Summer at Ichihasama Chugakko
Summer at Ichihasama Chugakko (Middle School) means no classes, but the kids and teachers have to report to school as usual on a daily basis. The teachers must be at school regular hours if they aren’t doing some other type of school related activity, like coaching, listening to a lecture or attending a workshop. The students all come to school anywhere from 4 to nine hours, it seems, practicing with their sports team, or preparing for sports day, which is coming up in September. This is quite different than America, where both students and teachers get 2-3 months off completely. Personally, I like that Japan has a more year round style, but still feel that they have to report to school too much. And I think the break for kids in America is too long and they either get bored, or forget what they were taught since the break is so long. SO, I think a mix of the two would be fantastic… like one month of school off in the summer, three weeks off in the spring, and three weeks in the winter, and a couple weeks in the fall sometime. This seems like it would be a good balance for the year, and there would be regular times to recharge.

Summer is a more relaxing time at school than it is at other time of the year here in Japan. Kids usually come for ½ day for sports practice then can go home or go fishing, or hang out at 7-11, like kids back home. It’s amazing because sports teams do a great job of managing and monitoring themselves here. Often the sempais (older kids) are in charge of the practice routine and are in charge of the kohais (the youngers). Sometimes the teacher will make a practice plan that the sempais use, or the teacher will get them started on a drill or concept for that day and then will head back to the teachers room while the sempais are in charge of practicing that drill or concept for the rest of the day. Almost ALL the kids in Japan are in excellent shape! They are required to do a club, which is all sports unless they do brass band. The sports clubs vary from school to school. At Ichihasama there are: boys and girls hockey, girls soft tennis, basketball, baseball, judo, girls volleyball, and boys and girls table tennis (ping pong), then of course, brass band.
(Above: Studying... slaving away with the books at my desk!)
Many ALT’s either love or hate the summer time. They, too, are required to report to school as usual, but since they don’t coach or attend any teacher activities, you can imagine that they could get rather bored at times. Jae, my predecessor forewarned me about the summer lull, and gave me some tips. So here is what I’ve been doing:

1. Study! Summer is a great time to study, and since I am taking a class in Sapporo, I’ve been studying a lot to be as ready as I can for that class. Some ALT’s don’t make an effort to study, and to me that’s a shame. I think it is important to at least try to learn some Japanese so that you can communicate a bit with the students and staff. The community really likes it too when they see you studying. It is a good gesture that you’re interested in Japan.
2. Blog or e-mail. This is what I’m doing today! There’s no better time than the summer to get your peeps at home caught up with what is going on in your life.
3. Write letters. I love giving and receiving hand-written letters. To me, letters are an extremely valuable gift from a friend… just the effort itself says, “I care about you a lot.”
4. Join a club! I’ve been joining the basketball club periodically and the kids love it. It’s a great time for them to practice their English, and also just a good time for you to develop some relationships and bond with the kids. Swimming, although not an organized sport at my school, is an activity option during the summer. I’ve been hopping in the pool in the afternoon and the kids seem to really like it when I’m there. The pool is a big 25 meter, 8 lane pool and only about 3-3.5 feet deep, but it works fine. It’s funny how the there’s a couple lane lines in the middle and the boys and girls are divided into separate sides. The girls usually hit a big beach ball around, while the boys play a standing water polo type sport and are a bit more rough and tumble. The weather has been beautiful, so it has been great to be outside in the pool… brings back memories from my polo days at Davis…. ahhh college!
4. Help out around the school. Ask some teachers if they need help with anything. Again, this is a great gesture that is a sign of good will.
5. Develop a rapport with the staff. Talk to some teachers you usually don’t talk to. Chill with Kocho or Kyoto sensei (Principal, Vice Principal).
6. Make an English bulletin board or some teaching posters for the classrooms. Or, put up some pics of your family, friends, house back home. Find ways to help the staff to get to know you better.
7. Write a newsletter for the staff. Tell about you, what you’re learning in Japan, what you want to learn, what has been fun, tough, or difficult to understand. Have a section to teach some basic English! Interview a student or teacher and include it in the newsletter. The possibilities are endess. (Above: students practicing their taiko drumming routine for sports day)
8. Relax and play an instrument. Jae, my predecessor, said she would often just sit somewhere outside or around the music room and would play guitar and talk to the kids as they came to listen. This is another wonderful way to get the kids speaking English, and to make some bonds with them.
9. Read a book or journal write. For me, summer has always been a time for reflection and rejuvenation. Journal writing and reading books are always rejuvenating activities that I look forward to in the summer. Get your mind off of the here and now with a good book, set some goals for your next year in a journal… start the fall feeling refreshed!

Sapporo
(Above: showing the locals the American Gun Show) Last Sunday I got back from a 2 week stint studying Japanese up in Sapporo, Portland’s sister city. It was nice to get away for awhile and have a different routine. Also, Sapporo is a bit cooler than my town in Miyagi, and boy has it been hot! As a matter of fact, this summer has been the hottest on record in Japan since the 40’s or so. Somewhere, Al Gore is smiling. (Above: Just one of the many beer garden areas) The trip started out with a 15 hour overnight ferry trip from Sendai. On the ferry, I was pleasantly surprised to encounter two Miyagi JET’s that I’ve always thought were super cool, Kristin and Karen. We had a great time on the ferry and had a blast together over the course of the whole two weeks. It was great meeting some new people in the class as well, and especially spending some time with some other Miyagi JET’s that I haven’t really had the opportunity to hang out with in the past. The Sapporo Beer Garden event was happening the first week that I was there. (Meetin' some of the local folk) This is similar to the beer fest in Portland, but with way less mullets, sleeveless tee-shirts, or Lucky Lab Birkenstock-wearing beer connoisseurs. This was all about sitting down on the grass or at the table with your co-workers or friends and just drinking to your heart’s delight. The only beers there were Japanese beers: Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi, Suntory, and maybe some others. (A well deserved break after class) There were plenty of fried foods to eat, as well as many a Kampai! to be bellowed (Meaning: Cheers!) I went on Tuesday and Thursday, taking Weds and Friday to recover. One night, my buddy, Dan, and I were skipping around, chatting up the locals, when suddenly we were struck with a brilliant idea!: two man karaoke! Yes! “Let’s Get Involved.” As Dan always says. Yet when 3 AM rolled around and we were stumbling out of the bar into sobering light of early morning, well it didn’t seem like such a good idea then. Haha! But it was a blast, and although class was brutally difficult the next day, we managed. We can look back on that evening with a smile and say, “Remember that night in Sapporo…ahh what fools we were… hahaha!” (exactly, Dan... ouch!)

(Above: Karaoke in full form, notice the effort veins in the neck... this is serious business) To be fair, the trip wasn’t all peaches and sunbeams. The class wasn’t all I had hoped it would be, and maybe that’s my fault for getting my expectations up. It’s just that us Miyagi people had heard so much about this class and how wonderful it was, and really, it wasn’t. Maybe there were new teachers or something, I dunno. The others felt the same way as well. But, DJB. The other downside is that the class was rather expensive, with room and board and all. I think I could have had just as good if not better instruction, at a closer location with certainly a cheaper price. Dan told me about a conversation group of university students that meet every week that he’s been doing and said is wonderful. He said it’s also a great way to meet some people, so I’m looking forward to starting that in a week or two. (Above: at the temple, people bring in their new car to be blessed by a priest/monk. "May provide outstanding gas mileage!") My one other regret about Sapporo was not taking more advantage of the middle weekend to take a trip somewhere in Hokkaido. I had the time, but to be fair, I was dirt poor this month and just didn’t have the funds. And really, I was there to study, and I really did study hard on that weekend so I’m proud of myself. The thing about studying Japanese, and I guess this is the case for all studies, is that the more you learn, the more you realize there’s so much you don’t know. Usually this is an exciting side effect of studying something new! (Above: The Sapporo Dom-u!) Yet, since my Japanese studies are most likely limited up to my time spent here in Japan (11 more months), then I kind of get a bit frustrated with that whole, “Why should I study if I’ll never learn it all and most likely will forget what I’ve learned?” But that is depressing thinking, and I respond to myself saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s work! It’s always great to set out challenging yourself to learn something new! And I feel like Lewis and Clark, or some other great frontiersman setting out boldly and bravely, chin to the wind, ready to take on anything. “Give me liberty, or give me sushi!” is my new catch phrase.

One day, my new Kyushu JET buddies, Josh, Maya invited me to a Sapporo soccer game, and that was a blast. The Japanese are so full of spirit and their cheering section is very gung-ho and also very organized. We had beers and hotdogs and joined in the fun. Sapporo’s team won with a score of 3-0.

Not too much else to say about Sapporo… I did a couple hikes around the city area that had some great views, ate famous miso ramen, and crab, and saw some movies in the theater. (Above: intensely hot day, but the view of the city was worth it.) Although it was a fun experience, it was also nice to come back to my own cute house in Miyagi. I had an interesting thought when taking the (brutally tiring) overnight train home: that my little town of Ichihasama actually felt like my home… and that felt great to be feeling that. Of course Oregon is my true home, but to be thinking, “Hey, I’ll see my cute supermarket ladies, and that old guy who walks so slowly down the street every afternoon… stuff like that. This is my Japan home, now. Interesting…

Lonely Times July 30th, 2007

Sorry about the huge gap in time since my last blog! This year I’m really going to try to make a more concerted effort add to my blog once or twice a week.

Well, the rainy season is almost over and summer is fast approaching. Like most of Asia, the rainy season in Japan is packed into a month or two, rather than spread out over eight or so months of the year like it is in Oregon. The rainy season here is also very humid, which means one must do constant battle with mold and mildew this time of year. Closets and wardrobe doors must be open at all times to provide proper ventilation. Disposable dehumidifiers are purchased in Costco quantities and spread liberally throughout the cupboards and closets around the house. These look like tall Tupperware containers that have crystals on the top half which absorb moisture in the air and change it into water. When the bottom half is full, time to replace. (see pic)

My favorite friends, the frogs, have returned. From this point on, they become steadily more dense until the cold starts creeping in late October/ early November. The increasing warm temps also bring thousands of other insects and following them come the predators, the spiders. I found a spider in my house the other day that was one of the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen. I walked into the bathroom and it looked like a small bat was hanging from the ceiling. I’m usually not too scared of spiders and try to follow a catch and release policy if convenient. But this guy was scary and I was at a momentary loss at what to do about him. I feared that if I tried to catch him, he would be too fast and escape to a different part of the house, or worse, down my sleeve! Well, the long-handled shower cleaning brush was close at hand so I knocked him down and swished him up in a big wad of tissue paper, sealing that into a box and disposing of the whole bundle in the bottom of the trash.

I’ve been a bit sad and melancholy as of late because late July is the time for the old JETs to leave, and a new batch will arrive in early August. I’ve made some good friends over this past year and it is difficult to see them all go. Michelle left around mid-July, my good pal Mark (Marko, aka, "Maaaan diddly maaan maaan maaaaaaan!"...hours before leaving below) left last week, and Mike is leaving this week, as well as Chris and Laura my Canadian pals. It has been great to have Mike around for a bit longer time, and this last weekend we made a final trip to Tokyo together to hang out with my good friend Laura who was in town from the states. These people along with Lopez, Mike and Iku-chan, Jerems and Mands, and a handful of others are all people I’ve become close with and now as they move on to their next adventures in their lives I’m left feeling a bit empty. (Mike-kun, aka "The Nams" above) At the same time, one of the things that made these people so wonderful was that they were here for 2 or three years, and their wisdom and helpful guidance about Japan was indispensable… and this is hopefully what I will bring to the new group coming in a couple weeks. If I can help the newbies even a fraction of the amount that I was helped by the sempais (2nd and 3rd years) then I will be doing a good job. As it is, I’m sad to see my friends go and wish them the best in all of their adventures. I plan on seeing all of these people again at some point in my life, and realize now that this chance to meet these new people has been one of the best aspects of the JET Program. (Chris and Laura above) My goal for my final year here is to try my hardest to make a strong connection with 2 or 3 Japanese people and hopefully establish friendships with them for a lifetime. This is a tough goal to accomplish where I’m living now because there aren’t too many people my age who live out here in the country who are looking for the same kind of friendship. I think in the city this would be an easier task to accomplish with people there more used to seeing different nationalities about and people there maybe even being more open-minded which is a common characteristic of big cities around the world.

This coming Friday (Aug 3rd) I will take the overnight ferry from Sendai to Hokkaido, then a bus to Sapporo where I am enrolled in an intensive Japanese language course for 2 weeks. I’m really looking forward to the change in pace and scenery, and also to beat the heat that approaches like an oppressive giant. Also, I’m the type of person who needs someone to push me and set goals for me sometimes, and this is indeed the case with the learning a language. I’ll let you know how everything is going with the class next week.