November 19, 2003 – Easy day
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on November 19, 2013
Original 2003 Post:
What a great day! Three lessons, voice and an observation! Whee!
2013 Update:
An observation at NOVA was when an experienced teacher got to watch a training teacher’s lesson and offer feedback. Apparently my 6 weeks on the job qualified me to do this. Watching other teachers, even the training teachers, was a great way to get some new ideas for lessons. It also required no planning at all, which made things much more relaxed.
The biggest mistake that training teachers would make is on lesson timing. NOVA lessons were 40 minutes each and had a few different stages including a warm up, language introduction, drills, and then usually an activity to practice the new language. New teachers would rush through everything and be done in 20 minutes, leaving a 20 minutes of “WTF do I do now?”. During one memorable observation, the teacher actually opened the door and asked me for ideas on how to fill the remaining lesson time. I got him to get the students talking for a minute, and then frantically wrote down a list of ideas on a piece of paper.
If you are an English teacher and are getting to observe training teachers, make good comments and offer good advice. That way you will get picked for observations again and get a nice break from lesson planning and teaching!
November 17, 2003 – Kids Training
Posted by Barniferous in Karaoke, Teaching English on November 17, 2013
Original 2003 post:
Kids training in Totsuka (south of Yokohama). The provided map is a joke. We sing the alphabet song many times with the NOVA approved ending “sing sing sing sing sing with me” instead of the preferred “next time won`t you sing with me”. After training we hit the izakaya and are locked away in a private room with a karaoke machine. I successfully ruin music for everyone, and Mississippi Mike manages to sing Sugar Ray with a gangsta twist, followed by some freestyle Snoop Dogg. I sing Barbie Girl, and manage to barely catch the last train.
2013 Update:
NOVA Kids was a reliable money making machine for the company, and the bane of my existence in as an English teacher. Regular adult classes would have 1-4 students who generally were paying good money to learn English. The kids classes were groups of 1-8 kids that were only there because their parents forced them to go.
When I took my training there were 3 groups for kids classes: 3-6 year olds, 6-9 year olds, and 9-12 year olds. NOVA later added a class for kids under 3, which I firmly refused to be trained on.
All of the kids classes had a set curriculum, which made lesson planning relatively easy. Classroom management was the tough part. There is a large difference in maturity and abilities between a 3 year old and a 6 year old. 12 year old girls are not interested in singing the alphabet song, while 9 year old boys just want to push each other.
I did learn 2 valuable things in the kids training. The first was the Japanese words for pee and poop. When a young kid tells you that they need to go in the middle of the class, you get them to a bathroom. The second valuable thing was that what you say isn’t as important as how you say it. The instructor told us that the classroom was an English only environment. Teachers were not allowed to use Japanese at all. I asked how could we tell a kid to stop doing something if they don’t understand English. The instructor stood over me (while I was sitting on the floor), crossed his arms, put on an angry face and said “NO!” sharply and loudly. It is something that any kid (or adult) would understand, regardless of language.
Training was interesting, and even a little useful, but the best part of the day was still karaoke.
November 16, 2003 – Double date
Posted by Barniferous in Shenanigans, Tokyo on November 16, 2013
(complete rewrite of original post)
In my continuing quest to find language partners, I set up a meeting with another Japanese girl to go for food and beer in Shimokitazawa. For the life of me I can’t remember her name, so let’s call her Natsuko. A few days before our meeting, Natsuko texted me to say that she was bringing a female friend, and she asked me to bring a male friend as well. A double date with two 20 something Japanese girls! How hard can it be to find someone to go with me?
Very hard apparently.
Due to the short amount of lead time, a lot of the single guys already had plans on Sunday evening. With hours to go, I got a confirmation from Marshall that he would come along. After work I returned home, got cleaned up and ready to go out, only to find that Marshall had decided to stay home and watch TV because the girls couldn’t speak much English and he couldn’t speak much Japanese. No amount of convincing worked, so I ended up leaving for my double date by myself looking like a guy with no friends.
After a few minutes of trying to remember the Japanese word for “north”, I was able to leave through the North exit and meet Natsuko and her friend at Shimokitazawa station. We exchanged greetings and I immediately started apologizing for showing up solo, trying to explain that something came up at the last minute. The three of us wandered off towards the bustling streets of Shimokitazawa (a cool place to check out). After some looking around, we decided on a fun looking Vietnamese restaurant.
The restaurant was crowded and fun, featuring cheap drinks and small food orders for 380 yen each. The highlight was Russian Roulette Gyoza, a plate of 4 dumplings. One of the gyoza was loaded full of chili peppers. One of the girls got this, and started shooting fire out of her mouth after one bite. Being a gentleman, I finished the rest of the pepper loaded gyoza. This was the least I could do for not bringing a friend along.
Natsuko and her friend had very limited English. We did manage to communicate and have a good time, but I realized that I was going to seriously work on my Japanese. It was a still a fun evening, and I can honestly say that I have been out on a date with two women before.
In case “Marshall” or any of the other guys I asked to come with me are reading this – the girls were both really hot and the food was great. You missed out!
November 15, 2003 – Stupid Day
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Life in Japan, Teaching English on November 15, 2013
Original 2003 Post
I was woken up by yet ANOTHER earthquake at 3:00am last night. However I quickly returned to sleep. Stupid earthquakes. Also stupid are Japanese bank machines as they usually don`t like to give money after banking hours. Not very convenient. Third in the stupid category are NOVA teachers who don`t look closely at the file, and do the lesson you had planned to do immediately before you can. This gave me two minutes to find a new lesson for 4 students. Stupid day!
2013 Update
NOVA has 8 different skill levels for students. In 2003, they were still using the old textbook with 40 lessons each in all but the lowest level. Choosing a lesson for one student is reasonably easy – pick something they haven’t done before, or failing that, pick something they haven’t done recently. Choosing a lesson for multiple students makes this process more difficult. When you choose a lesson, it is important to write down the lesson they have chosen in the student’s file. That way if a student has multiple lessons in a day, they will not get the same lesson more than once. It is considered bad teaching etiquette to choose the same lesson another teacher has already reserved for the student. Also, it will cause new teachers to have a minor panic attack as they need to find something else to teach in a short period of time.
I am still surprised that some bank machines are not open 24 hours a day, and even more surprised that they close on holidays. It is a bank MACHINE. It doesn’t need time off. This is especially difficult in a very cash friendly country.
November 13, 2003 – First all nighter in Tokyo
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan, Marshall, Shenanigans, Tokyo on November 13, 2013
(partial rewrite of original post)
Had my first taste of Tokyo nightlife on Thursday (and Friday) with Marshall. The plan was to go to Shibuya, meet up with Mississippi Mike and his friends, and catch the last train home. Naturally we had a few drinks before we left, and got a “traveler” for the train. For the record, drinking beer on the train is legal, but generally frowned upon by other passengers.
We arrived in Shibuya with no idea of where to go and way too many options, so we decided to wander around the major streets and see what looked interesting.
1st stop – The Oil Bar – We went in entirely because of the name. Oil Bar was is a small pub that played hair metal. We were pleasantly surprised that the staff spoke English very well. It was a good to get a beer and make a plan for the evening. No communication yet from Mississippi Mike.
2nd stop – GasPanic – Depending on who you talk to, GasPanic is either famous or infamous. It is most well known as a popular place where foreign guys go to meet Japanese girls. There is no cover charge, and all drinks are 400 yen. There is a large sign on the wall informing customers that you must have a drink in your hand at all times to remain in GasPanic.
When we arrived it was very crowded, but welcoming and fun. Many beers were consumed, tequila shots were downed and chased with more beer. We met a group of Canadians and managed to have a conversation (as well as you can in a noisy bar) about hockey and Japanese women. Marshall and I left just after midnight feeling very good, and started heading for the station in order to catch the last train home. As we had the station in sight I finally got a text from Mississippi Mike to let us know that he and his group has just arrived in Shibuya.
Depending on your destination, the last train to leave most stations in Tokyo is around 12:30am. The first train starts around 5:00am. If you miss the last train you can either get an expensive taxi ride home, or decide to stay out all night. The beer and tequila in our system helped convince us to turn the evening into an all nighter.
3rd stop – Womb – Apparently one of the best dance music clubs in the world, not just Japan. The whole place was huge, but since it was Thursday night (technically Friday morning), the main dance floor was not open. It would have been cool to see all four floors open and busy. Cover was 1500 yen and drink prices were obscene, especially after coming from the economic GasPanic. Our group danced to live DJ music until the they closed down at 4:30am.
The trip home – This part was not very fun. Shibuya is a confusing place when you are sober and not exhausted. Nobody remembered the way back to the station, and for some reason everyone broke up into small groups going in different directions. All of the groups kept walking in circles and running into each other. After about half an hour, Marshall and I finally found Shibuya station, but due to our diminished capacities we could not find the Keio line. We finally gave up and took the Yamanote line to Shinjuku, switched to Odakyu line, fell asleep on the platform, then woke up to catch a train back to Noborito. There is nothing worse than seeing the sunrise after too much partying. I got home at 6:30, about 9 and a half hours before I needed to leave for work.
Despite the trouble getting home, good times were had by all.
November 12, 2003 – I didn’t travel half way around the world to watch Beverly Hills 90210
Posted by Barniferous in Hello House, Kawasaki Nova, Life in Japan, Teaching English on November 12, 2013
(rewrite of original post)
There was an earthquake today when I was teaching. My student was a teenage girl who was much more scared than I was. Since I was now a seasoned veteran of Japan (after 6 weeks) I tried to calm her down and just keep teaching through the shaking. I still really hate earthquakes, even small ones.
Speaking of things I hate, I really hate Beverly Hills 90210, which has somehow because the late night TV choice at Hello House. Since my only entertainment options in my room are old video games on the laptop or reading, I managed to sit through a few episodes. I didn’t travel half way around the world to watch crappy Beverly Hills 90210.
November 11, 2003 – Spaghetti Dona
Posted by Barniferous in Asako, Life in Japan, Tokyo on November 11, 2013
Spaghetti DONA
(complete rewrite of original post)
Today is Remembrance day in Canada. Our family has a military history, so growing up I always went to some kind of Remembrance Day service. It was strange not doing anything special to mark the day. Never forget the people who made sacrifices for your freedoms.
Instead of celebrating Remembrance day, I went out for lunch with Asako, the keyboard player from the Beatles cover band that I saw at the John Lennon museum. Her English was fairly basic, so I got a lot of Japanese practice. We were able to talk a little about food, music and family.
Lunch was at a chain called Spaghetti Dona that specialized in, you guessed it, spaghetti. They had a 780 yen lunch special that included a huge plate of spaghetti, salad and a drink. Since I asked Asako to go for lunch, I picked up the bill. This caused some confusion and protest from Asako. I learned later that usually on this kind of date both parties split the bill (betsu betsu). We took a brief tour around Shibuya before going our separate ways, with a promise to meet up again.
November 10, 2003 – On Cloud 9
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Hello House on November 10, 2013
Original post
Went out to an izakaya like place called Cloud 9 near where I live. Great food, good drinks. Tequila is my natural enemy!
2013 Update
I don’t remember this at all, likely due to the Tequila. I believe it was some kind of Hello House event.
November 9, 2003 – Tongue Twisters
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on November 9, 2013
Original post
Language exchange in Yokohama today. I am meeting with an English grammar teacher who wants to improve her spoken English. I got to practice some Japanese, show off pics of Winnipeg, and exchanged tongue twisters. While she is practicing “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” and “She sells seashells by the seashore”, I will be trying out “namamugi namagome namatamago” and “tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da”. I got pretty good at saying “namatamago” but everything else was very challenging.
2013 Update
She sells seashells by the seashore was one of my favourite teaching tools. In Japanese there is a sound for “she” but not “sea”. Walking through this slowly was good pronunciation practice. For more advanced students, I would use this to practice emphasizing certain words in a sentence. For example, I would ask “What does she sell by the seashore” and the student would respond “She sells seashells by the seashore.” with the emphasis on seashells. It was a bit cruel, but also a lot of fun.
November 8, 2003 – Lazy teacher
Posted by Barniferous in Keikyu-Kawasaki NOVA, Teaching English on November 8, 2013
Original Post
Man I love Saturdays at Keikyu! I had a no show for my last lesson, so I sat in the teacher`s room and read a book and sent email with my phone.
2013 Update
As someone who takes a lot of pride in their work, reading my original post really made me cringe. NOVA was one of the few English schools that paid you even if students didn’t show up for lessons. If you were scheduled for 5 lessons, you got paid for 5 lessons even if nobody was there. In turn, the expectation is that when you have a free lesson that you find something productive to do in the office, and not just sit around reading and texting.
Kawasaki NOVA was always insanely busy, so nobody had ever needed to explain what I should do if I had an empty lesson. A few weeks after this original post, I was in the same situation and a senior teacher explained the priorities. The job list for free lessons included:
- Preparation of kids class materials – there was always some colouring, stapling or glueing that needed to be done for kids classes.
- Lesson preparation – ensuring that you were prepared for your upcoming lessons and reviewing or improving your current lessons
- Maintenance of student files – removing old students, replacing folders that were falling apart
- Tidying the office – teachers are generally very messy and there were always files, books and other things lying around the office
- Assisting the staff
From that time forward, whenever I saw a new teacher sitting around doing nothing I was able to get them working.
Drinking in Japan 
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