P.E. in Japan is awesome!

I just watched a 研究授業 (kenkyuu jugyou), a special observation lesson where a teacher-in-training taught a class.  It was a P.E. class, and it was so cool!  I had never in my two years here actually watched an entire P.E. class, and now I have an example of great physical education.  I wish my gym classes had been like the ones they have here in Japan.

Okay, lemme 'splain.

First, a little context.  As I've seen, gym classes are generally split up by gender so only girls have classes with girls and boys with boys.  Also, P.E. is a serious class here treated like any other class, and P.E. teachers get a lot of respect.  Often, P.E. teachers are the ones who are given the role of disciplinarian and are seen as moral role models for all the students.  They usually are super involved in students' lives and scold them when they act out whether or not it's during their class and praise them for the good they do, again, whether or not it's during their class.  It's really nice.  And, I feel like students here are very well-rounded since they are educated in the basic subjects, a foreign language, physical education, music and art, and morality.  Very "Renaissance Man" or polymath.  I think it's an ideal we humans should really all strive for.

Anyways, so the lesson I went to.

I went to book club

This past weekend I attended a book club meeting for which we had to read N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto.  It was a'ight.  I don't know if this was the best book to read from Banana, and I felt like people had more complaints than anything.  They especially didn't like that there wasn't really an ending or resolution.  The book just ends, which doesn't surprise me but that's only because I've read quite a few books by Japanese authors on my own and via university classes.

The book club has a history of reading strange and unsatisfying books by Japanese authors, (wow that sound terrible... I don't mean that all books by Japanese authors are terrible!  They just happen to choose not so great ones...) which is one of the reasons I haven't gone since the first time I went after reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami.  So, I'm actually really surprised that members were still shocked and annoyed by the lack of a traditional resolution seen in Western stories.  The thing is, Japanese stories don't usually follow the Western tradition that has a beginning, climax, and resolution...you know, that triangle.

Here's that triangle for clarification:

Music for the kiddies

Every month now I put up a handful of song recommendations on the English board in the English classroom at my work.  Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, One Direction, Carly Rae Jepson, and a few others are quite popular among my middle schoolers, but I really want to try to expose them to more music than just that.  I also want to try Kpop with them, ha ha, but that's probably an already hard-to-justify endeavor.

Anyways, I spend some of my down time at work browsing the UK's and US's top 40's charts and other music sites to keep up with what's popular and screen options for my recommendations.  There's a lot of music that becomes popular with the kiddies, but omg, some of that music is soooo inappropro for young teeny boppers.

Exam Days

my morning commute

Exam days usually mean that my classes are cancelled, and I'm left to "work" at my desk.  

Sometimes, I really appreciate these days because I read a book, study Japanese and Spanish, derp around on the Internet, and just relax.  I get to work on that one manga I started forever ago.  And I do a little creative writing in Google Docs too.  It's nice sometimes to have what is the equivalent of an extended study period like when I was a student stuck at school with nothing to do.

Sometimes, I really loathe these days because I get so bored and antsy just sitting around for the work day while everyone else is busy running around administering tests and then taking care of kids and making sure they get out of school and then organizing and grading those tests from earlier.  I finish any work I have pretty early and then die of boredom inside.  When the students leave, I stand near the exit and say goodbye to them.  I get up a dozen times to make tea or coffee, use the bathroom, and find a reason to walk somewhere nearby like to check out the printers or maybe chat with a teacher who also just "looks busy."

cake made by a student

Today, I'm feeling more of the former, and I went to work not so early.  I took my time washing my hair this morning and then buying myself lunch at the convenience store before taking the bus.  (There's usually no school lunch on exam days since the students have early dismissal, which ends RIGHT BEFORE LUNCH.)  And today, I've just been chillaxing and taking my time to do any tasks I have to do.

Exam days are pretty fun and relaxing for the Special Education crew too.  One of the younger female students hung out with two of the teacher aids in the cooking room and made cake for themselves and a few of the other teachers who were in the staff room.  So sweet!  Both the treat and the thought!  I was offered a piece, and it was yummy.

I'm thinking about what reviews to write up next.  I finished watching Jessica Jones a couple of weeks ago, and two nights ago, I watched all of season 1 of No Game No Life.  And I can't stop thinking about wither of those shows!!!  I almost want to re-watch No Game No Life since I binged it, and it was over too fast.  It's such a pretty anime and so brightly colored. 　うわぁぁ～

https://images6.alphacoders.com/512/512323.jpg

Japanese Work Clothes for School

こんにちは。よろしくお願いします!

Winter has come, and that means winter fashion!  Yay!!

So this post is about what people wear to work when work is a Japanese public school and when it's cold.  ALT and JTE #OOTD, if you will.

ALT= Assistant Language Teacher (so usually the foreign teacher who helps teach English)

JTE= Japanese Teacher of English (usually Japanese native teachers who teach English)

OOTD= Outfit Of The Day

This post is mainly to help those who are thinking about coming to Japan to work as an ALT, like through the JET program, Interac, direct hire by a Board of Education, etc.  But I guess it's interesting just to see what people wear, too, right?

As always...
DISCLAIMER: ESID (Every Situation Is Different!)  
I actually dislike this acronym because I feel like it states the obvious.  Of course, ESID applies to working in Japan or working anywhere really.  Everyone knows you should wear a suit and tie or whatever other professional clothing that customarily matches a workplace position, but, especially for those who are new graduates or new to the working world or new to Japan's working world, we need examples!!  We want a general idea!  Some work places provide a very clear-cut dress code or even uniform to make it easier for us newbies while others don't seem to specify a thing.  

So yeah, ESID, or whatever.  Just know that the following examples are what I choose to wear and what other individuals choose to wear at my junior high school.  I feel that I would categorize my school as somewhere in between those super formal schools where everyone wears suits and the more casual schools where everyone basically shows up in sportswear since it's the most comfortable (and makes sense to wear when you're a sports club supervisor before and after classes, so why change clothes, right?)

Okay!

ALT #OOTD

If you're interested in what an ALT might wear to work, please watch the video below.  It's me!

JTE #OOTD

If you're interested in seeing what everyday teachers, including JTEs, wear to work, please scroll through the following pictures.  Each picture is labeled to give you a little more information about the teacher, but faces, names, and other identifying information are not given to protect the privacy of each individual, of course.  They all are or were my coworkers, and they all so kindly allowed me to take their pictures anonymously to help me out in making this blog post.

Here they are!

Female, English

Female, Math

Male, Vice Principal

Katamaris in my eyes

Since sometime in the early fall of last year (2015), I started to get a weird tiny lump in my eyelid, and I mean in it, like on the underside.　It wasn't a stye or pimple or something.  I ignored the one that appeared under my left eyelid since it was small, mostly unnoticeable, and it didn't hurt or impair my vision.  Then later in the fall, close to winter, I noticed another one had appeared, and next thing you know, I entered 2016 with a third bump on my right eyelid.  I realized that I probably should see a doctor about this lumpy business.

I went in January this year to the eye doctor, of course, after researching the shit out of lumpy eyelids, and came away with the seriousness of the situation being none to CANCER.

When I went to the eye doctor, I had my vision and the physical status of my eyes checked out.  Everything was fine.  The eye doctor felt my lumpy eyelids to see if they hurt, and they didn't.  He concluded that these were harmless lumps.  They apparently happen when oils and other dust and dirt collect under the eyelid.  If you wear contact lenses, then it's more likely to happen.  (And I do.  I had been wearing them a lot more often than before and cursed my recent obsession with color contact lenses.)  So yeah, and it was funny because I kept calling them もの and 小さい玉 (things and little balls), and then I noticed the eye doctor called them 塊　（かたまり）, which is katamari, as in KATAMARI DAMACY.

A teen cyborg is our only hope against the moon people

Cinder

Summary

Taken directly from the author's website:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

So yeah, we got a Cinderella cyborg, who is quite a flawed heroine, but I think it makes for a more relatable and human teen character.  She really just wants out of her messed up life but ends up being way more important to the situation of the moon people wanting to take over the Earth.  This book isn't going to be the next classic to be read in future AP English courses, but it's really fun and engaging and filled with interesting characters.

Thinking Too Much Again

This is Major Dara to Ground Control,

Hiiiiiii!

I just did an all-night karaoke session Saturday night, and Bowie's "Space Oddity" has been stuck in my head all weekend and this Monday morning.  Ah, Bowie, I wish I could have seen you perform, rest in peace,

Anyways, I've been thinking about a bunch of ideas I have for YouTube and this blog, and I really really wish I could get some feedback, just anyone to bounce ideas around with.  You see, I'm still trying to figure out my groove, and like, before, I'm wondering at the purpose of each of the social media I use....like should my YouTube be reviews of books (BookTube) and shows while my blog be about my daily life in Japan and while my Twitter and Instagram just be snapshots of each?  Should I teach Japanese on YouTube or like tips for working in Japan on YouTube or only here on the blog?  Should I have different channels then for each topic on YouTube to better organize what I'm doing?  Does any of it matter at this point with like five people tuning into this blog and my channel?  What could I be doing to maybe make better content or to start more conversations with the people who do look at my stuff?  Is this a conflict of wanting to make things for others versus for myself?  Am I overthinking everything again when I should just stop and just make whatever I feel like making?  And once I find the things I like to make, then everything else will become clearer as far as how to organize my stuffs?

Yeah, maybe I think too much instead of just doing...

This town is demolishing everything dear to me!

Hi hi------

So I've been living in the same apartment in Osaka prefecture for the past year and a half, and I am quite devastated about the current turn of events.

I went to get my weekly sushi for dinner yesterday after work only to find that my town's kaitenzushi (the fast food sushi that comes around on a conveyor belt) is currently being torn down.  It was a 5 minute walk or less from my apartment building.

Last summer, the chain izakaya (Japanese style pub) and Mister Donuts were also closed, and their building has been torn down and rebuilt with the promise of at least the donut place's return sometime this month.  It was a three minute walk from my apartment building and right next to the local train station.

At the end of August last year, the super store behind my house that basically provided all my life's needs was closed.  It was called Daiei.

I stole this picture from Wikipedia.

Rambling

Hi everybody,

The following is a rambling.  You have been warned, ha ha.