How Accurate? (Teaching)

As Charles Darwin so famously said…

どのくらい本物のように？（教育について）

How well does something need to mimic the authentic?

As An Old Man

My favorite old man from recent fiction.

お爺さんである

Living as an ex-pat can sometimes feel like being 90 years old.

Idle Thoughts (2)

Summer is officially over. I guess that should be obvious by official dates (Summer technically lasts from June 21st-September 21st in the US; 秋分の日 was September 23rd in Japan). The air is cooling down and everyone is asking if I’m cold when I wear a t-shirt. Seems like some things never change, even though they definitely do.

This past Wednesday we had a へき地研究集会（へき研） where schools from the neighboring areas all came to my elementary school and watched some classes put on by our teachers, myself included. Another teacher and I taught the 5th graders some English while our tiny rural classroom was filled to the brim with other teachers from other rural schools. Normally, English is a relatively casual affair, and laid-back to facilitate learning. Not on Wednesday, however. All considered, it went pretty well, and I even got to talk in front of a group of 30 teachers or so about my thoughts on English education and why it’s important in an elementary school. I think just about every ALT has thoughts on the matter, but so few are allowed the opportunity to speak to a group of Japanese teachers that want you to speak. It’s a good feeling, even if I couldn’t be as eloquent as I’d like.

Thinking about my Japanese, I realize that I haven’t improved all that much recently. I am improving, definitely. But gradually. I wouldn’t mind a big boost in study sessions–say, 30 minutes more a day of dedicated study–but I don’t feel like I can act on that. Actual study is kind of hard, especially solo. With additional focuses, like game development, I’m not too displeased with my general lack of Japanese development. After all, I am making progress in other places.

Every day this past week I’ve been working on my little RPG, A Return Home. I set myself 3 months to finish it, and I have goals I want to stick to. However, about 15 days into the project, I started learning Unity. As a result, I haven’t given it the attention it deserves. Well, assuming it deserves much attention. The game is intended to be simple, but my biggest worry is that it’s both short and not worthy of time. Like a terrible short story or poem. It makes me doubt some of my writing skills while at the same time makes me want to convert it into a short story itself. I feel like that’s its proper format, and the only reason I made it into a game is something arbitrary like wanting to make a game.

The deadline for my next “update” to A Return Home is October 10th, and I’m only about 70% through the things I wanted to include. Unfortunately I won’t be able to complete everything I wanted to by that time. Why? There’s a big trip this weekend (and it’s a 3 day weekend here in Japan) to a lake near Bandai mountain in Japan. This is the 3rd time I’ve gone and it’s honestly in my top-2 trips every year. Looking forward to a weekend of hiking, kayaking, swimming in freezing water, and merriment with friends.

In 30 minutes we have a ceremony to end the first semester and then the students will be free to leave and the teachers have a nice relaxing afternoon ahead. At least I hope. I’m sure someone will come and make some busywork for us all. But if I’m lucky, I might be able to finish up some of the features I wanted to include in this update, bringing it from a eh 70% to a woo 90%. Things like finishing off the cutscene dialogue and implementing it in the game, even if I don’t polish the cutscene up.

May we all do our best.

Spring Semester: Done

It seems like just yesterday the Sakura were blooming and the Sakura-favored lattes were in Starbucks. How time flies.

春学期：終了

As I reflect, I realize how pivotal these past few months have been.

Bad Tests

Great example of a bad test. This was actually used to weed out who could vote or not, and, for some reason that almost nobody can explain, only handed to black people. Weird, right?

悪い試験

Test making isn’t easy, that’s for sure. But that’s no excuse for…this.

The Longer I’m On JET, The Worse ALT I Become

At least my whiteboard quick anime art continues to improve.

日本に住んでいるなら、長ければ長いほど、よりだめなALTになる

Acronyms. Can’t live with them, CLWT?

Japanese Graduations

Lots of prep. I get it. But do we need to be that specific with the times?

日本の卒業

It’s the end of the Japanese school year again.

Routine

I’ve been drinking too much coffee lately. Time to crack out the green tea!!! In the green mug!!!

日常生活

Things. They could be great. And the only difference is what I do daily.

A Look Into A Small Japanese Town (Part 3)

This is a classroom stripped to the bones. Where are the desks!? Where is the life!? Sad. Can’t wait to see what it looks like in a month though.

日本の小さな町の詳しい検査（３）

A school undergoing changes.

A Look Into A Small Japanese Town (Part 2)

I decided to put this poster here so that I wouldn’t have to type it all out. Yeah, I’m lazy. But I’m also nice! You don’t have to travel all the way here to see it! Man, I’m swell.

日本の小さな町の詳しい検査（２）

We’re back to the cafeteria with more posters and more manners to follow!