Suprised my eyes aren't bleeding...

After trivia weekend (it was fun, but I'd forgotten how awkward I feel when surrounded by lots of people who are very drunk), I came home and decided I should start watching some of the DVDs I'd purchased but hadn't gotten around to watching.

I started with Always Zoku San Chome no Yuhi, the sequel to Always San Chome no Yuhi. ^_^ It was almost as great as the original--a high compliment for a sequel, indeed. I can't really say why it was "almost" rather than "as great as," but anyway, the point is I really enjoyed it.

After that, I watched Bambino!, a drama (adapted from the manga of the same name) starring Matsumoto Jun about a college student who wants to open his own Italian restaurant. And yes, I said I watched the series, and not started; I went through all eleven episodes in one sitting!

Obviously, I thought it was a pretty good series. The only frustrating thing was the English subtitles. Since I bought it in Malaysia (licensed, but still...) the English subtitles were pretty bad. For most of the series they were somewhat decent, but the last episode was terrible. Someone decided to translate the Ban's (the main character, i.e. Matsumoto Jun) name as A-han or something ridiculous, and a lot of the time it didn't make sense at all. I pretty much stopped reading the subtitles altogether, expect to look for key words when I really didn't understand what they were saying.

Come to think of it, if I was going to watch an entire series, I probably should've watched the second season of Hana Yori Dango, since the new movie (and series finale) will be coming out this Saturday!! Even though I won't be able to watch it this weekend (I invited some teachers from Kirita over to have a takoyaki party on Sat., and Sun. is my first Japanese dance lesson), I definitely want to watch it in theatres soon!

So with that, I think I'm off to watch Hanadan 2! =P

More Thoughts on Moving to Japan...

I think I covered most of the important (well, they were important to me, anyway!) points in my original post, but some other random things people moving to Japan might want to do before leaving have occurred to me, so here they are:


Teaching preparation:

- find out your blood type (if you don't already know) as chances are high a student will ask about it; there are varying explanations of the personality type associated with each blood type, so I'm still fuzzy on the personality theory, but my experience is that while all types have positive and negative traits, "O" and "A" are generally perceived more positively than "B" or "AB"

- get high resolution (for printing) image files or scans of holiday celebrations, travels in foreign countries, or anything unique to your area, since you may be asked to show pictures and talk about things (Christmas is an especially popular topic) for a class

Documentation:

- leave photocopies of any documents you bring with you to Japan somewhere safe at home (passport, driver's license, birth certificate, etc.).

- collect any tax-related materials you've accumulated throughout the year (charitable donation receipts, etc.) and a) leave them with a family member to file your taxes for you (you DO have to file taxes while you're in Japan!); or b) bring them with you and leave instructions for a family member to send anything that comes later to you

Travel:

- it may sound mercenary, but it's a good idea to make friends (and exchange contact information!) with people from your embassy and/or whom you meet during Tokyo Orientation because you never know when you'll be visiting their area and need a place to crash or recommendations for things to do!

Vacation:

(OK, this isn't really too important to think about before you leave, but since I'm giving advice, I figured I'd write this down while I remember!)

- the end and/or beginning of each school term--end of Feb/start of Apr; end of July until mid-late August; late December to mid-January-- is the time when your taking vacation will be the least inconvenient for schools, since they will be probably be too busy to want you around anyway

- according to the JET diary, the only official holiday for New Year's is January first, but since New Year's celebrations traditionally last the first three days of the New Year (Jan. 1-3) chances are high you'll be given three days off--keep this in mind if you're thinking about heading home (or somewhere else) for the holidays! (Christmas Day is NOT a holiday here, by the way, so be prepared to use one of your vacation days if you don't want to be at the office on the 25th!)

- "Golden Week" is a super busy/crazy expensive time to travel within Japan, and I've heard August is another peak season (due to Obon), so you might to travel outside of Japan during these times

As always, keep in mind that every situation (really) is different (ESID).

(For example: My office is particularly busy (ALTs are over-requested, so we actually have to turn down visit requests from schools), so our office really prefers it if we only book vacations after our school visit schedules have been made--and this only happens just before the start of a new term (and sometimes it doesn't happen until after the term has already started)! On the other hand, I know some ALTs in neighbouring cities who can pretty much take their vacation whenever they want. )

I highly recommend that new ALTs get in touch with their predecessors as soon as possible because they are the best source of specific information. (Of course, I'm always willing to give my two cents or talk about my personal experiences.) And don't be afraid to ask lots of questions! We've all been new ALTs, so we can understand the need/desire to know things in the most minute detail!

Another piece of unsolicited advice is to spend the time you have remaining at home wisely, and to cherish it! As much as I enjoyed my work, I really wish I had taken the entire month before leaving off, instead of only taking two weeks.

Oh, and start packing early!! (I recommend suitcases with four wheels for ease of use!) You don't want to spend your last day at home frantically packing when you could be getting that last bit of quality time with friends and family!

And make sure you weigh your luggage. If there are a lot of fellow JETs on the same flight as you, chances are you're not going to be allowed to put overweight luggage on the plane, even if you're willing to pay the ridiculously expensive fees for overweight baggage! (Many a fellow JET did I see opening up luggage and re-packing at the airport check-in counter!) Put things you can live without in last so that if you need to remove something to reduce the weight, you can do so easily and quickly.

Well, that's it for now!!

JET Jackpot

I think (or hope) I've said it before, but I do believe I hit the JET jackpot with my placement.

When I first found out that I was: a) going to Towada, and b) teaching elementary/junior high, I was a little...worried, to say the least.

It didn't help when my dad did a little research and tried to reassure me with: "It's got an agricultural university, so it must be a pretty big city." (Actually, it's an animal husbandry university, but close enough.) If anything, that had me more convinced that I was going to the inaka (rural countryside)! But since a lot of the questions during my interview were about how I'd cope if I was sent to rural Japan, even though I wasn't thrilled, I figured I could deal with it.

What had me more worried, though, was that I was going to be teaching junior high and elementary school students. I believe I had specifically written (well, checked off) in my application that I did NOT want to teach at the elementary level. I mean, I don't like (little) kids, and I'm a certified high school English teacher, so I was convinced that I would be best utilized at the high school level.

As it's turned out, however, I now believe that I have the placement that is able to make me the happiest, most satisfied ALT I could possibly be.

Towada has really benefited from having one ALT who has stayed for five years. Andy has done an incredible amount of work to systematically improve English teaching in Towada: he has helped to put in place a quota system for school visits; to make it the standard for teachers to send lesson plans one week in advance; to start an elementary school English newsletter; to make soft copies of flash cards and other resource materials for easy sharing; and many other things!

Not only that, but he's been a rock of support for incoming ALTs. When Allie and I arrived, he met us at the airport, took us grocery shopping, helped us arrange for our internet connections and generally made it as easy as possible for us to settle in. And even now, whenever we have any problems or need help, he's there--moving furniture, explaining how to prevent insect infestations, demonstrating the weed whacker, etc. etc.

Another great thing about Towada is that it's conveniently situated next to Shichinohe, where there were (and still are) great second-year JETs who introduced themselves right away and have been great friends. They too were and have been very helpful in answering questions and assisting us whenever we need them.

We've also been extremely lucky in our office co-workers. Both our first and current supervisors have excellent English and have put a lot of thought and energy into making life and work in a foreign country go as smoothly as possible. Our other co-workers are also great about trying to talk to us (in English or simple Japanese) and have been very friendly and welcoming.

Personally, I also feel lucky to have come with Allie and Juliet. ^_^ We get along well, and they're both more social/outgoing than I am, which is great because if I wasn't going out and doing things with them every once in a while, I'd probably be a hermit.

Towada City itself is a great place to live. It's small enough to be friendly but large enough to provide some degree of anonymity. Plus it's got great scenery: Oirase Gorge, Lake Towada and Mount Hakoda (not to mention the ever-so picturesque rice fields). The city centre is also conveniently laid out in a grid pattern (owing to it's rice field origins) . There are lots of good restaurants and a decent-sized mall, and there are larger cities (Hachinohe, Aomori) within a reasonable driving distance.

As for the job, I love it. My base school only has 39 students in total and not a single one is a "bad." The previous kocho-sensei (just transferred to a different school this past April) really loved studying English, so we used to have English eikaiwa (conversation classes) with the teachers. As a result, all of the teachers can and do try to use at least a little English with me. Our new kocho-sensei doesn't have the same interest/facility in English, but he's also very nice and very relaxed. He's told me that if I'm late or sick it's OK if I just call the school directly (rather than calling my supervisor/the Board of Education first).

I've also had very good relationships with both of the Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) with whom I've worked. My current JTE and I get along particularly well. She's helped me to find a new apartment, to buy a washer/dryer (along with a fridge/TV), to inquire about various services by phone, and to do many other things. (I'm constantly asking her, and the kokugo--Japanese--teacher, about how to say things in Japanese or the meaning of various words/kanji.)

As a result of my good relationship with my JTE and the school in general (not to mention with my office), I've gotten permission to go on the school trip to Tokyo with the ninensei!! I have to use my vacation days and pay for the trip myself, of course, but I'm nonetheless thrilled to be able to go with them! It will be my first time going to Tokyo Disneyworld, Tokyo Tower, and the Canadian Embassy (hopefully the Embassy'll be at least somewhat interesting, since I think we're only going there because of me)! I really want to get to know the students better on this trip, and I hope too, that we will somehow be able to show them the practicality of learning English on the trip.

Really, if I could, the only thing I would change about my job is that I would be at Kirita full time rather than just 3 days a week. Even so, it's good for me to visit other schools (yes, even elementary schools) once in a while, particularly since those visiting days are usually the only days I have a chance to do any necessary in-person banking (banks close at 3pm!!!) .

The flipside (I don't really consider it a negative) of having a base school is that I have longer hours than Andy or Allie (but not as long as Juliet's), since my regular hours there are from 9am-5pm (but I often go earlier and/or stay later). I also do a lot of marking (pretty much everyday that I'm there) and lesson planning (particularly for the extra English classes I do on my own), but I don't really think of it as a hardship, since it makes me feel more like a regular teacher at the school. Then too, I think a lot of my good relationship with the other teachers comes from the fact that they see me putting in the extra time and effort.

So yeah, basically I feel like I've won the JET jackpot in terms of getting a placement that totally fits me. But I'd like to point out, that it's also a matter of perspective.

As much as I've been raving about how great being in Towada is, I could easily dwell on all the "negative" aspects of the placement:

- because Andy and other ALTs have built up the English program so much in Towada, there are very high teaching expectations placed on us, i.e. we need to maintain the standards already set

- again, because of the high level of the Towada English program, Towada ALTs are a heck of a lot busier than ALTs in many other cities (in the second term, I only had two scheduled office days--the rest of the time I had to go to the office after a school visit and/or after hours)

- Towada is incredibly inconvenient (not to mention expensive!) in terms of travel--there's no JR station, and it's far from both the international airport in Tokyo and Sapporo

- since it's a very spread out, rural city, it's hard to survive (although my predecessor did manage it) without a car--expensive considering the cost of gas nowadays, plus the Japanese system of road and car maintenance taxes

I'm sure if I thought a little longer/harder, I'd come up with more, but again, the point is, I choose to focus on all the great things about living in Towada.

The one thing I've really learned since coming to Japan is that in the classroom or in any given situation, the only thing I can fully control is my own attitude and (re)actions. And really, those are the only things I need to control to determine whether things will work out positively or negatively.

Future Goals?

On the bus ride back from Tohoku Machi (where the aforementioned Chuutairen was held) I was talking with Tomabechi-sensei about my plans for when I (eventually) return to Canada.

I think it's fairly safe to say that, unless something terrible happens this year (here or at home) I'll stay for at least 3 years (i.e. until August 2010). After that, though, it's really a big question mark.

In terms of the job, I think I'd be happy staying for the maximum five years, but there are lots of other considerations.

For one thing, I'd be 29 when I finally returned home, and 29 seems a little old to still be deciding what the heck I want to do with my life.

Then too, I really do miss everyone, especially from MCBC. I also miss having a church where I feel at home and part of the community.

Perhaps most importantly, I don't know if I'd still be growing and improving as a teacher at Kirita if I stayed for a fourth or fifth year. I definitely wouldn't stay if I felt like I was just going to be recycling lesson plans and sticking with the status quo. Plus I wonder if it might be better for the school to get a new ALT with fresh ideas after three years with the same person...

A new consideration (just came up today!) is that I've started thinking I might like to take a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification course when I go back and go into immigration/settlement related work, or possibly head off to Korea or Hong Kong to teach English (probably at the secondary level)...

Of course, that wouldn't help with the "missing everyone" consideration, but at least it gives me some possibilities for future employment.