Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Really, I swear I`m alive!
Sorry it`s been so long. The Internet War saga continues. On the plus side, the phone company has stopped sending us bills in the other girl`s name. On the minus side, they refuse to set up a connection for me until I have my alien registration card, which I can`t get until the 23rd. So it`ll be at least a week before I have Internet up and running. Expect sporadic updates until then.
Anyway, work.
I`m having a great time so far. 90% of my students are wonderful, and another 5% are ADORABLE BEYOND ALL BELIEF OH MY GOSH! I JUST WANT TO ADOPT THEM! There`s this one little junior high student that`s the cutest creature on the planet, and this one tiny little old lady--a total beginner, still trying to figure out the colors and numbers--that always smiles so sweetly, even though I doubt she understands half of what I say. My branch is right next to a university, so we get a lot of college students. And most of the rest are either computer programmers, engineers, or housewives. They`re all serious about learning and really try very hard in classes.
Here`s my schedule:
Saturday 10:00 - 5:40
Sunday 11:40 - 7:00
Monday 2:15 - 9:00
Tuesday 2:15 - 9:00
Wednesday 10:00 - 4:45
Thursdays and Fridays off.
This seems like a strange schedule, but I actually like it. My favorite are the 2:15 - 9:00 shifts, because I can sleep in that morning, or wake up and run errands, or watch a movie over breakfast, or even go sightseeing for a couple of hours. On the days where I have regular business hours, I don`t really get a chance to enjoy the sunlight, and I can`t conduct any business that takes longer than my lunch break.
So every day I have either 7 or 8 40-minute lessons of 1-4 students, and on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I have one period of Voice, which is just a free conversation room. Voice is my favorite--I can sit back and let the students talk about whatever they want, and if conversation falters I just need to have a couple of conversational topics to discuss, or a game to play, anything to keep people talking. So I`m basically getting paid money to sit around and chat with people about travel and pets and fashion--I`m DEFINITELY not complaining.
I`m told which students will be in each lesson, and what level the lesson should be, and then I`m given total control over the class. So I pick a subject none of the students have studied--or at least haven`t studied recently--and either use the lesson plan in the textbook or make up my own, depending on my mood, how much time I have, whether I can think of anything interesting, etc. Generally 2/3rds of the lessons I teach are straight out of the textbook, but I think with practice I`m getting better at making up my own ideas.
I passed my one-week review with flying colors. My assistant trainer, Becky, said she was impressed. That was something of a minor miracle, though--that lesson went better than 90% of my lessons do. Sometimes, and I`m not sure why, my plans totally bomb. Sometimes it`s because there`s a whole bunch of shy students that refuse to talk, sometimes it`s because one student is monopolizing the conversation, sometimes it`s because the lesson in the book was written by a moron, sometimes it`s because I am experimenting with something new and it`s too complex... I hope with time to get better at controlling a class and tailoring lessons to each students` abilities.
I really do enjoy my job. Okay, it`s not so fun at 7:30 in the morning when I have to leave my nice, comfy bed for the cold, harsh real world. But when the bell rings and I sit down in front of the students, time flies. I`m always wishing classes were longer, because there`s just *one* more idea I need to teach.
Students say the funniest things, too. I once asked a group of women, "Can you give me an example of a status symbol?," expecting answers like "Cars" or "Jewelry." Instead, they looked at each other, giggled, and blurted out, "Younger boyfriends." Apparently it`s something of a status symbol in Japan for a woman to be able to parade around a younger man, because it means she earns enough money that she doesn`t have to depend on an older and more financially stable husband. In another class, a man said dogs were a status symbol in Japan--you`d have to be pretty rich to have enough space for a golden retriever here.
In Japanese, the -mashou ending on a verb can mean "Let`s go..." or "Would you mind if I..." or "You should..." or "Don`t you think it`s..." depending on context. So I`ve had to explain to students that "Let`s go" does not mean the same thing as "You should go," especially when the speaker is a man, the listener is a young woman, and the topic under conversation is the strange and bewildering variety of hotels, inns, and resorts available in Japan. :P
Teaching at Nova has forcefully reminded me of the complexity of Japanese culture. On the one hand, yes, they are a very polite and reserved people. I`ve learned never to ask the students to raise their hands when they have the answer to a question, because they won`t--they just kinda nod and twitch their fingers in a generally upward direction. And I can`t play games with the girls, because they`ll spend thirty seconds offering one another the chance to win the point instead of buzzing in themselves. "Go ahead!" "No, it`s okay. You do it." "No, no, please go!" And the lessons on denying blame always bomb, because they won`t bother to defend themselves--they just say, "I`m sorry! I won`t do it again! Here, let me buy you lunch!"
On the other hand, the Japanese can be incredibly blunt and direct sometimes. I`ve had students TOTALLY fail lessons on politely correcting others. "No, no, no! That`s wrong!," they`ll say, even after I`ve pointed out that, "Can you think of a better way to say that, like `Maybe is a better answer?`" Older men and women, in particular, can be incredibly bossy, and sometimes I have to jump in and prevent them from quite loudly and forcefully correcting the other students` mistakes.
My coworkers have all been wonderful, my AT Becky in particular. She had a big welcome party for me at a local izakaya (a restaurant/bar frequented by company employees). I tried some kind of fish that they seared with a blowtorch right at the table, and cheese-flavored tofu sprinkled with honey and some kind of nut (I`ve GOT to learn how to make that), and `the dragonball` sashimi (shrimp and caviar and some kind of greenery and wasabi over rice). Then Saturday she dragged us all to karaoke. She`s always very cheerful and energetic, and has really been supportive and helpful. And as far as I can tell she likes me, so yay! I`m not going to fail at my first job!
Strangely enough, I`ve found that I don`t like Japanese tea. I mean, I like green tea, but that`s not what they serve at restaurants in autumn. Instead, they give us mucha (?) which is browner than green tea and very bitter and strong. Sometimes they`ll serve cold barley tea, which is even worse. I guess I`ll just have to wait and see what their winter tea is like. So far, though, I`ve had much better luck with the seasonal fruit juice. Tropicana has a seasonal line here, actually, and the autumn flavor is this WONDERFUL mixture of apples and blackberries and some other berry I can`t identify. I`ll be sad to see it go when winter arrives.
It seems strange to say so, but I actually think living in Japan is more convenient than England. I mean, there have been a few communication difficulties, but I`ve been able to find everything I really wanted easily. In England, the nearest grocery store was a forty-five minute walk away; in Japan there`s two grocery stores and a 100 yen shop right next to the train station. Plus, across the street from my office is another grocery store, two 100 yen stores, a bookstore, a park, and this Internet cafe. If I need to go into town for banking or shopping, the local train line can take me straight into Tokyo in 30 minutes. In Japan, if you know how to get to a train station, you know how to get to anything else your heart could desire.
Besides, I`m living in a country where every grocery store and 7-Eleven has manga. Oh, the manga. The piles and piles and piles and piles of manga. I can die happy！ I`ve read the first volumes of Death Note and xxxHolic, and I hope to buy more as soon as I‘m done posting。
Okay, I`ve somehow managed to turn the Japanese input feature on and I can‘ｔ figure out how to turn it off。 I`m signing off before this driveｓme nuts。
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Anyway, work.
I`m having a great time so far. 90% of my students are wonderful, and another 5% are ADORABLE BEYOND ALL BELIEF OH MY GOSH! I JUST WANT TO ADOPT THEM! There`s this one little junior high student that`s the cutest creature on the planet, and this one tiny little old lady--a total beginner, still trying to figure out the colors and numbers--that always smiles so sweetly, even though I doubt she understands half of what I say. My branch is right next to a university, so we get a lot of college students. And most of the rest are either computer programmers, engineers, or housewives. They`re all serious about learning and really try very hard in classes.
Here`s my schedule:
Saturday 10:00 - 5:40
Sunday 11:40 - 7:00
Monday 2:15 - 9:00
Tuesday 2:15 - 9:00
Wednesday 10:00 - 4:45
Thursdays and Fridays off.
This seems like a strange schedule, but I actually like it. My favorite are the 2:15 - 9:00 shifts, because I can sleep in that morning, or wake up and run errands, or watch a movie over breakfast, or even go sightseeing for a couple of hours. On the days where I have regular business hours, I don`t really get a chance to enjoy the sunlight, and I can`t conduct any business that takes longer than my lunch break.
So every day I have either 7 or 8 40-minute lessons of 1-4 students, and on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I have one period of Voice, which is just a free conversation room. Voice is my favorite--I can sit back and let the students talk about whatever they want, and if conversation falters I just need to have a couple of conversational topics to discuss, or a game to play, anything to keep people talking. So I`m basically getting paid money to sit around and chat with people about travel and pets and fashion--I`m DEFINITELY not complaining.
I`m told which students will be in each lesson, and what level the lesson should be, and then I`m given total control over the class. So I pick a subject none of the students have studied--or at least haven`t studied recently--and either use the lesson plan in the textbook or make up my own, depending on my mood, how much time I have, whether I can think of anything interesting, etc. Generally 2/3rds of the lessons I teach are straight out of the textbook, but I think with practice I`m getting better at making up my own ideas.
I passed my one-week review with flying colors. My assistant trainer, Becky, said she was impressed. That was something of a minor miracle, though--that lesson went better than 90% of my lessons do. Sometimes, and I`m not sure why, my plans totally bomb. Sometimes it`s because there`s a whole bunch of shy students that refuse to talk, sometimes it`s because one student is monopolizing the conversation, sometimes it`s because the lesson in the book was written by a moron, sometimes it`s because I am experimenting with something new and it`s too complex... I hope with time to get better at controlling a class and tailoring lessons to each students` abilities.
I really do enjoy my job. Okay, it`s not so fun at 7:30 in the morning when I have to leave my nice, comfy bed for the cold, harsh real world. But when the bell rings and I sit down in front of the students, time flies. I`m always wishing classes were longer, because there`s just *one* more idea I need to teach.
Students say the funniest things, too. I once asked a group of women, "Can you give me an example of a status symbol?," expecting answers like "Cars" or "Jewelry." Instead, they looked at each other, giggled, and blurted out, "Younger boyfriends." Apparently it`s something of a status symbol in Japan for a woman to be able to parade around a younger man, because it means she earns enough money that she doesn`t have to depend on an older and more financially stable husband. In another class, a man said dogs were a status symbol in Japan--you`d have to be pretty rich to have enough space for a golden retriever here.
In Japanese, the -mashou ending on a verb can mean "Let`s go..." or "Would you mind if I..." or "You should..." or "Don`t you think it`s..." depending on context. So I`ve had to explain to students that "Let`s go" does not mean the same thing as "You should go," especially when the speaker is a man, the listener is a young woman, and the topic under conversation is the strange and bewildering variety of hotels, inns, and resorts available in Japan. :P
Teaching at Nova has forcefully reminded me of the complexity of Japanese culture. On the one hand, yes, they are a very polite and reserved people. I`ve learned never to ask the students to raise their hands when they have the answer to a question, because they won`t--they just kinda nod and twitch their fingers in a generally upward direction. And I can`t play games with the girls, because they`ll spend thirty seconds offering one another the chance to win the point instead of buzzing in themselves. "Go ahead!" "No, it`s okay. You do it." "No, no, please go!" And the lessons on denying blame always bomb, because they won`t bother to defend themselves--they just say, "I`m sorry! I won`t do it again! Here, let me buy you lunch!"
On the other hand, the Japanese can be incredibly blunt and direct sometimes. I`ve had students TOTALLY fail lessons on politely correcting others. "No, no, no! That`s wrong!," they`ll say, even after I`ve pointed out that, "Can you think of a better way to say that, like `Maybe
My coworkers have all been wonderful, my AT Becky in particular. She had a big welcome party for me at a local izakaya (a restaurant/bar frequented by company employees). I tried some kind of fish that they seared with a blowtorch right at the table, and cheese-flavored tofu sprinkled with honey and some kind of nut (I`ve GOT to learn how to make that), and `the dragonball` sashimi (shrimp and caviar and some kind of greenery and wasabi over rice). Then Saturday she dragged us all to karaoke. She`s always very cheerful and energetic, and has really been supportive and helpful. And as far as I can tell she likes me, so yay! I`m not going to fail at my first job!
Strangely enough, I`ve found that I don`t like Japanese tea. I mean, I like green tea, but that`s not what they serve at restaurants in autumn. Instead, they give us mucha (?) which is browner than green tea and very bitter and strong. Sometimes they`ll serve cold barley tea, which is even worse. I guess I`ll just have to wait and see what their winter tea is like. So far, though, I`ve had much better luck with the seasonal fruit juice. Tropicana has a seasonal line here, actually, and the autumn flavor is this WONDERFUL mixture of apples and blackberries and some other berry I can`t identify. I`ll be sad to see it go when winter arrives.
It seems strange to say so, but I actually think living in Japan is more convenient than England. I mean, there have been a few communication difficulties, but I`ve been able to find everything I really wanted easily. In England, the nearest grocery store was a forty-five minute walk away; in Japan there`s two grocery stores and a 100 yen shop right next to the train station. Plus, across the street from my office is another grocery store, two 100 yen stores, a bookstore, a park, and this Internet cafe. If I need to go into town for banking or shopping, the local train line can take me straight into Tokyo in 30 minutes. In Japan, if you know how to get to a train station, you know how to get to anything else your heart could desire.
Besides, I`m living in a country where every grocery store and 7-Eleven has manga. Oh, the manga. The piles and piles and piles and piles of manga. I can die happy！ I`ve read the first volumes of Death Note and xxxHolic, and I hope to buy more as soon as I‘m done posting。
Okay, I`ve somehow managed to turn the Japanese input feature on and I can‘ｔ figure out how to turn it off。 I`m signing off before this driveｓme nuts。
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