Adult English Class

I had my second adult English class tonight. It's an hour a week, and I don't get paid. I was asked by my vice-principal at one of the schools, and felt it would have been rude to say no.

"Hey, Cliff! Would you like to teach some of the teachers English?"
"No, not really."

I am going to try to get vacation hours out of it. 8 weeks would equal 1 day off work, or something like that. It turns out, though, that this class is really easy and fun. Right now, I'm also doing an extra kid's class that I AM getting paid for, and I'm coming to dislike it. I'm trying to teach them to read in between me saying, "Kaname, don't hit your brother.", "Kaname, stop climbing on my back.", and "Kaname, stop drawing pictures of poo on your English folder."

In my now-almost-one-year since I've come to Japan, I've discovered that I don't like teaching kids under 3rd grade. It seems that 3rd grade is the magic year that they begin to calm down. So it makes perfect since that my adult class is just awesome. Last week, the first class flew by, doing only half of the things I had planned.

The class consists of 3 teachers and 1 assistant teacher. In 2-3 years, Japan is making English a mandatory lesson for 5th and 6th grade, so these teachers are looking to brush up on their skills. I don't expect my class to turn them into great speakers as I highly doubt they will study on their own. To them, it's just a fun hour. But as long as it's fun for me too, I don't mind.

Random Things #2

Just a few more random bits:

Took the 4th grader kanji test (Kanji Kentei 7 kyu) on Friday. That comes to 640 kanji. Not really that great of a feat when you consider that I'm not even a third of the way finished, and that I probably didn't pass the test. Passing is 70%, and I think it is going to be border line. I'll find out in a few weeks.

Have another karate test at the end of the month. I'm going for my orange belt. Have to perform a few basic kicks and punches, plus three kata. I was freaked out about the last one in January, but I already feel ready for this one. 

Last week, a third grader wanted me to sit next to him at lunch. The kids did rock, paper, scissors to decide where I would sit, and he lost. He made a big fuss about it and sulked all during lunch. Apparently when his mom came to pick him up, they came to the teacher's room to apologize to me about it, but I had already left. So they drove to my apartment to apologize, but I wasn't there either cause I had karate.

Also last week, I had a second grader run up to me wanting to be picked up. He's in mid-run, when he's intercepted by his teacher and given a severe scolding. I give a 'what did he do?'-look, and the teacher angrily begins to repeat, 'His eyebrows! His eyebrows!', while lifting his head up and shoving his bangs out of the way. The kid had shaven off his eyebrows. I'm assuming that as punishment, he wasn't allowed to play.

And finally, the new Coldplay album is awesome.

Random Things #1

This update is the first of two that will go through a couple of things happening to me right now.

I finally made it to the dentist about two weeks ago. I should have gone in December, and before I knew it, it was June. The results came back and...I'm a failure at life. I was told I had a cavity. She said it was small and I had the option of leaving it alone and taking care of it, or getting it drilled. I went for the drill. Why? Because I was the type of kid in elementary school that secretly wanted to break their arm. Whenever a kid showed up to class with a cast, it was cool. It:s not that I think having a filling will be cool, but I kind of wanted to have the life experience of having a cavity drilled out. So I went back last week, they gave me a shot, and then they drilled. I didn't feel a thing. Instead of a silver filling, they gave me a white one. My tooth looks perfect, so technically I can still say I have no cavities.

I began the process of getting my driver's license this week. Getting a Japanese license is one long bureaucratic process. I drove down to Naha on Tuesday to fill out the application to take a written test. Then I drove down to Naha yesterday to take the written test. I will next drive down to Naha in a month to take the practical test, and if I pass, I will drive down to Naha again to pick up my license. It seems to take the average JET three attempts to pass the practical. When all this is done, I'm looking at about 6 Naha trips. This wouldn't be so bad if driving down to Naha didn't take me 2.5 hours. And no, you cannot do all this in one day. That would be too practical. 

While I was in Naha, I decided to apply for yet another passport. Passports and I don't get along. I got my first one when I was 17 and lost it after I came back from France (only to be discovered after graduating from college). I applied for another one about 2 years ago to go to London. However, I filled out the form with the name Cliff instead of Clifton. I guess the people don't check the passport name with that birth certificate you are required to send in. I didn't think this was a problem, though, until I needed a visa to come to Japan. The name on your visa has to match the name on your birth certificate, which has to match the name on your passport. So I applied for a third one last March with my correct name. It took 4 months to get. I had to overnight it in mid-July to the consulate in Miami in order to process my visa in time. What was wrong with this third passport? Because it was my third one, it made them suspicious, so they declared it a limited passport. Only good for one year. Back to the present, this confused the people at the consulate in Okinawa, so they are requesting my original birth certificate instead of going through the normal process of accepting a previous passport. Four passports in less than 10 years. Three in the past three years. I'm getting a passport a year and I'm being charged $100 each time.

*growl* Angry Criff hates all governments.

Rules of the AC (or my Hot Manifesto)

A response to my Cold Manifesto. The temperature is currently around the 90 F range and humid. It's no different from Florida, but in Florida, we like are ACs and overhead fans. Japanese buildings lack overhead fans and use single air conditioner units to cool rooms. The fans people do use are the little ones that swing back and forth blowing one side of your body every few seconds.

So this past week, I have sat in the teacher's room sweating. The AC has not been turned on and there are no fans. But it's not that Japanese people have special bodies that resist heat. Every teacher at every school keeps commenting on how hot it is. So, why don't they turn on the AC?

Because they haven't gotten the official memo from the Board of Education.

Probably for budget reasons, all the schools are suppose to turn on the AC at the same time at the start of summer and turn it off at the same time at the end. My inside source informs me that the schools will get the notice at the beginning of next week, although one school on Wednesday 'secretly' went ahead and switched it on in the afternoon anyway.

Another reason ACs are seldom used is to save energy. For example, this summer, the Japanese Prime Minister will give up wearing ties to work. This is an energy saving plan known as 'Cool Biz', where government workers will wear light clothing so that ACs can be kept at a high temperature. Can you imagine that going well in DC?

I've also been told that the AC is bad for your health and how it's good for your body to sweat and to adapt to different temperatures on it's own. This is why in elementary schools, only the teacher's room has AC, in order to make the kids strong. The problem is that the schools have yet to do this, and I don't care about being strong. I just don't want to sweat.

So how did people survive in times without AC? They didn't build buildings that didn't allow air circulation. Outside right now, it feels great. Yes it's humid, but it's also breezy. The teachers office is one big room that everybody sits in, and even with the windows open, not much air gets in. I sweat inside, but not outside. My opinion is, if Japan is going to build buildings of Western design, they have to give it 100% and include the AC (and turn it on), or at very least, an overhead fan.

For an interesting article on Japanese architecture and the lack of insulation, read Ask an Architect: Insulation.

Update: As I type this, it's 8:40 am, I have a mini-towel around my neck and I am waving a fan I found in my desk. I just had this conversation with my vice-principal:

VP: Does it get humid in Florida?
Me: Yes, but we turn on the AC...

30 seconds later, they closed the windows and turned it on! Happy Friday to me!

New Tires

Lately, my steering wheel has been vibrating as I drive. I've been waiting till payday to take it in and get it checked out along with an oil change. So after my classes today, I took my van next door to the local gas station where I can get anything done. I told them I wanted my tank filled up, an oil change, and to fix whatever was causing my wheel to shake.

The lone woman there is also the mother of two of my students, so we have become somewhat friends, as I see her almost every time I have my tank filled up. She looks at my front tires and says I need new ones. I knew my tires were a little smooth, but I didn't really pay much attention to them. They were not only smooth, but also had little rips in the rubber. She said that's what is causing the van to shake. (You were right Elina!)

I then said I wanted two tires, a full tank, and an oil change. She insists that I should do the oil change next month, otherwise it will be really expensive.

Let me repeat that: a MECHANIC told me I should NOT get something done to my car, cause it will cost too much money.

I don't think this is abnormal behavior either. A month ago, Yuka got a new cell phone. She wanted this really small slim phone, but she went with a slighter thicker one with a TV (the one I would have gotten). Why? Because the store clerk told her that the phone she wanted had been having some problems with, plus it just wasn't that good. The phone she ended up getting was cheaper than the one she wanted, too.

I got the new tires sans oil change, and all I can say is, the Wonder Van drives like a new vehicle. And if you've seen what my van looks like, you know that's saying a lot.

***

During lunch, a 2nd grader asked me whose side I would choose if America and Japan went to war. Then the whole class started chanting "Ja-pan! Ja-pan!". Instead of saying "America, and you will be the first one I kill", I said, "Japan" to get them to shut up. This was followed by a loud, "Yay!"

I'm Cool in Japan

Japan treats foreigners as exotic gifts. When you first meet someone, they marvel at your white-ness and are in awe over your speaking and chopstick abilities. Then as you get to know them, they like to bring you to parties to show you off like an expensive tequila. Because I am not fluent, it's hard to determine if I'll ever have my whiteness over-looked. Only time will tell, but I do know one thing: I'm a freakin' rock star to my elementary school students.

Today after lunch, I went into the gym to play kick ball with a group of kids. I was up to kick, and the ball goes soarin into the air and gets stuck in the gym ceiling supports. I don't know what the height of the ceiling is, but it's no different from gyms back in America, so you can imagine it was tall enough that I would need about 5 ladders stacked on top of each other to even begin to reach it. When the ball got stuck, the whole group of kids let out a big sigh of, "Awww!" (Some phrases are just universal.) So I grab a mini basketball and begin launching the ball trying to un-lodge it.

The kids are totally into it. Every throw gets a gasp out of the crowd, and I start to get nervous at the thought of failure. A couple of times, the basketball hits a dangling light, which caused it to shake, freaking everyone out including myself. I began to sweat, my arm started to hurt, and my throws were getting weaker. I let out a few choice words that would have gotten me fired in an American elementary school, but these kids don't understand it anyway.

Just as the group's interest, including my own, begins to wander, I give a final hurl, and the ball hits the other ball perfectly, causing both balls to fall back to the ground. I surprised myself and give a whoop of success. And when everyone realizes that I had done it, they all rush me, cheering for me like a man who had made a come back win in a sports game. I could almost hear the Rudy soundtrack in the background. I was on top of the world. It's the little things, right?

***

Went to Iriomote two weeks ago with Yuka and about 10 other JETs. Will post pictures soon.

Summer Movies

It's Friday, and Iron Man is being released in the States. For the past three movie seasons (fall, winter, spring), I have lived easily with having the closest movie theater being a 2 hour drive away. (Not including the one on the American base which I don't have a pass to get on to.) Not only is the closest movie theater far away, but by the time an American movie is released here, it's already out on DVD back home. This hasn't bothered me because all the movies I have wanted to see weren't movie-theater-movies. I haven't minded waiting 6 months for a DVD rip to become available on the internet, and then spending about 4 days downloading it. Yes, my internet speed crawls at a dial-up rate of 6 kbps.

But now it's summer, and I didn't expect to find myself wanting to see the big action movies in theaters. I loved Iron Man as a kid and the reviews for this film are going great. I don't want to wait six months for a DVD rip and then watch it on my 13 inch TV. I want to see it today! This is the kind of film you drive 2 hours and spend $15 to see. (Japanese movie tickets are expensive.)

And now that I'm looking ahead, I also want to make the drive to go see Indiana Jones, Batman, and Hellboy.

But...I can't. At least not for Iron Man. Japan usually releases the big movies at the same time as America, but Iron Man isn't coming out till September. I want to get stuffed on mexican food and margaritas, and then head up the road to AMC tonight!