I think I've come to realize that updating this blog every other day probably won't happen as my schedule is rather full and exhausting. All free time goes to mindless lounging.
I woke up this morning a bit panicked. It was my first day teaching!
My alarm went off at 6:00am, and I was out the door around 6:30 - extra early so I could get to school early and make a good impression. But fate wasn't exactly with me. I took my local train to Kokubunji, which I then transferred to the Chuo line to Kichijoji, which transferred to the Keio line to Meidaimae, which I then transferred agian to go to Rokakoen.
But what I didn't realize was on my way to Rokakoen, was that I had boarded a non-local train.
Now there are like three or four different kind of trains:
Local: Goes to every station.
Rapid: Goes to every two or three stations (depending on how popular the station is, you see.)
Special Rapid: Goes about every four to six stations.
Commuter Rapid: Hits only the big stations, sometimes as far as ten to fifteen stations apart.
Yup. That's right, I got on a Commuter Rapid. I overshot Rokakoen about 7 stations. A half hour later, I was on the right track and made it through the Jr. High School's gates. I missed the teacher's meeting at 8:15 all together and barely made it there in time to start my first class. I didn't get to talk with the English teachers beforehand. We'll just say I was a bit frazzled. (ha ha.)
The teachers seemed pretty forgiving and said that no ALT in the history of ALTs had ever gotten to Roka on their first day on time due to the whole Rapid or getting lost mix up. (The school is in the middle of nowhere.) But I still felt terrible about it. And the idea of getting to school taking about an hour and a half one way is a bit miserable. I've never had to commute over fifteen minutes to get anywhere on a regular basis.
But enough about travel! The real fun was in the classes!
Even though I was really nervous, my first class turned out well. I'd forgotten how little Jr. High students were, and they were all very very cute. Even in one hour, I could tell there was such a variance in personalities - some were spacey, some where high energetic and genki, and some were just preteens. It also seemed like there was always one super super shy child in every class. Hopefully, by the end of my four months, some of them will be able to talk to me without being scared stiff. I had the realization that most of the kids were probably going through some of the worst years of their lives. No one ever wants to relive Jr high or puberty over again.
There are three English teachers in the school, all middle-aged women who were very kind, and nice to me. I felt like the balance between me and the teacher was really good. I wasn't just standing up at the front of class reading sentences. I walked around, helping students fill out sheets, answering questiosn. Sometimes when they asked if I like animals, I brought out pictures of the farm and of my dog Eli sporting some cool sunglasses. (Best picture ever, they loved it.)
I already have a love for the students I've met so far. I really hope I can get to know their names and that they'll grow to like me as time goes on. I really do want to help them in any way possible - I hope I can.
The day ended at 3:30, I was exhausted! I headed out and got home around 6:30. I got some laundry done and made rice for dinner. It's now 8:30, and I'm more than ready to go to bed.
Good night!
August 26, 2009
August 23, 2009
New Home - August 20th
Well four days have passed since my last post. (ha ha... oops) A lot has happened, so rather than throwing it all into one conglomerate of a post, I've decided to split it up into different topics or days.On August 20th, I was told during training that I was moving to my new apartment that day. In the next hour *laugh* So I went home, packed up all my luggage and was headed off to Kyodai City. It's far enough from the Metropolitan that there aren't many foreigners in the area - thus leading to strange looks in my direction quite often. From Iidabashi - where Interac's Office is - it's about 50 minutes.
After getting lost a few times on the way there (the lady taking me had never gone there before) we made it to my nice little apartment that I am quite fond of. It was actually much larger and newer than I anticipated. It's equip with a clothes washer, stove, mini refrigerator, microwave, TV, desk, and futon. I was really excited about the futon- last time I was in Japan I slept on a bed, which made me feel like I didn't truly experience pure Japanese culture. (ha ha, I know I'm weird.) It's got a ladder up to a loft that's over the kitchen and bath area. It's a good area to put the futon, it's got a shelf with an outlet up there. Behind the curtain are some more shelving. You can move the latter to the left so you can actually reach them.
The kitchen is rather small. The stove has two burners and then a sink next to it. Unfortunately it doesn't have a grill under it like most Japanese kitchens do. No grilled fish for me. *sigh* The fridge and microwave are behind it.Japan does their garbage much differently than we do in America. (Or at least Utah anyways.) You can't just throw your trash out in the bin, it has to be sorted into the following: Bottles, Aluminum cans, plastics/ nonburnable items, burnable items, and papers. Each day of the week is assigned to a specific garbage type. So I now have three different trash cans in my room/kitchen area. It's a hassle, but it's smart.
The toilets rather simple in my apartment. No bidet or heated toilet seats (dang.) It just has the handle you can push back to let more water into the bowl or pull forward to have it flush. When it flushes, water comes out of the faucet on top that you can wash your hands in. The water just goes into the tank for when you flush it next time. I think it's a rather ingenious way of conserving water.
The washroom has the tub and washing area. The Japanese usually wash themselves outside the bathtub, and only when they're clean they relax in the tub. My host family two years ago would keep the same water in the tub for about a week before draining it and putting new water in. The tub actually had a heater that kept it at a constant comfortable temperature. Personally, I'd get bored in a short while of sitting in a tub with nothing to do, but I guess it's one of the ways the Japanese unwind after a hard day. Washing is usually done sitting or kneeling down.It's taken a while, but I think I'm finally settling down and gotten all the things I need to live normally (Like towels, food, utensils, toilet paper...) Now that the weekends over, the real work begins!
August 18, 2009
Arrival
I am happy to say that I made it safely to Japan. I left Sunday morning August 16th from the Salt Lake City Airport. We touched down in Seattle and then continued to the Narita airport. The flight was ten hours long - but not too miserable. Luckily there were a lot of movies playing that I wanted to watch including Star Treck, XMen Origins, Monsters VS Aliens, and then I watched the live action Dragonball movie just because I was curious.
I made it through customs without any problem and exchanged $600 in Travelers checks for about 58,000 Yen. I then met up with an Interac employee who was waiting for me. We waited for five other ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) to arrive. All together, twenty five new ALTs arrived that day for training. I was surprised at the diversity - there were people from the USA, England, Scottland, New Zealand, and many other places.
We took the skyline train around 7:00 PM and got into Tokyo around 8:00. We're all staying at the Asakusa Central Hotel, which is about five minutes from the Asakusa Shrine. By the time I got my room, I had been awake for about 25 hours. I was exhausted! After eating something, I crashed - and woke up around 4:30 the next morning.
After trying to fall back asleep and failing miserably, I took this time to sort through all my luggage observe people on the streets, and go for a walk. I wandered to the Asakusa shrine and discovered a whole network of shrines in that area. The Japanese often have shrines that you can pray to for certain things. There were shrines you could pray to for fertility, a good marriage, health, studying, and other things. Unfortunately all of the signs were in Kanji, the most difficult writing system in Japan - so I couldn't read what all of them were for. But I decided to go to the main temple, wash my hands in the sacred water, toss some yen into the shrine donation grate (I don't know what they're called, just that you toss yen in) and prayed for a good time in Japan.
After that, I wandered some of the streets - which were packed full of little shops that were still closed. I went back to the hotel about eight.
At 8:30, all of the ALTs gathered together to go to our first day of training. We took the trains, and hit the end of rush hour so it was a little cozy. We were led to our training room where we got a lot of packets and things.
Our trainer is a fun, energetic, and loving man from South Africa. He's been teaching English for quite a few years now and is absolutely wonderful at it. He seems a little crazy sometimes, but then the children he teaches love it. He makes teaching seem so easy, but I wonder if I'll be able to put myself out there and be willing to be ridiculous sometimes.
Training went to 5:30, with an hour lunch break in between. I wandered the streets and just picked up an onigiri (a rice ball that usually has something tasty in the middle) and some egg noodles with chicken. When training was done, I was tired! We all headed back to the hotel and went to get something to eat. Me and two other guys went to the back streets and found a small Udon shop where I got ebi tempura soba - shrimp caked in batter which is then fried and put on top of a bowl of buckwheat noodles in a broth. It was the first cooked meal since I've gotten to Japan, and it tasted like heaven!
I then went to a 100 Yen store - which is like a dollar store. They sell everything from food, office supplies, dishes, to rain coats. I love them. I didn't buy very much because I'm still living in a hotel and I'd have to carry it all to my new apartment on Friday. I also went to a Grocery store where I got some food for breakfast and such - and some Azuki Bean Popsicles. They're actually quite tasty.
Wednesday morning I woke up at 6:30. Dinked around in my hotel until 8:30 when a bunch of us headed to the training building. There was no one to lead us this time - and of the twenty people who left at the same time I did, I was the only one who didn't get lost on the way. So was I alone for ten minutes waiting for everyone else to show up.
I got my work phone, which I love. It's a SoftBank PANTONE, which is cool because the screen cycles through different colors and has the swatch number labeled on it. As a graphic designer, I think it's amazing.
I was also taken to my school, Roka Jr. High School, to meet with the English teachers there. They were very nice and it seems like I'm going to be just assisting and not really teaching the lessons. I think it will be nice at first, just so I can get used to things - but maybe as time goes on I will be able to be more involved in planning and everything.
The school is very nice, with a lot of huge trees and some bamboo around it. It's very quite as there are no big streets by it. Everyone either rides their bikes or walks to get places in that area. The building is rather old, but in good shape. I'm looking forward to working in it with the teachers and students. I'll be starting next Wednesday.
Getting to my school took a lot of time and a lot of walking - I barely made it back to the hotel where I crashed around 8:00. I wanted to go out and see things, but I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see all the shops when they're still open before I move to my apartment. I don't know when I'll get the chance to come back to this part of Tokyo once I've moved.
I made it through customs without any problem and exchanged $600 in Travelers checks for about 58,000 Yen. I then met up with an Interac employee who was waiting for me. We waited for five other ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) to arrive. All together, twenty five new ALTs arrived that day for training. I was surprised at the diversity - there were people from the USA, England, Scottland, New Zealand, and many other places.
We took the skyline train around 7:00 PM and got into Tokyo around 8:00. We're all staying at the Asakusa Central Hotel, which is about five minutes from the Asakusa Shrine. By the time I got my room, I had been awake for about 25 hours. I was exhausted! After eating something, I crashed - and woke up around 4:30 the next morning.
After trying to fall back asleep and failing miserably, I took this time to sort through all my luggage observe people on the streets, and go for a walk. I wandered to the Asakusa shrine and discovered a whole network of shrines in that area. The Japanese often have shrines that you can pray to for certain things. There were shrines you could pray to for fertility, a good marriage, health, studying, and other things. Unfortunately all of the signs were in Kanji, the most difficult writing system in Japan - so I couldn't read what all of them were for. But I decided to go to the main temple, wash my hands in the sacred water, toss some yen into the shrine donation grate (I don't know what they're called, just that you toss yen in) and prayed for a good time in Japan.
After that, I wandered some of the streets - which were packed full of little shops that were still closed. I went back to the hotel about eight.
At 8:30, all of the ALTs gathered together to go to our first day of training. We took the trains, and hit the end of rush hour so it was a little cozy. We were led to our training room where we got a lot of packets and things.
Our trainer is a fun, energetic, and loving man from South Africa. He's been teaching English for quite a few years now and is absolutely wonderful at it. He seems a little crazy sometimes, but then the children he teaches love it. He makes teaching seem so easy, but I wonder if I'll be able to put myself out there and be willing to be ridiculous sometimes.
Training went to 5:30, with an hour lunch break in between. I wandered the streets and just picked up an onigiri (a rice ball that usually has something tasty in the middle) and some egg noodles with chicken. When training was done, I was tired! We all headed back to the hotel and went to get something to eat. Me and two other guys went to the back streets and found a small Udon shop where I got ebi tempura soba - shrimp caked in batter which is then fried and put on top of a bowl of buckwheat noodles in a broth. It was the first cooked meal since I've gotten to Japan, and it tasted like heaven!
I then went to a 100 Yen store - which is like a dollar store. They sell everything from food, office supplies, dishes, to rain coats. I love them. I didn't buy very much because I'm still living in a hotel and I'd have to carry it all to my new apartment on Friday. I also went to a Grocery store where I got some food for breakfast and such - and some Azuki Bean Popsicles. They're actually quite tasty.
Wednesday morning I woke up at 6:30. Dinked around in my hotel until 8:30 when a bunch of us headed to the training building. There was no one to lead us this time - and of the twenty people who left at the same time I did, I was the only one who didn't get lost on the way. So was I alone for ten minutes waiting for everyone else to show up.
I got my work phone, which I love. It's a SoftBank PANTONE, which is cool because the screen cycles through different colors and has the swatch number labeled on it. As a graphic designer, I think it's amazing.
I was also taken to my school, Roka Jr. High School, to meet with the English teachers there. They were very nice and it seems like I'm going to be just assisting and not really teaching the lessons. I think it will be nice at first, just so I can get used to things - but maybe as time goes on I will be able to be more involved in planning and everything.
The school is very nice, with a lot of huge trees and some bamboo around it. It's very quite as there are no big streets by it. Everyone either rides their bikes or walks to get places in that area. The building is rather old, but in good shape. I'm looking forward to working in it with the teachers and students. I'll be starting next Wednesday.
Getting to my school took a lot of time and a lot of walking - I barely made it back to the hotel where I crashed around 8:00. I wanted to go out and see things, but I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see all the shops when they're still open before I move to my apartment. I don't know when I'll get the chance to come back to this part of Tokyo once I've moved.
August 14, 2009
すぐに行きます - Leaving Soon
It's a relief to finally say that all the paperwork is done, and I am officially leaving to Japan on August 16th and returning to America on December 23rd.
I'm teaching English in Tokyo, Japan through Interac, a company that provides Japanese schools with English speaking teachers. Most of the time, companies that do this sort of thing require the person they're hiring to have a bachelor's degree. But Interac has a unique opportunity to teach as an Internship - so no degree is required - and the commitment is shorter. You don't have to commit to a full year, just three or four months. Perfect for me!
Right now, the places I'll be teaching aren't for sure. Last I heard, I'm going to be teaching at Roka Jr. High School . There's also word I might be teaching in an Elementary school as well. Unfortunately, finding placements this time of year is difficult as the Japanese school year starts in April. Because of this, there's the chance I'll be working in Interac's Tokyo office or getting some obscure part time job in Japan. Personally, I'm a fan of some obscure job. If I got stuck in some random little ramen shop down some little alleyway, I'd be completely happy. I want the chance to be immersed in the culture and forced to speak the language in order to survive.
So I'm leaving Sunday at 11:30 with another guy who is doing the internship too. I'll land at Narita Airport August 17th at 4:40pm where we'll be escorted to Asakusa Central Hotel. I will stay there four days for training. I a bit scared for the training. Most interns get a week long training, and mines condensed into just four days. On the 20th, I'll be taken to my new apartment and be shown around my school! I'll start teaching on the 24th.
As an Intern, I'm more like a language assistant than a full time teacher. Though some assistants tend to do most of the work in classes. It just depends on how the school goes about it. I don't need to know any Japanese to assist, as I am there so the students know how native English sounds. In most cases, a student will study Japanese for six years, and when a English Native talks to them, they still can't understand them. So having a native speaker is becoming more and more popular to have in all levels of public education.
I'm getting pretty nervous! I really hope I make a good teacher and don't make any huge cultural blunderings. Just because the culture is so different, making mistakes will be easy, so I gotta be careful.
Anyways, I will try to update this blog on a daily, or every other day basis once I get to Japan. I should have internet at the hotel, but access at my apartment may take some time to get. I'll keep you all updated!
I'm teaching English in Tokyo, Japan through Interac, a company that provides Japanese schools with English speaking teachers. Most of the time, companies that do this sort of thing require the person they're hiring to have a bachelor's degree. But Interac has a unique opportunity to teach as an Internship - so no degree is required - and the commitment is shorter. You don't have to commit to a full year, just three or four months. Perfect for me!
Right now, the places I'll be teaching aren't for sure. Last I heard, I'm going to be teaching at Roka Jr. High School . There's also word I might be teaching in an Elementary school as well. Unfortunately, finding placements this time of year is difficult as the Japanese school year starts in April. Because of this, there's the chance I'll be working in Interac's Tokyo office or getting some obscure part time job in Japan. Personally, I'm a fan of some obscure job. If I got stuck in some random little ramen shop down some little alleyway, I'd be completely happy. I want the chance to be immersed in the culture and forced to speak the language in order to survive.
So I'm leaving Sunday at 11:30 with another guy who is doing the internship too. I'll land at Narita Airport August 17th at 4:40pm where we'll be escorted to Asakusa Central Hotel. I will stay there four days for training. I a bit scared for the training. Most interns get a week long training, and mines condensed into just four days. On the 20th, I'll be taken to my new apartment and be shown around my school! I'll start teaching on the 24th.
As an Intern, I'm more like a language assistant than a full time teacher. Though some assistants tend to do most of the work in classes. It just depends on how the school goes about it. I don't need to know any Japanese to assist, as I am there so the students know how native English sounds. In most cases, a student will study Japanese for six years, and when a English Native talks to them, they still can't understand them. So having a native speaker is becoming more and more popular to have in all levels of public education.
I'm getting pretty nervous! I really hope I make a good teacher and don't make any huge cultural blunderings. Just because the culture is so different, making mistakes will be easy, so I gotta be careful.
Anyways, I will try to update this blog on a daily, or every other day basis once I get to Japan. I should have internet at the hotel, but access at my apartment may take some time to get. I'll keep you all updated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
