The Boyfriend Question, Love Confessions, and Awkward Staring

I don't know how I'm gonna sum up three weeks in one update, but I'll give it a go.

These last three weeks have been eventful but not really.  Eventful because I've now been to all four of my main junior high schools and a kindergarten; not really because I've been teaching the same self-intro lesson  for every class.  I mentioned in my last update that Japanese students are very energetic.  Contrary to popular belief, Japan has its fair share of naughty, rowdy students that talk during class, sleep during class, and show a strong disinterest in learning certain subjects.  However, most of my students seem thrilled to have a foreigner in the classroom, and for mixed reasons.  The girls think I'm pretty, the boys find me beautiful, and this leads to some pretty interesting conversations (besides just favourite food and sports).

A common, and often personal question for foreigners, is "Do you have a boyfriend?"  Of course, I always answer, "No", and most students seem rather disappointed, like there's nothing more to talk about (which certainly makes me happy I'm single).  But one girl in particular had a rather hard time believing that I didn't have one.  She asked me twice in class, and even during lunch time, to which I replied with a definite "No".  Once she was convinced of this, she pointed to a boy that was sitting in our group and said, "He is a nice boy."  I simply replied with an, "oh, okay," and left it at that.

But wait, there's more.  One way to divert the boyfriend question if it makes you feel uncomfortable is to ask if the student has a boyfriend.  I wholly expected this one girl to feel embarrassed, but she enthusiastically stood up, ran over to the other side of the classroom, and pointed out a particular boy that she happened to be "dating".  This boy kept shaking his head and waving his hand for "No, no, no," but this one outgoing (and rather obnoxious) girl was persistent that she was indeed going out with this boy.  The next day, I had lunch with her best friend's class and this friend claimed she liked a tall boy in third year (about 10th grade in North America).  She, too, posed the boyfriend question.

So I've gotten a fair amount of boyfriend questions, but the fun doesn't stop there.  I mentioned before that many of the boys think I'm beautiful.  Most won't admit it, but there is the occasional loud-mouthed outgoing fellow in the classroom who feels a strong urge to voice his opinion.  Here's a couple of scenarios:

1. At Yokogawa - On my first day of teaching, one of the second graders (about grade 9), stood up and said, "Kellie-sensei, you are very pretty!"  Very flattering, but not for my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English, who conducts the majority of the English lessons).  She responded in Japanese with something along the lines of "Eeeeee?!  What about me?!"
2. At Mizobe - On my third day of classes, I took off my cowboy hat and one of the loud students in second grade said, "Cutie!!!"  He wanted to walk me back to the teacher's room, but my JTE wouldn't let him.
3. At Kirishima - Let's just say that I think the male students in second year were more interested in the fact that I was wearing a skirt than what I was talking about.  That was a pretty awkward class.
4. At Makizono - The love confession during lunch.  One of the boys in third year, who calls himself Mr. Crazy, asked if I liked him.  I replied with, "I like all of my students."  After a bit of chuckling and giggling from the entire class, he then said, "I love you."  The rest of the class who heard him, including me, laughed quite a bit at that statement, too.  Wittingly, I replied, "Thank you."  More laughing.  Mr. Crazy then asked me if I liked another boy who was sitting in a different group.  I replied again with, "I like all of my students."  I think he got the memo after that.

Okay, now that you've all had a good laugh, let's change gears a little.  And when I say a little, I mean a little.  As a foreigner, I obviously stand out.  This leads to almost everyone staring at me,doing double or even triple takes to make sure they did indeed see a foreigner in their midst.  Children and adults alike will stare at me as long as they have to to believe that I'm real.  Children and elderly people have no fear: they will continue to stare even when you look back at them.  For example, the first time I went to A-Z (a massive Walmart store), a kid no more than two years old was whining, sitting in a shopping cart (which, by the way, are small).  I walked passed him and he immediately stopped crying and stared at me.  I have to say, I felt quite exalted for shutting up someone's kid.  Other adults are a little more discreet.  Last weekend, Cory (the other Canadian ALT) and I took the train back from Kagoshima City to Kirishima.  On the train was a man in his twenty's and he constantly stared at me all the way back.  The only times he looked away was when I looked up at him, and he would quickly avert his gaze.  Cory joked that it's amazing he didn't burn a hole in my head with how intently he was staring.  Rather comical experience, but at the time, it was pretty awkward.

So there's my little update.  Hope you enjoyed the read because those were definitely some of the highlights of these past three weeks.  I may update later in the week again with news on Sport's Day and playing futsol with a bunch of men.  Stay tuned!

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos, but there's a bit of a confidentiality thing with the schools and it wouldn't feel right putting them up on a public blog site.

Good Gosh Culture Shock! Garbage and Over-Packaging

Japan is all about efficiency right down to its garbage.  They sort and recycle everything!  So far, I have three bags: one for a vast assortment of plastic recycling, one for burnable garbage (whatever THAT means…), and one for non-burnable garbage (again, I really don’t know what constitutes as non-burnable).  On top of that, I have a box full of plastic bottles and a growing pile of cardboard.  And that pretty much sums up about half of the categories of separating garbage.

It doesn’t end at home, though.  At McDonald’s (yes, the worldwide food chain has actually made it around the world), there are different garbage cans and a place to dump the ice from your drink.  It may seem daunting to have to separate your trash at a fast food restaurant, but there are places, like the popular burger chain, Mos Burger, where you bring your tray to the employees and they deal with it for you.

Just about as ridiculous as the garbage system here is the immense use of plastic.  The Japanese are unknowingly, notorious for over-packaging.  When getting groceries, I not only have bags for my food, but bags within bags.  And those extra bags aren’t for the overpriced fruit!  A pack of four batteries looks pretty normal, but when you open it, there is another tight plastic wrapping around all of the batteries.  My fellow Canadian ALT bought a KitKat in which all of the chocolate sticks were individually wrapped.

In terms of longing for my home country, garbage and over-packaging are the two areas where I’m experiencing a rather comical side of negative culture shock.  I’m in euphoria for everything else, at least until I have to eat natto or fish heads for lunch.

Genki Kids!

Japanese kids are very genki (energetic)!  I met a lot of them when I went to my first school yesterday:  Yokogawa-chuo 横川中.  The opening ceremony was the strangest thing I’d ever witnessed.  I introduced myself first in Japanese.  After my initial Hajimemashite and a bow, the students were dead silent and bowed back.  I proceeded awkwardly with the rest of my self-intro.  Not a peep or facial expression from the students.  The rest of the ceremony was spent singing the Yokogawa song, giving a few speeches, and giving out awards.

Afterwards, I was technically supposed to go back to the Board of Education in Hayato, but my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) asked if I would eat lunch with the students.  I agreed.

Students in elementary and junior high school eat lunch, which is provided from them, together and they all start at the same time with hands together in “prayer fashion” and a loud “Itadakimasu!”  Today’s lunch was a rice-soup-thing.  I really don’t know how else to describe it except for a massive bowl of rice and chicken soup.  We had various bowls: one big one of rice; another with soup broth, chicken and assorted veggies; and another with some shredded vegetable I had never seen before.  I watched the students as they put everything into the rice bowl and followed suite, and then…ate it with chopsticks?!  I have to tell you, I never thought it was possible to eat soupy rice with chopsticks, but somehow I managed to “ungracefully” shove it all into my mouth.  As if that wasn’t enough calories to fill me up, there was also a small carton of milk, a strong-tasting apple-flavoured Jello, and a small packet of cheese.  The packet of cheese looked like something you would see at a Chinese restaurant, like a soya sauce packet, but with cheese inside.

Overall, it was a fun experience and I look forward to more exciting lunches...as long as it’s not sashimi or some other raw creature.