Thankful for internet at home!

Happy Thanksgiving webcam skype call from college friends in Seattle!

Thank god for technology, for skype, for digital cameras, for laptops, for internet at home, and for POWER!! 10 years ago when I first came to India, email was barely a possibility and international phone calls were not dependable. What will another 10 years bring us?

Thankful!

There are many things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. The list is long and not comprehensive but includes:

A Dry Safe Place to Live: Due to Cyclone Nisha--the rain and all the flooding, I am thankful for a dry place to live. This morning after our power went out (8-6), we went to Hamsa's family's house to watch live coverage of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. I am thankful both for a loving warm family that has taken me in and thankful to be safe and sound on a day of tragic proportions in India.

A Financially Supported Fellowship: Considering the current economic crisis--loss of jobs, failing banks, high unemployment, etc. I am very thankful and feel very lucky to be a financially supported full-time volunteer this year. This is a luxury!

An Internationally and Globally Minded Family: I have wonderful family all over the world that I love and respect. They are truly an inspiration to me!

Wishing everyone at home a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Saying Good-bye to Spidey

Teachers aren't supposed to have favorites and I've tried really hard not to. In fact, when I first arrived it was something I was really conscious about. That, and the fact that it was really hard in the beginning to have favorites because I didn't know one student from the other. And I wasn't cluing into the group dynamics of classes and students yet. But now, I'm very aware of who is popular or cool and who isn't. And it is easy to spot different social groups and cliques even in the elementary schools. Although it doesn't seem to be nearly as apparent as in the US. But regardless of my attempts not to pick a favorite, I think one picked me...and now it's mutual! Some people are naturally friends and some people aren't. A few lucky students and teachers fall into that category of becoming friends, but most don't! I feel like I've found one...and I hope I can keep him as a friend for a long time!


Spidey is a very unique and special guy. He made attempts to reach out and learn English that no other student made! He overcame shyness and looked passed peer criticism to pursue his love of English. He wants to be a translator, and he is working hard to achieve it! Everyone who knows me has heard me talk about him and knows he is one of my favorites! I made him pinky swear he would come and visit me someday! I hope he keeps his promise.

BFF, ne!!

Nyuzen Eikaiwa Class

My sister was visiting, July 2005

X-mas Enkai at Sakura Sweets, December 2005

My parents were visiting, May 2006

X-mas Enkai at Chinese Restaurant, December 2006

My Farewell Enkai at Sakura Sweets, June 2007

Our last class together, July 3rd, 2007

Once a week for more than two years, I taught an Advanced English Conversation Class in Nyuzen. The class has been meeting for twenty years and they have had many different teachers from different countries. They aren't particularly interested in grammar or serious study, although many of them study at home on their own or listen to the English NHK morning radio lesson. But they like to talk and they want to talk! They love to share ideas, opinions, stories and information about Japan.

They write a zine every few months and last winter we started publishing their writing on the Nyuzen-machi English Blog. Please visit it and leave comments!

Some weeks I brought a detailed lesson plan using lots of different activities and conversation topics. Other weeks we would just talk and they would carry the conversation without any direction. I often used this class as a springboard to bounce ideas off of for issues that were raised in my TEFL studies or questions I had about Japan and Japanese culture. Every week I learned something new. I hope they did too!

I will miss our weekly conversations!

Linea's Eikaiwa

X-mas Party 2005

X-mas Party 2006

Farewell Party, June 2007

I was surprised when Linea told me her eikaiwa wanted to have a farewell party for ME! I've substitute taught for her a handful of times! And I've been to their x-mas party potluck for the last three years (no digital images from 2004)! Their parties are always one of the most delicious meals of the year! Everyone makes their BEST dish to show off! Others bring wine from a foreign country or icicles from the depths of a mountain cave (very illegal). Their parties last for hours and hours and are always on a work/school night! The farewell party was no exception! There was amazing food, delicious alcoholic beverages and hilarious conversation and stories! It's been so much fun to be included in their parties! I'm so happy we got to have one more! I wish I could eat this well all the time! I will miss their yearly x-mas parties!

Macon, GA Family

My sister was visiting and they made a birthday cake for her! July 2005

Birthday Pizza-making Party, July 2006

Birthday Pizza-making/Good-bye Party, July 2007

I met this family about two years ago. They had lived in Georgia for 5 years and both children had attended American schools. They older girl remembers a lot of English and is fairly fluent. The younger boy was too young to remember much English but because of his early exposure to it, he picks it up really fast. And his pronunciation is great!

For over two years, I met this family twice a month. It was always a challenge to think of something that would suit both their levels, but we played a lot of games and did a lot of fun activities like making cookies, making pizza, dying easter eggs, and going out for ice cream. After every class their mother would bring us tea or coffee and a snack. This was our informal English conversation time and we would all chat about their weekend plans, life in America, or they would answer my many questions about Japan. For our last lesson we made pizza, shiratama and their dad made a delicious seafood pasta. We all sat around their big kitchen table together and ate and talked about their memories of the US and dreamed of their next trip to the US, with a stop at my house of course. After dinner we exchanged gifts and then I gathered my things to leave. The family walked me to the door and as they stood their wishing me well and offering me a place to stay when I visit, I lost it. I hate that moment. I really do! I hate saying good-bye or even 'see you'! It's miserable! But it is also the culminating moment, the moment all their kindness and our memories together flash before me and it overwhelms me. And again I don't know how to express my gratitude or tell them just how important our time together has been! And I'm left with, "Thank you!"



I won't forget you, please visit me in the US, or wherever I am!

川口先生 ありがとうございました！

I realized after we said good-bye in the Uozu hotel parking lot, that I don't have a picture of Kawaguchi-sensei. Or if I do it is lost in the depths of my photo files.

Kawaguchi-sensei was my Japanese tutor for more than two years. We met every Monday at 5pm at the Uozu city hall in a small back room used for storage and Japanese tutoring sessions. We met there as part of their free Japanese tutoring program for new ALTs. At our first meeting I could barely introduce myself. Luckily she was studying to be an English teacher so where my language skills failed, hers stepped in. Our hour long sessions every week were more than tutoring, she became my cultural informant. Every week I would ask her questions about things I didn't understand or tell her stories of new experiences I had had in Japan. She drew me maps to find hair salons or local public baths, she drove me to the dentist, and almost every week she brought me food. Sometimes the food was a snack that she had made or bought for us to share together. Sometimes she brought me diner to take home and eat. And she always brought tea or coffee for us to drink. I tried to reciprocate as much as possible but I couldn't keep up to her kindness and generosity.

In addition, she also helped me with all my CLAIRE language study books and even gave me the answers a few times so I could pass! She helped me study for the Japanese proficiency test (lowest level) and I passed.

We didn't meet my third year because Uozu kicked me out of the program because I was no longer a beginners anymore. And I was studying for my MA and she was teaching full-time at JHS. But last month we met for lunch. She treated me to a beautiful lunch in a fancy hotel. We ate sashimi, tempura, pickels, salad, rice, miso soup, grilled fish, and fruit. It was all very beautifully presented and came one by one over the course of an hour. We chatted and caught up and did so mostly in Japanese. My Japanese isn't at all where it could be or should be after three years, but I get by. And she helped me achieve that!

I'm totally overwhelmed with how to thank someone who has spent hours each week teaching me to communicate and become my friend as well.

Thank you!