Streets too narrow to go both ways are the status quo.
Spiders as big as my palm don't faze me.
Food is something else.I can't quite claim washoku (Japanese food) as a comfort food. I'm continually underwhelmed by kyuushoku (school lunch.) I try to eat Japanese food most of the time, but I'm a greasy American and Japanese food isn't bread-y or fatty or sweet enough for my disgusting westerner tastes. So, although the Japanese foods are among the cheapest and healthiest you can buy at the grocery store, I still ring up cereal and ice cream and fruits and loaves of bread and pasta. On rainy nights like these, I just don't want miso soup, I want CARBS and lots of them.
A picture from one of my walks. From Hokkitsu looking over into Shimogo on a stormy dusk.
My daily-ish ritual of taking evening walks is a beautiful one indeed. My town is still novel to me so there's almost nowhere I can walk that I find uninteresting. I branch out in every direction from my home and almost always find somewhere new to explore. There's still about an hour of daylight left after I leave work and I intend to use it.
It makes me brim with pride to see my students take Sports Day so seriously. They truly all give it their all and support their team to the end. Team Yellow got first place. I think if I had been given this opportunity (i.e. coerced into athletic participation) as a child, I wouldn't be so abhorrent to sports and exercise as I am now.
Watching my student cry while making a speech to his classmates during Sports Day fueled the fire in me to be there for my students as much as circumstances allow. These kids are so honest and pure and hard-working. There is not a single one who doesn't take his or her education seriously, no one who doesn't work hard every day, not a single one who disrespects a teacher. And yet, they don't value their own individuality, they downplay their strengths, and hesitate to answer even the simplest of questions because they fear risk. The vast contrast between American students and these students strikes me every day. The love that I have for them developed quickly, and it frustrates me that the language and culture barrier impedes my getting to know them. I need to affirm my presence and my goals every day. I feel positive about my place at work and my ability to influence my students. I feel inspired and I have a whole nestload of ideas in my sleeves. However, change is very slow, and I must be patient. I remind myself daily that as Rome wasn't built in a day, neither can I so quickly build a program at this school. Gradually, my influence at my tiny school will grow, and my relationships with students will deepen. I will worm my way in and make English the big thing here, as well as showing them that I care deeply about their development as individuals.
In this morning's school assembly, each class grade (in groups of 15-20) stood up and presented a short speech, about 2 minutes long, completely in unison. All voices speaking together, with nary a consonant out of place, for two minutes. The robotic, metallic-tinged mélange of voice timbres and ranges sounded like the devil himself speaking through these students. After the assembly, my Japanese Teacher of English told me that next time, students will recite English sentences. I asked her "what is the educational goal of having students memorize speeches to speak in unison? Why do you have them do this?" To my awe, she paused to think for a moment, cocked her head to the side, sucked in air through her teeth, and walked away to talk to another teacher before I could reiterate my question. There are some things I don't understand about Japanese education, and cultural manners, which I probably never get used to. But it's not worse, just different. Not worse just different not worse just different not worse just different.
All this and it's only been two months. Let's imagine where the next two months will take me...and the two after that, and the two after that, and the two after that.
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