Challenges abound

So I’ve definitely been meeting my fair share of challenges over here in Japan.  Seems like something new pops up every week from trying to borrow a wrench at a bicycle shop and getting berated to getting into a shouting match with my friend over her driving after drinking (loooong story – maybe I’ll devote a blog entry to it).  I run into challenges in the classroom too when trying to figure out ways to teach the kids in new, fun ways.
Luckily, when things go well in the classroom, it makes me forget about everything.  The feeling of fulfillment I get from leaving an excited, happy class of students is super rewarding.  I did a lot of research before I came over and I was warned on several accounts that I would be challenged mentally/socially/even physically as an ALT.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t possibly imagine these kind of situations on this level.
However, I will leave you with a great bit of advice from a former ALT that I has helped me out.  “Challenges in life come at all times and must be treated as opportunities to learn,  These opportunities help discover strengths that one never knew one had.”
がんばって！

First real day of work

So I had my first day of class today. Just had to do my introduction that I had prepared during training (and won Best Demo from my group… No biggie). I was a little nervous my first lesson and a little lost on what was going on, but I stuck to my training and got through it. I had three classes today.
During the first one I think the kids were a little tired, but next time I’ll try a more involved game to get their energy up. In the second class, I got a little bit better of a response since their grammar as a bit better. I think some kids were a little wise to my goofiness though. Will have to figure out a happy medium for them. I still had fun with them, especially when the teacher would catch the kids goofing off and smack them in the back of the head. Finally, during the last class, I think the kids were a little too energized from lunch, but I just went with it and they were a blast! I hope I can turn more classes into ones like this!

The age old debate: JET vs. Interac

A fellow blogger friend, “Redpath”, has put together a great comparative chart of the perks of working for JET or Interac.  If you’re on the fence on which company you want to apply for (why not both!?), then this should give you a good idea of what you would be getting into with each company.  Either company would be a great company to work for, but some people have different circumstances and needs, so decide on what is best for you.  Knowledge is power!

Japan in Real-Time: The age old debate: JET vs. Interac

Update:  My friend changed websites, so I updated the link.

Bad news… O-noes!

Last Monday, my recruiting company sent me an email saying that they had to defer me until this spring because they over recruited for this season. They literally told me last week on Monday, so I’ve been scrambling the past week to make sure I have a place to live as well as a place to put all my junk in.
The hardest part of all this was not so much that I didn’t have a place to move to or that I sold a whole lot of my stuff on craigslist, but the fact that now I have to explain to my family and friends that I don’t get to go and the embarrassment that ensues. So it looks like this blog will not be updated with more Japan stuff until Spring.

Bloggitos is back!

Welcome everyone to my new site.  I’ve decided to revamp my old domain (After all, I was really paying for space I wasn’t really using).  The whole purpose of this ‘era’ of Bloggitos though is going to be a documentation of my adventures in Japan for an upcoming ALT position I am trying to attain.  I also wanted to get this started as a means to convey information to my family on what I’ve been up to since they won’t have the best access to getting a hold of me (other than Skype, but then again I’m not all too sure what my internet access is going to be like yet).

Anyways, I’ve started to get prepared in anticipation by selling off a lot of my property.  I think one of the biggest reasons I hate moving is because I literally have so much hodgepodge crap in my room that I get worn out from taking 12 hours moving stuff in and out of a moving truck.  I’m really looking forward to being able to condense my entire life down to a few suitcases…  I think I am going to have a yard sale this weekend to speed up the process.

So stayed tuned for more updates on my exploits in Japan.  Free free to leave a comment as well!