Kuniko has the rest of this week off from work – I guess they have some kind of construction going on at her school, so they can’t have teachers sitting around doing nothing. Yesterday Kuniko got to sleep in, but today she got up with me, drove me to school, and then came home and slept in. Nice!
I got considerably less studying done than normal because I had some teachers coming to visit and chat with me. First I spent an hour with Ms. Tsutsumi reliving her adventures in Australia. She said that it was a lot of fun, and she had many chances to speak English. I think that people studying English here in Japan can sometimes lose touch with the fact that there is a reason to study English. It’s good to study it, but it’s even better to use it.
Ms. Tsutsumi really enjoyed visiting some of the houses in the country, and she had a chance to try some of the local wines, which she said were delicious. I’m jealous!
She showed me some pictures of downtown Perth, and the city had many large parks along the waterfront, with lots of green mixed in among the buildings. I thought it was a refreshing change from the concrete of Japan, but she said that it was a waste. I asked her to explain a little more, and she said that the people living there didn’t use the parks, so that space was wasted as a green area. She agreed that it was beautiful, but she felt that it would be nicer if it was being used. Interesting.
My other visitor was Mori sensei, who is getting ready to travel to America to discuss education with schools and administrators along the east coast coming up in a few weeks. She’s nervous because of the amount of translation she will be doing, and I’ll be honest here and say that I don’t think she’s the right person for the job. While she does have the conviction to get it done – she’s not shy – she doesn’t have the skill. It’ll be tough for her, but I think the people in America will adjust accordingly and everything will be OK. We spent almost an hour talking about her plans and discussing possible questions that could come up during her time there.
Say what you like about equality and women’s liberation and gender roles – it is really nice to come home to a delicious lunch ready to go. Kuniko had made a vegetable salad with tofu, and we cooked up the leftover takoyaki from last night, and together they made a really good lunch.
At around three o’clock Kuniko logged onto the Hyogo Board of Education website to check on the results from her teacher’s exam that she took a couple of weeks ago. She had an interview in Japanese the first week, and then the next week she took a comprehensive written exam. She checked the results, and it turned out that she passed the first stage! This is a big deal – for the last six years she has taken the exam and hasn’t been able to pass the first stage… it’s really tough.
Now things get really complicated. The final stage is an interview in English with a native speaker of English – and that will be on the 24th of this month. Because she passed the first stage, a whole chain of events is being set into motion. First, we had tentative plans to go to Brunei to attend the wedding of Kuniko’s friend Risa. Since she’ll be studying for the exam, we have to change those plans and miss the wedding. Next, I am scheduled to be one of the aforementioned native speakers of English interviewing prospective teachers. Obviously there is a conflict if I should end up interviewing my wife for the job.
Last year I participated in this, and it’s really an interesting process. Apparently it’s a new format this year. I’m going to talk to my principal tomorrow at school and get in touch with the board of education so that we can sort this out. In all likelihood I’ll be sitting this one out. That’s probably the safest bet for them.
However, I do have some inside information on how it works, at least with last year’s format. Also, I might know some of the board of education people that are hiring, and maybe if they know about Kuniko it might help her cause a little bit. I’m not sure – but I don’t think it can hurt. Anyway, I’ll be working with Kuniko right up until the exam telling her everything I know, and doing practice interviews.
Right now Kuniko is in Osaka drinking with her co-workers from her old school – now she has a lot to celebrate with them. She made up a dish of tofu lasagne for me to eat for dinner. She covered all my meals today, so I’m a very lucky guy. The tofu lasgne was really good – it was pan-fried tofu, tomato sauce, eggplant, tomatoes, and of course lots of cheese on top. Interesting, healthy recipe.
It’s getting startlingly close to Friday – the summer is flying by.
