Something I said?

Today I gave a lesson to two classes on Bonfire Night, complete with the story of Guy Fawkes. One teacher was prepared for it and had even given the students and information sheet on Guy Fawkes earlier in the week, so the lesson was a complete success. The second class was with a teacher who hadn't really done more than glance over the story I had given him (which was fair enough as I hadn't asked him to.)

When it came to the part of the story where Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered however, I was in need of a translation. I was describing the process of drawing the victim when I heard a strange sound. I turned around to find the JTE dry-heaving in the corner of the classroom.

Another successful day, then.

A Crap Streamer?

Today is a public holiday in Japan - Culture Day. I did ask my students yesterday what that entailed but neither they nor my JTE could explain it to me. I had a 'special days' lesson with a different class last week where I assigned groups of students a special day to make a small presentation on, but unfortunately none of them did Culture Day. Having said that, though, I'm not sure how accurate their information would have been. The students in charge of Children's Day drew a carp streamer on the board and, with the aide of an electronic dictionary, wrote 'a crap streamer' above it. I had to bite my cheeks really hard as they were doing their presentation.

There are people milling around outside and there seem to be events going on at the university across from where I live, but I've not really been out today apart from walking my friend to the bus stop. You see, last night I met up with two friends for okonomiyaki in Nishinomiya, and afterwards we went for drinks at a small bar that reminded me of a 1950s black and white flick. It was small and clean and there were not many tables for people to sit at; mostly the customers were sat at the bar and talked a lot to the barmen. The seating charge was 300 yen. I'm not used to paying seating charges, but it's fairly standard in Japan and 300 yen is nothing compared to some of the seating charges in Kobe! I had a really good time, as I always do when I go out with these particular friends, because we always laugh a lot. I also like the fact that our meals / drinks together sound like the start of a bad joke - 'a Brit, a Kiwi and a Yank walk into a bar..'

It's true that we're supposed to be sampling the culture out here and seizing as many opportunities as possible, but sometimes you really need gaijin company. Only another gaijin will truly understand what you mean when you say 'I feel homesick', or realise immediately that you have just delivered the punchline to a joke, or give you a straight yes or no answer when you ask a question. And, depending of course on their character (I obviously can't lump all gaijin into the same category), they tend not to judge you when you drink more than you should on a Tuesday. Generally.

So after downing five beers last night I am, understandably, feeling a little green around the gills today and didn't make it to Ikea where I hoped to buy a new bed. Darn it. It was worth it though. Despite my firm resolution to make the most of my public holidays and go somewhere everytime one appeared on the calendar, I have spent the whole of today in my apartment eating junk food (mmm.. instant noodles..) and listening to music. Wrapped in my duvet for the most part. I would add that I do not regret this arrangement one bit.

It's pretty cold in Japan now, though obviously it's a lot colder back home, so I have invested in these:


Hand warmers! They're really good; when you take them out of the plastic, the chemicals inside the teabag-like warmers react with the air and start to give off heat. They last a long time too, about twelve hours, so I have taken to setting one going five minutes before my first lesson and taking it into the classroom with me (no heating in the classrooms) and warming my fingers on it in between writing on the board. In the evening it's still going strong so I cozy up with it in front of the laptop or as I get stuck in with my Japanese lessons. So Japan fails on one count for not having decent heating or insulation in its buildings, but wins on the accessories front.

I don't really have any news as such. The past week or so has been a hard slog of overtime at work, helping students to practise for the speech contest and preparing special lessons that have had mixed reactions (as ever) from all my classes. I've started adding ginger to my soups to keep me warm, wearing extra layers to work, and allowing myself to get excited about Christmas and New Year. In a couple of weeks (when the new bed is ordered, paid for and assembled) I'm going to go out and spend some money on winter clothes, yey! A coat, elbow-length gloves, heat-tech tops, as well as other wintery accessories. I'll keep taking pictures of Japanese things for you all, I hope it's not too cold where you all are. I was lucky enough to receive a parcel recently of chai tea and custard cream biscuits (thank you!), so every time I stop for a tea break I think of all my Frenchies :) Missing you all.

TGIF

Kicking back with a beer on a Friday night, listening to music and letting the week go. This is the stuff. As a student I appreciated many things. It’s not that I didn’t realise how lucky I was, being able to sleep in late safe in the knowledge that I would be able to work into the night if necessary (though my body clock would often ping my eyes open at 8am regardless.) And it’s not that I didn’t know what a charmed life I led when I meandered out onto the piazza on a warm afternoon for an ice cream, just because the mood took me and just because I could. I truly valued all these wonderful perks for what they were - elements of a life I was soon to leave behind but spend the rest of my life thinking fondly of. What I will readily admit to, however, was not appreciating the true value of a Friday night. Only now that I am working full time in the real world do I place Friday night on the deity worthy weekend pedestal. Ah Friday, how I love thee so.

I haven’t had a bad week. I actually don’t really have bad weeks - I have bad lessons, or even bad days, but weeks are such a mix that more often than not I am drained. It’s like I am on a constant rollercoaster of teaching related emotions.. except I have to push my rollercoaster up the slopes myself, consequently arriving at Friday completely cream-crackered.

Friday is my favourite day because I have two whole days ahead of me where I can stay in bed even after I am awake. It is my favourite day because I am at my visit school where the students are always excited to see me. It is my favourite day because I don’t have to panic at the last second about whether I have a shirt ironed for the following day. It is also the day I teach to my favourite class ever.

The class in question was particularly boisterous today. There are a few characters who always like to shout out answers and crack jokes, which believe it or not I am grateful for. Do you remember being in school and thinking the teacher preferred the students who knew everything? It’s rubbish. Teachers prefer students who, without crossing the line, inject energy into the classroom and keep things moving along. Today I gave a lesson on ‘going to the doctor’s’, which included what I call a ‘vocabulary booster’ (where I amass words on the board contributed by students and related to the given topic), a worksheet where words had to be linked to pictures I had drawn (a series of stick men running around and whining about their ailments) and a dialogue which students had to alter according to flashcards indicating the problem they needed to talk about. Now, remember what I was saying about the success of a lesson plan depending on the class itself? I distinctly remember delivering this lesson to a different class two weeks ago and being met with blank stares and reluctant groans. Today, however, the students enthusiastically participated, competing with each other to give me the answers to my questions and generally adding hilarity to the classroom. When asked to perform a dialogue between a doctor and patient, one student pulled on (apparently from nowhere) the biggest pair of glasses I have ever seen and pretended to write down his patient’s symptoms in a book, nodding with mock concern as he did so. I can never keep a straight face in that class.

So today I’m feeling exhausted, but upbeat nonetheless. On the way home from school (an hour long commute, sometimes longer depending on traffic) I stopped at the 100 yen shop and bought some more props for future lessons. I also bought these teacups for green tea:



The owl one is pretty awesome and was the first to catch my eye. The cat one was bought with someone else in mind, a much anticipated visitor who arrives in nine weeks - yey!

Whilst I’m on the subject of loading photos, Kate has requested more food photos. So, here is a photo from last weekend, when I trekked into Sannomiya with a friend and had coffee and cake at an apparently German café.


In Japan coffee is fairly expensive, it’s not unusual to pay about 500 yen for a cup of coffee. That’s not to say coffee itself is expensive out here - everything is expensive compared to back home. I’m starting to relax about it a little though, and stop comparing everything to what I could have bought from Gregg’s at lunchtime, or Tesco for my weekly shopping. Anyway, I did have a point to make. My point is that my items - coffee, crème brulée and cream horn type pastry thing - came to 630 yen. For central Kobe in a chic European style café, that is pretty reasonable! I would further like to add that I didn’t buy two cakes because I’m a greedy fat pig. Rather, the menu was broken down into ‘sets’ where you couldn’t choose individual items without paying through the nose. So I chose the ‘Berlin’ set. The coffee was really good, and in the crème brulée were soft chestnut pieces. The Japanese seem to be going crazy over chestnut season; chestnuts are in absolutely everything!

Also for the benefit of my dear Kate, some common supermarket items.



Fish heads, which are nutritious and tasty (according to a colleague of mine).


Finally, dessert cheese. The picture is not too clear I’m afraid, but these cheese triangles have such flavours as ‘rum and raisin’, ‘vanilla’ and ‘whole nuts’. Interesting. I guess it’s a new take on serving cheese plates instead of sweet desserts.

That’s all for now folks. If you have any requests for more photos of certain things, or if you want to hear more about something in particular then please let me know. I’m content to drivel on in this blog, but am more than happy to tailor to requests.

Frustrations of a first-grade teacher

Today was a bit of a frustrating day. It never ceases to amaze me how no matter how hard you plan and prepare for a lesson, one factor can throw it all out the window. That one factor? The students.

For my first years at my base school I write a new lesson plan every week and a half or so. I see them all on a rotation, and because there are so many of them I don't get to see them every week like I see the first years at my visit school. Before I walk into a classroom with my new lesson plan, I always feel a little apprehensive. Luckily I'm good at hiding my sickening nerves when it comes to public speaking, so the kids have never really picked up on how anxious I get sometimes. Normally, the first lesson I give goes really well, and I come out of the classroom afterwards feeling like I'm walking on air - maybe I am a good teacher! Maybe I did reach those kids! Maybe they will pass their exams with flying colours! Then I give the exact same lesson to another first year class, in the exact same way, with the exact same material. And it crashes and burns.

From what I can surmise, the following are factors which affect the level of participation amongst my students:

1) Is it before lunchtime? (If so then forget it, they don't care about anything other than getting to 12:40 and ripping open their lunchbox to appease their voracious adolescent appetite.)
2) Are they mostly boys? (If they are then you'll get more participation. But probably dumber answers as they try to show off to their friends.)
3) Are they mostly girls? (Then they're probably too shy to speak.)
4) Is this the last lesson of the day? (If so then expect snoozers.)
5) Have they just had PE? (Then expect nothing. The spirit ain't willing and the flesh is weak.)
6) Is it dark and raining outside? (In that case they're going to be depressed as well as inattentive. Perfect.)

Individual students can vary based on many factors. Exhausting club activities, being sat near their boyfriend / girlfriend, wanting to be part of the 'in' crowd... It's a teenage minefield.

What I'm getting at is that yesterday I delivered a spectacular lesson where I transformed the classroom into a restaurant, and with the help of a few minor props I had students become waiters and take food orders from their classmates. They were competing with each other for merit stamps and basically being perfect students. Today it was all I could do to get my students to pick up a pen. Why?! I put so much work in, and they gave me nothing!

The more time I spend in the classroom, the more I realise that teaching is about improvisation. Obviously you need to put in a hell of a lot of work before you even set foot in the room, but ultimately you have to make choices about when to change your lesson plan and focus on something else. If the students aren't responding then you just have to abandon an idea sometimes and push on with something else. It can be infuriating, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. What I can't get the hang of is shaking that miserable post-lesson feeling of being an absolute failure when my students have made no effort and retained nothing.. I hope that will come with time too, though I guess that emotional separation may be what separates real teachers from try-hard JETs such as myself.

Countdown to Christmas

One of the things that worried me slightly about coming to Japan was the idea of Christmas in a country where, according to wikipedia, 84% of the population say they are not religious. Christmas is not even a public holiday in Japan, though luckily it does fall on a Saturday this year.

With this in mind I didn’t really think it would feel like Christmas this year for me, although having questioned some of the students in my classes I discovered people still put up a tree and exchange presents. I went to the nearest shopping centre yesterday to kill some time (and get out of my shoebox apartment) and was quietly thinking to myself how in the UK the shops would already have had their Christmas stock in for a good three weeks. Now, I complain about this aspect of our culture just as much as the next person, but it is nice I guess to have a reminder that even though the nights are drawing in, there is something to look forward to. Lost in my musings and drowning out the sound of the crowd with my ipod, I stepped on an escalator and became aware that at the top something was emitting a series of flashing lights. Out came the earphones, I could hear something in the distance…

Sleigh bells!!

Gliding off the escalator I found myself in front of Izumiya, my local supermarket. In the space of a week the entrance to the home section had been transformed into a winter wonderland!! There were Christmas trees galore, beautiful decorations, the most elaborate and technical Christmas cards I had ever seen (where you open them up and they become 3D card Christmas trees with flashing lights) and Christmas songs were playing in the background! I took some pictures of the main Christmas tree, decorated in true kawaii Japanese style with Rilakkuma (relax bear).


Sorry for the bad quality, I wish my ipod had auto focus! I guess that’ll be the aim for the next ipod they bring out.. although I have no intention of buying one for another few years. This one bankrupted me this month as it is.

So even if the Japanese don’t really celebrate Christmas per se, I now think that at least I won’t feel as if it never happened this year. I’ll take more pictures as time goes on anyhow to show you all the decorations that they sell here - I think there may be some sort of light festival coming to Kobe soon too so I will have to check that out. Ah, festivities!

Luckily the boot's on the foot

A couple of days ago I was on my way back from work when I walked past two school boys in the courtyard area by my apartment building. In a typically schoolboy-ish way they were gazing in fascination at an insect on the ground. They looked up as I walked past so I pretended not to be interested, but as soon as they were gone I ran back with my camera.


This is a Japanese caterpillar. If it bites you, it is extremely painful. At the very least you have to go to the doctor as it requires medical treatment. Another JET told me recently that there are neurotoxins in its bite, so get bitten by more than one at a time and you could find yourself in trouble. Apologies for the poor focus, as it turns out my iPod touch doesn’t zoom or focus. For your benefit though folks, I put my boot next to the little demon so you can see its relative gi-normity. Note that even with boots on, I was reluctant to get too close.

Too much kindness?

As it turns out, this week is turning out to be a bit of a strange one too. Where do I start? Perhaps I should write more often, then I wouldn’t need to ask this question so often.

The biggest event that has happened so far this week is the concert that I went to on Tuesday. The reason I say this is because it is an event that has left a lasting impression on me. I’ll explain.

During orientation in London and in Tokyo for the JET programme, we were told that the best way to cope with culture shock in Japan was to accept pretty much anything our colleagues invited us to. This way we would give a good impression, build good relationships with everyone and experience new things at the same time. So when one of the teachers came over to me last month and said there was a piano concert in Osaka in October, with free tickets to teachers from our school, I accepted his invitation to go to it. I didn’t really have a choice actually, but it certainly didn’t seem like much of a chore as I love the piano.

So the concert rolled around on Tuesday. Between being invited and actually going to it, this same teacher had intermittently been coming to me with information on new concerts / music events etc., often writing them on my desk calendar before I could stop him. He’s quite a bit older - I assumed he was just interested in music and in practising his English (he isn’t an English teacher so doesn’t have much opportunity). I admit the constant invitations were getting a bit wearisome but I tried to keep a balance between refusing stuff and staying friendly.

Before leaving school with him on Tuesday evening, one of my colleagues, with a worried expression, asked me if he was married. Of course! I replied. I’m sure I’ve seen a ring on his finger. She looked a bit sceptical. When he came over to my desk I checked.. no ring. Oh dear.

The guy had a BMW. A very new, clean and expensive looking one at that. I didn’t think teachers got paid that much. We made small talk on the way into Osaka and I was feeling a little uneasy because of my colleague’s comment, but I tried to push it to the back of my mind. We arrived at the hotel, the Royal Hotel no less, where he began making requests to the staff in Japanese. From my basic grasp of the language I could tell he was ordering vegetarian food for after the concert, then he ordered flowers from the florist. I could feel rising panic.

When it was time, we went up to the concert itself and listened to some very beautiful and inspiring music performed by one of his ex-students (this explains the free tickets to our school) and the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra. I really enjoyed the music, it was truly inspiring to hear such talented musicians perform live. Whilst the music played, I began to calm down a little. The flowers couldn’t possibly be for me - could they? And the meal, surely it was a small meal somewhere inexpensive. I started at the sound of applause, and to my huge relief saw the huge bouquet of roses the teacher had ordered being presented to the pianist. Wonderful! Now I could enjoy the food and really relax. I had overreacted as usual.

Except I’m not sure that I had overreacted. After the concert he said to me Right, let’s go eat some vegetable tempura! So I followed him through the hotel to an elevator which took us up to the 28th floor and then an esclator.. and stepped into a restaurant where the panoramic windows gave a breathtaking view of Osaka by night. The ceiling was black but it had small lights embedded into it to make it look like the night sky. What a romantic restaurant I thought, as my heart sank. A waiter quickly whisked us to the table that had been reserved for us, where a small bouquet of five pink roses awaited me. A present for you! he said with a broad smile. Later he insisted on taking a photo of me with the flowers against the backdrop of the city view. He also paid for dinner, which as it turns out, was as expensive as you would expect from the Royal Hotel in Osaka.

What started out as a kind invitation to a free concert left me feeling seriously uncomfortable. Other teachers have bought me things and taken me places, but it normally extends to a slice of cake and a trip to a local festival. I’m going to be careful about what I say yes to in the future so I don’t get put in this position again. More than likely he is just a kind man with a keen interest in music and doesn’t mind spending money on people. However, for my own peace of mind I will be keeping male colleagues at arm’s length, at least until I suss out what Japanese people consider to be too much in the way of gifts. I hope I don’t seem ungrateful, it’s just that where I come from this would all be considered too much, so it’s probably best to err on the side of caution.

On a different but related note, the following day a different teacher extended a more relaxed and welcome invitation (in the middle of the day, I might add). I’m about to go to the best cake shop in Nishinomiya if you’re interested in coming, said one of my JTE colleagues. At this, I was practically at the entrance of the school with my outdoor shoes already on. So we set off in his car, talking about food and cakes and the students in our class.

But the best cake shop in Nishinomiya was apparently closed on Wednesday. Typical.

So we went to the second best cake shop instead, where said JTE colleague said he was buying. But only this time I’m afraid, he grinned. This was exactly what I wanted to hear after the night before!! The cake was delicious:


The very professional staff even put a small sachet of ice in with my cake to make sure it was still chilled by the time we got back to school:


Needless to say, this slice of chocolate cake was a less intense but greatly appreciated act of kindness!