Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993 TAG: 9301290268
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
A YEN FOR LEARNING
The students at Pulaski Middle School know how to write their names in Japanese. They know the exchange rate for the Japanese yen and the American dollar. They have dabbled in origami, transforming sheets of paper into works of art. And they have learned a little bit about Japanese culture.All this is part of International Internships, a program that allows selected Japanese adults to spend one, three or nine months at a time in schools throughout the nation, teaching students about life in Japan.
This school year, Pulaski Middle School arranged to have 31-year-old Sakai Keiichi, a Japanese teacher, spend three months at the school.
"I saw an opportunity for a rural school division to experience a culture from another country," said Principal Ned Olinger, who single-handedly pursued the internship.
Keiichi has affected almost everyone he has worked with so far. He has been in the county since November, living with Olinger and his wife.
"In my 20 years working in education, this is the most exciting thing to happen," Olinger said. "Having him with us has really made me stop and examine our own heritage."
Sakai started his internship - which is fully paid for with his own funds - Nov. 1 with the eighth-grade social studies classes. Next he taught the seventh-graders, and then the sixth-graders.
Olinger said he wasn't sure what to expect, but since the program started has decided "it has probably gone better than I had anticipated."
Sakai made a lasting impression with eighth-grade teacher Su-Su Sadler, too.
Some of Sadler's students gathered in class one day, asking if they could go to the library. When she asked why, they said they wanted to learn more about Japan so they could talk with Sakai some more and learn more about his country.
When Olinger heard that story, he realized "we've really hit on something that's right."
Sakai, too, has enjoyed his stay with the Olingers, and especially teaching the pupils. He sees a lot of differences in Japanese and American schools.
"[In Japan], if I found a student chewing gum we would [smack them]," he said, gesturing with his hand a slap on someone's face. "We have respect."
Sometimes, too much respect, he said. "We have the idea that the government is higher," he said. "We have a weakness to authority."
Also, Sakai said, American students do not seem aware of the difference in Japanese and American currency.
"I show them our money - they don't know how much a dollar is to a yen," Sakai said. "I show them a 10,000 yen bill and they say, `Wow, $10,000!' - I say to them, `I wish so.'"
To help change these false perceptions, Sakai works with the students to convert the prices on Japanese advertisement from yens to dollars.
"It is very cheap to live here," he added.
In Japanese schools, Sakai said, students eat in their classrooms every day, and each student eats the same thing. Also, every student is responsible for his or her school and must keep it clean. There are no custodians in Japanese schools.
The biggest difference between Japanese and American students, Sakai says, is that Japanese students must follow strict rules and take the same courses, while American students "have more freedom than ours. But that also causes a big difference between a very good student and a very low student" in American schools.
This isn't the first internship for Sakai. He also has worked in Tennessee and most recently in Martinsville, as well as in England and Ireland.
Of all the places he has worked, he says Pulaski stands out because "it is very cold and there is lots of nature. . . . We don't have big open spaces like you do. [In Japan] there are a lot of houses."
Also, Sakai said, "the town is very calm. The people are very good and kind and friendly."
Sakai's staying with the Olingers and at Pulaski Middle School is coming to an end this week. Then he will return home to his family in Hamamatsu, Japan. He has no other internships planned for the near future.
Olinger has been so pleased with the results of the program, he hopes to apply for a Japanese teacher for a nine-month internship next year.
"I'll probably pursue it again," he said. "We've been very lucky to have him here."