Four Quizzes in a Month

I ran a quiz at Shouwa chuu, posting up results in Wordle format weekly. The students were very cooperative, and we ended up with some nicely stylised quiz results. Good stuff!

 

 

My time on JET is very close to finishing. Today I have my last classes at Shouwa JHS. We are playing Jeopardy with the kids, using the quiz questions that I made in the last month or so. Next week will be my final classes overall, so it's just over a week until my last appointment as an ALT for Shimanto primary and junior high schools.

I can only hope that both English Zone and English Corner will carry on with new ideas and a different kind of flair from my successor. And yes, I realise that I still have to put up my collection of photos from those projects!

What the future holds is anyone's guess, but I do have some prospects on the table. Teaching is likely still on the agenda, but I won't know for sure until possibly after my contract actually ends at the end of this month.

For Tokawa, I was submitting a monthly "short story". Even though my time there was cut short — I had my last class before the end of June — I still submitted a little editorial for the final month before natsu yasumi — summer holidays.

April 2011 - Anzac Day
In recent history, we have had two "World Wars". Many countries fought for what they believed in. Almost a hundred years ago, the 1st World War took the lives of many millions of people. Some of those people were New Zealanders and Australians: ANZACs.

ANZAC stands for “New Zealand and Australian Army Corps”. In 1915, thousands of these soldiers died on a beach in Turkey, called Gallipoli. But we remember those soldiers every year in commemoration of what they fought for. April 25th is Anzac Day.

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance. Many of the soldiers from the World Wars are dead now. But we still remember their sacrifice. We are reminded that war is terrible - but there will always be people who believe in freedom.

May 2011 - Golden Week
What did you do for Golden Week? Did you enjoy the time off? Did you travel? Did you see relatives?

This year, on the first day of Golden Week, my family and I travelled to Niihama, in Ehime prefecture. We visited the National Science Museum there. There was a lot to see and do.

The museum has a lot of hands-on (interactive) displays. There were many things that we could look at, play with and experience; a science show for children; craft that my daughter could make – she made a hovercraft; giant model dinosaurs that moved and growled; and a planetarium with a very cool astronomy display.

Even if you were unable to go anywhere for Golden Week, I hope that you had a good time. And I hope that you will have the chance one day to visit the museum in Ehime.

June 2011 - Four Seasons in One Day
Before we get the expected muggy, stiflingly hot weather that brings with it giant bugs and the desire to swim, here in Japan we have to experience heavy rainfall. Rainy season is as predictable as the mukade that try to creep into your house.

Rainy season is a strange concept to New Zealanders. The weather in New Zealand is so sporadic and unpredictable all year round, that people joke about there being “four seasons in one day”. In fact, there is even a famous song about it!

As with Japan, different areas of New Zealand experience the different seasons in different ways: It snows down south in winter, but throughout most of New Zealand we only experience cold wind and rain and the occasional frost. In summer it gets incredibly hot on the east coast and a lot more humid up north than anywhere else. My own city is fairly temperate: not too hot in summer, and seldom icy in winter.

I hope you enjoy rainy season and look forward to swimming in the river!

July 2011 - Goodbye Message
Dear students

My three years teaching in Shimanto have brought me through many experiences: from attending school sports days and graduation ceremonies, to getting married and raising a family. Part of me wishes that I had taken more advantage of my time as an ALT and done more – been more involved with the various schools that I teach at. But one can only be happy with as much as one actually does.

My time as an ALT may be at an end, but it is merely a change of season. I am not leaving Japan – and very much doubt that I will leave Shimanto any time soon. You could still see me around: at Sunshine, in Kochi city, at various festivals that we have. Please say “hi”, and know that I am always willing to say “hi” back!

I wish everyone at Tokawa chuu a bright future. Aim for the skies and keep your dreams alive. And never forget that English – no matter how frustrating to learn – opens up a whole new world of intrigue and diversity.

がんばります。

--

I will try and sort through my photos of both display walls to present those in a couple of slideshows, spanning the past year or so that I have been doing display projects at two of the three junior high schools I have been teaching at.

And even though I will no longer be on JET from next month, I will continue to update this blog. Because it is the Japan Journey; not the JET journey! There are many years ahead of me of discovery, experience and all-round continued Japanese immersion.

Peace.

Timotheos

Christmas is Coming

It's been a struggle to submit regular entries here. I don't want this blog to turn into simply a reflection of my diary, but to keep it relevant to my experiences in Japan. Perhaps being married to a Japanese national and somewhat settling down has desensitised me to the wonder that Japan once held. Or maybe I've just become complacent and haven't put in the effort that I should have.

I've wanted to put up a set of photos for quite a while, but wasn't able to find my micro-SD reader. After church on Sunday, I bought a new micro-SD card that came with a reader, but upon inserting my cellphone's card into my laptop, it wasn't able to read it. Go figure. So, I'm still working on getting the photos from my cellphone to the computer so that they can in turn be put up here. Whew.

I had a flu shot yesterday. It meant I had to drive through the pouring rain, to and from K-town. The hospital was very busy and there were no parks. So I prayed, drove around again, went down to the end of the carpark and took the single, last one that God had provided for me. So you see, he always comes through when we need little things like that!

Mika baked an apple pie on Monday night. Half of it is gone already (although one quarter went with Eddi to her kindergarten), and we should be able to finish it off tonight when we go to Mika's parents' for dinner. Her mum has been at her grandma's for the last week or so, looking after the old lady. We have had Mika's dad around for dinner once, and so tonight it is our turn to go there and eat with him.

The flu is going around -- or at least, that is the fear that many people have. They are so serious about health and getting sick here that I wonder how much of it can be attributed to this overshadowing fear of getting sick and passing sickness onto others. On Monday at shougakkou (primary school), every single person -- teachers and students alike -- was wearing one of those face masks. And apparently there were ten students away sick that day.

Some classes have been cancelled this month. We were supposed to have an upcoming class on the 18th where a whole lot of teachers would come to observe the proceedings, but that has been cancelled. A couple of junior high days have had their classes cancelled, but this is mostly due to JTE activities, not sickness. Still, there have been some complete school cancellations because of the influenza that is "going around" right now -- such as this coming Friday, which I will now spend in the office twiddli- erm, taking care of important documents.

There was a festival in K-town on Sunday. So after buying my new micro-SD, we checked it out. It wasn't that impressive, but there was a whole lot of shiny farm equipment (should have taken pictures, doh!), the meat-on-a-stick was yummy (o)()(o) and they had a huge bingo game. We had four cards but only got a couple of "reaches" (one square short of bingo). Seems that I have no problem with Japanese numbers. ;)

Christmas is coming up. We went into K-city on Saturday to do some shopping. It was a very long, tiring ordeal, but we all got new clothes and it was fun looking at Christmas stuff. The atmosphere is definitely festive, and Christmas is taking on more of a tangible presence here. It will be a great opportunity for me to share with the kids at school about why we celebrate Christmas. Any opportunity to tell them about Jesus should be snatched up without restraint!

Move over Santa, Jesus is King and he's the Real Thing.

My Japanese study is going well. I may not see much progress, but I know that one day I will be fluent enough to improve exponentially, as I listen, speak, read and write regularly. As I continue to struggle through each thing to learn, it's encouraging to know that somewhere down the track, something will click and the things I have learned will begin to make sense and will take shape in my mind. So far, very little makes sense and remembering words and structure has been very, very difficult. But I will speak it one day, and knowing that is what keeps me going!

Renshuu.org is a great Japanese study review website. Even though I haven't specifically studied for the JLPT level 4, I have included the entire thing in my review schedule. This way, as I encounter words that I am unfamiliar with, either from a meaning perspective or even kanji pronunciation, I will eventually get to know everything. Also, as I continue to progress through my Genki I textbook, I can add the chapters to my schedule as well. So far, I have studied up to chapter 8, which I am working through when the mood strikes (ie. when I have free periods at school).

My aim is to finish Genki I and to get through all of Genki II -- or at least its equivalent -- by the time the JLPT rolls around in June next year. I may not make it that far, but I still intend to sit the level 3 during the next JLPT intake, prepared or not.

Today, I will no doubt continue both study and vocabulary practice. I don't make many opportunities to flex my conversation skills, but this is mostly due to not being able to think of anything to say. It's not a fear of getting things wrong, as I do that all the time in writing. It's being unable to express myself adequately, and not understanding what people say to me whenever I have to use Japanese. But I try!

Peace.

Timotheos

Tabi - The Journey Begins

Had I the Japanese proficiency I one day hope to possess, I'd have titled this first entry with all of the equivalent Japanese words. As I can't read Japanese writing as yet, Babelfish doesn't do me any good here, either, in making my own haX translation ^^ However, I'd like to make that a motif of these blogs as the ability becomes available to me.

The reason for this blog is to hopefully document the process by which I apply as an Assistant English Teacher in Japan, go through the application process and, if accepted and all goes well, actually get a position in a school over there and get to employ my 1337 language and teaching skills. I also intend to continue keeping a record of my experiences if all goes according to plan and I find myself at this time next year well established in a school somewhere in the islands of Nippon, teaching my heart out.

My desire to go to Japan is three-fold:

1. The otaku in me screams "animé paradise!" O.O Being the long-time fan of animé that I am, what better place than its land of origin. One of my dreams over the years has been to learn to speak Japanese and to better understand the culture. I will one day watch raw animé, unhindered by the language barrier. But it's not just animé that I'm looking forward to: I really enjoy Asian culture and cuisine - Japan presents me with the opportunity to experience more of both.


2. As a Christian, going to a pagan country presents a real challenge. The missionary in me wants to see everyone in the world converted to Christianity, and going into a place as spiritually dark as Japan will not only be a real challenge to me, ministerially, but will test my spiritual resolve and provide me with many opportunities to share the gospel of truth.


3. Japan is close to South Korea. It's just a small hop over to that peninsula where I once spent six months of my life. Catching up with friends won't be so much of a tremendous difficulty once I have settled and actually manage to sort something out. I miss my Korean friends ^^

So how does this all start? Well, I've resolved to go to Japan to teach English after I graduate from Victoria University Wellington next year. It's a decision that I have thought about, prayed about and come to the conclusion of doing something about. JET is probably the most widely known programme for sending young Kiwis over to Japan to teach upon university graduation. Upon being reminded of this recently via email, I shot over to the JET website and proceeded to download and print both the application form and the guidelines for the JET 2008 intake.

So now it's just a matter of sending in the application form together with all of the necessary documentation in order to apply for a position in next year's programme. So far, I have requested my academic record from the university as well as a letter that shows my expected date of graduation. I still need to sort out two references and an authenticated copy of my proof of nationality (passport photocopy signed by a Justice of the Peace), but this application is well on its way to completion. This is just the first step, but I intend to keep this blog apprised of the application process and any other steps that are taken in my journey to Japan.

Currently, I am in my third year of university and will graduate with a BA in English Literature in June next year - in time for being accepted into the 2008 JET intake. I already have a Diploma of Christian Ministry (DipMin) and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), as well as some teaching experience (during my CELTA training) and assistant teaching experience (when I was over in South Korea in 2003). The only thing necessary to apply for an English language teaching position in Japan is a bachelor degree from a recognised university. These academic and experiential extras that I have are a bonus and should help in securing me a part in the 2008 Jet programme. Having a real interest in Japan and Japanese language and culture - and a love of rice and fish - is also helpful.

Now I just have to do well in my end of year exams (over these next two weeks) and focus on finishing up my degree next trimester. Applying for a job in Japan is the "easy" part - it's proving my worth and following through with competent study to finish my degree that I will struggle with. Perhaps these blog entries and my intent to update this journey will provide me with the motivation needed to reach the end and continue on towards my goals.

Until I post again.

Timotheos