journal entry #14 - a day in the life of kari sensei, english teacher!

Friday July 23, 2010

After school today, a group of my cute freshmen girls will rehearse a skit with me that they wrote for an English competition. We have read, modified, practiced, and re-modified this skit for weeks. They even recorded my voice as I model-read the entire dialogue line by line so that they could “perfect” their pronunciation!

I stand back in adoration and watch them shine, only giving correction and input when they request it and only if I think avoiding the correction would hurt their overall performance. I don’t want any of me in this skit because they have done a marvelous job on their own—and I want to preserve the integrity of their creativity. They already passed the first round of the competition and are now preparing for the Regional level. I was so happy for them that it felt like I won when they told me they made it through and now I am eagerly anticipating their final competition in August. I wish we had more time, but the semester ended on Wednesday and I am just finishing up the week before I begin my own summer break.

I can’t believe that today is my last day of work for about a month! I am excited to visit with friends and explore Japan, but to be honest, I’m kinda bummed… wait, did I really just say that? Yeah, it’s true. There is SO much I want to see in Japan and I know that “time off” is going to keep me just as busy as my work-week anyway, but I am genuinely going to miss my coworkers and students…

Teaching these students is unlike anything else I’ve ever done before in my life and it is simultaneously the hardest and easiest job I’ve had. Lesson-planning requires more preparatory work than I’ve ever had to do in the past, but the actual teaching part doesn’t even feel like work to me. I cannot help but beam with delight as I enter each classroom and the time flies by when I’m delivering my lessons. Miyagi First is very rigorous so the students are dedicated and try to learn the material, which always helps make teaching more enjoyable/effective.

Still, I have several "class clowns" or the typical kids that try to act indifferent to everything and avoid eye contact because they think it's cool to blow off school...but it turns out that these ones are kinda my favorites, he he. I love forcing smiles on their faces and it's almost like a game. For example, there is a boy in one of my classes that always sits in the back corner and tries to just stare out the window or something—so, in his class, I always try to have one activity at the beginning of the lesson that forces everyone to get UP out of their seats and interact with each other somehow.

Some of the students are tired and relatively unresponsive when class begins, but when they get moving like this they are all laughing and enjoying talking in English within the first few minutes...and I wander through the students during the activity and always make a point to speak directly with (and praise) those students that are trying the hardest to avoid learning...they can't help but smile when I act more like their peer than their teacher and then they are like clay in my hands for the next 45 minutes.

In these activities, they are speaking in, listening to, and studying English without even realizing that they're learning and I just love it. It is so much fun to teach because it actually feels like I'm helping someone, I guess. This isn't something I just do alone in my home or office that doesn't directly affect anyone. I love seeing that light go on in a child's face when he or she finally gets what I'm trying to teach and I love it when i see confidence begin to build in “my kids” when something they once dismissed as impossible or useless transforms and they begin to see the value and fun of discovering another language. It’s impossible for me to go home at the end of the workday without a smile...even if it's a tired one!

I know that I’m going to have an incredible few weeks of travel and play, but I know I will still walk out of these doors today with a tender heart; I don’t know how I got so lucky. I live in a beautiful city full of genuinely good people that have carried me. I work in an uplifting and dynamic atmosphere, surrounded by intimidatingly intelligent coworkers that have guided me...and best of all? I teach something I love every day to bright and receptive students, edified continually by their individual gifts.

Several of my beautiful freshmen girls just before a school-wide musical performance. They were AMAZING!

journal entry #13 - a day in the life of kari san, gaijin adventurist

Saturday July 3, 2010

I decided not to set my alarm this morning so that I could sleep in as late as I wanted! I finally gave up by about 5:30 though and jumped out of futon (which is like jumping out of bed, but on the floor...)! I cleaned my luxurious 30-square-foot mansion, ran a couple loads of laundry, delved into some routine personal study, and caught up on a few other things I hadn’t had time to finish during the work-week. I then tossed some snacks, books, my journal, camera, and a couple extra knick-knacks into my backpack and set out to explore a bit more of Sendai! It was supposed to be a weekend of non-stop thunderstorms, but I woke up to nothing more than a soft drizzle and decided to explore, hoping the weather would hold.

I had heard about a temple that sits high on a hill near my apartment with a great view of the city and decided to check it out. After walking up the hill for about 10 minutes, I reached the base of the first flight of stairs…here is a pic!

Stairway to Japanese Heaven

Once I got to the top, I saw the city through the trees and suddenly felt as though I were sneaking a peek of the city from a high-rise, secret hiding place. I snapped a few shots and stopped several times to take a closer look at the vibrant foliage and historical architecture that lined the grounds. There were several small shrine-like buildings all around and a larger building that lay directly beyond the gate. The area looked much like a Buddhist temple I saw a couple weeks ago, but I am not absolutely certain as to whether or not it was.

Sneak-"peak" of Sendai

Almost immediately, a sweet old woman approached me and signaled for me to follow her around the grounds. She didn’t speak more than a few words of English, but she was clearly accustomed to the proper rituals and I just stood near her and mimicked whatever she did and said. After we washed our hands in what I recognized as holy water from my last temple visit, we approached what I assumed to be the main temple building. She tossed some coins for me into what looked like a metal alter of some sort and we bowed, clapped twice, rang large bells by swinging the attached rope to and fro, and bowed again to the opened temple doors. I wanted to walk up the temple steps and explore inside, but I wasn’t sure whether or not that was allowed, so I just followed her toward an open gazebo with several benches that overlooked Sendai. She pulled out a book of kanji images and I got the impression that she draws Japanese calligraphy professionally. I was amazed by her openness because many Japanese people are hesitant to approach gaijin, or foreigners, especially older people. She rattled off to me in Japanese for a few minutes and I nodded, smiled, and “ooh-ed” as she turned through the pages of her book—I didn’t have to feign interest or enjoyment because I genuinely found the entire situation intriguing and beautiful.

She then apologized for taking my time, bowed, thanked me for talking with her, and trotted off back to the grounds’ entrance and down the stairs. I barely had time to return the apologies, thanks, and bows before she was out of sight and on her way. I sat there in the gazebo for a while and then meandered back through the rest of the temple grounds, amazed by all the shrines, statues, and buildings. Suddenly, I heard “Good morning” through a thick Japanese-accent and turned toward the voice. A small, elderly groundskeeper was smiling at me and I bowed back at him, smiling, and greeted him in the corresponding Japanese salutation, “Ohayo gozaimasu."

Our greetings led each of us to assume that the other spoke in our native tongue, but it became clear after about eight seconds that we had each exhausted our understanding of the other. Still, he excitedly jabbered off to me all about the temple grounds and began leading me to a few different buildings I hadn't seen yet.

I have often thought during similar wanderings around the city of how fun it would be to explore with a companion familiar with the area, language, and culture. I would love to know the significance of all that I see and discover the magnificent history behind everything—and here I was with a man who probably had more knowledge and tales about the grounds than anyone else! He led me to statue after statue and building after building, pointing, laughing, and describing each object in great detail...which would have been perfect...except that every single word of his explanation was in Japanese! :-D

In Japanese, I told him that I don’t understand or speak Japanese, but he didn’t seem to notice. I apologetically repeated myself in both Japanese and English a few times so that he wouldn’t be offended if I failed to respond or acknowledge him properly, but he didn’t seem to mind that I couldn’t understand him and I didn’t mind as long as he didn’t, so I just smiled and let him talk my ear off about the rich history of where I was. I nodded and parroted what I could back to him when I felt that he was trying to teach me something in particular and I focused intently on what he was saying, but I only understood a word or two of all he spoke. Still, he was a kind, sweet, and gentle old man. I wish I could have understood him and talked with him; I’m sure that man has incredible stories to tell.

After he had shown me around some more, he went back to his work and I wandered back to the gazebo where the first woman had taken me initially. I sat there in silence for some time and gazed out over the city. I felt my heart fill all over again with love and gratitude for the Japanese people and for their continual kindness.

View from the gazebo – my beautiful Japanese hometown!

I decided to read through some old journal entries written both before and after my arrival in Japan—many memories made me laugh out loud or smile with fond nostalgia, while others penetrated my heart with a poignant rush of tender emotions. I’m not sure how long I stayed there, as I hadn’t checked the time since I rose in the morning. Eventually, I wandered back down the hill and walked through some narrow streets until I found and entrance to the river bank near my apartment. I walked down by the water and sat on the shore, listening to the river and the sounds surrounding me. The atmosphere perfectly complimented the serenity of the temple grounds I had just left and I pulled out my journal again, this time filling the last few empty pages. It seemed perfectly fitting to me that I finished off my morning adventure by finishing off my journal as well.

I walked around some more but my camera battery died upon reaching the river bank and I could tell from the sun that it was midday; I decided to return to my apartment and slowly made my way home, stopping on a few more pleasant occasions to chat in broken English/Japanese with people that visited with me along the road.

Back in my apartment, I talked with my family on Skype for a bit and then set off again on my bike—this time to check out some shops and areas in downtown Sendai. I had a wonderful time; I found many new places and browsed through several confectionery shops that offered delicious samples of their desserts and snacks—bonus! Later, I met up at the church meetinghouse with three lovely girls from China and we made Chinese-style dumplings called "gyoza" using the church’s kitchen! They were DE-licious and we had brownies for dessert—yum!

Of course, I could go into as much detail describing any aspect of my afternoon and night as I did with my trip to the temple this morning, but I would never stop writing and figured that I should probably wrap this up before it turns into an entire journal rather than a single entry. Today is just one example of a typical weekend for me here—the specific adventures and faces change, but ultimately, every week I learn something new, meet someone else that touches my heart, and gain a deeper appreciation for my Lord, my life, and the amazing blessing of being in Japan. These experiences may be common in frequency, but never in significance; I am in awe of the world and people around me and I am excited every single morning when I wake up to discover what adventures the day will hold. I am off to bed for now, but tomorrow is the 4th of July and I am excited to celebrate it......somehow!