And suddenly, it has dropped to 50 in the morning, maybe going up to 65 in the afternoon, and then back down to 50 in the evening. It’s not that I’m not used to cold, I’m just not used to cold yet. Instead of smooth transition to cooler weather, it just took a plunge. Fortunately, I haven’t gotten sick like I usually do whenever the temperature changes drastically.
This past week, I had my first bad class. Well, maybe bad isn’t the right word, but I didn’t feel like anything successful just happened. I mean, it was bound to happen. I don’t think there’s ever been a teacher that had a lesson plan go smoothly every single time. I guess I’m having a hard time of figuring out how long it takes to do certain activities still. Either the kids take a painstakingly long time to do it or they complete it in five seconds. I’ve decided to always just try planning more stuff than I need because I’d rather not be able to complete an activity because I ran out of time than desperately coming up with a back-up plan to fill in the last 10 minutes.
I did a scavenger hunt with the 2nd graders at the junior high school. I got the idea from one of the activity books (called “Team Taught Pizza” – it’s a weird name, but it’s a super convenient book) that other JETs came up with; it’s a great resource. It has saved me a lot of time thinking of stuff from scratch for games and activities. Anyway, I put various hints of places to go in different rooms like the art room, the computer room, and the music room. They would find a hint that would say something like, “Where do you go to read many books?” and they were to run over to the library to find the next hint that would lead them somewhere else. Again, it was one of those times where my activity went much faster than I expected. Instead of taking 20 minutes, it took maybe 10. They were fast! They were also really excited, which is a huge plus for me. One girl seemed particularly excited when I was explaining the game in class. It makes me feel great when that happens: not only do kids understand what I’m saying but they’re interested! Yes!
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On Friday, there was a sort of conference for English teachers and the ALTs. It was at a junior high school in Tanto, one of the towns combined to create Toyooka. There were demonstration classes for visiting teachers to watch, one of which featured an ALT and thus was team-teaching. I watched this and the other classes, seeing how those went and what those teachers did differently. After the demonstrations, the JTEs (Japanese teachers of English, just in case you needed a reminder) went off to a lecture. Instead of boring ourselves to tears with Japanese we couldn’t understand, my fellow ALTs and I joined to have our own meeting. It was really great – we shared ideas, vented our problems, laughed at all the funny things that happen in our schools. I think it was pretty cathartic, actually. After we convened for about an hour or so, I felt like the trip was incredibly successful and productive. And furthermore, the other ALTs are so great and it’s always fun being in their company, even when we’re at a work-related event.
Shortly after our meeting, I whizzed back to Toyooka. I was going to be getting a train to Kobe that would get me to a bus that would take me to Tokyo during the night. We left Kobe at 10:00 pm and arrived in Shinjuku around 6:30. I probably would have slept better if they didn’t wake us up every two hours for bathroom breaks. With my tired self, I took the train to Shibuya, dropped the things I didn’t need in a coin locker, and went straight to Starbucks. With an iced caramel macchiato, a sandwich and my Kindle, I had a very peaceful morning. Once the caffeine was slowly coursing through my veins, I decided to go on an adventure of nostalgia. I got on the train towards Eda, my old home town during my study abroad days. I didn’t actually stop there until Sunday.
I felt so emotional during all of this, which may seem silly, but I cannot tell you how much I loved this place. I missed it with my whole being when I left and to be back in it was just so wonderful. Even though the overwhelming throngs of people squirming around me made an irritated Talia, it was all worth it. My first stop down memory lane was Futako-tamagawa. I spent some very fun times there with friends, having picnics, and playing with fireworks. I dropped by Tama-Plaza with the intent of finding some new sunglasses (I broke my old ones the moment I was leaving my apartment…). I came out empty handed. I ended my search because I was due back in Shibuya at Aoyama Gakuin for some lunch in the cafeteria! You may think that eating food at college is lame, but Aoyama Gakuin is famous for its school cafeteria. Apparently, it’s the best in Japan. How awesome is that? For some reason, there were TONS of people and the cafeteria was so full. Until the crowd died down, I sat and chatted with Marie and Satoshi, people who I met while going to Aoyama. Satoshi couldn’t stay long and soon had to leave for class. By the time he left though, many people had finished their lunch and were leaving the cafeteria. Marie and I seized our chance! I got a dish called katsu kare or in not so concise English, fried pork cutlet with rice slathered with curry. Super delicious.
Marie and I visited the farmer’s market across the street and went to the bookstore. I didn’t have the intention of buying anything but I saw an art book devoted to VOCALOIDs that I love (Kagamine Rin/Len) and had to get it. After that, I left Marie to hop on the train to get to Aoyama’s Sagamihara campus. They were having a culture festival and those things are always interesting. A student ran over to me while I was there and asked me if I liked yakisoba in English. Thanks to listening to too many English CDs with over the top annunciation and silly voices, I replied, “Yes, I do!” in the same tone. (If you have ever used the elementary English textbook, Eigo Nooto, you know exactly what I sounded like).
He was pleased with this answer and eagerly asked me to come eat some. Although I only had lunch a short while ago, I couldn’t say no. After he told me the kinds of yakisoba they had, (salt flavor and pork kimchi flavor), I requested the pork kimchi and he told me it was a good choice. He asked me where I was from and I said I was from America. Now here was the kicker: he said, “Oh, your English is very good!” I just burst out laughing and started saying, “Ehh…but, wait, huh? I’m American!” and then, “YOUR English is very good!” He was laughing since he told me my English was good but laughed even more after I said that. He said thank you and then led me to where I would stand in line for my yakisoba.
I ate my yakisoba and then walked around the campus, checking out the various booths, watching the school’s music groups perform, and taking pictures. I got there right around the end so it finished maybe 30 minutes after I got there. I knew this was going to happen but I decided it may be worth going – and it was. I got back on the train back to Shibuya where I planned on meeting my friend Noel. She is from Thailand and she was an exchange student with me at Aoyama Gakuin. Now, she’s going to graduate school in Japan! In the midst of too many people, we found each other and went to a place called MOS Burger. More yummy food – Japan is full of it. And they say you lose weight here…
Anyway, we went to MOS Burger because 1) We both love it and 2) I haven’t been there in such a long time, since Toyooka sadly does not have one. One of my co-workers got me all excited when she told me there was one in a department store and then she said, “Oh wait, no, I’m sorry. I’m thinking of McDonalds…the closest one is in Tottori….” (which is another prefecture, by the way, and about an hour away). Once we finished our food, we went to Book-Off to browse. Book-Off is a wonderland of not only cheap/used books, but video games, movies, manga (doujinshi too – doujinshi are fan-made manga based on already existing series’), and music. I managed to walk out of there without anything. Although we just ate, we went to a cheap izakaya (restaurant-pub thing) and got some drinks and snacks while we talked some more. To make things even more fun, they were playing Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” album the whole time. Squee! I At one point we were talking about Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and in the background, I heard “Poker Face” …and I couldn’t help but dance in my seat.
It was good times.
After Noel and I parted ways, Marie met me at Shinjuku Station so she could lead me back to her apartment which is only 5 minutes away. I very quickly passed out. It was a good thing too because I had to wake up in the morning for a hair appointment in Roppongi. Although part of me regretted planning that appointment so early, I knew it would work best with my schedule. Roppongi is conveniently very close to Shinjuku so I got to sleep in for a bit. I easily made my way to the hairdressers. Thankfully for me, Ikko was still working there. Ikko is the guy who did my hair when I was studying abroad. And sure enough, he made my hair soft, shiny, and smooth! I think I had gone without a relaxer for about 2 and a half months? Yeah, the change is pretty drastic. I love it! It was a bit expensive but completely worth it. Following that, I went to my favorite crazy Don Quixote. Since Halloween’s coming up the place was decked out with decorations and costumes. They were playing Disney villain songs (particularly, “Be Prepared” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” in one part of the store and “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas, so I just lingered between those two places so I could sing along. There’s a Halloween party that the ALTs are putting together so I decided that my chance of getting a costume was then. Similar to my Pikachu get-up, I bought a Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) version. I’m going to have to ask my teachers if it’s okay, but I also bought Minnie Mouse ears that have a pumpkin in place of a bow to wear at the elementary school the week before Halloween.
Once I had what I needed, I made the trek back to Eda. Of course, some of it has changed: the McDonalds that my friends and I frequented was replaced with Sukiya (beef bowl fast food restaurant) and Lawson replaced the convenient store AmPm. AmPm was bought out apparently. I still don’t understand why that McDonald’s was closed…it totally had business! Oh well.
I walked around town and past my dorm. I didn’t try going inside – I don’t know if anyone I know is still there and the management was probably different. Also, I wasn’t sure how it would be like for me to just come in there saying, “I used to live here. Can I come inside? It’s nostalgic…” So, I didn’t. I made my way over to Saizeriya, a cheap Italian family restaurant that I loved to go to with my friends. I got the meal that I used to always order and quietly read on my Kindle. This is probably the laziest trip to Tokyo ever, but that’s okay, it was exactly what I wanted. Eventually, it was time to head back to Shibuya. I got there an hour before everyone else. But you can’t be bored in Shibuya. Not only are there tons of shops and arcades to explore, just people watching is fascinating. I forgot the degree of incomprehensible fashion that the people up there wear. Also, all the men are so pretty (sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes I’m confused) and all the girls are so skinny (I was pretty self-conscious about my body before, but being in Tokyo honestly makes it worse). After a bit of examining people, I decided to just walk around. I ended up in a manga/anime/video game paraphernalia store and found something I couldn’t leave without. I succumbed to buying a figurine of a character from one of my favorite animated movies, Summer Wars. Now that I think about it, I probably wouldn’t have found out about that movie until much later if my Japanese teacher at Aoyama hadn’t showed us in class as both grammar practice and entertainment. Full circle! I browsed around the giant Tsutaya back near the train station and later found my friends, Marie, Kazu, and Laura. We went to the same izakaya chain that Noel and I went to the night before. We gorged ourselves on food, followed by two hours of karaoke, and finished the night off with purikura (print club a.k.a. super advanced photo booth of excellence). It was the grand finale for my last night in the city – for now.
Marie and I went back to her apartment where I again just dropped dead asleep. The next morning I struggled to get myself off the futon Marie let me borrow. We said our goodbyes and had our hugs and I was out the door. With the help of some train station employees, I easily made it back home on the shinkansen and limited express train back to Toyooka. By the time I had returned I had about four hours before I would haul myself to Takeno for Canadian Thanksgiving. For the record, there was no school on Monday due to Sports and Health Day (a Japanese holiday). Although only two of the ALTs happen to be Canadian, a bunch of us all gathered at Ashley’s house for food and fellowship. It was great! Despite my slight exhaustion, I managed to contribute some mini hamburgs (a hamburg is a hamburger without any buns essentially – I didn’t make this up, Japan did) that I fried up at home. In addition to that, we had turkey(!) and gravy, kimchi and tofu spaghetti, meatballs, rolls, baked pasta and vegetables, stuffing, pizza, homemade bread, scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes, cookies, homemade cheesecake, and ice cream! It was a feast! I had so much fun talking with people, meeting new people, and bonding over K-Pop. I guess I was in such good spirits, I couldn’t stop dancing around. Many people brought this up. My students bring it up a lot too, now that I think about it.
On Tuesday, I was back at Naka Takeno. My lesson on shapes with the fourth graders went really well. Everyone enjoyed the activities and they were willing to participate. I could tell that the special needs kids in the class were also happy with what we were doing and understanding it, so that was a huge relief. They gave me high fives at the end of the lesson. Due to a schedule mix-up, I only had 15 minutes with the 1st graders but that’s okay, because it was enough time to have fun. A couple of mothers were in the class watching(it was “open school”), so I’m even more glad that it went without a hitch.
Since the kids got to go home early, and nearly all the teachers were gone observing classes at other schools, my vice principal said I could go home early. I hope he didn’t catch me nearly falling asleep at my desk though. As I was sitting and thinking of warm-up games for the junior high students, I felt a rush of fatigue. Before that though, I played with the little kindergartners outside! We played hide-and-seek again (kakurenbo in Japanese). One of the little boys decided to point out a feature of my anatomy (my chest) and comment on how big it is. Lovely. Although I quickly made him stop talking and told him it wasn’t something to talk about, I was trying very hard to restrain from laughing. It was only a matter of time before that awkward topic would come up because children don’t know what awkward is and see nothing wrong with the topic. A couple of other children started tapping them – not in a, “I’m trying to get your attention and this is as high as my hand goes” but in a, “Hahaha, this is funny!” Yeah, I had to nip that in the bud real fast. When I said, “No! Don’t do that!” one of the girls said to her friend that bopped me, “When she says ‘no,’ it means that you mustn’t do that!” What a good little girl.
Today, I’m at Morimoto and all the kids are taking midterms. No classes today and the kids go home early…which also means no school lunch. Woops, I forgot about that. I guess I’ll be taking a trip to Lawson during lunch hour.
INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT:
There were bears spotted in Takeno! Eating persimmons!
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