Athletic Fesitval!!

しつこいようですけど改めて体育祭の良さに関して話したいと思います。　今、カナダとアメリカでは子供の肥満が大分問題になっているのです。　コーラやらポテトチップスやら悪いカロリーをじゃんじゃん食べ、ろくに運動しないでゲームばかりしている子供たちが増えているからだと言います。　一応体育授業は義務教育としてありますけど、授業が嫌いで仮病で休む子供たちが多くなっています。　それに、肥満の子は体育授業中にいじめられるのが嫌なのです。　日本でもそういう問題は決してないとは言い切れませんけど、私がこの前見た生徒の誰にでも応援する姿はすがすがしかったです。　足が速かろうが遅かろうが、自分なりに一生懸命することが大事だと言うことが皆によく伝わっていたと思います。　

僕も色々と参加してもらいました!　土曜日は先生と保護者のリレーに入っていたのですけど、１００ｍ走なんか１０年ぶりだったので緊張していました。　日曜日も吉野小学校では全力で走り、さすがに月曜日疲れていました。　　日曜日には走るだけじゃなく、本山小学校では「アベック風セン割」と「人間ポンプ」にも参加しました！　ちなみに皆さん｢アベック｣とはフランス語だと知っていましたか？　英語では“with”、｢一緒｣という意味です。　

運動会も楽しかったけど、先生と関係者と一緒の慰労会がとても楽しかったです。　先生たちは運動会の練習でとても忙しくてあまりゆっくり話し合う機会が無かったので、嬉しかったです！日曜日は残念ながら吉野小学校の慰労会に出席することができなかったので、近いうちに吉小の皆さんとパーティーすることを楽しみにしています！

１０月には地区の運動会があると聞いているのでチームの足を引っ張らないよう体を鍛えて万全の状態で参加しようと思っています！

At the risk of being repetitive, I just want to reiterate the greatness of the Athletic Festival in Japan. If you are Canadian or American, you have probably heard that obesity and especially child hood obesity is an “epidemic”. While I do believe that this is an exaggeration, there’s no question that more and more kids these days are enjoying their junk food as they play their Xbox or PlayStation all day in their rooms. We do have physical education as required classes from grade school to grade 10, but there always seems to be the kid with a doctor’s note, or some other reason to skip. It doesn’t help that bullying seems to occur most often during P.E. class more than any other one. I’m not saying of course that these problems don’t exist in Japan, but I felt that I saw something that was very foreign to me; seeing every student cheer on their colleagues whether they were first or last. I felt that here the kids understood that it did not matter how fast or slow you are, as long as you gave it your all. I remember hearing this phrase all the time as a kid, but I really think that it would have meant something totally different if I heard it as a child growing up in this country.
Anyways, I also participated in many events myself! On Saturday I ran a relay race with teachers and parents, which was the first time I ran track in over about 10 years. I ran in a relay on Sunday as well, so my legs were a bit sore on Monday. I also participated in a couple’s balloon popping game, and another game where we had to fill up a bottle by carrying water in a spoon.
The Festival itself was great fun, but what was also great was the after party with the teachers and staff afterwards. The teachers especially were very busy the last month, so this was the first time I got to have a good conversation with a lot of them. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go to the after party for Yoshino elementary, but I am looking forward for the next special occasion to drink with them. Well, this Sports fest is over, but there is another one coming up next week so I better start working out!

カナダは無い

今週は２２・２３日の体育祭の為に全校が練習に励んでいます。　先生と生徒も皆猛暑の仲に頑張っている姿にとても感心します。　カナダには体育祭はあるのかと聞かれますけど、ある事はあるんですけどあまりにも違うのでついつい「無い」と答えます。　オンタリオ州の学校は６月の下旬にPhysical Activity Day (体育の日)が一応あるのですが日本の体育祭とは違いのです。　カナダでは体育の日は正式なイベントではなく、単に子供たちがいろいろとゲームをして楽しむ日なのです。　僕の学校では先生たちより上級生が仕切りを全部やっていました。　もちろん練習は一切なし、打ち合わせも上級生と先生の間で前の日ぐらいするだけです。　親や親戚も普通見学には来ません。　この日を休んで早めに夏休みの旅行に行った家族もありました。　それに比べて日本では何週間前からジリジリしている夏の中、最高の体育祭を親と親戚にみせるために皆は一生懸命練習しています。　カナダの学校も体育祭をやって運動と鍛錬の大切さを学べたらとてもいいと僕は思います。
カナダに無いものと言えば、この前の敬老の日もそうです。　「父の日」、「母の日」とか｢古参兵の日｣はありますけど一般的に高齢者に敬意を見せる日は無いです。　これは私の考えですが、カナダとかアメリカは「年上に敬意をもたらす」感情が日本より全体的に弱いと思います。　まあ、でもこれを読んでいる僕の親はきっと「よく人の事言えるよ」とか言ってると思います。　これからも日本人に見習って年上の人を敬する努力を増します！


PS：　皆さんWIKIPEDIAご存知ですか？　簡単にいうとインターネットの百科事典ですけど、カナダとアメリカでは大人気のサイトです。　誰でも投稿できるわけで、真実が書いてない場合が時々あるので１００％信用はしたら危ないと思いますが、僕は資料として愛用しています。　実は本山町のホームページの資料を使っても本山町について英語でちょっとした記事を作りましたので是非ご覧ください。　そしてもし修正とか記事に何かを足したかったらお構いなく！

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motoyama%2C_Kochi


This week, and in fact for many weeks now all the schools have been practicing for the upcoming Athletic Festivals this coming weekend. Everyday the students and teachers are outside in the blazing heat, practicing their ceremonial routines, their marching, and the various competitions they will be participating in. When people ask me if Canada also has an “Athletic Festival”, I am quick to say no but technically we actually do. In Canada (at least in Ontario), we have what is called Physical Activity day (PA day), which just consists of kids playing physical games for fun the entire day. In my school, the oldest kids were predominantly responsible for running the games although teachers were involved as well. There was no practicing though, barely any meetings between students and teachers, and it was not the kind of event where family and friends come to attend. It wasn’t rare for certain families to expect their child to skip PA day all together so they could get a head start on their summer vacation. In comparison, teachers and students take Athletic day very seriously. Every school has been planning and preparing for the this coming weekend since the summer break ended, to ensure that the kids will perform to the best of their abilities in front of their friends and families. And as I mentioned previously, its hot out there. I think it would be good for Canadians Schools to revamp our own PA day so that kids can learn the importance of physical activity and discipline.
While we are on the subject of customs Canadians should think of picking up, this Monday was a civic holiday called “Appreciation for the Aged Day”. We do have Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Veteran’s Day for our elders, but no day that generally calls for the respect of senior citizens. In my personal opinion I think this is a partial indication as to how North American culture in general do not have as strong an appreciation for our elders as much as Japanese culture.

Okinoshima

実はですね、僕はカナダの海は見たことないのです。　トロントはカナダの中央にあり五大湖も含め、沢山の湖が近くにありますが海岸に行きたかったら飛行機で３－６時間飛ばないと見えないのです。　海は２回ぐらいしか見たことないです。　一回目は北海道のビーチに訪れましたけど、台風が最近上陸していたのでだいぶ汚れていました。　二回目は高校二年生のときに学校の関係でキューバに行ったときです。　そこはとてもきれいだったけど、魚が全然いなかったので、あまり印象には残りませんでした。　一方、沖ノ島の海はきっと一生忘れられないと思います。とにかく海がガラスのように透き通っていて、きれいな魚が沢山あり、図鑑や観光の本にしか見えなかった美しい光景を見えたことが本当に凄かったです。　魚の種類の名前は分からないのですけど、映画の「フアインディング・ニモ」の魚が沢山いました！　生で熱帯魚を見たのは生まれて初めてでしたので感動しました。　魚のほかに自然のタコやウニも初めて見ました！　なんとタコを二匹素手で捕まえる所も間近で見ました！　夕日も日の出ももちろん最高の景色でした。　絶境と言えばもう一つ凄いものを見ました。　それは生まれて初めて見たフナ虫の大群でした。　フナ虫は刺さったり噛んだりしないから大丈夫と皆言いましたけどさすがにあれだけ沢山いると気味悪かったです。

後、蚊にもたくさん刺され、そういう点ではだいぶ大変でしたけど、全体的には最高のキャンピングでした！　役場の皆さん、ありがとうございます！

Most people in Motoyama are always surprised when I tell them that I have never seen an ocean while I was in Canada. Toronto is relatively located in central Canada, so although we have the benefit of being close to the Great Lakes, it would take hours on a plane to go to a coast on the west or east side. I have only gone swimming in the ocean twice in my life. The first time I went to a beach in Hokkaido, but there was recently a typhoon that passed by and the water was inevitably very dirty. The second time I was about 16, I went to Cuba on a school/music related trip. The Cuban beach was beautiful but there were no fish or sea creatures that I remember seeing. On the other hand, what I will forever remember what I saw in the coral reefs of Okinoshima. The water was as clear as glass and there were tropical fish that I have only seen in books and tourist pamphlets. To be honest I could not tell you the names of any of these fish, but I COULD tell you that many of them I saw were in the movie “Finding Nemo”. I was also lucky enough to see sea urchins and octopi for the first time in my life! I also got to see a man catch two Octopi with his bare hands (which he said he would later eat). So while we are on the subject of things I have never seen before, there was one more shocking thing I saw: thousands of “Funamushi”. My colleagues ensured me that these bugs that got as big as about the size of your thumb were harmless, but I could not help but feel a little disturbed due to the fact that they were everywhere.

Regardless of the Funamushi and the 20 or so mosquito bites I got it was still a fantastic camping trip that I will never forget. I would like to thank the people from the Motoyama Public office for taking me!

学校が始まりました

やっと九月になりましたね。夏休みも終わり、生徒も皆学校に戻りましたので、今週でＣＩＲとしての学校訪問も始まりました。火曜日には本山小学校、木曜日には吉野小学校、そして金曜日には嶺北中学校に行きました。　今月は全校が体育祭あるため、練習がたくさんあることで僕のスケジュールはまだ確認されてなのでとてもフリーな訪問でした。　火曜日は本山小で小学一年生と二年生の水泳大会に参加して子ども達とプールで遊びました。カナダでも子供と接触する経験がなかったので、ちょっと心配していましたけど、とても楽しんでくれたようなのでとても嬉しかったです。吉野小は本山小と違い、全学年で３５人の生徒がいないので生徒たちとはもっとパーソナルな触れ合いが出来たと思っています。　日本の人は西洋の人に比べるともっとシャイだとよく聞きますが、僕の個人的な意見ではカナダの子供のほうがシャイだと思います。特に体の触れ合いとかに関しては日本の子供はカナダに比べるとあまり躊躇ないと実感しました。　小学生の低学年はそうでしたけどやはり年のほうが上になるとどんどんシャイになることも分かりました。まあ、今週は初対面だったので僕は皆がシャイであることは当たり前だと思っていますから、数週間後に皆と馴染む時を楽しみにしてます。
後、週末には沖ノ島にキャンプする予定です。海と景色がとてもきれいな所だと聞いているので、楽しみに待っています。　
しかしまだ暑いですね、一週間前他のＪＥＴたちに「来週は涼しくなるから」と、知った風に断言しましたけど、涼しくなるどころかもっと暑くなっています！

Finally, it’s September. Summer break is over in Japan, and the students are back at their respective schools, which, of course means that student visits have begun for me as well. On Tuesday I went to Motoyama Elementary, on Thursday Yoshino Elementary, and on Friday I visited Reihoku Middle School. There is actually a Sports Festival Day for every school this month, requiring students to take time off classes to practice. Since the class schedules are changed, my own schedule within the school isn’t set up concretely yet. I was told that my first `English class` will be on the 28th of September. Tuesday at Motoyama Elementary I participated in the first and second grader’s swimming competition. That is to say that I played with them during their `free swim` time. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t know how to deal with little kids, since I’ve never had experience with that in my life, but they seemed to be having a blast which was good! Yoshino Elementary was a lot different than ME due to the fact that where ME has about 20-25 students per grade, Yoshino Elementary had 35 students in total. I felt that I was able to connect with the students at YE on a more personal level. It’s a common opinion that Japanese people are more introverted than their western counterparts. I found from my first week however, that kids in Japan (grades 1-4), are a lot more friendly and less hesitant to make physical contact with strangers. Of course, the older the kids were, the shier they seemed but I thought it was natural considering that it was essentially the first time they have ever seen me. I’m looking forward to getting to the point where the students feel totally comfortable with me.
On another note, I’m going camping at Okino Island southwest of Kochi this weekend with a bunch of people from work. They say that it’s a great place with a great view with crystal clear beaches so I’m looking forward to it very much.
And on another note, it is still very hot here in Motoyama. I feel that I need to apologize to my JET friends who I assured that it would get `a lot cooler` in September, when in reality its actually gotten HOTTER.