Blog Archive

11.24.2009

Snapshot of the Day


The Kindergarteners are all wearing maroon berets with chinstraps. YES, 4 YEAR OLDS ARE IN BERETS WITH CHIN STRAPS.

And they had a musical concert with the teachers. When the students chanted for an encore, they did it over again. YES, THEY RE-PERFORMED THE ENTIRE CONCERT AS AN ENCORE.

11.19.2009

How IS my Japanese?


A lot of people have been asking me how my Japanese is coming along. It is hard to say how bad it really is. The more I learn about Japanese the more I feel I don’t know. Ahhh sigh, so goes the way of life.

I’m pretty excited that I can write this: あなたのカルマわロシアにあります。ところでバクダんがあなたのカルマのなかにあります、but it’s a comment I don’t see myself using very often. Unfortunately, in my current state of immersion, I believe I am fully saturated with effortlessly acquired Japanese. Unless I sit down and study it I probably won’t learn too much more.

At this point I can talk to some first graders, so I am not really at a great place to coast on the Japanese I know for the next 8 months. I have been able to say that I like things, and comment on the weather for a while. By now I can also make small talk for the duration of a car ride, which is a HUGE relief from the completely new levels of awkward silence. It was really painful thinking you really need to say something, for the love of God anything, but can’t. I know probably about 20 kanji on their own, but would have a hard time figuring out how they are used in a sentence. I can read hiragana and katakana very very slowly. That accomplishment is diminished by the fact that kanji usually appears in what I am trying to read.

How am I learning by myself? The internet is helpful. I am recently experiencing a new wave of motivation. Never in my life did I think I would be spending time on a website called “Akemi’s Anime World,” but it has been one of the best at explaining Japanese. It taught me the phrase above, (pronounced “Anata no karuma was Roshia ni arimasu. Tokorode, bakudan ga anta no karuma no naka ni arimasu,” or in English, “Your car is in Russia. By the way, there is a bomb in your car.” Throughout the day at school I write down the new words I learn so I don’t forget them as easily and then I practice what I have learned that day on the awesome taxi driver lady that drives me home. She probably thinks I am crazy because I have no reservations about throwing phrases like the one above around just to see what will happen. Japan is one big experiment for me. The problem, not just with her, is that sometimes Japanese people have thought that I don’t know what I am talking about. Like when I told her I was going to “Korea” she kept telling me that I wasn’t. That in fact on Monday I was going to “Kita-chu” (my junior high school). So sometimes learning Japanese isn’t so rewarding.

But there is good news (if I want to believe in something)! Some Japanese friends told me that Goto people have smaller mouths and thus are very hard to understand relative to Japanese in other parts of the country... So I could possibly understand more Japanese if I were to go somewhere else, which I probably won’t.

11.14.2009

Scuba Diving, Japanese Style


I have finished my scuba diving license!! It is so amazing to go underwater. I think it is better than going to space. Its been really fun doing it all in Japanese too. Although, another Goto JET and I have noticed a particular Japanese style of diving. It is as if right before we all jump in, it is agreed the mission is to find the smallest cutest animal, something resembling a pokemon if possible, and then take lots of pictures of it. For example,

So in addition to that I’ve seen some pretty awesome creatures. Here are some favs:

Grumpy fish: Nothing too special, but these ones make me laugh. They are taking life way too seriously. They sort of look like black clownfish with really upset faces and they get all pushy if you get too close to their anemone.

The pimps and hoes: There are these really pretty long light blue fish with beautiful tails. Their tails are like ribbons and they are the colors of fairies. They are pretty small though so I can’t be sure if it looks like they are wearing makeup. These are the hoes, and they never go too far from their pimp. The pimp fish chills outside this hole in the bottom of the sand. If he had arms they would be crossed. He never looks friendly, and he never leaves the opening of this hole. If anything gets to close he calls the hoes back, who disappear into the hole behind him, and he doesn't even flinch.

Lion fish: Like a real lion stalking its prey, these babies just appear out of nowhere. I will sense that something is following me and look around, and BAM there is a lionfish just looking at me. I will think huh, cool. Creepy, but cool. So I turn back around to keep swimming and BAM, another one is now right in front of me. A few searching glances to either side and I notice another one or two more. All looking at me. I think it would be really cool to be stealth like the lion fish.

*Afternote: I did some research into this and turns out some pokeman have been based off of the sea slug. So I guess it happened the other way around. But still…

11.13.2009

The Influenza and Japanese Disease Control


I am dripping in swine flu. “The influenza,” its all over me. I am a walking H1N1. But you know, it’s strange that I haven’t actually fallen ill. It’s me vs. the entire masked and sick island, but as they say, these colors don’t run. I am feeling pretty proud of my staunch individualist American immune system.

But truthfully, I must admit, being American isn’t everything. I suspect that “THE Influenza” is not H1N1 at all. No. No its not.

I present the evidence:

· I have not seen or heard of one person throwing up.

· Teachers and students who have allegedly been “influenzed” (their word, not mine) are back at school the next day.

· This island is overwhelmingly old; like WWI old. With the swine flu running rampant, some people would have definitely died. I think that's just the truth.

· People have been influenzed just by looking at someone who is influenzed from across the room. One day 5 teachers and an entire grade of students dropped like flies after looking at each other.

So I am calling bullshit. But nevertheless Japanese disease control has been pretty entertaining, at least when I haven’t been masked by the authorities.

The very foundation of disease control is the mask. For the most part, I think its nothing more than an unrelenting bad breath detector. But for Kamigotonians it has got to be some type of security blanket. There is nothing like feeling your hot wet germs and snot packed against your face. Fresh air is overrated, and even dangerous in some cases if you are riding your bike too fast (a warning another Goto JET received from some concerned citizens). I wonder if people wear the mask to bed? They wear it driving around ALONE in their cars. Oh THE HORROR when I walk around school without the mask when everyone else is wearing it. They make me feel like such a daredevil. You know me, living life on the edge… I have to get my kicks somehow. I’ve been holding back saying this…, but Japan is really just too safe.

Next is the spray. Another Goto JET reports some kids at her school have been completely sprayed down with disinfectant. I don't put it past them. At my schools there are teachers that man the hallways and spray the hands of everyone that walks by. If you walk into any building, there is a bottle there to greet you. Disinfection is the new taking off your shoes. I suspect that Japan will bear the first super bugs with their excessive use of anti-bacterials.

Then there is quarantine. The past month of classes has been interrupted because one or two grades have been banned from school. It’s funny that the flu can’t cross grade lines…

But, if this really is swine flu, then I think I will be all right anyway. I know the flu’s sneaky tricks. Covering the mouth and nose is just a distraction so it can get in through our eyes!!!! I have caught on to this. And anyways I have a perimeter around me. Junior High School kids don’t really get in the 3 feet zone needed to give me the Influenza. Its recently been shrinking as kids start to like me more, but I will be shocked if they breach 3 feet before December.

11.12.2009

Kerry

That's apparently my name. It sounds like they are saying Kelly, but don’t be fooled like me, only to think, “damn,” when almost 4 months in the teachers write “Kerry” on the board.

11.11.2009

Another Japan Day

Sometimes I will have a day and think “this is all so Japan.” And that is the only way I know how to describe it.

Last weekend, all JETs in Nagasaki prefecture had to meet for the mid-year conference. This was flawed, as we have only had 2 months of school, its hardly mid-year, and the information would have been much better served at orientation, a good three months ago. I saw it as one big support group for those that have been looking up from their desks and finding that the entire staff room is empty; for those that are standing in the back of the classroom listening to the tape recorder, rather than standing in the front acting like one; and for those that have been thinking nobody likes them, only to receive demands for everlasting friendships at mandatory work drinking parties.

I could get angry of course. There are far too many of us left wondering what is going on and why are we alone, when there is actually an assembly, or worse – fire drill... And I am tired of hearing “every situation is different” because they really mean “it sucks that you are stuck with work that could be easily completed by a well enough trained monkey, but some people actually get to do things, so we can never tell how its going to work out, sorry” But then there are some perks…

Not knowing what is going on and then finding out can be really entertaining. Today I asked why all the teachers were arming themselves with long poles, sticks, and brooms and charging down the hall. It was an intruder drill, no less. Not knowing what is going on and realizing you might never find out can also be really entertaining. For example, there have been a lot of “announcements” lately. The voice of a very serious Japanese man echoes over the entire island, and sometimes I translate in my head… “Attention townspeople, a Terradactyl has escaped the 3 Quadrant and is headed northwest over the wild boar mountains. Please keep the children inside.” One day I really hope it's a Stegosaurus. Or “Attention townspeople, Good morning, it is time to wake up. I am having fish for breakfast. Its cold outside, isn’t it. I mean really cold. There is great wind today. Yes I think so. Please keep that in mind.” Not knowing what is being said and having someone translate can also be great. Today, according to my assistant, a second grader asked me what kind of man I like.

This is all so Japan. It demands a tricky balance of persistent questioning and going with the flow, leaving me somewhere on a scale from highly amused to resentfully frustrated.

11.01.2009

Born to Ride

No one on the road; just me and the hawks soaring, to one side, ocean and sky rendezvousing at the same shade of blue, to the other, crunchy fall leaves rustling in my wake. I was born to ride.