Jidohanbaiki (Japanese Vending Machines)My first week was at Shonan koko (high school), and the lessons there went really well. I had a class of 30 on Monday, and my first lesson certainly avoided the 'car-crash' scenario that I had feared. The next lesson on Tuesday was about 22/23 students, and went better, as expected. For the rest of the week I had much smaller classes, which allowed me to get to know the students better and teach more informally. The English-language ability of the students is pretty low; the activities we do are fairly basic, and its more about making sure the students enjoy themselves than teaching for any sort of entrance-exam / national qualification. The teachers have different styles of teaching too- this dramatically alters how lessons go depending on whether they want me to chip in and follow thier lead, or basically run the class myself while
they stand and watch. It certainly varies. On Wednesday we had a school open day; Miyoshi sensei had ambled into the staffroom the previous day with a cool bag filled with five dead octopuses! He told me someone was going to make bento's for us. So the next day we had taco-bentos (octopus lunchboxes) which were actually really nice- since then I've bought tentacles from the supermarket and cooked them up at home! The Open Day didn't affect me much, though I had a class where only 1 student turned up! Fate decided that this was the lesson thekocho-sensei and kyoto-sensei would come and watch, so there were 5 teachers in the room (Manabe sensei had dropped in as well) and only 1 student! Ridiculous...
On the weekend I went to Carrie's for her b'day celebration, then headed to Takamatsu on Shikoku on saturday. Takamatsu is a really beautiful city- modern, clean, and full of lush, green parks set against a backdrop of hills and mountains. It was a lovely day of exploring. I took it really easy, whiling away a LOT of time just wandering through the parks, then decided to put in some effort and climbed Yoshina, a steep (very steep) hill nearby that had panoramic views of the Insland Sea! Utsukushi desu ne! Sunday I went shopping, then Monday I was back at Shonan koko for a lesson with Manabe.
Stunning Shikoku- from top left clockwise, Takamatsu-Jo (1), View of Shikoku to the south (2), Takamatsu City from Yoshina (3), and Inland Sea (4)
Click on the photos to enlarge
The rest of this week I've been at Seishi koko, which is very different to Shonan. There are only 80 students, and over the next few months I'll teach all of them. For some reason there are also 20 teachers, which seems a bit bizarre to me but there you go. Seishi is a night school- I work there 1pm-9pm, and teach for an hour and a half between 5.40pm and 8.05pm, depending on my timetable. It's very laidback- to be honest I have an amazingly cushy job considering the workload and the pay! The students are here either because they work during the day, or failed high school the first time around. Some don't ever turn up, others turn up and don't say a word all lesson. It's certainly harder work motivating, and again it's all about getting the students to enjoy the lessons. The students are also older than at Shonan- I guess between 17 and 24. Some have family problems or physchological problems too- it's a strange place, but the
teachers are friendly and the classes have gone well so far. One student has developed a bit of an obsession with me apparently, though at least she's turning up to classes now!
I've also started Japanese classes 10am till 12 on the wednesdays and thursdays I'm at Seishi (optional getting up early- people should be very impressed!). They're run by volunteers, who are mostly Japanese old dearies. They all got very excited when I turned up, and have told me what textbooks to buy and other useful stuff.
Hmmmm...what else...I've befriended a Japanese busker who's been emailing me Japanese band names / artists to download. He's called Kato and is 22, though communication is hard as he speaks no English...anyway I'm going to see him busk again next week at a local station, Kojima JR, and I may have an opening act slot before too long! Other than that I've been invited to go golfing with the teachers at Seishi- I should have put more practice in on the ranges in Notts like Steve Brazil did! This weekend I'm off to the footie in Kobe- we're looking good for promotion to J1 at the moment, but this weekends game is a grudge match of sorts for me as its against Sapporo- the capital of that grim winter wasteland Hokkaido where my friend Pete lives. Its important to keep those cheeky northerners in their place!
No comments:
Post a Comment