Snow and Self-deprecation

Today at school, I went through the traumatising task of marking my English class’s diaries. A favourite topic for students is their Club Activity, mainly because it takes up about a third of their life. For those of you who don’t know, Japanese schools like to take the idea of an after school activity and run with it. From what I have gathered in my six months in Japan, each student chooses a Club Activity to supplement their school workload, be it baseball, soccer, archery or tea ceremony club (exactly what it sounds like; the Japanese version of ‘ladies who lunch’). Each student is only allowed to choose ONE Club Activity, and there is no changing Clubs in midstream; if you start playing basketball when you hit puberty, your shooting hoops until you’re a man. Also, art and music are included in this category, so if one is artistic AND athletic, Japan may not be your cup of green tea. It’s like a co-curricular Sophie’s Choice. Art class is primarily a lesson in fruit bowls and vases of customary flowers, and I have heard rumours that the art is thrown away at the end of each year, due to something about the school supplying the materials. Odd.

Anyway, the students must practise their Club Activity for approximately four hours a day and it never seems to get them anywhere. This is where the diaries come in. No matter how hard they practice, how many hours of hard labour they put it, it’s never enough. I have to mark diary like:

‘I practiced the trumpet for four hours this morning. We had a concert practice this afternoon. I played a wrong note by mistake. I have no talent.’

I try and write semi-uplifting comments like ‘I am sure you will do better next time!’ but no matter how many smiley faces I draw enthusiastically in red pen, it still kills me a little inside. Green tea helps of course.

It’s snowing outside again. I wonder if there is a way to have snow without the cold, because cold is the killer.If snow was less chilly, or lukewarm, there would be snowmen everywhere. I might Google it.

A teacher’s cellphone just went off really loudly. The ringtone was ‘Lovefool’ by The Cardigans. Amazing.