Friday Blues

I got back from school around 1:30 PM and now I'm racking my mind, trying to find something to do. Even if I make the longest posting to date, I'll still be sitting here trying not to stare at the clock. The people at work seem to feel for me. There's a meeting going on about a fax that was just, just received from Stony Plain. I don't know its contents and I have not been asked to take a look, but the meeting is now going on its 2nd hour. It's the Friday of a long weekend! And though its very quite in the room, everyone is in a good mood. Yeah! Score! Kevin just passed me some stickers for my kids.

One thing to know about Japanese offices is that they are way over staffed. Most people have very little to do (or else one person is very busy and the others have nothing to do). There are a couple of reason for this. On the micro-scale, many people have a light work load just in case they are needed. An example would be if a very important official came to the office and created a stir. Things would need to be prepared and done while he was here. On the macro-scale, it is a deeply entrenched goal of Japanese society not to simply let the market take care of employment, but for society as a whole keep everyone employed with a living wage. You can fall where you will on the wisdom of such an approach, but I'm just trying to explaining why all this guy on the other side has been doing all afternoon is stapling papers together.

I don't know if anyone knows (or cares) what a typical day is like for me but I will try to describe in a humorous, engaging fashion. I must preface this topic with the caveat I never really have a normal day. The Japanese in Shikaoi have a chronic communication problem, with Kevin and myself normally on the problem end. While it is an inconvenience at worst, it's humorous and absurd at best. So while Kevin and I grip about it, we don't really mind, we expect it, prepare for it, and laugh about it. The end result of such absurd behaviour is that what I think I'm doing tomorrow is often changed by the time I get to work the next morning. If I think I have a free day at the office to do school stuff or post it will inevitably happen an hour in that Ikeuru-san will come over an ask if I would please like to go to such and such a place to meet with such and such. I grab my keys and off I go.

So what did I do today? The first school I went to was Kamihoronai Hoikusyo (Kamihoronai kindergarten). I was completely unprepared except that I wore loose clothes I could play with the kids in. I taught them isty-bitsy spider and right and left. I told them my favorite animal (cat) and my favorite drink (o-cha). We practiced my name (BU-RE-A) and smiling. The smiling was a big hit, and the pictures turned out great. Most of the kids were between the ages of two and five and had never seen a foreigner in the flesh before. Judging by their general reaction, my skin colour and complete lack of preparation was not a factor. We played a colour game, where I say a colour and all the kids have to run to an object of that colour in the room and put their hand on it. Complete loud chaos ensued. They especially liked my WHITE shoes and BLUE t-shirt. The BLACK piano stumped them though. A good time was had by all. Next time is not soon enough.

Next I was off to Kamihoronai Sho Gakko (Kamihoronai elementary School) which is within walking distance of the kindergarten. This school is probably my favorite. From the principal down to the first-graders everyone is super nice. The school has a very fresh atmosphere because it was placed in the exact middle of nowhere. Out every window is green. I think that this is the optimal place for a school because every lung full of virgin air makes one feel healthy. There is a gentle breeze that pushes fresh air inside through the open windows. Furthermore, a school here eliminates a mind numbingly long bus ride for the students who live on the many nearby farms. (Note: its actually only 20 minutes from the Board of Education Offices, however that is relativly far by Japanese standards.)

This school deserves a more detailed explanation of its composition. It has only 17 students in a school that in Alberta would hold 150. The number of teachers is also extraordinary, with one principal, six teachers, a lunch lady, a gardener, and an assistant principal/ administrator (this gentleman speaks very good English, and shout out to Drew, Sean and Lynnette, he is a 6th level GO player(???), and has traveled all over North America teaching it). Needless to say the school is absolutely hemoraging money and by every economic measure should be closed immediately. However, the school produces healthy, happy kids and, now having seen the school, I would lament its loss. Immediately upon arriving I was asked to join their game of dodgeball, which everyone, including the principal, participated in. The children were more than happy to tote me around, showing me the school. After, we had lunch, which included tomatoes grown right out back. (It also included some type of bean that I could not identify and thus, did not eat, much to the chagrin and joy of the students.)

And now, back at the office, were all having a good laugh at the expense of Masashi-san, whose phone rang in the dead silence of the room, exposing his taste in tacky tacky J-Pop music.