English Teaching and Me

This post is more or less for the cathartic effect I'm hoping expressing my feelings will have, as well as to memorialize the way I feel for when I'm deciding whether or not I'm going to extend my contract.


I have 2 different English lesson commitments outside of school; one is with the local community center teaching 11 elementary school kids ranging from 4-6th grade, and one is 1-on-1 with a 3 year old in my apartment complex. Let's try to figure out which one I like more.


Dealing with elementary kids in school is tough enough, as they often do NOT want to be learning English (not that I blame them...when I was that age, I didn't really want to do anything but read Encyclopedia Brown and play Mega Man), but when you remove the homeroom teacher who commands respect and fully wields their native language, it ups the difficulty a notch. Factor in the fact that they're from different years and different groups and that also makes it tougher. Then add in the fact that this is AFTER school, meaning it's cutting into their own time and they're often not there of their own volition. Finally, throw in my fairly easy-going and forgiving nature and you have a recipe for the biggest waste of well-intentioned parental funding I can imagine.


This class is a joke, and I am not blameless. The first day, I went in with the mentality that I was going to be teaching motivated, bright students eager to further their studies. Well, the kids are smart but they're certainly not motivated. One of my struggles is that anytime I try to introduce something REALLY new, their eyes glaze over and they develop the "why should I care, I'm never going to need English" attitude. This is the same attitude every kid gets when faced with sin curves, essays exploring the deeper points of Alfred Prufrock, or any other subject to which they are un-inclined. If kids care, they'll learn it. If not, good luck forcing them. And I have to force them.


I made the mistake of not only letting them talk, but letting them bring things to class. I've seen magazines, homework, even the occasional Nintendo DS. I make several attempts to stop them, sometimes even taking the items away, but realize it's more or less futile as I'm sure the kids can tell I am unable to truly discipline them (that's in my contract...no discipline). This means none of the head-smacking, parental conferences, or whatever other recourse there is for a normal teacher. I'm pretty much at my wits end on how to get these kids involved, and it's the single event in the week I look forward to the least. Less than getting up for work on a Monday. I find myself looking at my watch every 5 minutes, speaking English to unattentive kids.


My 3 year old lesson is almost the complete opposite. The little boy is overjoyed to see me, remember pretty much everything I teach him, and his mother is constantly making sure he's paying attention. They ask me for extra copies of the materials I bring, constantly confirm lessons, and pay well in advance. Even though we mostly play the time by ear (30mins to 1 hour depending on his behavior), the hour often flies by and I find myself hanging out longer. It's a lovely family with another toddler, though I have yet to meet the dad. Also the only family I've seen with Christmas lights in the whole city (though it IS early), hanging off an apartment veranda no less.

I understand both attitudes, which is why it's difficult for me to begrudge the children. While I don't look forward to teaching the large group, I understand WHY they're the way they are. English teaching in this country is often sporadic (1 hour a week tops for elementary), poorly organized (no set curriculum), and taught in a manner more to inspire dread than spark interest. My job is to make English fun, but if the kid is upset at the very prospect of learning English, I find it difficult to overcome that. It's not impossible, as I've seen some problematic students start to come around and participate in class, but I certainly am not holding out hope that all these kids will be passing TOEFL tests anytime in the future.

I suppose one of the reasons I like my work is the kids who DO get it. The idea that you can develop a vocabulary in a foreign language by the time you're a 6th grader astounds me, especially if you only have class for an hour a week. I didn't hit my first foreign language until HS, like most people, and though I did well, I believe it was due more to the fact that

a) I was driven to succeed and get into college
b) Spanish had a number of words that were similar in English
c) I didn't have to learn a new set of characters, meaning I could READ the Spanish, even if I didn't know the meaning.

If you've never tried learning a language with different characters than your native toungue, it can be quite daunting. I signed up for Japanese as a soph at USC and that first week of hiragana seemed impossible. Japanese is often considered one of the more difficult languages to learn to write, due in large part to 2 alphabets and something like 10,000 kanji with individual meanings and multiple readings, but I imagine it's just as difficult going from something like Chinese to Russian or Spanish to Arabic. Basically learning to attribute sounds to a picture, then internalizing that picture so that you can read/write it as fluidly as you can your own language is obviously not easy, and I often find myself questioning my choice of study.

It seems like Japanese is an illogical choice. There are very few countries in the world that use the language (I'm counting Brazil and the US since they have decent Japanese populations...otherwise it's just Japan), it's difficult with multiple verb conjugations, varying accents, dialects, levels of politeness, and specialized usage, it's not a country on the upswing like China, and with the amount of time and energy I've put into it, I probably could have become fluent at Spanish and started on French. At the same time, succeeding in a difficult task, applying myself and achieving understanding, forcing myself to adapt to a culture foreign in so many ways (countryside, foreign language, new job, new friends, new foods, blah blah blah) are methods I use to measure my growth as a person. I feel like I'm still taking the safe path a bit, since JET secures housing, work, blah blah for you, but I just wasn't ready to do it myself.

Can I do this for another 8 months? Another 20 months? I suppose we'll know in February, when I turn in my contact extension forms.

Trip to LA, highlights

Day 1: Landed 30 minutes early, got through customs in about 20 minutes, and was out the door before I was supposed to arrive. Went home with the parentals, had some bomb Peruvian seafood at Mario's, did the Costco, bank, shopping thing, picked up the tux, went to a BBQ joint and had tri-tip, baby backs, excellent chili and fries. Passed out after watching a single South Park episode, probably around 9 o clock.

Day 2: Bank again to deposit that lovely re-location check from our old apartment, headed into LA to meet up with LAUSD folks for lunch at Langer's. Mmm, pastrami. Hung out for a bit, headed back to my brother's apartment, got some Gears of War 2 in, then headed to Weiland's for happy hour. Drank, ate, and fell asleep at the bar by 10. Went back to bro's place, stayed up til about 4 playing video games.

Day 3: Met up with Ben in Pasadena, played some Guitar Hero, went to Roscoe's for some chicken and waffles...and syrup...and gravy. I still can't get over how good that combo tastes, or how bad it must be for me. We went to my brother's place to watch USC eventually dominate Stanford, Kat came by, and we had Chano's. After the game, headed back to LM and Aug and Rach came over to hang out and shoot the breeze. Can't remember the last time we did that...probably since HS. Re-packing begins.

Day 4: Wedding time! David was kind enough to drive me out there, along with his gf, and I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while. Met Eddie's baby, shot the shit with the boys, danced with the girls, ate, drank beers, sang to Journey, and had a rockin' good time. Too bad it was so short. Got home, went for more Mexican at Molcasalsa and headed back to LA. Pulled an all-nighter playing Madden, and got ready to get on a plane.

Update on my airplane situation: got a $150 voucher. I figure that kind of makes up for the extra $50 bucks, plus 3 hours, plus exacerbation of a sore throat I got from walking around Japan at 1 in the morning.

Ice to see you

Yesterday I woke up, got ready for work, and walked outside. When I got into my car, I experienced something I had never experienced before: ice on my windshield. Even when I used to go to the mountains in the snow, I can't remember there being ice...and it's not even the end of November yet. Getting snow tires soon, but may have to buy one of those scrapers as well.

Another first: Masuku

Or mask. I'm sure folks have seen these face masks used by celebrities like Michael Jackson and Madonna when they're traveling, or just hiding their face in public, but in countries like Japan, they're used to prevent catching a cold from others who have them, help reduce the effect of pollen related allergies, prevent others from catching your cold, or in some cases, lined with a Vicks vaprorub type solution and actually used as medication.

My throat hurt basically the first day I was in LA, thanks in no small part to the amount of smoke from the various fires. Traveling on little sleep couldn't have helped, nor could the quick temperature change from around 50 in Japan to close to 90 in LA the weekend I was there. It's gotten worse since that first day, and I probably have my own habits to blame (staying up late, drinking beer, not really eating ANY veggies or fruit in LA). In any case, on my virgin mask voyage, here's how I look at work today.

Trip to LA, initial post

So before I get into all the good stuff that happened in LA, I'm going to bitch and moan about how annoying it was getting back to Japan.

I have to preface this with how I got from Japan to the US in the first place. I flew from Kansai airport to Haneda in Tokyo, then transferred via train to Narita in Chiba, from which I flew to LA. In order to get to Kansai, I drove 90 minutes to Kobe airport, parked at the ferry station, and took the ferry from Kobe to Kansai. Parking is free if you take the ferry, and since my return flight was set to land in Kansai at about 9 pm, I knew I'd need my own means to get home. The ferry stops running at about 10:30 pm, which would have given me plenty of time to grab my luggage from a domestic flight, take the bus to the ferry station, and get to my car around 10. I'd be home by midnight, with time to rest for work the next day.

Much like Hannibal from A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together. It's equally as irritating when it doesn't.

I almost missed my flight boarding. I was at the airport a good 2 and a half hours early, but didn't realize boarding for my flight FINISHED half an hour before departure. I had my headphones on at the gate, but noticed someone running so I took them off in time to hear the phrases "final boarding" and "fly standby tomorrow." I grabbed my bag and got on the plane.

My flight out of LAX was delayed 90 minutes. I was sort of sleeping during that hour and a half sitting in the airplane, but the official reason was "unscheduled maintenance." Obviously we'd rather be late than deal with something the mechanic didn't think should wait, but it was still a bad omen. I also missed ice cream sandwich time while a lady next to me had 2...made me wonder if she jacked me.

We landed about 80 minutes after the scheduled time, and I hustled to the baggage claim. I had originally given myself about 3 hours and 15 minutes to get from Narita to Haneda for my flight from Tokyo to Kansai, a trip which takes about 2 hours by train. Since I had lost 80 minutes of that buffer, it was basically I grab my bags immediately and hop on an express train leaving as I get there and run to my terminal if I was going to make it. It took 20 minutes for my bags to emerge, so I knew it was impossible.

Asked at the desk and Northwest rescheduled me for a flight out of Tokyo at 9 (originally 7:50), but it didn't end there. Since I had parked my car at Kobe airport and taken a ferry to Kansai and since the ferry stops at 10:30 and my flight landed at 10:15, I couldn't make the boat (which would have been 10 bucks). I asked around and had to hustle to get a train (16 bucks). As I was changing trains, I literally walked through the doors of the last train on my route as they were closing. At another transfer point, I misread my instructions and walked off the train, only to luckily look at a map on the platform and realize my mistake. I got to Sannomiya in Kobe around 12:45 and took a taxi the rest of the way (30 bucks). I drove exhausted for 90 minutes and got home at 3:15-3:30.

On a side note, along the way, I noticed a sign listing the temperature: 0. After 4 days in 90 degree weather, it was quite a change.

My Japanese Haircut

I had been on the fence about getting a haircut here for awhile. Some folks know that when I studied abroad here for 6 months, the prospect of a feminine J-boy haircut was so repulsive that I ended up with shoulder length hair. In the summer. In a country where humidity must reach 143%. My hair has been refusing to stand in the afro pattern for a week or so now, only exacerbated by the continuous wearing of my bald cap for Halloween presentations/parties. After a week of walking around looking like I was wearing a black helmet, I stopped by one of the few places that advertised their price. I was going for a 1900 yen haircut.

The barber shop had a bunch of magazines dedicated to both men's and women's hairstyles, and I chose one that I thought looked decent. What I got didn't really match the picture, and came out as more of a faux-hawk than I wanted. Either way, I'm rocking this at least until I'm back in the States, and maybe longer.

But the real story is the haircut experience. I've never been one for salons of any kind, usually preferring to get my hair cut in places where the people don't speak great English and there's a liquor store next door, so this was a bit of a surprise. The neck shave was standard barber fare, but they shaved my FOREHEAD and my cheeks. Japanese men get their eyebrows shaved at the barber, and I had to tell him to leave mine alone. I got some kind of moisturizer or something rubbed into my face, and hot towels heaped on me about 3 times (those felt good though, especially in this 9 degree Celsius weather). I opted for no shampoo as well.

My friends and I often discuss the feminization of the Japanese men, from their large wallets to their hair to their clothes, and I feel like I experienced a certain aspect of that.

Ultimate Frisbee Tournament - Akashi

A couple of weeks ago I took part in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in south Hyogo. Our team is a fairly rag tag group of foreigners and Japanese folks who just like playing the game, which I found out was not the case with most of our competition. What we ran into were university club teams with full on uniforms, warm ups, plays, and multiple squads. The disparity in skill and physical fitness was readily apparent, but I'm pretty sure our post-game cheers were the best. Our team is called Tajima Gyu (which means Tajima beef, what is known worldwide as Kobe beef) and we went 1-3. We placed second in the frisbee golf putting competition, in which I took part, and took first in the dive-and-catch, won by Ryoko and Mark. Good times, even though it took place on a rainy beach in about 65 degree weather. Lots of friendly folks, some amazing dogs and freestyle frisbee tossers, and a post-tourney trip to a sento, or public bath.

Wadayama Torafusuzindaiko

I played taiko drums once a week in LA for about 8 months before I left, starting from scratch with a bunch of other beginners at a small temple in Little Tokyo. Our teacher was a resident monk who had taught for years in Norcal and brought his expertise not only in the play but the construction of taiko drums to our little group. It was me, some little kids, and a bunch of adults. Playing once a week for an hour and a half or so isn't enough to improve much, especially when our group was a bit irregular in terms of attendance. I was excited to latch onto a group once I got here.

I tagged along with one of the other teachers from one of my ES, and enjoyed the practice so much I started showing up all the time, every Tuesday and Friday evening. I didn't get to play much as they were either teaching local HS kids a song for their culture festival or preparing for performances at the summer festivals around Wadayama, but I tried to soak up as much as I could. Going from songs that were maybe 2 or 3 minutes long with 4 or 5 sections to 8-10 minute songs with 4 different kinds of drums and 10-15 sections was daunting to say the least. I usually sat in the back, just watching and hoping I could remember some of the stuff.

I'm making my debut tomorrow, at a wedding of all things. I'm only playing the simplest song in the repertoire, one that involves dancing around almost as much as the actual drumming, but I couldn't be happier. I still feel like an outsider at practice, because the conversations display an intimacy that can only be borne out of time spent together, sweating and studying and struggling at the same problem. I've managed to spend some time with some of the folks, and they're all friendly, but I still can tell I don't belong yet. Maybe getting a performance under my belt will speed that up.

Halloween Weekend

Friday - enkai with the Board of Education, other ALTs, and some teachers. It was at Tsubohachi, where every drinking party seems to be these days, and costed me a cool $40 to drink and eat almost to my heart's content. Unfortunately, I talk too much and didn't manage to quite fill up the way I was hoping. Drank plenty though. Went bowling afterwards with some of the ALTs and Japanese English teachers, and while I broke triple figures, our team lost by 4 pins and we had to buy juice for the other squad. I also fell asleep in my car around 10:30 thinking I could nap and drive to a bar. Woke up around 1:30 and headed indoors.

Saturday - Spent the day doing nothing...ate ramen, worked out, then waited for Gareth's epic Halloween bash in Yabu, a party attended by what had to be 75 people. I went as an old, fat, bald man with ridiculous eyebrows. There were some fantastic handmade costumes (a full Spongebob outfit, a Godzilla outfit, and perhaps best of all, a hand-dyed and painted Joker costume. Pretty creepy. Got drunk, took shots, danced, took goofy pictures, passed out at the base of the stairs, and woke up with a sore throat. Great times.

Sunday - Woke up, helped clean Gareth's house of empties, and went to grab ramen with JJ. Dropped him off, parked, decided I couldn't move and slept in my car for a couple of hours. Was woken up by Mark and Yoko and spent the whole day goofing around with them...took bento up to Takeda Castle, did purikura, ate yakiniku, then went FINALLY got into my house around 8 pm. A couple of friends dropped by until I had to leave for a friend's birthday karaoke party. Put my costume on for the 4th day in a row and sang karaoke for a couple of hours with the owner of a ramen shop at which I am a regular, some of is family and tons of other foreigners. His daughter is this quiet little thing, but sang Japanese death metal with lyrics unfit for repeating.

Monday - Woke up at 11, headed to Jusco at 12 to pick up supplies for the Ikuno BBQ held by organized by other JETs. Drove up with JJ, Meghan, and Mark and played frisbee, ate like 2 kilos of meat, and took some nice pictures of the surroundings before night fell at like 5 pm and we ended up getting out of there.

After heading back to Wadayama, we ended up at Joyfull for some unneeded calories before doing purikura and heading home. A LONG weekend in which I spent too much money, consumed way too many calories, and had way too much fun. I wish every weekend was like this.

Handling my Busy-ness

My current schedule reads like this:

Monday - 4 classes, open after work...hoping to insert Japanese classes here.
Tuesday - 4 classes, 30 minute private English lessons, 90 minute taiko practice
Wednesday - 4 classes, 1 hour group English lessons
Thursday - 4 classes, 2 hour basketball practice
Friday - 3 classes, 90 minute taiko practice

I'm also fitting in shooting around at a gym (usually Monday, Tuesday), lifting/running (usually Wednesday, Friday, sometimes Thursday) and have gone to my first 2 ultimate frisbee practices. I'm writing ramen reviews for the prefectural foreigner newsletter, am sort of involved in the prefectural charity group, and make it a point to hit a local bar and play darts 3 times a month. I've been clubbing a bit lately, though I'm going to be easing off that because a) it costs a lot of money, b) I basically waste the whole weekend, and c) my body hates me. That doesn't mean I'm stopping, by any means, but I'm going to be a bit pickier about it.

This is aside from lesson planning, which I actually have to do since there's VERY little involvement on the side of the Japanese teachers other than the sentiment that they want me to follow a curriculum that they've admitted is outdated (it's changing next year). Do 3rd graders really need to learn words like "stag beetle" or "bell-ringing cricket?" What the hell is a bell ringing cricket?

Either way, I'm actually not that bogged down, and it keeps my week moving. I've lost a good 10 lbs since I've been here, despite not eating as well as I planned, because I'm active and the food is healthier. Hopefully the gut will continue shrinking in time for beach season :)

Larger pictures

I'm in the process of putting all my pictures onto my Webshots page (since Flickr wants to limit me to 3 folders...ugh). They're also going onto my facebook page. For those of you who have requested larger versions, or simply more pictures, I'll let you know when everything is up.

Edit: Link fixed...I'm retarded.

Kobe Ramen - Kobe - Motomachi Station

I had visited this spot back at my orientation in September, but didn't take pictures. I was also running around in 85 degree heat in a shirt and tie, so I wasn't really relaxed and able to take in the food the way I wanted.

It's a fairly large restaurant, seating probably close to 35 people in all. Their menu is prominently displayed out front, with Ramens A, B and C only differing by the amount of pork included...A comes with no meat, B with 5 or 6 pieces, and C with about 10 pieces. They mean it when they say oomori.



The default soup base in shoyu, thinner and lighter than my typical choice, but it wasn't bad. It lacked the depth and punch of a fattier broth, but still provided a nice backdrop for the rest of the bowl. The noodles were nice and hard, just the way I ordered them, and bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, and green onions topped with a nice dusting of pepper rounded out a bowl of above average, but not great ramen.

The meat, despite a large amount of fat, wasn't as tender as I had hoped. Seeing the centimeter wide strip of fat that lined each piece had me salivating at the thought of soft, juicy pork, but alas I was mistaken. It was somewhat tough, and I resorted to pulling the fat off the pieces of meat before I ate them since they were serving no purpose. The veggie toppings were nice and crisp, and the pepper gave the bowl a nice kick. I'm not usually one to add pepper, but I was glad for it here.

I also ordered a half sized fried rice, which came with shreds of pork amongst the veggies. This had to be one of the oiliest plates of fried rice I've ever had. There was visible grease moving about on the plate as I finished my serving. It was fairly decent, but the slipperiness of the dish was astounding even for a dish that relies on oil. I finished it, of course, but I felt like I should have been rubbing it down with napkins first.

One of the more interesting things I saw was a takeout menu that included the ramen. I've seen meat, fried rice, gyoza, and other side dishes available for takeout, but can't recall ever seeing the ramen included.

Kobe Ramen is pretty good, but I'd do a few things differently next time. I'd skip the meat toppings in my ramen, and probably opt for something other than fried rice as a side. The gyoza looked decent, and the ramen can stand on its own without chashu.

The Internet Age is Here!!

FINALLY!! It's done! The guys from the BOE had to order a new modem from NTT ADSL and they set it up today. Now I can finally show off the 2500 or so pictures I've taken so far!

Here's the apartment:

It takes a full 10 steps for me to get from my bed, the innermost place in the apartment, to my front door. These pictures were taken from basically the same spot, just me turning around, on the first day I was here. I've got a headache from today, but am still pretty stoked about being able to upload pics!

Hyperactivity, Laziness, Apathy, Stupidity?

Sometimes I wonder what the deal with some of these kids is. I've got 2nd grade classes that can do multiple sentence introductions, telling me their hobbies, their birthday, what kinds of foods they like, etc., and 6th graders that don't know how to say the word "eleven." Like any subject, you're going to have a bell curve of ability, interest, and dedication to its study, but I can't help but wonder if there's something else involved.

Then a story popped up on Japantoday about a woman who couldn't handle her child's hyperactivity, among other problems, and ended up killing him. The Japanese Ministry of Education estimates there's "1-3 moderately hyperactive children in an average elementary school classroom." That seem high to anyone?

I've seen some unusual behavior from the kids. One kid absolutely refuses to participate in any activity, climbing on desks and chairs while the homeroom teacher tries to get him to participate as I teach English games. He'll walk up behind other kids and hit them in the back of the head, grab all the cards from the table and throw them in the air, and just generally be a pain in the ass. Then one day I let him play with my computer and he was like a mouse, drawing in MS paint for 45 minutes.

Another pair will make all kinds of noise during the lesson, interferring with a lesson that at least some of the kids seem interested in. They'll play the game, but when it's their turn, they just say, "what the hell are we doing? What are you talking about?" I don't really care if they don't want to study, but if you don't pay attention to the instructions I gave 4 times, why bother playing?

It also reflects on the homeroom teacher when a kid is crazy. Some of them are in total control of the room, batting aside inane questions about genitals and generally ruling with an iron fist. Others are more laissez faire, perhaps hoping the natural order of class harmony will magically return. Either way, I have NO power to discipline a child, nor would I really want to. I don't know what's acceptable here, and in the US, it seems like all you can do to a kid who doesn't want to be in class is take away priveleges like sports, then kick them out of school. Not good options for a kid who really appears to need structure of some kind to avoid becoming a hobo.

Are they hyperactive? Lazy? Do they not see the point of English? Maybe they want to be baseball players or construction workers or something where English really doesn't come into play. I'm not going to force anyone to study the stuff, since it's a really young age and kids are apt to wanting to play all the time. I just wish my Japanese was better so I could figure out WHY they not only don't want to study, but feel the need to obstruct the learning of the other kids.

Movies

I'm not sure how big it is in the States, but anyone who's been living here for the past few months has been bombarded with Ponyo ads, and that catchy catchy song in particular. "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" is Hayao Miyazaki's take on the Little Mermaid story (and if you've ever done karaoke with me, you know how much I like that movie) and was so sweet it made my teeth hurt. I tagged along with a buddy and his friends and wasn't surprised when the theatre was full of little kids. I WAS surprised that at least some movie theatres in Japan are assigned seating, which is why we bought our tickets a full 3 hours before the show. Either way, it was a cute movie, with catchy music and some typically beautiful Studio Ghibli artwork. If you're like me, you've seen a fair number of Ghibli films, and I probably wouldn't recommend this over titles like Laputa or Grave of the Fireflies, but it's good nonetheless.

Last night I stayed up past my planned bedtime to watch Nada Sousou (translated as Tears for You in the US, apparently), a story about parentless step-siblings living in Okinawa. The title translates to "never-ending tears" in the Okinawan dialect, but I couldn't figure out if this was supposed to apply to the audience as well. There's a ton of drama and some really sad parts, but the abruptness of certain events, a couple of fairly pointless scenes, and a rather unfulfilling ending left me wondering what just happened as opposed to getting anywhere near to crying. I suppose my occasional inability to understand what was happening may have helped my eyes stay dry, but I'm not particularly prone to crying from movies anyway. What normally happens is I internalize it and just kind of feel crappy for a bit, but this film fell short on that as well.

That said, I still liked it. I thought it was an interesting story, with some decent acting and a very cute lead female in Masami Nagasawa (plus she's a fine actress, and amazing compared to the acting on TV). The title song has been on my mp3 player since I studied abroad here in 2003, a remake by Rimi Natsukawa. Apparently this movie is partially inspired by the song, but I don't necessarily associate the two. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up renting it to see if I missed something from watching it on TV, but I doubt I'd buy it.

Wee-wee Tykes

Just when I was thinking "man, first graders are kind of out of control and don't want to sit still for 5 minutes," I get news that made me worry even more: I'm teaching pre-school twice a month.

Pre-school kids. Learning English. They probably can barely write their own names in their native language, and I'm going to be teaching them how to introduce themselves to a foreigner. Weird right?

I started my first pre-school class with some simple color cards, thinking it'd take the whole period for them to learn 7 or 8 basic colors, and be able to say and recognize them. Imagine my surprise when they stood up and said "hello, my name is riku/momo/ryosuke/whatever." They knew every color I had without so much as me having to prompt them with the first letter, something that about half of the first graders I've had so far haven't been able to do. Hell, I'm using the same games with second graders at one of my schools.

Anyway, I ran a few games with them and by the end, pretty much all of them knew when I was trying to trick them (say by holding up a yellow card and shouting out black) and they self-governed themselves during the game. The only thing that separated them from first and second graders was their propensity to get even louder, especially when doing jan ken (paper, rock, scissors) when there was a tie. Plus, I swear the cuteness levels here could kill a lesser person.

The only thing that threw me today in that class was when a little girl starting pointing at my crotch and saying the Japanese equivalent of wee wee (chin-chin)...that was a bit odd.

Cold

Good lord, it only took a week for the temperature to fall from about 24 to about 17 C, or from about 75 to just over 60. I actually have to wear pants to bed and use my blankets for once. I`m happy to have the humidity gone, but I haven`t seen the sun in a couple of days and it`s a bit odd to see your breath in September...to me anyways. This SoCal kid is going to have an interesting winter.



In other news, me and a couple of American friends spent a night in the mountains bbq`ing, drinking and goofing around with about 45 Japanese kids, all connected by this guy in my taiko group. We played cards (friend taught them Kings, a drinking game), talked, ate (not enough, for me anyways), and just generally goofed off until about 4 in the morning. My buddy was a big hit with the ladies, and I managed to get a few laughs out of people, which always makes me happy. I`m hoping the longer I`m here, the more I get to do random stuff like this with people around my age. It`s nice to just talk to young people, especially girls, since the other JETs are mainly guys and I don`t see most of them much.



I also received my self-sent care package, full of jackets, books, shoes and Tapatio. The tapatio didn`t go over too well with the Japanese folks at the BBQ, but I know I was happy to see it. The jackets are coming in handy, but my big overcoat might not get used too much. This is more of a layers country, with temperature varying wildly between rooms and floors in my school, let alone buildings and inside vs. outside.

A-noid

It's funny how your life can change when you don't have internet at home. I've found myself spending a hell of a lot more money outside the house, doing things like shopping or eating out almost every single day. I've also been working out a lot more, playing basketball like 4 times a week, and traveling whenever I don't have work. The apartment is cleaner than my one in LA ever was, and I do things like hang up clothes right after I get back from the laundromat.

On a related note, here's a list of things that have been annoying me lately:

1) No internet at home. Obviously I like to be able to respond to email in a timely manner, but the biggest thing has been my inability to share pictures...at all. No uploading to websites, no attaching to email, nothing. At work, every site I use is blocked, even when I bring in my own laptop. I have this expensive camera and have taken over 2000 photos already (record is 888 in one day), and no way of showing them to anyone unless they're near my laptop.

2) Spiderwebs. I walk into a spider web at least once a day, often in the same place...my stairwell. It baffles me how a place where people walk every day has spider webs that span the width of the walkway...those are some quick-workin spiders.

3) Tiny bugs. Small enough to fit through the mesh screen that goes over my windows. I'm afraid I'm going to inhale one. Or that I already have.

4) Driving 30 minutes to the gym. I still go at least 2 or 3 times a week, but it's annoying. The gym closes at 9, so last entrance is 8:15. They're closed on Mondays. I was spoiled by the 24 hour fitness 2 minutes from my parents' house or 10 minutes from my apartment.

5) Not being able to find clothes. It's not that I can't find proper sizes...there's actually a fair amount of large clothing in my area...it's that the stuff is just silly looking. I like an Engrish shirt as much as the next guy, but I'm not paying 20 bucks for it.

6) ATM fees. Imagine going to your OWN bank at 4:30pm and having to pay $1 to pull money out of an ATM. Imagine having to pay those fees at any time on the weekend. Imagine a country that still rarely uses credit cards. Imagine your bank being open from 9-3 on weekdays, and not opening on weekends. Awesome.

That's all. It's said that every JET loves a good whining session. My life here is actually pretty good, but it's when things are mainly going well that you notice the bad more easily. I've been eating better, getting tons of exercise, getting good lessons in taiko, traveling a bit, and saving money. I just need to find something to do in town on a weekend night besides play darts and meet more young Japanese folks, and I'll be set.

Dangers of Elementary School: Kancho

I assume this will be the first in a series of posts about the pitfalls of teaching young Japanese kids. The rumors I`ve heard have varied from hilarious to slightly gross, and I`m going through my days with my head on a swivel.

For those who have never heard of kancho, here`s your info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kancho
Anyone who`s been in Japan for a little while has either seen or experienced this first hand. It`s annoying, but certainly less painful than a ball tap.

Today was my first day playing with the kids, and I got one within about 5 minutes of stepping onto the field. A group of 5 boys surrounded me, asking me questions and telling me to play soccer when BAM, one slipped past my novice-level guard. I scolded him, but I doubt these kids will ever heed my reprimands.

On another note, it`s a good thing I started working out again. 15 minutes of soccer, then 10 minutes of a school dance had me sweating something fierce, and the school year is just starting. I`m sure it`ll be different when it cools down, but now I see why the younger teachers wear those dri-fit clothes that whisk moisture away from your body when exercising.

Ramentary: Dosanko Ramen

When it comes to lunch, I`ve had 2 distinct "routines." One is when about 5 or 6 teachers all head out together and invite me along. The other is when I`m facebooking, turn around, and the room is empty except for people who brought lunch. On those days where I`m running solo, I end up trying the random restaurants around town. There`s actually quite a few in some areas, but like any city, quality is going to vary.

I stopped by Dosanko (there`s 2 dosanko on the same street, but they use different characters to spell their names...go figure) the other day, furthering my quest to try all the ramen spots in the city in the first few months. It`s a tiny joint, seating maybe 20 tops, with a sole woman running the place. I sat at the counter in the mostly empty restaurant (never a good sign at 12:15) and ordered a ramen gyoza "teishoku" (set lunch). Considering it was only 800 yen, I hoped I`d get a great deal. How wrong I was.

It started with a mostly mayo salad, with bits of cabbage, cold clear noodles, and what looked like a slice of nectarine. Ugh. I was then served a bowl of rice, 5 overcooked gyoza that had burst sometime between fry pan and plate, deep fried veggies (these were actually good), pickles and kimchi, and a bowl of uninspired miso ramen. It`s got to be pretty mediocre for me not to finish a bowl of ramen, and that`s what happened here. Didn`t finish the salad or rice either. It was definitely a quantity over quality place, and while I commend the proprietress for pushing out 6 separate dishes in about 6 minutes, I actually only enjoyed 2 of them (rice, deep fried veggies).

I feel like a champ

Why? I just handled my business in one of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_Japan

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2003.html

With legs tired from my first consecutive hard cardio workouts (stairclimber/treadmill + basketball), in slippers designed for someone with size 8.5 feet (mine are 11), without any clothes touching the floor. I`ve done it before, but I don`t know if I was sober enough to really enjoy conquering another aspect of the culture. Props to me, and sorry mom for the crude post, but you know how I am.

2 of my schools ONLY HAVE THESE. It`s been a concern of mine since I started going to work, but up until today I was able to avoid them. They also tend to be the only option in places like train stations, bars, and some restaurants. The plus side of the availability of places like McDonald`s is that they almost always have western toilets, and no one seems to care if you come in, use it, and leave. It seems apathy exists in fast food workers the world over, no matter how polite they might sound.

Internet Woes

Despite my best hopes that I would be able to, at this point in my time here, surf the internet in my underwear, covered in bits of forgotten rice, lips stained with soy sauce and hair unkempt, alas, twas not to be. My home internet situation has not improved since day 1, though I do have a different user name and password that don`t work.

All those promises of pictures must wait, as there`s no way I can get them online from school (despite attempts at using proxy servers). My predecessor had to wait 4 MONTHS to get internet at home, so all I can do is hope and pray that it doesn`t reach that point.

On the positive side, I`m now reachable by phone or email via my cell. Feel free to shoot me an email at japan.droo@ezweb.ne.jp. I`ll probably be busy playing with the GPS navigation or downloading songs onto my micro SD card...I love Japanese cell phones.

Short update

I`ve been holding off posting because I`m supposed to be getting broadband at home, allowing me to post pictures in these far too wordy posts...I`m a visual guy, I get it. Sometimes folks want to SEE the ramen instead of hear about how good I thought it was.

I`m also still without a foreigner registration card (necessary for ALL non-Japanese citizens...for those who are unfamiliar, we`ll later get into what makes you a Japanese citizen), and thus, without cell phone (though many have gotten around this). Both of these situations are scheduled to be remedied this week, and I`ll be getting my first paycheck as well.

What I`ve been up to: not much. Hit Himeji Castle on Friday, found a cool bar, got really drunk for the first time this trip in Toyooka, got the splint off my finger, and have been meeting cool folks. On the sched for this week: Kobe orientation Wednesday, fireworks festival tonight, prefectural beer garden Saturday, Clint visiting Fri-Sun. Should be good, hope to have pics up by Thursday.

Kossetsu

Is the Japanese word for fracture. Which is what is currently plauging the first joint on my left hand`s middle finger. It`s taped to an aluminum splint, which was wrapped in an Ace bandage like gauze-ish material and taped again. It`s not particularly painful now, but when it happened...woo...

Some of you may remember when I broke the knuckle-joint of my right index finger by opening a door wrong and my finger getting caught in the handle...yes, not a sexy or even interesting story. I had a cast halfway down my forearm and with that being my strong arm, certain things were difficult. Imagine the helplessness I felt the first time I went to the bathroom or tried to open a jar. That being my first real bone break (other than a jaw injury when I was a wee lad) it really made me look at folks with disabilities differently. Hell, taking a shower was annoying as all get out.

Well, this time it`s on my left hand, and the splint only comes down to the knuckle. It`s significantly easier to do things like type or cook or shower, and I even managed to play a little taiko. Basketball practice on Thursday will be interesting, but I`m going to try to gut it out.

Ah yes, how it happened. Basically I was cherry-picking on a play (not getting back on defense and more or less waiting at half court for the other team to score so I could get an easy layup), and had a high, fast pass coming to me. I reached my hand up in a manner to allow me to bring the ball down quickly, with my wrist at a 90 degree angle and my hand set to cup the top of the ball. A defender tipped the ball, causing it to rise slightly, and it struck my middle finger at a good speed when the joints were locked in position. I immediately grabbed my finger and called for a sub. I figured it wasn`t that bad, and played the next game. I iced it that night, and though it hurt, I didn`t think much of it. The next day it was dark red at the joint, and started turning blue in mid-morning.

The hospital part can wait for later...

Tokyo Orientation

After about 3 hours at the airport, 12 hours on a plane on which I wasted my time watching Big Bang Theory (terrible), the Office (great), Be Kind Rewind (also great) and Hitch (better than expected....maybe it`s just Eva Mendes) and playing backgammon, I landed in Tokyo. As soon as I hit the airplane dor, the humidity hit me like a ton of wet, sticky bricks. In all my wisdom, I was wearing black pants and a grey button down, ensuring that not only would I be sweaty, but that people would likely be able to see it from miles away.

Customs, immigration, and all that jazz were pretty easy, with almost no questions of any kind. Taking the advice of previous JET friends, I basically spent the whole time talking to anyone and everyone in hopes of not only making friends but ensuring a spot to crash if I end up traveling the length of Japan eating ramen...which if you know me, is obviously my main goal. Some cool folks, some anime freaks, some japan-o-philes, but mostly just people also looking to meet as many people as possible.

Orientation itself was kind of a drag. Lengthy lectures held in overpacked rooms with insufficient A/C and amazingly uncomfortable chairs led to a whole lot of bitching and ditching. The speakers were mostly entertaining, however, and at times the meetings would fly by. Among the more useless workshops I attended were about saving money (common sense tactics), food (I eat it all the time, and there wasnt much cooking advice), and independent Japanese study (for beginners). Since I`ll be driving here, though, that workshop was helpful, as was the one on travel. The threw us in rooms with 3 beds basically side by side in an otherwise fairly swanky hotel and provided us with vegetarian lunches consisting of bread, rice, and a soy meat substitute.

Nighttime is the right time...to party, as they say. Lots of drinking with folks that I just met led to some fairly entertaining moments, like me passing out on the ground or folks being surprised by the button used to summon a waitress. Beer, chu-hai, and lots of food.

At different points in the 3 days, we ended up eating Tenkaippin (a ramen chain) at 2 am, hitting Tokyo Tower, getting caught in crazy rain, drinking at a bar in Roppongi, wandering around Shinjuku with 40 people, looking for a bar to accomodate us, and drinking on the sidewalk, talking to every person who walked by. Good times, and a great way to jump off what promises to be an interesting year.

Food Report: Hana Udon (Asago)

Thursday almost none of the teachers were at Ookura, so I ended up going to lunch with the two male PE teachers. One of them has been described to me as a person that I have to be careful around, jokingly of course. He stands out because of his speaking style. If you aren`t familiar with Japanese, there are variations on the language and the pronunciation used based on your personality, the situation, who, what, where, etc. One of the hardest styles to understand is the rough male style, especially when mixed with a local dialect that differs from standard Japanese.

For example, I might say (in my college-conditioned standard Japanese) "shiranai," he might say shitorahen, with an extreme emphasis on the r, rolling it to sound like a motorcycle...it would sound like shtrrrhn. Carrying on a conversation with him is certainly interesting, and a nice test of my listening abilities, but is also kind of tiring.

Anyway, we ended up at an udon joint. Like a lot of casual udon spots, you order a style of udon at the front, then you take a tray and add various other items to it (think cafeteria in Animal House). Items like onigiri, tempura, korokke, and salad are available at prices around $1 apiece. I went with a large niku udon (shredded beef), a potato korokke, and a piece of squid tempura. If that seems like a lot, I had been doing some stuff with the kids in the gym, and my breakfast of a piece of bread and a small banana just wasn`t holding me.

The udon was good, if a tad bland. I like flavors that punch you in the face, so udon is often the forgotten noodle dish, behind stuff like ramen, pho, and chinese noodle soups. Korokke was standard, but a bit on the mushy side without any of the nice crispiness on the outer batter. This was probably due to it being one of the last 2 on the tray. Same goes for the ika tempura; a lack of seasoning in the batter combined with sogginess kind of sunk this meal.

Break yo`self!

I broke the middle finger on my left hand in my first basketball practice...taiko practice tonight will be nowhere near as fun. More on this when I`m not as annoyed.

Hittin' switches in my 6-4! Or not...

I went up to Toyo-oka last week (maybe a 30 minute drive) to rent my car from a place that gives full insurance instead of the partial insurance (collision only) that`s usually included in the lease prices around here. In a place like this, gas mileage and size are the primary concerns, mainly because gas is hovering just over $6 a gallon (about 175 yen/liter) and parking spots/roads are at least 2 feet thinner than those in America. In the car I`m driving now, I can almost touch the passenger window from the driver`s seat without much effort.

This is the car I`m getting: the Daihatsu Mira Custom, in a royal blue color (like 90% of the cars around here are white, or cream, or off-white, or silver...easy to spot blue). Including insurance and rental, it`s running me something like $300/month. Gas is probably going to be another $120 or so a month, at least until it cools down and I don`t have to use the A/C all the time. I`m also now a member of JAF, Japan`s version of AAA.

The car I`ve been using the first few weeks is an 8 year old Daihatsu Move, in an odd murky magenta color. It runs, though, and that`s all that really matters I suppose.

Anyway, if and when anyone comes to visit, I`ll be ready to cart them and possibly 2 other people around in relative comfort!

Ramentary: Ton Chin Kan Ramen (Wadayama)

I figured if the spot had a picture of a pig on the sign, they must have confidence in their tonkostu (pork bone) broth. I always like seeing manual laborers, truckers, and other blue collar guys in a ramen joint, because that usually means it's hearty, tasty, and reasonably priced. Ton Chin Kan sounds like a Chinese place, but they specialize in the version of ramen broth that I seem to favor: fatty, thick, and addictive.
In a nice air-conditioned, all wood restaurant (seems to be a lot of those here), a simple menu with typical ramen choices: shio, miso, shoyu, along with the signature tonkotsu, and side items like gyoza and fried rice. They also were advertising what looked like squid fries, long thin strips of squid lightly fried and served alongside your ramen for about 3 bucks. I didn't get them this time, but wouldn't be surprised if I tried them on the next trip.

The school nurse and I both ordered the tonkotsu ramen with a side dish with a name I can't remember. It's basically rice with a raw egg, leeks, tiny strips of nori (dried seaweed) and chunks of pork, with a bit of a special gyoza shoyu for good measure. It reminded me a lot of a meal I used to have as a kid. My dad would take some day old rice, plop a sunny side egg on top and drizzle shoyu on it; a hearty meal for a growing boy.

My English team teacher ordered the shoyu with small fried rice and chicken karaage. Karaage is basically a large chicken nugget, boneless chunks covered in a thin layer of batter and fried. Very similar to the Hawaiian fried chicken you find at places like the Loft in SoCal, but without any of the sweetness. They seem to like dipping them in ketchup over here, but I find the flavor fine on its own.

Anyway TonChinKan is about 3 blocks from my 2nd school, Ookura Elementary (more on the school later), and I plan on being back fairly often...obviously after I've scoped out the rest of the food. Pics to come after my next visit!

Ramentary: Jaaran Ramen (Asago)

The proprietors of this joint obviously have a soft spot for Bob Marley, as his face decorates their walls and their menu. Reggae regularly comes out of the speakers, and the sign is red, green and yellow. It`s a small place, seating maybe 15, but there always seems to be a line. I`ve eaten here twice already in the first week, which isn`t a surprise to those friends of mine who know about my affection for ramen.

The first time I went with the plain ramen, an oil-rich tonkotsu broth with just a few pieces of fatty and delicious chashu (Japanese spelling) and green onions as toppings. The noodles are a bit chewy and plentiful and the soup is rich and flavorful. With it being summer and all, I also have a tendency to consume about a pitcher and a half of water with each bowl. My first time was my predecessor`s last day, and the first meal I had with the other new ALT, Matt from Canada.

The second time I went with some teachers from Yanase, and ordered the tomato ramen. While it might not sound particularly appetizing, it was actually really good. Bok choy, small pieces of chicken, and of course tomato chunks were spread through a bowl of even richer broth, a combination of the pork-bone and tomato-infused bases. Even though I was told it was thinner than normal, it certainly didn`t taste that way. I threw in some of the spicy veggies on the table and basically knocked out the entire bowl in about 7 minutes, including conversation. Again, a pitcher and a half of water. Must be all the salt and msg.

This is apparently the most popular ramen joint in the area, and I can see why. Friendly owners (Ryuhei seems like a good guy), a nice small setting, relaxing music, and some good eats.

First impressions of Asago-shi

Asago-shi (the suffix -shi indicates a city) is apparently famous for leeks. I can`t tell the difference between one leek to the next, especially since they`re usually mixed in with something else. That just happened to be the first thing they mentioned when I asked what was special about Asago. Like I mentioned in my last post, it`s made up of 4 towns that got together, presumably for tax purposes: Wadayama, Santo, Asago, and Ikuno.

It`s in the northern middle area of Hyogo-ken (the suffix -ken indicates a prefecture, though other special prefectures have their own...like Tokyo-to, or Kyoto-fu), the prefecture which contains Kobe and is just west of more famous cities like Kyoto and Osaka. It`s located in the Kansai region, an area famous for a blunter, somewhat more aggressive sounding dialect. People in my area speak a variation of Kansai-ben known as Tajima-ben, with slight alterations to verb conjugations as well as altered pronunciations of nouns and different conversational particles.

Sorry for the sudden Japanese nerd outburst.

Apparently the area is pretty good for onsen, skiing/snowboarding, and so far that`s it. It`s a relatively poor area (everyone is poor compared to those in Tokyo), with a fair number of single mothers and farmers. There`s a big store called Jusco in the middle of town which has everything from bathtubs to TVs to a travel agency to strawberries.

The area also has the ruins of Takeda-jo, a castle up on a mountain which has a spectacular view of the valley. There`s also Awaga-yama, the highest mountain in the area...more on that in a later post. In any case, it`s a rather non-descript town in the middle of a prefecture that I had never heard of. There`s rice fields/paddies, lots of small individual vegetable gardens, tons of old people, and an odd odor.

It`s also full of lovely people, all too willing to smile and bow their head in greeting. The attitude of people in Tokyo wore on me for those 6 months, and I have a feeling that won`t be a problem here. Come visit sometime! We`ll probably spend most of our time at least 2 hours from my apartment, but the area is good for a couple of hours of sightseeing.

Maiden Post

FINALLY got access to some internet around here, and am getting this thing up and running. The blog name is a combination of Japan and Androo, as I`m sure you figured out already. I have a thing for combining words...must be the Japanese in me. This is a country a term like gaikokujin touroku shomeisho can become gaijin torokusho though the powers of combination and abbreviation.

As this blog progresses, I hope to be putting up some pictures from my spanking new Nikon D40 with the Nikkor 18-200 VR lens (still giddy about this) as well as less pretty ones from my point n shoot Fuji F20. I also plan to have a little Youtube channel with random videos from my time here, but it looks like I left the USB cord for the F20 at home, so those may not appear for a while.

I`m also going to be talking a lot about food. From what I`ve heard, day to day life can get a bit repetitive in this area, and food can be a great way to change it up. I have some decent access to restaurants and food, but if you`re comparing it to LA or Tokyo or wherever else you know me from, I doubt you`d find everything you want.

That`s it for now. I hope you enjoy reading about life here from the perspective of a chubby, 3rd generation half Chinese/half Japanese, southern California raised, food obsessed, below average Japanese-speaking elementary school English teacher living in a prefecture of Japan known for its beef (Kobe beef actually comes from a region known as Tajima, but Kobe is a bigger city and thus, a bigger name). My town Asago-shi is actually 4 different towns that were incorporated earlier this decade, and now boasts a whopping 35,000 inhabitants.