Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go

Well, here I am at the end of another week at K Senior High School... and it`s really been the most eventful week so far, given that for the first three weeks I only came into work 60 percent of the days and the time I was here was spent distributing `Australian candy` (nougat, because it was the only thing I could think to bring that wouldn`t melt in the 40-degree heat) and trying to look busy.

So, now I can actually answer the question `how are your classes?`. I`ve had 9 classes this week, and most of them were self-introduction lessons, meaning I had to tell the students about Australia, Melbourne, me, etc… I think I`ve worked out a good routine now, which involves handing out photos of me, Melbourne, school, uni, my house, work, family, and friends.

I have to teach all levels of high school, which is years 9-12 here in Japan, or as they say, first, second and third grade (of high school). It`s only certain classes though- the listening and oral communication and culture classes. I think they have a lot of other classes that focus on grammar- we all know how boring that is. So I`m trying to get them to enjoy what I teach them, but it is SO HARD TO TELL… Japanese generally do not like to express emotion when they are in a group. This of course means that I am standing in front of the class, trying to ask them a question like `did you enjoy your weekend?`, and I get blank stares and poker faces from 40 students. Well, that`s an extreme example, but still, it`s the general vibe of students here… at least now. Maybe when they get to know me better they will be less `catatonic zombie` and more `normal human being`. Anyway, I`m pretty sure it`s not just me; other ALTs have noticed the same thing, so I guess it`s cultural. Having said that, in many classes, talking, or even sleeping in class is not actively discouraged. So I`ve had to contend with that too.

I teach with about 7 different teachers, some every week, others every two weeks (and I don`t know when I`ll ever get my head around the schedule). A couple are really organized and like to plan the lessons themselves, but the others, well, they want me to basically take over, and they will just `observe` (read: sit in the corner and stare at a book).

And now, for your pleasure, I present… Key moments in the inauguration of Jess as an ALT:
-10 Japanese high school girls squealing `kawaii` (cute) when I stuck a toy kangaroo on the blackboard (it had magnets in its paws)
-being asked in every class about my cat, her name and age… to which I have to respond by pretending that she still actually exists!
-asking `what did you do in your summer holidays?` and receiving the reply `I came to school` from way too many students
-facing my own mortality after a whole class of students swore they felt an earthquake (which mysteriously, neither I, nor the other ALT, nor the Japanese teacher were able to detect)
-witnessing pre-class female grooming practices: they take out 20cm x 20cm mirrors, on stands, and brush each others` hair
-catching a glimpse of something I didn`t want to see as one girl walked up the stairs. Let me just say they wear their skirts really short here.
-being greeted with a friendly `harro!` by the rugby players every morning as they change into their school uniforms near the bicycle parking spots
-being laughed at because of the holes in my (Australian-made, I will point out) socks (we have to change from `outdoor` shoes to `indoor` shoes in the morning)
-waking up 2 students from their naps so they could do a worksheet
-watching a teacher fall asleep at her desk
-trying to fake empathy when the Japanese teacher next to me sighs loudly and says for the 50th time in one day, atsui, ne? (hot, isn`t it?)
-being left alone in the staffroom (for 30 people) with only the Vice Principal for company- he at the `important people` end of the room, and me at the `shit kicker` end
-hearing stories of the ongoing dramas of my fellow ALTs (attack of the killer Japanese bugs; destruction of mobile phone by toilet water; interrogation by Japanese police after extremely minor car accident; stalking by slightly mentally impaired 16-year-old Japanese boy; bruising of kidneys and fracture of breastbone after jumping off a bridge...- and that`s only from 3 people!) and wondering why my life here is so boring

Ah, yes, `tis a life of adventure…