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 ハイカラ市 2014

Today my little town had a big event on called ハイカラ市. I'm not sure what it translates to exactly - I get plush city or high collar city from the translator. Anyway, the whole thing kicked off with a retro car parade at 9:30am (why must they do things so early here...). I wasn't entirely sure what to do or where to go after that, but luckily there were enough people that we could just follow the crowd.

We walked down what is basically the main shopping street of Chizu, where they had lots of different food stalls set up. One of the first ones was a stall selling blueberry products. The old man there gave us samples (dried blueberries and blueberry jam with yogurt) and started chatting with us. I guess his child lives in Vietnam and his grandchild lives in Vancouver. People always have such neat stories to tell foreigners! Anyway, he was really kind and invited us to come to visit the blueberry farm in the summer.

We continued walking along and made a quick stop at the deer burger stand, where Justin got his beloved meal. They also gave us free samples of deer croquettes, which were tasty! Across from that stand was Chinorin Shop, which is a new shop being opened by the agricultural high school students. They sell the produce they make for pretty cheap. We took a look around - I have never seen vegetables so big! The napa cabbage was as big as Yana and the carrots were as thick as my arm!

Along the way we also met a few of the elementary school students, who called out my name. We met a group of three girls, who were very excited to meet Yana. They love touching her "golden" hair.

We crossed over the river and continued exploring. I'd never actually been to this part of town, so it was a great way to explore. We checked out a traditional garden at the back of a restaurant, which was open to the public. After that we came to a crossroads. A guy tried to explain to use what was in each direction, but I didn't understand much of what he said. We turned right. There were lots more food stalls - selling everything from rice dumplings to grilled meat sticks to pizza to french toast. There were also some stalls selling small trinkets and things like second hand clothing. We stopped for a bit so Yana could watch a story being told for the kids.

The gorgeous garden.

We came across a lady who actually lives in our building and works at the town office for the newsletter. She told us we could dress in kimono and so we followed her to the place where that was. It was 2,500Y for the three of us, which is actually pretty cheap, I think.

We went upstairs and they had ladies help us get dressed. I have worn a yukata before - a summer kimono - but never a real kimono. I was strapped in there pretty tight! It wasn't an entirely authentic experience, though. I was wearing my jeans and t-shirt underneath, so I wasn't wearing any traditional underclothes or anything.

All dressed up!

After we were dressed we wandered around the street some more. I met one of the staff from the elementary school, who wanted to take pictures of me and then pictures of her with me. If we stood out before, we definitely stood out now! People were shrieking about the cuteness of Yana as we walked by. Some girl even snapped a photo as she ran by. I don't particularly mind, but its weird to think of how many people must have photos of Yana by now. 

The old cars were on display along the streets.

Unfortunately Yana was jumping around too much, so her obi came off. We went back to the house where we got dressed, but Yana just wanted out of it by then, so we all changed back. After that she was a bit grouchy, so we ended up going home. It was a great event, though! Tons of stuff to do! If we're here another year, I'll definitely look forward to it. 

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.