7-24-03

Hey Y’all

Well damn it’s been a long time. See what happens when I get an actual job and start contributing to the household income again? I can’t do the cool things I want to do. I could get used to this stay home and do whatever stuff. Advice to the single ladies: forget the love hooey…marry for MONEY! Just kidding Christopher J (Pssst – ladies, no I’m not. For get the mushy stuff and go for the bucks).

First off, house keeping:

I finally got my Japanese cell phone. The numbers you will dial are 011-81-805-093-8325. Try to remember that you’re 13 hours behind me, but it’s cool if your forget. Being able to hear a familiar voice is worth being woken up.

Things have certainly gotten busy since I started teaching. In order to be at work by 8:25, I’ve got to be up no later than 6 a.m. and at the bus stop by 7:05 or so. That gets me to the station in time to get on a 7:11 train with a little wiggle room in case I have to take a local train instead of a rapid. It’s only a few mornings a week that I have to be in that early, but enough so that it’s a drag. Riding the train sucks…hard. The people are pushing and shoving, totally not cashing who they crush so long as they get on THAT train. I recently heard that many of them actually get fined for every minute over 60 seconds that they are late to work. I suppose that explains some of it. Some days the trains are so crowded that there’s no way to hold onto anything…you’re just kept upright by the crush of people. It’s hot and smelly and miserable. When the train goes around a corner, the only thing that keeps you upright is the fact that everyone else is packed so tightly that your full weight can rest on your neighbor without pushing them over onto the floor. I’ve almost reached the point where I’ve stopped worrying about who or what I’m crushing…almost.

I’d almost lost sight of the fact that despite all appearances, I work for a Japanese branch of a large company. I was brought back to reality on a day when I arrived to work three minutes after I was scheduled to be there. Despite the fact that my schedule clearly stated that it was a planning period and I wasn’t keeping any students or staff waiting, my supervisor (Alec the Australian) gave me a good talking to about the importance of getting to work five minutes BEFORE scheduled. I guess it didn’t matter that I stay late and work through my breaks. Japan is about the most inflexible place I can imagine - I think this place was the inspiration for the Borg. So what freakin’ ever…I kill myself to be early every day. My boss and co-workers at the Library would howl with laughter and disbelief if they knew.

The kids’ classes are a true challenge. Since I’m not allowed to physically restrain or punish them, I find classroom discipline to be a serious challenge. There’s always one kid who won’t behave no matter how hard I try. I now start every 40-minute class with five minutes of the most strenuous physical activity you can accomplish in a room the size of a walk-in closet. We twirl, hop, jump, spin, sit, stand and stretch…and the little darlings never get tired. I’m amazed at how fast they learn though, and it’s pretty cool to see them using new vocabulary by the end of a class.

My current "problem" child is Yuuto. He’s only 3 and shouldn’t even be enrolled, but class assignments are made by the SALES department. So they put a three-year-old in a class of six-year-olds because the mother insisted that the little boy be allowed in the same class as his big brother. I start each class with the kids’ names on the board, and each name gets three happy faces next to it. It they do something particularly shitty, I erase a face. When all the faces are gone, they get sent out of the class. Yuuto can go through all three faces in the first two minutes.

But there are definitely bright spots. I have one student named Mr. Tanaka. He has enough language to be able to carry on fairly good conversations. Last week we talked about WWII. He was shocked when I said I wanted to go to Hiroshima because I said I thought it was important for Americans to understand the consequences of their power. He said he’s very concerned that Japanese young people don’t learn about WWII or their country’s role in it. They just consider it something bad that happened in the past. It was a great conversation…probably the first real one I’ve had with a Japanese person. They’re so private and shy (particularly around the gaijin) that it’s very, very difficult to really get to know any of them.

The people I work with are nice and some might even be friend material. In another week, I’ll be the only American on staff at the Kitasenju school, though we get visiting teachers from other schools all the time and some are American. Troy, Tanya, Lisa, Alec, Steve and Sean are Australian (you should see the parking lot…nothing but kangaroos parked out there). Richard is English. Richard is pretty cool but warned me not to "blaspheme against the queen." That was in response to referring to her as "the silly lady in the palace." There’s not a lot of time for hanging out or getting to know people, but it’s nice just to have people to BS with.

Since training started in late June, I haven’t gotten to see much of the country. Last Wednesday, Chris and I went to Tokyo Disneyland. It was a lot of fun. Having been to DisneyWorld a zillion times, I didn’t think I’d be too impressed, but I was. Some things are identical, but others are wonderfully different. We ate egg and onion spring rolls in Toon Town, maple sugar churros in Westernland and caramel milkshakes on Tom Sawyer’s Island. They also had my favorite parade: the Electrical Parade complete with the butterfly ladies. And really, if I ever got one of those Disney wish things, I want to drive the light-up ladybug in the parade! There were tons of opportunities to get our pictures taken with characters, and I got my traditional photo with Chip and/or Dale. The first one ever was taken when I was just 4 or 5. Lots and lots of fun, but not exactly a cultural experience.

This past Monday, we went to Kamakura. That’s a coastal city about an hour from here that is the home of Zen Buddhism in Japan. There were tons of shrines, museums and temples. We saw a gigantic bronze Buddah that was over 37 feet tall. Each eyebrow was over 4 feet long. Kamakura is on the coast and has beaches, but it’s also very lush and hilly. It really looked like tropical jungle in parts of it. "Some day" I’ll get the pictures up online for you folks to see.

Otherwise, I suppose that’s about it. We’re settling into things here and some of the nifty novelty is starting to wear off. We’re also starting to see a little of the racism we’d read about before we arrived. It’s so funny having lived my whole life as a white person in America, it’s easy to think that the minorities who claim subtle racism is rampant in American are exaggerating or being oversensitive. I don’t think that at all any more. There are just some Japanese people who have no problem making it known that they’re not thrilled by the gaijin (their term for foreigners) in their country. There are some businesses that make sure they give better service and treatment to Japanese customers. Lots of little stuff that starts to add up over time I suppose. Don’t get me wrong, most Japanese are quite polite and helpful. But it’s still a new experience to have my race be such a factor in how I’m treated or viewed.

Well you folks take care. I’ll try not to let it be another month before I write again.

-MG