It's Been Awhile

As I suspected, I am not very good at keeping blogs updated. Anyway, here are some of my highlights from late September.

Sunflower Park

A park in Ono that is about a 35 minute bike ride from my apartment. 

The picture on top of the tower says "Panic World." haha

Field Trip to Jodoji Temple

Earlier this month, all regular classes were canceled for art day. The different grades went to different locations in Ono to paint the scenery. I went with the 7th graders to Jodoji Temple which has several national treasures and important cultural properties of Japan. 

The Jodoji's Jodo-hall was established in 1194. Jodo-hall is the only remaining temple in Japan that was built in the Daibutsu style which combined Japanese and Chinese elements. Inside Jodo-hall are three huge Buddhas made by a famous Buddhist sculptor. The statues are gold and the hall is designed in such a way that the light of the evening sun reflects on the statues making them glow red and appear to be floating. 

Jodo-hall

Jodo-hall

Some of my students, painting Jodo-hall

The Belfry

Life as an ALT in Japan

The past 2 weeks I have been very busy with school. Most of my classes have been my self-introduction class, but I have had 3 regular classes. There was also one week of rehearsals for Sports Day. I also had my first work party with my co-workers. 

Self-Introduction Class

As a new ALT, the self introduction class can seem a bit daunting. You are basically given an entire 50 minutes to talk about yourself and allow the students to practice their English while getting to know you. I created a powerpoint, brought family photos, passed around brochures about my hometown, and played some music from 2 of my favorite artists. The pictures of my nieces and dogs are always the most popular. One of the kids said: "Your niece is so cute! She should be your family mascot!"

 I brought stickers from the US to reward the kids who volunteered to ask me a question (8th graders) or do their own short self introduction (7th graders). The 9th graders had an interview worksheet to fill out together and then come forward in groups to ask me their questions and record my answers. 

The presentation varied slightly depending on who my co-teacher was and how interactive the class was. In some classes the students were so shy they wouldn't even raise their hands when I asked if they liked Disney or anything else I mentioned. Other classes I could barely get a word in with the kids talking the whole time. A lot of common questions were what Japanese food do I like, do I watch anime/what anime do I watch, who is your favorite Japanese celebrity, etc. I also got "do you have a boyfriend?" "Why not?" "Do you like [insert name of Japanese co-teacher]?" "Which Japanese teacher do you like best?" 

It has been fun getting to know some of the kids. One kid is a huge Harry Potter fan like me. The class after my self-introduction, he brought his Japanese version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to show me. He was very proud of the fact he can recite all 8 movies. 

Regular Classes

Flexibility is key to being an ALT. After 12 self-introduction classes, I was ready for some real classes. 40 minutes before my first class, the teachers came to ask me what we were doing today. 

My reaction

Because Japanese schools are on a different schedule than American schools, I am joining second semester. I have no clue how far into the book the class is. In my head, I'm trying to come up with a lesson plan as fast as I can when the bell rings for morning assembly. 

Morning assembly seemed like an eternity. I kept looking at the clock and watching my lesson planning time disappear. When it finally ended, I had 7 minutes left for lesson planning and making it to the classroom. 

Well, the class was mostly working on vocab and acting out the dialogue with the other teacher. A bit boring, but definitely better than I was expecting. Thankfully the other teacher and I both had a free hour before the next class. He went to create a powerpoint and I ran to create a class activity. The next class was a lot more interesting for the kids. 

I thought I was past the stress of the day. My next class I had prepared a powerpoint and a game to go with the lesson. My co-teacher was teaching the grammar point. I got to the class and the teacher wasn't there yet. No problem. I start class with English greetings, weather, date, etc. 

The teacher isn't there yet and I'm having some technology troubles with the projector. The kids start asking where the teacher is, and I'm starting to get a little nervous. 

Okay, technology troubles are resolved, so I go ahead and start with my short example of the lesson. The teacher still isn't there, so I just do both parts of the role play. Then I have the kids repeat the dialogue in the book to work on pronunciation, but I can see them getting restless. 

I go ahead and decide to do the game. There is just me and the 36 kids, so I'm having trouble answering all their questions and getting them to participate. One of the kids took pity on me and took it upon himself to make everyone listen to me. As the newcomer in the school, I guess I'm lower on the totem pole than the kids. haha 

Anyways, the game ends and the teacher still hasn't showed up. I've held the class together for about 35 minutes, but there is 15 minutes to go and I literally haven't nothing left to do.

**This might be a slight exaggeration**

The last 15 minutes was mostly repeating the dialogue a few more times and me just letting them talk. After the class, the other teacher finds me in the teachers room. Apparently there was a schedule change and the class was moved to an hour later, but I wasn't informed. 

The kids hadn't mentioned anything to me. I started to wonder what they were supposed to be doing....that I probably robbed them of their study hall or something. Anyways, the next morning I found out I wasn't the only teacher who was in the wrong place. Apparently the social studies teacher forgot about the change. He thanked me for teaching his class time. 

Sports Day

There were no classes the week before sports day. Instead all of the teachers and students were practicing. It was actually pretty intense. At times it felt more like military drills. Standing and marching in lines for hours, making sure everyone was in unison, perfect lines, same leg and arm height, etc. There were some fun things too. There were some pretty creative relays The 8th graders were preparing a traditional Japanese dance and the 9th graders were doing acrobatics. The 7th graders only got more marching drills...I guess they needed to learn how to work as a unit before they could do the fun stuff in 8th and 9th grade. 

Sports day was fun. Thankfully the weather cooled down for the day. Everyone, including the teachers, principal, and vice principal participated in some way. I ran in some of the relays. The principal and vice principal ran the 3 legged race together for the teachers' team. They even had a teacher dressed up as the prefectural mascot (a phoenix) run in the relay.

 I took more videos than photos on Sports day, but I'm having trouble uploading them.

My First Enkai

After sports day was over, all the teachers headed to Kobe. I was expecting drinks and cocktails. Nope. They went all out. We had a 10 course meal. It was nice to meet some of the teachers I hadn't met yet and talk in a more relaxed setting. Entertainment was provided by the male 7th and 8th grade teachers. It was pretty hilarious.

7th grade teachers wearing masks of the 8th grade teachers and principal and VP

Introductions

This week was busy. I taught my first classes, went to a party in Kobe where I met some new people, and went to a reception at the US Consulate in Osaka for JETs. 

Hyogo AJET Welcome Party

I went to the Hyogo AJET (Association of JETs) welcome party in Kobe. I met some pretty cool people. The party was an all-you-can eat and all-you-can-drink buffet at the Kobe Beer Garden (not really a garden). It was on the roof of a building in Kobe, so we got to be outside. The weather was really nice. There was even a little shrine on the roof. 

 Teaching

This week I taught my first classes. We only had a partial week of classes, but I still taught 12 classes. My first lesson for all the classes was my self-introduction lesson. I had a powerpoint about myself, my family, my hometown, and things I like. For the 7th graders, I had them practice their self-introductions. The 8th graders had a quiz based on my powerpoint and had time to ask me questions. The 9th graders had a worksheet to fill out where they created interview questions and then interviewed me. 

I taught at least 1 class with all 5 of the JTEs I will be working with this year. I like them a lot and am really looking forward to working with them. 

The second half of last week, as well as all of this week, was devoted to sports day preparation. Sports day is on September 13. It felt more like boot camp than sports to me. There have been a lot of marching drills. 

US Consulate in Osaka

The highlight of my week was definitely my trip to the US Consulate. I got to meet the Consulate General as well as several foreign service officers who are based in Japan. They provided pizza and beer and US snacks for the event. I got a chance to network with other JETs, people from the JET alumni association in my region, and people who work with the State Department. The foreign service officers told us that the DoS is trying to recruit more JETs for the foreign service. They gave us lots of information about the process and how we can prepare. This was very encouraging for me because my career goal is 4-5 years of JET and then the foreign service. It was nice to hear that I am right on track to make those goals happen. 

So this was pretty much my week! I'll have more updates soon! 

Friends, Food, and Festivals

***NOTE: I meant to publish this last week, but never got around to finishing it. I'm not going to re-write what I have already written. haha 

Week 1 (August 18-23, 2014) was full of fun and new experiences. The highlights were my first week working, leading an English event for elementary students with the other Ono ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers), discovering a great Indian restaurant in town, visiting new places in Kobe, and participating in my first Bon Odori festival. 

Week 2 (August 24-29) was the first "real" work week (not summer work hours and all the kids are there). 

Work

I will be teaching at 2 middle schools, Ono and Kawai, but the majority of my time will be spent at Ono which has about 700 students. Tuesday was my first day at Ono Middle School. Classes haven't started yet, so I don't have many responsibilities yet, but it was nice to meet the other teachers and get acquainted with my school and the curriculum I will be using. Everyone has been very nice and welcoming. 

On Friday, all of the Ono ALTs headed to one of the elementary schools for an English event. We played a variety of games to teach English introductions, numbers, colors, and letters. The kids were shy at first, but once the games started they were very energetic and had a lot of fun. My team of students won by a landslide in "ABC Dash." ABC Dash is a game where the students are in 5 lines with a pile of puppets that each start with a letter of the alphabet about 8 feet in front of them. The kids are lined up so that the 6th graders will be against 6th graders, 5th against 5th, etc. Then an adult calls a letter and the kids race to find the puppet that matches the letter. This helps with letter and vocabulary recognition. 

After the English event, myself and the other ALTs biked to a local Indian restaurant that was fantastic and affordable, which is pretty exciting for a small town. The restaurant was small with only 1 employee there and guests take off their shoes before going into the eating area.

On 8/27 I had my bi-lingual self introduction in front of the entire school (700 students + staff). I guess my speech, debate, and Model UN years paid off, because I wasn't even nervous. Despite the giggles going through the room when I got up. Being the only foreigner at the school, I hear a lot of junior high giggles following me throughout the day. This week has mostly been preparation for my first lessons next week. 

The Japanese Teachers of English (JTE) are great. It makes me feel like I actually have a purpose when they come ask me a question while grading the students' summer homework. 

A Day in Kobe

The other JET newbie and I had an orientation in Kobe. We got the day off of work so we left early to wander around. We found an old school that had been turned into small gift shops and cafes that was fun. We also saw Ikuta Shrine, one of the oldest shrines in Japan. It was built in the early 3rd century AD. 

This building was decorated with old tea cups and saucers

Standing under the tori gates at Ikuta Shrine

Prayers written on pieces of paper and tied on

We rode the "Happy Train" home

Bon Odori

Bon Odori is a style of dance performed during the Obon festival. Obon is a family centered holiday that evolved from the Bhuddist custom of honoring one's ancestors. Over time the religious meaning faded and the festival became associated with summer. The dances of Bon Odori differs from region to region. 

I went to the Bon Odori festival with Amanda, another Ono ALT. The festival was held at the Kobe Winery, a very beautiful setting. 

Traditional summer yukatas

Bows in back

The view overlooking the vineyards

Won a bottle of wine playing bingo! Woot!

Cowboy Pig mascot. Japan loves mascots

Participating in the traditional dances

This little girl was dancing up a storm the entire night. Made my night.

There were lots of dance performances. 

Japanese style dancing

Latino influenced dance

This little kid was REALLY excited about the belly dancers coming out. He yelled "PRETTY!!!" and ran onto the stage