Request Numero Uno

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I'll first address what I will arbitrarily denote the first request, that I talk more about what I do at work.

Today I went to an elementary school that's maybe 10-15 minutes away by car. This is a pretty nice school, even as the schools here go. It was the second time I taught at this school, the second school I have now taught a second time at, if you follow, or even if you don't. I remembered to bring my inside shoes to this one, which turned out to be good.

I got there around 8:15, which is the time I usually shoot for, since I'm supposed to be there at 8:30. They already had a schedule for me, which was nice. The schedule just told me which grade I was going to during which period. I think each period is roughly 45 minutes long, but it is hard to tell or keep track of time for a couple reasons. First, some classes don't have clocks, which can be annoying when I am trying to time my self-introduction to fit whatever timeframe they ask for. When I am supposed to do a self-introduction, I ask the teacher how long they'd like it to be, and then I change the speed and how much stuff I use. I also have to cater to the grade level, but I have to say I am doing a pretty good job of it. When I am able to check with a clock, I can always get it to within 1-2 minutes of how long it is supposed to be, and the overwhelming majority of the time, the kids seem to enjoy it. The classes where they have been bored (only like once or twice) are probably lost causes, anyway, where the kids simply will not be interested. That's even ok, but I understand what crappy stand-up comics go through.

I had fourth graders for first period, which was great, because the fourth grade teacher was pretty awesome. He spoke some English, which I generally don't require, but it is always nice when people try to make you feel more comfortable. Also, he was just cool and loved to joke. Did I mention he had all his students wear wigs to introduce themselves and used one of those things they use on movie sets with the scene details written on it that you snap closed when you say action? Because he did that. He was pretty awesome. Other than my self-introduction, which was about fifteen minutes long (usual time), and the students two-sentence self-introductions, we didn't do anything but a little pronunciation practice, which is really boring to hear about, so I won't bore you.

Second period was rest time for me, which meant studying a little bit, and the fourth grade teacher bringing me coffee and cookies for no reason other than he is cool. Someone basically always does this, even if you tell them not to trouble themselves. It's just one of those weird/cool things about working in Japan. Someone also gave me some Japanese tea when I first got there in the morning. I should mention that I still don't like coffee, no matter how much of it I drink. It is simply a disgusting taste, so whenever I have it, which generally means when someone gives me it, I use all the creamer and sugar. The fourth grade teacher seemed to think that was hilarious, and was worried that he hadn't put enough sugar in it (since he did this, too, for some reason), but I assured him it was delicious, to which he just laughed. Ok, so enough about the free time, which I think I can assume is boring for you.

Third period was first graders, which was mostly self-introduction by me. First graders are a little different to work with because they don't wait for question time or anything like that. They just constantly yell out questions and comments about their own families/pets/whatever you are talking about. You just have to kind of smile and respond a bit, then wait for it to die down before saying something else. I should note that I have no idea how anyone without Japanese language ability gets through elementary school visits. For at least 1-4 graders, I do the whole introduction in Japanese, only repeating certain sentences in English to teach them a little. The teachers are totally ok with the kids yelling the whole time and do almost nothing to stop it, which is totally fine. It may sound like it is hard or annoying, but really it is funny and very easy because you don't have to say much, even, when the kids are busy trying to shout to you over the other kids that they have three dogs.

The last bit of that class was spent teaching the kids how to play American rock, paper, scissors. All kids here love it. The Japanese version is called janken, if I haven't mentioned it. The only difference is in what you say, so it is very easy to teach. I am not exaggerating at all when I say the kids completely lose their minds when they get to play this game. For the life of me, I don't understand it. I don't remember ever thinking that rock, paper, scissors was anything but a way to kill time, but the way these kids get, you would think that Anpanman himself just came down out of heaven whenever you say janken asobimashou (let's play janken).

After that, I had 6th grade, which was, again self-introduction. I should mention that the 1st and 6th grade teachers met with me during my free time to let me know what we are doing. I'm fortunate in that most of the schools don't rely on me to come up with lesson plans. A lot of places don't have regular elementary school visits, so the teachers have no plans and just assume the JETs will figure it all out, which is kind of crazy considering that going in you don't even have any idea what the students know.

The 6th graders were fun, since a bunch of the boys really liked baseball, which makes my self-introduction (heavily reliant on baseball to bridge cultural gaps) very easy. They were all Yomiuri Giants fans, which is a little odd, since usually there are a bunch of Hanshin Tigers fans, as well. The girls were a bit harder to get into it, as they usually are, because they don't like anything and are ashamed to admit to the things they do like. Generally I can get them to come out of their shells a bit if I talk to them about anime that is at the appropriate age level, but the kids in this class liked Disney, about which I know nothing. They do like looking at pictures of girlfriends and being asked if they are married, though, so that is always another way, which worked alright today.

About anime: I AM NOT AN OTAKU. Really, I don't even care about most anime. In fact, I really only like little kids' anime, which is just bizarre and funny to me, aside from being very useful for talking to kids. It's nice to know a bit about Doraemon, Anpanman, and Pokemon because the kids all do. I know basically just enough to name my favorite characters, which is a common question. 5-6 graders usually like stuff more like Inuyasha, Lupin the 3rd, One Piece, or Naruto. I can't bring myself to even try watching Naruto, as the otaku vibe is just too strong, but Lupin is legitimately funny, so that's cool. Inuyasha is pretty much just for girls, but they giggle if you say "Inuyasha! Kagome!" like on the show, so I know just that much.

Then I had lunch with the kids, which was weird by Japanese standards because it was beef and some other stuff which you could put on/in this bread yourself, in addition to some soup and the ever-present milk. I ate with the second graders, with whom I had had class the first time I came to this school. The second graders think I am like Jesus or something. They are always holding my hands and showing me stuff like the chickens they keep out behind the school every chance they get. They're fun, though. After lunch is recess, and I could just barely let one of the second grade girls to let go of my hand long enough for me to put stuff in my desk so that I would be unencumbered enough to play with them. We played Duck, Duck, Goose, which I have taught at a bunch of schools to overwhelming success. The Japanese have the same game, only it involves using a handkerchief instead of talking. Japanese people really seem to have a problem saying/understanding "duck," though, despite however clearly and slowly I pronounce it. It's no big deal, but it's kind of funny playing "dog, dog, yusu," as it often sounds. They also think it is hilarious when I translate the words, which is kamo, kamo, gachou, if you were wondering.

After lunch, I had 5th grade class, which was more self-introduction. It was similar to the 6th graders save one thing. I like to use whatever slang/dialect Japanese I know, so I often say sugei instead of sugoi, meaning, roughly, "wow" or "cool," especially when kids answer a question correctly. The fifth graders seemed to think this was the neatest thing ever, so they kept yelling out sugei! as a chorus when I would answer questions for them. Kids also think it is funny to say dan dan, which is Izumo-ben for thank you. After class, the fifth grade teacher told the fourth grade teacher about the sugei thing, which he, of course, thought was hilarious. I told him I learned it from a movie, which is the truth. So, he of course asked me how to say kuso! in English, which I was only too happy to translate for him.

One more thing about the fifth graders. I often say things like atama ga ii yo, meaning "you're so smart (literally: head is good)," to the fifth and sixth graders because asking them what the American flag is so easy for them, whereas 1st graders will answer things like "paper" or "England!" They seem to enjoy this. One of the kids vehemently denied the fact that he was smart when I asked the class if they were smart because they were fifth graders, so when he kept volunteering to answer questions, I would refer to him as "atama ga warui hito," since he said "atama ga warui" ("I am stupid"). He, and everyone else, seemed to think it was hilarious. On a related note, a lot of advice that you get about picking out a single student in Japanese classes is crap, at least at the elementary level.

After the fifth grade class, I was technically free, but was encouraged to go to the first meeting of the sports club, which was run by a grateful fifth grade teacher. We played hando beisu, hand base; that is, kickball but using hands instead of feet. The fifth grade boys present continued to yell out sugei the whole time. My team won 2-0, but both sides played well. Also, I got both the RBIs, which are called daten.

After that, I just hung out in the office with all the rest of the teachers. They were all working on grading or lessons or something, but I just study. Periodically, kids would come by and yell out goodbyes in two languages to us, as they always do. I was staying a bit after I am supposed to stay, as I always do, when the fourth grade teacher told me I had to go, which I believe meant that I could go. Kind of a funny translation. Of course, then he got me a "goodbye coffee" before I could leave and also some more food to eat. After that, he talked to me a bit about Halloween and wished me well before I left. So, hopefully, that is enough detail about my day. Later!