Recent Events

I know I haven't been writing here so often. I think a large part of it is that life is just life. Things here aren't so new or interesting anymore. So I don't even think to write here. But I want to keep records of our time in Japan. Here are some short stories about what we've been up to over the summer. It's not  much, but it's something.


June 27 - Preschool Cleaning
All the parents had to get together to help clean up the school grounds. We were divided into groups based on our kid's class. I ended up weeding around the swing set, which was basically pulling up perfectly nice grass and making the area into a mud pit. I didn't get it at all, but okay.


July 4 - Preschool Class Meeting
Early in July, Yana's class got together on a Saturday for a class meeting. Basically it's an event for the parents and kids to get together and do something. I think they hired some lady to instruct us and we did some exercise thing together.

July 11 - Yana's Birthday
For Yana's birthday we took a trip out to the sand dunes. She really enjoys it there, but it was a blisteringly hot day and we all got a little sunsick. We ended the day by letting her play in the arcade at Aeon, which she begs to do everytime we're there.


July 18 - Sugikko Matsuri
Yana's preschool has a small festival, which is basically a fundraiser for the school, I think. Anyway, it was fun for the kids and Yana enjoyed seeing her friends. She also did a dance with her class, which was cute to see. I enjoyed eating kakigori. We had bought tickets for Yana to play some traditional Japanese festival games, but accidentally missed bingo.

July 26 - Tottori Prefectural Museum
There was a special dinosaur exhibit going on, which Yana was pumped to see because she's super into dinosaurs lately. The exhibit was actually fairly small, but this is Tottori after all. And Yana didn't seem to mind at all. She was especially afraid and intrigued by the robotic T-rex they had. We spent a bit more time exploring the museum, and came across a special event where you could build things with colored pieces of cardboard, so Yana really enjoyed that too.

August 2 - Kodomo no Kuni
The first weekend in August we met up with my PA and her kids to visit Kodomo no Kuni, which is basically a small amusement park for kids. The great thing is that kids get in for free, but the activities all cost extra. We saw some animals, played in the wading pool, and rode some bikes and cars. Yana had lots of fun.

August 13 - Shan Shan Matsuri
Probably the biggest festival in Tottori City is the Shan Shan Matsuri. It's a traditional festival which involves a rain dance. It's especially known for the iconic umbrellas. Basically, a bunch of dance teams line up and dance through the main streets of the city. It's pretty awesome.


August 20 - Special English Lesson at Suwa Hoikuen
Near the beginning of August, I was contacted by Yana's preschool about doing an English lesson. In the end, I decided to do it with just the 5 and 6 year olds (not Yana's class) to keep the class size reasonable. I was pretty much left completely on my own for planning and executing the lesson, which was kind of terrifying. I decided to focus on songs and games, which the main part based on body parts. I started out with some hello songs and dances. Then we played hello hello goodbye, a variant of duck duck goose. I taught them some body parts with some fun flash cards I made and then they played a game where they had to be doctors and wrap their partners up with toilet paper. We ended singing head and shoulders. By the end of it, they seemed to know head and knee, so that's something for some preschoolers, I guess! Being on my own, there were some awkward parts and things were kinda messy, but in all, I don't think the kids were old enough to notice or care, and they seemed to enjoy the singing and dancing and did tell me they had fun. So even though I would have changed some things knowing what I know now, I think it was a pretty good attempt for what was basically my first time teaching (on my own)!

I actually was able to spend the whole morning at the school, too. So I brought Yana and played outside with the kids for a bit. A bunch of them came up to me and were telling me their names, their moms' names, their dads' names, their brothers' and sisters' names, and their grandparents' names. After going inside, I spent some time in Yana's class. I was able to watch the morning meeting and I went to the library with them, where about 6 kids wanted to read books with me at the same time. Next the entire school gathered in the gym for the monthly birthday party. Lots of singing and clapping. There was also a fun performance by the teachers to advertise their upcoming sports day, and the 5 and 6 year olds did their yosakoi dance for the school, which they also performed at Chizu's dance festival, Kinsai Minsai Odorinsai.

August 29 - Kinsai Minsai Odorinsai
When we attended this festival last year, we had been in Chizu for less than a month. This year it felt good to feel at home. I was able to recognize and say hi to a bunch of my students, some of whom were watching, and some of whom were dancing. Since I'm more aware of what's happening now, we were able to go watch the opening parade through the streets of Chizu. After the parade, we bought some food and watched the main stage dances by Yana's preschool and my elementary school 3rd and 4th graders. Unfortunately it was raining pretty steadily by that time, so we opted to head home and watch from our living room window instead. It was a bit far to see, but we got a nice full-day concert of yosakoi music from it anyway, and some pyrotechnics at the end.

Yana and I doing the treasure fishing event.

September 5th - Chizu JHS Sports Day 2015
It was the first sports day on the new school ground! Last year we had to have it at the townsmen's ground because the school was still under construction.
Even though we JUST returned from summer break at the end of August, the students spent most of the time between then and the sports day practising. In the week before, there were two full-day practises. Intense stuff. It meant I had barely any classes, but I kind of don't enjoy this time because there's no real job for me to do and I constantly feel awkward and annoying. I was supposed to help with set-up the day before the event, but there was no job for my group after all, and we ended up weeding. It's also strange because they sit me, Justin, and Yana in the special guests section, which is filled with city officials and stuff - the mayor even comes!
Anyway, these things are largely tradition, so I had a good idea of what to expect this year. The day began at 9:30am, with the students marching onto the ground with their class flags (and also the school flag and flag of Japan). Then the mandatory introductory speeches by everyone possible. As a teacher, I also had to stand out in front of the students during the speeches, national anthem, and school song.
The morning included events like the ball catch (1 partner launched a ball, the other caught it in a bucket), treasure fishing (Yana and I went together, and Justin on his own), and running. It ended with the girls' dance, the boys' gymnastics, and the all-school best relay (which I also participated in, on the staff team).
There was an hour for lunch. After that was the mukade relay, tug o' war (which ended dramatically with the rope snapping and a boy getting hurt and taken off the field on a stretcher), catching inner tubes over heads relay, big pants relay, and the white rabbit relay. The 3rd graders had a special relay where they dressed up members of their classes. This year one class was minions and Lupin the 3rd, and the other class was Death Note. After that were more class relays, and I ran in another on the parents' team. The day ended with the class jump rope competition.
After the closing ceremony and awards, it was clean up time. The vice principal was nice, though, and let me go home early.

Graduation and My First Birthday in Japan

March 10th is my birthday. It also happened to be JHS graduation day. It was also a Tuesday.

I go to the ES every Tuesday, but the JHS made a special arrangement so that I could attend the graduation ceremony. So on the morning of March 10th, I went to the JHS instead of the ES.

At school, everyone was rushing around getting last minute things done. We had the graduation ceremony in our new gym! We had spent the day before getting it ready. The ceremony began at 9:30, but I went in a bit early to watch the last minute practice. Then I took my seat along the side, with all the other teachers.

The ceremony was about an hour and a half long. It began with a short opening speech, and then we jumped right in to giving out the diplomas. Each student had their name called by their homeroom teacher as they went on stage, but the whole process of getting up there was quite the sight! The students walked very slowly and made 90 degree turns. There were different points along the way where the students stopped - at the bottom of the stairs, at the top of the stairs, halfway across the stage, in front of the podium to the right, and finally they would move to the left side of the podium, where they received their diplomas from the principal (who was dressed in a tuxedo, I might add). That part took about 25 minutes, for just under 60 students.

JHS Graduation ceremony (from http://www.torikyo.ed.jp/tizu-j/)

After the diplomas, there were lots of speeches, including from the mayor, someone important from the city hall, and the head of the PTA. The students also gave speeches, praising each other for their attitudes and study habits. One important part of student events here is singing, and indeed there were multiple songs song by both the graduating class and the 1st and 2nd year students.

All the graduating students (from http://www.torikyo.ed.jp/tizu-j/)

At the end of the ceremony, the 3rd years walked out, while everyone applauded. After that I helped clean up the gym with the other students. I don't really know what happened after that, because I had to go over to the ES for the rest of the afternoon.

At the ES, the 6th graders were having their graduation buffet school lunch. I had one already last month with the 3rd years at JHS, so I got 2 buffet lunches! I actually enjoyed the one at the ES better, as there was more food I liked. Some of the food we had: mushroom and sausage pizza, broccoli, noodle and meatball soup, gobo salad, karaage, fried potatoes cut like stars, omelets with chili con carne sauce, shrimp gratin, fruit and jelly salad, and cake.

Since it was the graduation, the staff from the JHS had a party planned for that evening. After school I ran home to quickly get ready, and then I met N-sensei and O-sensei, who gave me a ride to the party. I should add that it was freaking BLIZZARDING, so it was a bit of a tricky drive there.

When we arrived at the party, we drew lots to determine seats, as usual. I was sitting with teachers I don't normally talk to very often, but K-sensei, one of my JTEs, sat across from me. The majority of the night was pretty boring, to be honest. I was tired and it was difficult to follow the conversation and speeches. The food wasn't too bad, but it kind of gave me a stomachache. However, I had mentioned to K-sensei that it was my birthday, so when the dessert course came, so did a huge dessert plate with candles and "Happy Birthday アーニャ" written on the plate in chocolate sauce. Everyone sang happy birthday TWICE and made me blow out the candles twice as well! Then I shared my plate with the teachers sitting near me. O-sensei also gave me a gorgeous chocolate cake to bring home. Funnily enough, Justin had made me a cake while I was out, so in total I got FOUR CAKES on my birthday. It was definitely a good night.

My birthday dessert plate

Things & Stuff

January 28th
The 1st graders at the ES had some sort of traditional games day with a bunch of elderly folks from Chizu and the surrounding area. I was at JHS, but K-sensei asked me to attend and I was able to head over for the duration of the program. The elderly people were teaching the kids string games (like cat's cradle), spinning tops, paper airplanes, and some other traditional games. I sat with the string group to begin with. I had some trouble doing some of the more complicated creations, but when it was time to move to the next group, the new group of kids doing string begged me to come with them, so I ended up getting to try everything over again!


February 12th
At the ES, the kids have clubs once a month. I have always attended cooking club, but randomly the teacher in charge of making things club asked me to attend. Turns out the kids were making baskets! There were some elderly folks there to instruct us. I actually got there a bit late, so I was a little lost at first, but then I really started to get the hang of it. The kids were really good, too! I love the look of these kinds of handicrafts, and it was really neat to be able to learn this tradition. So I was glad the teacher randomly asked me to come!

February 23rd
The JHS 3rd graders had a viking kyuushoku, that is, a buffet school lunch. All the teachers were invited and divided up among the two classes. I went to 3-1, and the students presented me with a personal invitation. I was actually really excited because the menu looked alright, but my hopes and dreams were immediately smashed upon sitting down. The students had already made me a tray - which was kind, to be sure, but they had loaded it up with way too much stuff and stuff I didn't want. It was not like a buffet at all! I thought I was going to be able to make my own tray up. And then I felt so guilty about not eating my food that I didn't get up and get any of the fresh fruit and I only just managed to snag a piece of chocolate cake. Anyway, the 6th graders at the ES have the same thing happening in March (it's a graduation celebration thing), and I'm not expecting to be invited or anything, but if I am and if its the same thing at least I'll be prepared.


February 25th
The ES had their "commemorative graduation photo". It was Wednesday, but I was able to leave for an hour to go over for the photo. Actually, it worked out well because I didn't have any classes anyway - the JHS kids all had tests. When I got there everyone was running around in a fluster, getting into their suits. Even though the photo is only for the 6th graders, every single staff member is in the photo - AND! The mayor and head of education, too! I still love how they do photos here; its really amusing to me for some reason. They are so particular - the photographer and his helper were physically arranging the clothing on the teachers in the front row. And at one point he even stopped shooting to come up and tell the lady standing behind me that her hair was sticking up. Anyway, I think I ordered a copy of the photo, so if I get that, I'll be sure to share (student faces blocked out, of course!).

Christmas and New Year's in Japan

On December 22nd I had my JHS bonenkai. I was able to get a ride with the nurse and the vice principal to the Tottori Prefectural Museum, where it was being held. Every staff member makes an effort to attend the bonenkai, unlike regular the regular enkai. So the office ladies, nurse, etc. were all there too. I was glad of it, as I'm fond of them and they seem to feel the same for me.

The party was held in the museum's cafe. It was quite different and modern, compared to my ES bonenkai, which was traditional style - sitting at low tables in a large tatami room. We were separated into 2 different tables. As is typical of work parties here, we had a lottery to determine where we would sit. In this case we drew a prefecture's name and had to find the matching nabe [one pot] dish. Since I had no idea about any of that, I was helped, although it conveniently turned out that I was standing across from my seat to begin with. This kind of seating makes me a bit nervous, but I ended up sitting across from the head teacher, diagonal to the vice principal, and beside the home economics teacher, who also teaches the special education students with me. It wasn't too awkward.

Every enkai begins with kampai - cheers. Sometimes we do a whole chain and walk around the room, but this time was mostly just everyone you could reach from the general vicinity of your seat. After that we ordered drinks and the food began coming out.

I wish I had taken photos of the food because it was incredible! Not everything was my favorite, but the plating was lovely and what I did eat was great. Also - REAL CRUSTY BREAD. I gorged myself on the slices of fresh bread, usually rarity here. So the appetizer was a mixed plate, with a slice of quiche, a tiny hamburger, sashimi, bread with some kind of herby butter spread, and a bowl of beef and konnyaku. I can't recall all the other dishes precisely, but there was salad, pasta, savory pastry cigars, calamari, roast beef with mashed potatoes, and to end it all, some kind of rum raisin pudding (as in the British kind) with sauce and vanilla ice cream. 

Throughout the party there was lots of fun and games. Everyone was given a sheet of paper and had to write down who they thought would win. The first games were taste testing - beer and canned coffee. Like at the ES bonenkai, there was guessing of the year's top school news stories. We also played bingo - and - I WON! I was shocked and everyone cheered and applauded me. As a reward, I was able to pick a gift (everyone had brought 1 gift). Next we played a massive game of rock paper scissors. It began with the principal standing up and everyone who played the same or winning sign was able to continue on. Somehow I managed to predict it every time, and in the end it was me, one of my JTEs, and the nurse playing against each other. At this point the principal stepped down, and it was a 3-way battle. We knocked out my JTE and then - I WON! I couldn't believe it! All the teachers were roaring outrageously and I got lots of high fives and hugs. My prize this time was a massive bottle of locally brewed sake. I spent the rest of the night getting congratulations and comments about how strong I was. 

After nearly 4 hours the party had died down a bit and it was time for us to leave. I caught a taxi with the vice principal and another teacher. Since it was a short distance, the driver kindly let us out without paying. About half the teachers were going to the afterparty, but I was tired and was already catching the last train, so if I stayed out I would have had to stay until 6am the next morning. As it was, I had to wait a while for the train, so I rather awkwardly sat with my vice principal in the train station. Then we slept on the train ride home.

Christmas in Japan is not much of a holiday - well, in fact, its not a holiday at all. I had to go to work that day! Thankfully it is winter vacation and there were no classes, so I was able to arrive late. I woke up Yana early and she opened her presents. One of my predecessors bought a little fake Christmas tree, so happily we were able to use that. I was planning on celebrating Japanese style, with fried chicken and roll cake, but by the time I went to the store after work it was all sold out! So I ended up buying the mixes to make them ourselves. Overall, not a very eventful Christmas, but Yana really enjoyed getting some new toys.

New Year's in Japan is a much, much bigger deal that Christmas. We didn't do much to celebrate. I watched the popular music TV show that airs every New Year's Eve here. We put Yana to bed early and stayed up until midnight. People here typically visit a temple, but we decided not to, because I wasn't exactly sure what to do once I got there and we didn't feel like keeping Yana up so late. Maybe next year! 

November to December

I've had a fairly busy last week of November here!

Yana ready for her first day of preschool...in Japan!

On Wednesday Yana started at preschool! She attended for three days with Justin, while I was at work. She struggles a bit, but has made a best friend already and she seems to enjoy it well enough.

On Friday I had a very uneventful day, as the JHS students had tests. I pretty much sat at my desk all morning, after which I felt guilty, so in the afternoon I made up a game for my 2nd graders to play.

On Saturday afternoon we headed to a nearby JET's house for a Thanksgiving celebration party. American Thanksgiving, that is. Which is kind of ironic, because the host is from New Zealand. Anyway, that was really fun! And we got to eat lots of yummy food - even a Turkey! Yana enjoyed herself too, and got lots of attention as usual.

On Sunday Chizu ES had a happyoukai, a recital, from 12:15 to 3:45. I brought Justin and Yana along to watch. Each grade did a performance and at the end all the students in the school played an instrumental song together. This year they chose Let it Go (surprise, surprise). We spotted Yana's friend Shi-chan from preschool, so the two of them played together Shi-chan fell asleep. Then Yana smashed her face off the floor, so I had to take her out because she was crying. People are so nice here, so one of the office staff gave her a juice box and that helped.

Chizu Elementary School happyoukai. That's the entire student body.

On Sunday evening the ES teachers had a bonenkai - end of year party - which I attended. I took a rented bus into the city with some other teachers. We had the party at the Hope Star Tottori hotel. It was up in a pretty nice and huge Japanese-style room. The party was fun because we played team games and in the end our team won! We got prizes too, a soup mug. The meal was mostly seafood, so I didn't eat much, but there was a tiny steak and a slice of melon which I enjoyed (I did eat some of the other food too).

On Monday the JHS has tests again, so I decided to take paid leave. I used to opportunity to go to the preschool with Yana. I was able to meet her teacher and see what kinds of things they do. I also took the opportunity to write down the massive list of things the kids need (pajamas, apron, face mask, hand washing towels, etc.). Yana seemed to be doing alright, although she really struggles with lunch. Took her about half an hour to get down one mouthful of food. I feel for her, but all the kids eat the same lunch, so hopefully she can learn to deal with it.

On Tuesday I worked at the ES, but in the afternoon I went over to the JHS with the 5th and 6th graders for a very special ceremony. In Japan, they have traditional ceremonies to bless newly built buildings. There was a whole Shinto ceremony going on on top of the roof, but unfortunately I couldn't really see what was going on. At the end a bunch of important delegates chucked hard lumps of mochi off the roof for people to catch. Everyone was talking about how fun it was, but it was actually terrifying! One piece hit my hand and actually cracked my thumbnail in two places! It was definitely interesting, but to be honest I'm not keen to experience it again!

The mochi cakes I caught.

Note the student covering his head.

On Thursday and Friday I have the SDC - Skills Development Conference. Each prefecture has one sometime around now. Its basically an ALT conference. I will make a separate post about how that goes.

New ALT Observation Lesson

I'm not sure if this is the norm for other prefectures - although I tend to think it isn't, as I hadn't heard about it before - but in Tottori the new ALTs have an observation lesson a few months after arrival. Its a chance for the prefectural advisors, their BOE, and their main school to connect and see how the ALT is adjusting and performing.

Of course the idea of all these people coming to watch me teach made my stomach churn and I worried about the impending day of Wednesday, November 19th. What made it worse was that the Monday before, my JTE was away, so we literally had no chance to talk about the lesson. I wasn't sure what to expect at all.

I arrived at Chizu JHS on Wednesday, and the day began like any other. In the first period I taught the 3-2 class. Next was second period with the 2-2 class...and my observation lesson. I went back to the teacher's room and gathered my things. I exchanged my fleece sweater for my suit jacket and tucked in my shirt. My JTE and I went up to class.

I was expecting my observers to be there already, but I found the class to contain only my students. A few minutes after we started, they filed in. I tried my best to ignore them, but I think there were maybe five or more people watching me - my principal and vice principal, my supervisor from the BOE, and at least two people from the prefecture. I felt my cheeks heating up and the lesson really swung into gear, and the intense burning of my face wasn't helped by the fact that the students had turned on the heaters for the first time and had decided on a hellfire-like temperature. 

Overall I felt like my performance was pretty good. I walked around the class. I spoke loudly and clearly. The students were well-behaved and asked me lots of questions, since they knew they were being watched.

After the class, I met up with M, the prefectural ALT advisor, and we had a private meeting together. Meanwhile, the rest of the observers had a meeting with my JTE. I found this meeting really beneficial. Since M is American, she is a great person to talk to and I always find her helpful and understanding. We were able to talk a lot about how the schools are using me and what she thought of the lesson. I was so thrilled to hear from her that they like me and want me to stay for the whole three years! It really made me feel great to know that I have been doing a good job. I was also able to discuss the preschool situation with M, and thankfully they also seemed to have realized it would be best for Yana to join. M told me about the BOE and school's concerns about me, which were 1) that we didn't own a car, and 2) that because we didn't own a car we would have difficulties doing things with other ALTs. I thought it was hilarious that these were their two major concerns...I mean, I was expecting it would be something way worse! It was thoughtful though, that they worry about me like that. 

After about an hour, M went to talk with the BOE and my principal and vice principal without my JTE. I sat semi-awkwardly at my desk, chatting with my JTE. Once M and co. were done, we went to see them off at the entrance and bowed a million times. My supervisor told me he would push to have Yana enter the preschool, which I am so greatful for. Even though I was really nervous about the day, I felt like it was a really good opportunity to have everyone communicate and I'm so glad it happened.


Note: Since then, Yana has been approved for a trial at the preschool, with the hopes of starting for real in December! My supervisor went to talk to the head of the school about it. Additionally, one of our local acquaintances - on his own initiative after hearing about it from us - went to speak to the school about why Yana wasn't being allowed to enter. I was stunned by his kindness, especially since he runs his own separate school (another kind of forest school). So, Justin will attend with Yana for three days next week. Hopefully she does alright and can join! I will try to write a more detailed update afterwards.

Chizu JHS Bunkasai 2014

Minus the students missing to the right, this is the entire student body.

On Monday my JHS hosted its bunkasai, or culture festival. I see it as a kind of partner to the sports festival. So its a day dedicated to celebrating artsy and cultural things, like tea ceremony, singing, art, calligraphy, flower arranging, and even English.

I brought Justin and Yana along for the day, and we arrived at work at 8am. We had to wait around for a bit until the opening ceremony began at 8:45am. It was held across from the school in the public gym, since ours is still under construction. 

Like any Japanese event, the day began with speeches. There were so many speeches, I kind of lost track. But it included my two speech contest students giving their speeches. The audience was much larger than at the contest, and the poor girls were noticeably nervous, but they did great! 

There was also a very long and detailed presentation about the life cycle of wasps, including photos taken every day over the course of several months while a wasp built a nest. I'm assuming the student must have won some sort of prize for his research/presentation and thats why he was giving it again, because it was kind of a random addition otherwise. 

Each grade also gave their own presentations. I can't remember what the 1st graders did, but the 2nd graders talked about some kind of social project and the 3rd graders talked about their trip to Okinawa, which also included a very strange and confusing comedic short film they made.

Lastly there was a performance by the brass band. They played 3 songs, including the theme from Lupin III and Sing, Sing, Sing. It was great!

Finally we had a lunch break around 11:45, thank goodness, because it was freezing cold in the gym and Yana was going bonkers from sitting for so long. I had packed a lunch for us (the other teachers bought a lunch box, but it was around $60!!! No, thanks.) so we ate in the staff kitchen.

After lunch we wandered around the school and looked at all the things on display. Yana got a lot of attention during this time; lots of my students came up to squeeze her cheeks or touch her hair. I felt like a security detail for a celebrity or something.

Some of the student artwork decorating the hallways.

After lunch was the second part of the festival, and the main event - the singing. Each class performed two songs, one the same and one different. There was also an accompanying piano player and conductor from each performing class.

Lastly, the entire student body performed the school song and another song all together. Then they announced the winning class - 3-2 - and they gave an encore performance while bawling uncontrollably.

There were a few more speeches to close up the day. During the second half, Yana had made some friends with some girls sitting nearby. At one point they decided to go out into the front hall to play tag and hide-and-seek together. So they were playing out there. During one speech, all of a sudden the spotlights began to move. They swept over the crowd and focused on the back door, which led to the front hall. In the single most mortifying moment of my life, Yana chose that EXACT MOMENT to open the doors and peer through - while the spotlight was directly on her and everyone had turned to look. Then she closed the doors. And opened them and stuck out her head again. And closed them again. And finally the student who was supposed to emerge from the doors came out (he was dressed in the track and field uniform and ran up onto the stage) and I was put out of my embarrassment. Everyone was laughing and of course because she's blonde and foreign everyone knows its my kid. It was pretty hilarious, really, but I still can't believe she chose that exact moment to peek through the doors!

So the whole event ended around 3pm. In all, to be honest, it was kind of boring. Having to sit there through all those speeches that I didn't understand and it being really cold was not fun. I was expecting something more exciting and interactive. However, I was actually being paid to attend, so I was happy to support my students and I did enjoy seeing the art and the flower arrangements! I'm thinking if I'm here next year maybe I can do a little English booth to be more involved! We'll see :)

Some of the flower arrangements.

What I Actually Do As an ALT

Obviously I knew before I applied for JET that the job entailed teaching English to students. But before arriving and in the first month I felt really nervous and uncertain about what exactly my job would be. Its hard for new JETs to know, since ESID (every situation is different) is the unofficial JET motto.

Here's what I do:

I teach at 2 schools, a junior high school and an elementary school. The only other school in town is an agricultural high school and I am the only ALT (aside from one who apparently visits the high school every now and then, but no one seems to know who he is).

I work at the JHS on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So Tuesdays and Thursdays are ES days.

My contract hours are something like 8am to 4pm, but I arrive early and leave late every day.

I have anywhere from 2 to 5 classes a day. There are a total of 6 class periods, but I've never had 6 classes in a day - thank goodness! I only ever have 2 classes at ES. So my average is probably around 14 classes a week, give or take. Could be upwards around 18, though. Maximum ever would be 22, but that's likely never going to happen (and would be insane!). The class periods are 50 minutes in JHS and 45 minutes in ES. But often there are special schedules, so classes are shortened.

At school I spend a lot of time "desk warming." I am sometimes busy with classes, yes, but often I have at least a few free periods and there are always special things going on which I am excluded from, either because I have no idea whats happening or because I have been told I don't need to participate/ignored. At my desk I work on lesson ideas, study Japanese, browse the internet, or stare out the window. Sometimes I chat with my coworkers, but often I'm alone or with few others in the teacher's room.

At ES I have a few extra responsibilities outside of class. Every morning (except for two days a month) I read an English book to the 4th-1st graders. I go to a different class each time. I am also expected to play with the kids during recess. Sometimes I play the Japanese version of tag or go see what the pet rabbit will eat. Usually I play with the younger kids, since they're not too cool for me. Plus I don't teach them, so I'm more interesting to them. Once a month there are clubs, so I attend those as well. I went to cooking club most recently, but I want to attend the walking places club (I have no idea what to call it), because it seems like a great way to visit local spots. I also help dish out the teacher's lunches. I admit to an ulterior motive - its the perfect way to control my portions! But I do like to help out.

Sometimes we do random activities at ES, like digging up sweet potatoes that the students planted. Unfortunately I feel like I miss out on a lot, since I'm only there twice a week (or less if theres a holiday).

As far as ES lesson planning goes, I don't have to do much. The lessons are all pre-made. Sometimes the HRT (homeroom teacher) wants to rearrange things, but usually we follow the lessons. I have been trying out some different activities, because I feel like the pre-made lessons are a bit redundant and boring.

I only have 2 co-teachers at Es and I play a larger role in class than at JHS. Every class starts with a greeting (hello, how are you). Then we usually do some awful chant from the interactive textbook (we use these smart computer screen things). Next we review or learn the target vocabulary. We tend to do 2 activities using the target vocabulary and grammar. The teacher usually explains the game, and I join in or walk around and see how they're doing. The activities are things like keyword game (students make pairs and put an eraser between them. When I say the key word, they try to grab the eraser first), pointing game (like hand twister, using the images in their textbook), simon says, bingo, making pairs, etc. At the end of class, students have to write a reflection.

At JHS I have more to do and more classes to attend, but I also have less importance in the classroom. I sometimes help make activities for the students, but since I'm still learning I usually follow the JTE's lead. Its also difficult because I can't attend every class, so I'm never sure of where they are in the textbook when I'm teaching. At ES they only ever have English once a week, so I know exactly where I left off.

I teach with 5 JTEs at the JHS. Two are in charge of a special needs class, which only has 2 students (a 1st grader and a 2nd grader). Because of that we spend a lot of time just drilling the vocabulary and sample dialogue. Its a bit boring, to be honest. I don't have that class often (maybe once a week), but I'm hoping to propose some activities to make things a bit more lively.

My third JTE only teaches 1st graders. She is super nice and is the same age as me! She lets me do the most in class. I do things like greetings, handing out papers, modelling pronunciation, checking written work, and writing answers on the board (quizzes and homework). Sometimes I do things on my own, like explain an activity I made or give a short presentation (I just did one introducing my grandmother and had them take a quiz about it). Usually the classes start with a review quiz of the last section, then they take notes or review grammar, and lastly some kind of worksheets or activities.

The fourth JTE teaches 2nd and 3rd graders. I teach with her most often. I don't do much in her class, but the students write the most English, so I mostly spend time checking their work as I wander around. I don't even get to help write on the board or even hand out papers, but I do model dialogue and vocabulary (of course). Recently I have been making more activities for this grade, though, which is great. I always get to introduce my activities. Usually they just take notes and do 1 or 2 activities - often writing or speaking.

The last JTE is actually the vice principal, and she teaches the 3rd graders. She is the main teacher, and the other JTE mainly walks around and helps the students or models dialogue with me. I don't do much in the 3rd grade classes because they do a lot of listening to grammar lectures and translating into Japanese, which I can't help with too much. I mostly just hand out papers and model vocabulary and dialogue. We don't really do any games or activities aside from pairs saying the dialogue to each other. Sometimes this JTE engages me in conversation (what did you think about the sports festival?), which I guess is good for the students to hear, but its random.

At JHS there are some clubs, and some ALTs join them, but I haven't. No one approached me about it and it seems like its mostly sports and band, so I'm not super interested. There are events like the sports festival and the culture festival which I participate in or attend. I also do things like listen to the students practicing their singing and attend pep rallies. Then there was the demonstration lesson and professional development which I had to take part in. In general, I'm not as involved outside of class. I'm hoping to eventually change that a bit. My first goal is to set up and English board, where students can interact with English informally. Starting small.

Anyway, that's a general overview of what I do at work!

Recent Events

I want to write about some things that have happened recently, but they don't really deserve their own post, so here's a collection of short stories:

Picture Day
Last week I received a phone call literally as I was stepping out the front door. It was the JHS vice principal calling to let me know that it was staff picture day and I needed to wear a suit! It was lucky timing, because normally I would have left home already, but I happened to be running late that day.
The picture was taken after school (of course, so I had all day for my hair to go crazy and frizzy). We all lined up outside in front of the school. The photographers were super meticulous...they were having people stand up so they could smooth out their pants and were rearranging ties, shirt collars, and suit jackets. Even the principal was reprimanded twice for not sitting up straight! Anyway, it was an experience that really solidified my new reality...like, now I am officially a part of Chizu JHS history!

"Pep Rally"
There is a big marathon for students in Yonago, so the day before we had a a cheering ceremony. It was nothing like a North American pep rally, but I guess its the closest translation. The students all stood lined up in the hall (not hallway, but the performance hall). The team members walked into the hall and all the students clapped. Then they sang the school song. After that several team members each gave a short speech. Then there was more singing, more speeches, and a coordinated drumming/clapping which all the teachers and students participated in (I just stood there awkwardly, yay).

Demonstration Lesson
On October 24th I had a demonstration lesson in a 2nd grade JHS class. I didn't quite understand what all it entailed until it happened. My JTE and I had spent some time preparing - she made this survey for the students about smartphones. I helped her make a powerpoint presentation about the results. Then we shared the results with the students and had them write opinion compositions about the topic of smartphones using the target grammar point (I think ~. Because ~.) There were like 20 people standing in the classroom and in the hallway watching, which was really nerve-wracking. Most of them were teachers from the ES, so it wasn't so bad, but I did recognize the head of the entire board of education. Anyway, it seemed to go over well! Directly after the lesson we had several hours of professional development - some guy came in and did a presentation on action research, then my JTE and I talked about how the class went, and finally we got into groups and discussed the lesson. It was really exhausting! I'm so glad its over, but now I have an observation lesson on November 19th, where I am observed by the head of Tottori JETs and English education!

Mount Mitoku Fire Festival
We hemmed and hawed a lot over whether we should go to this festival, since Mt. Mitoku is about 2.5 hours away, including 1 train change and a bus. In the end it looked too cool and I knew I would regret not going (it included walking over fire!). So we set off at 8:30am. We arrived at Mt. Mitoku around 11am. Upon disembarking the bus, Yana burst into tears because she didn't get to give the bus driver money (kids are free). She was inconsolable, but a sweet Japanese man came up to us and gave Yana a bag of candy and cookies. He took her by the hand and showed us the way up to where the festival was being held. The Japanese people here are so kind, especially to Yana.
We looked all around and examined the various buildings on the grounds. We drank some free sake, warmed over a fire and served in bamboo cups with a little salt. There was some kind of rice porridge soup as well, but I'm not super fond of porridge, so I decided not to try it. We met up with our old man friend again, and he gave us another box of chocolates, which he had won at the gambling thing they had going. He was super helpful, and told us where to buy the hachimaki headbands for walking over the fire.
Yana was extremely popular during this whole thing. We had our picture taken several times, like when we were washing our hands. At one point two ladies actually stole her away and were doing an impromptu photoshoot with her. Honestly, going out with her is like attending a celebrity. Sometimes she waves to people as she walks down the street. She'll tell them, "konnichiwa," and they go into fits. Its ridiculous!
The main event began at 1:30, so around 12:45 we took a seat on one of the giant blue tarps laid on the ground. We weren't sure if it was okay to sit there, but some kindly old ladies beckoned us closer and even shared their mat. A lady sitting behind us with her dog got a lot of attention from Yana, but she seemed pretty smitten too, so they played together through most of the ceremony.
The ceremony consisted of a procession, chanting, ritualistic axe moves, lighting the fires, archery, and throwing wooden wish tablets on the fire. Finally they lit the walking fire. When the greenery had mostly burned, they pushed it into a pit. Over the pit they laid a bunch of the logs, dousing them with a little water to cool them. The old ladies sitting beside us helped us tie our headbands and literally pushed us into the line (very forceful old ladies!). To cross the fire we had to first bow to the altar, then rub our feet in salt, cross the fire with our hands together (like prayer), and then bow again. We got a free mochi rice cake as well. It was all very fast, so unfortunately it was difficult to get pictures. The fire was very hot, and a bit painful, but it was like 3 seconds to cross, so not really long enough to hurt too much.
Afterwards we caught the bus back to Kurayoshi station, went and bought some delicious bread from a bakery, and rode the train back to Chizu! It was a long day!

Eastern Tottori Speech Contest 2014

Today I had to wake up very early to arrive at school by 7:00am. Today was the eastern Tottori speech contest! Junior high schoolers from all around eastern Tottori gathered today for the competition. There are 3 parts of the contest - the 7th and 8th grade recitations, 9th grade recitations, and 9th grade original speeches. The winner of the original speeches gets to go to Tokyo for the all-Japan contest!

I had 2 speech students this year; both 2nd graders (grade 8). A did a recitation about the rabbit of Inaba, a local folk legend. N did a recitation about a demon who wanted to be friends with children. We spent the last few weeks practicing for this contest, sometimes staying at school past 6pm!

We all rode together in my JTE's car. We arrived pretty early, because my JTE was helping with the contest. But soon enough all the other students, ALTs, and JTEs began to arrive. The competition was at a library and there was a museum across the street with a huge courtyard, so everyone was practicing there.

The contest started with an opening ceremony in an auditorium at 9:00am. After that we divided up into our groups, so I went with my students to a smaller meeting room, where they would be giving their speeches. A went second and N went 7th. There were 17 students in total in that group. I was the only one with 2 students giving speeches in that group, but many other ALTs had 9th graders as well (and I didn't). My students did really great! Their comment cards mentioned that they were nice and loud, and I was very happy to see that because it was something we practiced for.

Inside the auditorium.

After their group was finished we went outside and ate lunch in the museum courtyard. We then went back into the auditorium and listened to TWENTY EIGHT of the 9th grade original speeches. It was very long, very hot, very dark, and everyone was extremely sleepy. I admit I fell asleep a few times. I really respect the judges for being able to deal with that!

The 9th grade speeches finally finished 3 hours later and at 4:00pm we had the awards ceremony. My students didn't place. To be honest, I don't agree with the student who was chosen as the winner from their group. She went over the time limit, among other things. She wasn't bad, but I don't think she was the best. I DID agree with the girl who was chosen as winner of the 9th grade original speeches. She was very good and her pronunciation was amazing! She very obviously stood out, so I'm glad she was chosen!

All of the participants in this year's contest.

I feel a lot more prepared for next year's speech contest now. Going into this I really had no idea what I was doing, so now I feel better having experienced it!

Chizu Chugakko Undokai 2014

A gorgeous view of the mountains from the ground.

Today was the JHS's sports festival! Everyone from the school participates and for me it was treated as a work day, even though it was a Saturday. However, we all Monday off in lieu, which is great. On Friday Kyoto-sensei invited Justin and Yana, so we packed a lunch and all came along together. They had tables and chairs set up for important guests, so we got to sit right in the front row.

The festival began at 9:30am. There were a lot of people there too, sitting all around the ground (thats what its called...Chizu ground). The students had been practicing almost non-stop all this week, so I kind of knew what to expect, but there were still a few surprises! The festival began with all the students doing a military-style march onto the ground. As a teacher, I had to stand along the long side as they marched. The procession began with the school flag and the Japanese flag and then each class came in separately, with a flag bearer holding their hand-made flags. After that there were some speeches, raising of flags, and singing of the school song. Next we had to do taiso, which is like warm-up exercises. Everyone did them, even the visitors!

Some of the flags for each class.

There were 8 events before lunch and another 9 after. There were all sorts of different events and most of them are very different to western eyes. The first event was a catapult ball catch relay thing - students had to run and get a ball and bucket, one went to a catapult and stomped on it to launch the ball, and the other had to catch it in the bucket. There were lots of other relays, one including a staff team, so I participated! I was the 6th runner...unfortunately our team was last place.  Justin and Yana and I also participated in this "treasure hunt" which was basically a fishing game, where we had to catch a prize bag with a hook on a string and pole and then run with it to the finish line. The prizes? Three packs of tissues. Before lunch there was also a girl's dance, which was pretty amazing, especially since they did all the choreography themselves. The boys had their own display, which was some amazing gymnastics and strength displays.

Chizu boys' event.

This incredible feat done during the boys' event.

We had a pretty long lunch break, so after eating I wandered around with Yana. We met up with T, a cute little boy who is the son of a Japanese lady and her Dutch husband. They recently moved to Chizu and T attends the forest kindergarten. On Friday night we actually were invited to a potluck with them and a bunch of their friends, so Yana was happy to see T again. We went over and talked to his mom, S, and she brought me over to meet another S, a British guy who lives in Chizu with his Japanese wife. Two of their kids are actually my students. Anyway, Chizu is really international for such a small town! I called Justin over and we really enjoyed chatting with them. S's wife is pretty good at English, so its nice to have an easy conversation without the need for a translator. Yana enjoyed playing with a bunch of kids.

Other events included a massive group tug-o-war,"Chizuneyland" relay, Love Love pants relay, and various relays where teams and pairs were tied together at their legs. Parents of students participated in a lot of the events, which I thought was nice.

Tug-o-war.

"Chizuneyland" relay.

The weather had been pretty hot and sunny, but after lunch it started getting cooler and overcast. This was a really nice change until it started raining and getting so windy that people had to hold the tents down. After some deliberation, it seems they decided to end the sports day early (around 3pm), so we missed out on seeing the group jump rope competition. They are doing it as a tie-breaker on Tuesday, but that's an ES day for me, so I won't be there to see it.

Afterwards, Justin, Yana, and I walked home in the rain. We passed two old ladies, who offered a small umbrella for Yana. It was really very sweet, but...the umbrella was covered in some kind of nasty black grease.

At home I had time to rest a bit and change clothes, but at 6pm I was picked up for my very first enkai (work drinking party)! We went to a Chinese restaurant in Tottori city. It was a celebration of sports day and also my welcoming party! I only discovered the last part upon my arrival, when I was informed I would have to make a speech. Luckily I'm not really expected to make long speeches, so it wasn't too bad.

At the enkai teachers were seated by lottery. I had a predetermined seat, though, beside the vice principal. The enkai started with a speech by the principal. Then we all did a kampai (cheers) and then the food started arriving! We were brought out all sorts of plates of food throughout the party. My favourites were the shumai and some sort of beef, onion, and pepper stirfry. There was also an amazing mango ice cream at the end.

After eating for a bit, I had to give my speech. I just said something about how everyday in Japan is interesting and fun and I'm learning about Japanese culture so I want to study Japanese. It was all in Japanese, but I got lots of applause anyway, so that's a good sign I guess. Next was Anje question time, so some people asked me questions, like what food does Justin like to cook?

The rest of the enkai basically followed suit - lots of speeches and drinking and clapping and cheering. Mostly about sports day, but one girl actually just passed her test to become a teacher yesterday, so she talked about that. The vice principal translated some of it for me. I also had some fun talking with the 3 guys I was sitting with. The computer teacher liked having me guess what all the other teachers taught. I got them all wrong.

The enkai ended around 9:30pm, and then we drove home. Often there are second and third parties, but the teacher who drove me went straight home to Chizu and I was kind of glad because I was so exhausted!

Sports Day Practice

A view of the courtyard from the second floor of the JHS.

Lately the kids at JHS have been preoccupied with practicing for the sports day on Saturday. They have been practicing for over a week and even have full days off classes for practice. It seems a little crazy, but they actually benefit from it I think, because they have to do crazy intricate dances, group jump roping, and military-style marching, to name a few activities.

After my two classes this morning (both self-introduction classes still), I went to watch them practice for a bit. It was pretty intense! They spent about an hour just on getting positioned properly for the dance practice!

The entrance to the school, with all the shoe boxes for staff and guests.

I went back to school early, and since there were no students around, I took the opportunity to wander the school and take some photos. I popped my head into the shop classroom too, and saw that the students had made some amazing things out of wood! There are also painted banners in the front hallway from each grade for the sports day. These students are really talented!

Oh, and lunch today was actually pretty good! It was a hamburger patty with a bun and ketchup, vegetable and some kind of fish salad, 4 delicious grapes, milk, and an alphabet soup with mushrooms, a weird white sausage, and vegetables. The soup was okay, but torturous to eat. I still don't know how I was expected to eat freaking alphabet noodles with chopsticks!

Murals in the front hallway for sports day.

Some things I've noticed about school here:

The ES kids who walk to school do so in groups. There is a leader for each group, who carries a yellow flag. Near the school, teachers guard crosswalks and also carry flags. The local police also guard the crosswalks as well.

Students are responsible for bringing a teacher's materials to class. I felt really awkward today as one kid carried my laptop and the other carried my projector.

One of the classrooms I teach in.

The End of My First Week Teaching

The front entrance of the newly built JHS.

Today was a bit exhausting as I taught three classes. They were all self introduction classes, so while I’m getting pretty confident in my lesson, it’s also getting a bit old.

The kids have had a range of reactions. The elementary students yesterday were most impressed and excited. But the third years today were overall unresponsive. I’m sure they have the ability, but hormones, I guess!

I was supposed to have a class first thing this morning, but my schedule was changed a bit, so I was able to relax and prepare until 3rd period. First I taught 3-1, so 9th graders. Right after that I taught 1-2, so 7th graders.

Next was lunch break, which was actually pretty edible today. It was fried rice, some kind of soup, some kind of seafood dumplings (shrimp I think), and vegetables with chicken cubes. And milk, of course. I was told it was a Chinese menu.

Today's kyuushoku (school lunch), minus the egg soup thing.

After lunch I had my last class, 2-2. They were possibly the best class I’ve had at JHS so far. One of the students is half British, so maybe they’re more interested because of that, I don’t know.

We’ve been having the students do self introductions as well, so their name and what they like. I got some great answers today:

One kid who introduced himself as me (‘Hello, I’m Anje’)...
One kid who said he lives in Canada...
One boy who said he liked aesthetic salons...

And one kid who said he loved me and later during Q&A time asked if I liked him too.

Something interesting that I’ve learned is that students are required to close their eyes for around 30 seconds before the start of each class. Also, they have to clean the teacher’s room. I knew about the cleaning of their own classrooms and such, but I didn’t realize that they did the teacher’s room as well. It makes me feel really awkward as I sit there and they are literally on the ground rubbing it with a cloth.

Another task I had today was to record myself doing two speeches. There are two students doing a speech competition in September, so I was making a recording for them to practice from. It was really hard! It took me three tries to have it slow enough and even then it was just barely inside the minimum allowed time. I didn't realize how difficult it is to talk that slowly. 

After work, I was walking home, and all of a sudden I heard "ANJE-SENSEI, SAYONARA!!!" from behind me. I guess one of the kids from elementary school had spotted me from inside a building!

Overall, I enjoyed my first week as a teacher. It seems like things will go well :)

My First Class

As I've mentioned, I go to the JHS on Mon / Wed / Fri. However, we discovered yesterday that the ES opening ceremony was on a Wednesday, so it was decided that I should go there until 10am and then return to the JHS .

I arrived a bit early at the ES, as the ceremony started at 9:00 am. I used this chance to give kocho-sensei a gift for the school, which was several books in English. There is a famous Canadian author from my city ( Robert Munsch), and I included two of his books.

I sat in my desk until the ceremony began, watching the kids walk past the teacher's room to the gym. Some of them stared, some waved, and one stopped dead in her tracks with a look of shock and awe. I also met a lady from the town office, who was there to take notes and photos for a column in the town newsletter!

After all the students had entered the gym, I came in and stood at the back. Kocho-sensei did an opening type of speech first, which also included a lecture about greetings. He even had a graph for all the kids! I have no idea how one makes a graph about greetings, but I guess this is serious business. After his speech, there was another speech introducing me. At one point he told them all to look where I was standing or something, because all of a sudden the faces of 200 kids were glued to where I was and the little first graders at the back were all leaping in the air trying to get a look at me. Then Kyoto-sensei showed me to the stage, and then it was time for my self introduction! I basically said the same thing as at the JHS. I exited the stage and stood with the other teachers.

Next up was an awards ceremony for swimming. I was standing beside the first graders, and one little boy caught my eye as he fidgeted with his shirt and nametag and kept whining about how hot it was. I feel ya, kid. There was also a huge dragonfly circulating the gym, which caused a lot of the kids to lose attention. After that was a review of the importance of greetings and several other things. The teacher who lead this did so by holding up the written hiragana which was the first letter of the word (ex. A for aisatsu, greetings). At one point he held up mi, and one little boy excitedly shouted, 'MISO!'

At the end of the ceremony, I went back to the staff room and had a very awkward interview with the lady from the newsletter. I felt bad for her, she had no idea how to translate what she wanted to ask me. We were a little late, so Kyoto-sensei called the JHS to let them know and the newsletter lady walked me over there.

I WAS Supposed to Have a Lesson first period with Handicapped students, but I missed That Being at ES. So My first Lesson WAS at half past one pm with 2 nd Graders (Grade 8). the When I got to School I did some planning with Lesson the JTE for that class, which helped me feel a little more secure.

At 11:20 am, N-san came by the staff room. She held out a folder to me with some sticky notes on it, which started 'Anje, Thank you for your BIG help!' I was confused, like, what did I to help whom? Anyway, I read a little further and I guess someone wanted me to help translate and proofread some information on Chizu! I'm actually pretty excited, to think that I can help with something like that. She also had me fill out some information and stamp my personal seal on some documents for health insurance. For some reason Justin had been named as the family provider instead of me ?! Anyway, the paperwork was to show that Justin and Yana are my dependents.

Around 12:45 I went to the kitchen to eat lunch with Kyoto-sensei. Today was rice, milk, chikuwa and bamboo salad thing, fried fish with tonkatsu sauce, and tofu and wakame soup. The fish was actually alright! I was' Thrilled with the t Shikuwa or Soup Though, so I WAS glad WHEN Kyoto-Sensei HAD to leave Quickly. But then the Office Ladies Came in to Eat with me! They're all really Understanding, Though. I feel bad! Oh, I also had to pay for my school lunch today! It is Y315 a day! I kinda dislike the lunches, but its so freaking cheap. Its almost worth it anyway, because the rice is always good and I can take the milk home for Yana or for cooking.

After lunch, at 1:30 pm was my first class! I was a bit nervous, but actually not that much because it was mostly just a self-introduction class rather than actually teaching. J-sensei came to pick me up from the teacher's room and we ran to class together (ran because we were late!). Our lesson plan was to do greetings, have me to a brief verbal self-introduction, give the students a quiz about me and have them guess the answers. I was amused to see one student use a pencil to answer the multiple choice questions - she has carved away the end and written A, B, C, D on each side and would roll the pencil to get a random answer.

Then I did a powerpoint presentation about myself and also included the answers to the quiz. In one slide I had a collage of me with Canadian things ... one boy thought the beaver was a capybara! After the presentation, J-sensei went over the answers again. Lastly, we had each student do a short self introduction. They had to say their name, what they liked, and what they play. One student said, 'I like keshigomi (eraser).' I could not stop laughing ! The class (2-1) is really energetic and silly, but they're a bit shy when it comes to English. They all speak very loudly in Japanese and so quietly in English that I had to stand at each person's desk to hear them speak. They seemed happy enough with the class though, so I feel okay about that!

My First (Real) Day at Chizu JHS

Today was my first day of real school! Its also actually just my third day at school. I have yet to visit the elementary school either, so it feels strange, like I only have one school. I kinda wish I only had one school. I don’t know how people with like 9+ schools do it.

Anyway, I walked to school, in the rain again, and I guess I must have been a bit early because I didn’t pass any students. I got there at about 8:05 or 8:10am.

The bell rang at 8:15am, and in the teacher’s room we had morning announcements. I didn’t understand most of it, but I knew that today was testing day. I also knew that I had to give a speech in front of the whole school (all 157 students and about 21 teachers). After morning announcements the teacher’s room emptied quickly. I had no idea where people went, but a lot of them are homeroom teachers, so my guess is they went to homeroom. I sat anxiously at my desk until finally at 8:40 Kyoto-sensei (vice principal) showed me into the hall where the opening ceremony was. All the students and other teachers were already in place. Kyoto-sensei showed me where to stand, up at the front between her and Kocho-sensei (principal). I was told to wear a suit for the ceremony, but truthfully only me, the principal, and the vice principal were wearing jackets! Everyone else was in black and white (or neutral), but not necessarily collared button up shirts.

First, Kocho-sensei introduced me and sort of discussed how I was taking my predecessor’s place. Then it was my turn. I gave a pretty short speech, in Japanese:

Good morning! Nice to meet you.
My name is Anje Merkies. I am 24 years old. I come from Ontario, Canada.
Six years ago I was an exchange student in Osaka.
My hobbies are baking and photography.
From now on, let’s have fun together!
Please take care of me.

After that there was a lot of bowing and another speech from Kocho-sensei, which included a lecture on saying greetings loudly. And then more bowing.

Once the ceremony was over, the students went back to their classes for tests, and I was left mostly alone in the teacher’s room for the morning. At 12:30 it was lunch time. As the teacher across from me, N, put it, kyuushoku (school lunch) is scary! I was pretty confused about what to do; all the teachers had disappeared again and I didn’t even know where to get lunch, let alone eat it. So I waited it out, took a bathroom break, and when I came back Kyoto-sensei was sitting eating and told me I could eat with her and to get a lunch tray from the kitchen. We were also joined by one of the office ladies, which was nice because Kyoto-sensei ate her lunch in record speed and left the two of us alone before the OL had even sat down properly. Lunch today was bread, mikan (tangerine), milk, some sort of vinegary seaweed/cabbage salad, pumpkin with spaghetti sauce and cheese, and some sort of spaghetti seaweed thing. I managed to drink most of the milk, eat the mikan, half the bread, half the salad, and all of the pumpkin. I didn’t even try the spaghetti, mostly because I ran out of time, but to be honest I was terrified of the thing the whole time and was rather relieved. I wrapped my bread up for later though, because it was yummy.

After lunch, the OL showed me how to clean my tray and put away the dirty dishes. After lunch was a short break period, so all the teachers came back to the room. At this time a saleslady also came around, selling yakult and other yogurt drinks.

Lunch ended at 1:30, after which were more tests for the poor students. I ran out of things to do and started typing this blog. I spent the rest of the afternoon researching games and activities. At 3:40pm I had just started stuffing my face with a cookie when J-sensei came and asked if I was coming to the assembly! I didn't even know there was another one. This one seemed to be about sports awards, the upcoming sports day, and some kind of lecture about the school entrance area. Afterwards, I returned to my desk, but all the other teachers were elsewhere, much to the surprise of about 6 students who came in looking for someone and were met with only myself.

A little later, J-sensei brought a student to me, I guess she is a first year doing the speech contest in September. I had to pick a speech for her, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was instructed to pick something easy, so I chose some story about a red demon who wanted to be friends with children. 

I was hoping the rain would let up, but it didn't stop, so I decided to go home a little while after. As I left, three girls waved and shouted goodbye from an upstairs classroom. 

Home Internet Has Arrived!

Last night I decided to do an experiment and bake a cake in my rice cooker! I chose a recipe for carrot cake. I bought all the ingredients, with some help from the grocery store staff. But once I got home I realized I didn't have a grater for the carrots! Undeterred, I decided to try boiling the carrots and mashing them instead. It managed to work alright, even though it took forever and even though I had to use a rice scoop instead of a masher. I followed the recipe exactly, but once it was all mixed together it looked a bit wet, so I added a little more flour. I didn't want to doubt it, though, so I poured the batter into my rice cooker, pressed cook, and hoped for the best.

To my surprise, after two cook cycles, I had a cake! It was so light and spongey...and promptly fell and became a moist, dense cake. It was tasty, though! It actually tasted more of orange (from the zest) than carrot. My confidence has been bolstered by this attempt, so next maybe I'll try a chocolate cake! Flour and sugar and pretty expensive here, though. It was like $4 just for 2 cups of icing sugar!

Today I had my second day of work, at the JHS again. I walked in the rain this morning, passing several groups of students on the way. There was another omiyage treat on my desk this morning. I spent the morning chatting with my JTEs and working on my power point some more. I get along with them pretty well, and I'm so thankful for that! I suppose I've yet to see how it goes in the classroom, though. One of my JTEs, M-san, is the same age as me, so that's great!

I was told I could go home around 9 or 10am again. One of the office ladies brought me a slice of baumkuchen, which is really popular here! It is super delicious, but also expensive. Around lunchtime I decided to go home, since internet construction was today and Justin felt uneasy without me home. It had also stopped raining, so I figured I should take my chance.

The internet construction was long. They had to hook up the fibre, run the cable all around the ceilings and walls, and hook up a phone line. Our phone is awesome - it is touch screen, has a webcam/mic, and has free calling to anywhere in Chizu! We don't know our number though...Once the construction was done, a man from the BOE helped us set up the internet itself, which took forever because there was a set-up CD which refused to work on Justin's computer because it wasn't Japanese (mine doesn't have a drive). So he had to go and get his computer and bring it to our apartment. But he got it done! And set up wireless too! It was so great. We are supposed to have another internet appointment at our apartment on Monday, but I'm not sure why, since everything is set up already.

I also got my health card and pension book and finally paid the deposit on the apartment. Still waiting on the health cards for Justin and Yana. I also haven't signed my contract yet!