Winter

One of the first things that recently happened was my learning about 'Peach Boy,' a fairy tale. After I told a class about Paul Bunyan, The class was in disarray to act out the story of Peach Boy. Peach Boy defeated foreign devils with his companions: a monkey, a pheasant, and a dog. I do not know when this was first told, but I believe that these foreign devils were Americans. There is an old saying "Respect the emperor, throw out the barbarians." That is almost certainly referring to Americans. My guess is that this Peach Boy story was made by an emperor's story teller.

Next, I went to Tokyo. I had a go-con, which went horribly. In a go-con, two friends pick two other friends and all three usually end the night with a girlfriend/boyfriend. However, that night, my friend was engaged and the other man had a girlfriend. So I was left to flirt with three girls. I did not know who to pick. One was to quiet. One was always arguing, and one I didn't even learn the name of. We had no time to flirt either.

Then I went skiing. I learned about Japanese spirit and how some younger Japanese were losing it. They were traveling around the world and coming back and being just like Westerners, which is the opposite of what Japanese want. These people need to accept other cultures, like we do in America. I'm not telling Japanese to be like Americans, but they should allow other cultures. For instance, there are emos, and we don't slander them all the time.

Finally, I learned about teachers vs. mothers. It is exactly the opposite as it is with America and most Western countries. The teachers go to the parents instead of the parents going to the teachers. The students are told to study by the mother, not the teacher. Teachers give students more of a social life than the mothers do. Now, I'm not saying this is bad, because this has worked in the past, but right now, this is causing these 'rebellious' young Japanese because they don't have a strong relationship with their mother like the Americans do. The Japanese teachers should not have to go to the students house and do the reports they have to do, but otherwise, I see nothing wrong with what the teachers do. I see many things wrong with what the mothers do. The mothers force these extra jobs on the teachers because the mothers don't know how to teach their kids this stuff.

Last Day's of the Year

I was playing tennis with Mogi-sensei when I sprained my ankle. I thought I was really going to beat him but let's not talk about that. I went into the hospital and was tolled I had cancer. When I asked for Dr. Endo because he knew English, the doctor looked offended. But Dr. Endo agreed with the other doctor that I needed a cast and couldn't walk for a week. Then came the worst time: my colleagues deciding if I could go home. It didn't look good for me until my friends started showing up. I was brought crutches and allowed to go home.

Then came trash day. Every day at 8:30, every homeroom would something almost like meditation. Trash day was the first time I saw this happening. Every student cleans every day, but on a small scale. Every term, this time it's the winter term, homerooms, or kumis, would go and pick up trash in Sano. I went with Mrs. Negishi's kumi. I ended up making a game out of it: I-spy where students got points for saying the word in English.

Lunch is much more complicated in Japan than in America. A shy 7th grade boy asked me to go to his homeroom for lunch. In Japan, students do everything. One group organizes the room. One group gets the food. One group serves the food. That day, it was rice, salted cucumbers, oranges, and a beef stew. Denver told me to put rice, stew, and salad in my mouth at once and THEN chew. That seems outrages to me. Lunch is a lot bigger a deal in Japan.

Then there was the New Year's Ever festival, which I didn't much get, so I won't talk about it.

I think that the pre-school meditation is good for students. It loosens the mind for learning. It gets them in the mindset that school is starting, but it's not a big deal. It's a simple way to get the mind cleared of the things that aren't necessary that particular day. Students like it, and I know I like it, so teachers probably like it.