MeySen Birthday Party

It seems like June is just packed full of fun events for the kids.  First there was Friends Day, then we had a field trip, last week we made a special snack of popcorn balls (to go along with our Native American unit), and this week the school celebrated MeySen's 44th birthday.


For this special day, the students experience an American-style birthday party.  The regular course students have a birthday party in their rooms by class (that means Kris had to set up, clean up, and run 4 Birthday parties in 2 days).  I had it a little easier, as I only have 1 class and my supervisors ran the party.  It felt a lot like being a youth leader -- except instead of having the stress of running activities and making sure everything was on time, I got to just have fun playing games and eating cake with my kids.  I LOVED it!  


This job often reminds me of the things I loved about youth ministry - sharing the gospel, building relationships with kids, and having fun with them. (But I do still terribly miss my small group -- LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!).  Anyway, back to the party....


When the students arrived they did a little bit of work then we went into the big hall with the other 3rd grade and 4th grade classes.  My supervisors, Jonathan and Judith, led several relay games for the kids.  For one of the games, the kids had to put as many stickers as possible on their friends faces.  By the end, my students were covered in stickers and it was so funny!


After the games, we had cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to MeySen.  And since this is Japan, instead of drinking juice or pop with their cake, the students drank cold wheat tea.  Here is a video of my students singing "Happy Birthday".

The day ended with the kids picking "Happy Birthday" helium balloons, which they had been gawking over since they first arrived.  We received special instructions to make sure each kid had enough time to pick their balloon, had extra balloons so that the last kid to pick still had a choice, and did not under inflate the balloons, as any of these 3 things could result in parents calling and complaining.  (Yes, parents do call to complain if their child comes home with an under-inflated balloon...)  Since I was so paranoid about under-inflating balloons, when filling them, I over inflated them and popped 4 of them.


After filling them up with sugar and getting them all wound up, we got to send them home to their parents! Hahaha!  The only thing missing from the day?  Good old fashioned pin the tail on the donkey!

Field Trip

All third graders at MeySen and their teachers went on a field trip to Michinoku Park last Saturday. The day started out a little rough, but all in all it was a great day. Earlier in the week, one of my supervisors told my grade level partner and I that the students wouldn't come to Friends Club until 10:20 am, so we could come in late. Well, apparently a letter went home to the students letting them know that class would start at the usual time of 8:40 am. So on Saturday morning, I stroll in at 9:45, only to find out from another teacher that I need to hurry to my classroom because students have been in my class for an hour and I wasn't supposed to come in late. As I scurry up the long stairs to the upper classroom, I am panicked, thinking, “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap I am going to be in so much trouble!” I was expecting to find kids running around the classroom, causing chaos, Kindergarten Cop style. But the kids were all playing outside with Greg's class. I found out from him that I was correct, we were in fact told we could come in late, and he had been late too. I was relieved at this. However, the morning was still hectic because we were not leaving until 10:50 for our field trip, and I had only planned for 30 minutes of class time, not 2 hours. And the kids were wound up to go on the field trip, so they really needed things to do, and I needed a moment to breath. It all worked out alright, as the students had several 2 art projects and 2 writing projects to finish.

Having been a youth leader and in charge of several excursions for 30-50 middle school kids and leaders, going on a field trip as just a teacher and not as the main person responsible felt like smooth sailing. Since Greg and I combined our classes into 2 groups of about 25 students, all I really had to do (besides be on time) was have fun with my kids.

After arriving at the park, we ate lunch. All the kids opened up their bags and whipped out these colorful tarps to sit on. Of course before sitting on the tarps, they took off their shoes.

Picnic at the park

 

I thought you'd like to see how different picnic lunches in Japan look from the sandwich and chips picnic lunches that are common in the States.

After lunch all the students were eager to go on the jumping donut. Because my knee is still in repair, I couldn't go on the big bouncy circle. Instead I took pictures and watched Greg, the other 3^rd grade Immersion teacher, play with the kids. The kids loved this thing!

When they had exhausted themselves on the jumping donut, they were ready to play in the shallow, man-made “stream”. This was my favorite part of the day and reminded me of being a KidsFest leader on water day. At first many of the kids (especially the girls) were hesitant to get wet, so they stood along the edge and watched or only let their feet get wet.

I got right in and started splashing the kids. At first they said, “Mrs. Lauren, don't!” But gradually as they saw all the other kids having fun, and as I chased after them, they got more into it. I picked up kids and pulled them down to the shallow water where fountains squirted up out of the ground. Then they dog piled me in the water and kicked water in my face. I was laughing so hard I couldn't get up. It was so much fun and a great way to really build relationships with my kids.

Playing in the fountain with the kids

Changing clothes is quite the experience. Apparently the norm for kids in Japan is to get naked out in the open (while having a changing towel wrapped around themselves). Kris experienced this first on his trip with his 2^nd grade students when little girls started taking of their clothes right then and there. Of course he didn't know this was the norm and freaked out and sent them to the bathroom to change, fearing for his job. Thanks to his story I was prepared for this, but the trip leader had all the girls go into the bathroom to change anyway. After I corralled my students towards the bathroom and went into a stall to change, I walked out to find them changing in front of the door to the bathroom (and in front of the boy's bathroom door) because, as they said, “No, Mrs. Lauren, it's so yucky. It smells yucky in there.” They would not listen to my persisting, and there was not much I could do, as they had mostly changed at that point. Oh well!

Our next stop were the bouncy swings and also the field with big bouncy balls. The kids also loved this part. They boys had competitions to see who could stay on the ball the longest and were constantly asking Greg and I to time them. The kids laughed when I lay on 3 big balls and said I was resting on a couch. Then they took the balls away from me, making me fall (which I exaggerated for their entertainment).

 

I really enjoyed the day with my kids and it made me appreciate my grade co-teacher, Greg, even more after the field trip. It was nice to have someone else to keep track of the kids with. And we complemented each other in playing with the kids. He jumped with the kids on the big donut while I took pictures, and I played in the water with the kids while he took pictures and played with the kids that didn't want to go in the water. I'm happy to have Greg to work with – our personalities complement each other and his sense of humor is very similar to Kris's.

I am really happy to be teaching at MeySen and really am enjoying my kids. They crack me up with the funny things they say and do, and I am amazed at how hard most of them work to learn English.

What To Do If You Get Hit By A Car In Japan

Please note: This post is not to be read to my grandparents!

Not many people think about what to do if they get hit by a car while riding your bike in a country where you don't speak the language, so here are some helpful hints:

• If you work for MeySen, you really SHOULD keep the emergency/identification card that they give you on you at all times.  That way you have the number to Rumi and the school available at all times in English and Japanese.
• Take down the guy's information or license plate number or make him go to MeySen with you.

If you forget to do either of the above 2 things, it's okay, just go to the school and someone there will help you and calm you down.

Why am I offering advice about this? Because I wish I would have known them earlier today.  Don't worry -- I'm okay!  But yes, I did have a brush with a car on my way to work today.  I got knocked off my bike but I'm FINE; at the time i was more emotionally bothered than anything else.

I was riding my bike the 3 blocks to work as I usually do and approached an intersection with a 4-way stop.  I always take this intersection carefully, so I slowed down to almost a stop to see if any cars were stopped.  The car next to me stopped fully, so I started into the intersection.  I was to the front left of him when he started to drive forward slowly.  I thought, "He'll stop," as I realized there was nothing I could do but keep going forward.  But he didn't.  I don't know where the hell this guy was looking, but I was RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM when he hit me and knocked me off the bike.  Luckily hitting me got his attention because he stopped and got out of the car as i was standing back up. 

I expected him to be yelling at me and angry, but he looked just as terrified as I did (I'm sure).  He was talking to me in Japanese and all I could do was shake my head with big eyes saying "Wakarimasen" (I don't understand).

I looked at my bike and saw that it seemed to be okay (though now I know the back wheel is bent) and I wasn't hurt (besides a scrape on my knee and it feeling sore from the fall, since I landed on my bad knee), I did the only thing I knew to do -- go to the school.  Kris had the iphone, so I couldn't call anyone.  And I certainly couldn't say anything to the man who had pulled over and was calling to me from across the intersection.  I didn't think to take his license plate number or anything.

I was crying on my way to the school -- but out of shock not pain.  When I parked my bike, my friend Greg was there and asked if I was okay.  I relayed the whole story to him, and as I recounted it, I was able to calm down.  But as soon as I got in the office, I started to cry again.  "I need to call Kris and I don't know the number," I said through sobs.  My poor supervisor just looked confused as to why I was standing in the office crying. "I just got hit by a car -- I'm okay -- but I need to call Kris to tell him to bring me Ibuprofen for my knee."  Truth is, I just need to hear his voice, his calming voice.

When I calmed down, I assured the others I was okay, just really shook up from the whole experience.  My supervisor offered to take me to the hospital, but I assured him I was fine, my knee was just a little sore.  He and the Immersion assistant asked if I had gotten any information from the guy or his license plate, and I said no.  I felt really stupid for not thinking of even writing down his license plate number at the least.  Jonathan (my supervisor) told me that it is a very serious offense for people here to hit a pedestrian, especially on a crosswalk, and they can be fined a lot of money or put in jail for it.  I certainly wouldn't want that to happen to the guy, but I would appreciate him paying for my bike to get fixed -- and maybe a six-pack too (haha)!

I'm thankful the guy was on the same intersection as me, so he didn't hit me with much force, just enough to knock me off the bike.  And I'm thankful this happened today and not tomorrow, because I'm supposed to be observed tomorrow for critique, and getting hit by a car on the way to work kind of makes you feel frazzled and a little off your game for the day. lol

I was pretty shook up this afternoon when it happened, but now I'm okay and I can laugh about the whole thing.  I mean, seriously, did that really just happen?!?!?!  One thing I know for sure -- I am never riding across that intersection on my bike ever again!

Date Night Downtown

Wanting some quality time together having fun and not worrying about school work, language class work, or house work, Kris and I headed downtown on Sunday for a fun date day.  We had a blast -- as we usually do when we are spending time together.

Since it was raining, we couldn't start our date day with picnicking in the park, as we'd originally planned; so we made fried rice at home and then headed downtown.  We strolled through the Ichibancho, a covered mall that is 2 km long.  I bought tea and made the whole transaction using only Japanese -- it was very exciting, even though it was only 3 sentences! We also found some interesting things on our stroll.

wtf?

Many girls were wearing little-bo-peep type dresses like this one

Yes, actual sign to an actual clothing shop...and no, it wasn't "one of those kind" of clothing shops, either!

We stumbled upon a place called "Funky Time" that had a picture of a robot on it's logo so we decided to check it out.  We thought it'd be a cool gadget place.  Wrong.  It was a place for nerds...and my sister would have loved it lol.  It is a manga/video game/anime library.  You go there to watch dvds, read manga, or play video games that are stocked there.  You pay for the time that you are there.  It would be okay, except that it is SO QUIET.  Eerie quite.  You could hear a pin drop a mile away kind of quiet.

Vending machine at the manga library -- it sells hot foods!  The Japanese are all about these vending machines!

Our goal was to find a Karaoke place with a drink bar (unlimited soft drinks) with air conditioning (most places don't have central air) that didn't smell like urinal cakes when you turn it on (like the Karaoke place close to our apartment).  The 4th place we looked at had exactly what we wanted at a really cheap price (less than $4 per hour).  The best part was that the drink bar had ice cream and slushies too!!!!  And you can't find slushies very easily in Japan!  There was also a chocolate fondue fountain that you could buy marshmallows for from a vending machine.  But I soon found out that if you put your cup full of ice cream under the chocolate fountain, you get a hot fudge topping -- glorious!

In case you missed my earlier posts, karaoke in Japan is very different from the United States.  In Japan, you go to a Karaoke place that has several rooms.  You pay to rent the room for however long you want (we went for 2 hours), and then you sing karaoke in that room with only the people who are with you.  I like it much better here, because I can sing as loud and off key and as silly as I want and don't have to worry about strangers judging me. 

Kris and I had a blast singing together.  We are such a good match :-)  When the front desk called to give us a five minute warning, we couldn't believe the time had flown by so quickly!

After karaoke, we went out to eat at a diner-type place called Royal Host.  It is kind of like a Denny's, but the food is Japanese-attempt-at-American-food, and not quite the same.  They also had a drink bar, which Kris could not resist.  Many restaurants that serve American-type food have these and they are pretty sweet.  They have a whole assortment of soft drinks, and espresso machine, and a variety of loose leaf teas.  Take note, American restaurants - Japan is way better than you in this department!

Serve-yourself drink bar at Royal Host.  Look at the variety!