My First Day Of Work

Pardon my lack of blog entries lately, everyone. I'll bring about more stories as often as I can, but I'm usually either busy or just tired from work. But there are many ways to reach me, so feel free to drop a message.

I wrote this entry a while back after my first day of work, which was over a month ago (crazy, right?)... and it captures a lot of what I was feeling then. I teach at one JHS, and one elementary school occasionally. Here's how it works:

1. I have one supervisor, who is a JTE at the school.

2. I work with two other JTEs, so together, all four of us (including my supervisor) teach English.

3. I visit each class (fourteen total) at least once during a five-day school week.

In the Japanese educational system (at least to my knowledge), it is important to prepare a self-introduction. In this introduction, we have to prepare a 10-50 minute (that's right) speech about ourselves, our countries, our history, and culture. Essentially, I talk about living in California, being Chinese, pop culture and sports, and more. For the first day and few weeks, I spent a large chunk of class introducing myself in the most simplest of English I can do.

This entry is bit long, since I like to go into detail. But hopefully this gives you some insight on how my first day of work went! Happy reading!

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Needless to say, I was absolutely terrified of my first day of work. Jumping right into Sendai and having three days to prepare for work was daunting, but I honestly can’t see it having gone any better or worst. I would be a fool to say that “everything went well,” but I think I left a good lasting impression on my students at Rokugo Junior High School.

I woke up at 6AM to get ready for the day. For my first day of work, my supervisor explained that I was going to have an extremely full day. I would be teaching four classes today, be presented at an assembly, and have an hour to “grade” homework. After a quick subway and bus ride, I arrived at 7:50AM to my school. OMG!

First in the morning, I introduced myself in Japanese to my co-workers, presented my omiyage to the principal (Kyojo-sensei) and vice-principle (Kyoto-sensei), and tried to meet some of my co-workers. I have my own desk in the staffroom, which is very traditional for Japanese schools. My supervisor was kind enough to Romanize the seating chart for me… so it was time to get crackin.

What is interesting about being an Asian JET/ALT is that the students perceive you very differently from other racial groups. Many of them were puzzled that I was from “America,” since I wasn’t the stereotypical blue-eyed white guy many think of. They also felt I should already know Japanese. Although I did get some compliments on my basic 5-year old Japanese, it’s part of the culture to do that… so I have a lot to improve on of course. My first real task in the morning was to couch two students that were entering an English speech contest to compete against schools in my ward.

Each class lasted for 50 minutes.

My first class was for a group of special needs students. I spoke with two students and gave my first self-introduction, a vital part of Japanese culture (as well as the actual job of a JET). My introduction wasn’t the best, but I believe the students enjoyed it. Right after I had my second class, an “English elective” course where those that were more advanced in English could enroll in. This class I would be teaching solo, but for the first day, my supervisor helped me. She gave them a quiz on “Andy Sensei,” where they answered questions based on my self-introduction. For this class, this would be my first real one. Yes, I did mess up a bit, but I think they had fun. There were a LOT of excited “genki” boys in my class… they seem to be the trouble makers, but were really fun. I sang Michael Jackson and did the 8-clap, lol.

My third period class was luckily a short break, but following that was the school assembly. My school has a history of disciplinary issues, so it was awfully quiet inside. I gave my official Japanese introduction to the students, and received a warm welcome from them and the principal. Yep- life has certainly gotten busier!

After the assembly we had lunch, and school lunch in Japan is GREAT (for now)! Or at least it was much, much better than cafeteria food back in California. The students eat lunch in their homeroom classes, before departing for a fun time out by playing sports and just chillin. I took this opportunity to say HELLO and NICE TO MEET YOU to many of my students, and was impressed with how seriously they took their sports here. Oh damn.

After lunch and recess, I had two more 3^rd grade (or 9^th grade in US standards) Japanese classes to teach. I gave my self-introduction again in both, and sung more Michael Jackson, did the thriller dance, and so much more. I even sang a bit of Perfume, since many of them were excited that I knew some Japanese pop artists. Each class was quite an experience. I really felt like a teacher! So far my teachers have a good idea how they want their lessons to be, so I am really here to assist with preparation and creating activities. At the end of the day (at 3:30PM by this point), we cleaned up the school and began the after-school activities. For thirty minutes, students are expected to help clean an area of our campus, since there are no janitors. I stayed around for two hours to help coach my two students participating in the speech contest, and to honestly look good to my co-workers, since many stay behind to do overtime without pay.

So overall, this school hit home. I love the students here… they’re real, even though many are disruptive during class. Many of them are excited to meet me, and even though there is a huge language barrier right now, I hope I can get to know them better and better. They’re really fun! What an intense, crazy, and emotional first day of work! I really enjoyed my time today, even though I came home extremely exhausted.

I owe a lot to my JTEs, and am hoping the rest of my experience working here will be just as good.