Yesterday was a day of firsts, my first experience teaching and my first experience trying to attend a ceramics class all in Japanese. Both went remarkably smoothly. Especially given how nervous I was about both.

For my first class I taught middle school first graders (12-13) and thankfully had a GREAT English teacher to teach with. She was not only really enthusiastic about teaching, but fluent in English, which seem to be rare characteristics among English teachers in Japan. Or at least a rare combination. I taught to classes in the morning and then returned to the BOE in the afternoon for another exciting day of sitting around the office. I talked about all of you during my self introduction, and mentioned that we had climbed Kilimanjaro during the summer which the kids were very impressed with. They understand pretty much no English, save a few sentences, so I had to make it very short, and the teacher went back over it to quiz them on what I had said. At the middle schools I am supposed to pretend that I don't understand any Japanese, so that the kids will only use English with me, at elementary school this is impossible. Then we played a lot of games with the kids, my favorite of which was a basketball game. I made jerseys with teams from home for the kids, and you will all be pleased to know that the Duke kids won the game! Of course! Anyway, I am excited about teaching again next week, though I think it may be more difficult at other schools. I teach at 4 middle schools, 5 elementary schools, and 2 kindergardens!


Later that night Tina (another JET in Tanabe) biked to the ceramics class for the first time. The class meets twice a month, and has already been going on for about half a year. A lot of classes in Japan, particuarlly classes in Japanese arts seem to be more like a social circle for people who already know the skill. Anyway, the teacher had rather reluctantly let us come. Thankfully Tina speaks fluent Japanese and was able to set it all up. When we got there I was really worried, the teacher seemed like he did not want we there at all! He kept saying I understood no Japanese (and the truth is he has such a strong regional accent that I only understand about 10% of what he was saying.) The class had apparently had two foreigners join before, and they had gotten sick of having to learn the strict rules and left. We stuck around anyway, though I was thinking it was probablly hopeless, given that Tina didnt want to take the class, and it would be me alone trying to understand bits and pieces of his Japanese. I told him what experience I had and he seemed to warm up a little. All the while there was a really old old Japanese man with an even more hopeless accent pulling for me to be able to attend the class.

Well the teacher decided the best thing for me to do was put me on the spot and make me use the pottery wheel. I was really nervous because it had been a few months since I had used the wheel, and the movements are so specific that if your hands are not reguarlly doing them you can forget. Especially since I had only taken a one semester class. Thankfully I did not fail miserably the way I had worried I would. It was not the best pot I have ever made, and not the worst, but it was something to prove I had experience.

Thr funniest thing was that the rest of the class gathered around my wheel to watch me while I was throwing. They all start going "ehhhhh!" (an expression for suprise) "American way, american way" from the very beginning. We both laughed a lot because so much seemed to be so different. Then they laughed and talked about how long my fingers were... that must be why I do it the way that I do. Probablly one of those situations where you had to be there, but it was really really funny!

The teacher agreed to let me into the class. Somewhat reluctantly but also with a huge grin on his face. They may make start from the beginning, apparently there are 7 very specific steps you must learn before even starting the wheel. Japanese ceramics are incredibly traditional, and unlike in the West, where new and inovative ways of doing things are sought out, Japanese cermaics remain very traidiotnal, adding the sligtest changes onto the old ways of doing things. I am actually kind of hoping the do make me begin from the beginning, because I would be thrilled to learn the Japanese way. Though my long fingers may prove to be an obsticle.