Well, besides in my last post, I didn't tell anyone about my birthday for at least a month. Even then, I got several texts from ALTs in my area wishing me a happy birthday, and my conversation class student, Racquelle, invited me to dinner with her family. Another conversation class student came to my apartment with his family and gave me flowers ( Read more... )

Those of you who knew me through our Japanese studies probably remember that I kind of have a "thing" for kanji (Chinese characters). I have always found them very interesting, and it's the only part of my Japanese studies that I'm actively continuing at the moment. I really think that this interest is the reason I've been able to remember so ( Read more... )

Saturday was the cultural festival at Tanoura JHS. Even though I linked the wikipedia article on Japanese cultural festivals, the ones at my schools are almost completely different. There are no cafes or restaurants, and the only club that does anything is the band (which only one of my middle schools has). The festivals at my schools are kind ( Read more... )

(At Matsuyama Junior High School ( Read more... )

Two weeks ago on Tuesday, when I was walking around Matsuyama JHS during the break time, Hikari (a first year) called me into her classroom. She said, "Seira wants to show you something!" The student Seira started doing a silly dance that she'll perform in the upcoming culture festival. Hikari then pointed at her and said, "She is Mr. Baka ( Read more... )

Last week went very well. I guess you could call most of it normal, but normal is a good thing in my situation.

Monday: A national holiday. I celebrated it by getting about 11 hours of sleep Sunday night (I slept from 11 pm to 10 am).

Tuesday: Matsuyama JHS. I gave a speech which was about my own speech contest last year to the third years. ( Read more... )

Normally, I consider 5:30 am too early to wake up, especially on a Sunday morning, but there was a speech recitation contest in Kagoshima City today! In this prefecture-wide competition, one second-year and one third-year student from each junior high school can memorize a set speech and recite it in front of judges and an audience. Only one of ( Read more... )

I just turned on the TV, and it seems that an elementary school student committed suicide due to bullying. Her suicide note read something like this ( Read more... )

So many of my students (and sometimes teachers) are surprised at my presence when they first realize it. I could be just standing there around a corner, walking up to someone, or even in the middle of a moderately-crowded room, and the student will be very surprised to see me even though I don't intend to do so. One thing that holds true no ( Read more... )

In reference to my post on September 21st, what I should have done in the computer room was turn out the lights and play the following flash with the volume up. We could have had a...
(Warning, it's kind of loud)
DANCE PARTY IN THE COMPUTER ROOM!!!

It would be a repetitive dance party, but still.