Sunday, December 28, 2003
Little did I know that my first day teaching at Meisei would be a turning point for me...
That evening of November 8th, after classes were over, I took a taxi back to the Kabe train station with Mr. S, a Meisei professor who is the coordinator of the outservices. It was at the station when a Meisei art student first laid his eyes on me. From now, I will refer to him as "K". He was "struck" by my appearance, I suppose. He stood across me on the train as I chatted away with Mr. S, unaware of his exsistence. It happened to be pure chance that K was on the train that evening because he hardly ever takes the train and it just happened that he was going to visit his home in Kanagawa Prefecture that evening, so he was able to see me all the way to Hachioji, where he had to change train lines. He told me later on that he wanted so much to talk to me on the train but didn`t have the courage to strike up a conversation. To be honest, I think it was a good thing he didn`t because 1) I was very very tired, and not in the mood for talking and 2) I would have thought him pretty creepy. Anywayz, apparently, he figured that I was an English teacher, so later on, he approached Mr. S, and told him that he wanted to draw me, so he got Mr. S to call up Berlitz and schedule a time for him to come in and draw me. So imagine my surprise when around mid-November, one of the secretaries went up to me and said, "By the way, someone from Meisei wants to draw you." "Draw me? Why?" I deduced that it had to be one of the students that I taught on Saturdays because no one else from that university had seen me before...unless one of my students had recommended me to an art student. I knew that Meisei, while not one of Japan`s top schools, actually has a pretty good art program. Anyway, to my surprise, on November 26th, I was introduced to an art student, who I had never seen before. I was told the drawing session would take 20 minutes, but it ended up taking over 2 hours...thankfully I didn`t have any classes. He defenitely seemed artsy...tall and lean...beard...he wore browns and blues and seemed rather serious-looking. As he drew me, I was afraid to look into his eyes at first...but then I felt totally comfortable looking into his eyes. I asked him, "So why are you drawing me?" He said it was for one of his classes that was looking at head composition. I asked, "But why me?" He stammered something about seeing me at the Kabe station. I couldn`t decide whether to be creeped out or flattered...but flattery won out in the end. After all, most people don`t get many chances in their lives to be drawn. He said he wanted to continue drawing me and wanted me to go to his studio at Meisei so he could draw me there. I was unsure of whether I should do it or not, but I decided to go. So around Dec. 1st, I went to his studio...basically his space in a huge room where the art students work on their paintings. He not only sketched me but started an oil painting of me. I was there several hours and afterwards, as he walked me to the bus stop, he asked me to go to the movies with him. I was so tickled! We ended up going to dinner in Hachioji instead the following week and well, it went really well.
Since then, things have been going pretty well for K and I...oh God, I don`t want to sound too mushy, but I feel so comfortable with him, even in spite of our language difficulties. He speaks very little English and my Japanese is not that great. On the weekends, I go to his art studio to pose for him. He has started another painting of me and a sculpture of my head.?@We finally did get to see a movie together, which was The Last Samurai. I wanted to write about him before I could continue with what`s been happening to me lately, because a lot of it includes him. I will write about my birthday, Christmas, and New Year`s, but it will have to wait until after New Year`s...
That evening of November 8th, after classes were over, I took a taxi back to the Kabe train station with Mr. S, a Meisei professor who is the coordinator of the outservices. It was at the station when a Meisei art student first laid his eyes on me. From now, I will refer to him as "K". He was "struck" by my appearance, I suppose. He stood across me on the train as I chatted away with Mr. S, unaware of his exsistence. It happened to be pure chance that K was on the train that evening because he hardly ever takes the train and it just happened that he was going to visit his home in Kanagawa Prefecture that evening, so he was able to see me all the way to Hachioji, where he had to change train lines. He told me later on that he wanted so much to talk to me on the train but didn`t have the courage to strike up a conversation. To be honest, I think it was a good thing he didn`t because 1) I was very very tired, and not in the mood for talking and 2) I would have thought him pretty creepy. Anywayz, apparently, he figured that I was an English teacher, so later on, he approached Mr. S, and told him that he wanted to draw me, so he got Mr. S to call up Berlitz and schedule a time for him to come in and draw me. So imagine my surprise when around mid-November, one of the secretaries went up to me and said, "By the way, someone from Meisei wants to draw you." "Draw me? Why?" I deduced that it had to be one of the students that I taught on Saturdays because no one else from that university had seen me before...unless one of my students had recommended me to an art student. I knew that Meisei, while not one of Japan`s top schools, actually has a pretty good art program. Anyway, to my surprise, on November 26th, I was introduced to an art student, who I had never seen before. I was told the drawing session would take 20 minutes, but it ended up taking over 2 hours...thankfully I didn`t have any classes. He defenitely seemed artsy...tall and lean...beard...he wore browns and blues and seemed rather serious-looking. As he drew me, I was afraid to look into his eyes at first...but then I felt totally comfortable looking into his eyes. I asked him, "So why are you drawing me?" He said it was for one of his classes that was looking at head composition. I asked, "But why me?" He stammered something about seeing me at the Kabe station. I couldn`t decide whether to be creeped out or flattered...but flattery won out in the end. After all, most people don`t get many chances in their lives to be drawn. He said he wanted to continue drawing me and wanted me to go to his studio at Meisei so he could draw me there. I was unsure of whether I should do it or not, but I decided to go. So around Dec. 1st, I went to his studio...basically his space in a huge room where the art students work on their paintings. He not only sketched me but started an oil painting of me. I was there several hours and afterwards, as he walked me to the bus stop, he asked me to go to the movies with him. I was so tickled! We ended up going to dinner in Hachioji instead the following week and well, it went really well.
Since then, things have been going pretty well for K and I...oh God, I don`t want to sound too mushy, but I feel so comfortable with him, even in spite of our language difficulties. He speaks very little English and my Japanese is not that great. On the weekends, I go to his art studio to pose for him. He has started another painting of me and a sculpture of my head.?@We finally did get to see a movie together, which was The Last Samurai. I wanted to write about him before I could continue with what`s been happening to me lately, because a lot of it includes him. I will write about my birthday, Christmas, and New Year`s, but it will have to wait until after New Year`s...
The November Chronicles, Part III
Meisei University...Nov. 8th-Dec. 20th
The company I work for often sends teachers to universities to teach English lessons. I was chosen to go out to Meisei University for six Saturdays to teach, not university students, but university staff. I wasn`t particularly looking forward to it, because I didn`t know what to expect...and also, the classes ran from 4pm to 7pm on a Saturday evening, when I was used to working until 6:15pm at the latest on Saturdays. The university is also pretty far away...an hour away from Hachioji! So November 8th was when I started my outservice at Meisei. After a 45 minute train ride to the backwoods town of Kabe, I had to take a 15 minute bus ride to the university. Needless to say, it`s pretty isolated. I felt like I was a missionary or something. But to my surprise, I ended up truly enjoying teaching there. There were five students in all, but I taught three students at a time each week, except for the fifth week, in which I taught all five. The students, though not very proficient in English, were very eager and always did their best in class. I also liked the outservice because I felt as though I had a lot more freedom over what I taught. I also felt that it was so much easier to "see the bigger picture" as far as their progress and what they needed to learn, and it somehow made me care more about how they were progressing. And even though I taught them only five Saturdays,(TL substitued for me on my birthday, which I had asked off from work since September) I felt closer to them than I usually do with my regular students. Sometimes I felt that I didn`t not give them the best lesson I could...but they still were very nice to me and kept saying that they wanted me to continue teaching them in April. Whether that`s just their "Japanese-ness" talking or not, I was touched.
Meisei University...Nov. 8th-Dec. 20th
The company I work for often sends teachers to universities to teach English lessons. I was chosen to go out to Meisei University for six Saturdays to teach, not university students, but university staff. I wasn`t particularly looking forward to it, because I didn`t know what to expect...and also, the classes ran from 4pm to 7pm on a Saturday evening, when I was used to working until 6:15pm at the latest on Saturdays. The university is also pretty far away...an hour away from Hachioji! So November 8th was when I started my outservice at Meisei. After a 45 minute train ride to the backwoods town of Kabe, I had to take a 15 minute bus ride to the university. Needless to say, it`s pretty isolated. I felt like I was a missionary or something. But to my surprise, I ended up truly enjoying teaching there. There were five students in all, but I taught three students at a time each week, except for the fifth week, in which I taught all five. The students, though not very proficient in English, were very eager and always did their best in class. I also liked the outservice because I felt as though I had a lot more freedom over what I taught. I also felt that it was so much easier to "see the bigger picture" as far as their progress and what they needed to learn, and it somehow made me care more about how they were progressing. And even though I taught them only five Saturdays,(TL substitued for me on my birthday, which I had asked off from work since September) I felt closer to them than I usually do with my regular students. Sometimes I felt that I didn`t not give them the best lesson I could...but they still were very nice to me and kept saying that they wanted me to continue teaching them in April. Whether that`s just their "Japanese-ness" talking or not, I was touched.
Hey guys, check out my phlog...I`ve been posting on it like mad since I got my new cell phone...
The ultimate Spapanese pun...
Hasta man~ana="See you tomorrow" in Spanish
Ashita="tomorrow" in Japanese
Name of a Japanese TV show=Ashita ma nya-nya
Ok...I guess it`s one of those things lost in translation...
Looking out the staff room window one evening...
PD(in a very sarcastic voice): Hachioji, city of dreams...
*both of us laugh*
PD: It`s more like the city of bad dreams...
It`s true...especially downtown. Actually, Hachioji is not a bad place, and it`s actually rather peaceful on the outskirts...it`s just that downtown Hachioji is full of sleazy bars and clubs that I hear are run by the yakuza. On weekend nights...even on weekday nights, you can see the pimps and the sleazy-looking sleazily dressed girls walking around, trying to get people to go into their clubs. I was discussing restaurants with a student and he was trying to explain about downtown Hachioji`s atmosphere, so I taught him the word "seedy" to describe it. Another thing I noticed about downtown Hachioji...it seems that as the temperatures go down, the hemlines go up...huh? Wait a minute...that doesn`t make sense...
Hasta man~ana="See you tomorrow" in Spanish
Ashita="tomorrow" in Japanese
Name of a Japanese TV show=Ashita ma nya-nya
Ok...I guess it`s one of those things lost in translation...
Looking out the staff room window one evening...
PD(in a very sarcastic voice): Hachioji, city of dreams...
*both of us laugh*
PD: It`s more like the city of bad dreams...
It`s true...especially downtown. Actually, Hachioji is not a bad place, and it`s actually rather peaceful on the outskirts...it`s just that downtown Hachioji is full of sleazy bars and clubs that I hear are run by the yakuza. On weekend nights...even on weekday nights, you can see the pimps and the sleazy-looking sleazily dressed girls walking around, trying to get people to go into their clubs. I was discussing restaurants with a student and he was trying to explain about downtown Hachioji`s atmosphere, so I taught him the word "seedy" to describe it. Another thing I noticed about downtown Hachioji...it seems that as the temperatures go down, the hemlines go up...huh? Wait a minute...that doesn`t make sense...
The November Chronicles, Part II
NL`s Party...Nov. 9th
I went to the party that NL, my coworker, had been planning for since the end of September. It was a welcome/ 21st birthday party for her daughter, TT, who had just arrived in Japan. On my way to NL`s apartment, I ended up meeting a group of people in Tachikawa, which included my boss. After getting lost, we managed to find her place, which is really nice and really spacious, for a Japanese apartment. The party ended up being a whole lot of fun. I got to meet some of NL`s and TT`s friends and acquaintances. Among one of their closer friends was SS, who seemed like a really funny and nice guy. He kept teasing TT about her smoking and drinking. At one point, as NL and TT were goofing around, he said, with a straight face, "What are you doing, lesbians?" It was so unexpected, especially coming from a Japanese man, that we couldn`t help but burst out laughing. Also, I took hand in almost setting NL`s apartment on fire! You see, NL invited one of the students (whom I`ll call H-san) that she teaches on Sundays to the party. It was great seeing him again because I would sometimes teach him when I used to work on Sundays. Anyway, for the party, NL decorated the house with candles. At one of the tables, there was a wooden tray with tea light votives on them. H-san, my coworker TL, and I were sitting at that table, talking, when H-san decided it would be fun to make a pyramid with the votives. I helped him make it and it was all well and good but then, the flame from the bottom votives heated the votives at the top, so the flames started getting bigger and bigger...to the point where blowing them out would do no good...in fact, when H-san tried to blow them out, they got worse! At this point, with me going "Oh my God!" and TL going "Don`t do `foo-foo` on them!", we were attracting attention. H-san tried to pick up the tray but because it was so hot, he ended up dropping it, leaving a scorched spot on the tatami mat, but he managed to move the flaming tray to the balcony. Someone said, "smother it with a pillow!" Instead, H-san decided to grab some nearby wine to try to put out the fire. I said, "Arukoru...abunai!" (Alcohol...dangerous!), but it was too late. When he poured the wine on the fire, the flames burst out even more...I`m surprised he wasn`t seriously burned...even though his hair slightly stank of sulphur afterwards. Finally, he managed to put out the fire...maybe NL got him some water. Looking back, it was so funny....but it was kinda scary at the time. Poor H-san kept apologizing profusely and NL kept saying, "It`s ok, it`s ok". Afterwards, NL put on some music and tried to get everyone to dance. Unfortunately, the neighbors knocked on the door and complained so we had to turn off the music. Later on, H-san was supposed to give TL, one of the Berlitz German teachers, and I a ride home but he took the German teacher home, forgetting to take TT and I in his car, so, in my frustration, I called a taxi all by myself, so TT and I were able to get to the Tachikawa train station before the last trains.
NL`s Party...Nov. 9th
I went to the party that NL, my coworker, had been planning for since the end of September. It was a welcome/ 21st birthday party for her daughter, TT, who had just arrived in Japan. On my way to NL`s apartment, I ended up meeting a group of people in Tachikawa, which included my boss. After getting lost, we managed to find her place, which is really nice and really spacious, for a Japanese apartment. The party ended up being a whole lot of fun. I got to meet some of NL`s and TT`s friends and acquaintances. Among one of their closer friends was SS, who seemed like a really funny and nice guy. He kept teasing TT about her smoking and drinking. At one point, as NL and TT were goofing around, he said, with a straight face, "What are you doing, lesbians?" It was so unexpected, especially coming from a Japanese man, that we couldn`t help but burst out laughing. Also, I took hand in almost setting NL`s apartment on fire! You see, NL invited one of the students (whom I`ll call H-san) that she teaches on Sundays to the party. It was great seeing him again because I would sometimes teach him when I used to work on Sundays. Anyway, for the party, NL decorated the house with candles. At one of the tables, there was a wooden tray with tea light votives on them. H-san, my coworker TL, and I were sitting at that table, talking, when H-san decided it would be fun to make a pyramid with the votives. I helped him make it and it was all well and good but then, the flame from the bottom votives heated the votives at the top, so the flames started getting bigger and bigger...to the point where blowing them out would do no good...in fact, when H-san tried to blow them out, they got worse! At this point, with me going "Oh my God!" and TL going "Don`t do `foo-foo` on them!", we were attracting attention. H-san tried to pick up the tray but because it was so hot, he ended up dropping it, leaving a scorched spot on the tatami mat, but he managed to move the flaming tray to the balcony. Someone said, "smother it with a pillow!" Instead, H-san decided to grab some nearby wine to try to put out the fire. I said, "Arukoru...abunai!" (Alcohol...dangerous!), but it was too late. When he poured the wine on the fire, the flames burst out even more...I`m surprised he wasn`t seriously burned...even though his hair slightly stank of sulphur afterwards. Finally, he managed to put out the fire...maybe NL got him some water. Looking back, it was so funny....but it was kinda scary at the time. Poor H-san kept apologizing profusely and NL kept saying, "It`s ok, it`s ok". Afterwards, NL put on some music and tried to get everyone to dance. Unfortunately, the neighbors knocked on the door and complained so we had to turn off the music. Later on, H-san was supposed to give TL, one of the Berlitz German teachers, and I a ride home but he took the German teacher home, forgetting to take TT and I in his car, so, in my frustration, I called a taxi all by myself, so TT and I were able to get to the Tachikawa train station before the last trains.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas...and may New Year`s also be great....party it up!!
