GOLDSEA | ASIAN BOOKVIEW | NONFICTION
Educating Andyby Ann and Andy Conduit
Kodansha International, New York, 1996, 232pp, $12 (paperback)
The day-to-day experiences of an Australian boy in the Japanese Elementary School System
EXCERPT
e arrived in Tokyo in December 1989, and Andy entered the international school immediately after Christmas, in January 1990. His nose was put slightly out of joint when, having excelled in his Australian third-grade end-of-year exams in December, he was then told he had to do a further six months in third grade in the international school until June, since it followed the American academic year. The academic years of Australia, Japan, and the United States do not synchronize, as illustrated in figure 1.
The lifestyle Andy and I followed while we were involved full-time with the Japanese primary school was markedly different from a Western one. First of all, we moved into Japanese-style accomodations outside the embassy compound. This involved learning the rituals associated with renting, becoming accustomed to a residence about one-tenth the size we had been used to, and learning to use this new situation to experience a Japanese, rather than an Australian, lifestyle in Japan. This all proved to be a great deal more comfortable than I had imagined.
Because schools are zoned in Japan, and because you are supposed to attend the primary school in your neighborhood, we were obliged to stay in the same ward as the embassy--one of the most expensive areas in Tokyo--to avoid changing schools yet again. We were most fortunate in almost immediately finding a suitable place at a reasonable price. The real estate agent and the owner of our apartment were not at all reluctant to rent to foreigners, a complaint often heard in Japan. We were rather shocked when we had to advance ¥1,000,000 (A$13,000, US$10,000) to get into the place--one month's worth of rent plus two months' rent as refundable deposit, one month's worth of rent as gift money to the owner, and one month's worth to the agent. (We actually paid less than the norm, having negotiated to pay only one month's non-refundable gift money to the owner, instead of the more usual two.) Of course, as is required for both housing and jobs in Japan, a guarantor who would vouch for us while we were in Japan had to be sought. I found approaching Japanese for this very humiliating, but not as humiliating as being fingerprinted for the new "alient registration" documents of identification that I needed after leaving the embassy.
We moved into two rooms--one six-tatami-mat room and one twelve-mat room--plus kitchen and bathroom. By Japanese standards in the price range--¥200,00 per month (about A$2,600, US$2,000 at the time)--our accomodation was well-appointed: it had built-in cupboards, wall-to-wall carpet, kitchen cupboards, a stove with four gas rings, and a Western-style bath. The two rooms were separated by the kitchen and bathroom, allowing Andy to consider one room his, and me to stay up later in the "living room" without disturbing his sleep.
ASIAN AIR ISSUES FORUM |
CONTACT US
© 1999-2003 GoldSea
No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission.