Brian's Japan Adventure

October 26th, 2007

A Gang of Recycle Groupies

So I woke up this morning to rain. Actually I pulled aside the curtain to peek at the weather to find someone standing there. The little old recycle ladies were standing under the outside stairs to stay dry. The local recycle point is right across the street. These old ladies, who I can only assume are volunteers, stand out there and take bags of recyclable bottles and cans and sort through them. I took out a giant bag full of my Pepsi Nex bottles and Marc’s Coke bottles. They tore open the bag and took each individual bottle out. Then they cut the labels off with scissors, twisted the cap to let the air out and then stomped the bottle to make it smaller. This is NOT something out (English) recycle instructions say to do, so it looks like they do this for everyone’s trash.  Since the old ladies are going through the trash piece-by-piece, I decide not to take out Marc’s beer cans. If he gets up, he can do it, otherwise, I am not going to have these old ladies (who probably gossip through half of Japan) thinking I am the biggest drinker in the Eastern hemisphere.  The problem is that bottle and can day is only the last Friday of the month, so I’ll be wading in beer cans by the end of November.

It was still too early to leave, so I read some great cheaters from the “Best Buddhist Writings” book. It seems to be really well done so far, with only one author who sounded like a flake. Eventually, it was time to get to my meeting, so I went up the mountain in the rain. Fortunately, umbrellas are very popular. For some reason in America if you carry an umbrella, people look at you like there is something wrong with you. Not so here. So while I wait for 11:00, I checked email and did the blog updates. I also talked a bit with Mrs. Y. I paid the phone bill of 60 Yen. That’s around 75 cents I think. I made one four-minute call last month. I also asked her what “Mr. Principal” from the Kindergarten’s name is. She didn’t know and had to call and ask! I’m not sure whether I prefer “Mr. Principal” or “Mr. N” right now.

Money!

I also remembered to ask about when I get paid. I thought it was supposed to be on the 27th, but that’s Saturday. I was surprised to hear that it’s actually the Wednesday after the 27th.  No problem for my part, but I wonder how Marc will react?

Actually, I think I’m doing remarkably well with money considering the situation. I am right at the border of using one whole month’s pay since I got here. That’s one month of pay for two months’ real life expenses. I’ve used the money I brought with me plus about 100Y of actual pay; I have barely touched the money the gave me in September. If I keep that up, I should be going home with about three months’ pay in my pocket. Maybe more if special guest appearances like this party come up more often.  I didn’t come over here for the money, but it’s good to know I’ll be going back with some; my student loans ought to start coming due just about exactly the time I am done here, and at least as of right now, I have no job plans.

The Party Line

11:00 came and the meeting began. Most of the talk was between Mrs. Y and the Language school owner. She brought a party schedule (program?) already printed up that had my name all over it as guest speaker. No pressure. There are basically two parties, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning one is more of a real party, with songs, activities and games for the 6-10 year old children and their parents. The second group is 8-10 year olds, and is more of a conversation/discussion group for them to interrogate me. There really isn’t anything to officially prepare, but getting a bunch of shy (all Japanese are hard to get talking) children to converse for an hour and a half is going to be tough, so I need to think of lots of topics.  I don’t think there is really anything Halloween-specific that she wants me to do, so all the stuff I found already will have to wait for another event.  Basically, I have to show up and talk to people; no great effort. There was no mention made of doing it again on Monday, so that may have been set aside (or temporarily forgotten).  There’s nothing to worry about at this point, so I have the rest of the day free.

After the meeting, I go back to the computer and print off a few pictures that I can use in my discussions tomorrow: a map of the USA, a picture of the Wright Brothers airplane (important to Dayton folks), a picture of the Dayton Dragons baseball team, a picture of a house that isn’t mine, but looks close enough that I can say that it is, and a photo of Dayton itself, which really looks pretty small to me right now.  It’s too late now, but I could have printed out a few of the pictures from the Japanese Exchange program last summer. Some of those showed Dayton and Me at the same time. Ah well. Then the office closed for lunchtime, so I grabbed the box that arrived for me yesterday and carried it back down the hill in the rain. This box was heavy compared to the previous ones.

A Whole Mess O Stuff!

I do eventually manage to get my paper notebook, the umbrella, a huge brown box, and myself down the side of the mountain in the rain. Marc is up, finally washing the dishes he messed up when his friend was here last weekend. I guess even he decided the living room was getting uninhabitable. Maybe he saw the bags of beer cans still lying around and took a hint. They’re still here by the way, so I know he didn’t get up in time to take them out. He asked me why I didn’t take them out, and I told him exactly what I wrote above; that I didn’t want the old ladies thinking I was the biggest drinker in town. I didn’t point out that all the cans were his, but I don’t think I needed to. I suspect that “laying down the law” is going to be a phrase you see here again before too much longer, but not today (yet).

Marc asked if I got paid while I was up there. I told him about the unexpected pay date, and he was not happy. He was expecting it today, or at the worst, Monday. I guess he’s running really low on money. This means he’ll probably be hanging around the house all weekend.

So then I open up the box. Inside is not just one, but two winter coats. The one I wanted plus a smaller thinner one. I’m not sure whether that was a good idea or not, since I can only wear one of them on the plane ride home. The other will have to be left behind. I think I’ll probably have to leave a lot behind, since it seems I am accumulating a lot of stuff. Not from shopping here, but mostly from home packages. I guess I don’t really need to carry underwear, aspirin and slippers back across the Pacific, but my growing pile of books might become a problem.

The box held more new T-Shirts, which are badly needed. I didn’t realize coming over there that “undershirts” were so common. It’s unusual to see people wearing t-shirts under their regular shirts at home, but it’s the norm here.  They also sent my winter gloves which I will definitely be needing, probably very soon now, as well as a Santa Claus hat, which I am sure will have many uses in the coming months (yes, really!). There’s also a little “expanding file” that is really nice, but I’m not sure what it’s for. Unless they send me an idea of what it’s for I’m going to put flash cards in it.

The first thing I noticed upon opening the box was a box of tissues. Not the little travel kind that I asked for, but a regular box of tissues. Huh? They have those here everywhere. Later I figure that’s just to fill space in the box as there are about a dozen little packs of tissues in the box too.  Cottonballs? Why? Oh, maybe they thought those would be useful for some kind of kids’ crafts like the pipe cleaners they included. Guys, don’t send me craft supplies; you can’t send enough for 80 kids, and I probably can’t explain to them how to do a craft anyway. It just wastes your money and makes the box more expensive to ship. I appreciate the thought, but…don’t! Good ideas are harder to come by than actual supplies.

Much of the box looked like someone bought out the local drugstore. There were vitamins, ibuprofen (dunno why, those always mess up my stomach), a first aid kit, and some cough drops. They do have drug stores here too Mom. I may not be able to read the boxes of cold medicine, but I know cough drops, cotton balls and bandages when I see them.  I see there is a box of hair color in there too. What am I supposed to do with that? I don’t color my hair, no I don’t. Really I don’t. Would I lie?

I think I mentioned somewhere in the blog about not having enough clothespins, and they sent some of those. I hadn’t thought of it before, but American clothespins are just junk.  These little clothespins might work indoors, but the ones I mentioned not having enough of are the strong outdoor variety, and I don’t even know if they even sell those in the States. Maybe I can use them, but they seem awfully small and weak; I just cannot picture two of those holding up my wet pants. I can’t picture ten of them doing it either.

Overall, they sent lots of good stuff, with a few oddball items thrown in. As far as I can predict, I should be completely “covered” for clothes now for the remainder of the trip.  For some reason, the pharmacy just cannot get the quantities on one prescription right, so I will have to have another package next month, but at least it won’t be weighed down with a bunch of clothes.

Then, since I had the rest of the day off, I ended up napping. I never did that at home; I never used to get up at 7am either, so things have changed. Around 5:30, I set off for Co Co Ichiban, but changed my mind halfway there and did Happy Town McDonalds instead. That’s two days in a row for that, something I have been trying to avoid doing. I just wasn’t in the mood for a long bike ride tonight. I didn’t even bother at the Happy Town grocery; I just did McSlop and came right home.

Doctor Who Returns

One of the items in my box this morning was my old MP3 player. I have a bunch of audio books that just will not play on my iPod for some reason. My old Sansa MP3 player (which cost about one-third as much as the iPod) plays everything I have ever put in it, while the iPod has so much copy protection and legal garbage embedded in it that it won’t play many legitimate files. Now I have a way to listen to my audio book collection that I brought along.  I managed to squeeze in about two hours of Doctor Who stories this evening. Yes, I am a major Doctor Who fan. I have seen every surviving episode (since the show started in 1963), and am currently listening to the “Big Finish” audio book series that uses all the original actors from the old series in about 120 new stories.  It’s not exactly deep literature or even remotely educational, but it’s fun.

And now it’s 9:30. I’m not really able to prepare much for tomorrow, but I’m still trying to think of conversation topics for little kids.  Less: hobbies, pets, favorite foods, games, TV shows, sports. What else do ten-year-old kids do?  My kinderphobia seems to be acting up again, and suddenly I am very glad this Halloween party is a one-time event.  Ah well. I almost certainly won’t be able to hit the Internet tomorrow, so I won’t be posting this until it’s all over. You can read how it all turned out in the next blog report.

October 25^th, 2007

Decisions, Drama, and Snow

I don’t get to sleep anywhere near as long as I wanted to today. The alarm went off at 8:30 and my first class is at 10:50. Plus, I want to stop in and see Mrs. Y about what to do about next Wednesday. So I read over K-Sensei’s article, this time about the water cycle, problems with water pollution, and the drying up of well water around the world. I surprise myself with how much there is t talk about in this dry article (look, a pun!).

I stopped in to see Mrs. Y before class, and she said the students were right and that there would be no class next week at the community center.  The Kindergarten, however, still wanted me to come. So now I have to decide what to do next Wednesday afternoon. I could come home at noon and have a lazy day. I could explore Hiroshima without the usual time limit; that’d be fun. Or if I really wanted to make some “points”, I could volunteer to spend more time at the Kindergarten since I have nowhere that I need to be in the afternoon.  I think that would be a great gesture on my part, but it could easily backfire if they want me to do something crazy.  I’m not much of a gardener. I have time to think about it, and can always change plans if some new idea comes up. I like having choices though.

And then I go to K-Sensei’s class and get through that easily. I didn’t have any witty catch phrases to give him this time, but I filled up the board with tips on how to make an outline from an essay.  He likes my American “homilies,” but he’s happy with useful English lessons too it seems.  When I finish my part of the lesson, I walk back down the mountain, and just as I open the door, my phone rings. It’s Mrs. Y telling me I have another package back in the office. Groan. I tell her I’ll pick it up in the morning since I have that meeting about the Halloween thing. Too bad she didn’t call ten minutes sooner!

Snow in Okayama

I have a couple of hours before Japanese class, so I throw in some laundry and listen to my iPod and eventually go to Happy Town for groceries while I wait for it to finish. I learned a new lesson today: it’s a good idea to make sure you have no tissues in your pockets before you do laundry. Wow. I had no idea there was so much paper snow in one little tissue. I expect to be plucking the bits out until real snow falls.

Is Japanese Class Eligible for a Daytime Emmy Award?

Then it was time for the soap opera I have come to know as Japanese class. The entire cast of the show is there today; me, Marc, Y-Sensei, and the language school Principal. The latter came in about ten minutes into the lesson and talked to Y-sensei in very fast Japanese. About all Marc or I caught was the language school principal making “throat cutting” motions with his hands and the name “Mrs. Y.” Ah. It seems the drama is ongoing. Nothing more is said. Yet.

We then go on through the lesson. It seems to me that Marc has indeed been studying some, but there’s just so much anyone can learn in two days, so he is still far behind. We take a “quiz” that I finish about 15 minutes before Marc, so I go outside and look around for the “school” that is hosting the Halloween party on Saturday. It’s supposed to be right behind the language school. The problem is that I actually found two of them with th same name in opposite directions from each other.  I guess I’m simply going to have to ask for clarification in our meeting tomorrow.

After Marc finished the quiz, I go back in and the lesson continues. We learn ho to ask people to do things with us. For example, “Do you want to go to McDonald’s with me tomorrow?” and that sort of thing. It’s simple enough. Then, as class is done, Y-Sensei mentioned the bit with the principal. It seems that Mrs. Y has suggested that the class be split up, with Marc getting 45 minutes and me getting 45 minutes each session. I wonder if Mrs. Y really came up with that or if it’s just an extension of the “splitting” idea they tossed around last week. Details will be forthcoming next time.  OK, that works for me; this way I don’t even have to ask.

On the way home I stopped at the carryout and picked up some kind of sampler plate that had a hamburger patty, two chicken nuggets, a piece of tonkatsu, and some kind of mushy fish-thing that I tossed. Of course, all their dinners come with approximations of cole slaw, potato salad and pickled radishes. Overall, it was pretty good and I’ll try that again sometime.

And then it was blog time. I wrote today and last night’s entries this evening since I went to sleep too early yesterday to even think about it.  I’m going to read a bit and call it a night. In the morning I need to head up the hill to the office to pick up my box from home, which I know includes a coat, some t-shirts, and other stuff that I can’t remember at the moment.  While I’m up there, I will meet the owner of the school hosting the Halloween party and find out exactly what she wants.  Maybe I will have to spend some time on the Net hunting more materials for the party, but I think I have plenty already.  I’ll probably have to make a commitment to a party on Monday during the meeting.

October 24^th, 2007

The Hiroshima Chicken Dance 

Travel to the Kindergarten went smoothly. I was a very nice and cool day, and even the non-air-conditioned kindergarten was reasonably comfortable (coulda’ been better!), When I arrived, everyone was working. All the classes seemed to be down to only one teacher, and the extra teachers were all working outside. One old lady that usually works with the 2-3 year olds was on her knees cutting down a tree. The lady who handles the paperwork for my comings and goings was doing something garden-related in the back of the school, and the only time I saw her she had on coveralls, long gardening gloves and a big floppy sun hat. Even Mr. Principal was at it, digging in the garden to install a new picket fence. Wow. Busy busy busy! I don’t think you could get many teachers in the USA, much less the principal himself, to dig a garden and cut down trees. I guess that’s the difference between having teachers unions and not having teachers unions. (Note for the future inquisition: The previous statement is a neutral observation about unions. I leave it to the reader to guess my thoughts on unions). 

Things were so busy in fact, that Mr. Principal didn’t come with me to classes this time. He didn’t even come in to welcome me. The teacher for that class came and told me to get at it, so for the next 35 minutes, the 5 year olds and I did flashcards. Without the usual audience, I livened it up a bit, doing animal noises and impersonations along with the flashcards. Yes, I ran around the room flapping my arms clucking like a chicken; No, there are no pictures, so don’t ask. The kids loved it. I then moved on to the 2-3 year olds, and we did circles, squares, and triangles, and then moved on to counting fruit. Nothing new there, but they love it anyway. Just as I was finishing this group, Mr. Principal showed up, and it was time to move on to the 4 year olds. I did the same thing with the flashcards as with the 5 year old group, just a little simpler. Yes, I included the animal noises too. I did not, however, run around the room “bawking” like a chicken with Mr. Principal there. Toward the end of class, we went through the cards figuring out which animals had tails and which didn’t. Lastly, I looked for my tail, and circled around a few times looking for it. They thought that was just hilarious. Too bad I don’t have a big fake tail, or I’d take it along next time just for shock value. Classes done, I walked downstairs with Mr. Principal and asked “next week what?” to which he replied “Same thing.”  Ooooh. The kids are still enjoying it, but I think they know all this stuff by now. He’s the boss though. 

I Have No Class… At Least Next Week. 

A then it was off to the community center. The advanced class was no problem; they never are. One of them brought in an article about the George Bush and the Dalai Lama, and we talked about Tibet for nearly an hour. They were surprised to hear that I knew all about it and that I could even explain some of the historical points to them. I didn’t tell them that 98% of Americans probably have no idea about that story. 

At one point in the class, one f the students mentioned what they were planning to do for next week’s holiday. Huh? There’s a holiday next week? When?  Then they tell me that every time there are five Wednesdays in a month, the community center closes, so there will be no class next week. I’m not quite sure I believe this story, so on the break I emailed Mrs. Y to check on what I should do next week. 

Watashi no jisho wa arimasen 

Also during this class, I ask another of the students about their electronic dictionary. I seem to bring the subject up regularly, so one of the students (yes, the one from the museum) asked if I wanted her to go with me to the store and shop for a dictionary. “YES!” I just about screamed. So when the class was done, we walked a couple of blocks to a big store called Yamada that had more dictionaries than I’ve ever seen.; dozens of models.  The first question is simple; do any of these come with English instructions? She asks the manager who says no, none of them do. That’s a problem right there because these things are very complicated and have tons of features. I can’t even guess what all the buttons do. We price a few of the ones that look promising and I grabbed some literature (in Japanese of course) and we left. At least now I know it’s going to be more difficult than I had every thought. Maybe I won’t get one. I’ll do more research over the weekend. And since you were wondering, “Watshi no jisho wa arimasen” means “I have no dictionary.” 

Returning from the store, I did the Internet in the community center computer room and downloaded a BUNCH of Halloween materials that I may or may not be able to use this coming Saturday. Maybe I can even use some of it on Tuesday; those students seemed interested in Halloween too.  I haven’t had time to look at it very closely yet, but there is a lot of material there. 

Then it was time for the old ladies group. The old man, the newcomer to the group, told me he was going to take November off to do some traveling, and I told him I expected many good stories upon his return.  I’ve actually come to almost rely on him; it’s quite common for one of the ladies to say something that I can’t follow, and he translates it. I realize this is not how it’s supposed to be done, but it works pretty well, and things will be different next time. I do intend to keep things on track and not let this become a “ladies social gathering” again. The old man helped get things on track, and I am going to keep it there. I’m just not sure where the track leads. 

And then it was over, and it was time to come home. The Shinkansen is usually about half full when I get on in the evenings, and by the time we reach Okayama, it’s usually me and maybe one other person in the entire train car. It’s like my own personal bullet train. Too bad that it’s too dark for pictures. Upon arriving home, I clean up and quickly skim the reading for Thursday’s class with K-Sensei. I usually read his short articles the night before and give it a little thought before tearing them apart Thursday morning. I didn’t give it too much thought, because I ended up going to sleep on the couch. Wednesdays are long days!!!

October 23rd, 2007

A New Deal

Got up as scheduled, but decided to go to Bitch-Takahashi earlier than usual. I figured I was up, so why not?  That way I could take my time walking up the mountain and maybe relax a few minutes before class started. I wish I could do that on Wednesdays, but my schedule is so tight it can’t be changed. But anyway, I shifted my train schedule to a half-hour earlier, and it worked just fine.

While I’m waiting for the train to arrive, my cell rings and it’s Mrs. Y. She says the woman in charge of the parties on Saturday wants to meet and discuss things on Friday in Mrs. Y’s office. I say that’s good, because I have questions about the ages of this children and so forth. Mrs. Y said that I wouldn’t need to prepare a lesson or anything, but I should have some games or activities. OK, but from my point of view, that pretty much is a lesson.

I have to admit, this children’s Halloween party thing sounded too good to be true, and it just might turn out to be the case. I wonder what this lady is going to try to spring on me at the last minute Friday?  Mrs. Y just found out that this lady wants me to do another party on Monday afternoon. Mrs. Y says that was not in the negotiations and it was an out-of-the-blue surprise to her, but there will be additional money involved if I choose to do it. The odd part was that Mrs Y. was very clear that this was entirely optional and that she didn’t want me to accept or refuse the Monday thing right now.  I’m just guessing, but I suspect she thinks the same as I do about a last minute surprise. I’ve been there; I know all about customers who want to change the deal at the last minute. Those are the customers you try to “fire.”  Then again, another two-hour party on Monday should be an additional $60-$80 assuming the hourly pay is the same. At least from my current viewpoint and assumptions, that’s not bad. My opinion may change after I talk with this woman about the details.

Teaching In The Wrong City All This Time?

So with the new meeting scheduled for Friday (which is now going to cut down on my Internet/Library time), I get on the train to Bitchu-Takahashi. The ride is uneventful, but when I get there, I see the sign says “Bitchu-Takahashi” in both English and Hiragana, as all the train stations do.  As I walk up the road on the way to the university, I notice time and again that the Hiragana on the signs for the hotel, police station, community center, etc. all say “Takahashi” without the “Bitchu” part. As my reading ability improves, I keep noticing little things that I had not picked up on before. I have noticed that some of the students there refer to the town as Takahashi as well. A mystery!

I eventually arrive at the school office to sign in and while I am there, I ask my contact person in the office about the names. Yup, sure enough the town is Takahashi City; Bitchu-Takahashi is just the name of the train station. Oh. That makes sense now that I think about it. Locally, the big train station is Okayama Station, while the “little station” near the apartment is called Hokaiin Station, but I don’t live in Hokaiin; I don’t think there even is a city by that name.  They can name the stations anything they want. So from now on, I am not going to the university at Bitchu-Takahashi, since there is no such place. I spend my Tuesdays in Takahashi City.  Yes, it really did take me 8 weeks to learn this. Duh!

Beyond that surprise, everything went pretty much normally. I had the same people as last week in my first class, with one new addition. I now have two Chinese and two Cambodian students. Lessee; two of them do English, Japanese, and Khmer, while two others do English, Japanese, and Chinese. I do English. I feel seriously out numbered and out-brained here.  On the good side, the marshmallows made a big impression. They were shocked that I remembered, and even more pleased that they liked marshmallows. I am told they have them in China, but they are called Cotton Candy there, because they resemble cotton balls. That makes sense, but what do they call actual cotton candy? No, I didn’t ask.

The second class was just like last week, only one student. But this time it was the other student. The one who missed last week was there this week, and the one who showed up last week missed this week. The classes are optional, this is only a support center, so I never know what I’m going to get.  So basically, I re-did last week’s lessons and activities with her that I did with the other student last week.  This way I didn’t have to use any new materials. I wonder who will be there next week?

Then I came home, stopping at the carryout and also buying a few little things at the corner convenience store. I always seem to run out of food on Tuesdays, which is a problem because everything is closed by the time I get home on Wednesdays.  Now I have enough snacks and junk to hold me till Thursday afternoon. I can eat real food at lunchtime and have a bag of chips or something after getting home in the late evening.

I’m all ready for tomorrow’s classes. The old ladies have their restaurant and food vocabulary. The earlier class will read a news story; I have several printouts and haven’t decided which one to use yet. I have the Alzheimer’s article to hand out as well, but that might be for optional home reading and not class work.  I have another game or two as well that they may appreciate.  The Kindergarteners… I guess we’ll review the cards from last week; those were new cards, so I guess a second viewing won’t hurt. I am getting uncomfortable with using flash cards each and every week, but this was the principal’s idea, so if he’s happy, I’m happy.  I may take along my Japanese textbook as well for extra practice on the train or lunch time.  I need to look particularly well-practiced and brilliant this time I think, and even if it’s not necessary more practice writing in Japanese certainly won’t kill me.

And that’s about it for today. It’s 8:20 right now. I hear Marc in the living room watching “The Two Towers” again. I think this is the fourth time he’s watched it. The movie selection here seemed pretty good when we moved in, but they’re all used up now and it’s rerun time. I’m about to turn off the computer and pick up “Best Buddhist Writings,” which I started last night. Last night I only read the Introduction and the first essay. The book has about 30 essays, so one a day is going to take way too long. I have to decide whether I want to double or triple-up the readings or just read two books simultaneously, something I don’t like to do. Wow, these are really tough decisions, eh?  I’d much rather have a dilemma like that than the stuff I was worrying about on Tuesday night a few weeks go.

October 22nd, 2007

A Catch-up Day

I’m not saying the past week has been especially exciting or eventful, but today was an “unwind” day. I woke up early, planning to sneak out before “the boys” woke up, but Marc had beaten me to it; he was already up, dressed, and watching TV when I woke up. I’m guessing a little bird told him today would not a be a good day to screw up any worse.

Mom called me early today, letting me know she tried Saturday and Sunday to call me, but my phone was off. Yes, I turn the phone off when I go to the library. I go to the library on Saturday and Sundays from around 9:30 to 2:30 or so. Yes, I do play on the Internet for three straight hours; that’s quite an impressive drop from “real life,” but I am learning to adapt.  Actually, it’s not so much playing, there’s quite a bit of lesson planning research going on too.  Probably the best time to phone is around 8:30 my time, either am or pm. I just about never am doing anything at those times, although I am awake.

Mom didn’t have much to say to repeat here. She’s been babysitting the kids a lot recently.  She adamantly states that she will NOT be babysitting when the snow falls.  This year they can’t use me as a fallback sitter (not that they ever did often enough!), so that might be a problem for some.  They sent another box Friday, this time with my winter coat, gloves and supplies in it. Shipping was a bunch; it’s almost like buying that coat twice.  Argh!

But on the bright side, as soon as I hung up the phone from Mom, Mrs. Y called. She called on the apartment phone and Marc answered. She said there was an “invitation” to a children’s Halloween party on Saturday. It’ll be from 10:30 to Noon and then another one from 2:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon. They want an American who knows Halloween to go, and they’re paying 10,000Y for it. Marc didn’t sound interested, which surprised me; it sounds easy.  I can always use another 10,000Y ($120 bucks for 2-1/2 hours!), so I said I’d do it. I sure can’t argue about the pay, and it’ll probably be fun too. She didn’t know the ages of the “children” though, so I have to make some assumptions and plan for a variety.  So now I have plans for Saturday. At least I know I have Friday off this week.  I have already found a few good children’s Halloween ghost stories, and maybe I can find some kind of activity or game that doesn’t require much in the way of materials. I don’t really know this, but I’m kind of assuming I’m going to be like the clown that performs at the kids’ birthday parties. At least I don’t have to dress up.

Chilly Morning Mountain March

All that happened before nine am. So I walked up the mountain, and it was a crisp, breezy morning. If I remember correctly, it was around 57 degrees Fahrenheit; I bought a thermometer that has both scales on it. So today was a no-sweat mountain march. Once up there, I picked up a paper with information about the Halloween party from Mrs. Y and printed off a whole bunch of materials for this week’s classes. There’s probably enough for some of the classes next week too. I found a lot of things this past weekend, and even then I usually look for things I can use in multiple classes. I was pretty organized gong in, so that really didn’t take very long. I still had about a half an hour to kill before my first class, so did a little more useless online research on dictionaries.

Then it was time for N-Sensei’s class. This is the class were I was in full “interactive mode” last week and only three students would participate. I caught N-Sensei before class and asked for advice. He smiled; he liked that I was asking. He said I did fine last time, but that I could still stand to slow down a bit. That surprised me, as I thought I was almost talking too slow last week.  He also asked if he could take my picture while teaching. He’s going to Taiwan next month, and wants to do a presentation about our class. Fine with me; now I’m an “International Teaching Sensation ™.”  This reminds me, I want to get pictures with all my teacher-people sometime soon.

The class goes well enough this time. I know what to expect, so I’m not as flustered when no one answers. I repeat and repeat slower, rewording things as I go and writing a LOT on the board. Eventually we got through it, and my part was done. I’m not completely thrilled with the way it turned out, but happier than last time. Last week when I was done, N-Sensei sent me off to go home after the class, this time he brought me one of the books he uses for his part of the class. So I sat in and listened to him teach. Wow. All I can say is that I highly overestimated their ability both this time and last time. I really did think university-level students would be better than that. Hearing them read sounded just like a bunch of first or second graders in America. Now I see why they didn’t participate much for me. I wish they had spoken more last time (or that I could have stayed last time) so that I could see how limited they are; I could have done better this time. Regardless, I know exactly what to do and how to do it next time.  I suspect that K-Sensei’s class this Thursday will benefit as well, as they are probably less able than I thought as well, although they are a little higher.

Since I stayed for N-Sensei’s whole class, I only had an hour before Japanese class, so I ran to the University’s convenience store, right there in the basement of one of the buildings, which is very ah…convenient.  I had a little Halloween pie that I think was made with pumpkin filling and was had a jack-o-lantern face in it as well as a crunchy chocolate donut and a Coke Zero. Not exactly health food, but better than going without. So then I found a quiet place and reviewed my Japanese stuff. We are starting on various verbs now, and these are fairly complex, all with different endings and types of endings and rules that apply to some and not others. Still, This stuff was assigned for last Thursday, so this was more review than serious studying. I wondered if Marc would show up.  He’d be crazy not to, but it really wouldn’t surprise me one way or the other.

Japanese Class: The Smackdown

But he did show up. Woo!  Y-Sensei was as polite as possible (at least in the beginning), but must have sad fifty times that Marc needed to study the Hiragana and Katakana and that we couldn’t keep waiting for him to do that. But we did wait. Marc and I went back and forth making up sentences and answering questions. I snapped off the answers and Marc struggled just to read the letters. To make it worse, I worked ahead a little bit and even on the sentences that took me time to think through, I had them ready to go before he finished reading the question. This probably made me look even more advanced (to Marc) than I really am. Y-Sensei saw me working out the answers in advance and didn’t way a word; I suspect she wanted Marc to get a little nervous. Marc must have said, “I’m sorry” more in that hour-and-a-half than I have ever heard anyone utter anywhere. She didn’t let up on him either, reminding him over and over to study more. At one point she actually said she “didn’t think he was trying hard enough,” which was as close to actually being rude that I have ever heard anyone get in Japan.  I do think he got the point. Will it make a difference? We’ll see.  On the way down the mountain he said that he had too much to worry about to care about keeping the Japanese teachers happy. Sigh.

I spent a big portion of the class looking out the window and waiting for Marc to struggle working out the answers.  Yawn.  The view from the 4th floor of the University is pretty neat; not picturesque, but very busy. Yawn.  I did not get a chance to bring up the subject of splitting us up, but after today, she won’t be surprised when I suggest it Thursday.  She probably couldn’t have made any arrangements at the University if I had discussed it today; Thursday she’ll be at the actual language school and can do whatever she wants.

Now What?

Oops. I was so busy yesterday preparing for classes this week that I didn’t have any plans for what to do after classes. When I got home from Japanese class at 3:30, I had nothing to do.  I finished Zen Keys on Sunday, but have not started anything new yet. I wasn’t uch in the mood to start one today either, so opted for a nap instead. Boom. Next thing I know, it’s 6:00pm and dark out.

I am not a big fan of riding the bicycle at night, so I decide to walk somewhere for dinner. Where? I could go to the corner convenient store, but they mostly have snack-type foods; their obento (meal-in-a-box) are usually pretty scary. The carryout by the little train station?  I could, but I’m not really n the mood for that tonight. McDonald’s yet again?  Sigh. Not really knowing what I wanted, I started walking. It’s neat how different things are at night. All the little shops that you walk right by in the daytime are lit up and open at night. You can see right in. Most of them turn out to be bars, but still, I learn what a few of those shops are. I pass one option after another, and yes, before long I stand before the center of the universe; Happy Town. The bad news is that I am indeed eating at McDonald’s again; the good news is that I can read the katakana lettering on the sign: “Me-ga-ma-ku ba-ku” or, “MegaMac is Back” WooHoo! Even without reading it, the picture is clear enough, but since I can read the sign, I do.  I always at least try to read every sign I see. I don’t know enough verbs to understand most full sentences, but with signs I usually can make out a good portion of the meaning.

It’s in the upper 60’s in the quiet Okayama evening, as I walk back home, extra full of my MegaMac, and smiling at the pure evilness of eating a huge double Big Mac. Oink Oink.  Upon returning, I started writing the blog, and here I am now at 8:00. I’m going to get organized for tomorrow’s class in a few minutes, and then start reading one of my books. I only have two left; Buddha Mind, Buddha Body, and Best Buddhist Writings 2006. I’ve finished everything else.  It’ll take me at least two weeks to get through these two, so I’m still in good shape book-wise.

Which will I begin this evening? I don’t know, so I’ll leave you in suspense.