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Published: December 6th 2009
Managers and I
Me, Takao (Manager), Chikako (Assistant Manager) at the Okinawa restaurant Saturday nightOhayo Gozaimasu!
Family, Friends and Followers, hey again! It’s time for another installment in the adventure that I call ‘Life’ in Japan. Since it’s been a few weeks there is a lot of juicy new info that I’m sure you’re going to want to hear about. So let’s get right into the highlights:
Last weekend was fantastic and busy as ever. We had a going away party for a few teachers who will be leaving Shiki School and Warabi School, our buddy school nearby. It was held at an all you can eat restaurant in the train station a few stops away from work and there was about 15 teachers and staff members who attended and ate more food than I ever thought Japanese people could eat! The first video shows a glimpse of the crew that was there, including the honorary teachers Ayako (second from the right at the other table) and Doug (directly beside me to my left) who will be leaving to have a baby and the other will be heading back to the US. The food is called ‘Okonomiyaki and is a Japanese version of pizza that is made on a flat hot plate built
Teacher Fest
Teachers getting there eat on! Rob, his fellow teacher, teacher, Kimie (head teacher), Chikako, Ayako. into each table. The pies mostly include cabbage and an egg base with any topics you can think of including pork, fish, onions, cheese, shrimp, noodles, and topped with barbeque sauce, fish flakes, mayo and seaweed flakes. You can slice it and serve it or make it messy (called ‘Monjya-naki’) and eat it right off the table with tiny shovels. That’s my style of eating! We stuffed ourselves there and waddled out to my first night actually spent in bed on a Saturday night! My manager, Takao took the video, and showed us all his impressive okonomiyaki making skills, working at least 6 at once with crazy slice-and-dice moves. Just like I thought, Japanese are superstars at pretty much everything!
Following that night we had a visit from our training friend, Dahnell on the Sunday, who came down from his School about three hours to the North for a night out in Tokyo. Long story short it was the usual, “Oh let’s go out and check out some bars and areas in Tokyo and catch the last train…oh what’s that? It’s 7am already? Can’t stop now!” So it was a great night at a 4 story club in Shibuya
Master Chef
Takao showing us how to cook up okonomiyaki like a pro! and a great reunion of our Aeon ‘Devastator Crew’.
The next week was a tough one at work, and I was nervous for parent observations for all of my kids’ classes. That meant that for about two classes a day the parents would sit and watch in class and then have a meeting for half an hour afterward to discuss their child’s progress and review the school and my teaching. After only a few weeks in the school I was nervous about getting analyzed like that, but I had prepared well so I was feeling confident at the same time. In the end it couldn’t have gone any better and I received some amazing feedback from happy parents the whole week. I was really glad to hear that they are satisfied with the classes and that the kids are telling their parents that they are enjoying all my classes. It’s surprising to hear about the feedback from the Junior High and Highschool students especially, since they are often very quiet and reserved in class. Not only that, but getting to know the parents is really enjoyable and exciting as well. There is a real sense of community at the
Monjya-naki
Shinya working the messy type of okonomiyaki. Gotta stay on top of it. school, with a lot of parents taking classes with their children and as you can see from the second video, a real camaraderie between the students and staff. So the week was long and busy, but very fulfilling and a great confidence boost for my teaching skills.
Another great highlight took place on Tuesday night, where I took part in a two hour ‘Futsal’ rooftop soccer practice and game on the eighth floor of a building by my train station. Every other Tuesday the team gets together to run drills and have a scrimmage, and I was lucky enough to be able to just walk in and have them welcome me into their practice. After a quick warmup I was tossed into the action and had to figure out the object of the game and drills as I went along. The coach was intense and the level of play was even higher than I expected. And if you know me, I had to show that I could match up with them so I played my hardest and was trying to keep up with them through the drill sections. When it came time for the game I was put on
Delicious!
Check out these amazing concoctions ready to be cooked up! a team and sent in as a left defense/midfielder and had to learn the rules real quick. It was soooo much fun and our team ended up winning 12-8 after about 45 minutes of play. The losers buy the winners a recovery drink and it was all friendly talk and relaxing afterward. A few spoke a little English and were really welcoming to me. I tried out some Japanese and definitely met another crew of guys that I respect and will hang out with outside of the games. I played well and had 3 of our team’s goals, and got some good feedback from the coach afterward too. This was just what I was looking for and I will look forward to the next game in a few weeks, that is if I can recover in time. My body was not used to that level of competition and it was a rough few days afterward! But totally worth the 1500 yen ($18 CAD) and an amazing workout.
I’ll finish off this message with another video taken on Saturday night at a restaurant right by the school. We went out with the staff and the high level English students for
Cake at School
Me, Kimie and Shota eating some cake I brought back for some after work dessert. another all-you-can-eat feast, this time with cuisine from Okinawa, a famous style of food from the tropical southern island of Japan. The students were great and we ate and drank for hours, before heading out to make a return to the same club we went to a few weeks back in Shibuya with the usual crew of teachers. The last pictures were taken outside of my station, and you can see the beautiful Sunday morning sunrise that I’m getting used to seeing when I get home from our Saturday adventures! So it was another great couple of weeks, and next week will be a usual week of work, as I begin to prepare for our special Christmas lessons later this month, and start to plan my new year’s trip that I will take on my vacation. Hope Thanksgiving was great for everyone and you’re all getting ready for sweet winter season! One love,
Sloan-‘Boy Band’-Crawford
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anonymous
non-member comment
Japan is way better!! XD