Mid-November

This month's post is a little more cheerful - i have managed to resolve some issues at school, mainly by changing my attitude and forcing the teachers to think ahead, rather than asking for them to come to me - that's so not going to happen! So i'm feeling comfortable at school, but this week they have exams, so i will be sitting at my desk in the staff room for 8 hours, for 4 days. ouch.

I had dinner with 2 teachers that i get along with well last week, and I got a little more insight into Japanese schools - new teachers rotate schools every 6 years, and experienced teachers every 8 years. Unless something is very wrong (apparently last year there was a teacher at my school who was a little bit messed up in the head and had some illegal thoughts about some kids, or so i have come to understand). The kids are put into classes so that there's a leader in each class, someone who plays the piano and general ability. The principal and vice-principal rotate every 2 years. And apparently the friendly atmosphere, despite everyone being insanely busy, is not common to most schools. So i've come to appreciate my school more.

Besides that, living in Japan is getting a bit tougher as the winter is finally arriving. It's really cold in the mornings and it can warm up a lot on a sunny day but i've pulled my scarf and gloves out already. Despite that the maple trees are pretty - the weekend before my birthday i went to Nara (known for its 15m buddha statue) and Koyasan (a scared buddhist village) for a weekend, and the foliage was really pretty - it gave me a real winter feeling. Plus it was just generally pretty - see photos i've put up.

My birthday celebration was pretty tame, just dinner and some drinks. It's hard to do a big thing here anyway because when most Japanese people go out drinking they go to Izakayas which are japanese-style 'bars' that usually serve alcohol and food, and tend to be hidden a little. So unless you know where to go and can read a japanese menu without pictures its a little difficult. I must find out where to go for those though.

I'm starting to feel a lot more at home here in Nagoya. I still can't read most signs, but i know where to go for the doctor or the optician, I know where you can go see a bird migration site, i know where to go for big garden centres and where you can find a good arts and crafts shop. That's pretty good, i thnk! So who knows, maybe i will even consider staying here for another year after all...

the daily grind

This one may seem slightly negative as i wrote it when i was bored, but hey, these are the feelings you experience in a situation like mine!

It’s been quite some time since I last wrote! Mainly because nothing of too much note has been happening here.
The main thing that’s been on my mind has been my school – it’s not your typical junior high school, but despite the teachers being so busy, I still felt, and by some teachers still feel, that I’m not always treated right. It’s very hard for me because sometimes I feel like I’m being a push-over, but I’m merely trying to be nice and the cultural differences mean that I’m afraid of saying something that might come out wrong to them!

But we had a sports day at the beginning of October, which was a lot of fun, though I am not allowed to put any photos up, and after that there was a teachers party, with the unmentioned obligatory karaoke after party.
Other than that they have exams now which means I’m stuck in the teacher’s room all day trying to find things to do – like practice Japanese, sometimes I have the courage to whip out a book, and at the moment the internet isn’t working so I try and do other stuff on word or something, that make me seem busy.

That’s as good a description of my daily life in Japan as it gets – I get up at 6, if it’s sunny bike to school at 7.30 passing a lot of Japanese school kids on the way, or if it rains I leave at 7 and I join the bleak crowd of people commuting into the city by train, not extremely fun I must say.
At school if I’m really bored, i.e. a lot of the time, I go outside and say “good morning” to all the kids coming to school – I have made my own little spot to where they come in and change their shoes to indoor shoes. Then I wait for classes to start, and most of the time in these classes I just say a few words that they repeat and walk around. I spend lunch with the kids, and when I sit with some they’re excited but don’t really talk to me, some do make an attempt though, and then I go back to the teacher’s room to wait for my afternoon class. After that, I either keep myself busy doing Japanese or whatever, or I stand outside, saying “Bye” to the kids – my motto is that I want to be available if any of them want to try out their English… most want to but are too shy. Then I keep busy again till I can leave or I sit outside for a while and watch the kids play afterschool sports.

And then I go home. At the moment I have quite a few private lesson gigs, so usually I hurry home, have some food, and head out again to make a reasonable extra income, though what I get per lesson isn’t extremely much.

As far as the weekends are concerned I will head into the center to shop around of just to hang out, run a few errands, and sometimes I head in for a more specific reason – like seeing a festival that’s on or something. People watching is definitely entertaining, as I find them as strange as they find me! I sometimes clean or do some bulk cooking, do some grocery shopping. And occasionally when I find the money I like to go away, as Nagoya isn’t the most exciting place to be (more of an industrial shithole, my impression of it on my bad days).

Then the weeks starts over. I still haven’t made my mind up whether I like living such a daily grind kind of life or not…