Saturday, April 30, 2011
Shopping on a bike
Today I went to a homewares shop and bought a new lightweight doona (it's finally warming up!). I brought it, and a number of miscellaneous other bits and pieces home in the two baskets on my bike. It felt somehow satisfying to be able to shop for and carry those sorts of things home on a push-bike.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Big day of teaching
Today was the first time I came back to teach a class for the second time. There was a bit of new territory, but some activities I'd done before too, which helped to settle my nerves.
The kids were pretty good the teachers were great, but I'm exhausted. Between teaching 6 classes, trying to read the student reviews of the class, signing the student reviews of the class, meetings with teachers, and signing anything and everything that two classes of Yr 4 put in front of me, I was going from 8:30 to 5:30 with only a 20 minute lunch break. My voice is also going (along with everyone else's).
Going to have dinner then crash!
The kids were pretty good the teachers were great, but I'm exhausted. Between teaching 6 classes, trying to read the student reviews of the class, signing the student reviews of the class, meetings with teachers, and signing anything and everything that two classes of Yr 4 put in front of me, I was going from 8:30 to 5:30 with only a 20 minute lunch break. My voice is also going (along with everyone else's).
Going to have dinner then crash!
Devil children
Yesterday I met the devil children I had been warned about. 6th grade at Nampeidai. I had 3 classes today, in order 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; feral, bad, pretty good respectively.
The first class was really hard. It would be so hard to be a teacher and be given a class like that for a whole year, one lesson a week is going to be a real challenge for me.
There were several noisy trouble makers. and several "I'm too cool for this" girls. There was absolutely no enthusiasm in the class. The kids who would have been keen and enthusiastic were too afraid to show it, because there were too many cool kids around. Unfortunately, the sort of activities that we do with the kids need a critical mass of enthusiasm, or the whole thing flops. You just can't do songs and dances half-heartedly. Argh! I feel so sorry for the good kids, it takes me back to primary school, though it was a little worse than Gowrie.
I tried to introduce the "hand up = not talking" rule that I've always found frustrating, particularly recently, when applied to groups of mixed adults and children, but I was desperate, and determined not to shout. It was marginally successful.
The second class was much the same, just not quite so extreme. Still easily the next worse class I've experienced though.
Fortunately, the last class of year 6s was pretty good. About normal levels of enthusiasm, and noise, which was just wonderful by comparison.
I am going to need to work out some strategies before I next visit that school.
As an upside, the principal let me go home early!
The first class was really hard. It would be so hard to be a teacher and be given a class like that for a whole year, one lesson a week is going to be a real challenge for me.
There were several noisy trouble makers. and several "I'm too cool for this" girls. There was absolutely no enthusiasm in the class. The kids who would have been keen and enthusiastic were too afraid to show it, because there were too many cool kids around. Unfortunately, the sort of activities that we do with the kids need a critical mass of enthusiasm, or the whole thing flops. You just can't do songs and dances half-heartedly. Argh! I feel so sorry for the good kids, it takes me back to primary school, though it was a little worse than Gowrie.
I tried to introduce the "hand up = not talking" rule that I've always found frustrating, particularly recently, when applied to groups of mixed adults and children, but I was desperate, and determined not to shout. It was marginally successful.
The second class was much the same, just not quite so extreme. Still easily the next worse class I've experienced though.
Fortunately, the last class of year 6s was pretty good. About normal levels of enthusiasm, and noise, which was just wonderful by comparison.
I am going to need to work out some strategies before I next visit that school.
As an upside, the principal let me go home early!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Purikura
To celebrate our first week''s teaching, we went out for sushi, and then purikura. Purikura are souped up photo booths where you can decorate the photos, and then print out a sheet of photo stickers.
Check out our handywork, and note the auto-beatifying algorithms to smooth the skin, and improve colour!
Check out our handywork, and note the auto-beatifying algorithms to smooth the skin, and improve colour!
| Back row: Adam, Adam's girlfriend Chiharu, Andrea and Hunter Front section (clockwise from top): Jess, me and Chris |
Toilet rant
I have now been to all my schools, and not one of them has a Western-style toilet. They are all sqauts! I hate squats! Also, the squats always smell much worse than Western toilets, presumably because people occasionally miss. Yuck!
School #5 - Takenouchi
Today was Takenouchi my last school - pronounced ta-ke-no-uchi.
At Takenouchi, I sit with the Yr. 6 teachers, and they are easily the most outgoing bunch of teacher's I've met so far. They all have above average English, and were friendly and keen to talk, English and/or Japanese. However, Yr. 6 went on a school trip today, so I didn't get to see how they were to work with.
I taught 3 classes today, all Yr. 5. By now, the lesson plan is down almost on auto-pilot, although next week, I'll be into new territory again.
One teacher was clearly terrified of the English, and would have disappeared from the classroom altogether if she could have. As it was, working with her was a bit of a challenge, I'm sure I praised her attempts at English as much as I praised the children. Hopefully, I can bring her out of her shell a little, with time. Another teacher had very limited English also, but at least he was prepared to get out there and give it a go, with a little more enthusiasm, and that enthusiasm translated across to his class. The last teacher was somewhere in between. She had slightly better English than the others, and was nervous, but not hiding. In all the classes, the kids were shyer than I'm used to, but I was able to work them up pretty well.
In the last class, I had a kid whose English seemed very good. He could name pretty much anything I threw at the class, although one word at a time, I didn't cotton on. Then he said a sentence. Perfect British accent from an 11 year old Japanese-looking kid. He lives in London, and gets sent back to Japan to come to school here during his holidays. Fortunately, he was very good natured and helpful, rather than resentful and bored. I'm not sure how many more classes he will be around for.
After one class, I had one gorgeous little girl grab my arm, cling on tightly, and just walk off, without saying a word. I followed her, and she took me to the back of the classroom, where there were some pictures of strawberries that the children had painted. She pointed hers out. It was certainly much better than I could have done! Then she dragged me back to the front of the classroom, and let me go. The kids at this school, on the whole, seem very sweet.
At Takenouchi, I sit with the Yr. 6 teachers, and they are easily the most outgoing bunch of teacher's I've met so far. They all have above average English, and were friendly and keen to talk, English and/or Japanese. However, Yr. 6 went on a school trip today, so I didn't get to see how they were to work with.
I taught 3 classes today, all Yr. 5. By now, the lesson plan is down almost on auto-pilot, although next week, I'll be into new territory again.
One teacher was clearly terrified of the English, and would have disappeared from the classroom altogether if she could have. As it was, working with her was a bit of a challenge, I'm sure I praised her attempts at English as much as I praised the children. Hopefully, I can bring her out of her shell a little, with time. Another teacher had very limited English also, but at least he was prepared to get out there and give it a go, with a little more enthusiasm, and that enthusiasm translated across to his class. The last teacher was somewhere in between. She had slightly better English than the others, and was nervous, but not hiding. In all the classes, the kids were shyer than I'm used to, but I was able to work them up pretty well.
In the last class, I had a kid whose English seemed very good. He could name pretty much anything I threw at the class, although one word at a time, I didn't cotton on. Then he said a sentence. Perfect British accent from an 11 year old Japanese-looking kid. He lives in London, and gets sent back to Japan to come to school here during his holidays. Fortunately, he was very good natured and helpful, rather than resentful and bored. I'm not sure how many more classes he will be around for.
After one class, I had one gorgeous little girl grab my arm, cling on tightly, and just walk off, without saying a word. I followed her, and she took me to the back of the classroom, where there were some pictures of strawberries that the children had painted. She pointed hers out. It was certainly much better than I could have done! Then she dragged me back to the front of the classroom, and let me go. The kids at this school, on the whole, seem very sweet.
The class clown...
The standard routine
Lucy: Hello
X: Hello
Lucy: My name is Lucy
X: My name is X
Lucy: Nice to meet you
X: Nice to meet you too
Yesterday's routine, with volunteer student in front of class
Lucy: Hello
Student: Hello
Lucy: My name is Lucy
Student: My name is Mayonaise
Class erupts with laughter...
Lesson learned?
Let the classroom teacher pick students to come up in front of the class - they know who the clowns are!
Lucy: Hello
X: Hello
Lucy: My name is Lucy
X: My name is X
Lucy: Nice to meet you
X: Nice to meet you too
Yesterday's routine, with volunteer student in front of class
Lucy: Hello
Student: Hello
Lucy: My name is Lucy
Student: My name is Mayonaise
Class erupts with laughter...
Lesson learned?
Let the classroom teacher pick students to come up in front of the class - they know who the clowns are!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
School #4 - Nampeidai
Today's school was a bus day, and once again, a completely different experience.
In the morning, an older Japanese gentleman came and introduced himself to me, and told me he would act as my interpreter. He had a very high level of English proficiency, although very strongly accented, and often in ways that differed to the normal Japanese accent, for example, "Hello" became "Haloo" instead of the usual "Harow". He was very friendly and incredibly enthusiastic. He's not an employee of the school, he has just taken it upon himself to help, and has been doing it for some time.
The first lesson was a bit difficult, as he enthusiastically translated everything I said, instead of letting the kids figure it out for themselves. As a result, I had about 20 minutes at the end, where I was scrounging around for activities to fill the time. The next lessons were a bit better though, as we worked out a bit of a routine. It will be interesting to see how things develop...
I also had a couple of obviously mentally handicapped kids in that class, so it will be interesting to see how things go with them. The attitude of Japanese teachers seems to be to just ignore them and get on with class...
The year sixes were on a field trip, so today I taught fours instead of sixes. On Tuesday, I said I felt a bit like a rock star. Well today, a few Yr 4 kids in each class approached me for a signature. As soon as one succeeded, I was mobbed. I signed baseball caps, notebooks, pencil cases, home ecc textbooks, and scraps of paper. I drew the line at a kid's jumper! I would have spent about 10 minutes at each class (what should have been my recovery time between lessons), signing a never ending stream of items that needed to be signed. My Japanese helper got to sign a number as well, so maybe it wasn't just the gaijin factor though.
Again, the teachers were lovely. The vice-principal sat down and had lunch with me. When I was finishing up, the principal personally escorted me to the bus stop. As it transpired, we just missed the bus by 2 minutes, and there was a 13 minute wait until the next one. He insisted on staying with me, even though I told him I was fine. From what I understood, he said something a along the lines of "there might be bad people, and how would I explain to your mother and father if anything happened to you". While I'm quite sure it was unnecessary, the gesture was very sweet, especially as principals here in Japan have a reputation for being extraordinarily busy people. So we sat at the bus stop, and chatted in a broken mixture of English and Japanese, and were mostly able to understand each other.
It will be interesting to see how the school goes next week, when I have 3 Yr. 6 classes. The Yr. 6s at this school have a reputation for being particularly unruly. Adam, who taught them last year has warned me. Their teachers this year told me that they were "very energetic, but also shy". I'm not sure what that means, except that "shy" might mean "un-co-operative". Also, the principal told me "I hope you will enjoy our students, but they are very energetic", with a somewhat concerned expression, and also, "If you have any troubles, talk to me an I will support you." This was a lovely sentiment, I only hope it's not because he expects me to have trouble! Dave assures me that classes can often change from year to year, especially as children are shuffled around between classes, so I am aiming to make a good impression next week, and hopefully keep them more or less in line for the rest of the year.
In the morning, an older Japanese gentleman came and introduced himself to me, and told me he would act as my interpreter. He had a very high level of English proficiency, although very strongly accented, and often in ways that differed to the normal Japanese accent, for example, "Hello" became "Haloo" instead of the usual "Harow". He was very friendly and incredibly enthusiastic. He's not an employee of the school, he has just taken it upon himself to help, and has been doing it for some time.
The first lesson was a bit difficult, as he enthusiastically translated everything I said, instead of letting the kids figure it out for themselves. As a result, I had about 20 minutes at the end, where I was scrounging around for activities to fill the time. The next lessons were a bit better though, as we worked out a bit of a routine. It will be interesting to see how things develop...
I also had a couple of obviously mentally handicapped kids in that class, so it will be interesting to see how things go with them. The attitude of Japanese teachers seems to be to just ignore them and get on with class...
The year sixes were on a field trip, so today I taught fours instead of sixes. On Tuesday, I said I felt a bit like a rock star. Well today, a few Yr 4 kids in each class approached me for a signature. As soon as one succeeded, I was mobbed. I signed baseball caps, notebooks, pencil cases, home ecc textbooks, and scraps of paper. I drew the line at a kid's jumper! I would have spent about 10 minutes at each class (what should have been my recovery time between lessons), signing a never ending stream of items that needed to be signed. My Japanese helper got to sign a number as well, so maybe it wasn't just the gaijin factor though.
Again, the teachers were lovely. The vice-principal sat down and had lunch with me. When I was finishing up, the principal personally escorted me to the bus stop. As it transpired, we just missed the bus by 2 minutes, and there was a 13 minute wait until the next one. He insisted on staying with me, even though I told him I was fine. From what I understood, he said something a along the lines of "there might be bad people, and how would I explain to your mother and father if anything happened to you". While I'm quite sure it was unnecessary, the gesture was very sweet, especially as principals here in Japan have a reputation for being extraordinarily busy people. So we sat at the bus stop, and chatted in a broken mixture of English and Japanese, and were mostly able to understand each other.
It will be interesting to see how the school goes next week, when I have 3 Yr. 6 classes. The Yr. 6s at this school have a reputation for being particularly unruly. Adam, who taught them last year has warned me. Their teachers this year told me that they were "very energetic, but also shy". I'm not sure what that means, except that "shy" might mean "un-co-operative". Also, the principal told me "I hope you will enjoy our students, but they are very energetic", with a somewhat concerned expression, and also, "If you have any troubles, talk to me an I will support you." This was a lovely sentiment, I only hope it's not because he expects me to have trouble! Dave assures me that classes can often change from year to year, especially as children are shuffled around between classes, so I am aiming to make a good impression next week, and hopefully keep them more or less in line for the rest of the year.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
School #3 - Tsunoe
Another day, another school, another different experience.
I was told that Tsunoe would be my best school, and that looks to be right. I only taught two periods today. First period was Yr 6, two classes together (80 kids, the classes were maxed out!). The class was great, the kids were enthusiastic, the teachers were enthusiastic. With 80 kids at once, it was amazing, they were super energetic, but not in a bad way, and there wasn't a single trouble-making kid. To the standard routine for Yr 6, we added a body alphabet activity. The kids had to form each letter with their bodies. There was a lot of laughter, that activity is a keeper!
2nd period was a welcome ceremony for the new year ones. The whole school was there to welcome them, and they were so cute! Each Yr.1 student was partnered with a Yr. 6 student, who is responsible for looking after the little one. At the end of the ceremony, I had to introduce myself to the school. I'm getting better at this, and after a few days teaching, was hardly fazed by standing in front of a sea of kids. In no time, I had the whole school shouting "hello", "Lucy" and "Australia. Unfortunately, I also gave away a good bit of the guessing part of my self-introduction for the Yr. 5 students.
Yr 5 was fun also. Again, I had both Yr. 5 classes together in the sJapanseseame period, again class size maxed out. To the standard self-introduction, and teaching the kids to introduce themselves, we added a rock paper scissors competition. I lost most of my matches, but that just made the kids happier. The kids had a bit of trouble quieting down, but again, no troublemakers, at least, not yet.
In general, the teachers were really friendly, to me and to each other, the environment was just wonderful. The principal and vice-principal really went out of the way to include me, and several teachers got reminded to speak English with me (not that I minded the Japanese, we tended to continue in mostly Japanese anyway). I think I'm really going to enjoy Tsunoe.
As an aside, the school is close to the Meiji chocolate factory. Meiji is the Japanese equivalent of Cadbury, and their chocolate is good. By close, I mean the wall of the factory is visible from the school, and I could smell chocolate in the corridors.
Dave and I were chatting to some of the Yr. 2 students after the ceremony for the Yr. 1s. (Dave had come to check up on me and see how I'm going with the classes). Chatting in this case means answering questions that were asked of us while the children were literally bounding up and down! It turns out that the Yr. 2's are going on an excursion to the Meiji factory tomorrow. The kids invited me to come, but unfortunately, I had to explain that I was going to be teaching at a different school tomorrow. A visit to the factory is definitely on the agenda though!
I was told that Tsunoe would be my best school, and that looks to be right. I only taught two periods today. First period was Yr 6, two classes together (80 kids, the classes were maxed out!). The class was great, the kids were enthusiastic, the teachers were enthusiastic. With 80 kids at once, it was amazing, they were super energetic, but not in a bad way, and there wasn't a single trouble-making kid. To the standard routine for Yr 6, we added a body alphabet activity. The kids had to form each letter with their bodies. There was a lot of laughter, that activity is a keeper!
2nd period was a welcome ceremony for the new year ones. The whole school was there to welcome them, and they were so cute! Each Yr.1 student was partnered with a Yr. 6 student, who is responsible for looking after the little one. At the end of the ceremony, I had to introduce myself to the school. I'm getting better at this, and after a few days teaching, was hardly fazed by standing in front of a sea of kids. In no time, I had the whole school shouting "hello", "Lucy" and "Australia. Unfortunately, I also gave away a good bit of the guessing part of my self-introduction for the Yr. 5 students.
Yr 5 was fun also. Again, I had both Yr. 5 classes together in the sJapanseseame period, again class size maxed out. To the standard self-introduction, and teaching the kids to introduce themselves, we added a rock paper scissors competition. I lost most of my matches, but that just made the kids happier. The kids had a bit of trouble quieting down, but again, no troublemakers, at least, not yet.
In general, the teachers were really friendly, to me and to each other, the environment was just wonderful. The principal and vice-principal really went out of the way to include me, and several teachers got reminded to speak English with me (not that I minded the Japanese, we tended to continue in mostly Japanese anyway). I think I'm really going to enjoy Tsunoe.
As an aside, the school is close to the Meiji chocolate factory. Meiji is the Japanese equivalent of Cadbury, and their chocolate is good. By close, I mean the wall of the factory is visible from the school, and I could smell chocolate in the corridors.
 |
| See the giant block of chocolate in the background? I am standing inside the school grounds. This is one happy Lucy! |
Dave and I were chatting to some of the Yr. 2 students after the ceremony for the Yr. 1s. (Dave had come to check up on me and see how I'm going with the classes). Chatting in this case means answering questions that were asked of us while the children were literally bounding up and down! It turns out that the Yr. 2's are going on an excursion to the Meiji factory tomorrow. The kids invited me to come, but unfortunately, I had to explain that I was going to be teaching at a different school tomorrow. A visit to the factory is definitely on the agenda though!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The downside of my new bike
The downside of my new bike, as I discovered in the past two days, is that it's a bike. I don't really mind the lack of motor, I'm quite enjoying the excercise. The promlem is the lack of roof. The past two day it has been raining on the way home, which is decidedly unpleasant, even in my very sexy rain suit.
However, the forecast for tomorrow does not include rain, so hopefully tomorrow's cycling will be more pleasant.
However, the forecast for tomorrow does not include rain, so hopefully tomorrow's cycling will be more pleasant.
Solo teaching day two - Makami
Today was Makami school.
Different school, different teachers, slightly different approach to teaching. I taught 6 periods today (i.e. every period). They gave me a schedule. I will be teaching every period when I am at Makami, except on days when school finishes early for what I think are something like parent-teacher interviews, of which there are about 5. It was full on. 6 lessons in a day is tiring! Year 6, I ran pretty much the same lesson plan as yesterday, except I was asked to get the students to introduce themselves to me, with a "My name is ... I like ..." This went well for the most part, although one girl was in tears before we even got to her.
Year 5 was a completely different show. The English Leader had the lesson all planned out, so I just had to run with it, with some minor adaptations as we went.
Now when I close my eyes, I see Japanese children dancing, jumping and shouting. In the past two days, I would have taught something like 30 x 11 = 330 different children. They are, for the most part, super enthusiastic, and, unfortunately seem to expect me to remember them!
Teaching a class as a Westerner in Japan is quite something. I imagine it's a little like a rock star. They are so excited to see me, they all run up and want to touch me. Many of them came up to me and told me their names, and wanted to shake hands (before class). At one point, a girl came up behind me and was playing with my hair. After class, they say good-bye, and then as I leave, they keep shouting good-bye after me, and other various things that I mostly don't understand. Exhausting, but it feels kinda special.
Different school, different teachers, slightly different approach to teaching. I taught 6 periods today (i.e. every period). They gave me a schedule. I will be teaching every period when I am at Makami, except on days when school finishes early for what I think are something like parent-teacher interviews, of which there are about 5. It was full on. 6 lessons in a day is tiring! Year 6, I ran pretty much the same lesson plan as yesterday, except I was asked to get the students to introduce themselves to me, with a "My name is ... I like ..." This went well for the most part, although one girl was in tears before we even got to her.
Year 5 was a completely different show. The English Leader had the lesson all planned out, so I just had to run with it, with some minor adaptations as we went.
Now when I close my eyes, I see Japanese children dancing, jumping and shouting. In the past two days, I would have taught something like 30 x 11 = 330 different children. They are, for the most part, super enthusiastic, and, unfortunately seem to expect me to remember them!
Teaching a class as a Westerner in Japan is quite something. I imagine it's a little like a rock star. They are so excited to see me, they all run up and want to touch me. Many of them came up to me and told me their names, and wanted to shake hands (before class). At one point, a girl came up behind me and was playing with my hair. After class, they say good-bye, and then as I leave, they keep shouting good-bye after me, and other various things that I mostly don't understand. Exhausting, but it feels kinda special.
Monday, April 18, 2011
First solo teaching day
Teaching has begun in earnest!
Today I went to my first school, Minami Okanmuri. The idea is that I, as the Assistant English Teacher, tag team with the Homeroom teacher, and together we provide an English lesson to the class. Today's lessons were a bit difficult, because it was a) my first experience teaching without the backup of other more experienced AETs, and b) I hadn't had a chance to plan what I was doing with the homeroom teachers, except a kind of "do a self introduction, and then start following the curriculum".
Today I taught 3 classes of year 5, and 2 classes of year 6, with one free period. Year 5 was long self intro followed by teaching them to introduce themselves, say "nice to meet you" (that's the vocab in the curriculum), and to shake hands. Year 6 was long self introduction, followed by the alphabet song, butchered to slow down the "...lmnop..." section. It also finishes with "Happy happy, I'm happy. I can sing my ABC". Eugh!
It's amazing though how you can run through the same activities and have each class react so differently. One class ran right to the bell, and we weren't wasting time. One class the teacher got confused about finish time, and as a result we finished 15 minutes early, and had to go back to question time to fill in the gap. Another class I went onto material that I hadn't done with any of the others, because we needed something else to do.
On the whole though, I think things went well. By the end of the week, I'll be pro at the basic intro lesson (but will need to figure out how to teach the next lot).
Outside the classroom, the teachers seemed very friendly, 3 gave me foodstuffs, a couple made prolonged attempts at conversation, one went and found me a year one kanji workbook, and anyone I asked was very helpful.
Now repeat the new experience *5, and I'll have had an introduction to all my schools. I have a newfound respect for primary school teachers. They must be made of pure energy!
Today I went to my first school, Minami Okanmuri. The idea is that I, as the Assistant English Teacher, tag team with the Homeroom teacher, and together we provide an English lesson to the class. Today's lessons were a bit difficult, because it was a) my first experience teaching without the backup of other more experienced AETs, and b) I hadn't had a chance to plan what I was doing with the homeroom teachers, except a kind of "do a self introduction, and then start following the curriculum".
Today I taught 3 classes of year 5, and 2 classes of year 6, with one free period. Year 5 was long self intro followed by teaching them to introduce themselves, say "nice to meet you" (that's the vocab in the curriculum), and to shake hands. Year 6 was long self introduction, followed by the alphabet song, butchered to slow down the "...lmnop..." section. It also finishes with "Happy happy, I'm happy. I can sing my ABC". Eugh!
It's amazing though how you can run through the same activities and have each class react so differently. One class ran right to the bell, and we weren't wasting time. One class the teacher got confused about finish time, and as a result we finished 15 minutes early, and had to go back to question time to fill in the gap. Another class I went onto material that I hadn't done with any of the others, because we needed something else to do.
On the whole though, I think things went well. By the end of the week, I'll be pro at the basic intro lesson (but will need to figure out how to teach the next lot).
Outside the classroom, the teachers seemed very friendly, 3 gave me foodstuffs, a couple made prolonged attempts at conversation, one went and found me a year one kanji workbook, and anyone I asked was very helpful.
Now repeat the new experience *5, and I'll have had an introduction to all my schools. I have a newfound respect for primary school teachers. They must be made of pure energy!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
I have a new bike
Today I bought myself a new bike. It was a fairly cheap one, but a step up from the baseline model. A quick summary of the advantages:
After buying the bike, Hunter and I spent most of the day riding around Takatsuki trying to locate our schools so we don't get lost trying to get there in the mornings this coming week. Having ridden up a few of those hills before, I must say that having a few gears makes a huge difference!
We think we rode about 30km today, but thanks to Hunty's patient assistance, I now feel that even with my awful sense of direction, I should be able to navigate to the necessary locations.
- The brakes on the new bike don't screech
- The brakes on the new bike are effective and allow me to stop in a relatively short distance
- The new bike doesn't rattle constantly as it is being ridden
- The new bike has 6 gears. The old one had 1.
- The new bike has baskets front and back, the old one had a basket only on the front. This is significant, as everything we buy has to be carried on the bike.
- The new bike is pretty, green, and doesn't have any rust
- The lock on the new bike is easy to operate and doesn't jam
 |
| Old bike (mis) used by several previous AETs |
 |
| New bike! |
We think we rode about 30km today, but thanks to Hunty's patient assistance, I now feel that even with my awful sense of direction, I should be able to navigate to the necessary locations.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Sushi Train blunder
Andrea, Jess, Hunter and I went out for sushi at the local sushi train today. Basically, a conveyor belt goes past your table, and you help yourself to plates of whatever takes your fancy, and at the end of the meal, they count up your plates, and charge you accordingly.
We noticed that some plates sat on raised plastic saucers, but didn't pay much attention to it. A little later, we figured out that the touchscreen computer at our table allowed us to place special orders. We placed our order, and then started trying to figure out how our order was going to get to us. Suddenly, Jess took a closer look at one of the two plastic saucers on our table. In amongst the incomprehensible kanji was a bit of katakana that both she and I could read. It spelt out oruda - order. A little more thinking, and we worked out that each of the tables was colour coded, so that when a special order came around on the train, it would be easy to tell the table to which the order belonged. A little more thinking, and we worked out that both the special orders we'd helped ourselves to belonged to the table two tables past us. Ooops!
We spent the rest of the meal not looking in the direction of that table... At least next time we'll have an understanding of the basic rules.
We noticed that some plates sat on raised plastic saucers, but didn't pay much attention to it. A little later, we figured out that the touchscreen computer at our table allowed us to place special orders. We placed our order, and then started trying to figure out how our order was going to get to us. Suddenly, Jess took a closer look at one of the two plastic saucers on our table. In amongst the incomprehensible kanji was a bit of katakana that both she and I could read. It spelt out oruda - order. A little more thinking, and we worked out that each of the tables was colour coded, so that when a special order came around on the train, it would be easy to tell the table to which the order belonged. A little more thinking, and we worked out that both the special orders we'd helped ourselves to belonged to the table two tables past us. Ooops!
We spent the rest of the meal not looking in the direction of that table... At least next time we'll have an understanding of the basic rules.
End of training, shabu-shabu, and karaoke
Yesterday was our last day of training. To celebrate, we went out for dinner for shabu-shabu. The meal was excellent. We had 2 large pots of broth, bubbling on our table, to which we added thinly sliced pieces of vegetable, pork and beef, along with noodles, tofu and bits of chicken mince. We just kept adding food, and because the pieces were so small, they were cooked very quickly, and we could just fish out whatever we wanted to eat next. It was the most expensive meal out we've had so far in Japan, but it was definitely worth it. The food was great, and the "cook it as you eat it" approach makes for a very companionable meal. Also, the price was per head, and we could just keep ordering more food as we wanted it. By the time our two hour slot had finished, we were all finding our jeans a little tight. Japan is proving not to be meagerly rationed place I was expecting...
After dinner, we found ourselves a karaoke bar. We found that as a group we had a very diverse taste in music, and there were few songs that we all knew, but for a usually non-singer, I had a good time.
We slept well that night!
After dinner, we found ourselves a karaoke bar. We found that as a group we had a very diverse taste in music, and there were few songs that we all knew, but for a usually non-singer, I had a good time.
We slept well that night!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Our first day of teaching
Today we had our first teaching day. As we are still in training, it wasn't a normal day's teaching, but a special "Super English Day" at the same school that we visited last week for the school entrance ceremony.
Super English meant that the 8 AETs were divided up into two groups, and then 4 of us together took a class. We skipped the first period; second period was half year 3, half year 4; third period was half year 1, half year 2; and then we had a full period each with years 6 & 5.
I came out of the first lesson with the year 3s on a high. Programming had never been that exciting. We had sung the hello song, taught body parts and played hokey pokey. The kids were so enthusiastic and energetic. It was great. They were so excited to see us.
Then we repeated the same lesson plan on the year fours. It went ok, but they were a bit more "cool" and a little less responsive. The hokey pokey was a little more dangerous, as there were some hyperactive boys.
After that period, we had 20 minutes to regroup, before launching into our 1/2 lesson. This lesson included teaching the hello song, introducing ourselves to the students (with handshakes), teaching a few animals, and singing Old MacDonald had a Farm, (with a few modifications to make it simpler). The year ones were gorgeous, a few were a little scared, but once they got over that, they were great. The year twos were pretty good too, not quite so enthusiastic, but still good fun.
By this stage, my throat was getting sore from belting out various songs, but we had no time to rest, it was on to year 6. The year sixes were a bit tougher, they were a bit above what we had to offer. Also, we had a full period, rather than just half of one, so we were a bit more challenged to keep the momentum up. They enjoyed the activities once they got involved, but were reluctant to involve themselves. We made a few mistakes, and played some games that turned out a bit too similar, but it still went well.
After the year sixes, it was lunch time. We got split up and sent to different classes. I sat with one of the year 4 classes. We got almost cold corn soup with bread rolls, a strange salad, and milk. Reviews varied, but I think the soup would have been quite nice if only it were hot. I sat with a table of girls, who were quite shy, but hit on a jackpot when I started reading the English on their t-shirts/jumpers/pencil cases/face washers etc. They didn't care for me to translate, they just thought it was amazing for me to read it out. At my table of 6 (plus me), only one wasn't wearing clothing with English.
After lunch, we had a quick re-group to fix up our lesson plan for the year fives. We modified the activities slightly, and the whole lesson flowed much more smoothly. Also, the last teacher was really great and involved, which helped.
And that was a 5 period day. Some schools we will have to teach at all six periods. We all felt wrecked. Programming had rarely left me that tired... However, I'm feeling a lot more confident in my ability to run classes, especially as future classes will be better planned, with the homeroom teacher being involved in the planning, rather than being thrown in the deep end. I did, however, need chocolate to recover some energy.
Super English meant that the 8 AETs were divided up into two groups, and then 4 of us together took a class. We skipped the first period; second period was half year 3, half year 4; third period was half year 1, half year 2; and then we had a full period each with years 6 & 5.
I came out of the first lesson with the year 3s on a high. Programming had never been that exciting. We had sung the hello song, taught body parts and played hokey pokey. The kids were so enthusiastic and energetic. It was great. They were so excited to see us.
Then we repeated the same lesson plan on the year fours. It went ok, but they were a bit more "cool" and a little less responsive. The hokey pokey was a little more dangerous, as there were some hyperactive boys.
After that period, we had 20 minutes to regroup, before launching into our 1/2 lesson. This lesson included teaching the hello song, introducing ourselves to the students (with handshakes), teaching a few animals, and singing Old MacDonald had a Farm, (with a few modifications to make it simpler). The year ones were gorgeous, a few were a little scared, but once they got over that, they were great. The year twos were pretty good too, not quite so enthusiastic, but still good fun.
By this stage, my throat was getting sore from belting out various songs, but we had no time to rest, it was on to year 6. The year sixes were a bit tougher, they were a bit above what we had to offer. Also, we had a full period, rather than just half of one, so we were a bit more challenged to keep the momentum up. They enjoyed the activities once they got involved, but were reluctant to involve themselves. We made a few mistakes, and played some games that turned out a bit too similar, but it still went well.
After the year sixes, it was lunch time. We got split up and sent to different classes. I sat with one of the year 4 classes. We got almost cold corn soup with bread rolls, a strange salad, and milk. Reviews varied, but I think the soup would have been quite nice if only it were hot. I sat with a table of girls, who were quite shy, but hit on a jackpot when I started reading the English on their t-shirts/jumpers/pencil cases/face washers etc. They didn't care for me to translate, they just thought it was amazing for me to read it out. At my table of 6 (plus me), only one wasn't wearing clothing with English.
After lunch, we had a quick re-group to fix up our lesson plan for the year fives. We modified the activities slightly, and the whole lesson flowed much more smoothly. Also, the last teacher was really great and involved, which helped.
And that was a 5 period day. Some schools we will have to teach at all six periods. We all felt wrecked. Programming had rarely left me that tired... However, I'm feeling a lot more confident in my ability to run classes, especially as future classes will be better planned, with the homeroom teacher being involved in the planning, rather than being thrown in the deep end. I did, however, need chocolate to recover some energy.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The banking stone age
Today we were taken to open our bank accounts, and for such a technological society, the process was a bit hard to believe.
- Before we were able to open an account, we needed to get a hanko. A hanko is a stamp that can be used in place of a signature. Expensive ones can be hand carved and difficult to duplicate; ours are cheap plastic ones with our names in Japanese. The reason that we needed a hanko was so that it is easy for someone else to conduct our banking if we are overseas or otherwise unable to do it! Heritage, drop AML, KYC and basic ID. If someone has the right stamp, let them do whatever they want.
- We were automatically given a passbook. I never thought I'd open a passbook account, the Dolarmite should have been my last one. Nobody else seemed much phased by the passbooks, but really, even Heritage is starting to phase them out.
- The ATM at the bank wouldn't accept my Australian card, even though the 7/11 around the corner does.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
A note about busses in Japan
We caught a number of buses today on our way around Kyoto, and they were all ridiculously overheated, with the first one being downright awful. By this, I mean that outside I had a jumper and coat on, and then on the bus I was down to jeans and t-shirt, and feeling nauseous from the stuffy heat on the bus. Apparently regulations are that you have to heat to 27 or 28 degrees between certain dates. Rather ridiculous... Most of the Japanese still had coats on, although a couple near us (we were standing in the aisle) opened windows, which we thanked them profusely for.
As an aside, on the way back to the train station, a Japanese lady struck up a conversation with Andrea about a pretty flower she had picked, and after we had all practiced our Japanese on her (she was harder than average to understand, but it was a fun way to pass the trip), she fished a packet of green tea flavoured crackers out of her bag and gave them to Andrea. That's the second time we've been given food by a talkative stranger.
As an aside, on the way back to the train station, a Japanese lady struck up a conversation with Andrea about a pretty flower she had picked, and after we had all practiced our Japanese on her (she was harder than average to understand, but it was a fun way to pass the trip), she fished a packet of green tea flavoured crackers out of her bag and gave them to Andrea. That's the second time we've been given food by a talkative stranger.
Kyoto - Kiyomizu and Kinkakuji
Today we made our first Kyoto, the previous capital of Japan, which is still considered to be the cultural centre. There's plenty to explore, but today we only had time to visit two major tourist destinations, Kiyomizu and Kinkakuji. The five new AETs went together, along with Adam (one of the AETs staying on), and his girlfriend Chiharu.
Kiyomizu
Kiyomizu (meaning pure water) is a Bhuddist temple, with the current buildings built in 1633. There were no nails used in its construction, it is held together entirely by the joints in the wood. We wanted to see Kyoto for Sakura (cherry blossom) season, but unfortunately, the flowers were not yet out last weekend, and yesterday there was rain that knocked a lot of the flowers down. However, as you can see below, there were sill plenty of flowers left.
Click on the below image to see more photos:
Kinkakuji
Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavillion), is a Zen Bhuddist temple covered in gold leaf. I'm not sure how that fits into the idea of a minimalist lifestyle, but anyway...
The temple itself is spectacular (as one would expect of a large-ish building covered with gold), and the grounds are amazing, everything is covered with moss. Adam tells me that it takes hundreds of years of careful cultivation to get such an even carpet of moss.
A selection of pictures can be seen by clicking the below image:
Kiyomizu
Kiyomizu (meaning pure water) is a Bhuddist temple, with the current buildings built in 1633. There were no nails used in its construction, it is held together entirely by the joints in the wood. We wanted to see Kyoto for Sakura (cherry blossom) season, but unfortunately, the flowers were not yet out last weekend, and yesterday there was rain that knocked a lot of the flowers down. However, as you can see below, there were sill plenty of flowers left.
Click on the below image to see more photos:
 |
| Kiyomizu |
Where Hunter and I are fooling around kissing one another, legend has it that if a couple kisses under that gate, their love will last a lifetime. It can't hurt to have a bit of fun to test it out! After days of "get a room" comments, suddenly we were in trouble for not being enthusiastic enough!
On our way down the hill (most Japanese temples are located up on hill, presumably to make you earn the right to visit them), we stopped at a few shops. We didn't buy much, as things were mostly quite expensive, but there was one shop that let us sample a huge range of Japanese sweets (mostly sweet mochi - cooked sweetened rice pounded to make a sort of stretchy pastry, and filled with various fillings, we had bean paste, chocolate paste and strawberry paste among others), so of course we had to buy something there.
On our way down the hill (most Japanese temples are located up on hill, presumably to make you earn the right to visit them), we stopped at a few shops. We didn't buy much, as things were mostly quite expensive, but there was one shop that let us sample a huge range of Japanese sweets (mostly sweet mochi - cooked sweetened rice pounded to make a sort of stretchy pastry, and filled with various fillings, we had bean paste, chocolate paste and strawberry paste among others), so of course we had to buy something there.
Kinkakuji
Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavillion), is a Zen Bhuddist temple covered in gold leaf. I'm not sure how that fits into the idea of a minimalist lifestyle, but anyway...
The temple itself is spectacular (as one would expect of a large-ish building covered with gold), and the grounds are amazing, everything is covered with moss. Adam tells me that it takes hundreds of years of careful cultivation to get such an even carpet of moss.
A selection of pictures can be seen by clicking the below image:
 |
| Kinkakuji |
Tomorrow will be Osaka.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Nyuugakushiki
One of the local primary schools has a tradition of inviting the AETs to attemd nyuugakushiki. Nyuugakushiki is a ceremony to welcome the new year 1 students into the school, and also to celebrate the beginning of their school careers (the Japanese school year is starting now).
So this morning we suited up, put on our "important foreigner" faces, and biked over to the school. Once there, we were ushered into special "teacher" seats, and sat down to watch a procession of apprehensive looking littlies being ushered to their seats at the front of the gym. All the boys were done up in little suits with shorts and long socks. The girls had a bit more variety, some were in dresses, some were in a semi-businesslike skirt and blazer. One little girl had lots of flowers in her hair, and more attached to her dress. They were all very gorgeous, and I took a few photos, but of course, I can't post them.
There were a few speaches, pretty short and sweet, mostly tailored to be age-appropriate for the new students, and then the Yr 2 students did a short performance for the Yr 1 students, including the "Hello" song, sung in English.
One of us will be teaching at that school, we don't yet know who.
So this morning we suited up, put on our "important foreigner" faces, and biked over to the school. Once there, we were ushered into special "teacher" seats, and sat down to watch a procession of apprehensive looking littlies being ushered to their seats at the front of the gym. All the boys were done up in little suits with shorts and long socks. The girls had a bit more variety, some were in dresses, some were in a semi-businesslike skirt and blazer. One little girl had lots of flowers in her hair, and more attached to her dress. They were all very gorgeous, and I took a few photos, but of course, I can't post them.
There were a few speaches, pretty short and sweet, mostly tailored to be age-appropriate for the new students, and then the Yr 2 students did a short performance for the Yr 1 students, including the "Hello" song, sung in English.
One of us will be teaching at that school, we don't yet know who.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
I shouldn't be too harsh on Engrish
After yesterday's post on Engrish, it's time to have a bit of fun with Japanese. In today's training, we did a bit of basic Japanese with a few simple sentence patterns. We were swapping between I like... type sentence patterns, and ... is a ... type sentence patterns, and I'm afraid that this got Hunter a bit confused as he pointed at me and said kanojoo wa, kanai ga suki desu, which means "She likes wives". Well I guess that puts it out in the open...
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Engrish
One of our fellow AETs is called Christopher, or Chris for short. Somehow, his health-care card ended up recording his name as Christ instead. We refused to bow before him and call him God!
Monday, April 4, 2011
A brilliant Japanese invention
It's freezing in our apartment! I don't think that the Japanese have cottoned on to the idea of insulation yet, as it doesn't really mesh with traditional Japanese design, but at any rate our apartments are too old to have it. There's a crack in the glass on one door, and it's just plain cold (and this is spring).
Below is a picture of a kotatsu.
As you may be able to tell from the picture, it has a blanket on it. Basically, the top lifts off, and then you can drape a blanket over the frame. We have a spare doona under the visible blanket. Then, under the table is a heating element. Because it only needs to heat a small space that is quite well surrounded, it gets very cosy very quickly. It has become our dining table, and I'm starting to think that it's better than trying to buy a second hand dining table for the dining room, at least until the weather warms up. Last time I was in Japan, with one of my host families, pretty much all our time was spent at a (slightly larger) kotatsu.
In summer, you can remove the blanket, and end up with a normal coffee table.
Below is a picture of a kotatsu.
As you may be able to tell from the picture, it has a blanket on it. Basically, the top lifts off, and then you can drape a blanket over the frame. We have a spare doona under the visible blanket. Then, under the table is a heating element. Because it only needs to heat a small space that is quite well surrounded, it gets very cosy very quickly. It has become our dining table, and I'm starting to think that it's better than trying to buy a second hand dining table for the dining room, at least until the weather warms up. Last time I was in Japan, with one of my host families, pretty much all our time was spent at a (slightly larger) kotatsu.
In summer, you can remove the blanket, and end up with a normal coffee table.
First day of training
We had a pseudo-training day on Friday, which was spent mostly familiarizing us with various cultural concerns, basic job requirements, and how to find our way around Takatsuki. That session was only the 5 new AETs.
Today we had our first proper training day, with all AETs (old and new). Our trainer/supervisor is an American called Dave. I think he said he's been in Japan for 17 years, so he has a pretty good idea of how things work, and he seems very helpful and friendly too.
We started working through the recommended curriculum for the year 5 students. We have a set of books called Eigo Nooto, one for each year level (5&6). They're the books the students will use, and they have minimal writing in them, with lots of pictures. We went through with the accompanying CD, and looked at the activities, and discussed good ways of making the activities/songs work. In many cases, we had to act the skits out/sing the songs, to prepare us for the classroom. It was good silly fun. We laughed a lot.
The idea is not to focus purely on English, but also to promote an awareness of the world at large. One of the activities we did involved learning to count in a number of different languages. I did Czech, which was interesting. One of the guys decided that the Czech word for four sounded like "stiffy", after which, I'm afraid I lost control of the (adult) class... Working with kids is going to be quite a change after programming...
Today we had our first proper training day, with all AETs (old and new). Our trainer/supervisor is an American called Dave. I think he said he's been in Japan for 17 years, so he has a pretty good idea of how things work, and he seems very helpful and friendly too.
We started working through the recommended curriculum for the year 5 students. We have a set of books called Eigo Nooto, one for each year level (5&6). They're the books the students will use, and they have minimal writing in them, with lots of pictures. We went through with the accompanying CD, and looked at the activities, and discussed good ways of making the activities/songs work. In many cases, we had to act the skits out/sing the songs, to prepare us for the classroom. It was good silly fun. We laughed a lot.
The idea is not to focus purely on English, but also to promote an awareness of the world at large. One of the activities we did involved learning to count in a number of different languages. I did Czech, which was interesting. One of the guys decided that the Czech word for four sounded like "stiffy", after which, I'm afraid I lost control of the (adult) class... Working with kids is going to be quite a change after programming...
Our first home cooked meal
Last night, I prepared our first home-cooked meal. That was after 4 days of eating out, lunch and dinner. I don't think I've ever eaten out that many times in a row. Even on holidays, we'd prepare our own food.
It was an interesting process. I had to buy a new frying pan first, as the one in the apartment was flaking teflon. I also found a disgusting looking rice cooker, which cleaned up ok. I don't think the last occupant of this apartment used it at all.
Then I braved the grocery store. All the vegetables were so expensive, and most of them I didn't know how to cook with, so I ended up circling the vegetable section 4 times, and then buying only a few anyway. I made a mostly cabbage based stir fry - with no oven and hardly any utensils, it seemed like a good starting point. Now I understand why cabbage was just about the only vegetable they fed us when I was boarding at Reitaku, everything else is so expensive. Anyway, we both felt much better for eating a meal that wasn't deep fried.
Now I just need to figure out how to cook with Japanese vegetables.
It was an interesting process. I had to buy a new frying pan first, as the one in the apartment was flaking teflon. I also found a disgusting looking rice cooker, which cleaned up ok. I don't think the last occupant of this apartment used it at all.
Then I braved the grocery store. All the vegetables were so expensive, and most of them I didn't know how to cook with, so I ended up circling the vegetable section 4 times, and then buying only a few anyway. I made a mostly cabbage based stir fry - with no oven and hardly any utensils, it seemed like a good starting point. Now I understand why cabbage was just about the only vegetable they fed us when I was boarding at Reitaku, everything else is so expensive. Anyway, we both felt much better for eating a meal that wasn't deep fried.
Now I just need to figure out how to cook with Japanese vegetables.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Rant
We went out for dinner (again) yesterday. The food was delicious, but the table next to us was just a cloud of cigarette smoke. There is no such thing as "no smoking in restaurants" here in Japan. If you're lucky, you get a non-smoking "table", but it's not divided in any way from the smoking ones. Cough splutter glare. It was freezing last night, so I had several layers on, all of which now reek, and I don't have a clean long-sleeved jumper now, and I didn't even think about cigarette smoke when I wore my dry-clean-only coat. Argh!
I love Australia's ant-smoking laws!
I love Australia's ant-smoking laws!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Stationery
I deliberately brought only a single pen with me to Japan. Today, we went stationery shopping at Loft. There were way too many options, but in the end I chose a fairly small selection to get me through my AET training.Lucy is happy...
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