It's hard to say good-bye

"Good morning, Ms. Gemma. I am S-chan and E-chan's mother. Today, Shiori will meet  you.  So, E-chan also    bought you a present. S-chan  takes it with her present. E-chan wrote a letter yesterday, but she forgot  to put in her present.  She disapointed, so I   send her message.Thank you, Gemma. I like your class. I study and want to speak English.          from E-chan
Take care and have a good journy to Canada!"


I have the best students ever. 

Ego trippin'

My work here is done. One of the JET Programme's buzzwords? "Internationalization."

I received some handwritten messages from my kids at JHS. I'm sure a lot of them copied off each other, but it was really cute to read the following:

"I don't like English. But I like Ms. Gemma."

More scraps of paper

In the midst of cleaning out my apartment, I've realized that I am a huge packrat. I've been like this forever. But I have found some gems. I copied down some of my students' funniest work:

"He is called Daiki Arrioka. He makes me smile. We can meet at live concerts. It is a worldwide nature. He is a lovely boy. - Minami"

"This is called a nihontou. It is used when you kill people. It's cool. It's beautiful. It's very popular." - K-kun

"This is called a samurai. He has a characteristic hair. His carry word very very strong."

"This is called a kotatsu. It's hot. It is used when you are cold. It is popular in winter months for people and cats."- Haruki (every writing activity, he'd write about cats.)

"Sliced raw fish is a peculiar food in Japan. It is very expensive, but it is very good. Japanese people put soy sauce and wasabi." - Shunya

"Origami has bright colors. Mostly we make animals. Almost thing are made of a piece of paper. They make us gentle. Origami is very interesting!"

And on Friday, I was chillin' outside with the volleyball girls who were trying to chat up the baseball team. Runa blurts out: "M-chan is a stalker. M-chan stalks boys." That is definitely not in the English textbook. Good one, R-chan.

Building up!

My JHS for the next two years 

The 50-year-old school building that got owned by the earthquake

On Friday, we had the big Moving Day. My JHS moved out of the stuffy Arako (community centre), and into two buildings that sprouted up almost overnight on our old school grounds. (It took only a couple of months for the construction to be completed on two "temporary" two-storey buildings). The best feature? Air conditioning in every room, except the music and art rooms. This is a huge deal, because Japanese summers are humid. We measured daily the temperature in the Arako gym, and it often reached 35 degrees. Anyways, that's what you get for stuffing about 200 kids in a gym divided into seven classrooms! Oh, and we rarely opened the windows since our area does have high levels of radiations compared to usual.

That morning, I was at Arako with some teachers and the senior kids. Small white pick-up trucks (Japanese kei-trucks), driven by PTA members and other volunteers, lined up their vehicles outside. We piled everything into that caravan: assorted cardboard boxes, 266 desks, 266 chairs, TVs, bookshelves and so on. It was hot, sweaty work in this heat. Everyone was mopping their foreheads. A lot of teachers and students wrapped a towel around their necks or heads, but I couldn't make that fashion faux-pas. When Arako was empty, we switched gears and everyone joined the first- and second-years who were already at the two temporary buildings

Desks and bookshelves were quickly brought in and arranged in orderly rows by noon. The blackboards are still pristine. The bathrooms have western-style toilets, not the nasty Japanese squatters. The entire school is sparkly and new, breathing in new energy into the students and staff. Everyone worked really hard. In the staff room, cold drinks were given as omiyage three times in the afternoon.

Some parents dropped by the school in the afternoon to look at the new digs. I was pleased to stop and chat with two mothers. The Koizumi girls' mother said she really appreciated the postcard and CD I made for S.-chan when she graduated. She even insisted on clasping my hand in a firm handshake, not just the usual exchange of bows. The Yaginuma boys' mother was really happy when I recalled her eldest son goes to a prestigious school in Koriyama. She also hoped that I'd coach her middle son, Dai-chan, for the English speech contest. Sadly, I don't think I will get the chance before I leave in July.

When the moving efforts were finished, I got a strange feeling while standing on the dirt soccer field. On March 11, I remember I was standing in that same spot with the other teachers, watching 2chu crumble. I would never have imagined that only four months later, two buildings would be finished and ready for school to re-open. It turns out that lessons will take place here for two years. Meanwhile, the construction crews will be demolishing and rebuilding the old school building. 2chu will be brand-spanking new. Unfortunately, I won't be around to see that day. Nor will the current second-years, who will be entering high school by then. Still, it's amazing to think that rebuilding efforts are coming together nicely.

Never give up, Japan.

Oh, Engrish

I'm starting to clean out my apartment. And in the process, I'm finding scraps of paper where I've scrawled some of my students' prized Engrish. Seeing Japanese kids produce writing based on their own experiences is pretty rare. Let's enjoying:

"We was going to Daiyu 8. We was bike going to Daiyu 8. We was watching wood after going to bike Motomiya 2nd J.H.S. I had a good time." (Hiroto)

"I got up early today. Because I pulled weeds in school. I pulled weeds very hard so I got tired. After that, I went to fields full as asparagus with my mother. We pulled asparagus. I liked it. So I was happy. And I played with Moka and Pidian. They are very cute. I had a good time."

"That day was sports day. But it was called off because of heavy rain. I was gently in the home. I wrote a novel for three hours." (Moe)

"We had soccer games against Atami JHs. My friend is the best member."