Exam Day

Well, this was a fairly uneventful week. I got an email yesterday asking what day towards the end of the month would be convenient to meet and talk about my contract and so forth. So, hopefully they will be able to meet on a weekend sometime, otherwise I may have to wait until the 25th to actually sign anything. No word back from them today. I'll be sure to write about that when I know more.

Regardless, I will need a car unless something goes horribly wrong with this job, and have been mostly working on that this week. In Japan, they have three or four classes of automobiles based on size. The smallest cars, apparently the second class after scooters, are called K-cars. They're all under 660 cc. They're a little cheaper than normal sized cars to buy and to have the shaken (biannual government inspection) done. Additionally, the taxes are about $200 less. However, one guy I talked to warned me that a K-car might be a tight fit for someone 184 cm tall like myself.

The car itself plus taxes and shaken will probably add up to around $3000, and I'm not sure about insurance yet. It will be a pain, but also a necessity as I'll be working at several schools that are apparently not within biking distance of any central location. So I've been looking into getting a K-car but have to wait until I can actually talk about my contract and what not to actually make a decision.

In other news, yesterday was my last third year class and today was the Ibaraki Prefecture high school entrance exam. The third years were all out taking their tests at various high schools. For the past five school days preceding today, I had a last class with one class or another and I was given flowers by 4 of the 5 classes. The one that didn't give me any seemed unaware that that was our last class until the end, as they also had the shortest thank you speech in English for me. I'm pretty sure it was just, "Thank you for teaching us English." If only some College Presidents made their end of year speeches as to the point...

The lower grades were also taking some year end exams today, so I had no classes. With the exception of the two class periods that I was helping grade papers, I was largely left to my own devices. A light day tomorrow as well as we'll just be going over the tests in most classes, and now each day will be one class lighter.

Well that's all the news this week. It's been colder recently and it rained for the first half of the week. On Monday, it rained until 9:00 AM, snowed until 11:00 AM, and then switched back to rain. I found that odd. Until next time.

One more month in Mito

Well, I got some reassurance yesterday from the folks in Yamanashi-shi, half a week after I did some interviews for a plan B which would involve being part time at three places until September when I could start working at a junior high school full time. I got offers from all three of them so should plan A fall through there's always this. Anyway, yesterday I was told that the contract Yamanashi-shi (plan A) wants for me apparently just needs to be cleared by the head of the Board of Education before they can make an offer. So that's good news.

In other news, the year is winding down at my school. Next Thursday, the third years (9th graders) take their big high school entrance exam. In Japan, everything leads up to this in junior high, as this test decides which high school they can go to, which decides which college or job they can go to. So, the high school entrance exam is pretty important for those who haven't already tested into private schools. Anyway, they will graduate the following Tuesday, leaving two more weeks of school for the first and second years. They get the last week of March off before they advance to a second and third years and welcome the new first years.

I've been told to expect a lot of free time at work and March, as I will no longer have third years and the other grades will be undergoing a battery of tests to close out the year. I'm sure they'll do fine though. The kids at my school are pretty bright. Well, I guess that's all for now. More at a later date.

A Special Interview and Nagoya

Well, I had an interesting weekend. Last Friday was national Foundation day, so I had a three day weekend, which I decided to spend visiting Amelia. I had planned to go to Nagoya on Thursday night in order to get the full benefit of the holiday. However I got a call on Thursday which made me change my plans.

I need to backtrack here a little. Last Wednesday, I received a call from the Yamanashi City Board of Education. They had received my application and wanted to interview me on the morning of Thursday the 17th. I told them that this was impossible as I'd be at work. Then, they explained that they had been chosen by NHK (Japan's public broadcasting station) as the subject of a piece comparing Boards of Education that hire through dispatch companies and those that do direct hire. They wanted to film an interview, and the Yamanashi-shi BoE wanted to interview me. I explained that I would love to, but can't take personal days because I'm not allowed any by my current company, as they have already chosen all my days off for me. I said I would be more than willing to do the interview any weekend of their choosing.

Back to last Thursday, I got a call at lunch asking if I could interview the following morning. I accepted after getting the impression that it was then or never. So, I will apparently appear on national television in Japan on February 22nd between 7:45 and 8something local time. I'm not sure if my face will appear or if it will just be the back of my head. Apparently there was some confusion about the BoE's stance on that. Regardless, the interview went pretty well and I got the impression they weren't really considering anyone else at this point. I may not need to continue looking for jobs, but I guess time will tell.

Anyway, I went to Nagoya on Friday after all the business in the morning accompanied by Lana and a good time was had by all. We went to Nagoya Castle and a place called Osu Kanon which was a temple that ran opened into a "shopping arcade" on Saturday. Then on Sunday we went to Atsuda Shrine, one of the most famous shrines in the country.

Osu Kannon. Temple on the left and on the right...


...the shopping arcade. It's a covered stretch of tiny shops and eateries.

Lana and Amelia in front of an entrance to Atsuda Shrine.


A nice old tree at Atsuda Shrine.

A more recent building at Atsuda Shrine. There were a lot of things going on the day we were there, including a wedding and some ceremonies for babies who were one month old.

I neglected to take my camera to Nagoya castle, but I did take some pictures on Amelia's camera, so maybe I can add some of those to this post at a later day. We had planned to go to Ise , maybe the most famous shrine in the country, but we didn't end up having time for it as it's kind of out of the way. Anyway, that's it for now. I'll say morea bout the interview/job/tv appearance when I know more.

A Couple weeks of Applications

This past week was spent mostly working out what I will be doing as of April, as my current contract expires at the end of March. I love my current school more and more each week, but I'm also less keen on the company after every monthly meeting. In case I haven't clarified before, I am a dispatch worker, which means I work for a company that the Mito Board of Education contracts to find ALT's for its schools. So, I work at a school for this company, an arrangement I'm not particularly fond of, hence my recent applications to other places.

I suppose I should start off with the interview I had Saturday before last. It was in Yamanashi Prefecture just south of Kofu the prefecture's capital. The company is an Eikaiwa School (English Conversation School. Amelia works at one of these). they're usually places where parents take their preschool and elementary school children for English exposure and some junior high kids whose parents want them to get a leg up on the competition for high school entrance exams. This particular school is very small (only around 90 students) and is operated by a couple in their late 40's or early 50's. They were extremely nice and are apparently losing 4 of their 5 current foreign (native English) teachers in April, as their contracts are up and they're headed for their respective homes. Anyway, the interview went well and I need to wait for them to figure out what they'll have available they are growing considering expanding their operation, so they said they'd get back to me when they knew if they were offering a part or a full time position.

Another adventure I had this week was trying to write a Japanese resume. To balance the difficulty of it being Japanese, the format for a resume here is standardized so it's harder to go wrong. Also, one thing I really liked about it was the absence of trying to make your job sound more impressive than they truly were. You just put the position, company, and dates and save the self aggrandizing for the interview. I sent that in to two Boards of Education that do direct hiring which I hope will help me avoid repeating my current situation.

So this leaves me waiting to hear from half a dozen people. As for this weekend, I will be visiting Amelia in Nagoya, so that should be fun. Other than that, not much news to report. I'll keep you posted as things develop so I should hear back from people over the next few weeks. Until next time.

Flu Season

Well, the flu broke out at my school this week. One of my second year classes on Monday was missing thirteen students, a third of the class. It apparently started last Friday and has mostly been confined to the second years. However, it got so bad that the hardest hit classes, 2-1- and 2-2, were told not to come in Tuesday through Thursday. They should be back tomorrow, but their absence has made the school quieter. 2-2 is probably the loudest/most mischievous class and their classroom is located right by the central stairway I use on my way to all the first year classes. In the ten minutes between classes, the 2-2 students are always misbehaving loudly just outside their class, making it difficult to maneuver without catching them doing something they shouldn't be doing. I was a bit sick myself starting last Sunday, but I just had an unfortunate cold which made work unpleasant on Monday.

On a related note, all of the first year classes were out of school today as well. The students weren't in quarantine like the second years, though. They were visiting businesses and public offices around Mito. All of the first year teachers were also out, apparently constantly checking up on all of their students and calling in to the head first year teacher with updates. The second years did something similar in November, but they didn't leave on a day when I had three classes with the teacher. This makes the second week in a row that I've missed three classes as the same teacher was sick last week and was out today checking in on her students. We'll probably just have to skip these lessons to keep them track with the rest of their grade, which isn't too great of a loss for them. The Eikaiwa class is mostly just for reinforcement.

Anyway, aside from all that, things have been pretty normal this week. Other than the unfortunate presence of natto (essentially rotting soy beans) on the lunch menu today. It's been a good week. I guess that's all for now. Until next time.

School

Hello all.

I don't have much of anything new to report other than I go to work for five days a week and teach 4 classes a day on average, but I haven't really described what that is like yet, maybe now would be a good time to do so.
At my school, each class has English four times a week. Three are normal English classes and a fourth is the 英会話 class (eikaiwa, English conversation class). I only go to the Eikaiwa classes. Now generally AET's (or ALT's, depending on your region) are usually required only to read new vocabulary or the text for accurate pronunciation, check the students' pronunciation, and generate activities (i.e. games). How much assistance the AET gives is otherwise left up to the individual teacher, which can range from just standing in the corner for the majority of the lesson to explaining every part of the class in English first so the students can practice listening.

At my school, however, I am expected to lead the lesson as if I were the primary teacher and the Japanese main teacher were the assistant. This was extremely difficult at first as I had zero teaching experience when I started and there was apparently a great deal they expected to me know already. However, the teachers were understanding and helpful and I managed.
My main problem was (and to some extent still is) that I never went to a Japanese Junior High school and I never learned the protocol. As a result, I'm never sure what's the same as the U.S. and what's different. It's really the procedural things that I get hung up on the most. But as time goes by I am improving.

Today, I was supposed to have an additional class, making the total number five. However, I discovered upon showing up to my first class that the teacher I have three classes with on Thursdays was absent, which no one had bothered to tell me. Communication here seems to be like that pretty regularly, and by like that I mean nonexistent. So, I ended up having two classes instead of five. I actually wrote this entry on a piece of scratch paper between classes in my spare time. So I guess I found something useful to do with my extra time.

I suppose that's all for now. Until next time.

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year

Hello. It seems in the year after my first time in Japan that I forgot how much difficulty I have keeping a blog updated. I apologize for the delay in posting this. I meant to get one in before my break, but I never got around to it, so here we are. Without further ado, what I've been up to the past month or so.

Work at school proceeded much the same until the end of December. Then on the 22nd the teachers had the 忘年会, (bounenkai, literally the "forget the year meeting"). In Japan, this is usually the end of year office party at which the entire office drinks and eats to excess. However, last year a teacher in my prefecture apparently was arrested for drunk driving on the way home from his school's bounenkai, so this year the party was non-alcoholic. It was clear that some teachers were not very fond of this condition, but a good time was had by all regardless.

Then the 23rd was the Emperor's Birthday, and as that was a national holiday there was no school that day. The last day of the term was the 24th, Chirstmas Eve. The first half of the day went as usual, but the last two periods were taken up by the end of year ceremony. It was much like assemblies in the United States, except the students sat on the gym floor, they were not shushed once, and there was a good deal more bowing (Speakers bowed to the flag behind the podium every time they approached and left the stage and to the audience before and after
using the microphone).

Mt Fuji from Kofu, Yamanashi

After school, I went to visit a friend in Yamanashi Prefecture (about halfway between Tokyo and Nagoya, just north of Mt. Fuji). I spent Christmas there and visited some of the local attractions. The highlights are displayed below.

First, I had a chance to try my hand at some pottery. It was a lot of fun, but...

As you can tell from my first attempt in the foreground, I wasn't very good at it. I decided to keep that one, even though the woman who worked there tried to talk me out of it pointing out that it had a hole in it. I told her I planned to put change in it and she then suggested that I use a cheaper finish for it. Again, it was a lot of fun.

Next, I got a chance to make mochi. My friend is also an English teacher at a Japanese public school, and a coworker was kind enough to invite us to join her family in making the New Year's mochi, which is a tradition in Japan. Below is a picture of the traditional New Year's offering at a Shito Shirne.

It's a mandirin orange on top of two balls of mochi.

Mochi is essentially sticky rice mashed into a chewy mass. You make it by steaming rice, putting the rice in a huge bowl and smashing it repeatedly with a large mallet, pictured below.

Sadly, I forgot my camera, so here is a picture of someone else making it. My friend's coworker took pictures though, so maybe I'll be able to get my hands on some of those before too long. Regardless, it was hard work, but it was a lot of fun.

I also got a chance to visit some shrines in the area. We took a tour of some smaller shrines tucked away in small neighborhoods like the one below...

...and we also saw some larger ones like the one below. The tradition is to go to a shrine on New Year's Eve and pray for the new year. We went earlier in the day to be ahead of the rush, but we expected more people to be doing the same. Apparently people trying to avoid crowds go late rather than early.


So that was the end of 2010. I met Amelia in Tokyo on New Year's Day as she was returning from Hokkaido, the northernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Then we went back to Mito together and I showed her around here a couple days. Then, Firday the 7th was my first day back. In the morning, we had an year opening ceremony which was very similar to the year closing ceremony. That was followed by a three day weekend (yesterday was coming of age day, so everyone who turned 20 last year celebrated their new rights to buy alcohol and tobacco). and then the first normal day of the year was today.

And now I'm up to date. I'm sure I've left some things out that I will probably add sometime soon, but this is all for now.

あけましておめでとうございます！
akemmashite omedetou gozaimasu
Happy New Year