The Longest Game of Jenga

A Global Community

It is the longest game of Jenga I ever remember playing. We are grouped with four Japanese students, and for the most part we are unable to verbally communicate. Still, there is no need to use words. We are all holding our breath, waiting to cheer when another one of us is successful. The next person considers the ominous looking tower with dread.

Finally, after nearly twenty minutes the tower is close to two feet tall and swaying dangerously. Tomoaki, a friendly and energetic member of the group, murmurs in Japanese as he concentrates. We think for a moment that he’s got it, until the whole thing tumbles down. “Maa ii deshou,” we tell him. It’s okay. We are all still laughing. We don’t even hear the teacher tell us to clean up.

Through my university in Japan, volunteer international students were invited to Yamada Elementary School for the afternoon. It is a small school squeezed inside a residential area ten minutes from campus. The elementary school wanted to share with their students a chance to meet people from across the world. Meanwhile, the rest of us wondered if Japanese fifth graders were anything like they were portrayed in anime.

Expecting to find miniature Japanese robots in uniform, I was surprised to find a school of energetic, talkative, friendly children. These were not “Japanese students.” These were young people, and as we came to know them, they were not so different from the children back home.

In my intercultural communications class we were discussing how education is a direct reflection of a society’s culture. What a classroom teaches and how it is taught can tell you what a culture values and how you can best teach them material. This inspection of education can become crucial when attempting to understand a culture.

My impression of Japan from my readings is that they are a very quiet culture. Their education system is entirely standardized through the country. Students learn the same material at the same time and in the same way as every other student. They are taught the usual materials, such as mathematics, language and the sciences.

However, Japanese students are also taught morals in class. They are expected to behave according to this moral education, which incorporates the use of a hierarchy within their society. This is why you see students giving extreme respect to their superiors.

Students only speak when they know the answer. They can take peace in having a silent moment. Harmony and cooperation in a group are highly regarded. Additionally, Japanese education does not incorporate high oral skills. The classroom consists mainly of lecture and memorization of facts. Presenting a project in front of the class is not usual.

From my experience in Yamada Elementary School I am coming to realize that what a textbook says is true of Japan is a generalization. I expected well-trained Japanese machines, and I met children speaking out of turn and yelling loudly in excitement. I saw faces light up when I walked by. Each one had a personality, and while that may seem obvious, I think there is a difference between knowing a fact should be true and actually experiencing the truth of it.

Of course there were differences. When we entered the building we took off our shoes and donned slippers. I saw children with brooms sweeping the hallways. The building itself was cold and connected by outdoor walkways. Children carried hand-warmers with them to keep warm. I saw sinks in the hallways and a wall full of unicycles for recess time. Children give up their chairs to visitors immediately, and on our way out of the school the children form a long line and bow as we pass. The differences are there, but it is something I can appreciate in an ever globalizing world.

What I find the most enlightening is this aspect of a Global Community. In class we mentioned that in the past few decades immigration all over the world has increased a significant amount. People are traveling more and living in cultures they were not born in. International students are more common, and there are children growing up in families speaking more than one language. The world is becoming a smaller place.

With this mentality it is not absurd to consider the education system. Cultures are being introduced to each other all over the world, and somehow it has to be incorporated into our schools. A crucial purpose of education is to prepare a generation of people to survive in a particular society. When our society is no longer a secluded, easily described culture, education has to become multicultural in order to accommodate it. Multiple languages and a healthy attitude about other culture’s beliefs and systems are important.

This small Japanese elementary school is such a good example of multicultural education. Taking the initiative to introduce students to people from other cultures will not only leave a good impression on people like me, but to the students who might remember years from now that Americans are not all fat, loud and rude people. In fact, the longest game of Jenga they ever remember playing was with an American…and everyone had a good time.