School Lunches in Japan - The Kyūshoku

The students in Japan don't have a designated eating hall or lunch cafeteria like in some schools in the west.  But rather they all move their desks into group formation, lay personal table cloths on the table and clean up any open surfaces.
A big trolley consisting of all the food and utensils is delivered to each class with exactly the right amount of food for a lunch set per person.
The students don hair nets and gloves and dish out the plates in an orderly fashion until everyone has their tray.
They all sit down together and say 'itadakimasu' (lit. thanks for the life) in unison before eating.

The trays usually consist of a soup, a salad/veggies, rice or bread, a meat, and a carton of milk, usually to the cost of about $3 included in the students school fees.

The students are expected to finish everything.  Everything.  They get in peer-delivered trouble if there's like a grain of rice leftover.

The lunches themselves? Well, I can honestly say, I don't think up until this point in my life, I've ever eaten bulk-cooked food that tasted that good.  I am not sure how they actually do it here, but so far every lunch has been phenomenally delicious.  Meats are tender and juicy, the soups are rich, chunky and surprisingly full of meat sometimes too. The bread is fresh and the occasional dessert they throw in is usually tasty too.  If not for my tendencies to liking Japanese food in itself, the kyūshoku is a great way to try some foods I haven't tried before and I am looking forward to seeing what each day holds.

Chicken and corn soup and hamburg patty



Teriyaki marinated chillen fillet with chunky beef & vegetable soup.



Egg-in-rissole served with beef, bacon and vegetable stew in a tomato and beef based stock



Chicken Karaage (pron: kar-ah-get.-t) served with Mushroom miso soup and An-bean rice.



Sweet&sour marinated fish fillet, with chicken, potato and vegetable miso based soup.



Peach jelly and a hearty Japanese -style beef curry.  Honestly, for as many curries as I've eaten whilst travelling in Japan this rates as one of the highest haha.

Fish medallions with a creamy chicken and vegetable soup.

Discipline in a Japanese School

Where does 'discipline' start, and 'respect' begin?
In Japan it seems especially difficult to pinpoint.

When I walk onto the school oval during sports activities.  A single designated student shouts out some Japanese command akin to "Oi! Teacher just walked onto the sports oval! Attention!".
The message is relayed all the way to the back of the sports field.  ALL students stop what they're doing even if in the middle of a game, or even if in the middle of taking a swing with the baseball bat.
They all turn to face the teacher, and on command from the designated student say "Hello Jay!", and all bow in unison.  An entire oval full of students.  All bowing to a single teacher that walked in.  Not just me.  Any teacher.
I guess, I bow back now? Ok, yes, that feels right.  I'll bow.  But please just carry on with your activities! So funny!

Or there's the situation where a student wants to come into the teachers' office for some reason.  She has to knock, stand at the entrance, state methodically: 'Sorry for the intrusion', Name. Grade. Class. Purpose of visit. Permission to enter? Await reply from a teacher.  Enter.  And greet and bow any teacher you happen to pass on your way to the desk.  Then apology and bow to the room in general before leaving.
Any student who makes a mistake in this regimen is usually pulled up by a teacher & made to do it again.

Teachers in Japan also play a disciplinary role.  Since the working hours are crazy, and the school hours are crazier still.  Often students don't see their parents many hours of the day, so a lot of life skills are left to teachers.  So yeah, teachers in Japan really really can yell at their students if they do something wrong.  They're pulled up for a crooked collar, or an untucked shirt.  Anything which indicates a student is lacking respect is usually pulled up.

If you think about how you hold yourself when you go for a job interview, you might start to get an idea of Japanese culture.  Whenever the situation is NOT casual (i.e with a bunch of friends), you should conduct yourself as professionally and as polite as you can to the situation.  This concept is enforced in schools and it may be a very big reason why Japanese come across as so polite.  Is it really respect? Or is it simply an upbringing of good discipline?  Interesting thought!




Picture from school newsletter of opening ceremony all students shouting as loud as they could.


An English class.  Usually about <35 students in a classroom.  Very rarely any problems controlling them.

The Parent Teacher Association in Japan

First week was actually a long week where we had to go in on Saturday too.  Monday is off at least.

In Japan, the PTA actually has a role in running the school.  They hold quite a lot of power in decision making.  I guess it makes the community feel more a part of their student's education.

So the school open day is held on the weekend so all parents can attend and take notes to critique the school.  The Monday classroom itinerary is followed with an opening ceremony and meetings of teachers+parents.

It was an interesting experience enough to validate a whole blog post.

The opening ceremony was pretty heavy.  The students got right into it.  It basically followed the theme of "This year we're going to do great! We're going to get stressed! But everyone! Do your best!".  Various slide shows and songs even bought some of the parents to tears.
There was this one chant they did which was basically "Live hard. Learn hard. Do your best!" Where all the students had a special stance they took where they leaned back and shouted as loud as they possibly could.  Since all of them had the regimented timing - 600 odd students shouting it at the exact same time made for something very powerful.  It rattled the seats, the ceiling, and gave me goosebumps.  Good luck students!

The classes were open-class so parents were hovering at the back and in the corridors looking in.  The PTA are serious I'm not joking.  Some of them had a pen & paper and were taking notes critiquing the teacher.  Very stressful for them!

The final meeting they had a really long panel for all the teachers to sit infront of the stands in the gym for the parents to watch us.  Each teacher had to say hello and 'please be kind to me' (by rough translation not direct) one by one.  Was very nerve-wracking! Way more scary than students!  I hope my pronunciation was okay haha.

There was this one story of a PTA meeting where the ALT decided to look smart and respectable.  So he donned his best suit and tie and really sought to make a good impression.  Turned out the PTA actually complained that he was TOO formal and TOO strict and that they didn't want him as a 'mean' teachers.  So from that day forth he very rarely wore his suit to school again and the parents were happy with him again haha.



Not my image - Japanese students in an assembly.  Mildly related.  They sit so straight you could hold a ruler next to them: http://www2.kobe-c.ed.jp/hrd-ms/?action=common_download_main&upload_id=9600

My first week as an English Teacher in Japan

I decided to teach in Japan only 1 year ago.  Isn't that crazy?  In that time I've learnt and done a hell of a lot.  This week, all that preparation and planning all cummulated into the finale: being an english teacher at a Japanese school!  Was it worth it? Hell yes!

Even if it all heads south from here (which is very unlikely) there will be no regrets.

I didn't actually need to do anything until English classes on Thursday.  So I spent a lot of time studying Japanese and poring through the english text books.  Sometimes I strolled around the school with another teacher to wave at students and say hello to everyone passing in the corridors  Since they haven't been introduced to me yet they're usually surprised by my sudden appearance.  Their eyes usually widen and they  clumsily say "hello" before running off giggling with all their friends - haha it's a blast!

I teach at my school Junior High School years 1 2 and 3.  This equates to roughly grade 6,7,8 I think.

The grade 1's are still very small and some could almost past for elementary grades, while the third year often seem very subdued and entering into the dark, lifeless chasm that is adulthood haha.

This placement has me working in conjunction with the Japanese English teacher.  They prepare the actual lesson, and might get me to prepare a game or something to solidify the newly taught content.  For my intro lessons it was basically me doing a 5-10 minute intro with a bunch of flash cards introducing myself and Australia ("In Australia people eat kangaroo!" Always gets a response!).  While the students had to try & listen & get points if they got things right (where am I from? etc).

If I had doubts of me being an actual teacher, they quickly went after the first lesson.  Standing up in front of 30 odd students and making something fun to learn is an absolute blast.  Whether it's just getting them to repeat some words after you in a funny voice, or getting someone to call out an answer for five points, it's really fun.  I think I did well, changing the lesson on the fly as things didn't work and other things did.  I think I can do this guys! Lets hope it stays this fun!

Anyways, in summary - my first week at a Japanese school was a positive one.  It basically validated all my preparation and decisions to come here and give this a go.  

Morning walk to the train station takes me 4 minutes but isn't so bad.  Each morning there is a different view to see as the clouds are always doing something different.  I'm waiting for it to look like it's erupting before I take another photo :-P

School lunches are $3, come out to your classroom (or staff room) on a trolley and you just pick one up, say 'itadakimasu' and chow down.  Some days they're amazing like this ^ with fish tempura, a pork clutlet and a bunch of salads.



Other days, they're less extravagant.  With a surprisingly delicious chunky beef soup and chicket fillet.

Earthquake Drills and Daily Thrills

First few days of school have been a little slow. No lessons scheduled til Thursday.
I basically study Japanese all day and pore through the textbooks.
Working for the government got me good at having nothing to do.

Cool stuff I've seen so far:

* Lunchtimes everyone says (in Japanese) thank you for the meals at the same time before eating.
* They often play the school song during mealtimes. It's so ...patriotic?
* There is such a hierarchy of student vs. teacher. Teachers are so respected. It's nice to be held in such high regard for just being there.
* Discipline! The students get called out for EVERYTHING! I mean like a scuffed shoe, or an untucked shirt is the worst you'll see.
* Students are the school cleaners. Each class is assigned an area of the school to clean. Even staff room. Teachers get in on the action too with a broom or something.
* Middle school students vary so much as they are in the peak of adolescence. 1st graders (grade 5/6) can seem like little kids still, while 3rd graders seem like adults.
* Being an ALT attracts an instant amount of interest from just about everyone. Groups of children are notorious for all practicing their hellos (AKA "herros") and then laughing at how bad they are to eachother. Great fun!
* Wearing a suit seems completely nullified by wearing indoor shoes and taking dress shoes off at the door.
* Roll calls are done by checking the shoe boxes.

Earthquake drill was pretty cool.
All the teachers donned helmets & went out to the play field (some kind of cracker ash not grass). The students in an orderly manner all collect their bags, their shoes, and place a brightly coloured 'pillow' over their heads and then run out of the school single file. No one talks. The speed they do it is amazing. Each grade has it's turn and the school is emptied and counted and checked within minutes. Soo disciplined and soo efficient. Anyone who did something wrong got told back in line it was like a military drill. I guess it's pretty serious over here unlike earthquakes in Melbourne or something.

Still though, I couldn't help but chuckle behind my teeth at 600 odd students running around on the oval with a pillow strapped to their head. Practicality, not fashion for sure.
Borrowed this similar pic as we aren't allowed to take pictures of our students due to Japan's privacy laws.

http://blog.alfiegoodrich.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/20090902202542_omori_dsc7876.jpg

Gotemba. My New Home

Finally! A rest! I have been so busy!

Gotemba is a small city to the east of Mt. Fuji. Population 90K. Direct 1.5hr trainline to Tokyo.  Main attractions are Japan's biggest outdoor shopping mall (mostly international/american brand names), a ferris wheel, Mt Fuji higher grade hike and I think the Japanese military have a base around here somewhere too. Some dairy farming and various industries scattered around

It's honestly a beauty of a placement.  Population is large enough that my anonymity doesn't completely disappear  but small enough that you can still build a connection with the community it seems.  It remains to be seen but so far I am stoked, couldn't have gotten much better!

My house itself is a LeoPalace appt which is standard issue for temporary accomm.  A self-contained 1 bedroom unit in a block.  Usually not far from a trainline.  It's in the edge of the southern half of the city so it backs up onto the mountain range and the start of the land where people have more land for private gardens and minifarms.  Great! I have no neighbours!

Anyways, ill stop rambling.  You're here for the pics.  My writing is a cheap commodity you can do without. Here ya go!



View from my back window.  Neighbours rice paddy & mountains.



On my street.  Spring time is gorgeous in Japan







5 minutes into the mountains from my house.  Proper farms these ones.  Nothing growing yet though



















Just around the corner - local water way



From my front door

First day at a Japanese school as an ALT

~part 1: The opening ceremony (niugakushi)~

Very incredibly formal and regimented.

Long story short, the gym was filled with all the students, parents, the PTA and all the staff.

They introduced the first year students to the school name by name one by one.  No clapping.

Then also the new teachers.

Then followed by a bunch of other very polite acknowledgements and speeches.

There were multiple school-based songs sung and performed by the band throughout.  Everyone sings along obediently including parents & teachers but no one claps.

Anyone who walks up to give a speech or anything had a specific path to walk:
To the front 3 paces from flag. bow. step back. turn left 90%. stop. bow. turn right 90% to flag again. pause. turn right 90% bow to teachers. turn to flag. pause. turn to principal. bow. turn to flag. pause. continue on walking path to microphone. (And reverse when finishing speech)

The students standing up and sitting down to bow on command was incredible.  The discipline was amazing.  You know if you ask a bunch of teenagers to stand up in Australia, it might take about 7 -10 seconds as people slide their chairs & get up & might start talking a little bit.  These kids did it instantly. 1 second. up. silent.  Then bowing on command in unison.  It was surreal.

~part 2: Waving to the students~

After that, the students went to their homerooms to name new books & go home early.  I wandered past & just waved into the classes.  Lots of excited double glances and "Oh! Wow! Look new alt!" and the inevitable practice of "herro!" and "Nice to meet you!" followed by excited giggling and laughing.  Was really quite fun feeling like a celebrity without having to do anything.

The idea of an ALT is quite a good one - it really makes a language a tiny bit more fun to learn.

The rest of the day I didn't have anything to do so just pretended to be busy in the teachers room til the end of the day.  Bit boring really.

~part 3: Party~

After work all teachers met at a huge famous chinese restaurant (high quality) to give more speeches and drink pouring and sharing and a chance to relax and meet everyone a bit more informally.  More singing and some quizzes.  Seems like a good bunch of teachers.  English level is quite moderate and it forces me to use my Japanese.  I'm surprising myself at how easy it is to get by with broken english combined with broken japanese.  Good fun and I was careful not to drink too much.

In Japan it's common to switch schools quite frequently as a teacher.  So the new teachers and a bunch of others continued onto a Karaoke bar where some hillarious singing and dancing proceeded.  I was forced to sing a song dammit. 

Placement!

Yaaay! I got another placement!

This time it's in Gotenba - right at the East foot of Mt.Fuji! Woohoo! Place looks like a decent size and the schools are reputedly really friendly to the ALT's that get placed there :D SO exciting!

It's famous for one of the biggest outdoor shopping malls in Japan which people catch day trip busses to from Tokyo to go shopping.  The entry point for the more difficult Fuji climb route.  And for some local Whisky I think.  Only 30 mins from the Shinkansen line to get to anywhere else in the country finances permitting.

http://images.travelpod.com/tripwow/photos/ta-00de-4de4-88ff/fujiyama-mountain-gotemba-japan+12971400019-tpfil02aw-18708.jpg





I got a phone call at 8pm on Monday.  Ask me if I want the position.  Tell me to catch the shinkansen to Hamamatsu for more localized/refresher training on Tuesday and Wednesday.  To go to my house on Thursday and meet schools & teachers and do any shopping.  To be ready to teach a class (or several) on Friday! WHOAH! Righitio! Lets do this! :-D



Zoom Zoom.  Tokyo to Hamamatsu in 1.5 hrs.



Work puts me up in a hotel each night during training.  Not bad me thinks after 3 months of hostels :P

Work Training

Location:

Airport hotel, miles from anywhere enjoyable.  Decent hotel rooms.  Maybe one Japanese person in the building.

Duration:

5 days.  5 long grueling days. 1 of which dedicated to an 'exam' sudden-death hell-consumes you performance of a demo lesson infront of a panel.

Content: 

Put it this way; the very first session of the training week was 'sudden immersion' where they pulled random people up to do their pre-prepared demo lesson in front of everyone (180+ppl).  And as soon as they made a mistake, the MC would yell at them and make them feel stupid.

"NO! NO! NO! You do NOT ask the students how they are yet! Do you WANT them to hate you before you even get into the lesson?! Get off the stage now!"
"NO! You lost me as soon as you said hello! Your students will punish you for this! Get off! Next! Lets hope someone else knows what the hell they're doing"
"Terrible! Do you think this is a game? Why are you wasting my time? If you do not have passion and are not enjoying it up here, then maybe it is time for you to leave!"

Needless to say, the entire atmosphere in the room had changed from one of excitement and anticipation to one of doubt and insecurity. Have I made the right decision? Is Interac really like this? Is this a joke? Is he going to start laughing soon? What the hell have I gotten myself into?  Is this guy serious? OMG please don't call me up.  Shared sentiments.

The session ended with an ultimatum: "If tomorrow's sudden immersion is as bad as today I am going to be very disappointed.  Today I was nice to you.".  Well......fuck.

This was followed by the real 'training' where it was watching 'good' teachers do a demo class and stop to break it down & point out things they do.  Breaking off into smaller groups to practice things too.  Lot's of emphasis on being overly excited and overly happy to be there, rather than any real teaching skills like preparing lessons or teaching english.

Each day followed pretty much the same formulae.  Sudden immersion -> confidences shattered -> demo lessons on how to be a rainbow unicorn -> end of day feeling like you hadn't learnt anything.


But then probably around day 4 it clicked what they were doing.  They were giving us the tools and the training to be a 'fun' teacher regardless of how stressful it was.  That was their primary goal.  It seemed the intention was not to teach teaching, but to teach fun and enjoyment of english.  After that point things got easier.  I don't entirely agree with the methodology but that was what it was.  Means to an end.

After training, I got moved to an apartment in Tokyo to chill out & await news of a placement.  Nice place & got to see some other parts of Tokyo I hadn't been to before.