hey,
My third day was much better than yesterday. Today, I was late to work by 13 minutes because I got lost on the way there by taking a new route. This is not too big a deal, but I still don't like it because I'm still setting the pattern for what I'll be like as a teacher, and being late shouldn't be part of the pattern. Anyway, I got to school and I started pulling down the old pictures from the pervious ALT's bulletin board, and then asked for permission to use a computer to print mine out. Asking for permission (and being explicit about the reason) is actually an important thing, because if you don't tell them the reason they think maybe it is illicit. I got those printed out, and then there was yet another ceremony in the gym, which involved a few skits of things students shouldn't do, and then demontrations from all the clubs in the school (kendo, soccer, art, tea ceremony and flower arrangement, basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, ping pong, and track). I might try to join the soccer club.
After that, I started puting my pictures up, and then I was asked to actually come to a third year classroom and teach. "Teaching" in this case meant doing a self-introduction in English, doing an activity which most of the students didn't do, and then just standing in front of the classroom while the Japanese teacher of English spoke for the rest of the class in Japanese.
I also walked around the school with the JTE for the first year middle school students, and they seemed a little more eager to speak English and more fun than the third year students.
I also finally got tired of riding in from Omiya, so I bought a parking spot for my bike, and took the train back to Omiya. I met up with some ALTs and we all went out to a local bar and there was much merry-making until 2 or 3. A pretty satisfying day, overall.
Today, I'm catching up on reading some manga, surfing friends' pages, and just relaxing. There is some kind of party in Roppongi today that a lot of ALTs are going to, but from what I've been told Roppongi is exactly the type of place I'd want to avoid. I've been invited to a hanami party on Sunday, so I'll probably chill today, and have fun tomorrow.
Cheers
