I finish to eat breakfast with my family, which was Miso Soup, rice and Tomago (egg) and left for Miyako High by car with the whole family. Once we arrived, we had some trouble trying to find where the office was so that I can begin to Shikaishimasu (Introduce) myself with the WHOLE staff of the school. I'm waiting to enter by waiting outside on the side of the hallway since students are passing through as my host family and YFU volunteer bow our heads and say "Ohayo Gozaimasu" for each person that passes by. We enter the teacher's lounge. My heart was 'doki doki' (thump thump!) as I had to do it in Japanese in the teacher's lounge.
Japanese---
私： こんにちは・・・あれー？あーごめん。おはようございます。カリフォルニア州サンホゼー市来ました。アメリカ人です・・・よろしくおねがいします！
すべての先生： よろしくおねがいします。
ENGLISH----
Me: Good afternoon... Oh wait. Opps, Good Morning!
I've come from San Jose, California so I'm American (NOT Japanese as I look like one)... Nice to meet you! *bows*
All of Staff: 'Nice to meet you' *all bowing*)
That was the worst introduction I've made. I've done better, but I think I blame myself because of how nervous I was when I shouldn't have been. Even in English it sounds horrible.
Waiting outside of the teacher's lounge (not shown), picture of the hall in the morning
Whatever, it's over. The I bow one more time and leave the teacher's lounge through the front door and follow Christy (an assistant English Teacher from England) back into the staff lounge in the BACK door to her tiny office space. The teachers now are doing their introductions about me and doing morning meetings, taking about 20 minutes. During that time, I talked with Christy about myself and she tells me about herself. It's nice to have someone to talk to in English :)
The teachers finally finish and leave, Christy and Ayumi-sensei (an English teacher) tell me to stay in the lounge at a table and begin to tell me the rules of the school and all the interesting yada yada. I ask questions, such as where the library is and what's it called in Japanese (aside: it's called "Toushoukan") and other questions such as how much freedom we have to leave school to buy food between classes and lunch. Despite being "the land of the free" in America, we couldn't leave school to buy lunch but in Japan, you can leave. You just simply can't bring the food/drink back into the school--no problem.
Anyways, we decide to go to the nurses' Office first before the library, and I met two young and friendly nurses (Sorry I forget names). I introduced myself again and bowed and we started talking about random stuff for a minute. They tell me if I had any problems, "kochi kuru ne" (Come here, okay). The nurses office in Japan is very much different in America, such as if you feel bad, you are welcome in the nurses' office even if it's something small as "it's-not-my-day". Heck, you can even hang out in here like some Japanese students do.
We (Ayumi-sensei, Christy and I) continue to the library, where I saw some school students staring at me, apparantly wondering how in the heck I can speak so advanced English with the assistant English teacher. Obviously, they think I'm not from Miyakojima but somewhere else such as Tokyo having studied English.
I arrive in the library after a 40 second walk and enter the building. Taking off my shoes, I walk in the main library area (this is a custom in Japan) and am greeted by Hiromi-san. She's in charge of the library and after hearing my Japanese (despite being how bad it already is) calls it Umai (skillful- I find out later it's because of the fact that I've only studied for a year). We greet, and leave, just like the nurses' office. I'm allowed to leave class if the Japanese gets too overwhelming and stay in the library to relax, but I plan not to do that.
Alright, it's back to the teacher's lounge. Why am I not in class now? Well, the school newspaper wants to interview me and take pictures with my host family. We enter the principal's room and I am served Ocha (tea). Two newspaper staff and a sensei as an interpreter are present, with my homeroom teacher behind me and my mother sitting beside me on a tatami mat. (I'm sitting Japanese style--I didn't want to look like a foreigner) They ask me questions on where I'm from, why I chose Japan, and other topics such as my Japanese skill. I tell them I've studied for only a year alone, and one sensei goes 'EHHH?? Sugee (pronounced su-geh)!' (Huh!? WOW~). He asks me how I do it alone, I tell him I use an online site and he does a longer 'sugee' with raised eyebrows and a lightened face. I decide to add that if I wanted to talk in Japanese I use Skype to talk with Japanese people. His eyes are like two full moons and his face lights up like a bright light bulb, saying even a longer and higher-pitched 'sugee'. That was hilarious. I find out later that he uses Skype, therefore he's amazed.
We finish asking questions and take pictures in front of the school's sign. That was probably 30 pictures they took in under 2 minutes and the newspaper staff thank us for our time to be interviewed. I go back to the staff lounge and Nobuyuki-sensei, my homeroom teacher, guides me to our class.
The picture taken on my camera
The newspaper that came out the next day. It's read a lot by people living in Miyakojima.
Title (I translated into English; sounds weird because translation is never perfect):
Exchange Student from the United States of America
"Life in Miyako is Interesting"
Jimmy Ly-kun studies at Miyako High School
About the Picture:
First three people on the left are my teachers. First is Asaho-sensei (English teacher), Nobuyuki-sensei (homeroom & Japanese teacher) and Christy (English assistant teacher from the U.K.). Next is me, Yukichi holding Bunta, Yukiko with Natsuko in front and the last is Shimoji-sensei (YFU Area Coordinator/Representative) ["Fly grabber" as my mom calls :D ]
As I'm walking to homeroom, I get stares and smiles from school school students in other classrooms through windows, pointing at me and smiling. I enter my homeroom, and the students are just like American students having free time. "Ki wo tsuke!" shouts the class leader and everyone dashes towards their seats immediately upon the Nobuyuki-sensei's entrance. Stares again. Ugh--but they were friendly stares, not like stalker ones. Nobayuki-sensei starts off the class by talking briefly about me and tells me to once again introduce myself. I introduce myself smoothly in Japanese this time as I was less nervous, "Jouzu" can be heard among the quietly chabbering students meaning skillful.
Nobayuki-sensei points to my seat, in the middle of the class. My name was on the desk in Katakana and Roman letters. The class leader tells the class to stand up once more, stand up straight, and bow to the teacher. "Yoroshiku" we all say to sensei and he tells us to be seated.
1 nensei 3 kumi 39 ban (1st year student, 3rd group, number 39)
I sit down and Yuka, a schoolgirl sitting in front of me, begins to talk to me. Her name is Yuka.
Yuka: "Nihongo wakaru?"/ You know Japanese?
Me: "Sukoshi" / A little...
Yuka: "Soukka" / I see...
Nobayuki-sensei then tells the class that another girl named Mako, who sits next to Yuka, is related to my host family. She's my second cousin. Both amazed, Mako and I said "Maji de?" in astonishment (meaning 'really?'). Sensei tells the class he's going to plan a party for the class for Ruriko-sensei (who's a new teacher at Miyako High only for 3 weeks) and me. Yuka continues to talk to me on small things with her best of her ability in English, asking for an electronic dictionary from other classmates at times and we engage in a light conversation for quite a while, ending up to be good friends at the end of the day. Sensei tells the class about a party, which will be a barbeque at 3:30pm in Maehama Beach in Miyakojima (Miyako Island). The bell rings and Nobuyuki-sensei leaves (remember teachers switch to classes, not like in America where students move to their classes).
All the boys get out and the girls stay in (to change in the class). The boys tell me to follow and told me we're going to P.E. to swim. I didn't bring any swimming clothes or towels so I'll just be watching today. We wait in front of the lockers for about 15 minutes for the teacher to give us the keys in order to unlock the locker gates. During that time, everyone focused their attention on me and asked questions (like where I'm from, my Japanese skill, hobbies, etc.). The gates finally open and I enter the pool area. The boys wait on the side of the pool for the teacher to come in and simply chatter. The teacher comes in a waits for quite a while (seems like he's waiting for the boys to settle down) and another teacher that seems to be in a higher position disciplines them. All the boys stare down--except for me until I finally noticed they were staring down. Finishing, he begins the class by telling the boys to do warm up stretches. "Ichi, ni, san, shi," the teacher counts while the boys finish with "go, roku, shichi, hachi." One of my friends, whom he perfers me to call him "George" poses in a hilarious position (he's posing like this on purpose) and tells me to snap a shot of him. The boys jump in the pool to do practice laps and class starts, ending about 20 minutes later.
"George" posing
Boys who did not dress out for swimming were cleaning up the pool as told by the coach. Apparently, they're having fun squirting the swimmers with the hose.
We return to class with some spare time during the 10 minute break and I snap some photos of my classmates
"Ano... Nani sore?" our math teacher asks of the party information on the board as he enters and erases it.
Since I was placed in a general math class, it was pretty easy becuase they were learning about quadratic problems and I suprise both the students and teachers when sensei tells us to solve a problem, saying "Jimmy mo wakaru" (Jimmy also gets/understands it). "Eh~~~~?" The boys say while surprised. I get stares from the whole class. I give a light smile and we continue back to work. The math class is really easy (due to the fact that it's a regular math class and I'm entering Calculus) but the Kanji (Chinese characters) make it seem "Holy cow chocolate!"
**NOTE: THE MATH TEACHER REMINDS ME OF MR. CASTILLO (my Pre-cal teacher), he even almost sounds like him**
Overwhelming math because of the kanji, but it's really not hard.
Once the uniform-bell-sound-found-in-almost-every-Japanese-school bell rang, math was over: it was lunchtime. My mom had packed me an Obento lunch (yum yum--how awesome is that??) laying in my bag. Chopsticks, drinks and the food. Oishikatta yo. I noticed all the students left except for a few students and decide to ask some of the boys sitting around me in Japanese. They say that everyone who went out of the classroom is getting their Obento, either from a store or from somewhere else that they left in the school. I nod and eat my Obento (sorry I forgot what I ate, it's been 3 days from the actual event and the time I'm writing this post). LOTS of students came up to me to practice their English, starting with "Hi" and telling me each of the students' names (apparantly some were calling each other nicknames than real ones). Some listened to their MP3s on their cell phones and were asking me about American artists whether I knew them or not. Green Day seems to be very popular with them.
Me, (a girl who never told her name), "Susan" and Reina at lunch.
Lunchtime (Part 1) The girls don't mind taking pictures but are embarrassed with I tell them it's a movie.
Going in with the guys into 3-kumi classroom :)
Posing
Many friends made on the first day at lunch
Lunch ends with the bell again, and we leave the 1 - 3 classroom. 1 stands for Ichi-nensei (First year student--Japanese high school is equivalent to 10th grade - 12th grade in America) while 3 stands for kumi group. Kumi, huh? Didn't you hear that somewhere before? Yup, back at SJSU we used that. We walk to the gym where it is jammed-packed with students with the swelling heat. Before we enter we have to take off our shoes just like in the house. Turns out the assembly in the gym was about the 80th anniversity of the school's opening. Of course, the students were 'naughty' and were talking the whole time, something not seen even in America (not to mention myself after 45 minutes of people trying to talk/wave/practice-their-English with me). At the end, a teacher stepped up to the microphone and disciplined the students, PURE SILENCE from the whole school, saying he was ashamed as a teacher to see such a thing. Once he finishes, we all get the a-OK to leave and we head back to our homeroom class (classroom 1-3 for me).
Hot and boring, but interesting.
Man, the AC was off so the classroom is hot as (noun goes here). "Atsui~~," everyone moans. One students calls me and hands me a mop. We're cleaning the classroom, a custom in Japan as students respect school (NOT like in America where most don't even bother to come to school). We push the tables back, and I start mopping like Custodian Joe (I just made up a name) while other students sweep, clean the board, the chalkboard eraser, etc... We pull the tables and chairs back to their positions when we're done. Lots of students (schoolgirls-not guys since guys aren't shy and come up to me) stood outside wanting to see the only American on the island.
Cleaning up the classroom at the end of the day (around 4:30 PM)
The final bell rings, and we leave. With lots of "Bye bye"s and "Mata ne"s (see you again), I head to the staff lounge to see Christy, who will show me the clubs of the school. Before that, I watch her with some schoolgirls who are competing in a competition on an English speaking contest. After, I decide to join tennis club and observe for the day since I had no proper clothes for practicing in the Okinawan sun. I took some pictures and went back into the Staff Lounge at around 6:30 PM to call my host family to pick me up by car.
Only watching today :(
Yukichi: Konbanwa, Yukichi Sakai desu. / Good evening, it's Yukichi Sakai.
Me: Ah~ Moshi moshi. Otousan? Jimmy desu. Ano, kuruma de kaette mo ii? / Oh, hello. Dad? It's Jimmy. Um, can go home by car?
Yukichi: Hai hai~ / Sure sure.
Me: Shitsurei-shimasu~ / Bye! (Literally: [Sorry,] I'm interrupting!)
He comes in about 2 minutes (that's quick) and picks me up. He asks me about my day and we arrive home in an instant. "Tadaima~ (I'm home)," I say and Okaasan greets me with "Okaeri! (Welcome home!) Gakkou wa tanoshii? (Was school fun?)"
"Sou sou sou! America no gakkou yori Nihon no gakkou wa Tanoshikute, omoroshikatta." (Yup yup yup, Japanese schools are more interesting and fun than the ones in America) [Aside: Seriously, they are, students go so much freedom]
I tell her I'm going to shower and she nods with an "Un!" (Sure--'un' is really a word in Japanese). She shows me around the shower room (notice I didn't use bathroom/restroom) and offers me to use her shampoo. I politely say I have my own and begin to shower once she leaves. It was a quick one, and when I got out, dinner was waiting as I said "Owari" (I'm done).
I sit down at the family table and eat after saying "Itadakimasu" (You HAVE to say this before eating. How do I know? I've forgotten many times). Miso soup again and some rice with unique Miyako-niku (meat found only in Miyako) served with cold Ocha (tea). I finish and began to write my blog after bringing out my laptop into the main area and chat with friends online at midnight-pacific time even though it was 6 PM in Miyakojima-shi.
Then the rest is usual, I brushed my teeth and stuff you probably wouldn't want to read. I turn on the AC and begin to listen to my MP3 for about 10 minutes and fell asleep.
2 comments:
Wow. It does sound really fun. [: Thank for posting ~ ^^ It's nice to .. hear what goes on in my dream world. :3 Buwhahah ! ^___^ I'm glad you're having a blast over there ! :o Miso soup is awesome.Mmm, you're eating dinner now.. as we speak. Haha. Well, my mom just came into my room with Catherine sleeping over and she said "Do you know what time it is ? Go to sleep." But I'll be awake at 4:44 & 9:45am here in America because I have to wake up my friends. XDXD
See you later & before school. [: Good night night. [:
you shouldnt leave the AC on while sleeping. its rude and heavy on their electric bill
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