As the beginning weeks of September and October passed, I had finally visited all of my assigned schools and met most of my Japanese teachers of English.
Three high schools were my chief postings, and my home
based school was Kaseda High School which was a highly competitive
academic school where students were expected to enter college.
Another high school, Makurazaki Suisan, was at the south end of Kyushu Island a 30 minute or so ride from my apartment and also on the sea. The students here studied maritime related courses and fisheries. Fish farming, marine biology, radio communications and all things related to ships at sea were studied here, but college educations were not expected to be pursued, although those who wished to pursue more technology could remain here another year beyond the 3rd year of high school. At Kasasa High School students were expected to assume clerical and blue collar career paths. It was near the sea as well, about 45 minutes along a beautiful seaside route.
I had 2 junior high schools that I visited twice a month, so I spent two full days a month in each. Oura Jr. High School was to the west, not as far as Kasasa High School and just across the street from the East China Sea. Kawanabe Junior High School was east in the middle of farm country where the crops were rice, squash, daikon radish, and tea. The main animals raised were chicken and pigs.
I would often see trucks with 2 level trailers and slats for air so that the large pigs were easily visible when they passed. Pork is a very important part of the diet and it was really prepared so many delicious ways. But another ALT who had a motorbike mentioned the smells were terrible if you got behind one. As many times as I had seen them, I had never thought about that. But afterwards, every time I saw a truck loaded with pigs, I was glad I was not on a bike behind it.
Another sight along my seaside bus routes to the schools were to see hundreds of fish lying on horizontally stretched nets all freshly caught and spread out to dry. Dried fish were another part of the diet not just to eat whole but to flavor other dishes the way we use beef or chicken broth.
All of my bus rides to the schools outside of Kaseda were filled with lovely scenery. I would arrive at all of them feeling relaxed and glad to have the opportunity to see rice fields, tea fields, bamboo forests and especially the views of the sea. This would be my mindset when I arrived at Kasasa High School.
Unfortunately, many of the teachers that I worked with had so much more responsibility that they were not always in a relaxed state and were instead quite stressed. Their thoughts on the day that I arrived were probably more along the lines of "Boy, and I have to put up with the English teacher today on top of everything else."
Only a couple of my teachers were really comfortable speaking with me from the first time we met. Some were waiting to judge my character a bit before speaking with me. That might sound strange, but a few months after I started, one teacher I finally got to know quite well told me that some of the other teachers had been very lazy, didn't like the job and came and sat in silence, bringing books to read and shutting themselves off completely. That would have been impossible for a chatterbox like me, and, eventually, I had some of the best conversations I would ever have in those 4 years with that teacher.
Some of my teachers were in their 20's but some of my older teachers were in their late 60's. These teachers had retired in some cases, but had been called back in for long term substitute positions. One of these had great English, a wonderful smile, hiked up mountains and still jogged often, including 10K runs. However, the other teacher who had been pulled out of retirement was older still, and was out at Kasasa Sr. High School. He was very much from the old way of teaching, using only reading and writing. This was so common throughout Japan that it was the main reason the JET Program was introduced: to bring in native speakers and let the students and the teachers become more comfortable speaking it. He knew the subject thoroughly, had vast knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar and structure. But especially n the more rural areas, there was simply no access to native English speakers, and no need to develop listening or speaking skills.
Thus, while he seemed like such a kind man, it was very clear he was uncomfortable speaking with me. He came from the city and was on a long term contract because the regular teacher was studying in Arizona on an exchange. He had not even been in the classroom for a few years so he was very much surprised to find that he also had to have me at his side in the classroom twice a month. This poor sensei only had to put up with me for part of a year but it became clear it was not easy for him. I wasn't really catching on to that until one day he rubbed his furrowed brow and said, "To tell the truth, you give me a migraine headache."
I wasn't expecting that and I smiled weakly and said, "Of course, I understand." (While to myself I thought, "And to tell you the truth, starting with my dad and brothers and quite a few others, you wouldn't be the first, nor would you be the last man I gave a migraine headache.") But in his case, he seemed so helpless, kind and also so innocent that I went home with a heavy burden determined not to be a stress he could not bear, if only twice a month.
So, I had to wait two weeks, but I tried to speak very slowly, and not as much. I tried to find out what he liked. That made a huge difference because we found out we both loved to watch birds, especially the herons and water birds that came to our area. And we loved flowers and scenery. Pretty soon the English was not an obstacle; it was a shared conversation we both looked forward to, and it became a friendship.
It would be this sensei that arranged for me to study flower arranging with the Ikebana Club teacher, a one on one lesson, and I only paid for the flowers and a couple of tools. (The time I spent with her also released him for an hour to himself.) He was also the one that took me to the Tea Ceremony Club (Sado) to be very formally served our green macha (a tea reserved for the ceremony). We were served on tatami mats by the girls illustrating their study of Japanese culture and the way of tea.
The Sado Club with Mitsushige Sensei (right).
I loved that the schools had formal tatami areas (woven straw floor mats) for the ceremony. We are all seated in formal seiza style.
Another high school, Makurazaki Suisan, was at the south end of Kyushu Island a 30 minute or so ride from my apartment and also on the sea. The students here studied maritime related courses and fisheries. Fish farming, marine biology, radio communications and all things related to ships at sea were studied here, but college educations were not expected to be pursued, although those who wished to pursue more technology could remain here another year beyond the 3rd year of high school. At Kasasa High School students were expected to assume clerical and blue collar career paths. It was near the sea as well, about 45 minutes along a beautiful seaside route.
I had 2 junior high schools that I visited twice a month, so I spent two full days a month in each. Oura Jr. High School was to the west, not as far as Kasasa High School and just across the street from the East China Sea. Kawanabe Junior High School was east in the middle of farm country where the crops were rice, squash, daikon radish, and tea. The main animals raised were chicken and pigs.
I would often see trucks with 2 level trailers and slats for air so that the large pigs were easily visible when they passed. Pork is a very important part of the diet and it was really prepared so many delicious ways. But another ALT who had a motorbike mentioned the smells were terrible if you got behind one. As many times as I had seen them, I had never thought about that. But afterwards, every time I saw a truck loaded with pigs, I was glad I was not on a bike behind it.
Another sight along my seaside bus routes to the schools were to see hundreds of fish lying on horizontally stretched nets all freshly caught and spread out to dry. Dried fish were another part of the diet not just to eat whole but to flavor other dishes the way we use beef or chicken broth.
All of my bus rides to the schools outside of Kaseda were filled with lovely scenery. I would arrive at all of them feeling relaxed and glad to have the opportunity to see rice fields, tea fields, bamboo forests and especially the views of the sea. This would be my mindset when I arrived at Kasasa High School.
Unfortunately, many of the teachers that I worked with had so much more responsibility that they were not always in a relaxed state and were instead quite stressed. Their thoughts on the day that I arrived were probably more along the lines of "Boy, and I have to put up with the English teacher today on top of everything else."
Only a couple of my teachers were really comfortable speaking with me from the first time we met. Some were waiting to judge my character a bit before speaking with me. That might sound strange, but a few months after I started, one teacher I finally got to know quite well told me that some of the other teachers had been very lazy, didn't like the job and came and sat in silence, bringing books to read and shutting themselves off completely. That would have been impossible for a chatterbox like me, and, eventually, I had some of the best conversations I would ever have in those 4 years with that teacher.
Some of my teachers were in their 20's but some of my older teachers were in their late 60's. These teachers had retired in some cases, but had been called back in for long term substitute positions. One of these had great English, a wonderful smile, hiked up mountains and still jogged often, including 10K runs. However, the other teacher who had been pulled out of retirement was older still, and was out at Kasasa Sr. High School. He was very much from the old way of teaching, using only reading and writing. This was so common throughout Japan that it was the main reason the JET Program was introduced: to bring in native speakers and let the students and the teachers become more comfortable speaking it. He knew the subject thoroughly, had vast knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar and structure. But especially n the more rural areas, there was simply no access to native English speakers, and no need to develop listening or speaking skills.
Thus, while he seemed like such a kind man, it was very clear he was uncomfortable speaking with me. He came from the city and was on a long term contract because the regular teacher was studying in Arizona on an exchange. He had not even been in the classroom for a few years so he was very much surprised to find that he also had to have me at his side in the classroom twice a month. This poor sensei only had to put up with me for part of a year but it became clear it was not easy for him. I wasn't really catching on to that until one day he rubbed his furrowed brow and said, "To tell the truth, you give me a migraine headache."
I wasn't expecting that and I smiled weakly and said, "Of course, I understand." (While to myself I thought, "And to tell you the truth, starting with my dad and brothers and quite a few others, you wouldn't be the first, nor would you be the last man I gave a migraine headache.") But in his case, he seemed so helpless, kind and also so innocent that I went home with a heavy burden determined not to be a stress he could not bear, if only twice a month.
So, I had to wait two weeks, but I tried to speak very slowly, and not as much. I tried to find out what he liked. That made a huge difference because we found out we both loved to watch birds, especially the herons and water birds that came to our area. And we loved flowers and scenery. Pretty soon the English was not an obstacle; it was a shared conversation we both looked forward to, and it became a friendship.
It would be this sensei that arranged for me to study flower arranging with the Ikebana Club teacher, a one on one lesson, and I only paid for the flowers and a couple of tools. (The time I spent with her also released him for an hour to himself.) He was also the one that took me to the Tea Ceremony Club (Sado) to be very formally served our green macha (a tea reserved for the ceremony). We were served on tatami mats by the girls illustrating their study of Japanese culture and the way of tea.
Soon, our several months with each other were over and we had to say "Goodbye" It was a very sad parting for me. I had learned so much from him. Over the following New Year holiday I received a post card from him, as in Asia most people send greetings for their New Year holiday. A pretty post card, but I hope I never forget his few words to me in English. "As I walk along the banks of the Shirakawa, the herons taking flight remind me of you."
It was one of the most beautiful sentences ever written to me, but I will always pair it with the migraine headaches that I used to give him.
(All comments are welcome. Comments do not have to be in English! Google Translator can be used for comments left in many languages. Thank you for reading my blog.)
Thankfully no migraines here yet, I do not believe you gave him migraines, just the fact he was made to endure something he had not chosen.
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