I went to play in Tajima weekend before last; this is the same tournament i took an 8-hour road trip to play in back in the summer of 2005, when I first studied abroad in Japan, though this time it was only a 2-hour trip from nearby Tottori. Another pickup team, another great time.
We had to book it back a day early, however, for our sayonara party with the other JETs. Some superlative awards were given (I won for best dance moves, for reasons I'm sure you all are aware of), speeches were made, but generally we just had a great time with our last hurrah as this group of JETs.
Many of us are leaving and scattering across the globe, and though the goodbyes were sad...in a strange way, I feel like leaving will make us closer. While here we were acquaintances, forced to be something more than that by circumstance (namely, the circumstance of being part of the .5% foreign population in Tottori); should our paths ever cross again, that same shared circumstance will lend us a camaraderie in many ways greater than the sum of our time together here. It's not just the time with each other, but the shared experience of having lived and taught here, in our Tottori, that strengthens this bond. No tears for these farewells, but strong emotion, in large part nostalgia.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
final farewells
My final day entailed three visits. One was to an elementary school (similar to the prior post; at this one a student read a message to me in English with tears in her eyes and it was all I could do to avoid breaking down right then and there).
The other two went to my junior high schools. Both were difficult farewells, but one was especially tough.
Of the anecdotes above and throughout the past year, most all of them have been from one school in particular. If you recall graduation in March, I was pretty bummed to miss the ceremony at one of the schools--it's the same one. I've come to love all of my students, but I especially relish every chance with the ones at Hatto.
...I try really really hard not to cry. Call me bull-headed, old-fashioned, stubborn, whatever; it's an emotion I take very seriously. I try especially hard not to cry with an audience.
I cried when I said my goodbye at Hatto. I wasn't the only one.
I thanked my students for fun classes, and for their smiles--their smiles, welcoming me from the beginning, when I was nervous about my life as a teacher in Japan. I told them that I enjoyed seeing their energy, in class and out, and that they had gone from shy students to friends who would stop anywhere to say hello.
I told them that I was going to medical school, and that, since I was becoming a student again, we should both do our best at our studies, together.
I told them that I'd never forget them. And I sobbed out a final "thank you".
They gave me flowers. They gave me a book full of farewell messages. They gave me a round of applause as I left.
The other two went to my junior high schools. Both were difficult farewells, but one was especially tough.
Of the anecdotes above and throughout the past year, most all of them have been from one school in particular. If you recall graduation in March, I was pretty bummed to miss the ceremony at one of the schools--it's the same one. I've come to love all of my students, but I especially relish every chance with the ones at Hatto.
...I try really really hard not to cry. Call me bull-headed, old-fashioned, stubborn, whatever; it's an emotion I take very seriously. I try especially hard not to cry with an audience.
I cried when I said my goodbye at Hatto. I wasn't the only one.
I thanked my students for fun classes, and for their smiles--their smiles, welcoming me from the beginning, when I was nervous about my life as a teacher in Japan. I told them that I enjoyed seeing their energy, in class and out, and that they had gone from shy students to friends who would stop anywhere to say hello.
I told them that I was going to medical school, and that, since I was becoming a student again, we should both do our best at our studies, together.
I told them that I'd never forget them. And I sobbed out a final "thank you".
They gave me flowers. They gave me a book full of farewell messages. They gave me a round of applause as I left.
Elementary Goodbyes
Farewells at the elementaries were really bittersweet. At one they had a rather elaborate ceremony* worked out, including one of the students reading to me in English (granted, he was reading it with Japanese phonetics as it was written, but still, !!) while at another they all sang to me. Really touching stuff--mementos aplenty, with drawn-up thank you notes from all my 5th and 6th graders, complete with picutres of us together.
I was doing really really good at not crying until I was leaving one school--they accompanied me to the exit and saw me off from the parking lot; I was still good pulling out, but as I went down the hill by the school to drive away, the students started running along the top of it alongside of me, waving and shouting "goodbye!"
I could still see them in my rear view mirror as the tears welled up.
I was doing really really good at not crying until I was leaving one school--they accompanied me to the exit and saw me off from the parking lot; I was still good pulling out, but as I went down the hill by the school to drive away, the students started running along the top of it alongside of me, waving and shouting "goodbye!"
I could still see them in my rear view mirror as the tears welled up.
Labels:
elementary schools,
farewells,
students
"Ganbatte kudasai [please do your best]!"
Had my very last class at middle school; at the end I told them a bit about my plans ("I want to be a doctor"), and students wrote farewell messages (being 9th graders with at least 3 years of English under their belt, they only got 10 minutes--lots of hurried textbook flipping looking up words!).
After class, Shie, perhaps my very favorite student (she's the one who pointed me out in the Backstreet Boys Video--I've got a bunch of anecdotes just about her. Super-energetic and completely unabashed in her English use), came up to me.
"Doctor," she says, "Great!" and curls a clenched fist in show of solidarity.
"I'll do my best!"
"You are doctor, I am nurse!" she giggles, rushing off excitedly.
I'm really gonna miss my students.
After class, Shie, perhaps my very favorite student (she's the one who pointed me out in the Backstreet Boys Video--I've got a bunch of anecdotes just about her. Super-energetic and completely unabashed in her English use), came up to me.
"Doctor," she says, "Great!" and curls a clenched fist in show of solidarity.
"I'll do my best!"
"You are doctor, I am nurse!" she giggles, rushing off excitedly.
I'm really gonna miss my students.
Labels:
students
"Since Matt-sensei is single, how about...?"
During lunch with the 1st graders at one of the elementaries we were chatting about the usual fare for a while ("What animal do you like?" "How old are you?"), until finally one asks the inevitable:
"[Do you have a girlfriend?]"
I inform them that no, I in fact, do not, and am immediately paired off with one of the assistant teachers. Awkward eye contact and apologies from/to the paired parties ensue while the children giggle; despite the homeroom teacher's reassurances that, fact that I was leaving Japan aside, I didn't need the help of the first graders to find a girlfriend, the students kept bringing it up.
"Well if Matt likes curry rice, ~sensei can make it..."
Their innocence really is touching.
"[Do you have a girlfriend?]"
I inform them that no, I in fact, do not, and am immediately paired off with one of the assistant teachers. Awkward eye contact and apologies from/to the paired parties ensue while the children giggle; despite the homeroom teacher's reassurances that, fact that I was leaving Japan aside, I didn't need the help of the first graders to find a girlfriend, the students kept bringing it up.
"Well if Matt likes curry rice, ~sensei can make it..."
Their innocence really is touching.
Labels:
elementary schools,
students
"Three!? Three WHAT, huh?"
Went swimming with my elementary school students Friday a week ago. I showed off my butterfly technique (when I told them it was my specialty, they were all "oh! awesome!"); being 5 years out of practice means I left the pool really sore, but I still got it!
The elementary students were of course keen to study my body moreso than my technique--lots of requests for muscle flexes and such, along with plenty of poking and some hugs, the hug being a new tactic in an attempt to sap my body heat (it was a cool overcast day at the outdoor pool).
At one point on the deck, a 6th grade boy leans over and examines my crotch*.
"Yappari, mit-tsu aru. [I knew it, there's three!]"
Something about curiousity and cats. He got a good poke attack for that one.
(*I was in a speedo--I've kept it from high school. It's so small, why not pack it everywhere?)
The elementary students were of course keen to study my body moreso than my technique--lots of requests for muscle flexes and such, along with plenty of poking and some hugs, the hug being a new tactic in an attempt to sap my body heat (it was a cool overcast day at the outdoor pool).
At one point on the deck, a 6th grade boy leans over and examines my crotch*.
"Yappari, mit-tsu aru. [I knew it, there's three!]"
Something about curiousity and cats. He got a good poke attack for that one.
(*I was in a speedo--I've kept it from high school. It's so small, why not pack it everywhere?)
Labels:
elementary schools,
students
"This is 'Tuba.'"
I went through band practice one day last week. The students are spread in different rooms practicing their various instruments (mostly woodwinds, but there was the drum/xylophone room for the percussionists too).
As I walked into the percussion room, one of my favorite girls, Yui, comes up to me (she's sort of in charge of practice), offering an emphatic "Hi!" (which is why she's one of my favorites).
She then proceeds to lead me through the rooms, stopping to introduce me to all of the instruments in English, without any prompting from me whatsoever.
At one point I tell her I played sax back in high school.
"!! Me too!" she excitedly replies. She even let me HOLD hers. Got me nostalgic for my high school jazz band days. More than anything, though, it made me really happy--it was very much a "she can SO use English!" moment, and I'm not sure which of us was prouder for it.
As I walked into the percussion room, one of my favorite girls, Yui, comes up to me (she's sort of in charge of practice), offering an emphatic "Hi!" (which is why she's one of my favorites).
She then proceeds to lead me through the rooms, stopping to introduce me to all of the instruments in English, without any prompting from me whatsoever.
At one point I tell her I played sax back in high school.
"!! Me too!" she excitedly replies. She even let me HOLD hers. Got me nostalgic for my high school jazz band days. More than anything, though, it made me really happy--it was very much a "she can SO use English!" moment, and I'm not sure which of us was prouder for it.
Labels:
students
Japanese Snot Eaters
Checking out baseball practice on my way home one day, one of my normally quiet 7th graders starts talking to me a bit--being a 7th grade boy, of course, he has some typical boy questions. For instance:
Him: "What's this?" while pointing at his nose.
Me: "Nose?"
Him, in Japanese now, "no, [Japanese word I haven't learned]."
gestures at something reminiscent of picking your nose.
Me: "..Snot?"
"Su-not!" he giggles.
He points at his friend. "You are 'snot!'" His friend gives him a quizzical look, while Yuu* (the first boy) repeats the accusation, cracking up.
He turns back to me. "What's [a bloody nose**?]"
My translation is too long for his liking, so he immediately moves on.
At this point a 9th grader, Daijiro, has come over to supervise.
"What's [poop?]"
Me (faux innocent): "I don't know."
Yuu squats, and gestures from his butt.
At this point Daijiro interjects telling him to stop it. ("You are a bad man," Daijiro scolds, but being a lowly 7th grader Yuu needs a translation to get the insult.)
I of course refuse to tell him anything more at this point, seeing what he's already done with the little I've given. Yuu tries to get a couple more perverse but typically boyish words translated, along with hilarious gesticulation--I've never had as much fun playing dumb as when he was gesturing at [from] his crotch looking for confirmation of what it's called while some two dozen of his classmates looked on cracking up. Eventually he gives up and goes back to his old ways.
Yuu: "This boy likes snot. He eats snot!" "You are su-NOT!"
I'm glad I'm still making friends even with the end so close.
(*He spelled his name as "You," using the well-learned English pronoun in his farewell note. Adorable.
**For the record, a bloody nose is a sign of perversion in popular media here--blood's all rushing around so much that the nose gives out).
Him: "What's this?" while pointing at his nose.
Me: "Nose?"
Him, in Japanese now, "no, [Japanese word I haven't learned]."
gestures at something reminiscent of picking your nose.
Me: "..Snot?"
"Su-not!" he giggles.
He points at his friend. "You are 'snot!'" His friend gives him a quizzical look, while Yuu* (the first boy) repeats the accusation, cracking up.
He turns back to me. "What's [a bloody nose**?]"
My translation is too long for his liking, so he immediately moves on.
At this point a 9th grader, Daijiro, has come over to supervise.
"What's [poop?]"
Me (faux innocent): "I don't know."
Yuu squats, and gestures from his butt.
At this point Daijiro interjects telling him to stop it. ("You are a bad man," Daijiro scolds, but being a lowly 7th grader Yuu needs a translation to get the insult.)
I of course refuse to tell him anything more at this point, seeing what he's already done with the little I've given. Yuu tries to get a couple more perverse but typically boyish words translated, along with hilarious gesticulation--I've never had as much fun playing dumb as when he was gesturing at [from] his crotch looking for confirmation of what it's called while some two dozen of his classmates looked on cracking up. Eventually he gives up and goes back to his old ways.
Yuu: "This boy likes snot. He eats snot!" "You are su-NOT!"
I'm glad I'm still making friends even with the end so close.
(*He spelled his name as "You," using the well-learned English pronoun in his farewell note. Adorable.
**For the record, a bloody nose is a sign of perversion in popular media here--blood's all rushing around so much that the nose gives out).
Labels:
students
"Did you enjoy?"
Last week I stopped in on some students working on their art after school. These students are some of my chattiest (nothing all that substantial usually mind you--just "hi! how are you!" but still better than most students will give unprompted).
At one point they're going back and forth about who likes who--two of the girls tell me that "She," pointing at a third girl, "likes her neighbor!" but she retorts with a "SHE likes my big brother!" and proceeds to allude to some rendezvous had (something about spending a night together, very scandalous--I'm assuming it was on a field trip or such), the other denying it the whole time. I asked her if she enjoyed it, and they all cracked up.
At one point they're going back and forth about who likes who--two of the girls tell me that "She," pointing at a third girl, "likes her neighbor!" but she retorts with a "SHE likes my big brother!" and proceeds to allude to some rendezvous had (something about spending a night together, very scandalous--I'm assuming it was on a field trip or such), the other denying it the whole time. I asked her if she enjoyed it, and they all cracked up.
Labels:
students
High School Reunion
About a month ago walking back from school I bumped into some students coming from the high school--no longer my students, they'd graduated in March, but I didn't see them at first and they remembered me, calling me over by name.
We exchanged some brief pleasantries--I asked them about how high school was ("...enjoying...enjoy...fun! It's fun!!" one of them exclaimed. She always was one of the best students--most never realize there's a translation beyond "enjoy"), and we went on our way, but the...joy at the chance encounter buoyed my spirits for a whole week.
We exchanged some brief pleasantries--I asked them about how high school was ("...enjoying...enjoy...fun! It's fun!!" one of them exclaimed. She always was one of the best students--most never realize there's a translation beyond "enjoy"), and we went on our way, but the...joy at the chance encounter buoyed my spirits for a whole week.
Labels:
students
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