AJET has also been taking up a good deal of time and we're currently planning our annual Halloween Dance Party. We're hoping to draw a LOT of people this year by advertising early (I hope) and offering free drinks for reserving tickets early. We also have a 5,000 yen ($45) prize for our Overall Best Costume Award. The other, lesser, categories are Scariest, Sexiest, Funniest, Most Offensive (Adam and I would have gotten this last year) and Crappiest (for those who really just threw something together at the last minute!). We're also donating 20,000 yen (a bit less than $200) to our local Habitat for Humanity and will be selling food and snacks there to benefit them as well. We're trying to organize some games like Limbo and biting-an-apple-off-a-string-with-no-hands. Hopefully it'll all work out. As far as costumes go, I'll be wearing a traditional Mongolian overcoat called a "del", along with a crazy looking hat. It should be nice, but nothing offensive or startling like last year. Adam still hasn't decided on his costume but will probably want something offensive or funny. If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE let us know!
So, there's a spider that's taken residence outside my window at work and usually in my past I've either feared or just been grossed out by spiders. However, this spider is kinda cool (provided it stays where it is...!). I think it's the type of spider called locally "Welcome spiders" because they like to build webs near doors and windows, therefore "welcoming" you home (not poisonous). They can get about 4-5 inches from leg tip to leg tip at their largest and are quite brilliantly colored. Their body is a sort of striped yellowish-green and their legs are striped black and yellow. The one I've been watching outside my window, (let's call him Ted for the sake of this narrative) was busy re-making his impressive web. As he moved his way about delicately attaching his silk with his back leg to the appropriate part on the web, I was struck with a sense of extreme awe. How in the word could we have ever so carelessly destroyed something so masterful and beautiful. Honestly, a spider's web is a gorgeous work of art. It takes them so long to create one and I'm sure costs them so much energy, that for us to come along and destroy it with a stick (or whatever else), seems pretty barbaric. Some of their webs can get to be about 3 feet in diameter!! Ted is an amazing creature indeed!
Anyway, that's enough nature talk for now. I've been a little down lately. A few classes this last week have really upset me and made me really wonder if I can make it through another year here. Most of my classes are lovely and, especially with my candy-filled Halloween lesson, are a lot of fun! However, a couple classes are filled with students who, for some unknown reason, seem to think I'm not a human being, but instead some kind of a strange clown from a different planet. I was in the middle of acting out some vocabulary (making them guess the meaning in Japanese -- thereby avoiding the whole translation bit) and some students just started laughing. I know I didn't have boogers on my face or chalk on my butt, so I ignored it at first. But then it became so distracting I had to ask what was going on. The JTE (jpse teacher with me) said they thought it was funny that I was so "genki" (energetic). Ah... well I'm sorry for not being a boring drone! Most classes seem to like the fact that I'm positive and energetic in my classes. I know it's a pretty big change from the usual monotone lectures they normally get. It wasn't so much the laughing part that bothered me so much as the general air of disrespect. They refused to do anything I asked them to, refused to raise their hands and answer simple questions or repeat something I needed them to practice. I was so inscensed at one point I almost said "F@$# it! I'm outta here" and left the room. I didn't, but I sure wanted to. Other classes were dead-silent and seemed like complete zombies. I don't think there's anything more humiliating than having your students not respect you and, therefore, make you feel like a fool when your principal and vice-principal are watching. Every once in awhile you hear about a teacher going nuts, snapping and stabbing a student. It seems extreme, I know, but honestly... I'm not surprised! I would have loved to take a couple of the chalkboard erasers (which are always filled with chalkdust) and poof them on the kids' faces, purely for my own enjoyment.
Anyway, I've started being harsher with the "unruley" students. I don't like to be mean and I don't like having to get mad, but there's nothing else I can do. Adam doesn't think I'm acting harsh enough and that they'll continue to walk all over me.... Maybe he's right. Winning them over as the nice guy worked at the beginning, but maybe they're starting to think they can take advantage of me. I'm technically not a real teacher, so they don't tend to think of me as one. However, I'm just trying to do my job to the best of my ability and they make it impossibly frustrating at times. It's also to do with the age, I'm sure. They're 15-16 years old but act like they're in 8th grade. The maturity level here is quite a bit lower than in the states. I'd always vowed NEVER to be a middle school teacher and was very happy a year ago to learn I'd be teaching high school. Well, I might as well be teaching 7th or 8th grade. Grrrrrr!
Whatever, this is definitely my last year here. They could but wouldn't fire me for any but the most serious reasons. I discussed this with Adam and he said that up until now I've been very tolerant (in actions, not my rants) of the culture and have been trying my hardest to fit in. Well, it's kicking me in the butt. I'll never fit in here and no matter how hard I try they'll still view me, not as a person but as a strange, foreign being. It's time I literally say "F&%$ it!" and stop being let down all the time. I'm going to be the person I am and not care about trying to fit in anymore. This will probably cause people to think I'm rude (because I state my opinion and can actually say the word "no"), and abrasive. Whatever. I'm tired of caring. This isn't to say that they're ALL like this, because they're not. Most of the people I work with are very nice and helpful. However, they still see me as an outsider.
The day before yesterday there was a lecture here at school about the "foreigner issue" in Japan. Since they have opened Sumo Wrestling to foreigners, the only champions have been Mongolian or this one Bulgarian guy. This has raised a lot of issues because they think of Sumo as a Japanese sport -- ergo, foreigners shouldn't be allowed to be the champions. One of my teachers came back from this lecture and asked me about foreigners in our sports like baseball. He wondered if we had any regulations or limitations on how many foreigners could be on a team. I said, no we don't (which is true). He wondered what we thought about foreigners setting records, like Ichiro, for example. I said that it didn't matter that he was foreign. If he's playing for the Mariners and doing well, then that makes the team and us look good. The fact that a huge number of our players are from other countries, like Puerto Rico, Japan etc. didn't matter. He seemed to think this was strange. Then he asked me if I ever felt discriminated against being a foreigner here in Japan. Unsure of how much opinion to give him, I asked if he wanted the truth. He said yes, so I, in the most benign way possible said, "yes quite often acutally". We get turned away from restaurants and bars. We are stared at and thought to be very stupid. We just recently made a reservation at a Japanese style hotel in southern Nara and they actually required that a certain percentage of the people in our group be able to speak Japanese. Things like this would be considered prejudiced and racist in America.
Anyway, I tried to tell him what I experienced in a very nice way. Hope it turned out like that. He's nice so I didn't want to bitch or complain, just explain. He was surprised to hear about all I had to say and mentioned to me that since many people didn't grow up seeing a lot of foreigners, they don't know how to act or behave around them. I thought this was silly, since all we want is for them to treat us as human beings, NOT as strange creatures. I basically told him that we would like to be treated the same way they would like to be treated (read: Golden Rule). Not sure how successful I was in getting my point across. Expressing a complicated opinion is difficult in simple English.
On another note: All the women in my family got together a couple weekends ago for our annual MAD Runamuck (Mothers And Daughters = MAD). I was pretty sad not to have been able to attend. However, completely on accident I called my mom one of those nights and was able to talk to all 8 of them! It was so nice to be able to talk to everyone again after so long. I can't wait to see them all at Christmas!! 76 days and counting! They said that I was there in spirit... no idea what this meant but knew it had to be something really goofy. When I saw the pics, I finally understood! Kinda cute, kinda weird! Haha! Here are some pics from the craziness that is my family! Enjoy!
The lake house they stayed at.
View of the lake. Beautiful!
Group pic. I'm the balloon there in the back. We have to wear crazy hats for dinner time. Not sure why... just to make it that much crazier I guess!
The Cousins -- Mandi, "me" before I started drinking, Kim, Heidi, Heather.
Heather, "me", Grammy. I think I'd had a few at this point!
Ooops! Maybe a few too many... 
Mandi and Julia -- the newest member to the MADness!
Mid-day cheer! Heather, Aunt Diana, Heidi.
I think my mommy really wants to be a grammy! *eek!* Mom, you're going to be an awesome grandma!
Paddleboating.... or something like it! Aunt Connie and Mom.
Time for bed! Classic, Mom, classic. :) Goodnight!
1 comment:
Maybe Ted will send you "Salutations."
--I knew a guy who was married to a Japanese woman on Okinawa. Their kids were teased & called "gaijin" ALL THE TIME despite the fact that they were born in Japan.
--Racism is rather well documented in Japan, and I'm sorry that you've had to experience it yourself---English raped & all.
--Aaron says that we should meet because you are my doppelgaenger.
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