Day Trip to Yamagata

After a few buys weeks of teaching and keeping busy with church events I was greatly anticipating Monday, my day off. There is nothing like having a day where you can keep completely to yourself and let your body and mind rest before another busy week of teaching starts. For those of you that know me well, you may know that being by myself all day doing nothing is not something that I enjoy. Being here in Japan, living on my own and not having any other North American’s around, I often find myself in that situation. I feel that I have adapted well to it, and can now appreciate time where I can physically and mentally recover at the same time. But, the real Kris inside of me is completely opposite of being reclusive. I need to get out there, enjoy the scenery and live life and share fun times with others. Last Monday was exactly that!

It was about time for me have a day spent away from my apartment and the church…where I spend all of my time. There are various times throughout the week where I will run to the store or the bank, but I do not really call that getting away. I woke up to a beautiful Monday morning with sun beaming into my one room apartment. Around 10:00am, Junko, Hisashi, Hiromitus, his wife Ayumi and I piled into the car and made our way to the prefecture east of us, Yamagata. The reason we were making this trip was because on November 3rd, our church is doing a little retreat to a Hot Spring out there, so we went to go check out the facilities and makes sure that everything was all squared away.

It was a beautiful drive as we followed the Sakunami Highway, winding through the beautiful green, and mountainous Japanese landscape. We stopped at a small waterfall and enjoyed the sound of the crashing water and the scent of fresh fall air. The trees at the tops of mountains were starting to change color. They were turning from a dark forest green to a fiery red. In a couple more weeks, I look forward to looking around and seeing the beautiful fall colors everywhere.

We got to the hotel, where we were going to be using their hot spring and took a tour of it. I don’t want to say it was an ugly hotel, because at one point…say 15-20 years ago Im sure it was beautiful. The reason why I didn’t think it was stunning is because I don’t thing its been updated since the early 90’s. But, I don’t want to bash the hotel to much because for the most part it was really cool. I look forward to using the Hot Spring and Dining facilities next week! Once our mini tour of the hotel was finished, we began making our way back to Ayashi, but before we got to far we stopped at a Soba Shop. Yamagata is know for its delicious Soba. I was not let down either; my food was delicious.

Before we got back in Ayashi, we took a little detour and stopped by a dam…which I assume gives power to the town that I live in, plus some other ones. Anywho, it was BEAUTIFUL. The pictures that I took do not justify the wonderful panoramic views of the mountains that I saw with my own eyes. It was also a beautiful time of day, the sun was lower in the sky which provided some beautiful light on the water pooled behind the dam

When we got back home I was very satisfied. My day off was everything that I needed. Good conversations, beautiful scenery, fresh air, seeing new things and eating delicious food. Again, I am so thankful for the people that God has put in my life over here, and am again impressed with the beauty of this world God created.

[More photos from this trip in the 'Explorations' album]

Movie Night

After my high school class two Fridays ago, I decided that it would be fun if we had a movie night. The idea came about due to one of the topics we where talking about in class, which happened to be movies. One of my students said that he liked Jacky Chan movies, which got me thinking…we should watch a Jacky Chan movie.

I asked my students if they had seen or heard of the movie Shanghi Noon. Turns out they hadn’t even heard of it, so I suggested we watch that movie. We all agreed that after class the following week would be a good time to watch it.

Jumping ahead a week to the Friday we watched the movie, I needed to think of a good place to watch it. My apartment is not an optimal spot because all I have is a bed, unless we all wanted to squeeze onto my bed and huddle around a lap top…which by the way couldn’t be mine because Japanese DVDs can’t be read by American lasers…or whatever that disk reader is called. Anywho, I quickly ruled out my pad. The church has a projector, so I got permission to use it with a DVD player and some speakers.

Hiromitsu helped me convert the dining room of the church into a comfortable, usable movie watching area. We brought in some nice couches and set up some tables for food. Him and his wife kindly donated some soda and chips. Hisashi and I ran out and got some more chips, and some delicious imports…Dr. Pepper and A&W. One of my students mom also hooked us up with some delicious bread and Chocolate.

There were 5 of us that watched the movie, myself, Hisashi, Asahi, Arato and Josh. Josh is a MK at the church. I’ve seen the move many many times, but it had been a while, so after it was all done, we quickly cleaned up the place and made it look like no one had even been there. Since everyone had a great time, I’m thinking that I’ll do a movie night with my high school guys once a month. So, if you have any suggestions for what we should watch in November, gimme a shout ;)

Garden Party

Yakisoba, games, singing, kabobs, garage sale, vegetable stand, marshmallow’s, 114 visitors and a beautiful day! The annual Garden Party took place last week (October 11) here at Ayashi Chuo Christ Church.

The event started at 12:30 where we indulged in some delicious yakisoba. Following lunch we sang some songs and then Hisashi sensei shared a bible story. The whole time he was sharing I was sitting on the grass mentally preparing for mylittle speech. I was not worried about getting up in front of all those people at talking. This presentation was going to be a little different because I wanted to surprise everyone and do it in Japanese. If you have not seen the video yet, take a look. Only two people knew about this surprise, Junko and Hiromitsu. Junko knew because she was the one that translated and helped me memorize it. Hiromitsu knew because he was in the room when I suggested the idea. Anywho, I was not completely natural sounding, but my think the subtle message got across. I wanted to demonstrate to my students and potential students that I am learning a foreign language too, and it’s a difficult process. It’s important to have confidence in speaking, so the goal was to lead by example and show that its ok if its not perfect.

Speech:
It’s important to be able to speak two languages. Right now I only speak English, but right now I’m taking Japanese lessons. I’m having a good time in all of my classes now, so those of you that are in my class, I hope you are too. There is still room in all of my classes for many people to join. Lets learn together. I hope you have had a good time today. I look forward to seeing you in class.

Following some more songs, the part of the event called “joyful time” started. Joyful time is essentially a chance for the children to go play the different booths that were set up and run by the youth and young adults. There were 5 booths set up, and each booth gave out stickers depending on how well the child played. Three stickers were awarded if they did really good, two for good, one for okay, and no stickers if they were terrible. You could play old Japanese top games and one of the booths, another one was shooting big darts through targets, the last indoor booth was bowling. Outside there were two booths. Hiromitsu’s booth was where you could demonstrate your shot accuracy, and shoot a soccer ball at targets in a goal. There was a line at his booth the entire Joyful Time. The booth that Yoshi and I were running was called, Goriyata…or in English, Goliath. I dressed as Goliath and stood there like a statue. The children were given pieced of cloth tied up in a ball with a string dangling out. They were supposed to spin it around their head, just like David did when he shot Goliath with his slingshot. You can probably guess what the goal of the game was…but to make it a little more fun the rags were soaked in water. They got 2 chances to hit me from each place. The father back they hit me from, the more stickers they were awarded. Once the children got enough stickers, they could take them in and buy prizes.

By the end of the day, I was pretty wiped. Luckily a number of people stayed to help clean up. After a closing meeting with the staff, I went back home and crashed hard...well, that’s what my mind and body wanted to do. Unfortunately, I hadn’t really planned a head for my Tuesday classes and consequently, still needed to plan them. So, off to plan I went.

Fridays at 5

I teach 3 classes on Fridays. I start the day with my beginner ladies class, then have a beginner children’s class and then end the day with an intermediate high school class. It would not be right for me to say that I have a favorite class or two, but now that I am in the teaching position, appreciate the classes that put and effort into learning. When I was a student growing up, it was hard for me to understand the enjoyment the teacher might get out of a class if they are interested in learning or not. My class at 5:00 is definitely one of those classes that enjoys learning!
The first week I had this class it was just me and Natsuki, then a couple of weeks later Rintaro joined, then Moe started coming in September. Natsuki and Moe are good friends, so there is a fun and little competitive rivalry there that is good. They often compete to try and say things first, or with better pronunciation. Rintaro is just a sweet and smart boy who fits right in with the two girls. This is a beginner class, so we are started from the very basics, but they have for sure learn and understand material fast, as well as remember old units when I review them.

This class loves challenges. Sometimes I will stretch their brains and see if they can figure out what I’m asking them. It doesn’t work out every time, but many times they have impressed me, and its cool to see them connect the dots in their brain. Here is an example where they impressed me:

In weeks leading up to this lesson I taught them: on, under, behind, in front, etc. We were learning to say the number of objects. I would hold up four pens, and say “how many pens?” they would say “four pens.” I thought that I would try and make a bridge between the two different things I was teaching them. I put three pens on the desk and held one under the desk and said, “Where are the pens?” they said, “three pens are on the table, one pen is under the table.”

I was SO stoked when they said that. Of course they did not just rattle it off with any problems, I needed to guide them through it a little bit, but once they said it a few times I could see that they understood, and then answer my questions.

Most of my classes I have adopted from past English teachers, but about a third of my classes are beginner and brand new to English. I get the privilege of being their first English teacher. So for me, it’s exciting to see, and know exactly how much they have learned. I have a lot of pride in all of my classes, and am very conscious about my teaching. I ask myself, what can I do to help them understand or make it more interesting?

English Baseball Class[ic]

So a few weeks ago, September 23rd to be precise, we had our first English class event! As you have probably already guessed, due to the title of this post, we did indeed play baseball. But to keep things interesting, there was a twist! A twist you say? What kind of twists might there be in a simple game of baseball? Well, let me take you back to the very beginning of the idea, and the twist will reveal itself.

(Not to get your hopes up for a big twist or anything…I realize I may have built up the suspense too much. So if you’re prepping for a M. Night Shyamalan twist, relax!)

The summer here was very warm…one might even say hot…actually very hot, and very humid. It was not unusual for it to be 30 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit for all my Americans) by 9 or 10 o’clock in the morning, so when I walked out of my apartment already sweating, I am hit with the reality that its still morning, and still many more hours for it to keep heating up, and it did! But, I enjoyed the heat. Coming from the Northwest, we rarely get to experience a truly hot summer. Anhywho, after spending all this time outside I thought that it would be fun to have an English event where my students have an opportunity to come and bring some friends and we could play a beloved game in Japan, which happens to be Americas past time, baseball. This could be a good fun event that has elements of North American culture, so the planning began.

Basically all the planning that I needed to do was to find a date that did not conflict with anything that the church was doing. We picked September 23. I made flyers then passed them on to Yoko who translated it into Japanese so that people could actually read it. As the day drew closer, we still did not really have a good idea of who or how many people were going to come. Looking back, it would have been much easier to plan the food and drinks if I had put something on their where they could write their name down, how many people were coming and then give it back to me…rookie mistake.


The week of the big game, I went out into our little field and set up some nets to make a homerun fence, oh, and by the way, this is a wiffle ball baseball game…forgot to mention that little detail. The week was sunny and beautiful. The field looked great, but then it happened. Freakin’ rain! It started raining the night of the 22nd and rained hard all through the night and the whole morning of the game. So we had to call an audible.

Time for Operation, convert the church sanctuary into a workable baseball diamond. I was so lucky to have many hands help set up, help make decisions, and I’ll admit it, make the day run smoothly. The day before, Yoko, Junko and I ran out and picked up some pretzels, chips, candy for 25 people. With this rain, we weren’t even sure if we were going to any anyone else there other then the 10 helpers. But, when 1:00 came around, people started trickling in. The final count was 25 people. It was relatively small group of people, but a great group of people. We played 2 games, each were 6 innings. Oh, and I had the idea of tying the base runners feet together so they could only hop between bases, rather then take 4 huge strides to get there.

So, my original plan of having a fun summer wiffle ball game outside in beautiful weather was struck by the cold reality that September 23 is not summer here, but fall, and the possibility of rain is very real. But in the end, we had some good tunes playing, we were still able to have an announcer announce the next batter, and we still had a score-board with score keepers. But most of all, we still had lots of fun and people left with smiles on their faces.

Tuesdays at 7

(Names left to right: Kenya, Takeru, Hirokata, Takeru, Hiroki)

Tuesdays at 7:00pm is the final hour of a long teaching day. By this time, I’ve already woken up for my 6:15 morning prayer meeting, taught 3 classes, planned 3 lessons and have done chapel for on of my adult classes. But when 7:00pm rolls around, I need to match the energy of my five, 12-year-old boys! Luckily I have Hiromitsu there with me who is able to be the Japanese ambassador and help keep control. He is a huge help during the class, and then does chapel with them after class.

Whenever I ask them how they are doing, at least two or three of them claim to be sleepy, but I don’t buy it. This class is challenging, but also very fun. Imagine trying to keep control of five boys that age…not to mention, they have just completed a long school day as well. There are SO many distractions, and it’s so easy for them to get off topic. Sometimes I can just see that their brains are just so jammed full, anything else new will make their brain start seeping through their pores. Well, it has taken me a while to figure out how to get them in the mood for learning, and my methods are still being refined. In a nut shell, this is how my class is run:

First, I try to put myself in their shoes. How would I feel at the end of a day, after spending who knows how many hours at school? If I were in their shoes, I for sure would not want to be sitting still, learning a new language. I feel that if I were to spend the whole hour teaching them new material, trying to get them to pronounce words correctly and say sentences naturally that they will burn out of my class very quick. So what do I do? I try and mix in some creative Kraakmo spice.

Each class is started with a YouTube video. The videos usually consist of people doing stupid things, or videos of people getting hurt. I try to find anything that will get them laughing. Once we do that, I like to work on conversational material, we call them “Question cards.” They need to answer questions like, “What is your favorite TV program?” or “When is your birthday?” things of that nature. Depending on the week they need to ask each other the questions, or I’ll ask each student different questions. Recently I have found making this into some sort of game is effective. After the first 15 min we stop and take a game break and either play a round of Uno, Go fish, Hang man, or any type of game that involves speaking English. Sometimes we play paper football or coin soccer. The last three quarters of the class go about with the same structure. I tell them that we will work hard for 10-15 min, and then we will play a game or watch another YouTube video.

My thinking is that they will be able to learn more in each section if they know that they get to have a break, or doing something that doesn’t feel like learning. If the hour class were to be filled with just learning English, I think it would be overwhelming for them and they will leave not remembering very much. Once 8:00 roles around, their energy has given me a little boost of energy too, so we are all feelin’ great! After class, 3 of the boys hang around and play in the classroom, most of the time they play some variation of “King of the Couch.”

Whenever I plan this class, the challenge is, “How can I keep them entertained, and interested in learning English?” That, and keeping them focused during class. The fun part is the class itself. Once we get rolling in some sort of rhythm, the time fly’s by. The boys are a lot of fun, and a few of them remind me of when I was their age. It’s fun to think back and imagine the days of playing soccer on the Blue Bullets with Coach Mitch, or playing baseball with the same Maplewood gang, aka, The O.G.E.!

Original Gangstas of Edmonds
(Names left to right: Andy Steves, Drew Eli, Me, Alex Matteson, Alex Eli, Garret Brown, Patrick Boyce)

Dinner at Machiko San's

I pretty much have the best Japanese teacher ever! Not to brag, but there aren’t too many people that get weekly hour and a half private lessons. Now you might be saying, that’s not an arguable reason why she’s the best Japanese teacher ever. Well, I know that’s not a good point to argue. What makes her such a good teacher is that she made a board and writes the latest stuff she has taught me on it. Then the next morning at church, she makes an announcement to the congregation, telling them what I should know and encourages them to speak to me using the phrases that I “know.”

This is very helpful for the non English speaking members because they know what I’m learning. It’s hard to go up to someone and try to speak your native language with someone who is in the process of learning it because you don’t know how much they know, if any…and often times the end result is that person leaving an awkward encounter with a foreigner. I feel so blessed that Machiko san is willing to go the extra mile and share what I know, it has and will continue to help pick up Japanese quicker and in a more natural way.

Last Sunday, me and a bunch of young people were invited over to my teachers house where we all made dinner together. This was awesome in two…no three ways. She was able to teach me words that are used in the kitchen, like: Cut, wash, cook, mix, pot, pan, etc. It was pretty much like a Japanese lab. The second awesomness way was that I learned how to make a new meal, a delicious meal at that. It was pretty much Teriyaki beef and rice with salad and soup. The third way it was awesome was because a bunch of us friends got to hang out, cook and eat a meal together.

I feel like I learn so much in each class, but that doesn’t mean that I can speak a lot of Japanese right. In order for me to do my part, I need to spend more time outside of class working on remembering what I’ve learned. Today was my 6th class, so there are many things all scrambled in my brain. If we sit down in class and she teaches me something new, I am able to understand and we can have a little conversation using what we have learned, and a few things from past weeks. But I am still rollin’ with my training wheels…well, more like a tricycle.

PEACE!