Sensei Melissa?

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I have offically survived my first real day as an English teacher here in Japan!! During the month of March I´ll be doing mostly supply work for teachers who are sick or on vacation then in April when the new school year begins I´ll be assigned more of my own classes.

So yesterday morning, with the help of Marissa, I headed off on another train to the school I had been assigned to for that day. Once I got there the Japanese and Native (that´s what us English speaking folks are called here) staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming. After helping the staff for a while the School Director assigned me 3 classes to teach that afternoon. All were free time lessons, which means students buy points and simply come to a lesson whenever they want to redeem them. I had a mixture of students from highschool students who love Jon Bon Jovi, to housewives who wished their husbands would do more chores. All of the students were very friendly and eager to practice their English. They were also quite keen to ask me questions about myself and that really seemed to break the ice. Many wanted to know about life in Canada, is it really cold, do I live in Vancouver or Toronto were amongst some of the questions I was asked. At most I had 4 students in one class, so the small class sizes really make it easy to get t know the students and get them participating.

There were also tons of kids around the school at all times. Parents in Japan seem to sign their kids up for English lessons to the sam degree Canadians sign their kids up for hockey or soccer. I think I´ll really enjoy teaching the kids classes because they are super cute and constantly makng me laugh. Although this fascination could be lost once they are swinging from the rafters in my classroom!

We are encouraged to chat with the parents and students when they enter the lobby of the school. I was doing just that and this one little boy just started an entire conversation with me in English, he had to be 4 at the most. He said my names yukki, how are you today..... It was very impressive, I couldn´t believe my ears and his extremely proud mom, who didn´t appear to speak a lick of English, was just beaming!

During the month of March I have Sundays and Fridays off. So today I plan tograb my camera and head off for some more exploring. I love days off. Although it will take me a while to get use to working 3pm-9pm as I´ll be doing most days!

Anyway, Japn continues to treat me well, everday brings something new.

Miss you all, please keep in touch and I´ll write again soon.

love, Melissa

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Comments

[connie]

teaching in Japan
Melissa, MARCH 5, 2006. Have fun and keep in touch! LUV --MOM and DAD

[Amanda]

A natural!
Hey there, It sounds like life is treating you well. I knew you would be great at teaching...keep up the great work. Luv and miss you! Amanda (and Jeff)