The Halfway Point in Sasebo (and a silent tear is shed by all)

Week Six

Wow, it is hard to believe that it is week six already.  As I type up this journal at the end of this week it marks the halfway point of my time in Japan. I cannot believe that I am at this point already!  The last six weeks have flown by.  I have now spent a good bit of time in the Child Development Center, with the School Age Care staff and students, and in the Pre-Teen and Teen Programs.  I have had the opportunity to go on field trips with children from each of these programs, and I feel like I have really gotten to know the staff and the ins-and-outs of each of these unique yet cohesive parts of CYP (Child and Youth Programs).  Every day I am learning something new, such as a different policy or a new way to implement a program, but I also feel as though I am able to offer suggestions that are heard and often applied.  I am looking forward to my plans for my last half of my time here, including next week with Youth Sports, a possible Girl Scouts camping trip, spending Spring Break with the teens, implementing some new trainings, finishing up marketing for the Easter Egg-stravaganza, and even (hopefully) making a AFN TV commercial with the teens – that activity is mostly out of my hands, but I will do my best to get it done!  It is going to be a very full few weeks, but I am ready to take it on!  

(UPDATE:  As I post this a few weeks late, after the tragedy in Northern Japan, most of this events have been put on hold until after I leave or cancelled entirely.  I will speak more about my experiences over the last week and a half in upcoming posts.)

Back to week six.  I am with the teens this week and we do not have any “customers” until 3pm, so I was able to brainstorm activities for the youth during spring and summer while finishing my journals.  Today was a pretty slow day, what with it being the last day of February and just trying to tie up lose ends from the month.  Tonight we hosted the February B-day Bash, even though there were only four teens present…but we all enjoyed cake from the Harbor View.

On Tuesday we spent the whole morning packing.  The teens and pre-teens had hosted a donation drive a few months back to get donations initially to help Hati, but because the staff were unable to find an organization willing to receive clothing and toys for that region we ended up sending the items to a program in Memphis, TN that Alisha, the Youth Lead, has worked with in the past (that’s her hometown).  Because the car was too full of boxes (11) for me to even fit I only heard secondhand about the drama that ensued with trying to get the funds out of the appropriate teen and pre-teen accounts.  Eventually they got it all straightened out, but again I am reminded of why handling money is such a headache.  Tuesday night I hung out with the teens and we played the Michael Jackson Experience and Dance Revolution on the Wii until I was sure that I pulled a newly discovered muscle in my arm.  Not only were we able to get all of the teens involved in the game, but many of the youth were commenting on the workout they were receiving – more Fit Factor points!  I now believe every center needs a Wii, or something along those lines.

Wednesday was busy as always.  Today’s managers’ meeting was a litter later than normal because our N9 was in town.  He is, forgive me if I butcher his title, the regional MWR director who is also responsible for all of the housing on base as well as pretty much all of the food service.  He attended our meeting to give us an update on the new, limited budget as well as some restructuring in the alignment of some of his programs.   Not only was the update enlightening, and helped me to understand more of how CYP falls into the grand scheme of things, but so was the discussion that followed.  Then came our Easter meeting as well as a budget meeting with the Youth Director that I really enjoyed (I know, me liking budgets, what a concept).  Today at the center we got into an interesting discussion with some of the teens today regarding the birth of Jesus, and both Ms. Alisha and I were unsure how much of this discussion we could be a part of as CYP employees.  I was glad to see one of the teens step up and lead that discussion…but really, what is the policy in regards to faith based discussions in the teen center?  I hate to shut down productive conversations just because it says somewhere we have to, but I also would hate to have someone’s parent be upset because we discussed something contrary to his or her faith.  The teenage years are when a religious identity is most often questioned and/or abandoned, so to just arbitrarily ignore this formative part of a teens life seems a little harsh to me.  If only I was back working in a Youth Ministry setting…geeze!

Wednesday night consisted of, you guessed it, Girl Scouts!  The meeting went pretty well, and I was able to help the girls make some swaps.  Today’s swaps consisted of hot gluing together little foam brownie bear and heart pieces…it reminded me of my OLOL Children’s Hospital 4-H Volunteer days, except this time the hot glue was green.  Yes, the Japanese hot glue the Girl Scout leader purchased was GREEN.  It should make a 4-H girl proud, but the green glue coming out from behind the wiggly eyes was creepy.

Thursday was Girl’s Day in Japan, which meant that SAC hosted a special event for all of the girls at the center.  They got to wear a kimono, watch how green tea is traditionally made, try their hand at making it themselves, sample some sweets, and they made origami.  The girls all had a blast (and the boys enjoyed being able to go into the preteen center during the event) and I loved seeing the local culture being brought into the center.  After the SAC Girl's Day event I helped the teens sort through ideas regarding a CYP commercial we hope to make - I now know I need more ideas to help them think outside of the box.

Learning how to make tea...

Being filmed for AFN

Sweet treats!

One of the youth teaching the teachers
how to make tea correctly

My treats!

Friday the Lead and I were only scheduled to work from 3pm – 8pm, so another staff member and myself took advantage of this opportunity and went on a “Lunch Hunting” trip with Eriko (I’m adopting her as my personal tour guide/interpreter).  The food was delicious, and we went shopping after.  As soon as I got to work we were off again, taking the Teens, Pre-Teens, and SAC kiddos to the photography contest and sculpture exhibit being hosted for them a the Harbor View Café on main base.  All of these children have such great talents, and I was impressed by several of their photographs and sculptures.  The photography contest winners get to go onto the regional (and hopefully national and international) Boys and Girls Club of America contest, so I wish them the best of luck.  Seeing the pride each and ever child had in the submission was awesome, and it was a learning experience in how to deal with a loss for others.  The rest of the night we just hung out with the teens in the center and finished putting “wallpaper” up on the walls.

Out to lunch...

The kimono I bought

A beautiful (and expensive) one

My artwork on display!
(broken and all)

4-H Clovers!!!  YES!

Alisha showing off her sculptures, and some of the teens' work

Our new "wallpaper"

Saturday was a VERY LONG day for me.  The morning starting with Girl Scouts Thinking Day, which was a huge success.  (See next post)  After thinking day I had work from 3pm – 8pm.  It was a very slow day, as we only had one teen there for about 30mins throughout the whole five hours.  Even with the limited numbers we still made the most of our time by decorating the whole center for March and St. Patrick’s Day!  Hopefully next week will include more time with the kids as I will be spending most of my time out at Hario working with Youth Sports.  Two new staff members with different perspectives to learn from…yes!