English Day Party

As with most school events, English Day was celebrated with an office party that night. We all got together at a local restaurant and ate, drank, and talked a ton. I've gotten increasingly braver with my Japanese lately, so I tried talking about deeper things than the usual "What's your favorite Japanese word?" and "Oh, you're very good with chopsticks!"

I was talking with Tsuiki and Takimoto, and we got on the subject of protests. I asked why there aren't many protests in Japan. They explained that the Japanese will demonstrate and protest when it involves international affairs, but with domestic issues, they're very submissive. (I've had lots and lots of time to observe and think on this, and hopefully I'll get around to putting those thoughts on paper at some point.) Slowly, our conversation brought in a couple of others at the table, including the vice principal, Tanaka-sensei.

Tanaka was the first person I met from Kita Sho. My first year, before I got a car, he ferried me to and from Tsushima High and Kita Sho. His English was about as good as my Japanese, but we laughed it off and understood each other through loanwords and charades. Slowly, as my Japanese got better and I got more comfortable with the teachers at Kita, he and I have been able to talk more easily about more things.

First he brought up something about the American financial crisis. He pointed out--very carefully and politely--that it seemed many Americans spend all our income on things like shopping. He fumbled a little with a concept, mainly because he had to put it in terms simple enough for me to understand, and it took me a minute to realize he was talking about credit. I'd managed to stop noticing that nobody in Japan uses credit cards or personal checks--all face-to-face transactions are made in cash. His point was that a benefit of dealing with cash is that you're always aware of what you're spending, and you can never spend more than you have.

Soon he and I were the only ones in on our conversation. We moved on to random things involving Japanese and American culture. He explained, for example, that part of traditional Japanese etiquette is leaving the last piece of food on the plate. He illustrated this by pointing out a fried shrimp that had been sitting on its serving dish for a long time, while people ate from other courses. Of course, he added, the younger generation doesn't always abide by it, which was illustrated by Takimoto taking that last shrimp.

Talk turned to my plans after I return to America, and I explained that I'd like to be a teacher. This led to talking about teaching styles, specifically with foreign languages. Tanaka argued that it's more difficult to learn a language "through your eyes and head"--as is done in language instruction--than it is "through your ears," the way we learn from our mothers. He explained that most of his English education was individual, with his time spent poring over texts, memorizing sentences, and listening to tapes of English conversation. I told him of how much swifter elementary students are than high schoolers when it comes to English education, citing the similarity in lessons used in the 4th and 10th grades. He suggested having high school English teachers observe an elementary English class sometime.

As the party wound down, and the guys started showing the effects of their drinks, I got several compliments about my Japanese. Umeno in particular called me Japanese. This led to somebody calling me "the last samurai," which got laughs and agreement from quite a few teachers. (I was sporting a beard at the time, so I particularly enjoyed the comparison.) There wasn't a second party, and everybody went home by 9:30, providing further evidence that the amount of time Japanese spend partying each night is directly proportional to the amount of time they spend at work. In the education field, anyway.