Got Milk?

Yesterday, I took my laptop to Tokawa chuugakkou (junior high). Unfortunately, the Internet there runs through a proxy, so most websites are blocked. I ended up watching Naruto when I wasn't in class or helping Igei sensei to prepare for the lessons.

Today, Candice and I both joined Michael at Kitanokawa shougakkou (elementary school). Once again, spending time with kids is enjoyable. We talked about food with the 2nd graders, the body with 3rd graders and "what is this / that?" with the 5th and 6th graders, using visual aids (animals, colours and food). I ate lunch with the sannensei (third graders).

A few things to note about schools, in terms of interesting differences:

• Children don't bring a packed lunch to school; they all eat the same meal prepared at school and served in each classroom by children that are on lunch duty.
• The servers wear caps and masks while handling food -- the youngest children are very cute all dressed up as they do their duty.
• They have milk at school every day. I guess Japanese people like milk or see the benefit of giving kids milk.
• After lunch, just about everything is put in the correct place for washing or recycling. Milk cartons, cheese wrappers, and even straws are collected.
• Also after lunch, the children brush their teeth. Bodily care and material recyling are both big here.

Matta ([I will write] again).

Timotheos

Happy Happy Joy

On Friday evening, my laptop arrived. I had trouble setting the Internet up, so two people from the office came around to assist me: Hayashi-san and Sasaki-san. I had everything going by mid evening, and so was able to go online this past weekend. Suffice to say, I played a bit of WoW and downloaded a lot of movies and anime, lol.

On Saturday, Michael and I went into Kochi city. We looked at various things. Projectors are pretty expensive! I'm not sure if I will get one after all. I'd still like to get a PS3, if only to play Blu-ray discs (and Final Fantasy XIII when it comes out!).

Sunday, I just spent at home. When I have my own car I will be able to go into the city to attend church. Right now, things are usually inconvenient in that regard. When I am able to regularly attend church on Sundays it will be quite expensive, too.

This morning, I had two classes at Tokawa shougakkou (elementary school). It is next door to the junior high that I teach at on Tuesdays. Kids can think of so many questions. It makes for an interesting lesson! I got asked everything from what Japanese food I hate to what sort of fish I caught in New Zealand when I went fishing. I really enjoyed it, despite feeling quite tired.

The main reason I have felt tired today is that I went to bed late last night. I got off Wow pretty late and then watched a movie as well. :o

Tomorrow, it will be my first real lesson at Tokawa chuugakkou. Igei sensei and I will prepare the lessons first thing in the morning. I get up at 6am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to give me time in the morning before heading to the junior high schools for an 8am start. Classes start a little later than that, and I never have a first period English lesson to take, but the teachers at both schools still want me there for the morning meetings -- and to prepare for the day's classes.

I finish pretty soon. No more hanging around in the office for me (well, maybe once a week, for that necessary "face time"). I can go home and relax (ie. play games and watch movie and anime).

Timotheos

Kodomotachi

Yesterday was my first day at Showa chugakkou (middle school). They had a sports day -- more of a sports preparation day -- so I didn't have class until the afternoon; and then, only one. For the first part of the day, I sat in on Mizobuchi-sensei's ichinensei (first grade) homeroom class, as they discussed stuff for sports day. He is the English teacher. His students are all girls. The entire population of the school is only 32 students: 13 boys, 19 girls.

Some time was spent in the gym. I'm not sure exactly what the point of sports day preparation and discussion is, but the students sure seemed to be occupied.

Sixth period was my only class for the day. I took the sannensei (third grade students). I went through my introduction, with photos and pictures, and then had them ask me questions. I also asked them each individual questions. That class has five boys and four girls.

Today, I went to Wakaigawa shougakkou (elementary school). It is another small school -- just 13 students. I took the 5th-6th grade students in the second period, then the 3rd-4th graders and the 1st-2nd graders in the third and fourth periods respectively. None of the teachers could speak English (the principal knew a little, and he took the senior class), so it made my day interesting. My introduction to each class was good Japanese practise.

The 3rd-4th grade class asked me a lot of questions about animals in New Zealand. The 5th-6th graders asked me what I liked and I asked them what they liked (food, colours, etc). I love how much more responsive kids are than teenagers, even if they can only ask questions in Japanese. I think that communicating will get easier as I learn more Japanese. Today's experience really stretched my Japanese language skills. I didn't understand a lot of the time, but I lived. :)

The most interesting class was the little ones. There was one 1st grader -- a cute little boy -- and one 2nd grader: a girl. They ended up just showing me a few of the toys in the classroom, after my introduction and a couple of questions.

I played with the kids between classes and also after eating lunch with them. The teachers also eat lunch with the students, as there are so few. It was fun to play with the kids. I showed them how to play bat down. There was one boy, Ryo, who was about eight. He had a lot of energy, both in the classroom and in the gym, running around. He reminded me of my nephew Reuben. XD

Mikey and I are going into Kochi city tomorrow. I am really tired right now and have a headache. I think I will rest when I get home.

On Monday, I am going to Tokawa shougakkou. I will try and be a little more prepared this time, but without my own computer this might be difficult. I should be getting my laptop on Monday. I can't wait!

Timotheos

School's In Session

My first taste of teaching was yesterday. I had three classes at the Tokawa chugakkou (middle school), one for each year. The largest class had 15 students in it. Each lesson consisted mostly of my own introduction, followed by questions and student introductions. I look forward to all of the English that we will attempt to impart to these malleable minds.

This morning, Michael and I attended the local shougakkou (primary school) here in Taisho. Kids are definitely more fun than teenagers in the classroom. They are more responsive, even if they don't understand English and have trouble remembering what they have "learned" -- or trouble with English pronunciation.

That's about all that's going on. We have plans to go to Kochi city on Saturday and will probably look into starting to film our short movie next week for the Chobitto Film Festival. Also, I should be getting a personalised kanji hanko (stamp) made for me. The closest to my name in Japanese is "tei mu". There is a kanji pronounced "Tei" that means "Emperor" and one pronounced "mu" that means "dream". So Tei-mu, Emperor's Dream, will be my very own kanji stamp.

Back to Mob wars. ;)

Timotheos

Ashita Hajimaru

On Saturday, as planned, we went over to Nakamura. We had ramen for dinner and walked to the festival across the river. The fireworks were insane. I uploaded what I filmed to YouTube, but I ran out of room on my memory card and missed the last part, which was incredible.



Yesterday, Michael and I looked for a waterfall that he had mentioned to me. We drove into the hills near Towa, trying to find our way. We ended up at an interesting track, which we walked up for a while. It was good exercise and nice to be out in the bush. After we got back in the car, we backtracked a bit and went up another road. We eventually found the waterfall. Pictures to come.

We decided to continue driving up past the track that led down to the waterfall, stopping at the summit of the hill. We walked down another track, which presented us with a breathtaking sight of the surrounding hills.

Mission complete, we drove back to Taisho, which took about an hour. After dinner, we watched a movie at Michael's house. Weekend complete.

I spent part of today preparing my introduction (complete with pictures) for the schools I will be teaching at.

Tomorrow marks the start of my vocation as a JET. I will be teaching at the Tokawa shugakkou (middle school / junior high). I'm looking forward to finally getting into it, but am a little apprehensive about what to expect. ^^

Timotheos