Brian’s Japan Adventure

January 12th, 2008

School Days Gone By

It was library/Internet day, so I did the usual routine as far as that is concerned. Just as I was finishing up there, I got my weekly call from home. It seems my diploma has arrived. Yay!  One thing I have always found fascinating is that you get no official confirmation of your graduation, even if you participate in the ceremony, until you get the diploma in your hand. People told me I would graduate, but there was never any official notice on either the registration website or in the mail. Up until today, they could have changed their minds for whatever reason.  It’s no big deal, I wasn’t in a hurry for the diploma, and they did the same thing with my Bachelor’s Degree a year and a half ago. It’s just slow.

An Oversight or a Hostage Situation?

I didn’t really expect that diploma till right about now, but one thing that I had expected earlier was my TEFL Certificate.  I still don’t have it.  Marc doesn’t have his either, but in his case I had just assumed he left something unfinished at home; some paper or project not yet turned in. I know for a fact that I am done with all of that. I have to think they are holding them until we return. If that is the case, then it seems inappropriate; many of the people I took the TEFL classes with had no specific plans to ever go anywhere, and I know they must have gotten their certificates long, long ago.  Perhaps they simply forgot ours since we didn’t get them at the end of summer. I guess this calls for an email to Dr. M back at the Home University.

Speaking of Dr. M back at the university, I wonder what they think of all this stuff in the blog? I know both of my TEFL teachers (Drs. M and C for the very longtime readers) knew about the blog.  I know Dr. M has read it, at least in the beginning. There were at least two other teachers at the school who knew of the blog as well, “C.” Who was my co-teacher with the Japanese Exchange Students last summer, and “K” who was the teacher for that very last memoir writing class. They’re all busy teachers, and probably aren’t keeping up with my rantings here, but if they are, I wonder what they think about all the stuff that goes on here.

What Are They Thinking?

If it comes right down to it, I doubt there is much that I write in this blog that doesn’t happen or go through the mind of everyone who participates in this program. Where do I differ from the “typical” student who comes over here and does this? I am older than most, no doubt. I don’t drink, which leads to a very different kind of social life than Marc. I just finished school, while most of the others are somewhere in the middle; this lets me be a little more critical of things since they can’t fail me now. And I am writing all my experiences and thoughts in a very public blog.  Overall, I don’t see where any of these would make that much difference in my perspective, and most other intern teachers would be doing the mostly the same things, although I suspect Marc’s lifestyle is more typical than my own for students over here.

Someone could read my blog reports and think that this program is a total fiasco or sham operation.  That’s not the case at all, although I do tend to complain a lot; that’s just me. Overall, from a professional standpoint, everything over here seems to be going well. I see no reason the folks at the Home University would need to be concerned about anything at this point in the trip. I’ve moaned and whined quite a lot about these new classes, but that’s more because they came out of the blue as a surprise to me than anything else; I don’t like surprises.

As far as I know, all the Japanese teachers (as well as Y-San) are happy with both Marc and myself. Neither of us has ever turned down a request or assignment from the company.  Marc has called in sick a few days, but so far I haven’t, so our attendance is overall good. We both hate Japanese Language class, but for different reasons. I think I work at it all harder than Marc, but we’re just different. Marc can impress people with his personality and humor, while I have to impress with brains and hard work. I think the people in charge are happy with both of us, probably for different reasons, but they are happy, and that’s what counts.

We’re both getting to the point where we are talking about going home a lot.  As much fun as it has been here, it is starting to get old. Marc too, is counting the days; he only has six weeks left, while I have eight. Drat!  On the lighter side, on the train yesterday, he mentioned that he wants to go home because he misses American bar food, and he’s getting tired of Japanese bar food.  It was all I could do to keep from laughing. I guess Marc and his bar food isn’t really any worse than me wanting to go home for Taco bell and Wendy’s because I am sick of Japanese McDonalds.

Basically, no one asked for a status report, but there it is anyway. Getting the diploma reminded me that we are sort of still working for the Home University over here.  And also because when I email Dr. M. to pester her about that certificate, she’s bound to ask, “so how is everything going over there?”

Well, you read it here first!

Tomorrow the bitching and whining will resume as usual.

Japan TEFL.Com Glossary

I’ve been here seemingly forever now, and I often reference people and places that I have described in the past. Not everyone here has been with me since the beginning, so I think it’s high time I posted a “Glossary” of all the things, people, and places I discuss in the Japantefl.com blog. As always, I have abbreviated (K-Sensei, etc.) or “euphemized” proper names (Home University, The Company).  Here goes:

Big Boy: It’s got the same fat character in his red-and-white overalls, but beyond that, the similarity between American Big Boy and Japanese Big Boy end. Japanese Big Boy has, steak, chicken, and all kinds of great “American Style” dinners. No burgers or hot fudge cake or anything American Big Boy has, but it’s great. Best American food in town.

Big Station, The: See Okayama Station.

Bitchu-Takahashi: A train station about an hour away from here to the northwest. For a long time, I thought the town itself was Bitchu-Takahashi, but I was wrong. Only the train station carries the name Bitchu-Takahashi. See Takahashi for a description of the city itself.

Brian: That’s me. Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. Bachelor’s Degree in Religion Studies, Masters in English Composition and Rhetoric. Currently teaching English in and around Okayama, Japan.

Brian-Sensei: That’s me too. This is how many students refer to me. Some also call me “Mr. Brian.” No one here actually uses my last name. I think may have introduced myself to some of them wrongly in the beginning, but it doesn’t really matter to me. It probably doesn’t help that my last name is hard for them to pronounce.

Carryout: See Honke Kamodoya

Co Co Ichiban: Also known as Co Co Ichibanya or just Co Co. A place downtown that is convenient to both the Tenmaya Station, Okayama Train Station and the Okayama Library. They serve curry in various ways. Curry is immensely popular in Japan. Thick brown sauce over rice with vegetable, meat or “other” mixed in. You can order it in various sizes and “levels” of spiciness.

Cred: One of the big department stores in downtown Okayama. I haven’t actually bought anything there, but I have looked in there a few times. They have a small selection of books in English in the fifth-floor bookstore.

Fukuyama: Fukuyama is a town about halfway between Okayama and Hiroshima. I’d estimate Fukuyama is about half the size of Okayama. They have an elementary school that I visit about once a month on Fridays. The school is an “immersion” experiment, meaning that the children there are taught in ONLY English. Their math, science, phys-ed, etc are all taught be people who speak English.

Happy Town: A large store about two miles away. The first floor has a McDonalds in it as well as a full grocery store. The second floor has housewares and clothing (that won’t fit me). The third floor has a toy department, stationary department, books (all Japanese), and a 100 Yen store, the equivalent of a “dollar store” back home. I do most of my shopping and get most supplies from here.

Hiroshima: The biggest city that I visit regularly. I spend every Wednesday there. I teach three kindergarten classes in the morning, then an adult class in the afternoon and another adult class of mostly really old people in the evening. I take the Shinkansen to get there and back, and I have a long three-hour break in the middle of the day to explore or play.

Hokaiin Station:  This train station is about a mile and a half away, and takes about five minutes to get to by bicycle or ten minutes by foot. Almost every one of my trips involves this station in one way or another. I almost always park my bicycle here when taking the bus downtown, and of course, any trip on the trains begins here. I buy tickets here, ride the train to Okayama Station, and the transfer to the correct train to wherever I am ultimately going. It’s three minutes to Okayama Station and costs 140Y each way.

Home University: I have recently graduated with my M.A., but my trip to Japan is basically an Internship arrange through “my” University in Ohio, USA. I am still in regular contact with the university, as I am still officially with them through this internship.

Honke Kamodoya: An obento carryout located very near the Hokaiin station. They serve obento, but they make it up fresh for you when you order it, and it comes hot and fresh. They’re pretty cheap too, most meals are between 500-600 yen.

K-Sensei:  K-Sensei teaches an “English in the Sciences” on Thursdays. I come to class for 30-45 minutes and talk about some article that he gives me the previous week. Sometimes I talk about the subject and content of the article; sometimes I talk about interesting English features that are used in the Article. It’s fun, but I get absolutely zero involvement from the students. It’s basically a straight lecture from my point of view. I suspect K-Sensei explains what I said to them after I leave.

Kinderphobia: I have a bit of a problem with the Kindergarten in Hiroshima once in a while. I just cannot plan for those classes the way I can the others. Sometimes I can take a really simple idea and stretch it for a full class period; sometimes I can plan two or three things and burn through them in ten minutes.  The problem is that I cannot plan as well as I’d like and that worries me. I just have to go to class and “wing it,” and that really goes against my way of doing things. I have, from time to time, lost sleep over this, and I have termed the problem “kinderphobia.”

Korukuen Garden: The largest garden in Japan, and often considered the best. After the Castle, this is the second largest tourist attraction in Okayama. It’s nice, but a little too large and open-air for me. I prefer Hiroshima’s Shukkeien garden.

Library: The Okayama Prefectural Library. I go here at least once a week. I got a library card early in my stay here, and always have at least one English-language book checked out. More importantly, they offer Internet access for free f you bring your laptop. I do most of my research and class preparation here.

Little Station: See Hokaiin Station.

Loft, The: Another big store downtown.

Marc: My roommate in Okayama. We took TEFL courses together over last summer as well. He’s a very large guy, both tall and fat (bigger than me in both directions). He also has a large bushy beard that is getting bigger every day. When people see Marc coming, they get out of the way.  A girl in a store the other day nearly screamed when she saw him turn a corner; I am not kidding.  People are really freaked out when they see him. I guess it’s the beard, since he’s not especially frightening; no one in America would look twice at him. Little kids like him, since they see “Santa Claus.”

Maruzen: Maruzen is a bookstore located near Tenmaya, inside the Okayama Symphony Hall. They have a large selection of English books, and also a large selection of book about teaching English; teaching supplies. They are quite expensive, but it you want to buy books, this is the best English bookstore in town.

McDonalds: Just like in the States. Big Mac, Cheeseburger, Fries. Also McPork, Teriyaki burger, and shrimp sandwich. Despite what you hear the portions and food are exactly the same as in America. They’re not that much more expensive than America either.  The places are everywhere, but the two I use most frequently are inside Happy Town and halfway between the Tenmaya Station and the Okayama Library.

Megalo: An Internet café located near the Tenmaya Station, They charge around $10 for three hours of access in a little private room. It’s kind of scummy, with a lot of porn hanging on the walls, but it’s a useful place to go on holidays or other times when the library is closed.

Mr. Kindergarten: The principal of the kindergarten in Hiroshima. He speaks painfully little English, so it’s always a challenge communicating with him, but he’s still more advanced than anyone else at the school. He accompanies me to my classes there and interprets some things. He also keeps the very active children in line.

Mrs. Y: See Y-San. I called her “Mrs. Y” for ages, because that’s how they always referred to her in the States. I decided more recently that it just wasn’t really appropriate, and should change her name in my mind before I used the wrong term in front of her.  So from now on, she’s Y-san, which is the appropriate way to reference someone in her position.

N-Sensei: Teaches a Conversational English course on Mondays. I teach the first half of the course, while he teaches the second half. There is very little overlap between the two halves, so I am fairly free to do what I want in this class. The students are painfully quiet.

Obento: A meal in a box. They come in a box with little dividers like a TV dinner. Some obento are served hot, some come cold. They always have rice, but other than that, the contents vary. You get some kind of meat, a vegetable, maybe potato salad, and some kind of pickled thing. They are found everywhere, from Happy Town to kiosks in the train stations and little shops on every street corner. I have tried the cold ones from Happy Town, but I prefer the hot, fresh ones from the carryout, Honke Kamodoya. Sushi obento are extremely common and popular, and they are very colorful.

Okayama: My “home” city while I’m here. This is Okayama City, which is located within Okayama Prefecture (that’s like New York, New York, Japan-style).  It’s a medium-sized city located halfway between Osaka and Hiroshima on the southern part of the Honshu, the main island of Japan.  This is not a particularly foreigner-friendly city; you don’t see many westerners in Okayama and few people here speak English at all.

Okayama Castle: The main tourist attraction for Okayama. It’s really cool, but there are plenty of descriptions of the castle itself. Check out Wikipedia.

Okayama Station: The big train station. This is the largest train station in the area, and one of the big rail hubs of western Japan. Okayama station can get you anywhere, and just about everyone going anywhere in west Japan passes through Okayama.

Sami Beach: A swimming beach located in Shin-Kurashki, about and hour away by train and bus. It was voted one of Japan’s “most beautiful beaches” and I’d have to agree. I went there twice early in my time here, after beach-season was over. No one was there, so I had the place to myself. It was an unusually warm September/October, so I was perfectly comfortable.

Shinkansen: This is the world-famous “bullet train” of Japan. These things are like airplanes that ride on rails. They go up to 150 kph, which is really, really fast.

Shukkeien Garden: A compact garden in Hiroshima. It was destroyed in WWII and rebuilt just as it was. It has many different types of garden all very near each other, which gives the impression of crowded. Between this garden and Korukuen, this one is smaller, but in my opinion, nicer.

Slackass: See Marc.

Squishies: Octopus and Squid. These are both very popular and inexpensive here. They are very tough and chewy, and I don’t like them. I actually tried octopus once, and I don’t like squid just by reputation.

Takahashi: Takahashi is a city northwest of here, which I visit every Tuesday. I go on the train, and it takes about an hour each way.  It’s a classic little “mountain town.”  It’s very scenic with mountains, trees, and old temples. This is a VERY old town, and some of the buildings go back hundreds of years. The university here is quite new, and sits up on a mountain overlooking it all.  The problem with this town is that other than scenery, there is nothing at all to do. I’ve only spotted one restaurant in the entire town (and it’s not good).

Tenmaya: One of the big department stores in downtown Okayama. I haven’t actually bought anything there, but I have looked in there a few times.

Tenmaya Station: The main bus station in Okayama. It’s next door to the Tenmaya store, so it’s named after it. This is located right in the middle of the biggest shopping district in Okayama.

The Company: I don’t work for a particular school. The company I work for owns a large number of educational institutions, and they have an agreement with the Home University to send over two people at a time to travel between their schools and teach various levels of English classes.

Toyonari Pool: A public pool located about a half-hour away by bus. Y-San told me about this place the first week I was here. I visited there once, and it was a unique experience. I have gone a second time, but they were closed for repairs. I keep telling myself I should go again for the exercise, but it was just a little too uncomfortable. People always stare at me here, and I am used to that now, but it’s different with very few clothes one.

University Up The Hill / On The Mountain / “Upstairs”: The main university that we are attached to here in Okayama. It sits up on top of a small mountain. My apartment sits right at the base of the mountain, and I can see some of the buildings from down here. Y-San has an office up there. I teach classes here on Monday and Thursday.

Y-San: This is my main contact within “The Company.” She translates stuff for us, manages our schedules and basically is our boss while in Japan. She moved around a lot as a child in both Japan and America, so she has a flawless accent. Have you ever heard the “Kim Komando” radio show? Y-San sounds exactly like Kim Komando.

Y-Sensei: Y-Sensei is the teacher in charge of our Japanese Class. On Mondays, we have class at the university on the mountain, while on Thursdays we have it at a language school near the little station.

Yen: Money in Japan. I’m sure you know that already, but since I often quite prices in the blog, it might help to discuss the exchange rate. 100 yen costs about 85 cents of American money. In practice, it gets very easy to think of a yen as a penny. The most common coin here is the 100-yen coin, which is worth about a dollar. There are a lot of different coins: Single yen (aluminum), 5 yen (brass with a hole in the middle), 10 yen (brass with no hole), 50 yen (silver with a hole), 100 yen (silver with no hole), and 500 yen (gold or brighter brass) coins. There are three bills; the 1000, 5000, and 10,000 yen bills, which mentally translate to $10, $50, and $100 bills. I have umpteen zillion single and 5 yen coins lying around, since you can’t do much with them. Larger coins work in the many vending machines.

November 2nd, 2007

Many Morning Misadventures

It’s not even noon yet on Friday, and I have a bunch of stuff to talk about already. This does not bode well for the afternoon.

What’s Red And White and Comes in 10,000 Pieces?

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s report that Marc had an adventure as well on Wednesday. He arrived at the train station to find that everything was messed up. Eventually, he found someone who could explain to him that there had been a girl who “jumped” in front of a train, which mangled the schedule for hundreds of miles around.

That happened on Wednesday, and I knew something was up as well. All the usual monitors and screens in the Shinkansen terminal had text on them that I couldn’t read instead of the usual scheduled arrivals, departures, and commercials. Over the intercom was lots of talking, sometimes with several people talking at once rather than the calm recorded messages I usually hear. My train arrived on–time at the usual place, so I had no problems; the Shinkansen runs on different tracks than the regular local lines. Marc however, was four hours late to class and ended up going several stops past where he needed to get off (Wednesday was his Takahashi City day, which already takes an hour each way). I don’t know if he actually had to do his classes late or if they were cancelled, but no one doubted his story as it was all over the news. What a mess! I guess it’s pretty common, but it’s the first time it has affected us personally.

Oops. Crunch Time!

Last night, I was on the bed reading when I noticed something and had to sit up and take off my glasses to see what it was. Nothing, just some dust on the floor. So I laid back down to keep on reading and couldn’t find my glasses. Uh-oh. I sat up, and sure enough they were right where I left them. Lying on the bed, under me, and I had squished them. I bent the frames back to the correct shape, but one of the lenses has halfway popped out. I fiddled with pushing it back in, but I need a little glasses-sized screwdriver to fix it. I haven’t seen one here and didn’t bring one along. Mom! Something for the next box!!! I don’t want to wear them now for fear that the lens will pop out, fall in the street and break. Fortunately, I did bring a spare pair. Once again, I will thank the Clark Howard show for tipping me off to the $7.95 eyeglasses website. I might just order another set while I’m here.

Swimming Sunk!

OK, as I mentioned yesterday, I figured today would be a good day to revisit the Toyonari Pool that I tried back in September. I worked out my schedule very carefully so that I would arrive when I figure the crowd would be light. I took the bus to Tenmaya Station and then switched to Bus #10 to get to the pool. No problem at all. Got off the bus, found the building. No problem at all. There’s a sign on the door. Problem! The sign says:

11-1 (something) 11-14 (something else)

I peep in the window and not only is the place closed, but the pools are drained. I can only assume the sign says “Closed for maintenance 11-1 to 11-14.” Let’s see 11-14 is a Wednesday, so the Friday after that (16th), I go to the Elementary school. The next Friday (24th) is a holiday. So unless I want to try again on the weekend or have a day off that I am not expecting I won’t be trying that again this month. Two hours and around 800Y in bus fares later, at least I have something to put in the blog for today. And on the bright side, I went early, so I still have most of the day left.

Shopping!

It’s now 3:30 and I just got back from downtown, round two. After typing up the preceding report and doing a load of laundry, I headed back downtown on the bus. The goal this time was to check out the major shopping stores near the bus station. Cred, The Loft, and Tenmaya are the big three. I hit them all today.

The Loft is the smallest of the bunch with only 6 floors. It was mostly a bunch of clothes that won’t fit me and lots of women’s stuff. They did have one floor of giftwrap, greeting cards, party games, toys, and office supplies. I think this section may come in useful for holiday lessons and when it’s time to send actual gifts back home.

Cred was more interesting, but not but much. There is a bookstore on the 4th and 5th floor, and they have a section of books in English on the 5th floor. I didn’t buy any books today, but their prices looked better than Maruzan, so when I am ready to buy books, I’ll check here first. Then up, up, and away! On the 20th floor is a Chinese buffet. They had their lunch rates posted, and it’s 990Y for lunch. That doesn’t seem too bad for a buffet. I wonder what it costs for dinner? The view from the 21st floor is great, and I will be sure to take my camera along next time.

Tenmaya, on the other hand has ruined my entire opinion of Japan. I though Japan was made up of a sensible, realistic bunch of people. Tenmaya, however, has proven me wrong. I don’t know when they did it, sometime since last Saturday I guess (Probably the dy after Halloween). Yes folks, Christmas has hit Okayama. Tenmaya has everything decorated with trees, blinking lights, garland, and the works. No Santa Claus, at least not yet, but Macy’s has nothing on these guys.

So there it is. I hit the three biggest shopping stores in Okayama. What did I buy? Not a darn thing. I saw a couple of books that looked good, and I may go back for a cloth “shopping bag” to carry things in (1050Y), but I didn’t actually get anything today. Well, that’s not entirely true; I did get a double-dip Magic Midnight Mint ice cream cone at the Baskin-Robbins and lunch at Co Co Ichiban.

I was actually kind of hoping to find some kind of art supply store. I have plenty of time, so I think it might be a good idea to make something or do some kind of craft-type thing. But I haven’t found anything that really jumps out at me yet. It has been suggested that I take up Japanese calligraphy, but I’m not sure that I can really do something like that without knowing more of the language; there’s a lot more to it than just drawing letters.

It’s still pretty early. I only have one essay left in the “Best Buddhist Writings” book, so I’ll finish that tonight, probably within the next half hour or so. Then I need to decide whether to read my last book here or pick up something from the library and save this last one as an “emergency spare.”

November 1st, 2007

Two Months In Japan

Went up the hill early today to get on the computer and get everything current. I could only upload a few of the 122 photos I took yesterday because they have to be done one at a time from Mrs. Y’s computer. I’ll fill up the gallery with all of them on Saturday’s library trip. I did get all the blogs posts updated, emails answered, a few message board posts, and of course I won at trivia (although not for the whole month since I can’t play every single day) in the Arcaneum Trivia Game.

Mastery

I have often joked about my trip to Japan, asking “Can I become a Zen Master in six months? I’m in a hurry!” Of course not, we all know it takes at least eight months to become a Zen Master. But I did learn today that my Master’s Paper was accepted and passed, so now in about three weeks, I will graduate with my Master’s Degree in English Composition and Rhetoric. As far as I know, all the paperwork and administrative stuff is completed, so from my point of view I really am done with it all. I’m Free!!! The best part is that now that I know where I stand on school, I can actually start making plans for spring now.

Finishing the online catch-up, I then went to K-Sensei’s class and discussed an essay on bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Yay, that was fun… or not. Still, it’s about the easiest class that I have because it’s really mostly just a lecture with little interaction from the students. They listen to me for thirty or forty minutes and then discuss my lecture with the teacher for the remainder of class. Again, it’s my easiest class. Then it was off to Happy Town to restock on the essentials and hurry back before Japanese class.

Enough Nagging, Get On With Class Already!

Japanese class was mostly OK today, but Y-Sensei was riding Marc so hard I was just about to stick up for him. Nagging is OK, but she’s going far enough to be obnoxious about it. I did mention in class that I wanted to split up; at this point it can only be a good thing for us both and even Marc knows it. He’s getting tired of comparisons, and so am I. I’m studying because I want to learn this stuff, not to be a role model or example to use against slackers. Leave me out it. But today’s class was mostly a day for “listen to the CD and answer questions” listening comprehension questions. Nothing too hard, but they sure do speak fast on that CD!

Three Big Boys In One Room?

Because I am such a nice guy, I suggested to Marc that we go to Big Boy after class, and he thought it was a good idea. Today was payday, so he had no problem with that, and after the pounding from Y-Sensei, he wanted something good to eat. He was impressed with Big Boy and actually told me it was “a good catch” finding the place. He was particularly thrilled when he saw that they are open till 2am every night.

I ordered exactly the same thing as the other day, only with the addition of the drink bar this time. They don’t have diet anything in their machine, so I had a coffee and a real Coke. I’m not sure about the coffee, but it may have actually been espresso; I couldn’t read the buttons. It was awful. Next time, water will be fine. Marc got a hamburger steak like mine only instead of cheese on top, he went with mushrooms and instead of the steak fries, he got the salad bar. The salad bar is a little unimpressive compared to American salad bars, but you can go back for all you can eat just like at home, so it does have good points. The bill came out to around 1100Y each, which isn’t bad. Then we rode home in the dark, which I never enjoy, but got home without incident.

And that’s about it for today. Tomorrow is Marc’s day to go to the elementary school and watch all day, while I get the day off. I’m tossing around the idea of going to that pool that I went to way back. It was too crowded then, but it hot outside and a Saturday then. On a Friday morning in November, things might be different. I was pretty uncomfortable there before, but it didn’t kill me, so it might be worth another try. Or I could stay home and read or explore somewhere; I still want to explore some of those high-rise department stores downtown. I am not going to the library Friday; I want to make one time do it this week, and that day will be Saturday. I can always add Sunday if necessary, but I’m hoping to be organized enough not to need that.

Two-Month Summary

So, I’ve been here two whole months now. What have I done?

• I’ve mastered hiragana, katakana and learned a handful of kanji as well as quite a few words; probably not thousands of words, but hundreds of words at least. I am better able to understand the subject of what people are talking about, but I still can’t actually say much that is useful.

• I’ve taught all my classes multiple times, and I am no longer nervous about any of them. Some are easier or harder than others, but I can handle all of them. For the most part, I can even say that I like all of them. I have even come to a sort of uneasy truce with the Kindergarten.

• I have a selection of restaurants and food places now, so I can eat what I’m in the mood for most of the time. McDonalds, Freshness Burger, Co Co Ichiban, Big Boy, Honke Kamadoya, Happy Town, Mos Burger, and probably some others. Not the healthiest menu, but there’s enough variety to keep me going.

• Marc and I are basically getting along, although we both have our grumpy days. I, of course, am always blameless in all disputes and flawless in all other regards as well.

• I’ve seen all the major tourist sites in both Okayama and Hiroshima and have full photo galleries to match. My explorations and adventures have become fewer as time has passed. There are a few places I still want to see locally, but I am in no rush. Other cities await possible exploration when the holiday breaks come along.

• I have mastered trains, buses and bicycles. I haven’t really done anything with taxis, but haven’t really seen the need.

• I can buy books at the Maruzan bookstore or get loaners from the library, so I have no end to reading material, even though the selection is still somewhat small.

• My TV watching, on the other hand, has declined dramatically since my first few weeks here. What used to be a nightly novelty has just gotten boring. It’s OK as a simple time-waster, but it’s not all that entertaining or educational. I am most definitely not going to learn Japanese from watching TV.

• I can get on the Internet any time I want (in theory anyway) with the various Internet cafes, the library, Mrs. Y’s computer, or the Hiroshima Community Center. In reality, all of these options are still fairly inconvenient and still have problems, but I am not going to be able to do any better than this, so it’s either take it or leave it.

• Laundry. Yes, I’m doing it once or twice a week, and it’s pretty easy. I have little bleach tablets now, and my whites are actually white again. From closer examination of the washer, I see only one water hose going in, so I’m assuming there just isn’t any hot water. Again, clothes are coming out OK, so I guess it’s not necessary. Drying clothes are going to be more and more of a challenge as it gets colder outside.

The bottom line is that everything is going just fine. Things are going well in general, and I’m happy that I came over here. I don’t know that I want to stay longer than March, but I’m not regretting doing it so far.

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!!!