I’m going to miss: my students

-students in class who have no idea what they are saying, but say it very enthusiastically
-students in class who are clearly not interested in English, because I can identify with them with my relationship with French
-students who yell “good morning” to me from the 3rd floor balcony of the Junior high when I bike into school in the morning
- the students who yell “good morning” to me from the 3rd floor balcony of the Junior high when I bike into school after lunch
-the boys that have decided they love me
-the girls who are fascinated by what I wear and my accessories
-students who surprise you by using the English you’ve taught them and they’ve actually retained
-seeing the look of learning. When you see that light bulb go off, it’s magical, truly.
-students who smile at me when I smile at them in class.
-making faces at students to make them smile when the JTE is droning on about grammatical points

Seasons

1. The season for Japanese kids who live in the USA to come to Kamikawa and go to school. They finish up in the states, and then attend Japanese elementary/junior high for a month. It gets their Japanese back into shape, and I guess is a good dose of culture. For me it means there is a kid in class who knows exactly what’s going on, and is pretty much bored. I can bring the fun in a game, but there is still 20 minutes of learning that they have to suffer through. English class for English speakers = painful. I have 1 kid at junior high and 2 at elementary school.

2. Rainy season. Out of nowhere humidity came and gave me a big sweaty hug. Thanks humidity! Mmmmm. It rained for about 10 straight hours (starting last night around 1am) and now there is a nice fug in the air. There is a bit of a breeze, so that’s helping… but mostly I’m very shiny and want to wash my face all the time.

3. The season of replacements. I am prepping myself to leave in less than 2 months, and my successor for the glories of my job. I will get to meet her as I’m kicking around Japan till mid August, so she can glean all the wisdom I’ve amassed about my town/job, although considering I write massive emails telling her most things, I’m not sure how much I have left to say. Everyone is waiting to find out who will attempt to fill the void they leave.

4. The season of leaving. It’s both a relief and sad-- whether or not my brain knows it, Japan does unconsciously stress me out and my body will welcome being in the homeland. It will also be good to be home again. I've lived away from home for 6 years now (well, 4 of those had 4 month intervals at home during the summer, but still, a long time), and I miss my family. At the same time, I’m leaving some excellent friends, who live in corners of the world that are not in Canada, let alone Ontario. An excuse to travel more? I think so.

Top dogs and underdogs

Below are some photos of a Hanshin Tigers game I went to a while back. It was a great time—and I don’t know anything about the team. I’ve since been to 2 more Tigers games and one set of tickets was free. I was talking in my adult class about baseball which lead to a conversation about top dogs (the Tokyo Giants) and underdogs (the Hanshin Tigers, although they seem to have no chance this season) I asked my students what team they supported. In the end, the I said I liked the Tigers “of course!” because they are the local team, and a woman who is the biggest Tigers fan I’ve met (her car is yellow... because it’s a tigers colour) said she had 3 tickets to a game that she couldn’t go to, would I like them? Yes!

Before coming to Japan, I think the last professional sports event I went to was an NBA game my dad got free tickets to, when I was in high school, and maybe a game during the 1990s BlueJays heyday. I would not call myself a sports fan. However, Japan has changed me. In Japan, I have seen 2 sumo games, 3 Hanshin Tigers games and 1 soccer game in Seoul. Why the change of heart?

1. You can bring your own everything. No fear of extortionist vendor prices, just bring your own. The only rule is at the baseball games, you can’t take glass bottles or cans in, so you have to pour them into big cups (and they have a cupholder for you to use).
2. The cheering. At all 3 of the Tigers games I’ve been to, the Tigers have lost. Did that stop the fans? Oh no. Just as enthusiastic at the bottom of the 8th, loosing 8-1 as they were at the start. In the fan section (cheap seats) there are organized cheer-leaders, and everyone knows the cheers and sings along (or in my case, fakes it). Even at sumo you find yourself getting caught up in the moment (literally), feeding off the atmosphere.

Anyway, here are some photos for your enjoyment.



The fan-section at the end of the 7th inning. Instead of a "stretch," everyone blows up a rather phallic looking balloon and lets go at the same time. It's nice and dramatic, if not environmentally friendly. (Although at my last game they didn't do this due to H1N1 paranoia).

The game! If you can be bothered to watch it. I spent most of my first one just trying to learn the cheers. Tigers fan's only cheer when they are up to bat (and maybe sometimes for the pitcher?) so until the cheers are second nature, you need to follow the leaders to get the rhythm right.

I'm going to miss: trains

-they are everywhere, (even if they are slow)
-they can go incredibly fast, as long as you don't mind paying for it
-looking outside the window on a route I always take and seeing something new
-groups of high school students, full of awkwardness, checking each other out
-the different "the train is arriving" songs with different train lines (the best being the Hanshin Railway's "I've been working on the railroad" tune)
-the old man who I see semi-regularly, who smiles at me and I smile at him
-checking out the other foreigners on the train and wondering who they are and what they are doing in your corner of Japan