Going with the flow

In my last post I mentioned that I am now much more able to go with the flow than ever before, and I wanted to tell you why.  Though this skill is something many people develop in many kinds of jobs, I think ALTs in Japan are probably the most flexible people in the world just by nature of the teaching situation here and by nature of being an assistant.  A lot of these also fall under being able to laugh at myself...but that's related to going with the flow, right?

Example:
5 minutes before class, the JTE comes up to me and says "we have class next...do you have anything to do?"  Sometimes I can respond, "Yes!" because I knew that I had the class coming up and that the teacher would wait until the last minute to ask me about it, so I had been thinking of an idea and probably already made copies.  But, sometimes the classes come out of the blue!  or the schedule is different from what it should be so Monday's classes are on Thursday only no one told me so BAM! that "do you have anything?" becomes a slightly difficult question.  But...having been in Japan for 2+ years now, I can just go with it and figure something on out the spot.  Bingo or the "line game" or hangman... all ALTs have a few games up their sleeves that can be used with little to no warning.

Or...another example:
During class, you discover that the JTE stole an activity from you and is doing it in their half of the class and thus you cannot do it in your half because then the kids would be playing the same game twice in a row.  This only happens to ALTs who, like me, have JTEs who do more of a "my half-your half" system rather than team teaching.  Thankfully, I only have one such JTE and this JTE is transferring to a different school next week.  whew.

And another:
(in reference to the previous post) a lot of things in this country are done without a proper plan or rehearsal or anything.  So several times now I have gone on stage to sing with the teachers, having never practiced the song.  At least the music teacher usually gives out a CD for us to listen to.  But one time there was no CD, and I did not get the music until the day of the performance, so not only had I never practiced, I had never even heard the song so I was sight-singing...in Japanese!

Ceremonies....
I never know what is going on with ceremonies.  Where to sit, when to go to the gym, what to wear...but I have learned to just go with it.  Follow the students or another teacher.  Smile like I know what I am doing.

And back to classes:
Sometimes the activities teachers plan DO NOT GO WELL!  It is a fact of life.  When this happens, we need to be able to adapt and come up with rule change or different activity on the spot so that the class does not go to waste.  I have become quite good at this, and this goes back to one of the earlier examples about keeping a bunch of activities up our sleeves.  I no longer get upset when something does not go well, I just change something up or stop the activity completely.  No big deal.

Well...there you have it.  A few examples of how I am now a much more flexible person who is completely capable of doing something without a plan.   Don't get me wrong, I still *prefer* to have a plan (preferably of the well-thought-out variety) but at least I can cope if there is no plan.  Definitely a step in the right direction.

The most important thing I have learned...

...is how to laugh at myself.  And this is most definitely a good thing.  As I am sure many of you who knew me in middle school and high school and college can remember, this is something I am historically bad at.  I only hope this is a trait I can maintain once I have moved back to high-stress America.

How did I come to the conclusion that I now know how to laugh at myself?  Well, it has been a continual process, just by nature of being a teacher, and especially by being the only white person in an entire school.  Comic relief helps make my classes more fun and interesting.

But today I was able to confirm 100% that I know how to laugh at myself.

The background:
Every year before graduation, the 1st and 2nd graders put together a goodbye party of sorts for the graduating students.  In this party, the 1st/2nd graders do skits, sing, show slide shows to show their thanks to their "senpai" (senpai is a term that people here use to refer to their seniors...it is most commonly heard in schools when younger students refer to their older counterparts, but it can also be heard in the workplace and it is an important relationship.)

Last week:
A teacher asked me if I was willing to be in the short skit the teachers were doing for the graduating students.  Pretty much, the teachers were going to sing a song together, but before that, they were going to do the skit to just get the energy flowing.  I said I would be in the skit, of course!  I was grateful for actually being included in something so there was no way I was going to say no.  Also, I only had one line.  No problem!!

This week:
Mon-Wed I was at a conference in Chiba Prefecture and was thus not at school.  I came back to school yesterday feeling a little uneasy because my neurotic self likes to practice things and know exactly what is going on (though this is another thing that has changed about me...I am a whole lot more "go with the flow" now than I ever was before...but that is a different post for a different time).  Anyway, I discovered yesterday that no one really knew what was happening.  They had not rehearsed the song at all, nor had they rehearsed the skit, so everyone was clueless, not just me.  whew!!

A bit more background before we get to today:
Most of the teachers were borrowing boys school uniforms for the skit because we were supposed to be dressed like members of the cheering club.  I don't want to use the word cheerleader, because that will make you think of girls in short skirts who do backflips.  It's different in Japan.  The leaders of the cheer groups at school are usually boys who add white gloves and a white piece of fabric tied around their heads (there's a word for that in English that I can't remember right now) to their uniforms.  So...I borrowed a student's jacket and had gloves and the fabric.

This is an example of a typical uniform for boys.  All black with the buttons down the front.

My line:
In the skit, all I had to say was "OSU!" in response to the head "cheerer"  There were four of us and he was going to go down the line and ask things like "Are you ready to sing for the 3rd graders?"  or "Are you going to put all your emotions into the song to say good bye to the 3rd graders?"  things like that.  And each one of us was supposed to say "OSU!" which is a response usually used by boys and it does not always mean yes, but in a case like this where you are trying to get energy going in a room, that is the right answer.  And also, the really cool guys do this thing with their arms which I am going to try to describe because it is important.  So stand with your feet shoulder width apart and bend both elbows to 90-degrees.  Your arms start out crossed in front of your chest, wrists touching and then as you say "OSU!" you pull your elbows down to your sides and stick out your chest a bit...perhaps you can see where this is going?

Today:
 Feeling incredibly uneasy because of lack of rehearsals, I put on my borrowed jacket and went onstage.  I managed to button the jacket and thought everything was fine (there were concerns about the jacket fitting).  The teachers had given me the option of just saying "Yes!" if I wanted, but I wanted to do this right...so I went with the "Osu."  Well...in the process, I managed to launch a button off the jacket right into the students!!!

     The old Elissa would have been embarrassed to the point of crying and wanting to run away.  I would not have been able to sing the song because I would have been so upset.  And I would have made popping a button off a jacket into a much worse thing than it actually was.

     The new Elissa was still rather embarrassed, but managed to laugh it off...actually laughing so hard that I was crying.  I sang the song with the teachers, got off stage, and returned the jacket and button with my sincerest apologies.   I recognize that it was just a button and can be easily fixed and is not the end of the world, but rather made the show that much more entertaining.

The moral of the story:
I have most definitely leaned to laugh at myself a bit more than before I came to Japan.  I hope you all enjoyed my story and my descriptions were good enough for you to know what I was talking about.

Revisiting my goals and making a few new ones

 Remember way back in my first few months here when I posted some goals for Japan?  I thought it was high time for me to go back and look at them again and see how I am doing.  I have just over 5 months left here...what have I accomplished in the past 2+ years?

First, let's take a look at that original list of goals:

1. Climb Mt. Fuji  Not yet, but plans in the works!
2. Pass level 4 (the easiest) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) this December  check!  Not only did I pass level 4 of the old test (back when there were only 4 levels)...I also passed level 3 of the new test (it now has 5 levels)
3. Go to Tokyo Disney  been there twice!  And have plans to go at least once more this year, if not twice.
4. Wear a kimono/yukata (summer verison of kimono, I think) at some point for a festival(perhaps purchase one!)  still working on this...it does not help that last summer for all the festivals I was in America.
5. Sub-goal: Actually learn how to put on a kimono/yukata  when I bought a yukata last spring, the lady in the shop was kind enough to teach me and Alaina how to put them on
6. See the snow monkeys  been at least 4 times.
7. Really make an effort to speak Japanese with people  Not to be too American and confident, but I have really really really been trying and I do get complimented all the time.  And I do not mean the usual Japanese compliments (if you say konnichiwa, they are impressed! its ridiculous) but I mean actual, sincere compliments that make me smile a bit.
8. Get my students excited about English, but also about languages in general.  this goal is kind of abstract (more so than #7) and I am not sure if I have been successful, so I half crossed it out. When I go into classrooms, even now, 2 years later, the students are still excited to see me and respond relatively well, although I think this is more related to the fact that they know when I come to class we play games, whereas when I don't come, they have to learn grammar.   But let's pretend they always are excited about English!  How would I know, I am not there!
9. Try karate and/or kendo.  still working on this one.  probably not going to happen.  but there is karate in America.  I did learn the meaning of the word karate....kara= empty, te= hand.
10. Try taiko (the traditional drumming)  I have seen it a bunch of times, but have yet to try.
11. Karaoke- I want to sing a Japanese song, like, in Japanese. Also, Bohemian Rhapsody could be pretty fun, and Livin' on a Prayer  we karaoke at least twice a month.  for hours at a time 
12. Go to an onsen (if you are unaware, these are the hot springs, and you go in naked)  totally over the naked thing.  Onsen are awesome!
13. Visit Okinawa  Okinawa is far and expensive
14. Travel around Japan in general: Osaka, Kyoto, more in Tokyo, Hokkaido...   I have been to all the places listed here, plus quite a few others.  Shizuoka, Gifu, Nagoya, Matsumoto, Niigata, Joetsu, Yokohama...
15. Get to know Iiyama and Nagano prefecture  check and check!  I have been to the very south of the prefecture and I live in the very north.  And I have been to lots of places in between.  Iiyama...I know my way around.  scheduled holidays of stores, the delicious foods Iiyama is famous for...
16. Become a regular at some of the izakayas in Iiyama and actually talk to the owners. (izakaya= smallish drinking pub of sorts)  ok, well I do not drink nearly enough for this to happen.  But, there are some restaurants we go to semi-often and the owners or people working there recognize us and do talk to us, so I crossed it out.
17. Pass the Japanese driving test.  CHECK!  Thank God!
18. Learn to ski, and try to enjoy skiing. well, not skiing, but I learned to snowboard and have been enjoying it a lot, so that totally counts.

Ok, so where do I stand?  13/18.  That's not too bad, I guess.  I will keep working on the last 5, but before that, I do have a few other accomplishments that are worth sharing:

1. went to Korea!!
2. learned to crochet animals  (also improved my crochet abilities in general and I made a blanket!)
3. went to the doctor by myself once and managed to communicate successfully (harder than you would imagine)
4. Survived many earthquakes without completely freaking out.
5. I can now successfully call and reschedule package deliveries.  Call, I say.  No internet.  Talking...to a real person...on the phone.  The real question is...when I get back to America, will I be able to order pizza?????
6. I have passed not only two JLPTs but 3 kanji tests.  I am the equivalent of a Japanese student who has just finished 5th grade.  This means I "know" about 825 kanji.  No wonder there is no room left in my head for English anymore! 
7. I have a 100% pass rate for students who take the English Proficiency Exam interview.  (They have to take a written test first with grammar and listening and if they pass that, stage 2 is an interview.  I help them practice for the interview.
8. I have learned how to make cookies in a small kitchen with a small oven (bakes 12-14 at a time) and not proper ingredients.  My best achievement: I made over 300 cookies in 2 days.  My students loooooooooooove my cookies.

And finally, in my last 5 months...a few goals for myself. 

1. Continue to travel around.  We already have a trip planned for May to Hiroshima. I want to travel to 2 or 3 new places I have not been yet.  (Hiroshima counts as 1)
2. Pass the next kanji test, which would put me as a recently-graduated 6th grader.  In more impressive numbers, it would be 1006 kanji, about half of the government's "daily use" kanji list.  
3. Successfully clean my apartment and get everything important sent home. 
1. Actually determine what is important so that a bunch of random junk does not end up back in America  (you can stop laughing now, Mom)
2. Plan ahead well enough that I do not end up leaving mass amounts of trash for my successor.
3. Keep trying to figure out what to do with my old clothes so I do not have to just throw them away.  Japan does not do the whole donation thing, which is weird and frustrating.  You would think that after last March, they might have started really fast collecting clothes and stuff, but I cannot find anywhere willing to just take straight up donations.
4. Mom and Kevin are coming in August, so I want to successfully plan a trip to a few major sites in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.  This means knowing where to go because most likely I will be the one playing leader, rather than the usual me who follows someone more knowledgeable around.
5. Re-learn proper English so I can get into gradschool...sometime...in the future.
1. Really research grad schools and figure out which ones are actually reasonable for me to apply to. (speaking of proper English...I just ended that sentence with a conjunction!)
6. Start applying for jobs in America so when I get back I can continue to fund a somewhat enjoyable lifestyle.
7. Get all my paperwork done right when leaving Japan so I get my pension refund.  It is going to be a significant amount of money, and is thus quite important.
8. Start to get my French back in case I do end up pursuing a grad degree related to French.
9. Slowly get myself to stop bowing.  I think people will stare at me in America when they nicely let me turn and I bow to them instead of waving.  And all those phone conversations where I bow even though the other person clearly cannot see me...
10. Make a nice resume that accurately represents the many many many many things I have done on JET.
1. Figure out how to get letters of recommendation from JTEs.

Ok, that is a good number of goals, I think.  If I manage to come up with any more, I will add them in, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with all these things I want to be doing.

Thanks to all who have been consistently reading my blog for the past 2 years.  I hope you will stick with me for the next 5 months or so.  If you are lucky, maybe I will even write ranty blog posts about my experiences with moving back to America and reverse culture shock and realizing that Japan is far superior to America in every way (except the lack of certain foods and places to donate clothes).

In very American style, I am going to post some pictures of things I have done, one of which is very braggy. 

JLPT N3.  Check that score!!

My blanket.

More than 300 cookies.