格好いいですね！

It was a quick day today. I did some official team-teaching today. Well, team-teaching in the sense that I planned my introduction for the one class but changed it up a bit. I added an activity which got the students moving about and working together. Basically, I gave each group a bunch of papers that have things like “my family” or “map of the United States” written on them and the students would race each other to get the items that were scattered up front. Figured it would be a good way for them to review what I had talked about and link it with the items/pictures. Worked out pretty well I think. I also liked working with Kobayashi-sensei. She was really nice and easy going as are all the teachers I guess. Later, I team taught with Kudou-sensei, the only male English teacher in the department. He and I taught an actual lesson. I basically went over vocabulary and read out loud the skits in the book. I then adapted the skits to other examples. To give you a better picture of what I mean. The book example was…

Mike: “Oh no! My cola!” (You see a picture of a boy knocking over his soda)

“I don’t have any tissues. Do you have any?”

Emi: “I don’t have any tissues but I have a handkerchief. Here. Use this.”

 

So I adapted it to other things like ripping my paper and needing tape or my marker running out and needing another or my rubber band snapping and needing something else. The rubber band went over well. The kids laughed when I actually snapped the rubber band in front of them. And of course, I was overly dramatic about it.

Richard-sensei: “OH NOOOO! MY RUBBER BAND!!!” (As I break it in half)

“I don’t have anymore. Kudou-sensei, do you have any?”

Kudou-sensei: “No, I don’t. But I have this paper clip. Here. Use this.”

Richard-sensei: “Whew, thanks.”

Yeps, I am teaching English alright, hehe. I gave out the omiyage (souvenirs) that I brought for the teachers and they were really appreciative. Worked with a student called Mika on her speech for the speech contest. She basically can say half of her speech almost flawlessly. Her r’s are great but she just needs to work on ‘th’ which is so difficult for Japanese I think. They are not used to having their tongue stick out between their teeth when they speak. Everyone seems inclined to say ‘sa’ instead of ‘th.’ I have faith that she will get it and be amazing. I am really impressed at the improvement she has shown since the last time that I worked with her. Will be helping her on Monday. She is one of the few students who is not afraid to make mistakes and improve herself. I don’t doubt if in many years I see her as someone doing something great in the world. I just have that feeling.

All the English teachers and I went out to a restaurant after work as a welcoming party for me. It was so nice. There were about 7 of us and well the conversation was in Japanese. I would like to say that I held my own but in actuality I understood about 50% of it outside of asking for a translation of some things. They made me drink sake and eat all these really authentic and special foods, including bamboo shoots prepared all fancy. The principal told me that this was considered a special food only served on the most important occasions and at big festivities. I felt really honored. We talked about numerous subjects ranging from the Olympics to politics to school stuff to me adjusting and also about the various differences between America and Japan. I did find out from the teachers that loads of students were calling me 格好いい (kakkou-ii) which means ‘attractive, stylish, and/or cool.’ Then they also told me the other thing the students were saying was いきな面 (ikina-men) which they translated for me as meaning ‘having a really good-looking face.’ I was really flattered. Didn’t know that I would be such a sight to look at for everyone. I guess this is better than hearing the opposite, lol. And at least it will get the girls to come practice their English with me, lol. Walked my bike home and talked to my friend Shannon on the phone. Had to walk my bike because you can’t ride your bike if you had anything to drink. Shannon is kind of my talk about everything girl over here. I am so glad she is on the same phone carrier as me so that we can chat for free because I anticipate we will be keeping in touch often. I like hearing about her relationship and I think she is genuinely happy about the news I update her with. We are also going to be cooking buddies and visit each other. Can’t wait until I find the right time to do so.