A Day in the Life

I've decided to make this week's entry one about my typical day in Japan.  Of course it is most exciting to write and read about all of the traveling I have done and people I have met, but I thought it might be nice for you to get a taste of what "real life" is like for me in this wonderful country.

The road on which my school is located.  It's called 23.  Ironic, much, Marshall friends?

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I teach at 10 and 11am and have a break from 12-6pm.  Then I teach at 6 and 7pm on Tuesdays and 6, 7, and 8pm on Wednesdays.  On Thursdays, I teach at 11am, 5, 7, and 8pm, and on Fridays, I teach at 11am, 5, and 7pm.  Mondays I teach at 5, 7, and 8pm, and I teach every other Saturday at 5 and 7pm.  That works out to be 18-20 50-minute lessons per week, and I see the same students each week.  Of course, I also spend time prepping for classes, researching new discussion topics, going to staff meetings, and doing any extra training/enrichment work that is required of us at any time.  It's great that classes never start before 10am, but working until 9pm makes for a long day, especially if I have a lot to do and don't go home during the day.

My place of employment!  See the picture of me in the window on that poster?  Doesn't it look welcoming?

I teach 3 elementary classes, 1 junior high class, 2 senior high classes, and the rest are adult classes.  The adult classes range from first-level Enjoy classes (students are more interested in basic conversation English) to high-level Standard classes (students want to learn the grammar rules behind their conversation skills) and Free Talk classes (students just want to have conversations about all kinds of topics for 50 minutes each week).  The largest class I have is of 4 students, but most of them are 2-3 students.  I also have a few private lessons.  Each class brings with it its own challenges and rewards; I'm continually amazed by how different the dynamic is in each class because of the students.  I like all of my classes for their own reasons, and I love trying to come up with new and interesting discussion topics, activities, games, and ways of working through the textbook in order to keep my students engaged and having fun in class.

This is the Teacher's Lounge.  That's my desk in the middle.  It's only clean because I planned on taking the picture.

 Other side of the Teacher's Lounge.  It's a GREAT napping couch.

I live about 10-12 minutes by bike from OBC with Sarah.  We have a really big apartment by any standards - American or Japanese.  I have my own room with its own air-conditioner and a ton of closet space.  We have a big living room and reall big kitchen.  We also have our own washing machine (they generally don't have dryers in Japan) and a big shower, so we're really lucky.  We even have an extra room that has been dubbed "The Library"!  We've accumulated 200+ books from past teachers, and Sarah is currently cataloging all of them.  We're going to put together new book shelves and create a great little reading den (that's the plan, anyway).

Living Room

Other side of living room

My bedroom

Other side of my bedroom.  You can't see the closets on the left side, but I have A LOT.

Kitchen

Other side of kitchen

Sink and washing machine (The toilet gets its own little room.)

Shower

So on a usual day, I get up, shower, each breakfast, check my e-mail, bike to work, and then either come home for lunch and a nap or stay at school to prep for classes.  Then I teach in the evenings, come home, make dinner, and relax for a few hours before going to bed.  Working every other Saturday is kind of a hassle, but having Sundays off for travel time is great, especially since we live in a really great location because so many of the cool place around us are perfect for day trips.

So far, I really do enjoy teaching, and many of my students have already become my friends.  I can already tell how difficult it will be to leave them when the time comes.  I also really like the Japanese staff members who run OBC, and I always have a great time talking to them and getting to know them on a more personal level.

I hope this was informative and gave you a little clearer idea of what it is that I do every day.  I have a busy week coming up: my mom will arrive on Wednesday!  Stay tuned for the details of that travel adventure!