today, like almost every other day, we had a change in the school schedule. i am particularly sensitive to schedule changes lately; for some reason they really irritate me and bring extra stress.
first of all, i never know the schedule changes at the same time as everyone else b/c i can't read the white boards all around the staff room. and of course, the teachers are running around like chickens without heads so they don't think to explain the unintelligible kanji. second of all, it always seems to be stupid, formal, and horrendously long assemblies, for which i can see no purpose. [they must explain the purpose in japanese. der]. thirdly, it means i get to see my students even less than i already do. schedule changes usually mean i don't get to teach all the classes. like i do on a normal day. if that exists. thus i spend more time alone at my desk, sneakily reading a book for fun or practicing japanese flashcards over and over.
*however, i was incredibly and joyfully surprised by today's reason for the change. it turned out to be a musical performance by a talented duo [video below]. the woman was from tokyo, and [if i understood her japanese correctly] has lived in seattle recently. the man was from columbia. it was awesome to watch them interact. they are both bilingual, with English as their common language. the woman told the man "oh, these are the third year students. they will understand your english". i laughed out loud, the felt sort of guilty. apparently it wasn't a joke.
they would stop to talk between songs. she would ask him a question in english, he would respond in english, and she would translate into japanese. he spoke some spanish, which i could understand [!!!] and taught the kids a bit about life in columbia. he explained the materials used to make his instruments... none of them were purchased, all handmade. he talked about some things being near extinction. he talked about his own ethnically diverse background.
!!!!!-- i felt like this was an absolutely fantastic opportunity for my students. they got to see English as a real, active language. they got to watch people from completely different backgrounds communicate and work together. they got to hear that there is a world out there which isn't so grossly homogeneous as their own [black-hair-brown-eyes-dull-colors-wearing] world.
toward the end, the man was telling in english how much he has loved japan so far. he said that last night they went to a restaurant and he ate delicious sushi. then he joked about how he drank too much sake. i was the only one who cracked up! all the teachers looked at me, clueless, because they hadn't gotten a japanese translation yet.
this is terribly bitter, but it felt amazing to be the one who got the joke. for once.
maybe now those teachers have some clue what my everyday feels like. but probably not.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
kids will be kids. sometimes.
[two of my fav boys :)]
[CRAZY excited san-nensei girls]
[kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!]*i attempted to dress like a rock star b/c i was teaching about american music. i guess the kids bought it ;)
well, i just completed my last of seven full days of work this week. hokubu had its annual school festival all day today, so i have worked long hours every day, including saturday and today. it's been quite exhausting, but the final product of today was great. it was wicked fun to see the kids able to be kids, for once, instead of military participants. they had a blast playing games, eating snack foods, "trick or treating" in the international room, and showing their families around school. they were all wicked excited to say hi and tons asked me to pose for a picture. even at 4pm when i was on my last wind, they were genki as they cleaned and put back furniture.
as compensation for these past two days, i have tomorrow and friday off. tomorrow i'm going to the toyama airport to get my re-entry permit. why, you ask? because i'll need it to get back into Japan after i go to THAILAND for christmas!!!!!!!!! yep, thats right... cassie and i bought tickets on tuesday for our 8 day trip to thailand in december. if all goes according to plan, we'll be at the beach in this scenic island south of thailand on christmas day :)
one of my JTEs has been driving me crazy lately. i guess when you spend seven days straight sitting next to someone, it can easily get old. BUT there are two things she has done lately that absolutely make me clench my jaw in frustration: 1. she is super o.c.d about how she puts a circle on students papers when the sentence/ word is correct. she tried and tried to show me how she does it a few weeks ago. [i decided she should probably drop it, especially since i do the majority of her grading while she is messing around at her desk busily being inefficient.] THEN when i thought she had let it go (b/c who cares anyway?) she said to me this week: "we japanese make circles like this. we start from this side" i said "well, it doesnt matter what you japanese do. i'm left handed so my brain automatically makes me start from this side" [and in my head said YOU NUT CASE, ITS A CIRCLE!!!!!!!]
2. today she was attempting to explain some kanji. she told me 2-3 sentences in english and then asked what the english word was for that. i said there wasn't just one word, you can't explain that in one word. she got frustrated, said "WHY?!?!", and kept saying the same explanation over and over again. since she was so stressed i just picked the best word, which i thought was exempt. she wrote it down, but then looked it up in her electronic dictionary when we got to the staff room. IT told her that default was better, so she crossed off my word and wrote default. default totally doesn't make sense with what she was explaining. well, good, i'm thrilled to be spending a year in this crazy country when my job can so easily be done by a dictionary.
AHHHHH... if it weren't for the kids, i don't know how i'd cope...
[check out my photo blog for more cutie pics from today's festivities!:)]
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
HIRO-kun
[peaceful bike ride home from my fav-o school]
[ragamuffin but tasty meal. the package SAID yakisoba...??]
["twins" @ our joint 23rd birthday bash!!]i had the most beautiful day at elementary school today. i could seriously work there for the rest of my life and be a happy girl :) first of all, the kids were wicked genki in both of my classes. then during lunch i got a lot of attention... students a few tables away kept turning to watch me eat. i guess they are STILL shocked i can use chopsticks, 3 months into life here. later the kocho-sensei told the staff room in japanese that all the students were looking at me during lunch b/c i am left handed. it's quite a spectacle, apparently.
i came in from the morning run and my friend who speaks english [i think his job is curriculum development or something... not quite sure, but he LOVES the kids!!] goes "do you know he is so cute? he has a handicap. his brain and body grow slowly. he is growing step by step" ..... about the cutie little special needs boy i mentioned a while back. i learned that his name is hiroki. they call him hiro-kun and he is the school favorite :)
after lunch i watched ni-nensei kids play their homemade carnival-ish games. they wanted me to try, so of course i humored them. they said "YAY!" every time i "caught" a soda can fish with my magnetized fishing pole*
i then went over to the piano bc hiro-kun was trying to play with another little girl. without words, he told me to play with them. then he got down off the piano bench and beckoned me into his little classroom. he showed me around, looked at photographs, then he sat at his miniature desk and pointed to a seat in front of it. i sat down and we practiced numbers 1-3 with flashcards and then drew on the white board with markers. he is absolutely DARLING!!!!!
SO, i got sick on friday [what a special present!]. i'm better today but things are still stuffed up and painful in my head/ throat. i went to the grocery store this afternoon, armed with a picture in mind of what medicine i needed to buy. much to my shock and confusion, the medicine aisle was blocked off and the shelves covered with thick canvas material. WHAT? who in the world closes a medicine aisle in a grocery store?! and what are the odds that its closed the very first time i need something?! AHHH, this country drives me crazy sometimes!!!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
why do you like mother teresa?
i like to start my posts with funny quotes.
today i was grading student exams. the crazy teacher had the 2nd years memorize what they wrote about their fav photo and write it again on the test. apparently one student memorized MINE instead because he wrote: "this picture was taken when i was twenty-two years old" [i started cracking up when i read this! poor guy, he's back to the future!]
when asked to start a conversation with compliments, one student wrote "you look nice in that bag". if someone was IN a bag, i doubt they would look very nice.
at lunch today, three girls were whispering to each other and i knew they were trying to figure out how to express what they wanted to say, in english. finally, one said "kelly! nice body" hahaha!
as i rode my bike home this afternoon i reflected a bit on the changes in me since i arrived about 11 weeks ago. the biggest change is obviously my acquisition of japanese. i remember my first day at hokubu when i had to introduce myself in the staff room in japanese... i got too nervous to say i would do my best. now i feel confident using casual phrases and speaking in broken sentences. obviously, it's my goal to speak proper japanese by the time i go home, but i'm making pretty great progress. there's definitely something to be said for immersion. i cant imagine making such significant headway if i weren't constantly surrounded by native speakers.
another huge change is my ability to be alone. i'm an extrovert to the max, but i think these past couple months [and the 10 still to come] are really going to do wonders for my confidence and emotional stability. i find great joy in coming home to my quiet apartment and creating my own evening's schedule. of course there are days when i long for conversation with someone who understands every single word i speak. and of course there are days when i wish i could be living with people who care about my heart of hearts. but most days, i am content.
when asked "why do you like mother teresa?", one student wrote "because she is very easy" [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] oh, holy smokes :)
today i was grading student exams. the crazy teacher had the 2nd years memorize what they wrote about their fav photo and write it again on the test. apparently one student memorized MINE instead because he wrote: "this picture was taken when i was twenty-two years old" [i started cracking up when i read this! poor guy, he's back to the future!]
when asked to start a conversation with compliments, one student wrote "you look nice in that bag". if someone was IN a bag, i doubt they would look very nice.
at lunch today, three girls were whispering to each other and i knew they were trying to figure out how to express what they wanted to say, in english. finally, one said "kelly! nice body" hahaha!
as i rode my bike home this afternoon i reflected a bit on the changes in me since i arrived about 11 weeks ago. the biggest change is obviously my acquisition of japanese. i remember my first day at hokubu when i had to introduce myself in the staff room in japanese... i got too nervous to say i would do my best. now i feel confident using casual phrases and speaking in broken sentences. obviously, it's my goal to speak proper japanese by the time i go home, but i'm making pretty great progress. there's definitely something to be said for immersion. i cant imagine making such significant headway if i weren't constantly surrounded by native speakers.
another huge change is my ability to be alone. i'm an extrovert to the max, but i think these past couple months [and the 10 still to come] are really going to do wonders for my confidence and emotional stability. i find great joy in coming home to my quiet apartment and creating my own evening's schedule. of course there are days when i long for conversation with someone who understands every single word i speak. and of course there are days when i wish i could be living with people who care about my heart of hearts. but most days, i am content.
when asked "why do you like mother teresa?", one student wrote "because she is very easy" [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] oh, holy smokes :)
Monday, October 15, 2007
eating the menu
this morning i made a classic error. i was hurrying to cut some paper into tiny pieces for class and wasn't careful of the cutter. i brought it right down and sliced open my thumb!! it even broke through the nail. of course, i am clueless about medical things and didn't know what to do. i also didnt want to make a big scene. i rinsed it in the sink and applied pressure with toilet paper. when it didnt stop bleeding after about 3 minutes, i asked kohashi what to do. she sent me down to the "'nursery room" with my toilet-paper-bound thumb and i came out like this ------>
haha. what a scene after all :) the nurse clicked and clucked, made sad faces, poured on some disinfectant, and just kept wrapping and wrapping. my thumb was about 3 times its normal size and about 37 times as clumsy. i got a lucky break, though, because the lunch today required a spork, not chopsticks as per usual.
at the end of the day, i saw a girl who had been in the nurse's office when i arrived. she said "oh, kelly-san, daijobi desu ka?!?!" i grinned [because i could understand her japanese!] and said yep, i'm fine.
before i left, kohashi gave me a message from the nurse. they must know i'm alone here without a momma because the nurse requested i come in tomorrow morning to have her take care of me. she wants to "disinfection" my injury :)
[during lunch, the teacher whose class i ate with told the students "today, only kelly can speak japanese!" he then proceeded to speak a ton of english to me and to the class (i cant believe he's been holding out this whole time!!!), including the following question "can you eat this menu?" hahaha, i thought he asked if i could read the menu, so i said yes, i can read hiragana and katakana. he was wicked confused till i realized my error and said "OH, yes, i can eat all this food. i just dont like natto. everything else is ok!"]
haha. what a scene after all :) the nurse clicked and clucked, made sad faces, poured on some disinfectant, and just kept wrapping and wrapping. my thumb was about 3 times its normal size and about 37 times as clumsy. i got a lucky break, though, because the lunch today required a spork, not chopsticks as per usual.at the end of the day, i saw a girl who had been in the nurse's office when i arrived. she said "oh, kelly-san, daijobi desu ka?!?!" i grinned [because i could understand her japanese!] and said yep, i'm fine.
before i left, kohashi gave me a message from the nurse. they must know i'm alone here without a momma because the nurse requested i come in tomorrow morning to have her take care of me. she wants to "disinfection" my injury :)
[during lunch, the teacher whose class i ate with told the students "today, only kelly can speak japanese!" he then proceeded to speak a ton of english to me and to the class (i cant believe he's been holding out this whole time!!!), including the following question "can you eat this menu?" hahaha, i thought he asked if i could read the menu, so i said yes, i can read hiragana and katakana. he was wicked confused till i realized my error and said "OH, yes, i can eat all this food. i just dont like natto. everything else is ok!"]
Sunday, October 14, 2007
10 weeks down
[4:45am to 6am]
[our soba sensei observing the thinness of noodles cut]
[an entire store dedicated to hello kitty?!?!]highlights of my weekend...
*at the kito-kito festival in himi this afternoon, we stopped to talk to the owner of a local bar who is super friendly and knows all of our names. a guy at her tent said "OH geigin!" [which means foreigners!] and came over to shake our hands. he asked how old we are and held ann's hand and then my hand up against his cheek. [kind of a funny combination of customs... not touching cheeks, not kissing the hand, not just shaking it...]
*we were taught the fine art of soba making at the festival. it was quite a challenge to knead the dough and even more of a challenge to slice the noodles finely enough for our sensei's taste. it turned out to be quite a spectacle and more than one random visitor stopped to take pictures of the geigin making soba. ann and i are cooking ours together tonight so we'll see how the fruits of our hard work taste.
*i made a lovely new friend at the JET event on saturday night. we'd only been talking for 10 minutes when she said "tomorrow we are celebrating my friends birthday. do you want to come?" :) haha. i said no, because we had soba making class, but mostly bc i think its so bizarre to invite someone random to a friends birthday. [however, since she's my friend now, i invited her to my own birthday shindig on friday!]
*my friend who shares the same day of birth greeted me last night by saying "kelly, YAY! our birthday is on friday. WOO! wow, you're sweaty!"] hahaha...
*there was a big dance party at this brazilian restuarant last night. the last train to himi leaves at 10:41pm. ann and i decided that was far too early to go home so our only choice was to stay up till the first morning train at 6:06am. it turned out to be wicked fun bc after the party we went to a restuarant and had great food and fun with some fellow JETS who i dont get to see very often. then we discovered the train station waiting room was closed so we laid outside on the grass in what seemed like frigid temperatures. mmmm was i ready for my cozy bed at 6:32!!
i'm always grateful for these kind of experiences bc they remind me why i chose to come here this year. i am young, independent, and adventurous. now's the time to do those kind of goofy, semi-crazy things. and i dont need to do them again any time soon :)
Saturday, October 13, 2007
big sister-dom
yesterday as i was celebrating allen's birthday from across the world, meliss left a facebook post of congratulations... its been 18 years since i became a big sister. what an awesome point of view :) i considering big sister-dom to be the best opportunity in the world. its a great job, a huge responsibility, a heck of a lot of fun, and a wild adventure!
i begged and prayed for a little brother... when he arrived i probably wasn't quite as excited since i had to share my parents, my dog, my space, and my heart. but i cant imagine the past 18 years of my life without al. of course there have been days when he made me mad or wrestled me too much, but seriously, i would be nothing without him. i would be much less spontaneous, less adventurous, less of a listener, less funny, and less creative. i would have had millions of car rides with no meaningful conversations, and millions of dinner times with just my parents to keep me entertained. my musical interests would be terribly narrow. i would have no clue how boys work and why they do the things they do. being a sister has been and continues to be an incredible honor. i wish every girl could grow up with a fun, musical, and hysterical brother like mine.
here's to the past 18 years. ハッピーバースデー アレンサン
Thursday, October 11, 2007
kids say the darndest things
i would like to enlighten the far sides of the world with some sentences my students wrote on their worksheets today. i burst into laughter multiple times as i checked them for grammar and spelling. please enjoy :)
"i don't think Nazomi is Japanese"
"i don't think Kawata is human"
"i don't think that Takuro is sexy"
"i'm afraid he thought i would die with laughter"
"i'm sure that he is demented"
anddddddddd my absolute favorite of the year so far...
"i'm afraid that Masuro is constipated"
"i don't think Nazomi is Japanese"
"i don't think Kawata is human"
"i don't think that Takuro is sexy"
"i'm afraid he thought i would die with laughter"
"i'm sure that he is demented"
anddddddddd my absolute favorite of the year so far...
"i'm afraid that Masuro is constipated"
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
days like today
days like today make me anxious to be a teacher in the states SOON. it also makes me excited for future kids of my own. i just absolutely adore the children i know.
at jyunicho today, i played outside with the kiddos for a wicked long time. at first i wandered over to the monkey bars bc it was younger kids playing there and i wanted to introduce myself even though i dont teach their classes. they all wanted to show me tricks and a bunch told me their names. later, i watched some girls practicing riding unicycles. then, the best part of the afternoon came when i started playing tag with 3 little ones. our group eventually grew so big we had to have two taggers. i learned some valuable japanese such as the term for who is "it". we ran around the giant sandbox a million times, laughed a lot, wrote our names in the dirt, and i worked off that big bowl of rice i had for lunch.
[speaking of lunch, the kyoto-sensei asked me before we started eating "kelly-san, hashi daijobi?" haha i wondered how he thought i have survived in japan for 9 weeks without using chopsticks!]
days like today make me a bit dissatisfied with my work at hokubu and also have me chomping at the bit for a classroom of my own. i feel like i can genuinely make a difference in the lives of children if i am working towards their whole education. teaching spelling and "conversational" english the kids will forget by tomorrow aren't nearly as satisfying...
at jyunicho today, i played outside with the kiddos for a wicked long time. at first i wandered over to the monkey bars bc it was younger kids playing there and i wanted to introduce myself even though i dont teach their classes. they all wanted to show me tricks and a bunch told me their names. later, i watched some girls practicing riding unicycles. then, the best part of the afternoon came when i started playing tag with 3 little ones. our group eventually grew so big we had to have two taggers. i learned some valuable japanese such as the term for who is "it". we ran around the giant sandbox a million times, laughed a lot, wrote our names in the dirt, and i worked off that big bowl of rice i had for lunch.
[speaking of lunch, the kyoto-sensei asked me before we started eating "kelly-san, hashi daijobi?" haha i wondered how he thought i have survived in japan for 9 weeks without using chopsticks!]
days like today make me a bit dissatisfied with my work at hokubu and also have me chomping at the bit for a classroom of my own. i feel like i can genuinely make a difference in the lives of children if i am working towards their whole education. teaching spelling and "conversational" english the kids will forget by tomorrow aren't nearly as satisfying...
Monday, October 8, 2007
in the last 4 days i...
...
*shook hands and posed for a picture with a local sweets chef
*visited an awesome art gallery
*caught crabs by the sea
*saw a bunch of my boys on the train [they were going to a handball tournament!!!]
*played hide-and-seek with 4 little japanese cuties
*spent 3 hours straight on skype!!!!
*had my favorite starbucks drink [and ordered it in japanese]
*played dutch blitz!
*taught a special ed class which was "very very enjoy!!" :)
*visited my first "recycle shop"
*made a great new friend [mei-chan!!! "no licking"]
*got some hugs*
*learned a bunch of new japanese words/ phrases
*sang and danced to under the sea
*read 2 books straight through
*missed my brother like crazy
*laughed with some favorites
*shook hands and posed for a picture with a local sweets chef
*visited an awesome art gallery
*caught crabs by the sea
*saw a bunch of my boys on the train [they were going to a handball tournament!!!]
*played hide-and-seek with 4 little japanese cuties
*spent 3 hours straight on skype!!!!
*had my favorite starbucks drink [and ordered it in japanese]
*played dutch blitz!
*taught a special ed class which was "very very enjoy!!" :)
*visited my first "recycle shop"
*made a great new friend [mei-chan!!! "no licking"]
*got some hugs*
*learned a bunch of new japanese words/ phrases
*sang and danced to under the sea
*read 2 books straight through
*missed my brother like crazy
*laughed with some favorites
Thursday, October 4, 2007
trivia
i have a ton of random excerpts of humor and just straight-up bizarre happenings. here goes:
*the difference between the japanese words for cute and scary are just the slightest lengthening of the last sound. i'm pretty sure i have exclaimed to multiple parents how frightened i am by their adorable child. i know the difference, but just can't master the pronunciation under pressure :)
*at school, everyone runs everywhere. teachers run from their desk to the window sill shelf, to their classrooms. students run into the staff room, back out, down the stairs, and to their classrooms. i am constantly amazed by the running, which only saves about 1/2 second since its not really a long hike to the window shelf.
*i have been incredibly cautious to put my cell phone on "manner mode" every day before i leave my apartment. i realize after 8 weeks that its completely unnecessary bc everyone answers their cell phones at work. they are always startling me out of boredom with hip, youthful ringtones. oh, japan, you and your technology!
*a few weeks ago i was at my elementary school and there's one story that absolutely epitomizes the wonder of that place. it was still really hot outside so i arrived at school sweaty. about an hour into the morning, my fav man there asked me if i was cold. i said no, i'm great. i was surprised he asked me that since like i said, it was still super hot. later that afternoon he said "kelly-san, you keep coughing. i thought you were cold because you were coughing" :) AH i didnt even notice i was coughing!!!! golly, see why i love it there?!
*japanese people cannot stop saying "sumimasen" [sort of used as excuse me or i'm sorry, depending on the circumstances]!!! ... its an absolute trip to listen in on a conversation between a hokubu teacher and someone they call on the phone. ann does a hysterical imitation, but i cant do it justice and nobody outside japan would understand. basically, they are just attempting to be as polite as is humanly possible. it turns out hilarious, though, when you translate it into english. basically any time someone talks to me, they say "sorry". haha. like "sorry, this afternoon we will have 2-4 and we will do page 46 in the textbook" or "sorry, can you tell me how to say this correctly in english?" i'm getting used to it, i guess. i even have caught myself doing it too!!!
**this morning i had a moment i think every teacher dreams of. first, a little background: there's a student in my special needs class who never says a word of english. she doesnt really even speak japanese either. i think she is emotionally disturbed, but thats only an uneducated guess. her name is Maeda. i always call her Maeda-san, hoping that the hint of japanese will get her. i have been working creatively and consistently ever since i arrived to have even the tiniest bit of communication. last week i taught the class the names of some farm animals and she was thrilled with the tiny pig, chick, horse, and cow i let her play with. i knew i was making some progress but wasnt sure of the extent. this week she finally waved to me, and i was on cloud nine.
SO this morning i walked into school a little tired and with my usual uncertainty about how the day would go. as soon as i came through the front door, there was maeda-san with the school nurse. she nurse said "kelly-sensei!" and maeda-san grinned. i said "ohaiyo gozaimas!! good morning!!!" with a huge smile. i walked over to them after changing my shoes and maeda had this tiny little pink sign with the words "good morning" written in english. she waved the sign at me and smiled again!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was the most absolutely darling thing. i got tears in my eyes and told her i was coming to her class to teach english today. the nurse translated into english and maeda-san grinned while the nurse said "YAY!!"
:)
*the difference between the japanese words for cute and scary are just the slightest lengthening of the last sound. i'm pretty sure i have exclaimed to multiple parents how frightened i am by their adorable child. i know the difference, but just can't master the pronunciation under pressure :)
*at school, everyone runs everywhere. teachers run from their desk to the window sill shelf, to their classrooms. students run into the staff room, back out, down the stairs, and to their classrooms. i am constantly amazed by the running, which only saves about 1/2 second since its not really a long hike to the window shelf.
*i have been incredibly cautious to put my cell phone on "manner mode" every day before i leave my apartment. i realize after 8 weeks that its completely unnecessary bc everyone answers their cell phones at work. they are always startling me out of boredom with hip, youthful ringtones. oh, japan, you and your technology!
*a few weeks ago i was at my elementary school and there's one story that absolutely epitomizes the wonder of that place. it was still really hot outside so i arrived at school sweaty. about an hour into the morning, my fav man there asked me if i was cold. i said no, i'm great. i was surprised he asked me that since like i said, it was still super hot. later that afternoon he said "kelly-san, you keep coughing. i thought you were cold because you were coughing" :) AH i didnt even notice i was coughing!!!! golly, see why i love it there?!
*japanese people cannot stop saying "sumimasen" [sort of used as excuse me or i'm sorry, depending on the circumstances]!!! ... its an absolute trip to listen in on a conversation between a hokubu teacher and someone they call on the phone. ann does a hysterical imitation, but i cant do it justice and nobody outside japan would understand. basically, they are just attempting to be as polite as is humanly possible. it turns out hilarious, though, when you translate it into english. basically any time someone talks to me, they say "sorry". haha. like "sorry, this afternoon we will have 2-4 and we will do page 46 in the textbook" or "sorry, can you tell me how to say this correctly in english?" i'm getting used to it, i guess. i even have caught myself doing it too!!!
**this morning i had a moment i think every teacher dreams of. first, a little background: there's a student in my special needs class who never says a word of english. she doesnt really even speak japanese either. i think she is emotionally disturbed, but thats only an uneducated guess. her name is Maeda. i always call her Maeda-san, hoping that the hint of japanese will get her. i have been working creatively and consistently ever since i arrived to have even the tiniest bit of communication. last week i taught the class the names of some farm animals and she was thrilled with the tiny pig, chick, horse, and cow i let her play with. i knew i was making some progress but wasnt sure of the extent. this week she finally waved to me, and i was on cloud nine.
SO this morning i walked into school a little tired and with my usual uncertainty about how the day would go. as soon as i came through the front door, there was maeda-san with the school nurse. she nurse said "kelly-sensei!" and maeda-san grinned. i said "ohaiyo gozaimas!! good morning!!!" with a huge smile. i walked over to them after changing my shoes and maeda had this tiny little pink sign with the words "good morning" written in english. she waved the sign at me and smiled again!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was the most absolutely darling thing. i got tears in my eyes and told her i was coming to her class to teach english today. the nurse translated into english and maeda-san grinned while the nurse said "YAY!!"
:)
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
already october
["street dance"-- totally rad!]
[a mexican song and dance]"kelly-san, today you had much free time"
...yeah, no kidding. i sat in the staff room for 5 hours doing nothing of consequence. why didn't you have me go to my elementary school where at least i would have been seeing students...
i was feeling pretty grouchy by the time i left school at 4:05 this afternoon. there are TONS of things on my list that need to get done, but none could be accomplished at school.
the only class i taught today was the 3rd year english elective. fortunately, that was super fun and the girls were wicked chatty. my teacher asked me to please not talk to them because they needed to write :)
the pictures above are from an international fest i attended yesterday. there were mostly japanese people as spectators, but they had some variety in terms of performances... i met some filippino guys who are in takaoka for 3 years training for their company. the one i talked to was super nice and i wished meliss was here so we could hang out with them together.
currently i am thinking about what christmas gifts to buy everyone, how best to decorate the international room for our school festival in 3 1/2 weeks, and what to put on the bulletin board about popular music in the u.s. my teacher seemed THRILLED with my music idea; now i just have to figure out the logistics and get some cool photos!
other than a wet ride to school [it ONLY poured while i was riding my bike; the entire rest of the day it was just cool and cloudy; what are the odds?!?!], i am absolutely LOVING fall here! i noticed that some of the leaves are changing already and the cool weather makes me :)
[i have added a photo blog; the link is on the right of the screen. check it out if you like!]
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