April means the start of the new school year, and it also means that it's teacher transfer time. I had to deal with the transfer of my wonderful supervisor Mariko in my first year. In year two I lost her replacement Chieko when the school decided to reduce the number of English teachers by one, leaving her with no job. Chieko was replaced by my old friend Kaori who fortunately is continuing on as my supervisor again this year. Sadly though I was forced to deal with another loss in the Noheji High School English department when my collegue and Go coach Kaizuka sensei retired after 37 years on the job.


I can't imagine what it must have felt like for him to leave after working the same job for 37 years. My paltry three years as a JET is already the longest that I've ever stayed in the same job. Unlike many teachers his age, he wasn't the least bit relunctant to speak with the weird foreigner in the office and we got to know one another quite well over the years.


During my first year he would sometimes approach me at 3:45 just as I was about to head home and invite me to sit and chat with him. At first I found these requests a little annoying as I didn't wish to spend any more time at the office than I was required to. We would most often talk about the history of Aomori, the types of fish you can find here, classical guitar, poetry, teaching, major league baseball and lots of school gossip. Since I know very little about any of these subjects, he did most of the talking. Over time however, I came to really enjoy our chats and now that he's gone it makes me sad to think that we won't have any more. Well, we'll have at least one more I guess as he has promised to come to my farewell party in a few months.


For his farewell address to the student body he surprised me when he asked all the students to repeat after him "Be Strong and Straight". I asked him later what that was about and he told me it was a line from the movie 'Shane'. Apparently before the cowboy Shane is forced to leave town at the end of the film, he gives that same advice to a small boy. I thought his choice was spot on, since out of everyone I have met in my life, I think Kaizuka sensei probably would have made the best movie cowboy. He is one of the kindest people I've ever met, and seemed to never have a single bad thing to say about anyone.


Here are some photos from the farewell festivities:

Follow up:

Be strong and straight!



I gave him a poetry book, while most people opted for flowers. The students wrote him a few goodbye cards as well.




Goodbye speech for teachers at the farewell enkai.



This enkai was your typical Japanese style dinner, with nothing I would consider edible. In the past Kaizuka would always seat himself next to me, and I would pass off my unwanted items to him. Unfortunately he was in the row of honour this time, so my food mostly went to waste.




Doing a little team teaching. For our last class, Kaizuka bought a ton of candy to give the students. I'm not sure if I will be quite so generous for my last classes in July.



While it's sad that a great teacher like Kaizuka sensei was forced to retire, it's also good news for the next generation of English teachers as jobs for teachers are pretty scarce these days as Japan's population shrinks and shrinks. This is Aoi, one of the graduating students from Rokkasho High School this year, and an aspiring English teacher. I spent a good chunk of the last year tutoring him in the ways of English. Because of his hard work, the work of his teacher Taima sensei, and my amazing English teaching skillz in a few weeks he will become the first student in the history of Rokkasho High to ever enter university based solely on the result of his entrance exam score!



Aoi is probably the only student that I have ever helped in any significant kind of way, while Kaizuka on the other hand has done the same thing for countless thousands of students over the years. Still, it was nice to get a taste of what it's like to be a real teacher. Anyway, happy trails Kaizuka sensei. I promise to be strong and straight.