It's getting a little chilly

There are times where I feel like I've just updated this blog and then there are times where the days simply get away from me and I haven't posted an update in weeks. This is obviously falling into the latter category. For those that check this blog on a regular basis looking for news, I apologize for being so lax about it. However, I can't promise my blogging behavior will get any better because the moment I do, I'll end up only posting once a month.

Anyway, things on the work front have been pretty chill to be honest. I had to do some coverage last Tuesday at one of my least favorite schools, and to add a cherry to that doodoo sundae, I had to teach JT lesson's. Us NT's are in no way trained to teach those properly so it always just ends up being a day of games with the kids. Even my boss says to just try and have fun with the students. There's been a lot of NT's having to cover JT lessons these days because we're simply short-staffed with Japanese teachers. It's becoming a real pain in my native arse. To detail my day at this particular school, I got off the bus to witness quite a scene at the intersection with a car having flipped on it's side. There were police everywhere (luckily the accident happened just across from a police station) and people involved were looking genuinely shaken. I snapped a few pics...classy, I know. After preparing for my lessons at the school, the first lesson beings, students are doing their writing and in comes a little boy around 15 minutes late. With him enters a woman who apologizes for being late and starts taking her shoes off; getting comfortable basically. I'm like, "are you this boy's mother?", to which she replies, "no. haha. I'm the new JT for this school, here to observe your lessons". Now, those that know me know that I hate surprises...especially work-related surprises and this was indeed an unwelcome surprise. No one told me that I'd have a visitor observing my lessons that day but I instantly flipped the, "F it" switch and told her, "well, I'm here covering JT lessons, to which I have no formal training in, so don't expect much. Certainly don't expect a proper JT lesson". Luckily, she was a cool person with a good attitude about it all and she spoke really great English having spent a number of years in the States. As expected, the lessons were basically just me playing games with the kids but doing my best to have them speak English throughout. Sometimes you just have to wing it I guess.

This upcoming week is a bit different because it's Halloween lesson week. I was originally scheduled to be teaching Halloween lessons at the same undesirable school as mentioned above, but fate smiled upon me and I won't be going there. I did, however, plan for these lessons by ordering a costume of Mario (of Super Mario Bros. fame), and I think it looks pretty solid. Since I'm not going to be teaching lessons with it, I may just walk around town with it. That could prove interesting and rather entertaining. That's right, Halloween is right around the corner and while it doesn't mean much to me, the weather's rapid change certainly does. The days are super comfortable and I'm diggin' 'em but the nights are getting downright chilly. I need to buy a winter jacket before the real cold hits or I'm screwed. My winter jacket from last year is worthless because the zipper broke. Lame.

The accident I mentioned.

Waiting for the bus.

Gasp...nachos!

Chili burger. Not too bad.

Egg topped burger.

Somewhere in Miyazaki.

The "blue" version of that milky-soda drink.

Lotteria's version of the McRib.

Tasted the watermelon, but not sure about the salt.

One Year Later...

Cause for celebration; I've made it through parent observations at all three of my schools! Yay! I'm applauding myself, you just can't see it. It's been a pretty stressful, exhausting last three week. Pretty much all of my classes had parent observations aside from a handful of grammar classes that I teach. This time around I prepared a Colorado quiz for the students to take with their parents before the lesson starts. It's just something a little different that they can enjoy and also learn a little more about where I'm from at the same time. It seemed to go over quite well and most of the kids enjoyed doing it. The way the lessons went during P.O.'s were a bit like this: the usual check in, introductions from myself and the school's JT, mini-presentation from the kids to their parents, Colorado quiz, and then the lesson as normal. There were a few times where a student wasn't actin' the fool in front of everyone and those times are especially frustrating and embarrassing since the parents are watching. They're basically watching to see how you'll handle it. It's amazing how little the parents involve themselves while your lesson is going on, even if their kid is being disruptive. However, after three weeks of this, I pretty much walked away unscathed. Today was the last day of it and I'd say the classes were even downright pleasant. Today was the last day that my JT for this school and I would be working together. We had a nice lunch before classes started and it's been a really great year working with her. She's moving on to (hopefully) bigger and better things in Fukuoka. Sitting at the station waiting for my train after classes, I realized how much I'd miss her and how well we worked together. I'll see her again, just not in a co-worker capacity. Change is the only constant. How's that for profound?

Along with the end of P.O.'s, today also brought upon sudden cold weather, complete with rain. It feels like only a week ago the sun was blazing and I was sweating from the humidity. It felt like winter today, but with no transition into the next season. I'm hoping today was just a one-off type of thing and we'll retunr to some normal, cool weather next week. I have tomorrow off, bu then it's back to business as usual on Monday, starting bright and early with a staff meeting in which a fellow NT and I have to make a small presentation on safety in the classroom. I don't really have anything planned other than an open-forum discussion and possibly some role-playing. Should be a mess, but I've always been pretty good at faking my way through things like that. Next week I also have two team-teachers, one on Wednesday and the other on Friday. So I'll have another NT coming to my school on those days to take a class off my hands. I love it when that happens. I just hope my kids are good to the visiting NT. I feel like it would reflect poorly on me if they weren't.

In other news, it's been over one year since I came to Japan! I didn't even realize the date had passed because I'd been so busy and caught up parent observation classes. When things started slowing down, I realized that I landed in Japan on September 10th of 2011. It's amazing to think that it's already been that long and that some of my fellow NT's are packing up and saying goodbye because they only wanted to do the initial one-year contract. It's strange to think that could be me, had I not signed on for longer. There have been moments where it felt like time was simply flying, but there have also been those moments where I felt like a certain week or month would never end. I've gotten quite used to my way of life here but that doesn't mean I'm fully convinced I want to say here that much longer. I haven't quite figured out how long that necessarily is. Right now, and this is probably because I've taken notice of the one-year anniversary, but I'm going through a homesick phase. I miss my family and friends a lot and being in the States. I just hope everyone knows that I'm here trying to handle business and sort stuff out, not because I want to be far away from them.

Oh, and this is completely random but I wrote this post while listening to the new Green Day album, "UNO!", which is surprisingly rad. The single they released, "Oh Love", is still terrible in my opinion and I stop the album early (since it's the last track, thankfully), but yeah, that's my two cents on that.

Shakey's Pizza Parlor made it to Fukuoka? Whoa.

Fukuoka.

Canal City, Fukuoka.

Korean idol group being interviewed in Canal City.

Sizable crowd.

Ramen museum, here we go.

The halls of the ramen museum.

Bonafide.

Chow time.

One Week Down

Here am I, chillin' on a Sunday after putting week one of parent observations in the finished column. I told you guys in my last post that I was going to be dealing with P.O.'s this month and I just wrapped up a week at my Usuki school. As I predicted, it was a lot easier on me this time than it was when I first started and got thrown in P.O.'s right away. I knew what to expect and I've gotten used to seeing a majority of these parents whenever I'm sending their kids off at the end of the lesson. The only thing that made me anxious was that I have a few classes with some difficult children. My biggest concern is having a kid act up and the parents eyeballing me to handle it. It's a delicate thing to discipline someone's child in front of them. However, here in Japan you're expected to be the boss and disciplinarian in the classroom...even if the parents are watching. Most of the time the parents won't do anything to discipline their children in a classroom environment and rarely say anything. They believe that the classroom is your (the teacher) domain and it's up to you to run things properly. That's a weird switch to flip in my American brain. Some parents have told me to go ahead and smack their kids in the head if they act up, and all I can think is, "back home, that's a lawsuit". So it's a mental exercise for sure. Back to my school specifically, most of my classes went well and the Colorado quiz that I had prepared for the students to take with their parents went over quite well. They enjoyed taking the quiz together and the kids really got excited if they answered something correctly. The only class that made me sweat heavily was on Thursday. This particular class has about 12 students and requires me to set up 4 tables. Believe me, this is a large class and it's rare to have numbers this high. It is the way it is though and with the parents there, it was a packed house. There's a large number of boys in this class who love rough-housing and even though they were more well-behaved than normal, they were doing a bit of pushing and shoving at one point and I knew all eyes were on me. I had to stop the activity we were doing in order to separate them, but afterwards, order was restored. This class had me sweating because it's so big and it's difficult to keep an eye on everything, but the trick is just to conduct your lesson as usual and act as if the parents aren't even there.

One school down, two to go. I get a little bit of a break this week, as it's my office week. Tomorrow (Monday) is another day off, Tuesday I'm team-teaching with my former boss, Wednesday I'm team-teaching with another teacher and Thursday I'll be observing my JT's lessons. Friday is my birthday (yay!), and it's an office day, so maybe I'll buy a small cake at the convenience store and eat it in the classroom by myself.

Umm...

Yukuhashi classroom.

Hakata station, Fukuoka.

In front of Hakata station. Legit.

It's pretty massive.

Dance Evolution (basically Dance Central, but at the game center). This dude ripped.

Leaving Fukuoka for Oita.

It appears in English too.

They were okay.

Sushi time!

Variety.

Seared eel...like heaven.

Put on display

The end of August approaches and I thought, "hey, it's been a while since I wrote a new blog post", so here I am. Coincidentally, today is also the day that the Avengers comes out here in Japan. Pretty late on that right? I believe it's on DVD in the States next month. There doesn't appear to be much rhyme or reason behind when and why Japan releases certain movies. That being said, I'd like to go check it out if the opportunity presents itself. Other than that, I've been working per usual and spending my free time with my PS3. Work has been going quite well. It's nice to be back on the regular schedule after summer school. Everything just seems easier in relation and the work days go by fast. Monday is our monthly staff meeting and also the first day of parent observations. I'm not so nervous about the parents being there, but I have a couple of students who are troublemakers and I wonder if they'll give me a hard time during parent obs. Nothing quite like being made a fool by a child in front of a crowd of judgmental eyes. Now that's a good time!

It also continues to be hot and humid here with rain falling on a random basis. The sun is out one minute and in the next it's coming down hard. So that's what a Japanese summer is like. Having nearly put my first Japanese summer behind me, I can honestly say I'm not looking forward to the next. It's merciless. I would say, "bring on the winter!", but it sure knows how to get cold here and I'm sure I'll be bitching then too.

In my last bit of news, I'm still pondering a transfer here with the company. As you all know, I'm here in Oita. I've gotten used to things here and I've really taken to my students and just the way things are. However, you all also know I haven't always been stoked to be here in a rural area, as I've prefer a placement with a little more hustle and bustle. I'm really interested in Yokohama and that area because it's close to Tokyo and not too far from Osaka. In other words, it's a nice mid-way point for some interesting places and Yokohama itself is a bit city. In the next few months I'll ask about openings around the country and see what they say and whatever comes to pass, be sure I'll let you know.

Mayo flavored chips. Wack.

Peach flavored cereal.

Mentaiko (pollack roe) flavored chips. Strange but tasty.

Pretty sakura (cherry blossoms) by my place.

Air-crisp chips. Lame!

Hotel Kinsuen...my old friend.

Garlic puffs and chili chips mix. So awesomely good.

Keepin' it Mello on the way to class.

Summer School is officially over

Well my first summer school experience here in Japan has come to an end and boy howdy am I glad it's over. It wasn't so much the lessons themselves that wore me out, it was the schedule. I teach at three different schools and each school is two days of summer school with the NT (native teacher), that NT being me. Two days at each school isn't so bad, but when you have six lessons in each day, no lunch break, and only ten minutes in between lessons, you start feeling worn out early on. Those ten minutes in between lessons gives you just enough time to set up materials for the next lesson and maybe get a gulp of water. It's basically a teaching marathon. The summer school courses were broken up into A-course, B-course and C-course with A-course students being the youngest and their parents attend the lesson with them. For the most part, these lessons went well but at one of my school's, the parents had the look of statues and it made for an uncomfortable lesson. I did my best to act like they weren't even there but every time I made eye contact with them, they looked less than impressed. But who really knows what they were thinking because almost no one emoted! Not to mention, this particular classroom isn't that big and with the students and their parents there, it made for a really hot, crowded environment. However, I barreled through and found that most of my lessons were quite enjoyable and I had a good time with the kids in class. The months leading up to summer school were filled with a lot of prep, hype and stress on making it a success and looking back I feel like all the hullabaloo over it was a bit unwarranted.

In other news, I finally broke my video game sobriety and bought a white Playstation 3. Now, those of you that know me know that I don't care much for the PS3 and I'm quite content with my Xbox. However, being here in Japan, it doesn't take long to take notice of the fact that the Xbox is the red-headed little bastard stepchild of video gaming and it's hard to find products and support for it. Especially in the small area that I'm in! So when in Rome, you buckle under the pressure and get yourself a Sony product. Right now I have Street Fighter x Tekken and Batman: Arkham City. I have to admit, it feels really good to be playing console games again and it definitely gives me that feeling of home and comfort that I sometimes feel is missing from my life here. That may sound silly to some, but what can I say; I'm a gamer.

I've been watching the Olympics when I get the time and it's interesting to watch the Olympics being covered from a nation other than your own. I've only ever watched the Olympics from the American perspective back in the States, so it's been interesting to see how and what Japan on during these games. All I'll say at the moment is - South Korea knocked England out of soccer!? Are you kidding me!?

Parent observations are coming up at the end of this month so I have to start thinking of ideas in which to entertain the parents and kids as they do classes together. It feels like I just had them, but that could just be the fact that time is flying by at insane speeds. I have a week off for Obon but I'm without any plans. I may just end up sitting around playing video games so that operation: pay 'dem bills remains active. My 32nd birthday is coming up in a month and that just seemed to have come out of nowhere. Start sending your presents now!

My friend M made me cookies.

Pizza party!

The gates open for me.

Waiting for my Western-style food.

Chili con queso.

Helped to bring Christianity to Japan.

Spam sushi and salad.

Some fruity alcohol drink. Not for me.

Legit.

Some sour, blue McFlurry.

I'm happy because ramen awaits.

It's glorious.

How long has it been?

Too long, that's how long it's been! So what's new in the land of Japan? Well for me, not that much. Surprise, surprise. I'm still working my butt off but on the brighter side of things, I'm no longer having to cover for other teachers at their schools! Yay! We actually got some new teachers and that's great news not only for their respective schools, but for me as well because I'm tired of being the go-to-guy for covering. I think Richard is still doing alright up north, having taken over for Marty. As for the newest addition to the native teacher family, we have Spencer from North Carolina. Big round of applause. She did indeed take over residence in Ruki's old apartment and I was able to show her around the local vicinity on her second day here. I guess I was paying forward the kindness Ruki showed me when I first got here. It's all so intimidated and overwhelming when you're the new foreigner in town, that it really does help to have a friendly face, speaking your language. She seems to be getting along well enough and today is her first day teaching on her own at what is one of her new schools. Best of luck to her. I gave her plenty of advice, having covered at this school, so I hope she goes in there with a bit more confidence.

Other than that we had our big CM (combined meeting), which is where all the native and Japanese teachers get together to "bond", discuss and prepare all things related to summer school. Everyone, including the Japanese teachers, had to give a summer school demo, which is fifteen minutes in length, followed by five minutes of feedback from the peers in your group. I was in group 2, being the only native teacher, and had to go first at the top of the day. Everyone else in other groups have demos going on so it's a lot to focus on what you're doing and block out the noise coming from other groups. Add to that the fact that they gave me almost no prep-time before my demo and you had me looking like a sweaty mess. I was proud of myself for having covered all the parts of my lesson, but I rushed through it (being paranoid of the time) and I was sweaty. Not too bad I reckon. I was actually happy to go first because that meant I could just relax the rest of the day while everyone else stressed over their demos. We also had some various, fun activities that helped the bonding process and overall, I actually found it to be a fun meeting. I didn't expect I'd feel that way! I also got to meet Anthony, who is going to be the new PS (performance supervisor) for us NT's starting in August. He's a really friendly guy from what I could tell and he watched my summer school demo. He could've busted my balls, but he didn't, so that gave me a good vibe. We'll see how he is in future meetings and of course I'll report back. ;-)

My friend, that I mentioned I enjoyed speaking with these days, also was kind enough to pay me a visit this weekend! I was really happy that she was willing to make the trip, short as it may be (that's not the point), and I had a great time hanging out with her. I'm pretty sure we both ate too much though and I'll have to watch my belly over the next week. I swear, eating is the easiest thing to do when you have free time. Tomorrow, it's back to the real-world and back to teaching. I'll be covering for Richard up in Nakatsu, but only for the one day and luckily it's some of his better kids on Tuesday. Then it's office days on Wednesday and Thursday, capped off with a teaching day at Rachel's school on Friday. Not too bad cause I need the office day's for summer school prep. Summer school is just around the corner and my schedule is total madness as some days are six hours straight with no break. Sometimes I swear this job is trying to break me. (Lee)

Baldy-locks and the three bears.

Meat sauce flavored taco ships.

Vanilla Oreo soft cakes.

Orange sauce Calpis. Tasty!

Yeah, we're cool like that.

The old crew.

Leave it to me...to ruin a photo!