JHS teacher who sits next to me: Hey uh your ES is on the phone uh they wanna talk to you about tomorrow. Uh wait, JTE GET OVER HERE AND HELP TRANSLATE!!
JTE: -picks up phone- Hi this is JTE, R-Sensei is next to me . . . Oh you don’t need my help translating. -turns to me- R-Sensei, so-so Sensei from the big ES wants to talk to you about tomorrow is that okay?
Me: Yeah that’s fine. -picks up phone- - turns out they wanted to check if I was cool with ordering a bento for lunch tomorrow-
Me: Okay we’re ordering tempura bentos for lunch so they just wanted to see if I was cool with tha-
JTE & all the JHS teachers: YOU GUYS ARE GETTING TEMPURA BENTOS??!! FROM WHERE?? OMMMGG!!!!
Me: Uuuhhhh they didn’t say from where-
Everyone:
-I mean this in a joking manner, they’re jealous the big ES’s teacher’s club has actually organized something before the semester starts-
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When I was interviewed for the #JETprogram, my panel was interested in the fact I studied history. They asked me if I studied Japanese history (self study!) and what my favorite period was (late Edo/Early Meiji!)and they asked me who my favorite historical figure was. I didn’t really have one so I said the first one that came to mind: Ryouma Sakamoto. I remember my japanese interviewer gave me this little smile and nod of approval and I felt good!! But then they asked me to teach a demo lesson on Ryouma for “young children.” After some fumbling, I came up with a lesson that was pretending to write letters as Sakamoto answering the question, “what do you think about Japan today?” And they would hypothetically answer along the lines of “I like Japan today because...” 2 years ago, I interviewed in Atlanta while recovering from a 24 hour stomach flu and had a difficult interview! But I made it. And that demo lesson really started this long inside joke about how Sakamoto is my dead husband 😂😂😂So of course, when I saw this shirt, I had to get it. This trip is celebrating 2 years in japan so why not get a shirt that literally has my demo lesson from my interview on it 😂😂😂😂 #jetprogramme https://www.instagram.com/p/BmfnWJGh2bp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1917lm72u4la5
On Wednesday it was my birthday (and first wedding anniversary!) and the first and second years had their chorus festival in Hachioji. It was nice to watch them sing for my birthday, instead of going to school where I have zero lessons (a usual Wednesday).
A teacher that I have recently become super close with (but have always thought was cool) came over and said hello to me in the morning, before the students started entering the hall. She said “I heard it’s your birthday today. Happy Birthday.” She told me about the room downstairs where I could store my stuff for the day. I had gone to this same festival two years ago, but missed it last year (because of my wedding), so my memory was super rusty. Pal Sensei (that’s what I will refer to her as now) said not to worry and that she could take me to the room. What a splendid day!
Once we got there, Pal Sensei pulled a bag out of her bag and said she got me a birthday present. I was surprised given that she only seemed to know it was my birthday from other teachers that day (at least, based on how she said Happy Birthday to me) and it seemed all this was an elaborate act to gift me a present I didn’t even deserve!
She explained that one part of the present was a bag of Japanese sweets from a store that has existed for over three hundred years. She pulled the bag of sweets out and pointed to the kanji on the bag. She said the translation is “two people that will be together forever” and explained that she imagines Matthew and I (everyone calls him Matthew) when she thinks of this. I basically died on the spot, especially because she has never seen how lame Matt and I can really be. We save that stuff for private, to ensure that we can maintain relationships with our friends.
Pal Sensei is a true treasure and she brought me a lot of joy from her bag of sweets (and also some sakura tea). Also, she likes dogs and has a shiba inu, so I feel that our friendship will last a lifetime.
December has finally arrived, and with that comes to the start of my favorite time of the year ________________________ #christmastime #christmas #lightings #tree #redandgreen #ornaments #jetprogramme #jetprogramme2017 #jetphotographyclub #holidayseason #festivemood #festive #decor #decoration #christmastree #christmastreelighting #canon #canonsl1 #venturewithvi #canonglobal #december #xmas #housedecor #winter #クリスマス #庄内 #酒田 #山形県 #東北 (at Yamagata Prefecture)
DON’T work too hard. This might seem counter-intuitive, especially since many of you (and ME) worked really hard to get this opportunity, but hear me out.
When I first got here, I would spend every minute of every day planning, making games, and just, n general, doing something WORK related. It wasn’t long before I started suffering from stress, anxiety, and I wasn’t making many friends or doing any of the things I loved. I thought that it was my duty to work just as hard as the teachers in my school who are there 8 til 8 daily. But at the same time, I was desk-sitting so much that boredom was eating me alive. What the HELL was happening?
So I made one simple change that changed everything for the better.
DO YOUR WORK AT WORK.
It sounds so simple. And it is.
If you are even moderately motivated and want to accomplish a lot with your students, do that work AT WORK. Stop working at home and do something else instead. Instead of working at home, study your Japanese, learn to cook, make some friends, pick up a hobby. Trust me, these other things will make all the difference in whether your experience is a meh one or a WOW one.
The flipside, use your desk-sitting time for actual work time. Lesson plan, make games, plan for next week, do your projects, mark the papers, write emails, do whatever you need to do AT WORK. Don’t take it home with you!!
If you need an example: you would not believe (or maybe you CAN) how many times a teacher has asked me for a game, so I spend my evening making one, only to have them cancel my class or decide to postpone it anyway. So I needn’t have given up my evening for WORK when I could have finished the game AT WORK in the one to two hours I usually get before my lessons start in third period. At the very least, I could have just decided what I wanted to do and then waited until the next day to set it all up. This happened probably 15 times in my first year before I finally decided, NOPE, only making games at work from now on. Wish I had done that much sooner.
Now obviously, you may still find yourself having to do some prep work at home and that can’t be helped. But try to anticipate when you need to do prep and do that as much as possible AT WORK. I take all my paper supplies to my main school and start prepping for elementary the next week because I know I’m going to have a lot of time to do so and I will have my evenings completely free for the things I need to do to relax and make sure that I’m a productive and effective teacher and that I ENJOY my job and don’t let it suck the life out of me from either boredom or stress.
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Found a kohai! Good to meet you! Thanks for going out of your way to come and say hello! Sorry for talking your ear off. . . @oneinsilence will hit you up during ski season if we're not too busy! (Come to Shikoku, we have mikan). #tokyo #shinjuku #jetprogramme #jetprogram #tokyoday1
Winter Coping Methods, Pt. 1 | Kotatsu
I seriously don’t know why all cold countries don’t have these (looking at you, Canada!). My life could have been so different... *gazes off into the distance...*
Also, welcome to Nihon Poi! This is a comic I started last winter, as you can tell by the nature of the first post... hopefully I’ll catch up to posting in the correct season, until then please enjoy my little tidbits about life here in Japan! Feel free to repost, but please make sure to credit the original source ya? ;)
