English Demonstration Lesson
Mood:  celebratory
Thursday, Nov. 18th

Demonstration lesson

Wow, what a great day. One of my favorite teachers, Sasaki-sensei, had a very important demonstration lesson today. This morning we bussed 36 1st grade students down to Mukogawa University. These 36 very active students (teachers said, "Why are you bringing such loud kids for a demonstration?") were just fantastic. Sasaki speaks almost exclusively in English in class. He has had this 1st grade class since April and people couldn't believe how much English these kids could understand and speak.

There were junior high, high school and university teachers here at an all day conference. There were probably around 100 adults watching this class. Sasaki taught his class just like any everyday class that I've experienced with him. The kids stood up and he greeted them with "Good morning, everyone!" The kids enthusiastically responded with, "Good morning, Mr. Sasaki!" Then he asked the kids to turn around and address the audience. It was adorable to see these 36 kids turn around and in unison say, "Good morning, ladies and gentleman!" Then they all put their hands to their ears waiting for the "Good morning" response back from the audience. It was a great way to put the kids at ease and on an even footing with the crowd. The lesson was great with the kids being on task and involved every step of the way. Sasaki has them discuss and practice asking each other questions and answering each other. There is a lot of interaction and practice of verbal English. At the end he gave them only a couple of minutes to write their own skit from a template script that he handed to them for the first time that morning. In a matter of minutes these kids were up performing their skits to members of the audience. I thought it was awesome although, I must admit, i'm a bit biased.

Right after this demonstration i walked over to another room where a high school teacher was doing her demonstration. She was from a very elite international business high school. I almost fainted when i heard her say, "Yonju yon pagie." She was telling her students to turn to page 44 in Japanese! Good grief. I couldn't believe that in a high school class she was still speaking to them in Japanese instead of English. And this is for a demonstration in front of all those teachers. I was embarrassed for her and disappointed for the students that they were not experiencing an English class taught in English. How very sad. After the demonstrations there was a question and answer session with the two teachers as part of the panel. Sasaki was questioned about what kind of tricks he used to get his kids to understand English. I had a few teachers ask me in disbelief if he really taught all in English. It is such a foreign concept. These teachers are entrenched in their old ways of teaching English, and it is just incomprehensible that these kids can understand spoken English. I do hope that there are more teachers like Mr. Sasaki who continue to challenge these kids and help them attain the level of English communication that they will need to survive in this global environment. I hope that the high schools step up to the challenge because when Sasaki's students hit high school (he will teach them for another two years) they will be bored silly in that high school class that i just observed!

I am so fortunate to work with such a high caliber of teacher. By the way, i have taught and AM teaching with other wonderful teachers. I hope that the school districts will encourage other Japanese English teachers to improve their English and teaching skills so that they can begin to attain the kind of excitement and interaction that i experience everyday in his classroom.

A Marathon in Japan
Mood:  energetic
I can't believe it, but i have signed up for the Nagano Marathon on April 17th, 2005. The run takes us through some scenic country. It looks like we will be running along rivers for much of the way. There will be some very famous runners in this marathon (maximum of 6,000 runners) AND.... WE WILL FINISH IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUM. Oh, my gosh, i can't believe it! How's that for some motivation to get my rear in gear and speed up the pace? I have to finish in less than 5 hours but it's a flat course and the altitude, surprisingly, is only between 1,100 and 1,300 feet. I should be able to do that.

Hurricanes and Plankton
Mood:  irritated
As hurricanes pass over the ocean, the wind carries warmer surface water away, allowing colder water from the bottom to rise, bringing with it quantities of nutrients. Satellite images actually show a trail of cold water in the path of storms. Tiny marine plants, called phytoplankton, fertilized by the nutrients, multiply rapidly in this wake. As the plants die, they sink to the seafloor. The data revealed that the larger the hurricane, the larger and longer-lasting the plankton bloom. This poses tantalizing questions about the role that hurricanes might play in removing carbon from the atmosphere. Like all green plants, phytoplankton consumes carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas whose rise in the atmosphere is blamed for climate change. As the plants die, they sink and carry the carbon they store to the seafloor.

So Bush won't sign the Kyoto Protocol seeking to reduce greenhouse emissions because he doesn't want to lose American jobs. So how much are these jobs worth, Bush, in lost lives and devastation to the planet?

Halloween in Japan
Mood:  bright
Kaleigh is such a great addition to our ALT (assistant language teacher) staff. Her parents are from WSU, and they are both ALT's here. They brought their daughter, Kaleigh, to Japan with them, and she is attending the 4th grade in a public elementary school here.
The Halloween party on Saturday night was a smashing success. Kaleigh invited some of her Japanese girlfriends. We had about a dozen enthusiastic 8-12 year old girls in some amazing costumes. Most costumes were made from plain plastic garbage bags transformed into some really colorful outfits. Kaleigh was Hermione from the "Harry Potter" movies. We had a Cinderella and a bat and a few other very creative costumes. I did feel a twinge of home sickness when they came knocking at my door all yelling "Trick or Treat." I do miss passing out candy to the kids in my neighborhood in Spokane. What a great experience for these girls who had never been trick or treating.

John and i also taught a two-hour class on Halloween Saturday afternoon at a Community Center. We had about 30 enthusiastic Japanese adults all singing songs. They actually had to say "Trick or Treat" to "earn" their candy treats at the break. What fun. I will teach this same group of folks how to make a pumpkin pie next weekend. Maybe i'll be the next Julia Child! hahaha.

Thursday, October 21st

Wow, heavy-duty typhoon hit yesterday. School was cancelled although the teachers are still required to come to work. We all left after lunch. I went to a shopping center 1/2-hour bus ride from my mountain apartment. Around 3:30pm i noticed that the crowds in the stores were really thinning out. I went outside to catch a bus and watched the rain go from "cats and dogs" to "buckets" to "good grief, i can't see across the street" type of torrential rains. The bus ride back to the apartment was exciting. I discovered today that the stores closed at 4pm and if i had tried to go back to Nishinomiya that the trains were stopped, and i would have been out of luck. The peaceful, tiny Arima River was raging and i got so much water in my shoes walking from the bus stop to the apartment that they dripped all night and i wore wet shoes to work this morning. hee, hee
I guess i shouldn't joke. Over 50 people lost their lives in this storm near Tokyo.

Saturday, October 23rd
I jogged along the Shukugawa this morning and was surprised to see many downed branches. Nature has a powerful way of doing some serious pruning on these trees. Kinda scary.

My Second Apartment
Mood:  bright
I can't beleive how rested i am today on a Monday morning. I mangaged to bring a bag or two of clothes, blankets and pillows on Sunday afternoon to my new digs in the mountains. It was great to leisurely walk around the neighborhood discovering the little fruit stand just down the street and a really nice Coop grocery store within a 15 minute walk. I've already run into some of my students while strolling along the river yesterday afternoon. What a blessing to be able to go to sleep at 9pm and sleep till the sun came up at 6am this morning. I have a meeting in Nishinomiya every Monday so i will travel back to our office on school time today. Then i'll stay overnight down there and have to travel back up to the mountains early Tuesday morning. But then the good news is that i can stay up here and not have to do the 1.5 hour trip until Friday after school or, if i want, i can sleep up in the mountains and take my time coming down on Saturday morning. yippeee.

My new apartment in the mountains
Mood:  celebratory
Howdy and yipppeeee

I have the keys in my pocket to my new, tiny apartment in the mountains.
It's only $300/month plus utilities. My bus and train transportation is about $300/month. This should be reimbursed to me every month so the cost to me should be minimal. yahoo.
It's only a 10 minute walk to school.
It's in a really quiet, beautiful neighborhood.
I am so very happy and relieved.

Now begins the task of fixing up another nest. There is absolutely nothing in it but an airconditioner/heater on the wall, a one burner stove, and a bathroom.
No bed, no chair, no table, pots, pans, cups, dishes .....but i can improvise and use a lot of extra stuff from my apartment down here.
Luckily, my favorite English teacher has volunteered to drive up any bulky items. The rest I'll drag up a piece at a time in my backpack.

You can't believe how elated i am.

Feels like i will be returning to the land of the living.

Hope all is well in your world.

peace and love and vote in November.
mary

Ken Shoku
Mood:  surprised
I have noticed that in all the schools that i've taught in that Kyoto sensei (our vice principal) usually always eats lunch before we do. I always figured that it was so he could do hall duty while the kids ate, but, this week, i learned about ken shoku.

During the period of the shoguns, the servants used to taste meals before the shogun ate. That practice is called "Odokumi" checking against poisoning.

My girlfriend thinks that maybe it's not to check to see if we are going to be poisoned, but rather it follows another custom where fathers and upperclass people used to eat first and then wives and children did.

So maybe it's patriarchy and maybe it is still a noble attempt to protect our kids. You decide!

Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)
Mood:  sad
Cherry blossoms in October? David thinks we had a dose of acid rain. The teachers i've asked and my friends say that one of the last "dry" typhoons whipped up salt from the ocean and then blew hot, dry air on the leaves of the trees and burned them. Whatever the reason the leaves were burnt to a crisp right after the typhoon and all fell off. Then a warm spell crept in and the trees think it's spring. This is so sad because i'm betting that they won't bloom again next spring.

New School
Mood:  a-ok
My new school is Yamaguchi. I walk to the bus stop from my apartment and take a 10 min. ride to the train station. Then a 10 minute ride on the Hankyu train and then walk to the JR train station close by and take a JR train for about 10 minutes. Then i get off that train and wait to catch a bus that i ride for 25 minutes to get to the bus stop and then walk 10 minutes to get to school. I leave the house at 6:25am and get back at 6 to 6:30 pm. It is just killing me. There is absolutely no time to do my running or anything else. Tomorrow I'm bringing my running gear to school and will run during school hours with the track team.

I have the bright idea of just renting a place on my own and stay up there during the week. I was very disappointed today because we found an apartment for about $400/month close by my new school. We were going to check it out until we found out that not only would i have to pay the whole 6 month's rent ahead of time but there was an exhorbitant fee, non-refundable to secure the damn place. I have offered a reward of a very big bottle of sake to any one of the staff who can find me an apartment. They are all looking, so i am hoping for the best.
The bright side is that it's the best school that i've been at. The kids are enthusiastic and precocious. My favorite English teacher is there and is a dream to work for. The other teachers are all wonderful and the principal is an ex-English teacher. I am being treated like a queen and i love every minute.