So quite a while since my last post. It is now March and near the end of the school year. If time allows I'll aim to post once a month on my experiences.
But what has happened so far in the 7 months since I arrived in Japan...
I have bought plenty for my apartment and will buy plenty more (probably) to feel more comfortable here. It wasn't until just after New Years I feel that I had felt a true sense of home in my apartment. I have travelled a lot, met heaps of new people and made new friends.
The third years graduated this week and I'm ready to meet the new first years who will be rolling in in April.
My Japanese is slowly but surely improving, it is hard to get along with all the teachers however. I feel going to the enkais (drinking parties) are the best way to get to know my colleagues and to practice my Japanese (booze helps every situation).
With a lot of spare time on my hands I have been coming up with new and different ways to keep myself occupied.
For example, I have joined a calligraphy class with one of my students which I go to once a week. My name recently appeared in the monthly publication for calligraphy pieces that have been graded. However, my teacher spelt my name wrong so it's written out as ジュリエット・ココ (Juliette Coco) instead of クック (Cooke). Hilarious.
Also once a month on Wednesdays I join an English speaking society made up of English teachers and people just interested in English to discuss articles and issues in society. I admit I quite enjoy these, makes me long to be back studying at uni even more.
I recently met a long time resident of Hikari city, Alison, whose daughter is a student at my school. We have gone out a couple of times and are thinking of joining an exercise class of some sort at the local community centre. I have begun stretching in the mornings and working out in the afternoons to pass time and increase my activity as I practically sit at a desk all day!
7 months have passed and I've only just worked out it's faster and cheaper for me to walk home from my base school than it is to take the bus and train! I am saving about 500 yen ($6) each day!
I am studying Japanese cooking vocabulary and have borrowed some recipe books from the library to try my hand at Japanese cooking and making the most of the ingredients available at supermarkets. I'm sure my shopping bill would decrease if I stop buying the expensive, western foods I know how to cook and start buying common Japanese vegetables and foods used in cooking. It seems quite easy but is hard when you're not used to the flavours and textures here.
As for travelling, I have done a fair bit around the 'Guch and Hiroshima, and visited my favourite, Onomichi, and my not so favourite, Kyoto, when my sister visited in December. Just after Christmas I spent a few days in Beppu with friends, reminiscent of Rotorua with a lot of thermal pools. In just a few weeks I'll be on the sunny shores of Okinawa, hopefully drinking cocktails and soaking in much needed sun for a week with Roxy. I have come to the conclusion that winter in December is a horrible idea, Christmas and New Years aren't half as enjoyable in shitty weather. I have plans to return to New Zealand in December this year, I can't handle miserable weather at a time when you need your family and friends the most.
I have a fairly good relationship with my students at all schools and it's my goal this year to become more actively involved. I feel arriving in August is a terrible time as the school year is already in full swing and there isn't much instruction in what is expected of the ALT.
My plans are to learn the names of all my teachers in the teachers room (shocking I don't know them already, I know!) and to learn all my new first years' names when they have been selected. Students will know in less than a month before school starts whether they'll be going to the high schools they applied for or not!! I would like there to be more direction with English club, a goal or project of some sort that we can work together to achieve for the culture festival. I want to start an English (or language) newspaper or subscription for students and set up an English box for any students that have questions that I can hopefully answer.
Reading some of my students essays and stories, or funny, creative sentences they make in class remind me how rewarding this job is. I didn't believe it could be as rewarding as it truly feels.
I have been catching up on a lot of reading, too, of English and linguistics blogs, other JETs' experiences and tips, and articles about Japan in general. This is a time when I have a lot of time on my hands and I often feel bad for not being busy when everyone else always appears to be so! (I say "appears" because it's common knowledge that it's more important to look like you're doing something than nothing at all!)
That is my update for now! Maybe when I'm less self-conscious about everyone watching me (I know they aren't but it always feels like it) I'll post up some photos too.
