jet setting

For a fun last class before summer vacation, I gave the 9th graders the choice of three comics to write their own dialogues for. They worked with a partner and had only one rule: no Japanese! It turned out to be a great learning activity for them as they eagerly looked up words and expressions they didn’t know, or asked the teachers, “How do you say ____ in English?” I think they truly enjoyed the activity, and I was so pleased with their creative work. When kids finished one comic before class was over, they would come back to me to choose another. Usually, if kids finish an activity before everyone else, they check out of English if they can get away with it. My JTE and I were thus pleasantly surprised and very happy with our lesson this week! Below are some of my favorite comics.

“Oh, my got” was an extremely popular saying with all five classes I went to. I’ve heard kids saying it before, and it’s pretty funny when they do because they seem really proud of their “cool” use of English. I was humored this time by the consistent misspelling of the phrase in every class, and how many kids incorporated it into their comics. “Pardon?” is another popular phrase for some reason.

We were both invited to an international day at another ALT’s school last week. It entailed teaching with a partner ALT for two class periods, and eating lunch with the students. We could choose our partner and choose our activity. It sounded pretty easy, and it was a good excuse to get out for the day, so we both said yes.

We thought it would be great fun to do an American cooking lesson together, so we asked to be partnered up. After a brief self-intro with a focus on Idaho, boating, and summer boat food, we introduced the snack that American kids love to eat: RICE CRISPY TREATS! We were limited to a 50 minute period, mediocre supplies and facilities, as well as 40 kids at one time, so we chose this classic since the only “cooking” involved is melting butter and marshmallows.

The kids were amazed and excited, and looked to be enjoying themselves. The most common comments we heard were, “It looks like natto!” (fermented sticky beans) and, “It’s WAY sweet!” The kids were in groups of 6 and got to make “personal pan” treats then eat them at the end. Even though there was a lot of hesitation over the messiness (there wasn’t time to cool, so the treats were still really sticky) and a lot of exclamations over the sweetness, we didn’t see any leftovers!

I have a friend at school named Oikawa-san. He is mature in years, wrinkled and gray, a bit on the crusty side. He has a corny sense of humor, and he laughs a lot, especially when he gets me to say funny things in Japanese. He usually knows more about Japan and Sendai than the younger people around him, so whenever I have a question that no one can answer, they always go to him to find out. He is full of interesting anecdotes and remedies as well as hilarious English sayings he has picked up from John Wayne movies and the BBC. I really enjoy shooting the breeze with him, which is what I do anytime I sit across from his desk at the computer station. I don’t usually get much work done if he happens to be inside while I’m at the computer.

Oikawa is the maintenance man at our school, and he can fix anything. His desk is covered with tools, and various things that need fixing. His sidekick is the tea lady, Tomoko-san. Tomoko answers the phone, runs errands, and yes, makes and serves tea in the staff room. Together they form a great support team for the very busy teachers running around us all day. Today, Tomoko is out of the office, so it’s up to Oikawa to get lunch served and delivered to the staff in time for the lunch bell. He usually helps Tomoko, but today he’s relying on the school nurse to help him.

I thought lunch was the only extra responsibility Oikawa had in Tomoko’s absence, but it turns out he’s been seeing to other tasks. He just asked me if I like the tea in the kitchen, but I told him I don’t drink it because it keeps me awake. He reminded me that I had said I could drink it in the morning, though. He said, “Please drink some. It’s cold.” Okay, I said. But when I didn’t get up from the computer to drink any, he asked if I wanted some right now, and he got up himself to bring me a cold glass for immediate enjoyment. I asked if he had made it, only jesting with my question, but it turns out that he really had made it this morning! I think he was feeling mighty proud of himself.

This reminded me that Oikawa often reminds me of Pa Troy, and I thought I better sit down to tell about it, especially since Pa Troy was so conscientious and sent an e-mail to all his kinfolk the other day. Pa Troy has made a concoction or two in his life, and many a time he has urged me to try them. Think, Chinese burritos, frozen cupcakes, oatmeal and bologna, cereal surprise, and Rocky-Road-Root-Beer Floats. I think Grampa has even taken to making tea like my friend Oikawa. Mmmm, sun tea. Sounds like a nice follow up to the barley tea I just had! Are you busy for lunch, Pa Troy??

They’re back!!! Apparently the temps are sufficiently warm enough to bring them out of hibernation. Along with the heat, the sound of the cicada was one of my first (and strongest) impressions of Japan.

Click the image below to hear what Sendai cicadas sounds like from this point on until some peaceful day in October.

(image from www.timwerx.net/odds/suzumushi/semi.jpg)

Our neighboring ALT friend is leaving Sendai in a couple weeks. Yesterday she had us pick up a bunch of things from her apartment that she generously wanted to give us. One favorite item was this electric griddle which we put to immediate use for our Mexican fiesta with our new Japanese friends. Mr. Tortilla was thrilled, to say the least. (He already has plans for fitting it in his suitcase on the ride home.)  

We made refried beans, guacamole, salsa, tortillas, and an experimental chicken fajita filling that actually turned out well. Can you see the sweat glistening on our brows? It is now hot and humid, but we cooked away in spite of it. Some iced mugs with cold beer, and a delicious sake from Mariko helped stave off the madness. She wanted us to try sake from her hometown, made by her friend’s father. It was the first time that we could honestly say we liked the Japanese alcohol were asked to try. Maybe she will get us an invitation to watch her friend making it! 

This week my school hosted our neighboring elementary school and anyone who lives in our “emergency” zone for a special disaster preparedness event. With our regular students and our guests there were maybe 1,000 people in our field for the morning.

None of the teachers at my school really knew what was going on, so no one could give me direction for what to do during the event. I decided to be a photographer and wandered among the various practice stations with the student or community groups that had formed. The fire department and several of their trucks were there, along with paramedics and an ambulance (until they got a call and had to siren their way out of the field).

One of the stations demonstrated fluorescent light tubes exploding and shattering. That was a first for me.

Another first was walking through “smoke.” I probably learned this in elementary school, but I had forgotten that you can’t see anything and it’s really bad for breathing. Stay low to the ground as you escape.

Here they are sending the wee ones into the “smoke house,” as my friend the handyman liked to call it.

This guy wasn’t having a good day.  Students had to figure out how to get the building off of him, then they had to move him, get him onto a blanket, and transfer him to another tarp. His head was really floppy, and I was wondering why they didn’t seem to be teaching anyone about injured people’s neck safety. Maybe that part was lost in translation.

These ladies live somewhere near our school, I guess. I’ve taken my cue from people like them in assembling my protective sun gear this summer. The sun seems much stronger here and no amount of sunscreen prevents me from burning, so now I’ve got a UV scarf (they are wearing towels), arm covers, and a big hat. I wasn’t as cool as they were that morning, though, since I was missing my hard hat.

Emergency toilets. This station demonstrated what you should have in your emergency bags at home. There’s food and water you can buy, and all kinds of fasteners to keep your cabinet doors shut so you don’t have dishes flying everywhere. Behind this was a red cross station complete with tents and soup bowls (and real soup that they made for our school to eat afterwards!) Our school, like most schools in the area, is a designated refuge area. We have supplies on hand, and if there really was a big earthquake, people would gather in our field like we did that morning.

Japan’s emergency number is 119–pretty easy for us to remember. This station gave people a chance to practice calling with an emergency. A fireman was sitting at another table across the way, and the phones were broadcast through speakers so that onlookers could hear the conversation, too. After watching a few people, I decided I should figure out the drill just in case I need to use the service.

One of the firemen had just gathered a group of neighbors together to explain the routine to them, and when he saw me in the group he had a look of surprise on his face. I told him I could speak only a little Japanese, and I asked if they could help me in English if I ever tried. I know they can, but still, I wanted to learn what to do in Japanese. He encouraged me to take my turn on the phone. It was pretty exciting because I could understand a lot of what was said and I even gave some of the right answers on my own (where I was, the school phone number).

The funny thing was when I couldn’t understand a question, the people in my group would be feeding me the answer (such as “no one is injured”). It was really nice that they were cheering me on, and they all applauded when I finished, but I didn’t really learn what the fireman was saying. At one point I said, “Japanese is difficult!” in Japanese, and, “Please repeat what you said.” Then everyone laughed since they could hear me on the speakers, and I was disappointed because the fireman didn’t try to work through it with me. What would he do if I was really calling him with an emergency? He and the onlookers seemed more happy that I made it through the phone call by inserting the right answers at the right juncture. I guess I did learn a little bit, and my school nurse told me that it was probably good practice for the firemen, even if they didn’t do such a great job with me right then. I hope it was good practice for them.

Here I have been trying pretty hard for a little over a year now… And to think, if I would have only found this a long time ago!

We have been thoroughly enjoying the fresh produce available as of late. Tonight, dinner has a hint of purple.

Hello, Diane. This is for you.

I had a tomato splash stain on a new shirt the other night. I didn’t notice it until awhile after our amazing spaghetti dinner (another post coming soon). We couldn’t remember how to treat tomato stains, so I googled “getting tomato stains out.” The first hit didn’t really answer my question, and the second one was a repeat of the first. The third hit looked promising. It was entitled Blah, Blah, Blog and the blog author was a name we know. “Huh,” I thought, “I wonder how many Amy Tuttles there are?” I was next shocked out of my seat when I saw that this Amy Tuttle is married to a missionary in Peru! Sure enough, on further inspection, there were photos of our friends’ kinfolk and we could hardly believe that sitting in our living room in Japan we found the Tuttles’ living room in Peru. And what’s even better is Amy’s advice for my shirt worked! Hot water and soap. She had lots of other tips for kid-clothing stain disasters which will come in handy. I thought you would like to know about this, too, Karen, but then I thought, you are probably already a stain-remover expert!