Giving thanks - cliché, but true

I should be planning out the rest of the itinerary for my fam's trip, seeing as how they started the first leg of their trip at 4 a.m. this morning in Canada. But I was looking through my blog, and noticed that I didn't write about another holiday: my (American) Thanksgiving!

A bunch of us a met up in Iwaki (いわき), a huge city facing the Pacific. N., who is seriously an amazing senpai of mine (mentor) opened up her sweet apartment so that we could all celebrate Thanksgiving last month. It was a Mexican-themed party, so there was so much delicioso food. (I copped out and brought wine). Anyways, my favourite part of the evening was the time for giving thanks. We squished into N's living room - some of on the floor, others perched on her two ballin' couches - and shared what we were most thankful for this year.

It was a room filled with people from around the world. N's from America. But others were from Japan, Ireland, Scotland and England; so, they said it was their first time to really celebrate "Thanksgiving," and they thought it was pretty dope. Once again, I was struck by how the JET Programme draws people from around the world. (I was in Tokyo during the Canadian Thanksgiving. I think we had Thai that night - no turkey dinners for me here!)

The night in Iwaki was pretty hilarious. We headed to Est Est, a bar in Iwaki. We noticed that it was filled with Japanese people who happened to be quite well-dressed. Two seconds later, the bride and groom waltzed in. It turns out that we crashed a wedding nijikai. (In Japan, they usually have a formal reception followed by the nijikai - the after party). Needless to say, that was "gaijin smashing" at its best. (See the definition of "gaijin smash" here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gaijin+smash).

So, what am I most thankful for this year?

First and foremost, I am thankful for my parents and brother. They are always there to support me - both emotionally AND financially. They are one of the reasons that pushed me to head over to Japan. I am pretty excited that they're coming over in a few hours, so that they'll see what my life is like here! But I'm also really overwhelmed, because I am terrible at navigating and such... I'm sure we'll get lost in Tokyo and in the Kansai area more than once. But I guess that's all part of the experience, right?

I am also thankful for my friends back home. I've been terrible at replying back to their e-mails, but I do try to jot down my own updates to them. I received some Christmas cards from K. and M. - so great to hear from them! It's so nice to hear everyone is doing their own thing. S. is completing her master's; M's studying at Oxford; K's living it up downtown and working for the government; Q's busy with her second degree and school life; L's juggling two dogs, school and wicked adventures involving potential avalanches; M's living it up in the 'Peg; and M's going to Africa, I believe?! I am definitely proud of each and everyone of them.

Finally, I am thankful for the new friends I've found amongst the Fukushima JETs. We've all come from different walks of life, but we're all facing the same challenges and amazing endeavours here. I know that someone's always a quick drive or train ride away if I want to eat some Mos Burger or have a chill night at an izakaya (Japanese pub) followed by karaoke.

Hmm... so, yes. Thank you. Merci beaucoup. ありがとうございます. Muchas gracias.

Woo hoo, going to see the family soon!! I hope they make it up to Koriyama without fail... I know the shink system can be ridic, but I figured they'd be OK without me fetching them all the way from Narita. They should be arriving around 3:20 p.m. local time. I know their flight from Ottawa to Toronto was only seven minutes late in departing... I hope their Toronto to Narita flight goes swimmingly well! Apparently, it is "Snowmageddon" back home - lots of flights have been cancelled in T-dot.

Next blog: Bonenkai with the Board of Education bossmen. What it's like to party with your Japanese bosses. It all boils down to shochu, karaoke and onsens.

Have you ever sang "We are the World?"

My third-years often do writing assignments. They usually have a red pen in hand, so that they’re ready to underline unknown words in their English textbooks. But the other day, the teacher let them spew some creativity while writing short skits.

It was refreshing to see these kids use their English skills with some original flair! The students were too shy to present their skits in front of the entire class, so I had to listen to them do their thing in the hallway. (I also want to note that the school hallways are unheated – all the kerosene heaters are placed inside the classroom. Fun times!)

Anyways, here are a couple of my favourites.

I have dubbed this one: “She is very cute.”

Y: Mako, have you ever been to Neverland?
M: No, I haven’t. How about you?
Y: Of course, I go every night!
M: What do you like best?
Y: Let’s see… I like Tinkerbell the best. She is very cute.
M: Do you want to go there tonight?
Y: Of course.
M: OK, I have a stomachache tonight. So have fun.

The Michael Jackson song printed in the third-years’ textbook most likely inspired the following skit. I called it: "Rejection and Michael Jackson"

S: Miki, have you ever sang “we are the world’
M: No, I haven’t.
S: Do you like Michael Jackson?
M: No, I don’t. But I like The Thriller the best of him.
S: Me too.
M: Would you like to come to his concert with me?
S: I’m sorry but thank you anyways.

What it means to be a teacher in Japan

A ni-nensei (second-grader at junior high school) was sitting in the teacher’s room, patiently waiting to see his homeroom teacher. The sensei was rifling through the first aid kit, looking for gauze or something. He then tended to the kid’s reddish ear, and made sure he was doing all right.

Such small gestures have shown me what it means to be a teacher in Japan. There was one night that I driving home from my elementary school, and recognized one of the teachers who always sports her light prink apron. She was walking one of the little ones back home. In Canada, it was the parents’ responsibility to somehow get their child shuttled back and forth from school. I don’t think teachers ever really offered their own time to walk us back home.

During festivals (matsuris), the streets are littered with students. It’s a nice time to enjoy the different food stalls (okonomiyaki, tayaki and yakisoba!), see the fireworks and so on. I’ve asked my teachers if they were stoked about going to the local festivals… the usual reply involves a big sigh, and “Oh, we HAVE to go and check on the students. We need to make sure that they aren’t getting into any trouble.”

These scattered moments have helped shape how I view the teachers in Japan. They invest their lives into the successes and failures of their students beyond the classroom. It’s not just about teaching them Japanese or math, but how to be upstanding citizens. Native Japanese teachers play a formidable role in the character development of their students.

It strikes me just how far a teacher can influence the personality of their students. In all of my schools, I’ve noticed that the students indeed reflect the personalities of their respective teachers. A serious class will often have a serious HRT (homeroom teacher). A funny class will have a HRT with a great sense of humour. And a disrespectful class will have a teacher that simply yells at them.

For the first time since teaching, I was actually frustrated with one of my classes. A kid flung his shoe, and it whizzed by my head. Another kid was running on top of the desks, then jumped off and started hitting his fists on the back of another kid. He would later tip over the chairs of the students while we were playing a circle game.

I totally get that "kids will be kids," but the teacher just let it happen. She initially yelled at the students, but they didn’t listen. Then, she just let that last one tip over the students’ chairs. I wanted to say something, but as ALTs we’re not really supposed to be doing any disciplining. Back home, you’d totally get sent to the principal’s office for wailing on another kid. End rant. The kocho-sensei (principal) asked how was the class. I couldn’t really express myself in Japanese, so I just said with a nervous laugh that they were TOO genki.

The day did have a bright spot. I sat with one of the ni-nensei girls (second-grader at elementary school). We both practiced writing kanji. I thought it was hilarious how she’d look over at my notebook and correct me. (There are proper strokes when writing kanji. I don’t know them!) When she showed me the right way, my characters looked fabulous. She also showed me how to draw Doraemon on the blackboard. He’s a cartoon cat that all Japanese kids seem to know how to draw. Apparently there’s a song that coaches them along:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=WjoF3tmAG_8

Snapshots of Japan

This week, I had grubby, little fingers grabbing my hands and dragging me away from an intense game of Tag around the soccer pitch. "Gemma-sensei! Gemma-sensei!" they screamed. My little elementary school kids sat me down on a bench, and pointed straight ahead. There was Adatara-san (Mt. Adatara) in all of her glory, tucked away in Fukushima-ken. I thought it was really sweet that my kids showed such a picturesque view of it.

I've had tons of moments in recent weeks, coming to sudden self-realization that I'm working and living in Japan. And I love it.

For example, a group of us headed over to Tokyo Disneyland and celebrated the Brits' (M.-sensei and H.-sensei's) birthdays last weekend. TOKYO DISNEYLAND! Now, I can say that I've experienced the Disney magic in Anaheim, Orlando AND Tokyo. (Obviously, I am so appreciative that my parents provided me with such opportunities!) So, we kicked off Friday night with a quiet dinner at Elephant Cafe. Tokyo was somewhat peppered with ornate outdoor Christmas trees, lights and those familiar carols blaring from the stores. It was comforting to hear, since Motomiya doesn't show its Christmas cheer! (Well, my local kombini (convenience store) did put up some Christmas lights on a shrub.)



We spent Saturday at Tokyo Disneyland. I think one of funniest parts of the day was trying to get there. We hopped on a limited express train, which bypassed Tokyo Disneyland... we ended up in Chiba City at first. But seriously, sheer happiness and Christmas spirit was oozing from Disneyland.

I liked the Haunted Mansion, which was decorated a la Nightmare Before Christmas. Unfortunately, I missed meeting any characters! I heard that you had to hit up a certain spot in the theme park to meet and greet the characters. No Pooh-san (Mr. Pooh!) for me!! Better luck next time. It was also pretty hilarious going on the Star Wars ride, which was in Japanese. "No brakey!!!! Ehhhh! No brakey!" shouted that robot in broken English. Loves it. I told all of my kids about my Disney trip, and even brought Disney omiyage for all three of my schools. I found out that a lot of them like Stitch ("Stitchy!"), Pooh (Pooh-san), Minnie (Minnie-chan), Mickey (Mickey-san), Goofy and Donaldo (Donald Duck). They liked my Mickey Mouse chopticks, which I showed off during lunch. It's great to feel like a kid again. Seriously, Disneyland was a fun time! We did spend hours in lines waiting for rides, food and even the bathroom... but the good obviously trumped the boring. Lots of leadership-camp games were played, like Thumbs and that question game.

After Tokyo, B. and I headed to some type of party where they awarded chefs or farmers from our town and surrounding areas. I don't even know what was going on. Earlier on that Sunday afternoon, we briefly attended this cultural show at the city hall-ish building. I had another "I'm-in-Japan" moment when the performers flung mochi (Japanese rice cakes) at the audience. I came home with 10 in my purse; they are not oishi (yummy) in my humble opinion.

Konnichiwa, Japan!!

And only two more weeks until the fam arrives in Japan. Ridiculous!!