Well, Japan is officially over.
I got home yesterday and it's kind of blah so far. I really enjoyed the time I spent this summer.
I spent the last two weeks helping a professor with an English class at church. I taught the high school class and also one adult 101 class. It was a blast.
Now in the 2 weeks before school I have to unpack and repack and finish my homework.
Japan was a good deal, and I'm really glad I went.
I'll be switching back to my regular blog from here out, I guess: Rebel Without an H
So keep a lookout and I'll try to keep it updated.
Thanks to my faithful readers who followed me all summer! I'll resurrect this one when I go back again.
Peace out,
Sara
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
The End of Things
Well, today was the last official day of my internship with Interac. They had a ceremony for the interns in the afternoon - we got certificates and sweet trophies. Then we went out to dinner. It was a nice way to end the summer, but I'm kind of sad to be going.
I still have two weeks left in Japan, at least. I'm going to be staying with Professor Watabe from BYU and helping with English classes/a youth conference in Yokohama. I'm really excited for the opportunity.
The last few weeks in the office have been interesting. My direct supervisor was out of the office this past week, so I've been helping to answer his emails. He gets a ton. This summer has really made me more sensitive to application processes and that the people on the other end are just regular people. There's no need for me to be afraid of them, though that's kind of irrational anyway.
I had to write an exit survey-type thing that asked what I discovered through the internship - about Japan, about myself, about schools, working in the office, environment. I'll put some here so you can read them, too.
Things I've discovered this summer:
Hope you all are doing well!
I still have two weeks left in Japan, at least. I'm going to be staying with Professor Watabe from BYU and helping with English classes/a youth conference in Yokohama. I'm really excited for the opportunity.
The last few weeks in the office have been interesting. My direct supervisor was out of the office this past week, so I've been helping to answer his emails. He gets a ton. This summer has really made me more sensitive to application processes and that the people on the other end are just regular people. There's no need for me to be afraid of them, though that's kind of irrational anyway.
I had to write an exit survey-type thing that asked what I discovered through the internship - about Japan, about myself, about schools, working in the office, environment. I'll put some here so you can read them, too.
Things I've discovered this summer:
- I am not that bad at teaching, when I focus and enjoy what I'm doing.
- Pretty much every Japanese student can ride a unicycle.
- Working in an office can be mind-numbing but oddly satisfying.
- I can be an adult and make friends and have a life on my own.
- There's a satisfaction in solitude.
- My family's got my back.
- I feel like speaking Japanese is becoming more natural for me.
- A happiness when I can understand the majority of what I watch on TV
Hope you all are doing well!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Today was my last day working at schools. :(
Next week starts summer vacation here, and they don't come back until September, when I'll already be back in the states.
The kids were way cute - they did their class dances and some of them wrote me notes and sang songs. I'm sad to leave them. I hope their next teacher will be good!
I think, with the teaching portion of the internship over, I can safely say that I would be happy to come back and teach again, for like a full year this time.
For the rest of the internship I'll just be working in the office. I don't know what they'll have me doing for sure. It seems like the work with the recruiting department is slowing down, since they are just finishing a hiring cycle for teachers to come in August and September. We'll see, I guess.
I leave you with a video of my 15 minute walk home from the station, condensed to like 30 seconds thanks to time lapse. My battery died right at the end, though. The last apartment building you see a full shot of is mine, I was just about to round the corner to get to it when it blacked out. :(
Next week starts summer vacation here, and they don't come back until September, when I'll already be back in the states.
The kids were way cute - they did their class dances and some of them wrote me notes and sang songs. I'm sad to leave them. I hope their next teacher will be good!
I think, with the teaching portion of the internship over, I can safely say that I would be happy to come back and teach again, for like a full year this time.
For the rest of the internship I'll just be working in the office. I don't know what they'll have me doing for sure. It seems like the work with the recruiting department is slowing down, since they are just finishing a hiring cycle for teachers to come in August and September. We'll see, I guess.
I leave you with a video of my 15 minute walk home from the station, condensed to like 30 seconds thanks to time lapse. My battery died right at the end, though. The last apartment building you see a full shot of is mine, I was just about to round the corner to get to it when it blacked out. :(
Friday, June 26, 2009
A word about work
Hello again from Japan Land.
I thought I would actually write about what I've been doing pretty much everyday for the past two months. Hah.
For all of May, I just had a job in the office Tokyo. It's the main Interac office, and I'm working with the Recruiting Department and doing odd jobs for whoever else needs help. My usual work consists of paperwork, computer data entry, filing, and email correspondence. We work with the applicants for the ALT positions and then offer them jobs and after they have accepted we check paperwork for visa applications. Pretty exciting stuff.
At the end of May, I was able to go for a job for 2 days at a sort of English day camp. The high school there has a "communication club" that has a two-day camp. They have 2 ALTs already, but they request a third for the camp, and since I was handy, being in the office, I was chosen to go up. It was in Tomioka, in Fukushima Prefecture. It was like 4 hours by train, and it was in the middle of pretty much nowhere. The camp was a lot of fun. In the morning we taught workshop-style classes and in the afternoon, we helped the students prepare for presentations based on the morning classes. The first day focused on reading fables and the second on writing and performing skits. The kids were really advanced for high schoolers, and the days there were a blast.
When I got back to Tokyo, they had another assignment for me. I began teaching at two elementary schools in Tokyo - in Bunkyo-ku. I'm still working at them now, and I'm still working in the office as well. The schools are 3 days a week, and the office is 2.
Kanatomi Elementary is one - the environment there is great. The students are generally enthusiastic and I enjoy teaching them.
Showa Elementary is the other - this is an interesting situation because there are parent volunteers who come to every English class. They are usually a big help, but sometimes they are added pressure.
At both schools I teach 1-6 graders, though at Showa with the 6th graders, I teach as an assistant to the Japanese homeroom teacher. Other than that, I am the main teacher for all my classes. I usually teach 4 or 5 classes each day.
The main point of English in elementary school is to just help students gain an interest in English. We are selling the idea that at one point, they could be English speakers. So, the main goal of classes isn't really to teach English, but instead to make English fun. Not to say that I don't teach English, because they are certainly learning as well. The lessons generally center around a target structure like "How are you" "I'm ____." I would teach those along with the coordinating vocabulary - fine, sleepy, hungry, hot, cold, etc. After drilling, though, class usually consists of games using the vocab or target structure. So yeah, class is a lot of fun.
Recently at the office I've gotten a new project, too. They have a library full of textbooks and resources used for classes in the past and some not used at all, so they are going through them and donating all the ones they don't need anymore. My job is to help with that and also to catalog the books they are donating so they have a list for tax write-offs. Pretty exciting stuff.
Well. That's what I've been doing. And that's probably what I'll be doing til the end. I don't forsee any changes in assignment coming. We'll see, I guess, though.
I leave you with a picture of one of my schools, Showa ES. I'll get Kanatomi and the office up soon so you can see them, as well.
p.s. I really will be updating my flickr soon, so check it out!
I thought I would actually write about what I've been doing pretty much everyday for the past two months. Hah.
For all of May, I just had a job in the office Tokyo. It's the main Interac office, and I'm working with the Recruiting Department and doing odd jobs for whoever else needs help. My usual work consists of paperwork, computer data entry, filing, and email correspondence. We work with the applicants for the ALT positions and then offer them jobs and after they have accepted we check paperwork for visa applications. Pretty exciting stuff.
At the end of May, I was able to go for a job for 2 days at a sort of English day camp. The high school there has a "communication club" that has a two-day camp. They have 2 ALTs already, but they request a third for the camp, and since I was handy, being in the office, I was chosen to go up. It was in Tomioka, in Fukushima Prefecture. It was like 4 hours by train, and it was in the middle of pretty much nowhere. The camp was a lot of fun. In the morning we taught workshop-style classes and in the afternoon, we helped the students prepare for presentations based on the morning classes. The first day focused on reading fables and the second on writing and performing skits. The kids were really advanced for high schoolers, and the days there were a blast.
When I got back to Tokyo, they had another assignment for me. I began teaching at two elementary schools in Tokyo - in Bunkyo-ku. I'm still working at them now, and I'm still working in the office as well. The schools are 3 days a week, and the office is 2.
Kanatomi Elementary is one - the environment there is great. The students are generally enthusiastic and I enjoy teaching them.
Showa Elementary is the other - this is an interesting situation because there are parent volunteers who come to every English class. They are usually a big help, but sometimes they are added pressure.
At both schools I teach 1-6 graders, though at Showa with the 6th graders, I teach as an assistant to the Japanese homeroom teacher. Other than that, I am the main teacher for all my classes. I usually teach 4 or 5 classes each day.
The main point of English in elementary school is to just help students gain an interest in English. We are selling the idea that at one point, they could be English speakers. So, the main goal of classes isn't really to teach English, but instead to make English fun. Not to say that I don't teach English, because they are certainly learning as well. The lessons generally center around a target structure like "How are you" "I'm ____." I would teach those along with the coordinating vocabulary - fine, sleepy, hungry, hot, cold, etc. After drilling, though, class usually consists of games using the vocab or target structure. So yeah, class is a lot of fun.
Recently at the office I've gotten a new project, too. They have a library full of textbooks and resources used for classes in the past and some not used at all, so they are going through them and donating all the ones they don't need anymore. My job is to help with that and also to catalog the books they are donating so they have a list for tax write-offs. Pretty exciting stuff.
Well. That's what I've been doing. And that's probably what I'll be doing til the end. I don't forsee any changes in assignment coming. We'll see, I guess, though.
I leave you with a picture of one of my schools, Showa ES. I'll get Kanatomi and the office up soon so you can see them, as well.
p.s. I really will be updating my flickr soon, so check it out!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A much needed post
Sorry it's been so long.
I'm not so good at this blogging thing.
So. Since I last wrote:
- I went to Tomioka City in Fukushima Prefecture to work for 2 days as an ALT at an English Camp. The students were members of the Communication Club at Tomioka High School, and they had a sort of day camp on a Thursday and Friday. I taught 3 lessons each day, and helped them with preparations for presentations in the afternoon. On Thursday we worked reading and fables, and on Friday we worked on writing and skits. It was a blast. The kids are really good at English, and they were a lot of fun.
- There was a while there where I thought I might be moving to a small town near Kyoto to teach at a junior high, but it fell through.
- Now, I officially have 2 schools that are mine. I teach at 2 elementary schools: Showa and Kanatomi. They are both in Tokyo, pretty close to the office actually, and I teach all the grades. That just started this week, though, so I'm still getting used to it.
I'll be updating my flickr soon, too. So look forward to it. Bam!
One shot to tide you over:
We ran into a Shinto wedding at a shrine. Pretty neat, I thought. I especially enjoy the mother's face in this one. Ha.
I'm not so good at this blogging thing.
So. Since I last wrote:
- I went to Tomioka City in Fukushima Prefecture to work for 2 days as an ALT at an English Camp. The students were members of the Communication Club at Tomioka High School, and they had a sort of day camp on a Thursday and Friday. I taught 3 lessons each day, and helped them with preparations for presentations in the afternoon. On Thursday we worked reading and fables, and on Friday we worked on writing and skits. It was a blast. The kids are really good at English, and they were a lot of fun.
- There was a while there where I thought I might be moving to a small town near Kyoto to teach at a junior high, but it fell through.
- Now, I officially have 2 schools that are mine. I teach at 2 elementary schools: Showa and Kanatomi. They are both in Tokyo, pretty close to the office actually, and I teach all the grades. That just started this week, though, so I'm still getting used to it.
I'll be updating my flickr soon, too. So look forward to it. Bam!
One shot to tide you over:
We ran into a Shinto wedding at a shrine. Pretty neat, I thought. I especially enjoy the mother's face in this one. Ha.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
For Tiffani, the toire:
So, the birthday was good. We really just ended up wandering around Tokyo. The boys (the interns who also live in my apartment complex) bought me a lovely cake:
It was a roll cake with fruit in it. I ate most of it myself, and only shared a little with them. :)Training has finished up, we had to do demo lessons on Friday and I had to pretend I was teaching a 3rd grade class about the rooms in the school. Our lessons focus mainly on having fun, so I planned lots of games and I think it went well.
Today was my first day on the job. For now, I'm working in recruiting in the office. Today I inputted a lot of data, and tomorrow I'll be scanning pages of info all day. Hooray. I'm excited to get to teach - they say I might get to substitute sometime.
I have a new favorite Japanese song. Go watch it.
For more pictures and stuff, check out my flickr.
Comment if there's something you want to hear about! I'm out like trout.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Happy birthday to me!
Hello from Chiba-ken! I've moved into my apartment. It's in Makuhari-cho. We're east of Tokyo, closer to the coast. 2 other guys from the internship live next door and the next door over, so we're partying it up, AKA going to bed at 11 every night and being generally quiet.
Okay. Because I know you're all dying to see it, apartment pictures:
So this is the general layout. It's a crappy thing I put together in Paint, but you get the idea. It's pretty small, but I like it. Here some more actual pictures:
the building from the outside and the view from the front door
the kitchen is small and is basically in the hallway
the bed is on a loft, and the door on the wall beneath it leads to a sweet closet
Yeah. That's really all the exciting stuff. If there's anything else you want to see, comment with your special requests and I can post more pictures.
So today's my birthday and we're going to Tokyo to Ueno Park to celebrate. They have museums, a zoo, amusement rides, and street performers. Since it's Golden Week here, there will be lots of people there. It'll be exciting! I'll post pictures from it later, if I get any good ones. :)
Okay. Because I know you're all dying to see it, apartment pictures:
So this is the general layout. It's a crappy thing I put together in Paint, but you get the idea. It's pretty small, but I like it. Here some more actual pictures:
the building from the outside and the view from the front door
the kitchen is small and is basically in the hallway
the bed is on a loft, and the door on the wall beneath it leads to a sweet closet
Yeah. That's really all the exciting stuff. If there's anything else you want to see, comment with your special requests and I can post more pictures.
So today's my birthday and we're going to Tokyo to Ueno Park to celebrate. They have museums, a zoo, amusement rides, and street performers. Since it's Golden Week here, there will be lots of people there. It'll be exciting! I'll post pictures from it later, if I get any good ones. :)
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