So, I've been what my dad calls a CEO Catholic or... my new term (that I like better, sorry Dad!) ECO-Catholic.
There's a Catholic church on the island, and I met the Father a while ago (He's German!). But, I haven't actually gone to a Mass. Now that I'm living by myself I find it hard to get up in time to go. Or, I'm really busy. As the weekends are the only time to do some island hopping.
Well, since it was Ash Wednesday, I felt I really should go.
So, I finally went.
It is soo small. The Church is actually a converted house. And, along with the Father, there are two sisters.
So, about Mass in Japan. When I got there I thought I was really early, even though I knew I was a minute late. There were less than 10 people -- including the two sisters and father.
Let me tell you, Communion goes a lot faster with that few.
Of course, the whole Mass was in Japanese. And, I was confused as can be. But, about 15 minutes in, one of the sisters handed me a pamphlet that had the Japanese written down in both characters and roman letters, the English translation, and the Latin translation. Really helped!
Like I said, the congregation is really small 5 people, so during the homily, the father just kind of chats to us. There is a topic, a moral from the reading, but he knows everyone so well that he kind of just chats about life on the island and things that each person does. It's really different, but in a good way. Everyone knows each other so well, that it's just like old friends getting together. And... to be frank... I do mean older literally. I think I'm the youngest by about 60 or 70 years. I can't help but wonder if these few islanders converted when there was an American base on the island? Interesting though, huh?
So, about Ash Wednesday. We went up to receive the ashes and I realized that they were given on top of the head, not on the forehead. Being so tall (I feel like a giant here), I had to squat a bit so he could put the ashes on my head.
Also, the part of Mass where we usually shake hands, we bow here. You know you're in Japan when... right? ;)
After mass, everyone just kind of stayed put and chatted. They wanted to know everything about me. And one of the women there has a sister living in Ohio! Imagine that. She can't remember where, but she said she'll try to find out.
Pretty nice time. And the talking after is great Japanese practice!
Oh, the coolest part: like I said, the Father is from Germany originally. He's one of the only Catholic priests on the Kagoshima islands (as I gather) and he ferries back and forth between this island and the island just North of me about every two weeks or so.
So, he doesn't really know English, or he did learn it at one time but it's been so long since he's used it. So, we communicate in Japanese.
Now, I remember (and Casey if you're reading this, you should remember too!!) that when two people who speak different native languages use a third common language to talk there's actually a linguistic term for it. I believe (after a little internet searching, Thank you Google!) that the common language you use to talk in is called Lingua Franca. It was a very interesting moment to be able to use Japanese, a language that a few years ago I could barely form a coherent sentence with, to have a full, long, conversation with another person who's native language isn't Japanese.
Phew, you guys get two posts in one day!!
~Steph
Thursday, March 10, 2011
End of School Fun Day
The school year in Japan is on a completely different schedule compared to the U.S. The end of the school year is almost here, with the 3rd graders in Junior High Schools (JHS) around the country gearing up to graduate next Tuesday.
This week, the 3rd graders (American 9th Graders) sat for the public high school Admission test on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, at my Favorite school, we had a reward party the whole day for them.
It began at 8:45 with a ceremony, it is Japan you know where ceremonies are a HUGE staple. The ni-nen-seis (2nd graders/American 8th graders) put on the party for the 3rd graders. So, they gave announcements and speeches during the opening ceremony. After that, we all walked to the top of the biggest mountain on Erabu. It's called 大山（おおやま/ooyama). Which means "Big Mountain" in Japanese. But, it's pretty small. So, it only took about 30 minutes to walk up to the top. Once there, we had a beautiful view of the island. I took some pictures: (on the way)
We got there and played Frisbee-style dodgeball. Pretty fun!
Afterwards, there was another ceremony put on by the 2nd graders. They gave out gag gifts to the 3rd graders and talked about how they would miss them once they started high school. Pretty emotional stuff!
Afterwards, we all headed outside to enjoy the sun (with a little chill in the air, thanks to the wind) and ate our bentos (home-made lunches...). I headed off to eat with the teachers. I try and grab whatever opportunity I can to hang out with the teachers. I love the teachers at this school -- we are always laughing at some joke or other. Joking in another language is seriously hard, because you never know if your type of humour is going to work out or not. But, with these teachers we just mesh. So, it's great.
After lunch, we headed back down the mountain. Again, beautiful pictures!!
And then, the students had class vs. class sports off. The girls played volleyball and the boys played soccer. I would guess that volleyball and soccer ... well, and baseball, are the top sports in Japan.
Days like this make me want to stay another year. And, you know, I think if I were at this school more than once a week. Maybe the decision to stay another year or not would have been different. But, for now, I'm happy with my decision!
I hope the nip in the air leaves before the parents arrive. When you don't feel the breeze its warm enough to go sunning. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!!
~Steph
P.S. T-8 days!!!!
P.S.S. NO SPELLING MISTAKES. Though, grammar is probably another issue. :(
This week, the 3rd graders (American 9th Graders) sat for the public high school Admission test on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, at my Favorite school, we had a reward party the whole day for them.
It began at 8:45 with a ceremony, it is Japan you know where ceremonies are a HUGE staple. The ni-nen-seis (2nd graders/American 8th graders) put on the party for the 3rd graders. So, they gave announcements and speeches during the opening ceremony. After that, we all walked to the top of the biggest mountain on Erabu. It's called 大山（おおやま/ooyama). Which means "Big Mountain" in Japanese. But, it's pretty small. So, it only took about 30 minutes to walk up to the top. Once there, we had a beautiful view of the island. I took some pictures: (on the way)
We got there and played Frisbee-style dodgeball. Pretty fun!
Afterwards, there was another ceremony put on by the 2nd graders. They gave out gag gifts to the 3rd graders and talked about how they would miss them once they started high school. Pretty emotional stuff!
Afterwards, we all headed outside to enjoy the sun (with a little chill in the air, thanks to the wind) and ate our bentos (home-made lunches...). I headed off to eat with the teachers. I try and grab whatever opportunity I can to hang out with the teachers. I love the teachers at this school -- we are always laughing at some joke or other. Joking in another language is seriously hard, because you never know if your type of humour is going to work out or not. But, with these teachers we just mesh. So, it's great.
After lunch, we headed back down the mountain. Again, beautiful pictures!!
And then, the students had class vs. class sports off. The girls played volleyball and the boys played soccer. I would guess that volleyball and soccer ... well, and baseball, are the top sports in Japan.
Days like this make me want to stay another year. And, you know, I think if I were at this school more than once a week. Maybe the decision to stay another year or not would have been different. But, for now, I'm happy with my decision!
I hope the nip in the air leaves before the parents arrive. When you don't feel the breeze its warm enough to go sunning. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!!
~Steph
P.S. T-8 days!!!!
P.S.S. NO SPELLING MISTAKES. Though, grammar is probably another issue. :(
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
English is Difficult
So, part of this post is inspired by a blogger living in Brazil and teaching English. You can find her blog here. She, I believe, majored in linguistics and a lot of her posts focus on the intricacies of English, Portuguese, and teaching English as a Foreign Language. Really interesting and I highly recommend it!
Anyways, my lovely friend Liz sent me a little moleskin notebook that I can carry around in my purse and record thoughts/sketches (not sure if the sketches will be happening, as I'm a horrible drawer, but we'll see).
Today, during my Eikaiwa (Adult English Conversation Class) my students asked a lot of really good questions. They usually do ask good questions, but I was surprised today. First off, the difference between "former" and "previous". This was really hard for me to answer at first because I couldn't explain why I use it differently. Think about it. The former president Bush (vs.) the previous president was Bush. There is a small difference. I tried to explain it as "former" being something that 'was, but is not anymore'. Like, my former professor. This person was my professor, but isn't anymore. Also, I think former is referring to any period before not just the one just before. While "previous" means more 'the one before this'. Like, the previous book I read. Means the book I read before this. What do you think? Is this totally wrong? I don't know why this was so hard. I think it's the little nuances that can be the hardest to explain.
Another point we discussed was how to say 'a lot of something'. My students (bear in mind, they are both middle-aged mothers) often tease me about different things. Like, when I sometimes buy foreign food online (I live on a tiny island... so foreign food really isn't American foreign food... just not Japanese food) it usually comes in a big size because I don't buy it often. They tease that it's American sized. Anyways, recently, we've been teasing about gokiburi (cockroaches) coming out. Ewwwwww! I killed my first cockroach of the season yesterday (still a little scarred). And they told me the place that has the most cockroaches is the bathroom behind the toilet.
So, one of my students used the bathroom today and I asked her if there were any cockroaches. She responded, "Yes, many, many cockroaches, " jokingly. And then paused and asked me if using "many, many" was correct. I explained that we don't say "many, many" though I've become used to it while living in Japan. And that we say "a lot of". But, then I said... more conversationally, we say "lots of". When they asked me why it changes I explained that I think American English likes one sound to kind of lead into the other. When you say "a lot of" you have to pause between "lot" and "of", but with "lots of" it flows and almost becomes one word. I think we do this with a lot of words. Is this true, or am I making stuff up and teaching my students wrong??
During the lesson, I also found out how amazingly cheaper university is in Japan. They told me the average price for public is about $5,000 a YEAR. WHAT?! I was so surprised. Whereas, private is about $20,000 a year, which makes more sense to me. And also, public university is better than private. Interesting, huh?
Also, the san nen seis (third year students) in both middle school and high school (so American 9th and 12th graders, respectively) are taking their public examination this week. The 9th graders to get into public high school and the 12th graders to get into public university. And, apparently at the high school just ONE student has passed the public university test. I hope my students are just exaggerating. Is education on the islands/inaka (rural) area of Japan really that bad?
Also, my parents come in 9 days!! Can't wait to see them and have our tour of Japan!
~Steph
P.S. I had SEVEN spelling mistakes in this blog. Apparently, I can no longer spell surprised. Kept spelling it suprised. I tell you, I'm losing my English. I forgot the word for crutches and transcript today.
Anyways, my lovely friend Liz sent me a little moleskin notebook that I can carry around in my purse and record thoughts/sketches (not sure if the sketches will be happening, as I'm a horrible drawer, but we'll see).
Today, during my Eikaiwa (Adult English Conversation Class) my students asked a lot of really good questions. They usually do ask good questions, but I was surprised today. First off, the difference between "former" and "previous". This was really hard for me to answer at first because I couldn't explain why I use it differently. Think about it. The former president Bush (vs.) the previous president was Bush. There is a small difference. I tried to explain it as "former" being something that 'was, but is not anymore'. Like, my former professor. This person was my professor, but isn't anymore. Also, I think former is referring to any period before not just the one just before. While "previous" means more 'the one before this'. Like, the previous book I read. Means the book I read before this. What do you think? Is this totally wrong? I don't know why this was so hard. I think it's the little nuances that can be the hardest to explain.
Another point we discussed was how to say 'a lot of something'. My students (bear in mind, they are both middle-aged mothers) often tease me about different things. Like, when I sometimes buy foreign food online (I live on a tiny island... so foreign food really isn't American foreign food... just not Japanese food) it usually comes in a big size because I don't buy it often. They tease that it's American sized. Anyways, recently, we've been teasing about gokiburi (cockroaches) coming out. Ewwwwww! I killed my first cockroach of the season yesterday (still a little scarred). And they told me the place that has the most cockroaches is the bathroom behind the toilet.
So, one of my students used the bathroom today and I asked her if there were any cockroaches. She responded, "Yes, many, many cockroaches, " jokingly. And then paused and asked me if using "many, many" was correct. I explained that we don't say "many, many" though I've become used to it while living in Japan. And that we say "a lot of". But, then I said... more conversationally, we say "lots of". When they asked me why it changes I explained that I think American English likes one sound to kind of lead into the other. When you say "a lot of" you have to pause between "lot" and "of", but with "lots of" it flows and almost becomes one word. I think we do this with a lot of words. Is this true, or am I making stuff up and teaching my students wrong??
During the lesson, I also found out how amazingly cheaper university is in Japan. They told me the average price for public is about $5,000 a YEAR. WHAT?! I was so surprised. Whereas, private is about $20,000 a year, which makes more sense to me. And also, public university is better than private. Interesting, huh?
Also, the san nen seis (third year students) in both middle school and high school (so American 9th and 12th graders, respectively) are taking their public examination this week. The 9th graders to get into public high school and the 12th graders to get into public university. And, apparently at the high school just ONE student has passed the public university test. I hope my students are just exaggerating. Is education on the islands/inaka (rural) area of Japan really that bad?
Also, my parents come in 9 days!! Can't wait to see them and have our tour of Japan!
~Steph
P.S. I had SEVEN spelling mistakes in this blog. Apparently, I can no longer spell surprised. Kept spelling it suprised. I tell you, I'm losing my English. I forgot the word for crutches and transcript today.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
E.T. Phone Home
I believe all across Japan in many JHS Second-Year English classes (American 8th graders) students have been learning about E.T.
It's funny teaching kids words like alien and spaceship. One thing that would be interesting to find out is if all the hype about people seeing spaceships and Area 57 (or is it 51) that is abound in the U.S. occurs in Japan too. That will be an interesting question for my ni-nen-seis (second years) next week.
Like I said, the kids have more or less stopped using their textbooks as the school year is almost finished. Two weeks until graduation. But, the third years (American 9th graders) will graduate and not have to come to school, but the 1st and 2nd years keep coming to school until the 26th. Then they have a week and a half long Spring Break.
Anyways, as the school year is dying down my teacher decided we should reward the students with a fun class day. Imagine my suprise!! So, we took the kids down to the theatre room at school and transformed it into a movie theatre. So cool! He wanted to have the kids watch E.T. My teacher kept asking me about it and I have to say... I haven't watched E.T. in ages. When was the last time you did? I don't think I've even seen it all the way through. So, I kept having to tell him I had no idea what he was talking about when he asked me different questions about the movie.
So, watching the movie was fun. The kids were amazed by how big the house was and that they had a green front yard. And a dog! Oh, I miss Chip!!
The kids enjoyed the movie (and the boys enjoyed sleeping... so naughty!) for the most part and I did too. But, the sound track kept reminding me of Star Wars. I think the kids would have enjoyed that more. I know I would have!
Now, my kids understand why I kept saying "E.T. Phone Home" in a funny voice in class last week. Phew!
Also, T-two weeks til the parents visit. Bought our plane tickets to the mainland. The islander discount (if you live on the island you get a discount on your ticket cuz... it's the only way to get to the mianland if you dont want to take an 18 hour ferry ride) only applied to my ticket. Which sucked. I was hoping to get all the tickets for a discounted price. Still need to reserve a rental car in Okinawa though. Also, checked with almost all my schools and they are excited to have my parents as show-and-tell guests. I'll be teaching 5 classes the two days my parents are here so the rest of the time is free time. But during the classes my parents will give their Jikoushokais (self introductions). In English, though my Mom wants to be able to say it in Japanese! Exciting!!
That's all for now.
Love and Miss you,
Steph
It's funny teaching kids words like alien and spaceship. One thing that would be interesting to find out is if all the hype about people seeing spaceships and Area 57 (or is it 51) that is abound in the U.S. occurs in Japan too. That will be an interesting question for my ni-nen-seis (second years) next week.
Like I said, the kids have more or less stopped using their textbooks as the school year is almost finished. Two weeks until graduation. But, the third years (American 9th graders) will graduate and not have to come to school, but the 1st and 2nd years keep coming to school until the 26th. Then they have a week and a half long Spring Break.
Anyways, as the school year is dying down my teacher decided we should reward the students with a fun class day. Imagine my suprise!! So, we took the kids down to the theatre room at school and transformed it into a movie theatre. So cool! He wanted to have the kids watch E.T. My teacher kept asking me about it and I have to say... I haven't watched E.T. in ages. When was the last time you did? I don't think I've even seen it all the way through. So, I kept having to tell him I had no idea what he was talking about when he asked me different questions about the movie.
So, watching the movie was fun. The kids were amazed by how big the house was and that they had a green front yard. And a dog! Oh, I miss Chip!!
The kids enjoyed the movie (and the boys enjoyed sleeping... so naughty!) for the most part and I did too. But, the sound track kept reminding me of Star Wars. I think the kids would have enjoyed that more. I know I would have!
Now, my kids understand why I kept saying "E.T. Phone Home" in a funny voice in class last week. Phew!
Also, T-two weeks til the parents visit. Bought our plane tickets to the mainland. The islander discount (if you live on the island you get a discount on your ticket cuz... it's the only way to get to the mianland if you dont want to take an 18 hour ferry ride) only applied to my ticket. Which sucked. I was hoping to get all the tickets for a discounted price. Still need to reserve a rental car in Okinawa though. Also, checked with almost all my schools and they are excited to have my parents as show-and-tell guests. I'll be teaching 5 classes the two days my parents are here so the rest of the time is free time. But during the classes my parents will give their Jikoushokais (self introductions). In English, though my Mom wants to be able to say it in Japanese! Exciting!!
That's all for now.
Love and Miss you,
Steph
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)