Allen's Adventures Abroad

久しぶり！It’s been a while.

Although many of you have likely given up checking this blog, seeing as I’m not much for updates, I figured I’d clue everyone in to what I’ve been up to, especially in light of a lot of interesting stuff that’s come together just recently.

To start with, I extended my Golden Week (a string of three national holidays at the beginning of the month) by taking some of holiday leave and went island hopping for about eleven days. The vacation was fairly jam-packed, so here’s the short version.

I was traveling with my friend and fellow ALT Bryan White. I went first to the city of Naha on Okinawa for a few days. While there we hit the main tourist spot of Shurijo, a castle that was once the main palace and seat of the ruler of the Ryukyuu empire (the Okinwan chain of Islands was essentially separate from Japan, and still holds great pride in it’s unique culture.) The castle was pretty neat, but the visit was a bit overshadowed by the presence of some rather obnoxious Princess Cruise tours. After living in Kagoshima, in which foreigners are even more scarce than in most of Japan, I found myself actually quite shocked by the American presence in Okinwa, both in terms of military personnel and tourists. That being said, there were some major perks. The Americanization of the island included some nice, western style restaurants that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I caught myself saying things like “when we get back to Japan” at some points during the trip. In fact the use of American dollars at some places  is still common (apparently, once required a passport to get to Okinawa from the mainland until the 70s, and the USD was the main currency. They still cater to tourists in that respect.) The weather was fantastic and Naha was a pleasant maze of old style, winding streets in some areas and huge, tourist centers epitomized by 国際道路or “international boulevard.”

Naha, was nice, but the best past of the trip was the next stop. Bryan and I hopped a flight to Ishigaki Jima (ishigaki-japan.com will make you jealous.) Where we spent four days (three nights.) We rented little 50cc vespas for the first day and made our way around the island, which was fun both for the breathtaking views and the fact that I’d never driven a motorized bike before. The next day, despite some unfortunate rain, found us on the nearly untouched island of Iriomote Jima, where we took a short tour up a river boat to get to a hike with spectacular views of a waterfall and met some other tourists who’d found a company running beginner scuba tours.

That’s how I found myself, bright an early the following morning, on my way to try out scuba for the first time. The dive itself was quite short (partially because one of the other group members was having a bit of a hard time of it,) but it was enough of a taste to make me begin entertaining the idea of checking out the possibility of picking up a license next year in Bali or Thailand as my vacation. Also, after the dive experience, we did some open-water snorkeling off the coast in an area where massive manta rays (about 10 feet across) come into to allow the smaller fish in the reef to essentially clean them. We lucked out and did, in fact see the mantas, which are breathtaking as they leisurely hover their way around with a small entourage of fish. This was definitely a highlight of my trip. The final day we went to Taketomi Jima, which is a tiny (as in, you can bike the circumference in an hour at a leisurely pace) where there is an old village with ancient stone walls, dirt paths, and a few nice restaurants.

Beyond the main events of the days, we also found that islanders know their way around a kitchen and ate some amazing local foods (and sampled their rice-liquor.) Also on Ishigaki, surprisingly enough, was the best Mexican restaurant I’ve been to in Japan yet. Sun, relaxation and good food are my main memories from the Islands, so I’d say I got just what I wanted out of the area. Besides that, the locals were extremely friendly. We met one guy, a sushi chef who had lived in the States and Canada for 20 years, who showed us a good restaurant and hung out for an evening. There is something to the island way of life, that’s for sure.

Ishigaki didn’t last long enough, but we headed back to Naha for one more evening and then made our way further up the coast of mainland Okinawa for out next stop. Our original accommodation (found online with a misleading set of photos) lived up to its’ name of Beach Bum Paradise, in that it was a trailer park anyone who was not sun-baked into oblivion would take issue with. So, we found ourselves momentary stranded after deciding that we were not, in fact, beach bums and it was not, in fact, paradise. Things did work out and we found a cute little place on the beach where we spent a night and two days reading, lazing on the beach, and snorkeling before checking out the famous Okinawa aquarium and ocean expo park.

From Okinawa, we hopped a boat up to Amami Island. This put us back into the southern part of Kagoshima ken, although still a long way from home, but not far from friends. About 10 ALTs had decided to chill on the beach there for the holiday, so Bryan and I joined in on that little camping adventure for two nights and again did very little other than hang out on a gorgeous beach, before reluctantly heading home.

The vacation was just what I needed to kick off the summer, and upon arriving home I found that the cold nights I left have given way to a steady advance towards summer. So, I got to keep the warm weather and will until the late fall, it seems. Over the past few weeks, beyond reconnecting with my far-flung (the prefecture is fairly spread out) acquaintances and swapping travel stories, I’ve been working on a few things to keep me busy over the next year. I find that I am, in fact, happier with at least a few deadlines and things to work on hanging over my head (I blame MC!) and decided to jump in and get myself really involved with the JET community this year.

First, I’ll begin training for the AJET Peer Support Group (PSG) a for JET by JET helpline for the 4400 JETs in Japan next year. It’s a non-professional, listening service for late night calls. There are no other English language help lines offered from the hours of 11pm-7am in Japan, and we fill that void. So, I’ll be looking forward to a few late nights a month in the interest of preserving JET participants’ mental health. I’ll be fielding calls ranging ranging from helping people work through confusing visa info to, potentially, suicide calls. This also has the added perk of allowing me to (pending details) attend a training seminar for Prefectural Advisors, with basic counseling and support training, as well as gaining some in house training from the organization.

Also, pending an election next week, (a run off between only two of us) I’ll either be president or VP of the Kagoshima chapter of the Association for JETs (KAJET) which would see me working with a  great team of my colleagues to organize events, update a Kagoshima-specific living guide, help with orientation for new JETS, and help organize the mid-year seminar, among other things.

I’ve also been selected as a Tokyo Orientation Assistant this year. So I’ll be one of the smiling faces greeting new program participants at the airport etc, which means and expense-paid trip to Toyko at the end of July! Basically, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy and look forward to in the coming months, and I’m really pumped up about JET year two.

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to shoot me an email whenever.

So, today was the Emperor’s birthday, a national Holiday in Japan, and since I’ve got some time at the end of it, I figured I’d make it into a bit of a blog. I was in the middle of what I considered a fairly mundane day when I realized that what I now consider mundane is, in fact, quite different from a day in the U.S.  So, here goes, a day (actually a day off) in my life in Miyanojo. It’s a bit long, so feel free to break it up as you will.

Today was admittedly a bit out of the ordinary. A good number of my friends have taken off to their respective holiday destinations (they cashed in some vacation days I’m hanging on to by working through the week) and the holiday fell in the middle of the week. Because of this, my usual tendency to take off from my small town in search of more to do on the weekend days off was abandoned in favor of a day to myself.

So, I started my day at about nine-thirty with breakfast, NPR, and a house chores. Thankfully, it warmed up a bit today, so while I tidied up I was able to open some sliding doors and let some fresh air into my apartment. We had a bit of a cold spell over the past week or so, which means that the one room in my apartment with a proper, wall-mounted heater, tends to pile up with all my books, coats, purchases, laundry, etc from the week, because it’s a bit too cold to work up motivation to put things in other rooms, where they actually belong. As a side note, the coldest day yet was about two days ago, and my unheated bathroom was so cold that my mouthwash hurt my teeth, which was an interesting, unexpected experience. So, I’ve gone from a four room (granted, they’re Japan-sized) apartment to pretending to live in a one room apartment, and I definitely needed to get a few things done. For example, since I sleep on futons, on warm days such as today, as general mold prevention, it’s necessary to hang out futons so they can air out. I also tackled the small pile of dishes that had started to gather in my sink. Although with the cold as it is, it sounds like winter could be awful here, and I will admit to thinking so as well. However, I am learning how to stay warm and comfortable in Japan, and I must say it’s increased my appreciation of the season.

Before I explain a few “stay warm” tactics, I’d like to point out that it wasn’t until I was explaining that I used to joke with my friends about wearing sweatshirts in summer and t-shirts in winter in America to a Japanese teacher that I realized how ridiculous it is to use the amount of climate control that we Americans are used to at this point. That being said, I surely miss it. Eco-friendly or not! Nonetheless, there are some good ways (exempting central heat) to stay warm in Japan. One approach is to use a kotatsu, and although mine seems to have died on me sometime in the past week, I plan to get a one and will explain what it is. Basically, It’s a coffee table-futon combo—and here’s the kicker—the coffee table has heating unit mounted underneath. The basic idea is this you sit on a futon with another duvet like cover going between two layers of the tabletop and never want to get up because it’s warm and cozy. It’s one of the best and worst ideas ever. It’s definitely not very conducive to getting work done. If something isn’t nearby enough to grab, I’m likely to decide against working on it, but it’s incredibly comfortable. Needless to say I’ll be replacing mine for a working one quite soon, (and since I recently purchased a camera, I’ll try to get a picture up once I do!)

Another new strategy I’ve adopted for warmth is really enjoying the onsen experience, which is what I decided to do after housework today. Because, as I mentioned before, there is no heat in my bathroom, I’ve realized that quick showers are fine for mornings (I’m definitely awake afterwards) but after a few days of teaching in schools without heat, I start to crave something that will warm my body to the core. That’s where onsen come in. Onsen were nice for relaxation in the summer and fall, but in the winter, they are turning out to be a godsend. After soaking in a steaming hot natural bath, baking in a wood-paneled sauna, and taking a slow, hot, relaxing shower (all usually in a rather aesthetically pleasing environment, I might add,) I feel like I can take on a few more days of whatever cold weather comes my way. I’ve been to onsen around the prefecture so far, but today was the first time I decided to go in my own town. Many Japanese people have told me that my town is famous for them, so I figured it’s about time I got acquainted.

After following signs to shibi onsen (shibi is the name of the closest mountain by my town,) I found myself in the middle of a little valley on the mountainside, with four different onsen to choose from, a little shop selling various local food, and some fun looking campgrounds. After spending about and hour soaking in a natural hot spring, I drove around for a bit and got better acquainted with that little corner of Satsuma. I think the best way to describe heading out to shibi for people back home, is it’s like living in Maryville and heading out to Greenback, excepting that you need to shrink both towns substantially. Each little area of satsuma-chou (mine is Miyanojo-Yachi) has it’s own little neighborhood, compete with a corner store or two, in this case onsen, and plenty of rice patties—I do live in the country. My “village” is a in the main part of town, and so is more of a subdivision attached to the center of town, but these smaller communities are quite cute, small, and tight-knit. Now, because there are three more onsen there, I have good reason to head back out to Shibi again before making the rounds to other villages around the area that also have onsen. I think onsen hopping will make a good hobby for the winter, and regularly getting the chills out is definitely going to keep me in good spirits until spring.

I should also mention that there was a cute shrine near Shibi spa, so I spent a few moments admiring the architecture before hopping back in my car to go pick up a few necessities from the store. While shopping, an elementary student from one of my schools spied me, ran up and forgot how to say “hello,” and then went running after his grandfather shouting something akin to “Grandpa, grandpa, the English teacher is here!” With his huge, front-teeth-missing smile and unconcealed curiosity, he’s like lots of my kids, many of whom have similar reactions to seeing me outside of school. Especially the younger ones, who are occasionally surprised to realize I’ve not just flown in from the US when I visit their schools but am, in fact, temporarily residing in Japan. At the store check-out, a woman wearing a pink, fleece track suit, a rainbow, faux-fur coat, and pigtails, despite looking to be in her 40s, came out with some surprisingly well-pronounced English phrases. Now, Japan is known for some funky fashion, but this was quite odd none-the-less. I always try to be polite and said “nice to meet yoy as well” and other basic phrases as waited behind her for the cashier. Afterwards, she cornered me in the parking lot for a few minutes, insisted I take her phone number, and invited me to come to her house for “American” food at some point. I doubt I will, but I think the experience illustrates the constant odd encounters I get as a result of being white. While I spoke to the woman, a troop of teenage girls out of school for the day walked to the photo booth behind me, giggling nervously, and one literally shrieked when I waved back to them as I drove off. What happens when you go to the local supermarket?

I decided to wind down my afternoon by reading at our local “joyful cafe,” which is like a Japanese version of iHop (the seating style and quality of the food, but not the food itself of course.) Coffee is hard to come by here, but Joyful has a drink bar with espresso machines, so since there isn’t a coffee shop in my town I go there to read, study Japanese, and drink unlimited coffee (also a rarity!) While there, I again ran into some of my students. This time it was some first year middle school girls, who I confused by using English outside of the classroom before trying out my Japanese to talk to them. After a short conversation, I went back to my book and coffee, eventually ordered dinner, and then headed home.

Now, I’m back in my apartment, surfing the internet and watching TV shows. I only have one more day of work (tomorrow, Christmas Eve) and then my real vacation starts! I’ll be leaving for Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Osaka on Saturday. I’ll be traveling with a guy I met in Tokyo and have since kept in touch with, and I’m terribly excited about being in a large city for New Years. Anyway, I’ll have plenty to talk about when I get back. Also, since I’ve finally got that camera, it’s likely my next blog will be accompanied by appropriate photographs!

As always, thanks for checking in!

Recently, the Kagoshima prefectural education department hosted our annual mid-year seminars (school year starts in April.) While there, I participated in various workshops pertaining to my job, so while it’s more or less fresh in my mind, I’d like to give everyone a better idea of what my job is like here. Oh, and as a  heads up, I’ll be using the acronyms ALT, Assistant Language Teacher (my job) and JTE, Japanese Teacher of English, quite often.

In Kagoshima prefecture, ALTs work at either the local level, like myself, or the prefectural level, like many of my friends. The prefectural level ALTs travel between the various high schools in their area, but local ALTs work in a mixture of Elementary and Junior High Schools. The specific amount of schools any one ALT teacher is quite varied. Some ALTs at large high schools only teach at one school, for example, but I have the fairly common set up of spending a fair bit of time at a base JHS (between two and three days out of a week) and the other days at a random selection of my other schools. Specifically, I teach at Miyanojo JHS more often than anywhere else, which is a school in the center of my town with a little more than 300 students. Besides MJHS, I teach at the much smaller, sixty student Yamasaki JHS, although never more than once a week. I also teach at eight different Elementary schools. Because of a Japanese law that dictates the distance an elementary school student can travel from his or her home to school, I have some schools in rural areas with tiny student populations, from 10 to 30 students as well as a larger school in the center of my town with 500 students. In other words, I hit the full gambit of varied educational experiences in my area, all of which changes depending on the day and where I’m meant to be. To put this in perspective, I’ve been asked to teach an entire elementary school how to count in English at a big event in the gym and today I had a lesson with only one student at my smallest school. I should also mention that I’m technically based out of my local Board of Education, BoE, which is the organization that I’m employed by and where my supervisor, Kawaji sensei, works.

So,I have the potential to refer to nearly a thousand students in my broader area as “my students, but that’s a bit of a loose term, because it’s not as though I’m their main English teacher. The fact of the matter is that my job is quite literally that of an assistant. My middle school students all have a main JTE that teaches their regular classes, and my job there is simply to assist them. So, I do a variety of things such as help prepare and execute fun lesson plans, work on special projects with students, answer JTE questions about English, work on things such as pronunciation and inflection, and eat lunch with the kids. So, for the most part, my job can be super easy. I don’t have long hours like the other members of staff, I don’t have to worry about students performance on tests, and I rarely grade papers, although I do help my JTEs check the students English notebooks. So, although I have grown to see myself as more or less a permanent fixture at Miyanojo JSH (Miyachuu,) and to a lesser extant at Yamasaki as well, I still am not really a member of staff at any of my schools. I’m an employee of the BoE making “school visits.”

In the middle schools, English education is compulsory for all students (which is also the case for high school students,) so students are learning basic grammar structure for English comprehension. I try to organize in class games and activities that allow students to practice English usage, but it’s the JTEs that control the class pace and main teaching methods. Because it is a compulsory subject, JTEs tend to focus on preparing students for written English exams that are a part of the process for being admitted to high school. Japanese middle school students, especially those in their third and final year, are extremely busy preparing for the tests that determine which high school they attend and, subsequently college and jobs. So, there is a lot of pressure on comprehension and very little on communicative English.

There are a number of major barriers to proper English education in this setting, but I’ll give you pronunciation as an example. Because of the emphasis on testing, ALTs, who are directed by the National program to assist in developing “communicative ability” are in the occasionally awkward position of trying to eke out class time we don’t really have any right to in order to work on abilities that aren’t easily tested. So, many students make do with “katakana English” or pronouncing English words by writing them out in Japanese syllabary, which can at times sound nothing like actual English. (“and” becomes “and-o” thank you becomes “san kyu” etc., and that’s just simple words!)  The irony if this is that ALTs, who are constantly confronted with this sort of pronunciation, grow to understand it fairly well based on their own study of Japanese and time spent listening to it, which tends to decrease the incentive of students, who I can understand, to learn to pronounce English in a way that’s intelligible to English speakers that are not employed by Japanese school systems, despite my occasional insistence that I’m a spacial case when it comes to understanding them.

In contrast, the elementary school visits take a different extreme to the same result. Because the elementary education is ungraded and not compulsory, it’s really just prep for middle school and exposure to foreign culture and language. Students aren’t really expected to get very far with English at that stage. A major contributing factor to this problem is the textbook, which all ALTs such as myself are baffled by, called Eigo Noto. In the process of taking ideology to the extreme, the focus on communicative English, the text does not introduce the alphabet. So, the best opportunity to get students to read and imitate English sounds in a non-threatening environment by teaching phonics and the alphabet is wasted. It’s possibly to get students to speak English rather clearly with a bit of work, but since I see my elementary schools about once or twice a month, as soon as I’ve left the students have too much time to forget English or (worse) learn it from their teachers who have no English qualifications and often can’t pronounce the words much better than the students themselves. So, I settle for making English fun and getting students better accustomed to at the very least hearing English and, equally importantly, with the concept of communicating in a foreign language. During lunch and recess, I hang out and practice my Japanese and play with the students for the cultural exchange part of my job. It’s nice to give students a chance to ask questions, and it’s always amusing what surprises them about Americans. (A number of students enjoy running up, rubbing my arms because I have blonde arm hair and then exclaiming “ooo! Nice smell,” which is more or less like being a human scratch and sniff.) Those sorts of reactions certainly make one realize that the kids do, in fact, need exposure to foreigners, but actually getting students to improve in this setting can be daunting.

A few other problems that I’ll skirt over for the time being include classes that aren’t differentiated based on ability, interpersonal relationships between ALTs and JTEs, students’ incentives to learn, and time constraints. I can, and probably will, go on about my job in future posts, but I’ll end this one with this line of thought. Although there are some definite, and seemingly insurmountable challenges to effective English education, there is so much more to my job than the title of English teacher itself. Every time I go out in Japan and converse or otherwise interact with locals, I’m helping to foster internationalization and exchange. Another ALT said to me that a local woman she has become friends with used to be scared of foreigners, at the Japanese government really just wants us to live and interact with our communities. I know that I became interested in international travel and studies based on my interactions with foreign friends, and I hope that my engagement with the students on a regular basis convince at least a few of the importance of being aware of and experiencing other cultures. So, I may not be turning out students that can carry on worthwhile conversations in English, but it’s possible some of them will go on to develop a real interest in English or another foreign language. Maybe I’m helping to make my small town more acutely aware of the global context in which we are living in the 21st century. As always, thanks for checking in!

I’ve been keeping myself fairly busy, although to say I’ve not had the time to write would be a lie. I had some time this evening, though, but this time coupled with the essential urge to write and basic idea to work with, so enjoy. On a side note, I just turned 22 30 minutes ago.

Locally Famous

Although many things are standardized across the board in Japanese culture, from what I’ve noticed, Japanese culture places a lot of emphasis on the slight variations on the theme that distinguish various regions, prefectures, and even small towns. Small towns all usually have some big to do at least once per year, various “Matsuri” or festivals celebrating local traditions. These, too, seem to be an exercise in “variations on a theme,” but they’re usually quite fun.

Satsuma, my local region, is famous for it’s “Mikan,” which are delicious mandarin oranges or tangerines that tend slightly towards the sour side rather than the sweet. I’ve eaten more than my fair share while they’ve been in season here, and I must say they deserve the regional distinction they claim. Then again, as I’m beginning to think of my little town as my home, I could be bias. My town also has a number of onsen (hot springs, see footnote,) and the Kagoshima prefecture is also famous for black pork.

Before coming to Japan, I was informed of this regional focus, and I now follow nearly every introduction that goes far enough for me to mention that I’m from Tennessee with a quick blurb about the Tennessee Waltz, Nashville and country music, Jack Daniels whiskey, the Smoky Mountains, or Dogwood blooms, depending on the audience. The upside of the regional focus is that it’s really easy to find most attractions, since locals are proud to point you in the direction of their particular claim to fame. However, eventually highway signs for “famous” local attractions make you wonder how famous things really are, and you start to question the word. Thus, another ALT and I agreed that the translation of whatever word keeps turning into famous should be translated with the necessary modifier “locally” in order to be more accurate. It is always nice to check out locally famous foods, as well as natural and cultural attraction.

This weekend,, I made it up to Fukuoka, the largest city on the southern island of Kyushu, where I live, and I tried the local ramen. I of course saw as many local attractions as I could, including a zen monastery founded in the 12th century, the largest wooden Buddha in Japan, and the much more modern “Canal City” shopping complex (it was decked out for Christmas with beautiful lights and had a Wendy’s, what more can one ask for!) As for Fukuoka’s food, because of it’s close proximity to South Korea, it is meant to be famous for authentic ramen, which was brought to the Fukuoka region during some international exchange a while back and kept alive by the large number of foreigners living in Fukuoka (large, that is, by Japanese standards, but at 97% ethnic Japanese people living in Japan that statement ought to be taken with a grain of salt.) Personally, I didn’t care much for the fatty broth and angel hair sized noodles. So, the first thing I did when I got home was eat some delicious, Kagoshima style, Kuroramen (black ramen). I guess I’m already developing regionally biased tastes in Japanese food.

On the whole though, I find it wonderful that people are willing to take so much stock in the small nuances of their individual hometowns, and I find I learn a lot about Japanese history by learning about the different regions. As always, thanks for taking the time to check in!

Footnote: Onsen are usually located on natural springs, although there are plenty of artificial ones as well. It’s quite common for tourist (such as myself) to check out the various onsen a town has to offer, as they all tend are unique in their setup and the natural minerals in the water. Many onsen advertise the unique way their natural water is meant to benefit health. So far, my favorite onsen were one on Yakushima island that was outdoors and connected to the ocean, so you have to time your visit for low tide (oddly enough, my older brother found the same one during his semester in Japan) and the Ibuski sand baths, where one is buried in sand that’s heated by hot water vapors from an underground hot-spring before relaxing in a normal, water onsen. Thanks to the recommendation of a great friend, I also want to find a ski-jo where I can snowboard all day before relaxing in an onsen at the ski-jo after a long day on the slopes, which sounds about like heaven to me. Onsen tourism is definitely not a chore!

It’s been quite easy to stay busy here, and time seems to slip past faster than ever.  So, here’s a quick update.

Every year, about this time, all Japanese schools host a weekend sports day. The concept is basically the same as field day, except the schools are split into two competing teams, there are a number of amusing  games in addition to a large amount of sprinting competitions, and students spend weeks practicing and preparing. Every afternoon for the past few weeks students practiced for dance routines, ceremonies, and events ranging from three-legged relays to folk dancing. I participated in sports day events at my largest school. I joined in the folk dance, threw beanbags into a basked held that toped off a twenty-foot bamboo pole, and sprinted as a member of the teachers’ team in the final relay (we were 3rd out of 5 teams.)

The day was quite fun. My personal favorite event was a club relay, in which students representing sports teams (swimmers, runners, baseball players,)  traditional sports (Kendo, Judo,) and other activities, such as art, ran a relay in full gear using various themed props as batons. Barefoot swimmers swim caps and swim trunks traded off a kick board while Judo kids ran carrying a floor mat and artists used a large canvas. I think that race would go over well in the States. Sports day is definitely quite an experience, and it was hard not to notice the sense of community among the whole school.

All Japanese students are highly involved in their schools on a daily basis. Schools don’t hire janitorial staff or cafeteria workers (although they do have groundskeepers) so every day students clean the school building together and set up and clean up their lunch. It’s quite fun to watch the students don what look like surgical scrubs and masks to serve up lunch. Students also stay at school much later than their American counterparts, with school days beginning at around 8:00 and ending at five, although some students stay later for clubs or move on to after hours cram schools. Japanese culture is also much more community based. Calling on students individually results in quick flashes of something akin to terror across some students faces, as they much prefer the opportunity to consult with their neighbor about everything, so often splitting students into groups or pairs or teams (for example, in sports day) is necessary to encourage students to excel. The commonly quoted saying that represents a key difference in Japanese and Western culture is as follows:

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
vs.
“The nail that stands up gets hammered.”

It’s quite an adjustment getting used to a culture that operates in a completely different manner than Western society, but as I come to grow a bit more used to it I find it fascinating. As is often the case, I feel I’m learning about myself as a product of Western culture more than I am coming to understand Japanese culture, but so far I’m still enjoying the culture clashes for the most part. I suppose it’s likely to wear on me over time.

Well, that’s a blurb about school life, I suppose I ought to mention what I’ve been doing. I’m still trying to keep myself as busy as possible. Mostly, I try to stay in the habit of running and doing yoga during the week, and on the weekends I head out of Miyanojo to visit friends I’ve made around the prefecture. My Japanese is coming along quite slowly, but I feel like I’ve gained the confidence to just speak, regardless of how well I can say something, which is one of the larger hurdles in language learning. I think that’s the result of seeing 30-odd faces stare blankly ahead when I speak in English and light up a little when I translate. Motivation is a good thing. That being said, I need to study more, since usually by the time I get home and take care of any other plans the last thing I feel like doing is pulling out a Japanese textbook to work through.

This weekend (starting tomorrow!) is Silver Week in Japan, which is a five day weekend created by three consecutive holidays. I’m off to Amamioshima, an island in the Kagoshima prefecture for a few days of soaking up sun, sand, and surf. We also plan to go Kayaking through a mangrove stand. In other words, life is good. I’ll try to make sure I get plenty of pictures to post.

In other news, I’m buying a bike today. Many of my schools are close enough that I can ride to them on a bike, and I figure it’s a great way to get/stay fit.

Hope all is well state-side.

Peace,
Allen

So, here I am sitting at my desk at (山﨑中学校）Yamasaki Junior High School, literally minutes after completing my first team teaching experience. So, I’m going to fire away with first impressions.

First of all, this school is tiny. Basically, there is a Japanese law that dictates the distance young Japanese students are allowed to travel from their place of residence to get to compulsory Education. Because of this, small schools spring up in order to meet the proximity requirements. The school I’m at at the moment is a Junior high school, and thus covers a bit of a broader area, but it still only has a little over 50 students. The other Junior High school I’ll be in is about 10 times that size, as it is located right in the center of Miyanojo, so it will be interesting to compare my experiences at the two schools.

Second: My main coworker here is a really fun, relaxed woman named Horiguchi-sensei. So far I feel quite comfortable working with her and think that classes at this school are going to be quite fun. At Miyanojo where I’ll be spending the majority of my time, there are 4 JTE (Japanese English Teachers) so I’ve yet to see what working with them will be like. In general, though, I get the impression that the whole of Kagoshima prefecture is very laid back, so I’m not terribly worried about it. More on that once the time comes!

Third: It seems a bit petty, but after several weeks at the regional board of education, it’s hard not to be aware of the fact that it’s humid and there is no air-conditioning. I think I can deal with it pretty well, especially since visible sweat glistening on ones arm and face are normal parts of life in Kagoshima, so noone blinks twice at it. In fact, it’s rather common for everyone to have a hand towel on hand (draped across the neck in casual settings) to use as, essentially, a sweat rag. I’ve got one myself, so I’m sure I’ll be just fine. I think the lack of climate control will be the topic of another blog come winter, but for now it’s really not that bad. I actually feel like it’s kind of nice, and certainly more environmentally friendly. Although, I wonder if it affects students’ attention spans.

Fourth: The kids are so timid. The class I was just in was 1st year middle school students (the equivalent of a US seventh grade student.) Middle school is when compulsory English classes begin, so these students are very afraid to speak and open up the possibility of making mistakes. Because of this, one of the explicit goals of ALTs in classrooms is to encourage students to use “communicative English.” In other words, if they get their point across, it’s best to be encouraging and get them used to English as a means of communication than shut them down for fear of English gaffs. So, I get to suck up the majority of the r-l mixups and “katakana” English. That is not to say that I can’t work on pronunciation by repeating back student’s questions etc., just that it’s preferable that I be easy on the errors. However, I am in small town Japan, so it’s likely that over time they will get used to me and open up a bit more. They are all quite curious about “Allen-sensei,” so I hope that gets them motivated to do their English homework.

Finally, what I’ve realized is that I probably am going to really enjoy this job. It is totally different from anything I ever thought I would do or plan to do long term, but I think it’s going to be a great experience. Anyway, I’m going to use the rest of my downtime between classes to try to work on a little Japanese study.  There is always more to tell so stop by often. Thanks for checking in on me.

Well, this is the week it finally happens. After nearly a full month of various orientation seminars and retreats, social networking, and studying Japanese at the Satsuma-chou Board of Education, I’m about to take the plunge and actually do the job I was hired to do. Although I still have two more “office days” by the end of the week I’m scheduled to head straight to local middle or elementary schools to perform my Assistant Language Teacher duties. Honestly, I can’t wait, although I’m going to be leaving the crutch that is Colin’s Japanese fluency. Thus far, while the kids have been on summer vacation, everything work-related has been at the BoE where Colin and I have adjacent desks. The nice thing about that is he can translate anything my supervisor needs me to know. This week, that’ll not be the case anymore. I’m hoping the majority of my JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English, with whom I will be ‘team teaching’) speak English well enough that language barriers will be not be insurmountable, but it’s definitely going to be a little less smooth sailing than having Colin along. So far, I’ve only met on of the many JTEs I’ll be working with, and from that experience I know that at least at Miyanojyou middle school, where I’ll spend the majority of my time, I’ll have a fluent English speaker around, but the rest is yet to be seen. The elementary schools, especially, are likely to have much less fluent English instructors.

I’m still rather amazed at how well this transition has been facilitated with contributions from tons of organizations. From the Nashville Consulate to the national AJET (Association of JETS) and CLAIR (Counsel of Local Authorities on International Relation) level orientation in Tokyo, to prefectural level information provided in separate forums closer to home, I feel that I’ve yet to be thrown into anything that I couldn’t handle. Not only have the formal organizations been supportive, other ALTs such as Colin and KAJET (Kagoshima AJET) members have been great for offering advice and/or lending an ear. Research and conversation before applying made me realized on of the best aspects of the JET program is a support network, but I feel it’s necessary to vouch for the truth of that in my experience thus far. It’s like I’ve been wading slowly but surely deeper into Japanese culture and work expectations at a comfortable pace. Now I feel poised to take that final step out into the deeper water. If it hadn’t have been eased in the way it had, I think I could have hit a wall of culture shock very easily, so I’m definitely grateful for the way things have gone thus far.

Anyway, that’s about work, but I’ve been up to much more than that. I have a car, an apartment, and a life here now. This past weekend I spent hosting a BBQ with Colin at our duplex, celebrating a new friend’s birthday properly (with Karaoke), and joining in on a mexican style get together with amazing home-made mexican food. I’ve kept myself going full tilt so as not so stop long enough to think about home, and so far the strategy has been working. There are the occasional moments when I realize I’m further into the process of adjusting than I’d even noticed. For example, I had one moment of clarity in a hotel room last week when I realized I’d gotten used to separate toilet, shower, and sink rooms, rather than western style rooms that are all together and another when I was given a fork to eat with and realized I’d gotten used to chopsticks. It’s definitely a different feeling living in a country with he expectation of staying for quite some time. I’m forced to consider new ways of doing things and finding out that I find some of them quite pleasant. I looked at pictures from a trip to San Fransico earlier this year and thought “wow, look how big everything is.” Although I experienced looking at my American life through different eyes in Europe, living in an Eastern country magnifies what I may have already noticed. Nothing makes you realize how deeply your cultural context runs in your mind like immersion in a culture that quite obviously plays by different rules. It’s definitely been illuminating thus far…

The dust is starting to settle (literally, but I’ll get to that in a moment.) I’ve been living based out of my new apartment here in beautiful (and tiny) Miyanojo in Kagoshima prefeture for nearly two full weeks now, which have completely flown past.

On the whole, I’m doing quite well, although going from being a reasonably intelligent individual to feeling illiterate has been a “bit“ of a transition. Japanese is still quite difficult for me, but until students return in September I get to spend my weekdays at the local board of education with plenty of time to study up on the language. That being said, I won’t have much to say about teaching English for a while yet, because I’ll have a rotating schedule around the local schools and won’t actually make it to all of my various students until several weeks into September. For now, I’ll talk about my experience moving into a new place in Japan, more specifically, my apartment.

I’m living in half of a duplex owned by my employer. Moving in has been a bit of an adventure, thus far. I had some time on my hands and, rather than leave well enough alone, decided to be what appears to be the first person since the 90s to go through all of the many closets in the place and throw away the accumulated junk. Although the place is in good condition, after nearly 20 years of frequent change-overs (all of the JET participants the Satsuma-cho BoE employs stay here or in the attached place where the other local JET, Colin, lives,) a fair amount of junk had piled up, especially in the closets. This is especially true because of Japanese rules about trash management. Every item has to be sorted based on their (slightly confusing) concepts of burnable and non-burnable rubbish and recyclables. So, along with a whole lot of very useful items, such as furniture and a well-stocked kitchen, I also inherited about 10 years of tucked away junk.

I have always had allergies, but in the US a simple OTC drug can usually take the edge off. I ended up cleaning out a massive amount of old dusty stuff and one closet that had a molding basket in it.

Side note: my apartment is now filled with little moisture collecting products to avoid a repeat of the mold incident.

Although, slowly but surely the place has been shaping up, I did manage to kick up tons of dust and mold particles. As a result, I was reduced to a puffy-faced, red-nosed, sneezing, wheezing mess for a couple of evenings, and come to find out, OTC drugs in Japan are pitifully weak. The only antihistamine I could find was night use only and none-too-strong anyway. So, for the past two weeks (save for weekends when I’ve been traveling,) I’ve been fighting what I considered a war against my apartment, or, more specifically the allergens in my apartment. This has kept me busy when I’m home, and also sapped a lot of my energy in conjunction with JET lag, which is one reason why this blog post was so far in coming.

Although the war isn’t quite over, I feel like I’ve pretty much reclaimed the apartment from Kagoshima allergens. I’m starting to settle and, as the dust settles (or gets thrown out), I am growing to love the place. Pictures will be up once I finish cleaning and organizing, as it’s a bit topsy-turvy at the moment, but will provide a brief description. The apartment is very Japanese. The entrance is about a foot below the rest of the house, my guests and I can remove shoes before entering. I have a hallway that leads to a Tatami mat living room attached to a Kitchen and dining area, with another small hallway that leads to a shower/laundry alcove and steps to the upstairs. Upstairs, I have a balcony (which is currently covered in drying laundry) and two more Tatami-mat rooms, which I use as my bedroom and closet/storage room. The place is cozy, but also gives me plenty of room to entertain, and has some very Japanese elements, between the sliding doors, tatami mats, futon closets, and Japanese style bathroom. Once I’ve got the place looking how I want it, I’ll take pictures to post on the blog.

Well, thanks for checking in on me, I’m having a blast here in Kagoshima. Besides cleaning my apartment and studying, I’ve spent time at the beach, checked out the two closest cities, and continued to meet lots of interesting other JETs. Also, I’ve eaten tons of delicious food. As soon as I get my phone I’ll start taking some pictures of meals I eat to talk about the local cuisine.

Until next time, peace.

The following post is not going to be about the plane flights or orientation (both of which went smoothly,) but rather is dedicated to the many people who’s support has been invaluable to me. Disclaimer: It’s also a bit sappy.

Tomorrow I’ll be traveling to my new home in Kagoshima-ken, in the City of Miyanojo, which means that as soon as I get out of the airport terminal in Kagoshima I’ll be meeting my Japanese supervisor at the Board of Education I’ll be working for, most likely along with everyone else in the office over the course of the day. It’ll be a long day, which may involve traveling, a mind numbing number of introduction, possibly a formal welcoming ceremony, possibly an “enkai” (office drinking party) and many more small and large errands. It’s likely that by the end of it I’ll be completely exhausted, overwhelmed, (maybe intoxicated) and frantically formulating half-baked plans to get out of Japan as soon as possible. Stressful as this all will most likely be, I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing my home and work environment for my stay here in Japan. The most comforting thoughts I have right now are from the very recent memories that gave me a palpable feeling of love to take with me to Japan.

One of my wonderful friends back in Tennessee made me an amazing playlist to listen to on the plane, which I’ll admit made me cry while I listened to it after take off, and as I’m re-listening to it, allowing myself to mourn the temporary loss of close proximity to all of my favorite people in this world, I can’t help but focus on how amazing the past  few weeks have been for me. At a going away party a week and a half ago I mentioned that the problem with associating with truly amazing people is, quite simply, that amazing people do thing and go places. This time it’s my turn, but the knowledge that even if I were to stay put, other people would be heading off to pursue their respective dreams is a comfort to me. Thankfully, I was able to see and say goodbye to a long list of my favorite people, including a number of individuals I am still wondering how I’m going to live without. To try to be concise, I want to let all of you know that in the past weeks, to a greater extent than I could have imagined, I was able to realize how much I mean to so many people who mean the world to me. I felt that the end of the semester through the end of last month was a period of time that provided some necessary closure for me as I prepare to pursue this amazing adventure I’ve signed up for. The support of so many people, friends and family, both recently and throughout my life has, I believe, given me the strength and self-confidence that will serve me as I go through what is likely to be a both rewarding but trying time. I am nearly floored by the amount of love I feel accompanied me here to Japan, and I know that it is going to be a source of strength for me in the months ahead.

Thanks to all of you who made this past summer a compete blast. I’ll miss you all and you mean the world to me.

Peace,
Allen

It’s my last night in the States for what will likely end up being over a year, although I don’t know that the idea of that is anything more than an abstract concept at this point. Anyway, I figured I’d write up a quick blurb about today while I’m hanging out in the hotel.

Today, after enjoying the hospitality of a good friend yesterday evening, I woke up in Nashville for my last day in the US. I spent the day in a series of pre-departure workshops, but this evening all of the JETs departing through the Nashvegas consulate were invited to the head consul’s beautiful home for a reception and send off. Naturally, most conversation turned to where the departing JETs were placed in Japan.

All that exposition for the following anecdote: I struck up a conversation with the Japanese representative of the travel agency through which all of our flights are booked. His response to my explaining I’d been placed in Kagoshima was “Oh really? I always think of that as a Paradise.” I took comfort from that and look forward to (hopefully) confirming his assessment.

Next update will likely be from Tokyo.

Peace,

Allen