Home School Observations

September 28, 1992 Letter #2 from an American Gaijin in Japan

Now that I have been here a month, I’m feeling more at home. There is so much to tell you! I have pages to write on each topic: food, city, country, festivals, neighbors, students, teaching, trains, and more! I have no idea where to begin or how to organize it, so I’ll just jump into the middle and work my way to both ends!

I am glad I have experience in front of crowds, through being a contra dance caller and a disc jockey, because I have had to give more speeches than I can count. It seems ridiculous to me, for each one is two minutes or less. It’s just a formality, but an important one, it seems. I have given basically the same speech (that I am honored to be the next Assistant English Teacher, that I look forward to a successful year of teaching, and I am thankful for the opportunity to live and work in my sister city, Kakegawa) to a roomful of school principals (all male), the Board of Education, Kakegawa City Council (twenty five male, two female), faculties of three junior high schools, the adult English conversation class at the Lifelong Learning Center, and there may have been more.

I am ready at a moment’s notice to give my speech. It could happen at any time. I never know ahead of time. Why, it could even happen again today! Mr. Kiso, from the Board of Education, could call me at school and tell me that Mr. Nagao would pick me up by car in half and hour to take me to City Hall to ’say a few words’ to a meeting of city employees. So I would ride fifteen minutes to City Hall, where I would be introduced in Japanese, and then Mr. Kiso would give my entire life history in less than two minutes, and it would sound like this: blah, blah, blah…Cincinnati, Ohio…blah, blah, blah…Eugene,Oregon…blah, blah, blah…KLCC…blah, blah, blah, folk music….blah, blah, blah….Trinidad, Scotland, Venezuela, Mexico…blah, blah, blah. I hope that in the midst of the blah, blah, blah’s he is mentioning my teaching experience! Then I would give my three-line speech, Mr. Kiso would translate, and then we would leave (in and out in five minutes flat!). I’d be driven back to school to resume my day.

Life has been like that - a whirlwind of ‘useless’ (in my opinion) activity. It seems people are impressed by my radio experience and international travels.

My neighbor Marlene is also an AET from Eugene, Oregon. She seems to have adjusted easily to life here, and has been here for two years. Marlene has been so helpful as I struggle to learn my way around town, change money, go shopping, run errands, etc. A couple of days ago we rode our bicycles a half hour out of town, past the rice fields, to get to a trail. We hiked about two hours uphill through bamboo and cedar groves until we reached Ogasa Jinja, a Shinto shrine, at the top of the hill. We admired the view as we ate our lunch on the steps of the wooden structure. The ocean, only twenty miles away, was barely visible. The hike to and from the hilltop was as much fun as reaching the destination. The cicadas were serenading us. I am told there are six species of cicadas, each with a distinct call, and many people can distinguish and imitate all six songs.

Marlene and I discovered a Buddhist temple (Yoko-In) only ten minutes walk from Kopo Marine Blue. The buildings are exquisite, the grounds beautiful. There are many flowers, flags, bells, small statues, shrines, and a pond with goldfish. And if I chose my location carefully, I could gaze on all these things of beauty and still avoid seeing the bright red Coca Cola vending machine in the out building near the pond.

At Yoko-In I spotted a pine tree with foot-long needles. I collected some for use in basketry. When I show people the needles, they are always amazed by the length, and ask if I found them in Japan. When I tell them they are from a pine tree in Kakegawa, they’re very surprised.

After our visit to the temple, Marlene and I strolled back toward ourneighborhood, stopping at a Chinese restaurant for dinner. The food was delicious, the dinner relaxing. We watched a beautiful sunset in pink, blue, and crimson clouds.

For the September full moon we took a bottle of wine, some Oregon sage, and a candle down to the river. There we watched the moonlit coulds change shape, sipped wine slowly, sang aongs and told stories. It’s great having Marlene as a neighbor.

Yesterday was my first payday. Since the banks close at 3pm and I work until 4, I must rely on ATM’s. It is not exactly like using ATM’s in the States, however. For one thing, they have their own “open” hours, until about 7pm. There is a 100 yen charge for withdrawing money after 3pm on a Saturday or anytime on a Sunday. Automatic deposits of salaries are the norm here, with banks closing so early. So I made my first withdrawal at a Japanese teller machine. These ATM’s gobble your card and your account book and print out the transaction in your book. Two kinds of bills are available, 1000 yen notes and 10,000 yen notes, worth $7.50 and $75 respectfully. It is not unusual to see people withdrawing thirty of those 10,000 yen notes and casually stuffing them into their pocket as they head for the door. The crime rate is so low that people carry hundreds, even thousands of dollars-worth of cash on them and think nothing of it . The ATM’s also give instructions to you, in a pleasant-sounding female voice, and the printed instructions appear on an 8 x 10 screen in four colors!

It is a status symbol to have English words and phrases on notebooks, pencil cases, bookbags, and clothing. I am enjoying being surprised by this “Japlish.” Here is a real gem of Japlish, from a spiral notebook:

Typhoon season has begun, which, for Kakegawa, means thunderstorms from time to time, plus a little extra ‘kick’ in the pervasive winds. It seems to be windy all the time. That’s great in the summertime, and for drying your clothes on the line, and for clearing out the air from the open-air trash burning. I am not, however, looking forward to these same winds when they become the ‘artic breezes’ of winter. The schools are not heated. The Japanese say it builds character, and the children are told to endure. I hope I’ll be able to!

I have 42 classes of students in three junior high schools, putting me in the spotlight in front of a total of over 1600 students. I shall never learn all the names. Each class has forty students in classrooms about the size of a standard classroom in the USA, designed for thirty students. The desks are smaller in Japan, so the rooms are just large enough. But it still feels crowded. It is not overwhelming, however, to have so many students at once because there are no discipline problems. The students are very sweet - innocent, really. It is refreshing to have the respect of thirteen and fourteen-year-olds. A nice change! I welcome it!

Marlene and I live in Shironishi, one of the neighborhoods of Kakegawa. It has definite boundaries, its own community center, and its own ‘president’ of the neighborhood association. The 2-12-26 in my address directs the postal worker miraculously to our apartment building on an unnamed street. Kakegawa, halfway between Tokyo and Osaka, is in Shizuoka Prefecture, the home of Mt. Fuji. The prefecture is large and I have yet to see Mt. Fuji, but people tell me I will be able to see it once it is topped with its snowy winter coat.

I miss you all. I’m in good health and my spirits are high. I wish you all the ‘fresh feeling of Mickey Mouse,’ whatever that is! (Get a daily dose of Japlish at this funny site.

Love,

Diane-sensei

(In Memoriam: Marlene Francis Riggs January 7, 1948 - February 26, 2008)

Tags: AET, ALT, ATM’s, basketry, Buddhist temple, cicadas, Coca-Cola, Engrish, ESL, Japan, Japlish, junior high school, Kakegawa, Mickey Mouse, Oregon, pine needles, Shinto shrine, snow, winter

During my three years as an assistant English teacher in the Land of the Rising Sun, I became an ardent fan of “Japlish,” English as only the Japanese would dare to publish. Many a store clerk’s head would turn to find the source of the not-so-muffled laughter as I strolled the aisles of the local 7-Eleven in search of more juicy Japlish tidbits. I was never disappointed.

The candy section of any convenience store produced some of the most memorable phrases of Japlish. How about a stick of SLING white cream chocolate? Do be careful as you sink your teeth into a piece of CRUNKY KIDS chocolate! Would you like some CREAP non-dairy creamer in your coffee?

Japlish is pervasive in Japanese society, as English slogans, phrases, and quotes are popular design elements on clothing. But I soon discovered that the wearers would usually have no idea of the meaning of the English emblazoned across their shirts, jackets, or bags. My laughter once brought a table full of quiet dinner conversation to a screeching halt as a late guest removed her jacket to reveal a Japlish shirt underneath: “IMPROVE YOUR AREA CODE!”

Walking down a rural road on an autumn afternoon netted this gem of a Japlish T-shirt design:

I smiled at the image created by the thought of the euphemism: urinating stars! The wearer of the shirt had no idea what her T-Shirt meant.

In an attempt to sell more products, designers are sprinkling English about, like salt and pepper on a tossed salad. “Let’s New Try!” shouts a canvas bag.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) school visit schedule for the first quarter of the school year.

No further comment!

Tuesday, September 15, 1992 Letter #1 from An American Gaijin in Japan Kopo Marine Blue is the name of the apartment building where I will be residing for the next year. It is neither blue nor near the sea. “Kopo” is the word for the sound effect of pouring in Japanese comics. On first glance I would rename the building “Solid Concrete Grey,” but isn’t the image of blue ocean water pouring more appealing?

My apartment seems cozy and comfortable, smaller than any apartment I have lived in before. I am told that it would not be unusual for a Japanese couple to live in an apartment this size. Shudder the thought! My and my clothes, books and furniture just fit. I cannot imagine fitting another adult in this 378 sq. ft. living space!

As I sit on my “tatami chair” in my ‘4-and-a-half-mat’ room, I can hear the semi singing, “Summer is over, fall is here.” These cicadas are even louder than the 17-year variety in Cincinnati! The tatami are very thick, about four inches, and heavy, about 35 pounds each! How do I know this? I lifted one up to investigate! They are rigid wood frames with a beautiful top layer of woven rice straw. I was unprepared for how sweet they smell and for how how comfortably smooth each is.

The mats all fit snug together and each has a beautiful cloth lengthwise border. All of my tatami borders are a jade green color with a subtle black adn tan geometric design. There is a tatami weaving shoip in town, and someday I will go there to see how the mats are made, to discover what secrets lie in the middle layers!

I spent my first full morning in Japan in utter luxury at Kurami Onsen, a hot springs resort near Kakegawa. After a delicious breakfast of salad, fruit, rice and eggs, I spent the morning writing letters, soaking in the hot tub, and studying one of the three Japanese alphabets.

Read the rest of this entry »

My First and Last Japanese Tea Ceremony

I had no idea I was going to gag on the ceremonial tea. In retrospect, it is a good thing that I did not know, else I would have missed one of the most beautiful things I experienced in my three and half years in Japan.

Murasaki-san lived in a smaller town north of my small town in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan. My friend Dennis and I took a local train to her town, then walked the few blocks to her home. The tatami mats were new and fresh in the tea ceremony room in her home. It is hard to describe the smell to someone; it is almost a sweet smell. Walking across a tatami mat in your stocking feet is like getting a foot massage.

Dennis and I sat across the room from Murasaki san.ÂHer every movement was deliberately graceful, from the moment she entered the room, knelt down near the tea ceremony utensils, bowed to us, and began the ceremony. She pulled a chakin (handkercheif) from her obi (kimono sash), unfolded it, andceremoniously wiped out the inside of the matcha (green tea for tea ceremony) bowl. She refolded the cloth and placed it back in her obi. Tea went into bowl and water covered tea…I began to daydream and got lost looking at the room itself. The wood trim on the walls, the screens, the delicate scroll hanging in its place of honor, the vase with two flowers, all drew me in and away from the slow movements of the ceremony. Swish, swish, the chasen (whisk) worked the tea into a foamy green sea. The bowl was placed in front of me.

I followed Dennis’ lead and turned the bowl three times, then sipped some tea. I took the smallest sip known to humankind and found the match to be so strong, it triggered my gag reflex. I tensed my muscles in an effort to stop choking and managed to only cough instead. I had been forewarned that the tea for tea ceremony was more concentrated than the green tea I had become accustomed to drinking in the homes and schools I frequented. But no words could have prepared me for just how concentrated the drink was.

I lowered the bowl down carefully, then rotated it three times in the opposite direction. Surely everyone noticed how my tea bowl was still full. Silence was politely kept. Delicate sweet delicacies were served after the tea. I was grateful for the experience but knew it would not be repeated. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Tags: Green Tea, Japan, tea ceremony