1. I had my "welcome party" tonight, which mostly is an excuse for the ALT employers to get together and drink, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The beginning was really awkward because I was sitting with my direct boss and my boss's boss. Also, it was literally me and five old(ish) men. What's more, old men are probably the most difficult demographic for me to understand. There was a lot of nodding and smiling tonight, although, when I was engaged and paying attention I could understand most of what was going on. I moved over to the "young folks table" half-way through (this means two men who were perhaps less than 50, but probably one of them was about 55...) Anyway, I got to talk to Okuyama-san who is my absolute favorite at the Board of Education. He's really nice and he takes the time to explain things to me. Also, I found out tonight that he speaks French! His pronunciation is really great too. Of course, despite the fact that we all had a fairly good time, I know that when I show up to work a week from now (break is coming up) no one will say anything about it. This is what I've heard. Silly Japan...
2. I made the most awesome flash cards today to use while teaching the song, "This Old Man" to the elementary school kids. I know I've said I don't like making flash cards, but these ones are colorful and a little strange ('one' opposite 'thumb', 'two' opposite 'shoe' etc.), and it really beat sitting at my desk at the junior high doing nothing (all the colored paper and the laminating machine are at the BOE).
3. This happened a few days ago but: I played Radiohead for Mamiko the other night. The look on her face was so great. She had clearly never heard anything like it. I don't think she particularly liked it, but it just tickles me that someone on the other side of the earth was responding to their music like that. Her expression was a mixture of disbelief, confusion and... fascination might be too strong of a word but... souiukanji (it's that kind of feeling).
2 comments:
Radiohead are very popular in Hong Kong. They do tend to like all things British when it comes to music (for obvious reasons). I love this blog!
Among the things I remember most from teaching High School French was making posters of food. I cut out pictures from magazines and labeled them in French. I really liked these posters! Simple as it was I think the chance to do something a teeny bit visually creative was really fun. I love this blog, too!
This message is from Peaceful Valleys, not Upper Meadows.
Post a Comment