Off I Go

Wednesday morning, 9.30am (gosh, that could be a S&G song!). All I'm waiting for now is the closing ceremony to happen, and then, come 4pm, I'm OUTTA here. Meantime, I'm whiling away the last few hours by chatting to Jo on MSN, reading a book, and writing this. I just challenged Jo to write a haiku about the OED and TTP, comparing the two editors of each publication (James Murray and me). Should keep him occupied pretty much all day! How do you fit 'Oxford Engligh Dictionary' into haiku structure?! :)

Looking forward to going home, but also feeling strangely sad at leaving Japan, even if it's only for two weeks. I miss people terribly. I miss my family loads too. It'll be hard to leave them when I'm coing back. I'm in a odd mood.

Friday!!!

Oooh, it's coming closer! I'm sooo ready for a break now. Mum keeps emailing me, telling me how much she's looking forward to seeing me, and it's the same here.

However, it's not here yet, so it's business as usual. Had a great lesson today with one of my favourite classes in my favourite elemeentary school. We made paper snowflakes out of origami paper, and it was lovely. The kids got into it, and it kept them relatively quiet, and the teacher, the mother of one of my JHS girls, looked just as relaxed. I love these kids, they make me so happy.

I also got some work back from various people for the book. Always a relief to see things arrive in my mailbox, but it also means I have to sit down and sort it all out. However, I wouldn't be without my project this year, no way! Vivi, a good friend who lives in Tokushima city, designed a new website for the book : check it out at http://www.teamtaughtpizza.com My photo is a bit stern looking, but someone commented that I looked "svelte" in it, so the sterness can stay! Next year will be pretty rushed, trying to get it all finished off. I'm happy to say that the English editing is (mostly) finished, so in the new year, it'll mostly be making the book look ass-spankingly good.

This weekend is one for getting ready: the flat is just awful at the moment, so I'll be tidying, cleaning, packing, planning. All my hotels, buses etc are booked. Now it's just getting there. I was going to write a fair bit in this post, but now I can't be bothered. Blah. Sorry to have wasted your time. Friday afternoon lethargy...

The Final Countdown...

Yes, laydeez and gents, this time next week, I will be sitting on the express train to Tokushima city, on my way to Osaka airport to fly home. I'm really looking forward to it: I'm ready for a break. This term has been great: fast, busy, sometimes stressful, always fun. I've loved every minute of it, but it's high time I found myself surrounded by my family and all things familiar again. Mum's even managed to source some morello cherries for her excellent chocolate trifle! Can't wait, although I think I'll need to do some exercise when I come off to work of the millions of calories the trifle contains.


That shouldn't be too hard, however. When I arrive back in Japan, I have three days to recover from the 36 hour flight before being plunged headlong into the final term of the school year. The first weekend then sees me heading to a ski resort on Honshu called Mizuho, near Hiroshima, for a weekend of skiing with some friends from my tennis club. Can't wait!

For the most part, things have quietened down around Tokushima for Christmas. We had two big parties last weekend, one for my friend Stpeh's birthday, and the other a Christmas party for all the ALTs in the ken. Both were a lot of fun in their own way. I think I like living out in inaka: I couldn't handle weekends like the last every single weekend, but when I do go for a big one, I enjoy it all the more for it not being a regular occurence.

Well, look at the time. I should go. I will probably update more later this week, when ,y holiday is tantalisingly within reach, but still in the future! Til then, stay warm!

'Tis the season!

Christmas roles around again! Gosh, it's been such a quick year. Japan, unfortunately, isn't the best place to be to get into the Christmas spirit. They have it, oh yes, but it's even more commercialised over here than it is at home, if that's possible. Japan being totally secular (more or less), it's all about the big pink Christmas trees, the traditional carols translated into Japanese (scream) and shopping til you drop. I guess Christmas at home is getting like that too, but there's still a part of me that likes the idea of going to Watch Night Services on snowy Cristmas Eves, and remembering what it's really all about, even if that part of it plays such a small part in my celebration of Christmas. If I have the energy this year, after travelling around the globe, then I'll head to church on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, things are getting mental out here in the run up to it all: orphanage Christmas visits, AJET Christmas parties, ALT carol tours, elementary Christmas party lessons etc. It's all good, I love being so busy, but part of me looks forward to January, when I can get stuck into some serious snowboarding without worrying that it's going to coincide with some big event. And of course, I am looking forward to Christmas at home with the family. Last year in Thailand was super, but it just doesn't feel right, drinking cocktails in a bikini on a Bounty ad beach on Christmas Day!!

This was a bit of a random post. I actually have some work to do for the book, need to post files off to my Japanese proof readers. I'll post again soon.

Warmest wishes of the season to you all!

Support meeting '04

Yesterday was the annual ALT support meeting for those of us living in the far west of Tokushima-ken (prefecture). I think the main purpose of these meetings is to allow the first years a more official setting to ask questions that may have arisen in their first few months in this job, but it's also a good opportunity for more recontractors to do the same. I enjoy these meetings, it lets me see how good my own position is, and what might be done to improve it. It also brings to mind things I may not normally think about.

I had a good chat with another ALT (who shall remain nameless just in case) . He and I are in the same position as regards having JTEs who couldn't give a damn about the JET Programme, and who regard us as nothing more than a bit of comic relief for the kids. It's a hugely frustrating situation to be in. It's demeaning, and doesn't allow the Programme as a whole to realise it's full potential. He and I are of the opinion that both ALTs and JTEs need to be given more formal training in the practice of team teaching, in order to utilise the opportunities it provides as much as possible. At the moment, so many ALTs are sitting idle at their desks because they believe they have nothing to do. It's a waste of their time, and their Board of Education's money. If ALTs and JTEs were more clued up about what an ALT can do to help the kids, well, things would be much different, and I'm sure ALTs would have a better reputation. I don't know, I don't think I worded that very eloquently. Every situation is different. The man who invented that phrase should be taken out and shot.

Today, tomorrow and Friday are test days. This means ALL my classes have been cancelled. In the spirit of the meeting yesterday, I offered my services to Tamezane-sensei, saying I'd be more than happy to supervise and/or mark tests. She said it was ok, I wasn't needed, but at least I offered. I would like to do something like that, but at the same time, I'd be worried I'd screw up (not having proper training in this sort of thing), and they really don't have time to show me the ropes. Sooooo, I get to work on my book all day! And tomorrow! And the next day! This is going to be the best book ever! I hope. I'm sure there'll be a post a couple of months down the line where I'm rueing the day I ever took the job on. But I won't mean it. I'm having fun with it, and it's going to benefit so many ALTs, the pros far outweigh the cons.

I should be off. Hope everyone is well.