Rules Rule Life in Japan

The rules in this country are truly hard to believe-- hard to believe what they are and how many there are. It's like the whole country (well, maybe mostly jr. high.....but not only jr. high!) is an altar boy boarding school. I'm not exaggerating. I mean if it wasn't my real life, I would not believe it. If I was reading this blog instead of writing it, I would definitely think it was just ridiculous. BUT, I hope that you will believe what you read, because it's true-- even though it's ridiculous.

Today I received the "Seasonal Change of Uniform" notice on my desk. Starting today, students are allowed to start transitioning from their winter uniforms to their spring/summer uniforms. This means that they can wear short sleeves if they want to, and girls don't have to wear their vests. This transition must be completed by June 13, meaning that after that date girls won't be allowed to wear vests anymore, and no one will be allowed to wear long sleeves. Even if we have cold weather. We've already had several days of weather in the high 70s, but no one was allowed to wear short sleeves because it wasn't one-week-before-June (i.e. May 23) yet. The acceptable uniforms are dictated by the typical weather patterns of the calendar, without regard for the actual weather conditions. Who thinks this makes sense? [NOTE: Short sleeve shirts and vests cannot be worn together. Vests are only permitted to be worn over long sleeve shirts.]

Other school rules include:
-No plucking or trimming your eyebrows. (This doesn't mean you shouldn't do it at school...It means you're not allowed to pluck or trim them at all-- not even at home.)
-Keep your fingernails clipped short. (Or else, you will be made to go to the staff room and clip them over the trash can before you can go back to class.)
-Girls whose hair is longer than shoulder-length must tie it back with an elastic-- or two, but not three-- that is either brown, black, or navy blue.
-No clipping your hair in the front.
-No perming or straightening your hair.
-No colored socks-- only white.
-During cold weather-- which according to the school calendar is Sept. 26-May 23-- if you wear a coat, gloves, or a scarf, they must be navy blue, black, gray, brown, or white.
-No bringing backpacks into the staff room.
-No wearing sports team uniforms in the staff room.
-Girls may not wear pants, except for when wearing sports uniforms.
-Boys must button their Mandarin collar suit jackets up all the way to the top button (or not wear them at all). If you take your jacket off, you must also take your sweater off because sweaters are not allowed to be seen, even though they're allowed to be worn.
-P.E. uniform jackets must be zipped up all the way to the top (or not worn at all).
-No going into any classroom other than your own.
-No spending the night at a friend's house.
-No going to an arcade without parent supervision.
-No stickers or key chains on school bags or gym bags.
-No food of any kind is allowed to be brought to school. (You must persevere through the hunger (and pay attention in class) for the approximately 5 hours between when you eat breakfast around 7 or 8, have morning tennis, soccer, baseball, or volleyball practice...maybe have P.E. and when you eat lunch at 12:55.)
-Mints are also strictly forbidden.
-Of course, no make-up, nail polish, or pierced ears.
-Even for teachers, there isn't supposed to be eating at school, other than lunch...Unless the food was given to you as a present from another staff member. [This loophole makes the whole rule even more incomprehensible.] **CONFESSION: I have actually snuck a Tupperware container of peanut butter toast into the bathroom at school and eaten it in the stall because I couldn't last the 6 hours between breakfast and lunch. WHAAAT?! Who does this?? This is my real life. This is my real life? This is my real life! OHmyGOSH. I'm always wishing that someone would bring back peanut butter toast for a staff room present.

I think there are many dozen more school rules, but many of them have become so commonplace to me now that I can't even remember them. OH! I almost forgot...There is a new school rule this year: Girls are not allowed to wear short socks. Of all the rules, this one brought the biggest surprise recently. I thought we already had every conceivable rule, but some teachers managed to think up another one! Aah, one more...this is an elementary school rule: (Are you ready for this?! I can almost not even write it without laughing out loud at the absurdity of it.) No putting your hands in your pockets. (If you do, teachers may use packing tape to seal your pockets shut.)

Outside of school there are innumerable societal expectations that regulate everyone's lives, even though they may not be written.
-Be quiet on trains.
-No eating or drinking on trains.
-No eating or drinking while walking.
-Water is mainly for washing, not drinking. You are allowed to drink water, but you will get questions and strange looks. And if you order it at Starbucks, they will give you a 2 oz. shot of water, which you will have already drunk by the time you walk to your table.
-At staff dinner parties and other official functions, there is to be no drinking before the official "kampai" (cheers). Even if you're thirsty and there is a beverage in front of you, you may not take a sip.
-Women should not sit cross-legged when sitting on the floor in restaurants or homes. Sit in seiza. **NOTE from Wikipedia: "Those unfamiliar with seiza will likely find that maintaining it for more than a minute or two tends to lead to loss of circulation, with the accompanying 'pins and needles' feeling, followed by painful burning sensations, and then eventually complete numbness in the legs." Awesome.
-Wearing sunglasses is really, really unusual, so if you wear them, you will definitely get lots of comments about how cool you are and how you look like a Hollywood star. You will have to explain again and again and again how light-colored eyes are more sensitive to the sun...and contort your face to demonstrate how if you're not wearing sunglasses you have to squint when it's bright outside. All of this is just embarrassing. Especially because it's really frowned upon in this culture to draw attention to yourself. (As though you're wearing sunglasses in an attempt to draw attention to yourself and make everyone think you're ultra cool!) ;D

It's hard for me to recall all the rules and expectations that used to be news to me but now just seem normal. ;D The rules in Japan that make me the most crazy are the post office rules. They require an entry of their own. Stay tuned...

松本城 (Matsumoto Castle) and a Museum of Japanese Education

Last weekend I went to 松本城 (Matsumoto Castle) and a former elementary school, turned museum, in Nagano. 中山先生 (Nakayama Sensei) took his daughter and me. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive, which meant getting up early-- on a Saturday! I wasn't excited about that at all, but it turned out to be a great day! The drive through the mountains full of fall-colored trees reminded me of Colorado. The castle is spectacular, inside and out! It has one more level than it appears to from the outside. Also, the bottom floor has grated windows that are parallel to the ground; these were for dropping rocks out of when enemies were trying to climb up the stone base. Cool, huh?!

Another strategic feature are these small, wire-slatted windows,
which were for shooting arrows through.

So tall! See those tiny square and rectangle windows?
Those are the ones the arrows were shot through.

With Nakayama Sensei

Momiji! One of my favorite things in Japan!

"I don't mean to brag, but this school is the best elementary school building in Japan."
-Shinpi Newspaper, 21 April 1876
Former Kaichi School, which has now been made into a museum of Japan's educational history and school artifacts, including textbooks in which militaristic and Emperor-centered ideology portions were blacked out following Japan's defeat in WWII. To learn more about this,
check out pages 124-127 of Democracy in Occupied Japan
(Edited by Mark E. Caprio and Yoneyuki Sugita).

Nakayama Sensei taking a moment to relive his childhood days.
He said these solid wood desks and chairs are the same as when he was a student.

Students used these small chalkboards to do their work.
The "eraser" is gauze rolled up and taped.

A "stove" heater!! It bears a striking resemblance to the ones that are in my school now-- more than a century later!

Seeing this was a highlight of the day. Like the "stoves", the school rules haven't changed much in a century either! #2 is something that has really amazed me here-- Japanese kids don't tattle on each other. In 2 1/2 years, I've only seen kids tell on each other two times. AND #4: ..."Say 'Good Morning' to your parents" is just what I'd expect the school rules to say! The Almighty Japanese あいさつ (aisatsu- greeting)!! LOL!

A Week of 給食 - Day 3

On Wednesdays I go to elementary school, and it seems like almost every Wednesday is seafood day at elementary school! ugh!!! Actually, after checking out the monthly lunch menu, I think 玲子 (Reiko), the dietitian at my elementary school, just has more of a taste for seafood...so it's on the menu a lot-- not just Wednesdays. Although we sometimes have seafood at my jr. high, seafood on Wednesdays is particularly bad for me because at elementary school I always eat with the kids. It's part of my scheduled day. So...if there's something I don't like, I usually have to eat it anyway, because the kids have to eat all of their food. (The first time I was served shishamo was at elementary school!!) (At jr. high I usually eat with the kids a couple times a week, but it's not part of my actual schedule, so I can just choose to eat with kids when I want to...when there's nothing on the menu that I really dislike.)

Due to the track record of "seafood Wednesdays", I'm always a little nervous to check the lunch menu when I go to elementary school. Today, I was very pleasantly surprised!! We had:


Pumpkin bread

Ground pork in a delicious sauce with carrots, mushrooms, peas, bamboo shoots, white radish, and slightly fried potatoes. SO good!

Miso soup with tofu, cabbage, onions, carrots, and (SURPRISE!) salmon. Whaat?! We have this soup often, and I really like it. I started eating it happily, but then when I took a sip of the broth, I knew instantly there was fish in it! blah! I looked...and saw chunks of salmon floating in it. Just when I thought I had escaped seafood Wednesday for once, it snuck up on me!

Fruits barbaloa-- which is chunks of bananas, pineapple, and oranges in a sweet, yet tart, pudding/yogurt-ish stuff.

And milk...which as usual, I saved to bring home to use in my coffee.

THIS is what Christmas is about!

Today was such a great day! I got to tell lots of kids and teachers about Christmas. I got to tell them about Jesus and God. I told them about God's love, life, and forgiveness. It was amazing! I can't believe this is my real life!! I LOVE it! For most of the kids, this is literally the first time they've ever heard of Jesus. They have zero idea that Christmas is about Christ. Some of them were SO excited! Ranto's and Yuka's (3rd graders) faces lit up as they asked urgently, "He's a real person??", "Yes!", I confirmed that Jesus is a real person. Again, "He's a real person?!!?" It was incredible! "Where was he (when he was alive)?" When I told them that we exchange Christmas presents because they help us remember God's gift of love for all people, Mirai said, "So, God gives the presents to Santa, and Santa gives the presents to us?" ;) Ren asked, "Why did Jesus come from heaven and be born on Earth?" Oh gosh!! "Good question." How do you answer this question from a 6th grade Japanese kid who has no frame of reference for sin or relationship with God or eternity or grace...and use simple enough English for him to understand. or somehow make yourself make sense using rudimentary Japanese??? I'm amazed that God chooses to let us partner with Him in this work, even though He could do it better and more efficiently Himself. Wow! Christmas is the jackpot of telling people about Jesus here! Please pray for these students and staff members at my schools to come to know who God truly is this Christmas.

Some favorite student quotes recorded in my school journal...

On an English assignment, when asked to write something he's good at, Hiroki (who I absolutely love!) (9th grade), wrote, "I'm a strong gambler."

"As old as!!" shouted Yuusuke (9th grade graduate) as he left jr. high for the last time, proud to spout out the English he remembered.

"Peenatto!? いいなあぁぁ!" exclaimed Kyoutarou (7th grade) when he found half of an old peanut (or potentially an almond) under Ishida San's desk while we were doing end-of-the-year deep cleaning at school. These kids are always hungry! Because.....during the 5 hours between their breakfast and lunch, most of them have morning sports practice for an hour...and sometimes P.E. for another hour...and they're not allowed to eat anything. Anything! Not an apple, not an granola bar, not a peanut. Hence, Kyoutarou's thrilled response and obvious envy of whichever teacher it was who at one time or another during the school year consumed peanuts as a snack.

"Well, がんばって下さい!!" (Keep trying!!) Kensuke (8th grade) emphatically encouraged me when I replied with a definitive and shocked, "No!", to his question about whether I had gone to a love hotel with Yamazaki Sensei.

Ibuki (my 2nd grade sweetheart) whispered in his serious, husky tone:
マイア先生、気をつけてね。　(Mya Sensei, be careful, okay?)
Me: 何を気をつけて？ (What should I be careful of?)
Ibuki: ぶたインフルエンザ。 (Swine flu.)

On the English midterm, when asked to respond to the announcement that their class will get a new girl from Australia--
Nao (9th grade): "Let's go look (at) her."
Yuuhei (9th grade): "Oh! That's right. I like woman."

Happy Days

The past two days have been two of my favorite days at school since coming to Japan-- yesterday at sho gakko (elementary school) and today at chu gakko (jr. high). So happy to be here! Simply pleasant occurences. Laughing laughing laughing all day with many students and then later with a couple teachers when I explained (all in Japanese!! :)) that I really was planning to eat my lunch...despite it being fish and wakame gohan (rice seasoned with salty seaweed) sick!...and that the reason I broke the "Eat all your lunch" rule (Note: Rules are REALLY not supposed to be broken in Japan.) and didn't finish, truly was because I didn't have time-- because I was focusing too much on the conversation I was having with Riki and Shizuru-- not because I was being picky. I also tried to pass the blame to Riki, saying that it was because he was shaberisugiru...talking too much!! ;D LOL! It was hilarious! I think Nakazatomi Sensei is still skeptical of my story though... ;D

The Correct Answer is Sixteen

One of the 2nd grade teachers planned that for today's lesson we would reinforce the kids' knowledge of the multiplication tables and of English numbers by teaching them how to say multiplication facts in English. I'm careful to clearly enunciate when I'm teaching new words to students...especially with elementary school kids, who have a greater chance of acquiring near-native pronunciation than jr. highers or adults. However, despite my exaggerated pronunciation, most of class 2-1 concluded that two times eight equals sexy.

How do they even know this word??!!

List #1

また久しぶりに書いている、ね？！　mata hissashiburi kaiteiru, ne?!

This list has been formulating in my mind for months...but I've yet to record it:
Evidence That Japanese Teachers Don't Get Sued Like American Teachers Do

• 300 1st through 6th graders go out to recess unsupervised.
• A couple 9th graders, unsupervised, climb 8-foot ladders to hang a mosaic in the gym.
• A Japanese teacher jokingly puts a student into a headlock.
• A Japanese teacher pats a student on the butt.
• 100 9th grade boys are left in the gym unsupervised by any teachers (except me...but I'm not really a teacher and no one was counting on me to be there). (No fights broke out! Wow!)
• During recess at elementary school, students are free to go wherever they want...the playground, the library, the hallways, the bathroom, their classroom, any other classroom, the broadcast room...and NO ONE knows where they are. They are not individually accounted for. ?!?

There are more, but I can't recall them now...

Recipe for Life in Japan

One day at school 3 months ago I was struck with several pervasive elements of Japanese life that are relatively non-existent in American life. I felt boxed in on every side. I pulled out my school journal and wrote

blood types
rules
speeches
rules
rules

no scarves. no watches (at school).? no water bottles at elementary lunch. no buying (!! buying?!) tortillas [at a Mexican restaurant] alone without having them cooked with something else. I'm surprised they don't say, "No curly hair."

Reminder: God answers prayers.

This first week back has been super busy, and I've been exhausted, and it wasn't possible to get done everything that I needed to....but I felt like the things I was doing-- planning a meaningful and engaging Christmas lesson for the 2nd graders, writing Christmas cards for the teachers, going to Japanese class-- were really important and that I shouldn't just not do them even though what I really wanted to do was sleep. This morning I woke up overwhelmed at the day...trying to mentally process how I could possibly finish all I needed to for school today. As I was hurrying to finish as many Christmas cards as possible before I absolutely had to leave my apartment to get to school on time to make copies and give out "omiyage" (souvenirs you are pretty much required to bring back from any trip; this time I brought the single serving cups of vanilla coffee creamer), I prayed that God would somehow give me more time to finish everything. When I got to school and saw my schedule for today, there were two free periods. I wasn't supposed to have any! I was supposed to teach every period today, but for some reason the two 4th grade classes were cancelled and ONE of the 6th grade classes was cancelled (to have ONE class in a grade level cancelled is REALLY unusual). I ended up with an open second period, which was just before the two classes when I would teach about Christmas....which is one of the things I needed more time to prepare for. And I ended up with an open sixth period....which was after all my lessons were done today, so I could focus on finishing up the teachers' Christmas cards. SO GREAT! God answered my prayer. Amazing! It was an encouraging and joyFUL reminder that God is doing stuff and I'm just supposed to work with Him-- not do the work on my own. right.