I have arrived (again…)
So here I am in Ajigasawa (Aomori). I arrived on Tuesday (13th), flew from Chitose airport to Aomori where I was met by John Elliot. We then went to a meeting thing at a conference centre he was attending and I waited in the kids room (without any kids) reading the awesome “Blue like Jazz” book marky and co gave me in the furama the week before I left NI.
Then we went to Goshogawara where we taught a bunch of first year nurses English (taught being a loose term really) and then home. When we got home we went to the public bathhouse as the Elliots bathroom is currently non-existant (they had some kind of problem with the frame of the house and had to rip it all out) but a new one is coming on Tuesday.
Then wednesday was a day of prayer meetings. We went to one in the morning at the Messr’s home (realtivly new OMF missionaries in Aomori) then to one in the home of a Ajigasawa Chapel members home.
Then yesterday (thursday) we taught 2 kindergarten english classes in the morning and then 3 half hour classes in the afternoon for kids.
Then John and Laurie left for Tokyo. Where they will be for the next 10 days or so. This means come next Thursday I will have to teach the 2 kindergarten classes and 3 kids classes all by myself… Normally I wouldn’t be bothered, but the realy issue in my mind is that I have no idea how to speak any Japanese that will be useful. I don’t know how to say “sit down and stop riding on the rollaway tables” or “stop throwing your eraser at people and write something in your book!” I don’t even know how to tell them what I am teaching them means…
BUT when it comes down to it, most of what I will be doing is teaching these kind of classes, which is fine really, as once they get going they seem to be kinda fun. So I guess it’s best I learn now. And I know I always learn the best under pressure!
So yeah. Tonight I am going to a russian lesson… Which suprised me as much as it has probably suprised you. Laurie goes to these lessons on Friday nights to learn some russian (obviously) and as she is away she suggested I go in her place. Tonight is the first of the year (I think) and so instead of learning any russian they are gonna make stuff to eat then eat it. So I really don’t mind going! But the only issue I have in my mind is that everyone there will speak Japanese and Russian, not so much English… And they will probably see me at the Russian class and think “Oh look, sensei has brought a russian person, lets go and try out our russian!” Anyways what’s the worst that could happen?
On a more serious front. I have been reading “Blue like jazz” (I know I said I was reading it, but I can’t really link to the next thought without restating so you’re just gonna have to live with it)
It’s a really pretty good book. The author (Don Miller) writes in a style that is pretty close to how I think and writes about the kind of things (to an extent) that I think about, or like to think I think about. And the result is that some if it cuts pretty close to the bone. The latest cut is what I am going to tell you about…
Two years ago I had a placement in Liberty IT which meant I wasn’t at university for a year. It also meant trying to become part of a new group of people. And I didn’t quite fit into it. The problem is that I don’t drink and hanging around with a lot of people who do gets boring very quickly when you realise that the sole purpose of going out is to drink, the fact that you go in a group is simply because “drinking alone is what drunks do, and we aren’t drunks!” I know everyone wasn’t like that, but everyone drank and gradually as they drank they changed into new people. People who weren’t the same as the ones at work and I suddenly had to adjust to. So I would go home early, or not bother going out with them at all.
Now on top of it my friends at university moved on. I know this is probably as much my own fault as anything else as I didn’t really make that much of an effort to keep in touch…
And now with my friends moving on and with the guys at work I didn’t really want to hang out with much and the fact that I was living on my own as well, my human contact other than for work was very limited. I would go home at weekends and spend time with my family and friends at home, but only short times.
Then when the time moved past and I entered final year I began to get snowed under in work and had to stop going to Tai Jutsu and often CU in order to get through it and keep on top. This limited my contact further.
Now what has this got to do with Blue like Jazz? Well just after halfway through, Don Miller describes a time in his life that he lived alone for 6 years and describes how it affected him. And when I look back I see similar things happening in me. Basically my interpersonal skills slowly dissolving and having more desire to spend time alone and more introverted.
Now here I am in Japan and I have and excuse to be introverted. I don’t really speak the language.
Maybe I am being too harsh on myself, I have always been a shy person when it comes to new people and usually I come out of myself after a short while of getting to know them. But it feels that everyone is new right now and with language and cultural barriers it is going to take a long while to get to know them.
So tonight I am taking my chance to make a start and go to Russian class and meet some people and see what kind of communication I can get across. I doubt I will make good friends with any of them as I probably won’t go to Russian class again (I can’t learn Russian in Japanese if I can’t speak Japanese!)
Anyways, I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Or maybe the next day. Or sometime.
