It's been a long time since I decided to share anything, and my girlfriend has been encouraging me to do this, so here it goes.
My life has been quite different ever since I came to Japan. I dealt with culture shock, working visa bureaucracy, the language barrier, and actually having 4 seasons just to name a few. It was definitely hard at first, dealing with the culture shock and language barrier, but it definitely got better especially after I decided to really dedicate some time to learning Japanese. But the biggest change in my life actually occurred when I started working my current job. And that is, a kindergarten English teacher.
Everyday is different. Yes, I only teach them 45 minutes out of the day, and then I actually go to a different site in the afternoon to teach English to older kids and sometimes adults. But I'm not just sitting around waiting to teach for those 45 minutes and then just leave. I'm around these kids all the rest of the time as well: during their morning exercise, playtime, snack time, craft time, and lunch time. I've seen these kids grow up really fast. They went from zero English to understanding me when I ask them to wash their hands, change their clothes, go to the bathroom, eat their food, drink their water, say "Thank you" and "You're Welcome," "How are you?" and "I'm fine thank you." And when they hurt each other's feelings, they apologize in English. Their sponge-like brains have continued to amaze me with each passing day. And this is something I never expected with this job. I never expected to feel the love I have for them, and the passion I have for wanting them to grow into responsible adults. I guess this is the closest I will ever get to parenthood without actually being a parent myself!
Aside from the usual morning exercises, lunch time, and English time, there are days with special events like 運動会 (undokai), 夏祭 (natsumatsuri), Halloween, 餅つき (mochitsuki), and 豆まき (mamemaki).
Undokai or "sports day," takes place on a certain Saturday every summer and involves the kids participating in various events for "points" that lead to a certain team winning in the end. The points really do not matter and the tradition is meant for the kids to be active and I suppose, impress their parents?
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| One of the events my kids did was this ball relay race. Their parents helped them push a huge ball around a cone. |
Natsumatsuri is literally translated as, "summer festival," and it entailed an evening with various street vendors selling shaved ice, 焼そば (yakisoba), sausages, and other "festival-esque" type things. The kids also did this special dance, and we dressed up in special attire.
Halloween was obviously fun because we all got to dress up, and the kids were just ridiculously adorable.
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| Alice and the White Rabbit |
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| Witch and Rabbit |
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| Dinosaur |
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| Mario and Toadstool (and a sad Peter Pan, and Donald Duck) |
I'm pounding the mochi!
My kids are pounding the mochi!
Mamemaki is done during Setsubun, the day before the first day of Spring in Japan (February 3). It involves throwing beans (mame) at a monster or demon (oni). At my school, the bus drivers put on oni masks and chased the kids around in the auditorium while the kids threw peanuts at them. Then, the kids put on oni masks, and we got to throw peanuts at them.
Bus Driver Demons!
Demons being themselves!
And other than these special days and events, there's just the ordinary randomness that comes with being a kindergarten teacher.
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| Meet Seimu. I think he's a genius. |
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| He's 3 and he was able to write this pretty early in the year, before I taught colors. Keep in mind, he's Japanese! |
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| Oh yeah, and he can do math too. I taught him how to say "addition," "plus," and "equals." |
In the summer, kids were able to swim in the pool. It was really crazy trying to get them to change into and out of their swimsuits. They were basically running around naked in the classroom!
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| Sick kids or kids with worried parents had to stick to the "kiddie pool," |
Whenever we had fire drills, the kids had to learn to take the pad off their chair and put it over their head. They also had to cover their face with their pocket hankies!
Have you ever had a day were you just wanted to rip everything up and toss it in the air in frustration to let it all out? Well, my kids did...
And of course, there are various arts and crafts that make me proud to be their teacher.
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| One of my kids drew this portrait of me. Spot on, don't you think? |
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| One of my after-school 7-year olds gave me these cookies and said she wrote the English all by herself! |
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| 雪だるま (snowmen) they made for the winter season! |
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| Oh Seimu. |
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| Snails and Handprint 花火 (fireworks) |
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| I just really like the smile on this face :) |
These are just a few of the things I wanted to share. There are so many things I have experienced since starting this job and so many more things I hope I will never take for granted. I'm sure I will never have another job like this in my life where I get to observe and oversee the growth of tiny human beings. It can be crazy at times, but when a kid comes up to me and asks for something in English, it's all I need to keep going. Because that shows that my job means something, and that I'm making an impact in these kids' lives.
