Today was an odd day at school. I was at Miyahara Junior High School. Some high school students were also there to act as mentors. Turns out Japanese kids get real crazy once they become comfortable with you. The formalities are still present around faculty, but I think I am a unique case that can play both sides of the game. The students have let their "guard down". The boys for the most part are pretty good besides being a bit unruly. If anything they are mean to eachother. One boy tried his luck on me and ran off with my towel; we use hand cloath size towels to keep the sweat at bay and usually hang them around our neck, making them easily accessable. Needless to say I ran him down and got it back promptly much to everyone's entertainment.
Girls on the other hand are a different beast. They seem so sweet and they really are but there is a dark side to them. I think it is from the behind the scenes oppression and overt male dominance in the culture that makes them absolute hornballs. I got my ass grabbed and slapped several times today. The first slap I thought was a boy because they have this practical joke they get as kids where they poke you in the ass with their index fingers, it has some wierd childhood significance of humor that I have not quite found. I also pretty much got molested by a pack of 9th, 11th, and 12th grade girls. Jabbing me in the sides and feeling my stomach or shoulders at all available opportunities. Somehow a few of them learned the words sexy and hansome and used them frequently. One level headed one that was doing something else would catch another and yell "Hentai" at them, which mean perversion, heh. It was akward and they always caught me by surprise or while I was doing somehting else. I am not a beer belly either anymore in case you were wondering what they found so appealing. I have lost 7kg and have got some abs back! In normal circumstances this behavior might be more flattering, but considering that I am a "teacher" and they are all young girls it makes me feel really uneasy. I would tell someone on staff about it, but the culture here is way different and I am better off just keeping my mouth shut on all grounds and practicing my evasion tactics ( I asked the other ALTs about it and they said it is wise to just keep quiet and hope it eventually ends.... and then they all laughed at me... apparently this happened to one of the other ALTs a few years ago as well). Either way I plan on being more vigilant in avoiding their ambushes... it will be hard though because they are always in packs and I usually have to get past them and your back is almost always to one of them when passing.
Cats and pigeons in Japan are reversed. At the slightest onset that you will appraoch a cat they bolt off very quickly. The clicking of the tounge does not even get them to come close, it scares them off more quickly. Pigeons on the other hand walk right up to you and peck at you for food instead of flying away. If you step towards them they either don't do anything or they come up to you and investigate. The only exception to this was with a cat I saw in my host family's neigborhood in Tenno while on a walk with the girls Saika and Seina a week or two ago. It was an old cat that was laying in the middle of the road, prolly hoping for a dump truck to run it over. It had cataracs in both eyes and appeared to be a little lame. I think it was more a nourishment issue because it was so very skinny and its hind legs were weak. It walked right up to me when I approached it and laid down on my leg and let me pet it, it was a dirty cat too. I felt badly for it and went to get it some food at the corner store. I returned with a small can of tunafish. The cat loved it and ate up, prolly its last meal since it was so weak. Thank god dogs are the same here! Ben, if you don't believe that either I can have the girls write you a letter about it, its all they talked about for like a week.
Heat is reletive here. 80F is like an icebox. I am starting to adjust to that scale. Humidity is the big factor.
I have also found lots of things to do here when anyone comes to visit. Students also go nuts when they hear how big my family is and that I am not the biggest... Luke-san, your fan club awaits.
More soon...
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