Keeping Busy

With only six months left until my contract runs out, I’ve been trying to stay involved in as many student-centric activities as I can. Last weekend, I traveled to two volleyball games and attended a play put on by one of my elementary schools. There was also an ALT party Saturday night that was a lot of fun. But I suppose all this really started a while back.

Two weeks ago, in a rare display of actually telling me what was going on outside class, I received a flyer from my Wednesday school explaining that there would be a performance and discussion of a drama outreach program. I have grown pretty close to my students at this school and decided that I would try to make it out to see the play, especially considering it started at two in the afternoon and only lasted a few hours. That night, I was visited by one of my students at my home, who had another copy of the flyer to give to me and was sure to explain when and where the event was. I tried to say I wanted to see it, which she mistook as a question and told me she wanted me to come. It was very sweet.

I was not as fortunate to receive advanced notice of the volleyball games, instead having to rely on my kids to keep me informed. Literally two days before the games, I was told by one of my students when the game would be, though she didn’t know where. I had to talk to three different teachers to find out where the games were (both boys and girls) and get directions.

The games started early Saturday morning and were a good 40 minutes from Ariake. The boys’ game was in Matsushima, which is a bit closer than the girls, who were in Oyano. I got to the place the boys were playing, a public gym called Aroma, a little after nine and stayed for about an hour. Our boy’s team is quite a bit smaller than the girl’s so I couldn’t talk to any of the players as they were having to play the entire time I was there. A few of my third grade boys showed up and Tazaki sensei was there to see her son play, so I still had a few short conversations and didn’t feel too out of place. Tazaki sensei was the one who had written my directions for me (in English!) and was happy to see they had gotten me there safely. The boys won their first game and were about to start a game against Tazaki sensei’s son’s team when I had to leave. I told her to let me know how the games went Monday, which I think she understood.

I stayed at the girl’s game quite a bit longer than the boys, as I got there right before lunch and was only able to see the very end of a game. Ariake has so many members in the girl’s volleyball club that we actually have two teams at any given tournament. This means a lot more time to talk with my students as there is usually one team playing while the other rests or refs for other games. I was kept pretty busy cheering during the games and spent all my free time talking with the parents and the kids, so I actually didn’t get any pictures. I left around one and stopped off at Mos Burger before going home to rest and prepare for the party that night.

This month’s party was at Erik’s house, which I had only been to once before. We got pretty close before getting lost and having to call Erik for directions. This month’s party was a little smaller than last month, but awesome nonetheless. We played Crocodile Dentist, Telestrations, and talked about internet memes which resulted in Erik getting a new catchphrase.

Telestrations was especially amusing. I think having Anne, Emily, and me go after one another is an awesome idea, as Anne sometimes doesn’t know the phrases or will draw busy pictures, Emily delights in making random, absolutely insane guesses, and I will draw anything she writes as best as I can. This combination resulted in the pictures for “Why am I married to the matrix” and “A dead guy giving a powerpoint presentation in front of a scenic landscape” pictured below. Watching Amanda’s face, who was next in line to guess these pictures’ meanings, was priceless. This game also saw two failed attempts (by me) to use song lyrics to convey the ideas of Pina Colata and Pocahontas, Daniel’s rather disturbing notion of what a “powerstrip” picture should have been, and a few rounds that actually ended up with the correct word.

We were up pretty late at the party, so I slept in the next day, even missing my tokusatsu shows. Not long after finishing lunch, I headed out for Hondo and the drama outreach performance. The plays were pretty amusing and the focus was on conveying ideas through actions, so even I understood a lot of what was going on. The first one was performed by my fourth graders and was about keeping the oceans clean. It involved a lot of animals, like fish and birds, as well as a boat all acted out by the kids. The only props were signs that set up every scene. The fifth grader’s play was a bit more complicated and included at least one location that I had no idea what it was meant to represent. I do know that it involved a school and an onsen and had a fair bit of humor that you probably wouldn’t see in a children’s play in America. For instance, there was a scene where one of the students goes to the restroom and actually pantomimes using a urinal that wasn’t a prop but one of the other kids.

Only a few of my kids saw me, but several parents and teachers greeted me. I also overheard one of the drama instructors teasing Riko for something I noticed a while ago. Riko is a fifth grader, but her second grade sister, Wakaba, is already taller than her. When she came over to introduce herself as Riko’s younger sister, the instructor kept insisting that Riko was younger. It was actually pretty amusing.

Following the plays was a brief intermission in which I took the opportunity to take pictures of the display out front that showed the preparations for the event. Next was a panel discussion about the program that included representatives from the Amakusa City PTA, the principal of the school, one of the instructors, and a few others. The panel lasted an hour and since I couldn’t keep up with what was being said I tuned most of it out.

I asked around Monday and found out that both the girl’s and boy’s volleyball teams had placed in the top three on Saturday, though it was only one of the girl’s teams. Tazaki sensei’s son’s team ended up taking first place, which means they beat our team twice L. Wish I could have stayed around to see what I consider a victory, though given what I’ve seen at other competitions, many of my kids already have the mentality that anything less than first is bad. Pretty busy weekend. I have Shikaki Festa coming up next Sunday, but the weekend promises to be at least a little less busy than this one.