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Directory
Page 1: Basic Information
Page 2: ES1 Student/Teachers Descriptions
Page 3: JHS1 Student/Teachers Descriptions
Page 4: ES2 and ES3 Student/Teachers Descriptions
Page 5: Useful Classroom Japanese, School Games, Legal Disclaimer
Basic Information
WHO ARE YOU?:
I am a 27 year-old college graduate from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts USA. I have been the Website Content Administrator at Anime-Source.com for about 3 years now. I have been an anime-fan since 2003. My favorite genres are the emotional-type dating-sim-based series like Air, CLANNAD, and Kanon 2006, schooldaze comedy like Azumanga Daioh and Pani Pani Dash, harem comedies like Please! Twins and Mahoraba Heartful Days, wacky comedies like Galaxy Angel, Excel Saga, and Nurse Witch Komugi, and a random assortment of serious action-dramas like Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Stellvia of the Universe, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Voices of a Distant Star and Cowboy Bebop. I've seen samplings from probably over 400 series while completing well over 100, if not 150.
WHAT'S THIS BLOG ABOUT?
In August 2008, I left my home and my cat, as well as my collection of over 400 anime DVDs, manga, anime figurines, and posters... oh, and my family, too... behind to hop on a plane bound for Japan. This blog is about my (semi-)daily adventures living in Japan, and stories range from anywhere to stuff about random things I see around this place, to trips I take and events I attend. Mostly though, this blog is about all the funny and interesting things I witness and take part in while teaching English at the public schools I've been assigned.
WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?
I work for INTERAC, the private-version of JET. Both assign teachers to work in the public school system, and though JETs get paid more, INTERAC ALTs get more life-support with stuff like paying taxes, buying cars, setting up bills, reading labels, and answering whatever dumb question that may need a dumb answer.
Both entities are hiring now. I can't tell you which is better to work for, as both have their pluses and minuses. Giving recent trends though, it seems like there is better job-security and training with INTERAC, based on how a lot of Education Boards are laying off their JETs this year and replacing them with INTERACs. As always, I would be more than happy to answer any specific questions people may have.
Also, because I love money, if anyone is thinking of applying for INTERAC, they just started this recommendation-program that will pay me a bonus if anyone puts me down as a reference and gets hired. I would love to see the looks on the faces of the HQ people when they see me refer like a couple dozen people, haha. Oh, and also, another benefit that INTERAC has over JET is they hire people in stages, so you have a better chance of impressing a few recruiters, as opposed to JET who takes all their applicants at once and then cuts the stack down to the top 5 percent immediately (yes, I was a JET-reject, haha, but I'm happy with my assignment, so it all worked out in the end).
INTERAC Recruiting Site, Worldwide
YOU'RE WHERE NOW?
I am in a city of 25,000 people called Takahashi. It's in the middle of Okayama Prefecture, which is exactly halfway between Hiroshima City and Osaka City. There are mountains for miles and miles in every direction. I am one hour by train from Okayama City, which is a city of about a million people that lies on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea... the body of water that is between Honshu Island (Japan's main island) and Shikoku Island.
SO YOU'RE TEACHING ENGLISH TO... WHO?
You'll see in the next couple of pages...
