Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

This week marks the end of the school year, so it’s time for big changes. I’ve had to say goodbye to my ninth graders as they are headed off for high school. We had graduation last Monday, March 16th. It was a sad day for me – I really enjoyed the ninth graders. Most of them were pretty funny and I liked talking with them. It’s been a tough few months for them though. They’ve had to study really hard for their high school entrance examinations. In order to get into high school, they must pass pretty tough exams. There are different exams for public high schools versus private high schools. Most try and get into public high schools as they are usually higher level and less expensive, but of course, the tests are also more difficult. High school is not compulsory here, so a few students won’t even go on to high school, either because they couldn’t pass the test or their score wasn’t high enough to get into an affordable school. It’s a lot of pressure on the kids and they’ve been pretty nervous about it. The results for some of the examinations weren’t posted until after graduation, so on graduation day, many students didn’t even know what high school they were going to yet. The results were posted on Wednesday, March 18th, so many ninth graders came back to school to see the results board and get congratulated by their teachers. I was happy to hear that the students at my main school did much better than the teachers expected them to!

I’m also going to have to say goodbye to several teachers. Each spring, the board of education randomly transfers tons of teachers to different schools throughout the prefecture. Teachers never know if they are going to be transferred or not, they don’t have a say as to where they are transferred, and they only have about 2 to 2 ½ weeks between the time they are notified and when they start the new school year at a new school. They just started getting notified last Thursday, and the new school year starts on April 7th. Some teachers still don’t know if they are staying or going. Apparently on March 25 or 26th, all the changes will be printed in the newspaper. From what I’ve heard, younger teachers are usually transferred every year, older teachers about every three to five years. The vice principals and principals are also transferred around.

None of the teachers (even the ones that are staying) know what grades they’ll be teaching or what club activities they’ll be in charge of until around April 1st, when the new teachers start. They could get assigned to the soccer club, for instance, even though they’ve never played soccer and don’t even know the rules. I was under the impression that the teachers that get to stay will keep on teaching the same grade, but apparently, they get shuffled too. It ends up being hard on everyone – there is a lot of uncertainty towards the end of the school year. The ones who go leave the co-workers and students they’ve gotten comfortable with for a new place, leaving the ones who stay with more work – reassigning classes, getting the new teachers used to everything, etc.

I just don’t understand it. It seems like a lot of extra work and headaches for everyone involved. I’ve been really nervous about it because I like all the English teachers I work with. I’ve been very lucky thus far – they are all easy to work with and their English is really good – unlike some of the teachers other ALTs have had. As of today, I’ve found out that my mountain school English teacher gets to stay, but one of two of my Monday teachers is going, and two (maybe 3) of the 5 English teachers at my main school must go. Then, of course, several other, non-English teachers must leave my schools too. I’m really sad about it because they’ve all been so nice to me and I feel like I’m just getting to know them. Hopefully, the teachers replacing them will be good, too, but who knows?

Spring vacation starts this Wednesday, 3/25. My sister Liz and friend Becky are coming to visit me, so I’ll be traveling around Japan with them for a week. I’ll be back in Kanazawa for the farewell party for the teachers at my main school on 3/30. Then I’m headed to Okinawa until 4/6 to enjoy the sand and sun! I’m really excited about vacation, but I’m nervous about all of the new faces there will be when school starts again on the 7th!

Is Silence Golden? I Think Not.

I think this is the quietest I’ve been each day since I was in 1st Grade. Each report card from 1st grade used to have a comment about how I was doing well in school but didn’t talk very much. My parents were puzzled because at home they had a hard time getting me to shut up. My family used to call me “Yacky Jackie” – pretty great nickname, huh? I’m not sure why I didn’t talk much at school back then, but as most of you have experienced, it didn’t turn out to be a lasting problem!

Here in Japan, though, I’m pretty silent most of my day at school. I talk when I’m in the classroom, as that’s what I’m here for, but that’s only two to four 50 minute periods a day. The majority of my day consists of sitting in the teachers’ room, listening to the teachers talking in Japanese and laughing around me, wondering what’s going on.

This is a sharp contrast to my days at the WF, where I was almost constantly conversing with co-workers or clients. I’d spend my days typing and chattering away to whoever happened to be on the phone, in my cubicle, or within listening distance from my cubicle. (Probably to the annoyance of others within listening distance from my cubicle!) I’d talk while eating lunch at my desk or I’d go out to lunch with friends to get the latest news, happily a part of millions of conversations.

I do have occasional interactions throughout the day but the frequency and duration of these interactions are nothing compared to what I’m used to. On a usual day, Kyoto-sensei usually stops by a few times to make comments, my English teachers will chat with me to plan our next lesson and in the halls on the way to and from class, I’ll greet students while walking through the halls, and one or two students may stop by my desk after lunch to chat for a few minutes. I’d say that totals 10 minutes of non-classroom conversation per school day (at most).

Mondays I get in more conversation time because I eat lunch in the classroom with the students. When eating with class 2-1, I’m able to get in one or two questions or comments while the students quickly shovel in their lunches and try to avoid eye contact with me. Class 2-5 is a bit more outgoing though and they’ll ask questions and talk with me more. There are also two girls that always talk to me after lunch. At the end of the day, I’ll usually stay an extra 30 minutes to an hour, both so the English teachers have time to plan the next week’s lesson and with me and also to converse with the art teacher, who has great English. Those 30 minutes to an hour isn’t the conversation time though, for most of that, I’m waiting for the teachers to get back from meetings or other duties.

Wednesdays are also a bit different as there’s another ALT who works at my school. It’s nice to have someone to talk to all day, kind of. I like her a lot, but she doesn’t have anyone to talk to during the day the rest of the week, so it can be hard to get a word in. I’m also afraid it’s annoying to the rest of the teachers, either because they can’t understand all the English or because they can… I’m a bit torn about it because all the talking gets to be a bit much, but when she’s reading a book or over on the internet, it’s a bit lonely!

Luckily there are more opportunities for conversation after the work day is over. I’ll often talk on the phone or meet up with other ALTs in the evenings and weekends and now I have a language partner that I meet with a few times a week. Her English is almost perfect, so we spend most of the time talking in English, although she does try to get me to practice my Japanese too. Apparently these interactions aren’t quite enough for “Yacky Jackie” though… I’m talking to myself more and more when I’m alone in my apartment... At least I don't reply...yet.

I Fought the Slopes...and It Was A Tie

I went skiing in Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture (site of the 1998 Winter Olympics) the weekend of March 7th with four ALT friends (Ali, Leslie, Mieko and Ken). We rented a car (which was quite the hassle for Leslie and Mieko) and Leslie drove us up to Hakuba early on Saturday morning. We stayed in a really great B&B owned by an Australian guy, his Japanese wife, their adorable 2 yr-old daughter and friendly dog (B&B Santana Hakuba http://www.hakuba-santana.com/). I recommend it if anybody is planning on doing a little skiing or mountain biking in Nagano anytime soon.

The mountains were stunning, the weather was sunny and warm, and I was absolutely petrified. Before this, I had been skiing exactly twice in my life. The first time was for a school trip in 6th grade at Sundown Ski Resort in Dubuque, Iowa. The second and most recent time was sophomore year of college in Red Wing, Minnesota. That would have been about ten years ago. Needless to say, I am not very skilled at it. Also, these mountains looked a bit more difficult than anything I've ever seen in the Midwest!

My friends were all really good skiers and/or snowboarders. I definitely was the weakest link in our group. They were very patient with me though and were good teachers. I felt bad that I was holding them back, but they took turns baby-sitting me so they all had the chance to do more difficult runs. I fell some, but not as much as I had expected, even though at one point I got myself completely tangled up in a mesh fence! By the end of the first day, I had made quite a bit of progress. I was immensely relieved to find that I could take the gondola back down the mountain though, as there was no beginners' trail all the way to the bottom. Which, in my opinion, is really stupid. I was even more relieved when I heard about how icy the path down the mountain was. The others said that everybody was falling all over the place.

Although the views at the top were gorgeous and skiing was even a bit exhilarating at points, I think the best part of the day was when we were all at the bottom, enjoying Subway sandwiches! It was almost sad how excited we were - Japan is not well known for their sandwich-making abilities. A good sandwich is very hard to find. I think there are a few other Subways in Japan but I hadn't been to one yet. Although there are much better sub places at home (Jimmy Johns, Potbelly, etc.), I think that Subway roast beef sandwich was the best one I've ever had!

That night we went and relaxed at an onsen to help with our aching muscles, ate again at a delightful restaurant called Pizzikaya (Get it? Pizza + Izikaya. Pretty clever, huh?) that had really tasty food and used all homemade pottery, and fell asleep watching the absolutely terrible movie "Never Been Kissed".

The next morning was also warm and sunny and we headed to Happo-one Ski Resort, stage of the Olympic downhill race. Although I should have felt more confident, I was even more terrified than the day before. I somehow felt that it was a fluke that I hadn't hurt myself the day before and that I was definitely due for a serious injury. It didn't help that the slopes looked even steeper and icier than those at the previous resort. When we got to the top of the chair lift, I noticed that the map had no beginner trails reachable from that point. They were all beginner 2s or advanced ones. I was frozen in place for quite awhile and then started sweating profusely. The others all skied away so they could actually enjoy themselves, but Ali stayed to coach me down the hill. It probably took at least 30 minutes and much stopping and falling for me to make it down the one short but steep run. My body didn't seem to remember what it had done the previous day at all and I was freaking out a bit because I was so scared. Luckily, the others found an easier run for me which I went down several times and I finally became more comfortable. I was even able to make it down that first scary slope again without falling or freaking out. I started enjoying myself a lot more as the day went on!

It was a fun trip and I'm really glad I had the chance to go. The scenery was really beautiful and it was good for me to go skiing again. I do have to say that I was not sad to return the rental ski gear and climb into the car to go home though! Maybe I'll go skiing again... in another ten years.