4th grade, class 3

So I teach elementary ("sho gakko") every Friday. I don't really like it. It has so much potential to be awkward because, unlike at "chu gakko" (middle school, where I normally work), there are no English teachers on staff, so no one is available to translate for me. The language barrier limits communication not only between me and the elementary school teachers, but also the students. It has the potential to be quite stressful because I thrive in places of good communication.

But one class has really done a remarkable job making me enjoy teaching them.

At Moka Nishi Sho Gakko, there are over 1,000 students. I teach one 4th grade class each visit, and there are 6 4th grade classes. Today I taught grade 4 class 3 ("yon no san kumi" or ４の３) for the second time, and they really made my day. So I want to recognize them in my blog (as if that is some sort of special award...).

The week after my first lesson with ４の３, two students found me in the teachers office and presented me with a book made of thank you letters composed by the class. Each student had written me a full page letter thanking me for teaching them English. Is this for real? I wanted to cry tears of joy. How wonderful.

Today I taught them again, and then returned to their classroom to eat school lunch with them. When I entered the classroom they gave me a standing ovation and directed me to a chair at the front of the room. Then they all lined up in the back of the classroom and performed a song for me. They sang for me! What an amazing class. Then we ate lunch together and played "shiritori," a Japanese word game. It was great.

Thank you ４の３！

giant Asian hornet

Today a "suzumebachi" flew into the classroom where I was teaching.  All classrooms have a wall of screenless windows that are always open when it's warm. Today a visitor entered through said windows. The students quickly alerted us, and told us to turn off the lights because "Saito-sensei said so." We followed the orders, and the predator flew toward the window. However, it flew into the closed window. But brave little Ms. Tanaka used her quick wit to open and then close the windows in such a way as to get the monster on the outside. Bravo. We applauded.

What is this terrible creature you ask? A "giant Asian hornet." And Japanese people are terrified of them. So today I looked 'em up. THEY'RE TERRIFYING. Japanese people are right on about this!

Suzumebachi translates to "sparrow bee," because they can grow as big as sparrows! They're bodies avg. 2 inches long with a 3 inch wingspan and 1/4 inch stinger. The venom contains at least 8 toxic chemicals, and they can be lethal, even to those who aren't allergic to bees. Between 20 to 40 people die from suzumebachi stings in Japan each year. One of the chemicals in the venom actually releases a scent that attracts more giant Asian hornets! 怖い！

Dream about this tonight: 

Sports Festival!

Yesterday was Sports Festival at Moka Nishi Junior High School, my wonderful place of employment. This can best be compared to a Field Day at a school in the US. The kids perform a bunch of random "athletic" events, and parents and friends come to watch. It was a lot of fun. I got to run in a relay race with a 1st year homeroom class (think US 7th grade). I was really excited, and the kids were happy to have me because it was me or a 60 year teacher ... I guess I appear a little more fit...

Anyhow - things were off to a great start in the relay. Each 1st year homeroom had every student plus 2 teachers run in the relay. I was on white team, 11th runner. Things started off fantastically, great baton pass, and I was sprinting - running my little heart out. Students were shouting in amazement at how fast I was (no joke). At the end of my 40 meters, I put the baton in my left hand to pass it to the right hand of the next runner, a 1st year boy. As I hand him the baton...

he trips and falls on his face. 

No joke.

Everyone thinks I ran him over.

Great.

I love being a giant and getting blamed for accidents I don't cause simply because I'm bigger than everyone in Japan.

Sweet deal. 

Anyway, we lost the relay race.

No one was actually upset with me at all. In fact, throughout the day, people continued to compliment me for how fast I ran. Ms. Tanaka, the head English teacher and also the homeroom teacher for the class I ran with, told me not to worry and reassured me that her class was not good at PE, so even if the student had received the baton correctly, they still would have lost.

     In other Sports Festival news, all of the boys did this really

cool performance that involved various human pyramids to the beat of a giant drum. I enjoyed it. I couldn't imagine 

an entire male student body at a junior high school in the US performing such a task. 

Also, they had this event called "Rawhide" 

where students had to form a "horse" and "cowboy" and use a "lasso" to knock a can off a desk. It was interesting. Enjoy the pictures.

homesickness

Currently I'm homesick. Not the kind of homesick that is paralyzing or debilitating; not the kind of homesick that makes you resent your existence away from "home." This is the kind that fills you with love, hope and joy when you think about what you're going home to. This is the kind that makes you smile involuntarily when you think about the faces you will see and the bodies you'll embrace in long awaited hugs in 53 days. This is the good kind of homesickness. It's the kind that reminds you of how much you are loved and how much you love others. It reminds you of the joy you feel in the presence of friends and family who support you. It reminds you of the redeeming qualities of home you quickly forget when you hunger for an adventure. It reminds you that you can love and be loved, feel peace, and enjoy life no matter where you are living.

This is the kind of homesickness I'm happy I'm able to feel.