I don't actually get any time off from NOVA during Golden Week. But I did at least get some time off from school. I ended up with a total of 3 days off from school this year. I only had to work 5 hours at Nova, and then had the rest of the day off. It wasn't enough time to go on any big hiking adventures, but it did give me time to relax, do some reading, catch up on my homework and, of course, some blogging. (I also had time to finish watching another Japanese video series, one which I had started months before but put on hold when school started. Expect a review on this site in the next couple days).
In the meantime, since I have the time to blog, I thought I'd throw up a few more thoughts about school the past couple days.
School Field Trip: Kuju Flower Park
The school organized a field trip out to Kuju Flower Park last Friday. This had absolutely nothing to do with Japanese studying, but it was a fun little trip and a nice idea on the part of the school. Apparently they do something like this once a semester. This is more for the benefit of the regular students, who are freshly arrived in Japan and haven't had a lot of time to sight see, then for someone like me. But I thought it was a great idea as well. And although I had been hiking around in Kuju mountain before, I had never been to the Flower Park.
It was nice. A lot of flowers. I thought it bordered slightly on being a tourist trap. The French students remarked the same thing, saying they didn't see what the big deal was because you can see flower gardens all over the place in Europe. But the Chinese students were absolutely amazed and said you can't find anything like this in China.
To me, what saved the whole experience from being just another cheesy tourist trap was the beauty of the mountain side on which the flower park had been build.
I had a nice walk around the place, and ate lunch with a bunch of Chinese students, who generously shared their lunches with me. I had brought with me a convenience store lunch, but it didn't compare to their home cooking. I'm always amazed at how much work they put into making their lunches. And they in turn are constantly amazed by the fact I'm perfectly content to buy my lunch at a convenience store.
...What you don't see on these pictures however is the 2 hour bus ride it took to get here. And the 2 hour bus ride to get back. I had almost forgotten how much I hate buses.
I suffer easily from motion sickness. And like a lot of people who suffer from motion sickness, there seem to be a lot of influencing factors. For instance if I'm behind the steering wheel, it's almost never a problem. If I'm the passenger, it becomes a bit more pronounced. But it's slightly better if I'm in the front seat instead of the back seat. (Why all these factors make a difference I couldn't explain to you rationally. But they do).
What I do know is that there is nothing worse for motion sickness than riding in the back of a bus. (Oh, how I hated those yellow school bus rides from in childhood).
And being in the back of a bus on a 2 hour drive winding up and down the mountains is the worst case imaginable.
It sounded like a fun outing with my classmates, but by the time I actually got to the flower park my head was pounding and my breakfast felt like it was just one good bump in the road from coming up again.
At least I can take comfort from the fact that I wasn't the only one suffering. Halfway there, one of the Chinese students behind me asked for a bag to throw up in. And once we arrived, another threw up outside the bus.
...We had slightly less than 2 hours to enjoy the park, after which, to everyone's dread, we had to load up in the bus and go back again. By the time it was all over, I reflected to myself I would have been a lot happier to go somewhere a lot less scenic that happened to be walking distance from the school. (I guess I just don't travel well. This is no doubt why I've gone on so few trips during my time in Japan).
Nor was the day a lot of use practicing Japanese. On the trip to the flower garden a Bangladesh student who wanted to brush up on his English sat next to me. On the way back, a Chinese student who also wanted English practice filled the open seat.
In Asia, an English teacher is never truly off duty. And generally I don't mind. After having received so much kindness here in Japan, I figure the least I can do is let people practice their English on me.
But you can imagine it didn't do much for my headache on the bus: having to use excruciatingly slow and simple English, and having to repeat everything I said several times. At last I just put my head down and pretended to sleep the rest of way back.
Interesting Conversations
The Japanese school continues to be an interesting source of cross cultural exchange.
On May Day, the Chinese students asked me if it was a big holiday in America as well. When I said no, they were very surprised. "But it's a world holiday," one of them said. "Not just China. The whole world celebrates it."
"Not in America," I said. (In Japan it's not an official public holiday either, but they are at least aware of it over here, and the labour unions always hold some sort of May Day rally. In America of course the US government created Labour Day to co-opt May Day, and the Unions hold their marches on Labour Day instead. I doubt very much if the majority of Americans could even tell you what May Day is.)
"You know what's even stranger," I continued. "May Day actually originated in America."
This resulted in a number of blank stares, until one Chinese girl clapped her hands with recognition. "Yes, I remember now," she said. "We studied this in junior high school history class. Long long ago, the Haymarket martyrs in Chicago."
Of course they all wanted to know: since May Day originated in the US, why didn't the US celebrate it? I couldn't answer that question easily, so I just let it go.
....Really though, who wants May Day to become an official state recognized holiday? Can you imagine it? It would be just like Martin Luther King Day. People would wave American flags and talk about what great patriots the original labour leaders were. Right Wing pundits would get on TV and talk about how they are the ones keeping the true spirit of the Haymarket martyrs alive. The whole thing would get ridiculous in no time at all. It's much better to keep May Day as an unofficial holiday.
In other news...
Justin wrote in his blog about a few months ago about a Japanese woman who came by to his apartment to advertise her English class, and ask if he wanted to enroll his kids.
I don't know if it's affiliated or not, but I just had the same experience just now.
I'm sure the girl doing the job had to ask everyone on the block for the sake of completeness. Still, isn't it a bit bizarre to ask an American if he wants to enroll his kids in an English class taught by a Japanese woman?
Link of the Day
From the Media Mouse website: Re-launching the Progressive Directory of Western Michigan. (I just wanted to link to this so I would have an excuse for saying that I was part of the team that put the original together).
also: How The Rich Starved The World and Heartland Institute Condemned for "Major Ethical Transgression"
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