Hallow-Aeon Week

And the Dr Pepper can comes out- just like magic!

Here's one I conjured earlier..

Hermione lectures on the essentials of Aeon Hikarigaoka life.

 

• Here are some Hallowe'en-Christmas crossovers for your amusement:

Baskin Robbins has got a confused theme here..

"Happy Hallowe'en!" everyone from Captain Santa Candy!

Need I say more?!

The learning curve that is DisneySea >_<

Some DisneySea wisdom I'd like to share:

1. You can unwittingly wander into the belly of a whale

2. Fish are not allowed to smoke

3. Jafar has creepy hands; Xor is forever cursed by his touch

4. (See above)

 

5. Salt-flavoured ice cream is bearable

And after such a long day, we fell asleep on the train home like true Japanese commuters...

Tokyo Bay

The monorail to Tokyo Bay, while expensive, had some amazing views!!! We rode over the famous Rainbow Bridge and it really felt like a "ride"! Tokyo Bay is such a contrast to London's Thames Bay- Tokyo is so modern and clean and shiny! Last Sunday was fantastic weather and here are some photos:

Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower (the red spire, mid-left) and a Statue of Liberty!

But not The Statue of Liberty; I certainly didn't miraculously teleport to New York...

or did I....? Japan really is the future!!

Which is me and which is the Statue?! It's so hard to tell!

Andrew and Jen :)

Fuji TV Studios, a famous landmark.

And finally, to answer my Mum's question: yes, Tokyo does have a beach!!

Batten Down the Hatches!

I survived my first typhoon: Typhoon 18 aka Typhoon Melor!!


A week of non-stop rain and turning up to work soaked in my suit was definitely not fun!
Last night seeing sandbags put out to protect a shop made me very nervous, but the typhoon passed over during the night, and the only sign by morning were endless bicycles on their sides and a lot of leaves and branches on the pavements!

Elsewhere schools were closed, airlines suspended and some trains were down for the day.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A Very Christian Day in Shinjuku

On Sunday I went to a Korean Church in Higashi-Nakano near Shinjuku with a student. It was very interesting. Singing the hyms took me back to School assemblys! I enjoyed the picnic afterwards. It was lucky it was the only non-rainy day the past week what with Typhoon 18!

Then I went shopping in Shinjuku..

Shinjuku is super, super busy on a Sunday!!!

I hope to get the internet installed in my apartment by the end of the month. I am waiting for a phone call.. which of course will be very straight forward with my immense Japanese skills!!

So my first official, official week has begun, and I am teaching full time, no excuses allowed!! I wasn't looking forward to the kids classes, but so far they have gone smoothly and have been fun! Plus they don't judge me for using the "cheat sheet" I prepared earlier!

Made my first stir fry and a traditional bento box (lunch box with rice and vegetables and I chose some beef).

Here is a photo for my Grandad and my mum:

I look a little awkward because we were in a hurry!

Tokyo Disneyland

Back to work today after the long weekend of bank holidays!!

Monday- exploring my area and shopping :D It's very easy to spend hours in a 100 yen (64p) shops buying non-necessities!!

Tuesday was spent sightseeing. Andrew and I went to Asakusa to see the famous Sensoji temple. Unfortunately the temple itself was hidden under construction work, so pictured below are the Senso-ji pagoda and the iconic Thundergate, Konarimon with its trademark 4 metre high red lantern.

The day was followed by karaoke and a good night out with my friends from school, Josh and Branwen :)

 It was nice to see some friendly faces!

Wednesday I went to Tokyo Disneyland with my friend Andrew from training, his coworker Ben, and two Japanese students. It was a total scorcher of a day!! We conquered Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain, and of course we went on the cheesey international boat ride "It's A Small World". I still have that song stuck in my head!
I have not seen anything cuter than little Japanese girls dressed in Belle and Cinderella princess dresses!!!!
The Hallowe'en parade and fireworks were spectacular of course!

Oh and today was the first lesson I conducted on my own which I felt was highly successful. Yay me!

Aeon Hikarigaoka Welcome Party!

I have survived my first week at work, and although training didn't prepare me for hyper, dissinterested kids, I feel the adult classes at least have been successful!

I'm all settled into my flat, just a few bits and bobs I want to buy to make it more habitable now.

Last night (Saturday 19th) was my Welcome Party to Aeon Hikarigoka! We had chicken broth, octopus pancake, and plenty of sake and beer.
I gave a speech, and they applauded my efforts at using Japanese!
It was a very memorable night, and I did a lot of mingling and even had a conversation about astrophysics with one student in a Japenglish mix :)

This is me eating my first dish of raw fish, sashimi. Oishikatta desu!
(It was tasty!)

Next week Mon-Wedn are bank holidays; it is unusual for all three to follow a weekend, so I have 4 splendid days off work!

The bank holidays are:

Respect for the Aged Day (敬老の日), third Monday of September

Autumnal Equinox Day　(秋分の日), astronomically determined, but usually September 23

Kokumin no kyujitsu　(国民の休日), the day in between the two other holidays.

I will hopefully be going to Tokyo Disneyland on Tuesday.. let's see!!!

p.s. Thank you to to Xor, my collegue, who has uploaded a few photos to the web for me. Please scroll down to view my edited posts!!

Hikarigaoka School- First Week!

Last Saturday rained a lot, so on Sunday we did the classic 'tourist thing' around Tokyo. The temperature was 29'C and Tokyo was PACKED!

We visited..

• Shinjuku and the Metropolitan Government Building Observatory: It was on the 42nd floor and had an amazing view over Tokyo! Took some great photos! Despite it being a perfectly sunny day, there was a fog haze obscuring Mt Fuji :(
• Harajuku: Famous for attracting the more, shall we say, non-conforming youths, on a Sunday afternoon. Took some snaps of a few goths, punks and a strange, pink, man. Harajuku is also home to huge western shops for example a multistorey H&M and Topshop.
  Harajuku is also famous for the Meiji Shrine. It dates back to only 1922, however it is huge and beautiful, and I made a wish :)
• Akihabara: The electronics district. We conveniently went about 8ish pm when it was all 'lit up' and I purchased a battery charger. There were come interesting shops; we had fun in the bb gun store and in the video game sections of a large department store!

Here is a slideshow!

On Monday I was picked up at Ikebukuro station by the head teacher at my school, Kaoru-sensei. We drove to Toyotamanaka (my town.. or city) and visited to the city hall for my Alien Registration Card. Next was a bank account, where I had to write everything officially in the characters and use my own ink stamp. I also got a mobile phone! Regrettably, Japanese mobile phones cannot send nor receive SMS texts internationally :( SMS texting is apparently `not cool` in Japan, and everything sends emails to each other- from a computer to a phone or phone - phone.
My email is claredery@ezweb.ne.jp so if you email me there from a computer, I will receive it to my phone straight away, free of charge. I can also email you back if you`d like as long as I'm awake and not during my work hours!!

Apartment

Moved into my apartment. I spent 4 hours unpacking, rearranging the furniture to personalise it and putting up photos! I'm looking forward to visiting the 100 yen (60 ish pence) shop to buy lots of little things!

Apartment opinion:
Pros: It's bigger than I expected. Third floor so no cockroaches!
Cons: No microwave, no oven, just one hob.

I think it's pot noodles for me all year..

First day of work
I met so many students I can:t remember anyone`s names! I observed classes all day and took notes. I didn't know where anything was so I felt a bit out of my comfort zone. But I was made to feel very welcome by the staff and students. Marilyn-sensei, the person I`m replacing is super helpful! Had a burger for lunch, and the kids class was definitely the most fun, but one of them was a little naughty..

First official lesson is on Friday, but I have been contributing in class to ease myself in.

Wish me luck!!

Training status: Complete!

Left-Right : Ben, Me, Andrew, Tim

Training Week
Sorry I haven`t had time to go online, but training this week has been super-intense!!

Hours were 11am-8pm, but we had so much homework (mostly lesson planning), I wasn`t getting it done until midnight all week :(

On Tuesday they really threw us in the deep end with our first real lesson.. with genuine Japanese students!

The students were invited for a free lesson from the newbies.We taught in our slippers- a very strange feeling indeed..

All week we`ve been practising different adult and kids lessons; the kids' are certainly very energetic!

Today was the climax with a full, assessed lesson. I felt it was very strong, and was praised for my student care giving individual praise, prompting them when they get stuck, smiling, eye contact, and clear instructions.
I need to work on the structure, better roleplaying, practice, ideas, paper management etc..

Not been too much excitement this week, but we certainly found time to dine out a couple of times and of course we hit the Karaoke! My first song being 'Who Do You Think You Are' by the Spice Girls :D

Next Week
This weekend is free, sightseeing is definitely on the to-do list!!

Monday 14日: Being picked up at Ikebukuro station and being taken to the City Hall for my Foreign ID card registration and to open a bank account. I shall move into my apartment in Toyotamanaka!

Tuesday 15日: First day of work! Hours:1-9pm. I shall present my gift of fudges to the school and meet the staff and students! I will spend the be shadowing classes by Marilyn.

Wedn 16日: Shadowing again.

Thursday 17日: My first official lessons start... eek! I have come very far this week, so I'm fairly confident.. as long as my nerves don't get to me!

Please don't be worried if I don't update for a while, going to be busy, but next update will *hopefully* be Monday night when I'm in my new town :D I am very excited to meet the staff and settle in!!