TravelBlog » Jude28

Jude28 - Jude Matthews

Hello. My name is Jude and I am currently participating in the Japanese Exchange and Teaching programme. (JET programme). I am from the UK and I am married to Ian who is also on the programme. I am interested in discovering Japanese culture, learning the language and improving my teaching. I am a Psychology graduate and qualified Primary school teacher however I will be teaching in 3 Senior High (15 - 18) schools in Aichi prefecture, Japan. In between teaching days we intend to travel around as much of Japan as possilble so whilst I might mention school a bit, hopefully I'll be able to share some travel stories as well.

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Joined on: August 4th 2008
Last Login: September 2nd 2009

Blog Entries: 16
Photos: 34

TB Code: [blogger=85030]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Jude28, order by Date newest first.

By Jude28
August 26th 2009

Summer 2009 Asia » Japan

I've been in Japan for over a year now and have to say that I feel a lot better about being here. As I said on a recent post to a friend on Facebook although there are still certain things about the Japanese way of doing things that I find strange or disagreeable I don't find myself reacting quite so emotionally. No more hiding under the duvet just because someone looked at me funny. I've also had a fantastic summer which has made me realise that living in Japan can be loads of fun. My job is (was?) probably the source [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
May 1st 2009

March and April - The Arrival of a Japanese Spring Asia » Japan » Aichi

I love this quotation, “Because you know how to feel, and knowing how to feel is more important than how you feel. Deadness of soul is the only unpardonable crime, and if there is one thing happiness can do it is mask deadness of soul”. So said Stephen Fry in his letter to his 16 year old self recently published in ‘The Guardian’. Why have I included this rather serious quote at the beginning of today’s blog entry? Well, it occurred to me recently that Ian and I do tend to talk about work rather a lot and most of what [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
March 3rd 2009

Being tourists in Tokyo. Asia » Japan » Tokyo

The best thing about Tokyo, from a foreigner’s point of view, is that people don’t stare at you on the subway. Having lived in Nagoya for over sixth months now and having faced a daily ordeal of being stared at by the local residents, it was a relief to find that a two hour Shinkansen ride would carry me up in to a much more liberal and tolerant world. So what did we do there? In brief, we rode the elevator to the top of the Mori Tower, walked around an exhibition of contemporary Indian art in the Mori Tower, toured [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
February 4th 2009

Hakuba and beyond. Asia » Japan » Nagano » Hakuba

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Where was I? I feel I have neglected my blog for too long. This is mostly due to laziness but partially due to the fact that I am now doing a TEFL on-line course as well as my Japanese Studies. The TEFL course is a 40 hour on-line course run by travel company and training provider, i-to-i. I reasoned that I could do with some evidence in paper form of having trained for the job of English Language Teacher. And I really do need to have a better grasp of grammar. The Japanese Study is a bit more painful. I'm enjoying [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
December 8th 2008

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... Asia » Japan » Aichi

Nagoya lights 1

So feeling a little down of late, I think I know why though. I blame Christmas. I was never one of those people who necessarily looked forward to Christmas with great enthusiasm but now it’s not here I really miss it. Well, I say it’s not here, it kind of is in a way. It’s commercialized here in exactly the same way it is in the UK but I think in the UK we relish a sort of imagined historical tradition of Christmas that revolves awkwardly around Christianity, Dickens and some sort of ancient pagan ritual but here in Japan it [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
November 17th 2008

In a more reflective mood about the job. Also, Halloween and trying on Furisode (Kimono). Asia » Japan » Aichi

Kimono1

So first I must apologise to anyone reading this on a regular basis for the angry rant followed by the long silence, I’ve been coming to terms with a few things! Firstly, the job. I’ll put it in to numbers: Longest stretch without lessons: 8 days. Longest stretch at my base school without lessons: 2 weeks. Number of lessons taught at my visiting school since September: 4 Average number of classes per day: 2 Number of times I’ve taught the same lesson (Self Introduction) 36. The problem is complex. On the one hand the schools don’t see working with an ALT [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
October 28th 2008

How to break an Assistant Language Teacher Asia » Japan » Aichi

1) Schedule no more than an average of two lessons a day but somehow manage to put three identical lessons in a row on some days and no lessons at all on others. 2) Ensure that the ALT teaches the same identical lesson over 30 times in two months. Very occasionally invite the ALT to invent her own activities and then cancel them at the last minute., 3) Ensure that the educational philosophy of the entire country is radically different to the one the ALT is used to but never ever explain why or attempt to discuss differences rationally. 4) When [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
October 19th 2008

Festivals in Nagoya and Kasugai; rafting and onsen in Gifu. Asia » Japan

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Last weekend eventful. On Saturday we went to the Nagoya festival and enjoyed the passing parade. All kinds of strange things went by including Miss Goldfish, sword wielding Samurai (one of whom had forgotten to remove his digital watch), some beautifully made-up Geishas and other women wearing assorted traditional dress, flag wavers, dancers, creepy puppet bird things on stilts and of course the ever present brass bands. Have to say that considering Nagoya is the fourth largest city in Japan the police present was minimal to none existent. One guy we saw looked about 16 years old. (Makes me [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
September 19th 2008

A sharp introduction to Japanese healthcare and some other strange things. Asia » Japan » Aichi

Last Friday a friend of ours (from New Zealand) took us out in Nagoya for a night of ‘underground’ music Japan style. (www.sonset-strip.com). Literally underground. In a small basement (just like The Adelphi in Hull for those of you who remember the good old days) we enjoyed a surprisingly good Ska band from NZ. At least, I think it was Ska. I had to ask because I’m approaching 30 and I never really understood these things in the first place. It might have been punk. Anyway, sounded a lot like ‘baggy trousers’. I especially liked the guy with the full tan-coloured [View Full Entry]

By Jude28
September 14th 2008

All the good bits about Japan so far (very long entry this one) Asia » Japan » Aichi » Nagoya

All the good bits about Japan so far 1) Students Yes, really. Contrary to popular belief not all Japanese pupils are passive, obedient angels but they are far far easier to deal with than pupils in the UK. Why is this I wonder? Well, from experience, I can tell you that when I was teaching in British schools, especially as a supply teacher, the first thing that always struck me was the level of pupil hostility. Ian can confirm that this is even more true in British secondary schools. Hostility not only to the teachers but, more worryingly to each other. [View Full Entry]

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