Breaking up is hard to do… March 31, 2010
Posted by Earthdragonette in Background.Tags: apollonius, new beginnings, spring term, the great photographer, Two Terrific Teachers, unnecessary references to math
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So, what day are we on? I think that technically this post should be about Wednesday. So, that’s where we’ll direct our energies.
Wednesday was a bit difficult, because it was the last day that one of the Two Terrific Teachers was at the middle school. Every April 1st, all the workplaces in Japan undergo significant staff changes. People are moved to different buildings, different towns, different prefectures, and occasionally different countries. Sometimes the workers have a choice in whether they go or not, or if they go at all, but usually it’s totally out of their hands.
Since now only one of the Two Terrific Teachers remains at the school, I suppose it’s time to break up the team and address them individually. I’m sure that the one who is remaining will play a significant role in this year’s memories.
First, I give you the one who left us. The Great Photographer.
The Great Photographer was at my middle school for a total of seven years, so he was there long before even I arrived. I’ve always felt that he was the heart and soul of the middle school, and that he’s one of the reasons that I’ve loved working here as much as I have. With great, spastic English, a boundless supply of energy and enthusiasm, and a genuine, earnest desire to see to his students’ welfare, he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. He was, as you may have surmised, known for being the school cameraman.
My favorite memory of The Great Photographer happened during the summer of 2008, when almost all of the middle school staff got together and went to Kyoto for a few days. The Japanese Best Friend and I were the only females to go, and so it was particularly enjoyable for us; it felt like a “best friends holiday with an entourage of chefs and drinking buddies.” We took a charter bus and the morning that we left for Kyoto, The Great Photographer arrived with a simply MASSIVE cooler full of food and alcohol. I can still see him dragging this cooler on to the bus and setting up a mini restaurant in the back. Every now and then, glasses of wine, a can of beer, and plates of finger food would float their way up to us. Thanks to him, we all spent those few days drunk and happy.
It was a spectacular trip.
In addition to facilitating these little challenges for my liver, The Great Photographer never, even once, made a big deal out of me being a foreigner. It certainly came up in conversation, but he never used it as a means to separate me from the school. He included me in everything that he could, and often worked magic after hours so that I would be included in various trips, parties, and meetings. I owe so much of my current involvement in the school to him, and I can’t begin to say how much I’ll miss seeing him.
The other member of the Two Terrific Teachers team is a man that we’ll henceforth refer to as Apollonius. (For those who don’t know, the real Apollonius was a mathematician in ancient Greece. I am particularly fond of his work on conic sections.)
Apollonius and I have been working together for about three years now. He’s an important member of the community; he and his wife have been teaching in this area for the last fifteen years or so. He is incredibly kind, incredibly hardworking, and he keeps the mood in the staff room vibrant and active.
In addition to drawing me into activities around the school, I like Apollonius because he really does interact with me on an intellectual level, and this doesn’t happen all that often. He knows that I love math, and so he goes out of his way to include me in what the students are studying and to challenge me if the opportunity arises.
One of my favorite memories involving him was when he introduced me to the Tower of Hanoi. I’d just finished teaching for the day, and he came by my desk, dropped off the tower, and told me to write out two equations to describe a way to solve it. Then he left me alone for about an hour and a half while I went a little crazy trying to meet this challenge. (I can still remember The Japanese Best Friend saying to me: “Julie, you really don’t have to do this. Why don’t you take a break??”) Yet, meet the challenge I did and the satisfaction I got from giving him those two equations still does wonders for my inner math geek.
In addition, Apollonius shares my love for classical music, cooking, English, karaoke (Karma Chameleon and Billy Joel in particular), and our students’ welfare. He’s one of my favorite people in the staff room.
And so, that’s where we are now. There were staff changes at the elementary schools as well. My Buddy was moved to an elementary school in another village, and then The Hippie decided to retire. I’m sure others will come to the forefront, though, and we’ll be making new characters before long. It will take some time, but I’m sure that things will settle down.
They always do.
Do you remember the days when forever
Had only just begun?
Updates postponed on account of Osaka March 25, 2010
Posted by Earthdragonette in Hear Ye.Tags: chess, Japan, josh groban, neurotic tendencies, osaka, spring break, Two Terrific Teachers
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So, I had a rather substantial and heartfelt post planned about one of the Two Terrific Teachers, who will be leaving the school at the end of the year. Unfortunately, preparations for my Spring Jaunt to Osaka have gotten in the way of this and I’m going to have to put it on the back burner until my return. You can look for an update from me sometime around Sunday or Monday.
In the meantime, if you didn’t see them (because I made three posts on Wednesday), there are two other posts beneath the fire and potatoes one. Make sure you don’t miss out on riveting tales of graduation shenanigans and cooking whole chickens!
And, as always, here’s something you may find of interest. I’m in the unfortunate position of having left my iPod at work, and so I’m going to be traveling without my much-needed music fix. I speak lightly of this now, but when I awoke in the middle of the night with this realization, I was so unsettled that I got up and played minesweeper for almost an hour so that I could calm myself. Never let it be said that my facade of maturity and responsibility isn’t just that – a mask that hides my neurotic tendencies.
So, even though I won’t be enjoying this song this weekend, it doesn’t mean that you can’t. It’s my latest obsession, for a variety of understandable reasons.
Have a great weekend!
Two Parts Good and One Part Awkward January 19, 2010
Posted by Earthdragonette in Just Bizarre, Student Moments.Tags: avatar, awkward, Japan, Mary Sunshine, The Savant, Two Terrific Teachers, winter term
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This is going to be quick tonight. The Stack of Work is calling and I have an extremely fierce desire to be in bed before one o’clock in the morning.
Today was entertaining. It was The Savant’s birthday, and since he gave me a present for MY birthday, I’ve been told that I have to give him something. I have yet to decide on something, but at present I’m leaning towards rattlesnake eggs.
So, when I look back at today (as the title suggests), two good things come to mind. One super awkward thing comes to mind as well, because I am not always articulate or intelligent. Let’s start with the awkward, so we can end on a positive note.
The Awkward Thing: A Conversation Where I Seemed to Advocate War and Murder
As I’ve mentioned previously, I am somewhat obsessed with Avatar right now. In honor of this fine movie, I have this picture set as my computer’s wallpaper. This morning, the school nurse saw the picture and asked me about it. I told her I liked the movie, she told me she liked the movie, and so thus began The Movie Discussion. As many of you know, I have a lot that I could say about Avatar … and English really helps me make this happen. The Awkward took place when the nurse asked me why I liked this movie to the point of seeing it more than once in the theater.
This was what I wanted to say:
Honestly? I just really appreciate the characters. I love seeing Jake’s transformation, and I’m particularly moved by the way that Jake and Neytiri protect each other in the final battle against the Colonel. The way that they work together to defeat him is, in my opinion, artistically done and draws a lot of parallels to previous moments in the film.
I do not have the skills to express myself that way in Japanese. Not in any way, shape or form. So, this was the way that my brain edited my thoughts so that I could try to convey them to the nurse:
I think that the characters are very interesting! I enjoy the final battle scene. The two main characters protect each other and become stronger because of it. I think their relationship is beautiful.
Buuuuut …. it was 8:31 in the morning when she and I had this discussion and the Japanese part of my brain wasn’t awake. This is what I actually said to her:
I LOVE THIS MOVIE. I’VE SEEN IT TWICE. I’M GOING TO SEE IT AGAIN. THE WAR IS FANTASTIC. I LIKE HOW THEY KILL THE MAIN VILLAIN.
-_-;;;
So, as you can see, not quite what I’d intended.
Awkward.
Okay, let’s keep moving forward! Let’s talk about Good Things!
The first good thing was that Mary Sunshine and I had our first post-winter vacation dance practice. We’re not too terribly out of shape, and when some of her friends came to watch our routine, they were impressed. Come to think of it, I actually spent quite a bit of time with Mary Sunshine today. I can’t believe that she graduates in less than two months. That very well may break my heart -_-;;
The second good thing (although a bit overwhelming because I’d planned to use sixth period to get more work done), was that one of the Two Terrific Teachers invited me to sit in on a class with the first years. He was planning on talking about the forest industry in our town and he thought I might be interested in seeing the lesson. He thought correctly, and so I abandoned my tasks, grabbed the ol’ electronic dictionary, and planted myself in the middle of the classroom for about an hour. I learned some new words, laughed at the class’s super enthusiastic responses to the lesson, and (before class started) listened to three students while they practiced The Jabberwocky.
So far, it looks like they’re successfully memorizing that poem. We’ll see how things shake out when they have their test. Tomorrow will reveal if my bizarre lesson plans are indicative of some kind of hidden English-teaching-genius … or if I’m just simply bizarre.
There’s nothing left to say
Don’t waste another day
In a parallel universe, I update my blog every day. Part II. November 15, 2009
Posted by Earthdragonette in Apologies, Julie Gets Philosophical, Just Bizarre, Lessons Learned, Student Moments.Tags: Aunt Mia, culture festival, dancing, elementary students, fall term, fievel, Japan, Japanese, Jyona33, karaoke, late posts, meetings, mochi, my little monkey, old middle school, Rocko, The Mentor, thursday elementary school, Two Terrific Teachers
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I hope you took the opportunity to stretch your legs, get a beverage, grab a snack, let the dog (or cat) out during our break.
Now, back to my attempts to end Rampant Procrastination.
#11: I Guess I Like Attention?
I do write a blog (kind of…) after all. In fact, I think that liking attention is a requirement if one wants to be a teacher. Those who feel unnerved by many sets of curious eyes on their person, seeking wisdom, answers, and snark need not apply. That sort of thing.
So, given this personality quirk that I have, it makes sense that I would want to find a way to participate in the middle school culture festival, which I did by dancing during a very brief talent show segment. The schedule for the festival went thusly:
9:00: Opening Ceremony
~ Performance from the elective music classes (students performed on traditional Japanese instruments)
~ Speeches from 10 students about a variety of topics
~ Presentation from the student health committee on drug abuse
~ Presentation from each grade
~ First years: 20 second speeches about their first year in middle school
~ Second years: small play about an activity they’ll be doing this month (For two days, they’re going to go out and work in a variety of the town’s businesses. They’ll work in everything ranging from restaurants to hospitals to gas stations.)
~ Third years: presentation about their trip to Tokyo last April
~ Lunch break (At about 11:15)
~ Huge BINGO Game
~ 1:00: Talent show (which included my dance)
~ Afternoon chorus competition between the different classes
~ Special Guest: Traditional Japanese storyteller
~ 3:30: Closing Ceremony
And that was pretty much it. I wandered around for most of the day, taking pictures and talking to students and their families. My dance was something I’d put together myself, set to Chris Brown’s Forever. I think it went quite well – the kids certainly had fun with it.
#12: Reasons that I love karaoke
I’m not the best of singers, but I do like to do it. Unfortunately, I’ve found more often than not that karaoke in the States is a very public, very embarrassing, and often very unpleasant experience. The Japanese karaoke experience is totally different, especially if you go to a karaoke establishment. You get your own room, your own television/stereo equipment, and you can use a phone in the room to order a variety of refreshments. Jyona33 and I probably owe the success of our friendship to Disney duets and Bonnie Tyler.
Recently, I went out with Rocko, and I’ll go ahead and let you know that the boy has game. He can rap. Seriously. I will admit to my superiority on Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back, but that’s about it. For the real deal, you need to hook up with 50cent, Eminem, and Rocko.
#13: The growing dichotomy that is my life
This isn’t a specific moment exactly, but rather a growing feeling I’ve had over the last month. Put very simply: I go to work and immerse myself in whatever school I happen to be in. I play around with my students, discuss a variety of topics with the teachers, go to planning meetings and training seminars, have dinner with friends on weekends, dance my heart out on Wednesdays and Sundays, and sometimes speak coherent and intelligent Japanese.
I also spend hours talking to friends on Skype, read Anna Karenina, memorize Shakespeare (because everybody should), stalk Jay Sean’s new singles, and have dreams of somehow marrying Stephen Colbert.
Sometimes, I’m not exactly sure which country I’m living in, or which world for that matter.
#14: Visiting old friends… my second culture festival
I’ve talked on occasion about The Middle School That Closed. Earlier this month, my town’s new middle school (the one that resulted from the merger of the three that closed) had their first culture festival. I wanted to see my old students, so I decided to attend. I didn’t stay for very long – just long enough to see their morning speeches and performances. They also had their chorus competition in the morning, and that was very cute. Aunt Mia was present, and she and I had the chance to talk a little before she had to run off. I still predict that she is somehow going to end up godmother to my children.
#15: And The Flu shall have no dominion (over me)…
Although it’s everywhere. My schools have been cancelling classes left and right and it’s been weeks since all of the grades have been present at the same time. Two weeks ago all of my third year JHS students were sent home for the week (14 had the flu) and then last week my second years were shut out (10 cases there). It’s the second time this year that my second years have had this happen to them. The teachers are really stressed because everyone is behind in their lessons, but the students are obviously enjoying all of this vacation time.
So far, by some miracle, I’ve managed to stay healthy. I had a scare two weeks ago, because I started to feel out of sorts. I’m not exactly sure what it was, but it passed by without making too much of a fuss, and I’ve remained well enough to venture into the wild and germy frontier. I still predict that I’m going to get Swine Flu.
#16: Fievel VS The Monkey, Part 2
I think it was on the 5th of November that I saw Fievel make an actual claim on me in front of The Monkey. It really stands out in my memory, though, because it just showed how feisty my previously silent one is becoming.
The students had to leave school early because of a big meeting that the teachers were preparing for. I had my work more or less under control, and so I spent some time with the kids while they were waiting for the last bus of the day. Fievel decided to assert his newfound power over me and asked me to give him a piggyback ride. The Monkey saw this, got jealous, and tried to interrupt the whole process.
I kid you not – as soon as The Monkey tried to block Fievel and climb on my back, Fievel looked at him and said (quite clearly and without any hesitation whatsoever): “NO. MONKEY DOWN!”
Success! English has been acquired!!!
#17: Playing With The Big Kids
On November 6th, my Thursday elementary school had a huge meeting that most of the teachers in my district were invited to attend. All of the teachers were required to have open lessons, which were then followed by a lecture from the 5th and 6th grade teachers. After a small break, everyone broke up into smaller groups to ask the home room teachers questions about their lessons.
Although I don’t always understand everything that’s said at these functions, I like to go because, well, it’s an opportunity to learn more about teaching theory (which is where I am admittedly pretty weak). For the open lesson and small meeting portions, I stuck close to The Mentor, since I find his lessons to be consistently well planned and executed.
Overall, I really enjoyed the meeting. I also enjoyed the Celebrity Effect, because a lot of people were not expecting me to be there, and I got to see my presence distract them from their own lives (if only momentarily). I found the overall theme of the meeting to be extremely interesting. It focused on a teaching model by which students are encouraged to approach problems individually, and then through their own efforts and discussion with their classmates, broaden and deepen their knowledge of the given subject. The open lessons were supposed to be examples of this model in action, and then the last meetings of the days were opportunities for other educators to respond to the model and to the way that the school is trying to implement it.
It’s a little frustrating for me, because there are so many things that I wish I could ask or discuss with my fellow teachers, but that kind of Japanese is still out of my reach. Still, I think that I benefitted from attending the meeting. I particularly enjoyed sitting next to one of the Two Terrific Teachers and being his comment partner through the last meeting. Do not be fooled – Japanese people are polite, but snark exists in this culture and it is alive and well. ^o^
#18: If you haven’t ever made sweet potato, tofu, and coconut milk curry…
…then you should, because it is delicious. It is so delicious that it actually qualifies as a memory from this fall season. I make it once a week, eat it for two or three days, and enjoy a slice of nirvana. When I look back on Autumn of 2009, I will most assuredly recall sweet potato and coconut milk curry.
#19: It’s Sunday – let’s go to a festival!
My third festival of the year was at my Friday elementary school. The schedule for this festival was a little different from the one that my middle school had:
~9:00, opening ceremony
~ Fun Corner (1 hour)
~ Mochi Making Event
~ Lunch and Recess
~ Fun Corner #2 (40 minutes)
~ Closing ceremony (at about 2:00)
The Fun Corners were a series of stations set up around the school that the students went to. There was a jump rope station, a juggling station, a station for playing with traditional Japanese toys (kendama and spinning tops), a station for origami, and one for wood crafting. I spent a lot of my time with the origami corner, where my superior motor skills were invaluable to the first and second year students. I had a very odd moment where I looked around and realized that I (the American) was actually leading Japanese school children through the origami process. I suppose that sometimes, authority figures are authority figures regardless of nationality.
(Also, just to squeeze this in here: mochi is a rice cake that’s made by pounding down a special kind of cooked rice. By itself it doesn’t have much of a taste, but it’s often eaten with special soy powder, fruit, or red bean paste. Fresh mochi is a gift from the gods, and I’m so happy that I have an elementary school where they make it once a year.)
#20: Did I say this before? Sometimes I am not very smart.
I’ve asked my Thursday elementary school if I can dance at their culture festival. I’ve yet to hear back from them, but I hope that they’re willing to indulge me as I really want to contribute something to the day. Besides, it gives me an excuse to make up a new dance routine.
We are the ones to make a brighter day September 2, 2009
Posted by Earthdragonette in Student Moments.Tags: Animal class, fall term, Japan, Macho Man, Mary Sunshine, The Savant, Two Terrific Teachers, we are the world
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Today, I am feeling grateful.
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m fanatical about fond of my students. The reason for this is quite simple: they are amazing. They’re not always well behaved, not always practical, not always kind, not always intelligent, not always entertaining, and heaven so help me not always pleasant to be around (further proof that body odor must be some evolutionary defense to keep us from being eaten by lions).
Still, I am convinced that in many ways my students are better human beings than I will ever be, and I sincerely enjoy watching and participating in their dramatic, darkly comedic lives. I like seeing how they react to new situations; I like hearing what they think of new ideas. I will often laugh (more than is required) at the things they do when they are being-at-work-staying-themselves. I once went into a fifteen minute giggle-fest because some of my students played a game during lunch where they picked an offensive word and then challenged each other to say it louder than the last person who said it.
I suspect one of the reasons that I like my students so much is that I am, in fact, just a big kid myself.
It wasn’t always this way, though. I didn’t always feel comfortable around them, didn’t always rejoice at the sight of them. When I first came here, fairly ignorant in the ways of Japanese customs and the Japanese language, I was shocked at my reception. I expected stares or giggles in the hallways. I expected a few letters of welcome from the more advanced students. At the very least, I expected attempts to say hello to me.
What I got was … silence.
Perpetual, complete, and frigid silence. Silence in the classroom, silence in the hallways, silence during breaks. I might as well have not been present at all given the way that they dismissed me. They even fell asleep during my self introduction, completely uninterested in my country or why I came to Japan. Granted, this was on the middle school side of things. The elementary school students have always been enthusiastic and interested in talking. But my teenagers, oh, my teenagers. For the first month of school, I felt like I was back in middle school myself, and I was definitely NOT welcome at the lunch table.
What helped me to get started down the road that I’ve been on ever since was that year’s third grade class. My first batch of third graders was what one of the Two Terrific Teachers referred to as “The Animal Class.” They were overwhelmingly awful. Loud, rude, completely uninterested in studying, not fond of English, not fond of teachers, and quite possibly full of more hormones than one will find in a major metropolitan fertility clinic. They were constantly Up to Tricks and class was always insane.
Ultimately, this worked to my advantage because, well, I liked them. Generally speaking I tend to be fond of bad students. In this case, though, I was happy because it was the one time during the day when the students weren’t ignoring me. It didn’t matter that they weren’t being nice. I couldn’t understand what they were saying to me anyway, and surprisingly enough, threats and insults lose a lot of their weight if your target can’t understand that you’ve just schooled them. In addition, I was more stubborn than they were, so after waiting out their insults, I’d snap back at them in English (which just confused them because they were expecting anger or hysteria). With the time that this bought me, I could usually diffuse whatever situation had been building prior to our exchange.
Anyway, I did this for a few months and eventually figured out how that class hierarchy worked. Once I was able to understand that, I just did my best to court the leaders, and then the rest of the mob fell in line. I guess it took me about four months to get to a point where the students no longer tried to torture me on a daily basis. I’ve found that it’s difficult to dislike somebody who is obviously intent on liking you. You may exploit this person to your own ends, you may use them the same way that a German shepherd puppy uses a chew toy, but if that person continues to surround you with genuine good will and interest, you will eventually yield on some level.
That was my first step in this long, student-focused journey. By the time that that class left, I felt that we were on pretty good terms with each other. I was asked to sign a few yearbooks, and so that must have been a good sign. Things have slowly, but fairly steadily, improved since then. Of course, there are still times when the students are more interested in discussing their lives amongst themselves than in talking to me. This is right and proper and I wouldn’t have it any other way – there are certainly times when I don’t really feel like talking to them.
But, I would be lying if I said that they weren’t the central reason for my being here.
So, given where we all started from, I’m grateful for today, and for the first honest-to-goodness-we-even-had-school-lunch day of the second term. I’m grateful for how far things have come in three years – I remember too well how things used to be. I’m grateful for us having become a part of each other’s worlds.
More specifically, I’m grateful for the following moments:
~ The Savant coming up to me before class and telling me that he broke his leg over summer vacation. He was lying, and I knew he was lying because I was at school all during summer vacation and I would’ve heard about it. Oh, yes, and a broken leg requires a cast. Still, it was funny listening to his sophistry. Also, today in class we studied the song We Are the World and he managed to memorize the whole thing in fifteen minutes and sing it to me. Quite impressive indeed, young Jedi. The recitation actually turned into a duet much like the following:
Me: There comes a time
TS: When we heed a certain call
Both: When the world must come together as one
Me: There are people dying
TS: And it’s time to lend a hand
Me: To life
Both: The greatest gift of all…
And so forth. I would feel proud of it, but I am only too aware of how dorky that was.
~ Mary Sunshine singing the WaTW chorus with me as we walked to lunch.
~ Sitting down to eat lunch with my first year students including Sailor Moon and Hannah Montana. They were excited to eat with me and talked my ears off all through lunch. (I am *especially* grateful for this moment because I have had so many awkward lunches in my time here that I once swore never to take a midday meal again.)
~ Exchanging the appropriate greetings with The Boss (who does not like WaTW) and Macho Man. We have the sports festival coming up soon and Macho Man is feeling perhaps more macho than usual.
~ Explaining a complicated grammar point to one of my first years today and actually seeing her take notes while I was talking. Hooray for correct Japanese. Hooray for students that trust me. Hooray for understanding why she was confused.
And so, today made me happy. Whoever or whatever put the events in motion that led up to what was possible today (be it myself, the collective student body, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster), I’m grateful to it. I know that I’m very lucky to be where I am and that it’s giving me a chance to see a side of Japan (and life) that I could have easily missed.
“We are the power inside, we bring you fantasy.”
A farewell to summer… August 31, 2009
Posted by Earthdragonette in Top Ten.Tags: baseball, beach, Characters, enkai, ice cream, Japan, Jyona33, last, Mary Sunshine, PoEM, Rocko, running, summer, table tennis, teachers, The Awesome Vice Principal, The Savant, Two Terrific Teachers
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Aaand, we’ve hit a benchmark in this blog. My first missed post!
Admittedly, when I started out writing this blog, I didn’t expect to be able to post every single day, but I did hope to come close. Unfortunately, illness happens, and I was curled up in bed on Sunday night, hoping for those oh, so sweet arms of Morpheus. Morpheus though, is a jealous companion, and he doesn’t like me blogging when he comes to visit. I tried to catch up this morning (when it was still technically Sunday in the United States), but my Muses are fickle and they prefer coming out to play in the evening.
So, Jealous Morpheus + Moody Muses = No 土日曜日 Recap.
And yet, because I didn’t go into work today, the sense of weekend has continued. I could go ahead and write about Saturday-Monday’s poignant memories, but I think I want to do something a little different. This is the last “last day of summer vacation” that I’m going to have in Japan, and I feel that this merits a special post.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:
Julie’s Top 10 Moments of the Summer
10) Dinner with teachers from the Old Middle School
From the August 9th post.
This really was a spectacular dinner. I was sad that we didn’t have a chance to go out for karaoke, but it was still amazing. I miss working with these teachers, and having a chance to catch up with them, remember old times, talk about new developments, and listen to The PoEM is a special memory from this summer.
9) Stalking Supporting my middle school’s baseball team
I don’t think that I really wrote specifically about this (some of it happened before I started the blog), but I spent a lot of time this summer watching my middle school guys’ baseball practices, practice games, and real games. They lost the district championships early on in the season (I felt really bad for The Savant because he was the team captain and took it really hard), but the first and second years trained really hard for the rest of the summer. I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop as a team – especially after they get new members next spring!
8) Running
I actually started running around February of 2007, but I was only able to keep it up through last October. After that, the days got really short, my schedule got hectic, and I got shin splints. This summer, however, I really started to miss it, and after buying the proper footwear, I hit the pavement again. I’m glad I did – I think I function better with my daily dose of Zen.
7) Fish festival!
From the August 23rd post.
This was just fun. I mean, the fish was delicious, my elementary students were cute, the families were nice, the onigiri was fresh, and the ice cream was divine. I got to be a team player and enjoy a picnic. Really, what more could one ask for?
6) Eating that stupid fish eye
From the August 18th post.
I can’t in good conscience put this in my Top 5, because it was gross. To date, I still have not eaten the following: grapes, blueberries, olives, or corn. Still, it’s a badge of honor that I will proudly wear. (EWWWW.)
5) The Trip to Toba (aside from eating the fish eye)
This trip happened before the blog, but I did write about it in the August 18thpost. I appreciated the isolated-third-worldish-we-actually-WAIT-THREE-HOURS-for-a-boat feeling. I liked walking around the island with the Two Terrific Teachers, and I especially enjoyed the dessert that The Awesome Vice Principal got for me. Actually, I loved anything having to do with my middle school teachers this summer. We had a great time together.
4) Hiking the Kumano Kodo with Rocko
Described in the 土日曜日 Recap from August 16th/17th.
I like Rocko, and I like the Kumano Kodo, so this was pretty much solid win all around. Discussing philosophy and 90’s television shows while wandering around an ancient forest road to the top of a mountain is a great way to spend one’s morning. This was then followed by The Beach, and we all know how I feel about that.
3) Spending time with Mary Sunshine prior to the All Country Table Tennis Tournament
Anything involving Mary Sunshine has to make my Top 3. She is The Favorite after all. I think that we had some great conversations this summer, and I liked being able to share even a small part of her training and anticipation. She didn’t place very high at the nationals, but she told me that she learned a lot and that she’s even more determined to keep it up. She has some tournaments scheduled for the fall, and I can’t wait to see how she does.
2) The Beach!!
From the August 8th, August 9th, August 12th, August … you get the idea.
Sun, sand, water, an iPod, and delicious Japanese food. It’s no wonder that I went, like, fifteen times.
1) A visit from Jyona33
This was something else that happened before I started writing this blog. It also involves a character that you have not yet met. I give you:
Jyona33
This was an ALT in a nearby town a couple of years ago. We met when he was a second year ALT and I was just in my first year. Although our initial exchanges were awkward, our friendship soon bloomed and now he is one of The Best Friends.* He’s back in the States now, but we talk often and he schools me on All Things Japanese and the General Direction My Life Should Take. He’s a funny person.
Anyway, Jyona33 has been out of the country for awhile, and he came back to visit for about two weeks in mid-July. He stayed with me for the better part of a week and we had a rather fantastic time exploring our towns and just talking. I got to meet some new people, see some new places, and just enjoy the frequent use of the English language outside of the telephone conversations I have with people back home. I think that his visit really marked the beginning of the summer for me, and it set the tone for the rest of it.
So there we have it. 6 weeks. 10 memories. As far as I know, my last summer in Japan is at an end. I’m a little sad – it’s bittersweet, after all. Still, there are a lot of things on the horizon and I’m looking forward to seeing where this is all going to go.
*I would go further and refer to him as the wind beneath my wings, but that would embarrass him. Assuming he ever actually reads this blog as he’s been promising to do for weeks.
“Mysteria – the spirit arising
Eldritch cries from the hill
Mysteria – the fires are blazing”
There is a season – turn, turn, turn August 28, 2009
Posted by Earthdragonette in Julie Gets Philosophical.Tags: elementary, fall, growth, Japan, pride, running, summer, The Awesome Vice Principal, The Stdent Government President, Two Terrific Teachers
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Looking back at the conditions of the staff room on Monday, and then seeing how things were today (and how busy I was today), there really isn’t much room for comparison. On Monday we had, what, four teachers total and two clubs practicing? Today not only was everyone in residence,* but we also had students tumbling through the staff room every four and a half minutes on average. I do believe that they came for the purposes of asking us all of the questions in the known universe.**
I was happy, though. Seeing all of the staff and more of the students back in the school was wonderful. Don’t mistake me on this – I loved the summer laziness and how relaxed everything was. At the same time, a school is meant to have people in it. The sewing room is meant to have Sports Festival flags being made in it; the gym is meant to have three clubs practicing inside of it. Now that things are getting back to normal, I realize how empty the school really was. As much as I fear the second term and its inevitable chaos, I’m also looking forward to it.
Aaaaand, it’s once again time for me to break that Fourth Wall of Blogging.
I’ve been writing for the last half hour, but I’m finding it difficult to articulate the way that I feel about the day. It’s not that I don’t know how I feel, but rather that the specific memory that I chose to write about just isn’t covering all of the things that are going through my mind. Although that memory is a part of what got me to where I am at the moment, it’s not all of it. So, what I’m going to do is start over, and highlight several moments from the day. I hope that if I can do that, then I can draw this all together at the end.
~ This morning, I had the chance to chat with The Student Government President. I haven’t seen her since the beginning of the summer, and we spent some time catching up. She told me about going to Tokyo with her family, and supplemented her story with commentary about what the Tokyo Japanese were like (Not Nice) and how expensive the shopping was (Very). I enjoyed this conversation. We spoke very fluidly with each other and there was a natural sense of camaraderie. She told me that she’d even bought a souvenir for me and she’s bring it to school tomorrow.
~ Also this morning, while I was reading over The Mentor’s report for the four hundred and thirty-seventh time, The Awesome Vice Principal asked me if I wanted to go home in the afternoon because all of the teachers would be going to a district-wide meeting. When I’d informed him that I also intended to go to this meeting, he was extremely pleased. I like getting approval from him – not only does it bode well for my general happiness at the school, but I will probably get rewarded down the road with another special dessert. \(^o^)/***
~ The afternoon was dedicated to said meeting. To be honest, I was a little frustrated because for some reason unknown to me, The Mentor decided not to show. I was really looking forward to hearing him present his report (because I thought it was the best out of the stack) and also to hearing what the other teachers would say in response.
Essentially, his report discusses the general difficulties that elementary English education is facing, and it proposes some initial, yet critical measures to try and establish a sense of balance and equilibrium to the system. Since he did not attend, however, his report was not read, nor was it discussed. Without his report, the conversation didn’t even begin to entertain the kind of thinking that he was advocating. In addition, without him there to share his opinions about elementary English education, it’s still anyone’s guess as to what’s going on inside of his super mysterious brain.
Sigh. Here’s to relying on my latent mind reading powers to get through the next two terms with successful elementary lessons.
~ Still, despite The Mentor’s absence, the meeting was really interesting for me. Spending two days translating and studying TM’s report did wonders for my vocabulary and I was able to follow the conversations. My speaking wasn’t quite as commendable, but I did manage to convey my opinions. At the very least, I think that I gave the other teachers a few things to think about.
So, here we have our highlights from the day.
I think that when I put them all together I become aware of how the summer is drawing to a close, but how this time of year is not only marked by an ending. There is also this incredible sense of the future – the crisper weather, the shift of produce in the supermarket, the fact that The Supervisor finally finished making my second term schedule…
Progression – that’s the word I’m looking for. I feel it – quite keenly as a matter of fact. I feel this grand, sweeping motion away from the summer, despite me wanting to hold on to it (and my days upon days at the beach). Furthermore, wherever it is that I’m going, it’s not where I was last month. The characters in my life may be more or less the same, the locations may be the same, but this time around I feel a difference. At the risk of sounding a little self absorbed or proud, I want to say that I’ve grown this summer.
I say this not in the sense of “I have grown through my many flawlessly executed accomplishments.” What I mean is that this summer I believe that I’ve built something – something solid, something meaningful. I have so many memories that were created with the people around me, and I know that they have brought us closer. (I do believe that The Awesome Vice Principal and I are going to be super BFF for the rest of my time in Japan.) I’ve learned more about The Two Terrific Teachers, I’ve reconnected with My Japanese Sister and The Japanese Best Friend. My teachers and I watched baseball and ate fish eyes together. I’ve cultivated a friendship with Rocko, seen the third-worldesque side of Japan at Kamijima Island, climbed a couple of mountains, fried myself received bountiful amounts of vitamin D from frequent sojourns to the beach, and increased my Japanese ability.
I think that the time has come for the wave of summer to drop me back on to land now. But, this time around, I don’t think it’s going to deposit me at sea level. After this summer and the way that I’ve bonded with my community and pushed myself, I think that the chances are very good that I’m going to land on a high plateau.
There will, of course, still be a mountain on the horizon for me to climb. There always is. Still, with the cliffs at my back, with the red and orange leaved trees lining the path in front of me, I think I’m ready to run.
*I had to phrase it like that. I enjoy the image of all the teachers having their own personal banners to display in front of the teacher’s room whenever they’re at school. Some people would say that this is a product of my overactive imagination. Some people would be correct.
**No, really. I heard everything from, “Can the student government borrow four boxes of gray markers?” to “Can you take this splinter out?” I suspect queries pertaining to the meaning of life might also have been put forth, but by then I was listening to iTunes with my earphones and so I missed the answer. Drat.
***Speaking of food, when The Awesome Vice Principal went around yesterday and handed out all of the souvenir-food that the teachers had purchased while on vacation and brought into the school, I totally got extra. Yay! 3 P.M. snacks for the next two weeks!
“Make your day and dream away on a dragonfly.”
Learning what I don’t know August 25, 2009
Posted by Earthdragonette in Japanese GET.Tags: Japan, Japanese, pride, Stevie Wonder, summer, teachers, The Japanese Best Friend, The Mentor, Two Terrific Teachers
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Boys and girls, today’s post is brought to you by the emotion: humility.
For that was the theme of the day. Or, at least, that’s the theme that ran rampant through what has declared itself to be today’s memory. I think that it’s good to remember the challenges along with the triumphs and the amusements, though, so here we go.
Today, I only had one goal as far as my job was concerned: research and create a fantastic slide show based on the Life and Achievements of Stevie Wonder. You might remember from an earlier post that the third years are currently studying him in English class. (Macho Man was particularly interested in We Are the World.) So, to supplement the textbook (and perhaps inspired by a slide show that I showed the second years showcasing the exciting and scintillating side of England), The JTE has asked that I make one about Stevie Wonder as well.
So, that was the goal – slide show.
I actually managed to make significant progress this morning, but while I was eating lunch, my day got completely hijacked.
You see, on Thursday, all of the teachers in my district are going to get together for a meeting. There will be a general lecture that all of the teachers will attend, and then they’ll split up into smaller groups and have subject-related discussions (English teachers with English teachers, science teachers with science teachers, etc.).* This is not the kind of thing that ALTs have to go to. In fact, I would wager that fewer than 50 ALTs ever have expressed interest in attending such a thing. When she was my JTE, The Japanese Best Friend always encouraged me to escape and embrace my freedom whenever these sorts of events came up. Her words were something to the effect of, “For God sake, go shopping. At least one of us can.”
But, I have to be honest – I want to go to the meeting. Not only is it interesting (I like hearing about the Japanese philosophy of teaching – at least the parts of it that I can understand), but it’s also helpful to my job because I can hear about what the other language teachers are concerned about. This helps me to plan better middle school activities and gives me some things to think about as far as the elementary schools go. Also, I just think that as a future educator myself (upon my return to the United States and completion of graduate school…), it’s good for me to get as much exposure to instructional theory as possible.
So, yesterday I broached the subject with The JTE. She was really surprised that I wanted to go and it took several minutes to convince her that I was actually serious. Lucky for me, my middle school is used to my eccentricities, and all I have to do is say the magical phrase, “This helps me with elementary school lessons,” and they’ll pretty much agree to anything. (My middle school knows how much the elementary schools take out of me.) After a few awkward yet productive phone calls, it was all set up. On Thursday I, too, will get to go and get schooled on, uh, school.
So, back to lunchtime today. I was sitting at my computer, trying to figure out if there was any way to include Eddie Murphy’s standup routine on Stevie Wonder in my presentation** when one of the Two Terrific Teachers came by with a folder for me. Inside was a stack of reports.
“For your Japanese studies,” he told me with a smile. I could barely nod – all of my attention was taken up by the prospect of going through the reports. Gingerly pulling them out of the folder, I saw that there were about thirteen different reports, each from one of the higher ranking English teachers at each school in my district. This was particularly interesting for me because elementary schools were included. Flipping through the reports, I found one that The Mentor had written regarding the English program at the Thursday elementary school.
Why, faith and begorrah! I chanced upon feedback and opinions.
In my position, it’s always not easy to know what my supervisors or coworkers think of me. I’ve been here long enough so that I can … usually … tell if they’re happy with me, but the Japanese are very good at hiding their emotions and I’ve been blindsided with criticism more than once. The elementary schools are particularly difficult for me to judge, and so seeing this report was literally like discovering Gatorade in the desert. I say Gatorade because it’s not quite what I would like to find if I were lost in a desert (I’d prefer water because I just like it more). This is to say that I would prefer direct communication from my coworkers (especially The Mentor). But, beggars can’t be choosers and I’m willing to take what I can get.
The rest of the afternoon (read: four and a half hours) was then dedicated to reading this report. It’s only two pages long, and if I casually peruse it than I can get the gist of what The Mentor is saying. Since relocating to this country, however, I often have found that the Written Word is a Foreigner’s Friend. You can take as much time as you want trying to figure out the meaning of the words, nobody expects an immediate answer from you, and the grammatical patterns used tend to be more formal. Additionally, since the foreign language we happen to be working with here is Japanese, reading also gives me a chance to practice kanji. Thus, it was in my best interests that I thoroughly examine the report.
This is where the humility comes in. Four and a half hours for two pages, and I’m still not finished with it. Part of this is because I insisted on writing my own translation of the document and that’s hard enough to do when I’m trying to convert Sloppy English into Intelligent English – much less Japanese into English. It’s also taking a long time because The Mentor is ever-so-slightly over educated and so he used a lot of kanji that I don’t know and that’s extremely difficult to look up.
Oh, yes, and it’s also taking awhile because my Japanese needs work.
The difficulty with my Japanese is that when I got here, my job wasn’t particularly demanding. Free time + total ignorance + ardent desire to banish ignorance = Rapid and Enviable Progress.
By the time that my second year began, though, I’d learned more than enough to get through the day to day Japanese life. Also, my job became extremely busy and I no longer had the time or energy to complete all of my duties at school and then come home and hit the books for two hours (especially when class preparations keep me up until eleven or twelve at night, which they sometimes do). Not surprisingly, my Rate of Acquisition declined.
Since then, although I’ve certainly been learning and assimilating more of the language, I haven’t been moving as quickly as I am able. Yet, recently, I’d been starting to think that my abilities weren’t so terrible; I’ve been able to understand a lot more and some people have told me that my speaking has improved.
Thanks to The Mentor’s report, I got a valuable Heads Up from My Environment: Don’t get cocky, Julie. Not about English, not about Japanese. Just because you speak English it doesn’t mean that you know how to teach it. Just because this is your fourth year in Japan it doesn’t guarantee that you’ve become even remotely fluent.
Both tasks – teaching English and becoming proficient in Japanese – require discipline and effort. It’s good that I keep this in mind since the temptation is always there to stop striving and just enjoy the comfort of my present circumstances. From what I can gather from The Mentor’s report, the state of English in elementary schools is very poor indeed. Although he seems to be happy with my performance, he goes to great lengths to point out how flawed the system is and what needs to be done to fix it. I agree with him. There were even parts of the report that I could tell came from conversations that he and I have had. So, although it may take awhile, I’m expecting more changes on the horizon.
I think that to get through these changes – to help out my coworkers and support the students while planning successful English lessons – I’m going to have to push aside that finicky Dragon Pride and accept that everybody in this situation is learning. This includes me. I’m going to have to check my ego and keep pushing myself to learn as much about Japanese and Japan as I can.
And what better way to start than by finishing that report?
*At least, I think this is the plan. But, who knows? As usual, I will be going into this with only a vague idea as to what will be happening.
**There isn’t. He swears so much and with such clear pronunciation that I guarantee my students would absorb all of the profanity and toss it back at me in the form of profoundly disturbing phrases for the next eight months.
“Majestic and wild, we stand and we fight
Soon your blackened pride will be fading away.”
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack… August 24, 2009
Posted by Earthdragonette in Japanese GET.Tags: baseball, Japan, koshien, summer, Two Terrific Teachers
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Wooo…. okay!
So, were going to keep this short and sweet this evening. Last night, the wind was super feisty and I woke up at 2 in the morning to what I thought were the souls of the damned outside of my window. This was not helpful in getting into that oh-so-sweet REM mood, and so now I do believe I’m exhausted enough to sense the auras of the nearby villagers. Or at least, I’m tired enough to think I can, which is probably more of a cause for alarm.
But first, today’s memory. Something to hold on to for years to come…
And it’s about baseball.
Or rather, an absolutely incredible baseball game.
(If you don’t like baseball, then I apologize. But this was really, seriously, FANTASTIC.)
You might remember a post from last week in which I lamented Mieko High school’s loss in the Japanese National High School Baseball championships. It turns out that that was in fact a semi-final, and today I got to see last week’s winning team take on a new challenger. It was another slow day in the teacher’s room*, and so after the kids had gone home for the day we turned on the television and listened to the game.
I’m not very good at describing baseball games (with me still learning the rules and all of that good stuff). Also, there were points where I was only half-listening to the game because I was trying to get some work done. Still, the shake down was, I believe, as follows:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final
Team A 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 6 9
Team B 0 2 0 0 0 6 2 0 0 10
You see this, right? You see this ABSOLUTELY INSANE GAME.
(Incidentally, the teams’ names are always kind of hard for me to get a handle on. I think that the winning team was called Chukyo, but I couldn’t read all of the Kanji for Team A, so I’m just going to keep it simple. Neither of the teams was from Mie and that’s really all that matters here.)
So, in the sixth inning? Those six runs that Team B managed to grab? All of that happened at the VERY LAST moment, when they already had two outs. Some amazing batters came up and sent the ball to the point of no return; the runs just kept adding up. It was absolutely incredible! I’m new to this whole baseball-watching thing, and so it’s the first time I’ve seen anything that insane so close to the wire. It was the stuff that miracles are made of.
And so help me it happened twice.
The very last inning, Team A was batting and it was, again, down to the wire. So help me, they some how rallied and, at the very end with two outs, they started knocking the ball out of the park and sending guys home. By the time that they were up around seven runs, Team B’s pitcher started to lose it and he kept throwing balls. As soon as the third player walked, Team B changed pitchers and managed to get things back in their favor. Team A’s efforts paid off, although it wasn’t quite enough to turn things around. They managed to score six runs before their luck ran out and one of their batters struck out.
Watching this game with the other teachers was so great. The first innings were very relaxing, and one of the Two Terrific Teachers explained some of the less obvious points to me. (I know very little about baseball, although I do understand it more than I understand table tennis.)
But that last inning, by the eye of Thundera that last inning. All work stopped – we didn’t even bother pretending. Everyone rolled their chairs in front of the television and just watched, entranced as Team A became a living, breathing threat. We had guys in the school today working on the electrical system and even THEY stopped working and watched the last half hour with us.
When the last batter for Team A struck out, it was as if somebody had popped a balloon in the staff room. We all released a collective sigh – totally incredulous at what’d just happened.
“Oh, my god,” one of the Two Terrific Teachers said to me.
“You’ve got that right,” I said. “That was honest-to-goodness miracle baseball.”
It is most certainly a game and an experience that I will never, ever forget.
*Just let it be said right here and now that I have given up predicting as to when all of the other teachers will actually come back to work. This year is completely different from every other year that I’ve been here, and the fact that the teacher’s room is STILL as empty as a beer keg after a frat party just confounds me.
“Whatever you may find, dare to take it higher.”
Seeing eye to eye August 18, 2009
Posted by Earthdragonette in Japanese GET.Tags: enkai, Everybody's Favorite, fish eyes, hubris, Japan, Mary Sunshine, Mr. Limpet, summer, The Japanese Best Friend, Two Terrific Teachers
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Before I get to today’s Special Memory, I want to express how upset I am on behalf of the Mieko High school baseball team. They went to the national high school baseball championship and lost by a final score of 8 to 5. Everybody’s Favorite is on this team, and although he didn’t play in the game today, I know that he must be pretty upset right now. (I’m a little unclear as to whether or not this was the final or still a semi-final, but still, it was a pretty important game.)
I would also like to point out that the experience of crowding around the television in the staff room and watching the game with one of the Two Terrific Teachers and The Awesome Vice Principal almost made it as today’s memory of choice. But, there is another that I would rather linger on.
So, today was my back to work day. I’ve been kind of grumbling about this, but it’s actually not so bad. Not only is the atmosphere so relaxed that I spend about 30% of my time listening to iTunes, but I’m also taking vacation for half a day tomorrow and all day Friday. A lot of the teachers seem to be savoring the summer months a bit more than they did last year, and so who am I to go against the flow of popular opinion? If it’s vacation mode we want, then it’s vacation mode that I’ll give them. I have no problems spending an extra two or three days at the beach.
Besides iTunes and the work that I did in fact make myself do (Julie: 1, Procrastination: 0), I also took about an hour and went down to the gym to see how Mary Sunshine was doing. She’s going to the national championships on Friday, and she appeared very relaxed and excited. She was happy that I came down, and she showed me some of the special equipment that the school let her buy for the games this weekend. She also got into a long discussion with me about what kind of souvenir she would bring back for me (eventually deciding on some kind of packaged ramen that, although incredibly smelly, is supposed to be delicious).
Part of the aforementioned discussion naturally focused on what kinds of foods I eat and don’t eat; I reminded Mary Sunshine that as far as I know, the only foods on my “Get That Away From Me Yesterday” list (besides junk food) are maraschino cherries and grapefruit. She didn’t believe me and thus started the questions:
“Fermented soybeans?” (Also known as natto.)
“I like them.”
“Fried cow guts?” (Also known as hormone.)
“Delicious.”
“Sashimi?”
“Of course.”
As she was going down the list, the teacher in charge of table tennis chimed in, “And she even eats fish eyes!”
That.
That comment.
That comment is today’s memory.
First, let me give you the context. (Warning: Story about eating fish eyes to follow.)
In Japan, it’s customary for the teachers of a given school to take a vacation together during the summer. Sometimes these trips are elaborate and expensive. I know of teachers that have gone to Korea and Bali. There are, of course, mid-range trips as well (Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, etc.). If everyone is really busy, or perhaps not especially close, then the trip may just be a day-long excursion followed by a nice dinner. Last year, the teachers at my middle school all went to Kyoto for a couple of days. Because I had The Japanese Best Friend with me, we had a fantastic time shopping and eating together. Last year’s staff was also really close, and so it was very much like a family vacation.
This year, although everyone at the middle school is friendly, we don’t have quite the same Magical Everybody Really Loves Everybody feeling that we had last year. In addition, the teachers have all been busy with clubs this summer, so we opted for a day-long excursion to Toba (a seaside town in my prefecture) and Kamijima Island (a 40 minute boat ride away from Toba).
Much could be said about this trip – it was only a day long, but we saw and did a lot of things. Kamijima Island was, honestly, one of the strangest places that I’ve ever been to in my life. Imagine what you would get if Japan ever became a third world country. Okay, that’s Kamijima Island. It’s so remote, and so out of touch with reality, that although there are clearly Japanese elements to it, it also feels like some lost Pacific Island of No Return. We hiked a 5km trail around the island, visiting an old shrine, an old WWII lookout tower, and two of the most lonely, isolated schools I’ve ever seen in my life.
Anyway, when we got to Kamijima, we had a nice lunch at one of the island’s restaurants (quite possibly the island’s only restaurant). Part of the meal included two medium-sized fish, presented in a very natural fashion. This is a tasteful way of saying that they still had their eyes. It did not occur to me that this was a culinary statement.
Oh, how wrong I was!
Over the course of the lunch, I happily munched away on squid, tuna, rice, and eggplant. I felt content. Empowered. Like one of the team (I was told a special dessert had been prepared for me. Yay.) Just as I was beginning to feel perhaps too comfortable, though, one of the Two Terrific Teachers fixed that. Proclaiming that he was about to eat the best part of the meal, and one of his favorite foods, he delicately plucked out and ate a fish eyeball.
Then he did it again.
I hate that my reaction was so stereotypically foreign, but it was. All I could do was gape at him, my eyes wide open and my hands over my mouth. In three years of living in Japan, no one has ever done that in front of me. The Awesome Vice Principal saw me and started to laugh.
“Are you … serious?” I asked.
“It’s delicious,” 1/2 of the Two Terrific Teachers informed me, eating another one.
“I … don’t … think … so….” I responded.
“You should try it,” he urged.
“I … don’t … think … so….” I responded, again. Then I shook my head, trying to purge my thoughts of what I had just seen. I blindly grabbed my dessert (Chocolate ice cream. Yay.) and did my best to induce brain freeze so that the memory would go away.
Let me stop and say right here that as far as food goes, I am pretty adventurous. The only food that I have turned away up until the Fish Eye Incident was a cooked, fertilized bird egg that they served in the Philippines. Although some of my friends that were with me tried and liked it, I just couldn’t get past two very important concepts: Beak and Feathers. Beak and Feathers, my friends. I couldn’t bring myself to eat them.
But other things that I’ve encountered in Japan: fugu, raw horse meat, raw cow liver, cooked organs (including stomach, heart, and lungs) … I’ve eaten and enjoyed them all. I enjoy trying new foods, even if they’re a bit unorthodox. In fact, I pride myself on it. The fact that I enjoy eating Japanese fermented soybeans (natto) is one of my All Time Personal Achievements (because let’s face it, it’s disgusting).
But I’ve always had this thing about eyeballs. I think that it goes back to when I was in 2nd grade and we all had to dissect a cow eye. My father came in as a volunteer for that activity, and he was rather thorough about showing us all of the … stuff … that is inside one of those things. I have never, ever gotten the image out of my mind. I’ve done that dissection with other animals since then, and I tend to enjoy those kinds of activities. But that is science. Clinical. Cold. Distant. Objective.
It is not lunch.
Lunch that was looking at me.
Let me also add that it’s that looking part that’s particularly important here. It’s like, the fish KNEW something that I didn’t, and it was keeping its awful secret while I consumed it. Freaky.
(I know, this is all kind of disturbing, but this was my thought process at the time; I confess to having an overactive imagination.)
Anyway, the teachers dropped the subject and I thought that I was safe. Again, I miscalculated. That evening, we went to another fancy restaurant for dinner, and about an hour into the meal the waitress brought out – you guessed it – two fish presented in a very natural fashion. Once again, one of the Two Terrific Teachers descended upon those eyeballs the way that American children dive for Oreos.
“You really should try them,” he told me.
“Why does God hate me?” I asked.
“What??” he responded.
“I asked: why do you like them so much?”
He went on to explain that, as a child, his mother had told him that the meat along a fish’s spine and the eyeballs were the most delicious and nutritionally dense parts of the fish. He had taken her comments to heart, and over the years it had transformed his palate so that he, too, advocated consuming those portions. I resisted the urge to point out that I could find nutritional elements in other parts of the fish that didn’t trick me into believing that the fish had cognitive processes equal to my own. Instead, I told him that I was fine and that I didn’t need to try the fish eye.
So, in the subtle Japanese way, he dared me.
And then in the subtle Japanese way, he double dog dared me.
And so help me, in the subtle Japanese way he triple dog dared me.
“Oh fine,” I grumbled. “I’ll eat the stupid eye.” (Julie’s impulsiveness: 1, Julie’s maturity: 0, Chance that Julie would jump off a bridge with the other teachers: Approximately 65%)
For the sake of delicate constitutions (including my own), I will not describe in detail what it was like to retrieve the fish eye [with chopsticks]. I will say that my disgust was so evident that the Principal told me that I really didn’t have to do it.
“Oh, I’ll do it all right,” I told him. “I’ve been challenged.” (Julie’s impulsiveness: 2, Julie’s maturity: nowhere to be found; Chance that Julie would willingly set herself on fire before taking the plunge off a bridge: Approximately 82%)
So, I ate it. The taste, admittedly, was actually okay. It was just like the other parts of the fish.
It was the texture that got me. And I’ll leave off my description there.
I don’t regret doing it. But for several days afterwards it haunted me. Fiercely. Even now, I can tell that it’s settled in my subconscious somewhere, waiting to show up at an inopportune time (which will most likely be at my wedding reception or some other occasion where eating food would be a good idea).
So, this was the comment that the teacher was referring to today during table tennis practice. He had been sitting across from me during the dinner and had actually not reacted one way or another to the episode (except to say that he personally didn’t like fish eyes).
I haven’t introduced this teacher yet because, honestly, I don’t know a whole lot about him. He just came to this school this past April. He teaches Japanese, coaches table tennis, is very quiet, and is married to another teacher. That’s it; that’s all I know.
So, today, when he piped up with that little tidbit that referred to that dinner, it actually made me really happy. It was a private joke between us* and something that showed me that even though he doesn’t appear to pay a whole lot of attention to me, I do think that he is taking part in my experiences. It’s easy for me to forget that even though my Japanese co-workers may not comment on my activities or even seem to notice what I do, this is not always the case. His comment, and the obvious amusement that he derived from it, made me feel closer to him and more appreciative. It was a nice feeling.
Perhaps from hereon out we’ll refer to him as Mr. Limpet.
Incidentally, Mary Sunshine is also a fan of fish eyes.
*A private joke between us and the rest of the teachers in my town, that is. This story has become legendary and I get asked about it at least once a week.
” You feel at ease as you flock with the masses.”
