Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Old Man of the Mountains (My Recently Discovered Neighbor)
Yesterday was so much fun. I did a whole lotta sports and got paid all day for it. I started out the morning with a farewell party at the port (Although there was a confusion and I didn’t really know who was leaving—as it turned out two of my teachers from two of my elementary schools were leaving and it was nice to see them off.). Then the boy’s track team and I ran back to the school. It’s about an hour long run, but there are some tough hills in there too. I ran most the way with Kazuya (this cute soon-to-be senior who I’m pretty sure is fascinated with me but is pretty timid about using English) and Junya (an incredibly shy student who can’t look me in the eyes much less respond to me when I speak even Japanese to him). They went nice and slow for me, but actually I think we ran it in about the same amount of time they usually run this route.
Then I joined the guy’s volleyball team for a practice for about an hour. Hatakeyama-sensei is their coach, but only officially. He’s much too busy to ever be in the gym during practice so they seven boys just practice on their own. They should have a coach, but no one has the time to do it. So we played together and I got to know a few of my sophomore students better. Two in particular, Shoichiro and Shigeru, who have always annoyed me more than pleased me by their constant talking in class, actually pleased me today. It was nice to hang out outside of class—students become more than just a bunch of dark haired kids in uniforms that way. It’s easier to learn their names and personalities through activities outside of the classroom. Shigeru, Shoichiro and I played keep away with the volleyball and I developed a newed respect for them and I think—I hope, them for me.
Then I went and joined the track team for a little while. We did team sit-ups, long jumping, and stretching, but they had finished their running already. Not as if I could have run anymore! I got to know a few of my quieter female students then too. It’s so much easier to connect with the boys because they are the ones that are interested in me (not all the time, but often). Boys are more outgoing in class, answer my questions and come up to talk to me outside of class too. It’s easier to learn their names, learn what their interests are, and really get to know them. I try hard to be fair to all the students—and spend equal time with boys and girls, but sometimes it’s a struggle with the girls. Just learning their names, however, is a big step in getting to know them, and I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress in the past few weeks.
In the afternoon, we went to clean the apartments of the teachers who are moving out. It’s a whole team-effort, with students, teachers, and wives of teachers coming to help clean. I also scored a new dresser, full-length mirror, wicker laundry basket, and Winnie-the-Pooh carpet-rug from the Nakano family! The “work-day” went by so fast, but I was exhausted by the end of it. I think I spent a total of 30 minutes in the staffroom, and I was just blogging then!
Today’s schedule is about the same. Three goodbye-parties (9:30 a.m., 1:50 a.m., and 4:30 p.m.), cleaning apartments, packing moving vans, and doing sports with the students. While waiting around at Nitayama (my apartment complex) some students and I explored a path into the forest. I had no idea, but there is a huge overgrown vegetable garden and tree grove just up these set of stairs at my apartment. We followed a bunch of paths and I found where an old man lives and/or gardens way back in the forest! I had no idea I lived next to The Old Man of the Mountain! He looked as old as the hills. We said “konichiwa” but he didn’t hear us, so we decided not to disturb him and turned around to go back.
This is my apartment complex in an area called Nitayama. The ocean is out there; if you can’t see it, you can imagine it.
The trail I took with a couple of brave students.
My two brave students. The one of the left really tries to talk to me, but I can’t remember their names.
The weather is so beautiful! It’s about 19ºC (66ºF) right now. I got a little color yesterday too. My cheeks were pink as I left school. Not quite a sun-burn, but it was nice to be in the sun after a long winter. (Long winter! Ha! It wasn’t even long. My friend Michelle in Hokkaido still have a foot of snow outside!) I'm glad I’m an islander. I think it’s going to be nice when my mom’s here.
On Monday, at my English department enkai I got really drunk again. This is like the second time this month, which is really rare for me. I didn’t expect to drink any more in Japan than I did at home. During orientations and stuff, when old JETs spoke so lovingly of enkais, I thought, “Not me!” But in the end, I think they’re great. I can really relax and be myself and I love the interaction that happens at them. I’m confident I’ll go back to my non-drinking self after Japan; it’s just all part of the experience while I’m here.
Here’s my supervisor, Hatakeyama and my neighbor Komatsu-sensei at the party.
It’s probably pretty mean to post this picture, but it’s my JTE who’s leaving, so maybe he’ll never find out. It reminds me of a Japanese anime film I recently watched, Spirited Away, where some characters turn into pigs because they ate too much. (Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is really good by the way. If you haven’t seen it and aren’t familiar with Japanese anime (like me) then I highly recommend it.)
So at the second party, where we were doing karaoke, there was this group of young men at the table next to us. Two kept looking at me and encouraging me to sing. I was mad at Hatakeyama-sensei so I was acting sort of sultry and sexy anyway, but when I saw one of them going outside I decided to follow him. I don’t know what I was thinking, but we talked for a while and now he has my cell phone email address and phone number and we’ve been “in contact.” I was being really flirtatious with him, and I was drunk so I was speaking great Japanese. His uncle came outside to “check” on us and I said in perfect (or at least convincing) Japanese that I spoke Japanese, I’m an English teacher at Nakako and I live in Narao and everything is fine. (I get to practice those few lines often enough.) He left us, then my JTE came outside to make sure everything was okay. Once the chaperones were gone, we realized just how little Japanese I speak.
Side note: I keep getting all these emails from people. “So, you must be pretty fluent in Japanese now, huh?” And it frustrates the hell out of me, because NO! I’m not anywhere near fluent and it’s only been 8 months! If this were a Latin language with a Roman alphabet I should be much further along, but Japanese is nothing like English. There is lots of English used in Japan, but the pronunciation is so unique that you often cannot just guess the meaning.
For example: shichu
Yes, it’s English.
Have any idea what it is?
Okay. I’ll give you a hint: Tonight we are having shichu for dinner.
Still no clue?
If you understand how romanji works, you maybe able to get it from this, but for me it was a bit difficult to understand.
It means “stew.”
And kanji. Now, I love studying kanji, but there are just over 2,000 basis characters and even if I were to learn one kanji a day it would take almost 6 years to learn it. (I was shocked when Peter told me this. Basic math, I know, but sometimes you don’t realize it until someone says it.) I don’t learn one a day either. I tend to go in spurts and learn a bunch at a time, then wait a while for them all to sink in before I go on my next rampage.
So, the dude, Kenji, 26, has emailed my phone a couple of times and last night he called me and we “talked” some more. It wasn’t as awkward talking on the phone as I expected it to be, but he doesn’t speak any English so I had to look up a few things in my dictionary while on the phone. He asked to come over to my apartment sometime, but I know from previous conversations that an invitation into my home basically means I’m willing to have sex with him. I’m not actually interested in him—as he’s is not very cute and more importantly, A SMOKER !!! Besides, he’s leaving the island (he lives in Fukuoka) in April so I don’t really expect to see him again.
Which reminds me. Koichiro smoked for three years!!! Oh, it’s so gross! The good news is he doesn’t smoke at all anymore. When I asked him why he said he doesn’t have any money, but I don't think that’s really the reason—otherwise when people offered him a cigarette he might not refuse, but he does refuse. He’s just a non-smoker now. Thank God. I get the impression he used to be quite the rebel. He used to own a motorcycle and got in three near-death accidents (from tipping/sliding the motorcyle rather than running into other vehicles) before he gave it up. The Japanese work-force has certainly straightened him out...
And I’m ashamed to admit Tanabe DOES smoke but only at enkais and he told me he is trying to quit. Hmm… Believable? Maybe not, but he’s cute enough that I think I can over look this little flaw. He does know better, after all. He’s a health major/swim coach/aspiring to be a P.E. teacher.
It's 3:14 p.m. and I’ve just got my last goodbye (for Tomonaga-sensei) in Arikawa at 4:30, then it’s off to the gym for my swim lesson. Today’s goodbyes have been especially hard and I'd really just like to go to bed now, but I’ve got much cleaning, packing and preparing to do tonight. I leave for Fukuoka directly from school on Friday to meet Mama. (In fact, I’ll sneak out of school early if no one notices and it’s looking pretty dead here.)
Love, Sierra
