Let's get down to the nitty gritty.

OK. I've been in Japan for about two months now, and I've been teaching for 1/2 of that. My entire schedule will be changing come October, but I still want to give y'all a little peak into my day-to-day life since school began. It's much less boring than August, thank goodness!

I have 5 shougakko and 1 chugakko, so I teach every day. Currently, I'm at my shougako Tue, Wed, Fri, and my chugakko Mon, Fri. Next month I'll be at JHS M, Th, Fri, because the powers that be have decided that I need to be at my chugakko more often. Personally, I think that it's kinda sad as it means that I'll only get to visit each shougakko maybe twice a month. The kids won't learn as much and they are missing out on valuable learning for fun time. Once they enter JHS, learning gets all serious and Eigo is just one more thing that they have to study. It's sad, really. Not many people can enjoy learning a language in those kind of conditions. ANYWAY! I digress, here's some info about my schools:

Fukuregi shougakko: Has somewhere around 25 kids (total, in the whole school) and is about 25 mins from my home. One teacher there, Ideo-sensei, speaks some Eigo so I talk to him a lot. I've also made friends with Miyazaki-sensei, a woman who thinks I'm so cute and wants to talk to me all the time. Her brother owns a bar down the street from my aparto so I get awesome discounts when I go. I teach combined grades here: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6. My favorites by far are 1-2 and 5-6. I just don't get along all that well with 3-4 teacher and the kids aren't all that genki.

Shimoda-kita shougakko: Definitely a contender for my favorite shougakko. There are around 30 kids and it's about 15 mins from my aparto. I teach combined grades here too, but I love all the kids equally. The teachers are really nice and a couple of them speak a little bit of Eigo. The kids are super genki and love to talk at me in incredibly fast Nihon-go. I have little chance of understanding them... picture me talking fast, but in a foreign language. Now you understand my dilemma. The school is awesome, the kids are awesome, the teachers are awesome: I really enjoy going here!

Shimoda-minami: The smallest school I've ever seen in my life. I don't think that I had classes in college that were this small! There are a total, (TOTAL!!!) of 15 students. (That's correct, 15) I teach two classes here, 1-2-3, and 5-6, because they don't have any 4 nen sen students. 1-2-3 still only has a total of 5 kids, and 10 in 5-6. 3 nen sen only has 2 kids. TWO!!! Ye-gads, it's crazy! I like the school ok. The teachers are generally nice, (the 1-2 teacher is my favorite by far because she really gets involved) the kids are ok once you get them going, but the school is just so damn small. It leaves too much free time. That will be changing in October though, so I might like it more. (On a side note, my kocho-sensei at this school also speak some Spanish from when he spent a year in Costa Rica. Val! Come visit me and talk to him in Spanish! He'd love it!)

Takahama shougakko: Possibly my favorite shougakko, I'm not sure. It's bigger, 60 some odd students, and only 2 mins from my apart. I actually teach separate grades here, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and always teach 4 lessons before lunch. It's hard work, but the kids are amazing! The teachers are super cool too. Onaka-sensei and Hama-sensei both speak some Eigo and another teacher is the cutest girl. I just love her! She's 25, so really fun to hang out with. The kids are amazing and really remember a lot of Eigo, it makes it difficult for me to challenge them! I just love everything about this school... I'm thinking about getting involved in after school activites or something, in the hope that it'll help my Japanese. We shall see!

Ooe shougakko: The biggest of my shougakko, (70-ish students) and definitely the one that I have the most love-hate issues with. The kids and teachers are generally awesome, but they never send me my schedule on time and that really pisses me off. It's kind off impossible to prepare for my classes when I don't know who I'll be teaching! They apologize, but I still think that it's really rude. It isn't really all that difficult to fax a single sheet of paper saying: "you'll be teaching these classes and these times" easy easy. Sheesh.

Amakusa chugakko: Ahhhh, my JHS! I love this place, it's just that 10-14 yr olds just aren't as cute as 5-8 year olds, ya know! :-P Really, though, I love my chugakko. It's just a completely different world than the shougakko. We have a textbook that we have to get thru so that the kids can take their exams, etc. It makes learning more of a chore. I love all the students and all the teachers, (my JTE, Yasuda-sensei is AWESOME and speaks AMAZING Eigo! I'm so lucky!) and I really enjoy going to work. It is difficult to change my mindset from shougakko to chugakko, though... I tend to want to play games all the time and act silly because that's what works with elementary students. Overall, this is one of my favorite places, it's just more work because I have an actual text that I have to follow and go thru. It makes things easier and more difficult at the same time... complicated but true!

At the shougakko, I tend to be in charge. Excepting two cases, (teachers who speak good Eigo, plan the lesson, and I just follow along) I'm the head teacher and the other sensei are my support, keeping kids in line, etc. There are a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, A LOT of games! Elementary kids seem to learn well with games, songs, and lots of movement. That's what's missing in chugakko, I think. They just sit there and repeat. I'm trying to think of age appropriate games, but it's more difficult. (Any suggestions of games to help teach the plural? There is no plural in Nihon-go and I have to teach it to my ichi nen sen on Monday! Eek!)

In my chugakko, it's a true team-teaching thing going on with Yasuda-sensei. I can't believe how lucky I am, to get him as my JTE. He's nice, speaks almost perfect Eigo, and is willing to listen and include any workable ideas that I have. It's so awesome! The man is amazing, (plus he has the CUTEST little boy! I've raved about him before. I'll try to get pics up soon!)

Hmm... in general, I teach 3-4 lessons a day, and it is hard work. It's really fun most of the time, sometimes the lessons just don't work though. Then I just shake it off and go back to square one. The kids always forgive you! They are so great! Anyone who can visit me, I beg you, please try! I'll take you to visit my kids and you'll understand how great they really are! Look for pics of my shougakko kids soon, we have sports day this weekend and I'm going to Ooe and Takahama. Then you'll get a small idea of how cute and awesome they are!

Okie, I hope that gives you a small idea of what I'm dealing with on a day-to-day basis. Any questions or comments? Send me an email! I'll try my best to explain the ins and outs of the Japanese school system to anyone who's curious! :-)

Why on-line translators might not be the first place to turn when writing in a foreign language!

This is just too good, I have to share it with the world! Here's the background: before I visit a shougakko, the teachers are supposed to send me a form showing which classes I'll be teaching, who I'll eat lunch with, etc. There is some extra space at the bottom for any additional info. I received the following "other info" from my smallest school, Shimodaminami, where none of the teachers speak Eigo (the kocho-sensei speaks some Spanish though!). I have not edited or altered it in any way. Enjoy!

"If a class is over when you may return, I think that it may be returned. It please be visited by the boss. Thank you. We have a dummy run of an athletic meet on 20th. Therefore, to the first lesson, I want all classes's best cord to teach it. Rely on unreasonableness, and do not breath it,: but thanking you in advance."

HAHAHAHA! I couldn't make stuff like that up! It was a bit less funny when I realized that that's probably how I sound when I try to speak in Nihon-go... a sobering thought. How do they keep a straight face!?

Hey y'all! I added some more pics! They are all landscapes and such, but no repeats from before I swear! It's difficult to get pics of me... I live by myself and I usually head out by myself to take pics. I'll try to get a few of me in there sometime soon!
Enjoy! (Don't be TOO jealous!) ;-)

The Hazards of Walking Out Your Door!

Well, not hazards really, but the strangest things can happen at anytime! For example, the other day I decided to go walk around my town. I've been doing that alot, just to get out and moving. Teaching has me on my feet all day, but it's not really a workout... unless you count running around with crazy elementary school students... but that's another story! ANYWAY, moving on!
I decided to go walk around by the port because I like looking at the boats and admiring the coast, I really hope that I never get used to how beautiful the ocean is! While I was wandering around I saw the cutest puppy walking by the boats. Being who I am, I naturally went "Oh! Puppy!" and went over to pet him. (He really was the cutest little dog!) While I swooning over the cute puppy, his owner came up and started talking to me. He was an older fisherman guy, I think he said he was 54 or something, and spoke absolutely no English. Our conversation consisted mostly of hand gestures, confused looks, and slow slow talking in an effort to be understood. It was especially difficult because my jisho (dictionary) was back in my aparto; I'd been taking a walk, remember, I hadn't really planned on talking to anyone! He kept making gestures for me to follow him, so we walked over to his boat and I met his brother. Again more talking that I couldn't understand, but it became clear eventually that his brother was married to a teacher at one of my shougakko.
They also took me down to the boat and showed me a bunch of lobster that they had brought in. After a lot more gesturing, both at the lobster and at me, I finally understood that they were inviting me to dinner! I was hesitant but they were very insistent, and so I found myself loaded into the fisherman's brother's car and heading off to a lobster dinner! (dressed in my work out clothes, of course. I was stylin'!) It actually turned out to be a fun, if confusing, night as it turned out that I hadn't actually met the woman who worked at my school yet. They were all really nice though, and Kimiko-san (my teacher) ended up calling Onaka-sensei (another teacher who speaks a bit of eigo) to come over for dinner too and be my translator. She didn't get there for an hour and a half or so, and in the meantime they gave me with beers out the wah-zoo! Now, I like a beer now and then, but I'll always be a wine drinker. Beer is just too filling! Dinner was absolutely DELICIOUS! The lobster were kinda small, so I had 3, (they insisted) plus there was fish, shashimi, pickles, and other things that I didn't recognize but tasted like heaven! I didn't get back until after 9, I'd gone out for my walk at 4:30. It was definitely unexpected, but also a really fun night. (How much would a meal like that have cost back home? $60? More?!)
Can you imagine anything like that happening back in States? Maybe in some small towns, I guess, but it'd be really weird! I'm excited to see what happens next time I step out my door! :o)

So sorry!

I've been meaning to write but I've just been exhausted! School started officially for me this past week, so I've been running around like a crazy person. Also, let me just take a momemt to say that gakusei (elementary students) are freaking insane! Where do they get all their energy!? I mean, they're super cute but after class I just want to sleep for hours! I have a newfound respect for teachers, let me tell you!
Speaking of exhausted, I am falling asleep at my computer. Will write more soon, here's a pic to tide you over! Jaa mata, ne!

Takahama!!!