Amanda's Adventure In Japan: I Love 4 Day Weeks!

Hello Wednesday!

Well, I’m halfway through the week, and it’s flying by like usual. I completed my second full rotation through my 6 schools. Now, I go back to JHS an the timing is perfect! Don’t get me wrong, I love the little kids, but since I spent the last 3 days (and 3 days in a row is rare in ES) at the toughest ES, it was time for a break. I apologize for my rant, but I’ve learned how much of an impact the homeroom teacher (HRT) can have on a class. I taught 2 lessons to 4 classes (2 in 5^th grade, 2 in 6^th grade) and I’m quite amazed by the behaving and participation in the different classes, and I believe this reflects on the energy and the support of the HRT. Let’s just say, I’m not a big fan of the HRT that takes a seat with the students while I’m “teaching” them about colors and clothes. It’s a bummer, but there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it except talk to the HRT. Well, there you have it, my rant for the day/week. Lesson learned: the involvement and energy level of the HRT is essential for the success of English class, one ALT’s “genki-ness” or energy cannot support an entire class, trust me, I gave it my all.

Side note: I don’t remember ES well, but it seems like half of the school is sick! And no matter what school I’m at, this is the same case. Here, everyone who is sick wears a mask over their face, it is kind of creepy. What has this taught me? Well, I wash my hands like someone with OCD, I’m constantly washing my hands before and after class, lunch, recess, and cleaning period. I don’t want to get sick, so I’ve made it this far, I’m hoping it lasts until Christmas time. The odd part about the mass sickness is that the weather is still beautiful! Highs everyday are still in the high 70’s and lows are in the mid 60’s, not quite terrible weather for middle of October!

I couldn't help but take a picture of school lunch from Tuesday. We have (starting from the bowl): some soup with veggies that you put the Udon noodles in, milk, green tea, a slice of apple, assorted veggies seasoned with little bits of some kind of leaf that everyone eats here (it was quite strong), and finally, on the stick is "gohemochi" or ごへもち . The reason I took this picture was because at the first festival in Mitake, I had gohemochi and absolutely loved it (you'll remember I wrote about it), and in my self-introduction, I said that I liked gohemochi. Well, maybe the school lunch gods were listening and I finally got my gohemochi. Think tightly packed rice on a stick dipped and grilled in a sweet sauce.