Weeks 3 & 4

Well this blog has been a little long coming due to the woes of not having any internet. Alas our kind kiwi next-door neighbours have allowed us to steal theirs so I can get this uploaded. If our internet isn’t delivered soon I shall be storming into the shop to complain, unless they don’t speak English in which case I may just have to angrily ask about the weather.

Summer school was good fun. The summer school is a free event for Junior High School students to attend, hosted by the International University in Gakuentoshi (so this meant a lay in for those of us living in Gak). It is designed to provide opportunities to practice English and learn about other cultures. It consists of a morning of themed rooms staffed by JETs and then an afternoon of presentations from the university students on different countries like Russia and China. The day is concluded with presentations the students have made in English as part of a speaking competition and the awarding of prizes.  I was assigned to the speed dating room on the first morning, which was an opportunity for the kids to get talking to as many of us as possible and practice their basic conversational English. Other rooms included a Wild West room, where the students learned to make rubber band firing guns out of chopsticks, and the adventure room, where the children learned about different countries and solved puzzles to find Carmen San Diego (who had stolen all of the world’s cheese). The following day I was a guide and had a group of students to take round to the various rooms until lunchtime. After lunch we met up with Elementary teachers who wanted to practice their English skills in preparation for them working with JETs in their classrooms. I talked about the best places to travel in Japan with my teachers and was given some great ideas for short breaks around Japan.

I then had two days in school getting to know some of the teachers and getting my introductory lesson planned out. Everyone at the school seems really nice and as it is still summer break the atmosphere in the staff room is very chilled out and relaxed. I have constructed a Powerpoint and worksheet for my introduction as I was told to avoid any games at first as the kids can be hard to control. I guess I will have to figure this out once I have had my first lessons with the various classes so that I can pitch further lessons accordingly. As my role is very much to reinforce the grammar point that they have learnt already I think that it would be better to have fun activities that put the point into action so I shall be sad if games are a no no. Japanese Schools are certainly fairly far removed from those in the UK in many ways. Certainly Japanese teachers have a much larger part to pay in their students’ lives than their UK equivalents. The main plus of my school over others in the area is that we have air-conditioned classrooms!

Soon it was Friday and payday. Rachel and I booked the day off to get our furniture needs sorted and get the money out we needed to buy furniture in the first place. As we didn’t have our cash cards yet but we did have our bank books and Hankos (a Hanko is a stamp that you use in place of your signature – mine says “Orme” in katakana: “ｵﾒ”) we needed to go into a branch to get money rather than an ATM. This meant that we could only get money between 10am – 3pm during the working week!  Alas the dining set we wanted wasn’t in stock but we got a TV stand, TV and Sofa sorted easily enough. Having made ourselves a good deal poorer it was time to celebrate with a night out with the other JETs, starting at the British themed Hub then onto the traditional Japanese art of karaoke.

Saturday we went to Ikea and found it very similar to the UK equivalent. We didn’t buy much but did enjoy some fantastic hotdogs. We did procure a nice little red table to put our phone on and to put our bills on so that we can get them paid in good time.

The next week brought more time at school and some nice lunches out with the teachers. If the kids are anywhere near as nice as the staff I will have no problems here. Otherwise the main thing to report was the tiny little whisky bar we found after having something to eat in the centre. The owner of the bar spoke very good English and boasted a great knowledge of malts from his trips to Scotland. The back of the bar hosted more malts then I have ever seen in an English pub and a more international selection than any Scottish. We ended up staying for a few drinks and chatting with the owner and we will certainly be back. 

 My opening lesson prepared it was time for Job training on Thurs and Friday. We learnt lots of interesting tips and had some good presentations from Japanese teachers and experienced JETs alike. On the Thursday evening I went with one of my friends from New Zealand a South African sempai (experienced JET) to a Bouldering Gym. We had good fun and also provided amusement to the fit and agile Japanese as they watched a couple of unfit gaijin fall off some of the easiest courses. I think I shall be in attendance again this Thursday.

Friday was my first Enkai (drinking party) and it was very fun. The Chinese restaurant we went to was very posh and the food was very tasty. I had to deliver a brief introduction in Japanese which was nerve-wracking and probably was very incorrect but everyone seemed very pleased at my attempt. At an Enkai you never fill your own glass and instead fill the cups of others and it is a great way to get chatting to people. However, you have to be careful as you soon lose track of how much beer you have had!  We finished the night at a small karaoke bar and I successfully murdered bohemian rhapsody. The other teachers proceeded to show me up by singing perfectly in key for all of their songs – although nobody sang any English songs.

Saturday I spent recovering and awaiting our sofa delivery. Our sofa was successfully delivered (thanks, in part, to me removing one of the internal doors the night before). I also had a TV stand to build – I am the flat pack master. We then went out for a bite to eat in the centre of town and another explore. There are so many small streets and so many levels to the buildings here that the number of different bars and restaurants to discover is unimaginable. You might find the nicest bar on earth hidden down some backstreet on the 8^th floor of a building. One of the best ways to have a cheap bite and something to drink is to go to one of the many ¥300 or similar restaurants, where all dishes and drinks are a set price. Equally there are also other places that offered an all you can eat and all you can drink menu.

Sunday we went to Osaka and went to the aquarium there. We saw sharks, otters, penguins and all manner of sea life. Apart from almost dying in the heat when queuing to get in it was great fun. We also went on the big wheel for a great view of the city. Finally we swung by a gigantic electronics megastore and drooled over some shiny gadgets. It was a great daytrip and highlighted just how easy it is to nip over to Osaka, which is only 45mins away from where we live by train.

The next week is a fairly full week of school but without any lessons. The opening ceremony for the new term is on the first but exams and sports day preparations stop lessons starting in full for another couple of weeks.