Snotty noses and possessed homeroom teachers...

Okay, I'm so desperately going to try and update this more often.  I'm just so damn busy trying to survive on peanuts it's ridiculous.  This week in a nutshell (when I get home I'll upload pictures).

Monday - went and visited my new place of work.  ==== international preschool.  Beautiful place located in Azabu-Juban (a very wealthy part of Tokyo).  My main purpose was to meet with the owner and the director. Instead of this, I found myself spending much of the morning observing the Star class (preK).  The kids are so dang cute.  Most of them already know their alphabet, how to spell their names, most of the letter sounds, and how to do basic addition and subtraction.  I have to admit I was really curious as to what would happen in this class.  During my previous visit the teacher informed me that the worst behaved student was absent.  Apparently this kid bites, kicks, punches, and is a real terror.  After hearing this, I couldn't help but picture something like Chucky meets the Exorcist.  Seriously, how bad can a little 4 year old boy be?

Well, let me tell you, this little 4 year old boy is the CUTEST! kid I've ever seen.  He even has dimples when he smiles.  He looks more like an angel than the tiny terror the teacher described.  The entire time I was there, he clung to me, just smiling and asking politely if he could sit next to me.  I have to admit the kid had no social skills and did kick a kid once (though by no means was malicious about it...did I just excuse a kid kicking another kid?).  The kid obviously lacks social skills and spent most of his time looking around the room for social cues and then mimicking all the other kids.  I was a little disappointed.  If I were the teacher, he probably would have been my favorite kid, but I do always fall for the awkward ones. Honestly, the only disturbing thing about the kid was his excessive need to blow his nose.  I lost count of the number of times he had giant bugers hanging from his nose.

About 1/2 way into the day, the director and owner pulled me out and took me upstairs to see the 3rd floor, which is where the kindergarten class would be held.  The space was HUGE, about the size of 2 and 1/2 classrooms. One of the walls was floor to ceiling bookshelves.  They're getting ready to rennovate the space and have given me free reign to do with it as I please!!! Fantastic!  How many chances does a teacher get to totally design their own classroom?  I'm going to be able to build a science station, a stage, and some fake buildings!  This is going to be the coolest classroom ever!  I get to order all the supplies, tables, chairs, etc and budget isn't an issue.  I think I've died and gone to teacher heaven.  Once I'm done making every kindergartener's dream classroom, I get to design my own curriculum! What a way to start the week!

Then Tuesday came....

Tuesday - I thought I was going to have a pretty happy week.  Only 3 work days and one of them would be at my favorite elementary school where I always have loads of fun, but no of course not.  It's that time of the year when the weather is beginning to look a lot more like winter.  Unfortunately, no one has informed the BOE (board of education) of this.  I walked into the building and it had to be below 30 degrees inside.  Within 15 minutes my fingers were pale white with hints of light purple.  Good thing I was wearing a tank top, long-sleeve turtle-neck, two long sleeve shirts, a zip-up sweater, and a jacket.  Plus 2 pairs of tights and my dress pants, plus the longest thickest scarf I own.  You'd think with all these layers that I would be down-right overheating.  But no, I was still freezing.  Knowing that I was going to have to spend 3 hours in this room, I asked the other English teacher if it was alright for me to wear gloves.  Sorry, no insurance, no money, I'm not risking my health for 100 bucks a day.  She says it's fine and I go along with my day.  Everything was fine until 3rd period.  Halfway through class the homeroom teacher marches up to me in the front of everyone and starts yelling at me in Japanese. I was standing at the front flipping flashcards.  What could I possibly be doing that's so horribly wrong?  I was totally dumbfounded.  I have never in my life been spoken to in such a way by another adult.  Like a deer frozen in the headlights, I just stared at her.  While I'd like to say I had no idea what she was saying, I figured out pretty quickly exactly what she was trying to tell me.
     I have to say that it's pretty damn amazing how much Japanese I've picked up in the last 5 months.  Apparently, "IN JAPAN" students aren't allowed to wear hats, coats, scarves, or gloves in the classroom.  This is apparently distracting.  Hmm, odd, I would think that not being able to feel your fingers or toes in class would be distracting.  All of the students in that room were cold so I should be cold too.  It's not fair that I was allowed to wear a scarf and gloves while the kids sat there freezing.  WHAT!?  All I could think to myself as she rambled on was that I do NOT get paid enough to deal with this bs.  I just continued to stare at the teacher saying、"wakaranai" (I don't understand).  Okay that's a lie, I totally knew what she wanted, but damn I wasn't going to let someone talk to me like that and just bend over and take it.  So we moved off to the side and then the English teacher "translated".  I then said, unlike the rest of the students I didn't have government provided healthcare and could not afford to go to the doctor if I got sick.  She didn't seem to care.  I reluctantly removed my gloves and stood off to the side chattering my teeth the rest of class.  Yeah, it was seriously that cold in the unheated, uninsolated room that received NO direct sunlight, all the while snow falling outside.  At the end of class, the homeroom teacher marched back up to me.  Crap I was scared to hear what was next. She's burly for a Japanese woman...  She points at me and tells the English teacher to tell me that she's sorry.  I knew exactly what she was saying, but I still pretended not to.  The odd thing was, the whole time she had a proud smile on her face.  Yeah, sorry my ass.  Afterwards, the student teacher (who used to teach English) came up and tried to explain how Japanese Bushido (she seriously said Bushido...the code of samurai) states that students shouldn't be allowed to wear items in class that could distract them from their training.  I didn't come to Japan to become a samurai.  I asked, "isn't it dangerous to require students to sit in these freezing cold rooms without any source of heat?"  She just shrugged her shoulders.  It's not surprised that so many kids are sick every day.

I dragged my frigid self back to the only truly heated room in the school, the teacher's room.  Once inside, the English teacher told me that the principal wanted to see me.  Oh YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
Rolling my eyes, I shuffled my frozen ass into his office.  He had me sit down on his warm leather sofa, right beneath his heater before preceeding to tell me why I had to spend my day freezing my ass off in the other room.  Apparently I'm no different than the kids and if they can't wear those things than neither can I.  I about lost it.  I looked at the English teacher and said, 1) the kids dont have to stay in that freezing room for longer than 50 minutes, we're in there for the entire day (their classrooms are heated).  2) I don't have health insurance, if I get sick I can't go to the doctor which means I can't work, which means I don't get paid.  3) I'm from the desert, I'm totally unaccostume to such frigid conditions (ESPECIALLY INSIDE A DAMN BUILDING!). 

She translated and he pretended to ponder before again telling me that none of those reasons are valid...WHAT!?! Is he lacking common sense?  My jaw about fell to the floor as my eyes began to well-up and I just stared in utter disbelief.  What was this? Communist Russia?  I'm in one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world and I'm being told I have to freeze my ass off all day for a mere 100 bucks?  HELL NO.  And as if to pour salt on the wound he says, "Please take care of your health."  I just looked at him and said, "That's just it.  I'm trying, but if I can't get warm, I'm going to sick and then what do I do?"  I don't know what changed at that point (I'm guessing it was the direct expression of emotion), but he paused for a moment before suggesting that we do the rest of the lessons in the student's classrooms.  Apparently, the building that we were teaching in is the ONLY building in the school that is NOT heated... Needless to say, I couldn't be more thankful that I will only have to return to that school 3 more times.  GAH!

Then Wednesday came -

Wednesday - I was still pissed from Tuesday and spent most of my day cleaning the damn lint off my tatami floor (It's horrible, you'd think I owned 10 rabbits with all the dang fluff building up on the floor).

Thursday - Junior high school.  This wasn't bad, just spent the day with the 1st year students.  They're pretty cute, albeit a little on the slow side, which sort of makes them even cuter.  The teacher was passing back their tests.  Most of the class failed (below 50), all the teacher said was, "practice harder." Hmm, okay, they apparently don't understand, how is studying at home, alone, going to help them?  I have to admit it was kind of interesting to see who got what score and how they responded.  One girl got a 99 and broke into tears, while another girl got a 16 and was showing it to everyone in the classroom.  Strange....so strange.

OH! And then there was my sentaku class, which kicks major butt.  There are only 4 girls in that class and the rest are boys who are sharper than knives.  I've been having them change phrases of sentences around, but leaving the verb in place.  There's one particular boy in this class, Mi-chan, who I have labelled Space Cadet Kazuki.  He cannot focus to save his life.  He has the biggest personality of any student I have ever taught which is why I LOVE HIM!  It's also why everyone else picks on him so much.  The sentence for the day was, "Jeffery was sent to live with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan in Pennsylvania."  Subject Verb Prepositional Phrase.  The sentences I got back were:

1. Kazuki's brain was sent to space.
2. Kazuki and his dog were sent to live in a kennel in Tibiti-sensei's backyard.
3. Kazuki was sent to live with Mrs. Jones in America. AHHHHH!!!! DEAR GOD, HELP ME!
4. Kazuki was sent to Papua New Guinea. 

AHH!! Amazing.  I wrote some of them up on the board.  Of course one kid looks at them and goes, "Those aren't correct, you said we could only change two phrases, but they changed all of them." OH for crying out loud, grow a sense of humor kid. 


Friday - I used to think that I really didn't like the 3rd year English teacher, but I'm starting to love him.  Every time I am scheduled to spend the entire day with him, he takes a "holiday."  HECK YEAH!  I spent much of the day just grading the second year's tests (they had to create dialogue to match a picture - here are some of my favs).

Mr. White - bery hot why day?
Mrs. White - I think sun.
Mr. White - Oh reary?
Mrs. White - yes

Mr. White - you look hot
Mrs. White - you look strong
Mr. White - you look hard
Mrs. White - Shall we go home?
Mr. White - Yes, Let's.

Oh, brilliant!

Then the end of the day came and during cleaning time I suddenly heard what sounded like show tunes coming out of the woodshop class.  I peak inside and this kid is dancing around the room while singing what sounds like "Hello my Baby, Hello my honey, Hello my ragtime gal."  It was hilarious.  He wraps up the song with a spin and comes down to his knees and throws his arms open RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!  It was like something out of a movie.  He about DIED!  His face went bright red and he just goes, "Hello, Jones-sensei. How are you?" and walks away. 

Gosh, I LOVEEEEE Fridays! 

What the hell is going on here?

As the months go by, I find myself slowly becoming less fascinated and more bothered by the things that are going on around me.  It's been over 6 months and the enjoyment of riding the train to work, riding my bike around town, teaching English, working in a Japanese school has started to fade.

Work is becoming less exciting and more and more bizarre.  The students, especially 2nd year students, have really been coming out of their shell.  The behavior is unlike anything I've ever seen before.  I'm not going to say that it's only something you'd see in Japan, but it's not something I ever saw back home (THANK GOD, or I would have quit a long time ago). 

About a month ago, a 2nd year boy (who just the day before I was taking straws away from and blocking his path to the straw container) decided it'd be a good idea to try and hit his homeroom teacher.  During lunch, the boy had piled food up on his plate.  The teacher then told him to put it back so the rest of the class could eat and the boy then tried to swing...which wasn't smart, because his homeroom teacher is probably the strongest teacher at the school.  However, the rest of the boys started calling this boy a hero.  From that point, it seems as though everyone is on edge.  I've seen teachers grabbing kids by the neck and shaking them because they aren't sitting straight up in their chairs.  I've seen teachers screaming in the faces of students, backing them into the hallway, and then into an empty classroom followed by the sound of chairs and tables being knocked over.  I've seen male students shoving and slapping at a female teacher (who wasn't too smart herself as she kept trying to grab him by the arm while screaming at him). 

But nothing beats watching a male student spend 10 minutes throwing soap at a window and sliding it up and down the hall while laughing to himself.  Not a single teacher went to see what was going on.  When I went out to see if everything was all right I see one of the crazier students (this is the same boy who got backed into a classroom by another teacher).  As I entered the hallway, he started dancing around me and laughing and asking me if I saw the soap.  I ignored him, picked the soap up and went to put it back by the sink.  When I looked back at him he was just standing there grinning.  I asked him if he was alright and he just stopped and starred at me.  I asked him again and he just walked back into the classroom.  5 minutes later he was back out in the hallway throwing soap at the windows again.  As soon as he saw me he went back to class.  I picked up the soap and went to hand it to him, but he slammed the door in my face, so I went to the other door and handed it to the teacher and told the teacher it was the student's.  I've seen students strangling other students, students strangling themselves (a kid was turning blue in class), a student spend all of class sitting on another student and not a single teacher stop anything.  I'm not sure what I was expecting the teacher to do with the soap.  I asked the English teacher about it and she said that some of the students are so crazy that there is nothing any of the teachers will do because they're afraid. 

You've got to be kidding.  These aren't juvenile deliquents we're dealing with.  These are normal kids who need guidance, understanding, and someone to talk to.  The other day, another one of the "crazy" students just up and left in the middle of class (the teacher said he couldn't stand around and talk to his friend).  I followed him out and just stood and watched him as he tried to poke things through the door of another classroom.  He saw me and said to go back.  I ignored him of course and just walked closer.  The teacher in that classroom was just standing at the front of the room.  About 3 boys were standing at the back trying to take what was being shoved through the door.  I looked at the boys and just starred.  I have to admit that sometimes it's good that we can't communicate.  I can just stare and the kids don't know what to say, so they usually stop.  The boys grumbled and I just asked, "Why?"  The boy started walking back to class and said something about being free.  I joked that he had too much free time because he wasn't studying.  He walked back into class and as soon as everyone saw me behind him the kids were shocked.  It turns out this is the same thing the other female teacher was trying to do when he walked out of her class.  He didn't comment but just went and sat down.  I walked over and helped him with his worksheet.  At first he didn't write anything and just kept saying, I'll remember.  YEAH RIGHT.  Finally, he got out his pencil and wrote a few sentences.  It wasn't much and I'm sure he doesn't remember any of it, but I'll bet he remembers what I did to get him back in class. 

On top of a rather odd week of classes, a teacher at our school suddenly passed away last night.  This was announced during our morning meeting.  After 30 or so seconds of silence, everyone went on business as usual.  There was no mention of a counselor for anyone to talk to and no one has even mentioned what happened.  I didn't really know him, but knowing that someone I saw everyday just suddenly died has left me in shock.  He was a very kind man who taught the special needs students. He always tried talking to me, even though he knew my Japanese was limited.  The teacher next to me is the only other special education teacher, who is now left to do the work of two people.  All day today he has been walking around looking dazed (probably the same way I look).  I asked if he was ok and he just gave me a thumbs up and a really weak smile and went to go teach.  I don't understand how they do it.  How do people survive like this?  I barely knew the man, but gosh what I wouldn't give just to be able to talk to someone about it.  Sitting here keeping these feelings inside is killing me.  Back home, the school would have called in a counselor, the principal would have set aside time to talk to people, people would look as though someone just passed away...I don't understand.


Never in my life have I felt so overwhelmed.  Watching students being verbally and sometimes physically abused by the people who are supposed to help and nurture them is dreadful.  I know that this happens in America, and probably almost all other countries, but I have been lucky enough to never have seen it.  Teaching, in most Western countries, is about touching the lives of children.  Helping them not only learn, but to grow into good people.  What is teaching in Japan?  Why do people become teachers?  None of the teachers seem like "bad" people (aside from being overly critical and hot-tempered). So why can't they recognize that these kids need help?  Homeroom teachers spend countless hours meeting with students about their future, calling home, and even being the first ones called if a student gets in trouble outside of school.  So, why are there still kids slipping through the cracks?  Is it that they feel like they can't do anything?  From what I've heard from other people it's because there is a resistance to change here.  But at what cost?  What will happen to these kids who spend most of their time bullying other students or wandering the hallways?  Again, I know this happens in America, it's common for teachers to lose hope for students or to ignore bad behavior (as that is the easier route).  But in America I felt like I was still able to push on, even when other teachers stopped.   This is truly the first time, that I have felt absolutely helpless.