Apparently there is a Japanese proverb that says that the day after a typhoon the weather will be beautiful. It was true today. As I walked to school the skies were blue, a soft breeze was blowing, and everyone seemed to be upbeat.
I did my first three classes without a problem. Mr. Hayashi kept commenting that the students in his classes rarely pay attention. I watched him teach today and I noticed why I think that’s the case, but I don’t know if I’ll tell him or not.
During his class he often talks to two students in the front of the class. He talks to them in normal tones, but most other students can’t hear, and since he’s not talking to them anyway, they get bored and do other things. I’m not going to tell him how to teach a class, but maybe if he pays more attention to everyone and less to specific students, he’ll have a little more interest.
Normally I am through with my classes at lunchtime, but today I had agreed to be a guest lecturer for a history class. The history teacher had asked me if I was game, since today’s topic was California’s history. I spent a couple of days preparing, and I gave an outline and notes to the teacher for him to review. He got permission from the English department, and I taught the class. In English, of course.
The history teacher rode shotgun and did some ad-hoc translation, and I mainly spoke in English, with a bit of Japanese here and there. The students are not expected to understand English in this class, but it was a good exercise for them.
Some of the students I teach already, and some have never had me as a teacher before. It was nice to see some new faces and I got a pretty positive reaction when I was through. We had a question and answer period afterwards, and the students asked me questions in Japanese. Although the main topic was California, most of the questions were about me personally. They were fun. I answered as best I could in Japanese and English, and the students seemed satisfied.
The questions themselves were great – some of them:
“What are the main characteristics of your family?”
“Do you own a gun?”
“Do you like George Bush?”
“Is everything big in America?”
During the class another history teacher took pictures of me in action – I’m not sure what those are for. Anyway, I think it was a success. Now the history teacher owes me big time.
After school the ESS club met for the first time in a long time. We ate snacks and chatted about this and that. The students filtered in and out – but I introduced a new project (an English bulletin board) and also we decided to throw a Halloween party. I’m trying to think of a way to do “bobbing for apples” – I told a class about that a few weeks ago and they were intrigued. Apples are expensive here, but maybe I can come up with a variation.
On my way home I did some much-needed shopping at Ito Yokado. I got some goodies to put in the freezer so next time I’m caught in a storm I’ll be able to eat something tasty. For dinner I had carne asada tacos – I had a meat craving after the last few days of vegetarian meals.
Now I’m getting ready to do a little studying and maybe call Kuniko. It would be great if we’re able to meet up sometime this weekend.
