An Update

Dear Readers,

Goodness, I have been neglectful! Perhaps you might be interested to know what I've been up to; and even if you haven't, I'll record it for myself to read and reflect upon later. This blog isn't an online journal for me (I'm much too private for that!), but I'd rather not treat the blog as only a space for advertisement of my political leanings (as I've been boring you with lately). Apologies all around. (And hooray or Obama!) Now, on to it...

I write to you under a full moon, just before Winter Solstice, on a very cold night. I'm wrapped in an electric blanket and sitting on a generous pleather legal chair at Nick's desk. He's at the library studying for his first law exam which happens tomorrow morning! He's so diligent! I'm listening to a generous stack of CD's from the St. Paul library: Miriam Makeba (in memoriam of the South African woman's recent passing), Ethiopian music (we've many Northern-Africans in our neighborhood and I feel compelled to learn about them), Pete Seeger (because he's been coming up a lot lately in my life, and I'm learning about unions), the King's Singers (which brings back funny memories of another certain men's vocal ensemble), and a couple world music mixes of Soul and Mediterranean music.

Now, to the update. Just for review, we lived in Japan last year but are now in St. Paul. Nick is going to law school at Hamline University.

He was recently accepted into Hamline's business school as well, so in about 3.5 years he'll have a JD and MBA! And after over three hundred (yes, really) applications and months of searching for the right one, I have a job!

I began work at the University of Minnesota in late October, just a couple weeks before the U of M declared a "hiring pause". I'm so grateful to get in just under the wire! The job is really a blessing: in the interview process it was clear I was chosen because of, and not despite of, my breadth of experience and international focus. Employees of the U tend to stay here for decades, even as they might change jobs. The atmosphere is good, the people are good, and the benefits are amazing. Among the benefits, the U of M offers free tuition to any employees, for undergrad or graduate work. It's such a relief to be able to seriously consider grad programs, and know that they are financially possible. I feel very blessed.

Also, we've set a date for our wedding! We will be married on August 7 in Omaha, where our families live. We've booked the park for the ceremony, a fabulous caterer and big reception hall. Things should be pretty simple. It's another blessing that I have several friends and family who were recently married in Omaha, so I can use their research on vendors to make the planning easier. And I feel so blessed with loyal and helpful fam/friends who've offered their assistance. We feel strongly that the point of a wedding, a public one, is to garner the spiritual/emotional support of the community who surrounds and loves us; we're grateful that so much is offered. It's so important to us to enjoy the time with our family and friends; I'm trying to keep the stress to a minimum. Nick is a big help with that, because he's such an easy-going guy with a tendency to plan well (over my procrastination). It will be great.

And in other exciting news, we're off to Europe in a week's time! Over the holidays, Nick and I are going to the Netherlands to visit our friends Adam and Amber and their beautiful child, my godchild, Mary Grace. Christmas will be quiet and simple in their home. Perhaps we'll take some brief trips into Germany to see spas or castles. For New Year's we'll head down to Belgium to sample beer and chocolate and enjoy the architecture. Then Nick and I will spend our final two days in Amsterdam, enjoying the city. It should be a lovely vacation and pre-honeymoon. We're so practiced at traveling together, but every country is a new challenge. Nick is great at negotiating public transportation, reading maps and orienting. I'm great at packing, planning, and keeping us organized along the way. If we can make our way across Asia, where we can't even read the signs, surely we can enjoy Western Europe!

Contemptous Disrespect from Giuliani, Palin, and the RNC

Giuliani: "He worked as a community organizer, - HA, what's that? Is that a job?"

Palin: "I guess being the mayor of a small town is sortof like being a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities!"

Tonight's speech made my blood boil. I am deeply offended by Giuliani's and Palin's condescending laughter, prompting the buffoon audience to join in despicable bullying. Since when is it acceptable to make fun of social workers? Why is community organizing not viewed as honorable, selfless service to the greater good? What about AmeriCorps, or the WPA? Why would military service be seen as more valuable than service at home, in our own troubled neighborhoods? If the Republican Party claims to encourage private contributions to social causes (with little governmental funding or support), who do they expect to do the work? Marines with machine guns? The Air Force with airdrops of supplies? Perhaps it's just as we expected: scornful millionaire big-interest-sponsored Republicans really do enjoy castigating teachers, social workers, counselors, and others in the social services industry. And the unthinking masses go along with whatever the "pro-life" candidate wants.

Since when is WAR pro-life? What about malnourished children next door? What about underfunded schools? Millions without adequate healthcare? What about other people on the planet outside of our borders? What about an ailing planet soon unable to host our grandchildren's precious lives?

Humanity belongs to an interconnected web of life, and we all must contribute, actively, to promote goodness and kindness. Blessed are the peacemakers.

Saying Goodbye, and a Bellybutton Festival

July was full of beautiful weather, engagement parties, birthday parties, goodbye parties, and lots of cake.


On my last day of class at Furebetsu JHS, we cooked! I lead the students in making American-style potato salad, which with mustard and relish is much more flavorful than Japanese-style mayonnaise potato salad. And then we made salsa (tomatoes, green chilies, pickled jalapeno, onion, black olives, onion, salt, lime). I gave them firm instructions to avoid touching their eyes after chopping peppers; everyone but me followed directions. Ouch! Yet all had a good time.

Furebetsu was one of the farthest schools (about 30 minutes) but the drive was always striking. This is Mt. Furano, originally named "Furanui" by the Ainu natives.


At Rokugo JHS, the teacher organized a taste-testing party for my last day. She prepared various Japanese foods and the students had to guess what would be my "favorite" and "least favorite". Not sure what you're seeing? Fresh wakame seaweed, pickled plum called umeboshi, disgusting konyakku, pickled daikon radish, and pickled cucumber. The kids knew me well enough to guess that #1 would be ume!

After my taste-testing, I gave the kids crackers and several American condiments to sample: BBQ sauces, Miracle Whip, Taco Bell sauces, yellow mustard, pickle relish, etc. Most Japanese people don't like spicy food, but the mild taco sauce was a favorite.


We traveled with some fellow JET teachers over a long weekend in July. This is our tearful goodbye: I miss you!!!


My Board of Education threw me a "retirement" party. They called it "retirement" because in Japan it is very rare to leave or change jobs, ever. When announcing that I would stay "only" one year in Japan, I met some shock/resistance from coworkers until I learned to describe my reason for leaving that my fiance is beginning law school. 1) In Japan, most women leave their jobs immediately after marriage in order to become wives. They probably assume that after my upcoming marriage I will stop working. 2) Lawyers are very highly respected, and Japan is a strictly hierarchical society. So my revised answer received hearty congratulations.
Although it was a very difficult year and I don't have much gratitude for some of the people in my BOE, with plenty of alcohol we were able to have a nice time at the goodbye party. But, still assuming my foreign barbarity, my racist boss did ask whether I was able to use chopsticks. After one year living in the country! Grrr.

Dinner was required attendance for all BOE employees. Nijikai, literally, "second time", is the word for the second party after the dinner. What else? Karaoke. My generous shy supervisor, Nishio-san, is always shockingly theatrical in karaoke. Our friend/colleague Iri is a reliably gregarious addition to any party.


On the day of my birthday Nick and I scheduled nothing and planned a special picnic on the Sorachi River behind our home. He set out a lovely meal of imported foods.


My coworker Hayden planned a "surprise" party for me with over 20 friends in attendance. We were given a generous assortment of gifts and Hayden brought a lovely cake. I probably had 5 cakes in one month!


In the last two days we were in town, the city threw its annual Bellybutton Festival. Furano is in the center of Hokkaido, thus called the "navel" of the island. Women and children dress in summer yukatas. Men dress in silly costumes and paint their chests. Then everyone in town forms groups and dances in a parade. Tourists come from all over the country and Asia to see the festival every year.

Takahashi-san and some other employees of City Hall posed prior to the parade.

I danced with the ladies in my Ikebana club, most of whom work in City Hall.


The next morning, exhausted and blistered from dancing in zori, we loaded up our many heavy suitcases to meet our 8AM bus out of town. Many friends and colleagues met us for a final, tearful, sayonara. My time in Furano was very difficult, but most of my struggles were not the fault of anything but misfortune and cultural misunderstanding. I left Japan gladly, as there are several key aspects of Japanese culture which are incompatible with my personality. However, I have deep respect and love for many people I met in my year in Japan. And wonder for the striking beauty of Hokkaido landscape. Arigatou gozaimashita! Ja mata!

Food

The following is an excerpt of an interview of Winona LaDuke in YES! Magazine. LaDuke is one of my biggest sheroes and I am very excited to move back to Minnesota and be nearer to her wisdom/action. I like what she says here about work, food, and celebration.

"Sarah van Gelder: Can you tell me about how wild rice is harvested?

Winona LaDuke: We go up on the lake and we put our asemaa, our tobacco, on it. My son is my ricing partner, and we canoe through our rice beds. I used to push him, but he got too big, so now he pushes me out there, and I knock rice into the canoe with two sticks.

The rice grows on our lakes and rivers—some is fat and some skinny, some short, some tall. Some grows in muddy waters, some looks like a bottle brush, and some looks all punked out. That’s called biodiversity. It means not all the rice ripens at once. Some gets knocked off by wind. Some gets a blight, some doesn’t get a blight. The Irish potato famine should have taught us that agricultural monoculture is dangerous—but so is a social monoculture (or you could say, mall-culture).

The anthropologists used to come out and watch us manoominike—harvest the rice. After we rice in the morning, we bring our rice in and let it dry. We parch it over a fire, and we dance on it to get the hulls off, and then winnow it in a basket. We pretty much do the same thing today using wood fires as we’ve always done—we’re an intermediate technology people.

Ojibwe is a language of 8,000 verbs. The word for “work” is a strange construct for us. It doesn’t mean we aren’t a hard-working people, but in our language, the word is anokii, which means that whether you are fishing or weaving a basket, what you are doing is living—which is not the same thing as being paid a wage to do something.

After the harvest, we have a big feast, and we dance and tell stories. The anthropologists watched us, and they didn’t like that. They said we would never become civilized because we enjoyed our harvest too much. We did too much dancing, too much singing.

When you no longer enjoy your relationship to your food, to your plant relatives, to the harvest, to the dancing and singing—when you end up with a harvest that has no relationships or joy, I think that must be the mark of civilization and industrialized agriculture."

Comparing the Educational Experience

“International comparisons rank the United States a stunningly unimpressive eighteenth for high school graduation rates, a lackluster ranking of fifteenth for high school reading assessments among 15-year-olds in developed countries, and an embarrassing 25th for high school math.”: Former governor of West Virginia, Bob Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a policy and advocacy group committed to improving the high schools. His book is “Raising the Grade: How High School Reform Can Save Our Youth and Our Nation”

Now, nearly everything I can claim to know about public education in the US is limited to what I read in the newspaper. I was fortunate (???) enough to go to parochial schools from grade 1 through university. After college I worked one year as an AmeriCorps volunteer in public high schools in Portland, Oregon, and after that for a year in alternative school settings for at-risk youth.

Now I have worked nearly one year in public elementary and junior high schools in Furano, Hokkaido, Japan. I am daily surprised by what I see here. Although Japanese students are famously far ahead of their American peers in learning math, science and languages, they also seem to be way ahead in arts as well. Not just those with special interest: ALL of them. All the students in my town receive extensive education in music (playing recorders, understanding the parts of a symphony, music history, chorus, conducting, and composing), even beyond what I learned as a high school student filling my schedule with music classes. In arts they all learn sketching, line drawing, pottery, painting, sewing and woodworking. In gym class they learn judo, kendo, basketball, dogeball, baseball, and DANCING. Boys and girls together, they do a lot of dance routines to modern J-pop songs (and, I'll add, the boys are not ashamed to do it - they're as excited and focused as the girls). I'm telling you, these kids are well-rounded and enjoy learning this stuff.



At one small school, the entire class of twelve students each played an instrument. One student conducted while all the others played their own unique instrument, and they sounded AMAZING. I could have recorded the music and sold it, it was that good. Their determination brought tears to my eyes. It isn't that Japanese students are necessarily more talented than American students... but that they are expected to achieve and have a good time doing it. They take pride in singing together as a class, or learning how to conduct in 6/8 time, or memorizing all the steps to a dance to their favorite band. These children, just like those at home, come from whole families and broken families. Some get tons of support and a hot breakfast every day. Some don't eat breakfast in the morning because there isn't enough food. Some are up till three in the morning because their parents don't care enough to turn off the TV and send them to bed. Kids here have the same challenges, but most of them here do perform better.

Other basic differences: Students take responsibility for and pride in their schools, a little more, because they do most of the cleaning. They serve their own lunches and eat with their homeroom classes. In Japan teachers move between classrooms and the homeroom class remains in their room for most classes (except domestic arts, PE, music or art). The homeroom teacher of each class is responsible for students to a surprising extent. If a student is caught shoplifting or out after curfew, is is the homeroom teacher who police call first. The teacher visits all students homes at least once a year to meet with the parent and see the condition of the home.

There is so much more I should write about: Japanese students' lack of creativity. Unwillingness to make mistakes. Respect and politeness to teachers and uperclasspeople. Military-like marching drills in PE and for special assemblies. Bullying. Curiosity-bordering-on-fear of the different. Abhorrence for being the outcast. Adult encouragement of student leadership skills. Uniformity as the standard for everything. Childlike open hearts, even through puberty. The pressure of entrance examinations. My observations about acculturation as they age. Poor eyesight and video games. School gardens. Politeness and generosity. These kids are gold, really.

A Sample

Here is a little snapshot in words; a glimpse into three days of my life.

さんぷる 1

Saturday was a quiet day for me. Our wireless internet, which we share with my coworker/neighbor downstairs, was not working. I should be grateful for being lucky enough to live in a town with broadband. . . many JETs do not. But a lack of internet usually just leaves me cranky. I made okonomiyaki おこのみやき, cleaned, and read. The snow is melting (finally!) and crashes off the roof with incredible force.

At the train station at six, in the dark, I met Nick who was returning from work in Asahikawa. We rushed to meet my JTE/friend Inugami-sensei and his wife Yuko. The four of us planned a "double-date" for the evening. We met at a culture event coordinated for Furano ski tourists. It was an incredible spread of traditional music and dancing. Unfortunately the food served was some of the worst I`ve eaten in Japan, perhaps made for the tastes of Western tourists. But never mind; the music and beer were a great combo! The four of us had a nice time meeting Furano`s (mostly Australian) tourists and catching up with local friends involved in the tourism industry. Apparently Inugami-sensei and I share some local notoriety for our music performances together in the past months.





After the culture event rolled to a close, the four of us walked to a blues bar serving Miller Light. The owner of the bar is the oldest of three brothers with businesses in town; his next brother owns a lovely coffee shop; the youngest owns a popular bar welcoming many locals and foreigners with classic rock riffs spilling out of the stereo. It`s been funny to meet the whole family, in stages, over the months we`ve lived here.


さんぷる 2

Sunday morning was an early one, as we`d been out late and Nick needed to catch the SIX am train to work. His students (adorable: aged 2-5) were performing in a speech `contest` in front of beaming parents. After the contest, I took the train and met him in Asahikawa for some shopping. We caught a free bus, packed with teenagers, to the biggest mall in the region. For a country that constantly waxes over their uniquely "polite" culture, not a single person offered their bus seat to the elderly woman standing. Grr. First stop at the mall was a ridiculous Western-food buffet lunch, quite a deal at 1300￥ (about $12) each. I wonder if the other guests had ever seen a man put down quite the amount of food that Nick managed to consume. Men, women and children stared slack-jawed. After months of living as circus performers, I don`t even mind the googling eyes.

The highlight of our day, though, was a return to the mall`s foreign foods store which we`d visited back in October. Back story: In our last visit the store had held our purchases for a few hours while we continued mall shopping, and we picked up the bags on our way out of the mall. Upon returning to Furano I received a frantic call from the food store, apologizing profusely for omitting to return our precious bag of tortillas back into our grocery bag; they had refrigerated the tortillas and forgotten. . . oh shame! Well, this time, upon checkout, I mentioned my name and that I had not received a bag of tortillas about five months ago. . . The looks on the cashiers` faces were priceless. My cashier ran into the back and immediately brought out THE ORIGINAL BAG OF TORTILLAS, frozen, with my name and phone number still taped to the bag. Profound bowing and apologies all around. You know that store employees have been staring at those tortillas for five months during weekly inventory, willing me to hurry up and get the blessed bag. But I thought it was so funny and sweet that they saved the original bag (rather than a store credit or something). Japanese society is so HONEST.

さんぷる 3

Today was a brilliantly blue day of snowmelt and striking mountain vistas. I taught at a school nearly an hour away from town, and on the drive back managed some nice pictures.






I couldn`t tarry, however; I needed to make it to the bank before 3pm to send some money, in a frustratingly complicated system, internationally to my bank at home. Usually this is not a problem. Today I thought I would try to do the currency exchange on my own with the limited help of a bank teller, but, sadly, this did not occur. It is so difficult to be helplessly illiterate and inarticulate. I couldn`t understand the bankteller`s directions and failed miserably at my task. Within an hour my emotions dropped from generous appreciation of Japan`s natural grandeur to defeat. In this culture, to inconvenience someone (the bankteller) as I did (with 5 minutes of language misunderstandings) means that I must feel and show extreme apologetic humility. How can I retain confidence when I am constantly bowing and scraping?! And I will live with these linguistic limitations for another five months! Arg!

Upon returning to the office I had the fortune to run into Mr. Shima, the composer of the song which I sang for the G8 Summit. The CD`s have been burned (5000 of them!) with an unfortunate misspelling of my name, Nick`s English lyrics, my smiling mug, and what I hope to be a good editing job of the music. Who knows where this will go?!

The Hairy Smelly Barbarian

This really is a foreign land, and there are plenty of opportunities to embarrass myself. Some examples:

1. In my first week in Furano, we were taken to meet the mayor. Quite an honor. I came bearing gifts, bowed and clumsily fumbled with the proper Japanese greetings. We sat to chat. The mayor was impressed to learn that morning I had already taken a stroll along the local Sorachi River. He said that Furano is known for its delicious water and lack of crows (because city services keep the trash picked up). I wasn't quite on my toes at that point and mentioned that I had seen several crows out on the river that very day. Disagreeing with the mayor was probably not the best first impression. . . but that water sure is delicious!

2. I was visiting my acupuncturist and went in to use the toilet. In Japanese homes they place little slippers in the toilet-room so that you don`t dirty your socks/feet by touching the floor. The slippers in the acupuncturist office are particularly fluffy and cute; I think they have cartoon characters on the toes. When I finished my business I forgot that I had the slippers on and walked out into the treatment room with the slippers still on! That is basically the most disgusting thing one could do.

3. Sometime just before our Thai vacation, my supervisor was aware that we were tight on money and apparently told his boss this fact. The boss, who is a weird-but-nice guy, paid for one of my expenses with the equivalent of $300, as a loan. I didn`t want the gift and as soon as I discovered the fact I withdrew $300 in new bills to return the money. I looked in the stationary section of the office supplies and chose a pretty little envelope. I placed the envelope on his desk and painstakingly wrote, in Japanese, `thank you very much`. There was some flurry in the office. A few hours later they asked me why I had put the envelope on my boss` desk, and I explained I was paying him back. Apparently the envelope I had chosen is specifically used for funerary gifts. When Japanese people give funerary gifts, they choose new bills if the death is unexpected. I laughed and apologized profusely. They didn`t really laugh. . . they just thought I was very very weird.

4. There is a teacher who I really like. She sings and I have attended one of her concerts at the local city hall. After the winter holiday vacation I noticed that she had gotten a very flattering new haircut. I was trying to compliment her on the haircut and said kawaii soo かわいいそお. I thought this meant `it is so cute`, but, unfortunately because of an irregular usage of this particular adjective, I actually said `wow, that is too bad`. The whole office stopped moving when I made the mistake, and the teacher`s face turned bright red. My JTE quickly corrected my mistake and everyone laughed. (I hope the teacher forgives me. . .)

5. I eat apples りんご, whole. This habit is not particularly noteworthy where I come from, but apparently Japanese people find this to be extremely distasteful. In Japan, if one eats an apple one cuts it into exacting pieces. I am unsure the gravity of my offense, but my students stare open-mouthed as I eat apples in the lunchroom. Here if one eats a mandarin orange みっかん, one carefully opens the peel in the shape of a flower, so that the flower-peel can be folded together and neatly discarded. As a general rule, people here do not eat raw vegetables. Our friend Ido has taken to purposely shocking his students by bringing a whole carrot to school lunch, and eating it like a horse.

This is "grassroots internationalization" at its best and worst.

A Day in the Life

A number of friends and family have asked "what the heck do you do there?" I guess I haven't been very descriptive about the day-to-day schedule of an eigo sensei えいごせんせい (English teacher).

I'll begin with some acronyms. I was hired through the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program. I am an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) or AET (Assistant English Teacher). My position is to expose students to English and promote "grassroots internationalization" in the schools and larger community in which I live. In schools I work with JTE's (Japanese Teachers of English). My office base is at the BOE (Board of Education), where I report every day for work at 8:45. I pause at the door to offer a formal ohayoo gozaimasu おはいよございます(good morning).

The BOE is in a nice new building which shares space with the city library and various meeting and art exhibition spaces. I have twelve co-workers at the BOE, and I am invited/required to attend various parties and sporting events with them semi-regularly. Some of my BOE coworkers are semi-retired principals, but most are administrative employees with no direct experience working in education. Interestingly, the Superintendent of Education used to work as an architect; I don't know why he changed professions to some thing so different. Unlike many more rural BOE offices, our staff seem to be pretty busy. When I leave the BOE I announce at the door itte kimasu いってきます(I am going). From the BOE I walk or drive the BOE car to any of fourteen schools where I teach. In the autumn my learning curve was steep as I had to become familiar with many different outlying towns, schools, principals and teachers' expectations, and thousands of students.

Once I enter a school I first stop to take off my outside shoes and switch into inside shoes. If I happen to forget my inside shoes, I must wear vinyl slippers. Next I walk to the teacher's office and pause at the door to offer a formal ohaiyoo gozaimasu or konnichiwa こんいちわ(good afternoon/hello), as appropriate. I then take my seat at an empty desk near the JTE and we meet to review lesson plans for the day. Our goal is "team teaching", working off one another's skills. Or we chat, depending on our relationship. Most of my JTE's are very friendly and genuinely wish to have a relationship based on cultural/linguistic/human exchange. My relationships with my JTE's are really stimulating and sustaining in what is sometimes a lonely place. Only one or two of my JTE's are too busy or disinterested or racist to talk. Overall, I am really lucky with my work situation.

At the junior high schools I typically teach three classes a day. I eat lunch with the students in the classrooms, and also attend music or physical education classes just to have more fun with them. As for English classes, some teachers wish for me to use the whole period to "have fun" with the students. Other teachers give me 15 minutes for a fun-but-relevant activity. Sometimes I am simply utilized as a "human tape recorder" reading the text in the book and correcting pronunciation (this is the worst-case scenario, as it really doesn't use me efficiently nor does it get the students interested in English). For lesson plans I often use comics, music, card games, and Bingo.

If I am teaching at an elementary school I have the entire period to teach on my own. In our school district the elementary students are only exposed to English three times each school year, so I don't really get to know the teachers or students at these schools. But we sure do have fun! My lesson plans usually involve lots of music, physical activities and sensory games. Considering these kids know virtually no English, my job is to be Gesture Queen.

Upon leaving the schools I say a formal osaki ni shitsure shimasu おさきにしつれいします(please pardon me for leaving earlier than you), change my shoes, and hop back into the car. Some of the schools are five minutes away, and some are forty minutes from Furano City. I return to the BOE to do lesson plans for the next day. . . or read the newspaper/blog/email. My day ends between 4:30 and 5:30, when I leave the office again apologizing for my early departure.

In the evenings, life is usually quiet. We cook. Grocery shop. Play music. Play a team sport (sponsored by the BOE). Attend ikebana 　いけばな(flower arranging) class -- my favorite! Read. Surf the internet. Play cards. Eat out at the sushi-go-round. If it isn't blizzarding, we walk. I find that our quiet evenings help balance out the extreme challenges that face me in my work world; it isn't that the job is difficult, but that understanding what is required of me is the challenge.

On the weekends we often travel to meet friends or explore more of Hokkaido. Commiserating and celebrating with foreigner friends helps keep us sane. There are a lot of parties keeping our calendar filled a month in advance.

So there is a description of "a day in the life"! I am hoping that we will find this year to be as rewarding as it has been challenging. (Cuz gawd, I hope we have no more significant challenges!) Cheers!

Japanese Work Culture, an Update

I`m learning, but I do not like what I am learning. Apparently the situation I am in is not unusual in Japanese culture. Although I have felt threatened and isolated recently, I am learning that this does not need to be the case; they do not have anything against me as an individual. My office has been very clear that they will NOT help me get to work, and that I must give proliferate and profound apologies for the inconvenience of my injury. I was forced to promise that I will pay for TAXIS to and from schools (prohibitively expensive), although previous to the injury I drove the work car every day. Bewilderingly, ever since I promised that I would pay they have been giving me rides to schools. I am so confused. . .

From what I now understand, the Japanese cultural rule is this:

If one is injured at work or school, then the school or employer will assist the injured person, including paying for medical expenses and anything else needed. (Similar to our "worker`s compensation".)

If one is injured outside of work or school, whether on vacation or just after hours, then the school or employer is not obligated to provide any assistance at all. The injured person must do everything "by one`s own strength" -- and expense. The injured person must be responsible, and apologetic, for any inconvenience the injury might cause anyone else. Shame and suffering are side-effects of any off-the-clock injury. In this culture, the good of the group holds primacy over any individual experience. Of course there are benefits to this system of community-over-individual, but the system is a challenging shock to this American girl.

Now that I am returning to schools (hooray!), people are kind and sympathetic. Kids, especially, are sensitive and helpful. But, I do notice that when people hear the story of my injury, they break eye contact when they know it was off-the clock. (Why would anyone stop working?) Especially because I was out of the country. (Why would anyone ever wish to go outside Japan?) It is likely my interpretation of their reaction is over-sensitive and inaccurate; the result of what feels like a month of severe beatings and prostrations. Certainly, I have lost my rose-tinted glasses.

The positive is that my wounds ARE healing. My two broken bones are fusing quickly. The top of my foot has almost finished growing new skin, and my elbow and shoulder are getting better. This hard cast on my foot will be off on February 12. Nick's hip is also healing and he has almost no pain. We are on the mend!

Barriers

Just two days before our departure from Furano to Bangkok, my dear mother Mary was injured on the icy streets of Omaha. She fell on a busy downtown street and was nearly run over by multiple careening trucks. She managed to drag herself off the road and somehow made it to the bus and to work (raised on a farm, my mother is accustomed to performing extraordinary physical feats while in serious pain). Once she arrived at work she promptly received assistance getting to the hospital for medical attention. My older cousin Ed, an extremely talented Omaha orthopedist, is her doctor. Mom's left kneecap is broken and the meniscus is torn, but Ed says she thankfully does not need surgery. My mother is the chaplain at a retirement facility, and her employer has been extremely helpful. She was immediately given two weeks off work and since the "Christmas break", she as worked shorter days so that she can come home to rest. Her boss arranged for her to use a scooter at work, and even decorated the scooter and deemed it "Mary's Chariot of Fire" or something funny/clever like that. Being that she works at a retirement facility, of course her workplace is completely accessible. Her coworkers and residents have shown concern, accommodated her special needs, expressed gratitude for her presence, and made jokes to demonstrate a positive attitude about the situation. Over the holidays our large circle of family and friends gathered to help Mom. Her partner Michael is an excellent caretaker. Everyone, even her hairdresser, has offered to help.

For daily transportation to and from work, Mom usually rides the bus. This is very rare in Omaha as our public transportation system is inadequately funded/used/organized. However, she is committed to limiting carbon output (hooray for her!). Now that she is on crutches, she has still been able to use the Omaha bus system's MOBY program: "The MOBY Paratransit Program is an advance reservation curb-to-curb transportation service for residents of the city of Omaha and American with Disabilities Act (ADA) eligible persons visiting within Omaha's city limits, who, as a result of their disabilities, are unable, to use conventional ADA fixed-route (MAT) bus service." Due to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the city bus system uses mandated federal, state and city funds to provide this service. So great!
http://www.metroareatransit.com/

Also in Omaha, Nick's wonderful mother Pat uses a scooter on a daily basis. She is a great proponent of the Americans with Disabilities Act and is a wonderful source of information and encouragement as I learn to deal with my temporary injury. (Watch this space for more information about how Pat is successfully mobile, all around the country.)

Here in Japan, my situation has been quite different. I am new to my job and to this community. Thankfully, I have been offered help from several friends/teachers. Many of my gaijin friends have gone out of their way to be in close communication; two even came to visit me Sunday afternoon. Both my supervisor and my coworker give me rides to the office and doctor visits. But because of a difference in culture about work ethics and injury, I have really struggled to feel supported in my healing process at work. Part of the reason is that I was on vacation while injured, and now my vacation (which most Japanese people are entitled to take but never do) is directly affecting my work abilities. It took a lot of conversation (fight?) to get any time off to heal. Yet I am very lucky that my office is in a new building which is fully accessible with ramps and elevators. One of the dozen schools I visit is accessible. Most of Japan is not accessible, and it does not appear that there are rules to require that older buildings are retroactively remodeled. Using the local train requires scaling four long flights of stairs. The bus which we used to get from Sapporo to Furano was also not accessible, so I had to hop and bear the pain.

From this experience, I am altogether more aware of and grateful for the ADA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990

Japanese Work Culture

I am in the midst of an interesting and challenging cultural exchange right now with my employer, regarding work values. My own first priority, regardless of what country I live in, is my health. I am unwilling to compromise my health, even if all cultural expectations ask for me to do so. I think that American/Western culture respects and upholds that prioritization of health: when injured we can take sick leave as necessary. If we are ill, we are encouraged to go home so as not to pass on the illness to others. At my last employer, EdgeLink, health and wellbeing was certainly the most important goal for all employees.

Japanese society is very different and there is so much that I do not understand. What I have observed is that regardless of how sick a teacher is, even with a communicable disease like influenza, they go to work. People go to work with slipped disks and cannot walk. People go to work two days after a close family member dies. Children go to school, cough on their classmates, and spread disease like wildfire. (The Japanese have a funny idea that wearing an anti-microbial paper mask over the mouth and nose prevents spread of infection; unfortunately often they pull down the mask to talk or cough. And there is NOT enough handwashing happening.) The motivation is about `group effort`; if everyone else is working (hard), then the ill employee should too. Employees gain respect of their coworkers and superiors by going to work even when ill or in pain.

While on our super-fabulous vacation in Thailand, we were in a scooter accident and my foot was broken and I have significant open wounds. It is not fun. I have not been allowed to take time off to heal. I am expected to feel guilty for having too much fun on vacation and furthermore affecting my ability to work effectively now that I have returned. What makes it all the more complicated is that I am now expected to APOLOGIZE for the serious burden I am to my Japanese schools and coworkers. (In Japanese society people apologize all the time, for everything. For walking near someone. For entering a room. For leaving a room. For receiving anything. For giving anything. Basically, it is the culture to apologize for existing.) In the last twelve hours I have been in four hours of meetings about what a burden my injury could be to students and teachers, and how I can possibly avoid being a burden. Apparently, my request of placing a chair near the entryway of the school, to be able to sit to change from outdoor to indoor shoes, is an inconceivable burden. My employer actually made a huge demand and THREAT that is against my contract so I had to contact the Prefectural leadership to, ahem, readjust their expectations. I hope my bosses feel chastized; I certainly won`t forget this. It`s an exciting day.

This further cements my opinion of the Cruelty of Japanese society. I certainly know many individually wonderful/kind/generous/compassionate/empathetic/open-minded Japanese people. However, I currently stand by my opinion that Japanese society is cruel and close-minded. Even the very kind people (like my wonderful supervisor) are required to uphold the rigid demands placed on eachother here. My disappointing examples of cruelty:

- There are very little social services available for those who are less able, for the mentally ill, for the poor. Almost nowhere is accessible to the physically handicapped. Although there is unemployment pay and something similar to food stamps, it is apparently very difficult to get. There have been numerous recently publicized examples of Japanese individuals who starved to death, literally, because they were judged for their lack of participation in the workforce and hence denied benefits.
- Those who struggle with mental illness are isolated as a rule. Doctors tell the patients to `go home, take this pill, and do not leave your home until you feel better`. It is an extreme shame to one`s family to be diagnosed with mental illness, and affects the family name in ways that I do not understand as I am outside of the culture. Also, it is a shame to admit to be friends with someone with mental illness, as those with mental illness are abnormal and thus abhorrent. In December two of my junior students stayed home from school, self-isolated, and attempted or considered suicide. Their parents refused to hospitalize or medicate their children, because of the shame involved. And even if they had been hospitalized, often mental health patients come out even less healthy.
- Bullying is a significant problem in Japan is is widely overlooked by school staff as `normal`. In a culture all about groupthink, the few isolated students are beaten down to the point of. . .self-isolating mental illness. I observed bullying, and when I addressed it with a teacher she dismissed its significance. Students hit eachother in class and in the hallways. Even on Japanese TV, the TV personalities frequently hit eachother on the head as a joke/admonishment. Everyone laughs.
- There are almost no charity organizations at work in this country. In the quest to raise funds for Habitat For Humanity, JETs have struggled to explain to Japanese people WHY one would wish to donate to a cause, let alone a cause that assists people outside of this venerable and superior nation.
- I observe that although Japanese society is extremely POLITE, and often those rules of politeness result in generosity. . . I don`t often have the opportunity to observe genuine, impulsive kindness. A painful example from a friend of mine occured when she returned to Japan after undergoing a very serious life-threatening surgery. When she returned to her small town, where everyone knows everyone`s business, NO ONE looked her in the eye, welcomed her back, or even asked her how she was. Her Japanese coworkers felt frozen by societal rules and didn`t know how to reach out to her, to express their concern; she was devastated.
- A famous, poignant and controversial example of Japanese cruelty, bigotry, misogyny, and racism is the issue of "comfort women". In WWII, the Japanese army systematically raped other Asian women as forced/enslaved prostitutes. Japanese textbooks still do not teach this, and the government is hesitant to acknowledge the issue. It demonstrates both historical and current justifications of cruelty.
- This is kindof an aside, but they like to eat some food ALIVE!!!! There are some seafood delicacies, like certain fish or `dancing squid`, that they eat alive. The justification is that it is fresher that way. In my opinion that is pretty far from the Buddhist tenant to avoid doing harm!

There is a lot that I do not understand about Japanese culture, and I hope that my mind is changed about the prevalence of cruelty in this society. I know that the longer I remain here, the closer I will come to some of the friends I am getting to know, and the more I will respect their kindness and acceptance. I also recognize that some of the above-listed issues are also problems in my own culture and in myself (which, if you read more of my blog, you see I am not hesitant to name). That being said, right now I have a lot of negative feelings about Japanese society as a whole. It is a blessing that I have such life-giving relationships with Nick, my coworker Hayden, and other extremely supportive friends.

Misogyny

As I am in the midst of some serious cultural/misogynistic issues here at work in Japan, this article from the NYT echoes this problem in my own country.

Politics and Misogyny
By BOB HERBERT
"With Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s win in New Hampshire, gender issues are suddenly in the news. Where has everybody been?

"If there was ever a story that deserved more coverage by the news media, it’s the dark persistence of misogyny in America. Sexism in its myriad destructive forms permeates nearly every aspect of American life. . ."

Voting

We did an interesting activity in my junior high classes yesterday. It seemed simple: I brought four different songs to translate and sing, but we only had time for one. I briefly introduced each song to the students and asked them to vote. Their teacher translated my instructions so that they understood how I wished for them to vote.

And they didn`t! Most students kept their hands down and watched eachother. When a few brave souls decided upon a particular song, other hands shot up in agreement. In the end, although I took the vote twice, nearly everyone voted for the same choice. One girl dissented from an entire class.

Now, why do you suppose this happened? Is it because these are junior high students in the thick of adolescence? I recall from my own awkward adolescence how difficult it was to differentiate myself from my peers. But could this voting exercise simulate the Japanese culture of conformity? Perhaps both.

How do Americans choose their votes? Are our favored candidates the ones who we actually prefer, or the ones we choose base on electability?

Diversity and Individualism

Perhaps the most fascinating-frustrating-freeing aspect of Japanese society is its cohesion. There is no encouragement to express your individual voice, and the harmony of the community seems to be everyone`s first priority. Note, I chose "harmony" rather than the word "wellbeing", which I am unsure of. I believe it is this aspect of Japanese culture that has most influenced my experiences thus far.

In the classroom, students do not have opportunity to practice speaking on their own. When learning a new word, most teachers ask the students to first listen to the model (me) and then repeat in unison. It is very rare to assign the students to give a speech or write their own thoughts. Even in university, it is unusual to learn through essay-writing or debate. Students always confer with one another before giving an answer, even to the simplest questions.

When eating, everyone times their consumption of food/drink with the others. If we are drinking at a bar, we don`t take a sip until everyone has their drink. We say in unison "kampai" (cheers). At the start of every meal, we say "itadakimasu" (I humbly receive) in unison. We eat together. Then everyone finishes eating at the same time. We say "gochisousama deshita" (thank you for this feast) in unison.

If we wish to give our opinions about a matter, there are three ways to do it: 1. American style - just say it. This is offensive and ineffective in Japan. 2. Drop our suggestions, vaguely, in a conversation. Use phrases like "this is probably a bad idea but. . ." or "maybe. . ." Hope for the best. 3. Invite our target to go drinking. Get him/her a little drunk, and have the conversation then. A lot of office politics are worked out this way, apparently effectively.

At times I really struggle with this culture of cohesiveness. Where is my privacy!? Why won`t anyone tell me what they think? Why do my students have no opinions -- even about their favorite color or pop star?! How will there ever be respect for diversity (of idea, ability, gender, sexual orientation, politics, religion, ethnicity, etc) if no one will share who they are?

In a recent NYT article, Thomas Friedman discussed democracy and diversity in Iraq. I have similar observations about Japan:

"But democracy is not about majority rule; it is about minority rights. If there is no culture of not simply tolerating minorities, but actually treating them with equal rights, real democracy can ft take root. But respect for diversity is something that has to emerge from within a culture. We can hold a free and fair election in Iraq, but we can`t inject a culture of diversity. America and Europe had to go through the most awful civil wars to give birth to their cultures of diversity."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/opinion/11friedman.html?th&emc=th

My job is is multifasceted: I am an English Language Teacher, but I am also here for "Internationalization", whatever that will mean. I know I am here in Japan to be changed, just as much as I might broaden the minds of my students, coworkers, and friends. I continue to sort out how all of this will happen.

You Should Know About: An American Issue

Although most of my current focus is on my health/happiness/adjustment to living in Japan, this article in the NYT speaks to much of the work I previously did in America.

As many of you know, I spent my first few years as an adult working with cons, ex-cons, and troubled youth. My favorite job in college was leading the Prison Ministry program for my school, working in a close-security men`s prison in Minnesota. Immediately after graduation I attended a conference of artists, activists and prison employees, concerned about the U.S. system of incarceration. After university I spent several years mentoring youth-of-color in Portland, many of whom were at risk of falling into the `criminal justice` system. Most recently I volunteered for a Portland program assisting recently-released ex-cons as they adjust to life on the outside. This work is meaningful, rewarding, humbling, and so painful. The disproportionate number of inmates that identify as people-of-color is troubling; racial profiling and economic disadvantages are just two possible reasons for this American travesty.



September 30, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Jena, O. J. and the Jailing of Black America
By ORLANDO PATTERSON

This full article is at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/opinion/30patterson.html?th&emc=th. My selected excerpt:

"America has more than two million citizens behind bars, the highest absolute and per capita rate of incarceration in the world. Black Americans, a mere 13 percent of the population, constitute half of this country’s prisoners. A tenth of all black men between ages 20 and 35 are in jail or prison; blacks are incarcerated at over eight times the white rate.
The effect on black communities is catastrophic: one in three male African-Americans in their 30s now has a prison record, as do nearly two-thirds of all black male high school dropouts. These numbers and rates are incomparably greater than anything achieved at the height of the Jim Crow era. What’s odd is how long it has taken the African-American community to address in a forceful and thoughtful way this racially biased and utterly counterproductive situation.
How, after decades of undeniable racial progress, did we end up with this virtual gulag of racial incarceration?"

I`m Genki

This weekend was a big one.

On Friday night there was a fun and enlightening office enkai (welcome party) in honor of Hayden and I. Required attendance for all the people from our office, it was an interesting cultural experience. The evening began when my supervisor picked me up to ride bikes together to the restaurant. If people in Japan have plans to drink, they ALWAYS ride their bike or car-pool so as not to drink-and-drive. We went for an amazing nomi- and tabe-hodai (all-you-can-eat-and-drink). I ate lots of delicious and weird foods. Speeches and formail `cheers` were exchanged. I learned about my coworkers and laughed a lot. After the restaurant we went to a karaoke bar (properly pronounced kah-rah-oh-kay) and performed fantastic musical feats. Who knew the movie "Aladin" was so popular? I belted out a few and ducked out around midnight.

The next morning at 6AM, Nick and I met a group of fellow sojourners for a mountain hike. I had no idea what we were about to do. We hiked Teshiodake mountain. 5 hours up (straight up), and 3 hours down. It was spectacularly beautiful, and I feel incredibly proud that my body was able to get me up there to see it. Nick is in such great shape from rafting that the trip wasn`t as much of a challenge for him. He`s a good one. After that amazing hike we went to our first Onsen (natural spa) and learned some of the many official rules for how to onsen. And then ate the most delicious bowl of soba I could ever ask for. Yum.

I`m Famous!

This week the Furano Board of Education had a very offical ceremony welcoming us in as the new English teachers in our city. You can see Hayden and I in the local newspaper, here:


http://www.furano.ne.jp/kyowa/nikkan/200708/070830.html

Here is a completely hilarious translation of the text, by my web-translator:

“Furano everyone, asks may - the arrival system of new foreign language guidance assistant on the 27th, at the municipal Furano library to be opened, Hayden Wong of the United States of America (27) with Teresa Kerres (29), was warmly received from the education authorized personnel of the city.　Tenure of foreign language guidance assistant 2 years. 2 people this month come on 8th and wealth do, are interchanged with the child pupils with the English conversation class of 2 terms of each Konaka school which starts from 20 days.　The board of education staff and each president and others approximately 30 people attended in arrival system of the same day. Noto 芳 Mayor Showa “2 years asks to beginning, may. That please teach the American culture to the children, through class” you welcomed.　After this, Usami Masamitu superintendent of education delivers commission to 2, we request the history of practice education and the foreign country of conversational ability and the study which adopts culture to the children “as an assistant of the English conversation. In addition expectation was included that please participate in also the international interchange with the citizen positively”.　Vis-a-vis this, Hayden “has gone to the school from one week ago. The varieties please teach from now on. It came to Tokyo 3 years ago, but Hokkaido is unprecedented, but as for the Japanese culture you think that it is enormous. We would like to study the difference with the American culture”, as for Teresa “as for hobby Italian cooking. There is an interest even in hiking. Many people and that it becomes the acquaintance are enjoyed from now on”, that while also 2 people showing the beginning and ending smiling face, aspiration of arrival was expressed in Japanese.


Here`s a brief interpretation of that funny `Engrish` translation:
The mayor and superintendent of the Board of Education spoke. They welcomed us and ask us to educate the children and become involved in the Furano community. As for our bios, Hayden attended university in Tokyo on exchange, three years ago. He is very interested in Japanese culture. My hobbies are VEGETARIAN cooking (I guess my accent was difficult to understand) and hiking. I am looking forward to meeting everyone. Our speeches were in Japanese. We smiled and were given flowers. The end.

Work in Japan

There is much I do not understand about the system here, but one thing I am learning is that every April a great "switch" occurs when workers from one governemtn office are moved into another office. My present supervisor at the Board of Education was previously employed doing something with the administration of recycling. Our big boss at the BOE is trained as an architect. Another boss here is trained as an archeologist specializing in Northern Pacific peoples. (He and I talked a little today and he will bring me some books about the Ainu peole, indigenous to the Japanese islands.)

It is difficult to imagine how these government employees are able to manage the learning curve that must accompany these switches, but everyone in the office seems very capable, and things in Japan somehow run efficiently. This system reminds me of the way the Benedictine monks at St. John`s Abbey switch jobs according to the needs of the community. It makes for extremely flexible, knowledgeble people with a strong sense of interconnectedness.