Well first of all, I found this and just kept laughing:
facebook version of world history
kumo = spider
Monday was kind of horrible. This is because I had forgotten something at home and felt bad about having to leave during 1st hour to go get it and I felt awkward asking the principal. >>;
Also, it turned out one of my Monday classes was supposed to be the whole 50 minutes but I thought it was just 30 so I really messed up some things for H-sensei and the lesson I had done, I didn't much care for. >>;;
But then in an afternoon class things got funny. T-sensei asked the class to compare the two of us (it was supposed to be that they realized we're both teachers) but instead the immediate response was "MEGANE" (glasses). For some reason, Japan has this huge thing about glasses. Not like in the old days where kids were made fun of, just this...extra attention. I dunno. They proceeded to say we were both wearing pants and that we both had hands. While correct, completely not what we were driving at. xDD
On Tuesday, I just pretty much collapsed and the effects are still skewing me up a bit. Well ok not literally collapsed, but basically I've been sleeping and napping in patterns that make my cycles kind of messed up since then.
Reason being I had 5 out of 5 possible classes that day, 4 full 45 minutes periods of elementary school in a row, a rush to the middle school, food, and then another class. Eventful, a fine day over all just got really tired. And because of all of these classes (I also had several other full 50 minute ones later this week) I was doing a lot of prep work at home. This is part of why my sleeping was off- though its partially due to my being tired, thus putting off prep things xD
Wednesday had another elementary class, using more cut-up-sentences lessons, and the class 7. I made another cut up thing for using the grammar "must". I put this picture on there: Intense!
And described: "You didn't do anything at home all day so now your Mother is mad! Let's find out what she wants you to do!"
(Shout out to you, Mom~! <3)
Sentences included: You must do the laundry, you must clean your room, you must get a job, you must get married soon, and many others. xD
In class 7 (a special class), one of the girls has behavior problems. Another teacher eventually took her out of the room but not before she went around saying "Shut Up" and messing with stuff. I was impressed that she knew that term, but still. Aside from that, we played the memory game with food terms, and they really enjoyed it. The girl student and K-sensei were "big sis and little sis" xD At the end, we see what cards we have and list off the foods, saying that would be our lunch for today, and then saying "you should eat healthier" or "thats too much" or"thats so well-rounded!" xD Also, I can't remmeber which calss this was, but I had to sneeze, and did so while things were rather quiet. Quite suddenly, there were a few agreements of my sneeze being "cute". I know I'm soooo adorable, right? RIGHT??? Right. xD
On Thursday, I was originally scheduled to have 6 classes. Yeah, wow. I'd have one with M-sensei, 3 elementary classes, lunch, a class with K-sensei (me doing the whole of it) and then another class with M-sensei.
Next week is the exams for the kids so I was taking on several full classes this week (the teachers wanted class-long activities for review for them). But as it turned out, I olny had 3 classes- the elementary school classes. This is because M-sensei (and T-sensei) had to attend a conference, so I didn't have those 2 classes with M-sensei.
Then, because of whatever reason, the days schedule (everyone's classes) got moved around so the original 5th hour got movef to 4th hour. 5th hour was supposed to be K-sensei's class, but it got put to 4th hour. However, 2nd-4th was my elementary time. So, I left her my notes on the game/word search activity I had planned, and she was able to use it while I was away. So less stress that day for me, but still....
Also it seems that them smiling, waving, and then saying "Hello" to me, and then me responding the same way is -still- worthy of giggles. I still am not sure why it's still funny. Also, I wore my blue shirt that day. In the hall at elementary school, a sensei (who I never work with or see, so she didn't remember my name) tried to get a little kid to at least wave at me, and she called me "Ao-chan". (Ao means blue). I thought it was really cute, and it did get the kid to wave. xD Yay, now I'm Ao-chan!!
On Friday, there was a spider on the floor in the teacher's office. I decided it would not be cool if it crept into someone's basket or bag and so I tried scooping it up with paper. The nurse-sensei noticed, I got it up and got it outside from the window. I mention this because of this running joke I have with K-sensei. I showed her the big spider picture and now when things are inconvenient or go wrong or something weird happens, we say it's the spider plotting. xD
For the upcoming exams, we recorded some dialogue for the listening tests. We went to the english-sensei room for quiet to record. Right when we turned on the recorder, a machine from the nearby construction area started up. We blamed the spider. xD'
For a full 50 minute class with H-sensei, I found this great game. I took dialogues from the book and wrote them out on paper. I split them into teams of pairs- H-sensei had to participate. I'd post a paper outside the room. One person would be the reader, the other would be the writer. I was able to reinforce the "-er" thing since they had just learned "baseball playER", so then they understood that the -er is indicative of person who does something. They did janken (rock-paper-scissors decides EVERYTHING in this country xD). The reader would run out as many times as they want to read the dialogue and report it to the writer. They had to get punctuation and everything right! And then show it to me when they finish. I showed corrections too. Then the next paper would be up outside and the pairs switched roles. H-sensei started "complaining", I announced loudly that no complaining would be tolerated. xD
But yeah, I really enjoyed that game and I was really happy with it.
Now about their exams- they may be next week, but my vacation doesn't start util almost the end of the month. Reason being that although teachers use this time for grading, classes and everything still happen. I knew about this before, but I still just don't quite understand why. :/ Oh well.
In other news, I have collected 3/6 of those McDonalds cups. I'm thrilled--neeeeed allllll xD
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
It's A Surprise!
But in the end, it wasn't. A surprise, I mean.
What I mean is-- I was observed by my company on Friday.
But before I get into that, I wanna give a shout out to Josh, the JET who I interned under last summer. Watching his high school lessons, I used one of his on my 3rd years (9th grade).
The activity I was to make for them was to cover a couple of grammars for review- "I have/have never, I just___, I have been___" and such.
Josh's original lesson was a comparison of Japanese vs. American high school. He made sentences, cut up the words individually, and would put each cut up sentence in an envelope. The kids would get into small groups, and figure out how to put the sentence in the right order together, then write it down on another piece of paper. Each envelope was marked with a letter 'A', 'B', etc, and they would write the sentence next to the letter on the worksheet. Once they had gotten all of the sentences, they had to arrange the sentences in the right order as well. This could be done by looking at the beginnings- like "First, Second, Lastly, And then, However" etc.
Those kids had a great time with it and were enthused. For mine, I left out the arranging sentences part, since I knew the first part would take long enough and I wasn't sure if they've learned connector words like that.
So I made several sentences about a popular idol here, who is a part of a huge, huge musical group, AKB48 Takamina. She's the leader of Group A, and the leader of the whole group overall. I don't really care for the music, but I knew everyone would know who this is. I put things like 'I have been to America once." and such. It went over pretty well. I had each group write one of the sentences on the board, then we'd go over it. My teacher T-sensei liked it and she said it was good so I'll be doing it again tomorrow with another class.
Now at the end of this class, one of the girls came up and mentioned one of the other English sensei's, M-sensei. She said he really likes AKB48 and particularly one of the group members that he "loves". T-sensei and I were surprised, we had no idea. M-sensei is 42 and married, mind you. Yet at the same time, I thought like it's normal, probably should've known. xD
Now on Friday after my observed class (I'll get to it!), I had a class with M-sensei. We were working on he vs. she-- something Japanese does not tend to often use, so you have to make sure the kids get it right in English. xD He pulled out a picture of the AKB48 group member, and indeed, said he "loves" her. I couldn't help but laugh. I'm still not sure weather he does this for laughs or if he's serious. xD Still, one student asked "but sensei, what about your wife?" to which he said "Well my wife loves the Arashi guys". (Arashi is a really famous group and has been for quite a few years).
I may have to cogitate this further. And share with T-sensei. xD
Now as for my observation, it was supposed to be a secret from me.
Back in April, when I went to Sayaka's house for a BBQ with her family, she did me the favor of telling me that I was to be observed in June. Now we are all told from the beginning that we "may be recorded for future use and reference," but it really doesn't hit you right of the go like that. Others from other branches have been talking recently about how they've been observed and gotten good/bad feedback. I've been nervous about it, of course.
I don't know why they told this to Sayaka, she has nothing to do with my schools. She is an employee under them but still. Since then it had always been at the back of my mind but I never actually thought that the day would arrive- it just seemed like a story as opposed to real life somehow.
Also this is totally out of nowhere-- but I've decided that next winter or summer or sometime-- it would be after next Spring-- if I can save the money, I wanna come back home to visit!!! So y'all better get ready for it (even though you have at least a year xDD). I've got a year or so to save the money for a round-trip plane! YOOOOSSSHH.
Anyway, T-sensei dropped the bomb on me on Thursday. She said as we were headed to a class that tomorrow someone was going to come and record me. Now she wasn't supposed to tell me-- it was to be a secret. However, she said she thought it was too mean for me to be ambushed like that. Really I can't thank her enough, I'm really glad she told me.
So what I did was make a fortune teller activity. The grammar to practice was "will". Not "will be," just "will". So I got a worksheet...that I think I'll just upload-- way fast than explaining. I can't actually upload it, so follow the link and then open the attachment.
Clicky!
So I tweaked a few things on that sheet, like making it 20th birthday instead, but it's pretty straight forward what the activity is. It's self-explanatory for us, but I used myself and T-sensei as role models for the activity for the kids. I got colored paper, printed out a bunch of answers for each fortune, and glued them to the corresponding colored paper. The kids lined up and went to both of us for the fortunes, and got normal and/or funny answers. xD Once they were all done, they were to use English to collect their classmates' answers.
My mistake here was getting so nervous that I forgot that unlike an elementary school class, I can write on the board in English and the kids can read it. I had the chalk in my hand and everything, but I didn't go through with it. I should have written the questions and responses for them to use when asking each other their fortunes. Instead, T-sensei went ahead and did it, and then I had them repeat it. I felt really dumb, but you must know I was very nervous:
Not only was I being recorded, but because the principal was there too. Even worse, he used to be an English teacher. So I was being watched by my boss at my company (basically, via camera) as well as the boss of my school who's English is really, really, really good and used to do my job.
But after that, things went alright. I also got really awkward at the end, but I had been shaking almost the whole time and my brain was losing it so I think that shouldn't be all too surprising. The class I was observed in was actually the same one I had been eating lunch with that week too. One girl said she could really tell my nervousness, and I told her why the camera person was there- that I was basically getting graded and so I was scared. xD But also thanked her and whoever else was listening for being an energetic and good class (as they usually are, but still) because that only ever helps a lot. ^^
So you can see on the WS that there are spaces for 10 friends' info-- I told those who could get all 10, would get a stamp from me--I've never actually issued my own stamps or stickers before in any class, so I was satisfied that it would draw an appropriate amount of motivation. Overall, I was shaky and nervous and my brain was messed up for the rest of the day, but it was still fun. xD I liked telling the kids that they would one day drive a tank. Plus, now they know what "sensha" is in English. See, they learned even more! xD
So the camera lady was just there to record me- but I do wonder if I'll get a call one of these days about it. :/ Anyway, my principal talked to me about it. Overall, he seemed please but told me to work on my realia- (props, materials)- he was talking about when I forgot that the kids didn't know the English to ask each other.... ^^;;;; I told some friends about this, they said they've all done that too. Somehow, even though it's imperative, it's easy to forget. u.u;
But he also mentioned that I worked very well with T-sensei, and he was impressed by the students and how much they like me. He said that one of them came up to him, thinking he would be part of the activity. Knowing the principal was passed his 20th birthday, the kid adjusted the words "What DID you get for your 20th birthday?" Many children often just repeat things, not really grasping the usage or meaning. But it's clear that this kid did. So, the principal said "I got a cake from my girlfriend." I was happy to hear about this, and thought it was really cute. ^^
So now, before this I had a class with H-sensei. He's been sharing his classes with the trainee, Kojima-sensei lately. As I may have mentioned, she's just in college, and this is her training time for a few weeks. Sadly this week was her last which I'm bummed about because she was nice. Though she did say she might visit for when the culture festival happens~ Anyway, it was her class that day, and H-sensei was in the back, working on stuff. Today's lesson was an activity for writing, and it was on Japanese culture. With me there, she had them get into groups and write about Japanese culture. Then they were to come up and present to me on it. (Even though everything they said-- I already know about it xD).
One group of girls came up and told me about penmanship (so using the brushes to write kanji and such- traditional way of writing), as well tea ceremony. Which is, as they said, fairly difficult. There are many specific ways of doing every single thing. From the tea itself, to how it is consumed, to the position one is on the floor, to how they move, to timing all of that as well. It's very proper and traditional. You have bitter green tea, but sweet bean sweets to counter it. When it's good, proper sweets and tea matches, its really quite good even if you don't like those things separately. Oh, these kids- they have no idea what I know. xD They even still get surprised at my Japanese.
Another group of girls told me about onsen- hot springs. Now hot springs are really awesome- but it's not somewhere I want to go by myself. You go to your gender's locker room, but your stuff away. Then you get to the bath area, wash yourself and get in. And um, you're naked, and you gotta pin up your hair. No one wears anything, and no one cares. Genders either have separate hot springs, or they change the hours available to each. I've only been once- it was last summer with some of the other girls in the group when I did the internship (yes, I was the only intern, but there were other programs happening too). At first we were kinda awkward but then we were like- whatever. You can't stay in too long, because the heat will get to you-- though there was also an outdoor one I tried--really really nice.
After, there's all kinds of grooming products you can use. Massaging stuff, everything~ super luxury ^^
I'm never going alone though. I'm far too awkward for that. I need one other person at least. xD
Another group told me about natto--this is fermented soybeans I've mentioned. Just look it up. Some people love it, many hate it. I cannot even smell it or eat just a nibble. They also talked about sumo. And described it as "fat people fight". While...accurate, it's also hilarious.
The last group, all boys, just brought their paper to me, and waited. I didn't make them say it out loud. It was about H-sensei (who was in the room). It looked like this:
H = Japan culture
H = OTAKU
H = yakuza マフィア (mafia)
H > Ki (sensei)
Otaku basically just means nerd. xD I told them that I am one also, and they were really perplexed. xD (Well I mean, I am) and I also said it's a secret-- they seemed quite intrigued. xD
yakuza is, the Japanese mafia. Now I highly doubt H-sensei is in the yakuza, but it was relaly funny nonetheless. "Ki" is just other sensei, who apparently they don't think as much of in comparison to H-sensei.
All in all, I was quite amused~
Also, real quick, on Tuesday I taught a class entirely by myself at the elementary school- the teacher wasn't there and everything. I dunno where she was, but...well, it wasn't there. But the kids were good, mostly behaved and when it was time for me to go, they were good kids and properly began preparing for their lunch time in an organized fashion as if the teacher was there. Man, Japan- US kids would be going crazy. xD
So aside from all of that, I went to a friend's place as we often do every two weeks or so to watch movies and chat.
As for the rest of the weekend, I've been doing cleaning, and other necessary boring junk. Though I've finally put together my kotatsu~:
Click!
Of course I don't use the heating function right now-- just the table part until it gets cold again.
And that's about it for me~!!
Til next time, I'm on a mission to attain free plastic coke glass from the local McDonalds! (I've always wanted @3@).
What I mean is-- I was observed by my company on Friday.
But before I get into that, I wanna give a shout out to Josh, the JET who I interned under last summer. Watching his high school lessons, I used one of his on my 3rd years (9th grade).
The activity I was to make for them was to cover a couple of grammars for review- "I have/have never, I just___, I have been___" and such.
Josh's original lesson was a comparison of Japanese vs. American high school. He made sentences, cut up the words individually, and would put each cut up sentence in an envelope. The kids would get into small groups, and figure out how to put the sentence in the right order together, then write it down on another piece of paper. Each envelope was marked with a letter 'A', 'B', etc, and they would write the sentence next to the letter on the worksheet. Once they had gotten all of the sentences, they had to arrange the sentences in the right order as well. This could be done by looking at the beginnings- like "First, Second, Lastly, And then, However" etc.
Those kids had a great time with it and were enthused. For mine, I left out the arranging sentences part, since I knew the first part would take long enough and I wasn't sure if they've learned connector words like that.
So I made several sentences about a popular idol here, who is a part of a huge, huge musical group, AKB48 Takamina. She's the leader of Group A, and the leader of the whole group overall. I don't really care for the music, but I knew everyone would know who this is. I put things like 'I have been to America once." and such. It went over pretty well. I had each group write one of the sentences on the board, then we'd go over it. My teacher T-sensei liked it and she said it was good so I'll be doing it again tomorrow with another class.
Now at the end of this class, one of the girls came up and mentioned one of the other English sensei's, M-sensei. She said he really likes AKB48 and particularly one of the group members that he "loves". T-sensei and I were surprised, we had no idea. M-sensei is 42 and married, mind you. Yet at the same time, I thought like it's normal, probably should've known. xD
Now on Friday after my observed class (I'll get to it!), I had a class with M-sensei. We were working on he vs. she-- something Japanese does not tend to often use, so you have to make sure the kids get it right in English. xD He pulled out a picture of the AKB48 group member, and indeed, said he "loves" her. I couldn't help but laugh. I'm still not sure weather he does this for laughs or if he's serious. xD Still, one student asked "but sensei, what about your wife?" to which he said "Well my wife loves the Arashi guys". (Arashi is a really famous group and has been for quite a few years).
I may have to cogitate this further. And share with T-sensei. xD
Now as for my observation, it was supposed to be a secret from me.
Back in April, when I went to Sayaka's house for a BBQ with her family, she did me the favor of telling me that I was to be observed in June. Now we are all told from the beginning that we "may be recorded for future use and reference," but it really doesn't hit you right of the go like that. Others from other branches have been talking recently about how they've been observed and gotten good/bad feedback. I've been nervous about it, of course.
I don't know why they told this to Sayaka, she has nothing to do with my schools. She is an employee under them but still. Since then it had always been at the back of my mind but I never actually thought that the day would arrive- it just seemed like a story as opposed to real life somehow.
Also this is totally out of nowhere-- but I've decided that next winter or summer or sometime-- it would be after next Spring-- if I can save the money, I wanna come back home to visit!!! So y'all better get ready for it (even though you have at least a year xDD). I've got a year or so to save the money for a round-trip plane! YOOOOSSSHH.
Anyway, T-sensei dropped the bomb on me on Thursday. She said as we were headed to a class that tomorrow someone was going to come and record me. Now she wasn't supposed to tell me-- it was to be a secret. However, she said she thought it was too mean for me to be ambushed like that. Really I can't thank her enough, I'm really glad she told me.
So what I did was make a fortune teller activity. The grammar to practice was "will". Not "will be," just "will". So I got a worksheet...that I think I'll just upload-- way fast than explaining. I can't actually upload it, so follow the link and then open the attachment.
Clicky!
So I tweaked a few things on that sheet, like making it 20th birthday instead, but it's pretty straight forward what the activity is. It's self-explanatory for us, but I used myself and T-sensei as role models for the activity for the kids. I got colored paper, printed out a bunch of answers for each fortune, and glued them to the corresponding colored paper. The kids lined up and went to both of us for the fortunes, and got normal and/or funny answers. xD Once they were all done, they were to use English to collect their classmates' answers.
My mistake here was getting so nervous that I forgot that unlike an elementary school class, I can write on the board in English and the kids can read it. I had the chalk in my hand and everything, but I didn't go through with it. I should have written the questions and responses for them to use when asking each other their fortunes. Instead, T-sensei went ahead and did it, and then I had them repeat it. I felt really dumb, but you must know I was very nervous:
Not only was I being recorded, but because the principal was there too. Even worse, he used to be an English teacher. So I was being watched by my boss at my company (basically, via camera) as well as the boss of my school who's English is really, really, really good and used to do my job.
But after that, things went alright. I also got really awkward at the end, but I had been shaking almost the whole time and my brain was losing it so I think that shouldn't be all too surprising. The class I was observed in was actually the same one I had been eating lunch with that week too. One girl said she could really tell my nervousness, and I told her why the camera person was there- that I was basically getting graded and so I was scared. xD But also thanked her and whoever else was listening for being an energetic and good class (as they usually are, but still) because that only ever helps a lot. ^^
So you can see on the WS that there are spaces for 10 friends' info-- I told those who could get all 10, would get a stamp from me--I've never actually issued my own stamps or stickers before in any class, so I was satisfied that it would draw an appropriate amount of motivation. Overall, I was shaky and nervous and my brain was messed up for the rest of the day, but it was still fun. xD I liked telling the kids that they would one day drive a tank. Plus, now they know what "sensha" is in English. See, they learned even more! xD
So the camera lady was just there to record me- but I do wonder if I'll get a call one of these days about it. :/ Anyway, my principal talked to me about it. Overall, he seemed please but told me to work on my realia- (props, materials)- he was talking about when I forgot that the kids didn't know the English to ask each other.... ^^;;;; I told some friends about this, they said they've all done that too. Somehow, even though it's imperative, it's easy to forget. u.u;
But he also mentioned that I worked very well with T-sensei, and he was impressed by the students and how much they like me. He said that one of them came up to him, thinking he would be part of the activity. Knowing the principal was passed his 20th birthday, the kid adjusted the words "What DID you get for your 20th birthday?" Many children often just repeat things, not really grasping the usage or meaning. But it's clear that this kid did. So, the principal said "I got a cake from my girlfriend." I was happy to hear about this, and thought it was really cute. ^^
So now, before this I had a class with H-sensei. He's been sharing his classes with the trainee, Kojima-sensei lately. As I may have mentioned, she's just in college, and this is her training time for a few weeks. Sadly this week was her last which I'm bummed about because she was nice. Though she did say she might visit for when the culture festival happens~ Anyway, it was her class that day, and H-sensei was in the back, working on stuff. Today's lesson was an activity for writing, and it was on Japanese culture. With me there, she had them get into groups and write about Japanese culture. Then they were to come up and present to me on it. (Even though everything they said-- I already know about it xD).
One group of girls came up and told me about penmanship (so using the brushes to write kanji and such- traditional way of writing), as well tea ceremony. Which is, as they said, fairly difficult. There are many specific ways of doing every single thing. From the tea itself, to how it is consumed, to the position one is on the floor, to how they move, to timing all of that as well. It's very proper and traditional. You have bitter green tea, but sweet bean sweets to counter it. When it's good, proper sweets and tea matches, its really quite good even if you don't like those things separately. Oh, these kids- they have no idea what I know. xD They even still get surprised at my Japanese.
Another group of girls told me about onsen- hot springs. Now hot springs are really awesome- but it's not somewhere I want to go by myself. You go to your gender's locker room, but your stuff away. Then you get to the bath area, wash yourself and get in. And um, you're naked, and you gotta pin up your hair. No one wears anything, and no one cares. Genders either have separate hot springs, or they change the hours available to each. I've only been once- it was last summer with some of the other girls in the group when I did the internship (yes, I was the only intern, but there were other programs happening too). At first we were kinda awkward but then we were like- whatever. You can't stay in too long, because the heat will get to you-- though there was also an outdoor one I tried--really really nice.
After, there's all kinds of grooming products you can use. Massaging stuff, everything~ super luxury ^^
I'm never going alone though. I'm far too awkward for that. I need one other person at least. xD
Another group told me about natto--this is fermented soybeans I've mentioned. Just look it up. Some people love it, many hate it. I cannot even smell it or eat just a nibble. They also talked about sumo. And described it as "fat people fight". While...accurate, it's also hilarious.
The last group, all boys, just brought their paper to me, and waited. I didn't make them say it out loud. It was about H-sensei (who was in the room). It looked like this:
H = Japan culture
H = OTAKU
H = yakuza マフィア (mafia)
H > Ki (sensei)
Otaku basically just means nerd. xD I told them that I am one also, and they were really perplexed. xD (Well I mean, I am) and I also said it's a secret-- they seemed quite intrigued. xD
yakuza is, the Japanese mafia. Now I highly doubt H-sensei is in the yakuza, but it was relaly funny nonetheless. "Ki" is just other sensei, who apparently they don't think as much of in comparison to H-sensei.
All in all, I was quite amused~
Also, real quick, on Tuesday I taught a class entirely by myself at the elementary school- the teacher wasn't there and everything. I dunno where she was, but...well, it wasn't there. But the kids were good, mostly behaved and when it was time for me to go, they were good kids and properly began preparing for their lunch time in an organized fashion as if the teacher was there. Man, Japan- US kids would be going crazy. xD
So aside from all of that, I went to a friend's place as we often do every two weeks or so to watch movies and chat.
As for the rest of the weekend, I've been doing cleaning, and other necessary boring junk. Though I've finally put together my kotatsu~:
Click!
Of course I don't use the heating function right now-- just the table part until it gets cold again.
And that's about it for me~!!
Til next time, I'm on a mission to attain free plastic coke glass from the local McDonalds! (I've always wanted @3@).
Monday, June 18, 2012
Uso Darou!
uso = lie, darou = must be
So this is what I made for dinner on Thursday:
I put oil in the pan with broccoli, salmon, orange and
yellow peppers, and quail eggs. This would probably be put on rice or maybe
even noodles most of the time but I have rice at lunch every day and it’s getting
really tiring, plus I’m usually lazy to make noodles so I just eat it like it
is. I was surprised, but it’s actually really quite good! (Quail eggs taste
exactly as a soft-boiled chicken egg does—the difference is that it’s really
small, no need to cut it or anything).
I drink orange juice all the time, that’s where I get my
fruit mostly. It’s mainly because fruit here is quite pricey. There is a shop
that sells produce a bit cheaper, but it’s quite out of the way and half the
time I end up forgetting about it. Plus where I normally go sells veggies for a
fine price- it’s the fruit that’s pricey. Even so, I’ll head out there
eventually.
On Friday, I headed to work and had preparation time for 1st
hour which I was glad for, it helped settle me down. This is because I was to
go to the close elementary school and teach the same lesson 3 times in a row. I
had never done the lesson before. It was an introduction lesson for can/can’t
for the 6th graders. The first class took to it well enough, it was
fine. The second class was pretty enthused on it overall. Then the third class
were much less energetic, but I did hold their attention. There had been two
kids in there that caught my attention. One was sleeping for part of the
lesson, and the other looked angry/sad like he would cry. The actual sensei
went over to them to try to fix it. In any case, by the ending activity where
each kid gets involved in competition, in round 2, the both of them went up
against each other and they had become energetic enough and happy looking.
Probably most of that is thanks to themselves, but I hope I might’ve had
something to do with it too. J
From work I headed to the doctors to get my prescription
again. The doctor prescribed me a Japanese inhaler (for some reason no matter
what I said, he had it in his head that I used mine everyday and that I’d need
another---really I just use it if I need to, my asthma is mild. Oh well, it’s
fine).
I drove straight from there to a fellow ALT’s apartment-
Maya. She lives close to the train station and even better, there are spots at
her place that aren’t assigned so virtually anyone can park there for a while.
I parked, walked to the station with my bag, and started my train journey to
Tokyo.
To be honest, I had made a friend who is from a neighboring
prefecture, Yamanashi. She’s from England, and is also a hetalia fan. xD If you
don’t know what that is, here’s a run-down. It’s an animated show about
countries. Each character represents a country, and the show is about their
history and cultural quirks and stereotypes. It’s a lot of fun. America yells
about being a hero, Russia is large and scary, people forget about the
soft-spoken Canada, etc.
Basically, I was meeting this friend, Robin, in Tokyo that
night so we could stay at a hostel and wake up at 5AM. This is because a retail
chain store, Animate (what they do is sell everything there is from comics,
shows, goods, etc. about all of the popular animated shows) runs a cafe. Every
month, they change the theme of the cafe and this month is hetalia. Robin had
been once already and from her and the internet, I learned that it was rather
epic.
That night we went and found a TGI Friday’s. And actually, it felt just like being in America! I mean the atmosphere, the amount of (excellent) English used, the food, everything. We sat at the counter, and the guys behind the bar were really nice. They put on a show that involved a lot of juggling, basically. Everyone was cheering and one of the guys had a big Styrofoam hat thing that he put on my head. xD I then put it on Robin’s head. There were these two customers sitting at the bar. These guys were hilarious because they seemed like they were American with how they were acting—everytime the bar guys did tricks, they did that “WHHHOOOOOOOOAAA OOOOOOOOOOOOH” thing that American college guys tend to do..like “OOOOH BALLLLEEEERR” xDD it was really funny.
So what did we do? Like true nerds, we got up at 5AM to be the first ones
in line for the 11AM opening. Yes actually, it was necessary. See, there were
no reservations for the cafe, although having to reserve is standard for
special cafes like that (i.e. maid cafes, butler cafes…look it up). But in this
case, it was get in line early enough to receive a spot. Cafe’s times were from
11am to 8pm. But it’s so incredibly popular, that you can’t just show up at
10:30 or something. No no, arriving at 6, we were first in line. By the time it
was 9, a really long line had formed from the 3rd floor of that
building and down all the stairs. They began with us, confirming our group name
and number of people and that we would be one of the first groups inside. Those
who had gotten in line by 9:15 (mind you, still 2 hours before the opening)
were able to get spots for the cafe that day. That’s right, those who were the
last to be accepted in line got their spots for the evening just before
closing. This all happened before opening at 11. That’s how epic it was. (And
you get nerdy bragging rights for being first, for sure xD). And people who came like at 9:30 and later, would read the signs an employee had posted that says: "We're very sorry, we have been booked through the entire day and we no longer have any room available." And they'd all go "uso darou" (bascially: "seriously? no way!").
Basically there’s merchandise, collectables, the show
playing, a waitress dressed up as a character, and decorations everywhere. The
food was a drink with small pastry that differed by country. For example, you
could get a coke with cookies- America. I got coffee with a small chocolate
cake with a jelly spread- apparently Austria. For the main dish I got little
bits of pork and mashed potatoes with a sauce- apparently this is German. There
was a sweet bread that was offered representing “big brother France”, and a
dessert that was tomato-flavored soft serve. Never heard of it before and yes,
it tasted like vanilla soft serve with…amazingly…actual tomato in there,
somehow. I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but it was apparently an Italy
and Spain theme dessert.
I’m not sure if I can accurately explain why this sort of
thing is so awesome to me, but well—everyone needs hobbies. This is mine. xD
We met with Robin’s friend, India, from Alabama. She’s going
home next month, but I looks forward to seeing them both again if possible. It
was India’s birthday and they all went to a Butler cafe and Hooters. xD I
didn’t go, because I needed to get home for Sunday but I’m totally checking
that out one day.
Also that morning on our way to the cafe, there were
definitely still people outside at that hour partying (waiting for the trains
to run again I guess). There was stuff all out on the street and there was even
one guy passed out on the ground on a corner by a convenience store!! It kinda
freaked me out and I was sorta worried. But later on when we passed by again (and
it was raining too!) he wasn’t there anymore.
Also that morning on the way to the cafe I made the mistake
of making eye contact with some dude who was standing around. He started
walking with us and used some English asking if we wanted to get a drink. Robin
had ignored him the whole time, which I should’ve done, but nooooo. >>;;
Okay dude, it’s 6AM for one thing, for another, I don’t know you, and finally,
I know what you mean by “get a drink”- I've been lectured on this. You mean that as well as.....other things.
Uhhh no. Luckily he was really easy to make him go away and not persistent, so
there was that. But I’m so not used to being approached by people like that! So
I never even think it might happen.
I made it back sorta late because I messed up on getting right
train at the final transfer so I had to wait like an extra hour. But anyway, I
was really happy that I got to go to the cafe and meet friends and chat with
them and stuff~ it was cool.
Yesterday, (Sunday) I went with the city’s English club on a
tour in a nearby city Komagane. (AND I’M SO PISSED I FORGOT MY CAMERA!! I woke
up late so I dashed out without thinking about it, grrr. It’s ok though, others
got some pictures so I can attain some).
I drove to city hall to meet everyone. I only knew a couple
of them previously. One was Maya, the ALT who’s parking lot we all use xD and
her father was visiting from America at the time too~ another was another ALT,
Lauren, who I do ahng out with now and again with our friend Elizabeth- they
work in Minowa (north of my town, which
is South Minowa) and we watch movies together sometimes, they’re cool. The last
was Mrs. Kono, my Doctor’s wife. Her English is quite good, and she’s been very
kind to me and just really nice. She says she has kids my age and sympathizes about
us ALT ladies and being away from our country and home. So she’s invited us
into her house before, and has given me things when I was sick, like bread and
such, like my friend Sayaka did.
I met more Japanese people and other ALT’s on the tour. I
met Ayaka and Misato, and Chieko. I saw this ALT Molly (who leaves soon) that I
had gone to that NagaYES even I posted on a while ago—she’s really nice, it’s
sad she’s going. And I met this guy Rex whos funny. I’m glad to get to know
more people and make friends.
We first went to Kouzen temple. Basically, it has really
tall cedar trees, 3 of them are 700 years old. Also, in the cracks between
rocks, you can see glowing moss. There’s really good water, and an old style
home you can go in—it’s super peaceful. The tale of the temple is basically
that there was a dog who lived there called Hayatarou who defeated a horrible
monster and saved villagers. His grave is there at the temple~
Also, there were wild monkeys in the surrounding forest!
They were cute~ everything was nice and green and just sweet~
(I'm actually in that middle picture~)
Then we went to this brewery for lunch. When it's a big
group meal like that, you just order a bunch of dishes and just take from them.
There was pizza, some fish, salads, veggie dishes, and then famous beer. I
tried this apple type one which didn’t taste like apple but it was strong yet
sweet. I generally can’t stand beer and if even I was able to handle that one,
I guess it’s pretty good. We were able to try cherries downstairs—about $8.50
for a pack (this is standard) but actually, if cherries tasted like that all
the time, then I’d actually like them. It wasn’t sour or tart at all~
We walked over to this bridge over a wide, fast, river. This
is also where I wish I had my camera- the scenery was gorgeous. I hope to be
going back next month and get wonderful pictures then. Also, I’m going to check
facebook and see if there’ve been pictures put up by other people as well.
After that, we drove to this nearby pond/reservoir. There
were a few people fishing, though I don’t know why. I wouldn’t expect fish to
be in a reservoir, but whatever. For the
most part we were just looking at the water and one of the ladies had made rice
krispie treats- but with rice puffs and less on the sticky marshmallow so it
was like a milder form of the stuff you can get at the store, it was really
good.
We headed back to city hall and most of us said goodbye.
Myself, I followed Misato back to her home- she had invited a few of us over
for tea. She lives pretty close to me. She’s a housewife with a rock climbing
wall by the entrance of her house. By entrance, I mean the indoor entrance.
Yes, there’s a rock climbing wall in her house. Awesome. xD For a while it was
just myself and her- the others got lost. But then Ayaka and Lauren showed up.
We chatted a lot and had coffee, tea, banana bread, and green tea biscuits.
There was black tea, and a Chinese tea made from mushrooms. @3@ It was all
pretty good~ Ayaka works at the central
hospital nearby- the big one near my house. She’s a mid-wife there, and she’s
getting married at the end of summer. Everyone is really nice, I was so glad I
went out yesterday~~
Also, there’s a new convenience store that opened up close
to my house. Well, the chain isn’t new, but it’s a new location. The mascot is
a raccoon and there was a big life-size guy in a costume of it. It was cute,
and the place was packed. I dropped in to get a salad and juice, but wound up
with a free bread dessert thing, and a free cup of popcorn. Hooray for sweet
promotions! The popcorn seemed to be just for kids, but I had chatted a little
with one of the workers, and when I came back outside she said there was too
much and gave me some. Plus this one is not only in walking distance, but I
don’t have to cross the road to get to it~ (unlike the nearby 7/11).
The store is called "Lawson". The pronunciation in Japanese is "Ro-sone". I was actually called Lawson-sensei by a student a few days ago- I was thrilled. xD The other Lauren I mentioned gets called Romen-sensei (which is a dish specially originated from this area of the prefecture), so that's kind of our nicknames. xD
On Wednesday, Maya’s Dad is going back to America (and Maya
is moving to Nagano City in August…we’re all sad because it’s kinda far). So
Chieko-san organized a karaoke event with them tonight. I’ll be attending as
well, I’m not sure who else is going though.
Karaoke here is not like at home. You always get a private
room for yourself and your own group. Price goes by the hour and often includes
a drink bar (not all alcoholic) some food is extra but it’s not too bad.
It should be fun, I’ll write about it later if anything
particularly interesting happens. xD
Thursday, June 14, 2012
How About A Nice Nightmare~?
SO this was posted onto facebook by a fellow ALT. He and the the other ALT's whose house this was in live about 3 hours away by car or so, maybe farther. Even my Japanese co-workers haven't seen anything like it around here, so don't freak. But I thought it was interesting.
Besides, if I have to have nightmares about this, then so do YOU.
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Besides, if I have to have nightmares about this, then so do YOU.
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Caption: "It very well may have been hissing".
So it would seem the story goes like this: ALT named Ashley found this at her place right up by the door while she was inside. She freaks out, and is screaming for a while. She calls another ALT, Pete- who is the one to post this picture, for help. He gets there, but she won't go near the locked door, since, well...yeah. So after about 10 minutes of her panicking and him not knowing what to do, he climbs over the balcony to get in. He sees it, and then it's the both of them that are screaming, cursing, and freaking out. xD
They killed it eventually. I don't know what I would've done.
If it was me, I'd be moving.
If it was me, I'd be moving.
SWEET DREAMS.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Zombie Dance Off!
(Ok, a Zombie Dance Off didn't actually happen, but...sorta?).
Okay, it's kind of been a while, I know~ you guys know howlazy not lazy incredibly lazy hardcore not lazy I am though, right??
Well...last weekend I went and had a driving adventure. I drove out to where I lived the previous times I was in Japan- Hikone, Shiga. Feel free to Google Maps that. I went from Ina, Nagano Prefecture to Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. For those of you too lazy, it's 133 miles or so, about 3 hours by car. (But you should totally have a look at the map- then you can know where I live!......wait, never mind, you guys are all creepy stalkers so I take that back).
I was visiting my friend there who's doing the internship like how I did last year. We went around the city, had Subway for lunch (it's similar yet different from here, I like it all the same) and ice cream happened at the mall. We also went to my favorite clothing chain, Shimamura. It's like...the prices of Khol's, but everything is waaaaay cuter. I got a pair of really cute shoes, and a hair tie. My hair is starting to grow longer and since it's getting hotter there are days when I really don't want it on my neck. >3> There was also adventure to Starbucks (right now, they're featuring a chocolate chip-strawberry frappuccino and a mango blended drink with the option of pudding at the bottom~) and then wandering through the supermarket. It was all pretty nostalgic for me, and I never really thought I'd ever be back around that area. I was kind of happy, but things have changed up a bit too since then.
A few shops that used to be around are gone-- like the close convenience store to the school- its gone, and I don't know how the kids are dealing with that. The good 1 dollar shop is gone too, and things have moved around. And at the school, there are so many new teachers- only one is still there from before.
We went back to my friend's dorm and just chatted and watched youtube. xD I met her roommate too, and we all chatted for a while- it was really really nice, I was happy to be able to talk so much with a friend and other nice people~ I had also met up with this one girl who is really nice- we had been talking on facebook a little bit, since she wanted to ask me about the internship program (I had been the only one to do it last year, and it was brand new last year too, so it was only me people could ask).
On the way back, I stopped at rotating sushi for dinner, and then made the trip home at 9pm. It took a bit longer this time though. On the way back I had to get off the toll highway about 15 miles or so South of the exit I needed. There was construction happening so everyone got herded off. Since it was past midnight though, I guess it's no surprise. Now from there, I had no idea how to get home. Luckily, the toll guy told me to keep left and then turn left. I didn't know if he meant the first intersection or not, but I went with it. Then I saw signs down that way eventually (this was a small road so I was skeptical) which led me right, and then I saw a main road luckily caught the writing on the ground, which told me that left would take me towards Ina. I was tired but I kept going and eventually I could see the city on my right. I took a random turn in the direction, got down there, took a left randomly because it was by the train tracks and as I had hoped, it led to the stations downtown and yaaay, I was home~ Pretty good for it being dark and rainy and curvy roads and junk. But I handled the hills better than before. It was tiring, but I had a lot of fun.
Friday I had introduced a new game. The first years (7th grade) were learning "What's this, It's ___". So, I used these little cards with pictures of food on it that I had used for a memory game. Each kid got one. They were to ask "Whats this?" to a partner, who would answer and then The partner would ask too. They would switch cards, and then play rock-paper-scissors. The winner would be human. The loser would be a zombie. Zombies had to crawl around on the floor. Humans could interact with humans, and zombies with zombies. It was a fight to become and stay human. They loved it; I'm going to use it with other grammars and classes too, I think.
Today was really great. The first was class was so-so, I had a worksheet for "Why? Because___" with "Do you like ___ or___? Why? Because ___". I've been told to use less Japanese and more English is class, but I need to get less nervous with my explanations because then they get all improptu and the kids seem rather confused. xD Still, my comparisons were things like "vampires or werewolves" and "zombies or ghosts". xD I think they were amused, but I wasn't all that thrilled about the lesson. Still, I'm working on it.
During 3rd and 4th hour, there was a concert for the school. Normally this means the kids perform, when you think of a school concert. But no, a group called String Ristorante were performing. I'll just say this- they were really really good. I wish so much there were videos of their performances somewhere.
Schools here are much more interested in culture and art teachings than we are I think.
Basically, the group has several performers for European instruments, Japanese instruments, and Chinese instruments. You should've seen me, I was grinning so wide while they played. There was cello, violin, piano, koto, shamisen, and an erhu. There was one other instrument, but I cant find info on it anywhere. There were pieces for each indivudual instrument, ones with just chinese, just japanese, just the european ones, and then others with mix. It was fantastic-- the lady who did violin did all these trills and eighteenth-notes and everything-- they were all really really good. @3@
It was clear these people are professionals ^^
Here's some info on the foreign instruments- you've probably heard these sounds before~
Here's the Erhu, Chinese:
Shamisen, Japanese:
(and for you Lady Gaga fans- Bad Romance shamisen:)
Okay, it's kind of been a while, I know~ you guys know how
Well...last weekend I went and had a driving adventure. I drove out to where I lived the previous times I was in Japan- Hikone, Shiga. Feel free to Google Maps that. I went from Ina, Nagano Prefecture to Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. For those of you too lazy, it's 133 miles or so, about 3 hours by car. (But you should totally have a look at the map- then you can know where I live!......wait, never mind, you guys are all creepy stalkers so I take that back).
I was visiting my friend there who's doing the internship like how I did last year. We went around the city, had Subway for lunch (it's similar yet different from here, I like it all the same) and ice cream happened at the mall. We also went to my favorite clothing chain, Shimamura. It's like...the prices of Khol's, but everything is waaaaay cuter. I got a pair of really cute shoes, and a hair tie. My hair is starting to grow longer and since it's getting hotter there are days when I really don't want it on my neck. >3> There was also adventure to Starbucks (right now, they're featuring a chocolate chip-strawberry frappuccino and a mango blended drink with the option of pudding at the bottom~) and then wandering through the supermarket. It was all pretty nostalgic for me, and I never really thought I'd ever be back around that area. I was kind of happy, but things have changed up a bit too since then.
A few shops that used to be around are gone-- like the close convenience store to the school- its gone, and I don't know how the kids are dealing with that. The good 1 dollar shop is gone too, and things have moved around. And at the school, there are so many new teachers- only one is still there from before.
We went back to my friend's dorm and just chatted and watched youtube. xD I met her roommate too, and we all chatted for a while- it was really really nice, I was happy to be able to talk so much with a friend and other nice people~ I had also met up with this one girl who is really nice- we had been talking on facebook a little bit, since she wanted to ask me about the internship program (I had been the only one to do it last year, and it was brand new last year too, so it was only me people could ask).
On the way back, I stopped at rotating sushi for dinner, and then made the trip home at 9pm. It took a bit longer this time though. On the way back I had to get off the toll highway about 15 miles or so South of the exit I needed. There was construction happening so everyone got herded off. Since it was past midnight though, I guess it's no surprise. Now from there, I had no idea how to get home. Luckily, the toll guy told me to keep left and then turn left. I didn't know if he meant the first intersection or not, but I went with it. Then I saw signs down that way eventually (this was a small road so I was skeptical) which led me right, and then I saw a main road luckily caught the writing on the ground, which told me that left would take me towards Ina. I was tired but I kept going and eventually I could see the city on my right. I took a random turn in the direction, got down there, took a left randomly because it was by the train tracks and as I had hoped, it led to the stations downtown and yaaay, I was home~ Pretty good for it being dark and rainy and curvy roads and junk. But I handled the hills better than before. It was tiring, but I had a lot of fun.
Friday I had introduced a new game. The first years (7th grade) were learning "What's this, It's ___". So, I used these little cards with pictures of food on it that I had used for a memory game. Each kid got one. They were to ask "Whats this?" to a partner, who would answer and then The partner would ask too. They would switch cards, and then play rock-paper-scissors. The winner would be human. The loser would be a zombie. Zombies had to crawl around on the floor. Humans could interact with humans, and zombies with zombies. It was a fight to become and stay human. They loved it; I'm going to use it with other grammars and classes too, I think.
Today was really great. The first was class was so-so, I had a worksheet for "Why? Because___" with "Do you like ___ or___? Why? Because ___". I've been told to use less Japanese and more English is class, but I need to get less nervous with my explanations because then they get all improptu and the kids seem rather confused. xD Still, my comparisons were things like "vampires or werewolves" and "zombies or ghosts". xD I think they were amused, but I wasn't all that thrilled about the lesson. Still, I'm working on it.
During 3rd and 4th hour, there was a concert for the school. Normally this means the kids perform, when you think of a school concert. But no, a group called String Ristorante were performing. I'll just say this- they were really really good. I wish so much there were videos of their performances somewhere.
Schools here are much more interested in culture and art teachings than we are I think.
Basically, the group has several performers for European instruments, Japanese instruments, and Chinese instruments. You should've seen me, I was grinning so wide while they played. There was cello, violin, piano, koto, shamisen, and an erhu. There was one other instrument, but I cant find info on it anywhere. There were pieces for each indivudual instrument, ones with just chinese, just japanese, just the european ones, and then others with mix. It was fantastic-- the lady who did violin did all these trills and eighteenth-notes and everything-- they were all really really good. @3@
It was clear these people are professionals ^^
Here's some info on the foreign instruments- you've probably heard these sounds before~
Here's the Erhu, Chinese:
Shamisen, Japanese:
(and for you Lady Gaga fans- Bad Romance shamisen:)
And lastly, the koto. Actually, I learned how to play it a little last year. The koto lady actually brought a student up there, and taught her a few simple notes. It was realllly nostalgic- I wanna play the koto again...
This song is actually the one I learned to play last year and the lady played it today-- in a little bit simpler version, but it's basically this song:
Try and imagine these instruments with piano, cello, and violin altogether...it was fantastic~
The students were taught things about each instrument too...so like I said, the international culture learning importance is a lot greater here I think.
Lastly, my last class of the day was not taught by my usual teacher. As of last week, there have been 3 college student girls here, training to be teachers. One is training to an English teacher. Today, she led the 2nd year class instead of the normal teacher. She's just 21, and the poor girl was really nervous, I could tell. She was quiet, and sometimes I could see her shaking.
Her lesson and the way she conducted it was quite by the book, but I felt she did it well. There was an interview activity, and the students were shy and didn't answer her too much in the beginning, but she got responses as it went on. I was there and read a dialogue with her which I think may have helped the kids to speak more. I told her at the end that I could tell she was nervous, but that she did really well. I didn't get the time to say more to her, but I told of the English teachers that I felt she did well, so she should have more self-confidence and feel freer in her interactions with kids. She said she'd tell her for me. I hope it helps. ^^
Spaghetti time. Tomorrow, salmon.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
~Shorty~
I think this will be decently short?
Well today I was supposed to do some activities with class 6. This is a class of 2 students. Two 2nd year (8th grade) boys. The difference is just that they're more behind their classmates. So I got a battleship game prepared and gluing and cutting pictures of food to play a really large memory game on the floor.
But then when the teacher and I got to the room, the homeroom teacher for class 6 and class 7 told us that the boys were absent. xD So I didn't have that class...next time I guess. xD
Next I went to 2-5 with a different teacher, and we were reviewing "When I ____, (whoever) was ____ing _____." and that kind of structure. So for my part, I had them get in a circle, and the head teacher would play my music, and stop it randomly as the kids passed around my cat ball. Speaking of, I've named him NekoMaru-san. Neko is Cat. Maru is Circle. I feel it's fitting. xD The kids like it.
When the music stopped, the kid holing Nekomaru-san would have to draw a slip of paper from 3 different bags. One was the "When I was" bag, then the "My" bag, and then the "was" bag. I purposely included some dumb things. For example, one student drew and repeated "When I was reading a book, my cat was cooking ramen" xD There was also a "When I was listening to music, my rabbit was going to school." It was a lot of fun.
For lunch, I get the same 2 girls interested in chatting with me on the way to and from the classroom. I really like that they feel comfortable with me, so I speak to them more personally. By that I mean generally commenting about how she feels about gym class, and about how exhausting elementary kids are to teach. I'm considering asking the head English teacher soon about a class-wide optional homework for the 3rd years. They could each have a notebook that they'd write to me asking questions about whatever in English and I'd respond. I'd expect only a small amount of them to do this, but as middle school is writing-focused for English, it would be a good opportunity for them to speak to me one on one, practice, and they can learn cultural things about America. I'll give it a little longer, maybe not until after summer break to ask. But I feel encouraged by some of the kids.
Today, a group of them during lunch were using the words "hentai" and "ero". They both are used under different contexts generally, but they basically mean....um....inappropriate, pervy people or things. Just hearing it made me laugh a little and a nearby girl caught on what I was laughing about and immediately reported to her friends about how i knew those words. xD No, I'm not worried about it.
Lunch today included milk (of course) soup with carrot, onion, potato, little shreds of pork and green onion. There was a kind of lightly fried rice with seafood in it, another variety of cucumber-green things salad and then what looked like an egg roll, but its basically cooked salmon inside with something leafy and a lemon taste. It was really good. But in Japanese, the girl who walked with me asked if I liked it and I assured her I liked fish. I was funny, before we left the classroom she did a salute at me, asking if I was ready to go. xD And just after I was done eating, a boy asked in English if I liked the salmon. They get surprised when foreigners say they like fish. I thought it was great and I was really happy he approached me and used English and then didn't look too awkward about it after. xD
So that was pretty much today, I enjoyed myself a lot~
Well today I was supposed to do some activities with class 6. This is a class of 2 students. Two 2nd year (8th grade) boys. The difference is just that they're more behind their classmates. So I got a battleship game prepared and gluing and cutting pictures of food to play a really large memory game on the floor.
But then when the teacher and I got to the room, the homeroom teacher for class 6 and class 7 told us that the boys were absent. xD So I didn't have that class...next time I guess. xD
Next I went to 2-5 with a different teacher, and we were reviewing "When I ____, (whoever) was ____ing _____." and that kind of structure. So for my part, I had them get in a circle, and the head teacher would play my music, and stop it randomly as the kids passed around my cat ball. Speaking of, I've named him NekoMaru-san. Neko is Cat. Maru is Circle. I feel it's fitting. xD The kids like it.
When the music stopped, the kid holing Nekomaru-san would have to draw a slip of paper from 3 different bags. One was the "When I was" bag, then the "My" bag, and then the "was" bag. I purposely included some dumb things. For example, one student drew and repeated "When I was reading a book, my cat was cooking ramen" xD There was also a "When I was listening to music, my rabbit was going to school." It was a lot of fun.
For lunch, I get the same 2 girls interested in chatting with me on the way to and from the classroom. I really like that they feel comfortable with me, so I speak to them more personally. By that I mean generally commenting about how she feels about gym class, and about how exhausting elementary kids are to teach. I'm considering asking the head English teacher soon about a class-wide optional homework for the 3rd years. They could each have a notebook that they'd write to me asking questions about whatever in English and I'd respond. I'd expect only a small amount of them to do this, but as middle school is writing-focused for English, it would be a good opportunity for them to speak to me one on one, practice, and they can learn cultural things about America. I'll give it a little longer, maybe not until after summer break to ask. But I feel encouraged by some of the kids.
Today, a group of them during lunch were using the words "hentai" and "ero". They both are used under different contexts generally, but they basically mean....um....inappropriate, pervy people or things. Just hearing it made me laugh a little and a nearby girl caught on what I was laughing about and immediately reported to her friends about how i knew those words. xD No, I'm not worried about it.
Lunch today included milk (of course) soup with carrot, onion, potato, little shreds of pork and green onion. There was a kind of lightly fried rice with seafood in it, another variety of cucumber-green things salad and then what looked like an egg roll, but its basically cooked salmon inside with something leafy and a lemon taste. It was really good. But in Japanese, the girl who walked with me asked if I liked it and I assured her I liked fish. I was funny, before we left the classroom she did a salute at me, asking if I was ready to go. xD And just after I was done eating, a boy asked in English if I liked the salmon. They get surprised when foreigners say they like fish. I thought it was great and I was really happy he approached me and used English and then didn't look too awkward about it after. xD
So that was pretty much today, I enjoyed myself a lot~
Tuesdays coming, did you bring a coat?
Today was Nanbu elementary again-- I spend the first 4 periods of the day there and then go to the middle school for lunch and afternoon. Only thing is, I don't usually actually teach every period- just a couple and then I have prep.
But today I had four classes in a row before dashing to the middle school. 5th grade, 6-1, 6-2, and 4th grade. The two 6th grade classes are on the same lesson, so I was able to make one lesson for both classes. We've been working on months and how to say the dates and today we moved into birthdays- asking when and answering. We played bingo with the days of the month as a review, and they all enjoyed it in both classes. I struggled somewhat with the introduction of birthdays, there were parts of my presentation I forgot with 6-1, but it worked out alright in the end. But 6-2 as usual is very quiet. They like me alright, but they just never talk when I need them to or anything. Makes things a bit harder but I'll keep charging through it. That one shy kid I mentioned before? He's still really shy. Like others I can't get him to volunteer for anything, but he does answer when I walk up to him and try to get a response so there is that. Though he won't look at me at all which is different from the others. xD Oh, to be 11-12 again.
The 5th graders I had never had before. But they were quite enthused to see me and my self-introduction went on for quite some time. Their lesson was introducing "I am (hungry/tired/sad/happy/etc). Though I had learned quickly that their teacher had already covered it pretty well. Luckily, my self-intro (they had so many questions for me including "are you married?"....the 4th graders asked this too. I even ended up explaining what languages we learn in the US) lasted for a lot of the time and I played a review game with them. I've done this game with the other classes as well. What I do is put the flascards for the vocabulary on the board. I tell the kids they are policemen (have I explained this already...? oh well) and I have them turn around and not look while I take some of the cards and move the others around. I laugh evilly, saying a robber has stolen things and have them look again. One at a time, they'll say which ones are missing. Then, I through my squishy cat ball at them, and the kid who catches it is the next robber. This game can go up to 15-20 minutes, especially if the kids are really enthused. So even though they all really knew the words it doesn't matter, they had a lot of fun. My cat ball is also really popular. It's a stuffed animal cat that is in the shape of a ball, and really squishy. I bought it in America for this expressed purpose actually. xD
The 4th graders were really cute. There is no book for them or actual laid out curriculum for this grade and lower as I'm aware, so the plan will always "free" whatever I want basically. I have not had this class before either like 5th grade. I decided to go with numbers and colors. I had no idea what they already knew. If they didn't know them already, it would be something easy to teach with limited time and if they did already know it, then more game time. As it is, they also asked me a lot of questions though it took up less time. I discovered they knew 1-10 and all the colors. So, again I played police with them, focusing on the colors because I had more of them. Cat ball was again extremely popular. xD After this, I put up colored numbers all over the room. I'd call out a color or number and they'd go to whatever was, say, a "3" or "orange" and then I'd say "purple 3" and the ones who had chosen the purple 3 out of all the 3s would win the round, etc. In the end, I had made a lot of those papers and I let them keep the papers, so everyone had at least one. xD It was just xerox with a big colored number on it, but they were so thrilled. (Man, these kids are so cute).
As it is, I left on time but still when I got to middle school my tray for lunch had already been brought to the class I'm eating with. This week, it's 3-1 (9th graders). Like yesterday, I'm finding that this class seems to enjoy looking at me, giggling when I notice, then laughing because I make dumb faces at them. xD Lunch time is pretty limited though, and most of the 9th graders don't try to talk to me much. But I'm finding as time goes on that they actually seem more "whoa, this person is here with us, it's crazy and I don't know how to react" but it was hard to tell at first. xD
But the girls who walk with me to and from the teachers room with my lunch tray really seem to like that I'm there, and I was actually chatting with one of them on the way back. She seemed to express her worry about a lack of English ability, and was glad at my (however limited) Japanese ability. I told her that I felt English was probably the hardest language, so it's nothing short of amazing to me when there are people that are really really good at it. She seemed cheered up by that. It's true though, our language is no walk in the park.
It's sleep time, mmmmmmmmkaaaaay~?
But today I had four classes in a row before dashing to the middle school. 5th grade, 6-1, 6-2, and 4th grade. The two 6th grade classes are on the same lesson, so I was able to make one lesson for both classes. We've been working on months and how to say the dates and today we moved into birthdays- asking when and answering. We played bingo with the days of the month as a review, and they all enjoyed it in both classes. I struggled somewhat with the introduction of birthdays, there were parts of my presentation I forgot with 6-1, but it worked out alright in the end. But 6-2 as usual is very quiet. They like me alright, but they just never talk when I need them to or anything. Makes things a bit harder but I'll keep charging through it. That one shy kid I mentioned before? He's still really shy. Like others I can't get him to volunteer for anything, but he does answer when I walk up to him and try to get a response so there is that. Though he won't look at me at all which is different from the others. xD Oh, to be 11-12 again.
The 5th graders I had never had before. But they were quite enthused to see me and my self-introduction went on for quite some time. Their lesson was introducing "I am (hungry/tired/sad/happy/etc). Though I had learned quickly that their teacher had already covered it pretty well. Luckily, my self-intro (they had so many questions for me including "are you married?"....the 4th graders asked this too. I even ended up explaining what languages we learn in the US) lasted for a lot of the time and I played a review game with them. I've done this game with the other classes as well. What I do is put the flascards for the vocabulary on the board. I tell the kids they are policemen (have I explained this already...? oh well) and I have them turn around and not look while I take some of the cards and move the others around. I laugh evilly, saying a robber has stolen things and have them look again. One at a time, they'll say which ones are missing. Then, I through my squishy cat ball at them, and the kid who catches it is the next robber. This game can go up to 15-20 minutes, especially if the kids are really enthused. So even though they all really knew the words it doesn't matter, they had a lot of fun. My cat ball is also really popular. It's a stuffed animal cat that is in the shape of a ball, and really squishy. I bought it in America for this expressed purpose actually. xD
The 4th graders were really cute. There is no book for them or actual laid out curriculum for this grade and lower as I'm aware, so the plan will always "free" whatever I want basically. I have not had this class before either like 5th grade. I decided to go with numbers and colors. I had no idea what they already knew. If they didn't know them already, it would be something easy to teach with limited time and if they did already know it, then more game time. As it is, they also asked me a lot of questions though it took up less time. I discovered they knew 1-10 and all the colors. So, again I played police with them, focusing on the colors because I had more of them. Cat ball was again extremely popular. xD After this, I put up colored numbers all over the room. I'd call out a color or number and they'd go to whatever was, say, a "3" or "orange" and then I'd say "purple 3" and the ones who had chosen the purple 3 out of all the 3s would win the round, etc. In the end, I had made a lot of those papers and I let them keep the papers, so everyone had at least one. xD It was just xerox with a big colored number on it, but they were so thrilled. (Man, these kids are so cute).
As it is, I left on time but still when I got to middle school my tray for lunch had already been brought to the class I'm eating with. This week, it's 3-1 (9th graders). Like yesterday, I'm finding that this class seems to enjoy looking at me, giggling when I notice, then laughing because I make dumb faces at them. xD Lunch time is pretty limited though, and most of the 9th graders don't try to talk to me much. But I'm finding as time goes on that they actually seem more "whoa, this person is here with us, it's crazy and I don't know how to react" but it was hard to tell at first. xD
But the girls who walk with me to and from the teachers room with my lunch tray really seem to like that I'm there, and I was actually chatting with one of them on the way back. She seemed to express her worry about a lack of English ability, and was glad at my (however limited) Japanese ability. I told her that I felt English was probably the hardest language, so it's nothing short of amazing to me when there are people that are really really good at it. She seemed cheered up by that. It's true though, our language is no walk in the park.
It's sleep time, mmmmmmmmkaaaaay~?
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Sick
Got strep throat right now, nothing amazing happening too much lately, had a shorter work week. Will update within a week or so.
Also, this:
It's how I generally feel these days.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Everyday I'm Shufflin'~
Hurr hurr, I'm back~
So today marked my first day at one of my elementary schools. It's funny how kids always manage to remark that they've confirmed about how I can, indeed, speak English. The kids at my internship school did that too. Dude, it's random foreign white girl- chances are, I'm the English woman~ xD But they're so cute~!
This school is called Nanbu. Honestly, the building's structure is pretty cool. A lot of it has that old hardwood look to it, and actually helps keep the school looking like it's new. I don't have my own desk at this school, so I hang out in the room within the teacher's room, where they keep...stuff. Like a table, chairs, and snacks and coffee/tea. It seems to be a lounge. I spend 1st through 4th hours (mornings) every Tuesday here from now on. I don't teach every hour, so I get there later/leave sooner than that.
I went around the school during my first hour, greeting random kids and teachers and exploring the whole place. The landscape they did is really nice as well. 2nd hour was my first elementary lesson ever. It was on lesson 2, called "When is your birthday?". This is for the 6th graders, highest in the school. All of the grades have just one classroom except for 2nd grade and 6th grade, which have two this year. Unlike middle and high school, teachers do have their desks in the teachers room, but they stay and remain with their one class, similar to our elementary schools.
So my lesson for the 45 minutes was all about getting them to learn the months in English. First, I did a short self-intro. The kids asked me about things I liked, didn't like, Japan stuff too. My family and pets as well. I started by asking them what months (Japanese) some of their holidays are in. One for each month. With the numbers on the board, I introduced American holidays, one for each, and put flashcards of those on the board too. Also, I then had flashcards for the months in English, though I know they have limited English reading abilities. After some drilling with stupid gestures and dumb voices (you have to keep them as interested as possible!), I discovered my impromptu abilities are pretty good. From here there was a page in the textbook/workbook I had them go over, matching their holidays to the months in English. And then we went over the answers. I also had a game lined up, but here wasn't time for it. There was one student in this class particularly. He had been a straggler coming into the room from break before class, he also seemed to be pretty tall. Crazy. In the beginning, he kept his down, looking at nothing on his desk. He sat near the front so at one point, I snuck up on him, all "Hello" and such. Poor kid was all shy and embarrassed. But he was so adorable! His eyes bugged right out of his head when I brought the American holiday pictures out! It doesn't take too much. ^^
There was a bit of a break between classes, and a bunch of other teachers came to lounge. There were awesome snacks and pickled vegetable things, that one of the teachers grew in his garden, and his wife pickled. He brought them in. It was good. I received tea and coffee too, both were pretty good, actually. Only a couple of the teachers have much English skill. But I got to chat with all of them a little. They saw the cats on my purse, and they discovered about my relation to the teacher who was here before me. Sarah, it turns out, actually went to MSU as well, is from sort of the area I'm from in MI, and did JCMU as well. But she's 1-2 years above me, so it's no surprise I didn't know her before. Main point, these teachers seem real friendly.
The 3rd period was much the same as the 2nd period for me. Main difference being that the first question I got was "Do you have a boyfriend?" which I had expected. xD They also asked about my kanji skills (which I wrote some and they were impressed, hahaaha) and that of course, I know of Lady Gaga. Also, in this class especially, it blew their minds to find out that our school years start in September and end in June. For theirs, they start in April and end in the beginning March, with 3 terms. (Their longest break, summer, is between the 1st and 2nd terms). So we end school shortly after they begin it. Interesting, huh? This one girl's eyes opened sooo wide! xD
It was after this that I went home. I used 4th period to travel to my middle school, since I was slated for nothing at Nanbu, not even "prep". I had lunch with the 3rd years class number 3, as the same this week. The homeroom teacher is also the English head. Today was tofu miso soup, rice, milk, potato salad (a bit different from ours, you can really detect the mayo), and this pork dish. It was like...pork with a red sauce- like marinara with something else- with green peppers, and onions. I told the teacher that the pork dish reminded me of American cooking. He seemed to agree. Since he did, (and his English isn't half-bad), I winder if he was in America or England or somewhere at some point.
Skipping 5th hour, I had a lesson 6th hour with a first year class (7th graders). A couple of the girls from this class had bombarded me in the hall yesterday, being like "you're going home? but we have class!" I assured them it was tomorrow (today). xD
For this class, they were to review "I am ___" and learn new vocabulary- hot, tired, hungry, and thirsty.
I did an awesome warm up game though. I had them all get in a big circle, and I handed out pictures of sushi. There were...33 of them, and I had 15-16 sushi pictures. I put the "Party Rockers Anthem (Everyday I'm Shufflin')" by LMFAO into the CD player. They were to pass the sushi around (like at a rotating sushi place) and when the music stopped, I had the sushi holders say something in English. Anything at all. They really loved it, especially this group of boys kept saying "one more!" But the main sensei had us stop after a while. After which, I had silly flashcards showing the 4 words and I had them learn off of that. Then, sensei took over for her half of class.
But during my worm up thing, some of the kids were cute. The group 4 boys I mentioned before said "crazy kids", a group of three girls did this: Girl 1: I Girl 2: love Girl 3: you
I pretended to be ecstatic and all "of course you do!" at them. xD
Then the boys went like Boy 1: I Boy 2: love Boy 3:cute Boy 4: girls
Also, since they really like word play here, I told the teacher about how we'll use that "I am ___" to tease. Like "Mom, I'm hungry!" "Oh, nice to meet you, hungry!" and such. She did enjoy it. xD Plus, it always feels awesome to understand foreign jokes.
These kids are so adorable. xD So today was pretty cool. Thursday I go to my other elementary school. It should be about the same. Regardless, I did a lot of lesson work yesterday and on the weekend, so from here it's less so for the week.
Anyway, it's time for pasta~
So today marked my first day at one of my elementary schools. It's funny how kids always manage to remark that they've confirmed about how I can, indeed, speak English. The kids at my internship school did that too. Dude, it's random foreign white girl- chances are, I'm the English woman~ xD But they're so cute~!
This school is called Nanbu. Honestly, the building's structure is pretty cool. A lot of it has that old hardwood look to it, and actually helps keep the school looking like it's new. I don't have my own desk at this school, so I hang out in the room within the teacher's room, where they keep...stuff. Like a table, chairs, and snacks and coffee/tea. It seems to be a lounge. I spend 1st through 4th hours (mornings) every Tuesday here from now on. I don't teach every hour, so I get there later/leave sooner than that.
I went around the school during my first hour, greeting random kids and teachers and exploring the whole place. The landscape they did is really nice as well. 2nd hour was my first elementary lesson ever. It was on lesson 2, called "When is your birthday?". This is for the 6th graders, highest in the school. All of the grades have just one classroom except for 2nd grade and 6th grade, which have two this year. Unlike middle and high school, teachers do have their desks in the teachers room, but they stay and remain with their one class, similar to our elementary schools.
So my lesson for the 45 minutes was all about getting them to learn the months in English. First, I did a short self-intro. The kids asked me about things I liked, didn't like, Japan stuff too. My family and pets as well. I started by asking them what months (Japanese) some of their holidays are in. One for each month. With the numbers on the board, I introduced American holidays, one for each, and put flashcards of those on the board too. Also, I then had flashcards for the months in English, though I know they have limited English reading abilities. After some drilling with stupid gestures and dumb voices (you have to keep them as interested as possible!), I discovered my impromptu abilities are pretty good. From here there was a page in the textbook/workbook I had them go over, matching their holidays to the months in English. And then we went over the answers. I also had a game lined up, but here wasn't time for it. There was one student in this class particularly. He had been a straggler coming into the room from break before class, he also seemed to be pretty tall. Crazy. In the beginning, he kept his down, looking at nothing on his desk. He sat near the front so at one point, I snuck up on him, all "Hello" and such. Poor kid was all shy and embarrassed. But he was so adorable! His eyes bugged right out of his head when I brought the American holiday pictures out! It doesn't take too much. ^^
There was a bit of a break between classes, and a bunch of other teachers came to lounge. There were awesome snacks and pickled vegetable things, that one of the teachers grew in his garden, and his wife pickled. He brought them in. It was good. I received tea and coffee too, both were pretty good, actually. Only a couple of the teachers have much English skill. But I got to chat with all of them a little. They saw the cats on my purse, and they discovered about my relation to the teacher who was here before me. Sarah, it turns out, actually went to MSU as well, is from sort of the area I'm from in MI, and did JCMU as well. But she's 1-2 years above me, so it's no surprise I didn't know her before. Main point, these teachers seem real friendly.
The 3rd period was much the same as the 2nd period for me. Main difference being that the first question I got was "Do you have a boyfriend?" which I had expected. xD They also asked about my kanji skills (which I wrote some and they were impressed, hahaaha) and that of course, I know of Lady Gaga. Also, in this class especially, it blew their minds to find out that our school years start in September and end in June. For theirs, they start in April and end in the beginning March, with 3 terms. (Their longest break, summer, is between the 1st and 2nd terms). So we end school shortly after they begin it. Interesting, huh? This one girl's eyes opened sooo wide! xD
It was after this that I went home. I used 4th period to travel to my middle school, since I was slated for nothing at Nanbu, not even "prep". I had lunch with the 3rd years class number 3, as the same this week. The homeroom teacher is also the English head. Today was tofu miso soup, rice, milk, potato salad (a bit different from ours, you can really detect the mayo), and this pork dish. It was like...pork with a red sauce- like marinara with something else- with green peppers, and onions. I told the teacher that the pork dish reminded me of American cooking. He seemed to agree. Since he did, (and his English isn't half-bad), I winder if he was in America or England or somewhere at some point.
Skipping 5th hour, I had a lesson 6th hour with a first year class (7th graders). A couple of the girls from this class had bombarded me in the hall yesterday, being like "you're going home? but we have class!" I assured them it was tomorrow (today). xD
For this class, they were to review "I am ___" and learn new vocabulary- hot, tired, hungry, and thirsty.
I did an awesome warm up game though. I had them all get in a big circle, and I handed out pictures of sushi. There were...33 of them, and I had 15-16 sushi pictures. I put the "Party Rockers Anthem (Everyday I'm Shufflin')" by LMFAO into the CD player. They were to pass the sushi around (like at a rotating sushi place) and when the music stopped, I had the sushi holders say something in English. Anything at all. They really loved it, especially this group of boys kept saying "one more!" But the main sensei had us stop after a while. After which, I had silly flashcards showing the 4 words and I had them learn off of that. Then, sensei took over for her half of class.
But during my worm up thing, some of the kids were cute. The group 4 boys I mentioned before said "crazy kids", a group of three girls did this: Girl 1: I Girl 2: love Girl 3: you
I pretended to be ecstatic and all "of course you do!" at them. xD
Then the boys went like Boy 1: I Boy 2: love Boy 3:cute Boy 4: girls
Also, since they really like word play here, I told the teacher about how we'll use that "I am ___" to tease. Like "Mom, I'm hungry!" "Oh, nice to meet you, hungry!" and such. She did enjoy it. xD Plus, it always feels awesome to understand foreign jokes.
These kids are so adorable. xD So today was pretty cool. Thursday I go to my other elementary school. It should be about the same. Regardless, I did a lot of lesson work yesterday and on the weekend, so from here it's less so for the week.
Anyway, it's time for pasta~
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
30%
So about school today:
Pretty much nothing happened. Yaaaaay. Seriously. I did the 4 class periods once again doing "prep".
Lunch time was with class 3-4 again. Nobody said a single word. Granted, for me, I was trying to make sure I could eat to try and keep up with everyone so as not to be the last one eating. But I was otherwise pretty much ignored. Worse, I ran out of my medicine a couple days ago and I was feeling the effects. That might have something to do with it. Either way, 3rd years do tend to be not giving a damn about the whole foreigner thing. I think maybe I'll bring a Japanese textbook with me tomorrow...? I don't know if that would help at all.
After that, I did get my schedule for almost the rest of the month. I'll be at one of the elementary schools for the entire mornings every Tuesday. But I don;t know what I'm doing, what lessons, etc. That would be really nice. It really would, but....ugh. Guess I'll figure it out and see.
I stopped at home to change and grab a few things and I set out for this place called Kono Clinic. I was told about it by a couple other ALT's in the area. They said the doctor and his wife are good with English, and really nice. So I went.
Clinics here are a bit different. You know how Doctors have different offices? Instead of being like "well, the doctor is here at thistimethattime and he's at this other location at blahblah", the clinic is simply open when the doctor is there. The doctor is always there during pre-defined times. For example, 3 days out of the week, 8-11:30AM and 3-6PM. And then similar but adjusted hours for the other 2 days. And that's just the clinic's hours end of story.
Additionally, there aren't really any private rooms. There are some beds I saw but they weren't used for anything. You check in, wait at in the waiting room, and they call you in at basically order of appearance. There are more chairs beyond the door, facing a curtain. There are never more than 2 or 3 of us sitting at the curtain. You get called in one at a time. The doctor's desk, a stool, and a bed are there, with one or two nurses. You sit on the stool, and he asks you stuff, examines you, or has you lay on the bed for blood pressure and the *feels your stomach* "Does that hurt?" thing. Once done, the nurses and receptionists give you the prescription or medicine and your insurance card back and stuff. It was about $13 for me with the national health insurance. Not too bad, I thought.
For my meds, I came back over towards the hospital, where there's a pharmacy outside of it. TUrns out they needed one of my meds from another nearby pharmacy. The guy was like-- sorry, it could take 10 minutes.
Seriously? It takes at least 15 back at home without having to get it from somewhere...plus, I got to sit down and watch TV. It didn't even take 10 minutes. It also turn out that I pay 30% of the price with my insurance. Also, for my anxiety medicine, I can only receive a prescription of 14 days worth- that's Japan's policy. So I have to go to the clinic and pharmacy every 2 weeks now... xD
But well, for the 2 weeks worth of both medicines, I was charged about $16-17. I won't lie. I think that's really really good. I am okay with this.
Salad time.
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