Admittedly, I'm Terrible At Remembering I Have a Blog

It's extremely bizarre to look at the date and realize I've been here for a month. A month and a day, actually. I feel like I'm finally getting myself settled in. My apartment feels like home, there are markers and bits of paper everywhere, and I own a plant. My students know who I am and say hi to me randomly. My neighbors no longer look like they're going to bolt away at any second (on the few occasions that I see them).

I'm slowly adding to my minimal knowledge of Japanese- I've figured out wonderful (subareshii!) wait a minute (chotto motte) and how to write the names of my junior highs in kanji. It's a start, right? I'm waiting for some kids' books to get here- I hassled my mother into sending me a few. I have a feeling they'll be useful- one of my new friends, a math teacher at one of my schools, has two little kids who are unbelievably sweet. I'm gonna bring the books over for them to look at as soon as they get in.

My friend Steph and I have somehow become the information hub for the new-ish Nagoya branch kids. We seem to end up in charge of everyone's plans at some point or another, which is kinda fun and extremely funny. This past weekend was amazing- we dragged a bunch of people up into the mountains to visit us and then climbed and drove all over the place. I definitely need to spend more time lounging around on the rocks in Nagiso- best place I've ever seen to curl up and do a whole lot of nothing in the sun.

I've got my first elementary school lesson in two days, a holiday on thursday, and then a five day weekend where I'm intending to town-hop for a few days to visit all the people who came to visit me, with a few additions. Hopefully it will work out perfectly, and even if it doesn't I bet it'll be fun as hell. I'm looking forward to the Iga ninja festival. Seriously- it's a town full of ninjas, and people pretending to be ninjas, and ninja-themed everything. Why on earth wouldn't I go?

Here's a couple of photos: a friend of mine in Nagiso, right before he fell in the river, and a shot taken from the graveyard in Tsumago. This weekend was gorgeous.

Second Day, Second School

I'm teaching at two Junior Highs, one Elementary, not to mention a random assortment of preschools (on a very casual basis- approximately a day and a half every year). I just kinda got settled down after my second day. The kids at both junior highs are great. That being said, I have a feeling I'm gonna have way more fun teaching at this school than the other one. I actually got to use my lesson plan and it went over well, which was awesome, and the other teachers are really friendly which is amazing. I might even actually end up with friends. Shocking! Some of the older ladies were having quiet bets on my age- when I confirmed one teacher yelled "Bingo!"
I teach at this school three times this week, which is pretty awesome. I kinda wish it was my only school... that's how much fun I had. It was really cool- the students got crazy excited to see me and made a point of walking past (in some cases, several times in a row) in order to say Hello! How are you! I like ! Frankly, it's endearing and unbearably funny.
The second year volleyball club took it upon themselves to come over and say hi during break, which was awesome. They found it hilarious that I could only say a couple things in Japanese. It really makes me wonder how atrocious my accent is... We somehow managed to have a little mini-conversation despite it all.
The first school I taught at was fine, but definitely a much more formal, serious feeling place- with a couple notable exceptions. It's a very by the book lesson structure with little creative teaching on my part. This second school seems legitimately fun. I get to suggest games and help shape the lessons, which is awesome. I'm really looking forward to working there again tomorrow.


But right at this exact moment, I have to walk down a mountain in the rain to buy an apron because I need it to help with school lunch tomorrow afternoon. Goody.

At Least I Know Where I Am

So I spent a bunch of today working out where my three main schools and whether or not I can find them again... and I can! I feel relatively accomplished. In a country that believed in street signs, this would not be as impressive. However, everything here is all about landmarks: for example, you go past the gas station but not the first gas station, the second one, and turn hard left... etc etc. It's like trying to follow the directions of the flaky kid you knew in high school who couldn't remember her own phone number. Except that's the entire country. Streets don't have names or numbers except for major highways, so it can be more than a little confusing the first few times you head somewhere.
Needless to say, I'll be repeating this experiment tomorrow and Sunday as well.

I'm getting really nervous- I've been trying to prepare introduction lessons for my Junior High students but I have no idea which classes I'll be teaching on Monday, or what level they're at. It makes it tricky to know what to prepare. Oh well, I'll just make a few easily modifiable plans and come prepared to be giggled at. (This is harder than one might think.)

I'm supposed to bring in objects from home that can be shown to students for my Tuesday school, which is tricky because I really didn't bring any. I have a little bit of money (quarters and stuff) and a massive bag of Hershey's kisses which I'm not allowed to hand out. I'm planning on bringing those in for the teachers, at any rate, so hopefully they like chocolate.

I'm meeting up with some pre-existing ALTs this evening, so maybe they have some tips.

On the cheerful side, this is what I see when I go outside my door... so it's not all nervous energy over here. And actually, I'm enjoying the hell out of myself, freaking out about first classes and all.

BoE Meeting

This afternoon I meet up with the Board of Education. Apparently, I'll introduce myself, chat a bit, and then get a list of schools and a schedule. This is a serious relief, and the current ALTs assure me it's relatively painless... the thing is that afterwards, I have meetings with teachers from three different schools. Most likely, I'm gonna have to be on best 'business professional' behavior til after 8 tonight. Good grief.

Not my idea of fun, really, but I suppose that's why it's work. At least I'll know what classes I'll be teaching after today... and there will be people willing to go get a beer afterwards. Because frankly, I think I'll need one.

So This Is It

So this is where I will be living for the next year at least. Madness! I thought that instead of flooding everyone with all the photos, I'd just put up a video. Work starts properly on the 12th, so I've still got some time to get adjusted to the town and attempt to lessen the language barrier. Wish me luck! I'll need it.

oops. forgot.

So I haven't updated this in approximately... a week? ish? However, I have an excuse. And it's a good one, not some wishy-washy lame one. I AM IN JAPAN. This means that while I do love the internet, it does not compare to wandering around and failing to comprehend people's conversations.

Nakatsugawa is beautiful. I don't think I can really appropriately explain it, so there's just gonna be an image...

I'll have a phone soon, so it's possible for people to email directly to that! OoOoo AaaAaa. Also, the camera on my phone is Better Than My Actual Camera. I have never coveted a piece of technology this much in my life. (except for maybe my laptop.)