Larkin graduate LaFerle teaching, coaching in Japan
Many college graduates enter the workforce not knowing what to expect.
Courtney LaFerle really didn't know what to expect.
LaFerle, a Larkin graduate who earned her bachelor's degree from Valparaiso University this past spring, recently embarked on a venture that had more unknowns to it than a summer weather forecast. In mid-August, LaFerle left her west side Elgin home to become a teacher in Japan.
Now, we're not talking Tokyo, where most Americans can get along pretty well just because it's a big city with a diverse culture. No, LaFerle's 7-month commitment to teach in Japan is in a small city in the northern part of the country called Miyako, a city with a population of 58,000 that lies along the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
While in Japan, LaFerle is teaching language and cultural backgrounds. And, the former all-area softball standout who played through two ACL injuries while at Valpo, has also hooked on as an assistant coach with the Miyako varsity softball team.
LaFerle teaches at two different schools but the bulk of her time is spent at Miyako, where she is the only American teacher on a staff of 90.
Her journey has been an interesting one, right from the time she embarked from her nonstop flight.
Where's my bags?
"When I first got there I was looking for my luggage and then I realized it wasn't there, only a sign with my name on it saying there wasn't room on the plane," said LaFerle earlier this week in a phone interview. "It ended up coming in the next day and I felt lucky for that when I found out that some of the other people I was training with didn't get theirs for five days."
LaFerle's first venture into Japanese culture wasn't extreme. The company that hired her, Interac, housed her and 128 other foreign teachers in an upscale hotel for a week of training. She roomed with a teacher from Scotland during her training.
"The training was long and exhausting," LaFerle said. "We had breakfast at 6 a.m. and then went into training until 6 p.m. "There were 28 of us placed in the northern prefecture of Japan and we spent a lot of time with each other, knowing we would be each other's closest thing to friends while we're here."
On to Miyako
Training completed, it was now time to head to Miyako.
"To get to Miyako, which is now my hometown, I had to take three different trains," said LaFerle, now 22. "Since all of us were heading up north, the 28 of us pretty much rode the same trains all the way up which was nice. We boarded the bus at the hotel to the first train station at 9:15 a.m. This train took us as far as Tokyo and then we had to get off and switch trains. Tokyo station is an absolute nightmare! You can hardly move because there are just so many people all over the place. As we were walking through, all 28 of us trying to stay together, we could hear people talking and saying 'Baca gaijin' which directly translates to stupid foreigner.
"After we finally got to our platform, we hopped on the Shinkansen bullet train all the way up to Morioka. This is where most of the 28 split off onto other trains, so it was just me and these two guys Neil, and Kevin, heading to Miyako. As we were waiting for our train, I couldn't figure out why this one, what looked to be a service car, stopped not too far from where we were supposed to be catching our train. Turns out, that 'service car' was our train. It was just one lonely car that went slower than I can run for most of the trip and picked up to a blazing speed of about 45 mph. We got into Miyako at 7 p.m. that night and checked into yet another hotel until we could get our apartments in the morning."
What LaFerle found in her "apartment" reminded her a lot of walking into her Valpo dorm room for the first time.
"I open my door and look at my home for the next 7 months and it was just like walking into my dorm room at college," she said. "When you first walk in, there is a small hallway in which there was a kitchen sink (no counters) on the right side and across from that a shower room and another room that holds the most confusing toilet I have ever seen in my life. Beyond all of these things in just that tiny hallway, there is my room. I would say this room is maybe 10 x12 feet, but that could be pushing it. I had nothing in the place, pretty much completely unfurnished with the exception of two burners next to my sink and closet (an awkward closet). Other than those couple things I had nothing, so I went out that day to buy just things I would need right away. I still don't really have anything, I did have to buy a small fridge and a used washer because there was no coin laundry within 30 minutes of here, but those were the only big things that I bought. I sleep on a futon which is not what you are thinking of from America - a futon here is just the mat and I just lay it out on the wood floor at night when I am ready to go to bed.
"It hasn't been too bad so far, it is just like sleeping on a really hard mattress. The only real pillows they have here are filled with rice, so that was a big adjustment but now I'm used to it. I have a drying rack (dryers are nonexistent in Japan), some pots and pans, a little mat to sit on when my futon is put away, a blanket, a 3-drawer plastic thing for all of the paperwork I have consumed, curtains, toilet paper, five pounds. of rice and then just recently my Internet, but other than that, that is about it. At some point I hope to get a small table so I don't have to put my plate on the ground when I eat, but I'm waiting on that."
Speaking of rice
Japan is associated with rice for a reason.
"Rice has become my best friend here and my most prized possession is my rice maker," LaFerle said "This thing is what keeps me going. Just throw the rice in, add the water, hit the button and in 40 minutes you have half a meal. Normally I will make some kind of meat with the rice for dinner, and eat some fruit with my rice for breakfast, but at school, there is not much time to eat anything other than just rice for lunch.
"Grocery shopping is very difficult when you can't read what anything is. I haven't done too bad so far - I just look at the pictures and pray I can figure it out. Chicken is always a good option because it is easy to make as is corn and eggs. To drink I pretty much just drink water or buy juice. Everyone here drinks orange juice like it's running out fast There is really no pop here unless you want to buy Coke out of a vending machine, but that is really it. I have seen Diet Coke one time, and I also found a machine about a half-hour walk from my house that has Mountain Dew. Needless to say, I just don't drink pop anymore because no one else does."
Time to go to work
"My job is going well so far," LaFerle said. "I am at two high schools and I like them a lot. The one high school is called Kawai High School and I go to that school every Wednesday and Friday. I have to walk to the bus stop which is about 15 minutes or so away, and then take a 45-minute bus ride one way every time I go to this school. This is a very small school as I teach four classes there and my biggest class has 13 students and my smallest class has 3 students. It's really weird. I thought I might like this better, but I really don't. I feel more like I am having a meeting with the kids instead of teaching.
"My other school is called Miyako High School and is apparently one of the top academic high schools in northern Japan that everyone tries to get into. Here, they have to apply to high school just like we have to apply to college back home. At this school, I will eventually have 18 classes, but third-year students are taking their tests to get into University next year, this entire month, so right now I have 12 classes. The average number of students in all of these classes is about 44, and there are over 90 teachers. It's crazy, but I love this school a lot and it is only about a 20-minute walk from me, so it is fairly close in comparison to my other school. I typically teach every period except for lunch, but even during that time, other teachers will come up to me with student's work and ask me to make revisions. It is a lot of work, but I am enjoying it. One of my students even asked me to sit in on her Ping-Pong club after school, so that was pretty neat to watch. She was simply amazing, and by far one of the sweetest kids you will ever meet. Japanese students are very shy when it comes to speaking English and they will never volunteer for anything, so this girl coming up to me and asking if I wanted to come watch her practice took a lot. We had a conversation in both English and Japanese the whole time and it was by far one of the coolest experiences."
Put me in coach
LaFerle spent the summer of 2007 as a coach with the Northern Illinois Lightning 18 & over team and has helped with camps and clinics, but now she has been afforded the opportunity to coach softball in the Olympic Gold Medal country and she's enjoying every minute of it.
In Japan, there are no freshmen, sophomores, etc. High schools have their students for three years and at top academic schools like the one LaFerle is at, third-year students aren't allowed to play sports as they have extra classes to prepare for college. Thus, the softball team LaFerle works with is mainly first and second year students. And the facilities they play on leave much to be desired.
"They just play on a dirt field," said LaFerle, who on Saturday will travel 3 hours with the team to what amounts to the Northern Japan championships, which would be the sectional level here in Illinois. "It's not softball dirt either, it's just dirt. They practice every day after school whether the coach is there or not and they only play games on the weekends. They do all their stretching, running and drills on their own. They're like robots and things are just very mechanical."
Coaches in Japan high schools don't get paid - it is part of their obligation as a teacher to direct a club. And when students leave Miyako, their softball careers are pretty much done as they go on to colleges where sports aren't offered. But that doesn't dull their love of competition.
"They could compete with the teams I played against in high school," said LaFerle. "They are very strong hitters. They only take two pitchers but we have one left-hander who is phenomenal."
One obstacle for LaFerle has been communication with the head coach, Kamuri Sensei, who speaks no English but who does bear a startling resemblance to actor Jackie Chan.
"Communication between the coach and I has been difficult, but it's cool working with the kids because they are all in my classes and they help me with Japanese," said LaFerle, who teaches English and American culture to her students. "We work on both English and Japanese during practices."
LaFerle said one of the things that amazed her about the softball team is that they pay little attention to the sunset.
"It gets dark here about 6 p.m., but they just turn on a lamp, and I mean a single lamp, and keep on practicing until 6:30 or 6:45," she said. "It doesn't matter to them."
Living the lifestyle
LaFerle doesn't get her first paycheck until the end of October, so finding things to do that don't cost money has been a challenge. She has recently gotten into kayaking and will compete in a 10K race on the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 12.
"I don't do too much outside of school other than walk around Miyako with Kevin," said LaFerle, who admits to some homesickness, especially missing her dad and mom (Ken and Kathy) and her brothers Colin, Cameron and Connor. "I also go to this class every Thursday night at and it is called 'Oceans'. There are normally the other 3-4 English teachers in my company, and then a bunch of Japanese people there. The Japanese people, mostly moms who are all super nice, will teach us Japanese for an hour and 15 minutes, and then the next hour and 15 minutes, we teach them English. It is something I look forward to every week as my Japanese vocabulary has expanded to about 100 words that I have memorized and also some important phrases as well. I love it and I try to use it as much as possible when I can, but sometimes I get it mixed up with Spanish words from the four years I took it in high school. I'm learning though and able to somewhat get by at this point. My next goal is to learn katakana, which is just one form of (Japanese writing), but the one they frequently use, so I can read things, like my bills for example.
"I live right on the coast so we've been to a few beaches and climbed some mountains. I haven't been too far out of Miyako. I'm 10 minutes from the Pacific Ocean so I don't have to go too far to have a good time."
And at the same time, live an experience she will truly remember forever.