Finally doing my job!

So, we’ve finally come to Wednesday, October 5th (this is how behind I am... but don’t worry I’ll catch up with all the main points this week!).  My first three days of school were at Hashi junior high (my main school)!  It was really awesome to meet the students and teachers and everyone made me feel welcome, so I felt very grateful.  It was finally decided that I’d get a ride to school most days with Miyu-sensei, the Japanese teacher at the middle school, since she lives in my neighborhood.  I’ll admit I was worried at first because I wondered if we’d be able to communicate at all, but as it turns out Miyu-sensei remembers a surprising number of English words from her school days.  So we end up doing hand motions plus some random words to get our ideas across (it’s actually kind of fun).  So as I said my main school is Hashi JHS, but I also have three elementary schools that I visit two days a week: Michiue, Hayai, and Shiroharu.  Michiue and Hayai are in the same building and are located next to Hashi JHS; I switch off between one or the other each Tuesday.  I’m supposed to go to Shiroharu every Monday but due to some holidays and other events my first day of class there won’t be until Halloween. 

At Hashi junior high I had to introduce myself in English and Japanese in front of all the students and teachers during an assembly... I'll admit it was a bit stressful.  It’s probably good that I wanted to keep my English phrases simple though because that meant that I kept my Japanese simple too!  I basically said, “Good morning!  My name is ___.  I come from Massachusetts in America.  I came to Japan last week.  Let’s learn English together!  My Japanese isn’t very good but it’s nice to meet you!”.

For my first classes at each school I did a self-intro including telling them about my home state, hobbies, favorite things, birthday, family members, and anything else I could think of...  Next the students would ask me questions, some that come to mind are: How tall are you?! (5’7” = 170 cm, taller than most Japanese women), Who’s your favorite actor? (I said Hugh Laurie), What’s your blood type? (I tested before I came to Japan since I knew it was a common conversation topic, type O), What’s your favorite anime? (some students got SUPER excited when I said it was Fullmetal Alchemist, luckily I knew the title in Japanese too: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, one student gave me a poster of the anime that he had in his bag).  In the elementary schools I brought in a stuffed animal to pass around too (a penguin my sister gave me), and some pictures of me from when I was their age.  The elementary schools are pretty high tech so I was able to show some pictures on their TV via the computer as well.  All in all it was fun!

At Hashi I met the three English teachers whom I will be working with: Hisaki-sensei (who has been there the longest), Tamaru-sensei (recently certified as an English teacher), and Takato-sensei (another assistant English teacher).  Usually it's Takato-sensei who tells me where I should be going each day and answers any questions that I have.  I’m very lucky though that the teachers are so nice and willing to include me in class (I’ve heard a few horror stories about ALTs who are basically ignored by the JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English).  Once I’m more used to being in class and interacting with the students (and the teachers get to know me better) I think they would be willing to listen to my ideas about activities and games we could do in class.  I also passed out the gifts from the US that I brought with me (jam, candles, pictures, candy) and the teachers at the various schools really appreciated it.  I’ve received some candy and treats in return since then!

And now for a random food item I tried and really liked (possibly because no one told me what it was beforehand): gyutan (cow tongue) a local Miyagi specialty that tastes kind of like roast beef.  I recommend it!