Election Day Post

The Ted you trust, the News you need (Not any actual election stuff present)

Well it’s probably time for another update isn’t it? And why not today of all days? Since I’m so far ahead of the United States it’s already been November 5th here for me for a while, and therefore I already know the results of the election. I of course can’t tell you them, but I can distract you with information about what I’ve been up to recently.

So what have I been up to? Well of course going to work at my schools, teaching English, and somewhat trying to improve my Japanese. In the evenings I’ve continued my Japanese lessons, playing in the local Taiko group, practicing calligraphy, and finding other smaller things to do as well. Hiking has been less of a common occurrence just because the weather has gotten colder and all, but I still try to get out and about. This past weekend I again made it out to the great lake in Akita’s north called Towada and had a bit of a hike along a river and accompanying waterfalls with plenty of fall foliage.

Oirase Gorge

It also has now officially been three months since I arrived in Japan. It feels like a lot longer, and yet at the same time it really isn’t that long a period of time. How strange.

I guess another thing I can bring up is that last week and the week before at each of my respective schools I had the job of teaching the students about Halloween, something that is known in Japan and is kind of celebrated (mostly by adults in Tokyo at big street affairs) but I was able to give them a bit more information about fall traditions in the United States, like corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and so on.

Speaking of my schools I figure now might be a good a time as any to talk about how things are different here in Japan as compared to the United States. It has been three months since I’ve been here so I should be able to talk about it a bit right? Although do keep in mind I went to a particular school district in America and now am at schools in a particular part of Japan. Therefore the following differences and such shouldn’t be seen as definitive and absolute. There are probably some differences across both the United States and Japan respectively so far as school and school culture goes, but I would guess the differences across Japan are less overall, due both to the more centralized nature of education administration and smaller geographic area.

But yes, differences. To start with, school is longer. Students arrive before eight, some of them even before I get there around 7:40, and stay until 4 if they don’t participate in club activities or the like. If they do participate in clubs or sports, then they will be here til potentially as long as 7pm. Yep, they take clubs seriously, although I wouldn’t say that they are putting in extreme amounts of effort the whole time. Also important to note is that there’s more time in the school day that isn’t class time. There are morning homeroom meetings, an after lunch break, and end of the day homeroom meetings. In the end the students actually only have 6 class periods a day, each fifty minutes long. The students are divided into three grades at my school, the equivalents in US schools being seventh to ninth grade, but instead of that students are referred to by what year student they are at their school. For example, students who are eighth graders are actually called second years, as its their second year at middle school.

Very important to understanding Japanese schools as well is the homeroom system. Unlike in the US where our homerooms (at least as I remember) were arbitrary and didn’t really serve as anything other than brief pitstops during the school day, Japanese homerooms are the actual composition of all classes throughout the day. That is, you always are with the same group of fellow students for every class. So throughout the whole day, week, month, and year, you are always part of that group. In a way this definitely gives each homeroom group a strong group feeling. It also means that unless for classes like P.E, Art, or English, the students never leave their homerooms. Instead it’s the teachers who have to move around between classrooms, such that the homerooms serve as home bases for the students. This togetherness extends to lunch as well, as the students eat together in their homerooms and actually help serve each other. The meals are brought in each day and brought to each respective class, and then assigned students don cafeteria-like garb and distribute what’s for lunch. 

Lunch by the way is usually rice, soup, some kind of vegetable (usually a salad mix) and then some kind of meat. And yes, chopsticks are required.

I would also say that overall the community feeling that I have felt at my schools is stronger than that I would say I experienced back home. There have been more school events that bring all the students together, and also in Japanese society teachers are seen as being a more important part of students lives. Students are more comfortable with teachers, maybe not treating them like family, but definitely not like strangers. The same can be said of the students in relation to each other, especially the girls. There’s what I would call less of a personal space barrier between friends, where hugs, holding hands, and other things are just more common. Potentially my memory is bad, or I went to a particularly cold and detached school district, but I would say I’ve noticed far more of an open and friendly atmosphere in that way. That of course doesn’t mean this is always the case, as teachers are capable of disciplining students and I’m sure there’s all kind of silly drama between students I’m not privy to and so on, but still, that’s a difference I feel I can point to.

What other differences? Well of course wearing outside shoes isn’t allowed, so I do have a pair of inside shoes. Really this isn’t too big a deal, and it definitely keeps things cleaner. Oh! Another thing I can’t forget is that most days there’s also a designated period during which the students clean things. Floors, bathrooms, desks, tables, everything gets cleaned by them (even some of the outside entryways which I usually help with), and therefore things are doubly clean for that reason. It also only takes about ten minutes, so also probably more efficient as well as contributing to that community spirit. Something as well to point out may be the fact that the teachers all have their desks in the same room, no cubicles or walls to separate them.

Another point of interest that I had to learn on my own  is that there aren’t particular seasons for sports. Basketball doesn’t just take place in winter, and baseball in the summer or autumn. Students choose one particular sport or club activity and then stick to it all year long. Maybe that’s how Ohtani got to be so good.

Maybe a final thing I would talk about is how going from middle school (where I’m at) to high school isn’t so simple a thing as just going to the one that’s closest to you or to the one that your middle school feeds into. Rather third year (final year) middle school students have to take placement examinations to determine which high school they can go to, and then choose from there. There are both public and private and religious schools, as well as schools specialized in things such as in engineering, agriculture, academics and so on. Partly I think of that because today the third years are actually taking a practice exam.

But yes, I think there I shall leave things off as I can’t think of any other differences and I don’t have much more to write about.

I hope that back in the old US of A you enjoy waking up to this message from across the world, and that you are ready for whatever comes next. As I said, I already know the future, so I’m ready. At least I think.

The power of water, stone, and gravity.

Your Experienced, all-knowing friend,

Ted Gernhart

Peace out ✌️