Spring "Break"

Living overseas in a foreign country, or rather, living in someone else’s country as a guest, (they like to call us outside people, which is a minor generalizing quibble I have) one gets settled. Things that once inspired staring are now experienced as commonplace and banal. Not that life is ever boring, as I’m inclined to feel that boredom is simply an indication of dissatisfaction with one’s life. I am anything but dissatisfied. I am however, acclimatized enough that the old women staring don't bother me anymore.

I’m on “spring holiday” right now, but I have to go to work every day unless I want to use my precious nenkyu (holiday days). I don’t, however, have to show up in a timely fashion or indeed stay after I run out of things to read on the internet and all my friends using MSN go to bed. The other teachers, though, they have heaps of work to do. They’re here long before I get here and they stay long after. It’s like there is no break. It’s a distinctly different kind of dogged occupation and if you subscribe to the “a change is as good as a rest” mantra, you’d find the packing up and leaving of the leaving teachers, the coming of the new and the time table and test planning of those staying around quite refreshing. I however, do not subscribe to that bit of folk wisdom wholesale. A change is as good as a rest if, one gets to play with one’s spouse and kids more often, maybe get a whole week’s worth of good sleep and maybe hang out with your friends once or twice. For me, it is a change that’s as good as a rest as it is, after a fashion, a holiday. I don’t teach at all this or next week. So, I’m writing, chatting, studying and watching movies. Most of the other JETs are out of time, and my Japanese friends are all busier than usual, having something to do with this “hiruyasumi” (spring break). Tomorrow all the old teachers will leave and the new teachers will finally settle into their desks. I’ve managed to snag a window desk so I can watch the white heron colony in the front yard of the school.

My favourite teacher, the one who’s moving half-way down the prefecture, gave me a present today. She’s a kid at heart, I think that’s part of the reason I like her so much, so she got me traditional Japanese toys. She gave me marbles, which in Japanese are Bidama in a nice little paper box, hiragana playing cards and a traditional Japanese picture matching game. I’d always had a good time talking with her and I was beginning to think she’d just move to her new school and I’d never get to see her again. Gifts, however, appear to be something of an indication of proper friendship in Japan, so it may not be the last I’ve seen of her. I got her and another teacher I taught oral communication with who is also leaving some nice ceramic tea mugs with little rabbits looking at the moon. Crazy Rabbit Moon Cult was what I was thinking, but everyone else who saw them thought they were cute… must be my Western cultural identity…

Anyway, today was spent largely online, talking with friends in Canada. Interesting links courtesy of my friend Dave in Waterloo included the following two hilarious and creepy, respectively, links.

I wish I could...

creepy... but kind of reminiscent of my own childhood frankenstein phase.



One major upset today that started as an “Oh F@*K” moment and ended in simple incredulity was brought on by finally seeing the fruits of my labours these past weeks in print form. Unfortunately, to top off my grumbles about the quality of my writing and the difficulties of working in a group to produce an article, I noticed that my editorial on education contained some odd items in parentheses. It turns out that the printer somehow got hold of the draft version of my manuscript and printed that, complete with editing commentary from my dear friend Dan. So, there it is… this never, obviously, would have happened with an English printer. I suppose they simply took the inserted commentary compiled at the end as “Notes”. So, I properly should be feeling as embarrassed as hell. I’ll admit my ears did turn red and tears did grace my desperate hilarity, but I don’t seem to feel quite as embarrassed as I think I should. Every other JET and JTE in the prefecture gets a copy of this sucker, not to mention that it gets stowed in government and academic libraries. My name is probably mud in this business.

Note to self, never, never, never give people instructions as to the name of a file when there are other files with part of the same name on the same disk… better yet, never, never, never give anyone a disk with anything on it but what you wish them to see or use. Some lessons, as I’ve always enjoyed experiencing, get learned the hard way.

Ah well, at least the beards almost made me pee.

Class wraps up.

This is pretty strange. Yesterday was the last day of classes and today has so far been just cleaning followed by a longish farewell ceremony. About 20 of the 80 teachers at this school are leaving for other schools. There were many tears, long speeches of thanks and commendation and then after that everyone sort of filed out enmasse and started going to thank their favourite teachers who were leaving. Quite a sad affair really. The whole impermanence thing is really hard to take sometimes. Friends and family, teachers, students and co-workers all off on their own personalized life journeys. It's such a hard thing, adjusting to change and separation from things and especially people you've become attached to. Students are in tears, teachers are showing the strain of feeling in their faces, everyone will miss these relationships, but there's just no keeping them the same. We cannot be children forever, however much we might fantasize about and long for things to stay the same. Buddha seems to be right.
It's really just hit me how much I'm going to miss the company I've kept here in the office. There's only one teacher from my office staying on. I live in the same apartment complex as he and his wife and family, so at least there will be some continuity with my work/social life in the midst of this upheaval. I hadn't realized though, how much I rely on two of the teachers socially. I feel like I'm having many of my friends torn from me. The thing is, here, that teachers are so busy outside of school that they usually have little time apart from school. So, it will be difficult to get to see them after they leave. Anyway, that seems to be life. I've got friends all over the place that I never see, some of whom I never hear from either. Not that I'm any better really. Ah well, no sense crying over split milk.
Besides, it's frikin cold and sleeting today, so I shouldn't think long on that sort of self pitying tripe. Life changes, change sucks, happiness is a choice. Meh.