...or not.
So, not being fluent in the language means you're at the mercy of what the English teachers decide to actually tell you. Important things like "You have a class next period" might reach your ears seconds before you have to suddenly and rapidly do something, if such information arrives at all. It's not too common of a problem at my schools, but it happens.
But this time, they actually told me in advance. Mostly. A teacher informed me that we were getting study abroad students. She gave me a list of names and abbreviations for countries (one of which I still think is made up) and eventually I was able to talk details out of her. Apparently it was the first time my school had study abroad students.
I was super excited. I was looking forward to helping our new students adjust to living here. I told her I was ready to help them whenever they needed help, too. Nothing of what I said ever made her realize I was missing a key piece of information - they weren't study abroad students (nothing I'd call study abroad), they were there just for the day.
So I spent a few weeks thinking we were getting new students. I thought it was strange that while they all spoke English very well, none of them had any real Japanese experience. I wondered how they would take classes.
They arrived Monday and I was right on time to meet them as they were waiting in the office I first came into. I was expecting them to have school uniforms and everything, but saw they certainly were not - one was not even appropriately dressed by school code. But I thought they must be getting them later or something. All the events that were planned, too, seemed strange and a lot more than what they did for me, but I thought they were just welcoming events.
The students were divided up among the many ESS members and given classes. Some of the teachers said it would be nice if I came and helped them, but they disappeared when I wasn't paying attention and just left me in the room. When they got back from homeroom, the math teacher joked that it would have been good if I came. So I said I'd come to his next class when I was free. I was supposed to help out with the two calligraphy classes and then later the after-school tour / tea ceremony.
The calligraphy class wasn't as much a class as a demonstration, but most people seemed happy with it. Most of the students knew zero Japanese so drawing was difficult. The Malaysian student, however, had no problems and made many great drawings. The vice principal taught them how to write 友 (friend). Well, he showed them how he did it and then had them try at least. So everyone tried a few times, then he'd evaluate them, then eventually they got a special square to write their final versions on. Then he made them one himself of a word of their choice and signed and stamped it with his calligrapher's name. Which is apparently a thing. The Malaysian student donated his artwork to the school.
I went to the math teacher's class, which was apparently a computer class. The students had made gifs. The teacher attempted a few minutes of English before rapidly giving up. The students all found it hilarious. The study abroad students basically just sat there and watched the animations, but the student's presentations weren't very enlightening anyway. Japanese students are not very good at explaining things or giving reasons; they make strange assumptions about what everyone knows already or something.
I decided during this that I, too, wanted to make a gif to show. So I tried to get the student next to me to show me, but I think I just ended up bothering her slightly and she seemed confused. I ended up watching what another student was doing and made a short animation of explosion and text. When we ran out of presentations, I showed off mine. The class found it funny.
Other than that, I was not very helpful at all.
After school was the tour. I was still operating under the assumption that they were actually study abroad students, so I thought it was a good idea. The older woman that came along as a "teacher" insisted that someone (not her for some reason) wear the traditional Thai dress she brought. I said she could just do it another day, but she said she was going home the next day, but I assumed it was just her. I did think it was strange to have a study abroad teacher. Eventually fingers were pointed until one of the ESS girls was stuffed into the dress. She wore it for a while in the room until we were actually going on the tour, a total of maybe 5 minutes. The Thai lady seemed disappointed when she took it off, but what did she really expect?
Everyone was split up and led around the school. I ran around, changing groups, but was not helpful at all. I did manage to find new parts of the school I never went to before. We also heard a few songs from the band.
Then we had the tea ceremony. The sitting style was difficult for everyone, so we were allowed to relax. There was a flurry of camera pictures, even with flash on. I thought the poor old lady trying to run the tea ceremony must have felt a bit strange, having her picture taken so often without anyone asking at all. Honestly, a few of the "study abroad" students were pretty rude most of the time anyway. They seemed to be acting more like they were on vacation.
During the tea ceremony I found out one of the students was staying with the principal and apparently he had taken him to an onsen. He said it was very awkward. I guess there was probably nudity involved, which would definitely make any non-Japanese person very unsettled.
We drank tea, did some bowing, and filled out the questionnaire the teacher made. Then everyone was heading home. They had told me they were going to Tokyo for the night the next day, which again I found strange, but still figured they were coming back. It wasn't until they were leaving that I finally pieced it together. I finally figured out they were only here for a day, and only even in Japan for a little less than a week. I was pretty disappointed.
Oh well, at least for a moment there were some new, interesting people at the school. Maybe there's a way to arrange it to send our students abroad or get new, actual study abroad students. Or maybe a kitten. That'd also be nice.
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