Letter From Leanne Anderson - 15 May 2005

Join me for a week?

Leanne Anderson

This picture was taken at the Izumi Kindergarten's graduation ceremony in Matsumoto, Japan, 21 March 2005. Click to see the whole picture big.

Dear Friends,

It's been a while since I took you on a tour through my week. A lot is the same as before. A few new English students have been added. Please pump-up your bike tires (Remember your helmet), put on your walking shoes and travel Matsumoto's narrow streets with me.

Attached is a glance at our weekly schedule. (Click on "Weekly Routine.xls" in Attatchments below). Comments of explanation are below. Breakfast is always miso soup, veggies, rice, and fish or tofu. Sack meals are usually leftovers from breakfast or rice balls.

MONDAY N'ss kids study English with me on Monday Daiskay is 4, does just what he likes. Kako is 2, sweet, and tries everything her big brother can do. In Japanese, "mo" means also, or too. So if Daiskay goes outside, Kako says, "Kako mo?" If Daiskay eats crackers, "Kako mo?" Sometimes it seems like her name is really, Kakomo. Tomoyo Nishiyama is 2 and lives nearby. She's a busy little girl. This week another neighbor is coming to watch what we do, so maybe another kid will join the fun.

N'ss Mom cooks delicious food: noodles, sandwiches on French bread, fried potato pancakes (called coroquette), plus traditional Japanese cuisine. She always offers seconds and I seldom refuse.

Ikumi is 20 something. She escaped a pressure-cooker bank career to work at Tully's. Her English is pretty good.

TUESDAY Erika Gray, 5, is half Canadian, half Japanese. Her Christian parents run English-only pre-school age classes called Maple Kids. I help with these classes on Saturday mornings. On Tuesday I take Erika, who's home schooled at this point, for a walk to the park. The twisty, blue slide is her favorite and she likes to swing--standing up. I'm suppose to talk with her in English, but she chatters so freely I don't have to say much.

F'ss daughter Komako is 2 years old going on 6. She talks up a storm. Eating lunch boxes together happened for the first time two weeks ago when I arrived before my lesson to practice. Last week she saw me walk into the studio and immediately said, "Wait a minute, I'll go get my lunch." Seems like a date has been set.

WEDNESDAY I started attending the teacher's bi-weekly meetings recently to learn more about the planning required for a 10 Piano Concert. A lot of casual chat is mixed in which makes these fun times to connect with these 7 ladies.

Harumi, 25, picks me up on her way home from work. Her role at Epson requires translating data into English for branch offices throughout the world. She loves France, dark chocolate, and art. A year of her high-school education was in Pennsylvania, so her English is very good. Kumi, 30 something, also works at Epson. She and Noriko, a lady in her 50's, are moderate English speakers with great personality. We bought books to study from, but usually the hours gets spent chatting. Noriko loves Elvis and hand sewing. This last Saturday I happened to have time off from K'ss lessons so I attended a class and learned how to make a cute doll from leftover Kimono fabric. Occasionally the four of us meet at a community center instead of Harumi's house (when the only available room is next to a local band rehearsal we opt for Harumi's house). Reserving a room requires a group name, Kumi gave us the name, "Idaho Potato".

THURSDAY Izumi Pre-school now has over 70 kids registered. 2-3's are called Flowers 4's are called Little Birds 5-6's are called Stars English starts right after "Chapel" ends. Along with the kids I'm learning the Lord's prayer in Japanese. Getting responses from 20 2-3 year olds can be difficult. The older kids have longer attention spans. We talk about weather, food, and alphabet sounds from pictures I've drawn in a sketch pad. They mimic conversations between dolls and puppets I bring. They're learning Jesus Loves Me in English. They're best English is what we repeat every week at the end: Thank you! and You're Welcome. Fumiko Koike, a gal in her late 20's I met at church, meets me at Izumi to study English and Japanese. But it's a lot more like two friends getting together to swap diaries, drink tea, eat potato chips and laugh. She is the first one who encouraged me to start writing in Japanese and I'm so grateful. She is not a Christian but spent time with Christians when she lived in Australia for two years. She's pondering who God is, but her schedule often keeps her from church Sunday mornings.

Once a month three office ladies meet me at a cute French cafe called Bon Appetit to chat in English. The cafe plays jazzy accordion music, something I can't reconcile with France, but the crepe's are delicious. We order tea too. A tray, with sniffable tea samples is brought out for us to choose what we want to drink. I drank #38 "Medisu" last week, fruity and good, but I thought the lid said "medicine".

FRIDAY Teacher Research. Two hours of down-ups and twinkles. If I remember to bring my video tape, I get my 10-15 minute lesson recorded so I can review it in the week to come. This last Friday 8 teachers from the Osaka/Kyoto area joined us. They're a fun group of ladies. Their recommendation was that I don't try so hard. "Relax your hand. Drop your elbow a little. Don't move your finger so much." I asked if the tone was too soft, and K'ss said, "It's soft at this point, but that's ok. You can only fix one thing at a time." The teachers recommended I come study in their area, "Because none of us know how to try too hard."

SATURDAY The only hard thing about helping at Maple Kids is remembering not to say ANYTHING in Japanese. About 12 kids are coming now. We play outside, do crafts, sing songs, and eat. I still confuse Yusay, Yuto, and Yu-ichiro's names. We have two Yui's. and Marina and Miyabi look similar. Ryota is the only one I feel sure of because I see him at Izumi on Thursdays.

Traveling to Hotaka takes a lot of time, but I enjoy visiting with K'ss in the car and seeing the sunset behind the mountains as I ride the train home.

Kaori, 30 something, teaches English in 3 public elementary schools as well as privately from her office near the Matsumoto Piano studio. She's my most diligent student, passionate to improve for the sake of her students. Reading "Little House on the Prairie" was so enjoyable, last week she decided to order the whole series on line. Helping her write an essay about her home brought back memories of my days in literature class, but I survived! She loves her niece and nephew, and had a great time camping with them during Golden Week vacation.

SUNDAY Sleeping In! Then breakfast and church. My relationship with the church organ is slowly improving. And it's been at least a month since I played the wrong hymn in church. 15 is still a huge crowd on a Sunday morning. Pastor's preaching through Luke and I think I understand more than 30% of what he says. These dear people are wonderful.

Sunday concerts happen once or twice a month. Last week I biked to a concert hall after church, then home. At the concert one of our students, a 7 year old girl, named Saori, played Mozart's Rondo Alla Turka from book 7. She's a sweet second grader who likes the color orange.

What did I forget? Hope you got some good pictures. Thanks for your companionship, Leanne

Letters from Leanne Anderson

• 17 Nov 04 "Have things changed in Matsumoto?"
• 28 Nov 04 "The Gift of Tongues"
• 28 Jan 05 "North Wind - South Wind"
• 16 Feb 05 "Ladies and Gentlemen..."
• 20 Feb 05 "Teacher Research"
• 12 Mar 05 "In a hurry"
• 21 Mar 05 "Graduating"
• 27 Apr 05 "Cherry Blossoms"
• 15 May 05 "Join me for a week?"

-- FloydPerryThistle - 25 May 2005
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