On numerous occasions since I've been here, I've been given free things simply because I'm a foreigner. At one bar in town I've had more drinks bought for me than I can remember (all, unfortunately, from middle-aged men rather than like-aged women). At school lunches the tea ladies always give me extra food. One person was very insistent on giving me a guitar, though he constantly forgets to bring the actual guitar (which is probably a good thing).
Last Tuesday was 'culture day' so I went to the museum of traditional handicrafts in Kyoto. It had kimonos, painted fans, ornate furniture, and various other wares on display. The best part of it was that actual artists were there working on their projects and able to explain to people what they were doing (well, to Japanese people at least, though the other displays had English). I went into some kind of special exhibition room and some older women were three dressed in kimonos. One of the women, who was apparently the best at English in that she spoke maybe three words of it to me, guided me around. When I complemented One woman's kimono she gave me a scarf. Then all the other women decided to give me something along those lines. I ended up with free stuff for no reason other than being a foreign willing to listen to them.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Beat Festival
On Saturday I went to a "Beat Festival" in my town, Sonobe. Some of the kids from my school were performing on Taiko drums so I stopped by to see it. If you aren't familiar with Taiko drums, they are (typically) pretty big drums, but sometimes there are smaller one to keep a beat or bamboo shafts to make different noises. They can be incredibly loud, though aren't overbearing close up. I could vaguely hear the drums from outside my apartment a mile away. The first group was 1st-3rd graders, the second group was 4th-6th graders. They performed everything by memory.
The performance was held inside Sonobe Castle. I don't know how old the building itself is, but it's likely a reconstruction of an older castle that used to stand there. It has a newer part attached to it and several municipal buildings nearby. The local high school is also close by.
The performance was held inside Sonobe Castle. I don't know how old the building itself is, but it's likely a reconstruction of an older castle that used to stand there. It has a newer part attached to it and several municipal buildings nearby. The local high school is also close by.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
What I taught my kids about Halloween
In a couple of my classes this week we talked about Halloween. I tried to explain some of the candy in America, much of which was incomprehensible to them. In most classes, someone asked me what "Trick or Treat" meant. I tried to explain that treat was the same as candy and trick was something you do if they don't give you a treat. They persisted to ask what kind of trick, which caught me completely off guard, so I said you would throw toilet paper over their house. I even drew picture of toilet paper covering trees.
If I see toilet papered houses this weekend, I might call in sick next week.
If I see toilet papered houses this weekend, I might call in sick next week.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
On cheating
Last week the kids at my middle school had midterms. Before handing back the students' tests one of the English teachers made copies to try and see which questions were too difficult and what could be improved. Some of the students said she made a mistake which, in several cases, was true. However, for at least one student (perhaps three, I didn't quite catch it) it wasn't true and he was caught red handed trying to change answers after the fact.
The English teacher talked to his homeroom teacher who talked to him today in a room typically used by students making up missed tests. Whatever was said in there got pretty heated; I could hear the homeroom teacher yelling and other teachers would pretend to read newspapers near the door to listen in. When they were done the teacher was actually in a good mood and only restrained herself from laughing until after he was out of earshot from the office. She told us that the kid denied everything outright, said it was impossible that the test was changed (despite having a copy from before the change), and even tried to blame someone else.
It's interesting to see these kinds of things from the teacher's perspective. I don't know what, if any, punishment the kid got for trying to cheat, but the teachers viewed the incident as a comically failed attempt at cheating. They preferred ridiculing his ineptness to scolding his bad habits, at least in front of the other teachers.
One of the other teachers was telling me about the second years' tests and showing me individual students grades. I don't know too many names because I see hundreds of students every week, so she gives me physical descriptions instead. She didn't get my joke of describing a student as "black hair, dark eyes, medium complexion, and kinda short" (a generic depiction of Japanese people), but does manage to come up with unflattering details. My favorites are "the one with the face of a horse," "the one who looks like a bird," "the girl who looks smart, but is not smart" (she had a pretty low score), and, the absolute best one, "the fat one who the other children make fun of." He really isn't that fat, especially by American standards.
The English teacher talked to his homeroom teacher who talked to him today in a room typically used by students making up missed tests. Whatever was said in there got pretty heated; I could hear the homeroom teacher yelling and other teachers would pretend to read newspapers near the door to listen in. When they were done the teacher was actually in a good mood and only restrained herself from laughing until after he was out of earshot from the office. She told us that the kid denied everything outright, said it was impossible that the test was changed (despite having a copy from before the change), and even tried to blame someone else.
It's interesting to see these kinds of things from the teacher's perspective. I don't know what, if any, punishment the kid got for trying to cheat, but the teachers viewed the incident as a comically failed attempt at cheating. They preferred ridiculing his ineptness to scolding his bad habits, at least in front of the other teachers.
One of the other teachers was telling me about the second years' tests and showing me individual students grades. I don't know too many names because I see hundreds of students every week, so she gives me physical descriptions instead. She didn't get my joke of describing a student as "black hair, dark eyes, medium complexion, and kinda short" (a generic depiction of Japanese people), but does manage to come up with unflattering details. My favorites are "the one with the face of a horse," "the one who looks like a bird," "the girl who looks smart, but is not smart" (she had a pretty low score), and, the absolute best one, "the fat one who the other children make fun of." He really isn't that fat, especially by American standards.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The festival that wasn't there
On Friday night I met up with some friends at a local bar. A couple of teachers from one of the elementary schools showed up and told me about a festival they took their classes to earlier in the day. They told me it would be there on Saturday as well so I went to check it out. This is what I saw:
It was clear that something had been there and it appeared that something may be there again, but there clearly was nothing going on. Nevertheless, this picture shows something many people likely do not know about Japan: there is almost no 'nature' in Japan.
What I mean is that there are very few parts of Japan that are untouched by people. The most visible aspect of this is the concrete walls that line most rivers. In part a desire to control natural disasters and in part a system of political patronage there has historically been vast construction projects throughout Japan. It's widely cited in travel books and newspaper articles that there are only three rivers in all of Japan without a dam or other obstruction. There are all kinds of superfluous bridges, dammed streams, and concrete walls lining the the countryside of Japan.
A lot of the mountains look like this:
At least at some points they do. There's all kinds of concrete structures to prevent landslides or protect roads from falling debris. Logging goes on pretty much everywhere (or at least it has). Many of the forests have completely homogenous trees; all the same type, about the same height, and presumably the same age.
Most roads are lined with rain sewers like this:
I have an irrational fear of falling in a rain gutter. In Nagoya a lot of the tops were broken (not so much here). When I walk down a dark alley at night, I'm not afraid of being attacked or mugged, but I am afraid of falling in a rain gutter and breaking a leg.
It was clear that something had been there and it appeared that something may be there again, but there clearly was nothing going on. Nevertheless, this picture shows something many people likely do not know about Japan: there is almost no 'nature' in Japan.
What I mean is that there are very few parts of Japan that are untouched by people. The most visible aspect of this is the concrete walls that line most rivers. In part a desire to control natural disasters and in part a system of political patronage there has historically been vast construction projects throughout Japan. It's widely cited in travel books and newspaper articles that there are only three rivers in all of Japan without a dam or other obstruction. There are all kinds of superfluous bridges, dammed streams, and concrete walls lining the the countryside of Japan.
A lot of the mountains look like this:
At least at some points they do. There's all kinds of concrete structures to prevent landslides or protect roads from falling debris. Logging goes on pretty much everywhere (or at least it has). Many of the forests have completely homogenous trees; all the same type, about the same height, and presumably the same age.
Most roads are lined with rain sewers like this:
I have an irrational fear of falling in a rain gutter. In Nagoya a lot of the tops were broken (not so much here). When I walk down a dark alley at night, I'm not afraid of being attacked or mugged, but I am afraid of falling in a rain gutter and breaking a leg.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Influ-ninja!
There's been some more cases of the flu at my middle school, but also now at the elementary school next to it. This meant my fifth grade class was sent home on Tuesday. This also meant I had to wear a mask all day there.
Face masks are pretty itchy and uncomfortable. They make my face hot. I haven't worn glasses with a mask yet, but I imagine it would fog them up pretty good. I would try to explain that I could get free-rider benefits by everyone else wearing a mask and therefore not need one, but until I can do so in Japanese, I think I'll just wear one.
Another precaution people take against the flu is gargling. Many of the teachers I work with do this and the men do it really loud. I usually just stick to Listerine at home.
Face masks are pretty itchy and uncomfortable. They make my face hot. I haven't worn glasses with a mask yet, but I imagine it would fog them up pretty good. I would try to explain that I could get free-rider benefits by everyone else wearing a mask and therefore not need one, but until I can do so in Japanese, I think I'll just wear one.
Another precaution people take against the flu is gargling. Many of the teachers I work with do this and the men do it really loud. I usually just stick to Listerine at home.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
I can't think of a title for this post
I was pretty busy last week, so I didn't get around to updating this. On Tuesday I arrived at my first school to surprised faces and remarks that I shouldn't be there (or, more correctly, that I didn't have to be there). My schedule said I had no classes, but it didn't go beyond that. As it turned out all the 5th and 6th graders in my town were competing in a track and field competition at the biggest middle school. I went to that instead.
Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera. I wish I had because there was a stark contrast in the size of the elementary schools. Clearly the largest was Sonobe. The next biggest was Sonobe Daini (literally Sonobe #2), one of my schools that has perhaps 50-60 kids per grade, or 100+ at competition. Sonobe had perhaps 40-50% more than this, and the next two biggest schools (both of which I go to) had maybe half of Sonobe Daini, or 20-30 kids per grade. There was maybe one or two more that had almost as many students, but several schools must have had less than 10 kids per grade. There were about 17 schools total and the smallest has only 3 students in a combined 5th and 6th grade.
I ate lunch at a different school and stayed around to do some planning rather than watching the end of the track contest. I had a meeting with the 5th grade teacher at that school about a very important lesson we had the next day. Before that lesson, I had three classes at my morning school. One of these was a 4th grade lesson, which is a little unusual, but I also ate lunch with that class.
Lunches at the elementary schools have generally been okay. They're really cheap, maybe $2-2.50, and pretty filling. The students talk about the nutritious value of their meal at the end and maybe some cultural point if the dish is a regional specialty. On that particular day was perhaps the worst lunch I've ever had. I don't remember most of it but one thing in particular sticks out: an entire fish. Maybe somewhere around 4-5 inches long, 1/2 an inch wide, and completely whole with head, eyes, and tail. I've seen these before typically grilled or fried, but was never inclined to eat them.
At school lunch students are supposed to eat everything on their tray and teachers set an example. Typically I eat with the office staff so I get my lunch from them instead of with the students. Maybe because I'm something of a guest, or young, or not on a diet, or because they don't particularly like certain foods, I tend to get the extra food. Not only did I have to eat this fish, but I had to eat three of them.
And I had to eat them quickly because I had a very important lesson to get to at a different school in a very narrow time gap. The class wasn't any different from a normal class except there were about as many adults watching it as there were students participating in it. Literally every teacher at that school was there (it's not clear who was watching the students, though I'm told they were reading), plus all the English teachers from my middle school, the high school, and Board of Education members. There were no less than two video cameras and an indeterminate number of digital cameras. The purpose was to show team teaching with an English and Japanese teacher, and also perhaps to demonstrate the smart board (like a blackboard on a computer). Our class was generally well received, which meant I got to sit through a long discussion that was in Japanese and mostly incomprehensible to me.
Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera. I wish I had because there was a stark contrast in the size of the elementary schools. Clearly the largest was Sonobe. The next biggest was Sonobe Daini (literally Sonobe #2), one of my schools that has perhaps 50-60 kids per grade, or 100+ at competition. Sonobe had perhaps 40-50% more than this, and the next two biggest schools (both of which I go to) had maybe half of Sonobe Daini, or 20-30 kids per grade. There was maybe one or two more that had almost as many students, but several schools must have had less than 10 kids per grade. There were about 17 schools total and the smallest has only 3 students in a combined 5th and 6th grade.
I ate lunch at a different school and stayed around to do some planning rather than watching the end of the track contest. I had a meeting with the 5th grade teacher at that school about a very important lesson we had the next day. Before that lesson, I had three classes at my morning school. One of these was a 4th grade lesson, which is a little unusual, but I also ate lunch with that class.
Lunches at the elementary schools have generally been okay. They're really cheap, maybe $2-2.50, and pretty filling. The students talk about the nutritious value of their meal at the end and maybe some cultural point if the dish is a regional specialty. On that particular day was perhaps the worst lunch I've ever had. I don't remember most of it but one thing in particular sticks out: an entire fish. Maybe somewhere around 4-5 inches long, 1/2 an inch wide, and completely whole with head, eyes, and tail. I've seen these before typically grilled or fried, but was never inclined to eat them.
At school lunch students are supposed to eat everything on their tray and teachers set an example. Typically I eat with the office staff so I get my lunch from them instead of with the students. Maybe because I'm something of a guest, or young, or not on a diet, or because they don't particularly like certain foods, I tend to get the extra food. Not only did I have to eat this fish, but I had to eat three of them.
And I had to eat them quickly because I had a very important lesson to get to at a different school in a very narrow time gap. The class wasn't any different from a normal class except there were about as many adults watching it as there were students participating in it. Literally every teacher at that school was there (it's not clear who was watching the students, though I'm told they were reading), plus all the English teachers from my middle school, the high school, and Board of Education members. There were no less than two video cameras and an indeterminate number of digital cameras. The purpose was to show team teaching with an English and Japanese teacher, and also perhaps to demonstrate the smart board (like a blackboard on a computer). Our class was generally well received, which meant I got to sit through a long discussion that was in Japanese and mostly incomprehensible to me.
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