FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1
One year ago today was a good day.
Brian was visiting me today at work, to see how everything was going. He was quite happy about this since he usually caught a 7:30 train but now would get to sleep in quite a bit later. I could hear him in the shower as I left for work.
I was working at my desk when I was summoned because Brian had arrived. Until my teachers met Brian, they kept calling him “he or she” despite how I used only male pronouns. Brian was all officially dressed up in a suit, as was Kyoto-sensei and the principal. I felt intimated as we sat down formally and an Office Lady (OL) brought us tea. I probably radiated nervousness.
As it turns out, Brian worked with both these men before, so they had a nice little chat in Japanese while I panicked. I believe they were talking about his judo classes.
Brian then came to class with me and Ottawa-sensei. It was apparent that the students were awed/frightened by Brian because when we walked down the halls, they were quiet. Usually they yell “Hello Katie!” to me and the like.
Ottawa-sensei was nervous. It was apparent. It also didn't help that Kyoto-sensei and the principal came in to watch the ENTIRE lesson or that the majority of the class went to the geology room again instead of the English classroom. Meaning, class started late. Brian would later tell me to have a game ready for such situations, but that wast he LAST thing on my mind.
Class went well, although the students were dead quiet. I would be, too, with all these official people watching me. No one wanted to volunteer. At Brian's suggestion, I later tried out the chipsticks idea and fell in love with it. I wish I'd used it for this class. But more on that later. Ottawa-sensei is also still a young teacher and is still learning about team teaching. This was his first time doing this lesson. I had talked with him that morning and told him everything about how the lesson had worked and parts that needed changing and what I needed from him, but he doesn't have a natural instinct yet for working WITH me, either by throwing in a sentence of Japanese here or there so I can keep talking in English and still have understanding, or to being around to demonstrate when I need him. As such, as the students stared at me with blank faces, I had to ask him to translate into Japanese – something I usually don't ask – and that wasn't the best thing to do in front of officials. But I had to keep the class going.
After class, we went back to the meeting room and Brian quickly said “Anything you need to say to me privately? This conference is supposed to be between us, but sometimes they don't do that.” I had nothing right then, and, he was right. I sat down, he sat across from me, Ottawa-sensei came and sat on my side of the table, and Kyoto-sensei said behind Brian. That meant that any question now had to have an honest yet diplomatic answer.
Brian gave some good suggestions, some good advice and said that he thought I was farther along now than he was at this time, which made me feel good. He asked if I'd joined any clubs and we talked about that. I mentioned that I didn't have time as I worked until 7 most nights and he said that that's not normal and I shouldn't be doing that. We said we could talk more in private later as I now had to run off to my next class.
This class went really, really well, and I spent most of it wishing that THIS was the class Brian had seen.
My spaghetti didn't have enough sauce on it, so it tasted funny. I didn't eat it.
For my final class of the day, I brought the chopsticks along, as was Brian's suggestion. I had each student pick one as they walked in then they sat according to the seating chart on the board. Then, if I couldn't get a student to volunteer, I just picked out a random stick and they obediently and sadly got to their feet and answered whatever question or reading was required of them. It worked brilliantly! No complaints at all! My problem was that I had so much fun using this new, easy method that I asked too many people to volunteer each time and we fell behind on time for a bit.
After school, I continued grading papers. I had a stack of over 170 to grade waiting for me and more kept being added! As it is, there are still papers waiting for grades on my desk. I usually try not to leave with papers left to be graded, but it was impossible.
I talked for a while with a different sensei, the second year teacher who keeps adding to my grading. She's FUN! She's also the one who's going to help me with my travel arrangements to Tokyo next weekend. Apparently the teachers have been talking and the call me a work-a-holic ALT. She assured me that they are quite happy with it and I should keep it up. I'm a bit flattered being called a work-a-holic by a country of work-a-holics.
We talked about a lot of random stuff, including dialects and the perception of perfect Japanese students. She told me that she learned to tell how good a school was by the doors on the bathrooms. The school she was at before had no doors on the bathrooms so it was easier for teachers on patrols. Students apparently like to smoke in the bathrooms. At her old school, studnets would apparently take the doors off the stalls and set them on the floor at sit there and eat lunch in the bathroom stalls. When the teachers told them not to do that, they said they liked to eat there because it was their space. I can understand wanting their own space, but a bathroom stall?! That's so dirty! I related with stories of my own high school when applicable.
Then it was decidedly time for me to leave. I got in after seven and rushed over to Elizabeth's. We chatted a lot, then I ran home to get ingredients for crepes. She poured me wine. I made the crepes and we enjoyed it with chocolate whip (which is like brown fluff with a faint taste of chocolate) and peanut cream, which is like peanut butter, except not as peanutty. It actually looks like caramel. It's odd but tasty stuff.
The crepes were delicious and we gobbled them down. I left her a copy of the recipe so she could make them again herself, then headed home for sleep.
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