Update on life
If I didn't already know that my visit school likes me, then I certainly do now!
2 weeks ago my VP came over to my desk with his notebook and told me that we were switching two of my days around. Instead of teaching at my base school on January 24 I will be teaching at my visit school and the day will be switched with the 26th. Ok. Then he tells me that this is because the someone from the BOE (Board of Education) will be coming to watch me teach that day. Great. So now I have over a month notice that I will be teaching in front of people who will be deciding if I will stay in Iwaki next year. Then he tells me that I will be teaching grade 5 that particular day and that I will teach with A sensei. Cool! Thank you for the heads up!
So last week, A Sensei comes over to my desk with a print out of the lesson we will be doing on January 24th. Now the school schedule for next semester hasn't come out yet, so I have no idea what I'm teaching when and probably won't until the week before I am supposed to teach. So this is really unexpected. So we went over the lesson and decided that we are short on some of the needed materials. I decided I would make some of the cards that we will need. I told her I would do this over Christmas break. She was surprised at the offer because she knows I'm going to Tokyo to visit my host family and my friend for Christmas. I told her that my friend will be a teacher starting in April and she needs practice making school materials! lol She laughed with me over that. I plan on getting Aya to help me make these school cards. I think it will be fun. So my school wants me to have a good class when the BOE comes and are going out of their way to help me prepare. That makes me so incredibly happy!
On saturday I went shopping in Taira with Chelsea. We went to Moss Burger and I decided I really like their onion rings! Then we went to the third floor of Saty and spent the next 2 or 3 hours wandering around. I bought a small Christmas tree complete with decorations for 20 bucks. :) Just before leaving the store we found desks. I want one so bad. I found a nice one that would work perfectly in my place and I could put my Butsudan on the top of the bookshelf/headboard part of it. It would be perfect. It's about 350 bucks and it comes with a chair and light and everything. It's awesome! So I think I might just have to get it. Chelsea ended up buying one of the desk chairs. It took a little time because we had to wait for the store clerks to run around and pull boxes out of storage to see if they had any in the colour that Chelsea wanted. She had just decided to order one when the store clerk found one the right colour. So we took turns carrying the box with the chair in it back to the train station :)
This morning I sent in a paper declaring to the JET programme that if for some reason next year I cannot stay in Iwaki, due to lack or available space, that I am willing to move to another city in the prefecture. I requested Koriyama or Fukushima city. I also clearly stated that I would prefer to stay in Iwaki and that moving should be a last resort. I quite like it here in Iwaki. If I move I will end up further from Tokyo and I don't really want that either. Also, I love my schools, the kids and my friends, not to mention my apartment. I really want to stay here. So I'm going to focus on that.
Today at lunch time we had a rather larger earhquake. it was a 6.9. Thankfully it wasn't centered in Iwaki. It actually happened in Chiba which is next to Tokyo about 3 hours away from here. Half the country felt this one. This was definitely the strongest one since I got here. It was also the first one I've had while out of the apartment. Usually I'm in bed or sitting at my computer when an earthquake hits. Today I was at school. We turned on the tv to get info on it and it took a few minutes for the report to have all the info. It started with just telling us how far it was felt, then after a few minutes more info came in. Then the tv was turned off and everything went back to normal.
I made a one my kids cry today. She cried for a whole 10 minutes. We were playing a game (hot potato) and she couldn't get the answer so burried her face in her hands and cried. Then sat down again and cried for the rest of the game, refusing to play. Fun. Grade 6. The teacher then told me that last year she used to do that a lot, but this was the first time this year....nice. I feel special. lol I'm not going to let it bother me. It wasn't a hard question and it was review. I gave her a sticker in the end, even though I had to sick it on her because she still had her head burried and wouldn't look at me.
Bought strawberry short cake (2 pieces) on the way home from school today. Going to eat a piece tomorrow.
I'm tired. I'm going to bed now.
Good night everyone! (or good morning, depending where you are :) )
2 weeks ago my VP came over to my desk with his notebook and told me that we were switching two of my days around. Instead of teaching at my base school on January 24 I will be teaching at my visit school and the day will be switched with the 26th. Ok. Then he tells me that this is because the someone from the BOE (Board of Education) will be coming to watch me teach that day. Great. So now I have over a month notice that I will be teaching in front of people who will be deciding if I will stay in Iwaki next year. Then he tells me that I will be teaching grade 5 that particular day and that I will teach with A sensei. Cool! Thank you for the heads up!
So last week, A Sensei comes over to my desk with a print out of the lesson we will be doing on January 24th. Now the school schedule for next semester hasn't come out yet, so I have no idea what I'm teaching when and probably won't until the week before I am supposed to teach. So this is really unexpected. So we went over the lesson and decided that we are short on some of the needed materials. I decided I would make some of the cards that we will need. I told her I would do this over Christmas break. She was surprised at the offer because she knows I'm going to Tokyo to visit my host family and my friend for Christmas. I told her that my friend will be a teacher starting in April and she needs practice making school materials! lol She laughed with me over that. I plan on getting Aya to help me make these school cards. I think it will be fun. So my school wants me to have a good class when the BOE comes and are going out of their way to help me prepare. That makes me so incredibly happy!
On saturday I went shopping in Taira with Chelsea. We went to Moss Burger and I decided I really like their onion rings! Then we went to the third floor of Saty and spent the next 2 or 3 hours wandering around. I bought a small Christmas tree complete with decorations for 20 bucks. :) Just before leaving the store we found desks. I want one so bad. I found a nice one that would work perfectly in my place and I could put my Butsudan on the top of the bookshelf/headboard part of it. It would be perfect. It's about 350 bucks and it comes with a chair and light and everything. It's awesome! So I think I might just have to get it. Chelsea ended up buying one of the desk chairs. It took a little time because we had to wait for the store clerks to run around and pull boxes out of storage to see if they had any in the colour that Chelsea wanted. She had just decided to order one when the store clerk found one the right colour. So we took turns carrying the box with the chair in it back to the train station :)
This morning I sent in a paper declaring to the JET programme that if for some reason next year I cannot stay in Iwaki, due to lack or available space, that I am willing to move to another city in the prefecture. I requested Koriyama or Fukushima city. I also clearly stated that I would prefer to stay in Iwaki and that moving should be a last resort. I quite like it here in Iwaki. If I move I will end up further from Tokyo and I don't really want that either. Also, I love my schools, the kids and my friends, not to mention my apartment. I really want to stay here. So I'm going to focus on that.
Today at lunch time we had a rather larger earhquake. it was a 6.9. Thankfully it wasn't centered in Iwaki. It actually happened in Chiba which is next to Tokyo about 3 hours away from here. Half the country felt this one. This was definitely the strongest one since I got here. It was also the first one I've had while out of the apartment. Usually I'm in bed or sitting at my computer when an earthquake hits. Today I was at school. We turned on the tv to get info on it and it took a few minutes for the report to have all the info. It started with just telling us how far it was felt, then after a few minutes more info came in. Then the tv was turned off and everything went back to normal.
I made a one my kids cry today. She cried for a whole 10 minutes. We were playing a game (hot potato) and she couldn't get the answer so burried her face in her hands and cried. Then sat down again and cried for the rest of the game, refusing to play. Fun. Grade 6. The teacher then told me that last year she used to do that a lot, but this was the first time this year....nice. I feel special. lol I'm not going to let it bother me. It wasn't a hard question and it was review. I gave her a sticker in the end, even though I had to sick it on her because she still had her head burried and wouldn't look at me.
Bought strawberry short cake (2 pieces) on the way home from school today. Going to eat a piece tomorrow.
I'm tired. I'm going to bed now.
Good night everyone! (or good morning, depending where you are :) )