First week of work in 2016
My first week back at work has been super varied, which I guess is nice after two weeks off.
On Wednesday I headed into the middle of nowhere to cover classes at a school that took me two hours to get to. I sat for one of those hours on the oldest train ever which bounced around all over the place and took me through mountains and farms. I almost lost the will to live. Then when I got to the classroom I found that the teacher's room was on a different floor to the classroom, only accessable by an outside door which was super annoying.
The kids however, were super nice! I taught some 2 year olds with their mothers, who were a lot of fun, and then a bunch of 11 year old boys who I was a little concerned about when I looked at the lesson reports (it said they were rowdy) but they turned out to be pretty awesome. They chatted a lot but they did everything I said, which is more than a lot of my students do.
The JT was super nice and gave me a ride back to my transfer station. Weirdly, that old rickerty train had taken me an hour to get there, but the car journey only took us 30 minutes. We talked a lot on the way to the station She was super funny and kept complaining that her parents keep asking her when she's going to find a guy and get married (because her younger siblings are already married). She's the same age as me and so we were complaining together about how it's easier to be single. I had a good time, and I had less commuting time, so it was a win all round.
Thursday was our first Staff Meeting of the year. Our group got smaller because our area split, so it seemed a little quieter than usual but I'm sure we'll get used to it. Also my first staff meeting being a group leader. During our discussion time I was determined we were going to stay on topic and we actually managed it, but then I was used to my previous group where we had two people who could not stay on topic to save their lives. I like my group now. XD
As a first staff meeting of the year, it was a pretty relaxing two hours. After the staff meeting, I had to go to our head office and do a few English lessons over the phone. It was nice because the kids were mostly teenagers and so I could have actual chats with them. I asked them about their Christmas and New Years. I asked one kid if he ate chicken at Christmas (because that's what Japanese people do) and he said "No! I don't like chicken!" in a really indignant tone. I wonder if he gets asked a lot. XD
On Friday I taught an hour's lesson at what is basically an after school programme for kids whose parents work and can't collect them straight from school. The staff pick them up from school, take them there and then they stay there until about 6. I've taught at these kind of places a few times, I've even been to that one before, but the kids there that day were super loud. I had to yell to make myself heard above them and I had no voice by the end of the hour. But, they really enjoyed the lesson and all the games so I guess so long as they're being loud because they're having fun it's OK. During the time I was there before the lesson these two kids kept showing me dance routines they'd made up but they kept failing and going to practice before coming back and showing me again. It was super cute.
Saturday was a liiiittle bit annoying. I had an office day, which basically means I'm on call for anyone who calls in sick, but I had been scheduled to go and team teach with one of my co-workers (at her school, 4 classes and we would teach 2 each). At 9am I got a message from that coworker to tell me she had called in sick. So I immediately figured I would be the one who got called to cover, but waited for confirmation. Sure enough, at 10am, I got a call to tell me to go and cover the classes. I was okay with it because I had already been scheduled to teach two of them anyway.
Anyway, I later found out that they had actually called one of my other coworkers first, but he had been in bed and hadn't gotten the message, so they had waited a while and then called me. If he had gone rather than me, I could have spent the day relaxing in a classroom doing paperwork/lesson plans, so I was a little annoyed. Howevever, I had taught the kids before and so I knew them, and they were all pretty well behaved apart from one class (who were bad the last time too, and their regular teacher said the same, so I knew), so it didn't turn out to be too bad a day.
Then, today I had an unexpected meeting with my beloved Honda from BoyMen. They had an event at my local mall, and me and Tina had planned on going along purely to watch the live but Tina decided to get CDs to get signed. I had planned on not doing because I'm trying to keep my money for the Thailand trip, but Tina was super nice and told me she would get it for me (for a handshake) for now and I could pay her back later. Honestly, walking past the CD sales stand I had kind of felt bad that I couldn't get one because I really wanted to see Honda (I haven't seen him since his birthday event 2 months ago), and so I was super happy to have the chance. When I went to him, he told me 'hisashiburi' (long time no see). I apologised that I hadn't been to see him recently, and he said it was fine and just to come when I could, but I told him that I would be going to their Thailand tour. He told me, "have a nice travel!" So close, Honda. I didn't correct him though. Ahhh, I was so happy to see him again. I always miss him a lot, especially since I used to see him every week.
Tomorrow I have to wake up at 5 to go to Tokyo for the Tenimyu Team Live DVD release High Touch Event. I'm really excited to go and see Izaki and Kazuki and the rest of the cast again, especially the Fudomine members who have been out of the musical for a while now. It'll totally be worth the early morning.
On Wednesday I headed into the middle of nowhere to cover classes at a school that took me two hours to get to. I sat for one of those hours on the oldest train ever which bounced around all over the place and took me through mountains and farms. I almost lost the will to live. Then when I got to the classroom I found that the teacher's room was on a different floor to the classroom, only accessable by an outside door which was super annoying.
The kids however, were super nice! I taught some 2 year olds with their mothers, who were a lot of fun, and then a bunch of 11 year old boys who I was a little concerned about when I looked at the lesson reports (it said they were rowdy) but they turned out to be pretty awesome. They chatted a lot but they did everything I said, which is more than a lot of my students do.
The JT was super nice and gave me a ride back to my transfer station. Weirdly, that old rickerty train had taken me an hour to get there, but the car journey only took us 30 minutes. We talked a lot on the way to the station She was super funny and kept complaining that her parents keep asking her when she's going to find a guy and get married (because her younger siblings are already married). She's the same age as me and so we were complaining together about how it's easier to be single. I had a good time, and I had less commuting time, so it was a win all round.
Thursday was our first Staff Meeting of the year. Our group got smaller because our area split, so it seemed a little quieter than usual but I'm sure we'll get used to it. Also my first staff meeting being a group leader. During our discussion time I was determined we were going to stay on topic and we actually managed it, but then I was used to my previous group where we had two people who could not stay on topic to save their lives. I like my group now. XD
As a first staff meeting of the year, it was a pretty relaxing two hours. After the staff meeting, I had to go to our head office and do a few English lessons over the phone. It was nice because the kids were mostly teenagers and so I could have actual chats with them. I asked them about their Christmas and New Years. I asked one kid if he ate chicken at Christmas (because that's what Japanese people do) and he said "No! I don't like chicken!" in a really indignant tone. I wonder if he gets asked a lot. XD
On Friday I taught an hour's lesson at what is basically an after school programme for kids whose parents work and can't collect them straight from school. The staff pick them up from school, take them there and then they stay there until about 6. I've taught at these kind of places a few times, I've even been to that one before, but the kids there that day were super loud. I had to yell to make myself heard above them and I had no voice by the end of the hour. But, they really enjoyed the lesson and all the games so I guess so long as they're being loud because they're having fun it's OK. During the time I was there before the lesson these two kids kept showing me dance routines they'd made up but they kept failing and going to practice before coming back and showing me again. It was super cute.
Saturday was a liiiittle bit annoying. I had an office day, which basically means I'm on call for anyone who calls in sick, but I had been scheduled to go and team teach with one of my co-workers (at her school, 4 classes and we would teach 2 each). At 9am I got a message from that coworker to tell me she had called in sick. So I immediately figured I would be the one who got called to cover, but waited for confirmation. Sure enough, at 10am, I got a call to tell me to go and cover the classes. I was okay with it because I had already been scheduled to teach two of them anyway.
Anyway, I later found out that they had actually called one of my other coworkers first, but he had been in bed and hadn't gotten the message, so they had waited a while and then called me. If he had gone rather than me, I could have spent the day relaxing in a classroom doing paperwork/lesson plans, so I was a little annoyed. Howevever, I had taught the kids before and so I knew them, and they were all pretty well behaved apart from one class (who were bad the last time too, and their regular teacher said the same, so I knew), so it didn't turn out to be too bad a day.
Then, today I had an unexpected meeting with my beloved Honda from BoyMen. They had an event at my local mall, and me and Tina had planned on going along purely to watch the live but Tina decided to get CDs to get signed. I had planned on not doing because I'm trying to keep my money for the Thailand trip, but Tina was super nice and told me she would get it for me (for a handshake) for now and I could pay her back later. Honestly, walking past the CD sales stand I had kind of felt bad that I couldn't get one because I really wanted to see Honda (I haven't seen him since his birthday event 2 months ago), and so I was super happy to have the chance. When I went to him, he told me 'hisashiburi' (long time no see). I apologised that I hadn't been to see him recently, and he said it was fine and just to come when I could, but I told him that I would be going to their Thailand tour. He told me, "have a nice travel!" So close, Honda. I didn't correct him though. Ahhh, I was so happy to see him again. I always miss him a lot, especially since I used to see him every week.
Tomorrow I have to wake up at 5 to go to Tokyo for the Tenimyu Team Live DVD release High Touch Event. I'm really excited to go and see Izaki and Kazuki and the rest of the cast again, especially the Fudomine members who have been out of the musical for a while now. It'll totally be worth the early morning.