I found out yesterday that a friend, a fellow English teacher here, felt dizzy while waiting for the subway over the weekend. She fainted and then fell down on the tracks. She was hit by an oncoming train and her right leg was severed while her left one was injured severely. Thankfully, she's alive.
When I first got the news through an email, I was really shocked. My hands went cold and I started shaking. I can't stop thinking about how her life will be changed by all this. I feel really sad and frustrated that I have no power to reverse what has happened.
Since hearing the news, I've been in a daze (as are other teachers) and I keep hoping that when I open my eyes the next morning, this'd all just be a bad dream.
Sigh...other than that I'm ok though, so no need to worry about me.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Back in Action
Happy New Year!
For those who may not know, I spent two weeks away from Japan during winter break. I went to Hong Kong to visit my mom's side of the family and also skipped to Taiwan for a couple of days.
Initially, when I told my mom that I was gonna be in Hong Kong for the holidays, she and my dad also bought a ticket so that they could join me there. So, needless to say, it was a pretty sweet vacation. I got to get away to a warm place, I got to see my family, and got to go on a side trip to Taiwan! Life couldn't have been any better...which is perhaps the reason why I'm feeling a bit like crap now that I'm back in Japan.
Maybe it's the culture shock finally setting in. Aside from being constantly "almost sick" from the cold weather, I also feel a physical fatigue from not being able to communicate with people and always having to explain to people why an Asian looking person like myself cannot speak Japanese in Japan.
And on days like today where I don't have any classes, it gets extra boring. I sit in the staff room with my brain rotting away and trying desperately not to fall asleep at my desk. I realized that the thing that keeps me excited about going to school is the students and not having classes just suck. Big time.
To top it off, tomorrow will be yet another dreadful day because it's Tuesday. On Tuesdays, I teach 4 classes. Three of them are 3rd grade junior high classes. When I ask the English teacher how I should prepare for those classes, she tells me that "anything is ok."
For most other ALTs (assistant language teachers), hearing that is like winning lottery. Most ALTs complain about being used as a "human tape recorder" to read excerpts from the text book and never getting any freedom to do anything creative. So, being told "anything is ok" by an English teacher is considered the ultimate prize.
However, I feel lost. I want to know how my lessons contribute to the overall English curriculum. I want to provide some sort of coherent lesson to the students where one class is related to the one before it and the one after. I want these students to leave the class feeling like they've learned something and that their time was not wasted. These classes feel like such an experiment on my part and I feel bad when I think students walk away not learning a thing. Sigh.
If you are still reading up until this point, perhaps you like to hear me sulk because that's not the worst of it. Aside from having three experimentational classes, I also teach English to a special education class.
There are only three male students in that class, but I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
The oldest of the three is grumpy all the time and likes to throw tantrums. He constantly reminds me how many minutes of class is left. He's really good at puzzles and seems to enjoy them. It's that or he's hoping that it'll make class go by faster.
The second kid is lost in space for the majority of the class. It's really difficult trying to get him to participate in any activity. Sometimes he replies in a high pitched shrilly voice and I wonder if he's simply just trying to mock me.
The third student doesn't even seem to "special ed" to me. He likes to mumble to himself every so often, but overall, he's the most engaged one of the three. Initially, I tried my hardest to teach them useful English like days of the week, names of the months, and etc. But that all fell to pieces by the time I got to "March." They decided it was useless to remember any of that and put their heads down on the table. How else do you learn these things aside from memorization?
Anyway, it's too much complaining. All in all, I still enjoy my time here very much. Just wish I had a bit more professional guidance.
For those who may not know, I spent two weeks away from Japan during winter break. I went to Hong Kong to visit my mom's side of the family and also skipped to Taiwan for a couple of days.
Initially, when I told my mom that I was gonna be in Hong Kong for the holidays, she and my dad also bought a ticket so that they could join me there. So, needless to say, it was a pretty sweet vacation. I got to get away to a warm place, I got to see my family, and got to go on a side trip to Taiwan! Life couldn't have been any better...which is perhaps the reason why I'm feeling a bit like crap now that I'm back in Japan.
Maybe it's the culture shock finally setting in. Aside from being constantly "almost sick" from the cold weather, I also feel a physical fatigue from not being able to communicate with people and always having to explain to people why an Asian looking person like myself cannot speak Japanese in Japan.
And on days like today where I don't have any classes, it gets extra boring. I sit in the staff room with my brain rotting away and trying desperately not to fall asleep at my desk. I realized that the thing that keeps me excited about going to school is the students and not having classes just suck. Big time.
To top it off, tomorrow will be yet another dreadful day because it's Tuesday. On Tuesdays, I teach 4 classes. Three of them are 3rd grade junior high classes. When I ask the English teacher how I should prepare for those classes, she tells me that "anything is ok."
For most other ALTs (assistant language teachers), hearing that is like winning lottery. Most ALTs complain about being used as a "human tape recorder" to read excerpts from the text book and never getting any freedom to do anything creative. So, being told "anything is ok" by an English teacher is considered the ultimate prize.
However, I feel lost. I want to know how my lessons contribute to the overall English curriculum. I want to provide some sort of coherent lesson to the students where one class is related to the one before it and the one after. I want these students to leave the class feeling like they've learned something and that their time was not wasted. These classes feel like such an experiment on my part and I feel bad when I think students walk away not learning a thing. Sigh.
If you are still reading up until this point, perhaps you like to hear me sulk because that's not the worst of it. Aside from having three experimentational classes, I also teach English to a special education class.
There are only three male students in that class, but I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
The oldest of the three is grumpy all the time and likes to throw tantrums. He constantly reminds me how many minutes of class is left. He's really good at puzzles and seems to enjoy them. It's that or he's hoping that it'll make class go by faster.
The second kid is lost in space for the majority of the class. It's really difficult trying to get him to participate in any activity. Sometimes he replies in a high pitched shrilly voice and I wonder if he's simply just trying to mock me.
The third student doesn't even seem to "special ed" to me. He likes to mumble to himself every so often, but overall, he's the most engaged one of the three. Initially, I tried my hardest to teach them useful English like days of the week, names of the months, and etc. But that all fell to pieces by the time I got to "March." They decided it was useless to remember any of that and put their heads down on the table. How else do you learn these things aside from memorization?
Anyway, it's too much complaining. All in all, I still enjoy my time here very much. Just wish I had a bit more professional guidance.
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