back to school

Aloha, folks.

I started the new job on Friday. I am teaching English in Japanese elementary schools now, as I think I mentioned before. Lemme tell ya, its a world of difference from the last job.

For starters, the dress code. GEOS was coat and tie...well, tie anyway. At the elementary school, the best dressed folks dress for the weather, because they don't do central heat and air in the school buildings. My first day, I was COLD.

Second, the students. GEOS students range in age from two and a half to eighty two and a half. Pretty much, if you can pay, you can play. I got me first graders to sixth graders only. And lots of 'em too. Class sizes at GEOS topped out at ten, and I never had a class that big. The most kids I ever had was three at a time, and that was a mess. Now I've got anywhere from 12 to 37 kids at a time...quite a difference.

Third, the food. At GEOS, of course, I was on my own for food, and free to run down to the shops if I felt like a snack. Now, I can't leave the school during school hours and I'm expected to eat the school lunch, often with the kids. Which brings us to another interesting point. There is no cafeteria in the elementary school. The kids eat in their classrooms, and it is part of my job to take my lunch in a different classroom every day. I actually haven't done this yet, but it's the only thing on my schedule for today (and next monday and tuesday).

Fourth, the general atmosphere. GEOS was a strange mix of artificial good cheer in the lobby and crushing stress and greed in the office. In the elementary school, the pace is quick because the kids demand it, but quite friendly and relaxed aside from that. The teachers are not under so much pressure, and genuinely care about what they are doing. Its very nice, and a welcome change.

Friday was my first day, and my first school was a small school in the countryside, which was very excited to have me. I showed up at 8:20 so I could be introduced to the staff, and then I was informed that the school music festival was that morning, so there wasn't anything for me to do except to say hi to the kids and parents at the beginning and try not to fall asleep during the performance. I did both with flying colors, then helped put away the folding chairs...to be nice and to try to get my circulation moving again.

My next task was to play with the 1st graders after lunch. They actually have me scheduled in for recess with a certain class. We played freeze tag, and I got in lots of trouble for not remembering the rules and fouling up the game at first, but after 5 different kids explained various aspects of the game at the same time at the top of their lungs I finally got the idea. After that, I did a self introduction lesson for the 5th and 6th grades, which went pretty well, and I went home with a feeling of a job well done.

Yesterday (Monday), I had my first day at the biggest school on my route. I showed up early, they assigned me a desk, and told me that there was NOTHING for me to do that day. Clean out the desk and poke around the school, they said. I did that, prepared 3 lessons, and it was still only 11:30. I wrote an article for my friend's web-magazine...12:45. The day went Ssslllloooooowww. Today is more of the same, except I have a lunch date with the 6th grade today, and we all went out onto the field to run for five minutes. I shouldn't complain about being less than covered up, but it does get a bit old hanging out in the office while everyone else is wrangling kids. I'm sure that will change as soon as they start to figure out what to do with me, though. Can't wait.

Deep Breath

It's been a momentous five weeks, which may very well account for the incredible delay in updates recently. I've been SUPER busy, and here's why.
First, I quit my job. It's been two and a half years at that joint and it was about time to go. My decision was greatly aided by the fact that I was offered a much better job working for the city. Better how? Well, for starters, the pay is better by about $500 a month. If that wasn't enough, its a Monday thru Friday gig...no more Saturdays...and ALL the Japanese national holidays paid and OFF. Second, no sales. Working at GEOS involved a lot of pressure to sell, and sell up. Books, new contracts, homestays...whatever. The idea is to play on the students insecurities and exploit their dreams to get into their wallets...it's a nasty business. Third, the working days are from morning to afternoon...done while the sun is still up. Getting moving at 6:30 am is gonna be tough though. Start tomorrow!
Changing jobs also means changing apartments...which may very well prove more traumatic than the job thing. The old place went with the job, so I had to get the heck out last weekend. It's amazing how much useless junk one person can accumulate in 30 short months. After I culled most of the crap, I was still left with an impressive mountain of incredibly necessary posessions, and no where to put it. After much bean counting and hair pulling, K and I decided to move me into her place and move her back into the old homestead. Its gonna be a little uncomfortable for the next couple of months, but it was the option that made by far the most sense. I'm gonna have a long commute, and she's gonna have a curfew, but we found a place for us, and will move in there in February.
There's also been wedding planning stuff going down, but that whole thing has kind of taken on a life and momentum all of its own. Things happen and decisions are made that neither K nor I are fully aware of until much later...Exciting.
Also, we took a trip to the American Consulate down in Osaka yesterday to get started on the marriage paperwork. Turns out I need an affidavit of eligibility to marry...a form to prove that I am of age and truly really single. So we went, and I filed, and paid $30, and they stamped the paper and we are all set. They didn't check a damn thing except that my signature matched...so if you're american and interested in bigamy, Japan is an option if you find mormons too preachy.
So to sum up, job stress, new job stress, packing stress, moving stress, red tape stress...ick. I feel pretty good about the whole mess though. Yay!