A life in the day
Today was my Sankanbi (Parents' Visit to School Day) at T-shogakko with my 3rd graders. I had fifth grade English before that, which I couldn't think properly for. 9 out of 10 kids in that class like me as a general teacher, and one...ONE doesn't like English. And it's that ONE that I go RAWR about.
She was a really cute little kid when I first met her, 2 years ago. She's still little, but now she's learning how to be all, "I'm not gonna pay attention to the teacher, even though I stare at her when she's not looking" attitude. This is strange, when it seems I've even won over the boys in speaking English.
Too bad for her, because Chance aka Murphy rolled with my Eeny Meeny Miny Moe song and chose her for lots of English today. >:D And I'm not very sorry about it. Everyone should get a chance to play Samurais and Ninjas English! As far as I could tell, she was the only one not interested in speaking any English. Which ended up her being one of the questioning "Samurai"--and speaking English in every single turn. THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, HATERS! ♥
Then it was time for my Sankanbi. Even though I knew it was about teacher evaluation, I didn't think it was really mine. Not until N-sensei was sitting politely to the side, the parents behind her, and the kids really quiet in front of me, did I realize...OHHH, this is MY SHOW today. :O
Nothing to be done about it. I jump in anyway, teaching feelings, sports and fruits. I had the room set up for Oni-gokko no Eigo (the kids listen to my answer "I like___." and run to that picture/area that I named. Good for English comprehension on the go.) It would have been funny to watch the kids run around their parents. Alas, all we had time for was karuta. I kinda made things harder by adding fruits into the sports karuta. It's never good to think that 'the kids will get it'. Sometimes, they don't. ^_^;;
But that's over, and that's wonderful!
The other exciting things at school today were meeting E-chan. She's a hyperactive Japanese lady who compared me to Cutie Honey because she was patting my hips (eek). I said bye to her, and almost got plowed down by my kyoto-sensei. Way to not be paying attention.
At the eki it was blowing snow a little bit. I waited outside, and this old Japanese man who was waiting with me started talking to me. We chatted a bit (he lives in Kurashiki, but was born in my town Kumenan). At one point he said, "I bet you make a lot of money."
I said, "I make enough." (Jubun--the same kanji for Juppun "10 minutes". Or in my case, "I make money. STFU ^_^) It wasn't any of his business. :P
It was slightly vindicating, though, when one of my student's parents parked their car nearby. A third grader noticed me and waved. I called out, "Hello!" in English (I taught them that instead of "Hi" because it's too close and too easy to revert to Japanese). And she said Hello back to me. The old man was very surprised that she did.
My supervisor has some forms about toilet cleaning in my apartment building. I don't know jack, and she finally recognized this when she looked at the sheets the company had sent her. I'll get back to you on this, she said. That's what she should have done from the beginning. Seriously, what does she expect from me? I only know what I've been told about administrative things from my supervisor. I'm working on my Japanese (albeit, not as much as I should be...) but Japanes about bills are still beyond a lot of people. We didn't exactly cover How to Deal with Water Bills in my Japanese class. :/
BUT--I'm a little worried. The green light hasn't hit yet from all my schools about going to Supriya's wedding in May. My supervisor said she has to talk to my houikuen. HOUIKUEN. Come on, the five year olds aren't gonna miss me that badly!!! Until she talks to them, my trip with everyone is still up in the air. This bites. I have to send my passport to the Embassy in Osaka. Plus getting my work visa renewed for the 2008 contract, and really, I don't like waving my passport around like a lotto ticket.
Mga Magulang, aka the parents, have sent me goodies!!! 2 packs of dried mangoes--the Filipino in me went SQUEE! and tried to eat some. The Japanized part of me went HOMG sugar, and I had to stop. :O DO YOU KNOW HOW WRONG THIS IS?? Things are different when I can't even eat stuff that reminds me of HOME home. It's probably good for my body, but still...
I asked for multivitamins, so they sent me this stuff by Kirkland Signature, that Costo brand. I also equate Kirkland Signature = Kirkland. It's a suburb in Washington. And apparently, they sell these multi-pill, multivitamin one a day packs. They resemble those Hangover pills that you find at 7-11. I look at them and think WTF? Are these even real??? Or is it that things in America are just getting more gimmicky all the time?
And...dun dun dun!!! They sent the Gnutella Chocolate Sauce! Oh yes! I couldn't stop myself from eating some, especially since the bag POPPED on the way. Luckily, it was only a small hole not much got out. I squeezed one pack into my old Fluff bottle like a giant shampoo bag. XD;;; Now I'm kinda sugar-lowed and need to go to sleep.
Still waiting on my schedule from K-shogakko. If it's not in my inbox in the next 10 minutes, forget it. None of this "I sent it to you, did you read it?" at freaking 1 a.m. nonsense again, kudasai.
EDIT: Oh, she sent it right under the deadline. Easter Eggs and Fifth graders. And mammals! ... On one hand, that's a lot of English to do in one class. On the other, I didn't have to plan it, and therefore, cannot bitch that much about it.
She was a really cute little kid when I first met her, 2 years ago. She's still little, but now she's learning how to be all, "I'm not gonna pay attention to the teacher, even though I stare at her when she's not looking" attitude. This is strange, when it seems I've even won over the boys in speaking English.
Too bad for her, because Chance aka Murphy rolled with my Eeny Meeny Miny Moe song and chose her for lots of English today. >:D And I'm not very sorry about it. Everyone should get a chance to play Samurais and Ninjas English! As far as I could tell, she was the only one not interested in speaking any English. Which ended up her being one of the questioning "Samurai"--and speaking English in every single turn. THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, HATERS! ♥
Then it was time for my Sankanbi. Even though I knew it was about teacher evaluation, I didn't think it was really mine. Not until N-sensei was sitting politely to the side, the parents behind her, and the kids really quiet in front of me, did I realize...OHHH, this is MY SHOW today. :O
Nothing to be done about it. I jump in anyway, teaching feelings, sports and fruits. I had the room set up for Oni-gokko no Eigo (the kids listen to my answer "I like___." and run to that picture/area that I named. Good for English comprehension on the go.) It would have been funny to watch the kids run around their parents. Alas, all we had time for was karuta. I kinda made things harder by adding fruits into the sports karuta. It's never good to think that 'the kids will get it'. Sometimes, they don't. ^_^;;
But that's over, and that's wonderful!
The other exciting things at school today were meeting E-chan. She's a hyperactive Japanese lady who compared me to Cutie Honey because she was patting my hips (eek). I said bye to her, and almost got plowed down by my kyoto-sensei. Way to not be paying attention.
At the eki it was blowing snow a little bit. I waited outside, and this old Japanese man who was waiting with me started talking to me. We chatted a bit (he lives in Kurashiki, but was born in my town Kumenan). At one point he said, "I bet you make a lot of money."
I said, "I make enough." (Jubun--the same kanji for Juppun "10 minutes". Or in my case, "I make money. STFU ^_^) It wasn't any of his business. :P
It was slightly vindicating, though, when one of my student's parents parked their car nearby. A third grader noticed me and waved. I called out, "Hello!" in English (I taught them that instead of "Hi" because it's too close and too easy to revert to Japanese). And she said Hello back to me. The old man was very surprised that she did.
My supervisor has some forms about toilet cleaning in my apartment building. I don't know jack, and she finally recognized this when she looked at the sheets the company had sent her. I'll get back to you on this, she said. That's what she should have done from the beginning. Seriously, what does she expect from me? I only know what I've been told about administrative things from my supervisor. I'm working on my Japanese (albeit, not as much as I should be...) but Japanes about bills are still beyond a lot of people. We didn't exactly cover How to Deal with Water Bills in my Japanese class. :/
BUT--I'm a little worried. The green light hasn't hit yet from all my schools about going to Supriya's wedding in May. My supervisor said she has to talk to my houikuen. HOUIKUEN. Come on, the five year olds aren't gonna miss me that badly!!! Until she talks to them, my trip with everyone is still up in the air. This bites. I have to send my passport to the Embassy in Osaka. Plus getting my work visa renewed for the 2008 contract, and really, I don't like waving my passport around like a lotto ticket.
Mga Magulang, aka the parents, have sent me goodies!!! 2 packs of dried mangoes--the Filipino in me went SQUEE! and tried to eat some. The Japanized part of me went HOMG sugar, and I had to stop. :O DO YOU KNOW HOW WRONG THIS IS?? Things are different when I can't even eat stuff that reminds me of HOME home. It's probably good for my body, but still...
I asked for multivitamins, so they sent me this stuff by Kirkland Signature, that Costo brand. I also equate Kirkland Signature = Kirkland. It's a suburb in Washington. And apparently, they sell these multi-pill, multivitamin one a day packs. They resemble those Hangover pills that you find at 7-11. I look at them and think WTF? Are these even real??? Or is it that things in America are just getting more gimmicky all the time?
And...dun dun dun!!! They sent the Gnutella Chocolate Sauce! Oh yes! I couldn't stop myself from eating some, especially since the bag POPPED on the way. Luckily, it was only a small hole not much got out. I squeezed one pack into my old Fluff bottle like a giant shampoo bag. XD;;; Now I'm kinda sugar-lowed and need to go to sleep.
Still waiting on my schedule from K-shogakko. If it's not in my inbox in the next 10 minutes, forget it. None of this "I sent it to you, did you read it?" at freaking 1 a.m. nonsense again, kudasai.
EDIT: Oh, she sent it right under the deadline. Easter Eggs and Fifth graders. And mammals! ... On one hand, that's a lot of English to do in one class. On the other, I didn't have to plan it, and therefore, cannot bitch that much about it.