night school soap opera

So one of my close friends-- someone who extended himself to me right away after I arrived in Japan-- is an English teacher at the affiliated Night-school that caters to academic miscreants.

Early on, he mentioned that if I wanted to, as a purely voluntary act of charity, in my free time and for no pay ...I could teach with him in some of his classes. After listening to his description of the Night School situation, i decided i really wanted to do it. The night school hosts students who

a) can't make it, academically, in regular high schools

or

b) can't attend school during normal hours for one reason or another.

and

c) range in age from 14 to 70.

Some of them, apparently, dont even know the alphabet yet. My presence there would purely be for exposure to a native English speaker. Just to see that I exist and do indeed use English as my primary language. It seemed like a really unique opportunity to get involved in something different.

We decided that I would be introduced to the classes for the first time today. We planned a self-introduction lesson, where the students would ask me questions in English if possible, or Japanese if necessary, and I would answer with the help of the teacher, who would translate as needed.

I would do cool things like give them pennies and solve the rubik's cube too. Going to the night school after work means a 13 hour day (8:30 AM - 9:30 PM), but I was really getting excited about it.

After regular school, at around 5, i was gearing up to go to the classroom and get set up for the first night class. On my way out of the staff room, i mentioned cheerfully to my supervisor:

"Today i'm volunteer teaching at the Night School"

"Oh! if you teach there, you can take a day off!"

"Really? well right now i really have to go... class is starting like now"

*proceeds to go ask my Vice Principal (boss) about getting time off*

Okay, so what followed was my vice principal totally flipping his lid. Apparently this is a big no-no. If i work at the Night School, even purely out of the goodness of my heart, without any desire for compensation, i am REQUIRED to take time off from regular work. This is no problem if the VP knows about it ahead of time and appropriate documents are filed, but he feels that my night school friend was a sneaky little weasel for kind of tricking me into teaching under the table. Now let me make it clear that both of these guys have been extremely kind and supportive of me from day one. I am confident that neither wish to screw me over in any way. They're both intelligent guys.

Well, it turns out they're both stubborn guys too. the Vice Principal proceeds to call the Night School teacher downstairs from his (separate) staff room, and chews him out for like 10 minutes, while my supervisor and I look on awkwardly. My teacher friend (i was repremanded by another ALT for using names in my blog) runs off to start his class, which is now completely unplanned because the whole thing was supposed to involve me introducing myself. So I'm left stammering like "is everything okay? i'm so sorry!" Both guys told me I have no reason to be sorry, and criticized the other.

so awkward. I went up to make sure my Night School friend would be okay for his now completely unplanned class (obviously i was not allowed to teach that time) and he just ragged on the VP for being such a strict beaurocrat. These guys both need to ease up a little.

Anyway, I was kind've pumped for not having to stay at school until 9:30. I stopped in a little coffee house right across the street from my school that i've been meaning to try all along. Only the owner was there, a jovial 55 yearold woman who seemed equal parts surprised and happy to see me. She brewed up a cup of joe for me and we chatted for a good hour and a half. She spoke no English so it felt like a real testament to my progress that I was able to explain things like my family, my sister's adoptiveness, my happiness over the obama election, my approval of her masterful coffee making, etc. She was reaaaaally curious about me and seemed to be hinting the notion of me teaching private english classes there every once in awhile. She showed me a book full of conversational english phrases and casually mentioned that an ALT from a few years ago led a little conversation class there.

The idea sounds good to me. It seems fun and it'd mean some extra dollars. As long as my vice principal doesnt have an aneurysm when i ask him about it, i'll feel that out and see how it goes. It should be legit, a few of my ALT friends teach private study groups like that and rake in a nice supplementary budget. We'll see where that goes.

autumn equinox

This Tuesday was the Autumnal Equinox, marking a national holiday. I had the day off of work, and i had taken 1 day of paid vacation on Monday (I have no classes on Mondays) to extend it into a nice 4-day weekend. I decided not to travel or do anything excessively busy, but instead to hang out with friends downtown and relax. It was a good call. This week I am feeling refreshed and am not constantly running around. This has come at the expense of going out to dinner with someone almost every night, and going to Judo practice less often, but my slower heartrate is worth it, i think.

On tuesday, for the holiday, i went on a trip with Matsuo sensei, my friend who teaches in the night school. If i haven't explained this before, the night school operates between 4 and 9 PM rather than during regular school hours. It serves students who cannot attend regular high school for one reason or another, be it academic or family related. These students range in age from 18 to 70 and many of them will not go on to college, according to Matsuo sensei and he expresses the difficulty of working with students with such widely varying ability and motivation levels. A few of his students are really motivated to learn English, while some of the others refuse to pay attention. Others still dont even know the ABC's. It sounds like a very hard job. Matsuo sensei said he used to teach at the regular academic school, but switched. He describes himself as a "black sheep" among the daytime staff. He is a lot like what an American (I.e. me) would think of as a "good" teacher. He is committed to making sure the students learn the material in a real and lasting way that extends beyond passing the tests. Unfortunately, the emphasis is the other way around in Japan. Every student, especially at a high level academic high school like Asakura, has the priority of scoring well on entrance exams so s/he can go to the best colleges. Teachers are expected to lecture and students are expected to listen. While this is an effective teaching strategy for many areas of Math science, history, and maybe even literature, it falls short in the foreign language department, where students will not learn to understand the linguistic ideas unless they at least attempt to use them. This means speaking up, discussing, asking questions, and shamelessly making mistakes. These habits to sit well with Japanese teachers or students, so English instruction is, admittedly broken in Japan. Matsuo sensei, therefore, being the kind of guy he is, was often behind in his lessons compared to other teachers who went along by the book at a pace too fast for students to actually understand (this is how i have to teach). This caused problems for Matsuo sensei and though he wasnt asked to leave, he voluntarily transferred to the night school where he has more freedom to teach how he wants (but more challenges to get students to actually work)

Anyway, Matsuo and I get along, and occasionally chat for a few minutes at work. He took me out to dinner a few weeks ago and we talked about Japanese vs. American education, and our respective interpretations of WWII. He's really a cool guy. A big part of it is definitely that he likes hanging out with ALTs and foreigners because he wants the english practice, but i have come to accept that this is simply a desirable part of my personality here in Japan, rather than be offended that my new friends are not exclusively interested in me for my dynamite persona. Furthermore, i tend to appreciate the people who are excited about learning and practicing english practice anyway. they tend to be the cooler ones.

At any rate, on Tueday, we took a trip to Akizuki a lovely scenic area of Amagi that is and beautiful. There are castle ruins, ancient buildings, rivers, falls, and hordes of cherry blossom trees not yet in bloom. In the spring it is supposed to be one of the best places in Kyushu for viewing the sakura. He picked me up in his wife's van at my apartment, and we headed into the mountains. We walked around the town of Akizuki for a while, stopping for lunch in a soba shop, and eventually hiked into the mountains. I was floored by how gloriously pretty this place is. It was hot. and raining. but it didnt matter. the rain actually lended to the aesthetic of old moss-covered rocks, tall shady trees and trickling rivers.

Some beautiful images were captured. they will be in the post above.