I'm alive and in Japan
I'm sorry the journal has been so neglected but I'm officially moved into Kokura now and I've found an internet cafe so I can update you all!
So, my apartment is cool. It's bigger than I thought and as well as a balcony I have a loft! So I have a guest room! I'm on the 6th floor (they say 7th floor here because ground floor is 1- like in America) so I have a view from my balcony. There are no other tall buildings right next to my apartment block so I'm not overlooked by anyone. I have views over my residential area of Kokura with little one car streets. The balcony looks south. If I look to the West I can see small hills in the distance. If I look to the East I can see the Kokura monorail (which I take to work everyday- how excited am I!) and some BIG hills. It's a nice view. I intend to get a stool so I can sit on my balcony and watch the world go by! Bed wise I have a Japanese futon which lays on the floor on a tatami mat (so Japanese!) it's ok but it's designed for the person sleeping to lay on their back and I like to sleep on my side or front so it's not so comfy! Also, the pillow has a hole in the middle where your head is supposed to rest- rather annoying!
Work- well, everyone is lovely and sweet. My fellow foreign teacher is from Kentucky and he's being very patient with me and showing me the ropes, like simple things like where to sign in on a morning and where the best places are to eat at lunchtime. All the rest of the staff are female and are so Japanese it's cute! But they are all very professional and take the job very seriously. To get to work I walk from my apartment to the monorail station and then take the monorail for 2 stops (It's just a little too far to walk, especially in this heat!) It costs just under 2 pounds but I'm going to get a monorail pass so it'll be cheaper.
Teaching wise I spent Wednesday and Thursday observing the outgoing teacher. Then on Friday I taught 3 adult classes. Saturday was the busy day as I had SEVEN classes. The first 2 of those were kids classes and they were a bit of a disaster to be honest! My 10am class on Saturday is with two 6 year old boys and I just could not control them. The outgoing teacher was observing me and said that I'd get better but I felt such a failure! Straight after that classwas a group of 7/8 year olds who were better behaved. My final lesson on Saturday was some 12 year olds and the class was just too easy for them and they were tired. I had to act like a loon to keep them interested. I'm really just not cut out for kids teaching I don't think. As I said, the adult classes are going ok so no problems there.
It's not all been work though! On Thursday night D (fellow foreign teacher) and one of the Japanese teachers took me to a bar where we drank Japanese beer and ate fried chicken. On Friday night T, D and I went to karaoke. It was my first time at proper Japanese karaoke. You get a private room with speakers and an electronic directory and you search for the song you want and then sing. You can order drinks and food to the room. Both of the guys had very good voices and T is almost fluent in Japanese so he sang some Japanese pop for us- very impressive!
On Saturday night it was my welcome party and my school manager had rented a hotel bar with food and drink provided. All the staff came and about 40-50 students too. I hardly had a chance to eat because I was talking to everyone. I'm apparently very popular with the Japanese boys and some students are trying to switch their lessons from D's to mine apparently! The headteacher says it's a good thing- D is popular with the Japanese girls and I'm popular with the boys and the girls!! Personally I think it is just the blonde hair. When I go back to being a brunnette they'll all lose interest!
That's about all my news. Kokura is nice but is a bit of a concrete jungle!, It reminds me a bit of Birmingham. The big shopping centre is called Riverwalk and has lots of waterfeatures within the shopping centre. Apparently there is a LUSH shop but I haven't found it yet. The internet cafe I'm in at the moment gives you a private booth with a reclining chair and free coffee/tea or Cola.
So, my apartment is cool. It's bigger than I thought and as well as a balcony I have a loft! So I have a guest room! I'm on the 6th floor (they say 7th floor here because ground floor is 1- like in America) so I have a view from my balcony. There are no other tall buildings right next to my apartment block so I'm not overlooked by anyone. I have views over my residential area of Kokura with little one car streets. The balcony looks south. If I look to the West I can see small hills in the distance. If I look to the East I can see the Kokura monorail (which I take to work everyday- how excited am I!) and some BIG hills. It's a nice view. I intend to get a stool so I can sit on my balcony and watch the world go by! Bed wise I have a Japanese futon which lays on the floor on a tatami mat (so Japanese!) it's ok but it's designed for the person sleeping to lay on their back and I like to sleep on my side or front so it's not so comfy! Also, the pillow has a hole in the middle where your head is supposed to rest- rather annoying!
Work- well, everyone is lovely and sweet. My fellow foreign teacher is from Kentucky and he's being very patient with me and showing me the ropes, like simple things like where to sign in on a morning and where the best places are to eat at lunchtime. All the rest of the staff are female and are so Japanese it's cute! But they are all very professional and take the job very seriously. To get to work I walk from my apartment to the monorail station and then take the monorail for 2 stops (It's just a little too far to walk, especially in this heat!) It costs just under 2 pounds but I'm going to get a monorail pass so it'll be cheaper.
Teaching wise I spent Wednesday and Thursday observing the outgoing teacher. Then on Friday I taught 3 adult classes. Saturday was the busy day as I had SEVEN classes. The first 2 of those were kids classes and they were a bit of a disaster to be honest! My 10am class on Saturday is with two 6 year old boys and I just could not control them. The outgoing teacher was observing me and said that I'd get better but I felt such a failure! Straight after that classwas a group of 7/8 year olds who were better behaved. My final lesson on Saturday was some 12 year olds and the class was just too easy for them and they were tired. I had to act like a loon to keep them interested. I'm really just not cut out for kids teaching I don't think. As I said, the adult classes are going ok so no problems there.
It's not all been work though! On Thursday night D (fellow foreign teacher) and one of the Japanese teachers took me to a bar where we drank Japanese beer and ate fried chicken. On Friday night T, D and I went to karaoke. It was my first time at proper Japanese karaoke. You get a private room with speakers and an electronic directory and you search for the song you want and then sing. You can order drinks and food to the room. Both of the guys had very good voices and T is almost fluent in Japanese so he sang some Japanese pop for us- very impressive!
On Saturday night it was my welcome party and my school manager had rented a hotel bar with food and drink provided. All the staff came and about 40-50 students too. I hardly had a chance to eat because I was talking to everyone. I'm apparently very popular with the Japanese boys and some students are trying to switch their lessons from D's to mine apparently! The headteacher says it's a good thing- D is popular with the Japanese girls and I'm popular with the boys and the girls!! Personally I think it is just the blonde hair. When I go back to being a brunnette they'll all lose interest!
That's about all my news. Kokura is nice but is a bit of a concrete jungle!, It reminds me a bit of Birmingham. The big shopping centre is called Riverwalk and has lots of waterfeatures within the shopping centre. Apparently there is a LUSH shop but I haven't found it yet. The internet cafe I'm in at the moment gives you a private booth with a reclining chair and free coffee/tea or Cola.