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Julie: Good for the earth? June 2, 2010

Posted by Earthdragonette in Julie Gets Philosophical.
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So, given my recent and frequent use of podcasts to get caught up on the world’s affairs, it’s not surprising that I have become more aware of Environmental Issues. I like to think that I’ve always been conscious about these things on some level; since my years in grade school I have recycled without question, carried my own bags into grocery stores whenever possible, and I don’t buy products if I don’t think I can get rid of the waste in an earth-friendly fashion.

Still, with the news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and a recent news story I heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, I have been more sensitive to subjects related to the health of the planet. Perhaps it’s appropriate then that I spent Wednesday afternoon cleaning up the side of a roadway with some of my first year students.

These kinds of environmental projects happen a couple of times a year, and they’re aimed at beautifying the areas around our school and the town itself. Some students and teachers stayed behind to work on the school’s gardens, but others ventured out to off-campus locations. My group and I went into the mountains and picked up trash and debris alongside a popular road.

Good things about this excursion: goofing off with my first years, who happened to be very chatty, outgoing, and silly students. We rapped in English (with them giving me my backup rhythms) and talked about how their studies and club activities are progressing. Also, there is something satisfying about picking up garbage. It’s unappetizing, and somewhat frustrating work, but at least one feels as though one is doing something good.

Bad things about this excursion: seeing the blatant disregard for the health of the local forests.

I don’t mean to pick on Japan with the following comments. Honestly, I think that what I saw is characteristic of humanity, and so you will most likely find this no matter where you go.

My students and I began our cleanup by walking along just one side of the mountain road. After awhile, we decided to turn back and so we crossed the street and hugged the opposite side. This side of the road, however, was right next to the mountain’s drop off and had a very dense and steep forest beside it. This was where all of the garbage was to be found.

It kind of broke my heart. All of us had been in really great, cheerful moods on our way up the road. We found the occasional coffee can or cigarette pack, but otherwise the street was remarkably clean. Down the hill, though, and beneath the trees (where no one from the road could see), it was a veritable junkyard. We found televisions, mattresses, old vacuum cleaner pipes, and piles of hairspray bottles.

Most of what we found are items that are a bit of a hassle to get rid of in Japan. The recycling/trash pick up program here is notoriously difficult to navigate. I guess that some people in the community have gotten tired of trying to figure it out, and so they’ve chosen to just throw their trash down the mountain in hopes that, I don’t know, the local mountain elves will welcome the taste of plastic and toxins in their mushrooms. Perhaps what particularly ruffled me was the obvious reasoning behind their choice of location: if nobody can SEE the trash, then it doesn’t matter if it exists or not.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to spend a lot of time on those piles of garbage in the forest. Not only was there too much for us to pick up, but the hill was really quite steep and it was too dangerous to let the students go after a lot of what we saw. It was a very somber situation – seeing these piles of waste and having to walk away.

Still, this is certainly an event that is worth remembering (not that I think I could forget). It shows that no place is excluded from the current problems facing our environment. In the meantime, I suppose the only thing that I can do is to try to assume as much responsibility as possible for the garbage that I make, and to help out with community cleanups whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Yes, my friends. We are living in interesting times.

In my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

Let’s talk about how I didn’t intend to do that. May 26, 2010

Posted by Earthdragonette in Just Bizarre.
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So, this week has not been the best of weeks for my relationship with machines. Computers, copiers, faxes, printers, cell phones, iPods ~ I must be surrounded by some kind of strange wave, because any time I’ve gone near any and all of those objects something Unfortunate has happened. I admit that I’m invoking a bit of the “Murphy’s Law Mentality” at present, but probability has not been in my favor this week. I have a trail of maintenance receipts to prove it.

(Not that I’ve had to pay to resolve these problems [at least at school] mind you, but there is definitely a connection.)

So, imagine my utter delight when the middle school was the proud recipient of a brand new, super-high-tech-and-shiny copier this week. I can’t properly express how overjoyed I was to see the demon and garden gnome harboring hunk of plastic and nightmares wheeled out of the teachers room forever. I had a brief flashback to the scene in Charades when the three antagonists come into the church to confirm that Audrey Hepburn’s husband is really dead. I, too, wanted to make loud noises and poke the copier with sharp objects – just to be sure that it would stay away for good.

That was kind of a disturbing reference, wasn’t it? I apologize – it’s been a long week.

What was even better about the new copier was that the guys installing it were able to deftly navigate my laptop’s grumbly and stubborn nature to configure it so that I could print to it. I haven’t been able to directly print at the middle school in over two years and so I was pleased at the prospect of not always having to email documents to myself and print them from the public staff room computer.

Yesterday, during the morning teacher’s meeting, the Awesome Vice Principal gave us a small speech about the new copier, reiterating some advice/instructions that we’d heard the day before. He also cautioned us to use it as sparingly as possible, because we still in fact have other printers available in the staff room. I felt as though he might have been directing that comment at me, because I did go just a little printer happy on Monday afternoon (instant access will do that to a girl). So, I solemnly swore to follow the laws of moderation (or even temperance!) in all things printer-related.

But remember, there is some kind of battle going on between the countries of Julie and Technology.

I was foiled the first time when, after emailing a document to the public computer, I tried to print a document from the regular printer. Unfortunately, as I soon discovered, the settings on the computer had been changed and so that it automatically printed to the copier.

So much for temperance.

The Awesome Vice Principal arched his eyebrow at me when I went to retrieve my newly printed items.

“I didn’t intend to do that,” I assured him.

“Uh…huh,” he replied.

The next issue came later on in the day, when (in a rush to get something finished before my next class) I made the same mistake and this time didn’t specify that I didn’t want to print the document in color. I’d used a lot of pictures and so it was an absolutely gorgeous (aaaaand expensive) document when it finally finished printing. At the copier.

If it is possible for somebody to sneak up to a copier in the middle of a staff room and not be seen then I am not aware of how one would do this. The Awesome Vice Principal certainly saw me.

“I really didn’t mean to do that.”

“Right.”

The third time happened after school. This time, I feel as though the Universe was toying with me. I remembered my earlier transgressions, went into the computer’s options and changed the printer that I wanted to use. I was proud. Pleased with myself, even. This time, technology and I were surely communicating.

Except we weren’t. Because in the time since I’d last used the computer, somebody (probably The Awesome Vice Principal) had changed the automatic settings on the computer back to the original printer. So I’d directed the document to be printed from … the copier. I guess I need to learn the different printer numbers.

I practically crawled to the copier this time, highly aware of and attuned to each line of text in my 12-page (color) document.

“I didn’t-”

“-intend to do that. Yes, Julie. We know.”

Lucky for me, I don’t have just a Vice Principal at the middle school. I have an Awesome Vice Principal. At this point, he also understood that the Universe was not working with me. He was laughing, and the sound of that laughter made my day.

I’ve been funny, I’ve been cool with the lines
Ain’t that the way love’s supposed to be?

Hey Hey You You April 19, 2010

Posted by Earthdragonette in Culinary Pursuits, Cultural Exchange, Dance Troupe, Student Moments.
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Welcome to Monday! I hope that you all had lovely weekends.

Life here has been busy, as usual. The weekend was packed with social calls/culinary shenanigans/dance troupe activities, and so tonight is going to be focused on much-neglected lesson preparations.

So that I may attend to all of this work before it gets really late, here’s a (very) quick rundown of the past few days:

Friday: Classes!
This was my first day back at Friday’s elementary school, and things were a little chaotic. A few weeks of separation gave the children a great deal of time to write letters to me and recess was packed with conversation. I was really happy to see their enthusiasm, though, and even welcomed a few new faces to my Question Corner. The school has been so friendly and communicative with me this year; I feel very positive about this beginning.

Saturday: Cake!
On Saturday, I went to The Japanese Best Friend’s house so that we could make pizza, catch up, watch a movie, and (of course) have cake. The cake is always one of the most important parts. I’m not sure if I mentioned this or not, but she and I are going up to Tokyo at the beginning of May for a small vacation. A nice hotel, Chinatown, and unholy amount of shopping await.

And the best part of the whole day? Watching Mama Mia and occasionally breaking into intense and hilarious (often unrelated) conversation. That is the sign of true friendship – when conversation interrupts the movie and neither one of you care.

And there is cake.

Sunday: Culture …
…in the form of a festival in Wakayama Prefecture. It took the dance troupe about three hours to get there by car, so it made for an exceptionally long day. It also didn’t help that I got up at three in the morning so that I could bake bread and prepare this soup. (Do try the soup if you get the opportunity – it’s great!)

The festival itself was nice, although it was actually more like a dance exhibition instead of a typical “festival” (with food stalls and games and such). Not many of the members were able to go, and so I had a chance to bond a lot with the members that did attend. Perhaps the most significant event of the day though, was that Heartland (the band that we always travel with) wants me to start singing some sets with them this summer. They want me to translate a song from Japanese into English so that I can do an English version of it, and then they also want me to sing Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne. I’m not so sure that this is the greatest of ideas (singing is not my forte), but I’m looking forward to the challenge. At the very least, I get to wear a spiffy jumpsuit with the band’s name on it when I sing!

Monday: Everyone is still adjusting
Today, I think that my first years were feeling a bit cranky and discontent with their new middle school lives. The amount of work and homework in elementary school is nothing in comparison to what they have in middle school and they’re not exactly enjoying that element. Class was not quite as bright and cheery as it was before, and I had to deal with a few attitudes (nothing major, but definitely not something that we had last week). I feel a little bad for the kids, because they’re used to very conversation-focused English lessons and all they’ve been doing this year is practicing the alphabet over and over and over and over and over again. I think (and hope) that once we get into more interesting material that their spirits will pick up.

In the midst of all of the grumbling, though, many of them came up to chat with me and I received three letters today (with a great deal of actual English in them). Silver lining, my friends. Silver. Lining.

And that’s about it for now. I have lesson plans aplenty to turn my attentions to and a sink full of dirty dishes. -_-

I hope your Monday finds you free from both!

I can see the way
I see the way you look at me
And even when you look away
I know you think of me

.

土日月曜日 Recap – September 14th September 14, 2009

Posted by Earthdragonette in sports festival.
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Okay, and, I think that we’re back on track now!

Apologies for the missed and subsequently mass-uploaded back posts from last week. Sports Festival Season is draining at best, and this year I’ve been feeling behind schedule. I think it’s going to take a couple more weeks for me to settle into a routine, but I’m going to do my best to keep this blog moving!

So, let’s get down to it, shall we?

Saturday
If my intentions come to fruition and this IS in fact my last year in Japan, then Saturday was the day of my last middle school sports festival. If I compare it to my first one, I feel as though I’m talking about two completely different and unrelated events. At the first sports festival, I didn’t speak more than a handful of sentences in Japanese and I didn’t really know any of the children. Not surprisingly, watching a bunch of children you don’t know compete in a variety of races isn’t that enthralling. I believe I spent 99% of my time sitting with My Japanese Sister, talking about my family and trying to understand how the kanji worked in the students’ names. I wanted to help with setting up events and cleaning everything up afterwards (taking down tents, putting supplies away), but I didn’t have a clue as to what I should do and everybody else seemed to know the intimate details of each job. It was an extremely awkward affair.

At Saturday’s sports festival, things couldn’t have been more different. I started out the morning attaching myself to the first years and showing them what they needed to do as far as setting up was concerned. I was also feeling kind of feisty, and so I kept collecting groups of students so that we could do group dancing to whatever song I felt like singing (mostly recent R&B tracks, but I threw in a Japanese song every now and then). I’ve said before that my dancing embarrasses the children, so it’s even better when I make them do it, too! ^__^ I also spent the morning running around and taking pictures because, you know, that might have been my last chance.

Sports Festivals in Japan are pretty much all run the same way. The morning starts out with speeches from various people including the Principal and the PTA President, everybody does a group stretch/warm-up thing, and then the kids participate in different athletic events. We have some serious ones – relay races, tug of war, and jump rope. We also have some silly ones – relay races where the kids have to hit each other with pie, competitions involving bags of bread that they have to catch in their teeth, or races where four children have their feet strapped to long boards (think: centipede style) and they have to navigate through an obstacle course. The parents and teachers have their own events, too, and I am usually browbeaten into joining them. Most of the time, this isn’t a problem. Sometimes, however, it can get embarrassing.

There are lots of memories that I could take with me from Saturday – some that I wish to remember, some that I do not wish to remember. -_-;; I think my favorite part of the day was probably the enkai (dinner party) that we had in the evening, just because I felt really relaxed and happy by that point. I also had the opportunity to talk to a lot of the parents, who all started to cajole me into staying for a fifth year.

But, the memory that I will choose to focus on comes from that morning. At the middle school sports festival, we usually have an event reserved for the current 6th year elementary school students. This year, this event consisted of running down the track, placing a soccer ball between one’s legs and hopping for about 10 meters, jumping over a hurdle, walking on a balance beam, and then skipping rope/running to the finish line. I took one look at it, thought it was the most humiliating set of activities EVER, and heartily congratulated myself that I was not a sixth grader.

But in doing so, I’d forgotten something.

Sixth grader I am not. But, celebrity I am.

(Also, I appear to be some vague incarnation of Yoda.)

But, yes, I am a celebrity. Which means that when there is an opportunity for pride-crushing public exhibition, my school will probably find some way to involve me.

So I’ m standing around, minding my own business and watching this horrific race unfold, when the Not-So Awesome Vice Principal comes up to me and says, “Hey, Julie! You go in too, OK?”

I must have given him quite a look, because he quickly followed it up with a kind of meek look and another , “…OK?”

My response? “Please, no?”

His response: “Please?”

My response: “Please… no.”

His response: “Oh, look, there’s room in the last line of students. Here you go!” Then he walked away, leaving me standing with the last group of sixth graders (four of us would run the race together), and almost every other person at the sports festival cheering me on.

Now, let me be clear about something. I am a somewhat athletic person. There are certain things that I can do, and do very well. Yoga, long distance running, lifting heavy things, and dancing are all activities that I believe I have some level of skill in. Jumping around with a soccer ball between my legs and skipping rope are not high on the list. Mostly because I haven’t really had the opportunity (or the desire…) to cultivate these skills. I am all about expanding my horizons and trying new things, but I would just as soon rather not do this in front of three hundred parents and my co-workers.

So, in the forty seconds that I had before running this race, I came to a decision. It was obvious that I was being made to do this because they wanted me to entertain the crowd. There is not other reason in the WORLD why a teacher would be expected to run with the elementary school students. That was fine. I understand that it’s part of The Celebrity Magic. But if I’m going to entertain people, I am going to do it in my own way – and the one that is least damaging to my pride.

So, as soon as we were told to start running, I fought the good fight and tried to hop the ten meters with the soccer ball between my legs. Things did not go well. I dropped it twice (mostly because my pants were really slippery), and instead of continuing to fight with it, I chose to pick it up and carry it to the end. The hurdle and balance beam were okay (I suppose some of my own latent elementary school skills kicked in).

But that jump rope.

The jump rope.

I took one look at it, shook my head, audibly said, “No way in hell,” and to the delight and amusement of some 400 people, chose to sprint to the finish line, coming in second.

The response to my shenanigans was generally positive. The children seemed more perturbed than the adults – I had several of my elementary students give me a serious talk about not cheating. Most of the parents who commented on my performance joked about me needing to practice this year and do it again next year. It also came up during dinner in the evening, with The Awesome Vice Principal telling me that I would be required to do a make-up relay during the cultural festival.

But that’s okay. I can take a little teasing. I’d rather that they tease me because I cheated than tease me because I’d made an arse of myself with a jump rope. I did not volunteer to be the Entertaining Monkey of the Sports Festival. But if my schools feel that it’s a role that I must undertake, then they will let me decide how I am going to undertake it. It’s only fair. This is what I pointed out at dinner, which just added a new level to the event because now they’re talking about funny and snarky I can be. ^o^

It’s the moments like this that make me realize how truly loved I am. -_-;;;

Sunday/Monday
My memories from these days? Honestly? Taking naps. Taking naps and getting caught up on work. I also went by Thursday’s Elementary School on Monday afternoon so that I could give them this week’s lesson plans. I got into a nice conversation with My Buddy and one of the other teachers, and we laughed amongst ourselves for a good half hour. I told them about my blog, and now they’re curious as to what I could be writing about. I explained that it’s a blog dedicated to “good memories about Japan,” and hopefully this will not all come back to haunt me. I take pride in not using this publication as a means to vent or perpetuate negativity.

Anyway, now it’s back to business. I have four pretty full days ahead of me, and a busy weekend with a Sports Festival on Sunday.

It’s that time of year ….