Ducks, rabbits & dolphins: No I wasn’t at a zoo, I was at kindergarten!

Just after I got back from Seoul I was greeted with a cheeky little schedule change, saying I was off to spend the day at a kindergarten. I wasn’t really complaining, since I got to sleep in, and part of my timetable for the day actually stated “12:40 – Play with the children”.

I almost died when I arrived. Kindergarteners here are aged 3 to 6, and although I knew they were small, I didn’t realise just how small they would be. Cuteness overload occurred when I realised they all wore coloured hats corresponding to their classes. The youngest were yellow ducks, then the pink rabbits and finally the blue dolphins.

I actually had the best day, teaching the rabbits and dolphins some colours, and eating lunch with the ducks. Every single one of them insisted on showing me their adorable bento boxes before starting to eat, with my Hello Kitty bento box going down a storm.

My lunchtime was spent lifting plant pots for the little ones so they could catch the insects underneath; there’s definitely worse things to be getting paid for. My heart completely melted when one little boy took a shine to me, and insisted I walk around the playground holding his hand while he showed me their pet turtles. 

It was draining, I was filthy from little grubby hands, but I was absolutely made up that the staff said they’d love to have me back next year for their English days. Some of the children are planning to go to my elementary schools too, which will be nice for the both of us to have some familiar faces when the next school year comes around.

Yet another example of how small Kumamoto is: I already teach one of my teachers’ kids at elementary school, and turn out his youngest goes to this kindergarten too. Here’s hoping they’re reporting good things back to their dad and my job isn’t in jeopardy! 

I think I’m safe though, the reviews we’ve been having lately have gone better than I could have imagined, especially in my junior high where I had some pretty big boots to fill. My elementary schools are thrilled purely at the fact I embrace being pummelled by dodgeballs every lunch time. I think the kids like me too, especially since I'm greeted with origami or artwork on the chalkboard when I join each class for kyuushoku.

I guess I’m alright at winging this whole teacher thing after all!

Kumamoto City JHS Recitation Contest

Following on from my last post, I think it’s safe to say I was close to death (not that I’m being melodramatic at all). I had to take a sick day, visit a doctor, and despite him giving me enough medicines to open my own pharmacy, with the Kumamoto City English recitation contest the next day I still felt bloody awful. The struggle of me heading to school was made worthwhile when I could see my students visibly relax when they saw me. They’d been practicing solely with me for weeks, and the fact I was on my death bed the day prior to the contest had them all on edge thinking I’d abandoned them.

Admittedly, the entire competition was pretty dire. There’s only so many times you can hear a depressing rendition of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima with children imitating a crying child. I’ve got my party piece sorted now though; I could tell you the story of Ben, Mary and the stolen cow in my sleep. I was so proud of my students, with my first and second graders earning 5^th and 6^th place in their respective years out of 42 schools in the city. Third grade was a much tougher crowd, and after earning 54/60 and praise for their ‘very good pronunciation and intonation’, they didn’t even place.

One student told me “I’m not disappointed, I’ll just do better next year”, which I think aptly sums up their attitude to learning. I didn’t mind spending both my lunch time and after school helping every day when the kids willingly took on board my weird sounds, tongue actions and acting, knowing I was only doing it to benefit them.

Now the contest is over, I can fully see how they appreciated my efforts, as now the stress is gone, they are much more comfortable with me than they ever were. They don’t see me as some unapproachable foreigner, but rather someone who can help them. Finally the 1^st graders are warming up to me, which is nice since they’ll be the ones I’ll be teaching throughout junior high, unlike the 3^rd graders I’ve befriended who’ll be graduating in April.

I’m happy to report that none of my students whipped out a Scouse accent on stage at the contest, but I definitely think me being so hyper aware of my pronunciation sometimes has resulted in me having the dodgiest accent ever. I shift from my Japanese, to American-isms in class, to Australian moments because I spend that much time with Sheridan, and back to Scouse when I speak to people from home. At this rate, I’ll be the one needing my students to teach me. 

Living & breathing Japanese (literally, I was on a homestay).

I am extremely grateful to have been involved in a homestay during my time in Kyoto, which took place during my third week of the exchange. My family consisted of my host parents, and two daughters, Miki and Asuka. They also had a pet ferret called Ponta, but don't even get me started on my hatred for that thing. I'm not a fan of being targeted, constantly bitten on the ankles, and even having it break into my room and get INSIDE my pillow case.

It was obviously meant to be, as there were numerous Hello Kitty things in the house, and my room (a small guest room downstairs with a futon) came complete with Hello Kitty curtains. 

I'll always remember how the first thing my family asked me was if I got car sick, and with good reason too, I think my host father fancied himself as a bit of a boy racer down the small Kyoto side streets. My family were super cute, as they struggled with pronouncing my name, like most Japanese people do. Instead, I acquired the nickname of "keito". This was my favourite thing because whenever my host mother would run a bath, she'd shout that to get my attention from upstairs.
Somehow, through a lack of me paying proper attention, I even ended up cooking lasagne for the family one evening because they wanted to experience both my cooking, and some western food. Afterwards, Miki was feeling super sleepy so I taught her the phrase "food coma", which she absolutely loved!

Asuka was studying English for her university entrance exams, so we really helped each other develop ways to remember certain things in our other languages. She would always get confused over her left and right, so I taught her the simple trick of looking at her hands to find the “L”. It was so adorable to see how happy she was after I'd taught her such a simple thing, and needless to say, I trusted her directions a lot more from that point on.
Most evenings after dinner seemed to be the time when my host family would socialise. It often ended up with me telling them about random things they wanted to know about England. One evening, I even spent almost two hours trying to teach my host mother how to say "the earth is round" without making her r's sound like w's. It ended up with me making her practically growl to get the noise out, much to Miki and Asuka's amusement. 
Another evening, there was a discussion about my dislike of heated Japanese toilet seats, which they couldn't understand my logic of it feeling like someone has just been sat on it before you. Also note to self, never, ever try to explain the concept of a Yorkshire pudding to anyone in Japanese, it's not going to go well!

My confidence in speaking Japanese has come on leaps and bounds, proven by the fact we had to give a speech about our experiences to fellow classmates at the end of the exchange. On the first day, I was put off by just introducing myself in the language to people I knew had a greater ability, but by the end I was much more confident in my own ability. I know this is definitely down to being involved in a homestay, and even though sometimes I had no clue what my host parents were saying to me, I managed to find ways around this and be able to wing it.

In Kyoto we saw so many people dressed in kimonos and yukata, and one evening we even got a chance to wear yukata ourselves at a festival on campus. There was also a Hawaiian themed DJ night going on, which I can only describe as if the SU was more tame, had a cream carpet and closed at 8:30. What a random experience that was!
Aside from my time with my host family, I made a trip to Osaka to try the famous okonomiyaki and visit Dontonboori, where I took an obligatory photo with the iconic Glico sign. KUFS also organised us to experience a calligraphy session and a tea ceremony, which was a great insight into traditional Japanese life.
Our final day involved a ceremony and leaving party, which consisted of a lot of picture taking, goodbyes and also a nice little certificate saying I'd successfully completed the programme. We ended our final night by visiting Osaka for a firework display along the river during the Tenjin Matsuri.

I don’t think I’ve taken as many photographs as I have during these past three weeks, and yes, I have been that tourist taking pictures of trees. You could live in Kyoto all of your life and still have only just scratched the surface, and I really hope I get the opportunity to go back some day!