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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Monday, January 27, 2003 |
 What I did today
Today, I...
- Walked to work in the rain (the first heavy rain for ages, it seems);
- Got to work to find that Shinbe-san had brought another hakama for me;
- Went to Mitsuta (the little stationery shop near the office) to buy 240 sheets of coloured card, and ended up having to count it out myself;
- Drove round to Kirikushi to pick up some supplies for my afternoon kite-making lesson;
- Went to Kikuya for lunch, and ordered ramen and rice, which seemed to surprise the waitress;
- Went to Tsukumo Elementary School;
- Chaired the special International Club meeting (held to discuss the rakugo event and the visit of an International Club from Kochi Prefecture);
- Went with the members of the club to Kumosuke for yakiniku (as ever with Kumosuke, the meat was fine, the service left a great deal to be desired, the beer was ayashii, and at the end I was left with the feeling of having been overcharged, but apart from that it was good);
- Walked home with Wendy;
- Indended to go to Poplar to buy something for breakfast, but didn't because it was too cold.
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 I paid my first visit of the term to Tsukumo Elementary School this afternoon. Both the lower years and the upper years made kites (a simple kite, similar to the kites we made at the International Club's event the other week. Both classes went well; indeed, there was hardly any difference between the two classes in the time they took to make their kites (although the lower years did get much more help from the teachers than the upper years did). There are always some children who have no problems, some children who have no clue, and some children who could make a fair job of things if they tried, but either haven't listened enough or would rather just sit until someone comes to help them.
Anyway, when everyone had made their kite and attached a tail (most children didn't get as far as decorating their kite), we went down to the gym to try flying the kites. I had wanted to try flying the kites outside, but the heavy rain meant that the playground was like a WW1 battlefield, so we had to make do with running around inside. Some children got their kites flying well; others were less successful. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, though, which I suppose is the main thing, and I told them to try outside when it's fine, so hopefully then everyone will be able to get their kite to fly. With the upper years, I noticed that the boys, who were racing hell for leather up and down the gym, were less successful than the girls who were running more leisurely. It would seem, therefore, that the key to flying this kite is not to run too fast, but to take things gently; useful information for future reference.
Interestingly, when I went back to the staffroom after the lessons, one of the teachers (not naming names, of course, but she's the head teacher at the school), having seen that we were making kites from B4 paper, asked in all seriousness whether we'd made kites from postcards. There are very few times when I'm completely lost for words... but this was one of them.
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 The International Club met this evening to discuss the visit of an International Club from Kochi Prefecture (on Shikoku) in March, and also to talk about whether we could put on an ogiri event on the same weekend. Ogiri is a form of Japanese comedy based upon word-play; it's famous because of the television programme Shoten, broadcast on Sunday evenings and currently on edition number 1851 or 1852. Anyway, the International Club invited some foreigners and did an event based on this programme two years ago now, and it was a success, so I'd like to do something similar again. Basically, the panellists answer questions about Japan and life in Japan, and then we have the audience vote on how good their answer was. If a majority of the audience liked it, then the panellist can get an extra zabuton (cushion); if they thought it was uninteresting, though, the panellist could lose a zabuton. At the end the panellist with the most zabuton is the winner.
Anyway, the meeting went well, and we decided not only that we'd like the other International Club to visit, but also that we'd like to go ahead with the ogiri event on the same weekend. It'll be a lot of work, but the members seem fairly enthusiastic about the whole thing, so with any luck I'll be able to get them to help not just with the planning, but with the preparation too.
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 Word of the week
seiko-udoku
A yon-moji-jukugo (four-character compound word) meaning 'plough while it's fine; read when it rains'.
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