Week 17 The Final Week

The final week went by extremely fast!

On Monday, we went on a field trip with the high school students to Shibamata, Sky Tree, and Senso-ji Temple. I spent the day with three high school girls and it was a lot of fun. The goal was to speak English the whole time and they did really well!

At Shibamata we ate Tendon and Kusadango. We also visited an old retro candy shop.

At Sky Tree, we walked around the mall a bit and afterwards we had to navigate ourselves to Asakusa.

Once we got there, we went to the temple and tried some snacks. We also got matching key chains (a popular thing to do in Japan)

On Tuesday, we had a farewell party with the teachers from school at an Italian restaurant. It was raining so hard outside that by the time I got there my jacket was soaked even though I had used an umbrella. The teachers were nice enough to ask the restaurant for me if I could use a blanket. The food was good but it was sad to know that we wouldn't have much time left with the teachers. To any future interns, leave lots of extra space when packing for presents!

On Wednesday, it was the last day we would go to school. In the morning, we gave a small speech to all of the middle school teachers. Afterwards, we finished up cleaning and things we left unfinished.
Then we headed to the kindergarten and we taught short 15 minute classes to two 4 year old classes and to two 5 year old classes. We then took pictures with all of the little kids and sad our goodbyes. Afterwards we said our goodbyes to the teachers in the English room and made our way out of the school. It was a sad say but when I look back at how much work I had been through, it was very rewarding and a positive experience. It still feels like a dream when I think back to all we had done over the past 4 months but I was so glad that I could come here and experience this! In all those times when things were a bit stressful, I tried to remind myself that I was in Japan and I had to enjoy my time while I was here. Now that I must leave soon, I think I did the best I could in the situation and I cannot wait to be able to come back to Japan again!

Week 16 Bunraku

On Saturday, we attended a traditional Japanese drama performance in the style known as "Bunraku" at the Japanese National Theater with the 8th grade students. It involves puppets, "singer story tellers", and Japanese shamisen players.

We met outside the theater and some of the students had forgotten their tickets which upset some of the teachers. Luckily, we were all able to make it inside.

 I sat down next to some 8th grade girls and they got nervous as they thought they would have to speak English suddenly. I tried to let them know it was okay and that there was no pressure. They ended up trying very hard to communicate with me in only English so I was quite proud of them. Everyone was handed out headphones and recorders as Bunraku is preformed in old Japanese so it is very hard to understand. (To me it is like Shakespeare English to today's English) The headphones were worn during the performance and there is a recording telling the story and explanations about things in Japanese. 

There were two performances and one explanation give by the theater members. The performances were quite long but each was very interesting. The first performance showed puppets dancing while having a sword fight. There were 4 people singing the old Japanese story and at least five playing the shamisen. The singers sing in a very particular way that is unique to Japanese drama and it is very rough on the singers as they have to make a very loud sound and for long periods of time they must preform. They always ended up getting extremely sweaty by the time they finished. The second performance was a famous story about the 3 day Shogun. Since the recordings were in Japanese, I tried to listen but the Japanese in the recording was quite formal and advanced vocabulary so it was quite difficult for me to understand exactly what was happening.  Sadly, I could not take any pictures there.

Afterwards we ate lunch on the second floor of the theater building provided by the staff there. Some of the teachers laughed as they though the lunch as made especially for the kids as it had things like tempura, hamburger, spaghetti, fried chicken, omelet, and rice.

Afterwards, I some of the the teachers took us out before we would leave the school soon. We ended up taking a boat to Asakusa and it was very beautiful! Afterwards we visited Senso-ji Temple and drew our fortunes. Then we visited the oldest theme park in Tokyo which had very old carnival type rides and "retro" decorations. It was really unexpected but also quite fun to do something with the teachers.

Week 15 Kyoto Trip

I left for Kyoto by bullet train on Saturday morning. It was my first time riding a bullet train and it was very exciting. The inside of the bullet train looks like an airplane but wider. Along the way, I saw a rainbow and there was some areas that had recently snowed. I also saw Mt. Fuji from the train but the clouds covered up most of the mountain.

The next day, I visited Sanjusangendo Temple, Ginkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari Taisha, and Kiyomizudera at night.

After that, in the following days I visited Arashiyama to see the bamboo forest and Tenryu-ji, I visited Nara to see the Giant Buddha at Todaiji and the deer park, and Uji to see Byodo-in Temple. I also was able to see Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji, and hike Mt. Kurama.

It was my second time to visit Kyoto but this time I had much more time to explore and I was able to visit many places I wasn't able to see before. I also got to try more of the matcha green tea snacks that you see all over Kyoto.

Much of the transportation was by bus which was a little strange for me as I had gotten so used to using the train all of the time in Tokyo. The buses were quite slow when there was a lot of traffic so it made me really appreciate again being able to use the trains in Tokyo to go basically wherever you want.

Also, it was fun to hear the Kyoto Japanese accent and to see the cultural differences within a country. For example, some people stand on the other side of the escalator than they do in Tokyo. I got confused though since some people would stand on the left like they do in Tokyo while others would stand on the right. I asked someone from Kyoto which is correct and they said even they are not sure because it is up to the person who first stands on the escalator. This is very different from Tokyo since there it is always on the left side. Also, there were many visitors from other countries in Kyoto so it was interesting to see how they interact with the Japanese here. In Tokyo there are also many visitors but I think the tourism in Kyoto is much more concentrated so it is easy to witness all of the differences.

In front of Kyoto Station, a couple of time, I saw middle school students trying to interview foreigners in English for practice. It reminded me a lot of the students from the school I interned at.  It was great to see the students trying their best to start a conversation with someone they have never met before, let alone in another language.

After looking at the paper, "Is English a nuisance or an asset? Japanese youths' discursive constructions of language attitudes" by Akihiro Sato, it discusses, "one’s perspective is purported to become enriched by interacting with culturally and linguistically other people and by learning their background prompted by these differences. In doing so, one’s potentiality is given chance for change". I really agree with this statement and I think that by interacting with those from other cultures is the best way to open your heart and mind. For example, in the hostel I stayed at, there were many people there from places all around the world. Talking with people from other countries was very interesting and although there were some differences, you have to learn to accept ways of living that are different than the ones you grow up with.

I had a really great time and it was nice to have a break to be able and enjoy adventuring in Kyoto. The only downside was at this time, I had many finals and projects due at the same time for my online classes so it was difficult at times to enjoy myself when I had exams to study for and not being able to confirm that I would have adequate internet connection. I tried not to let it get me down and I was still able to have a wonderful time!

Week 14 Last Week of School

 The last week of school came very quickly and lately we have been quite busy at school.

We had a private tea ceremony lesson with our Japanese tutor. It was in the tea room in the high school. We watched a tea ceremony by the high school students and we got to try some Japanese desserts with our matcha green tea. We also got to give making matcha a try. It is quite difficult to sit in the Japanese "seiza" where you sit on top of your feet. After 30 mins of sitting that way, your feet and legs get numb, making it hard to stand up. I really wonder if the numbness gets better with practice. Nevertheless, it was quite enjoyable to drink the tea and see how it is done. There is such detail and precision with every step of the process, it is great to see the high school tea club members with such good concentration trying to preform this challenging task.

This week we also worked on packing up all of the pen pal presents from the Japanese students for the students in Nebraska. It took a couple days to get everything sorted into the right boxes as well as making sure that every present and pen pal letter was there. It was exciting in the end to finally put everything together and get it shipped off to Nebraska as we had a tight deadline to get the presents there before the winter break began. With all of the final projects and final tests in the process, I think some of the teachers were feeling the pressure! Some of the conflicts that happened before continued as there was a disconnect between the native English teachers and Japanese teachers on the goals of the lessons.

In the article, "Exploring Literature  on Professionalism: Reflections from Language Teachers in Japanese Universities" by Tomoka Sato, it describes, "As a result, the English teachers in the language center do not completely align themselves with the academics in regular academic departments. However, when their commitments are highly recognized, they feel a sense of partial alignment." and "one of the crucial aspects of belonging to a community is having one’s ideas
accepted and adopted by members of that community". As I have noticed while being here, often times the native English teachers do not know what the students are learning in the regular English grammar classes so sometimes it is hard to teach the language communication classes without knowing what the students know exactly. I think if they knew this information, and if the classes reinforce each other, it could help the student to use what grammar they learned and put in into practice. Maybe this too could help the teachers on  both sides focus their goals together.

The rest of the week, the students had final exams so we couldn't spend much time with them. We had a goodbye party with the English club members and we ate snacks and played uno. We also took the time to say goodbye to each class in the middle school and we took many pictures! We gave a message to each class as well and the students also prepared speeches for us in English. Before I knew it, the internship was ending. It was strange for it to end so quickly and I felt that I was not ready to go home yet! I had a good time during the internship and it was fun to work with the kids every day. I know I will see some of them soon in Nebraska but for the 3rd years who we spent the most time with, they will soon graduate and go to high school so I am not sure when I could see them again. It was especially hard to say goodbye to the 3rd years.

 (The students took two weeks to finish this 1000 piece puzzle!)

 (On my last day, I got a nice lunch box from the local store!)

We still have another couple days to come to the school after the Kyoto trip but the students will not be there since they will be on their break after the finals .

Week 13 Birthday and Festivals

This week I went to two different festivals.

The first one was a Chrysanthemum festival at a temple in Ueno. At this festival, people from all over, young and old, try to grow Chrysanthemums and they are graded on how beautifully they were grown. There are so many different types and they were very beautiful. Many people came to view the flowers. They also decorated the temple in flowers and made statues of famous people from Japan with flowers. Japanese really pay attention to the aesthetics of all things, and it makes all the difference. I love being able to experience the beauty in even the simplest of things.

The second festival was called "Tori no Ichi" Festival in Shinagawa. At this festival, they sell these decorated rakes and people can put them in their businesses or homes to bring luck. Some of the rakes are very large and some are small. The bigger ones are usually very expensive. Once you buy a rake, the vendors will clap their hands and say a little chant to bless and thank the person. People also bring their rakes from the previous year to the temple where they will be burned. If these are burned, it is supposed to be bad luck. It was the first time for me to see this festival and it was quite exciting!

This week I had my 22nd birthday. It is strange to think I had my 20th birthday also while being in Japan. For my birthday, I visited a cat cafe! It was an interesting place that had a manga/internet cafe on the first two floors and then on the top two floors there was a cat cafe. When you go in, you change into slippers and then wash your hands really well.  You can rent books and read while the cats sit next to you or on your lap. You can get as many drinks as you want such as green tea and coffee. I have seen other people there who sit and knit with a cat next to them. There are some cats that are on diets and there are some cats you cannot hold. You can also buy snacks for the cats and they all come at you at once. some cats climb up on your shoulders. There are at least 20 cats there. It is definitely an experience anyone should have if they like animals.

I also tried a restaurant called, "Avo Cafe" in Jimbocho. It is a small restaurant that changes the menu daily and all of the dishes include avocados. Avocados are my favorite food so I was really excited. I got Thai style curry with typical vegetables used in Japan such as lotus root, pumpkin squash, okra, and sweet potato and of course avocado. My friend tried a Hawaiian inspired dish with spam, egg, seaweed, and avocado. It was my first time trying spam cooked and it was actually okay tasting. xD They even had avocado cheesecake!

For dinner, my past host family made my favorite dish for me which is called Temakizushi. Basically, you buy and cut up all the ingredients for sushi such as tuna, squid, salmon, shrimp, cucumber, carrot, mayo, natto, seaweed, wasabi, ikura, and more. Then you just make sushi rice. All you have to do is put rice on a square  of seaweed and add the ingredients you want. You wrap it up and then eat! Everyone can make the sushi they want to eat. Also, they got me a cheesecake with all kinds of fruits on top of it. Overall, it was a very nice birthday and I was so glad I could spend it in Japan.