Oops, I forgot to post for a while! I am finally getting used to Anamizu. I have a routine going now and living here is feeling normal. I really like Anamizu, everyone is really nice.
Last Friday I had and enkai with Kouyou Elementary. On Saturday _I went shopping and was sad to discover the lack of good fabric stores in the area. The closest one is an hour away and it is tiny!
Then on Sunday I went to a coworkers baseball game. The game started at 9:30am and got done around 1 (there was 2 games). After the game everyone went out to eat and drink and the party continued until 9pm. (actually it went later than that but that is when I left). Having these kind of eating/drinking parties is a fun part of Japan's culture, though I am definitely drinking a lot more here than I ever did before. When I went to the Detroit consulate for my JET interview one of the JET alumni told me "if you aren't already an alcoholic, you will be by the time you leave Japan." Ha ha. I can now understand what he means. I don't have any parties planned for this weekend though, so it will be a good break.
I've started teaching at the middle school now and I am getting along well with the students. Originally I wasn't thrilled when I found out I had to teach middle schoolers, but they are actually very sweet for the most part. Some of them are very funny too. Today some of them were saying "Oh my Gaga!" As in, Lady Gaga. A lot of the guys like to yell "oh my god" at me for some reason. I guess they think it is a funny expression? Mostly it is the trouble maker types that seem to say this alot.
One problem is that alot of the middle schoolers seem shy around me. Other teachers will tell me "oh, such and such class is the craziest and loudest of all the classes!" and then I will go to that class and the students will barely speak. The teachers tell me that they are loud and not shy to speak English when I am not around. Hopefully they will warm up to me soon.
Speaking of warm, one of the hardest parts of being in Japan is that the buildings here do not seem to understand how insulation is supposed to work. Not only is there no AC, but the way the buildings are designed it always manages to be twice as hot inside as outside. And very humid too. Now that it is turning to fall some days are slightly better because they are cool, but I still feel a bit sweaty and icky every day.
Some of the 3rd year students have been preparing for a speech contest which will take place tomorrow. I have been helping them after school. It is kind of like forensics which I did in highschool, there are different categories to compete in. Two of my students wrote their own speeches and three are doing a performance of a short story called "The Pirate Ship". I've been trying my best to help them practice their pronunciation. The hardest thing is L and R sounds. I've been trying to make them aware of the tongue position needed to make the two sounds. It is difficult to constantly think about where your tongue is in your mouth while you are speaking though, when you are speaking naturally you don't think about it at all. Today we will meet for the last time before their contest tomorrow. _I hope it goes well for them! I am curious about the contest though. I wish I could go watch it. One of the students made a mistake in her speech. She had written that she wanted to go into something "with open minded" instead of "with an open mind". When I pointed out the mistake the teacher told me that they had already submitted the speeches and they had to recite them exactly as they are or they will lose points in the contest, and the contest is judged by Japanese people so they wouldn't notice the mistake. I hope the contest is judged fairly! My kids have worked hard!
Well, this post was a hodgepodge of random things. Hopefully you enjoyed this peek into my Japan life.
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