style.

Another reason I bring up this film is because I recently saw a public presentation of history that went beyond violence and promoted nationalistic, racist views. While in Seoul, Elizabeth and I went to a place called 'Seodaemun Prison.' This place was built around 1912 and run by Japan during its occupation of Korea (1910-45). When we walked down to check out the cell holding area, we immediately heard recorded screams being repeated and smelled a musty funk that made me light-headed. Inside the cells were manikins of Korean victims and Japanese guards, showing multiple still-lives of water torture, sexual torture and beatings. There was a lot of fake blood used in the displays and one of the Korean manikin women had her shirt torn open in the front. All the while endless recorded screams and a stale odor permeated the air. Being there was almost like hanging out in a nightmare.

Opting to leave rather than see the rest, we forewent the footage and photos of prison life they also had on display. On the ticket stubs we received they read 'A living education site for Korean history where visitors can pay a high tribute to the patriotic ancestors who valiantly fought against the Japanese invasion for sovereign independence, and renew the determination of the spirit of independence.' This is the thesis and narrative of the site. Elizabeth pointed this out - Does it make sense to talk about 'the colonizers' as if they are, monolithically, the same groups of people that existed in the first half of the 20th century and now? We both agreed that if you were a kid and went and visited that place (and to our disappointment we saw middle school aged girls and parents with kids that looked about 7) you could easily grow up hating the Japanese. And this is not to downplay the brutality of the Japanese occupation, but just to point out the Japanese today, though descendants, are a different generation than they were 60+ years ago, as were the Koreans, and should be treated as such. Let's just say, at Seodaemun Prison, the torture chambers had way more nuance than the introductory signs.

I think part of what made the Peace Museum in Nagasaki so well done was how it showed some aspects of 'gruesomeness' without going overboard with it. That's also why I think the Holocaust museum in D.C. is well done, because you get a sense of the awful experience of the Holocaust without having to, in a sense, experience it yourself. The film shown today and the prison site in Seoul are both historical expressions in public places. I think those kids I sat with today would have been better off with a film that didn't use so much gore to make a point, and the displays at that prison site in Seoul are not only too distasteful to be put on public display but also promote a dangerous mix of nationalism and racism.

The entrance to Seodaemun Prison.

Beppu and the Family Visit

2009-06-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

Beppu is a small town in Oita prefecture on Kyushu island. It's one of the most famous spots in Japan for hot springs. It's both a resort town and a college town with an international university. I went to Beppu in April when my family came to visit me. It's only about an hour and a half by train from East Yahata, where I live now in Kitakyushu City.

The crew that went to Beppu included me, my aunt, mom, dad, and grandma. Though we stayed just for the weekend, it was a nice getaway and we saw some great sights. The hot springs there are for bathing as well as viewing. The hotel we stayed at, set a ways up on a hill overlooking the city and the ocean, was particular for providing guests with hot springs for bathing (onsen). I really enjoyed seeing my dad wearing a sort of yukata, or informal kimono worn before and after taking baths. Also the weather that weekend was amazing, not rainy but cloudy, with a cool breeze blowing into our Japanese style rooms. Lastly the outdoor cedar wood bathtub that linked with our room, accompanied with a wooden bucket and handle made me feel a little like royalty. Short as it was, we all were able to relax in Beppu.

Another highlight for me was hearing my grandma speak Japanese for the first time. I'd never heard her speak a word of it all my life, and in Beppu I was able to hear her have short conversations with cab drivers, hotel workers, and even strangers. Her manners were very polite, and it was more than touching to hear and see her sincerity in conversing in her native tongue. My friend Jay, who's been living in Japan for 6 years and was able to meet Yoshiko for a dinner with the family, said he was very impressed with her sincerity. He mentioned that he's seen many older people in Japan speaking quite insincerely; not because of the words they choose to use but rather because there's no feeling behind them. So it was refreshing to hear my grandma say in her native language 'Excuse me, thank you' when she received food from a chef, and actually mean it. Also, after having spent my first seven months in a pretty rural area on Kyushu, it was good to hear my grandma using words that could never be described as 'dirty Japanese.'

My mom and her mom, inside our Japanese style (Ryokan) hotel room.

Nice scenery outside some famous hot springs for viewing in Beppu.

One of the famous natural hot spring sites in Beppu.

My aunt, dad, grandma, mom and me - actually in Karato, across the water from Kyushu on the main island, Honshu. We took a day trip to Mojiko, a famous port town near Kitakyushu, then rode a ferry here. This day was very enjoyable.

Korea and the DMZ

2009-05-19T04:22:00.000-07:00

I have internet! Thank heavens for it, my life feels so much more full than it did yesterday, when I could only use the computers at school (really not for recreational purposes).

I have a little catching up to do because I want to share some of the recent adventures I've had in Korea and Japan. I'll start with Korea, where I visited last month for another short weekend trip. I went to Korea the weekend of April 16-18 to visit Elizabeth. We decided before we left that we were gonna see the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) or go bust. The tour we originally wanted to take would have given us a chance to see and crawl through tunnels that North Koreans had dug beneath the DMZ, discovered in the 1970's. Though this tour was booked, we caught a later one that took us into Panmunjom and other DMZ hotspots. Our tour itinerary can be found here: http://www.tourdmz.com/english/07guid/tour1_1.php?tag=Image1_1

It was interesting learning about the current situation in North Korea, as told to us by our tour guide, a South Korean lady. On our drive up to the DMZ from Seoul, about an hour and a half via bus, she pointed out a few bare mountains on the North Korean side that could be seen from the bus windows. "The mountains are bare because the North Koreans have used all the trees for firewood," she explained. She also told us that all of the media families in North Korea have access to is only government propaganda. She said we can now understand some things about living conditions in North Korea because of the smuggling of a few cellphones to North Korean families, who have since told a few people their stories over the telephone.

It was also interesting for me to check out the DMZ because my grandfather had fought in the Korean War in the early 1950's. Though I didn't know it at the time, the hills and land I saw on the tour was terrain he more than likely lived on and knew intimately; a place where he and his fellow US Marines sacrificed everything they had to prevent Chinese occupation. I'm currently reading a book he wrote about his experiences and the history of US Marines who fought in the latter part of the war, from 1952-53. It's interesting to read this book after seeing with my eyes the kind of place and terrain he was living on during the war. The book is called "The Outpost War," and is the first of two books he wrote, the other being "The Final Crucible" - by Lee Ballenger. I'm certain more of the historical significance of my visit to the DMZ will unfold as I turn the pages to a book my own grandpa wrote! I really didn't realize that he was stationed right there so close to Panmunjom, defending hills I probably just gave a passing gaze to but which were to him, 56 years ago, truly his old 'stomping grounds.'

I wish I had better anecdotes from the trip, but it was what it was. I can only offer two nerdy facts that everyone should know: the Korean DMZ, 2 and a half miles wide, is the most heavily fortified border in the world, and has some amazingly well preserved landscape but due to the amount of landmines present (and other issues, I'll bet) has not been studied for environmental purposes.

I didn't take many pictures, but I think if I collaborate with Elizabeth I can score some of hers to put up on the site. Here's what I have so far:

A snapshot of the landscape of the DMZ and the Imjin river. In the middle right of the photo, you can see the 'Freedom Bridge,' (the smaller one with people on it) - famous for being a location for POW exchange. It was also used by Korean refugees coming from the North.

The entrance to the Freedom Bridge from the South.

A South Korean soldier standing guard in a room within the Joint Security Area (JSA), the only place where diplomatic negotiations can and have taken place between North and South Korea. Our guide told us that North Korean soldiers are sometimes present in this room, but we didn't see any on this particular day.

A view of South Korean soldiers among the blue JSA buildings and a large, important looking building in the background.

It`s Been a Long Time Coming...

2009-05-06T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I`m writing from a nearby library that allows me internet usage for one hour/day. I should get internet connected in my new place this weekend. I just moved apartments, again, after recently settling into a noisy place in Kitakyushu. My new place is much quieter, more spacious, cheaper, and has a great view of my neighborhood in East-Yahata, Kitakyushu. It`s also closer to the train station, leaving me a little more time to sleep in before I head to work in the morning. For the record, I probably would have stuck it out in the noisy `LeoPalace` brand apartment I was in if it wasn`t for the noise of a nearby industrial highway keeping me up at night. In any case, the timing for the move was perfect because my parents, grandma, and aunt came to visit me at that time and were more than generous in helping me settle in. Props to each of them for hooking me up with furniture and lending some much needed helping hands.

At the end of this short post I`ll post my new address. For now, I want to say that the last month of my time here has been really enriching. I visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with Elizabeth and was able to see more of Seoul, took a trip to Beppu in Japan with my family and saw some awesome hot spring sites, and just got back from a trip to Nagasaki with Elizabeth for Golden Week, a string of national holidays in Japan. Needless to say I have some cool pictures to post and plenty to write about, farther along.

My new address is:

Station Heights, Apt. 808
Yahata-Higashi Ku
Nihon-Machi 2-4-21
Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka, Japan 805-0061

New Address and a Previous Journey

2009-04-05T04:16:00.001-07:00

I am officially settled in to my new place in Kitakyushu City. Where I live is strikingly noisier than where I lived in Iizuka, and after a few difficult nights of sleep I am just now getting use to the busy road and parallel train line that surround my apartment.

Before I forget, the address to my new place is:

Paul Meuse
Apt. 204
3-11-15
Maeda Yahata-Higashi Ku
Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka 805-0069
Japan

Any and all mail is surely welcome.

Now, I want to talk about a place I visited a few weeks ago before I moved into the city. On the first day of spring, a national holiday in Japan, I visited a famous worship spot a few train stops from Iizuka station. A friend of mine told me that this spot was more than worth checking out.

The place was real busy when I went, at about 11:00 AM. Lots of old ladies (Oba-chans) and old men (Ogi-sans) came to this spot to pay reverence to deities. From the station, I could tell by walking through the tiny town that it was a kind of touristy spot, with the pathway to the shrines lined with souvenir shops and small ramen and food stalls. Once I made it to the entrance of the shrine(s), there were several different pathways I could take. Taking one pathway, immediately the scent of burning incense was strong and I noticed several smaller shrines where people were doing their prayer rituals. I really wanted to capture on film one old lady paying her respects, but decided against taking her picture out of courtesy (I really needed a spy camera).

Among the several smaller pathways I could take, there were many small stone statues, looking like demons and other characters, and one large, dominating demon figure with a fiery red background. There was also a waterfall flowing down the mountain into smaller ponds, making smaller waterfalls along a worship path. The mountain that lined the background had a grove of interesting looking trees. One path I took led me into a sort of cave. I had to duck my head to enter it and saw an alter at the cave's end filled with eye-burning, strong, smoky incense and old Japanese people praying. At this rural spot in Kyushu, at this particular time, I am sure I was the only non-native Japanese person present, and one of the few individuals checking out the scene.

I was amazed when I reached the giant Buddha, the main attraction. I think aside from the size and grandeur of the statue, I was truly awed to realize how spectacularly interesting this place was, and how it was only a 15 minute train ride from my apartment! It is a nook of Buddhist culture that has, in my opinion, a statue as breathtaking as the big Buddha (Daibutsu) in Kamakura; yet here there aren't millions of tourists coming to see it, only native Japanese people that have an understanding of its meaning beyond just 'a neat sight.' I was in the middle of all this, fortunate to walk around and simply observe.

Leaving Iizuka and Starting Fresh in Kitakyushu

2009-03-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this post may be a bit overdue, but here it is anyway. I am officially moving out of my place in Iizuka on Monday, March 31st, and moving to a bigger city, Kitakyushu, about an hour and 15 minutes from here by train. I am still working for the same company, One World Language Services (OWLS Co., Ltd), just relocating. The contract I signed last week says I will be working in Japan from April 1st 2009 for a full year. I am excited about my new position and moving to a new place. I should be able to post my new, correct address shortly. If you are kind enough to send me mail please don't send it to my old address and wait for me to post the new one. I should have it posted in the next week or so.

Overall, it was a bit stressful securing a job for this upcoming school year (which begins in April). Since January, I was telling my bosses that I would prefer to move to a high school position, but that the bottom line for me was to simply have a job. I wasn't actually given a job guarantee until a couple weeks ago. So, having had no job guarantee for a few months in between, with a heavy understanding that without a job I would be sent packing, I started looking for work elsewhere. I applied for other ALT jobs in and around Tokyo, hoping to land closer to my relatives. However, I didn't get a position up there and was left with whatever my company had to offer. Lucky for me, what they offered was something relatively good.

This new job will be at two junior high schools in Kitakyushu. I just finished up 7 months of work at 4 different junior high schools in a greatly smaller, more rural place. I am happy to be working at only two schools, and from what I've heard, they are decent places to work with nice teachers and not so bad students. I am also happy to be living in a bigger city, with more nightlife and an easier time connecting with other people my age. One of the hardest things about living in Iizuka for me was not necessarily having a lack of things to do, but rather the lack of a network of young people to meet and get to know. I was lucky to be living in an apartment complex with two other ALT's. Without that, having had no other prior connection to this area I am positive my life here for the past 7 months would have been a lot more difficult.

In Kitakyushu it should be easier to connect with other ALT's, and there will be plenty of things to do in a city of about a million people. I will be able to enjoy live music and movies, a wide food selection and less staredowns from the locals. I'm not too excited about all the ugly smokestacks in the city, and I'm certain I'll miss the quietness of Iizuka before long. In any case, I hope my next transition goes smoothly and rest of the particulars of my new life in Kitakyushu turn out ok. I'll be having to deal with them for a year...

A Few Pictures of Winter

2009-03-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

The day after tomorrow, March 20th, is Vernal Equinox Day, a national holiday in Japan. I have to mention that the weather has been very 'springlike' and unbelievably great the past few days. It's been warm but not hot nor humid, with no mosquitoes buzzing around, and plenty of light outside lasting well into the evening. The trees are budding and we should be able to see the famous cherry blossoms (sakura) in full bloom shortly. I am excited to experience spring over here, especially if the weather continues to be how it's been lately.

Having grown up in Oregon I consider myself more or less acclimatized to what many Japanese people around here consider 'cold weather.' Though the students tend to be better (not having a heated teachers' room to hang out in all day) , I've seen quite a few Japanese teachers shuffling around in the non-heated school hallways, rubbing their arms and saying 'samui' (I'm cold) when I thought it was merely 'a cool temp.' But, I also remember quite a few times waking up chilly in the early mornings and having a few cold bike rides to school. I think the first couple of pictures will speak to the coldness of the mornings during the past couple months.

These are just a few random pictures I took this past winter.

On the way to Ni-Chuu in the morning.

The other side of the road.

Last month I saw Elizabeth in Seoul, and she took me to a Shamanist temple on the outskirts of the city. This picture is from halfway up the path to the temple. It was a very clear day.

From the top of the climb, above the Shamanist ritual grounds, looking into Seoul.

[Myeong-dong], a huge shopping area in Seoul.

A sign near my place in Iizuka.

Sea Turtles

2009-03-10T05:04:00.000-07:00

These are pictures I drew for ichi nensei (7th graders) for my last week at Shonai Chuu. This is an appendage to a lesson the students are learning in their textbooks. One class, known for their enthusiasm, or genki-ness, would ask 'Really?' after I read each card. 'Yes,' I said every time.

Last Round at Shonai Chuu

2009-02-23T03:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-15T04:04:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-05T04:11:00.000-08:00

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).

Just a little bit of art

2009-01-26T04:32:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone, I just realized that I have some good pictures to post from two weekends ago when my girlfriend Elizabeth came to visit me from Korea, but I don't have time to post them now. I'll post them soon. These scarce pictures are of some artwork I've done (really all of the artwork) since I've been in Japan. The first ones are cartoons I was asked to draw last week by an English teacher at my first junior high school, Ichuu. The older students (san-nensei), who are moving on to high school soon, are preparing to take their entrance examinations and the English teacher wanted me to draw some good luck pictures for them. She said she would make them into stickers for the students. The second batch of pictures are of some Japanese calligraphy I did while staying at Koki and Kazue's house in Tokyo over winter vacation. Koki taught me how to write a couple Kanji (Chinese characters) and did a few of his own. We each drew some pictures beneath them to remember their meaning.

Koki helping me write my first Kanji in calligraphy...

I asked Koki to to teach me the Kanji for 'delicious Tuna.' The top part means 'tuna' and the bottom part, read from the right and down, then the left and down, means 'beautiful taste.' It really fascinated me to find out that Japanese people actually describe tastes as having beauty, and also that I had been using the word that represents these Kanji (oishii) super loosely up to then. I realize now that many of my school lunches didn't deserve that title, even if I said they were only sukoshi oishii (having a little bit of a beautiful taste).

This Kanji, called 'aji,' means 'to taste.' My cartoon makes it look like the Kanji means 'burn your tongue on a cheeseburger...' Anyway I think my cheeseburger looks way better than my Kanji.

Koki, the true Japanese artist, with his Kanji. The one on the left is 'Tuna' (maguro) and the one on the right is cow (ushi). And 2009 is the year of the cow.

My winter vacation

2009-01-08T04:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, these are photos of my recent trip to Tokyo, Saitama prefecture, and a ski resort called Manza in a neighboring prefecture called Gunma. In Tokyo, I stayed with Koki and Kazue, who are my grandmother's cousin's son and wife. They hosted me the entire trip, and I stayed at their place in Tokyo from Christmas day until New Year's day. On New Year's Day we traveled to Saitama prefecture to meet up with Koki's father, Seiichan, and some other family members. After spending a night in Saitama (and a pretty cold one at that in Seiichan's old house - I woke up and my face was freezing) - everyone crammed into two cars and drove to Manza ski resort in Gunma prefecture. It took about 2 hours to get to the resort from Seiichan's house in Honjo city, Saitama. Also, it was about a 6 and a half hour train ride (via bullet train, or Shinkansen) from Fukuoka city to Tokyo.

Tokyo from a tall building in Shinjuku, the area with Japan's federal buildings. When I arrived in Tokyo neither Koki, Kazue or I had planned anything to do from Christmas day to New Year's. So the day after Christmas, while Koki and Kazue had their final day of work, I traveled to this tall building (called Tocho) where they have a lot of tourism information on Tokyo. It was funny arriving in Tokyo and realizing it would be a good idea to look for worthwhile things to do the week I was there.

Fish flags flying outside Tokyo Sea Life Aquarium, an awesome aquarium in an oceanside area called Kasai. The weather the entire week was really clear and a little windy, and much, much warmer than the winter vacation days I remember in Oregon.

Kazue at Ueno Park Zoo. Koki, Kazue and I were really excited to see their pandas, but the big black and white one they had actually died a few months earlier. The only ones we saw were red and black ones, which were small and barely looked like bears. We were a little disappointed.

A picture taken at Yoyogi park during a weekly flea market. This area of Tokyo was really neat to see because of all the hipsters and funny people that hang out there. Some of the people I saw reminded me of characters you would see at Venice Beach in Los Angeles. One guy was wearing a bright green joggers suit with reflectors all over him and some giant headphones as he cruised around the park on his bike...

Koki and I taking a tour of the American and Japanese naval bases at Yokosuka, a famous port city in Yokohama Bay. The ships we saw were long and big (both the American and Japanese). This well know spot is the port where the American Commodore Perry came in the 19th century with big black battleships to essentially force Japan to open up to trade after having about 250 years of isolation. Oddly, I saw Perry's face sort of commemorated on the city's man-hole covers, as well as 'Instant Perry Curry' which you could buy as a souvenir.

As a more personal anecdote, this is also the spot where my Japanese grandmother met my American grandfather, who had enlisted with the marines when they met in the 1950's.

Yokohama city.

Yokohama was really interesting to me in part because of all the Western style buildings and Christian churches we saw. This church is in an old area of town where there are primarily Western, older style houses and churches. I also liked Yokohama because it was very easy to walk around and see a great deal.

Yokohama at night, probably downtown.

Koki and I at the gate to enter Yokohama's Chinatown.

Koki and Kazue in Yokohama's Chintown.

This was taken from Koki's apartment in Tokyo. If you look near the bottom middle-right of the photo you can see Mt. Fuji. The moon was also out at this time, and the weather was great.

From Koki's apartment, taken by Koki.

For New Year's we went to a local temple in the area of Tokyo where Koki and Kazue live called Nishiarai. We walked to this temple at about 12:30 am on New Year's Day, and it was bustling with people. Just walking from Koki's apartment to the temple I noticed a lot of people generally being 'out' to celebrate the holiday. I also noticed a lot of families together. Here I saw a lot of festival food and New Years' items being hawked. The line of people to our right in this photo are going to a shrine to toss a coin and say a prayer for the New Year.

Another tradition in Japan is the ringing of these enormous bells with these enormous wooden sticks. I think at midnight they ring them a certain number of times signifying what year it is according to the Japanese calendar. Then, they open up the ringing to the public. I must say it felt really satisfying to ram this heavy stick against a giant bell and hear such a deep, full ringing sound. I hope someday to find out what it meant.

From left to right: Hideki (Koki's brother), Koki and I in front of a mountain called Asama Mt., or Asama-yama, in Gunma prefecture.

Asama -yama.

Koki, me and Yoshi, who is Koki's sister's husband. It was pretty cold this day but the snow was pretty good for skiing and boarding (not too icy, with some powder towards the higher parts of the mountain). Also, I should mention that this area is really famous for its hot springs (onsen) where people come from all over to check out. At our hotel there was an outdoor onsen where the men would bathe separate from the women (and everyone was naked). It was really a neat experience to sit in the onsen at night with snow flurries and chilly winds coming down off the mountain. When I told my brother Matt about it he said "Yeah, there's nothing that rings in the New Year like sitting naked in the tub with a bunch of Japanese..." Don't push it pal.

On the right is my Grandma's cousin, and Koki's father, Seiichan. He's holding Kentaro, his daughter Ikuyo's 14 month-old boy. On the left is Seiichan's wife, Kyomi.

Me checking out Kentaro, his first time in the snow.

Yoshi and Ikuyo (Seichan's daughter and Koki's sister) with their son Kentaro in front of the hotel we were staying.

My Japanese relatives and I. From left to right, Seiichan, Kazue, Hideki, me, Kentaro and Kyomi, Ikuyo, Yoshi and Koki. I was happy to spend time with them this winter vacation.

Christmas and New Year's in Japan

2008-12-23T03:33:00.000-08:00

This Christmas and New Years I'll be spending time with some relatives in and near Tokyo. My grandmother's cousin's son and wife (Koki and Kazue, who took me to Mt. Aso earlier this year) will be having me over to their place in Tokyo on Christmas day and for a few days after. Then, the 3 of us will go to Koki's father's house in Saitama prefecture, about an hour and a half by train from where Koki and Kazue live in Tokyo. At Koki's dad's house, I will be able to see a few other relatives as well. On New Year's Day we will visit a famous shrine in Tokyo. And somewhere in these 10 days of vacation I have, my relatives and I will travel together to a ski resort - where I am lucky enough to go snowboarding on a mountain in Japan! This is the first winter vacation I have spent away from my immediate family (the Meuse 5). But, this is also the first time anyone in my family has spent these holidays with our Japanese relatives. I am happy to be keeping our family connection going, but I am more immediately excited to eat lots of their food, get to know them better, and check out New Year's in Japan. I've heard it's the biggest holiday celebrated in Japan.

Christmas, however, is a different story. Though I've seen lots of Christmas decorations hung up in department stores (which I spotted even before Thanksgiving!) - and it's hard to walk into any store lately and not hear Christmas music, or flip on the TV and not see some sort of ad with a Christmas jingle, I've seen very little religious connection to the holiday. I asked one of my co-teachers if Japanese people celebrated Christmas, and he told me that on December 24th families and couples get together to have food and drinks. Also, one of my new friends here, who has spent 3+ previous years living in Japan, told me that Christmas here is more like a couples' holiday, while New Year's is more about family time. And, I've asked students a few times now during a warm-up activity, "What date is Christmas?" - and more often than not I've gotten the answer "December 24th." I understand that to expect a largely non-Christian nation to be celebrating a traditional Christian holiday wouldn't make much sense, but it's funny to me to see so many Christmas decorations and hear so many Christmas songs (including ones sung by students) while the true meaning behind the holiday seems to go largely unnoticed. Though I can't speak for all of Japan, and I'm sure there really are lots of Japanese people do celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday, I think this generalization more or less holds true for most of Japan.

Well I wish everyone reading this a Merry, Merry Christmas, and a Happy, Happy New Year. And for all who are enjoying plenty of holiday sweets, I leave you with this picture, taken at the local "Trial Supercenter..."

Asparagus Biscuits anyone?

Back at Shonai Chuu

2008-12-16T04:13:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been through a lot this last week and a half. Today I played some basketball with a few of the older boys from Shonai after having school lunch. I've been playing with these guys pretty regularly now in my short time (3 and a half weeks total) at Shonai Chuu. On the court I couldn't be happier - having a nice pick-up game, usually with fair teams and pretty upbeat and polite dudes. Off the court, in the classroom, is a whole different situation. It's not that I've been the direct target of disrespect. In a way I actually feel respected by these kids because they're willing to listen to me in a way they don't with their regular English teacher, and they are almost always friendly with me.

What really bothers me is that they are allowed to do things in the classroom that are beyond what I consider near to acceptable but are considered a part of everyday life at Shonai Chuu. I can see that when clumps of kids are chatting and not listening to my "American English pronounciation" of a few words - this may not be so bad. But it seems these kids are being brought up to think that it's ok to talk while the teacher is. Or to bring a stray dog into the classroom (this happened yesterday). Or to eat their lunch before everyone else begins eating (a huge cultural no-no). Or to tackle and write on each others' faces with big black pens (I was with one of the English teachers when this happened, and she barely looked up as we walked past these 2 kids). Or to go to the bathroom using urinals that don't have water running in them (this bathroom is also the one the men teachers use, and it really reeks and needs cleaning...its the worst place I can think of at that school). Or to grow up learning to pronounce the word "were" like "waar" because their teacher teaches them that its proper English. Or to hit each other during class and bully one another (one student was punching another student kind of hard in the kidneys, to a point where I felt the need to get in his face to stop him from continuing).

I don't mean to dwell on the negative here...because there really is a lot of good I can say about these kids, their teachers, and the school. I'm just complaining to feel a little better and to give everyone a small sense of what I've been going through lately. Last week was a lot more difficult than this one, and 2 grades of students will be watching "Shrek" tomorrow, so maybe I won't feel like I have to be on high alert like its been so often (to be fair, this 'being on guard' feeling only applies when I've been working with the 2nd and 3rd graders (14-15 year olds) - the 1st graders (+/-13 year olds) have been really awesome to work with). Also, I'm finished working at Shonai on Friday, so I have only three more days there for a while. And, one of their English teachers is leaving on Friday as well, so when I come back I'll be working with a new teacher. Things might be better when I come back...

A Weekend in Seoul

2008-12-02T03:29:00.001-08:00

The reason I haven't posted lately is because I've come down with a cold and I've been keeping pretty busy with laying around. After days of taking it easy, I'm feeling much better now, and I'm happy to be blogging again. The weekend before last I went to Seoul, South Korea, to visit my girlfriend Elizabeth. The plane ride from Fukuoka City (a 45-minute train ride from Iizuka) to Incheon international airport in South Korea took about an hour and a half. I could have taken the ferry across the ocean to Pusan, a port city in South Korea, but because I was going to Seoul (much further inland) the cost of flying ended up being about the same, and overall a lot more convenient. Getting through customs and immigration was pretty easy, going there as well as coming back to Japan.

I had two distinct moments that weekend that gave me a sense of my living in interesting times. The first happened when I was at Fukuoka airport, checking out the crowd about to board a plane for Korea. I saw mostly Japanese and Korean people - older, younger, and of both genders - but I also saw one African lady. She might have been African-American, or African, or of many backgrounds, but it really struck me at that moment how internationalized the world we live in actually is. I was thinking that a few decades ago seeing her there would be something that was unbelievably rare, but now it's a part of everyday life. In any case, I still really wanted to know her story.

The other moment that gave me a funny feeling of our times happened when Elizabeth and I were visiting a temple in the middle of the city (which, by the way, has about 11 million people living in a centralized area - as well about 8 million in the suburbs). As I looked over the Asian style roofing that made up the perimeter of the temple, not only did I see tall buildings but I also saw a big, colorful video screen. We stood in the middle of a temple that was hundreds of years old (though it had been rebuilt and so was new in that sense) - and were looking at a brand new, bright video screen showing an advertisement. This was the second time I thought "Wow...what a funny world to be living in right now."

I can't think of much else to say other than to explain the few good pictures I took and give a big thanks to Elizabeth for being my awesome guide and helping me to a very enriching weekend...

The temple we visited in Seoul.

An area of Seoul called Insadong, which has many small shops, street food stalls, craft booths, and restaurants lining this main pathway and the narrow alleyways on it's sides. I was surprised to see so many people there, but Elizabeth told me that it was comparatively not crowded at that time.

Me at a restaurant in Insadong famous for its dumplings, or mandu. Here I'm about to pick one up with Korean chopsticks, which, unlike in Japan, are made of metal. After getting used to the lighter, wooden chopsticks in Japan, these heavier ones were a little difficult to use. But, on the plus side, I got a nice little hand workout during the meal.

A photo of the subway in Seoul - cheap, convenient, and extensive. Elizabeth and I covered quite a bit of ground in just a few days on this thing. Compared to the subway in Tokyo, the price was significantly cheaper, though the Tokyo subway is also quite extensive. One difference that really struck me as being non-Japanese was seeing people hawking goods on the subway. This is something I don't think would ever fly in Japan, where keeping to yourself (especially among the older generation) is the preferred norm, and having to sit there on a commute to and from work while someone with a raised voice tried to sell you a pipe cleaner would be considered downright rude.

A busy street in Seoul at night...

Fall Pictures

2008-11-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

This was taken in early Autumn, sometime in September. I ride by these rice paddies everyday on my way to one of my schools, Ni-chuu.

Near the same rice paddies, taken last week. I heard that farmers plant wheat to grow after the rice is harvested. I think the dark green rice crops in the picture above might have been where the light green strip of plants are in the background of this picture.

This is a neighborhood near where I live in Iizuka. It looks pretty typical of most of the hoods near my apartment.

Someone's front yard near my apartment.

Iizuka Station, a "Japan Rail" station 2 minutes walking from my apartment. I think these taxis stay in the same spot almost all day as the cabbies wait for passengers.

Namazuta station, a Japan Rail station 3 stops north from Iizuka station. I get off here to go to one of my schools, a 10 minute walk from the station.

The train departing northbound from Namazuta station.

A gas station in Fukuoka City. Do they have this nozzle set up in the states?

A one-car train in a neighboring prefecture called Saga. The one-car trains I've seen tend to be "local trains," stopping at every platform along their route; the "express trains" are much bigger and skip over the less populated stops.

The Colonel, in his proper gi (ghee). This was taken in Kitakyushu, one of the biggest cities in the prefecture (though not as big as Fukuoka City).

This building I found so ugly I had to capture it. In Iizuka, along my bike route to Shonai, one of my schools.

A typical police bike in Iizuka.

Taken a few days ago in the morning on my way to school. These rice and wheat fields are across the narrow road from which I took the first two pictures.

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Part II - Mt. Aso

2008-11-10T02:54:00.000-08:00

I realize this post is a bit overdue - being written a month after I visited Mt. Aso, or Aso-san - but I figure better late than never. So, after spending a spectacular day in October with Taki-san and my cousins in and around Fukuoka city, we spent the next day at Mt. Aso. The drive to get there took about 2-3 hours, taking us through Saga prefecture and into Kumamoto prefecture, where the great crater and mountains reside. Mt. Aso is one of the largest volcanic craters in the world, and still has some volcanic activity going on near Mt. Naka, one of several mountains lining the rim of its crater. The crater was once an enormous volcano that erupted hundreds of thousands of years ago and tens of thousands of years ago (maybe 4 times total) to form a bowl about 12 miles across. There is a small town currently in the middle of it named Aso.

Before we reached Mt. Aso, we went to a beautiful area with large rocky cliffs and a gulley that you can float through on rented boats. We wanted to rent a couple of boats and paddle our way through, but the wait to rent one was 3 hours. It was a three-day weekend in October, and there were plenty of tourists that day. After taking a bus down a steep road leading to the level of the gulley, we ended up hiking a short ways through the shaded area near the water. The sky that day was clear blue, and it was pretty warm out, so the jaunt through the gulley was really refreshing. On the hike Taki-san read a Japanese sign for me that told of a spot where samurai used to try to vault themselves over the river using large sticks. I asked "Did any of them fall?" He knew some English, and told me a few did - as the sign had pointed out. On the short hike we saw some people paddling their way through the gulley. As one boat slowly rammed the rocky cliff edge, Taki-san looked at me and said, "No technique," and we both started laughing.

It was great being able to visit this magnificent place with two nice families. On the drive there and back I was able to sit in the backseat of the car and check out the scenery without having to worry about finding my way around; this is something that hasn't happened too often for me since I've been here. Also, every meal we had that weekend was like an event, whether I was being shown the proper way to slurp up cold udon noodles (it's pretty easy actually - you just pretend you're using a straw with your lips) or being fed several dishes of delicious Japanese food in one sitting. I wonder how in the world I ended up being with such a nice and funny group of people to show me around Japan. At the ramen-dinner, I asked Taki-san what was in this green bottle sitting at the table. "It's spicy," he said, "has a spicy smell." He then lifted his right arm and pointed to his armpit with his left hand. "Like this," he said. I know his son Futa heard that one because at the end our trip, after we got back from Mt. Aso, he looked up as he took his shoes off in the car, smiled, and said "Spicy smell..."

The tops of the cliffs lining the gulley near Mt. Aso

Futa and Koki walking towards the gulley

Also, I forgot to mention it had rained the day before this picture was taken, so the air was extra fresh, especially walking down by this gully...

This is a picture taken from a park in the middle of the volcanic crater of Mt. Aso. The mountain in the background is one of several that line the outer rim of the crater.

I know my posts have been a bit sporadic but I hope to post another one soon. In general I'm doing fine at the moment with my schools and everything else, and I hope everyone is gettin' along alright.

My Wonderful Weekend in October Part I

2008-10-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

This man is a skilled ramen-chef and also a showman. He would take his ramen-paddle and throw noodles behind his back, catch them all, and them throw them back to his front with great ease. Then, as he would slide the ramen noodles into a bowl he would stare at someone sitting at his table, or at a few people, and he would make his eyes big and his mouth twitch like he was Charlie Chaplin. He made everyone at his table laugh, and during our 2 hour yakitori and ramen dinner we all laughed several times.

Earlier this month my distant cousins, Koki and Kazue, came from Tokyo to visit me in Fukuoka City. There Koki's friend from work, Taki-san, along with his wife and son Futa, gave us a tour of the city for a day, and a tour of the countryside of Kyushu the next day. I'll explain more of our trip to the countryside in my next entry, but first I have to describe what happened to us at this ramen-hut dinner.

If you can see what looks like a UFO on the upper edge, middle-right part of this photo, you are looking at a small pile of ramen, sailing over the ramen hut on the right side the picture. The chef asked me to stand up and go into the street with a ramen-paddle, and hold it out. Then, he took a pile of ramen and heaved it clear over the hut for me to catch. I was quite nervous at first, and the look of sheer concentration on my face, with my chin-out and my neck strained, should say a little about how much I wanted to succeed. People from other ramen-huts came over (we were on a street lined full with them) to check out the show. Well, when the ramen came down, I let it slip from the paddle and hit the dirty street. The chef quickly ran into the street, looked around, and grabbed the ramen to hurry it back to his hut. Then, he tossed a second pile over the hut. This time I caught a small amount in the paddle. Meanwhile, more people were gathering around and more photos were being taken of the foreigner with the ramen-paddle. The chef hucked his last pile of ramen, and on the third throw I caught most of the noodles. At this point the ramen- heavy odor in the air was accompanied by true excitement. I was being cheered on, especially by my family and friends.

Triumphant me.

From left to right: Kazue, me, Futa, Koki, and Taki-san.

Fukuoka City and Tenjin

2008-10-21T04:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to a professional soccer game in Fukuoka city. The teams playing were the home team, representing Fukuoka, and a team from Yokohama. One of my new friends, William, a guy who works for the same company as I, and who also lives in Iizuka, scored me a free ticket. This was my first pro soccer game experience, and I really had a good time. I can't say I noticed a great deal of differences between this game and soccer games that are played in the states or in Europe, other than the fans were all Japanese, as was most of the food. I ate a juicy sausage link on a stick.

Its been really great being able to visit Fukuoka city on the weekends. From Iizuka, a train ride to Fukuoka city takes about 45 minutes and costs about 6 dollars. Fukuoka city is the biggest city in Fukuoka prefecture and I think has around 1 million and a half people. It reminds me of Portland, OR, in a lot of ways; the city is located right on the water, its has a sort of cosmopolitan feel to it (for Japan anyway - in Fukuoka city there are a lot of foreigners living amongst the Japanese), and there is a lot to do culturally. A few weekends ago I visited Tenjin, the older, more central part of Fukuoka city. It's difficult to tell much about how old things are in Tenjin, though, or anywhere in Fukuoka city really, because most of the buildings look so new.

When I was in Tenjin there was a music festival going on and several stages were set up within a few blocks to showcase bands from Kyushu and around Japan. I caught one bigger show in front of the city hall, and there were several other groups playing well within walking distance from there. It was a free show, and went on for two days. William and I were able to catch the tail end of a Japanese "Ventures" cover band performance. This group of mostly older Japanese men played some fantastic surf-rock to a small, older crowd of Japanese people. I really loved what I saw.

Its been nice for me to be able to visit Fukuoka City and Tenjin and get a change of scenery from Iizuka. The night life is big, the food is great, the people dress stylish and funny, and it's pretty easy to get around. The pictures I'm posting are of: me at the soccer game, a nighttime shot from a bridge in Fukuoka city, a shot of people walking around Nakasu, the big entertainment district in Fukuoka city, and a clip of some Japanese guys rockin' out in tribute to the Ventures.

Two Weeks at Shonai

2008-10-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

These past two weeks have been the best and worst of times for me as an English teacher in Japan. I've been working at Shonai Chuu Gakko, a junior high school on the outskirts of Iizuka. Shonai is a small country suburb of Iizuka, surrounded by some rice farms and countryside. It's about a 25 minute bike ride from my place in Iizuka.

During my first two days at Shonai the rain fell pretty heavily. On my first day I actually fell off my bike on the way to school because raindrops covered my glasses and blocked my vision. After crossing a crosswalk on an expressway, I sideswiped a pole on the sidewalk. I fell off the side of my bike to the ground and a Japanese civil service worker picked up my backpack wrapped in a plastic bag and handed it to me. I'm sure it was a sight for those drivers that Monday morning to see me wearing my all grey rainsuit and shiny black rubber boots eat it on the sidewalk with my shiny red bike. Overall, no substantial damage happened to the bike, and I was just fine. It really was a trek getting to and from Shonai everyday (especially with the hills), but for the first two days it felt like a mission.

I noticed some stark differences between the ichi-nensei (7th grade), ni-nensei (8th grade), and san-nensei (9th grade) students at Shonai. During my first day, the ichi-nensei students were eager to ask me questions in English and partipate in the lesson. In general, I couldn't have asked for better students; I've never seen such an outgoing, friendly group of kids at junior high school here so far. One class loved to sing, and they sang "Country Road" by John Denver with pretty good voices! The teacher for the ichi-nensei students I felt had a good command of the students attention, and she was very conscious of trying to help the students improve their pronounciation and intonation (like saying the word 'student' instead of 'student-o' and learning how to raise their voices slightly at the end of a sentence when they asked a question).

The ni-nensei and san-nensei classrooms had a very different dynamic, and most of the time a different English teacher. I really had some difficulty working with this English teacher. It really surprised me how poor her English speaking ability was. Often times when she would try to help the students form a sentence in English all the grammar would be mixed up. The students didn't know any better, so numerous times when I was with her she was teaching them really poor English. Also, I felt like she could have had a better command of the students' attention. At times I felt like my place in the classroom was nothing more than a mouthpiece for her lesson. During one class period, she pointed to the textbook and said to me, "These sentences, repeat after students," which meant "Can you please read these sentences and have the students repeat them after you?" I looked at the students and noticed half of them were talking while the other half were listening. I asked her, "Now?" and she said, "Yes." So, I ended up reading sentences to a classroom of students of which only half of them were paying attention. This happened to me a few times while I was at Shonai.

The two English teachers I worked with at Shonai received treatment from the students they didn't deserve. They are working within a school system that allows them little room to take any sort of disciplinary action towards the students. I don't know the half of it, but I know it made me sad to see a student take the teacher's textbook, watch the teacher get angry and throw it at the wall in frustration, and then sit laughing while a third of the students laughed as well or sat smiling.

Yet while there things that really irked me about some of the students at Shonai, I also noticed something really genuine and honest about them. They had a self-confidence and forthrightness that I didn't see that often from students at Ichuu or Nichuu. At Ichuu and Nichuu, most of my interactions with the students were marked by nervous giggles among the girls and shy greetings among the boys. At Shonai, I felt like I was getting to know the students at a deeper level.

In order the pictures are of: Shonai Chuu Gakko, the countryside surrounding Shonai the morning after 2 days of heavy rain, a freshly harvested [rice] farm near Shonai.

Playing Basketball at Ni-Chuu

2008-10-02T03:02:00.000-07:00

Ni-Chuu is the nickname of my second school. Its full name is Iizuka Dai-Ni Chuu Gakko. Chuu Gakko means "junior high school" in Japanese. While working at Ni-Chuu, I decided I wanted to play basketball with the school's basketball club. I had played one time with the basketball club at I-Chuu (Iizuka Dai-ichi Chuu Gakko), the first school I began work at, and I wanted to try out some hoops with the Ni-Chuu kids. I asked the English teacher if I could play with the team, and he said "Of course, let me ask the supervisor and I will be back." After coming back from the gym, he told me he would take me back to the gym so I could meet the club members. As I walked through the gym doors, I saw a group of seven junior-high age girls in basketball clothes walking up to meet me. They all circled around me and gave me these nice, big, simultaneous bows, and then I stood there feeling confused as to what I should do next.

The fact is that Ni-Chuu doesn't have enough coaching support for a boys basketball team, so, in my case, I could either choose to hoop it up with these girls or politely say no. I decided do have practice with them, thinking I could just join in on their drills or games and play some easy ball after a days teaching. It pretty much worked out this way during my first practice with them, so I felt pretty good about saying I would come back to play with them again. Well, the next time I played with them, the supervisor happened to be at an important baseball game for the local pro team around here, the Softbank Hawks. I walked into the gym again, and the girls gave me their usual greeting of respect of bowing, and I stood there again feeling awkward. "Nani-o shimasu ka?" one of the girls asked me...(What are we going to do?) "Lets play basketball," I said, really hoping they would just go into their normal routine like the last time. In fact, they started to do one of their usual drills, but during this I realized that they should have been doing some better warm-up drills, liking working on lay-ups. So, I taught them a new lay-up drill, and also showed them how to work on their reverse lay-ups. After this, I taught them other drills, thinking they would really be helpful for them when it came time to scrimmage. I ended up leading these girls through a 2 hour basketball practice.

I felt some stress during this practice because I knew I could teach them some great new things (not to mention some of their shooting forms were pretty shabby looking), but I also knew that they had a supervisor, and I didn't know much about his openness to me teaching these girls new things. I did know that some of the English teachers I'd been working with acted conservatively in the classroom, and were very "by the book" in the way they taught the class. Allowing creativity to flourish definetely is not a high priority in their classrooms. I'd say this is a trait that is more or less general to all of the English classes I've seen so far (for example, I know at least four English teachers from two different schools who have taught students ranging from ichi nensei, or 7th graders, to san-nensei, 9th graders, to answer the question "How are you?" with nothing but "I'm fine, thank you. And you?") - but it really does depends on the teacher. I think its also relevant that I am living in a semi-rural area as well - so maybe classes are taught differently in the heart of Tokyo?

Anyway, I hadn't worked with the basketball supervisor, Hano-sensei, and so when he came back the next day, I asked him if it was ok that I was teaching the girls new things (my Japanese at this point amounted to me pointing at what the girls were doing and asking - is this ok?)... He understood my question, and said back to me in Japanese "Its ok, please help me..." This really was quite a relief for me - but I have to admit I still felt a little funny teaching these girls how to bust a spin move on the court the next day.

I'll be back to that school in another 8 weeks, and I think I'll be leading some more practices at that time...

Some Iizuka history and a note on cannibus air fresheners

2008-09-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I visited the Iizuka Museum of Natural History. Asking the receptionist if any of the exhibits were in English (Eigo-de?) - and I was a bit let down to find out that everything was in Japanese. So, it being a small museum, and me not being able to read hardly any Japanese, I zipped through the museum in about half an hour. After returning to the entrance, the same lady introduced me to one of the curators, and she told me that he spoke some English. He then showed me a few things on the first floor of the museum, and, between his semi-decent English and my poor Japanese, I was able to understand a fair amount of what he showed me. He ended up taking me through the entire museum (not big, but really a lot to look at) - explaining quite a bit to me about what I had previously breezed by. I found out that where we are in Fukuoka is very near the port from which all of the culture that came from China and Korea entered Japan. That is, when metal-making, rice cultivation, Buddhism, porcelain, and many other things came to Japan, they came to Kyushu first, and then spread throughout the rest of Japan (with the exception of the northern island, Hokkaido).

This I find interesting I because at my first school I remember seeing clay dolls and dishes in a glass case outside the teachers room that looked a lot like some Japanese artifacts I had seen in slide form while I was taking a Japansese Art History class at Lane Community College. Come to find out, these dolls and earthenware were the exact things I had been studying in college, and just some of the many cultural remnants that first came to Japan through the area I'm now living in! The curator told me about a few excavations that had recently been done, uncovering artifacts like clay tombs that are about 2,000 years old - around a nearby Iizuka elementary school.

Another interesting note he told me was about this group of three, pointy-looking mountains that are clearly visible from where I live in Iizuka. He said that in the 19th century, coal mining techniques were adopted from Europe - and these mountains are part of the result. Basically, the mountains aren't really mountains at all - they are made of "slack," which is the excess material that is left over after the coal is separated from the earth. I find these to be a little bit funny because when I first moved in, I thought "Wow, these mountains look kind of pretty..." and had even thought of posting a picture of the "nice view" I had in Iizuka. Now, after I know they aren't natural mountains at all, they seem really ugly and very unnatural looking.

The faux-mountains in Iizuka - remnants of the days when when it was a coal-mining town.

On a bike-ride to my first school, I noticed a cannibus-leaf air freshener in what looked like a family car, and was really puzzled at the incongruity. But, after seeing that the only selection of air fresheners in what amounts to the "Iizuka Wal-Mart" are cannibus leaf-style, I am really not surprised at all, and won't be surprised to see plenty more in vehicles with non pot-smoking Japanese families. The last picture I'm posting is of the selection of air fresheners at the local "Trial Supercenter," a big superstore and 15 minute walk from my house where I do most of my shopping.

Trial, where I buy most of my household goods...

Trial's selection of car-air fresheners...

My first two weeks at school

2008-09-14T04:37:00.000-07:00

I have finished my first two weeks of teaching at my first junior high school. At this particular school there were 4 classes of about 30 7th graders (in Japan they are called ichi nensei, or 1st graders), 4 classes of 30 or so 8th graders (ni-nensei), and 5 classes of 30 or so 9th graders (san-nensei). I assisted the regular Japanese English teachers in about 22 English classes over two weeks, and I did one self-introduction for each class. My self introduction was really just 15 minutes of me showing the class pictures of my family, the American flag, and cartoons I drew that describe myself and where I am from, Oregon. I tried to speak clearly, and showed them all what a 'hacky-sack' is, and demonstrated by kicking it a few times. The students were all exceptionally well-behaved and listened attentively to my introduction. The dynamics of the classes differed between the three grades, each having a different Japanese English teacher, and each undergoing their various stages of puberty.

Three of my intro cards, in order:

I have to say that there has been some laughter, some bewildered looks, and plenty of both from the students after showing them these three cards. There was one class I can remember where I was standing in the front, rubbing my head, saying 'Japanese...' then rubbing my arm, saying 'American...' - only to see puzzled looks and hear silence.

One thing I found really interesting at this school is the lunch time routine. First of all, for the daily 'school routine', students stay in the same classroom for every class, and the teachers move around from classroom to classroom. At my junior high school the teachers stayed put and the students moved around. As for lunch, the students eat at their own desks, after arranging their desks into small groups that are their 'lunch groups.' During my first lunch at the school, I spent some time trying to speak English to the students, and before I knew it, the students were cleaning up their dishes and putting their desks back in order. Actual eating time was only about 15 minutes long! I barely got into my teriyaki patty sandwich that day, and I was pretty hungry after I went back to the teachers room. I've learned to eat a little faster since then.

My involvement in the classroom has been varied between the three Japanese English teachers. While each one is required to work out the textbook handed down to them from the Board of Education, they all varied quite a bit in their teaching styles and so my involvement has been different for each grade. For the ni-nensei teacher, for example, I did much assisting with the lessons that came straight from the teacher's version of the textbook, and for the ichi and san-nensei teachers I was able to create a few games and lessons to supplement their own lessons for the day. Last week I saw that the san-nensei classes were about to begin a section from their books that talked about Stevie Wonder, and so I asked the teacher (a younger girl, 25 years old) if I could play a Stevie Wonder song for the class and hand out lyric sheets that they could follow along with and fill in where I left blank spaces. She was totally game, and so we spent about 15 minutes at the end of class listening to Stevie sing 'A Place in the Sun' while the students wrote down whatever words or sounds they could make out. I was pretty thrilled to watch a group of 30 15-year old Japanese students reading along and listening to Stevie belt out a hopeful song...

Some junior high boys taking a break after lunch...

Some girls playing volleyball in the schoolyard at recess...

My new place, bicycle, and address

2008-09-07T05:06:00.001-07:00

I've heard that most housing in the Kyushu area is un-furnished. This means that you are set up in a place with no light bulbs or anything to start with. Also, often times new residents have to pay deposit fees that cover 3-4 months ahead, making moving in a very expensive deal. My place, a newer apartment complex called 'Leo Palace,' is semi-furnished, and I have only one fee to pay for moving in. The downside is that the monthly rent is more expensive than those other, non-furnished places. In any case, my little place came equipped with a washing machine, fridge, microwave, and tv. Today I was hanging my laundry out to dry, a new experience for me that left me hoping for some nice Sunday sunshine. It came, otherwise I would have had to hang my laundry inside somehow...

Upon entering, my place has a narrow corridor, where you must take off your shoes so as to keep the hardwood floors nice. In that corridor you will find my kitchen, and off to the right you will find my bathroom. I have a small bathtub that is deep, and a mobile showerhead. Past the bathroom is my living room, where I recently bought a nice looking tatami mat, which, in my opinion, really ties the room together! My sleeping place is actually a loft, set above the living room which I have to climb a ladder to get to. Its really too hot to be sleeping up there now (even the nice air conditioning unit I have doesn't really reach that far), so I've been sleeping on a futon in the living room. But I do think the loft will serve me well in the winter. Overall, I am really happy with my new place. The smaller amount of space here has really forced me to organize my living so that I am economizing more with food, appliances, and stuff in general. I do miss buying large jugs of orange juice (Simply Orange is my favorite) at a time, though...

The corridor and kitchen...

My living room...

My empty loft...

I also bought a bike to get around. I spotted this shiny red bike at the local 'Trial Supercenter' that really caught my eye, and was relatively cheap. The day after I bought it, one of the guys who led the training for junior high English teachers told me that he had three bikes stolen in three weeks. I said, "Maybe it didn't help that I bought a red one..." He was living in a different city, but I think bikes do get stolen around here as well. There are quite a few local high school drop outs dubbed 'Yankees' here that may be prone to cause mischief. I didn't want to take any chances with my new bike, so I bought two locks, in addition to the one it came with. I have definitely become pretty attached to this bike. I've been biking to and from my first junior high school every work day, and it takes me about 15 minutes to get there or back. I've felt a renewed sense of fun riding this bike, but we are just beginning typhoon season here so we'll see how I feel in the next few months!

My new ride...

Lastly, my new address is:

Paul Meuse
Apt. 111
2-4-32
Komodanishi
Iizuka City
Fukuoka 820-0017

What I am up to for the next seven months

2008-09-02T05:20:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! This summer I was hired by a company called One World Language Services (OWLS) to teach English to junior high school boys and girls attending public schools in a place called Iizuka City, Japan. I will be working as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), or aide to the regular Japanese English teachers at four different junior high schools in the Iizuka area. I will work at one school for two weeks at a time, and then rotate schools until I am back at the first school. Iizuka is a medium-sized town located in Fukuoka prefecture, on the southern island of Kyushu in Japan. The town is located in a semi-rural area of Japan, and is the largest city among the surrounding cities in the area. If you want to know more about Iizuka, you can look here. I you want to know more about OWLS you can check out their website here. I start my first day of teaching tomorrow, so wish me luck!