Saying goodbye to Kibukawa

Class 5-1

Class 5-2

Class 5-3

Class 6-1

Class 6-2

Class 6-3

I finished the last of 2 great years of classes at my elementary school this week. I'm going to miss these kids something terrible.

Elementary

Good evening!

It's been a cold cold week in Shiga. It's nothing compared to Upstate-NY, but that doesn't mean I haven't been huddling underneath a blanket all week. I've been running as quickly as possible between one heated room to the next, trying to avoid the chilly hallways.

Today was an elementary school day! 5 days a week I teach at my base school, which is a Junior High, but once a week I spend half a day at elementary school teaching 5th and 6th graders. On these days I also eat lunch with a pre-determined class, which today was 1st grade, class 2.

Fact: small children are adorable.
Fact: Japanese children are especially adorable.
.... this, coupled with...
Fact: White people are pretty non-existent in Japan.
When you put this all together, what does it add up to?

Annica becomes a celebrity at lunch time.

Seriously, I "signed" about 10 notebooks. AUTOGRAPHED. They should keep them. Some day they might be good for kindling. I also read aloud every one of the kids "Engrish" shirts, recited the names of many household objects, and shared my love of Pokemon.

Today reminded me that children are pretty fantastic. If I could get each of these kids' signatures, I would do it. They have so much energy and happiness. Their outlook on the world is so young and innocent. Just the fact that they couldn't stump me with an English name for something was mind boggling to them. "You really ARE an English teacher!!" (Never mind the fact that I speak the language natively).
One boy wanted to know how I was getting home. When I said, "by car", he seemed surprised. "America?!"
"No, I live in Minakuchi."
"........!" <------- SHOCKCONFUSION!

My sixth grade classes have been going less smoothly, and it's mainly because I'm not a novelty to them just by existing anymore. I'm that person that they know who teaches them English. I love that I've gotten to know them, and today made me realize that I need to work harder to make sure that I keep their class just as fun and exciting as it used to be. If it means that I have to be over the top and work twice as hard to find good material for them, then so be it. I am determined to not let their apathy towards English continue! And not to let myself be apathetic as well.

Although I didn't have too much time to ponder my lunch, I was able to snap a picture before I went to the classroom.

WHALE! I ate whale today.

That is all. 

Merry Christmas -- Japan to the U.S.A.

Happy Holidays from the Land of the Rising Sun!! My 5th graders learned about Christmas today and got to make these awesome creative Christmas tree ornaments. I love doing creative projects with them because they are a riot to talk to and joke around with, which is what ends up happening more often than not. Some of them made pretty ingenious ornaments, too! I won't be seeing them again until January, so it's a great send of for both them and me.

Yet MORE proof of Annica being a small child???

I have been highly entertained by my television set recently. Last night I turned on my TV only to find this amazing kids program. It's meant to teach kids and their parents fun songs that they can sing and play. It kind of frightens me, but I can't look away!! The first song is about two friends swimming. The second song is anyone's guess....

I'm sorry the quality is so bad, I taped this on my Canon camera and transfered it to Youtube.



In other news, I taught for the first time at my elementary school today! It was an interesting day. Literally one person spoke English to me, and she wasn't an English teacher. I'm not entirely sure how the English class usually runs, but the kids are actually pretty good at English! The teachers seem to understand English, but are scared to speak it. I can relate!! They were all super nice. The school was HUGE and it was hard to find classrooms, but kids came and dragged me everywhere I was suppose to go. The kids were a lot less shy than the Junior High Schoolers and did not hesitate to ask me every single personal question they could think of. Sometimes I had to answer "Secret!" to keep my dignity. It was sweet though, and very refreshing in comparison to the stares from behind windows that I normally receive.

Lastly, today I learned that chicken liver is pretty tasty. Who'da thunk it? :)