Feb 5, 2008 11:00pm – Did I Make the Right Choice?

I finally arrived in Niigata for my spring practicum, but that is not where I am going to start my story. You shall see why in a minute. I woke up this morning expecting my clothes to be dry. I had done my laundry the day before in hopes of going to Niigata with clean clothes. Nothing could be further from them being dry. I planned on leaving the heater on all night so that they would dry, but for some reason, the plug came out of the outlet just far enough to keep from functioning. This left me with wet clothes that I needed to pack in the morning. Let me just say that I was not happy. Once got everything packed into my suitcase I headed downstairs to get breakfast. It was the same ‘ol food. I will be glad to get some traditional Japanese breakfast food for a month. I said my goodbyes to my host family and headed off.

I somehow managed to cram myself and my suitcase into the rush hour trains in order to catch my Shinkansen. I rode the train called “MAXとき” which literally means “MAX TIME”. It was a two story train complete with all the amenities. I was a little worried at first because I got on the train by myself. Michiyo Sensei had told me that she might not make it to Tokyo station, and just would meet me half way. It was two stops before she got on the train with me. It was a really nice ride to Niigata. Being on the second floor of the train, I could easily see all the landscape that was zooming by. I also got the chance to talk to Michiyo Sensei intimately for a couple of hours. We talked of all things ranging from the study abroad programs to my experiences to her experiences. Michiyo also graduated from Waseda and studied abroad for a year in Michigan. She was not interested in English at the time, but it became very useful for her later on. When she got back she worked in Roppongi (the big tourist spot) until she graduated. Then she slowly worked her way up to being the head of the study abroad programs at Waseda.

Another interesting story is how the Niigata program had started. The Resident Director 3 years ago had been working with Hirai Sensei at the kindergarten / daycare for a couple of years way back when. That person ended up visiting Niigata while she was the RD and everything worked out perfectly for a program. Hirai Sensei was willing to host students and help them get involved in the daycare. I am only the 3rd person to come to Niigata for the Spring Practicum meaning it is still relatively new.

Anyway, the Shinkansen went through a looooooong tunnel. It had to have been 30 minutes or longer which is really saying something because Shinkansen’s can travel upwards of 150mph. When we emerged from the tunnel there was snow everywhere. It looked to be over 3 feet deep judging from where the roads were. I thought to myself that this was going to be an awesome experience. Once getting off the Shinkansen, we transferred to a local train. Michiyo had planned it out so we did not have to wait long. Out in the country, trains only come once an hour sometimes longer, meaning you have to plan ahead. The trains also did not have automatic doors. You had to open them by hand. They do seal shut when the train starts moving however. We were on the train for another 1.5 hours, making one transfer along the way, before arriving in Gosen-shi. This town really is in the middle of nowhere. We had to take a taxi from the station to the daycare.

Gosen-shi is a really interesting town. From the looks of it, it has all the amenities of Tokyo. There is the local convenience store, grocery store, karaoke place, arcade, and even pachinko. The surrounding area is all rice fields. It made me sad to see that most of the snow had gone away since our exit from the mountain. I feel like I am back in Bryan, Ohio except for the fact that everyone is Japanese.
The first thing we did was meet Hirai sensei at the kindergarten. She gave us a tour of the new building which was just finished last year. I got to have my first experience with a ton of kids introducing themselves and asking a million questions in the span of about 5 seconds. The other Sensei’s helped me out of that jam. Speaking of other sensei’s, my official name is now Jon-Sensei. It sounds really weird being called a teacher because I have absolutely no experience teaching at all. This place is where I will be spending my mornings (approximately 8am to noon). It is staffed by a group of 8 girls ranging from 20 to 30 years old plus Hirai Sensei. I will be the only boy teacher at the kindergarten. Things just keep getting weirder all the time…

Next Hirai Sensei took Michiyo and I to the other, older daycare. This is where kids either stay all day, or come to after school is over to wait for their parents. They are anywhere from 1st to 4th grade level students. The layout consists of kids doing their homework in as little time as possible, then having as much fun in as possible by running around screaming, laughing, etc. At this place, there are 2 guys working there and 2 girls. At least there is someone to sort of relate to. The main Sensei is a really cool guy who has an interest in pretty much everything. I took an immediate liking to him. Finally, Hirai Sensei took Michiyo back to the station so she could get to Tokyo in time for the night train. It is so tough being the coordinator of everything! I meanwhile chose by my own free will to stay at the daycare with Usao Sensei. He gave me lots of pointers and advice for dealing with all the kids.

Finally I got to get down and dirty with the daycare. We started off by looking over nothing other than math homework, making sure the kids knew what they were doing. I forgot how bad my addition and subtraction is without a calculator. Once that was over, it was free time for the rest of the day. So many things happened that it is hard to describe or remember them all. Eventually I went outside with a group of the kids and Usao Sensei to go sledding. It has been ages since I have been sledding! I went sledding with as many as 3 kids at a time because you know, the heavier you are, the faster you can go down the hill! I had a blast with the kids.

After sledding it was snack time and pokemon time. They watch pokemon on tv every day at a set time. I was pretty astonished about how little I actually know about that show. I played the games, but had no idea the words that were coming out of all those kid mouths. At some point I made it to the gymnasium area where some sweet stuff was going down. There were kids jumping rope, playing kickball, and most surprisingly, riding unicycles. Yeah you heard me, unicycles. They all seemed really good too. I tried my hand at it, immediately fell on the floor, and got laughed at. Hey it’s all in good fun right?

When the kids were getting ready to go home, I had to do a little self introduction followed by a question and answer session. Luckily most of the questions were really easy such as “how old are you” and “what is your favorite food / game / pokemon / etc”. I stayed to play with the kids that were still left after the majority went home. Finally, Usao Sensei took me back to the kindergarten and Hirai sensei.
At around 6pm Hirai Sensei took me home. I am just going to come out and say it, they spoil me a lot! My room not only has a heater, but a heated rug, heated blankets, and a kotatsu to beat! A kotatsu is a Japanese style table (really low to the floor) that has a blanket hanging on all sides. You put your legs underneath the blanket and keep toasty warm. I also just recently figured out that it doubles as a dryer for my still wet clothes. I threw them under the kotatsu when I arrived and soon found that everything was dry!

We had an amazing dinner of curry rice, oden, sashimi, salad, and ice cream. The family consists of Hirai sensei and her husband of age 60, two daughters ages 31 and 34, and their two kids both 1 year old respectively. It is much like my family back in Tokyo, minus the kids. I have already decided that I do not want to go back to Tokyo after my stay here.

I am really excited about this practicum. It has just fully hit me that I will be living here for an entire month all by myself. It is the same amount of time as my first visit to Japan, and under similar conditions. I am going to be living with this host family for the next month whom I just met today. Every day I will be going to the daycare to play with kids. At the daycare the other teacher barely know any English which is fine by me. Another great thing is that there is nobody else to relate to. I am stranded here all by myself away from civilization. The closest person to me is probably my host sister Nozomi, who studied abroad in Ohio for a bit. All things aside, this will be one of the best experiences of my life.