日食 part 2

When I woke up on July 22, 2009 the sky was full of heavy, low, dark clouds. I thought for sure they'd never clear up in time to see any part of the total solar eclipse. I quickly got dressed and biked to work so I could be outside if it did clear up. On the way downtown I saw lots of people just standing on the street looking up. I guess everyone really want to get a glimpse of the eclipse!

According the Japan-guide website we were supposed to see most of the eclipse between 11:10 and 11:13. As I ran into my building the sky looked like it was thinning out. I did some lesson planning for 30 minutes while keeping an eye on the weather. Around 11 there were some blue patches, so I grabbed 2 white sheets of paper, a pencil, and my camera. I read that if I put a pen sized hole in one paper and held it over another piece of paper, I'd be able to trace the shape of the eclipse. That was a total bust, but not because it was too cloudy. There were times when the sky was completely clear, and if someone had been there with me I'd have been able to trace it. But holding a paper and tracing doesn't work so well. However, when the sky was totally clear, the sun was still to bright to look at.

There was a breeze that would blow thin sheets of clouds across the sky, and during these times I was able to look directly at the sun and see the eclipse. I even got some pictures! A couple people stopped to ask me what I was doing. I didn't understand most of what they were asking, but I showed them the tracing I did have and my photos, and they said it was good. My favorite random stranger was an older woman walking by in her kimono with a parasol. She stopped, looked at me, then up. It was cloudy at this point, so she said (I can't remember the exact words, but the meaning is ...) "It's too bad, you can't see anything!" Then she kept walking.

Look at my pictures on Picasa!

Total Solar Eclipse

日食

Tomorrow is 日食, or nissyoku (it might also be kaikinishyoku)- the total solar eclipse! (I'm not going to try to pronounce this one because I found it online and haven't asked anyone yet.) The total part will be viewable very far South of me on the Tokara Islands, and then the percentage of visual obscurity decreases from there. About 4 hours (by bus) South of me in Tokyo the sun will be 70% blocked at 11:13AM, while about 3 hours (by bus) North of me in Sendai the sun will be 40% blocked at 11:10AM. So based my scientific calculations of guesstimation, Koriyama will be 52.5% blocked at 11:11 and 32 seconds AM.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2266.html

I was so excited when I found out I would be in the right part of the world for a total solar eclipse (you poor suckers will be shrouded by the night time sky, getting ready for bed). You may not know it, but seeing a total solar eclipse - the actual total part- is a huge dream of mine. One of those must-do before I die things. Unfortunately because of work and the remoteness of the place from which to see the total part, I can't see it this year. I almost considered quiting my job to go see it because I thought it only happened once every 75 years or something, and I don't know if I'll be around for my 100th birthday. I might skydiving or something.

But then I discovered that Solar Eclipses happen all the time! Total solar eclipse are still rare, but not 75 years rare. The eclipse on July 22, 2009 is special because it will be the longest one in the 21st Century, but by a minute or so. But considering that the total solar eclipse doesn't always make landfall, I still feel bad that I am here and will only see part of it. I'd have to travel to Easter Island on July 11, 2010 for the next one.
http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEnext.html

Of course, tomorrow's forecast for almost all of Japan is rain.

Classroom story

Some of my friends are in public schools all day, and therefore get tons of cute and funny stories to tell everyone. Working at an Eikaiwa, a private English conversation school (sounds like Eh-ee-kI-wa), means I spend my time in various businesses, culture centers, and in the office. All of my students are adults, except for the 3 10-year old girls I teach each Friday. And my classes are always subject to change. I might get more students, someone might cancel a lesson, or might lose a class altogether. The closest I get to teaching in a school now days is each Wednesday when I go to Tekikyo Asaka High School.

As I've been told, Tekikyo has never had a foreign English teacher before. They wanted their students to practice hearing and repeating English with a native accent. Tekikyo is a private school, which most of the time in Japan means that students are receiving less than great education. It's totally backwards from schools in America. Students have to pay lots of money no matter where they go for high school, but they also have to pass an entrance examination. If a student doesn't pass the test for their choice school, they have to go to a private school. Tekikyo is a fairly large school- 10 first year classes with about 40 students each. It also has the lowest English test rate in all of Koriyama. I'm happy anytime the students are speaking English, even if it's mocking me through repetition.

Here's my 'funny story', though it's the kind of funny you can never admit to in front of the students.
In my 1-4 class (class 4 of the first year students) there is a block of particularly noisy, rowdy boys. A couple of them are genuine trouble makers, a couple are just wisecracks showing off for their friends. They were supposed to be working in groups to complete an exercise in the book, but of course they were just talking and goofing off. As I came to their side of the room one of the wisecracks (one I generally like because he's willing to talk and answer questions) called me over to his desk.
As I approached to answer a question, he pulls out 1,000 yen bill (about $10) and holds it toward me as if I should take it. Before I can ask Wisecrack what his question is, his backstreet boy(because this other wisecrack sings in class sometimes) friend taps him on the shoulder and says, "No, no." Then, Backstreet boy pulls out an American dollar bill (I have no idea where he got this or why he happened to have it on him), hands it to Wisecrack saying, "This." Wisecrack giggles, exchanges the bills and pushes the $1 toward me. I'm still confused until he says "Cheap, cheap," still gesturing I should take the money. A number of responses ran through my head, but I settled for swiftly tapping him on the head with my book and told him to stop watching bad movies. Isn't great that my students are properly using adjectives I haven't taught them yet?