Coverage Days: Friday April 1st - Friday April 15th SPECIAL RECAP EPISODE
Schools Visited: HS1 - HS2 - HS3 - HS4
Entry S4.0 - Ep10
What more could you want more than stories about high school girls? Oh, I know! Photos!!
But before we get to those, here is a quick recap complete with the list of links to all the entries in Season 4 of the GTX: Great Teacher Xeno blog serial, exclusive to anime-source.com!
First, some breaking news!! I have yet to find out if I'm eligible for this, but apparently those who were forced to evacuate from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant radiation zone will be getting a payout from the government/electric company. Families are entitled to something like $12,000USD, while single people can get around $9,000USD. I have to find out about this soon... and I'll be royally pissed if I get the gaijin treatment. Hey, I've been inconvenienced! I've had my health put in jeopardy! I've had my apartment potentially ruined for 5-10 years! I better be getting SOMETHING!!!
::shakes fist::
Okay, let's get on with the entry. It's happy time, I promise!
Season Four Recap and Link Listing
Episode #01: Friday, April 1st - Xeno's on the West Coast Now
School Visited: n/a
My first day living in a Japanese city!!! No mountain villages this time around!! I got stores and restaurants all around, a train station 5 minutes down the road, and the Sea of Japan less then 5 kilometers from here!! This entry also explains how I ended up here in the first place.
Episode #02: Monday, April 4th - GTX: Great High School Teacher Xeno
School Visited: all-school meet-and-greet
A very important entry... this episode gives the detailed explanations of all the schools I will be attending each day for the next few months. It ends with my awesome brainstorm of an idea to tackle a very difficult challenge I've been faced with this time around.
Episode #03: Thursday, April 7th - "How Are You?" "I Love You."
School Visited: HS1 - Azumanga HS
My very first day of working in a Japanese high school!!! Now I'm surrounded by students who can actually communicate with me in full, well-thought sentences, as opposed to just blurting out single words. Appropriately enough, my start to this experience begins with the Opening Ceremony... and an encounter that immediately raises the bar far above my head. It's gonna be an interesting time.
Episode #04: Friday, April 8th - "I'm Not Flirting... I'm Advertising"
School Visited: HS2 - Fuuka Academy HS
My first day working at my college-preparation school (aka, the smart kids). Though we still haven't gotten to the start of classes yet, there was plenty for me to do and see... and lots of students to drool and giggle over me. Today's main event: Club Recruitment Drive! Who will join the English Club?
My first true encounter with students came this day: talking with the students in the Boys' and Girls' Handball Club. My first opportunity to actually see how much English the average student in this school knows.
Episode #05: Monday, April 11th - Teaching High School for the First Time: WWCD?
School Visited: HS2 - Fuuka Academy HS + HS1 - Azumanga HS
It's showtime!! It's been almost a month since the last time I've stepped foot in a classroom, and now I would be stepping into a completely new world. Lucking out by starting with the smartest group in my care (seniors enrolled in the optional class!), but still a trying moment.
The day capped off with a pleasant visit to the Girls' Volleyball Club, where I not only made friends with the team captain, but also got to participate in HS-level sports for the first time... well... ever... in my life, haha
Episode #06: Tuesday, April 12th - Xeno's First Day at Cromartie High School
School Visited: HS3 - Cromartie High School
I had been warned about this school. With a population of 95% boys and my teaching the worst grade (the 2nd-years), this school is expected to be my migraine-inducing experience of the week. Four classes daily with students who not only dislike learning English, but probably seriously hate it. Gulp... and I'll be standing center stage. What can a Great Teacher do to battle this major challenge?? Oh, I have a few tricks up my sleeves. Read this entry to see how my first classes in mandatory-cirriculum classes went.
My afternoon ended with an anime song mini-concert performed by the school's Light Music Club!! Awesome!!!
Episode #07: Wednesday, April 13th - Perfect Dream Academy HS
School Visited: HS4 - Perfect Dream HS
This whole entry is nothing but HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS!!!!!!! HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS!!!!! HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... and goats. READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!
Also included: photographic evidence that I am not embellishing the admiration I received, haha.
Episode #08: Thursday, April 14th - Supporting the Supporters
School Visited: HS1 - Azumanga HS
My first full day with the regular class schedule at my BASE school, and wouldn'tyaknow, I don't even have any classes to teach today. Sheesh, what gives? Well, that didn't stop me from having some really great conversations with some talented students. First were the seniors in the English Club (yay!), and second were two really friendly 2nd-year girls I met on the sidelines of the Handball court. I learned today just exactly how long conversations with high school level students can last. "Impressive" doesn't do it any justice.
Episode #09: Friday, April 15th - The Final Piece of the Puzzle: 10th-graders
School Visited: HS2 - Fuuka Academy HS
The final day of my first full week, and today's specialty was: I finally got to teach some freshmen classes! The kids here are all new to the school, to the teachers, and especially to eachother. There are special boundaries and limits to working with this group. Would they take to my strange ways of teaching, or would they be too shy to utter a sound? Oh, I think we all know how this went.
The day ends with not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 club events!!! My introduction to the English Club... my meet-and-greet with the Photography Club... my playing with the fun and excitable Girls' Basketball Club members... and finishing up checking up on the Boys' Basketball Club practice.
Photo Collection
And now a little something-something. Here is a collection of all my highlight photos from the last month, which includes a few wrenching snapshots from the earthquake damage I saw around my friend's house where I spent 3 weeks.
High School Life in Niigata Prefecture
#01: This is the inside of a real Japanese high school. Looks just like out of an anime! The numbers on the sign by the door represent "Year - Class #"... since high school starts with what the US would consider "10th-grade", Year 3 is really "12th-grade", or "seniors."
#02: The courtyard between buildings at one of my schools.
#03: Looking across the courtyard from one building to the other.
#04: The 3rd-Year Homeroom hallway.
#05: Same school... same courtyard... just different vantage-point.
#06: THERE IS NO SIX, ONLY ZUUL
#07: No, these are not the uniforms my students wear (I wish!!!) These are some store-quality cosplay outfits I saw in Niigata City. They are the high school uniforms the students wear in Angel Beats.
#08: haha... on the top shelf: my sweet and caring side... on the bottom shelf: my manly kick-your-ass side. A perfect blend, wouldn't ya say?
Earthquake Photos
#09: Awesome!! All the stuff I needed to know... A FRIGGIN' MONTH AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#10: You KNOW Japan is facing a crisis when the convenience stores are closed.
#11: An invasion barrier wall at Shirakawa Castle, built to withstand entire armies, crumbled like a saltine cracker from the force of this earthquake... over 75 miles from the epicenter!
#12: This hotel was built before modern earthquake-standards were put in place. As you can see, it didn't weather this disaster too well.
#13: The brick wall at this neighborhood shrine suffered a lot of damage.
#14: A road shifted around this manhole cover in front of the Nanko Shrine in Shirakawa City.
#15: The most unfortunate damage I saw was the torri gate, a symbol of a shrine and resting place for the birds that carry the spirits of the newly-deceased to Heaven, at Nanko Shrine had been completely destroyed.
#16: Pretty much every free-standing statue on the shrine grounds had toppled over.
#17: This sidewalk in Shirakawa City completely caved in.
#18: I... I... I don't even know how this happened.
#19: The school library at my junior high school in Fukushima.
#20: That alligator has a guilty look on its face... SOMEONE broke that beaker... it didn't just fall on its own. Oh... wait... earthquake... riiiight...
#21: The problem in my village wasn't so much building damage as it was interior-damage. What annoyed me greatly about all the international news reports were the idiot reporters driving through our area and being like "wow, there is no damage whatsoever!!" No, r/tards!!! If you'd actually look INSIDE the houses and offices you're brushing off, you'll see that pretty much all look like this!!!
#22: Our poor trophy case probably was probably hit the hardest. Despite containing a lot of glass, it seemed to fair alright, but pretty much everything inside fell down or over.
#23: The geiger-counter generously donated (temporarily) to our village and schools by a-source user, bobspelledbackwards. I had pictures of it actually showing some positive readings, but the clearest one was this one, which just happens to be at "0" at the moment, haha. Believe me, it was going crazy most of the time.
#24: This banner says "Ganbarou Fukushima!!", which means "Fukushima, do your best!!" All around Japan, we see banners and signs splashd everywhere saying names of towns, other prefectures, and Japan as a whole. Kinda like the US after 9/11, the patriotic "we're all in this mess together" attitude is endearing.
Exploring My New Home
#25: Sunset seen from the beach near my house.
#26: I love the Sea of Japan coastline. The mountains come right up to the water, making for some really majestic landscapes.
#27: And even better, the Shinetsu Line runs right along the water for a little 10km stretch. Gorgeous!! Simply gorgeous!! I hope to have better photos soon.
Concluding Remarks
Thanks to everyone who has left comments in the earlier entries, especially from the earthquake entries!! I really want to get around to responding to them, but I'm just so seriously strapped for time these days. Maybe later this weekend I'll have a moment to address them, but if I don't, at least know that I read them and appreciated every word written. You guys are the greatest! Thanks for all the love and support!
Season 4 should prove to be exciting, but unfortunately, I don't know how long it will last. My contract is until mid-July. I have a special deal where I can go back to my village in Fukushima once the schools reopen there, but there is no telling when that will happen. The authorities have risen the incident level of the nuclear disaster from Level V to Level VII... the highest the scale can go. As it stands, the towns of Okuma-machi and Tomioka-machi will be quarentined for the next 5-10 years. My village is near there, so it could go either way with us. Only time will tell, I suppose.
Well, for the near future, let's all enjoy high school life together! Many events will be happening soon, like the English speech contest and Sports Day Festivals!!!! Please look forward to this season's episodes!!
SPOILERS! Don't read if you want to be surprised by this episode!
Thanks to a traumatic event that happened in his past, Jinta has nearly become a hikkikomori, shutting himself in his house to play video games all day. He desperately tries to keep to himself, but it's certainly hard with his childhood (and childish) best friend Menma flitting around all the time. He calls Menma an accumulation of his stress and trauma; the real Menma died several years ago, and their seemingly solid group of friends inevitably drifted apart. The problem is that Menma will only leave Jinta alone once he grants her wish. She doesn't know what that wish is, only that it involves Jinta somehow getting their entire childhood group of friends back together.
It's always interesting to see examples of similar trauma and how they are handled in different series. For example, in the first episode of Cross Game, the same event occurs; however, thanks to the excellent, and subtle, portrayal of Kou and Wakaba's relationship that had already been established throughout that episode, the result is a lot more emotionally affective. By starting backwards, AnoHana takes some of this subtlety out of the equation, which leaves the viewer with their current relationship as it is established. This brings up a lot of exciting possibilities for AnoHana, depending on what percentage of Menma is a ghost, and what percentage is a figment or delusion in Jinta's mind. (She did visit her parents, so being an actual ghost is more likely).
AnoHana, while it may be a bit more obvious as to where it's going than the other stand-out drama of this season: Hana Saku Iroha, is still one of my favorite debuts of this current season. At the helm of the series is Tatsuyuki Nagai, who some may remember for his directorial work in the second season of Honey and Clover (which is one of my favorite series) and Toradora!, so I can see him doing a lot with a melodramatic premise like this one.
I'll definitely be sticking around to blog this series. I will be dropping Nichijou, not because I don't enjoy watching it, but because blogging a series like that is fairly useless; you either like the jokes or you don't and me explaining them to you certainly won't make them any more humorous. It's interesting that the dramatic series are "winning" the season thus far.
Coverage Day: Friday, April 15th
School Visited: Fuuka Academy High School (HS2)
Entry S4.0, Ep09
ahhhhhhhh... finally, the end of my first week. What an incredibly wild ride! I have never been so exhausted in my entire life! Since 7:30am on Monday morning, it has been day-and-night work work work work work. Whether it was prepping for school, prepping for class, conducting class, attending meetings, or writing in this blog, I've barely had a moment to myself. Not saying I wasn't having tons of fun at particular moments or spending time with great, friendly people, but I just haven't had any time to myself to kinda settle down and catch my breath. I mean... I COULD just do so now, considering that it's 7:52pm on a Friday evening, but I must blog. I must preserve my precious memories for decades to come... and also share my fun and happy times with the world.
So here we go...
Today was going to be my busiest day yet, and also a landmark moment for me. I have taught kindergarten; I have taught all levels of elementary school 1-6; I have taught all levels of junior high school 7-9; and so far this week, I have taught 11th-grade high schoolers and 12th-grade high schoolers. All that I was missing were the 10th-grade high schools. In the 2nd-period today, I was finally able to check off the final piece of my Japanese public education system collection. I have officially taught every level, K through 12. Not bad... not bad at all.
And how were the little darlings? Well, 10th-graders are a special case because they are the freshmen. They are new to the school, so they don't know the building, the teachers, the schedule structure, the class structure... and worst of all, since most Japanese high schools bring students from all over, most students are meeting their new classmates for the first time. Maybe there would be about 7 or 8 familiar faces from junior high school, but in classes filled with as many as 42 kids, knowing just a few others isn't much help at all.
So as you can imagine, the kids in the 10th-grade are a bit more nervous, quiet, reserved and neurotic than the other kids. The classes have not developed a group-dynamic yet, so it may be strange interacting with them as a whole. There is a bit of confusion on who should be taking the lead, who to look for advice, and what is considering "amusing" or "serious." No one wants to be the only person to laugh at something; no one wants to be left behind when something funny happens. There is a lot of hesitiation and uncertainty. A challenge for a teacher who relies on making class fun through comedy.
My first class (1-2) was with the super-friendly JTE (50s/m). The students seem to like him, so he must be a great guy 24/7, heh heh. Teaching with him was a great joy... he let me do my thing and was there to help me with translations instantly. Or... he was most of the time. Actually, the time I needed him MOST was right at the start of class, but he had disappeared to go find an additional desk and chair. This left me alone with a room full of 41 teenagers!!! Gah... and they're all staring at me... waiting for me to entertain them...
The chime hadn't even rung yet, so it's not like I could have started the class. I had to wait for the teacher... which was taking an excruciatingly long time. I would have liked to chit-chat with random students, but I wanted to stick to my introduction script, so I didn't want to say anything out of place. Grrrrr... every second of this is painful!
He finally arrived!! Damn... don't do that again. I guess I should make late entrances myself... or maybe things will be better afterwards now that they all know who I am. But anyway, yeah, things went along pretty smoothly once we got going. This was like, what, my 12th-time doing this introduction game (my Facts About Me T/F BINGO game). I stuck to my usual gags, most of which won over the entire crowd. I can't remember if I explained this in the entries from throughout this week, but what I had done was drawn a giant "T" (true) on one side of the chalkboard, and a giant "F" on the other side. When I would do the answer reveals, I could use these to point all dramatically and wacky-like. For instance, if the answer was really "true," I could wave my arms in a circle starting off heading toward the "F", but swining fully around to point at the "T." Or simply just stare hard at one letter but point to the other. Heh heh... it's just as amusing to me as it is to them.
As I kinda explained above, what I had expected was to find that each class would have a pretty even, quiet mellow temperment. No real clowns flying out of their seats or anyone screaming out things to get my attention or be mischievious. Everyone is still in that shy-mode, so everyone pretty much behaved exactly the same. However, anyone who I chose to interact with would gladly play along... particularly those sitting in the front row. In one of the classes (I forget which), I played imaginary-basketball with a girl sitting near the center of the room. Heh heh... everyone found it amusing. I even squeezed in some hijinks with the students in the back... anyone who raised their hands in a strange or noticeable way, haha.
Everyone in the fist class loved my "Bruce Willis outside my door" joke routine.
In my 3rd-period class (1-4)... not so much. Grrrrr... well, that's just one of the things about comedy: a joke may kill with one crowd, bomb with another. Oh well, thankfully with this activity, I can easily just transition to the next topic without skipping a beat.
Oddly enough, the second class of my day was a bit more livelier and friendlier than the first class. This class also had one genki clowny girl. She was very excitable, screaming like "yea!!!" and "woooo!!" anytime she got something right. I'd feed into her by copying her enthusiasm and running over to her for a high-five. The amusement... or perhaps insane jealousy... of the other girls in the class was incredibly noticeable.
Working with the super-friendly JTE* was a dream. As I said before, his amount of involvement is perfect. Not too much... not too little. Working with the other JTE... well... we'll get to that in just a moment.
* oh, I'll nickname him rabbit-sensei since he loves rabbits so much (a fact he seems to have shared with the students in an earlier class)... and he's kind and friendly like a bunny-wabbit, haha. And apparently he says "ne?" a lot (a little Japanese way of saying "right?"). Two girls had kept a tally... he said it about 39 times during this period... which is amazing considering that he probably only spoke for about 3 minutes in total.
I was free in the 4th-period and, of course, during lunch break. I guess this is when I'd be expected to be doing most of my planning for the next week's lessons, but it's just not enough time to do anything productive. I'd be better off wandering to the gym and joining in on a P.E. lesson, but much to my disappointment, all three of the gyms were empty when I went searching. In a school this big, there should be a P.E. lesson every period almost. They had to have either been outside running or in a classroom watching a training vid or something. I refuse to believe there is no P.E. in the middle of the day on a Friday.
I was also greatly annoyed by the fact that I seemed to have left my notebook at HS1. It's bad enough I left my bag filled with my gym clothes (unused, haha) at HS4. Ugh... I hate hate hate having multiple schools!! I mean, I love having so many chances to meet new people and see numerous campuses/events, but going just once a week is insane torture for me... and I'm sure for those students who take a liking to me, too.
Moving on with my day, the 5th-period with Class 1-1 got off to an interesting start. Everyone was instantly intrigued by me the moment I walked in through the staff-room door. It was like, "a wild gaijin appeared!!!! Shower it with attention before it escaped!!!" Haha, they were a friendly bunch, as I learned after getting so many cheerful "bye-bye"s and "see you"s at the end of class. My "Bruce Willis" joke worked only okay with this group, but they also got a special treat all the previous classes before hadn't gotten: my evil maniacal laugh, haha.
I always poll the students to see what everyone selected before I dramatically/comically reveal the correct answer. In one particular instance, pretty much every pair had chosen the wrong answer. I randomly belted out my most hearty "BAW HAW HAW HAW!!!!", which got thunderous laughter, haha. Heh heh, who would have thought that the tricks I use for the elementary kids would work so well in the high school?
Before I continue on to the last class, I need to say something about the JTE. She's actually my supervisor in this school, so I have to try extra hard to play nice with her, but her teaching style was a bit irksome. I like teachers who are involved, but she was getting into the stepping-on-my-toes level of involvedness. I like to set a good pace for this little stage show I've worked hard at perfecting, but what I was finding was that she was butting in at the most inopportune times. I think she realized what she was doing soon enough, thankfully, because she essentially kept herself out of the production in the final class of the day. Whew... I was relieved. At least she was using English.
Class 1-3 is a bit interesting in terms of personality variety. There are a few "tough, no-nonsense" girls in the back corner, with plenty of sweet nerdy girls up front. Haha... the classes are arranged by alphabetical order... how does this always seem to happen? Does just merely sitting in the back of a room turn a kid into a delinquent? haha, oh well, I did find it funny that one of the punky-girls wrote for her message to me in her profile "I think you are a cute (uso desuyou*)". Actually, I should say this now... none of the freshmen students wrote anything flirty, though I'm guessing it's because they have no idea where the boundaries of decency are, as opposed to the older girls who had no qualms with... expressing their true thoughts, haha.
* just kidding!
Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this group. Most of my jokes worked well, including my Bruce Willis joke... this time I threw in some fake, soundless crying at the end... the kids love seeing me in pain, haha. I threw in some extra gags this time around, too. For instance, when I was talking about my old part-time job as a supermarket cashier, the two nerdy girls up front were having a bit of trouble deciding. I pretended as if I were acting the role, asking one of them for some money. She told me "no money." Oh really? I walked over to her, took the eraser off her desk and asked again for money to pay for it. Haha, she was laughing too hard to even answer, while everyone else was wildly entertained by her predicament.
Also, for my explanation of my fire department dispatch job, I wrote "119" (Japan's emergency number) and "911" (America's emergency number) on the board. For my question about wanting to be a math teacher (FALSE!!), I used those two numbers, still written on the board, to attempt a simple addition problem... but I feigned strain, ending with my throwing the chalk to the ground and screaming stressfully, haha.
However, the next story might have you doubting my storytelling abilities. You'll surely think "oh come on, xeno! You're definitely making this junk up!," but I kid you not, this is really simething that happened. One of my favorite things to do early on in the game is check up on the answers some pairs selected. Often times, I'll find two students who are just having so much trouble deciding. I'll walk up, stare at the paper with them, then quietly let out a soft "hmmmmmmm..." while posing as if I were deep in thought. Then, I'd pause, change positions, then a little louder utter "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." again. Usually this is when the pair themselves will start to giggle, but then I hit them again with an even longer "HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..." That's when all the other kids around start to laugh loudly. If the pair still hasn't chosen a "T" or an "F", I'll do the loudest "HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!" I can, sometimes grabbing my head as if the decision were torturing my soul.
I had done this a few times with the other classes, and always it was a big hit. However, this particular time, one of the girls I was tormenting laughed so hard that she, I don't even know how she did it, knocked her desk over. Hahaha... kinda embarrassing for her, and it ruined my gag a little bit, but it sure does exemplify the kind of effects I'm having on these poor kids.
Oh, and last thing... everyone absolutely loves the fact that my cat is named "Mika-chan." I guess they're expecting me to say something like "Fluffy" or "Max" or "Mr. Mittens," but when they hear a perfectly common Japanese name, it knocks them over, haha.
For all four classes, just like I had done with all the other schools' classes, I took a student survey. I didn't get any big love, for the reasons I mentioned above, but I did find out a few interesting facts. Well, a few kids did say things to the effect of "this lesson was really fun," "you are interesting", and "I look forward to having classes with you" (awwwwww). One of the most interesting was finding out what clubs most of the students joined. I don't have the official total numbers, but at quick glance, it seems that Basketball, Badminton, and Brass Band are the big winners. English Club only had 1. :(
Actually, most interesting was what the JTE told me about the Cooking Club. Apparently over 60 students registered!!! But before you imagine a room completely packed with cookies, donuts, and cute girls in chef hats... the Cooking Club is just really the largest "ghost member" club, because it's so easy to ditch, haha. No club captain is going to hunt anyone down for not showing up most days. There aren't any weekly tournaments against other schools... and most enticing of all, there are no exhausting practice sessions lasting 'til beyond sunset.
Lazy girls... sneaky girls.
Speaking of clubs, today was the first time I would be meeting the English Club at this school... without the help of a JTE. Grrrr... thanks for leaving me hanging. I was hoping for for some simple chit-chat, but without a translator and any really pro-active speakers in the group (6 girls, 4 boys from the 2nd-Year and 3rd-Year classes), it was kinda quiet. Well, since none of these kids were in my OC classes, it was safe to do my Introduction Bingo game with them. Ahh... well... sure, I guess. I mean, I'm not really in the mood to do it again, and it doesn't work so great with small classes, but if we want a simple time-killer, then sure, why not?
Oh wait, we have a late-comer... an ichinensei student. Oops... sorry, I know you're probably interested in checking out this club, ichinensei girl, but all we're doing today is the same activity you saw like 2 or 3 hours prior.
Anyway, nothing exciting to share... moving on.
With that club finishing up around 4:30pm (early release because I was tired and didn't have anything else planned (I promised them a fun game for next week)), I was free to check out the next club. But first, I had promised Rabbit-sensei that I would go with him to meet the Photography Club students. Hahaha... rather interesting encounter. We opened the door to their clubroom on the 4th-floor of the Speciality Building, and immediately upon seeing me, they were all overwhelmed with joy. I don't know what the teachers had told them exactly, but something like "wow, cool, the ALT will be joining us sometimes to lend his expertise and advice on taking photos, complete with showing us his own portfolio." Pressure's on! But I have to wait for a rainy day as Fridays will be their outside-excursion days. Booo~
Haha, it will be fun joining this group. There were like 20 students all piled around a small center table. Haha, I hope we'll have some space to do a decent slideshow presentation without need of stacking everyone on top of eachother. Also, "English communication"... ganbatte!
Despite how incredibly unbelievably tired and hungry I was after my quick meet-and-greet, I still wanted to drop in on one of the sports clubs. I wonder if I can FINALLY find a basketball club this time around. I went to the large gym, opened the door, and found... volleyball. Grrrr... well, though I immensely enjoyed playing with the volleyball girls at HS1 on Monday, I've been doing volleyball clubs for the last 3 years!!! I want basketball!!!
Oh wait... on the far end of the gym... I see it... yes!!!
BASKETBALL!!!
Girls on one side; boys on the other. Which one should I go to? Well, as fate has it, the girls were the ones closest to where I saw a clear path, so I guess I should just follow along this route. I made my way over to where many of them had gathered, and it wasn't long before a few of them started getting brave and coming up to ask me questions. I guess one girl was the captain... or just a really good English-speaker, as she was the one voted to be the ice-breaker. Haha, she was nervous, but I can always overhear their little "what should we say?" and "how do you say ~?" discussions, which allows me to look at them, smile, then wave them over, signaling "go ahead, I won't bite."
Of course, as always, once one girl opens the gates, the whole flood comes pouring through. Not wanting to be left out, the girls who had actually been practicing out on the court stopped their drills to come rushing over, repeatedly asking "nani? nani?"
We were interrupted by everyone just packing up and heading off. Oh... ummm... okay... what's going on? Oh... I see. The volleyball team finished their practice, so now the Girls' Baskteball Club was free to take over their side of the gym. Okay, I'll follow along.
The same girl, I'd have to assume is the captain at this point, said to me "together... play?" Haha, so adorable. I was pondering the options, wondering how serious she was being, but when I began to take off my jacket, she and the others exploded with happiness-filled delight. Hahaha... oh god, now the pressure to actually be good is on! Luckily for me, the last portion of the JHS and ES P.E. cirriculum before the end of the schoolyear was basketball, but even that was about two months ago.
So yeah, we started off with a little free-shooting, but I was embarrassingly terrible at it. Embarrassingly terrible. Fortunately, it didn't last long. They invited me to join in the 3-man run/pass/shoot drill, but without my shooting skills callibrated yet, I just embarrassed myself further. They were all probably wondering at this point why I was even here. Grrrrrr... I'm decent, I swear... I swear!!
Well, I earned some coolness points in the shuttle run drill that followed. They all started giggling like mad when they saw me dash after them... a little late on the start since no one actually informed me of what we'd be doing. But to their astonishment, it wasn't long at all before I had taken the lead ahead of all of them. Heh heh heh... see? I'm not a complete athletic failure.
They had me sit down and be the "coach" for the next segment, which was probably for the better since it seemed pretty intense. A training drill consisting of non-stop 3-on-2 mini-battles, with consistant rotation of players in the defense and offense roles. Trying to explain the rotation procedure would have just been too time-consuming, so better to just have me watch it and maybe next time have me join in.
After that, they had some full-court 7-minute 5-on-5 mini games. A bit interesting to watch... I mean, I'd prefer to play, but it's also wise to get a sense of what I'd be up against. Holy crabcakes, are these girls good!! I mean, the defense needs a lot of work, though it's quite possible that their offense is just so incredible. I mean, their shot-percentages, even from far out and under-fire is impressive. A chucker like me would probably get pwned over and over again. If I'm going to ever join, I need to slow down and concentrate... be a team player; not a wild shooter.
Speaking of being a wild shooter, after the club period officially ended, a lot of the girls conducted some "free shooting" practice. I joined in this because, hey, why not? I need to recallibrate my targetting system... and... you know... actually show these girls that I CAN get the ball in the hoop. But goddammit, it took me a humiliatingly long time to finally make a basket. I swear, the hoops at my JHS are screwed up, so now playing in a court that seemed to be more regulation, I had to revert my playing abilities back to the way I learned in the US (haha, well, not that there is much difference... it's just shooting hoops, either way you look at it).
Anyway, so yeah, took a bit, but I finally got a few easy alley-oops. Then I started moving out further. No recgonition until I made a pretty smooth 3-pointer, which got me a round of applause and a couple high-fives, haha. These girls flatter me so. I think what won them over the most was the 1/3 court shot I first attempted. I failed miserably, but what mattered was they all noticed I attempted. Then encouraged me to try it again... to which I did... and missed again. My targetting was straight, but I wasn't putting enough power into it. I haven't lifted my weights in a while, nor have I given any piggyback rides to any elementary kids, so my arms have gotten flabby over the last few weeks. However, I was determined to get this shot. "More power!," I told them. They agreed and shouted "more power!", haha.
Okay, line up my shot, give it all I got... all eyes on me... and swish!! Nothing but net! Beautiful! Everyone is happy. Xeno is king of basketball.... until he goes back to sucking again. Argh... just a little more practice, ladies, then I'll be golden. But then again, defense is more my thing anyway. Put me on the court, and you'll be amazed by how many interceptions I'll be tossing in your faces.
In yo' faces!!! Don't be bringing that garbage into MY house!! Yo' momma taught you how to play ball, foo? Yo' momma couldn't tea..
... oh, no trash talking here? heh heh, sorry.
The girls all left around 6:30pm. I got a decent "thank you, see you next time" from the captain and 1 or 2 others. I definitely want to come back and play again. With all the girls now gone, I was free to take off myself, though I felt like, if I wanted to be a true supporter of the school and the Basketball program, I should at least go visit the boys' team for a bit. My JTE friend (the one I teach the 3rd-Year students with) is the coach of that team (not sure if he's the primary or the subordinate... but he was reffin' like a pro, hahaha), so it would be a big show of support to go say hi and watch their final practice game of the day. The support girls were very happy to see me come over, haha. Didn't get much talking time with any of the boys, though their alumni (?) advisor was pretty fun to talk to. He's a huge Boston Celtics fan.
My day ended after this. It was nearly 6:45pm by the time I got to my car. The sun was still setting over the nearby seaside. I love Springtime!!! Today's weather was simply perfect... too bad I couldn't be outside enjoying it. Oh well, it's the weekend now and it's sakura season!! I'm hoping to hop on the train to a nearby city to take in the sakura at some famous park around here. I'll do a recap entry and toss up some random photos at some point this weekend. Haruhi-sama knows this is going to be my last chance for rest and relaxation for a loooooooooooooooooooooong time.
Until next time... see you!!
P.S. One of the boys in the ichinensei class wrote in his student profile that his favorite musician was Yui Horie. I loooooove Yui Horie!!!! She is my favorite voice actress!!! He exploded with nerdy happiness when I told him this. :D
In search of a rosy-colored high school life, Makoto has been sent from the country to the city to live with his aunt. The thing that excites him the most, of course, is the thought of cute girls in his class. Fortunately for him, his aunt Meme ends up being a looker. Unfortunately, upon arriving at his aunt's house, he discovers that a small crazy girl who has wrapped herself in a futon lives with her.
Over an awkward dinner, his aunt tries to brush off the girl's existence, and generally throughout the episode acts as if the girl isn't there at all. After his first day at school, Makoto tries to engage the girl in conversation, and despite the large amount of crazy that spews from her mouth, he ends up taking her shopping with him that night. When he eventually ends up coaxing her out of her futon, he discovers that her name is Erio, she thinks she's an alien, and she's surprisingly beautiful.
So the first episode of this series was standard; not good and not terrible. Anyone who has seen Arakawa Under the Bridge's first episode, which has a similar "normal meets crazy" premise but was far more successful, will also find it very familiar. It didn't grab me like Arakawa did, perhaps because I was unable to connect with any of its characters. There are a few hints at intrigue that pop up in this episode. The way that Meme treats Erio as if she doesn't exist but still calls her a daughter to Makoto is interesting. I also liked how the opening theme (which I personally love) sets a bit of a disturbing and melancholy tone to the series; it hints to the viewer that something terrible more than likely happened to Erio. My hope for this series is that SHAFT will focus on these darker hints of the story, instead of turning it into more of a slice-of-life gag comedy. For that, we had Arakawa Under the Bridge.
Coverage Day: Thursday, April 14th
Schools Visited: Azumanga High School (HS1)
Entry S4.0, Ep08
Just finished my dinner. My delicious TACO dinner!! No, not "tako"... not Japanese octopus... I mean, "taco"... as in "yo quiero tacos, hombre!!!" It's great living in an actual city. I have so many shops around me. In between the dozens of ramen and Chinese restaurants, I found a nice import shop that not only has my taco shells/mix set, but also Twix, graham crackers, and chocolate mints. Oh, the little things you begin to miss once you no longer have easy access to them.
And speaking of Chinese restaurants, I heard from two of my students that there is a really good one near our school. What? I talked to students today? I talked to students about more than just things they liked and what they did this past weekend?? You bet your stuffed Pikachu collection I did!! So nice being in a high school where you can actually have conversations that last minutes, instead of seconds, haha.
Shall we discuss?
Today was actually kind of really boring. I mean it's terrible that I wasn't able to make the best use of my day, considering my limited time here, though at the same time, I did get a lot of work done, which will allow me plenty of free time in the weeks to come. Haha, this also means that I don't need to spend the next 3 hours writing this entry, recapping multitudes of stories of my experiences.
So, if you recall, despite this being my "base" school, I only teach 18 lessons this semester... in total. The six ichinensei classes will each meet with me just 3 times between April and June. Uber lame... but hey, I can enjoy the freedom, as well as use this time to work on preparing my materials so that I can enjoy free time at my other schools, as well. The more work I do now, the less I do later. I could have dropped in a few P.E. lessons throughout the day, but I figure all they're doing right now is orientation and paperwork and basic running-type stuff. The fun won't start for a while, so I'll hold off on making my grand entrance until later on.
Plus, I'm still technically a stranger here, so if I just appeared, people who surely be confused.
I did get a tour of the school in the 3rd-period. The woman who showed me around is my direct supervisor. It's kinda strange for me, because she looks almost EXACTLY like my friend, TravelAgent-san, who I met in Okayama when I first came here. Haha, I guess this helps me feel more at-ease around her.
As for the actual tour... this school is nice and well-organized. I mean, some of the stairwells are kinda gross and worn, as are some of the more obscure hallways, but the main hallways and the classrooms look pretty well-kept. Very brightly lit and relatively clean. This school also has an insane number of gymnasiums. Aside from the ginorous main gym, there is also a smaller gym for badminton and table tennis, then another room for martial arts. But also, underneath that big gym is a secret training area that the soccer and tennis clubs use on rain dates. Haha... how interesting.
And even more interesting, this school has it's own "cabin." Quite often in anime you see the club "retreat" episode arcs... usually at the beach or on some mountainside. Our school has it's own little house on one of the corners of the campus where students can live at for 2-4 days straight, haha. I wonder just how often they use it. Must be mostly a summer thing.
For pretty much... no, I take that back... for the entire rest of the schoolday, from start of 4th-period (around 11am?) to the end of 7th-period (about 3:35pm), I did nothing but work on lessonplans. I already have my own arsenal of junior high school to get me through a year, but what should I do about high school students? I checked a few teacher resource websites for game ideas, but apparently they were all more oriented toward the younger classes. Guess I never noticed this since I had never had to look for activity ideas for the older kids. Oh well, at least my company's website provided some suggestions... though for some reason, they had them listed in the "JHS" section.
Oh well... Battleship... oh sorry, that name is trademarked by Milton Bradley... or Parker Brothers... or whoever. This game here is called "Battleships"... you can see the clear, legally-safe difference, right? No confusion. -_____-
But yeah... Battleships looks fun and easy to play, and I can use "The Fortunate Wheel" for some of my other classes, haha. Anyway, I could go on, but I know you're bored of hearing about this junk... and I'm surely bored of talking about it. I did this junk for like 5 hours straight today... the last thing I want to be doing now is talking about it. You'll probably be happy to hear me suggest that we fast-forward straight to club period.
The final registration deadline for new member enrollment is tomorrow. This is good because I could meet with the English Speaking Society (our English club) at least once before anyone made any final commitments. But, for me, I didn't have only the freshmen to worry about, but also my OWN first impression. This is my first official interaction with ANY students of this school. I wonder how it will go.
Club period starts at about 4pm. I was already in the room we'd be meeting in (the Language Lab) since I had been cleaning in there during the souji just prior. I stepped outside into the hallway after one of the JTEs went out there to talk to some students, and came face-to-face with a very friendly senior-class girl. We exchanged friendly chit-chat... myself not sure of why she had been standing there particularly. Her English was nearly
flawless, and she exuded excellent confidence. Then she told me she was here for the English Club. Ahhhh, excellent. We already have one ace student... I wonder how many more will come.
Before we could even step inside our classroom, this really nerdy, geeky girl came walking up to us. My new friend was pointing at her excitedly. "She is the club leader." Hahah... okay, cool... but why is she so quiet? Come on, leader... take charge! Heh heh, maybe I'll get her moving and shaking later in the semester. I like nerdy girls, haha.
I didn't get much of a chance to talk with her solo since before we could take our seats, two second-year girls came into the room. One was kinda quiet, but the other was almost as lively as the first girl I met. Okay, now we're up to 4... how many members are in this group? Oh, no one seems to know for certain, haha, but I'm told more will come... soon? Sooooooo... we should start now? Wait a while? Do what now?
Okay, let's just talk then. Brief intro... get everyone's name and class number... chit-chat about favorite movies/music... let them ask me basic questions. That ate up about 10-15 minutes, though still no one has come. Fine, well, let's get going with today's main activity: "Wheel of Lucky Money!!" (Merv Griffin, please don't sue me... if it makes you feel better, there was no wheel involved in our game whatsoever, haha). So yeah, took me about 5 minutes to explain the game to our 4 players...
and wouldn't you know... the moment we're just about to start, the room absolutely floods with new students. I counted 15 in total. Dammit... this game wasn't really designed for such a big crowd... and trying to explain these rules to ichinensei in even less time would be a chore. Okay, I'll just have the JTE with me do the rules explanation in Japanese. Haha, things went okay from this point, also because one of the girls has actually seen the television show and knew the real rules, haha. We weren't doing the whole "you have to buy vowels" thing because it was too confusing, but I thought it was funny how she pointed it out to me. Haha, she wasn't lying about being familiar with the show.
Wish I could say I was wacky and enthusiastic during the actual game, but there didn't seem to be a lot of lee-way for me to do anything entertaining. I hope the game itself was interesting and challenging enough to sway the decisions of the ichinensei, who will need to decide what they'll be doing about club membership tomorrow. Of course, I'd be happy even if only like 2 or 3 joined. I don't need a dozen plus members in this club since it's so hard to plan activities for mid-sized groups. But I'll still welcome the challenge should they happily decide to join us every week. Too bad I hadn't done my introduction lesson with their Oral Communication classes yet. If the ichinensei had seen my opening performance, odds are that nearly half the freshmen girls in the school woulda been lining up in front of the Language Lab door this afternoon.
Please come back, girls!! ... and... you know... be on time... -_____-;;
Haha, well, at least the older club members are excited about English club. After we officially ended the meeting, I invited anyone who wanted to come talk to me personally to step up. I was a little dismayed when most of them filed out of the room (freshmen are still as nervous as hell), but the first girl who had spoken to me out in the hall came up to me with a late-comer friend. Quite an interesting experience, as both of them had really excellent English-speaking abilities.
First thing they wanted to know was... "do you like InuYasha?" Hahaha... why are you asking me that? It's so random. Wait... I never did find out why they were asking me. I just told them that I thought Kagome was cute, and how I thought it was weird that the anime was popular in the 90s, then it had a decade-long hiatus before finally ending the story. The subject changed to other anime before I could think to ask about it.
We talked for a good 10-minutes or so. We talked about usual things like music and tv. They also told me about their trip to Korea, where apparently everyone there said they looked like AKB-48 girls... I suggested that one of the girls join up and become the 49th member. Haha, I should nickname that girl AKB-49, haha (the first girl from the hallway... she was the genki wacky one, while her friend was more the smarty serious one).
I wanted to keep talking with them, as this was my first substantial conversation with students in this school, but they had to be heading off to their other club. They're part of the Table Tennis Club. Oh, interesting... I'll have to ask them to teach me how to play. I played in Okayama with the JHS kids, but I only did so-so. Now that I have some professionals to give me clear pointers, it could be interesting. Good English practice for them, too.
With their departure, this left me free at about 5pm. Hmmmm, technically I'm free to go, but that wouldn't be any fun. I have a whole country club of activities to choose from... soccer, basketball, volleyball, art club, light music, photography... ah, I know, I'll go see what the Handball kids are up to today. Maybe they'll let me play this time.
Alright, heading outside... but first I gotta go to the teachers' lobby and get my damn shoes. Grrrrrr... Japanese shoe-changing custom... I hate you! So inconvenient. Oh well, it's a nice Spring afternoon, so I won't let it get me down.
I make my way over to the Handball court, right alongside the club storage shed facility. A few students notice me and nod, but it's the friend on the boys' team I made here a week ago that made the biggest show, turning from his duties on the court to face me and scream my name while yelling and shouting. Haha, now that's a friendly greeting! Today was the first day for the new icihinensei... or... I dunno, maybe like the 2nd or 3rd. I'm just guessing. Anyway, the freshmen boys were off to the side, just tossing the ball back and forth while the 2nd-year and 3rd-year students played half-court defense-versus-offense. They couldn't play full-court today because the girls were doing the same exact thing on the other side of the court...
... or... almost the same thing. One teeny tiny minor difference: there weren't any new ichinensei. None at all!! Oh, no!!!! Not a single freshmen girl joined the team, and with like 8 of the 11 girls leaving after summer break, this group is gonna be in a huge mess. And it's too bad because another one of my new friends was really distraught about it. But I'll get to that in a moment.
So, when I first arrived, I stood in the sidelines, leaning against one of the posts to the athletic storage shed walkway. I was hoping for an invite to join in, but it hardly seemed as if anything were going to open up. I turned to the girls' side to see if I would have any luck there. Nope... nothing doing. Okay... so what CAN I do? Oh, there's another girl standing nearby. I guess she's the team "supporter." That's like... "team manager?" "equipment manager?" Who knows? All I know is that she's standing here with nothing to do for the next 90 minutes, haha.
I say hello, though I'm completely ashamed of the fact that I can't remember if I met her last week or not. I already had one embarrassing moment earlier in the day when I introduced myself to a teacher I ran into in the printing room and introduced myself, only to have him say "yeah, I know... I met you on Monday... we talked for like 10 minutes." Oops. Luckily he understood my situation. I've been introduced to about 40 teachers so far, and probably about 300 students... still just a small fraction of the total numbers I'll eventually face. But how about this girl?
I introduce myself and ask for her name and class. She doesn't seem put off, so she must be a new encounter for me. Her English is rather good... I mean, it's slow and she simple, but she's understanding and responding correctly. She's gotta be a senior, no? A 2nd-year!? Wow... great potential for this one, haha. I can't remember the exactly everything we covered initially, but it wasn't long until her friend (another team manager) came up to talk to us. No shyness whatsoever... maybe because her friend had already done the hard part and broke the ice.
She pointed at her friend walking over and told me her name. I excitedly pointed at her friend and repeated the name. Then I pointed back at her and repeated her name. Then I pointed at myself and said my name. Then I pointed at her friend again and said her friend's name, haha... intentionally mixing it up.
Girl 1 paused a moment, as if she were gonna correct me, but before she could say anything, I pointed at her and said MY name, hahaha. Then I pointed at myself and said Girl 2's name. Haha... now we're ALL mixed up! They found it amusing. And it gave me leaping off points for other jokes, like when Girl 2 had to go chasing after a wayward ball, I said "good bye, xeno!" She couldn't hear my silly joke, but Girl 1 laughed.
Other things... we talked about handball and how it was unfortunate that there were no ichinensei joining the team. Girl 2 was in charge of this group, so she was in a much bigger panic than her friend. I made some jokes saying that the English Club had an overflow of new girls that I would gladly send her way, haha... and also that I would be happy to join since technically I am a 1st-Year at this school. Just put a skirt on me and all is good.
We talked a little bit about other students I had met (well, in the English Club), as well as some of the teachers. Haha, not surprisingly, the students all have nicknames for the teachers. Like, Mr. Takasawa (sensei), the team's coach, is "Taka-sen," but no one called him that to his face since he was kind of a stern and serious man. "Shhhh, secret," is what the girls adorably said to me, haha.
Most amusing was an opporunity I had to make some of my teasing jokes that maybe I'd use with the younger JHS kids... or just teasing girls in general. Girl 2 kept swiping at the air as we were all talking. We were all standing side-by-side, facing the court, so we weren't exactly looking at eachother, but we could see eachother out of the corners of our eyes. She probably realized I could see what she was doing, but it was the least of her concerns. I had no idea what she was doing until I felt it too... a spider web thread had fluttered across my face. Gah... okay, just a little annoying, but now the question is... "where is the spider??"
As soon as I noticed the web, I made mention of it, which is how I knew that that's what my friend standing on my right had been picking at. She had the same problem, but now the three of us were in the spider-danger zone!! Haha, knowing how girls typically are, I pretended to look around, then I looked at Girl 1's shoulder and said I found it. Heh heh, she panicked a little, but rather than being all dramatic and flipping out, it was just more of a "eh?? where?? where??" as she was trying to look behind her.
Later on, I would do the same thing again, only this time, she would call me out on it saying she knew I was lying. I then turned to Girl 2 and pretended to whisper silently, though I intentionally said it loud enough for both to hear... things like "poor (Girl 1), the spider is going to eat her!!" and "oh my god, such a big spider!!!" Girl 1 played along a little bit, haha, insisting that really the spider was on MY back. Okay, so if it is... ::steps back and rubs back against the metal pole behind me:: Problem solved! heh heh, they laughed.
I love teasing girls about insects.
Oh, and we also talked about snakes and "hairy bugs." I had no idea what they were talking about, but we figured it out after a little thinking (catepillars). Their English is good, I'm telling ya. How am I supposed to go back to junior high school now?? I love my kids there, but the conversation-making is excruciating.
Anyway, the three of us ended up talking for pretty much 75-90 minutes straight. How wonderful to be able to communicate openly for so long. I learned a lot about them (they both live far away... over an hour away by train) and they learned a lot about me. I told them about my experiences in the other high schools I have, making mention of how the girls in my Wednesday school were all in love with me. Once I said that, before I could even get to my next thought, the two of them, almost in unison, blurted out "me too!!" Haha, awwwwwwww... but what am I supposed to say now? When the other girls say it to me in notes or in the hall, I can just smile and continue on my way. But I'm kinda immersed in this conversation and not exactly free to take off. Plus, I've noticed how throughout our entire time together, they've both inched their ways closer and closer to me, little by little. By the time we got to the end of the practice period, the two of them nearly had me pinned to that metal post.
"I'm happy." That's safe to say... I'm hoping.
My recap here only covers about half of what we talked about (klutzy Girl 2 had tripped down the stairs at the train station this morning and hurt her leg, haha... that was another topic of conversation for a while)... wish I had time (and accurate enough memory) to cover the rest, but I posted the more amusing ones. I really like these two girls, and even if I never set foot on the Handball court, I'd be happy just hanging out with these two. Too bad they won't be in any of my classes here, but I'm sure I'll see them in the halls every now and then, or maybe have P.E. with them. If anything, we could get together for lunch. I need to start making some lunch arrangements... lunch "dates," if you will.
But who knows what kind of wars that would start. It was bad enough when Cuteness-chan and Semi-chan would battle over me when they were 2nd-grade elementary students. Imagine the damage that high school teenagers could inflict. We're talking citywide inter-school strikes!! No way in hell would I survive anything like that.
Tomorrow I'm back in the classroom... 4 introduction lessons for the freshmen at Fuuka Academy HS on the schedule. Wish me luck! This will be my first time teaching 1st-year students.
Coverage Day: Wednesday, April 13th
Schools Visited: Perfect Dream Academy (HS4)
Entry S4.0, Ep07
Is it over? Are they gone? Can I breathe again? Is it safe to relax now?
::looks left::
no girls over there...
::looks right::
no girls over there....
::checks outside the window::
Looks like I'm in the clear. Whew, what a day! I had my predictions about how today was going to be like, but man, was I not prepared for it in the least bit. The students in my other schools were more on the male side of the population divide (55%, 40%, and 95%)... here, however, the population is clearly in the girls' favor. And considering how much flirtatious attention I had been getting at those earlier schools with the lower percentages of girls, I kinda suspected that today would be a madhouse. The more girls in a group, the higher chance of my being "squee'd" over. And with the hallways nothing but endless waves of groups of teenage girls, every turn I took had me in the spotlight, haha. Am I complaining?
Well, yeah...
... about the fact that I only come here once a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I live here? I'll work for free if they just feed me and let me stay in the goat barn, just as long as I can come here 5 days a week and bask in this glorious limelight. This school is just too wonderful! I'm trying to think of anime comparisons, but it's difficult. All I know is this school is like my perfect dream, so that's what I'll call it until someone can make a better suggestion.
But enough with the bragging... I need to share some stories to support my claims or else you'll all just think I was some douche exaggerating how awesome he is, haha.
Crap... today's sheet of notes is two pages long. I know the previous entries from this week were long, but I'm really hoping this one won't keep me up all night. Well, let's get to it.
The Sakura flowers finally blossomed here in Niigata. It's great to finally enjoy the school semester as Japan (and anime!!) intends it. Nowhere near full-bloom, but for the next week or two, we can enjoy seeing the fluffy pink trees outside our classroom windows.
As expected, this morning I had to do my introduction speech to all the teachers. Thank Haruhi-sama that this is the LAST time!! Don't even get me started on the "welcoming parties" I'll have tangling up my Fridays for the next month. I just hope there are no scheduling conflicts. I'm counting on them to talk with me about dates of availability before actually booking anything. Would suck for a school English department to set everything up only to discover I've already promised the night to another English department.
Anyone wanna take bets on how much of a disaster this is going to turn into?
I arrived at the school around 8:15am. This was my first time driving there from my apartment. My navi took me down some interesting backroads that offered a fantastic view of the Niigata mountain range in the morning. But now I have a decision to make: drive down the beautiful scenic backroads and pop right into the school's driveway in no time flat... or take the main road, where I can at least stop for a morning donut, haha. :D
I already mentioned my needing to give my intro speech. Boring story... I'll skip it. Well, not like my next piece is exciting to share, unless you relish in my bad moods, haha... jerks. So I've said this before about starting at new schools: one of the worst things about starting fresh in a new school (aside from not knowing what anything or who anyone is) is opening up your desk and finding it just filled to the brim with... garbage.
Really... seriously... hey, previous ALT, I'm sure you kept these 40+ copies of already-filled-out worksheets for a reason, but if that reason was to make the next ALT have to dig through your crap, then #%@& you!!!! And these game pieces... look, I have no doubt in my mind that you have somehow created the perfect ultimate classroom activities, but unless you're leaving me the instructions on how to play it, these game pieces are nothing but useles scraps of paper to me. Into the trash they go.
Well, I did salvage the "Wheel of Fortune" game pieces since I know that game (who doesn't?... no, serious... who doesn't?), though I had to change a few things since you couldn't spell some of the words right. Wow... just... freaking... wow... And I also threw about about 20 "Bankrupt" cards. I can't help but wonder if every game you played ended with all the players finishing with $0 considering how many of those cards you put in there. Two was plenty.
But xeno... "Wheel of Fortune" is a very complicated game. It's slow-moving, requires lots of quiet patience... and is mostly a one-player-at-a-time style of game. Don't most of your high school classes consist of like 35-40 students?
Oh... I know you're thinking that, and you are quiet sharp for realizing this. And I thought the same thing as I was getting ready to just dump the whole pile of cards... but then I was glad I held onto them a while longer. My supervisor came over to my desk soon enough in the 1st-period to give me some more detailed on information on what the hell I will be doing here. One of the things I was most curious about was... who am I even teaching? Now this is where things get interesting...
So, get this. I only teach 3 classes here each week. All 3 of the classes are optional classes, which is great because it means every student in the class CHOSE to be there. Two of the classes are 11th-graders... the third class is made of 12th-graders. I don't have to deal with awkward freshmen here, haha. But there's more.
That one class of 12th-graders I have every Wednesday in the 3rd-period... it has just 6 students. Just... six... students. My official record for smallest class had been 7 students for just one semester, which was my KS-2 class of 4- and 5-year-olds (an 8th student was added in after the summer break). So now, I have a class that's even smaller. Well, this will certainly be different... but perhaps in a good way because it means I can have more intricate activities (assuming I have the time to prepare anything... which I probably won't... dammit). Haha, well, I'll find ways around that. I mean, I don't REALLY need those 7 hours of sleep.
With the other two classes, I'm getting off kind of easy. My 4th-period class is called OC-I (D), which confuses me because it sounds like a course for the 1st-year students, but it's not. It's a mixed optional class made up of random 11th-graders (2nd-Years). Here, there are just 25 students. The other class is called OC-I (C), and that one has 36 students. Still not as overwhelming as my other classes, all packed with 40-41-42 students, but still a big crowd. That's my sweetheart class, though, so it's essentially my dream class. I'll get to that soon enough.
Next up, a morning tour of the campus. The final piece of my puzzle... the last dungeon map to memorize, haha. At least I was able to find the teachers' room on my own this time. I've come to assume that they're all on the 2nd-floors now. Kinda weird, but I guess when you realize how many administrative offices, guidance/health offices, and whatnot there are near the entrance, the teachers are best left away from all that noise.
So quick run-down of interesting things I saw: two gymnasiums (not the biggest, but one was definitely the nicest)... some goats... some rabbits... a giant vat of soy sauce?... a wine distillery...?? Wait... what?? What kind of school am I in again?? I see music rooms, art rooms, classrooms, a library... all typical school rooms. Why is there a whole wing dedicated to making soy sauce, miso stock, and wine?? I'm... I'm... I'm not even going to ask.
Well, two interesting things (teenager-run bootleg operation aside) arose during this tour. First, my supervisor had taken note of how I had hoped to join some PE lessons at some points, and decided to have us swing by the P.E. teachers' office to introduce me. He used this opportunity to inform them of my desire, which returned many cheerful "sure, come join us anytime" invites. Sweet.
And an even nicer moment came from the 3-2 class which had been having outdoor P.E. as we passed them in the gym/school outdoor connection. They students took one glance at me and called their dear English teacher over to them for a moment. I heard them ask something about me, then I heard a few of them, boys mainly, groaning loudly. Okay... what's this about?
Apparently they were disappointed to hear that I would be reading the Oral Communication optional class and not the Reading Class. Seems as though they assessed me pretty quickly and instantly took a liking to me. Or perhaps they heard from the students at HS2 and HS3 how great my first lessons were, and they were anxious to see for themselves. Haha, has my reputation already spread from one end of the city to the other? Well, don't worry, 3-2... if you're having P.E. every 1st-period on Wednesdays, I'll be sure to join up with you guys as often as I can!! Just let me know when soccer starts. :D
Last stop on the school tour was through the main student lobby. I was given my first chance to not only inspect the school uniforms up close, but to also ask my supervisor if he knew any way in which I could obtain one of the school emblem patches. I really want to collect all three of my schools' patches. There's gotta be a uniform shop in this city somewhere. I should ask the students in the English clubs where they got theirs.
But yeah... standard dark-blue suit and tie combo for the boys; standard blazer (dark blue) and skirt (dark red, plad-pattern) for the girls... I forget what they have for neckwear. Either way... too cute!!
The rest of my morning was spent just thinking of lessonplans and flipping through the textbooks. I was quite anxious for 10:55am to roll around... 3rd-period... my first class in this school! Up first were those 6 seniors enrolled in the Oral Communication II class. Let's go.
I know I've done it before, but teaching such a miniscule group of students sure is weird. I know it's just their first class with me, but they are so quiet! Even when I said "good morning!" to them, I just got squimish stares. Haha, only one girl spoke up, but instantly she was aware that she was alone. Well, they'll warm up soon enough, I'm hoping.
I'm reaaaallllly hoping. It's so difficult to be the only lively and genki one in the room when everyone is just sitting silently. I mean, they did laugh and smile more and more as the lesson progresed and we all loosened up, but there is still a ways to go. I realize now how reliant I am on class clowns and the outgoing students to blurt out random things I can use as a volley partner. The back-and-forth shenanigans I can generate with some students is simply amazing.
Haha, there's always picking on kids, of course. Like, on the student profiles I had them fill out, one space was left open so that the students could write whatever the heck they wanted. As the period was coming to an end, I called for them to all hand in their completed forms. One of the more livelier girls made a point to actually ask for her paper from her friend's pile so she could write something addtional on it. What could be sooo important to add in that she'd actually ask for the paper to be handed back to her?
"I like flower"
I did my anime-style falling over thing when I read that, haha. Sure... okay... thanks for sharing. After the kids said their group good-bye, I randomly shouted out "I like flower!!", which made the girl fall over in her seat laughing, hahaha. The others around here were equally amused.
But going back to the lesson itself, as quiet as they were, they did seem to enjoy my Introduction BINGO quiz. I couldn't do all my jokes because I usually need the energy of the crowd to feed into it, but I did get a few funny moments. Like when I told them that I had met Bruce Willis, I told them that his movie, The Surrogates, filmed down the street from my home in Massachusetts. I mimicked myself opening my front say and shouting "Bruce Willis... hello!!!!" haha, they all found that funny.
Open Q&A was interesting... as in a way high school students make things interesting. The teacher didn't want to waste time with shy kids afraid of speaking up, so she made every student ask at least one question.
"Are you married?" ... hahaha, why am I not surprised that that was asked first?
"How many pets do you have?"
"What is your favorite anime?"
"What is your favorite Japanese food?"
"Where is your favorite place to visit in Japan?"
... "Do you have a girlfriend?" hahahaha... damn, these girls are persistant. And I have no doubt in my mind that the results of this question weren't shared with every other pairs of ers in this school before the 10-minute class-transition was over. And just in time, too... for what would become an interesting class. A veeeeeeeeeerrry interesting class.
I stepped into the 2-1 classroom, the room we'd be using for our specialty class, and instantly I was surrounded by groups of girls. Some were shy and reserved, others were forthcomingly flirty, waving and saying "hello" as I passed... all were completely infatuated with me. I could feel every pair of eyes watching my every move as I spoke with the JTE (my supervisor, a kind, soft-spoken man in his 50s) about how we'd be doing things. And the biggest of my admirers hadn't even come into the room yet!
Just as the chimes were ringing, two very outgoing athletic girls barged into the room, made a pass by where I was standing, and openly and excitedly shouted "hello xeno!!!" Wait, how did they know my name already? No, seriously... like... how did they know? Did they interrogate the poor OC-II girls after class ended? Did they have spies in my other schools?? Were they watching my 3rd-period lesson through the sakura trees??? I'm dying to know these things!!!!!!!!
Okay, but yeah, okay... so with class starting now, I had to gather up as much crowd survey data as I quickly as I could. Who are the alpha-students? Who are the trouble-makers? Who are the try-hards and who are the try-nots? What kind of crowd am I dealing with? At quick glance, it seemed to good mix of all sorts. I'd say, much like the boys' school, 25% tough strong-personality athletes, 25% meek and mild-mannered shy girls, and 50% your typical average teenage girls.
Oh... and two boys. 23 girls. I reaaaallly have no idea what to expect here, haha, but the wait would be over in all due time.
They started off as wonderfully as I could hope for... well, aside from being totally quiet during the "good morning, how are you?" junket (come on... this is elementary level stuff!!! You can't be THIS shy!!) Well, they listened intently to my introduction. My ESL communicative abilities are good enough that I'm sure they could all understand what I was trying to say. If not... well... then... they can ask a friend for a translation later. For now, I want to get started on my game!!!
My T/F BINGO game went amazingly!! There was such great energy in the room, which was great for feeding into my goofy gags. I even did the "surfing" joke with the "taking pictures" joke. Hahahaha, I think I knocked a few girls into la-la-land because all throughout the period, I would just see girls staring blankly, almost literally drooling...
let me say that again...
... almost literally drooling... often times just simply uttering "kawaii"... and one somewhere in the middle slipped out a "sekushii" (sexy, hahahahha). These girls are gonna either be great... or terrible... for my health, haha.
The two athletic girls (one in the center near the front, the other on the left near the front) were the leaders of the Xeno-sensei Fan Brigade, though I got the sense easily that the kids on the right-side and in the back were admiring just as hard, haha. And the facts about working with the police, working with the fire department, traveling all over Japan, and doing things like meeting Bruce, going to the White House (pre-9/11), and being able to drive like a stuntman just drove their hearts even more wild. How can one ALT be so awesome??? I'll bet now that they are all kicking themselves for not studying English as hard as they should have in junior high school.
Crowning moment of the day... about 75% of the way through the period, one of the girls on the right side of the room started having a coughing fit. One of the genki girls called across the room, "Ri-chan daijoubu??", followed immediately by the other girl, as if mocking her friend, "Ri-chan daijoubu???" CHANCE!!! Withou hestitation, I turned to the poor coughing girl and threw in my best mocking tone, "Riii-chaan daijoouubuuu?" Haha, the three of them started laughing hysterically, with the others in the class just... well... you're probably tired of hearing me just always saying "everyone laughed." If I could move my memories from my brain-space to the internets to actually SHOW you the moments, that would just be priceless. Until then, you're just going to have to trust my word and do your best to imagine the situation, haha.
Come on, scientists... they could do it in RoboCop!!! Why aren't you all over that!?!?!
So suffice to say, my review of the student profile "special messages" had plenty of "you are so funny" and "you are so interesting!!" notes left for yours truly. Awwwwwwww...
I don't know if it's because I'm new, because I'm not adjusted to the school schedule, or just because I'm absorbing so much data, but this day just absolutely flew by. I felt like I hadn't done anything at all, and yet already we're at our lunch break. I haven't gotten any lunch offers yet, but I'm hoping at some point, students will be asking me to chill with them during lunchtime. I just need to... you know... start planning out lunches for myself.
I spent my lunch break organizing papers and whatnot. I do have a public computer to use, but it is sooo friggin' slow. I need to start getting in the habit of bringing my laptop with me every day. I hope my Sony Vaoi can handle the abuse. It mainly just stays on the table of whereever I'm living... it's almost 3 years old... ancient in technology terms.
Anyway, that's boring junk no one wants to hear about. You want more crazy stories with crazy girls. And the 5th-period OC-I (C) class does not disappoint!!
Or... do they? Hmmmmmmm... they are awfully quiet for a class of 36 (well, 34 since two were absent); mostly girls again... I think there were just two boys in this group... the two luckiest boys in the whole gahddammed world!!!! My friend and I agree: those boys have no right to complain about anything... ever!!!!!!! They get to live in paradise every friggin' day. Or... they would if they could even understand the situation they were in. Sucks to be a shy person with so much opportunity around them. Ah, reminds me of my own high school days, haha.
So yeah, the class. The biggest group of my day, but somehow, not the most energetic. They're all just sitting here... very quietly... attentively. I'm not getting any readings whatsoever on who could possibly be the Alphas of this group. Someone... somewhere... any corner... any row... make a noise... be disruptive... SHOW YOURSELF!!!!!!
heh heh, okay okay, so I get it... this class is actually going to be my sweetheart class. Awwwwwwwwwww... it's kind of adorable. They're well-behaved, they're paying attention, they're participating, they're smiling...
oh... now I reaaallly get it... it's that infatuation thing again. Sheesh, was your last English teacher some kind of hideous sludge monster? I know it was a guy... was it one of those older creepy foreigners that seem to worm their way through the system? Oh well, whatever, I'll just enjoy for now.
As I pointed out before, I realize now how much my comedic element relies on someone to volley with. I mean, I can get the ball rolling, but I need reactions and outgoing people in the crowd to bounce the ball back. Once things are moving back and forth, the rest of the audience will loosen up and get involved. Okay... so nothing during my introduction speech... that's fine, I guess. I mean, it's more of a serious monologue anyway. Let's start the BINGO game (what's this, my 7th time now?) and get this party shakin'
Factoid #1: "Xeno is from the USA"
come on!! This one is a gimme. I said in my intro monologue that I was from America. Every one of you should be getting this one right.
Oh, pretty much all of you DID get it right. Excellent then.
Factoid #2: "Xeno is from Los Angeles"
a little tricky. Do I look like a West Coast kind of guy, brau? Maybe not, but haha, they didn't stop one girl and her partner from guessing "true"... and getting it wrong. Sorry.
Factoid #3: "Xeno has a brother and a sister"
This one you really need to guess on. It's so random... and you have no details whatsoever to base your response on. A 50-50 leap of chance. Did everyone get it right? Well, I know one girl and her partner who missed this one. Ouch, too bad. Well, 1 for 3, right?
Factoid #4: "Xeno has a cat named Paul"
Okay, this one maybe you can kinda guess on. I mean... hahahahahaha... what kind of name is.... hahahahhahaha... PAUL.... for a cat???? hahahhahahahhaa... that's a person's name... hahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhah. Too bad none of them watch Family Guy, lol.
But here's where things get cute. My new friend, sitting (you guessed it!), on the left-side toward the center (sheesh, what's with the front-left and being a magnet for class clows?) was really getting antsy about her guesses. She really really really wanted to get this one right. How about she tries to be adorable and ask me for a little help? I walk over, she smiles... she points at the paper... "help?" She points at the "T", then looks at me with a nudge-nudge come-on-you-can-tell-me smile. I just shrug and say "I forget." She points at the "F", then looks at me with a nudge-nudge come-on-you-can-tell-me smile. I just shrug again and say "I forget."
She starts to whine comically. Hahaha... so funny. Ok, now she has a better idea. How about I just whisper the answer in her ear for the others can't hear us? Sure! She turns to me, ready for the secret data... I draw in close... I pause a moment to let the drama sink in... then I whisper... "I forget." She whines again, lol. I am amused.
Haha, as we get deeper into the game, I'd go easier on her (and a few others, since I don't play favorites... despite having my secret favorites, haha) by suggesting some changes or perhaps motioning toward certain answers. She enjoyed the help... or perhaps moreso, the attention she was getting.
Oh... and if you were wondering, my cat's name is not Paul... hahahahahahahha... Paul is not.... hahahahahha... it's not a name for a cat... hahahahahhaha... Paul is a person's name.... hahahahahahahahah. My cat's name is Mika-chan, and yes, the girls found this fact insanely amusing. I should remember to bring in my iPod sometime to show off some of my meow-meow photos.
What else was a huge moment of amusement for them was my "surfing" joke. A lot of these classes seem to have those little stages at the front of the room to reach the raised up chalkboards (never saw those in the US in my day... is it some modern implementation, or just a Japan-thing?). When I did the factoid about liking surfing, I hopped up and starting "hanging 10, dude... catching a mondo wave!!" (no, I didn't actually say that). They were enjoying it immensely, however, my new friend had chosen that moment to ask something from the JTE, so she missed the first part. When she sat down in time for the answer reveal ("false"), she was totally confused as to why I was now pretending to take photos while "surfing a killer wave... tubular!!" Haha, she learned a valuable lesson today: never take your eyes off of xeno-sensei.
The other moment of insane comedy was from my "xeno met Bruce Willis" fact... #22 of 24, IIRC. Like in the first class of the day, I explained to them that Mr. Willis had filmed a movie in my neighborhood during the summer of 2008. I then went on with my joke about how I could open my front door, look outside, and be able to shout...
super excited... "hello Bruce Willis!!! How are you???"
less excited... "See... you"
excited again... "sign??" (autograph?)
less excited... "sign??
dejected... "sign??" :(
::pretend to cry... loudly::
With each added point, I'd pretend to be looking further and further down the road, as if Bruce passed me by and was now ignoring me. The students, thank god they can understand so much English at this level, were insanely amused by this. I mean, it's JHS-level English, but it flows so much better here.
My final act on stage was the reveal for the secret hidden Bonus #2: "Xeno is 29 years-old." I've decided to embrace my age after learning from my JHSers that 29 is a cool age to be, apparently, haha. And of course, I knew this information would be unbelieveably valueable to the young students of this educational facility. But... is he really 29? It could be true... though odds are, it's really false. Hmmmmmmmm... we can't tell the age of foreigners, just the same as he can't tell the age of Japanese people. We'll need to study him for a moment.
::walks over to the giant "F" I wrote on the chalkboard... stares at it long and hard:: hmmmmmm
::walks over to the giant "T" I wrote on the chalkboard... stares at it long and hard:: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
::steps back... looks back and forth between the two of them:: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
ah! ... I forget!
::everyone sitting in their desk falls over anime-style::
heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh
And thus ended my introduction game portion for this class (and this school). With the remaining 15 minutes of classtime, let's have the students fill out those Student Profiles I made for them. I am so interested in seeing their answers. Good to know the names, of course, but I also like making notes in my roster which club everyone is in, as well as relatable interests (one girl likes South Park, hahaha). Also, knowing which music, movies, and sports they all like helps me select what references and examples I can use in my lessons. Harry Potter, Night in the Museum, Biohazard/Resident Evil, and Spiderman are popular movies. Haha, I was surprised to see that Home Alone had 3 votes... no love for Back to the Future though.
More interesting, of course, is seeing what the students choose to write in the "Special Message" section of the paper. Most write "I love English"... some write "I hate English." A few had some random facts to share... but what I'm looking for, is a little feedback on how the kids feel about me. Haha, and boy did I get it. Remember that girl from my first day at HS1 who said to me "I love you" and how I had been worried about her setting the bar too high right away?
Well... now I have it in writing...
this one came from my friend, haha... she even wrote it in cursive. I need translations of that Kanji!!!
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Last note from the class... as I was walking around, helping the students with their answers, and seeing what interesting things they chose, I saw that one of the... nerdier... girls wrote that her favorite musician was Kobukuro (performer of the Cross Game OP...and recently, the Bakuman OP). Yay, I love Kobukuro, too! I told her that, and instantly she was lost in swoon-land. I take it that this poor girl doesn't get a lot of attention throughout the day... probably blends in with the wallpaper easily... and now, the star of today's show.. the guy who all the girls had been fantasizing over... was talking to HER!! Haha, probably the highlight of her day, haha.
Awwwwwww... and it's so sweet... so many "nerdy" girls... haha, I love the nerdy type. The quiet, shy girls. I relate to them the most, so I'm hoping maybe I can make their week by talking with them whenever possible.
Of course, just seeing them all once a week isn't enough. Luckily I have the lists of everyone's club now, so I'll be able to know how to balance my attention. Apparently "Art Club*" and "Food Processing Club**", as well as "Tea Ceremony and Flower Arranging Club" are the popular organizations with the nerdy ones. The athletic girls lean more to soccer. Sweet!!
* which I found out is just a guise for "manga club," hahaha... those sneaky kids
** they are the ones making that soy sauce and wine in that secret dungeon, haha
Unfortunately, today was club orientation day for the freshmen, so it was mostly classroom-type discussion as opposed to actual sports action. Nothing for me to do... best to let the clubs do their explanations without my interference. I guess this works for my benefit since I can make an early escape... ensuring my mystique stays intact for another week. Always leave 'em wanting more, right?
I did do one random "walk around the block" during the osouji (cleaning) period. I learned something: I guess not every student helps with the cleaning everyday. Most kids were packing up their stuff, heading home, as opposed to grabbing brooms and mops. Huh... okay. Well, for me, this means just walking around and seeing how many girls drool over me. I counted at least 20.
I'm going to enjoy this school.
Tomorrow I return to Azumanga High School (HS1) for my first day of... not... teaching. What?? I have no classes there this week?? Super lame. Oh well, at least I can finally catch my breath. It's only been 3 days of work, but it's been absolute sensory overload for me!!! At least the magnificent sunset I saw on my ride home this evening was calming. Never before I have seen the sun so big before... perfectly orangey-pink. Just... stunning...
A good sign of things to come? I'm gonna like it here. Question is... for how long?
Coverage Day: Tuesday, April 12th
School Visited: Cromartie High School (HS3)
Entry S4.0, Ep06
haha, yeah yeah, I know my anime references can be outdated, but Cromartie High School is just one of those shows you NEVER forget.
Oh? You forgot it? Well, just seeing the opening will remind of how insane this school was:
heh heh, so today was my boys' school. Well, it's not technically an all-boys school, as there are SOME girls there, but the number of them is so miniscule (seriously, each of my classes of 35-42 students has, at most, 2 girls). Looks like I just need to get used to the idea that on Tuesdays, I'll be chillin' with the boys crew. Which isn't a bad thing, to say the least, however it sure does throw a bit of a wrench into my usual, flirtatious teaching tactics. I mean, I don't need girls in the audience to be cheerful and smiley, though it sure helps, haha.
Of course, the boys were intrigued with me. Or... they were at some point in the day. You'd never be able to guess from the way they act in the halls. In all my other schools, Japanese students are pretty down with the "ohayou"s and "konnichiwa"s... but here, it's like they're treating me as if I were covered in nuclear radiation.
OH CRAP!!! Do they know something that I don't know?!??! I swear, I was only in the restricted area for 3 hours, not even!!! The geigermeter said we were in the clear. Ahhhhh!!!
This was my second time to visit this school. My first time, I was only here for about 30 minutes, and that was over a week ago. I managed to find a parking space surprisingly easy, but once I got inside the main entrance, I was instantly lost. Where the hell am I supposed to go? Is the teachers' room even down here? Was I shown an English Staff room my first time here? I haven't been given a tour yet, so my range of possibilities can't be that much... the room I'm supposed to be reporting to has to be close.
I asked a random teacher passing, and he said something Japanesy while pointing down the hall. I heard the word "ni kai," which means "second floor." Alright then, I don't get the rest, but I suppose if I walk the way he's pointing, I'll eventually find a staircase. Once I get to the second floor, I'll figure out my next move. Long story short, I found the teachers' room. The teachers' rooms in Japan have diagrams posted on the doors mapping out the desk locations of everyone stationed inside. I found my desk immediately, as a simple "ALT" was easy to notice. Oh, and I'm directly across from the vice principal... who can speak great English. Well, there's at least one thing to look forward to when coming to this school every Tuesday.
Yeah, remember, when I was first introduced to this school, the basic message I was given was "don't expect much here because the kids don't care about English, nor will they care about trying. They're not going to listen, probably not going to behave... and we're sure as hell not going to help you. You're on your own." So yeah, I've already come to expect this school to be the low-point of my week. Will it be as rough and tough as the anime Cromartie High? Will there be fights daily? Giant afros?? Gorillas??? Freddie Mercury????
While it may be my low point as far as academics go, I'm sure it has plenty of other opportunities to offer. My day begins now...
I walked into the teachers' room and was instantly informed by the kyoto-sensei (vice principal) that I would be giving my introduction speech at this morning's staff meeting. Okay, simple enough.. just let me... find.. my... notepaper. The one with the Japanese... version... of my... what the hell!!?!?! Where the #%^@ is it!?!! Argh, apparently I left it on the table in my apartment. Bravo, xeno... good job... fail!! Okay, fine, I've already given it twice and it is very simple, so I'll do it off-the-cuff.
I get to the meeting room and see all the teachers taking their seats. Before we start, both the kyoto-sensei and kouchou-sensei start asking me tons of questions, most of which I was planning on covering in my intro speech. I happily answer them, though I get a feeling I know what's about to happen. Yup, I was right... the meeting starts, and immediately the kouchou-sensei introduces me... announcing to the group all of the details I had just given him. Crap... now what? I can't give my speech now... it would just be reiterating everything he had just said... in crappy, laughably elementary Japanese. Fine... "minna-san, douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu"... I'm finished! Short, simple, where's the door?
I caught up with the Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) soon enough... or, they caught up with me, considering I can't remember anyone's name, face, or position. I just wait for people to come up to me, haha. What? Gimme a break. I met like 20 people last week, not including any of the students. Anyway, they informed me that they wanted to have a meeting to discuss my lesson ideas in the 2nd-period.
Okay, cool... let's get together then.
15 minutes later... "xeno-sensei, let's have our meeting."
Errmm... so... miscommunication? I mean, I have nothing do this morning, so it's no skin of my back, but if this is going to be a recurring thing, it might get annoying soon.
Meeting time... my introduction lesson sounds great. Simple enough, covers many things, good English practice, varied enough to keep the kids from getting bored. Perfect... good, because I'm not changing it, haha. How about my awesome fire department idea*? Do the teachers think it will fly with kids this age with their attitudes toward English?
Surprisingly, they took to the idea quite well. It required a lot of explanation, and quite honestly, I haven't worked out all the details fully myself yet anyway, but the general idea seems as though it might catch on. Being a technical/industrial high school, the kids need to learn a very certain kind of English, so I'm willing to alter my usual ideas a bit to be more relatable to what they want/need to know. Now let's just hope it works in the classroom.
I found out that there is no language lab or English Room in this school, which is ironically inconvenient. I mean, in the one school where I WANT to have a damn single-use room, I don't get it. Dammit, so where I am supposed to put my status board then? I guess on some obscure hallway bulletin then. Grrr, whatever.
So the meeting ended soon enough, and now I have about 2 hours to kill. I still know nothing about the school, so how about a tour? Being an industrial school, there's got to be quite a few interesting things to see. Well, sure enough there were, but all the doors to the workshops were locked, meaning I had nothing but empty hallways to see. Oh well, at least I got to look out all the pretty windows, haha. We can see Sado Island, Niigata-ken's #1 touristy spot, from the 4th-floor of one of the buildings. The electrical and manufacturing workshops will have to wait, I suppose.
Oh, and this school does have a school shop, happily enough, though my inquiry about getting my hands on a uniform emblem patch just gave me a confusing response... even with the JTE's translation. Sooooo... there's no patch here? Will there ever be? Where did the students get there patches? They had to have come from somewhere. I can only assume there is some uniform supply shop somewhere in town where I'll need to go. Maybe I can collect the patches from all 3 of my uniformed schools at once.
I did find out a bit about the clubs as we were walking through the school. This school has a Photography Club, a soccer club, a basketball club, and a pretty strong handball club. Sweet... all my top choices are fulfilled here, and without any English Club to take up my afternoons, I am free to join whichever I choose. Nice. Actually... today's choice wasn't from my priorities list, but it WILL make the anime nerds here happy.
Okay, tour's done... back to the teachers' room. I screw around for the rest of the morning, trying to organize myself, get my notes straightened out, make some chit-chat with the vice principal. One of my usual classes had been cancelled due to morning testing, so my first class of the day was with 2-3 in the 3rd-period. Yeah, I teach only the 2nd-year students here for some reason. But what's this the JTE is telling me as I'm picking up my stuff to head upstairs? Today is a shortened day? Each period is only 50-minutes long today?
WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS NOW???? It wasn't important enough to bring up during our meeting earlier??? I ironed out every minute of classtime... you never thought to tell me I had to shave 5 minutes of it off??? Grrrrrrrrrrr... work with me, people... work with me!!
Fine, whatever... we'll eliminate the open Q&A.
Just a small bump in the road. I was too nervous about the whole thing in general to even have it register as something to annoy me. Here I was now, walking upstairs to where certain doom was waiting for me. Teaching 11th-graders who hate school a subject they hate even more. They don't respect their regular teachers... why the hell would they give a gaijin... an "outsider"... any speck of civility. Chaos awaits me at the end of this hall... for certain.
I turn the corner and walk through the doorway marked "2-3." Hoooollllly crap... 41 students sure is a hell of a lot of people. The room is pretty big on it's own, and I've seen most standard-sized Japanese classrooms. But the classes I taught were more in the 20-25 range, leaving plenty of legroom and breathing space. This room... nope... packed wall to wall to wall to wall with desks and people. Just walking down an aisle would have you bumping into people on all sides. Well, this isn't overwhelming in the least bit.
Doesn't help that the laziness with acknowledgement continues. Nodding, bowing, saying "hello" or "ohayou" to them as they pass by gets me nothing. These kids are obviously trying their hardest at trying to make the schoolday go by as quickly and uninhibited as they possibly can. Can't say I wasn't warned.
So as we counted down the minutes waiting for class to officially begin, I surveyed my new flock. A good mix of what you'd typically expect from an industrial school: about half just look like regular, laid-back, teenagers; a quarter were a bit on the large, burly, brute-ish side; the remaining quarter were the nerdy, geeky, gangily type who you would think in any other school were super-smart, but probably have learning disabilities holding them down... or addictions to anime/manga/internettin'. I wonder what kind of computer-tech programs this school has. It can't all be machine repair and electrical maintenance.
Once class began, the nerves really started to fire. First up, the greeting. I guess my typical junior high school greeting will work here. "Good morning, how are you?" etc etc etc. Okay... ... okay... ... ... okay... oh... .... okay... we should start the lesson... okay... ... okay... breathe deep. I just need to introduce myself... then... okay... we can play the game I made for them... ... ... whew...
I have no idea how much English they understand, so I'm not sure if they were really getting what I was telling them about myself. I do know that they were paying pretty good attention and being respectfully quiet... for the moment. Haha, it wouldn't last long, but hey, if I had been expecting absolute silence the entire time, I just would have been fooling myself. I mean, to be a good teacher you have to understand the general attitude of not only the individuals under your guidance, but also the class attitude as a group. Kids are kids... they're gonna talk, they're gonna interact with eachother. If you fly off the handle everytime a kid turns around, you'll be in the hospital cardiac wing within a month. Some bad behavior you just have to accept. It's not the end of the world. As long as the kids are doing the lesson and participating, I'm fine with it.
A little rough getting through the explanation, but the JTE helped me smooth it out. As I knew, once the game actually started, we'd be heading in the right direction. And to my relief, they were actually geniunely interested in this BINGO true/false "Facts About Xeno-sensei" activity I made. I mean, yeah, a few just stared off into space, and I'm sure a couple were just like "whatever" and checked off either "T" or "F" to get through it, but overall, the kids were participating. And you know what helps me out a lot?
Class clowns!
hahaha... yeah, the American stigma is that the kids who blurt out stupid things or constantly disrupt class are underachievers or troublemakers, but really, I find it something to embrace... especially when they yell out something relevant to the lesson or activity. First to take the lead were two boys sitting next to eachother in the far left corner. I had put the kid in pairs so they could figure out the statements together (and to save on paper, haha). These two were paired-up, and I guess that made them happy. Anytime they had an answer right, they'd make a huge celebration cheer and high-five, haha. Quite amusing.
I always poll the class for their answers before I make the reveal, and one of my first jokes with this class came courtesy of this dynamic duo, haha. During one of the answer reveals, I noticed that the pair had choosen the correct answer. I don't think I was clear with the correct choice because after I said what it was, there was just silence from the crowd... confusion. I felt the awkwardness of the moment, but didn't want to be just like... "it's true... I mean to say, it's true", so instead, I looked at the two boys in the corner and shouted "ALLL RIIIGHT!!! TRUE!!!" as I high-fived the air, haha. Everyone in the class all laughed... a good sign.
Remember the teachings of my sensei, A-sensei, in Okayama... if you want to be a successful teacher, the first thing you need is the students' attention. The best way to get their attention is to be interesting and to make them laugh. Be unpredictable so that the kids never turn away out of fear of missing the next funny thing.
What I have to share next is a little serious. I felt, for the first time, a little personally attacked and offended by what one of the students... one of the pair of clowns I had been getting along with so well... had shouted out. We were maybe about 1/3 of the way done with the activity. The two had been so happy about getting the first 5 questions right, but I noticed they were struggling with the second set of 5. After one of the answers revealed another miss for them, one of them shouted "go home!!"
What? Really? Seriously? I... I don't know how to react to that. I've had over 500 students in my career here and nearly every single one of them has loved me to dear death. Even the ones I wasn't especially close to were at least cordial and respectful. But here I am... not even halfway through my first class ever at this new school, and already students are shouting one of the most hurtful expressions possible. I was quite heartbroken, to tell you the truth. It sapped all the energy right out of me. I was trying my hardest to enjoy this lesson, have some good fun with a new group of kids I was hoping to befriend, and already they've turned on...
... oh, some other kid, haha. It wasn't me they were yelling at, afterall. Though it took maybe another 5 minutes for the truth to come out, what was actually happening was the pair of clown boys were actually competing with a friend of theirs sitting two rows ahead of them. They were all determined to get the higher score, and seems as though anytime the pair got the answer right and their friend was wrong, they'd shout at him to "go home!!!" Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay... now that's funny, haha. How can I use this to my advantage? Ah, I got it!
So the next question, the answer I believe was "false." I paid special attention to the responses of the three boys. When I polled the class, as I hoped, the 3rd-boy incorrectly answered "true", while the twosome had been correct in guessing "false." When it came time for the reveal, with all eyes on me (haha, the whole class always got quiet just before I would say the answer, proving they actually WERE interested in the activity), instead of simply saying "false," I pointed at the third boy and shouted "go home!!!"
Oh god, the look of surprise and amusement on everyone's face was priceless. The two boys dropped their mouths wide, but smiling immensely. They looked at eachother, smiled more, then both pointed at the third boy again and shouted happily, "GO HOME!!!!," then laughed with the rest of the students following suit. I hope the 3rd-boy wasn't offended, but he'd have his revenge shortly after.
In the very next question, thankfully, the roles were reversed: the 3rd-boy had the answer right while the pair had the answer wrong. This time, I could point at the two and tell them both "go home!!" haha, now it's definitely their favorite phrase. Haha, at least you know the kids are having fun when they're enjoying even losing, haha.
Somehow this class ended up being timed perfectly. We ended the BINGO game with 15 minutes left in the period, allowing for plenty of time to do the Student Profile worksheet activity I made for them. Just six simple questions plus a random write-whatever-you-want space. I gave them 10 minutes to do it, then had to quickly think about how I would have the students share their responses. Ah, wakatta... xeno, you ARE a jenius!!!
(yes, that was intentional)
So my idea... there are six questions, we have six rows of students. Let's just go up and down the rows, and the students can quickly say their answer. First row can just quickly say their answer to the first question... in COMPLETE SENTENCES, please!!! This IS an English class, afterall. Haha, I thought it was going to lead to tons of moaning and whining, but I was quite pleased when they followed through without complaint. Wow, so there is plenty of hope for this class afterall. Awesome!
The way my schedule goes here is I have classes in the 2nd and 3rd-periods, then a break for lunch. In the afternoon, I will teach again in the 4th- and 5th-periods. All 4 classes get the same exact lesson, though I think class 2-2 will be behind since they missed today's lesson... which is a shame because it's the smallest class and it has the most girls, haha (read: it will be my easiest class to teach).
This is how far I made it through typing this entry in the evening. A few friends, including my friend who I stayed with for 3 weeks after the disaster, messaged me on Skype after learning I had rescued my webcam over the weekend. It's 1:24am now... let's see if I can finish detailing the rest of the day before it strikes 2.
I only jotted down quick notes about the afternoon lessons on account of how strapped for time I was. After lunch break in the 4th-period, I met with my new 2-4/5 class. Haha, no, that's not some kind of weird fraction... that's how I'll be writing my 2nd-Year, 4-gumi and 5-gumi combined class. Class 2-4 is smaller than the other classes, and Class 2-5 is even smaller, so what they did was break Class 2-5 in half and put some kids with Class-1 and the others with Class-4. So really what I had this period was Class-4 and the first half of Class-5 together.
As for the attitude in this class, this one went incredibly well. While the students were talkative and energetic amongst themselves, they were even more involved in the lesson I made for them. They participated in the activities more openly (pretty much 100% of them were answering my polling inquiries, as opposed to maybe 75-80% of the kids in the other classes) and had a much more vested interest in the answers and additional factoids I relieved. They were amazed when I told them that I studied police work in college, stunned by my BPD internship, bowled over by my fire department experience (complete with dramatic reveal of my polo shirt with FFD logo hidden under my jacket), and completely floored by all my misc facts (I have been to the White House, I met Bruce Willis, my best skill is driving, etc).
I really enjoyed being with this class, so much that I felt comfortable being my usual goofy self... doing my weird pointing tricks (teasing the answer), doing my surfing gag, and whatnot. I didn't make any note of any particular students standing out above the rest, so I think it was more of an even-keel kind of attitude spread out amongst the group.
I wish I had had more time to write some more thorough notes on this lesson, but with only 10 minutes between the end of this class and the start of the next, coupled with the kyoto-sensei trying to chat me up and one of the JTEs asking for me to fill out some sheet, I just didn't have time. I also now had on my mind this curious poster I had passed on my way back down to the teachers' room. Some kind of anime-music concert happening somewhere in the school at 4:30pm. Oh? This requires further inquiry.
5th-period was my last class of the day. Up next was my 2nd-Year, Class-1 and Class-5 (2nd half), hereafter labeled "2-1/5." Of the three classes I met today, this one was the most disruptive. I don't know if it's just because we're coming to the end of the day or not, but generally from period start to period finish, there was a noticeable level of talking going on. Often times, I felt myself needing to struggle with the noise pollution. Not good, but what can ya do?
This class at least had a few lively ones, haha. I know one pair of boys sitting in the front to my left were very friendly and talkative. Haha, first they took notice of how I have this tendency to overuse Japanese word-fillers. Instead of "uhhhh" and "ummmm," they say things like "annooo" and "ara ara" (haha, that last one is kinda girly... damn you, anime!). I guess they're not used to have gaijin-sensei who speak that way, so everytime I subconsciously did so, they would laugh, haha. But also we had a good running joke together where we tied in "Alaska" to some of the game facts.
"Xeno is from Los Angeles" = "no, Alaska!!!"
"Xeno's grandparents live in Japan" = "no, they live in Alaska"
"Xeno met Bruce Willis" = "he's my friend; I visited his house in Alaska"
Another boy caught my off-guard by exclaiming "really??" after a few things I would say. Haha, maybe some teachers would get angry by random talking, but hey, it's English, so how could I be mad? He was very friendly, too... livening up the right-side of the room. He was really dramatic with his answers, which was amusing to many of his neighbors, and myself, of course. I like seeing students enjoying the lessons I make for them.
So after today, having met 3/4 of the students here, I can say this: though I was forewarned of what a lousy and terrible attitude this school has toward learning English, if this is the worst it gets, then I think I'll be alright here. I can kinda understand why kids working in technical workshops would have a lax attitude toward English. They're probably not going to ever need it, ever use, and it's just too far down on their list of things to worry about, academic-wise. However, if I can appeal to their outside interests and incorporate what things they like and what things they WILL use in their lives, maybe I can make this class mroe useful to them. It will become a class they WANT to take, as opposed to a class they HAVE to take.
Also, remember the old adage: "there is no such thing as bad students... only bad teachers"
The day was technically over for me by this point, but only being like 2:30pm where I needed to stay until 5pm, I was hoping for some opportunities to entertain myself. I would have loved to have gotten a jump-start on prepping my fire department project, but this school was completely out of red construction paper... and the next order wasn't due until next week. Dang it. Oh well, I can at least prepare the next lesson; that will keep me busy until 3:30, which is when, I've been told, there will be an assembly honoring this school's 75th anniversary.
Okay, so I went to that, not expecting much... and that was probably a good thing since it turned into a weird lecture on maintaining public works systems after an emergency. Okay... useful information, certainly, but talk about false advertising, haha. Oh well, I went to the assembly with the one English teacher I don't actually work with, so this was my first time interacting with her. Nice lady... very good English. The other two are nice, but one is an over-translator (interjecting herself into the lesson after ANYTHING I say), and the other is a complete under-translator (saying nothing unless I ask her to help... which I suppose is alright, but she kinda blends into the background so easily).
So yeah, left the assembly a little bit before everyone else, but my timing was good because I was back in the teachers' room with 10 minutes to go before that anime concert thing I was excited about all afternoon. I was so excited, I told the vice principal I was looking forward to it.
"There is no concert here today."
"oh? I saw a poster in the hall that said today at 4:30pm"
"nope, must be a different place."
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... I'm quite sure that it was a poster handmade by students promoting something happening today. The JTE who had read the poster with me must have overheard our conversation because she immediately dashed out of the room. I found her standing in front of the poster, pouring over it with some students. She turned to me as I approached and assured me that it was definitely happening here in one of the classrooms. She even offered to escort me there.
Haha, I opened the door to one of the sound-proofed music rooms where two boys were setting up some instruments. They were amazed to see me... I couldn't recognize them accurately, as I had seen about 140 new faces today, but they seemed comfortable and delighted by my pressence, so I could only assume that they are 2nd-Year students. Cool.
Anyway, it's 2am now, so quick summary...
This was some kind of preview for the Light Music Club (Keion-bu... yes, like the anime). There just three members performing, though the roster has 8 members listed. Three boys playing drums, bass guitar, and lead guitar, sharing vocals amongst eachother, depending on the song. The drummer was good (but maybe too loud)... the bassist was good (but maybe not loud enough)... and the lead guitar was equal parts incredible, equal parts awful, haha. The vocals weren't... bad... but they weren't good either. Of course, maybe it's just because all the members were males, and all the songs performed were done by female vocalists:
THEME - High School of the Dead OP
"Don't Say Lazy" - Kei-On! ED
"God Knows" - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya OST
"Super Driver" - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya II OP
I thought they were waiting for some girl to show up to take care of the vocals, considering the confusion filling the room in the earlier minutes. I guess most of it was because of the smaller-than-expected crowd, but that was because a lot of the kids were doing their cleaning duties. Closer to 4:50pm, the room was nearly full. Haha, mostly boys, of course, but I did spot 3 ichinensei girls... or... they spotted me. I had glanced over to the right side of the room from where I was standing front center and saw one girl watching me intently. She was already doing this when I looked over, but she had to her two fingers up in the famous "V"-sign, but she was... ummmm... how would you say... "clawing" them... like, bending her fingers up and down, as if she were trying to signal me, haha. Sure, okay. If that's what you want.
I copied her in response, since copying kids always guarentees a delighted reaction. She squeeled to her friends standing with her, which immediately had the three watching me, now trying to sneak secret waves, as if anyone noticed, we'd be executed. Super adorable. They kept doing it, of course, but by the 3rd or 4th time, we needed something new. Still waiting for the band to get the show started, I gestured to them to go up to the mic and start singing. Haha, as expected they went into the "no way am I doing that!!!"-panic mode. Haha, and now you see why I find girls so much easier to get along with.
The show ended around 5:30pm. Good performance. I mean, it needs a little tweaking, but they're in high school afterall, and this is where they learn this stuff. Maybe some rainy afternoon, I'll drop by to check up on a practice. Haha, maybe I'll even get a chance to step in as a substitute vocalist. Haha, I could do "God Knows"... kinda... I mean, a few parts will be mumbled since it's a language I'm not familiar with, but if they really really wanted me for a serious gig, I could prep myself.
It would mostly be for fun during the practices, if even that. Or, you know... the day of the bunkasai, all the members of the band hurt their fingers and they need a few replacements. It would have to start raining despite a sunny forecast just in time for me to take stage, because, you know, I need to subconsciously create the largest audience possible to witness my incredibly awesome moment.
And how did I learn to play lead guitar so quickly?
Up next is my dream school... the girls' school. I already know you're looking forward to it.
Until next time... see you!!!
P.S. this is part of my "Facts About Me" BINGO game, but I know the comedic reference is lost on the kids here. Anyone get the joke of "Xeno has a cat named Paul"? :D
Coverage Day: Monday, April 11th
School Visiteds: Fuuka Academy (HS2) and Azumanga HS (HS1)
Entry S4.0, Ep05
ARGH!!!! Not my ideal perfect way to start off my high school teaching career, but I'm not about to let a little thing like a 7.1 magnitude aftershock and subsequent school evacuation spoil my fun time here!! I know I've been dying for my very own anime storyline, but disaster action/suspense wasn't the genre I had on the top of my list. Sigh, well, can never complain that things will ever be boring around here.
Fuuka Academy (HS2)
I realized this morning that I actually have Fuuka Academy High School (HS-2) twice in a row: all day on Friday, then first thing Monday morning. Hmmm, I guess that's kinda cool. I really like this school, so it will be nice both starting and finishing my week there. Though technically this was my 3rd day here, it was really my 2nd day of working, and my 1st day of teaching!!!!
Teaching high school!!! For the first time!!! Let that soak in, people. Think of all the anime you've watched and how much of it revolves around school-life... and what percentage of that is based out of the high schools. Oh man, just thinking of the thousands of series out there, the thousands of stories and plots, the thousands of settings... the millions of characters!!!! Will my life be calm and serene, like Hidamari Sketch, quite normal and typical, like Azumanga Daoih, filled with magical girls like... I dunno, any magical girl show... or filled with secret mecha-pilots, like IdolMaster Xenoglossia. Hell, maybe this will start of sweet and simple, then erupt into pure chaos, like High School of the Dead.
Imagine the possibilities!!! And that's not even considering the hunders of sports anime!!! Hmmmm... I wonder if there are any handball series.
Anyway... I'm rambling already and I haven't even started discussing the day. Where's my note paper with today's observations? Ah, here it is... oh, man... the whole paper is filled. I'll try my best to keep this short, but you know how it usually goes. Let's get started.
I woke up this morning with a sore throat. Pain while swallowing. Ugh, I really really hope I'm not coming down with something. This really is not a good time for me to get sick. I'm trying my best to enjoy my new life while trying to not be too depressed about what happened exactly a month ago. Getting sick right now would just be the worst. Gotta drink tea and soup non-stop... extra hot!! Ignore that burn... the hotness melts the viral germs!!!
Anime lies to us... the springtime weather during the first week of school is always 100% guarenteed sunny. It's been gloomy and rainy for the last 4 days now. Bah... talk about lame deal. Well, whatever, I'm stuck inside the bulk of the day anyway, so why should I really care? In fact, I spent most of the 1st-period in the printing room. Do you have any idea how long it takes to print out 160 copies of a worksheet? To those of you who are still in school... be nice to your teachers; there is so much behind-the-scenes work that needs to be done outside classroom hours, and most of it sucks.
I met with the teacher I would be working with today. I mentioned him before... I guess I should come up with a nickname for him, pronto. He's kinda meek and soft-spoken... chooses his words very carefully, haha, but he's so kind and complimentary all the time, you just gotta love working with him. He's also a lot older than I thought it was. I thought he was closer to my age, but apparently not.
Anyway, we met this morning to "discuss the lessonplan," which really was nonsense because we talked about it last Friday. But actually, I shouldn't complain because I ended up proposing that we move one of the activities to another class period... a move that paid off in the end. We kinda packed a lot of stuff into our itinerary for the day, which probably wasn't a good idea since it's the first class and we're trying to set the pace.
So how did the first class go? Well, I shall tell you...
My first ever high school English class was with the OC-I class of 3rd-year students. It's an optional class for the seniors, so not only are we getting the best speakers in the school, but we're getting the students who WANT to be there. It's great because every student is paying supreme maximum attention... or maybe it's just because I'm so wacky and interesting, haha.
The students get a 10-minute gap between classes. The morning gap before our class was from 9:35am to 9:45am. I was kinda expecting the kids to be like, "meh, whatever, I'll get there when I get there... no rush," and kinda saunter in at like 9:43, 9:44 mayhaps. I was wrong. Pretty much everyone was in the room and in their seats by 9:40am. Haha, they were so quick and waiting so patiently and quietly, we started the lesson 5 minutes early. I hope they're excited for English, because...
it's showtime!
Right away I noticed that all eyes were on me. And not just because I was the teacher and doing the talking, but moreso in the way that the kids were essentially infatuated with my every move, my every word, every piece of my soul. The girls were grinning ear-to-ear, soaking up every radiant glow of cheerfulness I eminated. Haha, even the boys seemed quite intrigued, which is great... I want all 28 of these students participating start-to-finish!
Didn't take long for the comedy to start. The JTE wanted to explain our greeting script. As expected, he's kinda dry and clean-cut. I mean, maybe every class these kids have had have been different year-to-year, but I didn't think it needed the deep play-by-play he was mustering. I decided to get the kids going by mimicking everything the teacher was saying. Like, he'd say "I say to you 'how are you?" and you respond with 'I'm so-and-so.'" As he was explaining the roles, I'd mouth the phrases with exaggerated hand-gestures and extremely over-emphasized lip flaps. The kids weren't sure what to do: pay quiet attention to the explanation, or burst out laughing at the weirdness they were baring witness to.
When we got to the actual greeting, it was pretty... ummmmm... not exciting. How about I make it exciting? Can I scream my part really loud and over-the-top excited? Of course, I can. I'm the teacher, I can do whatever the hell I want!!
Oh wait, now the greeting is over... it's my turn to talk? Ugh... I haven't been in front of a class for so long; grasping the smoothness of transition from topic-to-topic has never been my strong point... well, not in JHS, at least. In ES, I own my classes, haha. Okay okay... it's just my self-introduction... I can do this.
"Hello, my name is xeno."
::awkward pause for no reason other than I was thinking, "should I say something else to hammer than in or something?"::
Apparently this pause lasted a noticeably long time... much longer than I had anticipated, haha. But this was okay, because one of the, I guess, friendlier, more energetic boy just started clapping wildly during this moment, haha. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I gave the smooth-operator "V"-sign and smiled. That made everyone else in the class laugh a little.
I went on to tell them I was from America and I have been living in Japan for 3 years now. I mentioned Okayama and the, now dire, Fukushima, but there was no reaction. Okay... well... they know. I had plenty more to say, but I actually made the rest of my intro into a game, so I didn't want to say too much and end up spoiling that portion of the lesson. This was also the first lesson for my JTE partner, so I just handed it off to him... after getting a little applause from the kids, haha. It was a little discombobuated (sp?) because I didn't make it definitively clear that I was done speaking at that point, haha. Oops. Well, I gotta do this same lesson about 18 more times, so I'll get better as we progress.
Teacher said his part... blah blah blah... unexciting because it's not about me, haha...
I was anxious to play the game I made, but before we could get to that, we had to spend a moment making namecards the students could put on their desks. 5 minutes of busywork for the students... or 5 minutes of playtime for the xeno? I think you know the answer to that already.
When the students finished writing their names, they needed to have the bases staped (we were making those triangle-folded style namecards). One of the things I hated most about my school in Fukushima was there was a table in-between myself and the front-row students, severely inhibiting my chances of interacting with anyone. Here, I don't have that obstacle, so I was free to do my thing. So what crazy antic did I come up with to start things off? I have a stapler... the kids have papers that need stapler...
"stapler monster is hungry... paper is delicious... om nom nom nom!!!! yummy... thank you!!"
Simple, weird, goofy... hilarious to high school students, apparently. I guess it kinda helps how stringent and tightly-wound Japanese educators are that any moment of zaniness is wildly entertaining to them. Hey, I'll take it! I have to channel my inner-Conan.
... O'Brien
... not the detective
... not the Barbarian
If I ever have a moment in which the mood in the classroom needs to be lifted, I can just asked myself: "WWCD?" ^____^V
So yeah, now that 75% of the girls in the room are completely disappointed by not having a front-row seat, it's time to begin today's main activity: BINGO - Xeno-Sensei Introduction True/False version. Kind of an interesting way to do Bingo... instead of looking for numbers (or as we do in JHS, vocab words), each box has a statement about myself with a "T / F" option at the base. I put the students in pairs, then together as a class we would read each statement, give the students a moment to think about their answers, survey the room, then reveal the answer. If they got the answer right, they could draw a circle in the box. By the end of the game, should they get 5 circles in a row in any direction, they'd get a Bingo. Of course, I gave them two secret bonus questions, too... but apparently were incredibly difficult: I asked if the JTE was 41 years-old (true) and if I was 29 years-old (true)... so many of them got it wrong, much to their surprise.
Some of the more interesting results...
- "Xeno studied computers in college"... as the students were pondering this one, I made all sorts of nerd-ish gestures, like fixing my glasses, adjusting my tie, pretending to type on a keyboard. I kinda look sorta like a nerd... if you squint, and the room is a little dark, haha. But as expected, most students thought the statement was true... imagine their surprise when I told them that not only was it false, but really what I studied was police proceduce. Bang bang!!
- "Xeno's favorite sports are basketball and soccer"... haha, I gave a little hint by walking around the room pretending to shoot a few baskets, kick a few game-winning goals... all the while muttering, "hint! hint!"
- "Xeno's favorite hobby is surfing"... hahahah, I had a lot of fun with this one. I was getting more into the acting out the gestures by this time, so I started pretending as if I were riding "the Big Kahula"... or whatever the Hawaiians call monster waves. Then I realized this classroom has a little wooden step-stage, so I hopped up on that. Haha, it's actually a little wobbily, but this worked out perfectly for what I was trying to do. The students were supremely amazed. But... things only got better when it came time for the answer reveal. Not many were surprised when I told them that surfing is not my hobby, but rather photography. They were all surprised when I hopped back up on my "surfboard" and started taking photos while riding "the Big Koala"... or whatever the Hawaiians call monster waves.
The questions on my travel adventures were a big challenge to them. The one that surprised them the most was "Xeno has been to more than 20 Japanese prefectures." The answer is true... 22 at least, but if you count more of the "drive-throughs," then much much higher.
I had originally scheduled this game to be a 25-minute activity, but it went a bit longer than that. Probably because I was giving the students a bit more thinking-time (they were in pairs, if I didn't say that already)... but also, with more thinking-time came more "interaction" time. Haha, my favorite thing to do was sneak up on a pair, peek at their answer, then be like "ohhhhhh... ahhhhh... uhhhhhhhhh..." and give them this look of "that's too bad, you're gonna be disappointed." Haha, of course, I'd do it whether they were right or wrong, just to get their hearts racing... I'm evil, yes, I know it.
Also, another thing the kids were doing, that sorta bugged me, was they weren't raising their hands up high when I was surverying the class. I would ask before each reveal, "who said 'true?' Raise your hands! Who said 'false?" Raise your hands!" Each time, the hands would go up, but never above head-level. Even when I told them to raise them up super super high, demonstrating myself, there would be no change. Haha, during one round, one girl actually lowered her hand. I caught glimpse of it and called her out on it. Haha, now she laments the fact that they all have namecards. :D Still... kawaii~
By this time, I had no idea at what point in the period we were at. I never looked at the schedule, and I had been having so much fun that I completely lost track of how far into our 55-minute lesson we had made it. Asked the JTE... class ends in 7 minutes. Crud. I had a 15-minute activity left to do... and that was AFTER we decided to postpone that other 10-minute activity. Okay, well, no problem... it's just a student profile worksheet; just 6 easy questions so I can get to know the students quicker, plus an open-ended "special message: say anything!!" option at the end. If they don't finish this period, they can do it as homework and bring it back next week. A few students did complete their work in just the 5 minutes they had... and the results were pretty amusing...
- one girl says I'm cute
- one girl says I look like Harry Potter -_____-;;
- another girl says she likes Haruhi Suzumiya, too ^___^V
- one of the boys is in the soccer club, and he wants me to come join!
- another boy like Star Wars... sweet
- and tragically... one of the girls is from the high school near my village. Luckily, she grew up around Niigata, so she was only there for school, but it's terrible she won't get to finish high school with the people she knew there. Well, it's good that she's in this school with me... and she's a good English-speaker. If she needs help, I can share her grief.
Class ended much quicker than I imagined. Perfect lesson... kids enjoyed... never a boring moment... they could understand every instruction (well, almost every) given to them. They are very lively and friendly, so now I just hope I can come up with activities that will encourage them to succeed and be beneficial to them.
Oh, and about that girl I spoke to on Friday during the cleaning time, I wasn't sure which girl in the class she was, though I kinda narrowed it down to 2 or 3. Maybe I'll see her again next Friday.
Until next time... see... oh wait, I went to two schools today, didn't I?
Azumanga HS
The Monday schedule is weird. Apparently HS2 has 4 periods before lunch, while HS1 only has 3 periods before lunch. So technically, if I leave after 4th-period (around 12:30pm), I arrive at my other school just in time for their 4th-period to start. So technically I could have two 4th-periods and no lunch period, haha. But, it's not a problem because the way my schedule is laid out, I just have to be at HS1 30 minutes before whatever class I have starts... and I can eat lunch anytime during the day when I'm not in class (obviously).
But this brings me to the biggest "WTH is up with this!?!?!" of my Japanese teaching career. Technically, HS1 is my "base school" (hence why it's HS1 despite being my second school I visit each week), yet today I finally received my schedule for the year. Get this...
HS2: 1 class every Monday, 4 classes every Friday
HS3: 4 classes every Tuesday
HS4: unknown, though roughly 3-4 classes every Wednesday
HS1... I AVERAGE 1 class/week. And no, that's not some kind of exaggeration... that's the actual math! I will be here for 15 weeks and I have, in grand total, out of 135 periods, just 18 classes to teach.
WHHHAAAAATTTT!?!??!?! Why the hell is this my "base school" then? Why am I here so often while all the other schools are scrambling to fit in as much classroom time as they possibly can?? And more importantly... what the hell am I supposed to be doing with all this free time?
Wait... did I just say "free time?" Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... maybe this arrangement won't be so awful afterall. Free time means more opportunities to join in on the P.E. lessons, and drop in on random class activities. Most of all, between the 6 ichinensei classes, I only have to create 3 lessons... and one is already done! Haha, I'm always 1/3 of the way finished with all my work here!
Haha, well... not so fast. Though I won't be in the classroom so much (I offered to help with the regular lessons... for all the graders), there is still some work for me to do. Apparently I will be doing a lot of test, paper, and notebook correcting. Sigh... okay, well, I guess this can be alright. I mean, I did in Okayama quite a bit, and even from time-to-time in Fukushima. I've gotten the hang of it. And often enough, some of the things the kids write about are kind of amusing, heehee.
However, I do have one major gripe. Apparently last week, some guy had come up to me telling me that he was running some kind of "Super Science Club" or something. I was like, "oh okay, sounds interesting," not thinking anything of it. Turns out, he was telling me this for a reason. Seems as though I'm officially like the co-advisor of this club.
WAIT... WHAT??? How the hell did that happen!?!?! What happened to my free-choice Mondays??? Soccer?? Basketball?? I've already gotten in good with the Handball Club!! Ugh... this blows. Sigh... well, calm down, xeno, calm down... nothing I've seen here has disappointed me so far, and with the Goddess of Moe guiding me, I've learned to just blindly accept whatever path is laid down in front of me. For all I know, this is the Rocket-Building Club or the Time Machine Building Club... and all the members are incredibly incredibly super adorable!!! Like... maybe this is where all those elementary accelerated super-geniuses end up after school, haha. Great Scott!!
Okay... so, well, if that's gonna be my fate for most of my Mondays this semester, then I better make the most of today. I haven't been formally introduced to ANY of the students in this school, but that doesn't mean I can't wander around and try to make some impressions on my own. Time to enjoy of my actual free-choice club periods. What shall I do in this country club of a facility today? Oh cruddiness... it's raining. There go half my options.
Well, basketball is an indoor sport... they gotta be somewhere. Perhaps... I dunno... the gymnasium? Time to go for a walk. Haha, or moreso... time to see if I can remember how to navigate this place. I haven't gotten an official tour yet, though I have seen the main teachers' room, the English staff room, and the big gym. Down four floors, walk halfway down the scummy connection hallway, turn right, walk down another scummy hallway, come to a sign written in all Kanji... crap. Okay, well, I recognize the symbols for "big" and "small," and since I want the big gym, guess I'll turn right... go up to the second floor... and voila!! Basketba... oh, it's volleyball. Where the hell does the basketball happen?
You know what's interesting about rain days? The sports clubs have to make all sorts of modifications to their training regiments to accomodate for their lack of open space... and with like nearly a dozen clubs competing for what little space there is, it's a pretty amusing gauntlet you have to endure just to travel throughout the building. One hall will have members pinned up against the wall doing stretches and whatnot... turn the corner and find another group doing jumping-jacks... proceed up the stairs and immediately move to the corner of the landing to let whatever team is passing keep their pace with their running... make sure you say "ganbatte!!" to them as they dash past you, haha.
So anyway... basketball... not happening. But here I am, already changed into my athleticwear, and I still have like 30 minutes left of my contractually-obligated workday. Hmmm, well, I've had plenty of volleyball experience... and I did get somewhat good at it. At the very least, I can watch. Hmmm, there's a boys' team and a girls' team: which should I go to? The girls' team iisss closer, and I'm not sure how long I'll be hanging around, so might as well stay close to the door.
Of course, as I usually point out, girls are generally better English-speakers anyway, so my chances of getting an actual conversation are higher with this group. And wouldn'tyaknow... didn't take long at all for the girls to notice me hanging around, collecting balls that had been spiked past the members serving from the baseline. I got a few "arigatou"s and smiley nods from the girls I provided balls to, though it was the captain who took the lead on actually opening up to me. I wish I could remember the conversation word-for-word, but essentially she asked me if I liked volleyball, as well as a few basic questions about my life. She's in 3-3 and really likes talking to foreigners. :D
Unfortunately, being in the 3rd-year, she won't be my student, but we can still talk together during club periods... oh wait, that dang Super Science thing... well, maybe I can show her that giant mecha robot we'll be building. At least, maybe I could catch up with her during lunch time.
But anyway, she was so sweet to offer to let me play with them. Oh... ummm... but I dunno... it's been a while since I've touched a volleyball... and I remember quite well how much they hurt, haha. I was content just watching and helping out, but then two other girls came over and prodded for me to participate.
Okay, fine... let's see how this goes. What are we doing? Serving? Easy enough... right?
Have you ever served a regulation volleyball on a regulation volleyball court? I always seem to underestimate how difficult it is. Really, you need to use your full strength every time while making sure your aim is right. The slightest angle to your hand is gonna send that ball flying off to the sidelines, hitting the judge in the nose, haha. Well, despite my "meh, the ball weighs nothing, surely any tap I give it will send it right where I want" incorrect attitude, I still managed to get it right in the center of the opposing side. What I hadn't been anticpating was the sudden avalanche of "ooooh"s followed by healthy applause.
Hahahah... thank you, thank you... really, you're too kind... stop it, I don't deserve such praise.
We weren't too far into the training practice when the coach walked into the room. I don't know if he noticed me right away, but when he saw me after the team pep-talk, he had this look of "alright, who let the foreign guy in our gym?" I'm not sure what he was asking me, but I was getting the impression that he was like... "I'm so confused... how is a 29 year-old man who doesn't speak Japanese playing on a high school girls' volleyball team." I was quick to explain that the captain had given me the invite, and so he was cool with it. Or, so I assume. I mean, he bowed and gave me the whole "douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu" (please take good care of us) thing, so I guess this means we're good.
Next up was pairs training. My captain friend had disappeared, and I am soooo bad at remembering faces that I wasn't even sure who she was anymore. Crud!! Oh well, let's see what help I can offer. Oh... there's a group of 3 practicing in one of the corners. If I go over there with an extra ball, maybe they'll take me up on my offer to spar with one of them.
Success! I can do the simple drills, though I got the impression that the girl I was working with was unaware. Each time we had to switch to a different style of passing, she would pause and look at her friends with this look of "ummm... someone explain this to this guy that maybe this isn't as simple as just tossing the ball back-and-forth." I should probably have taken a moment to explain to her that I've been assistant-coaching Japanese school volleyball for the last 3 years, so she had nothing to worry about. And for someone who hasn't played the game in at least 2 months (probably much longer), I didn't do so bad, if I do say so myself. I mean, yeah, I messed up here and there, but generally, things were okay.
I haven't played in over 2 months!!! Gimme a break!!!
I was wondering if any of the other girls had taken notice of my mad skillz. I mean, I got plenty of praise for a simple serve... volleying the ball flawlessly for minutes at a time must be worth SOMETHING. No? Nothing? Oh, well, okay then... next drill.
We got as far as spiking practice (this school's team is big enough where I really don't need to go chasing after errant balls, as I do with my Fukushima JHS club) before that which would ruin my day occurred. I was standing along the far end of the court, keeping on guard to catch any balls that made it past the retrieval squad, when I felt the ground start shifting underneath my feet. Not a vibration like most of the smaller earthquakes we get, but this one was like actually moving the whole building gently from side to side. I don't know if the others felt it since they were running back-and-forth, I wasn't sure what the proper procedure is for earthquakes during school. Like, if I suddenly yelled out "stop!!! earthquake!!", would everyone be like "oh, he's right... okay everyone, earthquake mode!!", or would they be like "what the hell is that pussy crying about? it's just an earthquake."
Turns out it was more the former. Even after the swaying subsided, the coach stopped the drills and called everyone in the gym to come stand at center-court, including the 2 or 3 freshmen girls there for club preview. We went back to practicing after things settled down, but then an announcement came over the schoolwide P.A. system: all students to the gymnasium for an emergency assembly!!
Didn't take long for the whole room to be filled up with students, all now wearing their different club uniforms, haha (one of the music clubs wins for "cutest", haha). Heh heh, and apparently I made an impression on the Handball Club last week because when they saw me, they all greeted me excitedly. All the teachers were there, watching as someone (vice principal?) went to the stage and made some announcements. All I understood was that an earthquake occurred, and that here we experienced Shindou-4, while back home in Fukushima, they got hit with Shindou-6. Crap... is my apartment destroyed again??? I should just wrap everything I own in cotton, rubber, and foam... just fill the whole place with styrofoam peanuts.
So sadly, what the school officials decided was to end club period right then (around 5:30pm) and send all the students home early. They made an arrangement with JR to hold the next train so that the kids could get home quickly and hopefully safely. I said my "goodbye"s to the volleyball coach, my captain friend, and another girl who was very talkative, then made my own exit outta there. Great to be out an hour early (especially since writing these blogs takes up every moment of my evenings now, haha), though I am sorely disappointed at missing out on an hour of potential quality-time with the kids. Oh well, not that it matters. It's the beginning and the ending that matters most, since most can't actually talk during the training routines.
And thus ended my first... well... I guess I technically can't call this is a "teaching" day as far as HS1 is concerned. My first day teaching at HS2 went awesome. My third day at HS1 ended with excitement... as inconvenient as it was. grrrrrr...
Tomorrow I have to teach at HS3... the industrial school... the boys' school... the hell school. I already have a nickname picked out, so please look forward to learning it, and reading about my encounters in thenext entry!! Will the boys show some respect for my fire and police experience? Will it prove to be interesting enough to want to at least TRY to enjoy my class? Will I be able to relate to them through these means? Or will I just be another lame-ass teacher, here to bother them with facts and data and boring crap no one cares about?
You'll know as soon as I know. ::gulp::
Until next time... see you!!!!
P.S. I posted this on my new friend's Facebook wall. She's new to Japan... and new to earthquakes. This info might be interesting to some of you, as well.
>>>One thing you'll need to familiarize yourself with while talking about Japanese earthquakes and listening to the news is the "Shindou system." They don't care about magnitude as much as they do this impact scale.
roughly...
1 - barely noticeable... making loose window glass panes will vibrate
2 - a bit noticeable... gentle vibrations in the floor
3 - more noticeable... lights may sway, small objects may vibrate
4 - noticeable... small and medium objects will move a little
5 - very noticeable... small and medium objects will move a lot
6 - extremely noticeable... heavier objects and appliances will move, even topple over... small damage to roads and bulidings will appear
7 - DANGER!!.. buildings will break at critical points, likely to collapse... get to an open area on ground-level quick!!
that's my understanding of it, anyway... assuming it goes to 7, which I'm like 75% sure it does. My apartment was Shindou-6 a month ago, which really destroyed a lot of what was inside.<<<
They say that, "Knowing is half the battle." however, in reality, knowing is only one quarter of the battle at most. You can be completely aware of your own shortcomings, and yet never be able to fully grasp the right amount of motivation to change yourself. Truly changing yourself is one of the hardest things to do, and usually requires a catalyst.
The catalyst for Ohana comes fairly early in Hana-saku Iroha, which gives us plenty to look forward to as she attempts to change her own, very deep-seeded emotional issues, and tackle the rest of the staff's as well. Thanks to her irresponsible mother, Ohana has learned never to rely on other people. This self-reliant, almost defiant, attitude was cemented at an early age when her mother, for seemingly not the first time, neglected to show up at Ohana's school during Parent's Day. That night, thanks to some "words of wisdom" from her mother, Ohana vows that she'll only rely on herself from now on (and cooks her mother's least favorite dish that night for dinner as payback).
In this episode, following more misunderstandings and mistakes at work, Ohana does a bit of soul-searching regarding her own often inconsiderate interactions with other people, and what she really wants to get out of her tenure at her grandmother's inn. There's an especially poignant scene where she tells the junior cook Touru to, "Go die." and then immediately realizes the unfortunate power of such strong words. This leads her, upon returning to the inn later that day, to confront Minko and Nako about their abrasive and timid personalities respectively. She tells them that she's angry with both of them; however, she wants all of them to work on their shortcomings together. After finding out each of their least favorite foods, Ohana tells them to expect that food in their breakfasts the next day, and that she'll try to rely on them more while they each try to work on their own deficiencies.
The maturity and understanding of Ohana regarding her own emotions is astounding. It's a concept that very few people ever grasp in their lifetime. The best part about this is that, thanks to some fantastic voice acting from Kanae Itou, Ohana doesn't come off as a contrived, unbelievable character. She walks the fine line between being self-centered and vulnerable, inevitably worming her way into the viewers' hearts, like an infinitely more lovable Briony Tallis (Atonement). At one point, she's gasping at the romantic idea of being a waitress at a hot springs inn, the next she's realizing the futility of the emotional barrier she has constructed around herself for the entirety of her short life. Hana-saku Iroha may be a bit too soapy for some, but I find its story and emotions irresistible and surprisingly realistic thus far.
Coverage Days: Friday April 8th and Saturday April 9th
Schools Visited: Fuuka Academy High School
Entry S4.0, Ep04
A little late on this entry, and with good reason. No, I didn't go out boozin' on Friday night. No, I didn't meet some cute local college girls. No, I didn't go out into the mountain forest to look for an inukami to train to be my faithful sidekick in the battle against evil pervertedness. Actually, I had my very first opportunity since the earthquake 4 weeks ago to return to my village. Uguu~ Wouldn't have been a problem, except now I live 3 hours away!! Oh, the conundrum that my life has become.
But we'll get to that later. First we must discuss the wonderous adventures I had on my first day at one of my new high schools!!!!
Friday, April 8th: Fuuka Academy High School
Since I want to name all my high schools after anime schools, I need to get thinking. High School #2 (my Monday morning and Friday school) is a bit more academic than athletic, and bit more pristine than the others... but not like super preppy. There aren't any crystal chandeliers or rose gardens that stretch for acres (ohhhh man, I would work for free if I could teach in a school like Mahora Academy (Negima) or Shuchikan Academy (Fortune Arterial). Hell, I'd settle for the fancy art-deco school from Kanon)... but yeah, the kids and the courses are top-level around here, but the campus and building don't really show it. Because of this, I think Fuuka Academy from Mai-HiME kinda fits (although we don't have a Middle School Division).
I wonder if the girls fight eachother using magic tsukaima after nightfall. The grand prize, of course, would be my heart, haha.
Oh, and I wonder if any of my schools have dorms. Haven't thought about asking until now.
Anyway, so my first official day at this school went pretty well, I suppose. Started off instantly after I walked in the door... without my school shoes. Wait, where the hell are they? I didn't leave them at home... they're not in my car. Crap... I left them at the high school from yesterday. Dammit, I got too used to having only two schools, where it was affordable to just buy one pair for each school, that I forgot that I need to take my shoes with me. Ugh, whatever, I'll just get them later.
So that little mess-up threw my morning off a teensy bit. It got me in the English Staff room at exactly 8:15am. Oh wait, I'm supposed to be attending the big teachers' meeting this morning... at 8:15am. Crap... off we go, not even a moment to glance over my prepared script. Well, maybe I can rehearse it silently as all the teachers give their message announcements. Oh? I'm up first? Well... lovely... loooovvvely. Fine, I'll do it, but I'm reading straight from the paper this time, haha. I can wow them with my fancy pronounciation.
Well, not as smooth as yesterday's delivery, but the applause was good and the JTE who escorted me told me it was incredibly well done. Phew. What's next? How about a tour?
Before I go on, I should explain something about the English staff. We have, I believe, 8 teachers here to educate 13 classes, myself included. The teachers are sorted by grade level. For me, however, I teach not only all of the 10th-graders, but also one accelerated class with the 12th-graders. The teachers, as I said, stick to just one grade. Basically, because of my schedule, I will be working with 3 of these teachers, 1 doubling as my supervisor. Problem is, we're not all situated in the English Staff room. The other teachers have desks elsewhere. Wouldn't it make the most sense to at least have the teachers I'll be working with near me? Or, at the very least, the ALT supervisor?? Yeah... it would, wouldn't it? But life doesn't want to be fair to me. It wants me to walk... and search... and pull my hair out in frusteration trying to pin people down in order to discuss lessonplans. I hope these people are good at leaving notes because hell no am I wasting any precious minute of high school fun waiting for agreeable meeting times.
Ugh, anyway, tour. Well, the one teacher who sits in the staff room with me that I will be working with is incredibly super nice. This guy is great. Very friendly, very agreeable, very talkative, very helpful... but I wonder... like, how is he with the kids? Is he the kind that tries too hard and the kids are just like "buzz off, weirdo," or like, is he super shy around teens and uses the adults as his outlet for communication? Perhaps he has no friends at all and he just wants to latch onto me so I'll be his first and only friend?
Heh, well, all those assumptions were wrong, as I did see him interacting with students and teachers later on throughout the day, and everyone seems to like him, so I'm thinking I should try to absorb as much as his wisdom and advice as possible. Oh, and random fact... he likes rabbits. He really really really likes rabbits. I have no idea why he decided to tell me this, haha. I made him jealous though by telling him that on Wednesdays, I go to the agricultural school, and most likely they have rabbits there. He says he'll be requesting a transfer, haha.
So about the tour... this guy was more than happy to show me around the campus during the 1st-period. And holy marshmallows did it take the whole entire period to see the whole place. This school is ginormous!!! It really is quite a maze, but I think I got it down already (haha, the problem is not mixing it up with the cognitive maps I made for the other schools). One major thing I noticed was that there is no "classroom" building and no "speciality" building... everything is mixed together. Even the grades are split up; 10th-graders are in the far building on the 2nd- and 3rd-floors, the 11th-graders are in the near building on the 3rd- and 4th-floors, and the 12th-graders are in the near building, too, but on the 1st- and 2nd-floors. The buildings are connected by a walkway on the 1st- and 2nd-floors.
Something weird I noticed was that there are 2 and a half gyms here. I guess it makes sense for P.E. purposes, though you may wonder what they would do with "half" a gym. Well, it's more of an athletic room, used for the martial arts clubs and lessons. Oddly enough, there is no swimming pool here, so the swimming club uses the community center instead. Actually, as we were walking around and I was looking out the various windows, I noticed how there weren't many athletic facilities to be seen... guess this is a brainy school afterall.
Walking through the more general areas and the ichinensei (1st-years (the 10th-graders)) section, I was taking in delight in looking over the various club recruiment posters. As usual, some students drew anime-ish characters to represent a member of their organization (one club used SpongeBob in all their ads). The English Club poster caught my attention, for a different reason.
"Come to English Club!! Let's enjoy speaking with the ALT-sensei!!!"
gah!!! preeeesssssssure!!!! D: D: D:
More on than, later. Today is Club Recruitment Day, afterall. :)
Up until this point, I had seen plenty of kids around, but very very few of them said a word to me or my tour-guide. Kinda odd since at the other school, every kid was pretty obedient with the "ohayou"s and the "konnichiwa"s... most followed with the mad-laughing, exclaiming, "hello! hello!" upon noticing that I was the new foreigner, haha. I was beginning to get the impression that the kids here were a bit on the unfriendly side. However, the first bright light in my adventure here came from two very excitable ichinensei girls. As we were reading the posters in the hall, the pair came flying out of their room*, noticing my non-Japanese face instantly. Instead of hiding away like most of their peers**, they very cheerfully exclaimed "hello!!!!!!" :D Oh good, there's hope for this school afterall.
* the kids had been in testing all week long, so a 10-minute break sure is a moment of celebration for them
** the freshmen students still have that "deer caught in the headlights"-look on their faces. It must be rough for them, going from a school where they were surrounded by kids they've known for years to being in a place where everyone is a stranger to them. Top-Down Syndrome must be having its effects, as well. They're not the bosses in this school, as they were last year in middle school, haha. Hope they were kind to their underclassmen... karma can be a bitch.
The last thing I noticed as part of the tour was the glasscase on the 1st-floor that housed two mannequins: one male, one female. Can you guess what wardrobe they were modeling? Go on, guess... take your time... I'll wait... I got plenty of time. Ready now? If you said, "the school uniform," then DING DING DING!!!! Yes, just like Mr. Kimura, but not swimsuit uniforms, you pervos!!!
If you read the previous entry, you read how I was soooo disappointed by my first school not having an official school uniform, but this one makes up for it plenty. The boys get a spiffy dress pants, blazer, collared shirt, and tie combo (think MOHS, but a much darker blue), and the girls have the standard dark blue skirt with dark blue blazer combination... however, it's cute-ified by this adorable blue-and-white striped neck tie ribbon thing... I don't know what you wanna call it. I wanted to examine it more without looking too creepy... but actually, something distracted me...
... the school patch that comes with the uniform!!! Kakuiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!! So cooooooooool!!! OMG... I MUST HAVE ONE!!! Forget drooling over the uniform for now... off to go find my JTE friend and see what my chances of getting a patch for a souvenir are!!!
oh, but before I go on, you're probably wondering, what do the girls wear for a top underneath their blazer? Actually, it's the one thing they're free to choose on their own. Most seem to be wearing vests, but the colors are various. I suppose dress blouses are also popular. You may find this shocking, but I didn't spend the whole day staring at girl's chests, hahaha... I'm a responsible and respectable member of the academic community...
what? stop snickering? why don't you believe me???? whhhhhhhhhhyy? Oh, is it the collection of like two dozen schoolgirl artbooks I have in my apartment? The 7 binders filled of anime schoolgirl trading cards? Those? yeah... well... well... shut up. haha
Moving on... holy chocolate bars... all this discussion and we haven't even gotten to the second period yet!!! Well, luckily for us all, I can kinda fast-forward through the 2nd through 5th-period, which includes the 40-minute lunch break. For the bulk of the day, what I did was actual factual work!!!! Damn, this has been my most productive day since... since... since I left Okayama. Haruhi-sama knows I didn't do any work in Fukushima, all thanks to a lesson-hog of a JTE I worked with there. But yeah, I may be a little rusty, but I did pump out quite a few worksheets today... no thanks to those epic odysseys I have to make just to get to the printer*. The teachers here were incredibly impressed by how much work I did today. How do I know? haha, they sure did pour on the compliments.
* this is another "your princes... I mean printer, is in another room" school, but this time just down one floor, as opposed to 4 down then change buildings
The teacher I work with teaching the Oral Communication III class to the optional 12th-graders is another great guy. He's kinda meek and quiet, but he's very professional and friendly. I really look forward to working with him. The other teacher, my supervisor, is an older woman. I'm skeptical about her. She seems open and understanding, but something tells me that if I slip up, she may become a tough antagonist. Better do all that I can to stay on her good side.
As for the "work" I did today, I kinda cheated. Since I reaaallly don't feel like making 25 different versions of my introduction lesson, I'm keeping it as uniform as possible. And since I already made the lessonplans and worksheets for it yesterday at the other school, it was ready for discussion for today. Go me! The other plan is a lesson on Rooms in a House, so I spent a good hour drawing the blueprints of my house from the US and writing up clues to describe each room. Actually, I messed up thinking it was for the 12th-graders, but really it was for the 10th-graders. I presented it to the 12th-grade teacher by mistake, but he liked it so much that he wants to do it anyway, haha. Score!
The 5th-period was ichinensei orientation, but it was too boring even for the JTEs to attend, so we skipped that.
The 6th-period was the main event of the day: the Club Recruitment Drive! All of the students gathered in the gymnasium to listen to all of the club captains/presidents give a short speech. It wasn't as lively as I thought it would be, but there was at least one super kawaii moment: after the student council president* gave his speech addressing the new freshman class, an ichinensei girl was called up to say something she had prepared. However, she was one short young girl, and being up at the mic after the taller upperclass boy, you can imagine the issue that arose. She wasn't going to fall for that classic gimmick though. No standing on her tippy-toes or using a chair, haha. Nope, she was determined to do this all on her own. Everyone in the room watched as she stared up at the mic, pondering her next move. We could all see her trying to stretch herself taller, pushing every joint in her body to its limit. I think we were all waiting for her to start hopping up and down, but she wasn't giving in. She was going to grown 3 inches taller right then and there.
* the whole student council is made up of all girls, except for the president. Now how many anime do you see THAT in? Maaaaybe... ALL OF THEM?
The whole time I was soaking in this moment. Haha, true anime come to life. I was imagining little Madoka trying to come up with some magical spell to make herself grow. If this were a true anime, everyone's face would have gone happily stupified as we all internally thought "awwwwwwwww~" and a giant heart silenty appeared above the crowd.
Too much anime? Or not enough?
This event was my first actual moment spent together with the students of this school. As I walked in through the main door, everyone was already seated, facing away from me. Of course, I wouldn't go unnoticed for long. A few antsy students would take a few glances around and would light up as soon as they saw me, then quickly point me out to their friends, causing whole groups to turn around. Repeat this about 25 times, haha. Later on, there was a 10-minute intermission so the martial arts and music groups could get set up. During this time, I was introduced to the Photography Club's main advisor, who unfortunately cannot speak much English. This lead to a short conversation, giving me 5 minutes to stand around and see what kind of attention I could attract.
As expected, I'd see small groups of girls standing in circles, chatting away. The one facing me would always notice me, then make mention of the "super handsome, incredibly sexy foreign man of mystery who's come to teach us the ways of his strange, yet alluring language" to the others, leading to lots of excited giggling and staring. Geez, I hope I can live up to whatever image of my personality they're making up for me in their collective minds. No fear, though... I mean, come on... police experience, fire experience, elementary school experience... even the guys will be captivated by me. Haha... but not in THAT way... I hope.
Anyway, so yeah, girls, groups, giggling. That's been the summary of my last two days. No declarations of love from anyone in this school, but I did have at least one happy moment during this assembly. As I explained how the process usually goes, one girl notices me, tells her friends, they all do their thing. The most amusing, however, was the one girl who noticed me, but DIDN'T tell her friends. She was just... staring... lost in whatever fantasy her heart was making up... imaging all sorts of... well, maybe I don't want to know. I've seen how the girlie anime series are these days... yuck!! But yeah, I noticed that she was just just frozen in time, looking in my direction, so I did what GTX would normally do: I smiled and waved, kinda giving this nuance of "hey, I notice you noticing me, but you gotta snap out of it, haha."
And snapped out of it she did, haha. Like someone whacked her on the back, she kinda took a second to think about what was happening, then went into the "oh god, he noticed me, what do I do?? what do I do??"-mode. Of course, she was intrigued, and she seems playful, so what she did next was kinda amusing: she nudged her friend, whispered something to her, which I can only assume was something like "haha, watch this," then pointed me out to her. So funny watching the two of them now watching, waiting for my next move. Haha, they both giggled in delight when I waved and smiled, squeeing as teenage girls do. Of course, doing this got the attention of the other 3 or 4 girls in the group, leading to the next thing being them ALL turning to watch me smile and wave.
I hope class goes this easy, though these girls were, I believe 11th-graders, meaning I won't be working with them unless I see them in their clubs. Oh, and did I tell you... this school is 64% girls. :D But hey, I'm not "flirting"... I'm "advertising" for the English Club, haha. I mean, no one came to me beforehand for some profile data, which is odd since their big selling point for the club was "enjoy talking with the foreign guy." You'd think they'd want to spread the word that he's a handsome American who used to fight crime and fires at the same time.
What? I can embellish SOME details, can't I?
The showcase of clubs ended with a drama skit. It was in the mid-sized gymnasium in the other part of the maze, but only for the freshmen to watch. I was given the option to go, too, so I went to check it out. It was prety good. I feel bad for a lot of these clubs... the membership is so low! There are over 500 students here, but most clubs only have about 10-20 members. In fact, our baseball club's membership is so low that they don't have enough members to compete against the other schools! Hopefully many new incoming students will boost the numbers. Club membership is mandatory for 10th-graders, but optional for the older kids.
Not much to say about the drama... 10 girls did all the acting and lighting and effects and stuff. Most worthy of note was the tongue-twisters demonstration. I don't know if you've ever heard a Japanese tongue-twister, but they are quite impressive. Here, I'll show you...
Cute cosplayers come free-of-charge... but for the adorable shougakkousei, you have to mail me a check, haha
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
oh, Japan, you sure know how to exploit your greatest natural resource... cute girls!!! Anyway, wasn't I talking about like some bake sale or waffle house or... ummm... a pet shop? No, wait, my first day at this high school...
So I took off from the drama sampler before everyone else, just to beat the traffic, so to speak. When I got to the English Staff room, apparently souji (cleaning time) was already underway. Haha, interestingly enough, this school requires students to check-in with teachers when they run their tasks. Like, some students are assigned to mop the floor, others need to sweep or collect the garbage. For me, I just had to sit at my desk. Awwww, but that's no fun. I'll clean the chalkboard... how about that? Haha, I guess the teachers aren't used to seeing ALTs clean, but I want the FULL high school experience, plus I want to be helpful...
... and if I don't clean this filthy chalktray, who will? heh heh heh
I made a new friend during this daily event, apparently. Two really... ummmm... physically attractive in the sense in which an adult would appreciate completely in a non-sexual manner... came to the room to do some sweeping. They were interested in me, so they were a little cheery and bubbly. Haha, I asked one of them for her name, but like most Japanese people, they say it so damn fast. I never know if I should expect their last name or their given name first, so I rarely ever get to learn anyone's name this way. Oh well, at least I know she's in my OC-III class, so I will be seeing her regularly. ^____^V
I had mentioned at the start of this entry my opportunity to visit my village in Fukushima Prefecture with the junior high school vice principal. This would be my first time back to the school and my apartment inside the radiation zone since the earthquake 4 weeks ago. Though the government has banned anyone from entering the village, an excursion team was set up so parents could collect the things they left behind in the school when the evacuees were forced to leave. This would be my chance to swing by my apartment and grab a few important items.
I was reluctant to decide, considering how I wasn't looking forward to the 3-hour drive, not to mention the cost of gas and tolls*. We were meeting at 8am the following morning, which meant I would have to wake up before 5am and attempt to drive while incredibly sleepy. Not good... but I have a better idea! Leave this evening around 8pm or 9pm, then find a late-night restaurant to chill out at for a while, then either find a net cafe to sleep the remaining hours away, or just sleep in my car in some parking lot. Okay, that saves me from having to drive like a zombie.
* I lucked out! The tolls were waved for "evacuees" leaving from certain points. Saved myself $50. ^___^V
I told my vice principal my plan, but he had an even better idea: just drive to his temporary apartment in the city and spend the night on his floor. Haha, okay, MUCH better. But in order for this work, I'd have to leave like... immediately. Luckily my 5pm leaving time provides me such a chance, though I felt bad about not investigating any clubs. Guess it didn't matter since when I explained to my supervisor how I was only leaving now because of a special occassion, she was like, "oh, it's okay, there is no club period today anyway... take care on your journey!"
heh heh, safe
Saturday, April 9th: The Journey Back to Fukushima
Made it to Koriyama City alright. The Science teacher who can speak okay English was also joining us. He and I met with the kyoto-sensei the night before for a little drinking and catching up. This was the first time I've seen either of these guys since the earthquake. Apparently a lot of the teachers in our village have been called to Koriyama for the "temporary" school they had established. I felt kinda sad for being left-out of the plan, but really only like half the kids are going to be using this mini-school.
I don't want the JTE to taint my 6th-graders with her terrible lessons!! This was supposed to be MY opportunity to show her how a REAL teacher does things. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Damn you earthquake!!! I worked so hard for this!!!!!
Oh well, so anyway... Saturday morning we all got up early, had some Denny's breakfast, then with radiation meter (courtesy of bobspeltbackwards) in hand, we started on our mission. Instantly the radiation meter was kicking to life, but really nothing more than usual radiation levels. In our entire hour-long car ride, we never really got more than 0.95mRems, and that high was just for a brief moment. Mostly we were in the 0.30-0.40 range, though our village itself was down in the 0.20-0.30 range. It takes something like 70.00 to even start to make you feel sick, so we were completely safe.
However, the other side of the mountains... forget it. Kyoto-sensei says he was down there a few days prior, the scale was measuring up to 100mRems/hour!!! Without protection, you'd be feeling the effects soon enough. Because of this situation, the communities directly on the Fukushima coastline will most likely be abandoned for 5-10 years, however, as a borderline community, the village officials feel this will actually boost up our population as the people from down the mountain who want to stay in the area will make new homes in our neighborhoods... and in our schools. Haha, this could prove interesting.
Getting back to discussing the journey, we made it to the junior high school just before 10am. It was raining steadily off-and-on throughout the morning. I used my first moments to walk around the school with my camera. Not a whole lot of damage since most things are secured, but the library did have a few bookcases knocked down and the science room had a few broken flasks. The trophy cases in the lobby were actually the hardest hit.
A few parents came in to collect some things. Most were from our community, but a couple were strangers from down the mountain. I was surprised to see a few of my students come with their parents. Good to see familiar faces again. I mean, I chose to stay here for the benefit of the kids, so as boring as mountain village life can be, I just have to remember that they're the reason to come back.
We didn't end up staying too long. Actually, kyoto-sensei was on his way to Minamisoma City, leaving me to hitch a ride back with the science teacher. Before setting off, I wanted to stop by my apartment to grab a few key items. Mainly, clothes I could wear over the next 2 months or so, whatever kitchen utensils I could muster (mostly everything was either dirty or broken), as well as the mementos and collectibles I felt were the most irreplaceable. For me, this meant my collection of kokeshi dolls (sooo adorable, and since they represent 4 of the 5 Daughters from the first season, they have meaning to me... need to get a 5th one to complete my collection... then the Gates to the Eternal Moeverse will finally open to me!!!) and a few of the anime artbooks that I felt were most representative of my hobby (ie, the ones that were expensive and hard to find, haha).
Upon entering my apartment, I was first greeted by the stinky smell of month-old garbage. Lovely. Not helping was the mustiness that filled the air from not having any air circulation whatsoever. I soon discovered that cleaning it after the inital quake was futile. Perhaps you saw the news from mid-week, but we had our biggest aftershock yet: a magnitude 7.4 tremor eminating from the original epicenter. It was so big, I could feel it in Niigata, clear across the Japan mainland. In my apartment, it registered a Shindou-4 (Japanese destruction scale 1-6), meaning it was enough to move big appliances and knock things over. My fridge moved again, once again knocking my poor toaster oven to the floor. At least the crumb tray was clean this time... thanks to the first quake. Other items in the living room had fallen, but nothing broken.
Ugh... so stressful. This is why I can't have nice things!!!! Anyway, I grabbed my biggest suitcase and began just grabbing whatever Spring clothes I could find suitable for high school teaching. Plenty of fire department polos... that should pique quite a bit of interest... and a few athletic shirts for all those clubs and PE classes I'm hoping to join. One major item I just HAD to find was my iPod, which apparently fell to the floor during the first quake, but I wasn't able to find it because a CD had fallen on top of it!!!! ARGH!!! Well, I have it now, though I wonder if the radiation screwed it up because it's acting dumb.
The other things I really really wanted to salvage were my yearbooks from my two years in Okayama. I thought they were on my desk, but apparently not. I looked in all the places I could think, but no luck. Hmmm, I guess I mailed them back to the US when I packed up to move to Fukushima. So they've been safe all this time... whew, that's a relief.
The only other concern were my binders filled with my TCG cards. My biggest hobby here is collecting anime trading cards, and Haruhi-sama knows I've spent a fortune on those things. But there are so many that they're a pain to carry. Sigh... okay, Plan B... I brought some plastic garbage bags, so I'm just going to pile everything up on the desk, the floor, in the bookcases, and then just wrap everything up. I closed up the curtains good and tight, so this place is sealed!
I don't know if I shared this a month ago, but when I initially evacuated my apartment, aside from three sets of clothes, the only "non-essential" items I managed to salvage were my laptop, my external HD, and the little origami cicada made for me by Semi-chan when she was a 2nd-grader. With all the expensive anime books, collectable DVDs, adorable figurines, interesting souvenirs from Japan's most popular tourist spots... why would the only thing I choose to save be a 2 cent scrap of paper?
Because...
... it is mine. It was taken from nothing and made into something beautiful... for me. It was a gift from the heart made by an adorable little girl with difficulty fitting in, who was looking to reach out to a stranger and make a friend. To me, it represents what love and friendship can blossom from, even if it's just a simple gesture. It represents the notion that two people don't need to share a culture, a language, or anything else to be understood. The day that gift was given to me, I knew that for the first time ever in my existance, I truly touched someone's heart, and it meant a lot to me knowing that it meant a lot to her. And though the two of us are far apart, I look at that origami cicada hanging on my wall and am reminded that somewhere out in the world, is someone I can call a friend for life.
And that is a lot more important to me than anything I can buy in a bookstore or gift shop. Anyone in the world can go to Tokyo Tower and buy a plastic replica of the tower, or go to Nagoya Castle to buy a stamped medallion... but nowhere in the world can anyone buy an origami cicada made from the heart.
So goes my sappy ending. Thanks for making me all teary-eyed, jerks, haha. Ugh, I need sleep like no one's business right now. It's been a weird week for me. I have pictures to share. Hopefully I'll be not-lazy tomorrow and get around to posting them. No promises, okay? Keep reading the blog... and tell your friends, haha. Season 4 of GTX is high school wonderfulness!!! Monday I have my first HS lesson ever!!!! Up first, the accelerated senior optional English lesson at Fuuka Academy.
All images and comments are property of their respective owners, all the rest � 2002 by Anime-Source.com.
You can syndicate our news using the file backend.php.
