it's not life that matters but the journey...

I'm not so good at updating this journal these days.  I guess its that I'm still getting accustomed to working, and its just so hot and humid - whenever I sit at the computer to type, I get all grumpy and anxious. 

But I really want to write about the recent events in my teaching job.  All of my recent experience teaching kids classes  has made me realize why so many schools in Japan are requiring their teachers to either have degrees in education (especially children's education) or to have actual experience with kids.  Its really hard to work with kids, especially when you are using a language that they do not know.   sometimes its pure joy, when you get kids that are friendly and active and cheerful - and who enjoy learning.  But other times it can be pure hell if you get a kid who is too shy or too spoiled or who doesn't enjoy learning.  I've had all of these in just one month!

Before I came here, all of my teaching experience has been with adults (college students or older adults), and teenagers (high school and junior high school students).  Also, I was realizing that in my life, I really haven't even had much time around young kids - I don't have any nieces or nephews, I never had younger brothers or sisters (I was the youngest) and didn't spend much time around my cousins' kids when they were young.  So, even though I do like kids more than I did 10 years ago, I'm not naturally comfortable with them, nor do I really know how to reach them and connect with them.

Last week, I had my first experience teaching a "baby" class, which is actually toddlers aged 1 1/2 to 2 and their mothers.  Usually the class is taught by another American teacher, but she has gone on vacation for all of August, so I am being asked to cover the class.  Because I have never done it before, Ailsa (another teacher from Australia) joined me and showed me how its done.  Basically, since the kids are so young, and are still learning to speak in their own language, they don't really do any speaking at all.  We  just sang easy songs like "ABC" and "Old MacDonald" and read easy books with animals, colors and numbers, and did some counting and stacking blocks and knocking them down.  Kids love to knock stuff down - and we used some finger puppets to teach them animal names.   The idea, I guess, is that if little children hear English, they will absorb it (being that their little brains are like sponges) and that they will become more comfortable with it.  I am a little skeptical:  since they only go to the class once a week , I don't really know how much of it will really register and stay with them.  Its not really like they are living in a bilingual household where they hear another language every day.  but for the most part, they seem to enjoy it.  In my class, there were three little girls and their mothers.  One of them was extremely shy and afraid, and at first she wouldn't come into the classroom.  She was even crying!  I think she was afraid to see two new faces, since she is already accustomed to the other teacher.  She stood outside the classroom for the first 15 minutes or so, and finally when we were playing with blocks, she got enough nerve to come in.  Once she was in there, she had a great time and didn't want to leave!  It was an interesting experience, but I will actually be glad to let the other teacher have that class when she returns. 

Saturday I taught another class for the same teacher (who is on vacation) - a kindergarten class at 10 a.m.   I already work from 1-6 on Saturdays, but for the next month I have to go in to teach this class at 10, and then have a 2 hour break until my next class at 1 p.m.   Anyway, the class has only one student, a 4-year-old boy.  I had already been warned that he is a difficult student - he doesn't listen, he sometimes has tantrums, and up until about three weeks ago, his parents were going with him to the class.  But for the last two weeks or so, he has been going in there alone with the teacher.  He is not a bad-tempered boy, but he just doesn't talk and he doesn't do anything that he is told to do.  I took him into the classroom, and immediately he started to do his own thing - I was trying to do the alphabet with him, and I think he was listening because he was nodding his head, but he didn't repeat any words.  then I tried to stack the blocks and count, but he kept taking them and putting them somewhere else.  I stayed the course, though, and stayed patient, and tried to teach him the words for body parts, and I got him to draw a picture.  But then about 10 minutes before the time was up, he started taking some stickers out of his book and putting them onto his arms.  He was so proud and he wanted to show his father, who was waiting out in the other room, so he just got up, put his shoes on and left the classroom before the lesson was finished!  I followed him out there and told Naoko what had happened because I was worried she thought I was trying to finish the lesson early.  But I couldn't control it.  anyway, after the kid and his father left, Naoko lectured me about talking about the lesson in front of the parents - she said that I should always praise the kids and say "good job" so that they feel good about English.  Then I guess I have to wait until the parents leave before I can discuss anything that happened.  I understand that praising the kids is important, but I guess I was just in shock when this kid got up and left the class early, so I was still kind of panicking from that!  I am not looking forward to teaching this kid again, but I will have to do it three more times!

I was much happier with the classes that I was teaching last month.  I was finally getting used to the students, and getting into a rhythm, and then Naoko totally changed my schedule this month because this teacher went on vacation. And then during the fourth week of August, the other regular teacher is going on holiday too, for one week, so I will have to teach some of her classes too.  I can't understand why Naoko allowed her two regular teachers to take vacations at the same time (I wanted to ask her, but decided it wasn't a good idea), which left all of the classes without teachers!  She even expected me to teach six days in a row during that week that both teachers are gone - but I told her that I would teach at the most only four days in a week.  I have no obligation to her, since she hasn't even given me a regular contract.  I signed a one month contract for the month of July, but as yet still haven't even signed a contract for August.  She really is taking advantage of me.  In September I think I'll go to just teaching two days a week, and eventually I hope that I can quit there if I can get enough of my own students (or get a better job like a university!).  I'm happy for the money that I'm earning, though, and for the experiences withkids - I can use the experience to start my own school here at home.

Of course there is still the chance that we might return to the states in the spring or summer next year - we are not extremely comfortable living in this house with his family.  I am getting more comfortable, but still don't like the way that some things are done here.  For example, most of the time I can't eat what his mother cooks - they eat a lot of fried fish (but not like Long John Silver's -  not that good!) and a lot of boiled vegetables (which, to me, is winter food and not good in the summer!).  Also, even though his mother is a fanatic about cleaning the house, she uses the same sponge for washing dishes for a month - which I am sure is covered with germs!  The other day I threw it away and refused to use it anymore, but today I found it in the sink again!  I can't believe it!  I want my own house!!!!