hey all,
So in fact I am still kicking around here in Japan. For one reason or another I haven't felt the need to update this recently. So here goes.
Last week not too much really happened. I corrected a bunch of tests, studied Japanese, and made several worksheets for my 2nd and 3rd year teachers. School seems to be going somewhat smoother, but I'm still not too pleased with it.
For instance, there is still no actual English schedule, so when the teachers want me to come to class, they reserve me like a projector or other piece of equipment. If they have an overarching curriculum that they are following, I have yet to be told about it. However, my English teachers know exactly on which page (the right side or the left side) in their students' notebooks the students are currently writing notes on. Yes, students are graded on how well their notes match the official notes that the teacher writes on the chalkboard. But still, is that really an important skill to have? Should we be helping foster critical thought, so that if a person has a problem later in life, they know how to deal with it (or at least can think of ways that they can figure out how to deal with it), or do we want a nation of people who would be lost without their parents and bosses? Somehow their parents and bosses must have learned how to think, and there is the crux.
A second complaint has to do with correcting tests. I always end up doing this for my second year teacher, who uses no less than four unique marks, with specific rules on where and when and how to use them, to mark his tests. These do not in fact make marking tests quicker, clearer, or in anyway better. You could do just as well with two marks (say, check mark and cross-out), along with plus or minus the number of points for partial answers. But no, we need double circle for when students get each member of a group of answers correct (only used in this situation, and never for single answers), circle for when a student gets a single answer correct, triangle for when a student gets an answer partially correct, and slash for when a student gets an answer wrong. And woe to the ALT who doesn't use this system correctly. I get lectured about my test correcting skills by a teacher who shows up late to all his classes, can't remember what lessons he has already taught to which classes, who's desk looks like a Tasmanian devil just finished messing it up, and who generally doesn't know what's going on.
I've put in some more job applications for positions in Tokyo, but no word yet. I also broke down and requested that my company move me to Tokyo next year, despite the (probable) extra hassle of working part-time for multiple companies.
Michi came over this weekend, but things could have gone a little smoother there as well. On Saturday the weather was not very good, and we ended up walking around outside in the rain looking for places to eat. I had already decided on one place, but when we got there it was closed until dinner time. So we walked to a different place closer to my room, and they too were closed until dinner time, but by then it was close enough to dinner time and the shop keeper took pity on us and let us sit inside until service began. After that, I rigged up my PS3 and monitor so we could watch Fight Club on Blu-Ray, which I bought a few weeks ago. I bought it at a Japanese store, and on the box it says it has Japanese audio and Japanese subtitles. Even so, when I played it, I saw Chinese, Korean, Thai, Tagalog, Hindi, Bahasa Indonesian, and several other languages, but NO JAPANESE. So we watched part of a copy of Goemon that a friend had given me instead.
For Sunday, the original plan was to go climbing at an indoor gym, which I was really looking forward to. We didn't do anything last weekend, and at Jogasaki we really didn't get to go climbing very much. But the weather was really nice, so we went to Omiya park instead. That was actually pretty fun, but Michi dropped a bit of a bomb on me. I've been complaining that we only get to see each other once a week, and sometimes not even that, and she suggested that we could get a place together next August.
As long as I get put near her in Tokyo, that will make our lives a little easier, but I've never lived with a girlfriend before, and Michi has only lived with one of her past boyfriends for a month. It seems like getting a place together is a big step, something that my own friends weren't able to do (weren't comfortable doing?) for years. I feel like we are riding on a bullet train, but whether it is heading to Heaven or Hell, it is going there quick. I'll repeat the warning that all my ALT friends have been telling me for the last 9 months: Things happen fast in Japan.
Cheers,
