Visit With Papa

I just wrapped up my first visit from someone from back home and I've decided that I am really happy with my decision not to go home for the holidays. Now let me explain before my dad gets all upset and thinks that it's because I had a horrible time and never want to see him again! I say this because I think it would kill me to see everyone just to turn around and leave again. The first time I left it was for an all new adventure and an unknown world awaited me. Now I know what is out there and things are starting to become old hat so leaving people now would be like voluntarily stabbing myself in the heart. I just don't think I could do it.

But enough of my melodramas!

My dad arrived in Japan on December 2nd and stayed until the 11th. I was able to take 4 days off work because my students were writing their exams so that allowed me to have 6 days worth of travel time with the weekend thrown in there. We had decided that the best use of our time would be to check out Tokyo and Kyoto so that he could get a taste of both new and old Japan with a little bit of Gunma thrown in for good measure.

We spent the first 3 days in Tokyo and explored Ginza, Odaiba, Shibuya, Harajuku and Minato. We went up Tokyo Tower, saw the Statue of Liberty, the Imperial Palace, 2 traditional wedding parties at Meiji Shrine, and a Delorean!

We jumped on a shinkansen (bullet train) and headed to Kyoto for 2 more days of exploration. The highlight for both of us was going to the wild monkey park were you actually get to feed them providing that you are safely inside the little shack so they can't attack you :) We were warned not to look them in the eye but they never warned us that they would steal our stuff! One monkey lulled me into a false sense of security with his cuteness and then stole my info pamphlet! Cheeky bastard! I felt really bad about it because I felt like I was littering so I tried to chase the monkey to get it back but he was too quick. Well, that and I was kind of scared he would bite me and give me rabies...

I hope he found it informative

We never found any geisha but we did see some gorgeous temples and shrines! I think my favourite was the golden pavilion. It was stunning and we had at least 3 groups of high school kids come up to us and ask us questions and ask to have their photos taken with us so it was nice that we got to feel like celebreties for a day. It's about time people realised our awesomeness! They asked some rather difficult questions and my dad had to defer to me on a few like when they asked what our favourite Japanese word was (they laughed when I told them it was atsui (hot) but it served me well when I first moved here!) and who our favourite Japanese singer was. The group of boys were super impressed when I told them that my dad's favourite group was Bump of Chicken. It was either that or the girly group AKB48.

Golden Pavilion

Another really interesting place we visited was Nijo Castle. What made it so fascinating were the nightingale floors. In order to avoid assassins walking around undetected all of the floors in the palace sing when you step on them. I tried to walk softly and avoid having them creak but try as I might I just couldn't do it. And I was only wearing socks!

Back in Maebashi my dad busied himself by making me 2 cheesecakes while I was at work :) He also ventured downtown on one of the days and managed not to get lost. I was rather impressed by that because he had to take 2 trains to get there and every time we needed to find something in Tokyo or Kyoto he wanted to go in the wrong direction. If it weren't for my handy iPhone we would have been doomed! So the fact that he navigated my little train station is nothing to sneeze at. On his last night in town he bought me a Christmas tree and we spent the evening listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree. So now I have a little bit of home to keep me company and it brings a smile to my face everytime I look at it.

When Saturday rolled around it was time for him to head back into Tokyo and catch his flight home I decided to accompany him into Tokyo and see him safely onto the train that would get him to the airport. When we were about half and hour into our 2 hour train ride out there he casually mentioned that he meant to tell me before I got on the train that he would be ok and that I didn't need to spend my Saturday on a train. A little to late to tell me that now buddy! But as it turned out it was a good thing that I had decided to go all the way to Tokyo with him because he confessed that he probably would not have been able to find his connecting train and would have had to call me for help. I don't know how much good I would have been at directing him around Tokyo over the phone!

When we parted ways he got a teary eyed which threw me off guard because I think I've seen him cry maybe twice in my life! I was ok until I sat down for dinner that night and was hit smack in the face with the fact that I was all alone again. So I had a good cry and ate too much chocolate and came to the conclusion that it is a good thing that I am not going home for Christmas. It would probably kill me.

Visiting Principal from India

Last week my school had an Indian principal visit us for a few days so she could observe the Japanese school system and see what she could take away from it and implement in her own school.

She gave a presentation to my students and the major thing I took away from it was that I am doing a pretty decent job after all. I don't mean to sound self-congratulatory but you do start to wonder after a while if you are having any impact on the kids you are teaching. It can be pretty soul-crushing to put so much time and effort into lessons that seem to either bore the kids or confuse the heck out of them. So when I say that the biggest thing that I got out of listening to this principal's presentation was a bit of an ego polishing I say it unabashedly.

Her accent was really difficult for the kids to follow and she spoke at a fast pace even for a native speaker. Add to that the fact that she used really advanced English and you get a room full of kids who quickly lost interest and started talking among themselves. I felt bad for her because none of the teachers were even attempting to get the kids to stop talking and I'm not allowed to discipline them so I just stood there awkwardly and thanked my lucky stars that they were never this bad for my classes.

One thing the girls were interested in though were the henna tattoos. She had brought the paste with her and some of the girls wanted to have a pattern drawn on them. The guest principal was happy to finally have some interest from the kids so she obliged them. The one thing she forgot to mention though was that the ink stays on for a few weeks - but even if she did they wouldn't have understood her. So I ended up acting as an interpreter and let the girls know that unless they wanted the design on their hands for the next week or so they might want to wash it off sooner rather than later. As I suspected, most of them looked panic-stricken and ran to the washroom to scrub it off.

The teachers at my school also seemed a little put off by our guest because as she was used to running the show she would directly ask for things or say what she felt. In Japanese culture this is a bit of a no-no. There is a fine art to dancing around what you actually want to happen so that the person you are talking to is the one that ends up suggesting what you wanted in the first place. So once again I felt a bit of relief in knowing that, if nothing else, I was liked more by my colleagues than she was. It's the little victories that count.

Now I know that that sounds horribly shallow but please keep in mind that I have no idea if the teachers actually like me. Everyone is stand-offish and no one really talks to me about anything other than school related stuff. Even then, they avoid it if they can. So I was happy to see that I could be worse off. At least they don't visibly tense when they are talking to me.

I'm a Bad Blogger

Lately I've been faced with the undeniable truth that I am a bad blogger. I've been keeping track of all the things I want to share and the list just keeps getting longer. In my defence I have been super busy with really boring stuff and have been to mentally exhausted after work to want to type up stories about my life in an attempt to make it sound exciting and awe-inspiring. So I have been hiding behind my couch in the hopes that the list of updates will miraculously disappear and have published themselves. So far it hasn't been working. Maybe I should poke the pile with a stick from a safe distance.

School Marathon

Every year my school has a marathon day and all of the kids have to participate. The girls are required to run a 4k route while the boys are given an 8k route. All classes are cancelled for the day and the teachers are positioned along the path to cheer the students on.

I was at a point that gets passed once early on in the race and once near the end as they loop back towards the school. I had one of the English teachers (Taguchi-sensei - the one that invited me to his BBQ) and a member of the PTA stationed with me. So I was able to chat with them while we waited for the kids to pass us again.

They girls went first and as I cheered and waved at them I got a few students who seemed genuinely surprised to see me there. But they got huge grins on their faces and waved back at me as they passed. So that made me feel good, especially since there was a parent and fellow teacher there to witness it :) They like me, they really like me!

About 20 minutes later they came by again and said "thank you!" as they passed me while I clapped and cheered. It was really cute.

Amazingly, I got even better reactions from the boys. This really surprised me because in class the boys always try to avoid me. But for some reason they got really pumped about having me cheer them on. Some of them even cheered back at me. Go figure!

When the boys looped back around some of them actually looked green. I'm not saying that as an expression, there must be something about the Japanese skin tone because they really were green! I was worried some of them were going to pass out in front of me but they pushed through it and some of them perked up a bit as I cheered them on.

In the afternoon we had the award ceremony. All of the teachers had chosen numbers a few days earlier that would correspond to a student's finishing position. So if a student finished 117th and a teacher had picked that number then the teacher would give that student a special present. One teacher actually gave their students Kleenex >.< Another gave Cup a Noodle and apologized as she gave it to them :P And then there were the teachers that gave grocery bags full of candy! I gave my kids a box of Oreo chocolates and Oreo cookie "straws" so I think I was safely in the the middle. When my numbers were called the girl with that number actually squealed in excitement and she ran up to me with her arms outstretched as if for a hug. So I hugged her but it was really awkward because I realised too late that maybe that wasn't what she was going for. Oh well! But the really strange thing about it was that I didn't actually teach either student but they seemed really excited to get my presents. I'm telling myself that it is because I am just that awesome but it could have just been the fact that I was giving them presents...

All in all it was a really great day and I am happy because it was after I had started to feel like maybe the kids didn't really care for me. I'm glad to see that at least some of them are happy I'm here.

Maenishi International Day

Today my school had their International Day and 9 other ALTs came to visit and share a little about their home countries. I was really stressed and worried leading up to today because I didn't really know what to expect and I knew that all of the other ALTs would be looking to me for answers. Luckily everything went pretty smoothly and everyone seemed to have a good time.

After the opening ceremony some students from the Korean class presented Alice in Wonderland in Korean and the Chinese class sang some songs. Two students from the Spanish class did a tango for everyone and it was really funny to watch because the girl was leading and they had at least a good foot of distance between them the entire time.

The rest of the morning was spent having the ALTs present their home country to a group of students who then went back to their classes and taught everyone else all about that country. All in all there were 9 countries represented today so I think they got a pretty good introduction to the English speaking world. There was someone from Canada, America, Barbados, England, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Some of the facts got a little muddled when they had to report back to their classmates but for the most part they seemed to understand a lot of what was told to them. I especially enjoyed the report on Australia because they spent a lot of time talking about how it started off as a prison colony and then proceeded to list off all of the things there that could kill you. Sounds like a great place, let's go!

I was one of the things they had to draw for Pictionary.

 In the afternoon we got to play games with the kids and that was a lot of fun. We played pictionary, hangman, telephone, shiritori (you have to make a list of words where the next word has to start with the last letter from the previous word. ie: boat, talk, kangaroo) and wanderword (you are given a letter and you have to write as many words as possible that contain that letter).

The only thing that I didn't enjoy about today was having to share my kids with everyone. Now my students know how much fun some of the other JETs are and they are stuck with me! Some of my 3rd year students asked me to take a picture of them with the JET from South Africa. All I can say is that they had better ask for a picture with me when they graduate! *shakes a fist in their general direction* I have my eye on them!

JET Halloween Party

The JETs in Gunma organized a Halloween costume party for all of us to attend in Takasaki on Saturday. A few of my friends and I decided to meet up before hand so that we could all go together and take some photos at a photo booth on the way to the party since we were all dressed up.

Once we got there we found out that the bar where this is being held is above a strip club and next door to an escort service. Classy. Inside are about 100 foreigners dressed in everything from Smurf costumes to The Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth. Everyone was having a great time and I decided to make it an all-nighter with a few of my friends because catching the first train home is all part of the Japanese experience.

The plan was to catch the first train back into Maebashi around 5:30am after we sobered up at a nearby Denny's. We got a few weird looks from people there because Japan doesn't really celebrate Halloween and our group included a viking, a kid in pajamas, a cat, an anime character, Batman and Alex from Clockwork Orange (me).

At around 5am we start heading over to the station so we could catch our trains home. We caught the 5:30 train and I got stuck having to wait around for my transfer for another hour by myself looking rather sketchy. About 5 minutes before my train is due to roll in I decide to get my keys out so I will have them ready when I get home and I can get to my bed that much sooner. Well wouldn't you know it, my keys are nowhere to be found! I go through my purse and all my pockets at least 3 times before I admit that I really don't have them on me.

So I have to wait an extra 20 minutes before I can get on a train going back into Takasaki in the hopes that the bar is still open and that my keys are there. The bar is a 30 minute walk from the station and people are starting to wake up and go about their daily lives. And here I am, dressed as a psycho from Clockwork Orange, wondering around Takasaki all by myself while severely sleep deprived. Go me!

I eventually find my way back to the bar and am amazed to find that the door isn't locked. As I poke my head in I find a few JETs passed out on couches and one or two passed out Japanese people. I decided to just move around them and try to find my keys. I moved furniture and looked everywhere I could think of. No luck. Now I am starting to panic. I have no idea how I am going to get back into my apartment and all I want to do is go to sleep after my night of drinking.

I wandered back outside and decided that I would retrace my steps from the night before. This worked well in theory but not in practice because I'm not from this area and everything looked different during the day. I quickly realised that I had no idea where I was and that I needed help if I was going to make it through the day. Unfortunately all of my friends who would be in a position to help me were passed out cold at this point. I decided to call Katie anyway. No luck. I then tried Angela since we had gathered at her place before the party and there was a chance my keys were there. No go. Alice? Nope.  I tried Katie again and heard a very groggy voice answer the phone - Hallelujah my prayers were answered!

After I described my predicament and where I was she volunteered to come and pick me up and help me look for my keys. While I was waiting I heard back from Angela and she told me that she couldn't find my keys anywhere at her place. I'm crushed by this news because I was quickly running out of places they might be.

After Katie found me we headed back to the bar to have another look. This time there was an employee sitting at the bar so I told him we were looking for my keys. He says ok and went back to what he was doing. Even with two of us we couldn't find my keys so we headed out and tried the photo booth place only to learn that they didn't open for another 2 hours.

So Katie drove me home because maybe I was dumb and dropped them outside my apartment. After looking all over the place that proved fruitless too so we decided to go to Starbucks and get a coffee (more weird looks). At 9am I realised that the only option left to me was to call my supervisor and admit my idiocy. She agreed to help me and called the estate agency that I am renting from to see if we could get a spare key. They weren't open so my supervisor said she would try again at 10am when most things would be open for the day. At 10:15 I got a call and found out that they weren't open on Sundays and that my supervisor was out of ideas. We would have to wait for Monday.

So I had to spend the night at a friend's house and I get a lift into school the next day. The only problem was that I was DRESSED UP as Alex from CLOCKWORK ORANGE! *facepalm* Oh and I was supposed to prepare a complicated lesson plan for a class I had on Monday but all of my lesson planning things were locked in my apartment. Brilliant.

Katie went back home to bed and I was left to try and find something to wear to school the next day. Luckily I was able to find something that fit and worked with my white pants.

I got back on the train and headed towards downtown Maebashi so that I could crash at my unsuspecting friend's house. I texted her asking that she let me know when she woke up so that I could talk to her. Finding myself downtown I started to meander towards her apartment because I didn't know what else to do in my current state. I sat outside her place until her husband woke up and let me in.

They lent me pajamas and let me pass out until dinner time. I then heard from another friend that she had found keys at the bar the night before and had given them to the bartender who hung them up on the wall behind the bar. Could these possibly be my keys?! I started to get really excited by the prospect of getting to sleep in my own bed and getting to wear something other than my costume to school the next day.

After waiting 3 hours for things to get sorted out and looked into someone else ended up claiming the keys that I had convinced myself were mine. I was crushed. So I spent the night with Alice and Sean and my supervisor picked me up the next day at 7:50am.

I managed to get my lesson planning done during 1st period and we arranged for a locksmith to meet me at my apartment after school to change my lock and give me a new set of keys.

After a harrowing 2 days I felt I deserved pizza and beer so that's exactly what I did.

Impromptu Halloween

The week before Halloween I did all of my Halloween lessons at school so that I could have them all done before the season was over. They all went really well expect for the fact that I had to combine my 2 third year classes into one because one of the teachers I work with just started 2 months of sick leave.  So now I have one big class but the lesson still managed to work, much to my relief. Unfortunately, one of the students wasn't able to do any of the activities because of religious reasons. I asked my JTE what religion she was but she refused to answer :( It seemed a little extreme to sit out of the activities because one of them involved listening to Werewolves of London and filling in blanks in the lyrics and the other activity had them drawing Halloween related things on a picture of a haunted house. Personally, I don't see where the conflict lies but to each their own! We listened to Halloween music and had a good time for the rest of the class.

The next week I had some of my super genki girls from that class come up to me and ask if we were going to have a Halloween party. I thought we already had, but apparently not >.< I told them that we couldn't because with the combined classes we needed the extra week to make sure they were at the same point in the lessons and that we needed that week's class to even things out. We were all sad about it but I considered it resolved. That is until 4pm when they came up to me at my desk in the staff room to say that they had talked to another of their teachers and they said that I could use their class to have the party the following day. So now I had to pull another Halloween party out of parts best left unnamed.

Once I was free to leave school I raced to the grocery store to buy candy because I figured we could chill and eat for at least some of the time. After that I headed home to start coming up with Halloween games that used simple English and would appeal to a large group of 18 year olds. I was up until midnight making 40 different Halloween bingo cards by hand and 20 large print outs of pictures for a relay race.

The next day when it was time for the party I asked the teacher who was letting me use his class what room it was going to be in and he said, "Oh I thought we could do it in your room". Thanks for the warning! I could have been preping things in there! Then he casually asks, "Can you do it on your own?" Oh yeah sure no problem! Bring on the 40 18-year-olds who can't understand English and let me try and tell them how to play the games >.<

In the end it went really well though. After Bingo we played the relay race where they had to run up to the board and slap the image that I called out before the other teams could. It got super rowdy and I was a little concerned that I was going to get in trouble from other teachers trying to teach but that's what you get when you make me run a party on my own! Luckily no one complained (at least to me) and the students seemed to have a really great time.