Journal for 2005-2-28 Mon. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was good. Nothing special really happened though. We had an 8th grade Master class. In it we listened to a Beatles song and studied some proverbs. The 9th graders got their final tests back and we corrected them. The rest of the time I worked on the JAGS web site. It isn't finished, but it's getting there. I'm also working on my web site a little too. Same as always!
Journal for 2005-2-25 Fri. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Kijima Ele.
Today was the last day I will be going to Kijima Elementary School this school year. The kids all had really kind words of thanks to tell me. I was in a great mood all day. The 4th graders really understand English! Ai Mototani actually read 2 English sentences! I think they could do 7th grade level English study. Their teacher, Ms. Fujiyama, is great! I ate lunch with the 5th graders. I'm looking forward to having fun playing with the kids at Kijima Elementary next school year as well!
I am going to try to move this blog to http://trevreport.org/blog/, so if you use an RSS or Atom reader like Bloglines or have this blog as a bookmark, please update it. Thanks for reading.
Journal for 2005-2-24 Thu. Weather: Snowy Plan: Akagi JHS
The 8th graders performed "Chris and the Puppets" in 1st period today. We got it on tape. The 8th graders act really well in front of the camera. When they graduate, I want to make a DVD with all the skits they did for English class over the years. When I was in Junior and Senior High School, I also did skits for various classes, but I haven't any record of them now. When I was in 12th grade, we did a skit about the 9 circles of hell from Dante's "Inferno." That video is lost now, but it was really fun. Those were good times.
Journal for 2005-2-23 Wed. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was good. We played doctor in the 9th grade class. Half the class were doctors, and half the class were patients. The doctors and patients conversed. It was fun. In the 7th grade optional class we practiced "can." I think that all the 7th graders understand how to use "can" in English. The 8th grade English-language play was cancelled today because Azumi Miyazaki and Yui Wakabayashi got a cold. Let's do it tomorrow!
Journal for 2005-2-22 Tue. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was fun. The 8th graders rehearsed for the English-speaking play "Chris and the Puppets" because they are performing it in front of the class tomorrow. The 7th graders were a bit too quiet, but they got better as time went on. In the 9th grade master B class we started to play "Settlers of Catan." I think that everyone understood the rules. During 5th and 6th period I went to the 8th and 9th grader home ec. challenge class. We made Milk Crepe Cake. It tasted great!
Journal for 2005-2-19 and 21 Sat. and Mon. Weather: Sat. Rainy / Mon. Snowy Plan: Sat. Akagi JHS / Mon. Tani Ele.
＜2005-02-19＞ We had classes all day on Saturday because there was a meeting for the new 7th graders today. The 9th graders were in high spirits. We continued writing reports. The 7th graders studied command form. We are further behind than other JHS in our 7th grade English book, but I think that the 7th graders are beginning to understand more. This afternoon, the new 7th graders came to the JHS. There are some bad students, but there are some good students, too. Let's have fun next year! ＜2005-02-21＞ Today was a compensatory holiday for Saturday, but I still had to teach at Tani Ele. Most days I go to Tani Ele. Signe comes with me, but today Signe is returning to Japan from America where she had an interview to get into the JET Program. Tomorrow she will be returning to Iinan. I really miss Signe. In my free time today I cleaned the house, did the laundry, shoveled snow, and things like that. Last night's snow was really big. It was a pain in the butt!
Journal for 2005-2-18 Fri. Weather: Rainy Plan: Oda Ele.
This morning I went to Oda nursery school with the culture club at Oda elementary school. We played games and sang songs for 2 hours. After that, I played fruit basket with the 1st and 2nd graders. I sang "London Bridge" and played the "London Bridge" game with the 3rd and 4th graders. The 3rd and 4th graders were really in high spirits today. Tomomi, a 3rd grader, was always asking me for a ride on my back or for a hug. I really like children. They have so much love in their hearts and they are not afriad to share it.
Journal for 2005-2-17 Thu. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
I had to teach the 9th grade master class all by myself today because Ms. Suyama wasn't at school today. I was nervous, but since the 9th graders are kind to me, there were no problems at all. Everyone read the short essays they had been working on out loud. They did a really great job! Afterwards, I introduced them to "The Settlers of Catan" and started explaining the rules to them. I want to continue to do that next time, too. I have been uploading all the pictures I have (from long ago to the present) on to Flickr, so go look and them and make some comments!
Journal for 2005-2-16 Wed. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was busy. We save the reading sections in the English book for last since the English teachers at Akagi JHS dislike teaching them. Therefore, we are doing the reading sections for the 8th and 9th graders now. The only thing we do in class is read, so it is really boring for me, but we have many classes everyday so it is still busy. This evening I had a good time doing my adult English conversation class!
Journal for 2005-2-15 Tue. Weather: Rainy Plan: Akagi JHS
I had a lot of work to do today. I wasn't feeling too hot in the morning because I think I might be getting a cold, but I was feeling better in the afternoon. We continued with writing practice in the 9th grade elective class (master class). Next time, I want them to do a presentation in front of the class. There weren't very many people in the 7th grade class because the ski team is at the Southwestern Honshu JHS Ski Meet and a lot of the other students are home sick. Take care of yourselves, everyone!
Journal for 2005-2-14 Mon. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Happy St. Valentine's Day! Today I called Signe in America. That was a great present! I only got chocolate from Nami Moriyama, an 8th grader. Nami was giving chocolate to a lot of teachers. Homemade chocolate is always the best. I wrote and sent off the Trev Report as well. Now everyone that wants to know will have our new address that changed because of the town merger. One more thing, if you can, watch Battlestar Galactica. It is a good Sci-Fi TV show!
Journal for 2005-2-10 Thu. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
Tomorrow is a holiday, so today is the last working day of the week. Once more, tomorrow Signe is going to America for her JET Program interview for a week. Her interview is on St. Valentine's Day. Do your best, Signe! This weekend I am planning on going to Hiroshima with Emily, her dad, and Matt. We are going to have fun! The 9th graders continued to write about their favorite things in the 9th grade master class. My muscles are way sore from yesterday's ski class. It hurts!
Hello everybody, and welcome to your monthly dose of the Trev Report. Wherein lies many things I have done over the past month in a long and boring email message, but before I begin I have two important announcements:
Trev's Announcement the First ----------------------------- On 2005-01-01 our address in Japan changed because of the merging of the town I live in, Akagi, and the town next to us, Tonbara. The new town is called Iinan, and our new address is as follows: Signe Rose and Trevor Lalish-Menagh 830 Shimoakana Iinan-cho, Iishi-gun, Shimane-ken 690-3513 JAPAN Please make note of this in future correspondences.
Trev's Announcement the Second ------------------------------ For those of you receiving this "Trev Report" for the first time, please check out http://www.trevreport.org/ for more information on the Trev Report and how to sign up for it monthly. I am entering my ninth year of doing monthly updates on my life, so please sign up if you are interested in keeping in touch with me or Signe.
And now on to the report!
Trev's Lovelife --------------- Right now Signe is away in America gearing up for an interview to get onto the JET Programme (http://www.jetprogramme.org/ ) in August. If she succeeds we will be able to stay in Japan definitely until August 2008, so we are al hoping for the best there. The downside is that in all likelihood she and I will be separated for at lease one year, as there are no openings in any towns farther than a 45-minute drive from our current house. As always though, we will endure.
Trev's Work ----------- I write about my job often in my blog (http://jumex.blogspot.com/ ), so please check it out if you have time. We are about ready to hold graduation in April, so the 9th graders are getting excited about moving on to a new school and new adventures. We teachers are getting ready for a new batch of 7th graders as well. The 6th grade boys in this town are quite feisty, so I think we will have our hands full starting in April. Ms. Kawashima, my co-host on the monthly English Conversation TV Show I star in, will also be leaving the Junior High School to start working as an elementary school teacher, which she has always wanted to do since she got out of college, two years ago. I am still writing an article in the monthly town communique, but now they only want an article in Japanese. No more English translation. They said that there wasn't any room. In any case, things are par for the course over here these days. Par for the course for an English teacher in Japan, anyway.
Trev's Art Committee -------------------- I, along with Signe, have decided to join the JET Arts Group Shimane (JAGS). It is a small committee that is in charge of putting on a show of artwork made by foreigners living in Shimane Prefecture. The show will be in early summer and is planning on touring the 3 corners of the prefecture: Izumo, Iwami, and Oki. I have taken on the role of treasurer and webmaster. The current website (http://www.shimaneart.com/ ) has not been properly maintained in years, so I am finding myself doing a redesign from the ground up. I am making the prototype on SDF (http://sdf.lonestar.org/ ), so I am hopping that the server the site will eventually be hosted on will have support for Server Side Includes (SSI) and UNIX Shell CGI scripts, both of which I use frequently in my web design. I am hopefully creating a site that will be very easy to maintain in the future. I even created a simple web interface to edit the pages from a browser window. The site is not ready to go live yet, but I have made much progress on it.
Trev's Anime and Sci-Fi ----------------------- As for anime viewing, what I have been watching lately is "The Mysterious Cities of Gold." It was a show animated by the Japanese for the French, and then later dubbed in English and brought to America in the 1980s. When I was a kid, it was my favorite cartoon on TV. Now I am having a good time introducing Signe to my childhood favorite. I want to watch some newer stuff that is out in America now. Brian Papp has given me some good suggestions. Does anyone else out there have any highly recommended shows I should check out? As for Sci-Fi shows, Signe and I are now caught up with Stargate SG-1 Season 8 and Stargate Atlantis Season 1. We have been watching them as they come out on SkyOne in the UK, thanks to a good friend. We have also started watching the new Battlestar Galactica. I have only seen the pilot miniseries so far, but I really like what I see. I hear that they are set for a second season, and I am excited to watch it as it comes out.
Trev's Computers ---------------- Signe and I have discovered the coolness that is Skype (http://www.skype.com/ ). Skype is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that allows two people anywhere over the world to communicate over the Internet to one another for free. All you need is the software, a microphone, and some speakers, and you are good to go. The sound quality is wonderful, and often better than calling overseas on the telephone. If you want to talk to Signe or me sometime, just 'Skype' us. Our user ID is "jumex." I have recently gotten a computer at the Junior Hugh School for me to use, and it has shot my productivity all to hell, but I like having it there. It does turn out to be quite useful at times, though.
Trev's Games ------------ Signe has discovered a new board game in America that she played with her family. I don't recall the name, but I am looking forward to playing something new. We have a good group of game players in the local area that we get together with every now and again to play with. One of them, Rebecca Butt, is looking into buying a game called "Puerto Rico" that is rated very highly on Board Game Geek (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ ). On top of that, Emily Watkins, another of our gaming group, has a Nintendo GameCube, and we often play Mario Party on it, which is quite a fun party game. It's like a board game on the TV.
Trev's Japanese --------------- Since I have gotten a computer at the Junior High School where I work, I haven't been studying Japanese as diligently as I have had in the past. I still write in my journal daily, but I haven't been keeping up with the Jet Programme (http://www.jetprogramme.org/ ) self-study Japanese course as well as I should be. I have, although, progressed some with the translation of my website (http://www.trevreport.org/indexj.shtml ) into Japanese. There is only one major page left to change over. As always if you are fluent in Japanese and see a mistake in my grammar, or something that sounds funny, please send me an email about it so I can look into correcting the errors.
Trev's One-Point Japanese Lesson -------------------------------- So you want to learn Japanese, huh? Great! How about past tense for verbs.
Here are a few verbs for us to work with: tabemasu - to eat nomimasu - to drink ikimasu - to go shimasu - to do
OK. Check out all those words closely. Do you notice something similar in all of them? They all end in -masu. To conjugate a verb in Japanese, all you have to do is change the ending of it! So we will be changing they verbs into the past tense, this is how you do it: Change the -masu at the end of the verb to -mashita. That's it!
So, let's look at our example verbs: tabemasu becomes tabemashita nomimasu becomes nomimashita ikimasu becomes ikimashita Can you guess about shimasu?
Until next time, keep up your studies! Japanese can be a real fun language to learn and speak!
That's about it for this edition of the Trev Report. Tune in next time for more OH SO interesting and fun facts about your friendly neighborhood Trevor!
Journal for 2005-2-9 Wed. Weather: Sunny Plan: 7th and 8th Grade Ski Class
I was studying at a ski class all day today. I had never skied before today. It was fun, but I was worst that the lowest level student. The Japanese teacher, Ms. Ishikura, and I studied together. This is her 2nd time doing it. I fell a lot, but at the very end, I was able to ski down the bunny slope! All the time, the students were cheering me on. Thanks guys!
Journal for 2005-2-8 Tue. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was fun. I did a weather broadcast in the 8th grade class. I did a broadcast in front of everybody in a newscaster voice. Next time, the students will be doing it. The 7th graders were energetic. They were serious like yesterday. Maybe they want to become good students because they will become upperclassmen in April. We did writing practice in the 9th grade master class. This evening we recorded one of the English Conversation TV Shows. the theme was "Birthdays!"
Journal for 2005-2-4 and 7 Fri. and Mon. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
＜2005－02－04＞
This is the last day of a long week. In the 9th grade class, the kids started writing a report about famous people of the world. They went to the library room with me and studied about famous people. In the 9th grade master class, we listened to "Strawberry Fields Forever," wrote in English for the High School entrance exam, and learned some expressions for playing "Settlers of Catan." It was fun.
＜2005－02－07＞
Today was a good day. The 9th graders continued their reports. The 7th graders reviewed pronouns. The 7th graders were actually well behaved today! It was nice. After that I went to the 8th grade master class. This was the first time I had gone to that class. The students are really good, but some of them don't want to speak English. I want to communicate with them, but the 8th graders are still shy.
Journal for 2005-2-3 Thu. Weather: Snowy Plan: Akagi JHS
This week is pretty busy! Everyday I have 4 classes. I had a 9th grade master class again today. We listened to Simon and Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song" (also known as "Feelin' Groovy"). Neither the students or the teachers knew of this song at all. I think a lot of Americans know this song, so I was a little surprised. We had natto in the school lunch today. It's rare for a foreigner, but I really like natto. For those of you not in the know, natto is fermented soybeans.
Journal for 2005-2-2 Wed. Weather: Snowy Plan: Akagi JHS
This was a busy morning because I had 4 classes. I taught the 9th graders with Mr. Mochida, an English teacher from Iinan High School. I think a lot of the 9th grade girls like Mr. Mochida. I also taught that 7th grade master class. The 7th grade boys are still disruptive during class, but most of the 7th graders are turning into good students. In the afternoon I worked on the JAGS web site. It is still under construction, but you can see the old page. (That page was made by someone else.)
Journal for 2005-2-1 Tue. Weather: Snowy Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was...a really snowy day! There was tons of snow. It's still coming down now! All the 7th, 8th, and 9th graders were really energetic today. Everyone was cold, but they studied very hard. I also taught my favorite 9th grade master class. We listened to "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas, and talked about video games. I also introduced some vocab. so we can play "Settlers of Catan."
