Winter in Tottori

I have the great pleasure of living in one of the handful of regions of Japan that actually get snow.

This means that, while I get some GORGEOUS scenery on a daily basis (I'll take and send some pictures next time we get a good snow), ...I also have to deal with the winter.

This means getting ready to go 10-15 minutes early so I have time to scrape my car off, turn on the defroster, heat it up, etc.

This means, on days when there are lots of snow (and at least a few days following), getting ready to go another 10-15 minutes earlier because Japanese roadway management pales in comparison to the quick responses of a New York or New England (but more on efficiency later).

This means, when my first full day back in the country has followed a major snowstorm and happens to be in the midst of another, I show up to work 30 minutes late. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one.

Apparently the amount of snow we've gotten here in Tottori is an unseasonably large amount--I'd heard the first snowstorms were the largest in some five years. One day my students even got the day off, because the trains here weren't running with all the snow (and if you know how good Japan Railways is, you'll know that means there was a LOT of snow)...teachers still had to show up though. Talk about a slow day.

It hasn't all been unfortunate and inconveniencing, though. Like I said, the snow is beautiful, espcially on the mountainsides of the valley I live and work in--more evidence that I need to live somewhere with scenery and four seasons--and of course, snow means skiing! I'll be taking my first trip to Mt. Hyounosen (you'll recall that I hiked up Daisen, "Big Mountain," in the fall (which also has skiing). Hyounosen translates as "Ice Mountain") on Saturday, and couldn't be more excited.

I may dominate 1st graders at Dodgeball...

...but 3rd graders proved significantly more challenging (I blame the uncatchibility of the ball).

HOWEVER, in soccer my two years of experience hosing slightly older, smarter students at CTY left me very well equipped to handle even 5th and 6th graders.

Last week I played with a big group of boys. Scored one goal, but he highlight came when a ball rolled out of bounds for a goalie kick (they let the goalie punt on a goalie kick, and by "goalie" I mean "anybody").

"Matt-sensei, douzo!"
WHAAAAAM! (ball flies past ALL the kids, easily 2-3x as far as any of their previous kicks)
all: "ooooohhhh! Matt-sensei, Soccer wa tsuyoi (strong)!"

"Cute Eyelashes" Count:

3

I'm Huge in Japan.

Had this exchange today with one of the 7th grade girls at lunch (I eat with the students, and rotate classes):

her: (gestures at eyes)
me: "uh...eyelashes?"
her: "eyelashes, long."
me: "oh, yes..."
her: (turns to friend next to her) "very cute!"
me: (insert quote from Super Troopers about making a dark man blush) "oh...thanks!"
I think she was surprised I heard her. Her friend was all "say you're welcome!" while she was all "no, no!"

It's good to see my students trying to communicate with me. Ah, to be a middle school student...

Thanksgiving in Japan

We had our mid-year seminar (yes, it's only been 3 months) on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday a bunch of us went out for dinner. Thanksgiving, if you didn't know, is a purely North American (America/Canada) tradition, so we substituted KFC for roast turkey.

I was thankful for "the falling dollar, and the fact that I'm paid in yen."

Summitting the Big Mountain

On September 27th (yeah, this post is a bit late) I hiked up Daisen. 大"Dai" in Japanese, meaning "Big," and 山"Sen," meaning "Mountain." Last month I hiked up Big Mountain.

Daisen is over 1,700m tall. This sign came about halfway up.

I spent most of the hike in the company of this group--there were many adults, but they can't hang with the youth.

Two JETs, three exchange students. (The one on the right was the ostensible reason for the climb--homestay families and people associated with her high school hiked up the mountain to "welcome" her. Some welcome, eh?)

The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Clear skies, warm (but not hot) day...my co-teacher (who invited me and Josh, the other JET) said that there are maybe a dozen days this good in a given year.

The mountain trail faces the Sea of Japan, so for much of the way up there's a clear view of the water through the breaks in the trees (not to mention the several lookouts).

Trees thinning--approaching the summit...

...and here it is. There's even a summit shack, complete with a vendor (does he stock by helicopter, or does somebody haul cases up a 1,200m hike?).

The requisite picture with the elevation sign.

The way down had some beautiful sunlight-through-the-clouds effects, which I attempted to capture and embellish with photoshop.

The way down also had some steep declines. It never seems as bad going up...

Back at the bottom. Later, Daisen.

My Students

(Tell Me Why) Ain't Nothin' but a Mistake...

We did a class week before last with my elective English course where we learned the lyrics to "I Want it that Way," that singular hit by that stellar quintet, the Backstreet Boys. The whole class stemmed from a previous class where, during introductions, one of my students told me she likes "Listening to music."
"What groups do you like?"
"Oh...Backstreet Boys--"
"Oh! Me too!"

My co-teacher, overhearing the conversation, suggested that since we were both such big fans (my student, by the way, is 13. She was 4 or 5 when the song first hit the charts, and even younger when BSB first stepped on the scene) that we should learn a song for class.

Right. So, as an introduction I played the music video for the class on my laptop. Which was all well and good until partway through. One of my students gasps and points at the screen--"Ah, Matt-sensei!"

Who was she pointing at?

Howie.

"Were you a backstreet boy?"
"No."
"Did you quit so you could teach?"
"No."
"And cut your hair after, too?"
"No. Well, I did cut my hair, but. No."
Of course, my stunning rendition of the song, rehearsed through many years of ultimate time-out songs with Dartmouth's Pain Train, did little to convince them otherwise.

Last week in (regular) class, we were doing a phone conversation (students come up with their own skits to act out, with two people making plans to meet somewhere). One of the transcripts looked something like this:

"Hello?"
"Hello. This is ____. Can I speak to ____?"
"Sure, just one moment."
...
"Hi! I'd love to"
"Tell me why"
"I want it that way"
"OK, see you there"
"OK, bye"

If it weren't so patently ridiculous, it would've been great. Or maybe it's great BECAUSE it's patently ridiculous?

The Elementary Schools, or: I Dominate 1st Graders in Dodge Ball

I visit 3 elementaries on Friday each week (this is why I need a car for work--there's no bus or train schedule flexible enough to accommodate me there). I <3 the elementary schools. My goodness, kids are just wonderfully full of energy (I'm well aware that they can wear on you, but hey, I only see each class once per week--energy stays high there). It's almost enough to make me reconsider pediatrics as a medical specialty. It's a lot more fun than the rest of my week--I'm super busy with all the school visits, but every class is basically a short lead-in (introducing new vocabulary, etc) to playing games in some form or another. Best part is, I get to play too!

When I was first starting, I had a free period at one of the schools and I was invited to join the first graders (yes, first graders) for gym. We played amoeba tag first (I was "it" to start--I'm not sure what was worse, not being able to catch any of them to start or being slowed down by them so much when I finally did get one and had to drag 'em around to get more), and then we played dodge ball.

I know what you're thinking--it must've been a slaughterfest--but I played left-handed so it was merely a massacre instead. Kids got a big kick out of it, though.
"Matt-sensei, sugoi!" (Matt, you're awesome!)

I've also been playing with the kids a fair bit at lunchtimes--I eat with one of the classes each Friday--which has left me rather sweaty for a few of my afternoon classes. Whoops.

Hair

So, some of you may not know this, but I was asked to cut my hair before I came to work here in Japan.

I went from this:



To this:



Today my supervisors' supervisors (IE, the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education folk--they're obviously above my local BOE, and definitely above my school's teachers) came to observe a class and chat with me a bit--afterwards, talking to one of my supervisors--a prefectural advisor for all of the JETs in Tottori, who, incidentally, was my primary liason before I came and forwarded the original request to cut--relayed to me comments from my Principal: glad he's getting involved, still seems a bit shy, ...man, am I glad he cut his hair!

Apparently my principal had been enraged at the prospect of me coming over with my dreads, and it was in part due to his vocal complaints to the placement service that I wound up hearing that I should cut my hair.

I'm glad my principal is happy with me, instead of really super pissed off.