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I've been busy, thus the long hiatus. There will be another one this weekend, because I'll be travelling during "Golden Week," which ends on May 6th. Two weeks ago, Ota celebrated earth day. We had one of the best turn outs for Japan, although it wasn't that impressive by US standards. Lots of school kids helped pick up trash. Some ladies in Ota who help the AETs here, brought us lunch. What was ironic about this, is we were given disposable plastic bento boxes filled with about 6 small sandwhiches which were individually wrapped in saran wrap. We were also given homemade yogurt, each in a disposable plastic cup, with a plastic spoon. The most environmental thing about the lunch was the paper cups we used for drinks. I guess they still have a lot to learn. A few days ago was "PTA DAY." This must be a really important event. What this involved was parents, mostly moms, coming to watch a class. Afterwards, everyone files to the gymn for discussion. I was amazed that almost every student's parent(s) had come. I think it was a bigger turn out than graduation. Later that night, there was PTA enkai. That was really exciting for me to see my former students' mothers at their drunken best. One of the mothers kept pestering the bartender, and eventually pushed him aside so she could make the drinks. Later that night she almost fell out of her chair during a toast. My new kyoto-sensei popped in (he was the guest at an enkai across the hall). He stood at mic, telling us how great Morita-chu is. He held out a glass as he spoke, and people kept running up to refill it. After each refill, he slammed it, and was soon ready to drink another. Needless to say, he probably didn't feel so great the next day. Last weekend I went to Tomioka. It is about an hour west of Takasaki in Gunma. My friend and I went to see the new Natural History Museum. It was really fantastic. There were many hands-on displays. Lots of rocks and fossils. There was a really cool display where you walked over a dinosaur dig. The site was encased in glass, so everyone was a bit hesitant to walk on it. There were animated dinos and the flora and fauna had all sorts of specimens to touch and recordings to listen to . It specialized in the flora, fauna, geology, topography of Gunma. And of course, there was a gift shop. One of the most interesting I've seen. And, you could also buy your very own Nat His Museum phone card and manju (a sort of snack food). Another cool thing was that you bought your ticket in a machine, then presented it to nicely dressed young women, who would then hand you a brochure. I highly recommend visiting it, even though all the explainations are in Japanese. Lastly, let me tell you about my ichi-nen-sei (the new batch of students). One class is particularly genki (lively) and intellegent. I was asked questions like:
I also have been warned about one of my classes. There is a "naughty" boy. When in elementary school, he brought a small knive to school at least three times. This year, he was asked to get something from one of the rooms. He came back with the item and a saw, which he was waving around. I haven't met him yet, but I was told to be careful. That's all the news from this neck of the woods. Valerie |