Gentlemen be warned.
I know life sometimes seems perfect, and to some, my life seems perfect in Japan. And I am just here to say, well it is. Ok well it is most days. Some things could just happen to anyone anywhere, but it just brings the message home that you can't escape everything, and coming to Japan doesn't make you immune. Humiliation just seems to follow me.
Pretty real life story here.
Some days are more rosy colored than others, and yesterday was all kinds of rose colored. The red rose kind. This particular stored happened yesterday. And I tell it as I let all my laundry hang out to dry in every sense of that phrase. The day started out as I walked with an office member to my new school for the year. My elementary schools got changed a bit. I have 3 schools I attend: a junior high school (middle school), and two elementary schools. One of my elementary schools got switched out for another one recently, so on my first visit to the new school, I got a personal escort to show me the way, as well as to review my first lesson to make sure all was right in the universe. Everything was. The school was nice enough. The teachers, kind. I even saw a friendly familiar face among the teachers as I stumbled over my introduction in Japanese. The kids were super cute and genki too, which is just the best kind. My first lesson only went with a minor hitch. The lesson went as so:
I would first greet them and then we would play a bit of a guessing game for them to earn my name, sort of similar to hangman for the lettering and spaces, but hangman was ruled as too gruesome a game to officially play in school, so there was no set penalty/death. Before you ask, it is too gruesome since it involves someone hanging and Japanese people just don't need any more influence for those kinds of actions. So after achieving my name, I move on to a quick introduction. In which they continue their guessing with where I live and how old I am. I do a quicker introduction of my family and proceed with an ice breaker game. I give them all a piece of paper and have them write 3 things they like. These kids are grade 6 and some of them are up to the challenge, but not all just so you understand the level. I help the ones not quite up to it and encourage others to write in romanji. We then cumple them up and have a little snow ball fight and then everyone finds one and we do the little game. It goes where one person stands up and says 'My name is _______. I like....[reading from the found paper]'. The only hitch with this was one little girl could not find a paper and get silently distressed. More so as the class progresses. And then she breaks down into tears when she hears her paper knowing she couldn't fit into the game. I quickly design my own paper and give it for her to read and then have her pick on a friend to go next. I hold her hand the entire time. She is reduced to the sobbing hiccups by the end and I could not feel worse for her. This was in the last 3 minutes or so of class, so it otherwise went by really well. The office member of the company I work for said that the lesson was rather good and gave a slight suggestion to avoid the little fiasco in the future, and that was that. Everyone departed and I relaxed. Whew crisis averted. Time to mentally prepare myself for the next class.
I begin wiping the chalkboard and sneeze from the dust a few times. And then, that's when. I felt something wet between my legs. Not going where you are thinking boys. I am feeling that 'Ohhhhh SHIT' feeling right now with 5 minutes to go before my next class. I think to myself, well maybe it is not so bad, maybe it will hold out until after the next class when I will have a 20 minute break to go and clean up. I sit down. Then I notice I have a few little spies from the first grade. We play a little game of peekaboo and I scare them off a few times, each time with them getting bolder. I finally give chase and capture one and lift him into the air letting out a maniacal laugh. That moment. I maybe have 2 minute left of my break. And I felt that sinking feeling again. I knew it was worse. By a lot.
I let him down. Scan the hall for the toilet and I am out of luck. It's the mens room. The toilet is down stairs. I scare off the boys one last time. I don't want them to witness anything so if they are running screaming, all the better. And I make a dash for it. I can tell the damage once I get to the toilets. Its bad. There is blood all on the outsides of my crotch. Panties are soaked. Balls. And for anyone before you ask, yes, girls do tend to know when it is coming. However this was more like the second coming of the Red Seas as they washed up on Panty Bay. I mean I had just finished this business yesterday. Right?? Well guess not. So I sit there bleeding trying to minimize the damage and scrub my panties out a bit. If they are dry they can't do any more damage to my pants. Now the mirror and the sinks to this bathroom are shared by both the girls and the boys. They are also open to the hallway and the elements and every single person passing by. I stick a wad of toilet paper between my legs and pray that I will make it. I dress and head for the common sinks. I check myself in the mirror there. Ok it's pretty bad, but if i pinch my but, hopefully I can make it through the next class.
I return the class just as the last person was filing in. Great impression for my first day. How will they ever like me? Ok, don't despair, I can salvage this. I get in and do a fantastic class. I automatically know that this one will be my favorite. They are super genki and active and I am loving it. It's just fantastic. It was pretty much all thanks to this one boy, Fukutaro. He was pretty exceptional in English, but he was a class act and funnily enough, every single thing he said was wrong when he guessed. He was so comical about it, it made me so relaxed and the class cracking up. Hopefully no one noticed.
At last, when the class is over, I make another mad dash first to the teachers room to get that life saving tampon, that has never more looked like on of those life preservers with its little string when thrown out to sea. Pretty apt metaphor there when I think about it. I undress and review the damage. And sweet night, my pants are red for 4 inches down. Ok. Right. I have 20 minutes to fix this. I can't walk out of the toilet room with my pants off to wash them in the sink since EVERYONE will see me, and to make it even worse, it just happens to be parents day. Man, I really wish I could be making some of this up. School changing. First day. Reviewed. Toilets with no private sink (if there was a teacher toilet, I was not told). Parents day. ONE of those must surely be made up right?! So anyways, what had happened was the blood just smeared all around wreaking havoc upon the lightest pair of khaki pants I own. It really would be too much for the story if they were white wouldn't it? Well I was a small bit lucky there. Really wish I had worn my blue pants now. Too bad I spilled curry juice on them last night.
So what now? I can't go two more classes and the rest of the day with bloody pants that everyone can see right? Correct. I go to town on that fresh roll of toilet paper and as I wondered what my company would think if I just went home after being reviewed and if they would understand, but then again this is a new school, but hey this is an emergency, which would look worse, maybe the worker who reviewed my lesson hadn't gone too far and could bring be a pair of pants, yeah right, that is also pretty embarrassing, well at least shes a woman. In the end of all my conscious thought, I decided to stay, going home would be possibly an hour and a half adventure and then everyone would see my blood stained butt on the way home too. Humiliation. So I stayed in the stall and scrunched up the toilet paper and...dipped it in the toilet water. Try not to wretch. And started scrubbing. I went through several hand fulls of the stuff and if you don't know how well toilet paper just manages to stay together when wet, well it just doesn't hold a candle to Brawn or Bounty or any other paper towel you can think of. The stuff is miserable and I am just shredding it. After a while I deem it sufficient or just that there was no more time to be spent scrubbing with the remaining minutes I had. And started to scrub and vigorously pat dry with some dry toilet paper.
I redressed best I could and tried not to think about my toilet water washed pants and checked myself in the mirror. Great. Just peachy. It looks like I wet myself. And not the potentially cover-able bit from before where if I just hiked up my pants a bit and pinched my butt cheeks everything would be unnoticeable We are talking like you clearly have water all over your crotch and butt-seem. It makes me wonder how bad/noticeable everything was before I washed it. Well I suppose it is better than the alternative. I get to class before all the students more or less sprinting there so that the kids didn't see my pants and start telling everyone that the new gaijin teacher wet herself. I strategically place the desks and a trash bin atop of it and a few other things to hide the view of my crotch. I also found an old grimy dust clothe that I repurposed to a continuation of trying to dry my crotch. I stop what could have been a pretty embarrassing situation/action before the students came in and found me like that.
I continued to teach the class hiding most of the time, but to be honest, I kind of think the teacher, a young-ish male and also in charge of me more or less for that school (he is the English-teacher coordinator), might have seen. But there is a small trick you can do with the students, make your face interesting enough and keep them entertained, and they will never really concern themselves with things below your face. Be dynamic. I gave it my all. I didn't really see if any student gave hint that he or she knew my secret, so I think I was safe. Perhaps midway through the class, my pants were dry and the damage was covered. It just cost me pride and gained me some humility. It is a terrible exchange rate between the two and I would not really suggest it, but I suppose it is good to have currency in both sometimes.
So I survived the class and the following one, and the rest of the day as a matter of fact. No my pants weren't fully free from staining, it was just one of those days, but it was light enough that unless someone was giving me a 'dat ass' look, I don't think any one would notice. They didn't even smell that bad with the toilet water and all. Or I suppose it is possible that when you just smell so horrid, you become a bit acclimated to it and everyone else can smell your putrid stink. I have no idea. Everyone was really kind to me, whether they knew or not, for the rest of the day. I did think I saw a few of the teachers who saw those particular classes giving me a weird glance, but I couldn't be sure so I just held my head high and carried on.
TL;DR: some days are just a whole bloody mess.
Showing posts with label elementary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elementary. Show all posts
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
A Day in the Life
So following a common suit, I decided to give you my schedule to show you what a day in my life is like.
6 am
Wake up in a leisurely cacophonous fashion with multiple alarms about half way through the hour. Proceed to dress in business casual attire, which right now is a nice sweater and slacks. Simplistic make up and brushing of hair follows suit. Warm up breakfast which is normally either onigiri or toast. After another two alarms, one warning me departure time is approaching and the next telling me to get of out the house, wherein I then bike a few kilometers to the bike garage near the station. And then walk to the station
The bike garage is normally an official place with some sort of covering where bikes in the hundreds are kept for your return. These places often will cost. Mine is either 200 yen a day or 4000 yen a month. Living in Kyoto has its expenses and this is one of them. Other places will be cheaper. My former city was about 2400 monthly for the bike parking, and I have even heard of some places being free. Either way, you typically need a bike parking garage elsewise you bike might be stolen or impounded. There are regular people who walk around to ticket or take your bike, so be careful!
Notice how I said most places above? My bike garage is some lady's house. The station is use is old and many of its features have been grandfathered into the new rules and regulations. This is because it is an extremely busy intersection, and to tear it up would be to wreck havoc with the city-goers. Also because it is so built up, there is no room for an official parking garage, so a few of the residents decided to make some easy money by using their first floors are bike garages for the commuters. There are 3 that I know of and they actually all very in price depending on who is closest. Mine is the cheapest.
7 am
I have just parked and getting to the station. I take a pretty early train for a bit less than half an hour to the city where I work. By choice, I do not live in that city, nor in a closer city, of which there are several. There is really good transportation in Japan therefore I can really have my pick of the pie in terms of where I live. And thus I live in Kyoto. Who wouldn't right?
From the station, I have a choice of walking or taking the bus. The bus always seems like a hassle; you have to make sure you are on the right bus, you have to figure out the times and the routes, it is all in Japanese, and then you have to wait for it and it actually ends up being about the same amount of time as walking. So I typically walk. Also as a side note, that is totally unlike Kyoto buses, which was much better organized and in English. The walking is just a few kilometers and I figure is a a good exercise and whatnot, at least that is what I tell myself.
8 am
Actually just before it, I arrive at school. There is not really a point for me to get to school this early other than that I like it. I just come in, get settled, open the laptop and plan if needed. I make/print my handouts if I haven't already, touch up power point, write in my blog, you know just anything. At 8:20 everyday there is a small morning meeting with the principal and all the teachers in the office. It lasts less than 5 minutes. Only my junior high school (aka middle school) does this. The bells rings and home room starts for the kids. The first official class is not until 8:45. I may or may not have class at this time. It all depends on my schedule.
Class mostly means me teaching a designated lesson/topic of the day. They usually make it a point to make my lessons to be conversation lessons so that the students can practice and hone their speech to a better perfection.
In my junior high school, I act as the main teacher and have complete run of the class. I teach the entire time on the designated subject, but you would be asked to do any number of things. One common complaint among foreigners is that they are merely a walking tape recorder for the lessons. Meaning they just repeat the words at the Japanese-English teachers command. A person might also be assigned to only one portion of the lesson, like a game, or activity, or maybe only even a 5 minute warm up. It totally depends on what a school needs you for.
My typical lesson will be something like a small warm up, the focal point of the lesson, perhaps a small bit of practice, and then an activity or game that I have designed to make the kids want to participate more as well as to better support the focal point of the lesson. For example a warm up might be some shiritori in English, followed by a page in the book where we discuss a dialogue where I will go over it the first time doing both parts and different voices depending on the day, and then we will go over it in English and then the more difficult points in Japanese. From there we will review the key phrase and I will make them come up with example of how to use it and change it (like would you like ~~?) and then I will have an activity or game for them utilizing that phrase. The Japanese-English teacher will be there the whole time and will support me when asked, but more or less leaves everything up to me. The aid of this teacher varies upon the teacher, some teachers are very supportive and some are pretty non-existent. I even have one who sleeps on occasion. Grading and Reading during my lessons is pretty normal. They are there though to handle the classroom behavior. I am no disciplinarian and since I am a gaijin, if something or dispute happens, it is always better to have another teacher there to mediate the problem and to be able to convey the problem to any other authority if necessary. For example is a fight breaks out between students, I can try to stop it but it is best that I leave it to the Japanese teacher, also my limited Japanese can't convey to the principal what happened. And of course they are there to make sure I don't do anything too ridiculous or our of order.
In my elementary schools, classes run more or less the same. I again have the run of the class and teach the entire time. Some classes have books we teach out of, others don't. The Japanese-English teachers try to be as helpful as they can, getting the students to pay attention, behave, and participate, or if there is a special student, helping them be entertained with me lesson. These teachers often do not speak much English, but are very genial. The English level does vary though and so does their help and input in my lessons. You kind of just learn to adapt for who does what. I have one teacher who follows my every word and helps to translate difficult words like 'brave' from the story in the book.
My elementary lessons are a pretty much the same as my junior high school ones, but at a much lower level. I will have a warm up, the lesson topic or book topic, a short review and a game. For example a warm up is a chant or song often provided by the book, or as compliments of Youtube, and then I will get into the lesson and we will go over all the vocab for that lesson, if it is in the book, there are often some accompanying listening exercises that I will also do. I will then move into some review where I will change the words to ones not in the book so they might try to give some original answers. At this point I might call on some students to answer the question (example: what fruit do you like?) and then will progress into a game or activity that is simple and repetitive so they can remember and easily practice the target phrases.
12:15 pm; 12:35 pm
Lunch time! At this time, the first four class periods are complete. If I am at my elementary school, I get fed the school lunch for a grand total of 208 yen. If I am at my junior high school, I often bring my own lunch, or if I forget, I can order the bento from the bento shop that all the teacher order from for 400 yen. At my JHs, most teacher do not order the bento, preferring cheaper or more delicious food, but there are a few people who are constants on the daily order.
After this, but at no designated time, students have recess, which is greatly diminished in JHS.
The earlier time follows the elementary schedule with their 45 minute classes, and the latter time is the JHS schedule with their 50 minute lessons.
1:20 pm; 1:45 pm
Here, the earlier time signifies when JHS students hit the books for 5th period, and the latter time is elementary. See I told you they had an awesome recess. Elementary students even sometimes go home after lunch, which is not too unusual, and then come back for 5th period. Or if they are a very young grade in elementary, they might only have 4 classes and then the day is over for them. Elementary classes tend to vary between 5 and 6 periods throughout the week. At mine, I think most days are 5 classes and then they can go home, but on days when the first period is scheduled reading time, they have 6 periods.
3:10 pm
Classes are finished and then they have homeroom again to wrap up the day at JHS. Them some students go home, but the vast majority will have some club to attend to. They will go to this club until about 4:30 or 5. I am not really sure if there is a designated time for them to leave. I will occasionally attend the cooking club and the just come and go whenever. Sports teams are perhaps a bit more rigorous.
Since classes are over at this time, I would spend time preparing for the next day, or if I have already, I would spend it as I see fit. Sometimes I visit the clubs, who are always happy to have me, but recently I just study.
4:30 pm
This is my departure time. I am now allowed to go home. And unless I am wrapping something up, or in the middle of something, I am more often than not leaving right about this time. If you have an awesome school, or elementary school, they might let you go home a bit earlier.
From now, I will walk back to the station.
5 pm
I get on the train to head home. Typically during my commute, I listen to music, audiobooks, or more recently, podcasts like japanesepod101. Once I arrive at the station, I return to the garage, pick up my bike, and bike back home.
6 pm
Arrive home and be lazy for some time. Video games, checking the computer, reading, catching up on a TV series. And then if it is not Tuesday or Thursday I will go to the grocery store to get some things for cooking. Something very different in Japan is that I go to the grocery store every day. The refrigerators are much smaller here and it is actually not so common to buy in bulk. I am almost surprised to see 12 packs of toilet paper being sold. It is extremely typical to want to cook with fresh ingredients, thus there are many grocery stores to support everyone's daily visit. There are of course a few super stores, or at least in Kyoto, where they sell things that you might want to stock up on since those products wont be sold in you more local stores. Those stores are also usually a bit farther away. I am talking like a 10 minute drive. Yeah. That, is considered far away here. The normal grocery stores are usually about a 2-3 minute bike ride from my apartment, and I have 3 of them in that range to give you an idea of how convenient they are.
7 pm
I am cooking, or running if it is a Tuesday or Thursday. And following suit, I am eating. On my running days, dinner is still cooked, but usually a more simple affair.
8 pm
More relaxing, or possibly studying.
9 pm
Shower time. Like the Japanese, I have been showering mostly at night. This is actually largely due to I hate waking up early and to wake up any earlier and shower just seems like hell. I still believe that morning showers are way better though. When I lived closer to my schools, I would shower in the mornings, so this is purely because I live farther away and have longer to commute now.
Following is doing whatever I want time, unless it is my one day a week where I clean and do laundry, in which case I do that.
11 pm
Roughly. Its bed time.
6 am
Wake up in a leisurely cacophonous fashion with multiple alarms about half way through the hour. Proceed to dress in business casual attire, which right now is a nice sweater and slacks. Simplistic make up and brushing of hair follows suit. Warm up breakfast which is normally either onigiri or toast. After another two alarms, one warning me departure time is approaching and the next telling me to get of out the house, wherein I then bike a few kilometers to the bike garage near the station. And then walk to the station
The bike garage is normally an official place with some sort of covering where bikes in the hundreds are kept for your return. These places often will cost. Mine is either 200 yen a day or 4000 yen a month. Living in Kyoto has its expenses and this is one of them. Other places will be cheaper. My former city was about 2400 monthly for the bike parking, and I have even heard of some places being free. Either way, you typically need a bike parking garage elsewise you bike might be stolen or impounded. There are regular people who walk around to ticket or take your bike, so be careful!
Notice how I said most places above? My bike garage is some lady's house. The station is use is old and many of its features have been grandfathered into the new rules and regulations. This is because it is an extremely busy intersection, and to tear it up would be to wreck havoc with the city-goers. Also because it is so built up, there is no room for an official parking garage, so a few of the residents decided to make some easy money by using their first floors are bike garages for the commuters. There are 3 that I know of and they actually all very in price depending on who is closest. Mine is the cheapest.
7 am
I have just parked and getting to the station. I take a pretty early train for a bit less than half an hour to the city where I work. By choice, I do not live in that city, nor in a closer city, of which there are several. There is really good transportation in Japan therefore I can really have my pick of the pie in terms of where I live. And thus I live in Kyoto. Who wouldn't right?
From the station, I have a choice of walking or taking the bus. The bus always seems like a hassle; you have to make sure you are on the right bus, you have to figure out the times and the routes, it is all in Japanese, and then you have to wait for it and it actually ends up being about the same amount of time as walking. So I typically walk. Also as a side note, that is totally unlike Kyoto buses, which was much better organized and in English. The walking is just a few kilometers and I figure is a a good exercise and whatnot, at least that is what I tell myself.
8 am
Actually just before it, I arrive at school. There is not really a point for me to get to school this early other than that I like it. I just come in, get settled, open the laptop and plan if needed. I make/print my handouts if I haven't already, touch up power point, write in my blog, you know just anything. At 8:20 everyday there is a small morning meeting with the principal and all the teachers in the office. It lasts less than 5 minutes. Only my junior high school (aka middle school) does this. The bells rings and home room starts for the kids. The first official class is not until 8:45. I may or may not have class at this time. It all depends on my schedule.
Class mostly means me teaching a designated lesson/topic of the day. They usually make it a point to make my lessons to be conversation lessons so that the students can practice and hone their speech to a better perfection.
In my junior high school, I act as the main teacher and have complete run of the class. I teach the entire time on the designated subject, but you would be asked to do any number of things. One common complaint among foreigners is that they are merely a walking tape recorder for the lessons. Meaning they just repeat the words at the Japanese-English teachers command. A person might also be assigned to only one portion of the lesson, like a game, or activity, or maybe only even a 5 minute warm up. It totally depends on what a school needs you for.
My typical lesson will be something like a small warm up, the focal point of the lesson, perhaps a small bit of practice, and then an activity or game that I have designed to make the kids want to participate more as well as to better support the focal point of the lesson. For example a warm up might be some shiritori in English, followed by a page in the book where we discuss a dialogue where I will go over it the first time doing both parts and different voices depending on the day, and then we will go over it in English and then the more difficult points in Japanese. From there we will review the key phrase and I will make them come up with example of how to use it and change it (like would you like ~~?) and then I will have an activity or game for them utilizing that phrase. The Japanese-English teacher will be there the whole time and will support me when asked, but more or less leaves everything up to me. The aid of this teacher varies upon the teacher, some teachers are very supportive and some are pretty non-existent. I even have one who sleeps on occasion. Grading and Reading during my lessons is pretty normal. They are there though to handle the classroom behavior. I am no disciplinarian and since I am a gaijin, if something or dispute happens, it is always better to have another teacher there to mediate the problem and to be able to convey the problem to any other authority if necessary. For example is a fight breaks out between students, I can try to stop it but it is best that I leave it to the Japanese teacher, also my limited Japanese can't convey to the principal what happened. And of course they are there to make sure I don't do anything too ridiculous or our of order.
In my elementary schools, classes run more or less the same. I again have the run of the class and teach the entire time. Some classes have books we teach out of, others don't. The Japanese-English teachers try to be as helpful as they can, getting the students to pay attention, behave, and participate, or if there is a special student, helping them be entertained with me lesson. These teachers often do not speak much English, but are very genial. The English level does vary though and so does their help and input in my lessons. You kind of just learn to adapt for who does what. I have one teacher who follows my every word and helps to translate difficult words like 'brave' from the story in the book.
My elementary lessons are a pretty much the same as my junior high school ones, but at a much lower level. I will have a warm up, the lesson topic or book topic, a short review and a game. For example a warm up is a chant or song often provided by the book, or as compliments of Youtube, and then I will get into the lesson and we will go over all the vocab for that lesson, if it is in the book, there are often some accompanying listening exercises that I will also do. I will then move into some review where I will change the words to ones not in the book so they might try to give some original answers. At this point I might call on some students to answer the question (example: what fruit do you like?) and then will progress into a game or activity that is simple and repetitive so they can remember and easily practice the target phrases.
12:15 pm; 12:35 pm
Lunch time! At this time, the first four class periods are complete. If I am at my elementary school, I get fed the school lunch for a grand total of 208 yen. If I am at my junior high school, I often bring my own lunch, or if I forget, I can order the bento from the bento shop that all the teacher order from for 400 yen. At my JHs, most teacher do not order the bento, preferring cheaper or more delicious food, but there are a few people who are constants on the daily order.
After this, but at no designated time, students have recess, which is greatly diminished in JHS.
The earlier time follows the elementary schedule with their 45 minute classes, and the latter time is the JHS schedule with their 50 minute lessons.
1:20 pm; 1:45 pm
Here, the earlier time signifies when JHS students hit the books for 5th period, and the latter time is elementary. See I told you they had an awesome recess. Elementary students even sometimes go home after lunch, which is not too unusual, and then come back for 5th period. Or if they are a very young grade in elementary, they might only have 4 classes and then the day is over for them. Elementary classes tend to vary between 5 and 6 periods throughout the week. At mine, I think most days are 5 classes and then they can go home, but on days when the first period is scheduled reading time, they have 6 periods.
3:10 pm
Classes are finished and then they have homeroom again to wrap up the day at JHS. Them some students go home, but the vast majority will have some club to attend to. They will go to this club until about 4:30 or 5. I am not really sure if there is a designated time for them to leave. I will occasionally attend the cooking club and the just come and go whenever. Sports teams are perhaps a bit more rigorous.
Since classes are over at this time, I would spend time preparing for the next day, or if I have already, I would spend it as I see fit. Sometimes I visit the clubs, who are always happy to have me, but recently I just study.
4:30 pm
This is my departure time. I am now allowed to go home. And unless I am wrapping something up, or in the middle of something, I am more often than not leaving right about this time. If you have an awesome school, or elementary school, they might let you go home a bit earlier.
From now, I will walk back to the station.
5 pm
I get on the train to head home. Typically during my commute, I listen to music, audiobooks, or more recently, podcasts like japanesepod101. Once I arrive at the station, I return to the garage, pick up my bike, and bike back home.
6 pm
Arrive home and be lazy for some time. Video games, checking the computer, reading, catching up on a TV series. And then if it is not Tuesday or Thursday I will go to the grocery store to get some things for cooking. Something very different in Japan is that I go to the grocery store every day. The refrigerators are much smaller here and it is actually not so common to buy in bulk. I am almost surprised to see 12 packs of toilet paper being sold. It is extremely typical to want to cook with fresh ingredients, thus there are many grocery stores to support everyone's daily visit. There are of course a few super stores, or at least in Kyoto, where they sell things that you might want to stock up on since those products wont be sold in you more local stores. Those stores are also usually a bit farther away. I am talking like a 10 minute drive. Yeah. That, is considered far away here. The normal grocery stores are usually about a 2-3 minute bike ride from my apartment, and I have 3 of them in that range to give you an idea of how convenient they are.
7 pm
I am cooking, or running if it is a Tuesday or Thursday. And following suit, I am eating. On my running days, dinner is still cooked, but usually a more simple affair.
8 pm
More relaxing, or possibly studying.
9 pm
Shower time. Like the Japanese, I have been showering mostly at night. This is actually largely due to I hate waking up early and to wake up any earlier and shower just seems like hell. I still believe that morning showers are way better though. When I lived closer to my schools, I would shower in the mornings, so this is purely because I live farther away and have longer to commute now.
Following is doing whatever I want time, unless it is my one day a week where I clean and do laundry, in which case I do that.
11 pm
Roughly. Its bed time.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Origami presents
Not that my kids are especially talented at it or anything, but they really love to make origami.
Origami has always been a significant aspect of Japan with their paper cranes and incredible delicate paper work done with fancied paper to make the observer a touch in awe with the delicacy and preciseness of the degree at which the paper is folded. In particular, cranes are most notable. This is because the crane is a significant bird in Japan. There is a particular Japanese crane with a red crested head. These birds are one of the few species that are entirely monogamous throughout their entire life. The crane that is thought to bring good fortune and thus if you fold a thousand of them, a crane is said to grant your wish. What is so significant about the art of paper folding is that for the longest time, centuries even, paper folding was passed along singularly by word of mouth and demonstration. There were no books on the matter for decades to come. Thus it is more or less a traditional art for, an intangible heritage of Japan.
I feel like my kids (ES) have endless supplies of origami paper and they are endlessly making me little paper presents. I have little lanterns and paper men and a samurai shirt and bunnies, frogs, and cats and hearts and this awesome necklace. Their gifts are endless. Sometimes neither I nor they have any idea what they made, but they folded the paper into some neat creation to gift me with. Other times they will have me sign a paper and fold it into something and then sign another paper themselves and fold it and give that one to me so we would be like an origami secret couple.
But occasionally, this origami can be frightening stuff. When they get older (my JHS) they have a significantly decreased interest in the origami art, but later, perhaps high school, their interest in not so much increased as are the myths that come with it. There is an old voodoo like charm for origami paper people in which curses are involved. The belief is that you would take one of these paper people with a name of the intended scrawled upon it into a select haunted or otherwise creepy forest at night and nail them to a tree. I think that there are different reasons or beliefs surrounding this, but one is to curse people and another might be for love?  |
| who needs a hair cut? Meeeeee |
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Aye Aye Captain!
There is a stereotype that started probably somewhere around the time of WWII and has since been provoked by anime, that Japanese girls wear sailor outfits to school.
Well I am here today to completely confirm these reports. My students sport these super traditional outfits that have probably never been modified since the schools open some 50 years ago now.
They have actually two different outfits: a summer outfit and a winter outfit. The girls have a white short-sleeve affair during the summer. Their shirt has a sort of a collar/black flap with cream detail around it. The shirt zips up in the front and is embellished with a scarf they wear about their neck (but under the back flap) and ties around front. They all wear a navy blue skirt of varying heights, but that is only because they hike them up. Lastly, they also sport black (or white but that is extremely unpopular and only seen as a last resort) knee high socks. In the winter the color of their top changes to a navy blue with long-sleeves and a red detail about the collar. When it gets really cold, they will wear a cardigan over their outfit that is often black, navy or brown (colors for which is not mandated).
Of course the men have two different outfits too, just theirs are hardly any different. Their summer outfit is black pants and a white short-sleeve button down, while their winter one is much of the same, only with a long-sleeve white t-shirt and an added black overcoat with gold buttons with the symbol for middle school on each (中).
All of the students of any gender and grade have a little colored plastic name plate that says their last name sewn upon their lapels. The older students who have since ripped theirs off, have glued safety pins to the backs of theirs. The colors of the plaque represent grade level of the students. The colors are blue, white, and green. The students do not get new plaque each year with new colors, rather the old colors are recycled and the new students will get the graduated students old color.
In addition to normal schools clothes, students get a set of P.E. clothes that are navy shorts with red strip detail down the sides as well as a shirt that sports their name and often class number. The P.E. clothes also have a pants set especially for the winter. If students are in a club they may acquire other gear and clothing through that club, but those are put through special order and are not school assigned. They are also typically a little nicer looking.
A little about changing. My schools is extremely old as I mentioned, therefore this practice may be out of date for newer and nicer and certainly private schools. But at my school, when it is P.E. time, it is a combined effort of two classes. All of the girls will file into one room and the boys into another. There are curtains to block the windows that face the corridor as well as the outside, so that no one can see them changing. Though for the girls many of them might wear their gym outfit under their school outfit, especially when it is cold.
Students only get one set of clothes and must wear them all week and not get them dirty. They are also mandated to wear them at all times on the campus. I cannot say how many set of P.E. clothes they get, but seeing how dirty they get after playing volleyball one afternoon, I certainly hope it is more than one.
Other schools, newer ones, have adopted other manner of dress for their students. Really cute uniforms in my opinion. A high school near me has their students sporting sweater vests and has bows around their necks. Of course with skirts and blazers (in the winter) as well. The mens suits are upgraded as well and slightly more professional looking and blazer-like jackets. This particular schools does a rather cute thing and the different colored bow-ties and bows all represent a different grade, so there is a mustard yellow, a navy, and a deep red. I don't know which color is for which grade as I do not work there, I just live really close to see them all the time.
Our winter outfits!
Well I am here today to completely confirm these reports. My students sport these super traditional outfits that have probably never been modified since the schools open some 50 years ago now.
They have actually two different outfits: a summer outfit and a winter outfit. The girls have a white short-sleeve affair during the summer. Their shirt has a sort of a collar/black flap with cream detail around it. The shirt zips up in the front and is embellished with a scarf they wear about their neck (but under the back flap) and ties around front. They all wear a navy blue skirt of varying heights, but that is only because they hike them up. Lastly, they also sport black (or white but that is extremely unpopular and only seen as a last resort) knee high socks. In the winter the color of their top changes to a navy blue with long-sleeves and a red detail about the collar. When it gets really cold, they will wear a cardigan over their outfit that is often black, navy or brown (colors for which is not mandated).
Of course the men have two different outfits too, just theirs are hardly any different. Their summer outfit is black pants and a white short-sleeve button down, while their winter one is much of the same, only with a long-sleeve white t-shirt and an added black overcoat with gold buttons with the symbol for middle school on each (中).
All of the students of any gender and grade have a little colored plastic name plate that says their last name sewn upon their lapels. The older students who have since ripped theirs off, have glued safety pins to the backs of theirs. The colors of the plaque represent grade level of the students. The colors are blue, white, and green. The students do not get new plaque each year with new colors, rather the old colors are recycled and the new students will get the graduated students old color.
In addition to normal schools clothes, students get a set of P.E. clothes that are navy shorts with red strip detail down the sides as well as a shirt that sports their name and often class number. The P.E. clothes also have a pants set especially for the winter. If students are in a club they may acquire other gear and clothing through that club, but those are put through special order and are not school assigned. They are also typically a little nicer looking.
A little about changing. My schools is extremely old as I mentioned, therefore this practice may be out of date for newer and nicer and certainly private schools. But at my school, when it is P.E. time, it is a combined effort of two classes. All of the girls will file into one room and the boys into another. There are curtains to block the windows that face the corridor as well as the outside, so that no one can see them changing. Though for the girls many of them might wear their gym outfit under their school outfit, especially when it is cold.
Students only get one set of clothes and must wear them all week and not get them dirty. They are also mandated to wear them at all times on the campus. I cannot say how many set of P.E. clothes they get, but seeing how dirty they get after playing volleyball one afternoon, I certainly hope it is more than one.
Other schools, newer ones, have adopted other manner of dress for their students. Really cute uniforms in my opinion. A high school near me has their students sporting sweater vests and has bows around their necks. Of course with skirts and blazers (in the winter) as well. The mens suits are upgraded as well and slightly more professional looking and blazer-like jackets. This particular schools does a rather cute thing and the different colored bow-ties and bows all represent a different grade, so there is a mustard yellow, a navy, and a deep red. I don't know which color is for which grade as I do not work there, I just live really close to see them all the time.
Our winter outfits!
And in summer:
Thursday, March 29, 2012
A day in the Life of a Student
This is a really cute video a Korean student made of his student life.
yes that sums it up.
But in a Japanese JHS...
Yeah, yeah, for all you who watch any kind of anime...it is more or less exactly like that. There are rows of students. There is assigned seating (typically boy girl boy girl but sometimes a row of boys and a row of girls). There are the window seats that everyone wants, accompanied by windows that they are allowed to open as they please. On the other half of the classroom there are the windows to the hallway, that also have opening functions. This is a semi popular hangout spot in the ten minutes between classes, where another classes students come for a visit.
Speaking of these windows, they are also accompanied by curtains that can be shut when the students are changing into and out of their gym outfits, as they have separate changing areas for guys and girls. A larger curtain adorns the outside facing windows which is also covered at this time, but also whenever the touch screen is in use.
A bit of an irregularity in many classrooms and a large step forward, my school had large touch screen TV's in every room. For myself, I personally put them to use for powerpoints and short video clips and such when relevant to the lesson. These TV's are hooked up to a laptop that every classroom and teacher desk in the school sports (for more on this charming hardware please check out ). The laptops are stationary objects and never moved from their classrooms.
In the convenient location of next to the television, is the teachers domain. In my classrooms, the teacher prevails over the class upon a mini stage. This stage is perhaps half a foot high and deceptively easy to fall off. Just ask me! This stage is always on the right hand side in every classroom. Essentially all the students west.
Behind the teacher is a 3 meter or so long blackboard...greenboard? well it is a chalkboard. I hate chalk. The chalkboards are magnificent and beautiful and can move up and down and are occasionally concave so that students from either side will not have a hard time seeing the opposing side of the board. However, it is these chalkboards that I find the most behind the times. Even my middle school had SOME whiteboards. Maybe it is just because I hate chalk (have I mentioned that?), but I cannot stand these blackboards even more so than the laptops. Also with these boards come the chalk dust. The chalk dust that covers EVERYTHING. There is a permanent coating on the floor that makes the floor boards very soft. Soft enough to run and slide on. Soft enough to slip off the stage.
There are cubbies at the back of the classrooms. They are filled with papers and other school artifacts that go untouched. The students book bags all resemble plastic sports bags that guard their desk. Girl will occasionally have fashionable bags instead, especially if they are not on a sports team. These bags are deceptively expensive and are treated...well like a regular school book bag - slung around, plopped down, tripped over (ok the last one is largely me, but they are like obstacles in a katamari game!). They actually have hooks on the side of their desk which is used for a smaller bag is they have such an item.
Above the cubbies is yet another of my favorite chalkboards with the daily schedule on it. As well as paper posting of anything important, but ignorable.
These students themselves, have 6 classes a day each class lasting 45 to 50 minutes. The time depends on the school and if there are any important up coming activities that they have to practice after school for (like field day, school festival, graduation...). Classes start at 8:45 but for the fifteen minutes before that they have home room. The class that the students start in is essentially their homeroom and more or less the students will always stay in that class and the other teachers will come to visit that room. However there are a few classes that have their own room, like science, cooking, home economics, there are a few English classes that go to the actual English room ( we have 2), and well P.E. but really how could you even consider doing that in the classroom. Ok, so there are less classes actually in the classroom but all these classes and the ones that take place in the classroom rotate throughout the week. There are 4 morning classes and midday, the students lunch for 30-45 minutes each day and if they are in elementary school they then get to have recess for another 30 minutes. In middle school they are expected to bring their own lunch, but my elementary school provides lunch for the students. Following lunch there are two more classes and a homeroom closing that the students then go through before being officially released for the day.
Psyche. Afterschool, students are required to join a club. Such as handicrafts/cooking club, art club, judo club, chorus club, ping pong club, soccer team, baseball team, tennis team, basketball team, badminton team, volleyball team, or the track team. Whew I think that is all the teams and clubs. Notice how we do not have kendo. How sad. They typically stay at school until around 5pm (they get there around 8am).
These activities and schedules and even setting is largely based on a JHS setting, I tried to throw in a few elementary examples, but if you are curious for more information, please don't hesitate to ask me!
yes that sums it up.
But in a Japanese JHS...
Yeah, yeah, for all you who watch any kind of anime...it is more or less exactly like that. There are rows of students. There is assigned seating (typically boy girl boy girl but sometimes a row of boys and a row of girls). There are the window seats that everyone wants, accompanied by windows that they are allowed to open as they please. On the other half of the classroom there are the windows to the hallway, that also have opening functions. This is a semi popular hangout spot in the ten minutes between classes, where another classes students come for a visit.
Speaking of these windows, they are also accompanied by curtains that can be shut when the students are changing into and out of their gym outfits, as they have separate changing areas for guys and girls. A larger curtain adorns the outside facing windows which is also covered at this time, but also whenever the touch screen is in use.
A bit of an irregularity in many classrooms and a large step forward, my school had large touch screen TV's in every room. For myself, I personally put them to use for powerpoints and short video clips and such when relevant to the lesson. These TV's are hooked up to a laptop that every classroom and teacher desk in the school sports (for more on this charming hardware please check out ). The laptops are stationary objects and never moved from their classrooms.
In the convenient location of next to the television, is the teachers domain. In my classrooms, the teacher prevails over the class upon a mini stage. This stage is perhaps half a foot high and deceptively easy to fall off. Just ask me! This stage is always on the right hand side in every classroom. Essentially all the students west.
Behind the teacher is a 3 meter or so long blackboard...greenboard? well it is a chalkboard. I hate chalk. The chalkboards are magnificent and beautiful and can move up and down and are occasionally concave so that students from either side will not have a hard time seeing the opposing side of the board. However, it is these chalkboards that I find the most behind the times. Even my middle school had SOME whiteboards. Maybe it is just because I hate chalk (have I mentioned that?), but I cannot stand these blackboards even more so than the laptops. Also with these boards come the chalk dust. The chalk dust that covers EVERYTHING. There is a permanent coating on the floor that makes the floor boards very soft. Soft enough to run and slide on. Soft enough to slip off the stage.
There are cubbies at the back of the classrooms. They are filled with papers and other school artifacts that go untouched. The students book bags all resemble plastic sports bags that guard their desk. Girl will occasionally have fashionable bags instead, especially if they are not on a sports team. These bags are deceptively expensive and are treated...well like a regular school book bag - slung around, plopped down, tripped over (ok the last one is largely me, but they are like obstacles in a katamari game!). They actually have hooks on the side of their desk which is used for a smaller bag is they have such an item.
Above the cubbies is yet another of my favorite chalkboards with the daily schedule on it. As well as paper posting of anything important, but ignorable.
These students themselves, have 6 classes a day each class lasting 45 to 50 minutes. The time depends on the school and if there are any important up coming activities that they have to practice after school for (like field day, school festival, graduation...). Classes start at 8:45 but for the fifteen minutes before that they have home room. The class that the students start in is essentially their homeroom and more or less the students will always stay in that class and the other teachers will come to visit that room. However there are a few classes that have their own room, like science, cooking, home economics, there are a few English classes that go to the actual English room ( we have 2), and well P.E. but really how could you even consider doing that in the classroom. Ok, so there are less classes actually in the classroom but all these classes and the ones that take place in the classroom rotate throughout the week. There are 4 morning classes and midday, the students lunch for 30-45 minutes each day and if they are in elementary school they then get to have recess for another 30 minutes. In middle school they are expected to bring their own lunch, but my elementary school provides lunch for the students. Following lunch there are two more classes and a homeroom closing that the students then go through before being officially released for the day.
Psyche. Afterschool, students are required to join a club. Such as handicrafts/cooking club, art club, judo club, chorus club, ping pong club, soccer team, baseball team, tennis team, basketball team, badminton team, volleyball team, or the track team. Whew I think that is all the teams and clubs. Notice how we do not have kendo. How sad. They typically stay at school until around 5pm (they get there around 8am).
These activities and schedules and even setting is largely based on a JHS setting, I tried to throw in a few elementary examples, but if you are curious for more information, please don't hesitate to ask me!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
ごちそうさまでした!
or Gochisosama-deshita!
This is something that is often said after a meal as a way of saying "Thank you for the delicious food"!
It is the opposite of the more widely known いただきますor " itadakimasu!" Which is said at the beginning of a meal.
So one of the questions I often get is what about lunch? What do you eat/do for lunch?
Well actually it depends on which school I am located that day. My JHS does not have a school lunch that all the kids get. Everyone more or less brings their own lunch. However there is a bento that the teachers can order.
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| My JHS school desk with my ordered bento. Please note: you do note keep the box. |
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| A picture of today's bento and rice. |
Now these bento's may look delicious and sometimes that is quite the case; however I need to warn you that the order for these is placed at 9am and they are often here by 10 and they wait around cooling for the next two and a half hours, making the meal on the cooler side. This is actually normal. Many of the students wake up and prepare their meals early in the morning thus by the time they can eat them they have cooled; therefore this taste is acquired since childhood. Thus making the warmest thing during my meal often my tea...which I suppose it would be regardless.
On a side note, one addition that is quite common is a type of flavoring for the rice. Whether it is dried vegetables and eggs or a type of seed they put on it, I find that many of my coworkers enjoy flavoring their rice with something. I have it actually pictured in the first picture - it is the green packet.
However it is more common for the teachers to bring their own lunches, which I do as well so that my leftovers don't go to waste!
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| Elementary school lunch This is more often served with silverware. |
Until lately I have been eating these meals in office, but have since my lunchtime presence has been demanded by my students for their eating entertainment.
One of the things that I sometimes get asked as well is if I can go to a convinience store to get something to eat. Well I think that it is for the most part considered not as polite to leave school, even during lunch time, unless it is for a genuine issue with something like the post office or bank that must take place during their business hours. Now that is not to say that is it not acceptable to eat convinience store food at work....it is ENTIRELY acceptable. Just buy it beforehand.
Here are a few more lunch time pictures to satisfy anyone's lingering curiosity.
For anyone who is curious as to the nutrition value of these meals, here is a bit of information for you.
These are the average values obtained in a study on the health content of the meals served at school two years ago.
Elementary school Junior High School
Calories: 628.1 Calories: 781.7
Protein: 25g Protein: 30.7
Fat: 19.9g Fat: 23.6
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