Tuesdays are usually a busy day for me – I’ve got four classes, and most of the time I have to plan three of them on the fly, because I never seem to get around to it the rest of the week.
I had talked to Mr. Yamamoto about my plans, and he suggested doing a class outdoors. There is a park right next to our school, so he made arrangements for the students to meet up in front of the school, and then we walked over there. The students were really curious about what we might be doing, and they kept trying to ask me about it in English. I kept it a secret until we got there.
Once we arrived I announced that we were doing a scavenger hunt. I let the students form teams, and then gave them a list of things to look for. The interesting thing about the Japanese students was that once they formed the group, they didn’t break it up. They moved as a unit searching for each thing as a group, and then moved to the next thing. I pointed out the observation to Mr. Yamamoto, and he agreed that it was a very Japanese approach.
There are tons of pigeons that frequent the park, and one of the things I had on the list was a feather. I made a disclaimer early on that the students shouldn’t pluck the feathers from a pigeon, but find them laying on the ground. One group couldn’t find any feathers so they nominated one poor guy to chase the pigeons until a feather fell off. It was funny to see the guy chasing around the pigeons while the others searched desperately for feathers.
The students were encouraged to ask me what each item was if they didn’t understand, so I’d try to give out other words – and if they still couldn’t figure it out a pantomime. Then if they STILL didn’t know, I’d tell them the word in Japanese. Most of them did just fine.
I had three outdoor lessons in a row, and it was pretty tiring. Once I got back to the office, I relaxed a little and then went to watch some of the preparations for the culture festival. I observed the kendo club for a little while. They were doing some really cool drills where they tried to stick the bamboo sword right into their opponent’s protected throat. It looked painful – maybe it was.
After school I returned home, and just had some leftovers for dinner. Everyone needs a leftover night now and then. The doorbell rang, and it was a guy with a package from my folks!
Inside there was loads of great stuff – two DVDs (Miracle, and Return of the King), a salami, some spices for tacos, a slim jim, a strange box that made weird noises when you pressed a button, some comics, and even two bottles of Fat Tire Ale. Wow! Fat Tire in Japan! I don’t know what to do with them – I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in Japan who would appreciate them – so maybe I should drink them both. But then, drinking them alone isn’t much fun – maybe I should let someone else try something from so far away. Mmmmmm…. Fat Tire Ale.
As I was putting away the box I noticed the customs declaration form – my folks had declared the two bottles as “Marinade”. Excellent!
I called Antoine also, and we ended up swapping stories for almost two hours. We are planning to get together this Friday. Tomorrow is payday, and I’ll be back in the money. We’re going to meet up on the beach in Suma on Friday night – grab some chow at a local izakaya and then have a couple of beers on the beach. Soon it will be mosquito weather, so we’ve got to enjoy it while we can.
