Mini-volleyball and Banana Bread

“Tomorrow, the air will be dry, so please gargle and wash your hands when you return home so you will not catch cold.” Thus ended the weather report for the bilingually transmitted seven o’clock news. It is funny to us that every night the weather forecaster gives this type of “mothering” advice to viewers. Aaron almost always responds with, “Yes, Mom. Thank you.” What a world apart Japan is.

This is a photo of Holt chatting with Grandma. He hates to share the phone, now!


Friday was the first of two nights during which the village mini-volleyball tournament was held. I have included links to a few somewhat blurry pictures to try and capture the general idea of these games. Basically, we play with badminton nets and a ball which is somewhat larger than a regular volleyball. It is also inflated like a beach ball. This has the effect of creating a somewhat mysterious trajectory on the part of the ball. I can’t tell you how many times I thought a serve was going to land away from me, only to watch in awe as the ball magically turned in mid-air and landed at my feet.

The teams were arranged among four courts. Each team played five games. My team, comprised of four other middle school teachers, won only two. Fortunately, we at least beat the seventh graders! Mini-volleyball is actually extremely fun. Due to the size of the court, net, and type of ball, it really levels the playing field and allows old and young alike to play one another. The only time problems arise is when you play a team who has been practicing spikes. One might be tempted to think that spiking a large beach ball-like object is impossible, but that would be a mistake. Some people we played could really smack that ball down, much to our stunned amazement! It didn’t matter, though. We had a lot of fun.

Aaron’s team won two games as well. One of the teams they beat, though, was made up of pre-school mothers. I don’t think any of them topped five feet. Aaron dominated the net, looming above everyone near him. This is a photo of “his boys,” as he fondly referred to them. The third one from the camera, a man wearing glasses with big eyebrows, is the mayor. (Aaron's team). Aaron did not have the advantage of having an English speaker on his team. Kurata was on my team. Also, I had practiced earlier in the week with the teachers, so I had a good idea of what the rules were, etc. Having played regular volleyball before, Aaron was not completely in the dark. The line judge wanted to make sure Aaron understood the rules and pulled Issei (the student I went to Kitame with) and made him try to explain the rules. After tying desperately to pull another student over so he could pawn this request off on someone else, Issei finally gave it his best shot. I wish I had heard him. Aaron said he did okay, speaking mostly in short phrases. The important thing is that he tried. After the games were over, I chatted with the third grade middle school boys (the equivalent of high school freshman). I have a contest going on at school where I reward them for speaking English to me outside of class. One thing I have been working on is to get them to break out of the “Hello, how are you?” thing that they all have memorized. I have tried to teach them, “How’s it going?” and “What’s up?” So now, when they see me, the all burst out in a chorus of, “how’s it going?” It was funny. I love being able to visit with the students outside of the classroom. The teaching position in Nishiokoppe is really fantastic because you really have a chance to get to know your students and bond with them.

So, what were Ridge and Holt doing during this time, you might ask? They were playing in the “Lord of the Flies Room,” as Aaron nicknamed it. This small playroom (attached to the gym) was abound with other children playing, beating on one another, chasing each other with plastic ninja swords, and so on. A few parents hung around to watch them, but mostly they were on their own. As usual, the group initially included some third grade elementary girls, who played nanny for a while with the younger children. Eventually, though, I think they tire of the craziness and wander off to do “girl-things.” Despite it being a little crazy, Ridge and Holt played quite happily for the duration of the game. I think Aaron only had to pry another little boy off of Ridge’s neck once. Other than that and a dash to the restroom, they were on their own.

Warming up. The man just to the right in this picture is the Jr. High P.E. teacher
"Lord of the Flies" room
Playing.jpg
One of the score boards. I don't really understand all thier math

Saturday was day two of the tourney, but both our teams did poorly enough that we didn’t need to return. Instead, I began to clean house in preparation for my first opportunity to play hostess.

I know that the previous teacher from Juneau had a very popular wife. I have heard many, many stories of what she cooked and how she often invited the pre-school moms over and made tacos with them. So, I wanted to follow in her footsteps. With a little translating help from Kurata (which included a desperate call from me to ask him to meet me at Seicomart so he could help me explain something to one of the moms – she works there), I invited four other mothers to come over and we would make banana bread. Well, actually, I made the bread and they watched. Since I have a very small oven, it didn’t make sense to have each mother cook their own loaf.

About ten o’clock, they began arriving, some with children. In all, we had seven children, including Ridge and Holt. That made things exciting. We opened up the doors between the playroom and the room we sleep in so the kids had more space. One of the many positive attributes of sleeping on futons is that you can pick them up and put them away when you want more room. Once everyone arrived and the kids settled down to a dull roar, I went to work making the banana bread. I was so nervous that I accidentally melted my butter as I was attempting to warm it in the microwave. Oops! Fortunately I had more. Things moved along smoothly after that. I put the first loaf in the oven and we chatted while it baked. One of the mom’s is the doctor’s wife, and her English is good enough that she can help us all understand one another. I had already translated the recipe into Japanese (romaji only - Romaji is when Japanese words are spelled with English letters). This had been a project of my Tuesday night class. So, we talked a bit about the bread. I pulled out a few pieces of cookware and asked how to use them. They poked through my shelf of food, admiring my fifteen (I’m not kidding) packages of taco seasoning and other spices. I explained corn bread and chili, including how chili and taco meat are NOT the same thing. This led to a conversation wherein I explained how taco shells are made. Afterwards, I yanked down my colorful poster of garbage (the one I posted previously) and FINALLY got clarification on when to put out what kind of trash! Hooray!

When the bread finished, I cut it up and distributed pieces. Fujita-san (one of the moms) had brought some croquettes she made with Japanese sweet potato and other veggies. These were then deep fried in my wok (“Oh, that’s how you do it in that thing!"). We gathered the kids, opened up the bags of junk food someone had brought, and snacked on all the food. Holt complained that he wanted something else, so I pulled out what was left of our mini-hotdogs. Those were devoured almost instantly by all the children, so we then put out the mandarin oranges that Fujita-san had brought. By the time we were done putting out food, we had a little feast on my coffee table. Of course, all the women sat on the floor and the kids (all seven of them) tried to pile onto the couch. We ate and talked, and exchanged phrase books, which lead to much laughter. All in all, it was a very positive and fun several hours!