From the archives: a day in the life, literally translated.

Another one I found while going through some old files, drafted but never published. I''m not sure exactly when I wrote it, but it must have been during Katie's maternity leave in 2014, because she's not mentioned in it, and as the J-3s' (unofficial) mentor she was a major positive influence on my experience at Luther. I am indebted to her for many things, including the fact that I understood anything at all about day-to-day goings-on there.

Japanese culture is different from ours. For one thing, it consists almost entirely of Japanese people.
-Dave Barry, Dave Barry Does Japan (Random House, 1992)

Luther, up the hill from the main gate.

As I enter the east gate of Luther Academy in the morning sunlight, I dismount my bike before walking it to the staff parking lot, as per school rules. I pass a boy with his sports bag in his bike basket, walking to his class's bike parking area in the other direction. "Good morning!" I say in English. "It is early," he replies in Japanese, bowing.

I head up to the teachers' office and open the door. "It is early," I say in Japanese to the other teachers, who reply in kind. "'Morning," I say to Morgan and Brent, in English.

At 8:15 it's time for the Morning Ceremony in the main teachers' office. All the teachers stand in a circle around the room as the vice principal greets everyone. "It is early," he says with a bow. "I humbly request announcements."

Then various teachers stand up and give their notifications. "About the test proctoring last week; you have taken care of me..." "Apologies, this is about the girls' basketball team, but..." "Sorry, a humble request from the library..." Almost all of them end with a bow and a "I humbly request that you treat me favorably."

Then it's time for morning worship up in the Worship Hall. The students file in during the prelude (always played by a student musician) and at 8:30 Choi-chaplain walks up to the microphone to start the service. "Everyone, it is early. I think I want to start the morning worship for today. Let us prepare our hearts for worship and hold silence during the prelude." 30 seconds of music later, he announces the hymn for the morning, and we all stand up, hymnals open, and sing the first few verses. Then we sit down and Choi-chaplain announces the page number and passage of the Scripture for that morning before reading it aloud as we follow along in our own Bibles.

Heaven. (Sadly, it was heavily damaged
in the earthquakes this year.)

Then, after a short message, prayer, and postlude, the students file out and I run down to the teachers' office to gather materials for my first-hour class in the No. 2 Audiovisual Room, known among the native English teachers as "Heaven" because it's our best-looking classroom and on the top floor. "Please stand up," I tell them in English as the bell rings. "Good morning."

"Good morning," they reply in unison, and I tell them to sit down. Today's lesson starts with a conversation comprehension warm-up. My Japanese partner teacher and I recite a dialog we've written together about what our favorite colors are as the students answer questions on a handout. Then we check our answers.

"What's Yamada-teacher's* favorite color?" I ask the class. Blank stares, and then a small voice pipes up from the back. "Black?" "What's Laura-teacher's favorite color?" my partner teacher asks. Dead silence. Then I hear one student whisper, "Blue."

Then it's time for them to push their desks together in groups of four to work on five-sentence paragraphs, a writing format we'll visit and revisit all year. My partner teacher and I rove the room checking for concluding sentences, which they often forget. One of the boys has a question. "Teacher! Teacher teacher teacher!" he says in Japanese, raising his hand. "Yes, student," my partner teacher answers in English, tongue-in-cheek. We exchange quick amused smiles.

Later that morning I'm down in the teachers' office, approaching one of the senior math teachers with a request. "Teacher?" I say tentatively as I stand behind her desk. "Yes, yes," she says, taking off her glasses."It's about the eleventh-grade Special Advanced English Course class," I say, "but would it possibly be good if we used the computer lab a little bit next Wednesday during sixth hour?" "Yes, please do," she replies. "Thank you very much. Sorry," I say, bowing. "No, no," she says with a smile and a wave.

During fourth hour I slip out to the cafeteria before the lunch-hour crowd swarms in. "Welcome!" call all the lunch ladies, all wearing the same opaque hairnets and face masks. "I humbly request the fried tofu and a small rice," I tell them, as they happily scoop each onto separate plates for me. I put the plates on my tray and head over to the cash register. "Yes, I'll humbly take 290 yen," says the lady stationed there. "Ah, teacher, you forgot your chopsticks!"

Leaving campus through the main gate.

At 5:00 I'm getting ready to pack up and head out a bit earlier than usual, since I have an appointment at the house of a lady from my church that evening. I load up my bag, lock my desk, tuck in my chair, and head for the door. "I'm committing a rudeness by going before you," I call to my fellow teachers still in the office. "You look tired!" they call back cheerfully. "See you tomorrow, Laura!" says one Japanese English teacher, in English, with a wave. I head down to grab my bike and walk it past the security guard stationed at the main gate. He stands and bows, smiling. "You look tired," he says. "I'm committing a rudeness," I say, returning the smile, and then I hop on my bike and ride home.

Japanese Set Phrase	Meaning in Practice	Literal Meaning
Konnichiwa	Hello	Regarding this day
Konbanwa	Good evening	Regarding this evening
Ohayō gozaimasu	Good morning	It is early
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu	Thank you for doing this favor for me I look forward to working with you Nice to meet you	I humbly request that you [treat me] favorably
Otsukaresama desu	Good work today That's all for today Thanks for your hard work	You look tired
Shitsurei shimasu	Goodbye Sorry to be a bother Excuse me	I am committing a rudeness

*Names have been changed.

A person finds joy in giving an apt reply--
and how good is a timely word!
Proverbs 15:23 (NIV)

From the archives: summer in Kumamoto.

One muggy afternoon in the summer of 2014, Caroline and I sat with our laptops at the Starbucks around the corner from the J-3 apartments and commiserated about the subtropical heat and the fact that we hadn't seen the sun for what seemed like months. I drafted this entry but somehow never posted it. Here it is in its entirety.

As someone used to bone-dry California summers and mercifully cool Bay Area nights, the heat and humidity that lays over Kumamoto like a blanket hits me pretty hard. Japan has a term for summer fatigue--natsubaté, and it turns out I'm not immune. We've got more typhoons this year than we did last year, so the vast majority of the time the skies are just gray, and rain can fall in torrents without warning (and lift just as quickly).

In an effort to maintain a good sense of humor about this situation, Caroline and I have compiled a list which I have entitled, "You might be in Kumamoto in summer if:"

• You drink several liters of water a day and you still get dehydrated.
• Your clothes always feel like they've come straight out of the dryer, only halfway done.
• If you leave the lid on the toilet closed, it becomes a mold terrarium.
• Walking outdoors from an air-conditioned building is like walking into a steam room.
• Walking into an un-air-conditioned room from an air-conditioned one is like walking into a steam room with a plastic bag thrown over your head.
• You air out your dirty clothes before throwing them into the hamper so they don't get mildewy.
• People carry around sweat towels. (I'm not joking; this is a thing. They're actually quite fashionable.)
• Your bottle of body lotion has sat unused for weeks on your bathroom counter.
• You don't take off your clothes; you peel them off.
• Every day is a vinegar- and bleach-scented battle against mold.
• You go to the drugstore and see entire shelves of full-body deodorant sprays.
• "It's hot, isn't it?" -every Japanese person, everywhere, every day.
• Your hair has become a mane of frizz, and you will just have to accept that.
• Staying in bed is actually less comfortable than getting up (unless you like lying in your own sweat).

Caroline and me, waiting for the typhoon that never came. (Photos by Brent, July 2014.)

For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Psalm 32:4 (NIV)