Day 20 - April 8, 2008 - First Day teaching in Japan

Day 20 - First Day teaching in Japan

Ok so I had to pay 400 yen to use a computer that I could upload picha pon....Bwoy mi a tell yuh.....

Now, once ago in my life I used to tell people that I prefer cold than heat anyday...trus mi, now I'm not so sure about that at all. I can`t believe I am so cold everyday and it's not winter...what going to happen when winter comes? I used to use the AC unit in my apartment and let it warm up the place for a while...but then the main ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) told me that my electricity bill going to be sky high if I continued that trend... Of course you know AC stop use all together...All the fridge mi tempted to plug out cause mi naaah pay nuh more money for anything else..

 

except for this internet that is...as you see I am giving you a sneak peek of what inside my apartment looks like.

So today was my very first day driving to work in Japan and ooh boy it was an adventure...I made sure to get up early and leave out JUST IN CASE I WOULD GET LOST....And all of a sudden...all the roads that looked so familiar to me when the IC was carrying me around to the schools on Day 15 http://davecollyjap.blogspot.jp/2008/04/day-15-april-3-2008.html ... never look familiar again...so the first thing I did was just drive straight and tried as much as possible to follow the directions I had written down...So I went straight ahead looking for some landmarks...found none and headed back. I took another direction that seemed more familiar only to realise I ended up going the same place I was initially. So I saw some men and said[school name] doko deska (where is [school name]), acting like mi know Japanese well. And they started talking all kinda Japanese to me and the only word I recognised was tunnel. So I pointed in the direction where I thought the school was and they nodded so I moved along...

Now this school I remembered was up a winding very narrow hill beside some brown top buildings...So I saw a narrow slope going up and I figured...Hey this must be it..So I drove up...aah bwoy... only to realise that I was heading up this never ending hill in the rain in my little car. To the left was a big area looking deep as the grand canyon...to the right was a ditch...I did not want to reverse down this hill in the rain and this very narrow road look like it had nowhere to turn...Eye water came to my eyes literally..because for a moment going up the hill it's like I was going to drive into heaven and I was saying to myself...`Lord I really want to see you someday`...but not necessarily today (as I don't think I have fully completed what He wants me to do..but who knows).... I eventually saw a little part where I could try turn around the car.. so I made a slight turn... I could not go too far forward because it seemed like there was another little ditch in front...So I made the slight turn...reversed a little...closing in on the grand canyon part...but I didn't know how close it was to the car so I had to put up the hand break, come out of the car, (hoping I don't slide down the wet hill) and then peek behind the car to see how close I was to the precipice thingy....after locking up and reversing and peeking behind several times...I managed to turn the car around...also by stretching my neck out to the opposite window to see if the wheel would drop in the ditch...

I had to call the office and let them know that I was lost and I would be late..(Late on the first day in Japan????Bad start...no matter what happen)...they passed on the info to the school and thank God I made it down the hill...bwoy mi a tell yuh....and then I headed back in the opposite direction like I'm going home... I then stopped at at this place looking like a business office...I went in and again asked for the school in Japanese...and again the men started to talk all sort of Japanese ting dat I had no clue about... eventually one of them volunteered to drive in front of me to the school...(yuh tink this would happen in Jamaica??)...I drove behind the guy who lead me straight up the hill that I was supposed to go to...then...there was a couple of the teachers outside the school waiting on me...

Ok so that was the getting to school part...the day eventually became easier...I got there only 15 minutes late after all that... and I was ready for my first class in about 25 minutes or so...I taught 3 classes and it was the same exact lesson I taught grade 4,5 and 6... I introduced myself...tell them where I`m from show them on the world map and made them say...Japan, Jamaica...Japan, Jamaica...Japan, Jamaica... come on, Japan, Jamaica...and the kids sang it for the entire day...I also showed animals to them and asked them what sound that animal made like...dog, dog...ruff ruff. cat cat..meow meow...then do it with a little rhythm and ting...and before I knew it...the day was over...I only had three .. 45 minute classes...the rest of the time was basically free to plan or do whatever I wanted in the school...And that is essentially what I am to do at each school...what better job??? Jump around...make rhythms, make the kids laugh and what...you are a celebrity in the schools, and getting paid for it...and no one is there to correct you because they don't really speak English...So the hardest part of my job is actually living in Japan...

I also took out my first set of garbage out today...the garbage day was for papers, waste food, plastic and those things...you have a different day to take out different types of garbage...

Another thing I did today was to put gas in the car...not after driving pass the gas station twice of course...and when I reached, I just stop at the pump...Because is peer Japanese writing on the pump station...eventually a lady came to assist me and she doesn't know a word in English either...So I signaled to her to full it up...and she put my money in the gas thing and it automatically did everything...again I started to feel like a country man in the dark...cause mi si shi guh somewhere else and press one button and mi get back mi change....

Stay tuned until Day 21... lol