sakura saku
Apologies again for my absence. Haven't had the energy to sit down and write in awhile. As you've prolly concluded from my photos I'm back from China.
When I left I thought I might've been comin' down with something, but funny enough I felt fine all through the trip. Then as soon as we touched ground in Japan again my symptoms returned. An allergy to Japan it seems...
Or more likely, an allergic reaction to the explosion of cherry blossoms coming into bloom across the country right now.
As I mentioned earlier cherry blossom season coincides with the beginning of the new school year. In Japan this means more than just new school supplies and sneakers. As a teacher you walk into school that first day and you have new colleagues, a new office desk, new schedule, and for seemingly no reason whatsoever, a new shoe cubby.
I only recognize a third of the staff now, 11 of our teachers having been transferred to new schools. They do this every year- last day of school each teacher gets called into the Principal's office one by one where they're told whether or not they'll be teaching at a new school in a weeks time. Typically they keep transfers within the same region... but here that could still mean being moved to some place 1 or 2 hours from your home. One of my favorite teachers here got moved all the way down to Toga. I asked if he'll be making the crazy commute through the mountains everyday, and he said he'll have to take up residence there away from his family :(
When I asked why on earth they do this the only answer I got was to "keep the teaching ability equal amongst schools." Seems like school homogeny in Japan extends to the point where they feel they have to share all the same teachers too. I personally hate this system. It's not fair to the teachers or the students, who don't even know they'll never see their teachers again until they come in that first day and they're not there. Nobody seems to like this system but everyone accepts it.
Among the teachers selected for transfer was my favorite JTE (JTE=English teacher). Nobody new came to replace her either... instead the other one is taking over double classes in her place. My 1st year JTE also left, and while I really liked her at least I knew it would happen- she was only a temp in training. I was also surprised to find my first day back that my new 2nd year JTE is younger than me (!?) Fresh graduate out of university, no teaching experience. She's very sweet though and we get along well.
I've only taught 6 classes thus far so it's hard to tell how things will go from here. Mostly it's been nothing but ceremony... sooo many ceremonies. My first three days back alone I attended 7, all at least an hour long and held in the gym (which is still quite freezing). I did enjoy one- at my small elementary school we had an entrance ceremony for the incoming 1st graders. Total incoming students at Seibu Elementary= 4. All boys too :) They kept forgetting to bow on cue and saying "arigatou gozaimasu" at inappropriate times during the Mayor and Principal's speeches :P I prolly was the only one who found it was endearing.
I've been getting lots of people asking when I'm going to write about my trip but I decided not to blog about China, since I've narrated most of it via my flickr.
Just will say that it was fantastic, but like most vacations too short :(
When I left I thought I might've been comin' down with something, but funny enough I felt fine all through the trip. Then as soon as we touched ground in Japan again my symptoms returned. An allergy to Japan it seems...
Or more likely, an allergic reaction to the explosion of cherry blossoms coming into bloom across the country right now.
As I mentioned earlier cherry blossom season coincides with the beginning of the new school year. In Japan this means more than just new school supplies and sneakers. As a teacher you walk into school that first day and you have new colleagues, a new office desk, new schedule, and for seemingly no reason whatsoever, a new shoe cubby.
I only recognize a third of the staff now, 11 of our teachers having been transferred to new schools. They do this every year- last day of school each teacher gets called into the Principal's office one by one where they're told whether or not they'll be teaching at a new school in a weeks time. Typically they keep transfers within the same region... but here that could still mean being moved to some place 1 or 2 hours from your home. One of my favorite teachers here got moved all the way down to Toga. I asked if he'll be making the crazy commute through the mountains everyday, and he said he'll have to take up residence there away from his family :(
When I asked why on earth they do this the only answer I got was to "keep the teaching ability equal amongst schools." Seems like school homogeny in Japan extends to the point where they feel they have to share all the same teachers too. I personally hate this system. It's not fair to the teachers or the students, who don't even know they'll never see their teachers again until they come in that first day and they're not there. Nobody seems to like this system but everyone accepts it.
Among the teachers selected for transfer was my favorite JTE (JTE=English teacher). Nobody new came to replace her either... instead the other one is taking over double classes in her place. My 1st year JTE also left, and while I really liked her at least I knew it would happen- she was only a temp in training. I was also surprised to find my first day back that my new 2nd year JTE is younger than me (!?) Fresh graduate out of university, no teaching experience. She's very sweet though and we get along well.
I've only taught 6 classes thus far so it's hard to tell how things will go from here. Mostly it's been nothing but ceremony... sooo many ceremonies. My first three days back alone I attended 7, all at least an hour long and held in the gym (which is still quite freezing). I did enjoy one- at my small elementary school we had an entrance ceremony for the incoming 1st graders. Total incoming students at Seibu Elementary= 4. All boys too :) They kept forgetting to bow on cue and saying "arigatou gozaimasu" at inappropriate times during the Mayor and Principal's speeches :P I prolly was the only one who found it was endearing.
I've been getting lots of people asking when I'm going to write about my trip but I decided not to blog about China, since I've narrated most of it via my flickr.
Just will say that it was fantastic, but like most vacations too short :(
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