疲れた～～～～～～！・・・・・・・日溜り君～～～～～

So I finally got my internet hooked up last night. I hadn't been able to use internet freely for almost a month, so as expected, I was pretty much glued to the computer all night.....until around 3am. The main problem was that that same day, my school had their 運動会 which meant that I was already dead tired when I got home. Going to sleep at 3am wasn't a good plan, seeing as I had to get up at 7am this morning. I crawled out of bed this morning, and crawled to school. Well no, I biked, but you know what I mean. At school, I did my final 自己紹介 lesson - it was really fun. I like to make jokes, it loosens up the kids. Some of them are really shy, they won't even look up at you really. But if I can crack a smile on one of those kids, I consider it a step in the right direction. Anyways, I survived my final self-introduction lesson, and headed back to the teacher's room. In the teacher's room, I sat at my desk, with my laptop open, working on an activity. Mind you, half my brain was asleep at this point.

After lunch, I went with another teacher to sample another class. The problem was there was no sitting room so I had to stand. I thought after lunch, I'd be more 元気, but I thought wrong. Halfway through the lesson, I was pretty much dozing off, using the shelf on the side of the room as support. The other teacher saw, and asked me if I was okay. Then I asked him if there were any places I could take a nap. Mind you, it was just a joke, I didn't except a serious answer. But then he told me, I could sleep in the nurses office. We went down to the nurses' office and low and behold, there were three beds, and the nurse prepared one for me, and just like an ill child, I was allowed to sleep in there. I ended up napping for an hour. I have no idea how that happened, but when I woke up, I was ready to do some speech contest 練習！ I had no classes in the afternoon, so it was all good.

When I woke up, I a bunch of kids came in - apparently they were doing measurements, weighing themselves and measuring their heights. Then I saw a bunch of cute bobbly head things on the nurses desk, and I asked a kid what that was. The nurse told me it was a 日溜り君. I was like, "hidamari"?? Those things were cute, and cool. Solar powered, it's this cute thing who's head moves left and right slowly. The nurse gave me one as a present.......that was definitely cool. I put it on my desk, and sat down, watching it. Apparently, it helps relax your heart......especially when you're alone at home. I have yet to try it, but at my desk..I could feel it's magical powers putting me at ease, and laying all my stress to rest. I love you 日溜り君！It's just so cute.

now I should probably go to sleep. don't want to sleep at school again anytime soon. Although when I woke up, there was a kid in the other bed...wonder what happened to her. While I was sleeping, I had this guilty feeling、I even had a 30 second nightmare about sleeping on on a boat and then finding out it was sinking. Apparently..it's okay..but I dont know...seems strange. However, I have been working overtime everyday, so I guess I should give myself some leeway here. Japanese teachers stay afterschool everyday until around 6:30 doing club activities and other stuff. My contract stipulates that I only have to stay from 8:10-3:55 each day. But I've been staying as late as the other teachers since school started. One day, I was the last teacher out of the staff room, leaving at around 7:30. So I'm not sleeping on the job. Just すごく疲れた～

危ねぇ～～～～～～～～～

Biking here is dangerous. Two Sundays ago, I biked home from Tsukidate, which is a town just south of mine. It was around 8pm, but it was completely dark out already. The first 20 or so minutes were fine, but then the side lane disappeared. In Japan, at least where I'm at, there are only 2 lanes - one for each direction. The lanes are narrow. Very narrow. The lack of proper lighting also makes it difficult for the cars to see, and for me to see what's in front of me. I had my bike light on, but it's a pretty weak light. Also, I have no helmet. To compound matters, it started raining. If the roads were really roads things would have been alright, but the roads aren't really roads. They're more like trails, and for a biker, it's difficult to follow the road when you can't see anything. Going over rivers, and going past rice fields without really being able to see anything was quite an experience. Fortunately, the road home was literally just one road. All I had to do was keep following it. Eventually, I made it back, completely soaked, and legs in pain. Good workout, but seriously, a bit too dangerous for me to attempt too often. I can't drive though, so it's gonna be tough getting around. Hmmm.

Sports Festival - 運動会

Today, we had a sports festival at my school. The entire day, the children split up into teams based on which classes they were in. They played soccer, racket baseball, volleyball, badminton, dodgeball, and various other relay events, including a natto eating competition...*shudders*....

It was a fun day. But I'm very tired now.

Today, I finally got m internet set up! I've been here for nearly 4 weeks already, and yes, it took this long to get it set up. The only real problems were minor things. From the date that I applied for the service I'm currently using, only a week passed before I could actually use it. It definitely feels good to be "connected" again, and I can finally talk about how it's going so far in this small town of mine.

Yesterday, I went to a Softbank shop to get my cellphone, but they didn't have the model I wanted. It'll take a few more days for them to get it shipped over from wherever it currently is. It's actually an older model, but it looks much better than the newer version.

I have my internet now, and soon, I'll have my cellphone as well. My TV got fixed up on Monday night..so it feels like everything's coming together now. I watched my first J-drama that same night. Really, there wasn't much else to do. Most people go to sleep at 9-11pm. When I bike home from the supermarket, with my bento or whatever I decided to eat for the night, I really don't see anyone on the street. There aren't many lights either, so the silence is definitely creepy sometimes. Usually, around 9pm, a strange children's song plays.....hmmm..I really want that cellphone right about now......!

Good Times

It was raining again today, but I didn't have to leave the school for anything, so I'm pretty dry today. Today, when I woke up, I genuinely felt cold. For the first time since arriving in Japan, I put on an extra layer of clothing before leaving my home.

Today, I had my first couple of classes that were not my self introduction speeches. It was interesting to see how Japanese teachers teach English. I was also asked to make a reading activity and a quiz. The Japanese teachers of English translate a lot of the lesson into Japanese, so to save them trouble, I translated the quiz questions into Japanese myself. My JTE was pretty happy about it - he even asked me to ask the kids those questions in English and then after, he told the kids I studied Japanese and asked me to read the questions again in Japanese. The kids were pretty happy about it too. Some of them were surprised as well.

Knowing some Japanese has certainly been beneficial so far, and I'm picking up new words on a daily basis now. It's pretty cool.

After class, I was heading back to the teachers room when I saw two girls walking past me in the hallway, on their way to class. I didn't really recognize them, but I said "hello~" anyways. Funny thing, they giggled and smiled and started making strange noises. The next thing I know, they were running down the hall.

I just came back from playing badminton with mentally challenged child. He was actually quite good. I also met him last week at the yakuba when I joined him and some other children to paint some pottery. I enjoyed it very much. He's a really nice kid.

Also, hopefully, I'll have more chances to spend time in the gym. One sad thing is that they have no hockey sticks here. They also only have two badminton rackets. I guess I'll try learning a different sport. Right now, after I get settled in and have everything set up, I think I might join some school clubs. Learning Kendo would definitely be cool. I might even join the homemaking classes - I need to learn how to cook!

Good times.

Drenched

Yesterday I finally felt cold in Kannari. Up to this point, it had been extremely hot on a daily basis, but yesterday morning, when I woke up, it was raining and the streets were pretty much soaked with water. I went to school as usual by bike. It only takes around 2 minutes by bike before I have to get off and push the bike up the steep hill along with all the other students. Today, the not many kids had bikes - I guess their parents drove them, or they took the school bus because it was raining. So there I was, pushing the bike up the hill alone.

I had a few more introduction lessons, and after lunch, I was scheduled to go to the yakuba (town hall) to pick up my 外国人カード（Alien Registration Card). The rain had stopped by lunch time, so I was hoping to to make it there and back with minimal damage. At around 1:30, I got on my bike and started biking to the yakuba. About halfway there, it started to rain again, but I was still relatively dry by the time I arrived. I picked up my card, but apparently there was a piece of paper in an envelope I was supposed to give to them upon receiving the card. So, I got back on my bike and biked home to look for the envelope. Just a few minutes after I got on my bike, it started to pour heavily. I was getting hit in the face with drops of water. I made it back home, and quickly grabbed the documents in question and headed back out again. My bike was dripping wet. I wiped the seat with a towel and got back on. The rain was so heavy that my glasses were dripping wet - I could barely see anything. Since I already don't feel 100% comfortable biking in this town because of the narrowness of the roads, I contemplated going back to the school, since it was only a few minutes away. However, since I was already dripping wet, I thought, I might as well just keep on going and get it over with. When I arrived at the yakuba, I was dripping from head to toe. My dress shirt had become nearly see through. Thank goodness I was wearing something under it. My dress pants were also quite thoroughly soaked. I walked up to the lady at the office, and handed her the form. Crap..........I grabbed the wrong one. It was all in vain. She told me it would be okay to bring it in the next day. So, I headed back out in the rain, arrived back at school, completely drenched with water.

At school, I headed into the office, a bit embarassed at just how wet I was. The vice principal saw me, and quickly took me to the nurse's room. I changed my shirt, and the nurse put my clothes in the washing machine. I wiped my face with a towel, and sat down at my desk. Damn...I really need to buy an umbrella....the ones at the hyaku-en shop look pretty cool.

It's Been a Long Time! - 久しぶりだね～

Sorry for the long absence, but amazingly, this if the first chance I've had to make a post since I arrived in Japan.

My town is extremely rural. There is almost nothing here. The fact that I don't have a driver's license compounds things greatly. I guess JET really doesn't take into account what you write in your application. Everyone in this town reccomends using a car, and they feel pity for me when they find out I can't drive. I do remember saying that I don't plan on driving in Japan. Perhaps they should re-write the question as "can you drive?" That aside, I've been biking everyday, so I guess I should be in better shape physically by the end of the year.

The three days in Tokyo went by fast. I made a few entries about my time leading up to now, but I haven't had a chance to post yet, because of the lack of internet in the town. I finally got my computer hooked up to the school internet, so hopefully, I can make more regular posts, albeit short ones.

There are only two computers in this town available for public use, both located in my town's city hall/board of education. The computers are so old, and slow - it feels like living in the mid 90's. To make things worse, email and blog sites are heavily blocked, so I haven't been able to post anything at all. Sending emails are difficult as well. The school blocks yahoo, which is my primary email. For people that want to contact me, send email to my uoft email - jonathan.lam@utoronto.ca, as I can check it anywhere anytime (it's not blocked - they probably have no idea what it is.)

Today was the first day of classes. In the morning we had a school assembly in the gym. The principal made a few opening remarks, and then it was time for my self-introduction speech (自己紹介）. I did my speech in English and then Japanese. The students and teachers seemed to enjoy it, and a couple of teachers were quite impressed. It felt pretty good.

Here's the text that I wrote, although the actual speech was a bit different, as I added some things and removed some things to keep the flow of the speech even.

Hi, nice to meet you. I am your new ALT. My name is Jonathan, but since it’s quite long, you can call me Jon for short.

I come from Toronto, Canada, and although I was born in the United States, my parents are from Hong Kong so that means I’m Chinese American Canadian. I’ve also studied a little bit of Japanese, so if you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask me in English or Japanese. Please don’t be shy, I enjoy answering questions.

Things I like are sushi, asari sakamushi, junior highschool students that try their best and study their hardest, and so on. Things I don’t like much are natto..I guess. My hobbies are skating and playing hockey. I also like baseball.

I’m looking forward to teaching English at Kannari Junior Highschool. Let’s do our best to learn English, and find out about different countries, customs and cultures. I think that if we can do that, the world would be a much better place to live in.

Thank you.

はじめまして。私はあなたたちの新しいALTです。名前はジョナサンです。でも、長いので短くしてジョンと呼んでもいいです。

私はカナダのトロントから来ました。アメリカで生まれたんですが、両親は香港からなので、私は中国系です。トロントは都会で人口が４５０万です。日本語も少し勉強してたから何か質問があれば、英語でも、日本語でも聞いてください。

私の好きなものはすしとか、あさりさかむしとか、頑張っている一生懸命勉強している中学生たちとかね。あまり好きじゃないものはなっとうかな。趣味はスケートをすることとか、ホッケーをすることとか、です。野球も好きです。

金成中学校で英語を教えるのを、とても楽しみにしています。一緒に頑張って英語を勉強しましょう。それから、いろいろな外国のこととか、別な習慣と文化とか、習いましょう。世界の全ての国のことがもっとわかるようになったらもっといい生活ができると思います。

では、これからどうぞよろしくお願いします。

I also attended my first two classes of the year. The first class was for first graders (一年生）. That is the equivalent of a Canadian seventh grader. They call them ichinensei here. The second class I attended was also an ichinensei class, but it was a lot smaller, as it was an elective English class. These students had an interest in English and so they chose to take an extra English class. For the first class, I did my self introduction lesson which I had planned this week. I used two large maps of the world and downtown Toronto which I bought at Chapters in Toronto. The kids really liked these maps as there were drawn depictions of famous buildings and things like that. I particularly like these maps because I can actually point out where I live, and where I went to school, etc. After my introductions, we had a short quiz that I wrote. The questions were quite easy, because most of these students are just beginning to learn English. Also, my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) even asked me to give him the quiz earlier so he could translate the questions into Japanese for the students. I ended up translating them myself, and he was pretty happy about it. He even asked me to ask the questions in Japanese to the students. The students and teachers were pretty excited about it.

Two students ended up getting a perfect 8/7 on the quiz (I added a bonus question).

So far, the students are quite energetic here, and seem a lot more active in school then I ever experienced in Toronto. After school, they have club activities that they must attend, and they usually end up staying until 6 or 6:30pm. I've also been staying at school quite late, sometimes even later than 6:30pm (two days ago I left at 7:30pm), to help students, and prepare my lessons. Right now, I'm helping three girls practise for their English speech contest. They are very cute, but also quite shy. They try their best everytime, and I enjoy hearing them speak English. They smile when I wave to them in the halls. In fact, many of the kids here smile and get excited when they see me. It's a great feeling.

Today we spent an hour on the soccer field cutting the grass. I was wearing dress pants and a dress shirt (because of the assembly today), and I didn't know about the grass cutting, since nobody had told me, so I ended up just walking around the field taking pictures and talking to students and teachers. It's quite different here than in Toronto. There are no maintenance people at the schools. The teachers and students have to do all the cleaning and maintenance work. Good training for the students, but tough on the teachers. It was amazingly hot out there. I wore my sun glasses, and a few kids kept saying that I looked like some Korean star - in Japanese of course (I didn't know what it meant until a teacher told me).

I also experienced my first school lunch (給食）. It's amazingly cheap - only around 300 yen per meal, so I was definitely in. Today we had Japanese curry. It's the first time I've felt genuinely full after a meal since arriving in Japan. The great thing is, they have more than enough, so sometimes I might be able to get seconds. The strange thing is that they only serve milk - and it's quite a small carton.

In between writing this entry, I helped a student practise for an hour with her English speech. Soon, I'll be going to Tsukidate, a neighbouring town in Kurihara City for my 'welcome party'.

I'll try posting what I've written over the last couple of weeks soon.