"Is it Hard Living Your LIfe So BIg"? Week 2 September 14th-September 20th

Well it appears I have made it Week 2 of my Japan adventure though I fear the culture shock is beginning to finally hit me as I begin Week 2.  While Japan has and had its challenges those have become magnified now that I have left the comfort of the Amity training staff as well as my group of 7 other incoming foreign teachers.  If you would have told me a week ago there was going to be genuine sadness at the prospect of leaving these folks behind I would have been surprised but it was true indeed.  Sunday morning myself and the rest of my group headed back to Okayama Train Station to depart for our home school on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), one teacher stayed in Okayama as that is the location of his home school while 2 went in one direction and myself and 4 others headed out on a different train.  Sitting on the train I got to see by day some of the country of Japan as it rushed by.  The country looks much like at lot of the US would probably look, small to medium size towns dotted with rural enclaves.  Only the people stooping with parasols tending to rice patties might have given away their location.  Their were crowds huddled around little league baseball and soccer matches, large industrial plants, people on bikes as well as curious passer bys watching the train sped by.  Two of the people I was tightest with in my training group were on my train so it was sad dropping one off at Kyoto and leaving the other at my stop in Nagoya.  I had wanted the real Japan experience and was now about to get it without the comfort of a large group of Americans, Canadians, Brits and Aussie’s to buffer it for me.

  When I reached Nagoya I was immediately met by my manager who was waiting for my on the platform.  She seemed very nice (several years younger than me) and proceeded to take us to the local train that was to take me to my new home in Kasugai.  The ride from Nagoya was only about 15 minutes and we chatted on the train about the school, my new responsibilities and about the current foreign teacher who was departing Japan later in the week.  It has been interesting how information is disseminated in a Japanese business culture.  After completing my training in Okayama I was told on my final review that the current NET who was to be my guide in Japan had decided to break his contract and leave Japan after only 6 months.  I am not sure why this was not told to me earlier not that there was anything I could do about it but I found it strange they gave me a welcome letter signed by the staff including the NET explaining how excited he was to meet me and show me around town.

As she was showing me around the apartment, which was bigger than I had anticipated (pictures to follow soon) I did something I was to do another 6 times since I moved in, namely smash my head into the door jam connecting the living area to the kitchen.  Although the apartment is not as small as I thought (about the size of my studio in Northern Liberties) the door jams are clearly “Japanese made” meaning they are not made for the average American above 6 feet to pass thru them.  Learning to duck quickly is a skill I am quickly picking up, so hopefully the many lumps atop my head will soon be a thing of the past.  I am also using it as a learning experience as I get to perfect the art of the Japanese bow every time I enter my bedroom or bathroom.  Another thing I had not anticipated about the apartment is the lack of any furniture other than some shelving and a small computer desk, Japanese do everything on the floor watching TV, eating etc. but I was still surprised to see no couch, chairs or kitchen table in my apartment.  On the positive side my futon bed roll was comfortable as all get out and I slept like a log my first night in my new place.

As for some other new experiences I did my first bit of food shopping this morning and did pretty well.  I was even able to ask the grocery manager where the tamago (eggs) were due to my pre-departure Japanese vocab lessons.  I was even able to find some American products, Ritz, Funions (they are Fun Onions), Heinz ketchup as well as McCain Smiley Face Potatoes which seem to be popular in Japan (I think their popularity is explained by their cuteness, see my sidebar on (The Japanese Addiction to kawaii).  Monday night I checked off one of the things I wanted to do when I took in my first Japanese baseball game at the Nagoya Dome between my new home team the Chunichi Dragons and the very popular Hanshin Tigers from Osaka.  I was proud of myself for even giving the game a try as sometimes the culture shock here wants you to go small so while it would have been easier to stay in my apartment watching DVD’s or working on my apartment I thought I had to go out and take my first train to Nagoya to get it down.  After a short ride bus ride and $2.50 ride on the local train to Nagoya I arrived at the game to find out that of course it was sold out but was able to obtain a ticket from another fan for only 900 yen ($8.50) as the game was already in the 3^rd inning when I arrived.  Although the Dragons got beat soundly by the Tigers and the ticket I obtained was in the top deck of the Dome with all the Hanshin Tigers fans it was fun nonetheless.  As far as experiences go it was pretty similar in many ways to an American baseball game apart from some different food.  I had a hot dog (cabbage and ketchup on it?), fries and a Coke before leaving in the 9^th inning so as to be ready for m first day of work at the school.  The main difference from baseball here and home is the cheering.  At no point during the game is it ever quiet as that team’s cheering squad is leading either group of fans in organized cheers.  Some type of team noisemaker is essential (I got my Dragons noisemaker at the store before entering) and although it is loud in Japanese fashion the other team is never booed or jeered only the home team is supported (loudly!).  When particular players come up there are even special songs, cheers as well as flags, pictures, signs held up for that particular player in the hopes of enticing him to perform well for the home team.

Tuesday was my first day at the school and after the week I can say I am not sure I realized just how difficult the job is going to be.  Most days of this week there is very little to report as I was so whupped from the long day I did little than grab something to eat and immediately head home to go to bed to do it all again the next day.  My first day, my first class and bright and early at 10AM I was to watch my first lesson being taught to 2 toddlers by the outgoing NET. The first girl came in saw me sitting on the floor, stuck out here tongue at me and immediately began crying hysterically so much so that the Manager had to enter the classroom to try and calm her down.  She was inconsolable for the remainder of the 40 minute class and covered her eyes for the entire time so she could not see me all the while the other girl stared at me with a slight smile once in a while glancing over at her distraught classmate.  After the close of the class the interactions with the kids got decidedly better.  Since the outgoing NET is Asian, thin and about 5 foot 6 I seem to be something of a new celebrity at school to most of the kids based on my looks and size.  On several occasions as I planned my classes in the staff room I would look up to see 5 or 6 kids smiling and peering at me thru the window watching me intently.  Any silly faces or movements I make bring about eruptions of laughter from them as in the small town I live someone that looks like I do is something quite rare.  I also need not join a gym since I made the mistake of picking up one of the kids smiling at me early in the week and boosting her towards the ceiling so she could touch it.  After that every kid that enters or leaves the school stops by for me to give them a similar boost as they think it is the most fun thing they have ever done.  Over the week I taught some solo classes, had my other NET sit in on many others but I feel like I am finally finding my stride as far as planning and executing good classes for my students.  In my first week I even had some parents sign their kids up for several weeks of private lessons with me, which hopefully is a good sign.  My first lesson Saturday with the 10 year old who took one such lesson went great as I had my first success a teacher feels when I was able to get him to say the phrase “See you Later, Alligator” which was a little difficult for him.  As I tried to explain it was an American slang phrase he turned his head not understanding the word, alligator.  As I searched the classroom for a picture to show him unsuccessfully I then tried closing my arms together like jaws while repeating “alligator”.  After a few chomps with my arms as the jaws and my fingers as the teeth his face lit up when he realized what an alligator was and then started laughing and repeating the phrase, “See you later, alligator”.  All in all the kids are great and it is the interaction with them that makes the job fun.  The title of this post stems from one of the more interesting interactions I had with the mother of a student after quietly introducing my self as the new ego sensei (English teacher) she stared at me for several seconds before asking me in halting English, "Is it difficult to live you life so big"?  After thinking for a few seconds about the question I answered that I had not given it much thought.

Today was my partner NET’s last day and I think it is more emotional for him than he expected it to be.  It is not hard even being here for just a week to see how these children can become a part of you.  An interesting clash of cultures occurred at the end of the day as the Japanese staff presented the NET with a small gift and a card before he departed for the night.  After reading the well wishes of the staff he seemed really moved by their kindness but rather than hugs goodbye and tears there was merely polite bowing and quiet kind words to one another before departing.  Not trying to judge Japanese society but there is something about us as Americans that can make us appear more rude, loud and boisterous in our interactions with one another than that of the Japanese but we are definitely a people who are more apt to hug one another and share emotion as a people more so than the Japanese where all societal interactions are more guarded and polite.  Something about the scene felt strangely unfinished and incomplete.

After leaving work I met him at a cool bar near work called the Backbeat.  The bar so named for the famous club in Liverpool, England, which launched the Beatles, displays tons of Beatle memorabilia and plays Beatles and American music non-stop.   We talked to the owner, a musician himself and the waitress who keep calling us sensei’s (the teachers) and after a couple of Ashai’s and a glass of Shocu we headed home around midnight to close out Week number 2 in Japan.

Due to an unknown Japanese holiday I am the benefactor of a three-day weekend, which is much needed after the stress of my first week.  That is the great thing about being in an unknown country for me, you say to your coworker, “See you Tuesday” only to be told you are off for Japanese Halloween in September or something to that effect.  That is something cool that never happens to you in the US, you never say, “OK, I will email you Monday with that information”, only to be told you are off due to a holiday you did not even know existed.  I asked someone at work why we were off and they told me they were not sure.  So I’m just going with it.

Monday one of my friends from training, Garnet is going to meet me in Nagoya as she lives about 25 minutes by train from here.  Our plan is maybe grab a real American burger at the Hard Rock and then check out another Dragons game at Nagoya Dome.  In also just as exciting news my outgoing NET gave me the keys to my Japanese bike which was handed down to him from the last teacher so my world in Kasugai just got a whole lot larger as I can now get anywhere in town in 5-10 minutes as opposed to having to walk everywhere.   And when I say “the keys” I really got the keys as Japanese bikes actually have a lock on them like a car so it was like getting my license for the first time. As to how the Japanese are going to be with a okii gaijin (big foreigner) on a bike hurling towards them that will have to wait for Week 3

Interesting English Translations #1: Sometimes either the way it’s phrased or maybe the translation here just make me laugh.   It could also be that Americans are so boastful in their advertising slogans, things like “You’ve tried the rest now try the best “ atop pizza boxes come to mind or Coke “The Real Thing”.  While having breakfast I scanned what could be read on my carton of orange juice in English and saw the slogan

“Let’s try and enjoy this juice”!

Wow they don’t sound very confident.

Interesting English Translation #2:  From the balcony of my apartment I saw a large Japanese milk truck with the words ACID MILK stenciled across it.  Acid and milk are not synonymous with dairy deliciousness for me, but hey that’s me.