Typhoons: Nightmares For Teachers in Japan

Typhoons thrash Japan from typically the end of June to the beginning of October.  There are typically between 15-20 typhoons a year in a season and unlike the rest of the world that names the typhoons anthropomorphically, Japan just numbers them.  So now we'd have Typhoon 12, and the next one will be typhoon 13.  Kind of boring, easy to forget, and I think that's due to the frequency and relative lack of danger/damage caused. 

That's not to say people don't get injured or homes and businesses don't get destroyed.  Oh to the contraire, every year several dozens are killed not due to the typhoon itself but lack of forethought.  Someone will be walking close to the ocean, a giant wave comes in and sweeps them out to see.  An older person is out riding their bicycle and a huge gust of wind sweeps them off into a fast death.  These types of deaths are not necessarily due to the typhoon's destructive force but instead due to lack of forethought and caution on the part of those killed or maimed. 
                                       
Teachers in Japan have to often confront these forces due to the nature of the work ethic in Japan.  What I am talking about is during a dangerous typhoon or any inclement weather that could likely injure children, school is cancelled and children are asked not to come due to the risk of bodily injury.  However, teachers are not exempt from work.  They must come to work regardless of weather conditions as a public teacher.  Often during some of the biggest storms of the year as a teacher you must brazenly venture to work, often at the risk of personal injury.    Only if public transportation is unavailable can you possible get off due to inclement weather.

If the trains, buses, taxis, etc. are in service you are required to be at work.  If they are not in service you still have to visit the stations and get a certificate from them to excuse you from your work duties.  It's an insanely bureaucratic system but it's Japan.  Often times when I cycle to work, I have to do so in typhoon conditions, snow, ice, sleet, and have grown accustomed to it, however, it's still a risk and many of my colleagues and cohorts just take a day off from work during these times rather than taking the risk of injury or death.  Typhoons are teacher's worst nightmares when commuting to work! Ping Google

Spring Break In Osaka

Spring break brings back great memories for me.  When I was in school we'd get off two weeks for fun in the sun where we'd typically head to the beach in Florida or South Carolina and enjoy two weeks of bliss.  But those days are long gone.  This year I had no holidays during spring break.  While students were off jet setting around Japan I was stuck in the teacher's room droning away and preparing for the start of the new year.

Japanese schools all begin their new year in April.  This is unlike the States where most new school terms being either in August or September.  So I just lulled in the teacher's room with most of the staff gone as well, it was pretty much a ghost in the shell kind of mood.  Teachers usually take paid holidays during this time.  As my paid holidays are less than Japanese staff I chose to come to work and just plow through the hours prepping for the upcoming year. 

It really is a big change from the exciting youthful adventures I had in the spring break of my youth.  To go back in time and relive those fun and daring times would be an amazing experience.  Perhaps next year though I will take off two or three days for some fun in the sun.

文化発表会 Culture Festival/Talent Day

On Wednesday all students, teachers, faculty and many parents gathered in the 体育館 たいいくかん, gymnasium for an all-day cultural blitz. Students, teachers, the PTA, and even several old timer's associations put on various performances from singing and dancing to drama and quiz shows. The kids get a huge kick out of performing and the teachers are running all over the school like chickens with their heads cut off. It's quite frantic from the morning until well into the afternoon for all involved.

This year about 20 teachers put on a drama about the state of humanity. They wore costumes and did a wonderful job performing. One teacher dressed in a bright red kimono and wore pigtails. She was imitating a child and she did a fabulous job. The play involved three "gods" who stood on the stage the entire time. They were watching over the humans who would come on the stage at intervals that represented different time periods in human existence. For example, the first humans looked like cave people, the second looked like 19th century peasants, the next group were from World War II, and so on.

After each performance the gods would come down from their pedistals and comment about how human live is strange and all the things that humans do, both good and bad. It was full of comic relief and mixed between the comedy was a serious message about living a morally straight life to help make society better.
There were several other great performances. One class put on a Korean Salmanori concert as well as a ear shattering Jang-Gu bashing. Jang-Gu are Korean drums shaped like an hour glass.

The biggest surprise of the day came from a group of geriatrics who were well into their 80s who appeared on stage in these matching happi like costumes, sat in a 正座 せいざ (Japanese style sitting where you bend your knees and place your legs under and sit on the back of your calf muscles with your toes crossed under your bottom.), and then they started twirling these batons to the beat of some trendy song. It was amazing as the crowds supported these old farts with lots of cheers and clapping, not because they felt sorry or obliged to do so, but because these "geezers had their A-game on that day."

At the end of the day the brass band played about 10 songs and then it was over. I thought it would be borning before going but it actually turned out to be a pretty enjoyable experience.