English Day

I occasionally teach at a local elementary school. I'm actually one of four English teachers who make appearances there, three of us being Americans. I've learned that this elementary has the best English program on the island, which comes as no surprise to me--the kids learn English starting from first grade. Every time I go there, I feel a little less sympathy for my high school kids: if I'm dealing with 6-year-olds who can say "It's sunny!" and "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" why should I cut some slack for a 15-year-old who doesn't remember the days of the week? It wasn't until recently that I learned this school is the exception, not the rule--most of the other elementaries don't have English at all. That in mind, I've since backed off my high schoolers.

Every year, the school has an English Day. They invite as many of the island's JETs as they can, and we spend the day with different classes, playing with them and listening to their English presentations. This year, all eight JETs on the island made it. We had a blast.

When we arrived, they gave us a quick briefing over tea. (I still can't stand hot tea, much less green tea. I've learned, however, that black or brown tea can be salvaged with 8 cubes of sugar.) Then we went to the opening ceremony in the gym. This school seems to love welcoming new people, as they're very good at it. The students form two lines, and hold up their arms to make a tunnel for the guests to walk through. It was like playing London Bridge with 75 little bridges. As soon as we walked in, we noticed the wall of the stage had been decorated in our honor. They had spelled out our names in big letters, and had taken a blown-up photo of each of our faces and made a construction paper body for it. It was simply adorable. There are plenty of pictures here.

We finished the opening ceremony, and went on to our separate classes. Each class had prepared presentations in English about various bits of Japanese culture: cooking, flower arranging, calligraphy, etc. I was with the 6th graders, and they taught me about flower arranging (ikebana), calligraphy (shodo), and tea ceremony (sado). It was all in English, and I could tell they'd been practicing for a while. They did a very good job.

Afterwards, we had lunch with the kids. After that, we had the customary hour-long recess. I simply love this part of the day. Even though I never quite get to play the sport I want to (it seems like I always miss out on dodgeball and baseball), and even though they always run me to death playing tag, I just love it. This is the view of the playground's surroundings. It's a shame that the kids likely never think twice about how pretty it is here, since they see it every day. Anyway, we played some variation of cops and robbers--the swingset is jail, and robbers can break other robbers out of jail--which basically meant I ran around for about 45 minutes nonstop. It was still freezing in the classroom, so I was wearing my usual four layers, which made physical activity so much more enjoyable.

After that, we had the closing ceremony in the gym. We played a game that required us to practice English introductions, then play paper rock scissors, then give the winner a card. Naturally, the kids loved it.

Of course, we all had a blast. A week later, I got something in the mail from the school. Enclosed were pictures from the day, and this letter:

Dear Adam Shirley,

Thank you very much for joining "English Day" on the 1st of February. "English Day" was able to ended safely with the favor. Our students had a valuable experience and a cheerful time with you. Next year if we will plan for a "English Day", please join us again. We will send you pictures in recognition of "English Day" Still cold days continue. Please take care of yourself.