Archive for category Teaching English
January 23, 2005 – Everyone has colds
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on January 23, 2015
All my co-workers have colds! This means that it’s only a matter of time before I get one too.
Thanks to the close proximity with other teachers and students, it’s very easy for colds to spread quickly. If I was smart, I would probably eat better, get lots of sleep, and lay off the beer and karaoke for a while.
IF I was smart…
January 22, 2005 – First busy day
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Canada, Shizuoka, Teaching English on January 22, 2015
Today was my first really busy day at Mishima NOVA since I transferred in November. It reminded me of a typical day at Kawasaki NOVA.
The teacher’s room at Mishima NOVA is tiny, narrow, and chaotic. There are 6 chairs in a space barely big enough for 5, and we had 8 teachers working today. It is not a good place for claustrophobic people.
After work I met up with Azeroth and Palmer at Ryuu, which has now become our regular izakaya. There is nothing like beer and sushi after a busy day at work!
January 7, 2005 – First day back at work
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Teaching English on January 7, 2015
Today was my first day back at work after my vacation to Canada. I expected to be really tired due to jetlag. Somehow, I managed go get through the day without any serious problems. The only major issue I had was that I kept writing December 2004 on all of my student files.
December 19, 2004 – Last work day of 2004
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, Teaching English on December 19, 2014
Today was my last work day of 2004! In every lesson I told my students about my holiday plans, whether they wanted to hear it or not. I also had my first ever kids demo lesson. I have done demo lessons before, but never for kids classes. I was worried because teaching kids is still the hardest part of the job for me. My demo student was a 3 year old girl with no knowledge of English at all. Somehow everything worked out, and the parents signed up for lessons.
After work I made a brief appearance at the Mishima NOVA teacher and staff Christmas party before heading home in the icy cold rain. I know I should be packing now, but instead I am updating my blog instead. Not smart. At least I already bought my train tickets to get to the airport tomorrow. I made the purchase all in Japanese, which I am pretty happy about.
Must start packing!
December 17, 2004 – Harry Potter 3 (again)
Posted by Barniferous in Movies, Teaching English, The Penpal on December 17, 2014
Today at work I had a class full of 4 year olds. Getting a full sentence in English out of one 4 year old is hard, never mind 6 kids. Oh well, there are only 16 lessons left before I return to Canada for Christmas!
After work I went to see Harry Potter 3 with The Penpal. I had already watched the movie during the summer when my parents were in Japan. We saw the movie at Joyland, a combination bowling alley / game center / movie theater located in the Nakamise shopping area of Numazu near the south side of the station. The theater was nice, but couldn’t compare to some of the giant, modern movie theaters in Tokyo and Yokohama.
The movie was still good the second time, and it was nice to get some time with The Penpal before I went home.
December 13, 2004 – (Not so) wonderful kids
Posted by Barniferous in Shizuoka, Teaching English on December 13, 2014
The injured teacher who was rushed to the hospital a few days ago was back to work today. He was okay to teach in the classroom, but I was asked to teach his kids class to help protect his injured back.
The kids class was full of 8 wonderful children who were very attentive and eager to learn English. They were a pleasure to teach and I think the lesson went very well.
Author’s note: The only thing true about the last two sentences was the number of children.
December 11, 2004 – Medical emergency
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on December 11, 2014
Today was an exciting day at work for all the wrong reasons. One of the teachers injured his back the day before while riding a bicycle. After about 3 lessons, he started having trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital. The other teachers were worried and upset, and the staff did their best to rearrange the schedule on short notice.
Removing a teacher from the schedule in the middle of a shift is not an easy thing to do, and ends up negatively affecting students, teachers, and the staff who have to make it all work out.
I could do without this kind of excitement on the job.
December 5, 2004 – Passing Typhoon
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, Teaching English on December 5, 2014
A typhoon was passing by my part of Japan. There were really strong winds today. Due to the wind, the power went out at NOVA a few times during my voice class. This prevented the end of lesson bell from ringing.
The ending of one lesson and beginning of the next are marked by chimes. Without the chimes, nobody left their classrooms. Eventually one of the teachers noticed that everyone had gone overtime with there lessons, meaning there were only a few minutes to get to the next lesson before it started. Although it was a bit stressful, it was fun to watch everyone scramble to get ready for the next lesson.
December 3, 2004 – Restaurant in the hills
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, Teaching English, The Penpal on December 4, 2014
Today I had an early shift at Mishima NOVA. I was the only teacher working in the morning, which was an unusual experience. At Kawasaki NOVA there was always a minimum of 4-5 teachers at any time. Despite being the only person there, the teacher’s room still seemed tiny.
My third lesson of the day was empty, so I got the staff to ask the students from my second lesson if they wanted to stay. Three had other plans, but one stayed for another lesson. I think I earned some brownie points from the staff for helping sell a lesson.
After work, I went out for dinner with The Penpal and her parents. It was our first time to all have dinner together, so they took me to a nice restaurant in a fancy mountainside hotel. The hotel is called “New Wel Sunpia Numazu“, and it is one of several government owned hotels across the country that are funded by pension money. The hotel is an investment using national pension funds, and offers discounts for members of the pension plan. In addition to hotel rooms and a restaurant, there are also meeting rooms and sports facilities. The whole facility is located on the side of a mountain and offers fantastic views of the city all the way to the ocean.
We ate kaiseki, which is a multi-course traditional meal with many small dishes. I am not really sure what I was eating, but it was all delicious.
It was great to get out and have dinner with The Penpal’s parents, but I learned that I really need to improve my Japanese if I want to communicate with them. I would like to be able to have more of a conversation without relying on a translator.
Drinking in Japan 
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