IT'S COLD! I can't believe how abruptly the weather changed! Last week I am sweating my figurative balls off and now all of a sudden it's dropped into the 50's during the middle of the afternoon. Well, enough of my complaining... onto sports! (I wanted to sound like a newscaster since sometimes I have to be one in class when I talk about what day it is and what the weather is like outside).
So sports day was last week and it was freaking awesome! I want to post a ton of pictures and everything but I have to wait since my camera died and I didn't get enough to make the awesome entry I had planned. Regardless, life here has drawn itself into a steady lull and with the winter comes soup and hot things so hopefully they can cancel out the weather and keep my spirits up. School is going well, still love my kids and I can't wait to show you the awesome pictures from sports day!!
In other news - hurt my knee running. Will have to slow it down a bit this week and do a slow 6-8K on Saturday or so. Not much else going on my end, hopefully things elsewhere are good? I will hopefully do a nice long post this weekend about sports day and all that jazz.
Oh, birthday party was a lot of fun and I spent much of the weekend in well earned relaxation and doing laundry and cleaning. Bills are piling up and so are invitations to go places. Turns out I won't be able to go on the trip to Hokkaido for the snow festival which I know pissed some people off because I didn't know for sure I had to cancel until school was like 'hey there's an event around that time so you can't go...' Too bad they won't tell me the event or when it will be for sure. Sorry again Alex!!
Well, off to bed for tonight. Love.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Birthday?!
I was informed by B this weekend that on Sunday the 19th we had been in Japan officially for 50 days. That makes today 53. Today I am sitting in the teacher`s room of Tateishi (the standing rock) elementary school and waiting for 10:30 to roll around. Two of the teachers just told me I look sad/not happy so I guess I need to genki it up. It is hot today which is strange because last week a cold front came through and brought the most delightful relief from the heat and humidity. The front only lasted the week and with a typhoon coming through China a bought of heat has returned to my sleepy town. Amazingly I know about these weather events from the principal of my middle school who between a combination of hand signals and Japanese explains the weekly weather events to me every Tuesday morning.
This weekend is Nagasaki should be my big conversation piece I suppose but when I was asked to explain my trip to my class of second year students at the middle school yesterday I realized the trip wasn`t as fun explaining as it was experiencing. I will try again though. Friday night was an enkai with some of my favorite people in Japan. They are the four other second year teachers at my middle school and between the five of us we had an awesome time drinking and enjoying local cuisine. I don`t think I will ever get used to Izakaya style eating (it is like a series of tapas which are continuously brought out while your drink is refilled) since I can`t take down all that food but it is always entertaining watching everyone try! Mr. M and Mr. B are the gym teachers and Mr. B is also the youngest person on the staff besides myself. He also teaches social studies. Ms. T is the English teacher I always work with and Mrs. Toshi is the Japanese teacher. I don`t even remember half of what we talked about because as I am beginning to realize, Japanese liquor affects my memory more so than American liquor (or maybe I am just drinking more?). Nevertheless, everyone was laughing all night and they spent the majority of yesterday going on about how strong I am at holding my alcohol and making jokes about the hilarious Japanese mistakes I made (they don`t seem to realize about halfway through the night I switched to water :-P). The biggest and most entertaining of which is when I was trying to explain how I am trying to be frugal in Japan but the only word that came to mind was the Japanese word for cheap which, had I been in my right mind, I would have realized has negative connotations even in English but it fell from my lips regardless. They spent the next 20 mins laughing, Mr. M even falling over, and then quietly explained I can`t say that in Japanese because I sound like a streetwalker. Oh well, guess some things can`t be translated directly. :-P
I of course passed out when I got home and woke up early to head over to Bungotakada to meet B for our trip to Nagasaki. After four hours on a train (one of them standing because there were no seats!) we arrived in Nagasaki no worse for the wear and proceeded to meet J (my friend from UF) and go sightseeing. The main points we hit on Saturday were some famous cathedral and the Glover house (spelling?) which belonged to some random Dutch guy who came over in the 19th century, took over a bunch of Japanese industries and sold guns to local trouble makers. Still not quite sure why they celebrate him but his house was nice. We also did some shopping/mall walking and then, as has become habit, went out drinking. The results of which led to a terrible hangover all the next day and the details of which are vague. In so far as I remember I tried desperately (too desperately) to help my buddy J hook up with every young Japanese woman I came across. At least my intentions were good!
Despite my hangover B, my new friend M and myself spent Sunday doing the regular sightseeing bit. We went to the hypo center from the nuclear bomb, the museum, some churches and then up the rope way to the top of a mountain. It was cloudy but I took a ton of pictures nonetheless and then me and B went home and passed out, much to J`s dismay since he had had to work all day and had been unable to hang out. Sucks to be a CIR since they have to work on weekends. ;-(
Monday was a holiday so we stayed for the afternoon and J and I woke up early (10) and went for a run together. B and M saw some awesome shrines while J and I ran through the city. We did 10.3Km which is a new record for me and I am still a little sore but I can`t believe I ran the whole thing. Got home around 7 where I subsequently met K for dinner. The train was packed on the way home and I felt kind of bad since me and B had seats whereas most of the car was filled with people standing and leaning on their luggage. Holiday weekend I guess.
Yesterday was middle school and I had a nice, relaxing day since most of my classes were cancelled on account of last minute sports day practice. Tomorrow is sports day so hopefully this madness will end then! I like teaching these kids most of the time but when they are pooped out or completely distracted with sports day stuff then teaching them is terrible. Elementary today was nice (I been spending free time studying Japanese and writing this entry) and I am a little surprised by my finding this afternoon. In this school I have two kids who are my predecessor `s niece and nephew who both speak (I assume) fluent English. I thought this would change the dynamic of the class negatively but I was pleasantly surprised to find that since the children pretended to be terrible at English the other kids felt more confident and subsequently spoke out more. Interesting.
Well, I will spending a lot of time on the computer at home today since my birthday is on Friday and I want to give everyone a call and tell them I love them so I think I will say bye-bye for now!
Love.
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| Sunset over Mt. Inasa in Nagasaki |
This weekend is Nagasaki should be my big conversation piece I suppose but when I was asked to explain my trip to my class of second year students at the middle school yesterday I realized the trip wasn`t as fun explaining as it was experiencing. I will try again though. Friday night was an enkai with some of my favorite people in Japan. They are the four other second year teachers at my middle school and between the five of us we had an awesome time drinking and enjoying local cuisine. I don`t think I will ever get used to Izakaya style eating (it is like a series of tapas which are continuously brought out while your drink is refilled) since I can`t take down all that food but it is always entertaining watching everyone try! Mr. M and Mr. B are the gym teachers and Mr. B is also the youngest person on the staff besides myself. He also teaches social studies. Ms. T is the English teacher I always work with and Mrs. Toshi is the Japanese teacher. I don`t even remember half of what we talked about because as I am beginning to realize, Japanese liquor affects my memory more so than American liquor (or maybe I am just drinking more?). Nevertheless, everyone was laughing all night and they spent the majority of yesterday going on about how strong I am at holding my alcohol and making jokes about the hilarious Japanese mistakes I made (they don`t seem to realize about halfway through the night I switched to water :-P). The biggest and most entertaining of which is when I was trying to explain how I am trying to be frugal in Japan but the only word that came to mind was the Japanese word for cheap which, had I been in my right mind, I would have realized has negative connotations even in English but it fell from my lips regardless. They spent the next 20 mins laughing, Mr. M even falling over, and then quietly explained I can`t say that in Japanese because I sound like a streetwalker. Oh well, guess some things can`t be translated directly. :-P
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| Nagasaki bay from above |
I of course passed out when I got home and woke up early to head over to Bungotakada to meet B for our trip to Nagasaki. After four hours on a train (one of them standing because there were no seats!) we arrived in Nagasaki no worse for the wear and proceeded to meet J (my friend from UF) and go sightseeing. The main points we hit on Saturday were some famous cathedral and the Glover house (spelling?) which belonged to some random Dutch guy who came over in the 19th century, took over a bunch of Japanese industries and sold guns to local trouble makers. Still not quite sure why they celebrate him but his house was nice. We also did some shopping/mall walking and then, as has become habit, went out drinking. The results of which led to a terrible hangover all the next day and the details of which are vague. In so far as I remember I tried desperately (too desperately) to help my buddy J hook up with every young Japanese woman I came across. At least my intentions were good!
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| Statue of Sadako (the paper crane girl) |
Despite my hangover B, my new friend M and myself spent Sunday doing the regular sightseeing bit. We went to the hypo center from the nuclear bomb, the museum, some churches and then up the rope way to the top of a mountain. It was cloudy but I took a ton of pictures nonetheless and then me and B went home and passed out, much to J`s dismay since he had had to work all day and had been unable to hang out. Sucks to be a CIR since they have to work on weekends. ;-(
Monday was a holiday so we stayed for the afternoon and J and I woke up early (10) and went for a run together. B and M saw some awesome shrines while J and I ran through the city. We did 10.3Km which is a new record for me and I am still a little sore but I can`t believe I ran the whole thing. Got home around 7 where I subsequently met K for dinner. The train was packed on the way home and I felt kind of bad since me and B had seats whereas most of the car was filled with people standing and leaning on their luggage. Holiday weekend I guess.
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| The Hypo center |
Yesterday was middle school and I had a nice, relaxing day since most of my classes were cancelled on account of last minute sports day practice. Tomorrow is sports day so hopefully this madness will end then! I like teaching these kids most of the time but when they are pooped out or completely distracted with sports day stuff then teaching them is terrible. Elementary today was nice (I been spending free time studying Japanese and writing this entry) and I am a little surprised by my finding this afternoon. In this school I have two kids who are my predecessor `s niece and nephew who both speak (I assume) fluent English. I thought this would change the dynamic of the class negatively but I was pleasantly surprised to find that since the children pretended to be terrible at English the other kids felt more confident and subsequently spoke out more. Interesting.
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| I don't remember the name of this guy but when I pose like him people know what I am talking about. |
Well, I will spending a lot of time on the computer at home today since my birthday is on Friday and I want to give everyone a call and tell them I love them so I think I will say bye-bye for now!
Love.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Food?
So it has been nearly a week again. After a really relatively uneventful week I find I am really really tired. My kids are great, I like my job and I live in one of the most gorgeous places I could have imagined - yet I feel sleepy all the time. Hm. Maybe I am just a bad grown-up.
Sports day is next Thursday and so my schools and students alike have all been focused solely on the upcoming event. They even cut classes every day (including some days where they have no class at all) in exchange for extra practice. Thus the students and teachers alike are completely distracted and I feel like I am not really serving much of a purpose. Once the event is over, however, I will hopefully get completely into the swing of things - finally! I have been trying to keep busy in the evenings and avoiding the computer because I find when I just sit down in front of this thing I start feeling sad. This is not to mention the noise complaint I found in my door today because I have been talking to people late at night on skype and it has been disturbing my neighbors. :-X
Spent an entire evening cleaning the apartment which I feel good about now since everything is super clean! I guess really I don't have much to update on - just wanted to post so you know I'm alive. Costco provided me with lots of completely unnecessary things which make my evening just a little bit happier. I also have been trying to put more focus into my running and everything. I haven't been paying enough attention to my health so it will be good for me to focus less on loneliness and more on improving myself.
I have an enkai tonight with some of my coworkers from my middle school so I should get going. I'm off to Nagasaki this weekend to visit J (a friend from back home) and so I will update when I get back with hopefully lots of pictures. Love!
Sports day is next Thursday and so my schools and students alike have all been focused solely on the upcoming event. They even cut classes every day (including some days where they have no class at all) in exchange for extra practice. Thus the students and teachers alike are completely distracted and I feel like I am not really serving much of a purpose. Once the event is over, however, I will hopefully get completely into the swing of things - finally! I have been trying to keep busy in the evenings and avoiding the computer because I find when I just sit down in front of this thing I start feeling sad. This is not to mention the noise complaint I found in my door today because I have been talking to people late at night on skype and it has been disturbing my neighbors. :-X
Spent an entire evening cleaning the apartment which I feel good about now since everything is super clean! I guess really I don't have much to update on - just wanted to post so you know I'm alive. Costco provided me with lots of completely unnecessary things which make my evening just a little bit happier. I also have been trying to put more focus into my running and everything. I haven't been paying enough attention to my health so it will be good for me to focus less on loneliness and more on improving myself.
I have an enkai tonight with some of my coworkers from my middle school so I should get going. I'm off to Nagasaki this weekend to visit J (a friend from back home) and so I will update when I get back with hopefully lots of pictures. Love!
Monday, September 13, 2010
And Another Week Passes Me By...
I can't believe it is already the middle of September. I never thought having a real job would be like this. I assumed the days would drag on and I would come home and pass out and have no life. Instead I find I am working with awesome kids and playing games all day while "teaching" English only to come home and face the choice of pleasant, quiet night at home or going to a local restaurant and meeting people. On the weekends I find myself a little restless and spend most of the time out in surrounding cities which has proved most entertaining - especially with my travel buddy B.
This week was pretty uneventful as far as school was concerned. I don't think a day by day replay is necessary except to say I really like my schools in the village of Ota. They are super small and relatively close and isolated on the top of two different mountains which I find incredible. The kids are also super smart and really happy.
Friday I went out with K and S for our regional get together with some of the other nearby JETs. It turned out to be a... complicated... evening and I don't know how much more I will say about that.
Saturday I met up with B and after a relaxing lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant we went into the big city to spend a day window shopping and hanging out. We went to Uniglo (my favorite Japanese clothing store) and I took her to Jusco (a Target equivalent). I was suppose to run with K in the evening and then we would onsen but both B and I were surprisingly pooped and instead went home and after making mac and cheese fell soundly asleep. Sunday I woke up super early to make up for my lost run and then a Japanese friend met up with us to drive to Costco. Long story short I was going to drive but the toll on the weekend is dramatically reduced for cars equipped with the sun pass equivalent here and I don't have one of these yet. Thus, in a show of generosity and curiosity he offered to drive us the 2 plus hours to Fukuoka in exchange for gas money and some toll money.
We made it to Costco but it was like a theme park! There were lines just to get through the door and then we were packed and shuffled through like cattle to go through the store. We managed to find a lot of stuff but I was a little disappointed about a few things. Namely I went there to buy peanut butter, syrup and a blow up mattress - none of which I found to my satisfaction. There weren't any mattresses as far as I could see, the syrup was WAY overpriced and the only peanut butter they had was Skippy (I am a JIF girl all the way). Managed to get a fair amount of other stuff though including a memory foam pillow which I haven't gotten off of practically since I opened the box. Almost managed to bring it with me in the car this morning.
After Costco we started to drive back and coincidentally the most famous shrine in Kyushu was on the way home and we stopped there. It was awesome! So big and there was even a quaint little shopping district right nearby that reminded me of Kyoto. After the shrine it was only 4PM so, after being informed that there is an outlet mall nearby, we decided to stop off there. Finally got some new running shoes so maybe there will be some relief for my poor toes after all. I also learned a ton of Japanese and my friend learned a ton of English which is worthwhile in and of itself.
Work today was fun too and I found the first class of rambunctious and naughty Japanese children! They spent most of the morning trying to get me to say bad words, which I didn't realize until I had said a few of them, at which time they giggled and ran around in circles then said the next one. In class they were no better and their timid and kind teacher only seemed to encourage further bad behavior. She told me later she thinks they will calm down the next time they see me since I am still a novelty now. I hope so!
I did get a haiku from one of the teachers today which was really sweet though she might be the only teacher who gives a damn about me since all the other teachers were really distant (the exact opposite of the other schools). Hopefully I didn't make a bad impression or anything... :-(
Well, I think I am going to head back to bed since I am pooped! Love!!
This week was pretty uneventful as far as school was concerned. I don't think a day by day replay is necessary except to say I really like my schools in the village of Ota. They are super small and relatively close and isolated on the top of two different mountains which I find incredible. The kids are also super smart and really happy.
Friday I went out with K and S for our regional get together with some of the other nearby JETs. It turned out to be a... complicated... evening and I don't know how much more I will say about that.
Saturday I met up with B and after a relaxing lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant we went into the big city to spend a day window shopping and hanging out. We went to Uniglo (my favorite Japanese clothing store) and I took her to Jusco (a Target equivalent). I was suppose to run with K in the evening and then we would onsen but both B and I were surprisingly pooped and instead went home and after making mac and cheese fell soundly asleep. Sunday I woke up super early to make up for my lost run and then a Japanese friend met up with us to drive to Costco. Long story short I was going to drive but the toll on the weekend is dramatically reduced for cars equipped with the sun pass equivalent here and I don't have one of these yet. Thus, in a show of generosity and curiosity he offered to drive us the 2 plus hours to Fukuoka in exchange for gas money and some toll money.
We made it to Costco but it was like a theme park! There were lines just to get through the door and then we were packed and shuffled through like cattle to go through the store. We managed to find a lot of stuff but I was a little disappointed about a few things. Namely I went there to buy peanut butter, syrup and a blow up mattress - none of which I found to my satisfaction. There weren't any mattresses as far as I could see, the syrup was WAY overpriced and the only peanut butter they had was Skippy (I am a JIF girl all the way). Managed to get a fair amount of other stuff though including a memory foam pillow which I haven't gotten off of practically since I opened the box. Almost managed to bring it with me in the car this morning.
After Costco we started to drive back and coincidentally the most famous shrine in Kyushu was on the way home and we stopped there. It was awesome! So big and there was even a quaint little shopping district right nearby that reminded me of Kyoto. After the shrine it was only 4PM so, after being informed that there is an outlet mall nearby, we decided to stop off there. Finally got some new running shoes so maybe there will be some relief for my poor toes after all. I also learned a ton of Japanese and my friend learned a ton of English which is worthwhile in and of itself.
Work today was fun too and I found the first class of rambunctious and naughty Japanese children! They spent most of the morning trying to get me to say bad words, which I didn't realize until I had said a few of them, at which time they giggled and ran around in circles then said the next one. In class they were no better and their timid and kind teacher only seemed to encourage further bad behavior. She told me later she thinks they will calm down the next time they see me since I am still a novelty now. I hope so!
I did get a haiku from one of the teachers today which was really sweet though she might be the only teacher who gives a damn about me since all the other teachers were really distant (the exact opposite of the other schools). Hopefully I didn't make a bad impression or anything... :-(
Well, I think I am going to head back to bed since I am pooped! Love!!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Onto the Weekend
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| The gang at the cave |
So I know it seems like I have been going out every weekend (and I have) but as exhausting as it is, I feel as though since I spend the week pretty much alone (except for my runs with K and run-ins with S) I should be having fun on the weekends. Friday night I went out with K to a local bar were we sang karaoke and met some local young people (finally!). When the bar closed were took a taxi to the local Denny’s equivalent (Joyfull) and hung out for a while until we decided to call it quits and went home.
Although I vaguely remember telling K I wanted to run Saturday morning, when she called me at 7AM telling me she was on her way I about cried. LOL. I ended up getting up to her banging on the door (apparently I had fallen asleep) and went running. We had decided it would be our long run of the week and so we took a foreign route. It turned into an hour and a half long stroll (6K of which I managed to run) wherein we suffered brutal sunshine and overwhelming heat. I tried to cancel out the discomfort by reminding myself of the beauty of the mountains rising behind the rice fields but it was a constant struggle. Next time it will be earlier to avoid the tortuous sun!
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| Paradise?! |
Not long after the run I grabbed S and we headed to Bungotakada for a beach excursion with B. There was a group of ten of us of whom 9 are ALTs. We took the same bonnet bus B and I had taken to the temples and took off for the beach around 11. I am turning into a broken record but it was GORGEOUS! The sky was clear and the ocean looked amazing. I think it was a combination of the green cliff faces and the lush plant life that caused the scene to strike me as something out of Planet Earth. The pictures can’t begin to show you the scene but I will post them anyway.
After hanging out at the beach for a while and exploring a cave we stopped at the shrine (or temple?) that hosts the god women pray to for luck finding a mate. I went in and did some ablutions (as I usually do at temples and shrines since I feel otherwise I am offending someone) on my way down the cliff face for yet more photo opportunities. Again - the beauty was awe-inspiring. Makes me wish I could paint!
Saturday night I had a date and it was really nice. He’s a 23 year-old college student in Oita city and he’s Japanese. The language barrier wasn’t too much of a problem since my Japanese is actually getting really good and he did a 10 month study abroad in England so he knows quite a bit of English. What we couldn’t figure out we looked up and it turned into a really nice night. He took me to a candlelight festival then to the top of a mountain overlooking the entire Oita peninsula, which it turns out if one of the top one hundred views in Japan. I am still talking to him so I guess it went well?
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| Jurassic Park anyone? |
Sunday I spent relaxing and trying to catch up on sleep. The typical Sunday stuff really - laundry, dishes, lesson plans, etc.
Monday I did my first full day of classes (four of them!) and they went varying levels of OK. The first class was 1st and 2nd graders and I had to use a lot of Japanese because the teachers didn’t speak English and the students just kept staring at me blankly when I spoke :-X. Hopefully when we start doing set lessons instead of my self-introduction things will go better. My second class was the fifth graders who, despite having an amazing teacher, are all very timid and quiet! I tried my best to get them up and moving as did the teacher but the lesson did not go very well. The principal came in to watch that one and she kept shooting me looks of sympathy. My third class went the best and I taught 6th grade. They were so excited and curious and asked a ton of questions when I was finished. Some of the best ones were: ‘Were you born with that hair color?’ ‘Why is your skin white?’ ‘Why are your teeth so nice?’ My favorite though, was when the 11 year old hit on with this line: ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’ ‘No’ I replied. ‘Do you want one?’ ‘Maybe’ I said. ‘How about me?’ I couldn’t help but giggle a little and after class he held my hand while we walked to recess together. So romantic! LOL. Makes me miss being a kid!
The students tried to teach me how to unicycle after lunch (turns out all the elementary school children here can unicycle to some degree) although I was one - wearing a skirt and two - typhoon winds kept knocking me off. Let’s just say I hope I will have better luck next time. :-) Most of the 3rd and 4th graders who I taught after lunch had already watched me fail in my attempts to conquer the unicycle so they were very receptive to me being there. It went really well and the kids seemed pretty confident in their English.
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| The Peninsula by night |
Did some more running in the evening and went to bed early, which of course caused me to wake up early this morning to a very strong wind and the rattling of my doors. Went to middle school today and did my first teaching there with the 3rd year students. The first class (ni kumi) was rough. I think it is a combination of the fact that they are the lower level students and that there are 38 of them shoved into a classroom. Let’s just say my pictures weren’t quite big enough.
Second class was the other group of third years all of whom were much more receptive and the class went much better. I also managed to worm my way into one of the first year classes for a mini-meet and greet during their phonics lesson. Today was a lot of practice for the school sports day and so afternoon classes were cut to make room for instruction about how to properly enter and represent your group. They will do a walk reminiscent of Nazi Germany to enter the field and I don’t know how I feel about that. :-X
Well, off to my first Judo practice and hopefully a relaxing night! Love.
And the Fun Begins
Wow, talk about a break between updates! :-X Sorry!
Things have been crazy busy here. Thankfully. It has been a whole week since I graced you with my boring life updates so I hope I will be able to entertain you for more than 5 minutes this time :-P.
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| Dancers at the fire festival |
Tuesday was the enkai (drinking party) and everyone got really drunk. The celebration was for me, S, and another new employee (Japanese) at the BoE. She drove herself to maintain the excuse she would be unable to drink. I don't blame her LOL. The men all got super drunk, including S, and there were various chunks of conversation where they reverted entirely to grunting as a means of communication wherein I removed myself from the conversation. S also got pretty drunk (though I am sure he will deny it) and although I thought the whole experience might be awkward since my Japanese is only sub-par and only one person speaks any manner of English, it actually went surprisingly well. The food, however, was amazing! They just threw live fish and clams onto makeshift grills run off of wood they threw into a hole in the middle of the table. I couldn't believe how good it tasted even though there wasn't any seasoning or anything!
The school day on Tuesday was really fun! I went to Yamaga elementary school for the first time and spent literally all morning having a half-English, half-Japanese philosophical conversation about education and second language acquisition and different country's approaches to this learning style in children. I couldn't believe how well it followed and it wasn't until someone knocked on the door of the conference room announcing our lunch was getting cold that we realized we had wasted the entire day. Though I wouldn't call it a waste. We spent the after-lunch time making a newspaper about me for the students since I wouldn't be meeting any of them until the end of the month. I am terrible at drawing, hopefully the newspaper will still be on the wall when I go back so I can take a picture to show you since it's pretty hilarious!
Wednesday was the first official day of school and I went to the opening ceremony where I had to introduce myself to the entire student body. Luckily I wasn't alone since there was a new student from Hokkaido who had to follow me. After the ceremony the students sat in homeroom and various introductory sessions while I patiently waited at my desk. The students were surprisingly excited to meet me though, which my Mom has described as the best kind of ego booster. They kept hollering at me from every corner of the school saying 'HELLO!' and waving vigorously. It made me feel really special - like a TV star in a good way. One of the students actually hit on me which was incredibly flattering and entertaining since he is all of 15 and maybe in 5 years he will be quite the ladies man because he was very suave. Oh puppy love!
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| Clouds on the mountain |
Thursday I went to elementary school where some college students from Saitama were teaching the other teachers how to teach English to elementary school children. They ended up teaching me too and I made a few friends along the way. There was definitely some advantage to having them show me before I actually began to teach on my own since the first lesson they did was a little slow for the kids and you could tell they were bored so I got to watch how they adapted it to the next class. I also got invited over with them to some hot springs in Yufuin for the afternoon but it brought about a whole new cultural issue I was not prepared to deal with... The ‘how to teach English’ teacher asked if I would join them for hot springing and a BBQ in Yufuin once we finished class at around 2:00. I really wanted to join them, especially since I knew I would be stuck doing nothing until 4 when my shift ended, I told them it was unlikely I would be able to go. She encouraged me to ask the principal. Knowing I would be asking if I could skip out on work to leave for a hot spring I asked a second opinion, the 5th grade teacher in who’s class I ate lunch. She got really excited and actually walked me to the Principal herself so I could ask. Taking that as a sign, I asked and was rejected after a call to my supervisor. Thinking I had just made a huge culture f**k-up I called my supervisor shortly thereafter to grovel about language barriers and how I had meant no offense and I was pressured into it... yada yada. After reassuring me that he understood my sentiments about wanting to hang out with people my own age, I realized he wasn’t in the bit least bit upset. In fact, he wanted me to go but because my car sucks and the tires are bad he thought it was a little too dangerous (should I be hurt during work hours they would be liable and a drive to Yufuin isn’t exactly in my contract). That experience could have been really bad so I am glad everything but I learned my lesson about expressing interest in doing things outside of school during work hours - never again!
Friday was my first official day teaching but my elementary school 1st -5th graders were on a field trip so I had a whole three students to ‘teach’ for the entire day. They were a lot of fun though and I spent the morning learning Japanese with them then before lunch we did and English lesson. During the Japanese lesson we did a series of kanji sheets with a twist - they taught me how to write the kanji (Chinese character) then I told them the English word and they learned how to write and pronounce it. The kanji were for 4th grade so they ranged from ‘first snow’ to ‘telescope’ making some of the vocabulary very difficult to explain. It was a lot of fun though and after lunch we played catch together (they even had a left-handed glove for me to use!) until it got too hot and we quit. I went home shortly thereafter.
This is getting long but I feel like I am only getting started... I will end here and put up another entry about the weekend so you can have a reading break :-P
Love!
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