Where were we....
So the last time I posted it was almost April, and I was speculating on how things would be much better with the coming of the new school year and my return to teaching middle schoolers. In short: I was right.
I'd forgotten just how easy it is to assist in middle school English classes, after suffering a year of having to basically lead the entire town's kindergarten and elementary school English classes for 3 months. Now, I rarely teach more than 4 classes a day, and there's only one teacher who asks me to provide the lesson plans (and even his classes are a real treat). Mostly, I prepare skits, 15 minute activities, and prizes for the kids, and during lessons I act as a human tape recorder, giving the kids a taste of what native English sounds like, while the head teacher does all the real explaining of grammar points. Occasionally, I'm asked to grade written assignments, but that's it's own sort of pleasure, getting to know the kids better by seeing what topics they choose to write about. ♥
I'm making an extra effort this year to actually learn my kids' names. It's hard to do when I only see them about once a week, but I've gotten almost all of the classes to make English namecards for the days that I come in. They don't always remember to get them out, but I've told them that whenever they forget their nametag, I'll come up with a new name for them. Funny thing is though, that when I give a kid a nickname, I usually check the seating chart to see who they really are, and I end up remember their real names better than I do most othe students'. XD It's a slow process, but I hope to have the majority of them learned by the end of the term.
There's a group of 1st and 3rd years that I've gotten relatively close to, because they're part of the art club at school number 1. Unless there's something important that I have to get done in the evening, I'll usually go to the art room after school and draw with them for an hour or two. Most of them are at that stage where they copy pictures directly from their favorite manga, but they're a really sweet and funny bunch, and I like to think that I'm a good influence on them. They seem impressed by the sketches and cosplay pieces that I bring in, and I love sitting around and listening to them fangirl various anime and voice actors. ♥
In non-work-related news, the beginning of this month was Golden Week! Paula and I took a couple vacation days and spent the first half of it in Osaka, then the latter half in Tokyo. It was my first time in Osaka, and it was a lot of fun! Nice place to visit. We explored around Dotonbori, with the giant moving crab sign; went to Shitennouji, a very famous and very old shrine; visited the aquarium and nearby ferris wheel, both are some of the world's biggest; tried out an Osakan cosplay dance party, quite remniscent of an awkward middle school dance for most of it actually ^^;;; ate takoyaki and okonomiyaki, delicious; and went to see a play by Takarazuka! The play was a musical called "Kuroi Hitomi" with the after show "Rock On!" and it was absolutely amazing. Well, the story and the characters were a bit flat and uninteresting, but the singing and dancing and acting and costumes! OH MY GOD THE COSTUMES!!!!! I think that I have found my new life calling. Never before have I seen so many sequins, sparkles, ruffles, and giant feathers on a single stage. I want to make their outfits!!! Not in a cosplay sense, I want to make clothes for something like Takarazuka! *o* And if not that, then Kamen Rider. XDDD
When returning to Tokyo for the last half of the break, Paula and I realized that we were coincidently just in time for day 2 of Super Comic City! We hadn't planned for it at all, but we saw no reason to skip Japan's 2nd largest fan comic event, especially since we were already hoping to go to another cosplay event (the one in Osaka was rather unsatisfying). Needless to say, we spent a lot of money. XD
The real reason we planned on returning to Tokyo when we did was to see Les Miserables with a good group of nearby foreigners. ♥ Because I never actually got a chance to see the performance back when I lived in America, this was my first time seeing the show, and it was entirely in Japanese. I've thankfully gotten good enough at the language that that didn't take away at all, though; the show was absolutely outstanding in every way. The story, translation, characters, singing, acting, staging, lighting, costumes, and sets were all top notch. Most of the theater I like to watch would be put to shame when comared to it. It was awesome, and a bit nostalgic too. Even though I never got to see the show before, my high school marching band played one of its songs as the closer to my senior year show. It was really neat to finally hear the song at its source, but to hear it in a different language. ^o^
For a more in-depth account of our Golden Week adventures, Paula's got a post here that also includes pictures~.
So my plan for the next couple weeks involves teaching as always and going to Tokyo on the weekends to see two more musicals. The first promises to be terrible but entertaining, while the second promises to be just plain awesome (it's a remake of the first Magudarana Maria musical, with lots of men wearing dresses and playing the part of Austrian hookers ♥ ). I'm also getting started on a new Tenimyu cosplay to wear at the "belly button festival" held in Paula's town in mid-summer. AND I'm getting stuff planned for when my family comes to visit me at the end of July! Good stuff all around!
I'd forgotten just how easy it is to assist in middle school English classes, after suffering a year of having to basically lead the entire town's kindergarten and elementary school English classes for 3 months. Now, I rarely teach more than 4 classes a day, and there's only one teacher who asks me to provide the lesson plans (and even his classes are a real treat). Mostly, I prepare skits, 15 minute activities, and prizes for the kids, and during lessons I act as a human tape recorder, giving the kids a taste of what native English sounds like, while the head teacher does all the real explaining of grammar points. Occasionally, I'm asked to grade written assignments, but that's it's own sort of pleasure, getting to know the kids better by seeing what topics they choose to write about. ♥
I'm making an extra effort this year to actually learn my kids' names. It's hard to do when I only see them about once a week, but I've gotten almost all of the classes to make English namecards for the days that I come in. They don't always remember to get them out, but I've told them that whenever they forget their nametag, I'll come up with a new name for them. Funny thing is though, that when I give a kid a nickname, I usually check the seating chart to see who they really are, and I end up remember their real names better than I do most othe students'. XD It's a slow process, but I hope to have the majority of them learned by the end of the term.
There's a group of 1st and 3rd years that I've gotten relatively close to, because they're part of the art club at school number 1. Unless there's something important that I have to get done in the evening, I'll usually go to the art room after school and draw with them for an hour or two. Most of them are at that stage where they copy pictures directly from their favorite manga, but they're a really sweet and funny bunch, and I like to think that I'm a good influence on them. They seem impressed by the sketches and cosplay pieces that I bring in, and I love sitting around and listening to them fangirl various anime and voice actors. ♥
In non-work-related news, the beginning of this month was Golden Week! Paula and I took a couple vacation days and spent the first half of it in Osaka, then the latter half in Tokyo. It was my first time in Osaka, and it was a lot of fun! Nice place to visit. We explored around Dotonbori, with the giant moving crab sign; went to Shitennouji, a very famous and very old shrine; visited the aquarium and nearby ferris wheel, both are some of the world's biggest; tried out an Osakan cosplay dance party, quite remniscent of an awkward middle school dance for most of it actually ^^;;; ate takoyaki and okonomiyaki, delicious; and went to see a play by Takarazuka! The play was a musical called "Kuroi Hitomi" with the after show "Rock On!" and it was absolutely amazing. Well, the story and the characters were a bit flat and uninteresting, but the singing and dancing and acting and costumes! OH MY GOD THE COSTUMES!!!!! I think that I have found my new life calling. Never before have I seen so many sequins, sparkles, ruffles, and giant feathers on a single stage. I want to make their outfits!!! Not in a cosplay sense, I want to make clothes for something like Takarazuka! *o* And if not that, then Kamen Rider. XDDD
When returning to Tokyo for the last half of the break, Paula and I realized that we were coincidently just in time for day 2 of Super Comic City! We hadn't planned for it at all, but we saw no reason to skip Japan's 2nd largest fan comic event, especially since we were already hoping to go to another cosplay event (the one in Osaka was rather unsatisfying). Needless to say, we spent a lot of money. XD
The real reason we planned on returning to Tokyo when we did was to see Les Miserables with a good group of nearby foreigners. ♥ Because I never actually got a chance to see the performance back when I lived in America, this was my first time seeing the show, and it was entirely in Japanese. I've thankfully gotten good enough at the language that that didn't take away at all, though; the show was absolutely outstanding in every way. The story, translation, characters, singing, acting, staging, lighting, costumes, and sets were all top notch. Most of the theater I like to watch would be put to shame when comared to it. It was awesome, and a bit nostalgic too. Even though I never got to see the show before, my high school marching band played one of its songs as the closer to my senior year show. It was really neat to finally hear the song at its source, but to hear it in a different language. ^o^
For a more in-depth account of our Golden Week adventures, Paula's got a post here that also includes pictures~.
So my plan for the next couple weeks involves teaching as always and going to Tokyo on the weekends to see two more musicals. The first promises to be terrible but entertaining, while the second promises to be just plain awesome (it's a remake of the first Magudarana Maria musical, with lots of men wearing dresses and playing the part of Austrian hookers ♥ ). I'm also getting started on a new Tenimyu cosplay to wear at the "belly button festival" held in Paula's town in mid-summer. AND I'm getting stuff planned for when my family comes to visit me at the end of July! Good stuff all around!