Kyuushoku Best Ten and Worst Ten

In no particular order, things that pop up and make an impression on my palate or senses.

BEST (Lunch makes me happy!)
1. Grilled fish with a miso sauce. Mmm mmm mmm. Minus points if I have to pick through bones though.

2. Curry. Always good, whether they go for a traditional Japanese curry or mix it up with some dry curry or more Indian style.

3. Salads with Sesame (goma) dressing. I have such a love affair going on with Goma Dressing.

4. Niku-jaga and its relatives. Beef stew and it always has the right flavors and I don't have to deal with anything strange popping up.

5. Anything that claims to be sushi. This includes Temakizushi (you are given the rice, the seaweed, and the fillings, and you do a 'make your own' sushi wrap) or Chirashizushi (stuff thrown on top of sushi rice) I like the way the rice tastes, and the toppings/fillings are usually good. One time the rice was just normal rice though. Other teachers complained loudly, voicing my thoughts for me.

6. Spinach salads. Mom must have done something to me when I was young because I love the taste of spinach. (Also love - mustard greens (小松菜), garlic chives (ニラ), and Mizuna)

7. Fried (anything). Notably delicious are Shrimp and Pumpkin Croquettes.

8. Fruit, when easy to eat. I also tolerate fresh oranges even though they make my hands all sticky.

9. Tofu anything. Especially in a nicely flavored soup with greens and pork.

10. Desert! Today we had Sudachi (kinda like a lime) flavored Jello.

WORST (Lunch makes me CRY)
1. Noodle dishes. The noodles are invariable overdone and mushy. We did have a semi-decent spaghetti once though.

2. Whole Fishes, ESPECIALLY Shishamo (AKA tiny river fish ready to lay some eggs in your stomach). Even if I am not expected to consume it whole, the process of working around the fish bones with my chopsticks is time consuming and annoying.

3. Natto. Mother of all painful lunches. Worst when someone decided it went ok with mayonnaise. I can handle it though...somehow.

4. Bread. The exception is Pineapple Bread, which has enough moisture from the pineapple to be quite tasty, but usually the bread I get is dry and unappetizing.

5. Rubbery, what are they smoking today? salads. Usually tasteless and boring. Eaten quickly so as to use the better parts of the meal to help one forget about their depressing existence. Honorable mention - that potato salad with apples in it.

6. Tasteless Soup. Please add seasoning.

7. Getting the mushy part of the rice. It's like ...eating mushy rice.

8. Most squid. I only like squid two ways -- dried or fried. Keep your grilled, boiled, whatevered squid out of my life.

9. Salt Salmon. Hey what does salmon taste like if you grill it with a ton of salt until it's the consistency of canned salmon? ...mostly just like salt.

10. Frozen Mandarin Oranges. A crime against nature.

Some things I hated a year ago are gone from the 'worst' list. Prime example is 'purple rice'...I've grown to like the taste of the pickled purple...things which give it its flavor. Hooray for assimilation!

空気を読めるように Learning to 'read the air'

I was reading this column, Cultural Conundrums: Can you guess when to guess?, and it made me think of an incident that happened, oh, yesterday.

The column covers the idea of omoiyari, something akin to empathy, which in Japan means you guess or assert knowledge over what another person is thinking, and act according to that assumption. The column further states that this is seen in Japan as 'good' but in the US and many other places would be considered 'arrogant.'

Last week, the school nurse passed out some papers for ordering lunch for the coming sports day this Saturday. She also had some pictures of the food that was being offered. I looked at all of this, decided it was not for me. She brought it up briefly every morning in the meeting, I listened quietly and reaffirmed internally that I would bring my own lunch and save money and eat healthier.

Fast-forward to Monday. I had elementary classes all day, but stopped by the junior high to print something out from my computer for my teacher. As I was leaving, I saw the school nurse in the hall. She greeted me, and I greeted her back. Then she brought up the lunch thing. Uh-oh. I actually had this happen last year at my other school's sports day (in which I was subjected to the eating of two cold hamburgers with cheese on them) and could tell I had made an error this year as well. She told me that since I hadn't ordered anything, and she was worried I wouldn't have any food, she had ordered me a hamburger.

Augh! Frustration hit me (self-directed, at my failure to behave appropriately to avoid this misunderstanding), since the last thing I wanted was another cold hamburger. I quickly stated that I had planned to bring my own lunch, but if there was nothing that could be done about it... The nurse cut me short, praising my ability to prepare my own lunch and apologizing for ordering something for me, and then telling me not to worry about it and to bring my own lunch as I had planned.

All this said, it's just one of those situations where yet again false assumptions were made about me. I suppose sometimes I feel integrated to the point where I expect to be treated like those around me, but people ascribe much different thinking to me on account of my otherness, or their perceived barriers to communication with me. Now, honestly, I like the school nurse. And given this article, I think she only responded how culture conditioned her to. Additionally, if I had stated to her that I planned to bring my own lunch, instead of merely tossing out my order form without comment, she would have been spared the situation of making an incorrect judgement call.

I'd like to think both of us learned something from this exchange however. She may have learned to reevaluate her assumptions of foreigners in general and me in particular, and I remembered that I need to be sensitive to the cultural norms which differ in the US and Japan and respond accordingly.

Picspam

I've set up a flickr, and am dumping copious photos there for your perusal and enjoyment.

I can't be bothered to actually write entries...PSH.

Maybe tomorrow.

Here's the link: go for it!

Who care what I accomplish, at least they're having fun.

Today was a really GOOD day of elementary. The past few I've had a number of frustrations but today, really good. Lessons went smoothly, the kids were having fun, I was having fun...it was all good.

I will tell you the story of my 4th grade class today:

In 4th grade, we started learning some new vocabulary last week, places. We practiced the pronunciation and such and played a game using a previous grammar point 'Where do you want to go? I want to go to the ________'

Today I said we'd try a directions game. I didn't really prepare totally since I fly by the seat of my pants as a habit. At the beginning of class we did the usual 'What day is it? How's the weather' song and dance, then started out reviewed the names of all the places. We also introduced some direction-giving vocab like 'turn right/left'. Once that was done, I move the places around on the board a little and drew some lines connecting them.

Then I drew a stick figure at the end of one of my 'roads' and said 'Ok, everyone! This is ME!' and I pointed from myself to the stickman and back again. Then, I said something like 'Can you tell me how to get to the bookstore?' with emphasis on bookstore. Then the kids all together shouted out directions to me 'Go straight! go go! stop! turn right! go up!' etc until I got there.

As the game progressed I started adding more story to the proceedings. All of which I illustrated with chalk-drawn stickmen. I had them lead me to the flower shop and bought some flowers for 'Hada-sensei', then had them take me to school so I could give the flowers to 'Hada-sensei.' Then, feigned epic hunger and asked them to please tell me how to get to the bakery. Once I bought some bread at the bakery, I went to the park for a picnic. However, I drew myself alone, so the kids started saying like 'oh she's all alone!' so I responded by saying 'Oh! I'm all alone! sabishii picnic! LONELY!'

After that I told them that I was really really tired, and I wanted to go home. Along the way there, I kept yawning and falling off the path and going the wrong way which they got a kick out of. Once at home I drew myself in a futon, and then said it was morning and I felt good again! For my finale, I got a package in the mail at home. I opened it up to find a candle from my mom. I lit the candle and put it by the window. I started watching TV. While I was watching TV, the candle set the curtains on fire. I called for help! The kids had to get the firetruck from the station to my house.

The day was saved thanks to my 4th graders and I thanked them profusely first in English then in Japanese for SAVING MY LIFE!

Actually through the magic of acting and using a limited English vocabulary, pretty much all the kids seemed to understand my story (although they wanted my candle to be DYNOMITE...boys will be boys.) and whenever I asked them to tell me what they thought I said back in Japanese, they got it, perfectly. (for example, after I said 'Oh man! I am SOOOO tired! I want to go home and sleep! I asked (in Japanese) 'Do you understand? Tell me in Japanese what I said!' and I got the instant response of 'You're sleepy and want to go home')

So happy elementary was fun today.

今日小学校で（無料？）道案内ゲームをした。九割英語を使ってたのに、みんなだいたいわかったそうだ。授業をしながら話を作って、馬鹿みたいジェシカはエンターテイナーになった。生徒の案内おかげで、まだ生きている。

再契約意思確認調書 (translated that means 'signing away the next year of my life')

Today I FINALLY turned in my 'Yes, I'll stay another year' form. AKA my recontracting decision form.

(Side note: the form is due on Friday. Sometime on Monday I thought to myself, hmm, I wonder where that form is? Isn't it due sometime in February? Then I found it. Then I realize, 'oh crap, THIS FRIDAY.' But turning it in was painless, just had to circle the 'Yes' and date it and sign it. But can you imagine if I had forgotten about it? I mean, classic Jessica behavior, but oy that could have been awful.)

At orientation, they told us that we would be facing this decision in February, the dead of winter, and that would make it harder. Harder to sign up for another winter, another February. But I loved January, and February is going pretty swell, at least the first 4 days of it. Silly orientation monkeys. Rather than being in a trough of culture shock, I'm finally adjusting to my surroundings and I LIKE February (It's like winter, but now with more sunlight!) and honestly...I just wish it could stay cold on the mountain so I could snowboard all year.

I feel good about staying two years. I kinda knew I would stay at least two years. I'm finally getting my roots here. It's been hard at times, but I finally have friends at work and friends at home and life is good.

Taiyou WHALES and such

I spent basically the last hour speaking to the school's industrial arts teacher about how many seasons each part of the US has, followed by why I went to collegei n New York instead of Louisiana, followed by Japanese and American differences in school systems and testing for college, followed by testing to become a US foreign service officer, followed by kanji for different kinds of fish, and I'm sure a number of things in between.

Also, he spend much of it waving a knife around.

Difference: made.

So I just wrapped up a 2nd year junior high class. It wasn't the most exciting class, but I got to throw in a few comments and dispute the idea that Americans overfeed their homestay guests.

Here was the reading comp for the day:
Nana: Everyone in my host family is nice to me. But my host mother always gives me too much food. Do I have to eat everything? It's too much for me.
Teacher's Answer: You must tell your host mother. Say, "I'm sorry. It's very good, but I can't eat that much." She'll understand.

After we'd gone through the reading and made sure the kids understood it, my co-teacher turns and asks me, 'Jessie-sensei, is this how it is in your family?' To which I got to turn around and say 'No, not really. We have all the food on the table and we can choose how much to eat on our own.'

Stereotype: busted.

In this particular class, there are two other teachers besides me. While the kids were working on writing practice, the other teacher came over and asked me if it was common in America, or if the way presented in the reading sketch was more common. I taught him the term 'family style'.

Later, the kids were working on a worksheet. I walk around and see how the kids are doing, and one of the smart kids appears to be done, so I ask him 'Are you finished? Can I see?' and look over his sheet. He is done, except for two vocab words and he made a little plural mistake in another part. The vocab is in English, he's supposed to translate it into Japanese. He goes for his dictionary/glossary. But no, I have other plans. I first pick the word 'anywhere'. Me: "Ok, 'anywhere'. You know 'anything'?" He sort of sits there, mulling it over, so I prompt, "How about 'where'?"

"Ah...'doko'" he says. Then I say, "So, what's anywhere. any." "Ah! dokodemo?" "Yeah!"

Then the next one was 'compare', so I threw out some comparisons. "Today is warm. Yesterday was cold. He is tall. He is short." I also did a scales motion with my hands, like I was weighing the options. Quickly I was rewarded with him finding the proper Japanese word, "'kuraberu'?" "Correct!"

It was really fun to teach like that. Instead of just giving him the answer, I made him come to understand the meaning through critical thinking. It's a better way to learn than rote memorization, I would say.

Irony

I bought this bag of about 15 mikan (little oranges, like clementines) yesterday and consumed the whole bag in one evening.

Today in school lunch we had a mikan.

Honestly though, it's ok. I really like mikan. I might go buy another bag full of mikan today.

Elementary = funfunfun

Today I observed two elementary classes another JET was teaching.

We played lots of fun games, like a game where 1 person was the "Wolf". The other children had to ask "What time is it Mr/Miss Wolf?" and then the wolf would reply with a time of day (any time) like say "3 o'clock!" Then the wolf took three steps, staring down the other children menacingly. This would happen again. The third time the children asked "What time is it Mr Wolf?" the wolf says "It's 12 o'clock!" And the kids all go "Aaaaaa It's lunchtime!" and the kids all run from the wolf and whoever is caught by the wolf is the wolf's "lunch"

Then the "lunch" becomes the next wolf. Rinse and Repeat.

This message brought to you by "Jessica's suggestions for ESL games ripped off from other teachers" available this coming April in bookstores everywhere.

Sports Festival

Just about every school in Japan runs a few festivals. The big ones are the Sports Festival and the Culture Festival. The Culture Festival revolves around arts and speeches and things, plays, exhibits, etc.

The Sports Festival...well it revolves around sports all right, but not in the "baseball and volleyball and soccer" way you might imagine. Here`s a rundown of the events that occured in our junior high sports festival here:

-Opening Ceremony in which all students and teachers must stand for ungodly amounts of time doing basically nothing and listening to nonsense Japanese. (ok, so only nonsense to me)
-Rajio Taisou, calisthenics performed en masse to catchy piano music. I participated with the rest of the students and teachers in looking like a total dork.
-100 meter race
-"Mountains and Valleys" a game where students must balance a ping-pong ball on a fan and walk over to a pylon, circle the pylon twice, and return.
-"Olympics" a strange collection of events that do not resemble the olympics at all, i.e. spinning with you head on a baseball bat, and then participating in a 4 legged race (3-legged race with an extra person)
-Tug-of-war
-"Friend park" a unique er...game where two person teams compete. First one person drags the other on a dolly to station A. At station A they both put on helmets and mount a bicycle (one person sits on the cargo seat and balances two large but lightweight boxes), then they travel to station B while balancing the boxes. At station B one person gets in a wheelbarrow and the other pushes her to the finish line. Yes.
-Relay race, one for each grade level (all students) and then one with all the grade levels (some students chosen from within the class)
-長谷川Japan vs 太田Japan, girls from each 3rd year class compete for who can grab the most tires and bring them back across the line.
-Tama-ire (Balls-in) the 1st years throw balls into baskets lofted in the sky. Whoever gets the most in wins.
-"Boy Fight" Two teams of boys each have a pole. Half the boys hold up the pole, the other half go try to knock the other team`s pole down. Winner is first to make the other team`s pole hit the ground.
-Mukade Race (centipede race) groups of 5 students have their legs connected together and must hobble around the track. This was done relay style. The last place team was um...4 minutes behind everyone else. Quite sad.
-"Folk" dance in which all the students dance halfheartedly to some weirdo dance the 3rd years created to a catchy Japanese pop song. Well the 3rd years were at least pretty excited..
-Closing Ceremony, which is the same as the opening ceremony except after it`s over I have to help clean everything up and take down tents.

Note about the relay race: the teachers had to join in with the 1st year students. We ended up getting 3rd place. I was the first teacher to run and I was in 3rd place after the baton pass. But I felt ok about this because a lot of people were slower than I, and at the end of the day all the teachers kept saying "Jessie-sensei hayai! hayai!" (fast! fast!) but man...I`m not fast. Those little 12 year olds are fast. I will try to do better next year...gotta get in shape.

Note about the Japanese school system: Elementary is 1st to 6th grade, Junior High is 7th to 9th grade, and Senior High is 10th to 12th grade. I`m having a lot of trouble explaining and getting the people I work with to understand the fact that they have 7th, 8th, and 9th graders at their school in English instead of 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade(which of course makes them sound like 7 year olds). So I have more or less compromised and I`m trying to make them say "1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year" Do you think this is for the best?

I`m not always sure what to write about, so if you ever have any questions about my life in Japan or anything about Japan, let me know.

School lunch SCANDAL

This day just got exciting.

Today on the school lunch menu, it said we would be eating "Momo zeri" (jello with peaches in it) with lunch. BUT INSTEAD it was...a frozen mikan! It feels like the world is crumbling around me! What if tomorrow they feed me a live cicada! I cannot trust the school lunch menu ever again. As they say, fool me once...and such and such. The elevator of trust has bottomed out at ground floor, and my heart aches at the betrayal I`ve experienced.

In all seriousness now, why would you freeze a perfectly good orange? Much tastier at room temperature or lightly chilled, in my opinion.