First week of work!

MONDAY:


Monday was my first day of school!  I was at O. Junior High all day.  I got there right when I was supposed to -about ten minutes before I'm supposed to start (so in other worse 7:50am) and checked my memo to see which shoebox I was supposed to use.  There was a sign hanging on it that said 'Welcome Katrina-sensei!' so even though I'd made a note of it, they reminded me.  ^o^/


I didn't have anything to work on, though the company has always said to look busy no matter what.  XD  I brought our teacher textbook thing from training and my first-day lesson things.  The teacher in charge of me was really busy with his homeroom class, so he wasn't around much, and I was sort of adopted by Miki-sensei... who is not a secretary, but does a lot of administrative work?  I don't really understand her role.  Anyway, she has really good English and helped me out a lot.  


I watched the students going to the gym (different indoor shoes designated for gym-only) and then they practiced lining up.  I guess there's a rather specific way they're expected to line up, so they practiced that.  Afterwards, Miki-sensei introduced me to the student in charge of... it's really hard to translate these jobs!  In charge of student life, I guess (not the student council leader, though).  She's sweet and fairly outgoing, so she likes to say hello to me.  ^o^/  Then, I was encouraged to explore a bit, so I did that.  The grades are separated by floors.  There was some really impressive woodwork displayed on one wall - small things the size of a spoon or so, but nifty shapes and very smooth-looking!


I ate lunch by myself in the teacher's room (well, there were a few other teachers eating there) which made me sad.  Miki-sensei said that she had to check to see if I could eat with the students because my lunch was different.  I found this quite upsetting because I was under the impression that my packed lunch was what would enable me to eat with them (instead of shunning the days lunch).  She said she thought it was good to explain to students that there are other types of people in the world (like those who don't eat meat), but that she had to check.  Le sigh.


After lunch there was an assembly to welcome the first years.  The second and third years entered the gym first, and the band played as the first years came in.  (So cute!)  The class representative had a little sign with their class number on it and they came to the entrance of the gym, bowed, and led their class in.  The boys in particular are adorable~~~ because their jackets are way too big!  I'm sure their parents are trying to avoid buying more than one jacket for the time they're in junior high, but it's SO CUTE!  *A*  Once all the first years were in and seated, the upperclassmen all sang a song for them.  It was hella impressive!  There were at least four parts and honestly they sounded more like a high school choir than ALL OF two grades!  


The student council made a few brief speeches, then organized a game for the students to get to know each other.  There was a little song about going hunting for something which everyone was supposed to echo from the student council president, then when she said 'Ah!  Ah! X-X-X-X'  you had to form a group with the number of people the same as the number of syllables as the word (and you were supposed to have at least one student from each grade).  In your group, you were supposed to sit down and introduce yourselves to each other.  Miki-sensei and I joined in and it was fun.  XD  


After the game, there were a few more announcements, and I introduced myself.  There was a nice preface from Fujita-sensei (my tanto) who said (in English) that he didn't want to have to translate my introduction, so everyone should listen carefully!  I tried to keep it brief and spoke slowly.


That's about it for Monday.  Most of the day was incredibly boring and spent at my desk.  One of the teachers (the Special Class teacher who sits across from me in the teachers room) told me I have a very nice  speaking voice.  :>


TUESDAY:


Tuesday was O again.  I didn't do much earlier in the day.  There was an assembly about school manner and dress code, which is fairly strict, but not all that bad.  For example, all the girls have to have their hair off their shoulders and socks have to be white and of a certain length (shorter than crew cut... what's that called?!), but they can take their jackets off during classes if they like and there are racks in the hallway with hangers, should they choose to not wear them.


 but during the late morning, I wandered around as the students had their height (sitting and standing) and weight measured and their sight and hearing checked.  I played at sneaking around the hallways and whispered/talked to the students waiting for their turn.  SO MUCH FUN!  When it seemed people were finishing up, I started going into the third year classrooms and talking to the kids.  In each class, there were at least a few who wanted to talk to me (all girls and several nerds <3 ).  I made my way through a couple of classes before being startled by a teacher's voice behind me.  It was my tanto (in-charge-of-me) sensei!  *A*  I went to make a break for it but he seemed really pleased I was there and told me to stay if I wanted.  ;D


I had lunch with his class too.  I ended up at a table wit ha bunch of boys who didn't want to talk to me (le sadface) and I made a few weak attempts, but their lunch period is only so long, and they were eating VERY SERIOUSLY (because they didn't want to talk to me).


Let me tell you about lunch in Japanese schools.  It's pretty cool!
There are a small handful of kids in each room who are in charge of school lunch, which is eaten in the classrooms.  They wear white coats, face masks, and a bandana over their hair.  As the students go through the line with a tray, the lunch-students dish out an even amount of everything for each person.  Each student gets everything and brings their own chopsticks!  After everyone has been served, there's a call for if students don't want something or don't think they can eat everything (if they haven't already given it to friends).  That goes back in the pot to be fought over by the boys in the class (who decide everything in the world with rock-paper-scissors).  After everyone has settled on their food, everyone puts their hands together and says 'itadakimasu!' and then they can eat.  The lunch period is half an hour (and usually some popular music is played over the school intercom).  After that time, there's another bell that signals cleanup time.  Everyone puts their hands together and says 'goshisosamadeshita!' and then they take their dishes back to the cart in the hallway (everything eaten!).  They collapse and tear open their milk cartons, which are rinsed out and put in a special bin to be recycled.  Then all the students brush their teeth at the sinks lining the hallway.


So~ I had lunch in the classroom.  Then the students have a free period of about 20 minutes, so I went back to the teacher's room.  Once that was over, some students came to fetch me to play outside with them (I had been asked by Fujita-sensei earlier and it was only the second day of school, so no real classes yet).  I was able to borrow some outdoor shoes from another teacher and it was a bit of a squeeze, but they worked better than my high heels would have!  We played a weird version of tag and then dodgeball with some crazy rules I didn't understand at all!


Not much the rest of the day.  I learned how to make copies.  When we were playing outside, and I told Fujita-sensei I'm really bad at sports, but I wanted to bond with the students, he said he liked my attitude!  SCORE~  *\^o^/*


After school, I distributed my omiyage - the little treat bags I made up for everyone.  People who weren't there, I just left if on their desk.  They seemed to be well received with a few people commenting on a particular things.  The school nurse, for example, was delighted to see the peppermint and said she she was a child, those were her favorite.  ;D  


On the way back from the nurse's room, Miki-sensei (who was accompanying me) told me that I'd been seen the night before at the grocery store.  I'd been seen by the office guy (cutest guy at the school, btw) who is in charge of school lunch.  I said 'oh no!  I was buying junk food!'  D:  She said that he said he'd seen me buying tea... and beer.  OF ALL THINGS!  D:  I explained that I was really just buying it to take a picture of how small the can was because it's cute and then she was sad that I'm not a big beer drinker... I guess there's nothing to be embarrassed about after all?  When we got to the office for treat-giving, she relayed my dismay to the office workers who were also sad that I'm not a bigger beer drinker?  XD  When she said I was taking a picture of the beer because it was cute, the cute guy whipped out his phone to show off some sport-themed cans he'd bought to take a picture of.  XD  They they complimented my headbands and noted that I'd worn a different color the day before.  ARE YOU PEOPLE STALKERS?!  I'm amazed how much they notice.  O_o  I said I'd bought four different headbands and they told me I should get another so I have one for each day of the week.  XD


In the evening, I went to Hamamatsu in search of athletic shoes and clothes.  I got some unflattering capris and a shirt from UniQlo and some sneakers at ABC-MART (I ended up with the white-with-red Mizunos because they were a tad wider than the white-with-purple Nikes and the same price).  Now I'm prepared to play next time!  (I didn't find a cute, cheap headband for my collection, though)

The beer picture.  The Kirin can is the size of a normal soda can, so you can see about how big the Asahi can is.  So cute!  There's an even smaller can, but it's an even worse monetary value, and I couldn't bring myself to buy it just for a picture.  It's about the size of canned coffee cans.

WEDNESDAY:
My first day at K Junior High!  From my introduction day, I expected a warm welcome.  No.  T_T  I pulled up in the rain and had to park right up front because although there were other spaces open, that's where the teacher out from gestured for me to go.  D:  The kids all stared at meeee.  D:  I said 'Good morning!' cheerfully and went inside.


All the teachers were busy and no one said anything to me for a while.  I had to ask how to use my computer because it requires a password, but soon discovered that even trying to use that thing is futile because it's SUUUUPER SLOOOOOWWWWW and locks up a lot.  TT^TT  It's basically worthless.  After a while, the music teacher who sits two desks down, tried chatting with me (in English).  That was nice of her.  TT^TT  She also let me help her clean during cleaning time.


I caught my tanto briefly to ask if it was alright to walk around the school. I got permission, so I started to wander and figure out which part of the building wasn't in use during the day and which grades are on what floor.  The kids were noticing me in the hallway, so I went back to the teacher's room to not be a huge bother.  One kid just stared at me in shock.  <_<  Good.


Outside the teacher's room, the third year Special Class (it's literally called the Special Class in Japanese, which is their way of saying 'special needs'.  It's nice that they at least try.) was planting flowers in planters for the courtyard - by the way this school has a REALLY COOL courtyard.  I joined them and got acquainted with two of the three students (the third was absent).  One of them didn't really want to talk much, but the other seemed to understand quite a lot of English and translated for him.  I hung out with them a little bit, then went back to the teacher's room for lunchtime alone.


Probably the most frustrating part of the day is that my tanto was NEVER AROUND.  >.<#  I had my schedule which said the whole thing was supposed to be a planning day, but I wanted to ask what the heck I was supposed to do in my classes on Friday and I didn't have the opportunity!  After school, the teacher in charge of second and third year English told me what he wanted me to do.  With like... an hour and a half left in my work day.  D:  So I scrambled to come up with an activity for reviewing conjugations of 'to be' and eventually came up with one I liked enough to proceed with.  Then I went home.

THURSDAY:
My first day teaching at O JHS!  Aaahhh so nervous!!!  I taught my intro lesson to class 3-4.  The class wasn't as responsive as I'd have liked, one of the questions on the worksheet had no correct answer, and then I ran out of time because I was thinking the periods were 50 minutes (they're 45!  K has 50 minute periods!)  I got some really sweet compliments from Fujita-sensei and some good feedback.  I made a note of everything I wanted to change for the next time.  I had one period to get it in order.


Third period, went MUCH BETTER!  I was able to fix most of the problems and the class was more talkative, which helped smooth it out.  I had a great time and I hope the students had fun too!  I got an even better and more enthusiastic review of this one.  *^-^*  I felt SO GOOD and accomplished after class.  My first day of teaching EVERRRR.  The homeroom teacher for that class asked me how they did and I was able to give her a good reply (she's the teacher who lent me shoes the day before).


I had lunch with Fujita-sensei's class again, sitting in a different area this time and I managed to elicit SOME conversation from the girls, even if it was just 'what is this?' about the school lunch, or 'after lunch, are we going outside?'  The answer was no.  :<  Really classes have started, so no more playing.


I didn't have anything else to do the rest of the day, so I worked on my game for Friday at K.  After school, I was invited by the second year English teacher to watch the band (club) play to try and recruit new members, so I went to that.  They played "Heavy Rotation" by AKB48, "Sing, Sing, Sing" and a song I didn't know.  They're small - maybe 30 members and only three of them are boys! - but they sounded good and were fairly well balanced.  One of the percussionists... I can't think of a better word to describe her than genki.  She had a huuuge smile and was very bouncy and adorable.  She looked like she was having a better time than anyone else. 


I visited a few other clubs to watch as their showed off.  I watched basketball and volleyball for a few minutes, mostly to make an appearance, but also to stand very close to some particularly small first year boys and make them jump.  XD  CUUUUUUUUUTE.  When they noticed me (and totally jumped) on said 'Ah! Katrina-sensei da!'  cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute!!!!!!!!!!  They had watched the music club, but they told me they really like volleyball, so I figure that's where they'll end up.  Outside the ping-pong club, I caught a member of the kendo club, and she led me through the girls ping-pong area to where they boys were playing ping-pong in the same gym where the kendo club was practicing.  I was about to install myself in a corner to with and watch when the whole kendo team turned and bowed to me.  O_o one of the student leaders of their coach teacher must have told them to acknowledge the presence of a teacher.  I was very flattered, but a bit flustered.  They resumed and I watched their practice as they whacked on each other and I could smell sweat every time one came near me until my legs fell asleep under me.


Since I had spent some of my working time watching clubs, I went back to the staff room and finished my worksheet for Friday.  This worked well, seeing as my internet at KJHS is worthlessss.  I finished it up and put everything on my flash drive to print the next morning before school.  I had printed some pictures already and I didn't want to use too many of O's resources for K.  :I  I left school around 5, so only half an hour extra, and I felt very accomplished and happy about my day.  I seriously love this school already and hope I don't find myself playing favorites.

FRIDAY:
My first day of teaching at K!  After my impression on Wednesday and how much I enjoyed my Thursday at O, I had to psyche myself up for today, telling myself it would be great and that I'd better not play favorites - it's not fair to the students!  I'm sure they don't pick which school they go to!  It's not their fault they got the short end of the stick and the older school!


I got there early to try and print my worksheets.  I got settled in, got out my flash drive... and it wouldn't go in the computer.  TT^TT  There design of the laptop prevents something as bulky as my USB (it's really noy bulky) going in.  In desperation, I asked the teacher next to me for help.  He found USB ports in the back where I hadn't looked, but then the worthless piece of junk wouldn't read my drive.  T________T###  We tested it with his flash drive and it read it, so I guess I'll have to get another one if I want to use it at K.  It worked fine at O.  <_<##  Nobuji-sensei (called by his first name because there is another sensei with his same last name) let me use his computer to open my documents, then ran off to do something he had to do, so I had to ask the assistant principal how to print because there are tons of printers.  >.<  After I had that, I tried to hunt down an English teacher.  I was able to catch the upper-level English teacher and he helped me make copies (turns out it's the same method as O).  I finished just in time to scamper to my first-period class.


First period, I had with my tanto, Ishida-sensei and the second year special needs students.  There are three boys in the class.  I gave them my 'guess about me' worksheet which I had shortened and totally re-made to be different from the one I had used at O.  It went well.  There were a few times when Ishida-sensei stepped in and explained things in Japanese, but we took out time and they were wonderfully interactive and responsive when I encouraged them.  One of them seems to have a stutter (though maybe just when speaking English) but he writes absolutely beautifully (even cursive!), which makes me wonder if he spent a bit of time abroad.  The other two were lots of fun.  The most enthusiastic one actually had the worst grammar and of the three, but even then it wasn't bad at all!!  Certainly waaaay above the level I expected, but I didn't have ANY prior knowledge of this class, so I was going in blind.  They had lots of questions for me, which was great!  After class on the way back to the teacher's room, I commented on how happy I was with the result of the class, and Ishida-sensei expressed surprise herself at how well they had written and how eager they were.  HA!  YOU SEE, JAPANESE TEACHERS?!  IF WE DON'T CODDLE THEM, THEY CAN COME THROUGH!  Still, she suggested maybe not making them write.  WHY?!  They did such a great job!!!  <_<  You make no sense, woman!  (For my OSU franz, I want you to know that this woman could be Kuwai-sensei's twin.  It's creepy.)  


Something else... I didn't know 'YouTube poop' was something that people said, like... IDK... outside America?  One of my Special class students asked me if I liked to watch YouTube.  I said yes, and asked what he liked to watch and he said 'YouTube poops.'  For those who may not know - a YouTube 'poop' is a kind of usually annoying, sometimes very catchy video usually spliced together from other materials and having no real content.


During my planning period, I rushed to finish the cards for my game.  For the life of me, I can't find laminate to buy, even though they said in training that it's available at the 100yen store.  I ended up buying trading card pages and cutting them up to protect my cards.  I finished with a few minutes to spare.


I wasn't sure how the time would go, but I was going to attempt to split the class into my intro and the game, as requested.  The class wasn't very responsive, and I had to volunteer almost all of the answers myself.  D:  They either didn't understand when I wanted them to repeat the question, or they all refused to.  >.<  I gave up after a few attempts answered with silence (what the heck, guys!  The Special class did it with no problem!  >:[ ).  As the class progressed, it became clear that I wasn't going to get to the activity, but Yamazaki-sensei said it was more important to finish the worksheet.  <_<  He also translated a bit too much, in my opinion, but I'm sure he knows what's best.  <_______<#  


Fourth period I had a class too!  Back-to-back!  D:  I tried to make a few adjustments, but it helped that this class was more interactive.  I chatted to a few girls by the door during the break between classes (10 minutes!).  They're nerdy types, so they were ecstatic to talk to me about anime, so I had some allies during class whom I could call on, even if they didn't volunteer answers without my encouragement.  A few students in particular enjoyed when I drew a picture of myself on the board and with each incorrect guess as to letters in my name, I added to it, slowly dressing myself as Sailor Moon. (Hangman is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN in school, as a number of Japanese school children hang themselves each year - country-wide).  They caught on pretty quick and one or two students kept making incorrect guesses on purpose, but it's interaction that I was going for, so I was happy to have it!


One of the kids liked Sengoku Basara - I saw it on his writing mat (shitajiki) - so I commented on it.  He was the one making all the wrong guesses at my name and he would occasionally yell out the Japanese for what I just said, so apparently his English is pretty good, but I might have to pry it out of him.  I had a hard time getting them to ask questions, so I volunteered information when there was too long without input from the class.  It went better than the previous class, in any case.


After class, the nerdy girls rushed me again, wanting to know if I'd read or watching this or that.  I could say yes to almost everything, which tickled them all kinds of pink.  As I was erasing the board, one of them asked me if I cosplay.  o.o  WHY WOULD THEY ASK THAATTTT?!  I didn't want to lie and I'm not ashamed of my hobby, but I don't think it's something I should flash around the workplace here, so I said 'Secret!' which is the same reply I gave for 'do you have a boyfriend'.


Lunch was next, so I asked their homeroom teacher if I could join them for lunch, and the free period after.  Much nerdy talk.  Even if it's just "Do you like XYZ?  I like XYZ too!" I'm glad they WANT to talk to me.  ;D  One of the girls told me that I looked like a gender-bent Barnaby fomr Tiger&Bunny, which made me laugh pretty hard as all the others agreed.  I told them my favorite was Tiger!  Couldn't I be female Tiger?  I was wearing a vest!  As they were gushing out things to see if I'd seen/read them, there was one I didn't recognize, and they twittered among themselves.  One of them said 'BL da' and I know I got a weird look on my face.  They noticed and commented that I seemed to know what BL was.  I had to remind them that we can only talk about appropriate things, to I said 'TEACHER!  I'M A TEACHER!!' and covered my ears dramatically.  They got the message and laughed and said 'oh right!'  XD


When the free period was over, I went to the teachers room and dithered around for the rest of the day.  For cleaning time I went to the music room again and ended up helping to clean the hallway.  As long as I get to help, I'm happy (I say, but I don't want to clean the bathrooms. <_<)  After school, there was an earthquake drill.  All I know is what I pieced together from what Nobuji-sensei explained to me.  There was an announcement made and all the students started moving, so I asked if I should do something and he said to follow him.  What I don't get is why they shut off all the lights and went outside (wearing their indoor shoes because in the case of a real emergency, they wouldn't be able to change shoes).  I thought for earthquakes you were supposed to get under a desk?  Anyway, they all went outside and lined up according to class, where the teachers took a headcount.  There was an announcement made and they all re-arranged by signs which designated areas in which they might live.  Another headcount.  Then we went back in.  I was pretty confused.  Nobuji-sensei told me that he's only been here for two weeks himself and he didn't really know the particulars of how everything here is done, either.  


He's actually very nice and I'm glad his desk is next to mine.  :>  He's the art teacher.  Now that we've chatted a bit, I feel I can ask him things, so I asked him if clubs were recruiting after school like they had been at O. He said not as such, but the first years would be wandering around looking anyway.  There aren't many clubs at K.  I think he listed only five - judo, culture (which seems to be an anything club from crafts to science), band, baseball, track and field, and maybe one other.




That's about it.  Sorry for the wall of text and only one picture!  I was too tired this week to write posts as the days went.  >.<