Happo-Cho Elementary School Exchange

Hello, All!

Now that I've finished talking about Golden Week (finally!) I can move on to new developments since coming back. So far, things are continuing along the same vein; classes are fun and not too time consuming, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous (up until just recently anyway) and so far I am still really enjoying Japan.

In addition to all the other fun stuff I have been telling you about, I also signed up for (and was accepted into) the Happo-Cho Exchange Program. Happo Town is a nearby community which, in order to increase exposure to international students and cultures, set up an "exchange program" with AIU where international students would come and visit the different schools, teach some English, have fun with the kids and share information about our home countries. They were looking for ten international students and a few Japanese students (for mainly interpreting purposes), and I was happily accepted. We had our first trip this past weekend, which will be the topic of today's post.

There will be many trips to the various schools in the Happo-Cho school district, of which I will be going to three (all the others are beyond my stay in Japan). This past weekend was the first visit, and as such there was a short orientation session first to make sure everyone was on the same page.

We left Friday evening around 6:00pm for the training facility which was located about an hour away from AIU and on the very beginning of Happo-Cho town border. The Happo Town area is absolutely beautiful, with tall forested mountains on the east and the clear blue Japan Sea (Nihonkai) to the west. The facility we went to was designed as a multi-purpose "training facility" equipped with conference rooms, bedrooms, showers and the like, and conveniently connected to major onsen (hot spring, in this case, a large public bath house). As we pulled in, we could see the beautiful Japan Sea rolling in the background, and turning our view 180 degrees were the rolling hills/mountains filled with green. We were ushered in and served a delicious dinner that included a grilled "hamburger" (just the burger) with sauce, vegetables, rice (of course), soup, and...fruit! (it's amazing how hard it is to find fruit when you are eating out in Japan) Afterwards we were brought to a conference room where we were told about the history of the program, the goals of the program, as well as rules, regulations and expectations of the international students. We were also asked to introduce ourselves, including our name and nationality which has become second nature to me by this point. I did learn, however, that the phrase used in introductions that I had learned in Japanese class (douzo yoroshiku) was evidently not polite enough in this setting as everyone was using a more formal phrase (yoroshiku onegaishimasu), which I quickly taught myself and then used to good effect. No problems on the whole, but it's kind of funny how, just when I think I am getting a handle on Japanese, they throw me another curve ball.

Anyway, afterwards we had some free time to enjoy the onsen (I passed, as being naked in public, even in the murky pools of a natural hot spring, is something that I am just not ready for) and just relax before the activities began early the next day. There was a hard-wood gym, and a bunch of us entertained ourselves with basketball, a weird Frisbee game, and some hula hoops:

Baya (of Mongolia) was the first to get onto the court, and was really tearing it up, ha ha.

You had to toss these weird foam Frisbees at one of nine blue panels on the target. It was actually kind of hard, since the Frisbee didn't fly quite like they do in the US (and because I am terrible at Frisbee).

Peter (Minnesota, US) trying his luck with a hula hoop.

Rachel (Australia) showing off her crazy hula hoop skills.

We called it a night around midnight, and by 6:30 the next morning I was up and showered. Breakfast wasn't for another hour, so I decided to take a walk outside in the incredibly sunny and clear (if chilly) morning. I discovered that behind the training facility, just behind my room actually, was a nice little deck with a great view of the Japan Sea. In addition, there was a gate and a steep walkway that led down to a road at the bottom of the hill that the facility was built on, and just across the road was a rocky outcropping on the sea, along with a small boat house. I made my way down the hill and across the road, climbing my way onto the rocks and then stood there admiring the crashing waves and ripples of the dark blue water. It was a morning without much human noise, and it was easy to lose oneself in the purely natural landscape. After a while, I made my way back up to the facility for breakfast (which consisted of cold cooked salmon, a bowl of rice, soup and maybe a slice of toast, I can't quite remember now). Here are some pictures of the Japan Sea and surrounding mountains:

The hills just in front of the training facility. To the left you can see the Happo-Cho train station.

The view of the Japan Sea from the back porch of the training facility. Though it was quite sunny, it was also still chilly at 6:30 am.

The road, boat house and rocky outcropping just below the facility.

After breakfast, we made our way to the school, which was about fifteen minutes away by bus. The school building was pretty large, though the population of students was quite small (36). We were directed to the School Director's Office, where we were introduced to the Director and some of his staff. I noticed as I walked into the room that there was sign that said "Director" in English, and just below that "Directór" in Spanish. When we were introduced to the Director, they asked if anyone spoke Spanish. I told them I did, at which point the Director introduced himself to me in Spanish and told me he had spent three years at a University in Mexico. He wanted to know where I came from, and I quickly told him that I was from the US, but that my father was from the Dominican Republic, and that my mom was full blooded Puerto Rican, though she was also born in the US. It was quite a nice surprise to suddenly find myself speaking Spanish with a Japanese person, especially since I felt much, much more comfortable with my Spanish than I did with my Japanese, despite how poorly I can speak both languages.

Anyway, it was a nice surprise but soon enough we were led to the gym where all the students were gathered and waiting for us. We had to (again) introduce ourselves, pointing to our home country on a map that was provided for that purpose. When I was done introducing myself, the Director excitedly told the students that I knew Spanish, and then proceeded to shake my hand and perform a traditional Mexican (also Spanish) greeting, which included a handshake/hug and a big show of kissing both of my cheeks. This took me by complete surprise, especially because this kind of greeting is not common to my family or, as far as I know, in the Caribbean in general; I was kind of frozen in surprise throughout most of the greeting, which in retrospect must have looked absolutely hilarious. Anyway, after my mild embarrassment, the students then welcomed us by giving us a short musical performance, replete with drums, accordions, recorders, and a drum major! The music was actually very good considering the ages of the students, and the drum major was absolutely hilarious. Anyway, the next activity was face sketching, where all of the AIU students had two or three students sketch their faces. It was quite funny. My kids were probably in the second or third grade, and when they couldn't figure out how to write my name I wrote it for them in katakana. After the portrait session, we then played a version of tag where all the students had a long piece of cloth or handkerchief which they tucked into the back of their pants and which hung like a tail, and where all the AIU students were "it" and had to grab the tails off as many elementary school children as possible. At this point, I should point out that when indoors, especially in schools and private homes, Japanese wear special indoor slippers or shoes. Trying to run around a smooth gymnasium chasing energetic children with flat-soled slippers that are three sized too small is not an easy task, but I did manage to grab three or four tails, which was more than most. After the game, they mercifully let us catch our breath and then ushered us to our assigned classrooms for educational activities. But before that, some pictures:










I joined four other AIU students in the fourth grade class room. My compatriots included Asuka (of Akita Japan, who served as main translator), Baya of Mongolia, Conny of Germany, and Stefanie of Taiwan. We first re-introduced ourselves to the class, and then participated in various English-learning activities, which included singing "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (hilarious) where I inevitably had to lead the group, though mercifully there was a recording to sing to so I didn't have to showcase my mediocre vocal skills. We also practiced introductions, including name cards and handshakes, which is how most business persons in Japan operate. We played a word game using some basic English words like pen and pig (all the words were ones which Japanese already has a "Japanese-ified" version). After our various activities, we also had some time devoted for the foreign students to talk about their home countries. There were ten students in the class, and the teacher was very nice, though Asuka did most of the interpreting for us.






After our time with the classes, the international students had a short break. I joined some students outside to watch the students have physical education, as well as practice for an upcoming matsuri (festival). The backyard where they were having their relay races and matsuri practice was absolutely beautiful, with large rolling hills and just a glimmer of the Japan Sea in the corner.












This was followed by lunch. I was with the first graders, who were very cute but not very talkative (I am not sure if they were just really into their food or what). There were only four of them. It was funny to see pictures of the hiragana and katakana up on the walls, with diagrams for the correct stroke orders, since I am just finishing this myself. I was starting to feel tired after putting so much energy into entertaining little kids as well as communicate in Japanese/English/Spanish, but we were all done anyway. Before I move on to the concluding activity, a few pictures from lunch:






It took us a few minutes to finally exit the building, as we were literally swarmed with small children. Dozens upon dozens of quick farewell pictures were flashed in the madness of trying to exit and say goodbye and get that last great picture. After some minor chaos, we finally extricated ourselves from the elementary school and were on our way to the final closing activity, a short hike in the forested mountains of Happo Town.





And finally, some pictures from the hike:





The "scratch marks" you see on the tree were made by a bear. Bears are pretty common in Japan, especially this far north. While I have always known bears can climb trees, it is kind of frightening to see the evidence first hand. This particular beech tree - as an aside - was quite large and quite old, estimated to be well over 200 years old.




The hike itself was quite beautiful, with many old trees and virgin forest. Happo Town as a whole struck me as being quite natural in landscape, and it was joy to see the Japan Sea and explore some of the mountainous forests in the area. The day, all in all, was quite fun and exhausting. I will be making other trips to other schools in the Happo district, including at least one middle school. I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

PS A more complete album of pictures from this trip can be found on the right sidebar labeled "Happo-Cho, May 10."