The weather has been warming up lately, and I spent this last weekend wearing shorts. Unfortunately, the weather has turned wet. I’ve found a good Japan weather website and I check that frequently.
I normally have four classes on Mondays, but today one got cancelled because of an assembly. I had two introduction classes, where I meet the first year students for the first time, and that is always fun. First impressions and all that. The way I’ve set up the lesson is such that the Japanese teacher starts off the class talking only in English for about five or ten minutes. The reaction is great – the kids think #1, this teacher knows how to speak English pretty well, and #2, I’m going to have to understand pretty quick what’s going on or I’m going to be lost.
The teachers gradually slip into Japanese to support my English, and I’m trying hard not to speak Japanese in the classroom.
That being said, Mr. Hayashi had a judo tournament to attend and so I had to teach one of his classes all by myself. I didn’t really teach actually, just kind of administered in-class assignments. He had it all set up with instructions in Japanese on the worksheet. The students did have to translate five paragraphs into Japanese, and it was pretty tough. They started asking me questions, so I had to try to explain the translation in Japanese to get the point across using the really simple vocabulary that I know. After a couple times of doing this I was surprised that I was able to explain it, and that the students were able to understand.
After classes ended I sat and chatted with Mr. Komuri and Mr. Urakami (the history teacher). Mr. Urakami always asks what I’m cooking for dinner, so today he asked and I told him about some udon noodles that I had gotten from a friend (Kuniko) that were made in Shikoku. Apparently these are world famous udon noodles, but I’m not sure that I can tell the difference. Mr. Urakami and Mr. Komuri had all kinds of advice about what to eat with the noodles, but when I asked how to make it or what the ingredients were, they didn’t know. Japanese men don’t spend much time in the kitchen, and so they couldn’t help me much.
After school I walked home in a heavy rain, and the wind was blowing hard enough that I had to hold onto my umbrella with two hands. It never rains and blows like this in California, that’s for sure.
The udon noodles turned out great, even though they probably weren’t the most exciting dish in the world. I followed Mr. Komuri’s advice and cooked it in the “Kansai” style served in Western Japan, and next time I’m going to make it in the “Tokai” style served in Eastern Japan.
I’ve got some roast beef in the fridge and I’m going to make a giant bloody meat sandwich for lunch tomorrow. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
