Once You Catch Fly With Chopsticks...

My schools-

Here in Japan I teach at two different high schools. Monday through Thursday I teach at one vocational school out in the boonies. It’s located outside of Miyazaki City. Driving, it would take about 25 minutes. But, I have to bus it right now, so it takes about 50 minutes (I certainly plan on getting a car though). This school is like a combination of three schools in one. It has an agricultural school where students learn to grow and care for various plants. It has a commerce school too. It has a computer programming/book-keeping section. The students wear uniforms while at this school and for their appearance, they need to be “properly manicured.”



My main school



agriculture greenhouse

property of agricultural school

typical classroom

On Fridays, I go to a different school that is located in Miyazaki City. This school has a day course, a night course and a correspondence course. It reminds me of a junior college…or maybe even an alternative high school. Many students here have dropped out of other schools. Many cut class or don’t do their work. Hardly any study. There is no uniform policy. The students can wear what they please and I consider many of their outfit choices as inappropriate for school and some ensamples are downright jaw-dropping. The girls are into dying their hair, heavy eye make-up accompanied with fake eyelashes, short, short, short skirts or shorts, crazy long glittery fingernails, and high heels for days. Leg warmers are big here too, but I still cant fathom why one would wear leg warmers in the summer with this humidity.


best example of the "look' my students have

 

crap on nails



this is Purikura (Japanese photo boot) as you can see, yon can alter the picture by writing on words, or adding images. And it also "fixes" your appearance by making your eyes bigger and your complextion clear. haha

In both of my schools the students are very nice. They always say their “hi” and “good mornings” and are interested in getting to know me. At my main school a group of students and teachers line up in front of the school in the morning with a mini CD player. They play music and greet all passerbys with hardy “ohiyoo gozaimasu’s”- “good morning’s." It’s quite a nice way to start the day.
Also, teaching in Japan, you hear very interesting questions sometimes, like “Do you like Japanese boys?”
hummmmmmmm. How does one respond to this?
Or “What is your blood type?”

Days at school-The day to day happenings at the school always brings new surprises. Teachers do not have their own classrooms, they have a desk set up in the “Teacher’s Room.” The Vice-principal even has a desk here. This is a community space and it’s kinda like having a bunch of roommates. Teachers do everything at their desk. From eating to teeth brushing to gargling to nail clipping to sleeping. Teachers move from class to class during the day and keep all of their supplies in the teacher’s room. Each day you see teachers scurrying around the school. They are always very busy and they are always in charge of multiple departments or heading up various duties.

teacher room. there's a large whiteboard in the front for posting the scedule type and different announcements.  The teacher's desks get so cluttered.

 There’s a creepy old dude that tries to sit down and have conversations whenever he sees me. Once a neighboring teacher had to kick him out of his desk area. Thank goodness he is only here part time. He is extremely limited in his English, so he speaks almost all in Japanese. Our first conversation consisted of his bringing over a piece of paper that had two words written down on it, “gas’ and “GATT.” Bewildered, through the entire conversation and wondering, “what the fuck do you want?’ he finally looked up GATT in a dictionary and read…“GATT…General Agreement on Travel and Trade.” Then, he left the paper with me and went on his way. WTF. The next conversation he spoke of traveling and showed me where on a map he traveled in South America and then ended the conversation with “blah…blahblah…boyfriendo?” eeeeek Our last conversation he read me Haikus, which I think he said were his hobby?!? Please don’t let him be here today.

creepy dude's note

 With the exception of that dude, all of the other teachers are very nice and super helpful. The day always ends with “otsukaresamadeshita” which means “thanks for your hard work.’
At my Friday school, I gave a group of students who ditched class a make-up test. I kept on seeing teachers bow at me through the windows in the classroom while I was administering the exam. When done, the vice-principal and some teachers bowed at me and thanked me over and over again. Then, I was presented with gifts of bread and tea. Hahaha…all this for doing my job. =) it’s definitely a different world here in Japan.


Absent teachers-I’m still in shock about the way a teacher’s absence is handled here at school. My mind was completely blown when I first witnessed the procedure in Japan….and, even now, I’m still having a difficult time wrapping my head around the concept. In the U.S., it is customary to call in to get a substitute teacher when the regular teacher will be absent. Come to find out…in the schools in Japan (well, at least my high school), the teachers do not call for subs. Sometimes another teacher in the same department will stand in for the teacher if they don’t have a class themselves. But, most of the time, the students are left to their own devices inside the classroom. There is no supervision. There is no sub. One of the teachers in the department will greet the classroom full of students, tell them their teacher is absent, and give them an assignment. Then, the teacher will leave….
The students are alone…..
Aaaaand…… there is no one checking up on them. Mind boggling.
My school is not a high level academic school. The students are not what most people picture when they think of Japanese students. These students have a hard time keeping paperwork, many don’t turn in their work, many are absent, a majority do not study, they talk while the teacher is talking……yet, when a teacher is gone, they stay in the classroom and leave all things intact when the class is over.
What baffles me the most is that even if I was scheduled to Team-teach and the teacher who I’m supposed to teach with is absent, my class is canceled. I do not run the class on my own. The students are given their instruction and left alone. Craziness.

students left alone in class. as you can see, the doors and windows stay open to the rooms (and there is no noise complaints)

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiinally, the other day I was asked to teach a class on my own upon a teacher’s absence. I was given a worksheet to do though and was advised not to go along with my regularly planned lesson. All went well and the students did the assignment.

My scheduleAt my main school, I have a lot more responsibility. I teach a wide range of classes and I teach all grade levels. High School in Japan is three years. Students start when they are fifteen or sixteen. A lot of other JETs (teachers like me) only teach one kind of class, Oral Communication (who’s got a joke to insert here?). I teach five different subjects, so I need at least five lesson plans for the week. The work I’m doing is far less involved then my teaching in the States, though. There is a lot of down time for me. I don’t know how other JETs are getting along because I would be bored to death doing their jobs. I’m moderately busy right now and I’m certainly not missing grading English essays.

The following information is for you curious teachers out there:
Here is the daily schedule at my High School-

8:20-8:25 Teacher’s meeting (Tues. & Fri.)
8:30-8:40 Students read books in homeroom class (Wow! Literacy…important? Imagine that!)
8:40-8:50 Homeroom class

Per. 1- 8:55-9:45
Per. 2- 9:55-10:45
Per. 3- 10:55-11:45
Per. 4- 11:55-12:45
Lunch 12:45-1:30
Cleaning Time- 1:30-1:45
Per. 5- 1:50-2:40
Per.6- 2:50-3:40
3:45-3:55 Review Time in homeroom class
3:55-4:05 Homeroom class
　
Note*** There are ten minutes in between each class period and the school building is still lrft standing!

This post was brought to you by:

Pocari Sweat!

Once you get past the hold-up of buying a drink that has the word "sweat" on the label, this beverage is A-OK.  As the label says, it replenishes ions.  Simply drinking water in the humidity isn't enough.....you need ion supplements too! 

So......in Japan, after lunch, the students have a fifteen minute cleaning time that is set to music.  Each student has a job they are responsible for.  The students work in groups and are, without fail, always at their cleaning station.  Some get lazy and don't work the whole time, but as a group they get the job done.

students weeding

girls fixing the flowers

sweeping the teacher's room

trimmimg the hedges

 I am responsible for the gabage/recycling area at my school. if you don't know already, the Japanese are very serious about their garbage separation. There is a ridiculous amount of garbage categories and also a ridiculous amount of packaging for items bought....it's an endless cycle. For instance, when you by a bottle of soda, when its time to dispose of said bottle....the label gets pealed off and but in one garbage container....the cap goes in another...and the bottle in another.  When you buy....let's say crackers....there is the outer  main wrapper and then .a plastic tray inside and then......... packages of crackers grouped in piles of six all with their own  plstic wrapping. Now, I ask you......is all this packaging really necessary?
Also, when on the streets of japan, a garbage can is a rare sighting.  You end up walking for miles carying your garbage, until your lucky enough to spot that rare, golden treature-that is- a garbage recepticle.

multi-compartment garbage filing system

My cleaning section: garbage

It certainly would be great if we could launch a "cleaning time" at American schools.     hummmmmm..... Responsibilty?....what's that? 
It is certainly nice having the students be the school janitors.


This post is sponsored to you by:



Ramen snack!

If your interested in a Pavlov-dog sort of response to snack food, this is the treat for you.  The package does not lie, it tastes exactly like the ramen flavoring of the soups we all love.  In fact, the taste is so similar that the body has an automatic sweat response as if eating a steaming bowl of soup. 

What a strange new world I am living in. Life in Japan is definitely different than that in the U.S. Different, yet, fantastic. My first week in Japan was a whirlwind of flights, conferences, meetings, paperwork(stamping this and that), shopping, and greetings- a continuous stream of “Hajimemashite. Nicole desu. Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” (How are you? My name is Nicole. Pleased to meet you) with the accompanying bow and appropriate degree bend.




….and now that the dust has settled a bit…I am loving the life here. I love how, since coming to Japan, there is a renewed focus on hospitality and customer service. People here will go out of their way to help me. The language barrier isn’t an issue. I can’t speak very much Japanese and most of the Japanese people can not speak much English (or don’t let on that they do), but we get by just fine. If I need something and ask a question…I will get help. I’m not ignored. A lot of the time in the U.S. people will just walk on by me on the street while I am struggling and desperate for help or I will ask a question and they’ll brush me off, saying that they “don’t know” or that they are “not from the area.” This is not the case in Miyazaki, Japan. The people will help. If they don’t know, they will get somebody that knows. It is so nice. For instance, when I got my new iphone (a three and a half hour ordeal), I needed the internet and other features to be set to English. The employee, at fist, said that she thought that only the menu could be set to English, but she worked together with another and they checked some internet websites and figured it out. Like I said…..super customer service. In America, a simple answer of “I don’t know,” or “call the tech support line” would have sufficed.

Wow……follow through…imagine that.



My first night in Miyazaki was spent in the home of another English teacher named Numaguchi sensei. (I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t know her name at first. I met so many people in such a short amount of time, it was hard to keep straight. Plus, the Japanese names are so foreign to me right now. Strange names….strange land. I hope to learn the names for my students and coworkers, but this will take time) The English teachers at my school thought it was best if I didn’t stay at my apartment for the first night due to the fact there was a lack of even a scrap of furniture and no air conditioning (the humidity will melt you). I agreed and found myself staying in a strange place in a strange land. I met her son, Ten, who fell asleep at the dinner table later and I played Mario on the Wii with her daughter Tamaki (super cute). We ate a home cooked Japanese meal of okonomiyaki (a pan-fried cabbage pancake with all sorts of goodies inside) and young tuna sashimi. The food was oishii (delicious).

okonomiyaki

.  I finally got to spend the night in my apartment the second night in Miyazaki.  My apartment is actually public housing for government workers so many teachers and their families live in my complex. My apartment, although small by American standards, is set up for a typical Japanese family, so it has three bedrooms and a dining/kitchen area (3DK). I was told that my apartment building is on the highest hill in Miyazaki City (this is good for flooding purposes-as it is typhoon season). It takes about 20minutes by bus to get to the heart of downtown from where I am living. Also, it is about another 25 minute drive (45 minute bus ride) to get to the beach (yayyyyyy). Here are some pictures I took when I first arrived. The place is barren and I’ve been working to change that, so stand by for updates.

Home sweet home

The sunsets are so pretty

hot water is powered by gas and a crank and crazy Japanese controls

one bedroom with tatami mats

My mini kitchen. I have to turn on the gas before igniting the stove

My new home: Miyazaki, Japan