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Published: April 11th 2005
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my apartment view
for every rainy day there falls in Vancouver, this is what I enjoy in Japan Serenity Prayer
God grant me the sanity
to accept that I cannot change
a single thing about Japan,
remember to change my underpants
even though I'm single and live alone,
and wisdom to know the difference
between udon, ramen, and soba Halfway through a 3 year contract, I accept that I will not be the exception, the JET who makes a difference in the life of his students, or in the community. I have tried to improve the school's approach to learning English but its controlled by the government and entirely aimed at preparing students for university entrance tests, all of which is grammar and reading comprehension. My job is less so a teacher than a friendly foreign face to symbolize not only Canada but the "other", the foreign, the non-Japanese. The most I can expect of the staff and student body are a few 'hellos' each day. Now i relax and enjoy the free ride called JET. I sit at the computer or my desk or nap in the lounge. In a 35 hour work week, eight to ten hours involve teaching in various capacities, and two hours preparing. For the remaining twenty plus hours, I catch
south facing apartment
tatami mats, chinese lantern, Vietnamese wooden puppet, furniture out of the trash, Korean pottery and the weekend paper. home up on the classics, take a walk to 7-11, wave hello in the hall to a few of the not so shy students, and explore the internet.
Happy New fiscal Year
In March the third year students graduate. The ceremony follows a strict procedure, the exact same as the year before and the year before that. It mirrors the Opening Ceremony when they arrived at the school as first years. The Principal, dressed in tails, gives a speech, the same as the year before and the year before that. Bows in several direction are followed with a speech from an elder in the school board, more bows, and finally a class rep approaches the podium to deliver a speech. She cries, reminiscing of the year's many fond memories they have 'made' and will cherish; culture days, sports days, clubs, teams, work experience. The gym is full of tears and tissues. The principal calls each students' name. In turn, they stand and respond,
hai, and sit back down. This ritual combines efficiency and pageantry, in a poignantly Japanese manner, heavy on the efficiency. I shake hands with a few of my closer students,
omedetou gozaimasu, ganbatte, congratulations and good luck.
Carrina & I, JET Winter Conference Party
My friend & I both arrived the same day in Japan, 18 months ago. We agree that alcohol is a great coping mechanism for the stress of being a foreigner. Students enter into college the next month or into the
fritasub culture of part time workers, while others spend an unfortunate year preparing to rewrite university entrance exams.
In April Japan begins anew. New English teachers arrive. A young guy from Chiba prefecture repeats an English-Japanese hybrid short
ei sound after every fourth word, followed with a longer
aahno every second sentence. The students enjoy his quirkiness. I am less tolerant. It is easier teaching the students than it is explaining the English lesson to my co-worker. The other newby is a quiet woman who taught at a nearby junior high school. She teaches grammar and reading so she'll never actually have to speak English. ( I know it sounds impossible. but just relax, I've spent 18 months trying to change it. its not gonna happen). A third women will unfortunately leave halfway through term due to a nervous breakdown. She is a sensitive type lacking classroom confidence in English. During lunch hour she shares her love for haiku and asks me questions about English poetry.
My friends and I too have our own rituals, most involve hydrating. I have discovered the most amazing liquor store a few
the Gang, the Karaoke bar
there are several employers of foreign English teachers in Kure ( JET, AEON, NOVA, ECC, ACE, ArtLingual, Amity, Peppy Kids) This is probably a fifth of us. blocks up the street. There are so many buildings crammed into Kure, just within a few hundred metres radius, that I will never know all of my neighbourhood: dozens of convenient stores, cleaners, grocers, fish mongers, produce stores, noodle shops, sporting goods, shrines, churches, parks, furniture shops, second hand shops, cemeteries, sports grounds, a couple dozen schools, a few hospitals, and upwards of fifty health clinics. Japan has an ageing population. The woman behind the counter at the liquor store looks to be near a hundred and her son is in his late sixties. Marlborough man - eat your heart out. Celibacy is doing ugly things to some of us. It's less a ritual and more a circumstance and cause of other rituals. I think it's why karaoke is more popular than it deserves to be. Most weekends, I eat
yaki niku or Indian before drinking myself into a long lazy weekend sleep.
For the first time, I learn to really appreciate a day off. Saturdays, to cope as an alien residing in a homogenous country with a two year old's communication skills, I stay home. I cook a late breakfast and read the papers until sunset. I'm not
karaoke
me, Ogata, Colin making the most of my experience? I have tried dance lessons at the community centre where I was the only non-old woman. I spent most Wednesday evenings for six months training in karate. Besides two black belt guys in their forties who would put Jacky Chan to chase, the students were ages five to eleven. On Sundays I walk in the hills or go for a bike ride along the coast or head to the gym.
otsukare samadeshita
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