Comments | katja_enigmatic: Words are poisoned darts of pleasure.

katja_enigmatic

Words are poisoned darts of pleasure.

Mar 04, 2008 10:11

SInce the ask me anything meme didn`t really go anywhere, I thought I would try a different approach.

Have questions about Japan? Fire away!

The end of the school year will be upon us in the fourth week of March. There are graduation activities for both my sixth graders moving over to the Middle School and my ninth graders heading to their respective ( Read more... )

Comments 7

isolt March 4 2008, 02:43:41 UTC

I see you've been listening to franz ferdinand.

katja_enigmatic March 5 2008, 12:36:58 UTC

Aye. Discography on the desktop as we speak. They have some great lines.

robertmapril March 4 2008, 04:39:34 UTC

Why Japanese? Why JET?

What is your earliest memory?

When you were younger, where did you imagine being at this point in your life?

Where would be your first destination if you could travel time?

Where do we go when we die?

katja_enigmatic March 5 2008, 12:51:19 UTC

I've always felt a pull to Japan. I'd wanted to study the language since I was a teen, and anime served in part as a gateway *ahem* drug. I also harbor romantic ideas of samurai. That being so, the culture fascinates me. I've also felt a need to come here. Once I did my four months of study abroad, I knew I would come back to work. I harbored some notion of perhaps going the ex-pat route, although that had long ago fallen through. JET is the holy grail of English teaching jobs in Japan. The position is through the government, so you are assured of job security. You are also on the federal health insurance plan and generally well taken care of because you were invited here by a governmental agency, in my case the Takayama City Board of Education. It was a convenient way to come to Japan and work. They also pay for your plane ticket over ( ... )

squid314 March 4 2008, 09:00:43 UTC

Why do they have that rule about moving teachers to different schools? All the teachers I know hate it.

rapier_dancer March 5 2008, 00:14:48 UTC

I was told that (at least in Fukui-ken) it keeps bad teachers from staying at one school. It keeps one school from getting stuck with a crappy teacher for ages.

Also, it means that different teaching styles move about. Sometimes, a teacher's style just doesn't work with the student body. Getting saddled with that teacher for more than 7 years would be a burden on the school.

It sounds like punishing everyone over the possibility of a bad fit, but that's the way it is.

katja_enigmatic March 5 2008, 12:36:27 UTC

And the great teachers are spread around, not always able to finesse their teaching skills in a particular subject