And That's A Wrap

November 9, 2009-November 26, 2009
GLORIOUS ADVENTURE TIME!!!! Now (finally!), I will try to sit down and form words.
We visited Morioka Chuo High School (Thursday, November 12), a private school that USED to be a boys school, but is now co-ed, so the population is a tad unbalanced. We ate lunch with students (Yuki, our trip coordinator here in Morioka, bought us all bento), observed classes like JUDO and AUTO SHOP. MY GOODNESS. SO INTERESTING. ANNNNNNNND their soccer field is turf. The education at Chuo is a bit different from other high schools-students have MANY options. They can choose a number of different paths (English vs. science, like Ichikoo High School), different levels of difficulty (it was something like A1, A2, A3), different foci (like auto shop, for instance), etc. Also, Chuo is known for creating good athletes, so the gym class, for instance, was judo. WOW. Tamara and I were so eager to join that we did cartwheels along with them as they warmed up…
Friday, (November 13) was an optional meeting with IVIS, the Iwate Volunteer Interpreters Society. The group had previously, and most notably, helped out with the alpine ski championships that were held in the area in 1993. 50+ members helped out at that time, but now around 20 members remained. Five members met with three of us, Yuki, and Kuriya Sensei and enlightened us as to the beauty of Morioka and their individual lives and interests. Twas a wonderful evening.
THEN at midnight:20 (after going home and eating and napping a little; man, napping at night just KILLS you), I got on the night bus to Tokyo. A Greyhound-like bus with pink interior, the comfiest seats you’ve ever sat in/tried to sleep in, and a lightguard/cover to pull over your head so as to block the light and though the bus was kept dark, that was mighty nice to have. AND the heat was cranked up, which made it even comfier. We stopped twice between Morioka and Tokyo at the same kind of highway rest stops that my host family had stopped at en route to Disneyland. Got back on the bus and slept more. Arrived in Tokyo a little before 8am.
Was going for the purpose of meeting up with my host sister and host mother (she had left in the morning, but I had host school and the IVIS meeting) and shopping with at H&M and Forever 21 in Harajuku (hip, trendy part of Tokyo). (Somehow, everything, even the American stores are BETTER in Japan.) H&M was having an event in coordination with Jimmy Choo shoes. SO this meant that a line formed quite early (we were there from ~9:15am) and we all weren’t let in until noon or so (and H&M usually opens at 11am). They DID give us umbrellas and hot coffee though, which was nice. Inside, it was like a MADHOUSE. Everyone was given a wristband that corresponded to a certain 10-minute window when they could go into the Jimmy Choo “booth” and pick out as many items as they could get their hands on. Me being the not-so shoe freak didn’t find the Jimmy Choos (three different styles) all that fascinating, but there were also jewelry and bags. Tsukie and Hanako were really excited and ended up getting some black gladiator-like heels and some very flashy red heels. A successful trip to be sure.
In Forever 21, right next door, I ended up behind a guy with a jacket that was like a varsity jacket, but really just a brand label, that had “DUFFERS” across the back. I couldn’t help but thinking of you, Meg.  And then, there was a t-shirt with two flags on the front, America on the left (with a cowboy hat on) and Britain on the right (with a bowler-like hat) and underneath, it said “BFF” as in Best Friends Forever. Liz and CE, it was BRILLIANT.
I also went to Tokyo that weekend to meet up with Yoko for lunch on Sunday. We ate at a favorite lunch spot of hers as her work building is the next building over. Has been SO good to see her.
The next week (November 16-22) was pretty normal, except for the juku (cram school) observation that took place on Thursday (the 19th). The Japanese education system is all about teaching to a test (sounds a little like International Baccalaureate (IB), right guys?) and competition is fierce for high schools and universities. Basically cram school is the leg up students can get in order to do well in junior high school and thus get in to a good high school and consequently a good university. There are the students who go to juku to better understand the material taught in class, though. And that is common sense in my mind. I find the strangest part to be that Japanese students work SO hard from junior high school on (or are supposed to work so hard from then on) and then they get to university and it is a BREEZE. No joke, they can skip class just fine, they may not have class on some days, they don’t have homework, they devote most of their time to clubs or sports. It’s QUITE interesting to observe.
It was a fellow SICEer’s birthday (Abhi’s) that day, but celebrations were from then through the weekend. Saturday (11/21) evening was a nomikai with Abhi’s host mother, two of her friends (she knows through the elementary school her children go to), Abhi, Tamara, and I. We met at 7pm on Oodoori (which means “main road”, but in Seattle terms, resembles Ballard’s Market Street (but narrower and more condensed) or something I would consider anywhere else a busy part of town but not the busiest. ANYWAY, we were at this great small, busy dining establishment, drinking and toasting Abhi on turning 21, then we hit karaoke and sang Michael Jackson like there was no tomorrow. BEFORE all the evening craziness, a few of us had gone together and bought our return shinkansen (bullet train) tickets to Narita Airport. THAT was a surreal experience to be sure.
On that Sunday (11/22), my host family and I (Hanako took the night bus Friday night from Yokohama and arrived early Saturday morning) went to an onsen. We stayed until Monday after breakfast (twas a holiday), so we took a bath shortly after arriving, again after Sunday night dinner, and before breakfast on Monday. Dinner was BEAUTIFUL, some 10-11 dishes served all at once on a tray, including a nabe (boiling water in which tofu, vegetable, translucent noodles, and meat is cooked). It resembled the Kyoto group dinner in a way as everything was in small portions and DELICIOUS. But that’s a Japan thing.  Watched sumo (15 day matches take place 4 times a year: September, November, I think April and maybe February…), which was the Kansai competition this time. Kansai being a region in Japan. Sleeping on a futon is SO comfortable, especially with the hard pillow. 
Drove back and then had a day I severely felt resembled Earlham in its chaotic brilliance. We arrived at home, then Hanako and I biked to our Aunt Maya’s house (by noon), had lunch with Aunt Maya (who teaches piano) and Aunt Mire. I had agreed to meet Abhi at 1pm at the city hall in order to lead him back to our house because he was a) coming to help Tsukie, me, and Otoosan gather wood in the forest and b) coming to eat some delicious Chinese food that evening. Ended up leaving my Aunt’s house, but Abhi was a little late too BUT there was a marathon or something being run, so we had to meet at a different place, but we got back to the house, left to the forest, and stacked wood already cut by Otoosan (apple trees) into a GINORMOUS pile. Snow on the ground hid some pieces. (We have a wood stove, so we always have to have wood; and there are STACKS at either end of the house; this was prep for next season) After about an hour and a half, we drove back home and then Hanako, Tsukie, and Otoosan cooked up a STORM. And in true “guest/sort of host” fashion, Abhi and I were to sit and we did. And we talked. And then we ate delicious food with wonderful people.
I have been moderately confused by, most notably, the supposed fact that Japanese people do not have many people over to their houses. However, since the families I am shocked by are either host families or the Kuratas (Yoko’s family), I think I need to find a better test pool.  Otoosan was SO ready to cook and cook and cook for Abhi. Perhaps Abhi’s interest in Chinese food and desire to eat it is what made Otoosan so ready to devote time and energy to a guest. Spring rolls, gyoza, the egg and greens dish, the chicken and greens dish, meatballs and greens dish, salad and fish…man…
On Wednesday (11/25, our last half day at host school), Sensei wanted to meet because I had written some questionable things in my weekly journal. Every week, we have read about 3 articles for each class (Mondays “Literacy in Japanese”, Thursdays “Cross-Cultural Educational Perspectives”, except when holidays occur, like that Monday, 11/23) and we write a summary and then add our own thoughts. Well, as happens towards the end of most semesters, I was so distracted trying to read the second and third articles for the previous Thursday’s class. I ended up writing in caps out of frustration (and when I do this, it looks a LOT worse than I usually intend it to be) and talking about how I “didn’t want to” and just “couldn’t” read the articles. In the FIRST one, I talked about how I thought teachers should know the backgrounds of their students and combined with my anger, Sensei thought I resented her. I can see where she was coming from, so we had a nice chat and we really connected. That is what I LOVE about people. Or rather, what I love about experiences that involve people (hmmm….they wouldn’t really be experiences without people, now would they…?). Connection. Sitting down and learning about one another. That will forever be the highlight of anything I do and anywhere I go. Unless it’s just me and a pack of emus and the sunset.
Friday, November 27th, was the last day at host school. Bonner paperwork was signed (The Bonner Program is a scholarship program at many colleges and universities throughout the United States. Involved students, 15 per class at Earlham, complete an average of 10 hours per week of volunteer service at a given site. Growth is expected to take place, so often students stay with the same site for two to three years sometimes all four years. The paperwork I am referring to are hour logs for August through November, an evaluation by my site supervisors (the three English teachers I worked with), and the Community Learning Agreement, which documents the goals I set forward at the start of the semester.) And my HDSR field study came to a close. 240 hours. Wow.
The day began with my addressing the school, speaking about the time I had spent at Senboku junior high school, and how the experience will always stay with me. And oh how it will. Some students make the day better by simply smiling at you. Some students you could wait eons for to answer a question just so they will know they can do it. It was a time that I will never forget, that I will constantly think about (I also have letters from every single student, all 393, as well as closer connections with a few girl students who kept up steady communication via letters with me).
That evening, coincidentally, Tsukie, Aunt Maya, Aunt Mire, and I went out to dinner. A girl’s night. It was wonderful to talk about life and love and dreams and hopes. Really. Honestly. That is the BEST time EVER. I have loved learning about other people and through them, learning about myself.
When Saturday (11/28) came, it was time for Noh drama (known for it’s slow pace and even tempo, known to put some people to sleep). Ethan LOVES Noh, so he printed out the stories from a book for us so we would understand what we were watching. That helps SO MUCH. Though it was soothing…and I felt warm and comfortable….like I was on a cloud….drifting off…I KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. 
I didn’t stay for the whole thing (1:30pm-4:30pm) because I caught the shinkansen to Saitama and stayed with Yoko and her family for the weekend. That was probably the best. Just as joyful as lunch was with her two weeks previously, being in her home and with her family was something truly special. It felt comfortable. It felt open and real. It was relaxed. It was easy. I was there for Saturday dinner, Sunday breakfast (which was a delicious onion and chicken and egg dish over rice), and Sunday lunch (with her sister Naoko, her husband Shinya, and their 2 year old son, Tomo (Tomo-chan). Took the shinkansen back to Morioka.
THEN met up with the second year English teacher (Osawa Sensei) I have been helping and his son, three year old Kenyu (Ken-chan-“true friend”, I think), who LOVES shinkansen, drove back to his home, picked up his wife, eight month old daughter (Ichika-“one heart”-Ich-chan), and mother (Kiriko-san). We went to a restaurant where OH MY GOSH you sit at a table in a HIGE BOAT and “fish” off the side because it’s surrounded by water and there are fish swimming.    Ken-chan caught us some dinner and we also had delicious sashimi (raw fish), sushi, and other various fish dishes. Again, the company was superb. That seems to be a recurring pattern here in Japan.
This week began with wanko soba, served in little bowls, like a shot amount, with 15 “shots”/bowls equaling a regular bowl of soba noodles. It’s an eating contest for half an hour to see how many bowls you can eat. The norm is around 100. My goal was 100, but I ate too slow and paced myself, so I only got 80. (Imagine THAT. Me. PACING MYSELF. WHAAAAAAAA?!??!?!?!?) It’s a Morioka thing and we participated in it with Board of Education members and the ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) in Morioka right now.
Other than that, this week is about packing. It’s about throwing things away. It’s about buying omiyage (souvenirs) and seeing people before leaving. It’s about finishing the 10-12 page reflective essay on our SICE experience for Sensei (Thursday), studying for a Japanese final (Thursday), and practicing a Japanese speech (Thursday). It’s about looking at Morioka and snow-covered Iwate-san and breathing in the air. And then stepping on the train bound for the airplane and some ten hours of flying back to home. Home. Wow. What a word.
It will be difficult to pack the last of my things, to sit at the Closing Reception (Saturday, 12/5), to try and say “Thank you” without having the language skill or the words to express the never ending gratitude I have inside. It will be difficult to hug my family goodbye (though I know I HAVE to see them again; Hanako went back to Yokohama on the night bus on 11/23). It will be difficult to be back in America. But MAN, do I miss you all. I can’t wait to yell in saga at Earlham, I can’t wait to see your smiling faces, I can’t wait to HUG you and NOT LET GO.
I turn in my cell phone right before boarding the shinkansen at 10:41am on Sunday, December 6th. That’s 8:41pm Saturday, December 5th for East Coast and Earlham; 5:41pm, Saturday, December 5th for West Coast and Seattle. If you’re emailing me now or plan to, sending me an email AFTER that time means that the person on SICE NEXT fall will read it. Just fyi.
Good luck in the last few weeks of the semester, Earlhamites.
See you all very soon!
Hannah