The Week in Review

This past week, though unremarkable, did have its share of minor events. None is worthy of it’s own blog post, so today I’ll just give you a general review of the week.

Tuesday, Aaron and the boys joined me at my advanced eikawa class. We continued a discussion began the previous week concerning American banking and methods of payment. I did a little ‘show and tell’ with my checkbook. It actually took quite a bit of explaining, as Japanese people use cash almost exclusively. This conversation was followed by a very interesting review of some Texas Highways magazines my mother had sent us. We talked about the pictures and some of the articles, and the evening flew by.

Wednesday was picture day for the sixth-graders at Nishiokoppe Elementary School. Just after lunch, all the teachers did a “Clark Kent” and changed into their suits; they were so fast I thought for sure they must be superheroes, accustomed to changing clothes in five seconds or less. We gathered in the gym where a little old lady waited with an ancient camera to take our picture. Each time the flash went off, she had to stop and change bulbs. All in all, there were eleven adults in the photo, including me. Every adult who works in the building was included. Did I mention how many sixth-graders there are? Two. Eleven adults, two kids. I had to laugh to myself afterwards.

Thursday is the day usually reserved for my planning time and my other eikawa class. However, last week after cooking, my class cancelled itself so that half of the members and myself could attend an event at the pre-school. As I have mentioned before, the school year here is winding down. The “giraffe class” (the oldest students) would be performing feats of athleticism – well, “feats” for a group of six-year olds. So I joined Ridge and the other mothers on the floor as we watched the older students leap over a jumping thingie (sorry, can’t think of anything more dignified to call it), jump rope independently, and jump rope as a group. The other students then went to their usual ‘spots’, stood, and sang a song for the graduating pre-schoolers. Except Ridge. He just sat and watched. Oh well. The mothers of the graduates had an activity for all the students. It involved showing them pictures and asking them to guess what the picture was a drawing of. I’m afraid that for those of us who don’t speak Japanese, it actually became a bit tedious.

Here’s a couple of short video files:

Each student jumped rope 100 time. You can hear the others counting in the background - they are in the 20's (ju ni go, ju ni roku = 25, 26)

The kids also jumped this thing several times

Then the finale: jumping rope in unison. You can hear them say, "Ii desu ka?" and the answer, "Ii desu yo!"

The next day, Friday, was a special lunch day at the pre-school. It was a “boofay” lunch, I was told (buffet). This is a little unusual, and one of the only buffet meals I have seen since arriving. So, I ditched my usual school lunch and played hooky at the pre-school for an hour. I think some of the mothers had arrived at 9:00, when school begins, to start the preparations. There were several tables full of food. The kids and mothers who came with them stood patiently in line, waiting their turn. When everyone had his or her food, the head teacher said, “ Ii desu ka?” (Is it good?) and the kids reply in perfect unison, “Ii desu yo!” (yep, we’re ready). Then everyone says, “Itadakimasu” and the eating begins. Ridge was happy to have me join him at lunch and we had a very nice time. The end of lunch was signaled by the usual, “Gochisosama deshita”, which means, literally, “It was a feast.” All meals end this way, except at parties.
Here's Ridge sitting at his spot as the preparations are finalized. http://felker.imstx.com/minigradlunch.jpg

Later that same day, I had my last class of ninth-graders at the middle school. Friday was their last day of classes. Tomorrow (Tuesday) they will travel to the high schools they hope to attend and take the required entrance exams. For some, this will be very, very stressful. My class, the last class of the day, and their last class as middle schoolers, would be an auction. Since Christmas, I have been doling out fake money for students who are speaking good English, or at least trying very hard. It’s just a little positive reinforcement system I use and the kids have really enjoyed it. Their reward was to be a food auction. Thursday afternoon, I had come to the school to use the kitchen. How can I pass up five ovens? I made chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and an apple pie. Now it was time to spend that hard-earned money! They had a great time buying the food, though at first they didn’t realize they were bidding for the ENTIRE pie, not just a piece. This news brought about a bit of a bidding frenzy. In the end, Takuya and Kenta pooled their money. As I suspected, Takuya insisted on sharing the pie. He quickly drew a little diagram to determine the best way to divide the pie, and proceeded to give everyone a piece. The last two pieces were given to Mr. Terada, the homeroom teacher, and Kocho-sensei (what we call the principal). It was a sight to see; a group of hungry boys devouring apple pie served to them on facial tissue, with not a fork in sight. Kenta broke out some chopsticks to eat his. Today, I asked Naoki, Takuya’s seventh-grade brother, if Takuya shared his pie (Takuya had taken his home). Of course, he had. “Very delicious!” Naoki told me. I also saw, today, that the principal had washed my pie plate for me and placed it in the dish drainer to dry. What a guy!

This brings us to today, which, as it happens, was a bit of a personal milestone for me. I finally refused to eat part of my school lunch. Some time ago, we were served some fried smelt for lunch. As I have been forcing myself to become accustomed to eating an entire fish from head to tail (it’s not uncommon for lunch to consist of a small fried fish, in its entirety), I bit into it determined to finish all the food on my plate. Then I made the mistake of looking at the fish where I had bitten it. This was no ordinary fried fish. This fish was pregnant. I don’t know how I finished my lunch that day. It is a bit of a blur. In conversation with Colin, some time after this event, I mentioned the fish with eggs ordeal. He laughed at me. “I used to do the same thing [eat all the food during school lunch]. Then I got over it. I know those fish. I won’t eat them.”

So, today, I had a preview of lunch before I left the middle school. As the teachers were filling their plates and I prepared to leave, I saw a fish on the plate that looked familiar. I checked. My suspicions were confirmed. It was fish-with-eggs day for lunch! I made up my mind right then and there. I drove to the elementary school, found my spot for lunch, waited until the “Itadakimasu”, and then promptly got up and returned my fish to the serving bin from which they had come. The fourth-grader across from me gave me a knowing smile. She had managed to get rid of one of hers. Unfortunately, while I can eat what I want, the kids have to eat some of everything. I noticed she left her fish for last. Then, after drenching it in shoyu (soy sauce), she took a small bite and immediately followed it with a chaser of rice. This process continued for several bites, her pretty face becoming more drawn and tight after each bite. Then, it happened. After taking a bite, she noticed there was a bit of spine hanging out the end. With a panicked look, she made a small groaning noise. Frantically, she dipped the bit in more shoyu and wiggled it a little, desperately hoping, perhaps, that it would fall. No such luck. So, resigned to her fate, she covered her eyes with her hand and took the next bite. By the time she was finished with the required amount, I felt so sorry that I couldn’t help but think that I would have eaten it for her if I could!