¤_¤ in Japan

Okay, this entry will come in parts, ie part 1, 2, etc.

Part 1) I got up at like 7 or something early like that to get ready to go to the school. I got my supplies from my senei for the presentation, and went over a few things with my partner. Breakfast came and went and then we were wisked away to the school.

Part 2) We got to the school, got our slippers and were debriefed about the days activities in the principles office. We heard about how long the school had been around, a bit of its history and what the focus of the school was. The main focus of the school for the past 20 or so years was music, mainly vocal but there were a few other options.

Part 3) We left the principles office and headed upstairs to the welcome ceremony where the kids sang the school song for us, and "Puff the Magic Dragon," they introduced their school briefly in English, then it was our turn. We introduced ourselves and the school. We fielded questions for the next 10 or 15 minutes ranging from "What do you do in your free time at The University of Vermont?" to "What is your favorte word?"

Part 4) The period ended and the students split into their pairs and gave their presentations. Our presentation was on the differences between Japanese and American Elementary Schools and I don't think it could have been any more boring for the students. A couple of times I saw a few drift in and out and almost fall asleep. After we gave our presentation, we yet again fielded questions and gave out stickers to the kids as rewards for having questions to keep them asking things. They had so many questions that we couldn't actually get around to start the English lesson.

Part 5) After the presentations the students split again and worked with a grade of their own. I have 8 3rd graders and we talked about a lot of things about what I did at UVM and in Elementary School. After that I had lunch with the students which reminded me of being back in first and second grade where everything was so daunting. After lunch I helped clean a little bit and before the class headed to the gym for their next class, we had free time. That consisted mainly of the Japanese students and the American students chased each other around a portion of the school and played volley ball.

Part 6) I went with the class to the gym where they danced a bit to warm up, "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes" style of dance not interperative... after that we jumped a pummel hourse turned length ways, and later we did something kind of jump rope thing. The teacher pulled out a double dutch length rope and the kids one by one ran into the center and jumped the rope once and jumped out and ran to the other side. If a child stopped the roation of the rope, they went to the other side and the game started up again. Apparently the goal was to get every one through the rope in one go.

Part 7) After we cleaned up the gym, we went back to the class room and exchanged gifts, the class gave me a really nice origami lei and I gave them a bunch of pictures if the Power Puf girls to color, a few boxes of snaks from the US, a bunch of sheets of stickers, and some pencils. Around 2:45 all the UVM students gathered in the principles office to talk in Japanese about what they learned during the day and how they felt about the entire experience. I don't think I've ever learned more in a day then at the school; I learned mainly about the differences between Japanese schools and school children and those in the US and that the differences in childhood make huge differences in the actions of the children later in life, like real tangible changes.

Part 8) The UVM students left the school and made our way to the classroom of the English class that had been escorting us around all day, as well as helping with translations. All the UVM students introduced themsevles in Japanese and then fielded a few questions about their presentation early in the day. Then the students of the English class introduced themselves in English and told us a little about their lives, it was really neat to see how people in their 30s, 40s, and a few in their 50s have taken not only such an interest in English, but for having class once a week, have excelled so much in such a little time!

Part 9) After the introductions, every one walked across the street to the cafe that had been rented out for us where for the next few hours it was a blur of conversation, people were talking in English and Japanese about everything and anything. I can't really say more then that because things passed by so fast, but two of the main topics for most of the converstaions I had was a comparison between certain products in Japan and the US, the other topic was the views that foreigners had about Japan and vice versa.

I don't think I've ever had as much fun on a school trip as I did this night, nor did I ever learn as much as I did during the day with the students. This experience made me think about the JET program and that it might be the right thing for me to do after college. Teachers in Japan are highly respected and apparently the life offered to you by the JET program is also a rather nice one, where stipends help you pay for most things so you can live rather comfortably off of a teachers salary.

５月１９日　金曜日　
庭野小学校へ行きました。１１時から３時まで三年生の学生を教えました。アメリカと日本の小学校について発表しました。私のプレゼンテーションはつまら なかったです。でもあとで学生はたくさん質問しました。ノートにトトロの絵をかきました。がくせいは私のトトロの絵を見ましたから、学生は絵がほしくなりました。体育館に行く前に５つ絵を書きました。学生と体育館へいってから、ダンスをして、大きななわとびをしました。あとで２つ絵を書きました。学生と先生と話して、写真を撮って、プレゼントを交換しました。私はたくさん習いました。庭野の学生はとても元気で好奇心が強いです。
あとでプレゼンテーションのために先生の英語のクラスへ行きました。英語のクラスとレストランへ行きました。歯医者の先生と話しました。彼はとてもおもしろいです。彼の英語がじょすです。いろいろなことを話しました。