Virginia LoCastro
(1980-81)
Reflecting now, approximately twenty years after I arrived in early July in Odawara, I realize that one very important aspect of my LIOJ experience was the support for teacher development, mostly in the form of the lived process of developing and creating lessons, materials, and practices every day for the month-long programs, month after month. The small classes of very eager and very capable Japanese businessmen and engineers was a highly motivating force which pushed and inspired me as a teacher to do my best and to learn more and more in order to do my best. In addition, co-teachers for the same level as well as those who taught the same content and skills component for other levels in the program all provided support and ideas, and readily shared materials and their time to help the new teachers create new ones.
The summer period brought the annual workshop for Japanese teachers of English, another intense and very rewarding experience as it seemed that within the space of several days I had shared experiences and worked as a teacher trainer with an incredible group of human beings. I had learned as much as I had given. And at least four of very special people are still my friends.
At the time, during that year, how rare such an opportunity for teaching and learning about teaching can be was not entirely clear due to the intensity of the experience and the fatigue that would sometimes set in, especially at the end of each monthly session. However, twenty years later, and many teaching and work experiences in between, the realization of how special the LIOJ experience was has evolved and grown, especially when one is confronted with the situation in so many EFL programs today with uninspiring teacher-proof materials, set curriculums, and too little time for teachers to let their creative tendencies develop.
The other very important aspect of the LIOJ experience was for me the wonderful setting. How marvelous to have the sea on one side and mountains on the other, with the possibility of catching glimpses of Mount Fuji from the very top floor of the building once the haze of the summer heat had disappeared. The views from that same floor towards the Izu Peninsula, especially in the early mornings or evenings at sunset reminded me of Chinese paintings where the ridges of the mountains seem unending, blending into each other, with all of the possible hues of blue, purple and charcoal one could possibly imagine there in front of my eyes.
Walking up and down the hill to the Odawara town center could be trying in the hot, humid summer heat. Yet the lush vegetation, the flowering bushes and trees all year long - in January, in the snow, there are gardenias and delicate plum blossoms - and the ubiquitous cicadas on those lazy July and August days and nights: all are dearly missed when far away in other climates, other realms.
My old wooden Japanese row house, about half way down the hill to the town center and the train station, would move suddenly yet slightly to the tune of a whoshing sound as a hikari Shinkansen sped through the station on its way to Tokyo or to Nagoya. There was always some relief that it was "only" the Shinkansen and not an earthquake! Not too far away was the castle and its elephant in the zoo; in the summer months in particular there were the local festivals with characters dressed as if they had just stepped out of a kabuki drama parading through the narrow streets.
LIOJ and its town provided an especially rewarding professional experience and a unique introduction to both modern and traditional Japan, much more so than the megalopolis of Tokyo, however, unique and fascinating it can be.
January 2003
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