What’s Been Going On

It’s strange– when I’m busy there’s lots of stuff I’d like to put up here- but I don’t have time.  When I’m free, I’ve got nothing to write about.  It’s a terrible paradox.  You’d think I’d write about stuff that had happened back when I was busy, but by the time I’m free the moment has passed, and it feels like I’m writing old news.  There hasn’t been much break from the norm– I’ve reserved this spring break as time to plan for summer and, get things rolling for when I do (eventually, I promise it will happen) return to the U.S.  I’m taking the LSAT in June, I’m almost finished with my Japanese course through the Japanaese gov’t (I only need to pass 4 tests, but my first three tests are back, all over 95%- so no worries there).

Aside from that:

-the ski season is pretty much over.  But, hey, spring is here– so I can bicycle to work again!

-before it ended, I went skiing with kocho-sensei (school principal).  I didn’t think it would actually happen, because a Noshiro ALT had his kocho inviting him out to ski on multiple occasions, only to find out later that all those invitations were a superficial pleasantry.  I figured mine was doing the same and called his bluff.  Whoops.  We ended up driving to Aomori and skiing for four hours and I learned a couple of things about kochos.  1) They can drive really freaking fast, though I suppose it helps when you have Lexus, as opposed to my clown car Daihatsu ‘Move.’ (The name is misleading, it doesn’t really move at all). 2) Kocho is actually a nice guy when he’s sober, most of the time. 3) Kochos only act modest so that they fly by you on the ski slopes.

-i turned down my second ‘work party,’ on good reason.  The party was in the city next door, which would mean no drinking if I wanted to come home that day AND was nearly $100/person.  Not even the most racy enkai is worth a whole man of my money.

-i introduced Naoki to olives.  He claimed the flavor was the grossest thing he’d ever put in his mouth, and then proceeded to eat 10 more of them over the course of the next hour.  He still remembers making my promise to bicycle with him three towns over in spring.  He just got his new bicycle for junior high, and it barely fits him.  He kind of looks like one of those monkeys on an oversized tricycle in the circus.  Kind of.

-my table tennis coach has turned into Jim Cramer.  My swing usually gets one big ‘okay’ sign, but the last two times I played him, I’ve been upgraded to the triple ‘okay’ (and even one quadruple ‘okay’).  Instead of Boo-yah, he just lets out this constipated scream whenever I do well.  It’s a sufficient substitute, but the real Jim Cramer is better at making me money I think.

“On the path of life I wish you well. Divergent journeys, but we will meet again in hell…”

-Barenaked Ladies, Everything Had Changed

 

              Graduation has come and gone預nd it was more meaningful than I thought.  I remember putting little emotional value in my high school graduation, and I don稚 even remember what happened between junior high school and high school.  I’m pretty sure I could have cared less.

              But graduation here is all ritual, and right up until the end the gym has the atmosphere of a funeral.  Their days at the school are over, but you know (or, at least hope) that they池e going on to a better place. 

              The day before, during graduation dress rehearsal I felt a few tugs on my heartstrings, but the actually graduation ceremony was much more traumatic.  To be in the company of students and teachers who really cared about each other, and went out of their way to include me, made the whole thing worth it.

              I was able to keep myself only empathetic until the very end of the graduation.  At that point, any students who wanted to offer up their memories, impressions, parting words, were allowed to do so.  They had to submit what they wanted to say in writing beforehand, memorize it, and speak when their queue came up.  Near the end, one student, who I thought didn’t care about much of anything declared to an entire gym of people how lucky he felt to study with an “sugoi Amerikajin.”  That made it personal– happy to see that I had an impact, but bewildered to see it come from a student who was under my radar.

              Sucker punch to the heart, between that and realizing that this would be the last time I would have with this group of amazing students and this combination of amazing faculty, I was had to keep my emergency tissues pulled out for the rest of the ceremony.  Kind of like breaking up with 93 friends, all at once.

              But, once the students leave the gym, all graduated, the mood makes a 180-degree turn and is one of jubilation.  Hands are shaken, hugs given, yearbooks signed, and pictures taken.

              And then they’re gone, and a whole wing of the school is just gathering dust until the new crop comes in April.

 

The middle guy is the one who called me ‘sugoi amerikajin.’

I also got in one of the last skiing sessions of the winter over the weekend.  Well, maybe one of the last.  Since Sunday Northern Akita has returned to it’s Siberian winter norms, dumping snow, high winds, and making anything outside generally miserable.

I went with Claire and Masahiro, and we apparently bumped into an Olympic skiier up in Aomori.

And, only moments later, on a low-aisle in the gift shop, I came across perhaps the most interesting souvenier I’ve ever encountered: booby pudding.

For some things there just are no explanation.  Who on earth are you supposed to give this to?  How do you justify its purchase at all? “Hey baby– saw this blue-haired bombshell and thought of you.”

Sweet Sweet Vindication

Today my favorite school that has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to keep me busy (in a good way)– the school that best promotes English for communication, doesn’t smother the kids with how difficult English is and doesn’t let the kids have any Japanese translations after my instructions (so they actually have to *gasp* THINK)– invited me to graduation the moment I walked into the staff room this morning.

With 5 junior high schools to choose from, three of them not asking (because they know I have a base school), and my base school with the evil JTE being lame– it feels good to know that one school wants you there.  This is also the batch of students I’m most happy (legitimately, because they deserve it) to see graduate.

In other news, yesterday shortly after posting it occurred to me that at the age of 23 I have now taught at a community college.  Futatui asked me to do a 5-week English conversation course.  I thought it was just a town arranged deal– but when the newspaper article came out (which I also didn’t know about)…. it turned out I was working for the community college on this one.  My students got little certificates of completion last week.  And, now every student in all of Noshiro knows my full name.  And they seem to like repeating ad nauseum with a s#$t eating grin on their face.  Between that and calling me ‘cute’ their perfect angels.  In some ways it’s so funny how horrible kids here are at being bad.

Now, where was I?

 And where was this year’s winter?  Yesterday walked, talked and acted like spring all over.  And, even though I put in about twelve hours of skiing over the weekend, nearly breaking my thumb in the process, that all feels like ancient history when I look out my window and can see the muddy ground.

In other news, my thumb is, in fact, okay and I’ve learned that skis can’t turn on ice.  And, consequently, the next day I learned how to ski without poles.

Quite a bit has happened since I last posted, including notification that I’ve acquired a few blog stalkers from nearby.  It’s my pleasure to make your work day a little less monotonous.  You’re welcome.

Anyway– since last posting I’ve been to a few more winter festivals, including the Yokote Kamakura Festival.  I’ll have pictures up on that at some point, I hope.  The festival boils down to a town.  And lots of igloos.  And lots of alcohol-less sake (read: sweet ricey water).  It’s still quite a sight, though, and there was even a kamakura (igloo) with a Love Hotel-esque appearance.

The rest of my time has been dominated by work (ugh) and skiing (yay) and has turned the last month into a blur.  Soon comes graduation and, I hope, the transferring, firing, or seppuku-ing of the evil JTE to somewhere far away from my students– perhaps teaching dogs how to bark.

Anyway– I do have SOME photos– of Ani Ski Area, an hour or so away from my town.  Aside from being plagued by a flat quarter-mile in the middle that requires cross-country skiing to get through, it’s a decent place with a few jumps, famous ‘snow monsters’ and is apparently taking part in the war on terror, which I guess means that bomb-toting Arabs aren’t allowed to ski there.  Oh well, they never said Japan was about equality.

Two ‘snow monster’ photos.  On this day the monsters were slightly melty, so not as good, but still I think you’ll get the idea:

And, lastly, the view from the top, of which I certainly have no complaints: