I’m into my second week teaching and I’m a little more at ease- thank heavens! Last week was soooo stressful! I had my first classes at the high school and my first trip to the elementary school as well. Usually I’ll be at the high school 5 days a week, but since I have no classes on Wed., the Prefectural Office sometimes sends me out to elementary schools that want to do a few English lessons here and there. Most of the time, I’ll be going to Showa elementary school, where I was on last Wed. The kids were really cute- loud, but cute. And it was nice to be around students who weren’t painfully shy like many of the older high schoolers (yeah, that’s not a word is it?). Plus, they were just super friendly and even though I was only there for half a day, I have 2 paper cranes from a couple of the boys and a little thank you note from one of the girls with a drawing of me on it! Anyone who likes kids would be in love with the students! Of course, most of you know I’m not a kid person, so I was still a bit nervous and self conscious around them, but they’re really good kids, so I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
Now, as for the high school classes… they’ve been up and down. Some classes are very vibrant and I actually get students volunteering, other classes just sit there shuffling in their seats and looking uncomfortable. Either way I have to put a lot of energy into the class and I always have to be ‘on’- its exhausting. I don’t know how teachers actually *choose* this profession! But at least the lesson plan has gone well. The material was at the students level and we always end on time, so that’s good. I do the exact same lesson 16 times. (It’s taught over 2 weeks, each of the regular 8 English classes is split in two and half comes to see me one week and the other half the next- at least I never have more than 20 students at a time.) A lot of people complain about boredom and feeling like a tape recorder, but I’ve never really had the problem of getting bored on the job. I don’t mind repetitive tasks. And doing the lesson so many times helps me settle in and get used to being in front of the students or tweak things that may not be working, so that’s good too. Because I only have 8 classes a week, there’s a ton of downtime at work.but I still have to be here from 8:20- 4:15 everyday. Then there’s the English club on Tues that I have to figure out what to do with and tea ceremony club on Mondays- which is pretty cool. I just wish my legs didn’t fall asleep while kneeling all the time! I don’t know when calligraphy club or ikebana (traditional flower arrangement) meet, but I’m hoping to maybe go to those too. And of course I’m hoping to squeeze in Japanese lessons and kyudo (zen archery) as well! But one thing at a time!
It’s also been tough getting into the early morning schedule. I was a few minutes late for Showa because there were only 2 trains going there and I took the one that wasn’t ungodly early. I’ve been on time to the high school, but it’s a royal pain in the ass negotiating the busy streets packed with students walking to school every morning. Moreover, the bell on my bike doesn’t work, so I have to yell out ‘sumimasen!’ (excuse me) every time I need to pass someone and I feel like an idiot. Now I just ride in the street. However, there is one part where I have to go past pedestrians and last week I bumped my handlebar into one of my student’s bags as I was passing them. At least they had a good story to tell, “Hey, the new ALT (assistant language teacher) almost ran me over on her bike today! Haha!”
Yeah, I’m a bit self conscious about the students, can ya tell? You would be too if half the time in class they repeated what you were saying with a chuckle. Sometimes its my English, sometimes its my Japanese and I want to be like, “WHY is this so amusing??” *sigh* But, again, I’m getting used to it. Also, I’m learning that I don’t have to be at my desk all the time in the teacher’s office- I can run to the bank at lunch if I have to and go up to the English classroom when I don’t have classes and just chill by myself for a while, which is good.
This past weekend was a nice, long one because Monday was a holiday, so it was good to rest. Monday was ‘Respect for the Aged Day’! No kidding! The next holiday off is ‘Health and Sports Day’! Saturday Steve and I went to Nara for good food and shopping, but never made it to the historical sites that the city is actually known for! But I got him to this Italian restaurant that- I swear- is some of the best Italian I’ve ever had. It’s really good food! Then I spent a ton of time at an anime store called Animate (a chain) and indulged myself in art supplies. I bought a load of these great art markers and a few other things. I was giddy with joy! I didn’t bring any art supplies with me at all, so I was hurting!
Then we just chilled out Sunday and went for Okonomiyaki last night. Steve liked it a lot and he tried saki for the first time too!
Anyway, there’s a few other things I have to catch up on. For those of you who haven’t seen Steve’s pics on snapfish, I’m posting some of them here.
First, when we went to get his alien registration card, we found a little temple hidden between the regular houses on the street.
There was a long, stone stairway leading up to it that was so inconspicuous Steve and I dubbed it the ‘secret stairs’.
*L* There was a great view from above, but no one was around.
(I was the conqueror of the stairs!)
It was really cool, though, because there was a graveyard there and this huge butterfly kept flittering about, which is interesting because butterflies are often seen as the souls of the dead in Japanese folklore.
Steve got a pic of me on the highway back to town as well- I thought it was cool so I’m posting it. You can see my stylin' parasol here!
Oh, and my school’s cultural festival! It was the first week of school, before I had to start teaching and it was pretty fun. Steve came and took pics and met the teachers. He’ll get to know everyone better next week when he joins me in the classroom to teach the kids about American music and Chicago Blues! (I’m allowed a lot of flexibility in my lesson plans. It sounds fun but since I have no teaching experience, it’s often daunting and it makes me nervous.)
Anyway, in the area where students normally park their bikes, each homeroom had set up a booth with different food.
Some served fried rice, some had okonomiyaki, some had ice cream, etc.
The ESS (English Speaking Society/ English club) made a couple big posters with info about me and put them outside the English classroom.
Steve and I went to the tea ceremony club’s booth (indoors). The blonde girl in the pic is an exchange student from Estonia who is studying at the high school. Her name's Kati (KAH-tea) and she's pretty cool. She helped me out when I went to my first meeting at the tea ceremony club last Monday and I couldn't understand anybody!
They served traditional sweets (they were so pretty, like little fruits or something!) and green tea. I'll share more knowledge of tea ceremoney some other time- after I've gone to the club a couple more times.
So, yeah, that’s about it. I’m almost fully recovered from being sick and I’m getting used to things. I desperately need to study my Japanese. Oh, and I don’t know what to do about the spider that has set up residence around my desk! I saw him once and thought…’wander away little spider,’, but he’s been sticking around for the past 2 weeks! Does no one else see him? I don’t want to make a scene killing it because I think in general they refrain from killing spiders here (I think??) and, well, I just don’t want to make a fuss in general. I just shoo him away and hope Mr. Spider will leave me alone. It might sound cute ‘oh, that wacky Mr. Spider!’, but it’s really not fun to be working and all of a sudden have this little creature hopping all over your papers… especially if it turns out to be a Mrs. Spider… yeewww. Damn it! There he is again! (seriously!) Why do you torture me spider??
Ok, I think I’ve rambled enough. My next class is coming up. I’ll leave you with a few observations (some might be repeats):
When I was sick and visited the doctor, it was quite interesting:
~They took my temperature under my arm
~The doctor (humble Japanese man that he was) kept telling me I should go to someone else because, "I'm not a good doctor! My English is bad! Go to someone better," etc...
~The medicine was in small little packets, filled with a white, grainy powder and had a lovely bleach aftertaste
In the high school:
~The teachers switch rooms every hour, the students stay put
~No cafeterias- students eat in the classroom and teachers eat in the teacher's office. And in the grade schools, the little kids prepare the hot lunch (they wear little hair caps, white smocks, and surgical-looking masks to cover their mouths so they don't breath all over the food), they carry hot trays into the classroom and dole out the food in turns and then everyone helps to clean up. Can you imagine trying to get American 8 year olds to do that?
~It’s not as strict as you'd think. Students come late to class without repercussion and run through the hallways without rebukes from the teachers, etc. I don’t think they have any equivalent to detention. (But then at assemblies the kids stand up in need lines and are completely quite, so go figure.)
~No janitors. The kids clean the rooms and on certain days I think the whole school pitches in to clean the grounds. Even in grade school, the kids clean the classrooms.
That's all for now!
Now, as for the high school classes… they’ve been up and down. Some classes are very vibrant and I actually get students volunteering, other classes just sit there shuffling in their seats and looking uncomfortable. Either way I have to put a lot of energy into the class and I always have to be ‘on’- its exhausting. I don’t know how teachers actually *choose* this profession! But at least the lesson plan has gone well. The material was at the students level and we always end on time, so that’s good. I do the exact same lesson 16 times. (It’s taught over 2 weeks, each of the regular 8 English classes is split in two and half comes to see me one week and the other half the next- at least I never have more than 20 students at a time.) A lot of people complain about boredom and feeling like a tape recorder, but I’ve never really had the problem of getting bored on the job. I don’t mind repetitive tasks. And doing the lesson so many times helps me settle in and get used to being in front of the students or tweak things that may not be working, so that’s good too. Because I only have 8 classes a week, there’s a ton of downtime at work.but I still have to be here from 8:20- 4:15 everyday. Then there’s the English club on Tues that I have to figure out what to do with and tea ceremony club on Mondays- which is pretty cool. I just wish my legs didn’t fall asleep while kneeling all the time! I don’t know when calligraphy club or ikebana (traditional flower arrangement) meet, but I’m hoping to maybe go to those too. And of course I’m hoping to squeeze in Japanese lessons and kyudo (zen archery) as well! But one thing at a time!
It’s also been tough getting into the early morning schedule. I was a few minutes late for Showa because there were only 2 trains going there and I took the one that wasn’t ungodly early. I’ve been on time to the high school, but it’s a royal pain in the ass negotiating the busy streets packed with students walking to school every morning. Moreover, the bell on my bike doesn’t work, so I have to yell out ‘sumimasen!’ (excuse me) every time I need to pass someone and I feel like an idiot. Now I just ride in the street. However, there is one part where I have to go past pedestrians and last week I bumped my handlebar into one of my student’s bags as I was passing them. At least they had a good story to tell, “Hey, the new ALT (assistant language teacher) almost ran me over on her bike today! Haha!”
Yeah, I’m a bit self conscious about the students, can ya tell? You would be too if half the time in class they repeated what you were saying with a chuckle. Sometimes its my English, sometimes its my Japanese and I want to be like, “WHY is this so amusing??” *sigh* But, again, I’m getting used to it. Also, I’m learning that I don’t have to be at my desk all the time in the teacher’s office- I can run to the bank at lunch if I have to and go up to the English classroom when I don’t have classes and just chill by myself for a while, which is good.
This past weekend was a nice, long one because Monday was a holiday, so it was good to rest. Monday was ‘Respect for the Aged Day’! No kidding! The next holiday off is ‘Health and Sports Day’! Saturday Steve and I went to Nara for good food and shopping, but never made it to the historical sites that the city is actually known for! But I got him to this Italian restaurant that- I swear- is some of the best Italian I’ve ever had. It’s really good food! Then I spent a ton of time at an anime store called Animate (a chain) and indulged myself in art supplies. I bought a load of these great art markers and a few other things. I was giddy with joy! I didn’t bring any art supplies with me at all, so I was hurting!
Then we just chilled out Sunday and went for Okonomiyaki last night. Steve liked it a lot and he tried saki for the first time too!
Anyway, there’s a few other things I have to catch up on. For those of you who haven’t seen Steve’s pics on snapfish, I’m posting some of them here.
First, when we went to get his alien registration card, we found a little temple hidden between the regular houses on the street.
There was a long, stone stairway leading up to it that was so inconspicuous Steve and I dubbed it the ‘secret stairs’.
*L* There was a great view from above, but no one was around.
(I was the conqueror of the stairs!)
It was really cool, though, because there was a graveyard there and this huge butterfly kept flittering about, which is interesting because butterflies are often seen as the souls of the dead in Japanese folklore.
Steve got a pic of me on the highway back to town as well- I thought it was cool so I’m posting it. You can see my stylin' parasol here!
Oh, and my school’s cultural festival! It was the first week of school, before I had to start teaching and it was pretty fun. Steve came and took pics and met the teachers. He’ll get to know everyone better next week when he joins me in the classroom to teach the kids about American music and Chicago Blues! (I’m allowed a lot of flexibility in my lesson plans. It sounds fun but since I have no teaching experience, it’s often daunting and it makes me nervous.)
Anyway, in the area where students normally park their bikes, each homeroom had set up a booth with different food.
Some served fried rice, some had okonomiyaki, some had ice cream, etc.
The ESS (English Speaking Society/ English club) made a couple big posters with info about me and put them outside the English classroom.
Steve and I went to the tea ceremony club’s booth (indoors). The blonde girl in the pic is an exchange student from Estonia who is studying at the high school. Her name's Kati (KAH-tea) and she's pretty cool. She helped me out when I went to my first meeting at the tea ceremony club last Monday and I couldn't understand anybody!
They served traditional sweets (they were so pretty, like little fruits or something!) and green tea. I'll share more knowledge of tea ceremoney some other time- after I've gone to the club a couple more times.
So, yeah, that’s about it. I’m almost fully recovered from being sick and I’m getting used to things. I desperately need to study my Japanese. Oh, and I don’t know what to do about the spider that has set up residence around my desk! I saw him once and thought…’wander away little spider,’, but he’s been sticking around for the past 2 weeks! Does no one else see him? I don’t want to make a scene killing it because I think in general they refrain from killing spiders here (I think??) and, well, I just don’t want to make a fuss in general. I just shoo him away and hope Mr. Spider will leave me alone. It might sound cute ‘oh, that wacky Mr. Spider!’, but it’s really not fun to be working and all of a sudden have this little creature hopping all over your papers… especially if it turns out to be a Mrs. Spider… yeewww. Damn it! There he is again! (seriously!) Why do you torture me spider??
Ok, I think I’ve rambled enough. My next class is coming up. I’ll leave you with a few observations (some might be repeats):
When I was sick and visited the doctor, it was quite interesting:
~They took my temperature under my arm
~The doctor (humble Japanese man that he was) kept telling me I should go to someone else because, "I'm not a good doctor! My English is bad! Go to someone better," etc...
~The medicine was in small little packets, filled with a white, grainy powder and had a lovely bleach aftertaste
In the high school:
~The teachers switch rooms every hour, the students stay put
~No cafeterias- students eat in the classroom and teachers eat in the teacher's office. And in the grade schools, the little kids prepare the hot lunch (they wear little hair caps, white smocks, and surgical-looking masks to cover their mouths so they don't breath all over the food), they carry hot trays into the classroom and dole out the food in turns and then everyone helps to clean up. Can you imagine trying to get American 8 year olds to do that?
~It’s not as strict as you'd think. Students come late to class without repercussion and run through the hallways without rebukes from the teachers, etc. I don’t think they have any equivalent to detention. (But then at assemblies the kids stand up in need lines and are completely quite, so go figure.)
~No janitors. The kids clean the rooms and on certain days I think the whole school pitches in to clean the grounds. Even in grade school, the kids clean the classrooms.
That's all for now!
posted by riverdaughter at
9:12 PM
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