from Arao City, in the Kumamoto Prefecture, on the Kyushu island of Japan
The last three days have been incredibly busy...
It's currently Wednesday afternoon... I need to outline the previous days for the sake of my own memory...
On Sunday we flew from Tokyo to Fukuoka, where we had dinner, explored a bit, and slept.
Monday we visited the Miyazaki Brothers' house. The Miyazaki brothers were heavily influenced by the writing of a Chinese revolutionary, and they worked in their own lives to assist the cause of the Chinese revolution. Monday for lunch we ate at a Japanese-style Korean barbecue restaurant. Fantastic. It's the kind of place were you cook your own meats; we had wonderful beef and pork. Also served: kimm-che, a rice-mushroom dish, a very light broth soup, and refreshing sorbet (potentially pineapple). In the afternoon we created pottery: we made mugs at a center that teaches and preserves Shodai-yaki styles. And at the same location we met our home stay families. This was probably the most moving part of the trip: 20 Japanese families, all willing to bring an American stranger into their homes. I will be staying with the Kodama family: Isao and Etsuko are the father and mother, and they have two sons, Rikaru and Hikaru. They're wonderful people. Their English is very workable (it's certainly more Japanese than I speak), and they're very open to me. I really enjoyed talking to them, even though it was only for 30 minutes or so. I have no doubt that the home stay will be the absolute highlight of my trip to Japan.
Tuesday (yesterday), in the morning we met with the Mayor of Arao; it was incredible, really touching. He was incredibly warm, and although we only met with him for 40 minutes or so, he even came down to wave goodbye to our bus as we were leaving! Lunch was very rushed... and in the afternoon we traveled to Kumamoto university, where we met with students who are studying English education. Notable fact: Kumamoto and Montana and sister states, and many people at Kumamoto university have spent time at the University of Montana. We heard some beautiful music at the university, a duet by a violinist and a koto (similar to a harpsichord). Between the university and the hotel, we stopped by to see Kumamoto castle, a spectacular piece of work. The mote was easily 40 feet deep and 30 feet across, clearly defensible.
Today, Wednesday, has been spent visiting our first school. We broke the group of 20 into two, with one group visiting Arao public high school, and the second, mine and superior, has been at Ariako high school, a private high school. This has been very insightful; there are not enormous differences between this school and typical high schools in the United States. I have seen teachers largely lecturing, students sitting in desks, taking notes, and in some cases, students having side conversations during class. Girls are giggly, and seem to view Americans as pseudo-rockstars, and to hear Andrew say it, I not only get most of their attention, but apparently I enjoy it as well. Who knew? I must say, that when visiting the nursing facility and the teacher wanted me to volunteer to serve as a patient for a sponge bath to be administered by a half-dozen pink clad 19 year old nursing students, I passed, vehemently. Oh, and get your mind out of the gutter; t'was a foot sponge bath I was asked to serve as a patient for.
It is notable that teachers in this school, when asked to compare their school with schools in Tokyo, say that they enjoy the slower and simpler pace of life, which allows them to connect more readily with their students. Definitely a topic that resonates with me...
When asked about school culture, and relationships with students... students with more behavior problems get more attention, they get to sit closer, efforts are made to involve them in school as actively as possible.
Tonight was supposed to be an internet night...looks like it's going to have to wait a day. So this post gets saved, a new one gets started, and the schedule is to get both up tomorrow.
-Kippu
It's currently Wednesday afternoon... I need to outline the previous days for the sake of my own memory...
On Sunday we flew from Tokyo to Fukuoka, where we had dinner, explored a bit, and slept.
Monday we visited the Miyazaki Brothers' house. The Miyazaki brothers were heavily influenced by the writing of a Chinese revolutionary, and they worked in their own lives to assist the cause of the Chinese revolution. Monday for lunch we ate at a Japanese-style Korean barbecue restaurant. Fantastic. It's the kind of place were you cook your own meats; we had wonderful beef and pork. Also served: kimm-che, a rice-mushroom dish, a very light broth soup, and refreshing sorbet (potentially pineapple). In the afternoon we created pottery: we made mugs at a center that teaches and preserves Shodai-yaki styles. And at the same location we met our home stay families. This was probably the most moving part of the trip: 20 Japanese families, all willing to bring an American stranger into their homes. I will be staying with the Kodama family: Isao and Etsuko are the father and mother, and they have two sons, Rikaru and Hikaru. They're wonderful people. Their English is very workable (it's certainly more Japanese than I speak), and they're very open to me. I really enjoyed talking to them, even though it was only for 30 minutes or so. I have no doubt that the home stay will be the absolute highlight of my trip to Japan.
Tuesday (yesterday), in the morning we met with the Mayor of Arao; it was incredible, really touching. He was incredibly warm, and although we only met with him for 40 minutes or so, he even came down to wave goodbye to our bus as we were leaving! Lunch was very rushed... and in the afternoon we traveled to Kumamoto university, where we met with students who are studying English education. Notable fact: Kumamoto and Montana and sister states, and many people at Kumamoto university have spent time at the University of Montana. We heard some beautiful music at the university, a duet by a violinist and a koto (similar to a harpsichord). Between the university and the hotel, we stopped by to see Kumamoto castle, a spectacular piece of work. The mote was easily 40 feet deep and 30 feet across, clearly defensible.
Today, Wednesday, has been spent visiting our first school. We broke the group of 20 into two, with one group visiting Arao public high school, and the second, mine and superior, has been at Ariako high school, a private high school. This has been very insightful; there are not enormous differences between this school and typical high schools in the United States. I have seen teachers largely lecturing, students sitting in desks, taking notes, and in some cases, students having side conversations during class. Girls are giggly, and seem to view Americans as pseudo-rockstars, and to hear Andrew say it, I not only get most of their attention, but apparently I enjoy it as well. Who knew? I must say, that when visiting the nursing facility and the teacher wanted me to volunteer to serve as a patient for a sponge bath to be administered by a half-dozen pink clad 19 year old nursing students, I passed, vehemently. Oh, and get your mind out of the gutter; t'was a foot sponge bath I was asked to serve as a patient for.
It is notable that teachers in this school, when asked to compare their school with schools in Tokyo, say that they enjoy the slower and simpler pace of life, which allows them to connect more readily with their students. Definitely a topic that resonates with me...
When asked about school culture, and relationships with students... students with more behavior problems get more attention, they get to sit closer, efforts are made to involve them in school as actively as possible.
Tonight was supposed to be an internet night...looks like it's going to have to wait a day. So this post gets saved, a new one gets started, and the schedule is to get both up tomorrow.
-Kippu
posted by kip at 05:37
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