week 2 = 合格
week 2... finished!!
my second week teaching on my own has been infinitely better than the first. i keep telling myself "少しずつ/baby step、baby steps!" when it comes to getting through things and/or reaching goals that i set for myself, and things really are improving little by little. actually, the classes all started out pretty well to begin with, aside from some failed planning on my part. some of the bad behavior that i observed while shadowing my pred/behavior that my pred warned me about but i had yet to see during observation still hasn't happened with several of the classes... yet. i know i'm knocking on wood saying that as there is still plenty of time for old & new bad behaviors to manifest themselves..
anyway, the week went well. lessons at the school follow a theme which changes every month and this month's theme is (obviously) Christmas, which has resulted in special activities being held each week in most classes. this week was "Christmas craft" where lower level classes made "christmas cards" and intermediate classes made "nameflakes". i can't help but wonder if kids in general are as anal and OCD about the things they make as many of my students in Japan (past and present) seem to be? lol the hardest thing about this week was judging how much time to dedicate to craft making and i often got it wrong with classes that i thought would finish quickly taking the longest of them all!
anyway, enough about work. next week is "party week" and i'm expected to wear this red and white Mrs. Santa-y thingie that i'm not really looking forward to, but whatever...! one more week to get through before xmas vacation for 2 weeks.
last Saturday i officially started bike shopping. i read online that various bike stores were starting their christmas sales that weekend, so i visited three local stores, two of which had a bike that i really liked. today i drove out to Hitachi (a 50min drive north of here) to 2 professional bike shops that i'd read about online before coming to Japan. the first one i went to called "Imai" had an older model of the exact bike i'd been eyeing in a catalogue! furthermore, it was on sale for a great price (by Japanese standards; i swear Japan doesn't know the meaning of the word "sale") as it is a 2012 model that they are trying to get rid of. the other store had a bike or two of interest, but nothing that trumped what i'd seen other places thus far. i asked Imai to reserve the bike for me until next Saturday as payday isn't until this coming Friday and the floor model is the ONLY one they have left at that price.
after visiting the two stores in Hitachi, i drove back to Hitachinaka and revisited the two local stores that had bikes that had caught my eye previously. seriously, it really surprises me (even if it shouldn't) how much pro bike stores have in common with car dealerships. granted the people at the bike shops didn't descend on me like vultures (probably only because of the fact that i'm a foreigner), but once you let the store person know that you've been to another store and are now comparing their stock to someone else's.... WOW, how their approach changes. suddenly it's like "OH, I DONT KNOW ABOUT THAT OTHER STORE BUT PLEASE BUY FROM ME PLEASE PLEASE!", "how much is that other shop selling it for? i bet we could get you the same or better price!" etc. i have no idea if these people work based on commission, but it's making me feel bad... because all of the people that i've spoken to have been extremely nice and have all gone out of their way in some way or another to try to help the noob that is me. i'll feel bad no for the others no matter who i end up going with!
but anyway, forget the sales people, let's talk about the bikes. I HAVE TO DECIDE ASAPPPPPPPPPPP because:
a) I-san at Imai is holding a bike for me and i need to decide if she should keep doing that or not
b) S-san at Bicycle Park 02 is prepared to order in a bike for me should i give her the word, which i said i'd do by tomorrow
c) Y-san at Seocycle is prepared to order in a bike for me too, should i give him the word, which i said i'd do by tomorrow!
gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!! ;(
i've been researching and researching and researching... i've impressed every person i've spoken with with my questions lol. but still, i can't decide... every bike has it's pros and cons. plus, i'm trying to take into account the after service that each store is offering as well as the location of the store (ie. ease of accessing that after service). that's so much to consider, i'm wondering if i should just pick based on color? but that seems like such a stupid way to decide such an expensive purchase. :/
right now it's a three-way tie between:
2012 Specialized Dolce Elite @112,000
(with pink (ew) handlebar tape, water bottle holder and saddle bag included)
2014 Trek Lexa SL @126,000
2012 Specialized Dolce Comp @114,000
...GAH, i just want this bike shopping to be over and done with. i want to be exploring Japan by bike, not riding around from store to store by car. >_<;
...oh and btw, i've gotten a lot better at reverse parking! i now reverse park 75% of the time! W00T!! 8)
my second week teaching on my own has been infinitely better than the first. i keep telling myself "少しずつ/baby step、baby steps!" when it comes to getting through things and/or reaching goals that i set for myself, and things really are improving little by little. actually, the classes all started out pretty well to begin with, aside from some failed planning on my part. some of the bad behavior that i observed while shadowing my pred/behavior that my pred warned me about but i had yet to see during observation still hasn't happened with several of the classes... yet. i know i'm knocking on wood saying that as there is still plenty of time for old & new bad behaviors to manifest themselves..
anyway, the week went well. lessons at the school follow a theme which changes every month and this month's theme is (obviously) Christmas, which has resulted in special activities being held each week in most classes. this week was "Christmas craft" where lower level classes made "christmas cards" and intermediate classes made "nameflakes". i can't help but wonder if kids in general are as anal and OCD about the things they make as many of my students in Japan (past and present) seem to be? lol the hardest thing about this week was judging how much time to dedicate to craft making and i often got it wrong with classes that i thought would finish quickly taking the longest of them all!
anyway, enough about work. next week is "party week" and i'm expected to wear this red and white Mrs. Santa-y thingie that i'm not really looking forward to, but whatever...! one more week to get through before xmas vacation for 2 weeks.
last Saturday i officially started bike shopping. i read online that various bike stores were starting their christmas sales that weekend, so i visited three local stores, two of which had a bike that i really liked. today i drove out to Hitachi (a 50min drive north of here) to 2 professional bike shops that i'd read about online before coming to Japan. the first one i went to called "Imai" had an older model of the exact bike i'd been eyeing in a catalogue! furthermore, it was on sale for a great price (by Japanese standards; i swear Japan doesn't know the meaning of the word "sale") as it is a 2012 model that they are trying to get rid of. the other store had a bike or two of interest, but nothing that trumped what i'd seen other places thus far. i asked Imai to reserve the bike for me until next Saturday as payday isn't until this coming Friday and the floor model is the ONLY one they have left at that price.
after visiting the two stores in Hitachi, i drove back to Hitachinaka and revisited the two local stores that had bikes that had caught my eye previously. seriously, it really surprises me (even if it shouldn't) how much pro bike stores have in common with car dealerships. granted the people at the bike shops didn't descend on me like vultures (probably only because of the fact that i'm a foreigner), but once you let the store person know that you've been to another store and are now comparing their stock to someone else's.... WOW, how their approach changes. suddenly it's like "OH, I DONT KNOW ABOUT THAT OTHER STORE BUT PLEASE BUY FROM ME PLEASE PLEASE!", "how much is that other shop selling it for? i bet we could get you the same or better price!" etc. i have no idea if these people work based on commission, but it's making me feel bad... because all of the people that i've spoken to have been extremely nice and have all gone out of their way in some way or another to try to help the noob that is me. i'll feel bad no for the others no matter who i end up going with!
but anyway, forget the sales people, let's talk about the bikes. I HAVE TO DECIDE ASAPPPPPPPPPPP because:
a) I-san at Imai is holding a bike for me and i need to decide if she should keep doing that or not
b) S-san at Bicycle Park 02 is prepared to order in a bike for me should i give her the word, which i said i'd do by tomorrow
c) Y-san at Seocycle is prepared to order in a bike for me too, should i give him the word, which i said i'd do by tomorrow!
gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!! ;(
i've been researching and researching and researching... i've impressed every person i've spoken with with my questions lol. but still, i can't decide... every bike has it's pros and cons. plus, i'm trying to take into account the after service that each store is offering as well as the location of the store (ie. ease of accessing that after service). that's so much to consider, i'm wondering if i should just pick based on color? but that seems like such a stupid way to decide such an expensive purchase. :/
right now it's a three-way tie between:
2012 Specialized Dolce Elite @112,000
(with pink (ew) handlebar tape, water bottle holder and saddle bag included)
2014 Trek Lexa SL @126,000
2012 Specialized Dolce Comp @114,000
...GAH, i just want this bike shopping to be over and done with. i want to be exploring Japan by bike, not riding around from store to store by car. >_<;
...oh and btw, i've gotten a lot better at reverse parking! i now reverse park 75% of the time! W00T!! 8)