Archive for May, 2014
May 9, 2004 – Hiyoshi NOVA
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Teaching English on May 9, 2014
I paid back my shift swap by working at Hiyoshi school. Hiyoshi is an older school – the classrooms are 3 students maximum. It was a great relaxing day and a refreshing change of scenery.
2014 Update – It seems that I left out a lot of the detail on my original post. File this one under “don’t talk badly about your employer and coworkers”.
Hiyoshi NOVA was in fact an older school with a 3 student maximum in the classroom. Even if there were 4 students per classroom, the schedule still would have been a lot less busy and chaotic than Kawasaki NOVA. In addition to the lighter schedule, it’s always nice to see some new students in the classroom. Even in a huge school like Kawasaki, you end up teaching the same students regularly.
In my short time at Hiyoshi, I was surprised by a few things related to the teachers and students. The first issue I noticed was that the only female teacher was referred to as “bouncy” by her male coworkers. This nickname was an obvious reference to the ample size of her breasts, and happened to rhyme with her first name. “Bouncy” didn’t seem outwardly bothered by this, but that doesn’t mean that it was in any way appropriate for the workplace.
My other issue was with the way the teachers treated one particular student. This student, let’s call her Rika, was in one of the lowest levels. Before I taught the lesson, I was warned by the other teachers that Rika was not very good, and that she had been stuck in the same level for a long time. I went into the lesson fairly open minded, and found that Rika was easily good enough for the next level. She wasn’t the strongest student, but was far better than any of the teachers had given her credit for.
To move to the next level in NOVA, students require two consecutive level up recommendations from different teachers. At that point they have to pass a test to ensure they have learned all the necessary skills from their current level. If they pass, they are advanced to the next level.
Generally, visiting teachers are discouraged from giving level up recommendations outside of their home school. The reasons that were explained to me were that the visiting teacher is less familiar with the student’s overall performance, and the home teachers may take offense to an “outsider” disagreeing with their judgement. I could understand the opposition if only one recommendation was needed to promote a student, but the requirement for two consecutive teachers to agree provides a good check against prematurely promoting a student.
After the lesson I returned to the teachers room and informed the other teachers that I was giving a level up recommendation. They were surprised, and tried to dissuade me. I gave the recommendation anyway, relying on my judgement as a teacher.
In my 3 years of teaching experience at NOVA, I encountered a number of students who were “stuck in level” for a long period of time. In most cases it was due to the skills not being there. Taking one 40 minute lesson each week does not do a whole lot to improve English ability. However, in some rare cases (as with Rika), the teachers have made up their minds that the student will not advance, and only new supervisors or a new crop of teachers will change the situation.
Months later, I discussed Hiyoshi school with a former Kawasaki teacher who had been sent there as a supervisor to “clean things up”. The problems I described were not surprising to him, and were definitely not the only issues in the branch. As much as I didn’t like working at Kawasaki due to the schedule, I think I would have enjoyed Hiyoshi less.
May 8, 2004 – Atlanta? Seriously??
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Life in Japan, Teaching English on May 8, 2014
I asked students today if they knew the capital city of Canada. I managed to get only one correct answer all day. One lady guessed (in order) Calgary, Quebec, Atlanta.
Seriously.
May 7, 2004 – Accomodations confirmed
Posted by Barniferous in Team Awesome Sauce on May 7, 2014
The DU invasion now has a place to stay when they arrive in Japan! Only two weeks to go!
May 6, 2004 – Thursday night karaoke
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Karaoke, Life in Japan, Yokohama on May 6, 2014
After work a group of teachers from different NOVA branches all met up in Yokohama for nomi-hodai karaoke. For those new to this blog, nomi-hodai means “all you can drink”. To leave enough time for everyone to get to their last train, we only rented the karaoke room for 90 minutes. As soon as we got into the room we immediately started ordering drinks on the convenient wall phone. I sang some of my usual karaoke songs, and tried out “Bust a Move” by Young MC and “Working for the Weekend” by Loverboy (Canada represent!). We all had fun and decided to try to make Thursday karaoke into a regular event.
On the way home, there were two drunk guys waiting for the train. There was less drunk guy (LDG), and really drunk guy (RDG). RDG couldn’t stand by himself, so LDG was holding him up and got him some water. Seems like a pretty nice guy, right? That ended when they got onto the train.
When the train started moving, LDG called RDG’s girlfriend or wife and then put RDG on the phone. RDG was barely intelligible, which I am sure didn’t do him any favours when he got home. After the phone call, RDG was starting to fall asleep. Just as he was nodding off, LDG leaned over and flicked him on top of RDG’s bald head. Hard! RDG tried to swing a punch at LDG, but he was so intoxicated that he basically just flailed his arms ineffectively. Naturally, LDG found this to be funny and so he flicked RDG’s bald head again. RDG started yelling “ITAI!” (it hurts!). LDG was an ass, but at least I got a free show on my train ride home.
May 5, 2004 – Pixies Rule!
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on May 5, 2014
Just before 10:00am this morning I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. It was one of my supervisors calling, asking me if I knew that the work schedule had changed. I told him no, and asked what time I was scheduled to start. He told me that I was on the schedule from 10:00am. For the record – this is not a fun way to wake up.
I quickly shaved, threw on some clothes and RAN for the train. The train ride was 27 minutes long, and as soon as the doors opened I again RAN towards the NOVA school. I managed to arrive 3 minutes before my second lesson. Usually arriving late will get a monetary penalty, but I assume I will not have to pay since I was not informed of the schedule change.
Aside from the excitement, I had a great day. Working a 5 lesson early shift was great because my entire afternoon and evening were free. I used my free time to buy and watch a Pixies concert DVD with documentary. PIXIES RULE!
May 4, 2004 – First time in Don Quijote
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Lux on May 4, 2014
I had the day off due to a shift swap to help another teacher, so Lux and I went out to explore Tokyo. We started by going to Ginza, an upscale shopping area of Tokyo. It is home to some of the biggest and most expensive department store chains. Even the subway station looks nicer than other stations. We had very expensive coffee in a great place overlooking one of the major intersections.
After Ginza we moved on to Roppongi. Roppongi is very, VERY different in the daytime. We checked out the new massive Roppongi Hills complex, which features a 54 story building filled with very expensive shopping and restaurants, as well as several corporate offices. When a store only sells about 10 different high end purses and there are no prices displayed, it’s too expensive for English teachers.
After some wandering around we had dinner at TGI Fridays, which was just the same as back home except more expensive. Finally we finished off our day with our first ever trip to Don Quijote, one of the most fun stores in Japan. Don Quijote literally sells almost everything. DonKi Roppongi has 6 floors, all packed floor to ceiling with anything and everything you could ever want to buy. Finding a specific item is difficult to impossible, but wandering around is part of the DonKi shopping adventure experience.
The highlight was a trip to the adult goods section (they do sell everything). We were surprised and by the variety of products available. In addition to the conventional items you would expect, there was one curious product called “Anal Violence”, which didn’t sound like a good time for anyone. While we were looking, a Japanese woman came in and selected a “personal massager” from the shelf. Lux shouted out in English “OH MY GOD! That woman is buying a vibrator!”. Apparently the woman could understand English, as she turned beet red and left the area.
Exploring Tokyo is a lot more fun with another person. We took a lot of pictures and had a great day. Also, we learned a valuable lesson that you should be careful – you never know who in the area can understand your language.
(2014 Update) I was still using a film camera at the time, and managed to confuse a full and empty roll of film, causing me to lose all of the pictures I took that day 😦
(2014 Update 2) I changed the spelling in the article from “Don Kihote” to “Don Quijote”.
May 3, 2004 – Movie date?
Posted by Barniferous in Movies, The Penpal on May 3, 2014
(Original post) Hanging out and watching movies with The Penpal at Hello House. Fun was had by all.
(2014 Update) When I originally had my blog, I usually remembered to post details on which movies I watched. Looking back it is entirely possible that no movies were watched on this date 🙂
May 2, 2004 – Fantaisie Impromptu
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, The Penpal on May 2, 2014
A few weeks ago, The Penpal asked me if I would like to come to her piano recital in Numazu. She asked very politely and said that she would completely understand if I didn’t want to go, or if it was too inconvenient. She also apologized in advance about her performance, which was apparently not going to be very good. Being a good boyfriend, I agreed to go. There was only one catch – since The Penpal would need to be there early in her formal kimono, her father would be picking me up at the train station and driving me to the recital.
A few days before the recital date, I started teaching myself a few new words of Japanese to make conversation in the car. The Penpal’s father didn’t speak any English, so I would need to use all of my Japanese skill to communicate. I brought my dictionary and phrase book on the train and studied right up until I arrived at Numazu station.
At the station, The Penpal’s father easily found me (the only white guy around), and we exchanged greetings and got into the car. He asked me how the train ride was. I asked him how far away the recital was. We discussed how nice the weather was. He pointed out the carp banners along the riverside. I asked if he could play any instruments. We kept the conversation going until we arrived at the culture centre. I was relieved because I had basically exhausted my vocabulary by that point.
We pulled into the parking lot, and were told by the attendant that the parking lot was completely full, and we would need to wait for some cars to leave before we could enter. The wait was estimated to be about 15 minutes, but the time would depend on when people decided to leave. At this moment I looked over at The Penpal’s father and he looked at me. We both had exactly the same expression on our faces – the universal “Oh Shit” look.
To say that the next 15 minutes were awkward would be a gross understatement. We attempted to discuss a few topics with little success. I attempted to use my dictionaries to assist, but there is nothing that kills a conversation like trying to frantically flip through a dictionary to find a noun, then equally frantically searching for a verb to attach it to. I am sure that he would have rather been almost anywhere other than stuck in a car with some gaijin who was dating his daughter.
After 15 minutes that seemed like about 2 hours, a car left and we were able to park and enter the culture centre. I was greeted by The Penpal, looking fantastic in her formal kimono, The Penpal’s mother, and Williams. The Penpal needed to go backstage to get ready for her performance, leaving me to sit with her parents and Williams. Right before she left, she again apologized and asserted that she would not be very good.
One major cultural distinction of Japanese people is that they NEVER admit to being good at something, even if they are great. The Penpal had actually been playing piano for 20 years, and dazzled the audience with a jaw dropping performance of Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu. If you have never heard this before, PLEASE click the link above. It is truly a beautiful song and a challenging piece for a pianist.
On my way back to Numazu I reflected on a productive day: I survived the car ride, met The Penpal’s mother, and got to witness The Penpal’s skill on the piano. I also learned to never trust a Japanese person who says they are not good at something.
(2014 Update) This was a complete rewrite of my original 4 sentence post. I can’t believe I didn’t write more at the time!
May 1, 2004 – Request forms
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Life in Japan, The Penpal on May 1, 2014
Busy busy day at Kawasaki NOVA with a pile of new teachers. I did a bunch of paperwork today, submitting vacation requests and a transfer request.
(2014 Update) My original post didn’t really capture the huge decision that I made regarding the transfer request. At this point I had spent 7 months in Japan, and was starting to really enjoy life there. I was about to get full time hours, I had a girlfriend, and was expecting two waves of visitors during the summer. One year in Japan simply was not going to be long enough.
On a NOVA transfer request you can list up to 3 different schools that you would like to transfer to. The Penpal was living in Numazu, so I wanted to find a school in the area. After consulting a NOVA school list and the internet, I found that the closest schools were in Numazu, Mishima and Fuji. All 3 were much smaller than Kawasaki NOVA, and close to Mt. Fuji. I consulted the area manager, and learned that NOVA divided Japan into West and East regions. Kawasaki was in the East, and the 3 schools I requested were in the West. A transfer from one school to a nearby school in the same area could be processed quickly. Transferring from East to West was expected to take a few months, but I was happy to wait.
With the submission of one piece of paper, I had just increased my commitment to both my Japan adventure and to The Penpal. It was a bit scary, but looking back I am VERY happy with my decision.
Drinking in Japan 
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