Day 15: Very Busy

My girlfriend Lindsay told me I would probably lose a lot of weight during my trip, eating Japanese food and small portions. I think we forgot to factor in that everyone would be constantly giving me more food and making me eat all sorts of things. I went for an enjoyable jog this morning before breakfast. I think, jogging and biking are fun ways to get to know new places anyway. I had breakfast on my own today before my first attempt at traveling alone in Japan. It was hard not to be a little nervous with all of the Japanese people rushing through the train and subway stations, but I made it.

Miyamoto, one of the fifth grade teachers, and I put together an activity for all of the fifth grade students to do during today’s first period. Before the first period, though, there was an all-school gathering in Notre Dame Hall. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Sister Beatrice’s wishes for the month of June. She wishes that all students would treat each other nicely and do their best to make others feel good. Immediately following the all school assembly, all of the fifth graders had a welcome party for me in ND Hall. First, the students sang a song and welcomed me. Second, a student read the questions from the PowerPoint presentation on stage. If the students thought that the statement about me was true, then they would stand. If they thought the statement was false, then they would remain seated. Then, I would say the correct answer into the microphone, either “batsu” or “maru.” After the answer was given, I explained the answer more in depth. For example, one question was, “Ryan Sensei was most surprised at how much larger things are in Japan than in the Unites States.” The answer to this question was false, and I explained how I was most surprised at how small things are in Japan (like the cars!). One of the advanced English students translated my explanations so the students could understand. Once we made it through all of the questions about me, I awarded the students who got the most correct with laminated bookmarks I made. To finish off the first period, we sang Amazing Grace and I thanked all of the students and teachers.

This sounds like a whole day already, but it is not even close. Uriyama Sensei wanted me to help him third hour with the third graders in the pool. I thought we would be swimming, but the pool bottom was raised so that it was only about two feet deep. I led the students through some warm-up laps and exercises and then they had a series of fun relay races. It was my first time in the pool, but certainly not the last; the fifth graders are starting to train for their two kilometer swim in the Sea of Japan, and I will likely be swimming it with them.

After lunch, I taught room eight English with Miko Sensei and Afrela Sensei. The lesson was similar to the one we taught during the open lessons on Saturday, but with some slight modifications. We taught the months of the year, practiced story sequences, and sang several educational songs with the students. Once English was finished I became one of the students in Tarashima Sensei’s class. The lesson was in kanji, the picture writing of the Japanese language. I sat next to Erica, a girl who is very good at English and Japanese, and she helped me follow along. It was funny, though, because I felt like covering up my work so that she (a second grader) couldn’t laugh at my poor kanji and hiragana. The lesson was somewhat helpful to my understanding of some kanji. The last class of the day was a science lesson out in the garden, where the students observed their plants. They measured the plants, drew pictures, and compared theirs to their classmates.

After school today I helped with the advanced English classes. The students are separated by ability level: beginning, intermediate, and advanced. I helped the students in each class a little, but spent more time with the advanced class. Most of the students in the advanced class have lived in English-speaking countries for different periods of time, so they are more used to hearing and using English.

Tonight I finally met Mr. Nagasaku. He is a very busy man running his own company, so he has not been around much at all. Mr. and Mrs. Nagasaku and their daughter Midori took me to a really nice restaurant near their house. I chose my food from the options Mrs. Nagasaku gave me, but then I had to choose the other three courses! It was crazy to have such a nice meal with different courses to it. My main entrée was the marinated salmon. I like raw salmon, but there was another surprise for me on the plate…the salmon eggs that I told myself I wouldn’t eat again! Of course, as always, I sucked it up again and ate them. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

Overall, the dinner was great. I am very lucky to be able to stay with such great families. Being surrounded by people who care makes the culture “shock” more of a fulfilling cultural experience. Tomorrow will certainly be another long day. So, talk to you later.