学校

This semester has been absolutely amazing in so many ways. The people I've met, the places I've been, the things I've seen, the miscellaneous experiences I've had. Looking back on it as it comes to a close, I realize that given the opportunity, I wouldn't change the way I've spent my time here, even if I might choose to add some time on so I could do more.

However, the academics of my program were a constant struggle. The level of depth expected in class was nothing like the level expected at Brandeis, but it was still the most challenging part about living in Japan.

The teaching style is different. So different. I was expecting, as is customary in Japan (and most Asian cultures) more rote memorization. I was expecting to hear "try hard" and "try harder" even when doing my best. These are staples of education in Japan (interesting, recent NPR story: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/12/164793058/struggle-for-smarts-how-eastern-and-western-cultures-tackle-learning). However, as that story suggests, even though Japanese students struggle more, they also seem to be recognized for their hard work (the American "you're so smart" mentality versus the East-Asian "you worked so hard"). Coming into this system as a college student, however, means that the praise of early education is all gone, and you're on your own. Period.

I came into this semester behind. I had done exceedingly well all last year in my Japanese class, but when I came here, I quickly realized that I was expected to know a lot more than I did. The reason: different textbook. All last year, I was using what I still consider to be a BETTER language learning textbook program, Nakama I, that just happened to cover less material than Genki I did. So coming into Genki II without knowing more than half of the verbs I should've known, 50 individual kanji (characters) and dozens of kanji compounds, and quite a lot of grammar points was a struggle. Let alone the inevitable fact that when one teacher uses a textbook, the language that she uses in the classroom is invariably linked with that of the textbook (so not only was I lost in a sea of material I hadn't covered, but I had to go through class that way, too).

It was all ridiculously difficult catching up. And for those first few weeks, I spent between three and six hours every day studying, just trying to get my head above water again so I could stop drowning. But after weeks of that (I think I was mainly caught up, perhaps 80% by about the end of October, which was 2 full months into the semester), I found myself thoroughly disheartened at the fact that my teachers didn't seem to recognize the amount of effort I had had to put in.

One of the virtues of having a program with a total of 9 students is the amazing teacher student ratio. I am one of two students in my class. But when I would approach my teacher for extra help in those first few weeks, her advise was simply, "Try harder. Study more. You'll be able to catch up if you do that," never recognizing that there simply were not enough hours in the day to "try harder" or "study more," and that's not just an excuse based on the fact that I was in Japan and had things I would rather be doing and experiencing than studying for 6 hours on a weeknight.

I pride myself on my sleep, as many of you know (8 hours every night!!), but sleep is a bad thing in Japan. Our roommates will consistently go to bed at 4 or 5am only to get up at 7 or 8am and go to school. There is an axiom in Japan that says that if you sleep more than 4 hours on the night before a test, you will fail. And sleep is not considered a part of mental health, because frankly the concept of mental health doesn't exist here (not even going to go into that now), and people who sleep more are considered weak. But the long and short of it is, I've had to alter my expectations for sleep in order to do fun things, and I hate that. I understand that it is STUDY abroad, but I didn't want study to be all I was doing.

I have qualms with the principles of language learning being blatantly ignored in the Japanese classroom. I hate that rote memorization, and parroting, are how we attempt to master this language, and that creativity in any manner is stifled. I know I'm biased by western culture, with western rules and western research, but as a future language teacher, I have to say that this teaching style goes against everything I've ever read, and everything I've ever heard about how we, as human beings learn language.

One of the positives of my program (I will shortly get to more of them, don't worry), is that I've been able to see special lecturers and performances, and for that I'm grateful. I recently attended a guest lecture by Dr. Marjo Mitsutomi, a Finn whose passion for foreign language teaching methods has led her to Japan to try to reform these "backwards ways."

She argued that the way the Japanese teach language is with a "bonsai approach." Bonsai trees are perfect, meticulously kept with care and attention given to each branch. They are beautiful. But there are no mistakes allowed in a bonsai tree, no individuality, so trees that should grow high to the sky are stunted. She argues for a "banzai approach:" enthusiasm, engagement, sometimes mistakes, but always happiness in the language learning process, a buffet of possibilities for every sentence, rather than a steadfast formula.

Needless to say, I agree with her. This semester has been so frustrating in a class that doesn't value integration, in a class where I was told that it would be better not to use the kanji I know on the grammar portion of my tests because it naturally takes me longer to write in kanji, and I'm not being graded on kanji there. If I'm not forced to use kanji on a test, I implore you, when will I ever use and learn kanji on my own? And while I don't think that testing should be the main method of evaluation in language learning, if it is... shouldn't it at least be comprehensive? 

So those are my frustrations, and certainly ones that I hope to remember going into my teaching experiences in the years to come.

There are however, many great things about my program here in Osaka. All the pictures before this have been of our beautiful campus at Osaka Gakuin University, which has been a nice place to spend time. More valuable still have been the cultural events put on by our landlady Ariyama-san, such as this Japanese calligraphy event we had, wherein we learned the very basics of traditional calligraphy.

The frequency of fieldtrips has also been nice. We've explored the history of Japan (such as the time we went to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living and walked through the streets of a realistic life-size model of an Osakan neighborhood during the Meiji Period) and the culture (such as last week when we went to try our hands at Ikebana, the traditional art of flower arrangement). These have bee rewarding experiences.

To break up the monotony of the day, we do also have electives in addition to the 2-3 hours a day of Japanese class. My environmental law class has been worthwhile all the way, and the professor is truly amazing and took us out one day (when we were studying UNESCO) to a Heritage site, Tenryu-ji temple, in Arashiyama, Kyoto.

That trip was specifically fun because the purpose was to decide for ourselves whether or not the preservation of cultural heritage through UNESCO's program was worthwhile. So taking in the wabi-sabi aesthetic of the nature as it interacted with the temple grounds, we got to weigh in the pros and cons of tourism and the like, all while on a really fun fieldtrip.

To tie it all together, our professor took our class out to eat at a traditional Bento restaurant. Bento boxes are essentially Japanese to-go boxes, but bentos are created with such care and attention to detail that that description doesn't really do it justice. This traditional style of bento had 3 boxes, in a stacked box container reminiscent (in my mind) of a mah-jong set box, and each of the boxes inside was ornately designed with light seasonal foods. This dinner was also so we could decide whether or not Japanese cuisine deserves to join the ranks of the tangible cultural heritage UNESCO food groupings with Mediterranean, French, and Turkish cuisines (currently in debate). It is this type of interaction between class material and direct cultural interaction that has been the saving grace keeping me from going insane.

In addition to events like that guest lecture I went to, we've had fun events like this musical performance. This event series in particular was a university-wide series called "Inspire Me" and inspire me it did. The group that came most recently was a band from Kyoto called Drakskip, and they play Scandinavian folk-style music. 

They were brought in because they graduated from college just 5 or so years ago, and have done a lot towards achieving their dreams since then. They each talked a little bit about their experiences and played some of the most amazing music I've had the pleasure of listening to in my entire life. They were captivating and certainly memorable.

Lastly in terms of the academic enrichment side of things, I've had an amazing internship all semester. I have worked in English-language mentoring (and cultural event planning and curriculum development) in Osaka Gakuin's International Chat Lounge (I-Chat) with my two other American roommates. It has been amazing experience both in language learning (here I've had a hand in rectifying the "bonsai" approach so evident in the Japanese student's inability to respond to the most elementary of questions despite having studied English since elementary school) and in professional development. 

Just one of many added perks to working at I-Chat was the time when our supervisor, Stella-sensei, invited us to a Thanksgiving Cocktail Party Mixer put on by a society that deals with strengthening Japanese-American relations. Above, you see the Osaka Consulate General of the United States carving the first turkey in front of hundreds of hungry eyes, and below you see us at the end of a very nice conversation with him.

The entire event was essentially hours of stuffing our American faces with foods we were homesick for, while simultaneously getting loads of networking practice. We met countless people of all ages and backgrounds, and received dozens of business cards, along with personal invitations to still more events and homes. It was a heartwarming way to bring in Thanksgiving spirit, as well as excellent practice in the much-needed professional skill of networking.

So while the Japanese side of this semester has been a struggle, I still wouldn't change a thing about the experience that I have had here. I really look forward to what's to come, and hope to be able to well integrate these new facets of the person I've become into the person I will be when I leave.

Seriously check back every day for new blog entries! Ciao!