As I have mentioned before, there are two kids(a girl in grade 1 and a boy in grade 3) in Nakanayoro whose father is from Canada. I thought at first that they only understood the English I was speaking, and couldn't really speak it themselves, as they never seemed to say much in class. However, lately they have be shocking me with the amount of English they know, and I hope it is because they are feeling more comfortable around me.
Today I was playing in the gym with a few of the students, and the little girl came up to me and said "count," so I would count her skipping rope. That surprised me a little, but it wasn't that much out of the ordinary, especially since she only said one word. However, a little bit later she turned to me and said, "Wait here, I will bring another," referring to another skip rope. Then a few minutes later said, "I'm going over there," pointed to the other side of the gym, and then skipped across the room. I don't know if I have ever been this shocked by a student since I've been here. The first few days I was in the class, she would barely say anything!
Her brother also has started to reveal that he knows a lot more English then he let on before. Today I was teaching his class right after they had finished playing in the gym. I asked how they were, and most of them said they were hot. I asked why they were hot, and he says "Because we were playing." All of the other students had no clue what I had just asked. He is also extremely helpful when I am telling the students what to do. He usually understands everything I say, and then relays it to the class in Japanese. I can't express how convenient this is. It allows me to speak in English, and have the kids get used to hearing me talk. Also, when the teacher is not in the room, I have someone there to help me out.
I feel bad for these students though, what I'm teaching them must be so boring. However, I think that they enjoy the opportunity to speak English, or at least I hope they do. In any case, it sure is nice for me!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Where is my car?
I just learned that I can upload pictures directly from my computer(See, I told you I'm not good at this blogging thing!) so from now on I can include more pictures! This is a picture of my car, it looks like this every morning.
This next picture isn't very good, because it was very early and still dark out, hopefully soon I will have some better pictures of all of the snow. 
Since I took these pictures the amount of snow has probably doubled. The locals seem to all hate the snow here, and many get a weird and somewhat disgusted look on their face when I tell them how much I love snow. It may have to do with the fact that this is apparently not that much snow at all. The months with the most snowfall are January and February, so really I have no clue what that will be like. A few people have told me that they have woken up to find that they can't open the door to leave their house, and they have to call someone to dig them out.
I don't know if there are people who leave Hokkaido for the winter, but it wouldn't surprise me. I can't imagine any senior citizens being able to shovel the amount that is required of you here.
I just want to take a moment to send all of my love and support to my family who is in Saskatchewan this weekend. I can't express how sorry I am that I'm not there, but I want everyone to know I am thinking of you, and wishing I was there.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey...
This next picture isn't very good, because it was very early and still dark out, hopefully soon I will have some better pictures of all of the snow. 
Since I took these pictures the amount of snow has probably doubled. The locals seem to all hate the snow here, and many get a weird and somewhat disgusted look on their face when I tell them how much I love snow. It may have to do with the fact that this is apparently not that much snow at all. The months with the most snowfall are January and February, so really I have no clue what that will be like. A few people have told me that they have woken up to find that they can't open the door to leave their house, and they have to call someone to dig them out.I don't know if there are people who leave Hokkaido for the winter, but it wouldn't surprise me. I can't imagine any senior citizens being able to shovel the amount that is required of you here.
I just want to take a moment to send all of my love and support to my family who is in Saskatchewan this weekend. I can't express how sorry I am that I'm not there, but I want everyone to know I am thinking of you, and wishing I was there.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey...
Monday, November 19, 2007
Snow, snow, snow
Wow.
They weren't kidding when they said it snows here. A lot. Yesterday morning there was almost no snow on the ground. It started snowing late last night, and I opened my door this morning to about a foot and a half/two feet of snow on the ground. I absolutely adore snow, but this also meant that there was a foot and a half of snow on/around my car that needed to be shoveled at 7:30 am this morning. It continued to snow all day, so when I got back to Nayoro(I am teaching in Chiebun this week, half an hour from my house. This was quite the drive today as I was unable to see the road at all!!!) I had to go buy 3 shovels in order to deal with all of the snow. I bought one giant thing called a "snow dump" which you push along the ground and it can plow large amounts of snow, another normal sized shovel, and a small shovel to keep in my car. When I got home I shoveled for about an hour, and now my back is telling me that I maybe should have stretched or something before I decided to do that. Ouch. The nice thing is that it's still pretty warm outside. It is so beautiful, today everywhere you looked was white, everything covered with snow!! I haven't seen anything like it in Edmonton. I think if you added up all of the snow we get in Edmonton the entire winter, it would add up to just this one day in Nayoro. And everyone tells me this is nothing, and that we get the most snow in January and February!
I can't imagine... I really, really can't... But even though shoveling is not the most fun thing to do at 7:30 am, I am still excited. I LOVE SNOW!!!!
They weren't kidding when they said it snows here. A lot. Yesterday morning there was almost no snow on the ground. It started snowing late last night, and I opened my door this morning to about a foot and a half/two feet of snow on the ground. I absolutely adore snow, but this also meant that there was a foot and a half of snow on/around my car that needed to be shoveled at 7:30 am this morning. It continued to snow all day, so when I got back to Nayoro(I am teaching in Chiebun this week, half an hour from my house. This was quite the drive today as I was unable to see the road at all!!!) I had to go buy 3 shovels in order to deal with all of the snow. I bought one giant thing called a "snow dump" which you push along the ground and it can plow large amounts of snow, another normal sized shovel, and a small shovel to keep in my car. When I got home I shoveled for about an hour, and now my back is telling me that I maybe should have stretched or something before I decided to do that. Ouch. The nice thing is that it's still pretty warm outside. It is so beautiful, today everywhere you looked was white, everything covered with snow!! I haven't seen anything like it in Edmonton. I think if you added up all of the snow we get in Edmonton the entire winter, it would add up to just this one day in Nayoro. And everyone tells me this is nothing, and that we get the most snow in January and February!
I can't imagine... I really, really can't... But even though shoveling is not the most fun thing to do at 7:30 am, I am still excited. I LOVE SNOW!!!!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
My Privacy?
A couple things have happened recently that make me question my privacy a little, here in Japan. Of course I heard before I got here that privacy, more specifically lack thereof, may be an issue in Japan, but I had figured since Nayoro is fairly large (~30000 people) that this would not be an issue for me.
A few days ago I got home from club activities and was taking a shower in my house. I thought I heard voices, but convinced it was only in my head I continued taking my shower. However, once I turned off the shower I realized that the voices were definitely not in my head. Loud voices, I’m guessing from students, were coming from directly outside of my shower room, yelling “Jenna Sumisu-san, Jenna Sumisu-san!!” Lucky for me, that was the extent of what they did, but it still made me really nervous.
Yesterday I was driving home from Asahikawa, and was on the expressway (because I don’t enjoy speed limits of 50km/h on the normal roads…) and had reached the booth where you pay the toll. So I stop my car and give the man the money, and he says to me “From here you are going to Nayoro?” For some reason, I didn’t find it odd he knew this, although in retrospect I don’t know how he would ever guess that. I could have been going anywhere, and I was still about 30 min from Nayoro. He then said, “What schools do you teach at?” Well, I am a foreigner, and many foreigners teach English, so I didn’t find it that odd he “guessed” that either. But then he says, “And you are only 21….” Ok, ok, now this is weird, how does he know my age…. “Do you know me?” I ask. He replies, “I read about you in the newspaper.” Now, I knew I was in the newspaper, but the fact that people actually pay attention to it freaks me out. I wasn’t even in Nayoro, and this guy knew me!
Sometimes I wish I didn’t stick out so much. Even when I am in a huge city like Asahikawa, which is the second largest city in Hokkaido, I still seem to run into people that know me. Today I came into work, and one of the English teachers says to me, “I saw you this weekend, outside of Loft, by the train station in Asahikawa. But you were with someone, so I couldn’t say hi.” I hadn’t seen him, but that isn’t surprising, Loft was really busy. The truth is I stick out like crazy, largely due to my long blonde hair. In a country that has a very small population of foreigners, and all of the natives have generally the same hair color, I don’t blend in even a little bit. Sometimes I think about dying my hair black, but somehow I doubt that would really solve my problem... But maybe it would help a little…
Any thoughts?
A few days ago I got home from club activities and was taking a shower in my house. I thought I heard voices, but convinced it was only in my head I continued taking my shower. However, once I turned off the shower I realized that the voices were definitely not in my head. Loud voices, I’m guessing from students, were coming from directly outside of my shower room, yelling “Jenna Sumisu-san, Jenna Sumisu-san!!” Lucky for me, that was the extent of what they did, but it still made me really nervous.
Yesterday I was driving home from Asahikawa, and was on the expressway (because I don’t enjoy speed limits of 50km/h on the normal roads…) and had reached the booth where you pay the toll. So I stop my car and give the man the money, and he says to me “From here you are going to Nayoro?” For some reason, I didn’t find it odd he knew this, although in retrospect I don’t know how he would ever guess that. I could have been going anywhere, and I was still about 30 min from Nayoro. He then said, “What schools do you teach at?” Well, I am a foreigner, and many foreigners teach English, so I didn’t find it that odd he “guessed” that either. But then he says, “And you are only 21….” Ok, ok, now this is weird, how does he know my age…. “Do you know me?” I ask. He replies, “I read about you in the newspaper.” Now, I knew I was in the newspaper, but the fact that people actually pay attention to it freaks me out. I wasn’t even in Nayoro, and this guy knew me!
Sometimes I wish I didn’t stick out so much. Even when I am in a huge city like Asahikawa, which is the second largest city in Hokkaido, I still seem to run into people that know me. Today I came into work, and one of the English teachers says to me, “I saw you this weekend, outside of Loft, by the train station in Asahikawa. But you were with someone, so I couldn’t say hi.” I hadn’t seen him, but that isn’t surprising, Loft was really busy. The truth is I stick out like crazy, largely due to my long blonde hair. In a country that has a very small population of foreigners, and all of the natives have generally the same hair color, I don’t blend in even a little bit. Sometimes I think about dying my hair black, but somehow I doubt that would really solve my problem... But maybe it would help a little…
Any thoughts?
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Questions
I always get questions about my hair color from the students, because they all have the same color hair color here. I get asked all the time if it's natural, and in Higashi JH one of the girls asked me a ton of biology questions, like, "What happens if a person's parents have blonde hair and brown hair? What color would their hair be?" Needless to say, I had difficulty explaining all of those questions through the language barrier...
In Nakanayoro Elementary today one of the grade 1 students came up to me and asked me, "Jenna, why is your hair blonde?" I didn't need to answer though, because there happens to be a little girl in that grade whose father is a Canadian. She told the other girl, "It's because she is Canadian." Then she said to me, "My hair is brown and black mixed!" She said it with pride, which made me so happy! I've heard that many kids who come from interracial parents here are ashamed of their background. I then explained to the girls that there are people with all different kinds of colors of hair where I am from, red, brown, blonde, etc...
To tell the truth, I never even considered that I would be explaining things like this to my students. It just goes to show that I am teaching a lot more than English over here...
In Nakanayoro Elementary today one of the grade 1 students came up to me and asked me, "Jenna, why is your hair blonde?" I didn't need to answer though, because there happens to be a little girl in that grade whose father is a Canadian. She told the other girl, "It's because she is Canadian." Then she said to me, "My hair is brown and black mixed!" She said it with pride, which made me so happy! I've heard that many kids who come from interracial parents here are ashamed of their background. I then explained to the girls that there are people with all different kinds of colors of hair where I am from, red, brown, blonde, etc...
To tell the truth, I never even considered that I would be explaining things like this to my students. It just goes to show that I am teaching a lot more than English over here...
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
What's your pantie color?
Lately I have been attending the club activities at Higashi Junior High School, which has about 200 students. To explain, in Japan they have what are called "clubs" most days after school, from about 4 to 6. Each student must join a club, only one, and must stick with that club until they leave the school. The teachers work really, really long hours here, because I have left the school at around 630 and all of the teachers are still there, working. They all start work at 8. Mind you, it seems as though most people work really hard here, I have no idea how late people at city office work, but I know that it greatly exceeds a "regular" 8 hour work day.
I am really enjoying going to the clubs, so far I have only been to tennis and basketball. I'm not good at sports, but all of the students seem really happy to have me there anyway. The teachers are also starting to open up more, which is important to me because I really want to build a good relationship with this school. All of the teachers seem really nice, and I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted with everyone, students and teachers.
However, the students are getting more and more comfortable asking me weird, out of the ordinary things. The latest being, "What's your pantie color?" They claim it's some sort of Japanese thing, but they use that to explain any weird question they decide to ask because they know I will have no idea if they are lying or not. I wouldn't answer right away, so one girl started poking my butt. They said that if I didn't tell them, they would pull down my pants. Judging by the fact that one girl was poking my butt I guessed that they would have no reservations pulling down my pants. So I said white... That's a safe color to pick, right?
Before all of you start freaking out, I have to mention that the relationships between students and teachers here are very different than in Canada. In Japan they are MUCH more friendly with their students. So what happened to me wasn't that out of the ordinary... I think... ;)
I am really enjoying going to the clubs, so far I have only been to tennis and basketball. I'm not good at sports, but all of the students seem really happy to have me there anyway. The teachers are also starting to open up more, which is important to me because I really want to build a good relationship with this school. All of the teachers seem really nice, and I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted with everyone, students and teachers.
However, the students are getting more and more comfortable asking me weird, out of the ordinary things. The latest being, "What's your pantie color?" They claim it's some sort of Japanese thing, but they use that to explain any weird question they decide to ask because they know I will have no idea if they are lying or not. I wouldn't answer right away, so one girl started poking my butt. They said that if I didn't tell them, they would pull down my pants. Judging by the fact that one girl was poking my butt I guessed that they would have no reservations pulling down my pants. So I said white... That's a safe color to pick, right?
Before all of you start freaking out, I have to mention that the relationships between students and teachers here are very different than in Canada. In Japan they are MUCH more friendly with their students. So what happened to me wasn't that out of the ordinary... I think... ;)
Halloween
I have mentioned it before, I think, but I work in a tiny elementary school outside of Nayoro. There are only 13 students in the entire school. I told the staff that I wanted to do a Halloween party, and they generously gave me an hour and a half with the students, as well as 4 giant pumpkins. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me carve them. That was probably for the best, because I can't imagine things going smoothly if I were to whip out a few giant knives, give them to the kids, and say "Go for it!" So instead they got giant pens, and drew their own Jack - O - Lantern faces on them.
I made a bunch of games for them to play, and most were successful. A few games didn't go as smoothly as I would have hoped though... I had them throw balls through giant paper Jack-O-Lanterns I had made. The boys decided it would be funny to throw the balls as hard as they could, which made it so much fun for me and the other teacher holding the pumpkin. I didn't enjoy that, but I kind of saw it coming. However, the one problem I didn't forsee was this. I decided to play "musical pumpkins," and I printed off a bunch of pumkins to put on the floor. Paper would rip, so I thought a good idea would be to laminate the pumpkins. I didn't consider the fact that this school has hardwood floors. Put a laminated pumkin on a hardwood floor, and then add a kid racing to stand on this pumkin, and you get slipping and sliding all over the place!! I was terrified the entire time that some kid was going to sail across the room and land on their head. However, there were only a few minor slips, thank GOD!!
The best part was at the very end of the class. I told them that I had candy, but if they wanted to get some they had to dress up and say "Trick or Treat!" I had bought a bunch of costumes from the 100 yen store for them to wear. They really loved it! Which was good, because it took me awhile to prepare all of those costumes. After the party, the students came up to me saying thank you! thank you! in English, which made me even happier!! Even some of the really shy ones. I could even hear them talking about the party after it had finished. Overall, a successful halloween!! I didn't do anything for halloween myself, and I did miss Halloween at home, but it was nice to share it with my students!
I made a bunch of games for them to play, and most were successful. A few games didn't go as smoothly as I would have hoped though... I had them throw balls through giant paper Jack-O-Lanterns I had made. The boys decided it would be funny to throw the balls as hard as they could, which made it so much fun for me and the other teacher holding the pumpkin. I didn't enjoy that, but I kind of saw it coming. However, the one problem I didn't forsee was this. I decided to play "musical pumpkins," and I printed off a bunch of pumkins to put on the floor. Paper would rip, so I thought a good idea would be to laminate the pumpkins. I didn't consider the fact that this school has hardwood floors. Put a laminated pumkin on a hardwood floor, and then add a kid racing to stand on this pumkin, and you get slipping and sliding all over the place!! I was terrified the entire time that some kid was going to sail across the room and land on their head. However, there were only a few minor slips, thank GOD!!
The best part was at the very end of the class. I told them that I had candy, but if they wanted to get some they had to dress up and say "Trick or Treat!" I had bought a bunch of costumes from the 100 yen store for them to wear. They really loved it! Which was good, because it took me awhile to prepare all of those costumes. After the party, the students came up to me saying thank you! thank you! in English, which made me even happier!! Even some of the really shy ones. I could even hear them talking about the party after it had finished. Overall, a successful halloween!! I didn't do anything for halloween myself, and I did miss Halloween at home, but it was nice to share it with my students!
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