misato, yay & stuff
yesterday was my first day at my new base JHS, Misato. nothing much happened that is worth typing about... so far the school seems to be alright. better than Kera (the school i left) atleast. D; it`s about a 10~15min bus ride followed by a 15~20min walk to the school (takes longer to get there than it did getting to Kera) but the school is smaller (yay!). Kera has 5~6 classes for every grade/year whereas Kera has 3 classes for every grade/year. naturally, the staff count is also smaller. i think that this is awesome because: 1) having 5~6 classes of every year is fkin hard/a pain; i hardly even saw some classes sometimes since i only come twice a week. 2) in my experience, few staff = i wont have to question my existence as much when sitting in the staff room; teachers other than the English teachers are more likely to approach and talk to me for whatever reason. maybe because they`re not as goddamn busy with classes? i don`t know. anyway, yeah. >.>; the two JTEs (English teachers) are really friendly and seem to have no problem talking to me about things not related to classes, unlike the JTEs of Kera. a very welcome change.
annnnyyway, yeah... yesterday i didn`t do much of anything. it was the first day of the new semester, which usually equals an opening ceremony and two or three classes, then the kids go home. since schools are really paranoid about the swine flu, the opening ceremony (part of it anyway) was held over the intercom. D; i found this kinda.... funny/weird. what`s keeping students separated in their classrooms vs gathering in the gym doing to help prevent the spread of swine flu??? seriously. >_>;; anyway, yeah.... i introduced myself briefly at the morning staff meeting and then again briefly over the intercom as part of the opening ceremony and that was basically all i did yesterday. by 9:30am i had already done the only things i had came to the school to do, but i still had to site there for the rest of the day. luckily i am good at preoccupying myself. ^^;
tomorrow i go to the dreaded Toodzu ES to teach two classes of 4th years (topic: colors/animals) and one class of 5th years (英語ノート Lesson 6). lulz i heard at Misato that some students at Toodzu ES supposedly had swine flu or something... presumably those kids have not been coming to school, but still what if some kid i teach tomorrow has it but doesnt know it yet? and i get it? and then end up bringing it with me to another school? i cant help but laugh (in a bad way) thinking of such a possibility. D; seriously, if the schools/BOE is so worried about swine flu spreading then they shouldnt have us ALTs school hopping because THAT could easily spread the damn thing! D; but whatever.
anyway, enough about work. i`ve found and seized some travel opportunities for brokeass bums! :DDD it`s so nice to have something fun to look forward too... ;-;
next sunday (13th) i`m going on a tour of Nahari, a small town in the inaka of eastern Kochi. the tour is only 1,800yen and that even includes a 40min coral reef cruise! :D seeing as how i dont have a car (and you can`t get fkin anywhere without a car in Kochi), this is likely to be my only opportunity to go that far east in Kochi. i`m looking forward to it. :3
on the 19th i`m going to Muroto (another town in eastern Kochi) for free as part of a tourism experiment. D; i`ll have to fill out a questionnaire and stuff, but who cares! i`m getting to Muroto for free! for me who doesnt have a car, such an offer can`t be passed up. :3 it`s not so much a tour as it is getting picked up, given (free) lunch, 3hrs of free time & questions and stuff, but i intend to take full advantage of the opportunity.... with my camera. >:]
*sigh* i`m really thankful for these two trips, even if they`re little. there`s a big holiday weekend coming up and i wont be doing a single thing for it or for the rest of the month. atleast i have these two trips... oh, and before i forget, Sports Day at Misato is on the 20th (sunday).
annnnyyway, yeah... yesterday i didn`t do much of anything. it was the first day of the new semester, which usually equals an opening ceremony and two or three classes, then the kids go home. since schools are really paranoid about the swine flu, the opening ceremony (part of it anyway) was held over the intercom. D; i found this kinda.... funny/weird. what`s keeping students separated in their classrooms vs gathering in the gym doing to help prevent the spread of swine flu??? seriously. >_>;; anyway, yeah.... i introduced myself briefly at the morning staff meeting and then again briefly over the intercom as part of the opening ceremony and that was basically all i did yesterday. by 9:30am i had already done the only things i had came to the school to do, but i still had to site there for the rest of the day. luckily i am good at preoccupying myself. ^^;
tomorrow i go to the dreaded Toodzu ES to teach two classes of 4th years (topic: colors/animals) and one class of 5th years (英語ノート Lesson 6). lulz i heard at Misato that some students at Toodzu ES supposedly had swine flu or something... presumably those kids have not been coming to school, but still what if some kid i teach tomorrow has it but doesnt know it yet? and i get it? and then end up bringing it with me to another school? i cant help but laugh (in a bad way) thinking of such a possibility. D; seriously, if the schools/BOE is so worried about swine flu spreading then they shouldnt have us ALTs school hopping because THAT could easily spread the damn thing! D; but whatever.
anyway, enough about work. i`ve found and seized some travel opportunities for brokeass bums! :DDD it`s so nice to have something fun to look forward too... ;-;
next sunday (13th) i`m going on a tour of Nahari, a small town in the inaka of eastern Kochi. the tour is only 1,800yen and that even includes a 40min coral reef cruise! :D seeing as how i dont have a car (and you can`t get fkin anywhere without a car in Kochi), this is likely to be my only opportunity to go that far east in Kochi. i`m looking forward to it. :3
on the 19th i`m going to Muroto (another town in eastern Kochi) for free as part of a tourism experiment. D; i`ll have to fill out a questionnaire and stuff, but who cares! i`m getting to Muroto for free! for me who doesnt have a car, such an offer can`t be passed up. :3 it`s not so much a tour as it is getting picked up, given (free) lunch, 3hrs of free time & questions and stuff, but i intend to take full advantage of the opportunity.... with my camera. >:]
*sigh* i`m really thankful for these two trips, even if they`re little. there`s a big holiday weekend coming up and i wont be doing a single thing for it or for the rest of the month. atleast i have these two trips... oh, and before i forget, Sports Day at Misato is on the 20th (sunday).