We never really know what’s going on….

Hey, gang! Here’s what’s been happening since I last wrote:

Friday-

After school on Friday, I had to stay and help kids practice for an English competition that’s coming up on the 31^st. The competition is going to be scary. Ha, ha. Get it? Scary….the 31^st…Halloween. Anyway, I have two kids that I have to help practice. They memorized a couple of dialogues from the book and recite them. I have to help them after school with proper pronunciation. One kid is amazing. She already has her dialogue memorized and speaks very well. There are just a few things that she needs to work on…..like putting enthusiasm into her words. The other kid has difficulties with the “th” sound in the word “thirsty.” Japanese doesn’t have that sound, so it’s hard for him to form it. It’s similar to how Americans have difficulties rolling R’s in Spanish. We don’t have that sound in English, so it’s hard to do. He also gets the “l” and “r” sounds mixed up. That’s really common. One of my English teachers speaks good English, but she still sometimes mixes up the sounds. Japanese doesn’t have the “l” or “r” sounds, so that’s another one that is difficult for them to learn.

Saturday-

I had a three day weekend since Monday was a national holiday. (No, Japan does NOT celebrate Columbus Day. It was Health and Sports Day in Japan.) We had a plan for our three day weekend: Saturday-lazy day, Sunday-sports festival, Monday-hike Mt. Ichifusa and REACH THE TOP!! I greatly enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays. It’s usually the only day a week that I can. The past couple of weekends we’ve had sports festivals on Sundays, and before those began, we went to Mass or had something else to do. Saturday morning is a good time to skype people at home, but it’s a double edged sword. I love to talk to people, but usually we catch one person after another after another, and before we know it, it’s 1:00 PM, and the day is halfway over! Usually at least one of our weekend mornings is spent this way.

We’ve talked about it before, but I’m not sure what made us do serious research about it on Saturday, but we’re tossing around the notion of moving to Alaska after Japan. As I told my mother, we’re still young and dumb and not quite ready to settle down and have kids or buy a house, so why not? We heard that teachers get paid well in Alaska, and it seems to be true! The benefits aren’t as great at the JET Program, but they are still very enticing.  I could get my teaching certificate basically for free, so whenever we move back to Paducah (eventually), I’ll be able to get a much better teaching job in which I’ll actually have a decent salary and benefits.  I’d have to stay in Alaska for at least two years.  Here’s the game plan now (of course it’s subject to change): stay in Japan for another year and then apply to the Alaskan program.  Whenever I went to college, I never thought I wanted to teach.  Whenever I started teaching, I said I would never teach outside of college.  I didn’t want to deal with the drama, parental complaints, etc, but being here and teaching at the junior high has definitely made it seem possible.  Granted, I know that attitude toward education and the educational system is different in both countries, but I’m seriously considering it!  Those of you that can’t visit us in Japan, consider visiting us in Alaska in a few years. 

After we researched that, we decided to go for a little walk around town.  We ended up at the hardware store beside our super market.  We bought a lawn mower! …….and by that, I mean we bought a scythe.  Our back yard is no more than a small plot, but as previously mentioned, it was out of control.  The grass and weeds were probably thigh-high in places.  Ian enjoyed his new toy.  It was sharp and easily cut.  He said the only way it could be better is if it had some fire capabilities.  Oh, Ian!  He did a good job cutting the yard and front flower bed.  Next spring, I really want to plant some flowers there.  There are some rocks in the bed.  We think that at one time, someone put gravel down, so it will require a little work, but we’re willing to do it.  We want to make this place look cute…..not the huge eye sore that it’s been!

Sunday-

On Sunday, we had ANOTHER sports festival.  This one was for the whole town, and we were asked to participate.  We were assigned to the green team.  Refer to the pictures on facebook.  It was a pretty good time.  When our team leader called our names, we never knew what event we were competing in until we were on the field.  Most events involved running, but there were a few, such as tug-a-war.  I was assigned to that event and had absolutely no idea what I was doing until I walked out onto the field and saw everyone picking up the rope.  When the whistle blew, I didn’t know if we had won or lost, but Ian said that we won.  Yay! 

We enjoyed playing with the kids on our team.  The younger kids didn’t participate, but they provided us with entertainment.  They would come over to us and want us to tickle their feet or ribs.  I love playing with the little kids!  Lunch during the festival was from 12-1 and basically a big picnic.  We were invited to eat with one of the families on our team.  Even though we packed our own lunch, they asked us to eat with them.  The wife had even brought some apple pie-like things, and we got to eat apple pie with chopsticks! 

The biggest event of the day was one of the last ones.  Six teams competed, and it was a 20 person relay.  They called our names to participate, so we went to the line up.  One of the guys was distributing numbers.  He showed us the numbers, and I said, “oh, 1-20.”  He heard me say 20, and just like that I became number 20 for the relay……as in the last person to run…..as in the anchor…..as in the most important person in the relay.  Ian unknowingly chose 1…..as in the second most important person in the relay.  And just like that, the foreigners took up the two most important running spots.  No pressure, right?  I looked for other people with 20 pinned on their shirt.  All of them were guys….very athletic looking guys.    The mayor was one of them.  When he saw that I was also 20, he said “Melissa!!” and pointed at his number and then at mine.  People from the other teams asked people on our team who the anchor was, and they pointed at me.  The other teams had a kind of “ohhhhh” expression on their faces.  I’ve never run a serious relay before, but luckily our team wasn’t in last place when I got the baton.  I ran as fast as I could, and Ian said I was pretty quick, but I was overtaken by one of my junior high schoolers.  100 meters is a lot farther than it sounds!  Whenever I crossed the finish line, I honestly had no idea what I placed.  Ian said that there were three other people behind me, so I wasn’t last, and that’s all that mattered to me! 

Before we left the sports festival, we were invited to a drinking party for the green team on Sunday night.  We had enough time to go home and get cleaned up before someone knocked on our door to pick us up.  The drinking party wasn’t too far away, so we walked.  This was our 4th enkai and much different than the others.  The people were mostly strangers to us, so everyone was curious about us.  It was a segregated party.  The women had to sit on one side and the guys on another.  After the initial eating, people mingled around, so it didn’t matter anymore.  I went to the guys side to sit with Ian.  The guys’ side was much more fun.  I’m not sure why, but I noticed shortly after that most of the women left.  During these parties, a SIGNIFICANT amount of alcohol is consumed.  They kept offering alcohol.  Everyone that I work with knows that I don’t drink, but these guys didn’t, and I didn’t want to seem rude.  When the alcohol got passed around, I’d tip the glass back to my lips, making it look like I was drinking without actually drinking.  The Japanese do not have alcoholic tolerance, so conversations get pretty wild pretty quickly.  Before we knew it, we were being challenged to arm wrestling.  The guy that I arm wrestled had arms the size of my head, but somehow I managed to beat him……pretty sure he let me win that one.    Ian found a buddy to play tennis with.  The guy originally sat down beside me and asked if I play tennis.  I said no but told him that Ian does.  One thing led to another, and all of the sudden, Ian is volunteered to join the guy’s tennis club. 

We really have to find out how to say no to people!  In addition to that, we think we also volunteered to run a race in December.  We’re not 100% sure about that, but that’s what Ian thought he heard.  Other things that we have unknowingly signed up for: the past 2 sports festivals, a singing competition in November (in addition to the 4 practices before that), etc.  Our schedules are quickly becoming booked!

I’m going to stop it here.  Stay tuned for the rest!