OK, it's not vacation. I have been ordered to remain at home and under quarantine because I came into contact with a person testing positive for the H1N1 Influenza virus.
So here I am, 9:40 in the morning, writing my blog and thinking about going back to bed. After all, what else will I do other than sleep while I wait for WoW to come back online.
All kidding aside, there are some rather uncomfortable realities at work here that make this whole affair rather unwelcome.
First is that my laptop is at work. While this isn't in and of itself a problem, there are some files on there that I need to continue work on a powerpoint presentation I'm to give at this years JET orientation.
Next is the fact that my friend Fran is coming on Saturday. I don't suspect there will be any difficulties, but I'm knocking on wood and taking my temperature every few hours just to be sure.
After that is the fact that I have asthma. In the US, I've read that 1 in 3 patients diagnosed with the swine flu has asthma, and that this is a veritable risk factor whose ultimate symptom could be death! YIKES!!
Thankfully, no symptoms yet, and if my asthma starts to get twitchy, my awesome doctor, with ingenious foresight, prescribed me a couple of days worth of Prednisone.
The last thing of course is the possible parallels with the 1918 Spanish Flu. According to Wikipedia, "[i]t was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1" and there were two waves. The first wave started in March, and "the epidemic resembled typical flu epidemics." But there was a second, deadlier wave that occurred in August of that year, where "the virus had mutated to a much more deadly form." This is what infected 500 million people and killed some 50-100 million of them.
Our pandemic started in April, and so if the pattern follows, we'd see a second wave in September. With news of a new Tamiflu-resistant strain, coupled with the fact that September is notorious around the world for being a month in which more people suffer asthma attacks, this whole pandemic thing has gotten me just a little bit worried.
Showing posts with label School Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School Life. Show all posts
7/14/2009
3/05/2009
Yes we can!
That ever popular slogan has graced the pages of the program for this school year's last Class Match day.
Also, a little late, but I just found this picture in the recesses of my camera phone. Way to shoot for the stars kid!
Also, a little late, but I just found this picture in the recesses of my camera phone. Way to shoot for the stars kid!
2/13/2009
OMFG my students rock!
While not for my class, this is a short story written for my co-ALT's exam. The question asks for a retelling of the Princess and the Pea. While not strictly true to the plot of the story (and not to mention that the students were given the question beforehand), the results are BY FAR the funniest thing I have ever seen one of my students write. Much props to him.
As the picture is hard to read, here's a transcription:
Once there was a prince who lived in New York. One day, he got married to a princess of countless beauty. She was indeed very, very beautiful. But, she was so violent and lazy. Prince had a fight with his wife every day. After a week, they got a divorce. After three weeks, Prince got married to her mother. She was 65 years old, but she has a good figure.
He made love to her every night.
And they lived happily ever after.
From the mouth of babes...
 |
| From LOL |
As the picture is hard to read, here's a transcription:
Once there was a prince who lived in New York. One day, he got married to a princess of countless beauty. She was indeed very, very beautiful. But, she was so violent and lazy. Prince had a fight with his wife every day. After a week, they got a divorce. After three weeks, Prince got married to her mother. She was 65 years old, but she has a good figure.
He made love to her every night.
And they lived happily ever after.
From the mouth of babes...
11/28/2008
Sometimes marking tests can be fun.
For example, this gem written by one of my students:
"I think your ring tone is very big! It make me irregular."
Not a function I want on my mobile.
"I think your ring tone is very big! It make me irregular."
Not a function I want on my mobile.
10/28/2008
Random ranting before 8am
Watching the news this morning, I just saw a story of a high school, whose principal, in order to ensure that good hard working students got into his school, denied entry to some examinees despite passing the entrance exam. The reasons were due to bad manners and untidy dress.
Alright, so I do believe that no student should be denied an education, and in an era where Japan is starting to feel the population decline (3 schools near mine are reducing their class numbers from 8 to 6, and the elementary school near my aunt's apartment had a mere 28 1st graders), a school needs to get as many students as possible, for school revenue and possibly government bonuses. From an economic stand point, and an idealistic stand point, the principal's actions don't make sense.
But am I wrong in wondering why the principal is being punished for trying establish standards at his school? Yes, while it is very probable that the students who dressed untidily and had bad manners would grow out of that awkward and rebellious 14th year of life, for many students high school is simply a continuation of junior high school, where they are spoon-fed information without deeper/critical analysis, to be regurgitated during their college/university exams. For many of these students, there will be no noticeable change in environment, save that the subject matter is a little harder.
I remember my entrance into high school. I worried about bullies and being shoved into lockers, but also of getting to choose my courses, and having to manage my own workload. In other words, it was my first steps into the world of adulthood. There was a definite difference is atmosphere from JHS to HS. And with the chance of failure real (and in my case performed in practice), suddenly my own efforts were truly required to ensure I passed.
OK, so that may be a little more ideal than I remember, but the sentiment is true nevertheless. In Japan, smarter students attended higher academic schools. Their chance of failure is real. But the students always have a back up, and it is rare that a student serious about attending high school will fail their back up. So a student is almost guaranteed to progress. So is failure to get into a school of choice truly a roadblock?
Students should be helped. That is indeed one of a teacher's many duties. But it's also a duty to teach students that failure has real consequences. A slacker, extra-academic issues notwithstanding, should not be allowed to pass into the following grade year with an academic history of all failures. Yet due to Japan's obsessive compulsion for group unity, such students are dragged along.
The fundamental problem is this: there is no real penalty for failure in the Japanese education system. A student who fails a test (for which, I will add, the passing grade is 40%) receives no academic penalty other than a stern talking to. Come hell or high water, that student WILL go on to the next grade level with all of his or her schoolmates.
So I personally applaud that principal, who tried to establish standards in his school. A principal who tried to send a message to the parents of the students who passed the paper test but failed the attitude test, that their shoddy and ineffective parenting is not to be tolerated. A principal that said that there both student must be held responsible for not only academic standards, but for social standards as well, and that a parent cannot simply hand a student to a school and expect a teacher to be a surrogate parent.
Sadly, I'm in the minority opinion here.
Alright, so I do believe that no student should be denied an education, and in an era where Japan is starting to feel the population decline (3 schools near mine are reducing their class numbers from 8 to 6, and the elementary school near my aunt's apartment had a mere 28 1st graders), a school needs to get as many students as possible, for school revenue and possibly government bonuses. From an economic stand point, and an idealistic stand point, the principal's actions don't make sense.
But am I wrong in wondering why the principal is being punished for trying establish standards at his school? Yes, while it is very probable that the students who dressed untidily and had bad manners would grow out of that awkward and rebellious 14th year of life, for many students high school is simply a continuation of junior high school, where they are spoon-fed information without deeper/critical analysis, to be regurgitated during their college/university exams. For many of these students, there will be no noticeable change in environment, save that the subject matter is a little harder.
I remember my entrance into high school. I worried about bullies and being shoved into lockers, but also of getting to choose my courses, and having to manage my own workload. In other words, it was my first steps into the world of adulthood. There was a definite difference is atmosphere from JHS to HS. And with the chance of failure real (and in my case performed in practice), suddenly my own efforts were truly required to ensure I passed.
OK, so that may be a little more ideal than I remember, but the sentiment is true nevertheless. In Japan, smarter students attended higher academic schools. Their chance of failure is real. But the students always have a back up, and it is rare that a student serious about attending high school will fail their back up. So a student is almost guaranteed to progress. So is failure to get into a school of choice truly a roadblock?
Students should be helped. That is indeed one of a teacher's many duties. But it's also a duty to teach students that failure has real consequences. A slacker, extra-academic issues notwithstanding, should not be allowed to pass into the following grade year with an academic history of all failures. Yet due to Japan's obsessive compulsion for group unity, such students are dragged along.
The fundamental problem is this: there is no real penalty for failure in the Japanese education system. A student who fails a test (for which, I will add, the passing grade is 40%) receives no academic penalty other than a stern talking to. Come hell or high water, that student WILL go on to the next grade level with all of his or her schoolmates.
So I personally applaud that principal, who tried to establish standards in his school. A principal who tried to send a message to the parents of the students who passed the paper test but failed the attitude test, that their shoddy and ineffective parenting is not to be tolerated. A principal that said that there both student must be held responsible for not only academic standards, but for social standards as well, and that a parent cannot simply hand a student to a school and expect a teacher to be a surrogate parent.
Sadly, I'm in the minority opinion here.
10/14/2008
My students write some funny English.
From the text to be studied:
"Chinese people, due to changing lifestyles and a strong advertising push by some dairy companies, are increasingly choosing milk formula over breastfeeding."
The question on the test:
Why do some young Chinese mothers choose milk formula instead of breastfeeding?
The answer:
Some mothers are choosing milk formula because of advertising push by daily computers.
I chortled mightily.
PS: In defense of the student, this person did quite well. I think it was a momentary lapse of focus (dairy => daiLy, and the class is called Computer/LL).
"Chinese people, due to changing lifestyles and a strong advertising push by some dairy companies, are increasingly choosing milk formula over breastfeeding."
The question on the test:
Why do some young Chinese mothers choose milk formula instead of breastfeeding?
The answer:
Some mothers are choosing milk formula because of advertising push by daily computers.
I chortled mightily.
PS: In defense of the student, this person did quite well. I think it was a momentary lapse of focus (dairy => daiLy, and the class is called Computer/LL).
3/21/2007
The end of the year
Well, March 20th has come and gone, and so has the end of my first school year here. Lets rewind a bit, because I've been lazy, to March 1st, when the 3rd years graduated. I had dim recollections of my own graduations, first from Japanese school and second from high school, but I don't think they were as initially boring as this one was.
Japanese ceremonies seem to all be made of standing, bowing, sitting, speech-making, all in that order repeated ad nauseum. Add to that the fact that the gymnasium isn't heated. It's a wonder everyone wasn't falling asleep. Still, the latter half was as emotionally charged as a graduation ought to be. I was a little misty-eyed, but I'll be honest and say I almost lost it when the 3rd Year rep broke down in tears during her thank you speech. In the aftermath, I think it was a pretty touching ceremony.
Fast-forward to last week. Class match, where the kids from each class squared-off against each other in various sports. Sadly, the weather was uncooperative, and it was raining all day. It was truly cold and miserably, and in the end all the sports were cancelled and replaced with table-tennis. In the end, I think the kids enjoyed it, or at least, enjoyed not being out in the rain. Some of them I'm sure had rebounds of colds or influenza, which has been kicking the shit out of the students for at least 3 weeks now.
Yesterday was the last day of school, coupled with the revealing of who got in and who didn't to Genkai High School. A little bit of explanation here is in order. First, entrance into high school, any high school in Japan, rests on an entrance exam. It is this exam that kids spend at least a year, and for some the entire 3 years of Junior High School, preparing for.
Students can take 2 exams. The first is for a private high school, which is less desirable as the tuition costs are higher and are thought to offer a lower level of education. Which this is not true, it's hard to break out of that preconception. All of these private school exams take place on the same day, and are usually fairly easy, so as to almost ensure success. The reason for this is the other exam.
Prefectural (or public) high schools are the other exam. Thought to be more prestigious and offer a higher level of education, the primary consideration is it's lower tuition costs. These too are held all on the same day (but on a different, later day than the private school exams), and are intentionally harder to weed out the students.
Of course all students know this, so virtually all students study like maniacs in their last year to prepare for this. All schools offer a limited number of spots (for Genkai, for example, we had 320 regular spots open, and 40 International Culture Course spots open), so competition is fierce. The private school exams are held before so as to shift expectations, so that if you do well or poorly on that exam, you can adjust which public school exam you can go. Genkai is a mid-academic school, where as some place like Fukuoka high school is a high academic, and the exams given reflect this.
This year, we had 595 regular course applicants, and 49 ICC applicants. Around 9am, most of the students converged on the signboards displaying the student numbers of those who succeeded. Screams of joy abounded, as well as I'm sure shocked kids who slinked away in tears. What happened to them? Were they the stupid kids? Just unlucky that day? Somehow I don't think so. It's a tragedy inherent in the Japanese education system that puts 15 year old kids through a pressure cooker. Those kids that didn't make it failed to get in because they might have lost a single point somewhere on their exam, or scored the same but failed the interview portion because they didn't participate in club activities in JHS, perhaps ironically because they were preparing to get into high school. Most of the more forward thinking teachers seem to feel that this is something that needs to be addressed, but ultimately, save for a complete revamping of the system, any changes would be merely cosmetic. Still, this is something that all Japanese kids know and understand, and oddly, I think any other system would feel strange to them.
Back to the last day of school, the closing ceremony had it's requisite bows, but was over pretty quickly. The rest of the day was a sort of dreamy day, as those teachers getting transfered or leaving the profession cleared out their desks. It was a good chance for me to do a little spring cleaning on my desk.
Later than night, we had our 2nd Year Teachers End of the Year Enkai. It was, as always loads of fun, but ended badly for me when I discovered I had left my wallet somewhere. I knew were I had left it, checkout register #4 at the Kinokuniya bookstore nearby. Unfortunately, the store was closed. Oddly, knowing that I had left it there, I wasn't really flapping or anything. The most dominant feeling in my gut was that I didn't want to have to bother coming all the way back to Hakata to get my wallet. Luckily, an employee checking the doors came by. I knocked hard, probably scaring him, and he told us (my supervisor, bless his heart, was with me) that the wallet had been taken to the building security office. We went down, talked to the security guards, identified my wallet and left a happy man.
Nothing like a little bit of drama on a Tuesday night.
Japanese ceremonies seem to all be made of standing, bowing, sitting, speech-making, all in that order repeated ad nauseum. Add to that the fact that the gymnasium isn't heated. It's a wonder everyone wasn't falling asleep. Still, the latter half was as emotionally charged as a graduation ought to be. I was a little misty-eyed, but I'll be honest and say I almost lost it when the 3rd Year rep broke down in tears during her thank you speech. In the aftermath, I think it was a pretty touching ceremony.
Fast-forward to last week. Class match, where the kids from each class squared-off against each other in various sports. Sadly, the weather was uncooperative, and it was raining all day. It was truly cold and miserably, and in the end all the sports were cancelled and replaced with table-tennis. In the end, I think the kids enjoyed it, or at least, enjoyed not being out in the rain. Some of them I'm sure had rebounds of colds or influenza, which has been kicking the shit out of the students for at least 3 weeks now.
Yesterday was the last day of school, coupled with the revealing of who got in and who didn't to Genkai High School. A little bit of explanation here is in order. First, entrance into high school, any high school in Japan, rests on an entrance exam. It is this exam that kids spend at least a year, and for some the entire 3 years of Junior High School, preparing for.
Students can take 2 exams. The first is for a private high school, which is less desirable as the tuition costs are higher and are thought to offer a lower level of education. Which this is not true, it's hard to break out of that preconception. All of these private school exams take place on the same day, and are usually fairly easy, so as to almost ensure success. The reason for this is the other exam.
Prefectural (or public) high schools are the other exam. Thought to be more prestigious and offer a higher level of education, the primary consideration is it's lower tuition costs. These too are held all on the same day (but on a different, later day than the private school exams), and are intentionally harder to weed out the students.
Of course all students know this, so virtually all students study like maniacs in their last year to prepare for this. All schools offer a limited number of spots (for Genkai, for example, we had 320 regular spots open, and 40 International Culture Course spots open), so competition is fierce. The private school exams are held before so as to shift expectations, so that if you do well or poorly on that exam, you can adjust which public school exam you can go. Genkai is a mid-academic school, where as some place like Fukuoka high school is a high academic, and the exams given reflect this.
This year, we had 595 regular course applicants, and 49 ICC applicants. Around 9am, most of the students converged on the signboards displaying the student numbers of those who succeeded. Screams of joy abounded, as well as I'm sure shocked kids who slinked away in tears. What happened to them? Were they the stupid kids? Just unlucky that day? Somehow I don't think so. It's a tragedy inherent in the Japanese education system that puts 15 year old kids through a pressure cooker. Those kids that didn't make it failed to get in because they might have lost a single point somewhere on their exam, or scored the same but failed the interview portion because they didn't participate in club activities in JHS, perhaps ironically because they were preparing to get into high school. Most of the more forward thinking teachers seem to feel that this is something that needs to be addressed, but ultimately, save for a complete revamping of the system, any changes would be merely cosmetic. Still, this is something that all Japanese kids know and understand, and oddly, I think any other system would feel strange to them.
Back to the last day of school, the closing ceremony had it's requisite bows, but was over pretty quickly. The rest of the day was a sort of dreamy day, as those teachers getting transfered or leaving the profession cleared out their desks. It was a good chance for me to do a little spring cleaning on my desk.
Later than night, we had our 2nd Year Teachers End of the Year Enkai. It was, as always loads of fun, but ended badly for me when I discovered I had left my wallet somewhere. I knew were I had left it, checkout register #4 at the Kinokuniya bookstore nearby. Unfortunately, the store was closed. Oddly, knowing that I had left it there, I wasn't really flapping or anything. The most dominant feeling in my gut was that I didn't want to have to bother coming all the way back to Hakata to get my wallet. Luckily, an employee checking the doors came by. I knocked hard, probably scaring him, and he told us (my supervisor, bless his heart, was with me) that the wallet had been taken to the building security office. We went down, talked to the security guards, identified my wallet and left a happy man.
Nothing like a little bit of drama on a Tuesday night.
1/31/2007
Class 3-1, secure from Computer LL
Eventful week for me. In the wake of my recontracting news, I got my copy of WoW: Burning Crusade, and this week, so far, has been sorta busy with my Monday schedule being (my heaviest) being repeated today. Being the last day of January, it was also the last day of classes for the 3rd Years.
Really, classes for them essentially ended in December. With only a month left, and no more testing save for their various entrance exams, we did mostly make-work...or did we? When I look at the things I did for 3-1 when I got here, and what I got accomplished with them from mid-November till today, the latter half was much more unified and cohesive. Part of it of course is that I had better, goal-oriented activities, a result of the on-the-job training during my first few months. I think as well that it was during this time the class finally warmed up to me, and me to them. The last week of classes I had with them were essentially student-run, in that they decided what they wanted to do, and I facilitated. While it was a lot of work (preping 2 days of Jeopardy games is labour intensive), it was worthwhile.
Today, however, was the last day, and that warranted a special treat. While I like spoiling my kids silly, I think this was a great way to end the class. I played music, a mix CD that I made (which now all the kids want copies of), and the main activity was Bingo. Not English bingo, or vocab bingo, or any of the other activities that ALTs all over Japan use, but plain ol' vanilla bingo. The bingo-ball dispenser I bought from a store down-town, along with the prizes. First prize was the Right/Wrong Buzzer I've used so often in class. Second was a Nightmare Before Christmas card wallet, and 3 third prizes of giant Disney-themed pocky.
Of course it was a hit, and I had a blast doing it. They are a truly great bunch of kids, and I'll miss them. Of course, the flip side is that I don't have any more 3rd year classes, and I have my Thursdays completely free. Good thing I bought some DS Kanji training software.
Really, classes for them essentially ended in December. With only a month left, and no more testing save for their various entrance exams, we did mostly make-work...or did we? When I look at the things I did for 3-1 when I got here, and what I got accomplished with them from mid-November till today, the latter half was much more unified and cohesive. Part of it of course is that I had better, goal-oriented activities, a result of the on-the-job training during my first few months. I think as well that it was during this time the class finally warmed up to me, and me to them. The last week of classes I had with them were essentially student-run, in that they decided what they wanted to do, and I facilitated. While it was a lot of work (preping 2 days of Jeopardy games is labour intensive), it was worthwhile.
Today, however, was the last day, and that warranted a special treat. While I like spoiling my kids silly, I think this was a great way to end the class. I played music, a mix CD that I made (which now all the kids want copies of), and the main activity was Bingo. Not English bingo, or vocab bingo, or any of the other activities that ALTs all over Japan use, but plain ol' vanilla bingo. The bingo-ball dispenser I bought from a store down-town, along with the prizes. First prize was the Right/Wrong Buzzer I've used so often in class. Second was a Nightmare Before Christmas card wallet, and 3 third prizes of giant Disney-themed pocky.
Of course it was a hit, and I had a blast doing it. They are a truly great bunch of kids, and I'll miss them. Of course, the flip side is that I don't have any more 3rd year classes, and I have my Thursdays completely free. Good thing I bought some DS Kanji training software.
12/26/2006
Happy Holidays
Well, it's a bit late, but Merry Christmas everyone.
It's been a while since I've updated this blog, no doubt owing to the normality creeping into my life in Japan. In the month and a half that I've remained absent from this blog, a few things have happened.
First, I have put in my papers to recontract for another year. It's hard to believe that 1/3 of my first year here is already finished. While I know a few people that are going back after this year, for me and many other JETs, 1 year is far too short. There's a general consensus that after your first year, you finally start getting the hang of the job.
What else? Winter. I'll say it now, winter sucks here. It's been unseasonably mild here this year, but that still doesn't mean it's not cold. Mostly, it's the lack of insulation in my apartment. While I've managed to take some steps, including foam-tape to stop drafts (or is that draughts...), bubble wrap on the windows (yes, this is an insulating material), it doesn't change the fact that underneath the bamboo tatami mats that cover the floor is bare concrete. This is a heat-sink par excellence, and regardless of what I do, my apartment is back to only a few degrees above outside ambient in about 20 minutes.
So my best friend right now is my kerosene fan heater. While my AC unit does have a heater function, it's just not enough to heat the room. The kerosene heater on the other hand warms the room nicely, and quickly. After all, it's using a fan to blow air over an open kerosene gas flame.
It's not without it's down side though. As this is a new model, there's virtually no kerosene odor--just at the start and end, where some kerosene residue is left over. However, it does leech oxygen out of the air, meaning that once an hour, I need to open a window or one of my sliding doors to recycle the air. Also, kerosene is relatively expensive. At about $14 for 18 litres, in the end it ends up being more expensive than if I was running my AC unit. While mileage varies, 1 18-litre gas container generally lasts me about a week.
School, of course is great as always. While it took a while, my students are really warming up to me. It's odd, cause I'm always waving at someone at school. While my students now that I speak Japanese, I only really use it with my 2nd and 3rd years, and then usually only outside of class.
While school was fairly busy, especially during the exam period, my last week there was deadly boring. Of course, the 18th marked the official end of the term, but the kids still have class, until the 28th. While it's only in the morning, it still means that winter holidays for them is only about 6 days long. How does this affect me? It doesn't. I don't have classes scheduled during this time, but I still have to go into work, unless I take vacation time (which I have). No lessons, nothing that needs planning. Filling a chair for 8 hours a day with out any work duties is BORING. While the 19th was a hectic and long day planning and executing the English club Christmas party, the rest of the time was filled with creative writing, reading, solitaire on my laptop, defragging my laptop, and drinking many cups of coffee. Personally, I can't wait to get back in January.
Well, that's about it for me for now. So to all my friends and family, Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best in the New Year.
It's been a while since I've updated this blog, no doubt owing to the normality creeping into my life in Japan. In the month and a half that I've remained absent from this blog, a few things have happened.
First, I have put in my papers to recontract for another year. It's hard to believe that 1/3 of my first year here is already finished. While I know a few people that are going back after this year, for me and many other JETs, 1 year is far too short. There's a general consensus that after your first year, you finally start getting the hang of the job.
What else? Winter. I'll say it now, winter sucks here. It's been unseasonably mild here this year, but that still doesn't mean it's not cold. Mostly, it's the lack of insulation in my apartment. While I've managed to take some steps, including foam-tape to stop drafts (or is that draughts...), bubble wrap on the windows (yes, this is an insulating material), it doesn't change the fact that underneath the bamboo tatami mats that cover the floor is bare concrete. This is a heat-sink par excellence, and regardless of what I do, my apartment is back to only a few degrees above outside ambient in about 20 minutes.
So my best friend right now is my kerosene fan heater. While my AC unit does have a heater function, it's just not enough to heat the room. The kerosene heater on the other hand warms the room nicely, and quickly. After all, it's using a fan to blow air over an open kerosene gas flame.
It's not without it's down side though. As this is a new model, there's virtually no kerosene odor--just at the start and end, where some kerosene residue is left over. However, it does leech oxygen out of the air, meaning that once an hour, I need to open a window or one of my sliding doors to recycle the air. Also, kerosene is relatively expensive. At about $14 for 18 litres, in the end it ends up being more expensive than if I was running my AC unit. While mileage varies, 1 18-litre gas container generally lasts me about a week.
School, of course is great as always. While it took a while, my students are really warming up to me. It's odd, cause I'm always waving at someone at school. While my students now that I speak Japanese, I only really use it with my 2nd and 3rd years, and then usually only outside of class.
While school was fairly busy, especially during the exam period, my last week there was deadly boring. Of course, the 18th marked the official end of the term, but the kids still have class, until the 28th. While it's only in the morning, it still means that winter holidays for them is only about 6 days long. How does this affect me? It doesn't. I don't have classes scheduled during this time, but I still have to go into work, unless I take vacation time (which I have). No lessons, nothing that needs planning. Filling a chair for 8 hours a day with out any work duties is BORING. While the 19th was a hectic and long day planning and executing the English club Christmas party, the rest of the time was filled with creative writing, reading, solitaire on my laptop, defragging my laptop, and drinking many cups of coffee. Personally, I can't wait to get back in January.
Well, that's about it for me for now. So to all my friends and family, Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best in the New Year.
11/05/2006
Happy 20th Genkai
Last week was a very long for me, and my overall health took a beating. Of course, I didn't help it any by eating basically crap all week, but it truly was pretty busy.
The beginning of the week started with a weekend of long shopping days, due to my dad's arrival and subsequent departure. While it was fun to spend time with the family, it was a pretty tiring affair. But I got to show my dad my apartment here, and we visited the school and met a few of my teachers. It was pretty fun.
The 31st was of course Halloween, and so I spent most of the day giving out candy, and wrapped it up with the ESS Halloween party. Fun times, but hauling candy and my costume (I did a whole Jason thing from Friday the 13th) was tough work.
The next day was business as usual, and Thursday marked the beginning of a long 3 days. Thursday afternoon was devoted to a rehearsal of the 20th anniversary ceremony for Genkai H.S. Lots of standing and bowing, though the assembly was capped by a special guest speaker, an Olympic Judo champ and Japanese hero, Toshihiko Koga. His speech was inspirational, if a bit on the long side. Friday, which was a national holiday, was in fact a workday for me, with a dress rehearsal and an afternoon of prep work for the ceremony. Saturday, we were at school at 8am for the real deal.
To the credit of all involved, the ceremony went off without a hitch, and the kids really showed their stuff. Many of the diginitaries were impressed by how well manner the kids were. Afterwards, the teachers and other various guests were bussed to nearby Hakozaki, part of what might as well be considered the Greater Fukuoka-city Area. At a swanky looking hotel, we had our reception/enkai. More speeches, made all the better with good food and nomi-houdai beer and spirits (that's all-you-can-drink). I was buzzed by 2pm, and I remained in this state for the next 12 hours.
The enkai ended at around 4pm, and I headed home. By then, I was completely exhausted, but I still had a dinner at the neighbours' apartment, and a karaoke session to go. I almost fell asleep at home, but made it to the neighbour's apartment. There, a nabe (hot pot) dinner, more drinking courtesy of my ALT friend Jon, and by 10:30 or so we were off to karaoke. There, we were met by more ALTs, and a 3 hour drinking, singing, laughing and dancing party ensued. It was fun as all hell, but left my throat raw.
So now it's Sunday evening. Somewhere between yesterday and today, I caught a cold, so I've felt kinda miserable all day. I slept almost all of today (with 2 brief excursions, for food and meds), and luckily, I get tomorrow off for the Friday we had to work last week.
Catching a cold sucks. Nevertheless, A Very Happy 20th Genkai H.S.
The beginning of the week started with a weekend of long shopping days, due to my dad's arrival and subsequent departure. While it was fun to spend time with the family, it was a pretty tiring affair. But I got to show my dad my apartment here, and we visited the school and met a few of my teachers. It was pretty fun.
The 31st was of course Halloween, and so I spent most of the day giving out candy, and wrapped it up with the ESS Halloween party. Fun times, but hauling candy and my costume (I did a whole Jason thing from Friday the 13th) was tough work.
The next day was business as usual, and Thursday marked the beginning of a long 3 days. Thursday afternoon was devoted to a rehearsal of the 20th anniversary ceremony for Genkai H.S. Lots of standing and bowing, though the assembly was capped by a special guest speaker, an Olympic Judo champ and Japanese hero, Toshihiko Koga. His speech was inspirational, if a bit on the long side. Friday, which was a national holiday, was in fact a workday for me, with a dress rehearsal and an afternoon of prep work for the ceremony. Saturday, we were at school at 8am for the real deal.
To the credit of all involved, the ceremony went off without a hitch, and the kids really showed their stuff. Many of the diginitaries were impressed by how well manner the kids were. Afterwards, the teachers and other various guests were bussed to nearby Hakozaki, part of what might as well be considered the Greater Fukuoka-city Area. At a swanky looking hotel, we had our reception/enkai. More speeches, made all the better with good food and nomi-houdai beer and spirits (that's all-you-can-drink). I was buzzed by 2pm, and I remained in this state for the next 12 hours.
The enkai ended at around 4pm, and I headed home. By then, I was completely exhausted, but I still had a dinner at the neighbours' apartment, and a karaoke session to go. I almost fell asleep at home, but made it to the neighbour's apartment. There, a nabe (hot pot) dinner, more drinking courtesy of my ALT friend Jon, and by 10:30 or so we were off to karaoke. There, we were met by more ALTs, and a 3 hour drinking, singing, laughing and dancing party ensued. It was fun as all hell, but left my throat raw.
So now it's Sunday evening. Somewhere between yesterday and today, I caught a cold, so I've felt kinda miserable all day. I slept almost all of today (with 2 brief excursions, for food and meds), and luckily, I get tomorrow off for the Friday we had to work last week.
Catching a cold sucks. Nevertheless, A Very Happy 20th Genkai H.S.
9/09/2006
Sports Day
What a crazy day it was.
September 9th marked the culmination of the students 2-week (or in some cases more) preparation of their annual taikusai, or sports day. In the dim recesses of my mind, I recall sports day from my elementary school time with some distaste. Never a good sports athlete, it was my time to try to hide and be inconspicuous.
While there was no doubt more than a few students who must have felt that way yesterday, I was nevertheless audience to an amazing spectacle.
Let me give you a little background first, on the Japanese education system. Unlike in Toronto, where I had attendence taken at Homeroom before hurrying off to my first class (when I went), here, the students remain in the same room (their homeroom) the whole day, and the teachers come to them.
I won't at this time get into the disadvantages this kind of system has on the overall growth and learning of children. However, there are some interesting advantages here that pertain to sports day.
The first is that the homeroom becomes the de facto social unit for many of the students. This is not to say that they don't fraternise with other classes--they do, and quite often. However, by remaining in a single classroom, surrounded by the same peers, taking the same classes, having the same teachers, all serves to reinforce the unity of the classroom. We, as social animals, tend I think to differentiate ourselves from others by examining our shared experiences. Points of commonality serve to unify a social group. This is what we are seeing here.
The end result is a greater feeling of class spirit, reinforced by the occasional rivalry between classes of the same grade.
There are other aspects at work here too. Attendance at school assemblies is mandatory and strictly enforced. Such events end with the singing of the school song. While there are no doubt students unaffected by such displays of group unity, it is nevertheless an almost overpowering force. I might venture that most of the students, regardless of their personal feelings, must feel the sense of being part of a larger whole when some 1100 voices are raised to sing the school song in unison. Even if I didn't understand what was happening, I think I might still feel it. Needless to say, I feel something stir in me at these times.
Add to this the format of the taikusai. A day long event, the kids are placed, by homeroom, into one of 4 colours, and the two weeks preceeding the actual event are filled with afternoons of sports practice. The combination of competition, group inclusion, and an already strongly bolstered school/homeroom spirit brings out the passion in many of the students, and most especially those in a leadership role.
Ok, enough of the essay. Lets get back to what's important. Sports day was truly a spectacle for me. There were 4 blocks: shiro, white; suou, orange; shinryoku, deep green; and noukon, navy blue. I was part of suou, and on the day I wore a bright, neon orange polo shirt that our the teachers of our block had bought (me included) for the occasion. We were highly conspicuous in our shirts, and during lunch some of the teachers commented that it looked like a suou convention in the staff room.
The day was filled with all sorts of events, from the mundane (yet exciting) foot races, to the more interesting games such as kibasen (4-man cavalry battles) and the senaka-watari (crossing the back). The most interesting by far was the block cheers, which featured both American-style cheerleading (girls), as well as Japanese-style cheerleading (boys), and panel show held by those in the block-stands. I managed to snap more than a few (crappy) pics with my phone camera, so I will only post the more interesting ones here.
I found myself getting well involved in the cheering, pounding the tables, crying out when my block won or lost an event, oohing and ahhing at the most excellent displays of tumbling or dancing.
The day ended without injury or major illness (though some kids did have to visit the infirmary), and though it had threatened to rain the entire day, with the exception of the unfortunate kids who didn't get to perform their school taiko-drums cheer, we had fair weather for all the events. Each performance and event was scored, and I am happy to say that suou came out on top with some 1200 or so points. There were some tears shed by the other teams, and some tears shed by suou. All in all, it was a really fun day.
There were some oddities, which as a person I wish I had captured on film, but as a teacher I refrained from doing. First was a guy wearing a horse head. He is a character of some internet notoriety, though for what I don't know. When I asked one of the younger teachers what it was, I was told that I should just ignore it. I got the feeling that he was a most unwelcome guest.
The other was two girls cosplaying Rei and Asuka from Evangelion. Rei was pretty cute, and Asuka...well she looked good from afar. I didn't snap a picture for fear of being branded one of those creepy fat anime-otakus you see at J-conventions and comikets. As well, I think it would have been inappropriate for me as a member of the school faculty to do so.
The day was capped by torrential rains, in which I got completely and thoroughly soaked helping the taiko team put away their drums (a real effort involving tarps, because taiko drums are forever ruined if they get wet). Afterwards, the teachers changed venues for our post-taikusai nomikai, or drinking party.
Nomikai is an all-you-can-drink party, which in this case lasted 2 hours. Held at a cool Chinese food joint, it rapidly degenerated into a loud drunk fest. I got to see many of my teachers drunk, and talked to a whole bunch whom I might never had otherwise. Alcohol is a fantastic social lubricant, and I was there drinking it up. I cannot say just how much I had to drink, as the glasses are small. However it is customary to fill other peoples glasses up when they are noticably not full, and there were many teachers who roamed the room with bottles of beer, randomly plunking down with people, filling their glasses, having a cheer, and then getting up and moving to the next group. I had great drunken chats with my principle, and many of my JTEs. Some of the older teachers were giving advice to the younger, and quite a few were laughing like mad at just about anything (me and my co-ALT included). In the end we gave a hearty banzai three times (my first banzai!!!). It was a truly memorable day.
September 9th marked the culmination of the students 2-week (or in some cases more) preparation of their annual taikusai, or sports day. In the dim recesses of my mind, I recall sports day from my elementary school time with some distaste. Never a good sports athlete, it was my time to try to hide and be inconspicuous.
While there was no doubt more than a few students who must have felt that way yesterday, I was nevertheless audience to an amazing spectacle.
Let me give you a little background first, on the Japanese education system. Unlike in Toronto, where I had attendence taken at Homeroom before hurrying off to my first class (when I went), here, the students remain in the same room (their homeroom) the whole day, and the teachers come to them.
I won't at this time get into the disadvantages this kind of system has on the overall growth and learning of children. However, there are some interesting advantages here that pertain to sports day.
The first is that the homeroom becomes the de facto social unit for many of the students. This is not to say that they don't fraternise with other classes--they do, and quite often. However, by remaining in a single classroom, surrounded by the same peers, taking the same classes, having the same teachers, all serves to reinforce the unity of the classroom. We, as social animals, tend I think to differentiate ourselves from others by examining our shared experiences. Points of commonality serve to unify a social group. This is what we are seeing here.
The end result is a greater feeling of class spirit, reinforced by the occasional rivalry between classes of the same grade.
There are other aspects at work here too. Attendance at school assemblies is mandatory and strictly enforced. Such events end with the singing of the school song. While there are no doubt students unaffected by such displays of group unity, it is nevertheless an almost overpowering force. I might venture that most of the students, regardless of their personal feelings, must feel the sense of being part of a larger whole when some 1100 voices are raised to sing the school song in unison. Even if I didn't understand what was happening, I think I might still feel it. Needless to say, I feel something stir in me at these times.
Add to this the format of the taikusai. A day long event, the kids are placed, by homeroom, into one of 4 colours, and the two weeks preceeding the actual event are filled with afternoons of sports practice. The combination of competition, group inclusion, and an already strongly bolstered school/homeroom spirit brings out the passion in many of the students, and most especially those in a leadership role.
Ok, enough of the essay. Lets get back to what's important. Sports day was truly a spectacle for me. There were 4 blocks: shiro, white; suou, orange; shinryoku, deep green; and noukon, navy blue. I was part of suou, and on the day I wore a bright, neon orange polo shirt that our the teachers of our block had bought (me included) for the occasion. We were highly conspicuous in our shirts, and during lunch some of the teachers commented that it looked like a suou convention in the staff room.
The day was filled with all sorts of events, from the mundane (yet exciting) foot races, to the more interesting games such as kibasen (4-man cavalry battles) and the senaka-watari (crossing the back). The most interesting by far was the block cheers, which featured both American-style cheerleading (girls), as well as Japanese-style cheerleading (boys), and panel show held by those in the block-stands. I managed to snap more than a few (crappy) pics with my phone camera, so I will only post the more interesting ones here.
I found myself getting well involved in the cheering, pounding the tables, crying out when my block won or lost an event, oohing and ahhing at the most excellent displays of tumbling or dancing.
The day ended without injury or major illness (though some kids did have to visit the infirmary), and though it had threatened to rain the entire day, with the exception of the unfortunate kids who didn't get to perform their school taiko-drums cheer, we had fair weather for all the events. Each performance and event was scored, and I am happy to say that suou came out on top with some 1200 or so points. There were some tears shed by the other teams, and some tears shed by suou. All in all, it was a really fun day.
There were some oddities, which as a person I wish I had captured on film, but as a teacher I refrained from doing. First was a guy wearing a horse head. He is a character of some internet notoriety, though for what I don't know. When I asked one of the younger teachers what it was, I was told that I should just ignore it. I got the feeling that he was a most unwelcome guest.
The other was two girls cosplaying Rei and Asuka from Evangelion. Rei was pretty cute, and Asuka...well she looked good from afar. I didn't snap a picture for fear of being branded one of those creepy fat anime-otakus you see at J-conventions and comikets. As well, I think it would have been inappropriate for me as a member of the school faculty to do so.
The day was capped by torrential rains, in which I got completely and thoroughly soaked helping the taiko team put away their drums (a real effort involving tarps, because taiko drums are forever ruined if they get wet). Afterwards, the teachers changed venues for our post-taikusai nomikai, or drinking party.
Nomikai is an all-you-can-drink party, which in this case lasted 2 hours. Held at a cool Chinese food joint, it rapidly degenerated into a loud drunk fest. I got to see many of my teachers drunk, and talked to a whole bunch whom I might never had otherwise. Alcohol is a fantastic social lubricant, and I was there drinking it up. I cannot say just how much I had to drink, as the glasses are small. However it is customary to fill other peoples glasses up when they are noticably not full, and there were many teachers who roamed the room with bottles of beer, randomly plunking down with people, filling their glasses, having a cheer, and then getting up and moving to the next group. I had great drunken chats with my principle, and many of my JTEs. Some of the older teachers were giving advice to the younger, and quite a few were laughing like mad at just about anything (me and my co-ALT included). In the end we gave a hearty banzai three times (my first banzai!!!). It was a truly memorable day.
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