Even though I am leaving the office a bit early today, it's a bit of a wonder why I'm still here at all. There are two different reasons for this. Tonite, at 6:00 P.M., I will be having my official welcoming party. From my rather fuzzy position, it seems between 20 or 100 people will be attending. Their planning it right now beside me in hushed Japanese tones. I really don't think I'm worth the fuss but one cannot tell the Japanese that. Masashi-san told me I could go at 4:30 P.M. to change and get ready, which is perfect because I finished everything that needed to be done by 1 o'clock. I asked the two women I worked with if they needed any help but they declined that offer with a giggle. This Monday is shaping up to be much like Friday afternoon. In any case, the office atmosphere is always light, everyone is ready to make a joke (at the expense of my limited Japanese). The welcome dinner finishes at 7:30 sharp, for whatever reason, I still haven't understood that behavior. After the English teachers are taking us, Kevin and I, out for drinks. If you have never had the experience of being towed around by a group of Japanese; start by imagining your a really famous movie star, then imagine that by some miracle a beer glass that never empties is invented, next imagine the end of the world is nigh, lastly, remember you are in the presence of some of the kindest, nicest people you will ever meet. That will be my evening.
My weekend was spent at a workshop/dinner put on by the Tokachi International Education Circle (TIEC). It is a group of foreigners from all around the province of Tokachi that teach English. It is a very interesting group of people because, being so remote (literally being by the edge of the world before it drops into the sea), it is an area that attracts a very wide range of people. Many have been around for longer than 5 years and so are an excellent resource about such practical things as how to transfer money home and ideas for elementary English classes and non-sensical things like making a political statement by not paying your NHK T.V. bill (long long story). In anycase, a great weekend with some good hearty food. Shout out to Jessica and Nancy for their hard work.
This morning was spent going around to the various schools I will be teaching at meeting the principals. Basically, and this is going to sound a little dry, by you just meet the principals, what we call here the Chotto Sensei, and drink coffee while they ask you questions (How you are? How tall you are?). There's probably a proper Japanese word for this behaviour but I have no idea what it is. It's not that its a bad experience, they are really nice people, but the whole thing is tiring and jarring. Its hard to communicate and these are people you do not want, in any way, to insult. Some Chotto Sensei's are more forgiving than others, however, and it's normally not very hard to figure who is what. Tomorrow morning I will be visiting the two elementary schools we did not visit this morning and also the High School, where I will not be teaching, but I know the principal already, hes a great guy, and I am excited.
It was also the first time meeting some of the kids I will be teaching. I will leave most of the details of the children aside for a later, more detailed post, but I already love them. Individually, they are very shy, but get them in a group, and they become fearless. There's a Japanese word I would like to introduce at this point called GENKI that describes the energy and mood of the children perfectly. It is a word that does not easily translate into English, but it is generally taken to mean healthy and energetic in a way that only the word genki can.
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