Today I had three classes in school, and one of them was without a teacher to help me out. Strictly speaking, that’s against the rules of the JET program, so don’t tell anyone. The students were third year students, and their English skills were quite good. The lesson was great because it made me think carefully about what I said – I didn’t have a Japanese teacher of English around to bail me out if there was something that was not understood. The timing turned out much better, and the students were a bit more enthusiastic, which helped a lot.
My other two classes were with first year students, one with Mr. Hayashi, and one with Miss Yamamoto. They both went pretty well, and were big improvements over the class yesterday. I was very happy with the results – I could tell that things were going to get better as I get more comfortable in the classroom.
I forgot my lunch today, so I took advantage of a service for the teachers of the school. Teachers can write their name on a list at the beginning of the day, and then the school cafeteria staff will prepare a special meal for you, deliver it to the teachers room promptly at 11:00 a.m., and bill your monthly paycheck for about 300 yen ($2.50). That’s a hell of a deal – there is a lot of food in the bento box, and it’s fresh and hot. Unfortunately, the food is on the deep fried side, and probably not a good healthy choice for every day. I’ll continue to bring my own lunches for the time being, but it’s nice to know that something like that is around in case something comes up.
Melanie came down tonight to bring back some of the gear I loaned her for the party last night. She brought a cream puff pastry that one of her friends had brought for her – it was excellent. We looked at the pictures I took from Himeji and Akashi, and she also mentioned that one of the teachers that she works with had a friend that had seen me around and was very impressed. That is all the information she had, so now apparently I have a stalker. I guess I’m going to have to make sure to remember the curtains every night.
