Overview

Hello again, folks!

So, I`ve gotten a few questions as to what I`m actually doing while I`m here, so I`ll try to clear some of that up with a general answer session.

I am employed by the Japanese government to teach English in the public schools. Technically, I am employed as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), so I will always be working with a Japanese Teacher of English (JTE) in the classroom. That gives a bit of relief to my lack of experience! We will plan lessons together and execute them as a team for the students. I`m teaching high school aged students, so they are not much younger than me. However, there is a clear distinction between who is a student and who is a teacher - all of the students wear uniforms to school. This is common throughout Japan, through Junior and Senior High.

I am assigned to work at 3 different highschools. Kitako is my base school, and has a special English program, so the students here are very smart. Right now I am here every day, but when school starts, it will just be two days a week. Another two day a week school is Kagikou, a science and technology school. It has more of a vocational focus. I`ve only been there once, so have yet to feel out the atmosphere. And my last school, Awanou is an agricultural school. It has all sorts of plants and animals on the grounds that the students take care of, and whose produce they sell to people in the town. It`s a very practical school, but the students aren`t very motivated for schoolwork, and many have various disabilities that make it difficult to learn. I`ll be there once a week, and need a car to drive the 40 minute distance.

My job is also salaried, which means that I am able to pay for an apartment, and live alone. Before coming, I heard many estimations of how big (small, rather) my apartment would be, but it really is incredibly spacious! 2 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen/dining area, and bathroom/shower. My school subsidizes the rent, so it is only about $400 per month, I think. It`s a much nicer place than I could find in Minneapolis for that much, at any rate! It also came fully stocked with things from the previous ALT owner, so I barely had to buy anything to furnish it.

However, I have had a lot of expenses in this first month. I bought a (used) car, insurance for it, paid rent right away, orientation costs, and will soon have to get set up with a phone and *crosses fingers* internet. As long as I can make it until my next paycheck, I think I`ll be financially flourishing for the next few years, and hopefully pay off my student loans while I`m at it.

Let`s see... what other kinds of questions have I gotten? My area is not quite as rural as I anticipated, and feels very much like a suburb to me. There are houses all over, plentiful supermarkets, and even a mall in (or near?) my town. It`s about a 40 minute bike ride to the biggest city in the prefecture, so I`m nicely positioned. At the same time, though, there are almost as many fields as there are houses (ok, not quite), wedged in their tiny lots. Rice, radishes, pears, and a zillion other plants whose names I don`t know. It`s rather pretty, really.

As far as how I`m doing, good still. However, I seem to be tired almost all the time, even after habitual 9 hours of sleep each night! People say this is a part of adjusting to a new culture, so it must be true. That being said, I have plenty of time in which to rest or read or write or bike, or any activity that I please to do other than tv or internet. I`ve been getting increasingly lonely, so any emails, letters, pictures, or postcards you might send would be greatly appreciated. Also, I have lots of extra bedding if someone wants to come for a visit!

That`s all for now. Feel free to ask any more questions that I`ve neglected!

PS - see if you can find me in two of these pictures. *hint - I`m the only one in bright clothes.
http://tokushimakita-hs.tokushima-ec.ed.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=journal_view_main_detail&post_id=363&comment_flag=1&block_id=257#_257