ThirtyThirtyThirty

Thirty is a time of reflection. August 2, 2012 marks that special day. With all the hustle and bustle of moving back to the States, I find time for a little reflecting. What have I accomplished? What do I still have left to do? What am I happy I haven’t done yet? Let’s see.

30 Things I’ve Done Before 30

1.     Gotten married and divorced (might as well put that at the top)

2.     Lived in a foreign country (not just Japan for 2 years but a month in Mexico and 2 months in Spain) to teach ESL (my dream since I was 18)

3.      Gone through a punk rock stage in college where I cut my hair short and dyed it lots of crazy colors on a weekly basis

4.     Slept on the beach to watch the sun come up

5.     Snowboarded (twice)

6.     Been in an earthquake, a tornado, and various hurricanes and typhoons

7.     Been to a lot of funerals

8.     Learned to cook good food and enjoy it

9.     Been in a bad car wreck and a small bike wreck, without suffering any major injuries

10.  Had a hangover

11.  Knitted a sweater

12.  Smoked

13.  Gotten a B.A. and a Master’s degree

14.  Written a book (when I was 13 . . . it’s not that good)

15.  Read the entire Bible in a year

16.  Owned a house

17.  Broken a few hearts and had my own broken a couple of times

18.  Shaken the President’s hand (Spain, 2003)

19.  Seen a baby be born

20.  Learned to enjoy running and playing sports after years of hating both; become super interested in yoga

21.  Traveled to 28 states, Mexico, Bolivia, Spain, Canada, the Philippines, Japan, and a layover in Taiwan

22.  Lied

23.  Discovered I can be severely claustrophobic

24.  Lived in the country: raccoon hunting; deer skinning, hog butchering. . . I've seen chickens get their heads cut off and still run around, I've eaten fried squirrel and frog legs.

25.  Almost died on various occasions: horse stepping on my chest, slicing my head open falling through a glass fishtank, falling in the freezing creek, falling in the waterfall, etc. . . .

26.  Had a spiritual crisis

27.  Been depressed and recovered from it

28.  Learned Spanish and Japanese

29.  Run on the track and field team and broken two school records

30.  Prayed at a Shinto shrine and made a Tanabata wish

Never Ever Have I Ever . . .

1.     Been pregnant or had children

2.     Backpacked Europe (I missed that boat back when everyone “took a year off” between high school and college and/or between college and a real job)

3.     Been skydiving/hangliding/bungee jumping/hot air ballooning/rock climbing/scuba diving/white water rafting/snorkeling/snow skiing (and I’m OK with all of that)

4.     Published anything good

5.     Quit biting my nails for good

6.     Milked a cow or drank fresh cow’s milk (but I have had fresh goat milk)

7.     Had enough money not to worry about it

8.     Broken a bone (knock on wood)

9.     Run a 5-minute mile or run in a 5K competitively

10.  Been to England/Chile/Argentina/Scandinavia/Europe or lived in Mexico (and I want to!)

11.  Seen Les Miserables live

12.  Been able to catch up to my sister

13.  As an adult, lived in the same place for longer than 4 years

14.  Stolen anything from a store

15.  Had hair down to my waist

16.  Been in terrible danger (a fire, a terrorist attack, a hostage situation, etc.)

17.  Done calligraphy well

18.  Dated a guy just so he’d buy me things, or been impressed with guys who drive "cool" cars

19.  Forgotten my grandparents

20.  Been in a fistfight

21.  Gotten my Master’s in Spanish from a university in a Spanish-speaking country (but I will -- !)

22.  Followed the Laura Ingalls Wilder trail from Wisconsin to Missouri

23.  WWOOFed (worked on an organic farm)

24.  Taken the Catholic Eucharist

25.  Read as many classic books as I want to

26.  Figured out what I'm going to do with my life

27.  Kissed Mr. Tamura or Mr. Morita

28.  Had anything besides my ears pierced, or gotten a tattoo

29.  Been able to stay up all night without suffering the next day

30.  Managed to think with my head instead of my feelings 

So what does this mean? Will I write another post when I'm 60 to see what I've accomplished in the next thirty years . . . ? 

HAZE

It’s 3:15 p.m. on a cloudy July day, and we’re getting a little reprieve from the heat thanks to those clouds. I just finished saying my goodbye speech in front of the whole school – a mangled affair in Japanese that hopefully was understood without too much difficulty. After my speech I was given a huge bouquet of lilies and sunflowers (my favorites) by the two top student council representatives. The student council president – the younger brother of my community Japanese class teacher – directed his speech to me in English: “Jaimie, thank you for teaching here for two years. Thank you for your great laugh. I heard it everywhere in the school. Good luck in America. We will never forget you.”

This assembly came after four morning classes one after the other – all final classes that involved a Jeopardy-like America quiz game, Dashboard Confessional’s version of “Jamie”, the students singing either “Edelweiss” or “Hello, Goodbye” (by the Beatles), a class picture, and the exchange of letters and cards that the students and I had written to each other. Their handwritten letters to me came bound together in a book with a decorated cover: my letters to them were written on plain white 3” by 5” cardstock. Tears filled my eyes every time I heard, "Hello/ Hello/ Hello/ I don't know why you say goodbye/ I say hello." After each class finished, the students clamored to see me, thrusting their English notebooks, file folders, textbooks, or any piece of paper in front of me for me to sign. So it was four nonstop hours of 50-minute classes plus 10-minute goodbyes . . .  My 4^th period class, 2-5, was my last 2nensei class and my very last class at this school.

Their letters are full of “I love you” and “You are a great teacher” and “I will never forget you.” A good handful of kids wrote in Japanese, too, their native language seeming more appropriate to express what they want to say. It seems so sad that I have built such great relationships with these kids, playing sports together, visiting their after-school clubs, having interesting conversations – just to say goodbye. Part of me wishes I was here for one more year so I could watch the now 2nensei students graduate . . . but I know I made the best decision to start over back at home.

It’s 3:30. Time for souji.

3:50. And. That was my last cleaning time with the students.

There’re too many goodbyes going on. Tonight there’s a going-away party for another ALT who’s been here as long as I have. Then tomorrow I say goodbye to my 4 girls from 2010, who are now juniors in high school. That same night I have a farewell party given by my Japanese teacher. Sunday is goodbye to my community Japanese class. The 26^th, school farewell party. 27^th, host family goodbye. The 28^th, in a huge two-restaurant birthday/farewell party, I’ll be saying goodbye to most of my friends.

And on August 6, 2012, I'll say goodbye to Japan.

At least for a little while. 

Emails from Students

When the 3年生 (san-nen-sei) kids graduated in March, I gave them my email address to keep in touch. Now that I’m going back to the U.S., all 577 students at school have my address because I put it in my English school newsletter. Of course, only a handful of students have actually written, but of those who have, they’ve been very nice (if not a little inappropriate).
Their emails are peppered with animated emoticons in bright colors. And most kids’ email addresses are strings of letters, numbers, and random English words. For example, kr.r-law.hero43 or kara.8888happytime or et.baseball.0908. I love it.

Here are a few of them. By the way,（笑）means “laugh”; it’s the Japanese version of LOL.

ジェミー！My name is (XX). I played volleyball with you. It’s very fan. ニホンゴワカリマスカ？イツデモメールシテネ。

Jaimie! . . . Do you understand Japanese? Write me whenever you want!
M.H. (2-4)

ハロー！あ、俺がメールしたことは秘密で（笑）

                                                                         Hey! It’s a secret that I wrote to you, OK?


クエスチョンしていいですか？！（笑）

                                                                        Can I ask you a question?

ボーイフレンドとかいるんですか？（笑）彼氏って意味です。

                                                                        Do you have a boyfriend?

彼氏とはどんなとこまでいきましたか？（笑）

                                                                     How far did you go with him?

-K.T., (3-2)

IamNameNameareyoujaimiely?
R.K., (3-3)

Hello! My name is (XX). 2-2! Yesterday, with lunch! I was happy.

M.S., (2-2)

HELLO 私はいまからごはんです。ジェイミーは何食べた？

I’m about to eat dinner. What did you eat?

M.T., (3-4)

Oh, Jaimie! Today I saw you who ride a bike. I am sad because you go back America in August. You are a very good teacher. I love you. I want to go to America. So I study harder. See you again.

R.T., 高校１年生

(1st year high school/10th grade)

I'm going to miss my kids a lot when I go back to the States. I just love them! Luckily, even though my favorite class ever has graduated, and I only have five teaching days left – there’s always still email.