this is the second installment of a multi-part post describing a typical weekday for me in japan. you can read the first part
here.
one interesting difference between american and japanese schools is who owns the classrooms. in america, i would have my own english classroom: kujira's english class. when kids have to learn english, they would come to my room to learn. but here in japan, the kids own the classrooms. i go to them to teach english.
__teaching lessons (and punk rock shows)__
i think this classroom ownership difference adds to my constant feeling that each lesson is a performance. teaching english in japan reminds me a lot of playing punk rock shows back in vegas. before each of them, i have to prepare and rehearse what im going to do. lessons plans are the new set lists. i start both activities by walking out in front of a bunch of people who all stare at me, some of whom dont even want me there and cant wait for me to leave. drunk hecklers have been replaced with class clowns. i spend my time trying to read the audience, changing pace if i think im going too fast or too slow. if i see that some of them are getting bored, i try to entertain them better by interacting with them more and maybe adding some funny stories in between the activities/songs. after a particularly good lesson/show/performance, the younger kids sometimes run up to me screaming "kujira sensei" and hug me until i leave the classroom. first graders are the new groupies.
all of my classes are either 45 or 50 minutes long with 10 minute breaks in between. i spend my ten minute breaks between classes sipping on hot green tea, texting nonsensical things to my best friend in vegas, playing chess (or should i say totally kicking ass at chess) against some folk in america on my iphone, and preparing for my next lesson.
__school lunch (給食)__
給食, or school lunch, is a completely different experience in japan. here, the kids eat in their classrooms at their desks. a couple of chosen kids from each class don over-sized aprons, hair nets, and gloves, and bring big buckets of food from the kitchen to their classroom. everyone in the class then grabs a tray and gets in line to get their food. instead of the food being distributed by large scary-looking lunch ladies with mustaches who are missing teeth and hate children, in japan kids serve kids: theres a rice kid who puts rice into everyones rice bowl; theres a milk kid who hands out cartons of locally produced milk to everyone; and there are usually some vegetable dishes that have random fish or meat parts mixed in which are served by yet another kid or two. in japan, it is important that every student gets the same exact portions of the the same exact dishes. and you know what else blows my mind? no one starts eating until everyone has received their food. try imaging 30 american kids patiently and politely waiting for all of their classmates to have their food before they start eating. yeah, you couldnt do it either, huh? afterwards, kids cant go play outside until they completely finish their meal, clean off their plates, bowls, and chopsticks, and brush their teeth.
unfortunately ive only eaten a handful of school lunches with my students because (a) im usually not hungry, and (b) i have to eat the exact same things the kids eat which usually contains meat of some variety. instead, i usually spend my lunch time eating an apple or banana in the teachers room.
__free time at school__
while im at school, i spend much of my free time studying or least trying to study japanese. if im lucky enough to get a free period that day, ill use that time to crack open my japanese textbooks and practice reading, writing, and conjugating words. i also get some time after school gets out, but before im allowed to leave, to study as well. even though the teachers who actually talk to me say that my japanese is getting better every day, i am continually frustrated by my ridiculously slow progress with this language. since i spend most of my day teaching, my speaking skills have improved dramatically. unfortunately though, my listening skills are still worse than terrible. ive been told this is the exact opposite situation for most other language learners; usually one can listen and understand things long before they feel comfortable expressing it themselves. personally, id rather have my situation reversed because i hate understanding only .00001% of the things that are said to me.
