Friday, March 09, 2007

The Thursday kids are quickly turning my life to hell!!!!  ARRRRRGGH.  This time the evil boy was absent, but another girl in the class has followed his example and become a little brat as well.  She has also taken to mocking me and ignoring my commands.  And this week she decided it would be funny to grab my breast.  This made my already bad mood worsen. 

Goki spent some time going over the school cleaning routine with me, and I learned some interesting cultural things.  It is common for smaller businesses to have the employees do the cleaning, as hiring someone is expensive and uncommon.  This also happens in the public schools, where both the students and teachers do the cleaning, instead of janitors.  So in between my classes I am supposed to wipe windows, vacuum, empty trash, and clean the bathrooms.  And apparently in Japanese society it is good to be seen cleaning by the parents and students when they come to the school.  I think maybe that is the opposite in America.  I’ve also been given instructions on how to answer the phone.  Prior to this I have ignored it, as I can’t speak Japanese.  But sometimes I’m the only one in the office and no one else is there to pick it up.  So Goki taught me to say:  “Hai, Sato Eikaiwa gogakujuku de gozaimasu.  Syou syou o machikudasai,” which is a very formal way of saying “Hi this is Sato Eikaiwa cram school.  Please wait a minute.”  I still need a lot of practice to say it well. 

In normal conversation the above would be more like, “Sato Eikaiwa desu.  Matte kudasai”, but the level of politeness required for a business is very different.  I’ve decided that this is something I dislike about Japanese culture.  The importance they place on formality is annoying to me.  And they also clean everything everyday, as if the most microscopic particle of dust or dirt would harm their reputation and business.  It feels like, if you make a small mistake you commit a great rudeness and deeply offend people.  I know that people are willing to forgive my rudeness because I’m a foreigner, but I don’t like that feeling around me.  If feels restrictive.

Wakana and I have had lots of time to talk lately.  I’ve been driving her to and from work for the past few weeks because she cut her hand pretty badly while cooking, She doesn’t feel comfortable driving with one hand (she can’t understand how I do it all the time).  Yesterday she told me a funny story that I feel the need to share.  We both did research on “worms” in college, but she studied silkworms rather than nematodes (silkworms are moth caterpillars rather than worms, in case you didn’t know :-).  We were having a conversation about creatures, and I said something about how I like the way snakes feel.  She countered with how nice silkworms feel.  They are smooth and cool to the touch. After that she proceeded to tell me how, on hot summer days, she would stick her hands in a bowl of silkworms to cool down.  It was a pleasant thought.  At least until she continued with, “But I have to be gentle or else I will…I will…them…”  She forgot the English word so I provided it for her, “squish”.