Jun 2006

ECC Junior

Courtney and I have both signed up to work for another part of ECC. It's called ECC Junior. Basically, we go out to either kindergartens or elementary schools and play with the kids and try to teach them something. With kindergarten there is a Japanese teacher that goes out and teaches English every week and then we come out a few different times, depening on how many visits they sign up for. This would be the equivalent of us going to Saundra's playschool or Mrs. Maltby's and teaching Japanese. Just to put it into perspective. The elementary school is exactly what it sounds like. We go out to an elementary school and teach English. I think the many point is to let the kids interact with a foreigner, but that's ok.

I signed up for the kindergarten visits and Courtney signed up for the elementary school visits.

So far I have done two visits. I don't have any pictures because I'm not sure if I am allowed to take them or not. I will try to take some at some of my visits.

The first kindergarten I went to was about 20 kids ranging in age from two to four years, They put us in an area to prep for our lesson which just happened to be the tatami (a Japanese mat they use in rooms, it is what is in our bedroom) room and there were two kids asleep. While we were getting organized one of the kids woke up and just stared at me. I don't think he had any idea what to make of me. The kids were really cute and well behaved. When we were finished they all came up and gave me high fives and followed me around the kindergarten until I left.

The only problem is they were all snot factories. So, many kids had boogers falling out of their nose and their lips were crusty from old snot. It was disgusting. When I left I made sure that I did not touch myself until I got a chance to wash my hands. Then the first thing I said to Court when I got home was, "It was the easiest thing I've done yet, but they are going to make me sick!" I then washed my hands and took my vitamins.

The second kindergarten I went to was out in the middle of nowhere. But I was told it is a very prestigious kindergarten. The actual kindergarten was probably the size of St. Charles's school and it was full of four year olds. Every class room had a really nice piano in it. And they had a stage in one corner with lots of different instruments for them to play. When I showed up all the kids were out in the courtyard for recess and every class had the same colour hat on. So there was a group of purple hatted kids, and a group of red hatted kids. It is pretty cute and very effective for finding your students. The other thing is, all the boys had on blue smocks and blue slippers and the girls had on pink smocks and pink slippers. This was even cuter.

I had to do four 30 minute classes. I went in, reviewed colours and shapes, sang a few songs, read a book, played a game then went on to the next one, It was fun, but it was about 26 °C and I didn't have enough time to drink as much water as I wanted between the classes. These kids were really well behaved and a lot of fun. And, yes they were snot factories as well.

Courtney - the elementary school side

So I have fewer school visits than Andrew, and only one school. It's a Korean elementary school up in Kyoto at the foot of the mountains. It's an incredibly beautiful area. I teach two 40 minute lessons, one each to a grade 3/4 and 5/6 class. Neither has more than 25 students in it. I was met at the station by an ECC trainer, who took me on a bus to the school and stayed through my first lesson. I don't think any of the staff at the school speak English, so my next visit should be a challenge. We arrived at the school and were told to wait in the office while the staff found the teachers who were responsible for my classes. I taught the grade 3/4 first, and ran out of material to teach them after about 25 minutes (there must have been some kind of miscommunication, because I prepared a different lesson than the school had materials for), so I had to do some pretty amazing improv to keep them entertained. They seemed to have fun though, and a few girls ran out into the hall after me to say thank you and goodbye as I went down the stairs. They were all pretty cute in their uniforms.

My next class was for the grade 5/6 class. The teacher here was a lot more helpful than in the previous class. I was grateful for that. They enjoyed themselves as well.

A couple of things I noticed at this school:

- all the female teachers and staff were dressed in traditional Korean kimono, whereas the men wore modern shirt-and-tie getups.

- in the office, there were portraits on the wall. Well, in Canada, we usually have the Queen, right? Well, at Korean elementary schools (at least this one) they hang portraits of Kim Jong Il, and his dad Kim Il Sung (the deceased, yet current, president).

All in all, this was a pretty easy and interesting teaching experience. The kids were all very well behaved and keen to learn and play. I'm really looking forward to going back again.

Oh, and none of my kids were "snot factories". Nice, AC.

It's taken us three months of walking everywhere and jumping out of the way when we hear the ding ding of a bike bell or the screech of most Japanese people's bike brakes, but we finally did it. As of yesterday we have joined the bike club.

Here are our new bikes:

The Blue Dragon - (Courtney's bike)

Complete with:

• 2 litre (Toto sized) plastic granny basket

• kick stand that holds up both sides

• light that runs on a pedal-powered generator (so they can see you coming, but who wants that?)

• rear rack, for bags or for doubling other people (like, if Jack Bauer needed to commandeer my bike for something, like catching some terrorist, I would totally give him a lift)

• a bike lock

• one high pitched bell to turn the walkers into jumpers.

• cloaking device paint job

The Red Dragon - (Andrew's bike)

Complete with:

• puncture proof Kevlar® front and rear tires

• 3 L stainless steel granny basket

• 1 comfortable bike seat

• 1 bike lock

• 1 100 watt halogen light

• titanium forged frame to increase the acceleration

• 0 - 60 in two days

• one slightly higher pitched bell, to scare the bejeezus out of the unsuspecting. And to summon Harry to help me find a spot to park it.

The good thing is that our new bikes have cut the travel time to the station from about 10 minutes to 3 minutes, as long as we can find a bike parking spot. I'm not sure if Harry can help with bikes or help in Japan. But, hopefully he can.

Courtney was unsure about her bike skills when we first got our bikes yesterday. And on the way home she was passed by a man in a wheelchair and a woman with a cane. The nice thing is it made carrying all of our groceries home a whole lot easier.

Quick closing notes from Courtney:
The Red Dragon is officially registered under my name, but Andrew was getting whiny about how he really wanted a red bike, so we switched. Plus the Blue Dragon is a better fit for me.

Oh, and Andrew's a havoc-wreaking biker. Yes, Mom, I'm being cautious.

Disclaimer: bikes may not be exactly as described. We got 'em second hand, and mine already has a dent.