Greetings and Salutations
as the heading suggests, this will be about some things that have happened since my last entry. some are good, some are not so good, and some are just mediocre:
1. i woke up monday not feeling very well, so i took the day off and got caught up on some sleep and work. it was good
2. some of the work i got caught up on was a unit that i've been working on dealing with the Meiji Restoration period of Japanese history and i feel very good about the framework i have now for that unit
3. hung out with some of my students on tuesday and talked about college (they're seniors and going to school in the States in the fall, so i filled them in on some important details that guidance counselors tend to forget about. . . quarters being gold;if a girl asks, never tell her the jeans make her look fat, just ask her how they feel instead; never work telemarketing; etc)
4. tuesday night i went to tomomi's for dinner (it was delicious, by the way) and then off to another onsen, and this one was a REAL hot spring where the water is heated hundreds of feet underground by volcanoes and stuff and pumped up to the surface. the whole place smelled a little like sulfur (eggs) so that way you know its a good one
5. downloaded the latest episode of Heroes and it blew me away
6. found out i'm still unemployed: ". . . the position has been filled. . ."
7. was asked to chaperone the Senior's lock-in in a few weeks. . . that'll be interesting
8. read up on the Korematsu case for my US history class. . . look it up, its not one of our prouder moments in the US
9. i think i'll stop at 9 because 9 is divisible by 3 and i really don't need much more reason than that
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
more day to day stuff
greetings and salutations
i thought for this entry, i would share some of the more random things that i have seen or experienced here. and by random, i mean that this entry will not really be telling a story of anything per-se, but some pictures that i thought were pretty cool
for those of you who have seen "Lost in Translation," do you remember the karaoke place that they end up at where bill murray sings "more than this" and scarlett wears that pink wig? well this is that same karaoke place. my friend, megumi, pointed it out to me the other night in Shibuya, and i was like "sweet"
sometimes, when i get hungry, i go to mcdonalds. i've even found heinz ketchup here, so that makes everything taste better
this is when tomomi tried to steal my last piece of sushi. . . man that place is amazing.
i pass this fence every day on my way to school, and i took this pic b/c the rainstorm made it look really cool. really made the colors jump out
i thought i had found Frodo's front door, but apparently this place is a really nice restaurant in tokyo. . . not a hobbit's house
i thought for this entry, i would share some of the more random things that i have seen or experienced here. and by random, i mean that this entry will not really be telling a story of anything per-se, but some pictures that i thought were pretty cool
for those of you who have seen "Lost in Translation," do you remember the karaoke place that they end up at where bill murray sings "more than this" and scarlett wears that pink wig? well this is that same karaoke place. my friend, megumi, pointed it out to me the other night in Shibuya, and i was like "sweet"
sometimes, when i get hungry, i go to mcdonalds. i've even found heinz ketchup here, so that makes everything taste better
this is when tomomi tried to steal my last piece of sushi. . . man that place is amazing.
i pass this fence every day on my way to school, and i took this pic b/c the rainstorm made it look really cool. really made the colors jump out
i thought i had found Frodo's front door, but apparently this place is a really nice restaurant in tokyo. . . not a hobbit's house
Monday, April 16, 2007
a day in the life of. . .
so when i set up this blog initially, it was with the intention of being able to show pictures of some of the things i was doing and be able to share that with everyone else, but as of late, i have strayed from that original (usually b/c i forget to take my camera places), but i thought today i'd show you some of the things i get to see on a daily basis:
The first picture, is the road that i ride my bike down every day to get to school. the roads here (this is more of a side street through the neighborhood) are very narrow, and there are very few sidewalks, so i share this road with cars, bikes, and people out walking their dogs. not much for front yards, either
since the houses are so close to the roads there are many blind corners, so on just about every corner you'll see a big curved mirror that helps you see who could be coming at you. if you look real close, you can see me taking this picture in the reflection of the other mirror
the third picture is of my main form of transportation . . . my bike. my family doesn't have a car (like a lot of families here), so every morning i hop on my orange bike and ride down the road to my school. it only takes about 5 mintues to get there, and it actually helps me wake up before i have to go teach, so that has cut my need for coffee significantly. . . even though i still need it
the next picture is of sakura (cherry blossoms). Japanese culture puts a very high emphasis on nature, and sakura is a big part of the celebration of the arrival of spring. the blossoms only come out for a short time, and you can even see that the blossoms on this tree are already starting to fall as the tree switches to green leaves, but while the sakura are in bloom the whole country is pink, and actually quite nice to look at.
there is a park that i ride past every morning on my way to school, and apparently it isn't nice to let your dog do his business in the park
The first picture, is the road that i ride my bike down every day to get to school. the roads here (this is more of a side street through the neighborhood) are very narrow, and there are very few sidewalks, so i share this road with cars, bikes, and people out walking their dogs. not much for front yards, either
since the houses are so close to the roads there are many blind corners, so on just about every corner you'll see a big curved mirror that helps you see who could be coming at you. if you look real close, you can see me taking this picture in the reflection of the other mirror
the third picture is of my main form of transportation . . . my bike. my family doesn't have a car (like a lot of families here), so every morning i hop on my orange bike and ride down the road to my school. it only takes about 5 mintues to get there, and it actually helps me wake up before i have to go teach, so that has cut my need for coffee significantly. . . even though i still need it
the next picture is of sakura (cherry blossoms). Japanese culture puts a very high emphasis on nature, and sakura is a big part of the celebration of the arrival of spring. the blossoms only come out for a short time, and you can even see that the blossoms on this tree are already starting to fall as the tree switches to green leaves, but while the sakura are in bloom the whole country is pink, and actually quite nice to look at.
there is a park that i ride past every morning on my way to school, and apparently it isn't nice to let your dog do his business in the park
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
i love free things
so i found a coffee shop nearby that has free wireless internet, so i am no longer forced to work only from my desk at home or from the teachers' lounge, and i am very happy about that.
today was my first day of actual teaching, and i think interesting is the best way to describe it. I actually started out the day being interviewed by the headmaster here at CAJ for the Humanities position that i have mentioned before. it was actually really good, and at one point he pulled in the middle school principal (i think it was a test to see how i would react to a situation changing very rapidly, and i'm pretty sure i passed that test). i was the last of 6 interviews, so if i dont get the job, then one of those other five (actually probably all five of them) must be more qualified and have more experience than me. but it was still good to apply even if it was to go through the interview process and see what that can be like.
so on to teaching. directly after that interview (my brain wasn't back into class-mode yet) i had my first class of US History. we're studying the 1920's, and the factors that led up to the Great Depression. i think class went well, and if anything it was good to just finally get up there and start teaching finally. tomorrow we'll be comparing herbert hoover and FDR and looking at the major split between the Repubican and Democratic parties that happened at this time, which have in turn shaped their party platforms even to this very day.
with the 8th graders, i had a lesson on Karate. honestly, it was a little rough, but there were some good parts in it. its good for me to get practice teaching things that i'm not completely familiar with, b/c its forcing me to do a lot of independent research and learn things for myself in order to teach them.
its been raining a lot here too, but it is not supposed to be monsoon season until june, so i guess i'm just lucky that i get stuck in the rain so much (i have 2 umbrellas now in case i forget one somewhere). also, i haven't been taking as many pictures lately, b/c i've been really busy with preparing for school, but once the weather clears up i'll get some pics of some of the interesting things i've seen around where the school is.
I miss you all, and am looking forward to telling you all about my trip, the things i've learned, and hearing what you have been learning as well.
here's one thing i learned when i was researching karate: there are different theories or legends regarding the use of the different colored belts as the ranking system for karate, but my two favorite were these:
1. everyone started out with a white belt, and as you achieved a new level, you dyed it a slightly darker color (yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple, brown and then black) to show your mastery over that level. i thought that was pretty cool, but my favorite is
2. again, when someone started learning karate he was given a white belt to hold his Gi (uniform) closed. as he trained and trained, he never washed his belt, so the more he trained, the dirtier it got. the darker the belt, the more training that person must've gone through, so if you met a guy who had a black belt, you'd better watch out
again, those are legends, and i don't know how accurate they are, but i thought they were pretty cool nonetheless
see you all later
today was my first day of actual teaching, and i think interesting is the best way to describe it. I actually started out the day being interviewed by the headmaster here at CAJ for the Humanities position that i have mentioned before. it was actually really good, and at one point he pulled in the middle school principal (i think it was a test to see how i would react to a situation changing very rapidly, and i'm pretty sure i passed that test). i was the last of 6 interviews, so if i dont get the job, then one of those other five (actually probably all five of them) must be more qualified and have more experience than me. but it was still good to apply even if it was to go through the interview process and see what that can be like.
so on to teaching. directly after that interview (my brain wasn't back into class-mode yet) i had my first class of US History. we're studying the 1920's, and the factors that led up to the Great Depression. i think class went well, and if anything it was good to just finally get up there and start teaching finally. tomorrow we'll be comparing herbert hoover and FDR and looking at the major split between the Repubican and Democratic parties that happened at this time, which have in turn shaped their party platforms even to this very day.
with the 8th graders, i had a lesson on Karate. honestly, it was a little rough, but there were some good parts in it. its good for me to get practice teaching things that i'm not completely familiar with, b/c its forcing me to do a lot of independent research and learn things for myself in order to teach them.
its been raining a lot here too, but it is not supposed to be monsoon season until june, so i guess i'm just lucky that i get stuck in the rain so much (i have 2 umbrellas now in case i forget one somewhere). also, i haven't been taking as many pictures lately, b/c i've been really busy with preparing for school, but once the weather clears up i'll get some pics of some of the interesting things i've seen around where the school is.
I miss you all, and am looking forward to telling you all about my trip, the things i've learned, and hearing what you have been learning as well.
here's one thing i learned when i was researching karate: there are different theories or legends regarding the use of the different colored belts as the ranking system for karate, but my two favorite were these:
1. everyone started out with a white belt, and as you achieved a new level, you dyed it a slightly darker color (yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple, brown and then black) to show your mastery over that level. i thought that was pretty cool, but my favorite is
2. again, when someone started learning karate he was given a white belt to hold his Gi (uniform) closed. as he trained and trained, he never washed his belt, so the more he trained, the dirtier it got. the darker the belt, the more training that person must've gone through, so if you met a guy who had a black belt, you'd better watch out
again, those are legends, and i don't know how accurate they are, but i thought they were pretty cool nonetheless
see you all later
Monday, April 9, 2007
my students are much smarter than me
Greetings and Salutations everyone
Right now for me it is 10pm on monday night and i am exhausted!! Last week I had my first experience with the Juniors and Seniors. My cooperating teacher is Mr. Duhrkoop (Mr. D) and up until last week he was with the seniors on their trip to Thailand, so when he got back, i finally got a taste of what it is like to be a high school teacher
my students are much smarter than me
but besides that, i really like my students. the 11th grade class i teach is US history (which i love to begin with) and with the seniors it is a Global Issues class (right now they are preparing a comparative government study on 6 different countries and will have a mock-UN summit on thursday and friday regarding the problems in the Darfur region of Sudan). makes for some very interesting class discussions, and i'm loving every minute of it.
the 8th graders started learning some of the traditional theater arts of Japan last week, and though i was supposed to start teaching a unit on teh Meiji Restoration Period of Japanese history, that has been postponed until further notice. whereas i basically was able to jump right in on the second day and start doing things in Mr. D's classes, i am still yet to teach an actual lesson to my 8th graders. . . but soon i will, i just have to stay patient.
i've been playing some soccer here too, and am realizing how much i really do miss that sport. even though i can't talk to most of the guys i'm playing with, it doesn't even matter. people say that music is the international language, but i think sports is just as much of a cross-cultural language
sorry this is so brief, but its getting late, and like i said previously, i am beat down
see me later
Right now for me it is 10pm on monday night and i am exhausted!! Last week I had my first experience with the Juniors and Seniors. My cooperating teacher is Mr. Duhrkoop (Mr. D) and up until last week he was with the seniors on their trip to Thailand, so when he got back, i finally got a taste of what it is like to be a high school teacher
my students are much smarter than me
but besides that, i really like my students. the 11th grade class i teach is US history (which i love to begin with) and with the seniors it is a Global Issues class (right now they are preparing a comparative government study on 6 different countries and will have a mock-UN summit on thursday and friday regarding the problems in the Darfur region of Sudan). makes for some very interesting class discussions, and i'm loving every minute of it.
the 8th graders started learning some of the traditional theater arts of Japan last week, and though i was supposed to start teaching a unit on teh Meiji Restoration Period of Japanese history, that has been postponed until further notice. whereas i basically was able to jump right in on the second day and start doing things in Mr. D's classes, i am still yet to teach an actual lesson to my 8th graders. . . but soon i will, i just have to stay patient.
i've been playing some soccer here too, and am realizing how much i really do miss that sport. even though i can't talk to most of the guys i'm playing with, it doesn't even matter. people say that music is the international language, but i think sports is just as much of a cross-cultural language
sorry this is so brief, but its getting late, and like i said previously, i am beat down
see me later
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Unfortunately, the only pictures are in my brain
おはようございます
translated: ohayou gozaimasu
meaning: good morning (polite)
First, I want to apologize for not updating sooner. spent much of last week up in the mountains and unfortunately, my camera spent its time in Tokyo, so I have no pictures to share with you of the splendor that is Nagano Prefecture. I taught an English class, went sledding, taught some people how to ice skate, and played 3 hours of soccer and basketball in an old pair of Chuck's, so I managed to go home with some pretty intense blisters. That made the soccer game I played on Saturday even more fun (the blisters got much bigger then). Lesson for the day: "make sure you wear the right shoes for the right activity, and if you have blisters, don't try to play soccer for 2 hours b/c it will hurt."
Last week was spring break here at CAJ, so I spent most of the first part of the week, and last weekend, just kinda hanging out in different areas of Tokyo. I would go to the Eki (train station) and just pick a direction, and then when I got to that stop, I would get out and walk around and see what kinds of things I could find. I found a jacket, a new umbrella, a place that has really good lamb-kabobs, more ramen shops, a coffee shop in Ikebukuro that I like a little more than the starbucks nearby (its cheaper and is less crowded) and a lot of other random little shops that I found quite enjoyable.
I'm not going to lie, there have definitely been some difficulties in adjusting to the culture here. it helps that i do know some people, but it has been very hard to depend on my friends here b/c they all have their own lives and careers as well. i'm almost done filling out my application to potentially teach here at CAJ for the next year or 2, and i'm praying that if that happens, i meet some more people so that i dont have to spend every evening studying alone at the coffee shop near the HigashiKurume station.
peace and prosperity to you all
translated: ohayou gozaimasu
meaning: good morning (polite)
First, I want to apologize for not updating sooner. spent much of last week up in the mountains and unfortunately, my camera spent its time in Tokyo, so I have no pictures to share with you of the splendor that is Nagano Prefecture. I taught an English class, went sledding, taught some people how to ice skate, and played 3 hours of soccer and basketball in an old pair of Chuck's, so I managed to go home with some pretty intense blisters. That made the soccer game I played on Saturday even more fun (the blisters got much bigger then). Lesson for the day: "make sure you wear the right shoes for the right activity, and if you have blisters, don't try to play soccer for 2 hours b/c it will hurt."
Last week was spring break here at CAJ, so I spent most of the first part of the week, and last weekend, just kinda hanging out in different areas of Tokyo. I would go to the Eki (train station) and just pick a direction, and then when I got to that stop, I would get out and walk around and see what kinds of things I could find. I found a jacket, a new umbrella, a place that has really good lamb-kabobs, more ramen shops, a coffee shop in Ikebukuro that I like a little more than the starbucks nearby (its cheaper and is less crowded) and a lot of other random little shops that I found quite enjoyable.
I'm not going to lie, there have definitely been some difficulties in adjusting to the culture here. it helps that i do know some people, but it has been very hard to depend on my friends here b/c they all have their own lives and careers as well. i'm almost done filling out my application to potentially teach here at CAJ for the next year or 2, and i'm praying that if that happens, i meet some more people so that i dont have to spend every evening studying alone at the coffee shop near the HigashiKurume station.
peace and prosperity to you all
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