Sleepwalking

I’m sleepwalking through my job right now, pretty much on autopilot as far as my day to day duties are concerned. It’s difficult to be genki when your inclination is to lie down and catch your breath, but I am trying. Nonetheless, the past couple of days have been pretty satisfying.

I had a great conversation with some of my junior high second year students yesterday about the perils of juku (cram school) and homework. Even though some of my second year classes have become a bit rowdy these past few months, they are probably my favourite group of students. Their level of English has advanced at a frightening rate. This is one advantage of teaching at an academic school. When I first met them they could barely do a self introduction. Now, they are intermittently confident English speakers, able to express themselves and capable of understanding 60% of what I throw at them.

I don’t mean to imply that this improvement is down to me. It’s mainly due to the excellent teachers at my school, its emphasis at early junior-level on genuine communication skills and the students’ hard work. They have put my lazy Japanese skills to shame.

I feel really proud of them in a way that I never expected to when I came here. Teaching English was never a motivational factor in my decision to come to Japan. It was merely a means to an end, which was to experience a foreign culture and properly explore a country I was fascinated with. I have no particular love for kids, especially teenagers and the idea of spending my time surrounded by them made me slightly nervous to be honest.

But it hasn’t quite turned out how I expected. Firstly, the kids are great. There’s a unity to the group and a carelessness about their nature that’s really appealing and which can totally put you at ease. I’ve found myself really rooting for them on so many levels. So much so that it makes me want to work hard for them and improve my teaching on their behalf.

Secondly, I’ve enjoyed the creativity of teaching. I’m pretty decent at it. There’s nothing like watching a lesson you’ve planned run perfectly with happy students cavorting around the classroom and enjoying English. It is a genuine thrill and I envy my friends who are teachers who get to do that on a regular basis with the proper experience and skill that teaching for a living imparts upon you.

Thirdly, through family and friends, a whole rash of babies and young children have entered my life in the past few years. Now I’ll be honest. Babies are really boring. Only if they are your own do they hold any real appeal. They moan, they cry, they have very little personality and they are incredibly demanding. They drive the parents crazy. It’s just the inevitable side-effect of 24/7 babytime.

But toddlers…toddlers are fun. For a start, you can talk to them. They are little people with individual personalities. You can play with them and hang out. Sure, they are, if anything, even more demanding than babies. But you get something back from a toddler. Babies just ask for your attention, get it and go to sleep if you’re lucky. Toddlers can actually lift you and make you feel good. So I suppose my attitude towards children has changed in the sense that I can actually envisage enjoying their company to some extent.

I’ve enjoyed the teaching, even if I have major reservations about the specific role of an ALT. I will miss being on my feet for 3 hours a day and the challenge of interacting with people on a personal level so regularly. But if I’m honest, I’d rather be a civil servant. Which is lucky, because that’s what I’ll be again on August 7^th.

I’m not pregnant by the way. I don’t have Danny Devito as my doctor. I’m really not.

What is the collective noun for a group of monks?

With my newly-shaved head, I increasingly resemble a monk. A Jewish monk. Which made last week’s trip to Koya-san even more appropriate. It’s a beautiful place-all forests, hills and impressive temples.

But the most impressive part was the Okunoin graveyard. Now, I know it’s a Smiths-fan cliché, but I do enjoy a good graveyard wander. Even though I’m acknowledging the indie affectation, writing that does make me wince slightly. It’s true though-one of my favourite sites in Paris is the Pere-Lachaise cemetry (sic-get me, I can even spell in an irritatingly referential way) where I spent a delightfully pretentious afternoon back in 2002. The graveyard at Koya-san was huge, mossy, varied and had a whiff of Indiana Jones about it. We spent much of our time wandering off the path and being unsure if that was allowed. But it felt great to walk inbetween the graves and let them surround you. As with Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, it was surprisingly easy to escape the crowds and find a bit of solitude amongst the grave stones.

Man, I’m so wet sometimes.

I loved all the moss.

We stayed in a temple at one end of the graveyard. The temple itself was amazing-absolutely massive with beautiful gardens, a friendly band of monks (what is the collective noun for a group of monks?) and a really serene feel to the rooms with a pretty view. My main memory will be the constant chorus of frogs that provided the background to our stay. The frogs are so noisy in Japan this week! Seriously, last night they kept me awake in my apartment!

My nemesis.

One reason to stay in the temple lodgings is that you can eat shojin ryori food. This is a type of vegan cuisine. No meat, fish or anything meat/fish related. There were a few highlights. I really liked the main piece of tofu, which was well flavoured. Tofu is great at taking on other tastes and although I sometimes dislike the consistency of it, this time it was excellent. There was also some especially tasty tempura that I’d have liked more of. But on the whole, I wasn’t a fan. There were too many bland components, overcooked veg, foamy textures and a lack of satisfaction about the whole thing. Still, it was great to try something new.

In separate news, I’ve continued to be a bit under the weather these past few days. In fact, it’s been almost a fortnight since I last felt genuinely okay. I don’t get sick very often but I have had an increasing number of minor medical complaints this past year or two, which is one of the reasons I’ve been attempting to be a bit healthier. But my current problem (a recurring shortness of breath and occasional stomach pains) is really irritating as it saps your energy. When it started it would only last for twenty minutes or so at a time, but recently it’s been lasting whole days. Very annoying, especially at a time when my general health is improving. I’ve been running 3 times a week, doing taiko once a week, cycling and eating better food. I’ve cut down on alcohol since Christmas and I’ve also barely smoked in the last few months. I suspect that all the above symptoms are related to the nicotine withdrawal, but still. It’s actually started to stop me doing things and that’s a major headache. Getting treated properly here is hard work without good Japanese skills and my doctor here seemed pretty clueless about what was going on. Though that didn’t stop him from prescribing me tranquilizers that I’m almost certainly not going to take. I’m hoping that it will go away on its own as it’s starting to majorly piss me off.