End of the Year and Dinner with Murayama sensei

The past week has been spent just wrapping up the school year. All my grade 9’s are set to graduate and i think all my teachers have party hats on in anticipation. I’ve started my final lesson which is basically an English pub quiz. The kids are doing pretty well and they are listening hard to all the questions that are being asked. I give the winners some pencils and erasers- I want to give them candy, but you aren’t allowed to give candy in Japanese schools. This also marks the end of my lessons with my English teacher Ms. Murayama, as she will be on maternity leave as her baby is due in late June. I also wrapped up our grade 9 classes with a newspaper project. For about a month I had the students create their own newspapers in groups and write an article on a specific topic. After a few drafts, and hounding down certain students, we were finally able to complete the newspaper. I’m really proud of all my kids as they did a fantastic job on the paper, which I photocopied and bounded for each 9th grade student. (Picture below: One of my favorite students Daigo, who on the last day didn't stop talking and wasn't finishing his newspaper. So i stuck him outside the classroom to finish his work- it worked well as he finished his article)

Last weekend, Asuka and I made our way to Hiroshima and met up with her cousin Kazuya and her friend Aki. We went to a local flea market and spent about 2 hours walking around. Needless to say I was finished in about 20 minutes while Asuka took her time walking and checking every stall. I managed to pick up to nice Sapporo beer mugs, 2 t-shirts and a Naruto doll- which I was a bit embarrassed to ask for. But all in all, it was a fun day walking around and eating on the street food after the flea market. (Picture below: Me playing with Sougo)

For dinner, we made our way to Yasuura (where my school is located) and had dinner with Ms. Murayama, her husband and her son, Sougo. Sougo was adorable again and I had fun playing with him. He’s a little rascal sometimes, as we brought cake for everyone but he ate all the fruit off his cake, and then also his mothers, leaving her with just cream. We had a really good dinner, chowing down on Sukiyaki (grilled beef) and chatting. I’ll really miss teaching classes with her, as I’m always able to chat with her about anything- more often then not, we end up cracking up in class while the students are doing their work. Her English pronunciation is really good too, with almost no accent. I’ll try to meet up with her when she has her baby. They are hoping for a girl, probably because after Sougo they want to lessen the testosterone in the house. (Picture below: Sougo has finished all his fruit and is about to devour his mom's cake too)

The next day I made my way to Hiroshima and played hockey by the Yokogawa River again. It’s been awhile since I’ve played regularly and I guess my Japanese has improved a lot, as everyone was surprised that I was speaking to them in Japanese. It really helped as I got to know a few more of the players and we ended up joking around a bit when we played. We got a good 4 hours of hockey in and it was a blast. Some of the best hockey I’ve played in awhile. I’m really looking forward to the hockey tournament next week in Okayama, but it looks like it might be canceled because of rain again. (Picture below: My first graders (Grade 7) on the last day of class- the kid hugging always hugs me and tells me he loves me when he sees me in class, i'm not sure he really knows what that means... )

The rest of the week, as said I’ve just been finishing up my lessons and taking lots of pictures of my kids. I make each class take a picture at the end of our last class. The kids really like taking pictures, but they are really shy when it comes to making any contact with the opposite sex. At first they always split in half between boys and girls when posing, then they just spread laterally so they can’t even fit into the frame. It takes some prodding before they move closer together and then we can usually take the final picture. (Picture below: Another 1st grade class)

This upcoming weekend I have my grade 9’s graduation ceremony on Saturday. It is our final farewell to the students and I will definitely miss some of them. The bad ones, probably not. But they are a few exceptional students throughout the grade. Also after the graduation, we have a dinner with all the teachers to celebrate the graduation. If the hockey tournament isn’t canceled then I will make my way to Hiroshima and sleep over at my friends Hiki’s place and make our way to the tournament Sunday. Here’s hoping it doesn’t rain.

As for Japanese factoid #18: Well I usually have the bladder the size of a teacup, so I frequent the bathroom quite often. In Canada, the hand dryers just take too long to dry as you have to stand for 5 minutes before your hands dry. In Japan, the dryers here are much stronger and dry your hands in a few seconds. You usually put your hands in a dryer the surrounds it completely. Some bathrooms have the “Super sink”, which has water on the right, soup lather on the left and a dryer at the bottom all built into one and all motion sensored for convenience and ease. We must get these in Canada someday.

Well glad to hear the trade deadline past and the Canucks shored up their blueline and goal position. Wow three defensemen and a goalie. I hope the Canucks make a long playoff run this spring even though I will miss watching them live. I’m seriously considering flying back if we make the Stanley cup finals. Which to an eternal optimist like myself, its always in the realm of possibilities.