He was helping Grandma.
She was listening to the radio.
They were cooking supper.

And in one student’s notebook, I got:

She was listening supper.
He was helping radio.

And the best one!

They were cooking Grandma.

Um….ouch?

Singing doe-ray-me

I love my Kosuke’s face in this one (back row and far right). There are more pictures like this on Flickr with more of my students. I have a ton!

Singing and dancing to “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” I was the mother goat and forced to wear a very unflattering skirt and goat ears. I’m partial to the ears though.

I was also a tree spirit. The wind spirit forgot most of his lines so I spent a lot of time whispering them to him.

And a shot of all of us teachers…and DJ who showed up at the very end.

I leave in a couple of hours for the airport and I’m very excited. Yea! We’re staying near Honolulu for a week. I will try give updates while I’m gone, but I don’t know how feasible that’ll be. I guess I’ll find out when I get there. Be back soon!

Later two of my students were given their final prep. lesson since the test was the next morning. The Japanese teacher and I gave them a listening test by CD, so all I had to do was sit there, listen and give the correct answer. Here’s an example:

Woman: Excuse me. Where is the ketchup?
Man: I’m sorry, I don’t work here.
Woman: Oh, excuse me. I’m sorry.
Man: That’s ok!

Question: Where are they?
1. In the grocery store.
2. At home.
3. Driving a car.
4. At the circus.

You get the jist. This class has a boy and a girl and the boy is endlessly entertaining. He’s very concerned about how he’ll do and so after every question he looks at us to confirm if he’s right. If he’s wrong he’ll get up and pace or fall off his chair and make moaning noises. When he gets a question right he’ll strut around, crowing to himself. He’s the one who, when we were going over adjectives, kept pointing to the Japanese teacher and yelling, “old!” and “ugly!” and then pointing at me and yelling, “young!” and ” pretty!” It was all in good fun, although I’m not sure the Japanese teacher appreciated it all that much. He really is a sweetie though. And not just because he called me pretty. He always takes care to make sure that the shy girl in the class understands and is taken care of, too.

Then last night I had my two seven year old students. The second lesson is always hilarious because my student is so crazy (she’s a silly seven year old girl). I brought some games over and she really enjoyed playing them. Her mom usually takes part in the lessons and last night was no different. My student was saying how cute something was, so to be funny I said “cute” in Japanese (Kawaii). They were both shocked to hear any sort of Japanese come out of my mouth (I really don’t speak much at all) and then later I picked out the word “Junken” which is the game, rock, paper, scissors. They seemed really impressed at my knowing the words, and I think they believe I now speak much more Japanese than I do. I have to say though, that I can usually follow along with a conversation as long as I know the topic and what they might say. I listen for the occasional English word, watch their body language and look for cues that would indicate where the conversation is going. As a foreigner for four out of the past five years, I started to learn and use other ways of communication when I couldn’t use the language well. People are people and we all use the same mechanisms to communicate. It just takes some concentration and practice.

But after that class I was able to come home and relax and watch some American Idol. I do enjoy it, and I enjoy watching it with D.J. (he hates it, but watches with me because I insist), but I could see this or the next year as its last. I think it’s about time.

Today was also the first day back to school after the holidays for some of the kids. This did not go over well for one of the students in my class. This first class is always the hardest for me because this class is full of three year olds (thankfully it’s the only one). We even got a new student today so now we’re up to five 3 year olds. They are really cute, but they have so much energy and understand so little, that I just feel at a loss to do much. The teacher I work with there is very good with them, thank god. I know that she would like me to become more assertive and take more control over the class, but I just get so lost. I can’t teach English while trying to get two boys from head butting each other and two others from spinning around in a circle and one launching himself off of the table. They don’t understand my commands and so she is able to grab their attention in Japanese and then steer it back to English. This is obviously another reason why I need to learn Japanese, but one thing at a time.

So they begin the class with one child knocking on the door. (This is routine for all classes). “Who is it?” The first child asks. “It’s me (fill in the name), may I come in?” “Yes, you may!” And then the long handshake “Hello, how are you doing?” “Just fine thank you, and you?” “I’m fine too, thank you. Please come in and take off your shoes.”

It’s the same routine every single class and he’s been at this school for at least a year. But, with two weeks away from school…he wasn’t happy about having to do it again and so he screamed and cried. We didn’t try to make him do the introductions once he started crying and he calmed down fairly soon afterwards. Then a half hour into the class, he and another boy are rough housing and he falls and the water works start again. I don’t know what was with him today…I’ve seen this kid launch himself all over the room, falling and banging into things, but today was the first time I’ve seen tears. His mom sat through the class since he’d cried at the beginning and she just sat there giggling at him. I felt a little bad for him, but well…not that bad.

In Japan, you don’t change religions or follow one path instead of another. You can pick bits and pieces from any religion and follow them all. You aren’t categorized the way you are in the states with one religion or another. You can believe some of buddhism, shinto, christian or nothing at all. It really doesn’t matter. And their celebration of Christmas is purely material. I asked one of my students the other day what she did to celebrate Christmas (it’s becoming very fashionable to celebrate Christmas here). She answered that she and her friends (she’s in her mid thirties, mind you) get together in a parking lot, exchange gifts and get really drunk.

The New Year is the really big holiday here, though. Since years are traditionally viewed as completely separate, they spend days before New Years eve cleaning the house so that they can usher in the new year with a clean slate. Everything is supposed to be finished so that you can leave last years worries and troubles behind. Everything is closed and people stay home with their families or visit the shrines until everything opens back up again on the 4th.

I’m can’t say I’m all that enthused about getting smashed in a freezing parking lot on Christmas, but I do fully get behind their New Years traditions. I like the idea of entering the year with a clean slate (and a clean house). I have to admit, the sparkling house thing might be a little tough for me…but I’m working on it!

And since all work is to be finished and you’re not supposed to be worried about cooking or cleaning, you can stock up with these ready made food items. You see them on sale in the grocery stores everywhere. As long as you’re a fan of gelatinous muck and other fishy and veggie items, you’re good to go! (I’ll have to pass – I’ve got some yummy Christmas cookies that Mom and Gram sent in the mail. They could last me. Maybe. Or not.) So, in the spirit of Japanese traditions, I’ll pick and choose what to follow and what not to! You can’t make me eat what’s in those boxes for three days. It’s just not gonna happen.

Osechi Ryori