The way the Japanese bureaucracy is supposed to work is that she talks to her supervisor, who talks to the principal, who calls my supervisor, who asks me, then my supervisor calls the principal with my answer, who tells her supervisor, who tells Liz that I am coming.
Somehow this went awry this time (don’t ask me how, with such a simple system I wonder how they could POSSIBLY screw it up…note the sarcasm). On Thursday the 26th I was asked to give a presentation on Tuesday March 3rd. Since I hadn’t heard anything yet I had done NO prep work….so I had only 2 work days to get a presentation together AND I was going to Korea for the 2 days in between……Also that Friday I had a different presentation I had been preparing for. Usually it takes me at least 2 weeks to get a presentation together. I have to write out a script and practice it and then make all my supplementary materials. This time my 2 weeks were shortened into 2 days….
Needless to say the presentation did not go as well as I had hoped. It was supposed to be a bilingual presentation on my international travel experiences, something I am obviously quite passionate about. But without the time to really get into the vocabulary and really learn it, it just seemed kind of empty. Also, I didn’t really get a chance to organize when I wanted to say. I wanted to talk about cultural differences between the different countries I have been to and what I learned on my trips but to talk about that in Japanese would take a lot of time for me to organize. So in the end I just sort of said where I had been and showed pictures of the famous places. I told my Europe story and talked about how helpful English is when traveling (it is an English class after all), but it didn’t feel nearly as good as my earlier presentations. I just didn’t get to practice it enough. But that is because I chose to sleep last night since I am still getting over my cold…guess I learned from high school….
but I still went overboard
 |
| From Work |
 |
| From Work |
 |
| From Work |
 |
| From Work |
I got there a bit early because my colleague was heading in that direction and he gave me a ride. I had never been to a school visit on my own before. Usually Kojima-san goes with me, but I didn’t have any trouble checking in at the office and making my way up to the teacher office. Liz and Nelis met me on the way and I spent most of the time before the class just hanging out with them. I never really get to see Nelis because he lives in Sonobe (about 20 minutes or so away), so it was nice to get to spend some time with them.
We went together to the classroom. I was really nervous.
When I first walked into the classroom the students immediately screamed out “Who is that?!?!?!?” (･_･?)
I kept my mouth shut because I wanted them to be surprised when I spoke in Japanese. This was quite effective. After my introduction I launched into a bit about myself in Japanese and they all screamed in surprise. After that however, my novelty wore off, and they turned into the annoying bratty little high schoolers they are…
The things that happen in high schools in Japan would never be allowed to happen in the states. Kids put their heads down on the table and slept while I was talking. They sat right in front of me and held full conversations instead of listening to me. They turned their backs to me and talked to the neighbor behind them….I wasn’t overly shocked because I have heard about this, but I am not going to say it wasn’t a little upsetting. Even with only 2 days to prepare I had put in a decent amount of work into this presentation. I made maps of each country I have visited and put pictures of famous places next to them. Plus having people talk while you are giving a speech is really distracting. It really broke my concentration so I know it didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped. ☆⌒(＞。≪)イタイ
As I left the school it began snowing/raining so Nelis drove me to the station. I am quite jealous of all gaijin with cars...But I missed the right train and had to wai 30 minutes to get the next one...no big deal for me, I had my IPod and was not that excited to go back to the office. But I was feeling particularly down. I don't like it when I don't do my best.
So I got on the train and headed back to Kameoka, walking in the rain because my umbrella was at the office...feeling quite sorry for myself. And then I saw the bus. The Kindergarten bus. Full of adorable little kids. I looked up at the bus just in time to see the 3 kids in front burst into HUGE smiles when they saw me...then this little boy ran over from his seat to a window near me and waved, with a hugely bright smile. It was so adorable I couldn't help but feel better about my life. Sometimes it's nice to be a celebrity because you have brown hair and white skin. I made that kids day just because I look different.
But it is all a learning experience. Hopefully I can give another speech like it and improve. That is the main point of it all.
(*・_・)ノ⌒*
Plus I got to spend the day out of the office and seeing a high school for the first time. I also saw where my friend Liz works and got to see my first high school. Japanese elementary and middle schools are kind of gross, but the high schools seem a bit nicer. They are more brightly lit and cleaner.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment