Lift Up Your Hearts!

I was up first this morning, turning the heater on, making tea, and finishing up the potato salad. We all left early for school; yes, Janet had to work on Saturday. The Japanese schools end their year in March, and this was the day of the closing ceremony. Bike riding went better, though it was still a bit scary. Janet rides this route twice a day; no wonder she is in such good shape. When I could divert my attention from trying not to fall into a ditch, I enjoyed the scenery, though Janet was disappointed we couldn't see the great view of Fuji that she usually has to enliven her commute.

Shirane High School has a parking garage just for bicycles, the preferred means of transportation for many students and teachers. I should mention that students must apply to and be accepted by their high schools in Japan, and some have a significant distance to travel every day. (One of Janet's students bikes an hour each way.) Once again, we left our shoes at the door, picking up school slippers provided for the use of guests. Janet showed us her office, which she shares with Naito sensei. They offered us tea and snacks.

Our next stop was the teachers' meeting, at which Janet introduced us, and I managed to say yoroshiku onegaishimasu (roughly translated, "pleased to meet you," but more accurately says something like, "your favor be upon me.") I had been chanting it the whole bike ride, hoping my tongue and memory wouldn't fail me at the critical moment. At the meeting we delivered the all-important omiyage, the small gifts so common in Japanese culture. Thanks to Janet's advice we were able to provide something very popular: Hallowe'en candy, i.e. small, individually wrapped candies, preferably chocolate. That, along with bottles of maple syrup for special gifts, was what we brought as our "gifts from America." In hindsight, we should have brought more maple syrup, as there were so many people who should have received special gifts! Another good present is grape jelly, of all things. I had brought some, at Janet's request, and on my own initiative added a jar of blueberry jam, on the theory that it was very American and probably not available in Japan. Not true! Blueberry and strawberry are the most common jams there. Grape jelly, on the other hand, is virtually unavailable, despite the fact that Yamanashi Prefecture, where Janet lives, is known for its grapes and wine.

A few words about the school, as I saw it in our brief glimpse. The students all wear uniforms, and to my mind looked and acted quite a bit younger than American students at the same level (roughly grades 10-12). Part of this is due, no doubt, to their generally smaller stature, and the fact that the girls wear no makeup. The latter, I must say, was a refreshing change, as was the lack of bored, worldly-wise expressions on their faces. One of the teachers later asked me if I found their students to be less mature and independent than their American counterparts, clearly expecting me to say yes. But it's more complicated than that. I hope Janet will give a more detailed, accurate analysis sometime—mine is just an outsider's first impression. I would say that American students are in general less close to their families, and more inclined to challenge their teachers and other authorities, but being extremely dependent on their peers, pop culture, and fashion, they don't begin to approach true independence of thought and will, much less anything close to maturity.

Say what you will about the custom of expecting the students to stand on the gym floor, in straight rows, while listening to the interminable speeches of the closing ceremony, but they did it, and for the most part without fidgeting. They did better than I did for sure, and I had a wall to lean against. (Granted, they at least understood the speeches….) Is that important, or even reasonable? Maybe not, but it did demonstrate a degree of self control few American high school students possess.

As Janet has mentioned before, the gym is unheated. Well, apparently they do have heaters, but she has not yet observed them actually in use, even when you could see your breath in the room. So she had us well prepared, not only with layers of clothing but with double socks and wonderful little adhesive packets that turn warm once you open them. Stuck on the small of your back, they do a lovely job of mitigating the outside temperature. (Porter chose to use his to warm his feet; remember, we were in slippers.) Thanks to such preparation, the cold was not a problem. One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was singing the school song, since Janet had provided the music along with a romaji (transliterated syllables) version for us.

The Japanese students are in many ways more regulated than American students. They wear uniforms, they begin and end each class by bowing to the teacher, and they are required to keep the school clean. They also have little choice in the classes they take. For the most part, each class of students stays together and takes the same courses; it's the teachers who move from room to room. On the other hand, they also have freedoms very unusual in American high schools. Janet particularly enjoys talking informally with the students, who are free to wander the halls, and visit the teachers' offices, during their lunch break and after school. We met many students that way, and some were bold enough to try a few phrases of English with us, and even ask a question or two.

As I mentioned, the students are responsible for keeping the school clean. (Janet's office doesn't have enough work to fill the full time allotted to cleaning, so she frequently uses it as an excuse to engage the students in English conversation.) If the level of cleanliness isn't perfect, I'd still rank it higher than that achieved by the professional custodial staff in the American public schools of my experience.

Wanting to give us a true Japanese experience, Janet had bought us obento lunches. I can't say as I recognized much of what I ate, but most of it was pretty good. Any resemblance to the "lunch boxes" I've experienced in American Japanese lunches was limited to format, however, not content.

After lunch Janet attended a meeting honoring departing teachers, but she'd decided we'd heard enough incomprehensible speeches and set us up in the language lab to watch the movie Swing Girls, which is set in a Japanese high school and in everything from students to scenery to the local town mirrors her experience remarkably.

Fuji-san consented to show her face in the afternoon, and we enjoyed the view from the school. After our ride home, which seemed shorter and easier than the ride into school, we walked to the Ryuo eki (station) and took the train to church. Actually this involved changing trains in Kofu, and later being picked up by the pastor at Sakaori eki for the final leg of the trip.

I'm afraid at this point I was 'way too exhausted to appreciate the service. I needed my earplugs to survive the music ("It's never this loud," said Janet.) I did recognize a couple of the songs, however, and enjoyed the experience of singing them in both English and Japanese. The church is interdenominational and international, with members of the congregation, mostly young people, from Japan, China, the United State, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and who knows where else. The service is conducted in both English and Japanese. Adding to the mix, the pastor and his wife are from Texas, so both languages have a distinct southern flavor. :) Despite my best efforts, I couldn't stay awake for the sermon, and I noticed that Porter was having similar difficulties. It's rather a pity we were near the front of the church….

The pastor and his wife were kind and understanding of our jet lag, however, so when after the service we went to their house for a farewell party for one of the members, the first thing they offered us was their bed. We didn't get much of a nap before Janet awakened us for dinner, but it helped. I was still groggy and somewhat nauseated, so I couldn't appreciate the food, but I very much appreciated their lovely kotatsu table, which is of the kind where you can sit Western style with your legs in a pit underneath, a pit from the bottom of which arises the most delicious warmth. There I sat, and there I stayed for the rest of the evening, until the chill finally left my body. It was very late by the time the party was over, and we were extremely grateful to Janet for arranging with a friend to drive us all the way home, sparing us two train rides (with associated waits in cold station) and the chilly walk to her apartment. We were also glad to know we'd have occasions later in the week to see her church friends, hoping to atone for our stuporous state this night.