2nd Day of Classes

So today, I taught at the same school as yesterday Ueno Elementary School (this is my primary school in that I teach here the most). Today was much more fun that yesterday since I taught 3rd graders, which I've heard are supposed to be the most fun to teach. All the kids loved my introduction and wanted to see the stuff after it was over. They think Luke is really cute, that my Mom is beautiful, and are all amazed at the age difference between me and my brothers. They think I'm good at drawing, haha no way, they asked if I was a comic artist haha NOPE! It's funny because alot of the teachers here like Naruto (an anime I watch) as much as the kids. I taught 4 classes today, which is all of the 3rd grade at my school. The lesson plan was almost the same as yesterday. I got to sing head shoulders knees and toes and the kids all laughed because I did mine exagerated. I would open my mouth huge on the mouth part and pull my ears out on the ears part. I also lifted my leg and touched my knees and toes instead of bending down sometimes hahah. The kids are all so freekin cute!

It seems that every class has some sort of trouble maker, which isn't that bad because I can just tell them to stop it in Japanese. Some are just more forward and or weird that others, like one today tried to jump to much on me so I stopped him.

Today I got to go to recess with the kids which was alot of fun. I taught them how to play Frisbee. This one kid, I never got to asking his name, was attached to my hip for the whole recess. Even though all the rest of the kids went crazy for the Frisbee, would throw it and rush to it, this one kid just stood by me the whole time haha. They just crowded and fought over the Frisbee until someone finally threw it. I had to break them into teams so they could actually throw it and catch it without hitting each other in the face. Naturally they wanted a Otoko team and a Onna team (boys and girls) which was fine. After breaking them up they threw it from group to group which was fun to watch.

After recess I had a 2 hour break and then a meeting to make lesson plans for classes next week (4th grade and 6th grade). It went well and I understood alot of what they were saying at the meeting. I also brought my dictionary just in case haha.

After the meeting I posted a note in Japanese that if any teachers want to learn English I'd be happy to teach them, and I put my email on it.

On the way home (on my bike) I rode past a store and some kids inside said NIKORASU SENSEI!? I noticed and waved they all went crazy haha. That right there pretty much made my day that I've only been there two days and kids are already recognizing me and excited to see me.

Tomorrow I teach 1st graders, apparently they don't learn anything, but I'll see what I can do.

I MADE IT! やった！

I just wanted to let everyone know I made it safely and now I'm in a hotel in Utsunomiya Japan. I move into my apartment on Sunday and training begins Monday.

Here's how it all went down: Read if you're curious (It's kinda long)

Monday: PACKED! Went to the bank, and eye doctors.

Tuesday Night: I went to my Aunt's house because Joytalk was mailing my COE (Certificate of Eligibility to my Aunt's work in NYC because they could guarantee an earlier delivery. After not sleeping all night from stress I "woke up" at 7am to start the day. (THANKS TARA YOU ARE MY SAVIOR) (and you rock!!!!!!!)

Wednesday: Went with my Aunt to her work so I could go to the Japanese Consulate in the city. We took a ferry there and it was pretty nice. I got to see the Statue of Liberty for the first time with my own eyes. I also saw ground zero (World Trade Center) and it was interesting. I haven't been there since Sept. 11 happened and it was good to see that they've started work on the freedom tower.

After getting to her work she gave me a tour and her office is really nice. The people working there seem nice too. I could see myself working at a place like that, but I don't know if I could handle living in the city for a long time.

My package (COE) arrived at about 10:00am. This was what I was praying/hoping for all last night. As soon as I got the COE I made photo copies and started to make my way to the Consulate. It took me 30 mins on the subway but I finally made it. Once there I talked to the woman at the window and she said "You know its supposed to take 4 to 7 business days." I was like I know and I'm really sorry, but I need it done today! She said she'll see what they can do, and then gave me a reciept to pick it up at 3:30 that day. (The consulate closed at 4:00pm)

After I got the reciept I went back outside around 49th St. and Park and just started exploring. I wanted to get used to being alone in a city and exploring it hahah. Found some OK stuff. Ended up going to a book store and getting a drink and relaxing. I got some food at Cosi's (pretty good food stuffs haha) I bought a Japanese English dictionary there. I also wanted to get some more Omiyage but only ended up getting one more thing. After hours of waiting and exploring I went back to the Consulate. While there I talked to a few people and thankfully picked up my Visa! After getting this in my hand I was so relieved.

Next I went to the Port Authority and took the bus back to Newburgh (about an hour and half) where my Grandmother picked me up. (THANK YOU!) From there we went to my brother Luke's tee ball game. It was good to see him play one last time before I left. After the game we went to a playground and played around for a bit.

Then we went back home and put the boys to sleep. I did some last minute checking and just made sure everything was set. I printed out my boarding pass and emailed Joytalk a scanned copy of my initial visa entry paper. Went to sleep with excitement (JAPAN) and sadness (I will miss my family).

Thursday: Woke up nice and early, 6:00am and got in the shower to get ready for the airport. After getting everything in the car my step dad and I headed out. We talked a bit in the car on the way. After getting there I checked in my luggage and went through security ect. to get to my gate. I got there around 8/9ish, and had plenty of time to browse the stores around for whatever I might need before I go (magazine or last minute omiyage wise) I was going to buy a book about Japan, but I figured that if I just made Japanese friends I wouldn't really need a book hahaha. Before boarding the plane I made last minute goodbye phone calls to a couple friends I hadn't seen. I just went through my contacts and called people.

Next I got on the plane. I was in the back in a window seat. I was hoping I'd sit next to Japanese people and luckily I did. I watched as they looked at this "Attractions" booklet about what movies were going to be playing for the flight. After watching them try to figure it out I asked if they spoke English in Japanese hahah. The woman next to me gave me a double take and was saying えええええええ？！Basically she was really surprised and told her friend next to her I spoke Japanese. After explaining to them what movies were coming on we talked alot more. I introduced myself in Japanese and they we're both still surprised. Both of the women were really nice and very curious about me. I never asked their names, but I know they both live in Chiba and were coming back from vacation, they went to Cancun for 2 days and NYC for 2 days. I showed the woman next to me all my pictures of Japan so we had something else to talk about. Also I showed her my online flash cards and she helped me learn some more Japanese and fixed any mistakes my flash cards had. I showed them my Genki books and it amazed them ahah. They we're looking at the workbook and textbook for over an hour. After talking to them for a while and learning about them and telling them about myself we finally arrived. (13 Hour flight)

Friday:(Kind of the same day, but I flew over the international date line) After getting to Narita I had to go through customs and immigration and get my luggage. I did all of this with relatively ease and then had to buy a bus ticket to go to Utsunomiya. I bought a phone card and called my Contact here from Joytak and then bought my bus ticket. The bus didn't leave for about 45 mins. From there I bought a Pocari Sweat (YES!) and waited. Got on the bus and found out you could only check 1 bag under the bus. So I had to carry one of my huge bags onto the bus and sit it on my lap for 3 hours on the way there (SUCKED). I felt like a stupid foreigner for about 3 hours on the bus. For some reason the bus felt like a time machine. I kept sleeping but time wasn't moving. The 3 hours felt so long.

After finally getting to Utsunomiya I met with my Contact and walked 5 minutes (which took forever because I had to carry all my stuff) to my hotel. I got to meet another ALT, who has been staying here since last monday due to confusion. Then I went to my room, which I was told women we're not allowed on because there we're naked men there hahaha. (My contact and the other ALT were both women) Anyways I went up to my room which I'll post pictures of later. It's a capsule hotel as well as a normal one. Next I took my shower lol, in a public bath area. A little weird but its ok, once I got back I went to sleep.

Saturday: Now I'm awake and its like 4:00am, and I'm not tired, but I should really try to go back to sleep. I sent out emails and stuff telling everyone I made it safely. Now I'm just talking to friends back in the States because its only like 3:00pm.

****************EDIT****************

Ok so after I woke up around 4:00 I talked to people online until about 5/6 then started to explore Utsunomiya. I posted pictures of my exploration on facebook, of if you don't have it you can see them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063476&l=a4a2a&id=38001190

After that I came back to the hotel and actually slept because I felt a little sick and was bored. I woke up a little while ago and saw Becky arrived and met the other ALTs. Now its about 8:42pm and I guess I'll go back to sleep since I move into my new house in Sano tomorrow at 8:30 am. (I'm not a morning person!)

10 Days

I must of run out of interesting things to blog about, so I guess I'll talk a bit about how I feel about Japan. With each passing day my eagerness grows. My restlessness has become overwhelming.

10 Days from now I'll be on a plane, in the air, and on my way to Japan. Along with this fact come many emotions -- excitement, curiosity, even a little fear. I'm excited because I know it's going to be alot of fun to live in Japan again, even though it won't be like last time with Thirsty everynights and catch last train madness, or stay up all night at some club then almost fall asleep on first train (Which was hella fun even if it was in Arty Farty hahaha). Something else that will be exciting and even rewarding is working with kids. Although I never put serious thought into working with kids I think that I somehow do really well with them and I will really enjoy it.

My curiosity stems from just how many paths the trip has to take in that my experience can be so different, I suppose depending on what I do, and who I talk to/hang out with. In this case there is no usual route. I found out there are 3 other ALT's in my city from Joytalk. Theres two guys from New Zealand and one girl from Canada. The thing is the majority of my interaction, at least during the week will be with my coworkers and not with other ALT's, especially since we're all going to be a different schools. So I'm very curious to see what my social life will be like, if I decide to try and hang out with foreigners or Japanese, but hopefully it will be a good mix. I'm also very curious as to how much my Japanese will improve. One of my goals for the trip is to come back and be able to watch a movie or read a magazine in Japanese and fully understand it. If that's possible I have no idea, but there's a chance that when I get back I might consider Grad school and take Japanese. There's so much to wonder about, but when it comes down to it, you just have to wait and experience it, so I've tried to limit myself about thinking of the possibilities.

As for fear I believe that will go away once I get there. Some of my fears are living on my own for the first time. I've always had someone else living with me, be it family or a roommate. I guess it's not the best idea to start living on my own in a foreign country, but it will give me confidence that I can do it anywhere if I can do it there. I don't really like being alone that much, and I feel if my house can sustain it I'll try to have friends over alot of the time. Also it'll be the first time I'll be virtually friendless on my birthday (since its on the 22nd and I get there on the 15th), and familyless on Christmas. I don't really mind my birthday because I don't really make a big deal of it, and I'm sure by the time Christmas rolls around I'll have enough friends that I'll be fine, and there's even a chance if I make a really close friend that I can spend my Christmas with a Japanese family.

There's tons that Japan has for me to experience. The people there are amazingly nice and will go beyond what's necessary to help me at times. I believe that this trip will be similar to my last visit in that it will once again be a love hate relationship with Japan, the love obviously outweighing the hate. Only time will tell.

日本語のレッスン

NEW POST!

Introduction

Japanese

私はニコラスロカドです。
はじめまして。
アメリカのニューヨークにすんでいます
私は二十一さいです。
私は英語の先生をします。
日本語はすこしはなせます。
日本語をおしえてください。
あえてよかったです、どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

English

I am Nicholas Lockard. Pleased to you meet you. I live in America, but more specifically New York. I am 21 years old. I will be an English teacher. I know how to speak a little Japanese. Please teach me Japanese. I am pleased to meet you, please be kind to me.

This is what I'll stick with for now until I move. This will obviously change around some once I actually get there. I will turn 22 once I get there. I also won't live in NY anymore haha.

Tip ＃１- When telling people where you live - It is best to say a broad area and then the specific area (if necessary). You do this by adding a の (no).

Ex.
とちぎ　の　さの　にすんでいます。

This literally means Tochigi, Sano I live. I think its translated to I live in Tochigi, but more specifically Sano.

Another Tip - Apparently a really, really polite way of replying to 元気ですか？　Is to say -

元気です。　あなた　は　いかが　ですか？　People will be like Wow - you're a foreigner and you said that.　Apparently it is more intellectual sounding.

Some tips!