Nipped off again

I`m still in a bit of a mood with Japan. Being told I look much older than my 32 year-old friend, being shoved on trains and not being thanked for offering an old lady a seat (she just offered it to a middle-aged man instead) in a country that prides itself on it`s manners is just getting boring. This week, I have also tired somewhat of the blatant racism the natives exhibit. I teach two Korean children (one is Leesa, although she is called Risa by the staff as it is near enough and will do - those `L` take too much effort, and is on the far left, enthusiastically `peacing` in the photo, and the other is her brother) and both are picked on for their heritage. Koreans are the absolute lowest here. I am fairly lucky. English-speaking gaijin are a popular novelty, non-deformed female gaijin a complete rarity, so I am generally treated well. I do sometimes find it difficult to get the free promotional tissues handed out at stations as the people giving them out are a little scared of the foreigners, or rightfully imagine I wouldn`t have a clue what was being advertised.

Koreans fare far worse. Leesa does fairly well. The children in her class are young enough to muck in and have fun with whoever, but her brother struggles more with his English and is laughed at regularly. None of the children want to sit next to him, some of the girls openly protest when I try to mix up the class (although Mio, god love her, sits patiently beside him and helps him with all his English, probably to the detriment of her own learning) and in any game he becomes the target or fall guy. It is depressing to watch. I sat with him on Thursday to lead him through a writing exercise and heard the other children whispering about us both being gaijin. I like to casually drop some Japanese at points like this so they imagine I understand more than I do. It terrifies and silences them for a couple of minutes, at least.

Raju was explaining the experiences he has had in Japan. Being Bangladeshi, he faces more out and out racism than I will ever encounter, but is admirably stoical about it. Strangely, I bumped into Uriah in a departo on Thursday and off-loaded some rage - he is all too aware of how it goes. It is sometimes hard to remember it is 2006 and I have been questioning this week how far you have to accept the culture of a country you have opted to be in when it is so alien and offensive. `It`s just their way` does not seem good enough. I will challenge `their way` via Yukiko`s diary and see how I get on!

Friday, I had was on standby so had to go straight from a shapeless, pointless meeting in head office to a school in Tamachi, 45 minutes away in central Tokyo. It was nice to get up close to Tokyo Tower, but the journey home was hellish. There were no rapid trains that I could see, so it took over an hour and a half - making it a 12 and a half hour day in a six day week. Saturday, I had sodding Premier Club, a monthly kids` class that makes my day begin two hours early. It snowed heavily so one kid cancelled and the other two just didn`t show. My lay-in was snatched away from me and for nothing.

I did spend part of my day with these two terrors though. Hijiri is very naughty, but massively amusing and Taisei, the little boy, is adorable. He`s a quick learning and generally very obediant. He has started expressing his excitement through smacks (one to my face), so I may be talking less affectionately about him soon. They are brilliant though. Hijiri started when I did and Taisei is fairly new, so all they know is from me. It`s a fair responsibility, but these two are what teaching is all about.