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8/26
Today was a typical day of studying at my desk and conversing with various people. I gave my introduction to the whole school, which really wasn’t so intimidating because I had to do it in English and when 500 kids are sitting on the pavement in rows, they really don’t look like so many. I wanted my introduction to be interaction so it would make it more interesting and useful, so I taught them to do the fist pound and say, “Sweet!” I asked them to do it whenever I said something they liked in the speech, and of course, as I expected, they didn’t because that’s just not how Japanese kids listen to a presentation. Well, one boy did it, that was pretty funny, but my real goal was to establish common ground and give them something to do when they saw me. In that regard, it was a great success and I’ve been throwing out knuckles to students for weeks now. The kids love it. K-sen also loved the presentation, he’s big into Western foreign language methodology.
Speaking of East and West, living in the Western hemisphere my whole life has given me a bit of a definition problem. For some reason, I don’t think of East as East and West as West, I think of East as anything traditionally oriented in the center of a World map as East, and anything oriented on the outsides as West, kind of like a mirror image. It doesn’t even really make sense, East is always one way and West is always another and me moving on the globe doesn’t change that. I just think wrong, and it’s kind of embarrassing when talking to people about cities and maps. It’s kind of like the problem I’ve always had with “soft” and “smooth.” For some reason I think of them as synonyms
Anyway, I’ve been pushing the boundaries of my work hours from evening to night and I swear, I’m still the first to leave. I’ve heard stories about how teachers stay until 7 or 9 PM, but I refused to believe that everyone did it all the time. Also, I feel like an idiot saying, “Osaki ni shitsureishimasu,” the perfunctory goodbye, every time I leave because 1) it draws attention to the fact that I’m always last to arrive and first to leave, and 2) it distracts the people who are working. So this time, I resolved to stay until at least one person left before me.
It’s strange being there so late, it really throws off my day, especially because it gets dark so early here since they don’t do daylight savings. It’s a little quieter too, but not much, since the students are also there until late studying, going to clubs, and hanging out.
Well, as it turned out, around six o’clock I saw someone leave with all his stuff, and he did NOT say “shitsureishimasu.” So I figure I’ve seen teachers leave, they just did it discreetly, which means I won’t be saying it anymore either unless someone is making eye contact with me on my way out the door, otherwise I’ll just look humble and scurry out. As it happened, I did do it once more, just for good measure, which attracted the attention of the Vice Principal. He followed me out to the hall and we chatted a little, though I didn’t really mind getting home at 7 o’clock because talking to him is good for my Japanese fluency, good for my reputation, and let’s be honest, what else have I got to do?
Today was a typical day of studying at my desk and conversing with various people. I gave my introduction to the whole school, which really wasn’t so intimidating because I had to do it in English and when 500 kids are sitting on the pavement in rows, they really don’t look like so many. I wanted my introduction to be interaction so it would make it more interesting and useful, so I taught them to do the fist pound and say, “Sweet!” I asked them to do it whenever I said something they liked in the speech, and of course, as I expected, they didn’t because that’s just not how Japanese kids listen to a presentation. Well, one boy did it, that was pretty funny, but my real goal was to establish common ground and give them something to do when they saw me. In that regard, it was a great success and I’ve been throwing out knuckles to students for weeks now. The kids love it. K-sen also loved the presentation, he’s big into Western foreign language methodology.
Speaking of East and West, living in the Western hemisphere my whole life has given me a bit of a definition problem. For some reason, I don’t think of East as East and West as West, I think of East as anything traditionally oriented in the center of a World map as East, and anything oriented on the outsides as West, kind of like a mirror image. It doesn’t even really make sense, East is always one way and West is always another and me moving on the globe doesn’t change that. I just think wrong, and it’s kind of embarrassing when talking to people about cities and maps. It’s kind of like the problem I’ve always had with “soft” and “smooth.” For some reason I think of them as synonyms
Anyway, I’ve been pushing the boundaries of my work hours from evening to night and I swear, I’m still the first to leave. I’ve heard stories about how teachers stay until 7 or 9 PM, but I refused to believe that everyone did it all the time. Also, I feel like an idiot saying, “Osaki ni shitsureishimasu,” the perfunctory goodbye, every time I leave because 1) it draws attention to the fact that I’m always last to arrive and first to leave, and 2) it distracts the people who are working. So this time, I resolved to stay until at least one person left before me.
It’s strange being there so late, it really throws off my day, especially because it gets dark so early here since they don’t do daylight savings. It’s a little quieter too, but not much, since the students are also there until late studying, going to clubs, and hanging out.
Well, as it turned out, around six o’clock I saw someone leave with all his stuff, and he did NOT say “shitsureishimasu.” So I figure I’ve seen teachers leave, they just did it discreetly, which means I won’t be saying it anymore either unless someone is making eye contact with me on my way out the door, otherwise I’ll just look humble and scurry out. As it happened, I did do it once more, just for good measure, which attracted the attention of the Vice Principal. He followed me out to the hall and we chatted a little, though I didn’t really mind getting home at 7 o’clock because talking to him is good for my Japanese fluency, good for my reputation, and let’s be honest, what else have I got to do?