new school

so this past week i started teaching at the second of my two schools. i will be at this school, itako 2nd, for october and then i head back to the first school, hinode, in november.

the week was pretty hectic, trying to learn the ways of the new school. but all in all i think that i like the new school alot. it seems to be a little more laid back than hinode was. the first day however was a little strange. this school is located further away from my house. the board of education has a taxi service that picks me up and takes me to and from school the months when i am at itako 2nd. they insist that i take the taxi even though i have my own car, its in my contract! im not sure how much i actually like this taxi business. it is very strange to get driven to and from school, it makes me stand out at school more than i already do! but the taxi drivers are all very friendly and very talkative, so the drive offers a perfect time to practice my japanese. so the first day after getting dropped off at school, i walk into an empty teachers room, but then a teacher comes in and ushers me to the gym. there was a assembly going on. as soon as i entered, the principal walked over and told me that i was to give a self introduction now! i had literally been on school grounds for 3 minutes, and met no one! i was introduced and then i walked up to stage and did my self introduction.

after that i was given a schedule and went off to 3 classes the fist day where i did mostly self introductions. students at this school were much more enthusiastic about asking me questions at the end of my power point. and i even had questions asking about my opinion of 9/11, if america had a gun problem, and if i owned a gun! i never would have gotten these questions from my other school. one of the other days when i was giving my self introduction, after i showed them the picture of my family, 2 boys became enthralled with my sister! they asked sooo many questions, along these lines...
how old is she?"
20.
"thats not too old for me i`m 14, don`t worry"

"she must be married! she is too beautiful"

"where is she"
shes in college
"good. i want to go to college soon"

"is she tall, i am tall so you don't need worry"

and my personal favorite:
"will you please bring her to school and show her to me for a present"


the two teachers i work with are both great too. they both are always looking for new ideas, and not huge fans of the text books we have to use! one of the teachers in particular and i seem to have a good dynamic in the classroom. this is her first year teaching, she is only 23 and lived in canada for a year, so she thinks outside of the traditional japanese teaching methods.


if this first week is any indicator, this month should be very interesting!