I'm in the newspaper again

On Tuesday, about 60 people came to one of my schools to watch my class. They've been doing research on elementary English education and this was (I think) the end of it with a big presentation to finish it up. I don't think the story is online at all, but I have picked up a copy that I will try to put up later.

English class

Considering that my job is teaching English and it is probably the one thing I do most often here, I should probably write more about it. The second year students at my jr. high school (roughly 8th graders) have been divided into two sections. More accurately, the school has taken out four or five bad students from both classes to teach them separately. Some of these kids have behavior problems and at least one was removed from the normal class explicitly because of this. If I am free, I usually help the Japanese teacher who teaches this class.

They aren't particularly bad, just a little noisy and noticeably uninterested in English. Occasionally one will abruptly get up to leave the room, complaining of a fever or stomachache. Sometimes we have to ask why they are leaving before they offer an excuse. If we challenge them on their reason for leaving it generally results in more class disruption and a longer absence by the students.

Last Thursday one of the other ALTs at my company (same job as I have) came to watch my classes. The first three went relatively well. During the last class one of the more disruptive kids jumped out of his seat, whipped off his belt, and unzipped his pants. At that exact moment in time I thought it was as likely as not he would pull down the gym shorts he wore underneath. It turned out his was tucking in his shirt.

The Japanese teacher, the other ALT, and I were all shocked. This quickly, if awkwardly, became funny as we laughed it off. A few minutes later when the Japanese teacher was explaining grammar to the student,s I made a slight gesture as if I were removing my belt to the other ALT. He, lacking an understanding of subtly, dramatically mimicked the same. One of the kids noticed the other ALT and immediately cracked up. I had managed to embarrass him without casting any suspicion on myself.

On another note, my first year jr. high students have been writing out times long-hand, for example writing 8:35 as eight thirty-five. A few have written 7:05 and I have no idea how to write this, nor have I found any solution online. Typically they write seven five, which makes sense in Japanese but not English. I would think seven o' five works because you can write seven o' clock. Really I don't know and am trying to hide this fact from the Japanese teachers.

For the record, I think you should write it as 7:05, or simply round to the hour.

PS if anyone knows what time "tit eighty" is, let me know.

My kitchen is too small

Pictures from my latest attempt to make mac and cheese. This is literally all the space I have for my kitchen. I call it washing machine mac and cheese, because I grated the cheese over my washing machine to the right of the stove. It's half mozzarella and half cheddar (white cheddar). Those are two of the three kinds of cheeses available at the local grocery store that aren't simply referred to as "cheese".





I also found this at a local convenience store. I don't know if it's a throwback or just a special new label for the beer, but it was a lot better than the weird chocolate-beer I tried one time:

Softbank is not a bank

It's a cellphone company. I've met a couple people who thought it was a bank and wanted to exchange money there. Recently, there have been commercials for Softbank featuring a family with a dog for the father and a black guy for the oldest son. Even the commercials I can understand I do not understand.





Maybe Tarentino does.

Expats

Recently I went out to dinner with some co-workers who live in different parts of Kyoto than me. So close enough that we can get together often, but far enough that we don't. It's interesting to talk with other foreigners here and nice that I don't have to simplify my language or think hard about what I'm trying say. I've met expats from various English-speaking countries mostly (or at least plurally) from the US. Although there are people working for private, non-English education companies, most who I've met are either students, college professors, or English teachers. A lot of the English teachers can fit into one of several categories;

'Taking a year off' - people who know very little Japanese before coming here, typically recent college grads who want to party for a year or two before getting a real job, who are unable to find employment in their own country, or 20-somethings in transition looking for something fun to bolster their resume;

Teachers - people who are primarily interested in teaching as a career who go to Japan for low-risk, entry-level experience (I'm told high school teachers at a US base in a foreign country get paid really, really well);

'Fanboys' (or girls) - Japanphiles who love Anime, Manga (comics), and anything that even resembles Japan - this is the image that many people in my Japanese class in college tried to avoid;

Japanese majors - people who have invested so much time in Japanese that they have to live in Japan to justify it, but who aren't yet good enough at Japanese to get a non-English teaching job;

I don't think I fit particularly well into any of these groups. I wouldn't say that I'm taking a year off. I wanted to come to Japan because it's Japan, not because it pays better than Korea or Taiwan. I don't think I want to teach as a career, at least not English or anything lower than high school. I like a lot about Japanese culture, but not obsessively so (I read some manga but more for study than enjoyment; it's easier than newspapers or books, plus it's a lot more prevalent here). I have yet to meet another person who's reason for living in Japan is ostensibly 'learn Japanese well enough to get a job at the State Department'.

There's another group of people who are universally reviled by most the expats I've met; men who came to Japan to date Japanese women. While it's impossible to prove that many people come here for that sole purpose, rumors abound. I'm not sure how to describe these guys so I'll just take the Potter Stewart quote that "I know it when I see it". Just think of some sleazy guy you've seen try to pick up a girl at a bar and replace them with a creepy guy who would never be able to do so in the US (yet some how succeeds).

A lot of people at my company are married to a Japanese person and have kids which, I'm told, effectively cements you to the country until they finish high school. I wouldn't consider them the same as the guys who come here to date Japanese girls, though some of them probably started that way. Typically their spouse has a job that pays a lot better and many are part-time while they take care of the kids.

Pan-kun

Japanese TV can be pretty different from anything I'm used to in the US. There are some dramas and kids shows, but I don't think I've ever seen anything like a sitcom. Most of the shows I see have a bunch of people (who are apparently celebrities, though none stand out to me) sitting around watching videos clips based on some kind of theme. Usually they show the clip on the TV and people's reactions in a small box on the side. Most clips are easy to understand even if don't know Japanese. A lot of Japanese humor is slapstick or puns; a lot of people I've met don't really get sarcasm or irony.

Anyway, one show sometimes features a chimpanzee, Pan-kun, and his dog James performing everyday tasks. It's pretty funny and I don't think knowing Japanese adds a whole lot to it.

Here Pan-kun and James are crossing a river. Later, as Pan-kun is getting water for James, he encounters something dangerous. Finally, Pan-kun takes the train home.

Battle brewing on farm as boss bear not up to scratch | The Japan Times Online

Battle brewing on farm as boss bear not up to scratch | The Japan Times Online

Front page news on the Japantimes.com, one of the most popular English-language news sites. Sometimes I find Japanese news to be very odd.

Snow

It has snowed here a couple times, but none of it has stuck for more than a few hours. Here's some pictures I took on New Year's morning as I was coming back from the train:


A bridge over the main river that goes through town.


A field near my house


Down the street from my apartment.

I stayed in this hotel!

When I went to Tokyo for New Year's three years ago, we stayed at a capsule hotel in Kabukicho. I saw this story at the New York Times and recognized the place from its photos. I may have even stayed in the same capsule: