September 2nd-3rd

September 2^nd

Where to start?  My first day of teaching took place at Hishida JHS that has a student population of 82.  My morning starts with introductions to the rest of the staff, meeting my Kocho and Kyoto.  My Kyoto actually introduced himself as “Kyoto” instead of telling me his name.  Priceless.  The rest of the staff introduced themselves with simple English and then I gave a brief introduction.  After all was done, a teacher came in late and walked right into me saying, ‘Nice to meet you!  Nice guy!!!’  The entire staff and I howled with laughter, because she literally said this in .08 seconds.  I only taught two classes today, but they were great.  The kids were very well-behaved, asking many questions, trying to figure out my romance situation.  One of the students began asking some personal questions, so I told him we would talk later.  He then attempted to put his arm around me and ask if I liked boys.  Oh man, this is going to be a fun year!

The rest of the day, I had students coming up to me, shaking my hand and saying ‘Johnny Depp,’ ‘Leonardo DiCaprio.’  I’m THAT huge in Japan. 

Ohhhh....now I see it.

I had started practicing some hiragana at the end of lunch, when students started to clean the room.  When I saw them enter, I asked to help out.  The same student that asked if I liked boys comes over to me, looks at my writing and tells me, ‘Ganbatte kudasai.’   Student: 1 Gaijin: 0 

The night ended over at Kyle’s house with Mary Margaret, Cassie, Becca, Kat, Topher, Neko, and a deceased Bojangles in a bag of Skittles (don’t ask…or at least ask later). 

This is Neko...'my' new dog :)  Thanks Cassie!

We had an awesome chili dinner with SHREDDED CHEESE, hotdogs on a stick, and toast.  I love these people, they keep me sane (insane too). 

September 3^rd

Today was insane.  I taught at Nakaoki Elementary in four classes. 

The first class was all giggles, shy faces, and very brief introductions.  We went over ‘Things I like,’ that included swimming, apples, ice cream, and bananas.  The teacher spoke moderate English, so all went well.  The second class was with a male teacher who didn’t teach a thing.  We simply had the students gather around and look at pictures of my family, friends, and places I have visited back home.  ‘Sugoi!’ was all I heard most of the period.  My third class was just great and asked tons of questions.  They asked about my Japanese grandmother, bears in California, if I like natto, and what sports I like.  My last class was very shy, and asked few questions.  We sang ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,’ and I drilled them on animals.  Hippopotamus was the winner, making each kid laugh.  After that, I had 2 hours to kill, so I went and played with the kids during their PE period.  I walked on stilts with them and taught them how to say ‘Butterfly.’  All the other teachers were impressed and asked if we had stilts back in the states.  I told them no, but we all have mandatory pole vaulting classes in high school.  Again, smiles and nodding heads.  Just kidding.  One of the little girls came up to me and handed me a 4 leaf clover.  Not only that, but she is the tiniest girl in her class with the biggest chubby cheeks.  Ah, my heart won’t stop melting out here. 

I had lunch with my third class today.  We walked down to the ‘cafeteria’ and each student helped carry food, trays, silverware, etc. back to the classroom.  They were dressed in their chef attire, with matching mouth guards.  Getting back to class, the kids were like a kitchen line, filling soup bowls, setting trays, making sure everyone had something to eat. 

Then we all wait until everyone is ready, put our hands together in prayer form, and say ‘Itedakimasu.’  Now, it’s okay to eat. 

We spoke broken Ja-pan-english and I loved every second of it.  The kids even took my empty plates and washed them for me.  It was so nice, I was compelled to leave a tip.  But guess what, it’s Japan, and they don’t tip.  So I just continued to shower them with smiles. Another thing that took me by surprise was that each class had a student carry my computer bag and poster to the next classroom for me.  I literally had a student servant carrying my things to each new class.  I felt horrible.  These kids are in elementary school.  They served my food, cleaned my plates, and then carried my crap around the school.  I….just….don’t know what to say anymore. 

I love Japan.