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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Friday 8 September 2006

Japanese students and school

A few of the interesting observations I've made during the short time I've been at this school:

- The boys are somewhat more effeminate than what I'm used to. They will unashamedly proclaim they like shopping, wear girly hairclips (probably forced to by their homeroom teacher due to their long hair), hold hands with each other and play with each other's hair. Now, obviously this is not the norm - not all boys do this. However, the few that do seem to not faze any of the teachers - I'm the only one with the oh-so-subtle raised eyebrow.

- The students have amazing creative abilities. Their drawings and their decorative abilities are pretty good (the students have to prepare and decorate the school for their festival).

- the school's pep rally is unusual - the boys are the 'cheerleaders', and it remains a pretty ceremonious procedure.

On another note, I keep reading about other JETs having lots of free time at work. I'm obviously not one of them. In fact I find that I am even bringing my work home with me (something I have never ever done and I've said I'd never do). My official working hours are 8:20am to 16:05pm - I'm usually at work by 8:05am and I don't leave until 17:00pm (the other teachers work until 17:01pm so I feel kinda bad leaving early too). It's not easy planning interesting lessons, especially since I feel it is my onus as a JET to be the fun part of the teaching team. As mentioned before, I work with five different JTEs (Jap Teachers of English) and they each have different expectations and teaching styles. I have to take that into account as well as the dynamics of each classroom when planning lessons :P

I hope that it will get easier as I plan more lessons..

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