On Wednesday it rained all day long. Solid sheets of rain from 10am to 6pm. It's charming until you remember that you rode your bike to work. And then it's charming again when you realize that you work with the nicest group of people ever! When I was getting ready to leave work around 5pm (that's super early in Japanland) and a few of my teachers came to the realization that I own absolutely no rain gear, the kocho-sensei (principal) offered to drive me home. And even though my school is only a ten-minute bike ride from home, they arranged for another teacher to pick me up the next morning so I didn't have to walk. Again, everyone is always so helpful!
This is my desk!
My first week at school was a little repetitive. I've been working towards introducing myself to over 550 students, two classes at a time. Every period I visit two classes and give the same spiel. I just tell them about myself and my hobbies, and about Arizona. Surprisingly, no Arizonan had ever told them about The Diamondbacks before! And I'm not even that big into baseball, but I mean, hello! We won the World Series; it's a talking point.
The kids seem really nice. Even though it's junior high, they are labeled as first, second, and third graders. So the first graders turn 13 and they are so cute! They giggle and they like answering the questions I ask them about myself for listening comprehension skills. And when given the chance to ask questions of me, they always ask, "What are your favorite fruits?" The second graders on the other hand, just stare into space. Maybe they're just a little more shy, as the teachers rationalize, if sleeping can be interpreted as such.
And I was so scared to meet the third graders! On the first day during cleaning time, there was this total punk towering over me. He was angry because my ears are pierced and they're not allowed to have ANY piercings. Enami-sensei (the teacher who has taken me under her wing) told me not to worry because the disruptive students are never in the classrooms. When I asked her where they were if they weren't in class, she didn't really have an answer for me... But it was true, there were no disruptive students in the third grade class. In fact, they were the most fun and they're easier to relate to because they're older (15) and their English is better.
You're probably wondering what cleaning time is! Everyday after lunch the kids clean the school for fifteen minutes. All the kids are assigned to specific areas. Some clean their classrooms (kids in Japan stay in the same room with the same peers all day long and the teachers move around). They move all the desks and sweep and mop and clean the chalk boards. Other kids clean the hallways or the teachers' office (all the teachers work in one big room). It's so funny watching the kids clean the hallways because they push rags along the floor, but instead of crawling on their knees, they race each other with their behinds up in the air. I promise I'll get pictures next week!
Worklife in Japan has definitely been the culture shock. The fact that I can't read any road signs or any labels in grocery stores, or understand a single word anyone says to me, that's all manageable. But adapting an American work ethic to Japanese expectations is a bit challenging. Here, it's most important that you show up and stay late. Even though my contract is for 35 hours a week (part-time), my teachers expect me to stay until 5pm, which is 45 hours. Most Japanese teachers don't leave school until 8 or 9pm, but I think that's just the cultural standard. He who stays the latest and attends the most staff parties shall succeed.
I think there's also some time management issues at play. For example, on Monday I was given a large stack of summer essays to grade. It was maybe four hours of work, and when I returned it to the teacher the same day she gave it to me, she was completely shocked. She didn't need it or expect it until the end of October! I spent the last ninety minutes of every day this week checking my email and reading the newspaper, and no one cared. In fact, it was one of the teachers who would lend me her newspapers (Kano-sensei is so cool). And teachers frequently sleep in the lounge!
A lot of the other Assistant Language Teachers from America and Australia who have been in the program awhile are upset about the expectations being placed on us. We were hired as part-timers, but we are expected to work "as hard" as the full-time teachers, even though we aren't receiving the same benefits or pay. They say the focus of the program has switched from experiencing Japan to just having a job, and they see more and more of the new ALTs getting walked all over by their teachers. They tell me I have to insist on leaving by 4pm at the latest. I guess it really isn't fair that I should be made to stay and do nothing. We'll see how it goes.
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