I arrived in Takamatsu on the evening of July 4th,
after a ridiculously long flight (which was also kind of repetitive as I
started in Calgary, flew to Toronto, and then headed over to Japan…but that’s how
Air Canada works sometimes) . Anyway, on
arriving at Takamatsu’s small airport, I was picked up by one of the other foreign
teachers from our school, which I was expecting. However, unexpectedly, there were also 4 or 5
of the Japanese teachers who showed up as well to meet me that day (although we
had to stand around at the airport and wait for a couple of them for a few minutes).
While I may have preferred to meet them for the first time when I wasn’t
falling asleep on my feet, I nonetheless, felt quite welcomed by them – much different
than my first feelings on meeting my teachers in Korea. When I arrived at my apartment, I found that
Nicki, (the foreign teacher who picked me up) and my boss had put together a ‘welcome
package’ for me, which consisted of a little bit of food (bread, rice and tea),
some basic eating utensils, plates, spoons and cups, soap, a couple little
towels and some information packages as well (and of course a couple of the
t-shirts that I would be wearing at school).
Not to mention, Nicki also lent me a futon, pillow and bath towel so
that I wouldn’t have to go shopping for those things right away. Definitely welcoming. A few minutes after bringing my suitcases
into my new apartment, my boss also showed up with her two kids because she
also wanted to meet me. So many new people
in such a short time! The next day, they
had arranged for the security company to come out to set up my alarm system, followed
by a visit to my new school, and I spent the rest of the day doing a little bit
of shopping for some basic food essentials for my apartment (which also
involved a bit of exploring in my area).
My apartment, by the way is actually a fair enough size, probably about the same size as the one I had in Korea, with the added bonus of extra storage, a balcony and a bathtub! The only real negative points about my apartment are that the view isn’t the best, the fridge is a little small (well the whole kitchen area actually) and I still haven’t decided how I feel about the elevated bed :P) 23.18m^2 might sound really small, but for one person, it's really a fairly decent size!
My apartment, by the way is actually a fair enough size, probably about the same size as the one I had in Korea, with the added bonus of extra storage, a balcony and a bathtub! The only real negative points about my apartment are that the view isn’t the best, the fridge is a little small (well the whole kitchen area actually) and I still haven’t decided how I feel about the elevated bed :P) 23.18m^2 might sound really small, but for one person, it's really a fairly decent size!
My apartment -- if the video doesn't work, click here.
Continuing on with my story, on Sunday, more shopping, and
then I ended up spending the entire afternoon with my boss and her two kids,
since she really wanted me to get a phone asap as a typhoon was predicted to
hit Japan later in the week (that day didn’t actually work out for the phone
because they needed some documentation that I hadn’t received yet – so the
phone was postponed until Monday). That
trip also involved a bit more shopping, with me picking up things like the ‘mattress’
and pillow for my bed, while my boss shopped for things like a new vacuum for
her mom. Monday morning I was set to
show up for school, and after being introduced to the students, I was whisked
off downtown to city hall to do some paperwork and get my address approved on
my residence card. That was followed by
a stop back at the phone company to set up and pick up a phone for me, then
back to school for lunch and the rest of the school day. The rest of that week was a blur of part
involvement, part observation and a whole lot of learning about what they do at
this school and how they do it in addition to getting over my jet-lag.
The weekend after my first week here wasn’t too exciting –
it involved buying more things for my apartment and exploring the area around
where I live as well as walking to the downtown kind of area.
The weekend after that however, was quite fun
for me for a few reasons (one of which being that it was a 3-day weekend). I started by wandering my way downtown, where
I picked myself up an Iruca card (basically a money card for the buses and
trains in Takamatsu), and then I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting
Ritsurin Garden, even though it was crazy hot out.
On Sunday I tried the buses (the only little
hiccup being that timing of the bus I was going to catch doesn’t actually run
on the weekend or holidays), so I had to wait another half hour for the next
one to come. But it all worked out as I
found myself exactly where I wanted to go, which was down by Takamatsu station,
where I could walk to the ferry terminal.
Why the ferry terminal? Because I wanted to go to the beach! And it just
so happens that the closest island to Takamatsu - Megijima (a 20 min ferry ride) has
one. So I spent a beautiful day
there.
The final day of that weekend –
the Monday, I tried out the trains here (although the station closest to my
apartment is about a 30 min walk…boo) and I visited Takamatsu Castle and
curiously wandered my way through the ‘shopping arcade’ – a series of seriously
VERY LONG covered roads with TONS of different shops (and down other streets
restaurants…although these don’t open til the evening, so they were quite quiet).
This past weekend was only really a
single day weekend, as I had to go to work in the afternoon til kind of late on
Saturday to help out with the summer school’s summer party. Not that it was too difficult – getting things
set up, helping out with the BBQ, eating, taking pictures, having fun with
kids, and scaring them at the end as we made the school a haunted house they
had to go through, and then of course cleaning up at the end (which also
involved separating out the extra leftover food – everyone got to take a bit
home with them at the end of the night)!
As for life at school, I think I’m getting into the swing of
things, although I haven’t actually had a full week of teaching my students
because it’s summer and a lot of the time we are currently going out to play in
to pool in the time where I would normally be teaching them. Not that I’m complaining about that mind you,
it’s very refreshing in this heat to play in the water. The students here are pretty cute, and I
actually spend a little bit of time with all of them every week. My main class (Rainbow class) is the 3
turning 4-year olds and I have 7 of them, although next week we’re supposed to
be getting a new student to bring my number up to 8. I spend about half the day with these guys,
from 8:30-1. Then, 3 days of the week I
teach Sun class, (4-5 year olds) for a about an hour and a half (on Fridays I
get prep time in this period and Wednesdays myself and another teacher
alternate teaching a group lesson to the 4-6 year old classes). The rest of the day (from 3-5) is snack
followed by story and then play time – three days of the week I do this in Moon
and Star class (1-2 year olds), and the other two days I stay in Sun and Sky
class (Sky class is the 5-6 year olds). Every
other week, I also have to stay at school until 5:30 to help clean Moon and
Star class, but on those weeks, on Wednesdays I don’t have to come to school until 11am, so it all works out nicely. I have to say that the level of English that
these kids have is absolutely amazing!
It’s way better than any of my elementary students in Korea and even my
3 year olds can read and are learning to write – it’s crazy – sometimes I have
to remind myself of how young they actually are! Anyway, it all seems to working out fairly
well. No huge problems yet – a few minor
melt-downs from my students, but that’s bound to happen. Maybe my next post will be a little bit more
about my students here. Not sure, let’s
wait and see!
To see pictures from my wanderings in Takamatsu, click here.
