Farewells

This week has been the beginning of my farewells to certain schools and students. On Monday I had my final classes at Yanai Shougyo, and was forced to try and explain to the students why I was leaving. To them it seems quite black and white...either you're homesick and want to go home, or you hate Japan, and want to leave. I had to try and explain that it was neither of those reasons, it was merely just 'time to go'. One boy asked me if I was going home to get married, and when I replied with an emphatic 'no', he looked a little puzzled and worried on my behalf! He then asked me how old I was, and when he realised that I was still only 24, he decided that it was acceptable not to be married yet! Bless! When I left the classroom, a group of my favourite boys (who are all 17/18 years old) ran out into the corridor ahead of me, and linked fingers to form an archway for me to walk under!! It felt a little like I was back doing country dancing at primary school, but sweet and touching nonetheless!

Today is my final day at Tabuse Nougyo, and so I came in extra early, so as to be cool and composed (instead of hot, sweaty and nervous) for my farewell speech in the teachers meeting. I had to go and sit at the front of the staffroom, as the principal made a very nice speech about me. I understood most of what he said, but he still insisted on saying a little in English for me too! He's a really sweet, friendly guy, but I reckon he also just wanted to show the teachers that he could speak English! He likes to practise his English with me each week, and I often go and chat to him in his office when he has a topic he would like to discuss. After his speech, I then stood up and read my 9 line speech, enjoyed the kind applause, and then it was over! After the meeting, the principal asked me to follow him to his office, as he had a farewell gift for me. He presented me with a very cute little set of incense sticks, and a lovely holder decorated in mapple leaves. Very Japanese, and very sweet of him to have gone to the trouble (well, I'm sure his wife had to go shopping for it, but you know what I mean). At the end of my lesson in 2nd period (with the very genki 'food' class), all the students came to the front and stood together to give me their parting words. In pretty much perfect unison, they chanted "Thank you very much Roren. Thank you for your nice classes". I was impressed, and touched, but I didn't cry! I'm still managing to keep it together!

Replaced!

Yesterday I received details of my successor, and today I started e-mailing with him. His name is Aaron, 23 years old, from America, and he seems really nice. He seems very excited and enthusiastic about coming to Japan, and I'm glad that I'm leaving my students in good hands. I say all this now, after a few hours of gaining some perspective over the subject of being replaced. I had a small emotional crisis this afternoon, when I realised that my successor was an actual real person, and an actual real person who sounds like they're going to do a great job. I found myself feeling quite unnerved and upset at the thought of being replaced, and the thought of all my students and teachers forgetting me when they meet the great new ALT. However, now, after conversations with Kat, Ellen and Alex (!!), I realise that I'm being stupid, and am simply reacting to the fact that my departure is definite and soon! I'm sure Aaron will do a great job, and the students will enjoy his classes. But I leave, knowing that, on the whole, I have also done a pretty good job, and that students enjoy chatting to me inside and outside the classroom. I'm happy that my students have an enthusiastic new teacher who will continue to develop their interest in English..an interest that I am proud to have spent 2 years encouraging.

Whooooo!

I'm at my base school...I'm sitting at my desk....and they've just turned the aircon on!! Happy day!

Yukata style

Friday night was farewell drinks for Lee-chan, and Kat, Ellen and I decided to dress up to mark the occasion. Straight after school, we headed over to the house of our Japanese teacher, Kazumi, for her mother to give us a lesson in how to tie, fold, and wear a yukata. I went, fully intending to try and grasp the complicated process involved, and to try and master the technique so that I could tie my own yukata anytime! However, I soon became very relaxed, and enjoyed being dressed (thanks Ellen and Kazumi’s Mum!), and forgot that I was supposed to be paying attention to how they were doing it all! Ah well…I should have realised that my attention span for learning creative, step-based art-forms, is very very short…just learning how to make an origami crane took me forever, and got me frustrated in the process! However, I definitely enjoyed wearing the yukata, and am grateful to Ellen for being my dressing assistant (she picked it up in no time at all!). We have a ‘yukata party’ coming up in a couple of weeks, and I am really looking forward to getting all dressed up again, and feeling pretty and japanesey!

J-POP

I have recently become quite addicted to the website, youtube.com (I'm blaming it all on Ms Roberts!), and so decided to take the next obvious move of popping some videos on my blog. Granted I'm a bit late to jump on this bandwagon, as most of my fellow Japan bloggers have already this addiction! In fact, Kat actually did a blog exactly the same as this a week or 2 ago, and so yes, I know, I'm being a copy-cat. Ah well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! And besides, I wanted to show the folks at home the crazy and cheesy path my music taste has taken over the last 2 years! Don't worry, I still like 'normal' stuff, this is merely a colourful and catchy addition that is inevitable after an extended period of time in this wacky and captivating country!

This is Hirai Ken. He normally sings quite sickly sweet ballads, designed to tug on the heart strings, support poignant film moments, and drive us all crazy as they are played on what seems like a constant loop in Mr Max and Daiso! I love this song however! It's just sooo fun, cheesy, and cheerful, and nice to sing along to a bit of English! Enjoy the cheese, people!

This will always be my 'j-pop tune of choice'. It was probably the first j-pop song that I liked, and wanted to have on my i-pod! The group is Orange Range, and they're massively popular. We tried to get tickets to their concert last year, but they had sold out within the first 15 minutes. The Take That of Japanland!

This is Monkey Majik - 2 Canadian brothers, and 2 j-guys (apparently the older Canadian brother used to be an English teacher 8 years ago and just never left!...you see there IS life after JET!!!) I love this song..it's so catchy! I even attempted to sing this with one of my English club students at karaoke a few weeks ago!

Once upon a time I was a maiko...

Last April, whilst in Kyoto with 2 pals from home, and Sarah, I did the 'dressing-up as a maiko' thing! I think I wrote about it on here, but I never posted any pictures of my transformation! Well, in case anyone is bothered about seeing me all made-up and pouty, here is the mastersheet of my professional shots. In the end I had to choose 3 that I could have in a bigger size...needless to say I didn't choose the scary-looking ones of me holding a ball...random!

Time flies

Was just having a bit of a trip down memory lane, by looking through my photos since August 2004. Hard to believe that it is almost 2 years ago that I arrived here in Japanland, and started on the rollercoaster ride that is life as a JET...and that in 6 weeks today, I will be leaving, and on my way to Malaysia, then home. I like this photo because I remember how excited I was to be in Japan, and how important I felt to be drinking champagne at the British Embassy in Tokyo...and how I felt energetic and excited to take on the challenge of being an 'ambassador' for my country (haha!). A wander down memory lane is always a good place to realise how far you've come and how proud you are of your achievements..big and small.

Too much to ask?

All I want is an uninterrupted night's sleep! I'm tired, I've got bags on my bags, and I just want to sleep for 8 hours straight without being bothered by natural disasters, noise, or bugs. I am a person who needs sleep! 8 hours is perfect, I can cope on 6, but anything less makes me grumpy and irritated. This week I feel like Japan has been giving signals that it's time for me to leave ;

Sunday night - woken up at 5am by the strongest earthquake I have ever felt. Well scared, and didn't really get back to sleep after that.

Monday night - Tried to get an early night, but was woken up by the noisy kids downstairs, who sounded like they were having some sort of sleepover...complete with bangs, screams, machine-gun sound effects, and general noise designed to keep me awake for the rest of my life (or at least that's how it felt)

Tuesday night - I dreamt that I was being bitten, and that I was really itchy...I then realised that I actually was being bitten, and really was pretty itchy!! I switched on my light, and saw 4 big mozzy bites! Aaaarrrgghh! After 30 minutes of hunting the culprit, and a quick hoover down the side of the bed to reassure me (oooh, also a great bit of revenge on those kiddies! Mwahahahaha!), I could finally get back to sleep. In the morning I realised that there were actually 10 bites...all from that one pesky mosquito!

Wednesday night - it was one stormy night last night. Rain lashed at my bedroom window, and the wind shook my fragile 'paper-like' apartment walls. The noisy weather woke me at about 4am, and after that I just couldn't get back to sleep.

Ok, Japan, ok...you win....I'm leaving in 6 weeks, just make the mozzies, and the earthquakes, and the noisy weather go away!

Yawn!

Exploring inaka

Yesterday Ellen and I had a lovely afternoon driving around Kaminoseki (a very rural town close to Yanai). The sun was shining, the weather was warm, and it was great to drive around the beautiful countryside, past paddy fields, stunning views, the picturesque coastline, and fishing and farming weather-beaten locals! It's always great to explore a new area, as it it an instant reminder of how lucky we are to live in such a pretty area of Japan.

Phew!

My new passport arrived this morning! Yey!

Checklist

Passport sent off for renewal.......check!

Flight ticket home to England.......check!

2 boxes sent home to England.....check!

3 more boxes waiting to be sent......check!

3 lots of accommodation booked for my hols (KL, Melaka, Singapore)......check!

Contact with successor.....still waiting for a name!

New CV written...check!

Job applications......done a few, and been offered 2 telephone interviews (for jobs in Sicily and Hong Kong), but I don't actually want either of the postions!

Enjoying my last 2 months in Japanland....check! I'm off for my favourite tonkatsu tonight, going to baseball in 2 weeks, got leaving parties coming out of my ears, a school festival to enjoy, a mini roadtrip round the Guch to take heaps of photos on, and have done a lot of the boring organisey bits of moving home, so now I can just enjoy all the other fun stuff!

I leave Japan in 47 days.

Rubbish to say the least

Quite a few of you know that I really don't like a certain teacher here in Japanland. I taught with him in my first year, and he was also my supervisor, and I dreaded the 3 classes that I had to spend with him. I now teach with him again for 4 classes a week. He is a pathetic excuse for a teacher, and is a shining example of where English teaching in Japan is going wrong! The Japanese government is allowing people like him to teach, when they do not seem to have a good grasp of the language, and flounder in simple conversation. Teachers are supposed to set an example to their students, but when you have a person teaching senior high school oral communication and that person cannot string a sentence together without omitting verbs, prepositions, using an incorrect word order, and basically mumbling gibberish, then how can you expect the students to use the language correctly and confidently. My other English department colleagues here know how I feel about him, and in fact, share my concerns, as they realise he is a poor English speaker, and generally just not a very good teacher!!

I really tried to help him improve his English, both in terms of accuracy, vocabulary, and confidence. I was as patient as I could be...in the beginning! He even went to England last summer, in the hopes of improving his oral skills. He appeared to have improved a little, and at the very least seemed more at ease with using English. However, now he is back to his old rubbish ways, and I feel so sorry that the students do not have a more enthusiastic, innovative and skilled teacher. I hope it does not colour their opinion of learning English.

Some examples of his English attempts ;

In a conversation when he is trying to tell me that it will be cold for another two months; "another....type....twice."

In a conversation when he is trying to explain that a student is joking with his Hitler-loving comments; "mmmm...facial understanding."

In his greeting to the class in 5th period, when it is 1pm; "good evening everyone"

At the end of class when he is trying to congratulate the class on working hard; "you have a good job"

In a conversation with me, when I had food poisoning, and he attempted to wish me a speedy recovery, but forgot the expression 'get well soon' ; "ok...good luck"

Yep, he's bad! I often feel like I'm banging my head against an English language brick wall. Ah well, I'm off soon! I just hope the students can do well and enjoy English in spite of his uninspiring teaching performance. Ganbatte kids!

Offensive? Inapropriate? Funny? All 3?

In my class this morning, the students had to choose a country they would love to visit, and talk about their reasons behind the choice. They had to work in pairs, share their reasons, and then some students would make a small presentation. There was the predicatable mix of students wanting to go to Australia to touch a koala, wanting to go to the US to watch baseball, wanting to go to England to see Harry Potter, and a few others wishing to visit France, China, Korea, even Switzerland! I was a little surprised when I realised that a few students had opted for Germany as their country of choice, but quickly realised that their reason was to based solely on wanting to see the World Cup! Good choice!!

However, as I was walking round the room, I noticed one boy had written he wanted to go to Germany because he '"loves Hitler." A few minutes later he actually came over to me and asked how to spell 'Auschwitz.' I was quite take aback actually, and wasn't really sure how I felt about the situation. I wasn't sure if I should feel offended, or find it funny, or just view it impartially as an inapropriate choice. I gave him the spelling, and continued my walk around the classroom, wondering what I should do next. The boy in question, is really bright, always volunteers, and I just knew would be eager to make a presentation. But, I didn't want him to. Is that wrong? It's not that I didn't want him to make his own composition, and write his own ideas...but I didn't want to have to listen to his speech, listen to the other kids chuckle (as they realised that he was trying to be smart!), and then have to applaud him and tell him it was great. I just thought that would put me in an awkward situation, and I would not feel comfortable.

So, I approached 'moron' about it, and tried to carefully and subtley explain that I did not want this student to present his work today. I said that I felt it was a little 'controversial', 'not funny', and I was not comfortable with such a speech being read in my class. I suggested that we choose numbers, and pick people, rather than ask for volunteers. 'Moron', however, just laughed and said, "ah, I think he means funny. It is a joke. His facial knowledge." First of all, a joke! yeah right!! So, if I want to make a speech about how I love the people who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, they're going to think I'm a real comedian, and brush it off as a joke! I don't think so!!! And secondly, 'facial knowledge'...what the hell does that mean!! Gah! I hate this guy's English....I feel a blog coming dedicated to my contempt for this man!

Anyway, in the end 'moron' let me decide how I wanted to handle it, and I stuck with a 'no volunteers' policy for that portion of the lesson. Was I right to do that? Should I have just let him read his speech? It's not like I hold any grudge or anger towards Japan as a nation based on their participation in the war (I wouldn't be here if I did!!!). It's not as if lost a loved one in the war. But, I do believe that being culturally sensitive should be a two-way street. I live in Japan, and on a daily basis do my best to fit in and adhere to different social norms, cultural differences, and be aware of how to act in a 'Japanese way.' I certainly never instigate a conversation with a Japanese person about 'the war'!!! Why shouldn't I expect a degree of sensitivity and thought in return, especially on such an emotive subject?

Staying late

Last night I agreed to stay late to work on the movie that my English Club are making for bunkasai (school culture festival). I turned up at 4, imagining that we would practise our lines for a while, and then get on with the filming of scene 3 (featuring yours truly as the character 'Lauren'!!) But no! What I hadn't realised was that this scene was supposed to be so late that it was dark outside!!! After playing a few games, quizzes, a bit of listening/comprehension practise, we finally started to film the scen at 7.45!!!! 7.45!!!! There were literally about 4 cars left in the staff carpark. Yesterday, it appeared that I was one of those ridiculous 'i'll stay late' teachers!! We finished my part at about 8.30, and I finally was able to escape from my 12 hour stint at school. I seriously didn't think I was going to make it through the evening...I had no food for dinner...I was down to my last half bottle of water....and moron was boring me to tears by showing me his coin collection!! I didn't think I was going to make it out of there alive!!! But, as you can see, i'm still here (although knackered, and bitten by an evil spider..see the post below!), and the actual filming with the kids was great fun!! I kept forgetting my three lines, Mura's acting is over the top and hilarious, and the cross-dressing sparked lots of giggles and gasps as we all walked through the school grounds. The movie is based on the film 'Freaky Friday', but in our script, it is a brother and sister who change bodies/places. We therefore have the lovely, pretty Mana (top, centre) dressed up as a boy, and the charming Keichi (bottom, left) transformed into a stunning girl!! Great fun!! I'm hoping to get a copy of the dvd when it is finished, and I can't wait to see how we all do in our first on-screen performance! Oscars 2007 here we come! :)

I don't like them, but they certainly like me...

BUGS! INSECTS! Whatever else you want to call them...I normally use some kind of mild swear word, and say it in an irritated, disgusted voice. I don't like bugs, but for some reason, in Japan, they love me, and decide to munch on me on a weekly basis. Last week the dreaded mozzies were back in town, and one of the little 'blighters' (I never use that word...but a stronger word on a blog read by family, and a friend's secondary school students, would be inappropriate here!) decided to bite me on the hand and the lower back! Great! Thanks a bunch! Annoying, but I can cope with the odd mozzy bite...a bit of savlon, and the will-power not to scratch, and then they're fine! But 2 nights ago, I was bitten by a bigger enemy...a spider!!! Eek! I woke up yesterday morning, and noticed 2 small red marks on my arm, but they didn't hurt or itch, and so i thought nothing of it. Fast forward 3 hours, and they were itchy and a bit swollen, and another one had appeared too! They were definitely not mozzy bites, and I thought I was bitten by a spider last summer, and these seemed similar. Last night I was about to settle down for the night, and I had already checked around my room for signs of the evil biter, but had not found anything, when I noticed the quick scurry of a spider up my wardrobe door. It wasn't huge, but it certainly wasn't tiny, and when I can see it's joints, I know it's too big to be sharing my apartment! I sprayed at it with regular bug spray, and when that did nothing but make it cough, I ran for the cockroach super-duper spray. It did the trick, and it keeled over. Phew! Sorry to all you spider lovers out there, but it felt sooooo good! If it's gonna bite me, and make me scratch for 2 days...and counting...then it doesn't deserve to live in my house!