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Post Iya

November 2003

I'm off to Tokyo tomorrow - again.

My mother says the same thing about public holidays here in Japan. There are so many holidays in the Japanese calendar that I sometimes don't know what to do with myself. This week it was Bunka no Hi, Cultural Day, and earlier in the month it was Taiiku no Hi, Health and Sports Day. September sees a holiday for the autumnal equinox and another to mark Keirou no Hi, Respect for the Aged Day. Earlier in the year, early May sees the coincidence of three major holidays within a week. When the calendar is just right, as in 2004, this aptly named Golden Week gives you a total of 11 consecutive days off for just 3 days of annual leave. Come on 2004!

"Another holiday?!"

But I digress. Tokyo. Again. Another meeting with the government bodies that run the JET Programme. This time we're asking them to think about how they present themselves to JETs and how well JETs really understand the workings of the programme and the services available to them in its support structure. We're touching again on the perennial issue of annual leave and sick leave - Japan's culture of taking leave from work is a bit different to what we're used to at home, and this causes some problems for JETs. We'll also see if they're up for giving JETs more formal teacher training. Would you get a biotechnology graduate to teach English to your kids? The Japanese would (thankfully!), but just being a native speaker doesn't mean we're all good in the classroom, so maybe more training is on the cards. These issues and more are all on our agenda.

And on the side, they'll be interviewing me for the new JET Programme promo video. Apparently, there isn't enough money for them to get a camera crew down to Shikoku - no surprises there - but since I'll be in Tokyo, a quick interview would be great. AJET certainly keeps me busy. I wonder what I'll do without it after next June?

Today I went to my elementary school at Zentoku, the one closest to Iya's famous vine bridge and, ever since I arrived in the village, perhaps my favourite school. The kids at Zentoku are great and their teachers take good care of them. I turned up this morning, though, to find the place almost deserted with half the staff away on business. So the two young boys in kindergarten were also away, having no teacher. I'll admit I was a little relieved about this, because keeping such young kids entertained in an educational way is tough work. One of those two boys is particularly difficult to work with - he's a genki little fella, but he has the attention span of a fish, poor kid. Or maybe I should say, poor teacher, she's got a tough job. Nevertheless, I still had two classes with the older kids. Today we kept working on numbers and touched a little on telling the time.

One of those classes was a bit sad for me. Hidemi, the girl I share my birthday with, is leaving Iya next week, so it was our last lesson. Her older sister Yui was also a student of mine at the junior high school, due to graduate in March, but she has already left. I gather that the family has decided to move to Kochi, on the south side of the island, for one reason or another. Can't blame them, it must be more convenient. But I'll miss the girls. I was looking forward to seeing Yui graduate, because she was in the first grade when I first came to Iya. And Hidemi's a clever girl, I wanted to see her grow up just a little more before I have to leave Iya myself.

That's not just a throwaway thought. Leaving Iya is something I've been thinking about, well, ever since I arrived, really, but more so lately because I've grown attached to the place and the people, and yet my JET Programme tenure is now in its third and last year. I could possibly stay on here outside the JET network. But I realise that I will leave, sooner or later, and staying beyond my JET contract would create difficulties of several sorts down the track. Iya has been good to me. And it'll be good for another nine months yet. In July, though, it'll be goodbye. It's a decision I've come to just these past couple of weeks. It probably won't mean leaving Japan. It might not even mean leaving Shikoku, for that matter. But it will mean leaving Iya and not visiting so often. Besides for being a long way from just about everywhere, there'll be a new JET in town and I certainly don't want to step on their toes as they struggle to find a foothold in the their new life in Japan. I can imagine the farewell speeches, lessons and parties already. That'll be a new experience, too, I guess. It'll be sad, but I'm getting myself ready for life post Iya.

Some things don't change, however, and dancing is one of them. Wherever I end up, I'll still be doing that. October's weekends have generally disappeared in a flurry of Awa Odori, and naturally, there's no complaints here. One Sunday morning, the whole group jumped in a minibus to a nearby town to give a performance at a wedding - autumn seems to be the season for weddings in this country. We turned up, all dressed and ready to go, walked into the hotel and up to the right floor, only to meet... another Awa Odori group?!

After some softly muttered but urgent words with the hotel staff, it came to light that the wedding party had booked one group, and the hotel had booked us. Nice work! There was nothing for us to do but turn around, pile back in the bus, and go home. We couldn't even give the bride and groom their flowers. Shouganai, I said to Ellie, the new JET who has joined Minoda-ren just this past month. There's nothing we can do about it. At least we got to dance in the afternoon. As for the Awa Odori season, we have but one performance left for the year on November 22 in Osaka. Then we start again in late January.