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16.02.01

By Canadian standards winter hasn't even begun, yet it's already ending.  The days are growing longer and warmer.  It snowed once this year in Soka, though we were in Malaysia and missed it.

January-March is the final term in Japanese schools.  The new school year is ushered in with the cherry blossoms (sakura) of April.  This last term,  however, is the least busy one for ALTs.  While the Japanese teachers are dashing about preparing entrance exams and curriculum for the batch of incoming students and preparing for the March graduation ceremony, the ALT is simply sitting at her desk with more idle time.

We've already booked a flight to Bangkok for March 13th; from there we hope to catch a connecting plane to Kathmandu, Nepal.  Our trip will last 20 days, in which time we plan to visit the old Thai capital of Ayutthaya before heading on a 10-12 day trek in the Himalayas.  Our fingers are still crossed for the Nepal segment as we haven't yet booked the flight.  Trip preparations include determining which of the many treks is best suited to our schedule and experience, as well as whether to join a guided tour, hire a local guide or join another group of trekkers.  Owing to our combined lack of navigational skills and extreme tendencies toward distraction, we have ruled out attempting the trek just the two of us.  There have been reports of Taoist rebel activity in recent years, but we have decided not to let that detract us.  International news reports are too sensationalized and one-sided to be credible sources of travel information.  Though we certainly intend to look into the situation further and to only trek well-worn trails when we do arrive in Nepal.

We also have to decide which supplies to bring with us for the trek.  Purchasing sports equipment in Japan is expensive, but we've fortunately read that most hiking equipment, including tents and sleeping bags can be rented from Kathmandu.  Of course spending a mere couple weeks in such a vast and mountainous country will only provide us with a glimpse of the terrain and culture, still it will be amazing to see this place which has long held such mystic, spiritual fascination for travellers.  I really hope we make it to Nepal.

Other than our upcoming trip, life here is slow (bordering on mundane).  The ALT role, particularly by the third year, holds very little challenge or interest to us.  I don't believe our students have progressed a millimeter along the road to English-language proficiency.  We see about a thousand students each, so 90% of their English education (when we aren't around) takes place in Japanese and centres around preparing for national proficiency tests and entrance examinations.  Unnecessarily complex sentences, which have usually been translated from Japanese, are presented to the students for translation back into Japanese.  And so goes the uninspiring zero-sum equation.  When we enter the class once a month, some students are (overly) delighted to see the gaijin, others terrified, most simply couldn't care less.  And not a single one can converse with us in a meaningful way.

We could be doing much more.  I was doing much more as a wet-nosed University student in Toronto.  But I wasn't getting paid nearly as well.  One thing I have certainly learned is how to identify the Western thought model.  A valuable lesson I treasure when I feel that my life here is without purpose.  I don't claim to be an expert on Japanese thought, culture, (and surely not) language;  but I can recognize things that won't work in Japan.  Like playing Bowling for Columbine in class and holding a discussion afterwards.  Politics, war, violence and other icky scary things are generally taboo topics of conversation.  As well as feminism and any other -ism, poverty, homelessness, the third world, anti-capitalism.  I can't tell you why or where it comes from or whether or not it will ever change... should it change?  ...

Some activities we have loosely brewing for early spring:

We send out warm vibes to our loved ones battling a Canadian winter of gargantuan proportions.  May you have enough snow to keep you shining, enough cold to keep you bundled.  In just 6 months we will touch down to join you once again in the northern extremes of this vast and lovely world.

reading:  Yann Martel, Life of Pi; Yasunari Kawabata, Snow Contry  (yukiguni); Haruki Murakami, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle; Matrix Literary Magazine (travel, poetry and public domain issues); Notes on Travel and Theory by: James Clifford.