Hoping that Laughing Burns Many Calories.

Hey Everyone,

I started my day well. I got up a little bit earlier and went to Starbucks for breakfast. Yummmmmyyyyy!!!

Last night was the Welcome Party for the English Department at school. I have to admit that I had a lot of fun. One of the new teachers is really funny and cracks jokes every couple of minutes.

The teachers have been in meetings all day yesterday and today. Basically I am getting a new supervisor. My new supervisor is actually a teacher I really like. He is very sweet and has been really nice to me since I have arrived. I was happy to hear it was him.
I'm also not going to do all those grammar classes I have been doing for the last 8 months. Instead I'm going to do OC (Oral Communications) classes and I'll be working with the 1st years more (high school here is 3 years). Yipee!!! That means fun games and worksheets instead of trying to answer hard grammar questions that I can't understand. SCORE!!!
However, that also means that I have to step up my game and be more creative, so that the classes go well and the students have fun communicating in English.

Moving ON---- Last night I watched the last episode of Boys Before (Over) Flowers.


SPOILERS



It was really sweet. It ended like any typical drama ends, with a marriage proposal. I felt bad for Yoon Ji hoo though. He really loved Geum Jan Di. I'm thinking that I should watch Meteor Garden (Taiwanese version), but I need some time in between. If I do watch Meteor Garden, then that would mean that I would have watched 3 versions of the same drama. lol. Sad!

Listening to At the Moment: Boys Over Flowers Soundtrack

Partying It Up

Today is a cold and rainy day. Last week it was pretty nice, so the school put all their kerosene heaters away. However, this week it's been chilly and what makes it worse is that there are no heaterｓ. Geez!!!


Last night、 it was the school's farewell party for the teachers who are being transferred out. The hall that was rented out in the hotel nearby, the same one that was used for the end of the year party, had round tables. However, the guests of honor, which were the people that are leaving, were at a long table in the side of the room.

The party started at 6:30. When we got there, we picked letters randomly from a box, which told us where to sit. I did this 3 times because they wanted me to have at least one other English speaker at my table. I was greatful for that. Then, we go to our seats. The party officially starts with a toast. We all get our glasses and say "Kanpai" (Cheers!!!).

Here is a rule to follow. We always pour the drink for the person next to us. This means that once the drinks hit the table, you do not pour the drink for yourself. Instead, you pour the drink for the person next to you and they will pour the drink for you.

Throughout the evening, everyone would go to the guests of honor and pour drinks into their cups, say some words of encouragement and good wishes and move on to the next person. Usually, people would say "Gambatte Kudasai" (Please do your best) and a little bit of small talk, depending on how close they were to that person. The guests of honor, would take sips of their drink every time somone would come up, which was constantly, in order for there to be space to pour more drinks. My vice principal, who is also leaving, had a hidden bucket next to him, so that he could pour out his drink every once in awhile. It would allow us to fill up his cup. lol.

There were also speechs by everyone who was leaving.

In the end, everyone got in a circle, put their arms around each other and sang the school song. Then, we do Bonzai before going home. I guess this is how they end all enkais (drinking parties) because the other big enkai I went to ended the same way.
It's a little bit surreal when we get into the circle because at school, I'm usually in my own little bubble and don't really realize anything around me. However, when we get into a circle, that's when I realize "Wow I'm the only foreigner here. Everyone else here is Japanese." lol. It's such a stupid thing to think because it's so obvious, but I usually forget about how different my surroundings our now compared to my life prior to coming here.

Anyway, before leaving, everyone got into two lines and lifted their arms, so that the guests of honor could walk under them. The men were at the end by the door because they would throw up the guys who were leaving 3 times in the air. Kim said that her school also throws up the girls, but mine only lifts the guys. However, the last person walking out of the door was a female Japanese teacher. The male gym teacher was really drunk and told the guys to throw her up as well. She was so embarrassed, but the guys gave in and threw her up.
It was interesting to see this all take place.

At the end of the night, most of the teachers went to after parties but I decided to go home because I had to go to work the next day.

This morning, there were only like 3 guys in the teacher's office and they were all the way at the other end. My end was completely dark. lol. Yup, I'm the one who turned on the lights. Most people took nenkyu (vacation time) a few hours in the morning or just took the entire day off. It's Spring Break, so it's the perfect time to do that. I want to save my vacation days for later on though.

On Wednesday it's the English Department's Welcome Party for the new teachers. Hmmm...I might go to the after party for that one.

Goodbye! Farewell! Sayonara! Until Next Time!

Spring is here, although it's been kind of cold all weekend and today, so it doesn't feel very springy. Anyway, with spring comes flowers and in Japan that means plenty of beautiful cheery blossoms (sakura). Over here, people go sakura flower viewing because it is so beautiful. They even have a name for this called hanami ( 花見）、which literally means flower viewing.

Anyway, although Sunday was a little bit chilly, really cloudy and even rained a bit, we went to go see the sakura nearby at Takuoka Castle. It was so beautiful. It left me speechless, which is a hard thing to do. lol. I almost got teary eyed because it was so beautiful and it was one of those moments were you tell yourself, "Oh my gosh, I am in freakin Japan. I can't believe it!" You would be surprised how easily you forget once your life becomes routine here as well.

This is an example of the before and after picture of the castle.
This is Takuoka Castle in the Fall



This is the castle in the spring.



If you want to take a look at more of my pictures of the cherry blossoms, you can go here to my Flickr Account.




Today, it was the Farewell Ceremony for the teachers who are being transferred out. Basically, all the teachers came into the main teacher's office 30 minutes before the ceremony. The principal said each one of their names and where they were going. We all clapped and bowed. Then, they made their way to the gym with all of the other teachers and students.

Today it's kind of cold and rainy, which means that the gym is cold, including the floor. Why do I never remember my indoor sneakers when I really need them? I was a bit jealous of the teachers who remembered to bring their indoor sneakers because my feet were freezing. lol.

Anyway, each teacher that was leaving gave a speech, including our vice-principal, who is going to be the principal at Alex's school. There are like 16 or 17 teachers in total who are going, including 2 who are retiring. This means that it took a really, really long time to get through all of the speeches, especially since many of the speeches were like 10 minutes or more, or at least that's what it felt like.

One teacher went all out for his speech. He spoke for like 20 minutes, he had visual aids, he made the student's do pair work, and he even had his own farewell song playing at the end of his speech. The next teacher who came up after him made a speech that was less than 2 minutes long. I was greatful to the second guy. lol.

Anyway by the end of it, some teacher's whose friends were leaving, were crying. A few of the kids were also emotional. I noticed that when the school band was playing a farewell song for the teachers, one flute player could barely play because she was crying so much. She had to keep wiping away her tears. Actually while I am writing this, she came into the teacher's room still teary eyed and asking one of the teachers, who is going away, to take a picture with her. Awwwwww!!!

There were also a lot of graduates here today. It's crazy to see them now. A month ago they were all wearing their uniforms and had straight, black hair in ponytails. Now they had dyed hair, perms, ridiculously high high-heeled shoes, and crazy clothing. It's cool to see how far the kids go with their looks because for so many years they can't do anything, not even put highlights in their hair, so the minute they graduate, they do everything and anything that they can to change their look. lol.

Oh another thing I didn't know about farewells is that the people who are leaving usually leave behind presents for the other teachers. Today, the mailboxes were all full of presents. I can't wait to see what I have, but I also feel a bit bad that I didn't buy anything for the English teachers who are leaving. Crap!

I have been a bit confused about why they are always transferring the teachers, but today one of the English teachers gave me an answer to that. He said that they don't want teachers to end up being too lazy, laid back (I guess too comfortable with their position) at a school. He also said it's because by transferring teachers, they will be unable to make very strong connections with one school, which would allow them to do anything they want. I guess it's a system of keeping teachers on their toes.

It still kind of sucks because they are not really stable. They don't really know where they are going to move next. Some teachers end up transferring a couple of hours away, so they have to live apart from their families during the weekdays because their families can't move with them. However, some teachers get excited because they are moving closer to their families or they are moving to a school that they know well and know the people there. It all depends on the person and the location that they are being placed in.

Anyway, today is the Farewell Teacher's Party at night. It should be fun! :)