Well it's such a novelty to have everything back up and running that I thought I would write something. I usually only post when I have photos but I realise that I have a lot more to say!
This week is going quite slowly and I'm starting to find that I have a little bit more free time at work than I am comfortable with. I have a slightly uncomfortable feeling that I am not truly earning my money. It may be that I still don't understand my own purpose in school, I spend a lot of my chatting with the students informally and am putting a lot of effort into supporting them at music/sports events. Maybe this is what they pay me for? It just doesn't feel like work! I also spend lunchtimes playing Jenga with the students and listening to English music. But as far as being busy with responsibilities I would rather a few more! The hours I work can be pretty long if I do after school activities though, but there is always a feeling that I should have worked harder/longer as teachers here stay till 8pm sometimes!
One good thing to inform you of is that I now have proper Japanese classes. Every Monday Mike and I will be visiting Sakai Sensei in Ina (about 45 minutes drive away) for an hour lesson each. She is a very good teacher as she took my intensive class in Aizuwakamatsu in August, so I am looking forward to it. I think she will be quite strict and only teach in Hiragana rather than use Japanese in Roman script. This means I am desperately trying to get to grips with it for next week. I have just about mastered Katakana which is the script used for foreign words, so now I have to get used to Hiragana before I can start learning Kanji, the Chinese characters. The three scripts tend to be used interchangeably and most sentences will use all three.
Here is my name "Matto" in each script so you can see the difference...
マ ッ ト － Katakana
ま っ と －Hiragana
真 人 - Kanji
Kanji characters have different meanings when you use them in a different order. For example when used like this, the kanji for Matto means "honest/honourable man".
This afternoon I am taking the train to Aizuwakamatsu to watch the school band contest. I love the students in the band (they're probably the geeks!) and the students seem to really appreciate it when I come to support them. For example, I went to a sports contest last week and watched the volleyball team beat Tadami school 2-0. There was lots of whooping and cheering! Me and Bryn (from Tadami school) had a 1,000yen bet on it and got really competitive! Sssh though, betting is illegal here I think!
I have become a lot more settled recently in this area and have started to enjoy reading again and the quiet of my own house. I have been less inclined to go out and party and instead enjoy the regular visits from local friends and dinner with Mike, Matt and Meredith. Unfortunately, Bryn is a bit too far away in Tadami to meet with regularly but we see him often on weekends. Needless to say that the restaurants in this area love us as I eat out nearly every day! Food here is very cheap and extremely healthy. I feel great for my new diet and am quite happy to carry on supporting the local restaurant trade!
Speak soon x
This week is going quite slowly and I'm starting to find that I have a little bit more free time at work than I am comfortable with. I have a slightly uncomfortable feeling that I am not truly earning my money. It may be that I still don't understand my own purpose in school, I spend a lot of my chatting with the students informally and am putting a lot of effort into supporting them at music/sports events. Maybe this is what they pay me for? It just doesn't feel like work! I also spend lunchtimes playing Jenga with the students and listening to English music. But as far as being busy with responsibilities I would rather a few more! The hours I work can be pretty long if I do after school activities though, but there is always a feeling that I should have worked harder/longer as teachers here stay till 8pm sometimes!
One good thing to inform you of is that I now have proper Japanese classes. Every Monday Mike and I will be visiting Sakai Sensei in Ina (about 45 minutes drive away) for an hour lesson each. She is a very good teacher as she took my intensive class in Aizuwakamatsu in August, so I am looking forward to it. I think she will be quite strict and only teach in Hiragana rather than use Japanese in Roman script. This means I am desperately trying to get to grips with it for next week. I have just about mastered Katakana which is the script used for foreign words, so now I have to get used to Hiragana before I can start learning Kanji, the Chinese characters. The three scripts tend to be used interchangeably and most sentences will use all three.
Here is my name "Matto" in each script so you can see the difference...
マ ッ ト － Katakana
ま っ と －Hiragana
真 人 - Kanji
Kanji characters have different meanings when you use them in a different order. For example when used like this, the kanji for Matto means "honest/honourable man".
This afternoon I am taking the train to Aizuwakamatsu to watch the school band contest. I love the students in the band (they're probably the geeks!) and the students seem to really appreciate it when I come to support them. For example, I went to a sports contest last week and watched the volleyball team beat Tadami school 2-0. There was lots of whooping and cheering! Me and Bryn (from Tadami school) had a 1,000yen bet on it and got really competitive! Sssh though, betting is illegal here I think!
I have become a lot more settled recently in this area and have started to enjoy reading again and the quiet of my own house. I have been less inclined to go out and party and instead enjoy the regular visits from local friends and dinner with Mike, Matt and Meredith. Unfortunately, Bryn is a bit too far away in Tadami to meet with regularly but we see him often on weekends. Needless to say that the restaurants in this area love us as I eat out nearly every day! Food here is very cheap and extremely healthy. I feel great for my new diet and am quite happy to carry on supporting the local restaurant trade!
Speak soon x
posted by Matthew Fulford at 9:30 am
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