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| JET Adventures 39 - Primary school teaching and Japanese protocol |
| Saturday, February 25, 2006 |
I got to help my neighbour Lynn out with her elementary school teaching this week. Every year she does a 'shopping lesson' for each of her four elementary schools, where the whole school becomes transformed into a department store and the kids have to sell and buy things, preferably in English. So far I've been a police officer and a bank clerk, but I'm coveting the position of "balloon seller" for next week. It's been good fun, although I think you'd have to be on steroids to do it every day, just to keep up with them. I asked one class how they were and this boy shouted "I'm really really sleepy" at the top of his voice as he ran around in circles in front of me. They were very very cute though, bouncing around and giving me stuff like origami praying mantises, balloons, and a collection of turtles.
I've got myself into this vicious circle here. People give me presents, which means I have to give them presents to say thank you, and then they give me more presents to say thank you for saying thank you, and so it goes round and round. So far this month I've received two bags of satsumas, three boxes of chocolates, a DVD with the last three episodes of Lost, a handmade picture made from silk and pressed cherry blossoms, and a Johnny Depp diary. There should be a website where I can deposit a portion of my salary every month and they sort out which presents to buy and then wrap them up and deliver them for me. In the meantime I've come up with a fiendish plan that involves giving the presents I receive to the people I owe presents to - pure genius, I tell you. |
posted by Alice @ 7:50 pm  |
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| JET Adventures 38 - Valentine party |
| Sunday, February 19, 2006 |
This might be my last post ever because I think I might be dying after inflicting serious alcohol abuse on myself. Please god make it stop.
The party was supposed to be a V-day party to raise money for a film that is being made here, but it wasn't very valentiney (thank goodness). Everyone was celebrating the exam results that came out this week - I passed yonkyu! Well, it's as good an excuse as any to justify the self-mutilation of my kidneys.
The JET community here has developed a tradition that involves getting as drunk as possible before going to parties, in order to prepare the body for the impending aloholic onslaught. I've made the mistake before of starting too early and rendering myself unconscious before the after-party-party, the after-after-party-party and the after-after-after-party-party. I'm not quite sure what the mistakes were this time as my brain is still assembling its report on what actually happened - here's what it's come up with so far in a Pulp-Fiction-esque manner:
* My feet and knees really hurt after the winning combination of Aikido and crazy dancing.
* I think I was dancing on the bar and accidentally kicked someone's drink over after they'd just bought it.
* We went to an awful US Marine club and I nearly died laughing when Louise inadvertantly hit a marine in the face with her dancing moves and sent him flying.
* We got thrown out of Macdonalds at 2am after a gherkin fight.
* I set up my friend Rachel and the object of her desire by distracting the girls who were all over him by pretending to be a fortune teller and telling them their future was to go to an awful US Marine club.
* We went to watch the FA cup match at 4am and I told the bar owner who was an avid Barcelona fan that he should support a proper club and that wearing a Barcelona shirt was not only offensive but blasphemous.
* I told the DJ that his match prediction of 1-0 was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, and then it turned out to be spot on.
Thank god for the magical hangover cure that is ramen - especially with the best ramen shop in Okinawa being opposite my house.
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! is the best video game in the world, ever. I don't think I'll ever be able to get its excruciatingly catchy tunes out of my head. |
| posted by Alice @ 3:02 pm |
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| JET Adventures 37 - Sashiki Tea ceremony |
| Thursday, February 09, 2006 |
One of the reasons why I like Aikido so much is that being big or strong doesn't really give an advantage. Maybe this is why roughly half the members of my dojo in Okinawa are girls. (Actually, considering the number of middle-aged housewives, perhaps 'girls' is the wrong word). One of the women there is called Fumiko and she especially has helped me out since the beginning, like showing me how to put on my ghi, and telling me why sensei keeps hitting me in the face ("he's telling you to get out of the way, sillly girl").
Last week she performed the tea ceremony for me, in one of the most spiritual parts of the island called Sashiki. I had seen the tea ceremony once before, when I was in Kyoto a few years ago - about 50 people (mostly tourists) piled into a room and a woman in a kimono made some tea with stylised flowing movements; we drank it and then everyone filed out again. This was completely different - it was just Fumiko and I, so it was a 'tea relationship' rather than a 'tea party'. There was an awful lot of protocol that I mostly messed up, but I think that was to be expected :) There was also a whole lot of sitting in agonising seiza (on my knees) - about 5 hours, I think.
Anyway, the general idea is for the hostess to make everything perfect for the guest - she must wear a beautiful kimono and prepare the room so that it looks, sounds, and smells beautiful. She must read her guest and choose tools that will suit him, serve beautiful dishes of food, and then finally the tea. In this way, all of the five senses are taken into consideration. The guest, in turn, must respond appropriately to show the hostess that her efforts are appreciated. It's a pretty serious part of Japanese culture - it takes 10 years before a student is shown how to make the fire, which is the first part of the ceremony.
It is supposed to be a form of meditation, and I thought taking photos would kind of spoil the atmosphere but I got some of Fumiko making 'real' tea afterwards.
I felt pretty honoured really, that she'd gone to so much trouble just for me. Hopefully she can give me private Japanese conversation lessons in return for English conversation lessons as my Japanese school finishes soon.
In other news, apparently it's Valentine's day soon (the custom here is that the girls buy the boys chocolate, while the boys don't do anything! So! Very! Wrong!) This is the lesson I made to 'educate' the students on how things should be done.
And... the third years had a big party today to celebrate leaving school (the school year runs from March, not September) and all the teachers had to sing for them. I had to sing a hideous Carpenters' medley for them, but everyone was in floods of tears by then, hopefully impairing their hearing. |
| posted by Alice @ 6:25 pm |
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