Life in Japan First Two Months
(5/17) I am going to blog finally XD Long time no see livejournal hehe
So, let’s start off with how April went.
We finished up our training, and the next day we were on our way to Toyama. After a 3 hour train ride, we arrived and met our IC’s (Independent Consultant) at the station. From there, they took us to get our Alien Registration Cards, which is required if you want to live/stay in Japan for more than 6 weeks. After that, my IC, Tomoko-san, took me to my apartment. It’s in a nice place, surrounded by temples, I heard it is an area considered the “old town”. After waiting for the gas guy to come and turn on my gas, we went off to get things for my apartment, like bedding, food, pots and pans, etc. After that, I went home, set up my internet and had that freak out session. I started crying and was ready to give up and go home. I think it was because after being around a ton of people for 5 days, all of a sudden I was alone and didn’t know what to do. I was in a new town, and had no phone yet, I felt totally alone. The day after, I met with someone I met on Facebook through one of my teachers. He took me to get some Mexican food, and then from there to Starbucks to talk with another person. They both assured me that my freak out would pass and I would be loving my time here in no time. I started to feel better, left them for the day. When I got home, a package with my phone arrived, so I already felt more connected.
A few days later, my IC took me to the first four of my nine schools to meet with the head teacher/vice principle and introduce me. After that, I met with the other ALTs that came to Toyama for a time at a bar, which was a nice break from my loneliness.
Again, a few days later, my IC took me to the next four of my nine schools. And then the next day we visited the ninth school. Apparently, I do not want to be at that school if there is ever a tsunami because it is so close to the Sea of Japan.
On April 6, I officially started, though I didn’t teach at all that day, since it was the opening ceremony. At this school, I was invited to an Enkai, a drinking party for the teachers, which would be the week after. The next day I went to another school (found out I would never visit the same school two days in a row, with nine schools after all) and began my teaching with an introduction. The kids seemed to love it, since I tried to use things that they liked. The weekend after my first week, I went and did hanami with Jennifer’s IC, Isozaki-san, and her family. That was a fun day and the sakura in Toyama were beautiful!
The rest of April was just adjusting to teaching in Japan and how the schools differed, and it was apparent that by the end of April, I had already picked my favorite schools XD One of course was the school I was invited to the enkai by (which was TONS of fun, though I couldn’t drink since I had to drive, but still fun. The principle was totally drunk and she was trying to hook me up with another new teacher XD). Also at this school, I have love the first years. There, there is a little girl that has claimed me as her’s. Basically, last time I was there, any time another little girl tried to grab the hand she was holding on to, she would literally rip them off. Also, I was grabbed by like seven first years at once too. They were all pulling me this way and that way. I SO thought that I was going to trip over one of them XD. My other favorite school is the one that is near my house because they are the most open with helping me with my lessons.
Now let’s move onto May.
May began with Golden Week, so the first week I only taught on Monday and Friday. Since then, I found the school I don’t care much for, where they have the students grade me, but they don’t tell me what I am doing wrong. On May 13th, Jennifer and I had our concert, which was ROYZ, SCREW, -OZ-, and DuelJewel. That was a ton of fun, but my head has been killing me since then. (Today especially, I am feeling very nauseous) This month is the elementary schools’ Sports Day, so I am trying to figure out which school I should go to, and which ones I want to go to.
Next topic: School lunches.
These have been an experience. Sometimes they are really good, and other times they are horrible. School lunches include: 1) a soup of some kind, 2) a vegetable of some kind, 3) a meat of some kind, 4) either rice or bread, and 5) milk. Sometimes they include a dessert of some kind which is either a piece of fruit or a package of tiny fish with almonds (which I cannot eat XD). Let’s start with the good ones. My favorite so far was on that had a piece of fried white fish, a cucumber and corn salad that you added mayo to, a piece of bread, and a beef stew-like soup. That one was my favorite. My other favorites have included curry rice, yakisoba, and another that had a piece of fried salmon, a cucumber salad, pork and cabbage soup, bread, and a banana. Now, on to the ones those have been impossible. Really, it’s only two, and one of those was today (5/17). The first one was a true Japanese old fashioned meal, it was two fish, still whole, fried and with fish eggs on the inside, then there was a vegetable that was special to Toyama, and some type of miso soup, and then rice with kombu, which is a type of kelp that is horrible tasting. The other, which was today, was a soup with so many vegetables in it, I don’t know what was what, and then there was a vegetable LIVER dish. MURI! I couldn’t eat it. But that’s okay, because the home room teacher couldn’t eat it either. There was also rice with kombu again. Thankfully, the kombu is packaged separately, so you don’t have to add it, and some of the girls at my lunch table ate took mine. XD
New subject: Uniforms.
So, in Japan, elementary kids don’t have to wear uniforms like the junior high and high school kids, but there are some schools that do. Two of my nine schools do. But, what I find SO cute is how there is a “uniform” that the elementary kids do follow and that is the wearing of yellow caps and a certain type of backpack that the kids wear. The boys wear a baseball cap-sort hat (http://hararie-japan-tokyo-tokyo.com/japanese_culture/assets_c/2010/06/Boy-grade-schooler's-traffic-safety-cap.html ) and the girls wear a bonnet-ish one ( http://hararie-japan-tokyo-tokyo.com/japanese_culture/assets_c/2010/06/Girl-grade-schooler's-traffic-safety-cap.html ). The backpacks, which boys normally have black and girls red. The backpacks look like this: http://japan-cc.com/randoseru.htm. Also, they have a yellow umbrella that matches the yellow of the hat for rainy days, but they can also wear a huge yellow poncho if they want to. The other fun part the gym uniforms. http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/030257.html They look like that, and all the kids have to wear them, I wish we had something like that when we were in elementary XD
The next thing that shows the big difference between US elementary and Japanese elementary is the procedures and such. First, when walking to school, there is always an older student there to help the younger ones. Also, when crossing the street, the kids have to raise their hands so people know they are crossing. Another difference is the fact that the kids have to say when class starts and end. Normally the top two students in the class say this. Next is the eating of lunch. In elementary and junior high here in Japan, the kids all eat school lunches (about $2.75 a day) and they eat them in their classes. Basically, there are lunch groups, which are about 4-6 kids and they push their desks together and then the kids serve each other their lunches. They wait until everyone has been served and then the top two students again stand and say いただきます！ (Itadakimasu) which is best translated as “Let’s eat!” And then the kids dig in. They have about 45 minutes to eat lunch, and when the top two kids stand at the end and say ごちそうさまでした (Gochisousamadeshita) which is like “thanks for eating” or “thanks for the meal”. I talked about the adventures of school lunches earlier. After lunch, the kids have like 20 minutes to play, and then after that, for 15 minutes, the kids clean. They basically clean their classrooms and a few kids go out and clean the hallways and the stairways. Then they finish the day, and every day, the grades leave at different times. At most of my schools, on Monday, all the years leave at 3:30. Tuesdays, usually the first years (or first graders) leave at 2:50 and the second through sixth years leave at 3:40. Wednesday, first through fourth years leave at 2:50 and then the fifth through sixth years leave at 3:40. On Thursdays, first through second years leave at 2:50 and then the third through sixth years leave at 3:40. And finally, on Friday, first through second years leave at 2:50 and fourth through sixth years leave at 3:40. I, on the other hand, always leave at usually 4:15, but sometimes I stay later to help the other teachers.
Another thing that the Japanese schools have that I think is interesting are the rituals and procedures for things. First is the opening ceremony, which I saw at one of my schools. There, they welcome in the first years, who are all SO tiny a cute. Next is the 運動会 (undokai) which is the Sports day. Here, at least from what I have seen since it hasn’t happened yet) they have the kids split up into four teams which spread across the six grades. The four teams are blue, red, yellow, and white. There is SO much practice that goes into this. At my school yesterday (5/17) they were rehearsing their cheers and showing the first years how to do things. It was pretty interesting. The other thing that is interesting was the fire drill today (5/18). In America we are just basically surprised by the drill. In Japan, the teachers have to know certain lines and such. Let’s start with the beginning. So, fire alarm goes off. First, the head teacher and a few other people (usually the maintenance person) grab walkies and run out to see what is wrong. Next, they walkie back to the vice principle in the teachers’ room and tell them. Then the vice principle sets off the alarm for the whole school and tells the kids what’s up (basically telling them to use the fire escape doors and to cover their noses and mouths with a handkerchief). So the kids flow out of the side, and the first two kids are holding a flag that has their year and class, like 2-1 (2nd year class) {There is no better or worse class, they are just known by classes, where in America we are known by the teacher’s name}. Then, the kids go to the far side of the track, and the teacher counts them and sits them down. After they are all counted, the teacher goes to the vice principle that is waiting and checking everyone off. When all are accounted for, the vice principle then goes to the principle and tells him that everyone is accounted for. And that’s that. It was interesting to say the least.
Okay, the second to last thing I am going to talk about is the teachers’ room and the system of teachers. So, in the teachers room, there are three (sometimes four if the school is big) desks in the front. These are for the head teacher, the vice principle (which there are sometimes two) and the principle. The principle does have their own office, but they come and sit out in the teachers’ room every so often, like to eat and such. Then there are a bunch of desks next to each other, these make up the 1st-3rd year the teachers’ desks, and then on the other side, a bunch of desks make up the 4th-6th year teachers’ desks. Then, there is a group of desks that make up the visiting teachers’ desks, which include my desk, the nurses desk, and some other peoples’ desks.
So, last I am going to talk about the fun games that I play with the kids at after lunch break (a.k.a. recess). I have been playing a game called Onigoko, which is basically a version of tag. With onigoko, there are a few kids that are it, and the rest have to run to stay away from them. When one is tagged, they have to stand and hope for another kid that isn’t tagged to come and untag them. It’s tons of fun, and I think that’s how I am going to do my work outs. Especially in the summer, which when I play I am going to sweat the pounds off in the heat XD. Also, we play a lot of dodge ball, though it seems that I normally only play that with the 1st-3rd years. But it is fun and the kids are SO damn cut. Especially because it always seems to be the boys vs. girls and the girls always run and hide behind me. And there you have it. My first real blog entry and its 5 pages long XD.
So, let’s start off with how April went.
We finished up our training, and the next day we were on our way to Toyama. After a 3 hour train ride, we arrived and met our IC’s (Independent Consultant) at the station. From there, they took us to get our Alien Registration Cards, which is required if you want to live/stay in Japan for more than 6 weeks. After that, my IC, Tomoko-san, took me to my apartment. It’s in a nice place, surrounded by temples, I heard it is an area considered the “old town”. After waiting for the gas guy to come and turn on my gas, we went off to get things for my apartment, like bedding, food, pots and pans, etc. After that, I went home, set up my internet and had that freak out session. I started crying and was ready to give up and go home. I think it was because after being around a ton of people for 5 days, all of a sudden I was alone and didn’t know what to do. I was in a new town, and had no phone yet, I felt totally alone. The day after, I met with someone I met on Facebook through one of my teachers. He took me to get some Mexican food, and then from there to Starbucks to talk with another person. They both assured me that my freak out would pass and I would be loving my time here in no time. I started to feel better, left them for the day. When I got home, a package with my phone arrived, so I already felt more connected.
A few days later, my IC took me to the first four of my nine schools to meet with the head teacher/vice principle and introduce me. After that, I met with the other ALTs that came to Toyama for a time at a bar, which was a nice break from my loneliness.
Again, a few days later, my IC took me to the next four of my nine schools. And then the next day we visited the ninth school. Apparently, I do not want to be at that school if there is ever a tsunami because it is so close to the Sea of Japan.
On April 6, I officially started, though I didn’t teach at all that day, since it was the opening ceremony. At this school, I was invited to an Enkai, a drinking party for the teachers, which would be the week after. The next day I went to another school (found out I would never visit the same school two days in a row, with nine schools after all) and began my teaching with an introduction. The kids seemed to love it, since I tried to use things that they liked. The weekend after my first week, I went and did hanami with Jennifer’s IC, Isozaki-san, and her family. That was a fun day and the sakura in Toyama were beautiful!
The rest of April was just adjusting to teaching in Japan and how the schools differed, and it was apparent that by the end of April, I had already picked my favorite schools XD One of course was the school I was invited to the enkai by (which was TONS of fun, though I couldn’t drink since I had to drive, but still fun. The principle was totally drunk and she was trying to hook me up with another new teacher XD). Also at this school, I have love the first years. There, there is a little girl that has claimed me as her’s. Basically, last time I was there, any time another little girl tried to grab the hand she was holding on to, she would literally rip them off. Also, I was grabbed by like seven first years at once too. They were all pulling me this way and that way. I SO thought that I was going to trip over one of them XD. My other favorite school is the one that is near my house because they are the most open with helping me with my lessons.
Now let’s move onto May.
May began with Golden Week, so the first week I only taught on Monday and Friday. Since then, I found the school I don’t care much for, where they have the students grade me, but they don’t tell me what I am doing wrong. On May 13th, Jennifer and I had our concert, which was ROYZ, SCREW, -OZ-, and DuelJewel. That was a ton of fun, but my head has been killing me since then. (Today especially, I am feeling very nauseous) This month is the elementary schools’ Sports Day, so I am trying to figure out which school I should go to, and which ones I want to go to.
Next topic: School lunches.
These have been an experience. Sometimes they are really good, and other times they are horrible. School lunches include: 1) a soup of some kind, 2) a vegetable of some kind, 3) a meat of some kind, 4) either rice or bread, and 5) milk. Sometimes they include a dessert of some kind which is either a piece of fruit or a package of tiny fish with almonds (which I cannot eat XD). Let’s start with the good ones. My favorite so far was on that had a piece of fried white fish, a cucumber and corn salad that you added mayo to, a piece of bread, and a beef stew-like soup. That one was my favorite. My other favorites have included curry rice, yakisoba, and another that had a piece of fried salmon, a cucumber salad, pork and cabbage soup, bread, and a banana. Now, on to the ones those have been impossible. Really, it’s only two, and one of those was today (5/17). The first one was a true Japanese old fashioned meal, it was two fish, still whole, fried and with fish eggs on the inside, then there was a vegetable that was special to Toyama, and some type of miso soup, and then rice with kombu, which is a type of kelp that is horrible tasting. The other, which was today, was a soup with so many vegetables in it, I don’t know what was what, and then there was a vegetable LIVER dish. MURI! I couldn’t eat it. But that’s okay, because the home room teacher couldn’t eat it either. There was also rice with kombu again. Thankfully, the kombu is packaged separately, so you don’t have to add it, and some of the girls at my lunch table ate took mine. XD
New subject: Uniforms.
So, in Japan, elementary kids don’t have to wear uniforms like the junior high and high school kids, but there are some schools that do. Two of my nine schools do. But, what I find SO cute is how there is a “uniform” that the elementary kids do follow and that is the wearing of yellow caps and a certain type of backpack that the kids wear. The boys wear a baseball cap-sort hat (http://hararie-japan-tokyo-tokyo.com/japanese_culture/assets_c/2010/06/Boy-grade-schooler's-traffic-safety-cap.html ) and the girls wear a bonnet-ish one ( http://hararie-japan-tokyo-tokyo.com/japanese_culture/assets_c/2010/06/Girl-grade-schooler's-traffic-safety-cap.html ). The backpacks, which boys normally have black and girls red. The backpacks look like this: http://japan-cc.com/randoseru.htm. Also, they have a yellow umbrella that matches the yellow of the hat for rainy days, but they can also wear a huge yellow poncho if they want to. The other fun part the gym uniforms. http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/030257.html They look like that, and all the kids have to wear them, I wish we had something like that when we were in elementary XD
The next thing that shows the big difference between US elementary and Japanese elementary is the procedures and such. First, when walking to school, there is always an older student there to help the younger ones. Also, when crossing the street, the kids have to raise their hands so people know they are crossing. Another difference is the fact that the kids have to say when class starts and end. Normally the top two students in the class say this. Next is the eating of lunch. In elementary and junior high here in Japan, the kids all eat school lunches (about $2.75 a day) and they eat them in their classes. Basically, there are lunch groups, which are about 4-6 kids and they push their desks together and then the kids serve each other their lunches. They wait until everyone has been served and then the top two students again stand and say いただきます！ (Itadakimasu) which is best translated as “Let’s eat!” And then the kids dig in. They have about 45 minutes to eat lunch, and when the top two kids stand at the end and say ごちそうさまでした (Gochisousamadeshita) which is like “thanks for eating” or “thanks for the meal”. I talked about the adventures of school lunches earlier. After lunch, the kids have like 20 minutes to play, and then after that, for 15 minutes, the kids clean. They basically clean their classrooms and a few kids go out and clean the hallways and the stairways. Then they finish the day, and every day, the grades leave at different times. At most of my schools, on Monday, all the years leave at 3:30. Tuesdays, usually the first years (or first graders) leave at 2:50 and the second through sixth years leave at 3:40. Wednesday, first through fourth years leave at 2:50 and then the fifth through sixth years leave at 3:40. On Thursdays, first through second years leave at 2:50 and then the third through sixth years leave at 3:40. And finally, on Friday, first through second years leave at 2:50 and fourth through sixth years leave at 3:40. I, on the other hand, always leave at usually 4:15, but sometimes I stay later to help the other teachers.
Another thing that the Japanese schools have that I think is interesting are the rituals and procedures for things. First is the opening ceremony, which I saw at one of my schools. There, they welcome in the first years, who are all SO tiny a cute. Next is the 運動会 (undokai) which is the Sports day. Here, at least from what I have seen since it hasn’t happened yet) they have the kids split up into four teams which spread across the six grades. The four teams are blue, red, yellow, and white. There is SO much practice that goes into this. At my school yesterday (5/17) they were rehearsing their cheers and showing the first years how to do things. It was pretty interesting. The other thing that is interesting was the fire drill today (5/18). In America we are just basically surprised by the drill. In Japan, the teachers have to know certain lines and such. Let’s start with the beginning. So, fire alarm goes off. First, the head teacher and a few other people (usually the maintenance person) grab walkies and run out to see what is wrong. Next, they walkie back to the vice principle in the teachers’ room and tell them. Then the vice principle sets off the alarm for the whole school and tells the kids what’s up (basically telling them to use the fire escape doors and to cover their noses and mouths with a handkerchief). So the kids flow out of the side, and the first two kids are holding a flag that has their year and class, like 2-1 (2nd year class) {There is no better or worse class, they are just known by classes, where in America we are known by the teacher’s name}. Then, the kids go to the far side of the track, and the teacher counts them and sits them down. After they are all counted, the teacher goes to the vice principle that is waiting and checking everyone off. When all are accounted for, the vice principle then goes to the principle and tells him that everyone is accounted for. And that’s that. It was interesting to say the least.
Okay, the second to last thing I am going to talk about is the teachers’ room and the system of teachers. So, in the teachers room, there are three (sometimes four if the school is big) desks in the front. These are for the head teacher, the vice principle (which there are sometimes two) and the principle. The principle does have their own office, but they come and sit out in the teachers’ room every so often, like to eat and such. Then there are a bunch of desks next to each other, these make up the 1st-3rd year the teachers’ desks, and then on the other side, a bunch of desks make up the 4th-6th year teachers’ desks. Then, there is a group of desks that make up the visiting teachers’ desks, which include my desk, the nurses desk, and some other peoples’ desks.
So, last I am going to talk about the fun games that I play with the kids at after lunch break (a.k.a. recess). I have been playing a game called Onigoko, which is basically a version of tag. With onigoko, there are a few kids that are it, and the rest have to run to stay away from them. When one is tagged, they have to stand and hope for another kid that isn’t tagged to come and untag them. It’s tons of fun, and I think that’s how I am going to do my work outs. Especially in the summer, which when I play I am going to sweat the pounds off in the heat XD. Also, we play a lot of dodge ball, though it seems that I normally only play that with the 1st-3rd years. But it is fun and the kids are SO damn cut. Especially because it always seems to be the boys vs. girls and the girls always run and hide behind me. And there you have it. My first real blog entry and its 5 pages long XD.