Sunday, November 15, 2009

It's c-c-c-cold...

So it looks like winter is soon to hit for good - at least the temperature seems to have taken a permanant dive. We're still having plenty of rain and thankfully no major snow yet.
Thursday evening I went out with the teachers from the Chu gakko to say goodbye to the student teacher. We went to a restaurant and had an amazing dinner. The presentation was stunning and the food was out of this world! There were even some little butterflies made from carrot slices! I'm working on getting a copy of the photos that were taken of the food.
The system for teacher training is very different here. They go to school for four years but they only do one three or four week practicum just before their last 6 months. Then, when they graduate they have to take a big test and if they pass they get a job right away. During their first year of teaching they have a supervisor who visits them about 3 days a week. After that they are on their own. From what I hear - there is never an issue with getting a job - their first contract is for four years in the same school and after that the contracts are for 6 years. In some school districts the teachers are provided with some seriously subsidized housing too.
On Friday I went to the pro-d with the teachers here. They do some interesting things with the pro-d. All the schools except three (one elementary, one Jr. High and one Sr. High) have the day off. The other three schools have students for two hours and present lessons for all the teachers to go watch. I saw a Social Studies lesson and an English lesson. Of course being that it was all in Japanese (including the English lesson) I didn't understand very much of it! The English class made me realize that I am really lucky here in Otaki. Ms. Koizumi is working so hard to teach the class only using English and she really appreciates everything that I bring to the class. All of the instructions and explanations in the pro-d English class were in Japanese and I was totally surprised by the lack of English.
After the pro-d there was a welcome party for Ian and I in Date with the Mice Club. Ian had gone to Sapporo for the day and met me in Date afterward. The Mice Club were really welcoming. They had it partially catered (sushi and pizza) and brought some homemade stuff to supplement. It was fantastic! There were about 11 people there altogether and we played "2 Truths and a Lie". The Mice Club meets regularly to socialize and speak English. We are looking forward to the opportunity to get together with them again.
Yesterday I helped coach one of the grade nines for an oral exam she had to do today. After that Naoko stuck around for lunch and a visit. It was fun to have company. The rest of the day was a bit of a write-off - some computer time, some reading and some napping.
Today we were invited to the home of Chinami-san. She's the nurse at the Chu gakko and she has two sons the same age as Taran and Joisan. We picked up Hiro and headed for Date around 10:20 this morning. Chinami was busy prepping for the amazing lunch we had - sashimi and miso and make your own sushi and tempura. She had burgers for the kids (prawn burgers for Joisan) Wow! It was unending and spectacular! Her oldest son had a bunch of his soccer friends over and they were totally fun and friendly with Taran and Joisan. They played video games and Jenga and listened to music. A couple of the boys were very taken with Joisan and she felt a little embarassed with all the attention they paid to her. When we were ready to go Chinami packed up a bunch of leftovers for us to bring home so we ate really well all day! Things are good - we're happy and healthy and Joisan and Taran are going back to the hospital on Tuesday for another checkup.

1 comment:

  1. So glad to hear everyone is well!!! The food IS totally inspiring... what we might call "Martha Stewart-ish" in terms of going overboard on the presentation, is totally OK in Japan, and I must say, really cool!!! Love those garnishes! They make the cutest meals for kids too - I brought back a bento cookbook with the most amazing tidbits displayed, and gorgeous photos. People really do take the time to make what you eat "pretty". p.s. I guess that's to make up for the teensy portions, but that's all a matter of perspective! I bet you're all picking up much more of the language than you give yourselves credit for - being immersed you get the "rhythm" of the staccato syllables first, before they start to make sense. I'm looking forward to hearing one of your speeches in Japanese, Phaedra!!! Enjoy yourselves :) Our family is just recovering from a scourge of the flu (only Abby escaped it) and we hear that there is a deluge of rain forecast for the coast for the next couple of days, flood warnings and all. Enjoy your sun and snow! Thinking of you all fondly, omoshiroi ne! ...the Barnards

    ReplyDelete