Playground Revenge and Halloween

The nights are falling sooner. The air is growing chillier. Autumn is here. And here to stay for a bit it seems, though Japanese will call it ‘winter’ here before long. I’ve already been warned by several of my co-workers that the temperatures can even get down to freezing occasionally, usually in the early mornings. Their eyes grow wide when I tell them that on good winter day in Kansas, the temperatures might get up to freezing by midday. Of course, it won’t be a day at the beach for me entirely. Like air conditioning, heat seems to be a rationed commodity in Japan. I might have it in the teacher’s room at my schools, but the classrooms will be without, and I never quite figured out the air conditioning / heating unit at my apartment. My little space heaters will have to bear the burden.

At my schools, the students are getting in as much quality time on the playground as they can before the weather becomes unbearable, I suppose. And I am often their honored guest during recess. Kids on both hands pulling me in every direction to the swings, jungle gyms, and teeter-totter (which they always crack up when I say the name of). I’ve gotten quite a bit of respect from the younger kids for scaling the jungle gym with them and sliding down the slides.

With the older kids, we usually head for the all-purpose sports field where there are always a number of matches going on: soccer, kickball, dodge ball, and a big favorite – dodge frisbee. There is occasionally a teacher or two playing along with the students, but for the most part, the kids are on their own during this 45 minutes after lunch. They usually stay divided by grade and class and can spend 15 – 20 minutes working out the rules – though once the game begins, I’ve never seen any fights erupt and all disagreements seem to be worked out very quickly and without hurt feelings – so, I suppose that time is spent well.

Choosing teams is a fun thing for me now. When I was a kid in elementary school, I was always in the bottom half of kids chosen. The first mark against me, of course, was that I was a girl, we’re always chosen last. The second mark was that I was pretty middle of the road when it came to athleticism and popularity, the two factors that can help a girl get chosen before others. I never realized how affected by that I was, or honestly, the fact that I was affected at all – I never remember a time when I was the absolute last kid picked. But, I have to admit that I get a good deal of satisfaction at always being the first one chosen for teams here in Japan. Finally, the popularity factor works in my favor. But being chosen first isn’t the only benefit I’m accorded. I’m rarely targeted during games of dodge ball and frisbee and ties always seem to go to Jenny-sensei. It would get old after too long, but at the moment, I’m quietly enjoying this small sense of playground revenge.

Starting last week, I began teaching lessons about Halloween to some of my older students. The existence of Halloween is certainly well-known here in Japan. I’ve seen images of jack o’lanterns everywhere from department stores to car dealerships to school classrooms. I walked past a high-end patisserie in the basement of a local department store with a large Halloween display consisting almost entirely of pumpkins and a large portion of their treats were pumpkin based – though nothing Americans would be familiar with.

I have little idea what Japanese actually know about the holiday other than faces carved on pumpkins, though. In fact, when I introduced ‘jack o’lanterns’ to my first and second graders, they called them ‘halloweens.’

I tried to compare Halloween to the Japanese holiday, Obon. But, it’s not a very good comparison. Obon is more like the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos - a day where souls of the dead, particularly ancestors, return for a visit. But Obon doesn’t really have any of the fear element that Halloween does and I didn’t want to frighten my students, so I chose more cartoon-like pictures of ghosts, skeletons, and various monsters. From their laughter, I suppose I succeeded in not frightening them at least, if not really impress upon them the meaning of ‘scary’ in relation to Halloween. Oh well, at least, they all had a good time with balloon races and making paper jack o’lanterns.

Current reading material – Dorothy Parker’s Complete Stories. Her wit is legendary, of course, but it is her style that I admire so much. As an aspiring writer myself, I am in awe of how effortlessly Parker makes it look. I have to admit though, she’s best read when one isn’t in a relationship. Outlook on romance - not very sunny.

Album currently playing on my IPOD – Gram Parsons’ GP / Grievous Angel. I was introduced to Gram Parsons by my Dad when I was in high school and was immediately reminded that the phrase ‘good country music’ need not be an oxymoron, despite all contemporary evidence to the contrary.

- Jenny