Journal for 2005-1-30 Mon.. Weather: Rainy Plan: Kijima Ele.
I went and taught at Kijima Elementary today. I had a real good time there. The kids' high energy really pepped me up. I have to find a new job by August. The job I want the most is a Shimane Prefecture Elementary ALT position. In that job you teach English exclusively at elementary schools.
Journal for 2005-1-26 Thu.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was busy. I only had two classes, but I went to the high school to teach as well. I always like going to the high school and talking with students I used to teach. I also had a 9th grade elective English class, but we didn't use any materials I made. We only studied for the English Exam, eiken, that is coming up. That class was my favorite, but now it has become like all my other classes. It's too bad.
Journal for 2005-1-25 Wed.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
I didn't have a lot of free time today, but it was a really good day. We didn't teach anything special in class, but the class energy was higher that usual today. This year's final student counsil meeting was 5th period. The 9th grade leaders of each school activity had to give reports about their goings-on, the good and the bad, in front of the entire school. They also report on the annual budget. I think this is a really good idea. I don't recall doing anything like this in front of the entire school when I was a kid.
Journal for 2005-1-24 Tue.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
The only class I had today was my favorite 9th grade elective English class. Today's theme was democracy. It was a little tough to understand, but I think that doing harder subjects are much more interesting than doing subjects that are too easy. The kids in that class are really smart, so I believe that allowing them to talk about things that make them really think is best. If they only do easy things everyday they will quickly get bored with their studies.
Journal for 2005-1-23 Mon.. Weather: Snowy Plan: Akagi JHS
It was a little busy today. I had 4 classes. On top of that I suppose to do an English conversation class tonight. Twice a month I host a laid back English conversation class at my house, but, unfortunately, no one comes to it these days. And when people do come, there are only 1 or 2 people, so we never do much. Most times we sit around drinking coffee and chatting in English and Japanese for an hour. What can you do?
Journal for 2005-1-20 Fri.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
I wrote a practice essay for the Foreign Service Written Exam today in my free time. In the test you have 50 minutes to handwrite a essay on a given topic, so I took the 50 minutes of 1st period and went to a quiet room and wrote. The topics for the essays are hard, so 50 minutes isn't much time to write. I barely finished in time. If you have time, please read the essay and comment on it.
Journal for 2005-1-19 Thu.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
We had the first 9th grade elective English class today. As you know if you read or listen to my blog, this is my favorite class to teach. This term there are four kids in the class, 2 boys, 2 girls, 3 kids that have taken the elective class before, and one newcomer. The new girl is very fun. She reminds me of Tomo-chan from Azumanga Daioh!
Journal for 2005-1-18 Wed.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
The 9th graders are taking their entrance exam for Iinan High School today and the 7th and 8th graders are taking tests, so I sat at my desk all day and studied for the Foreign Service Written Exam. After finishing reading The Economist, I took a practice exam in the study guide. I got 81% in the Job Knowledge section and 77% in the English Expression section, so that gives me a 79% over all. I'm still not there yet.
Journal for 2005-1-17 Tue.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was pretty quiet around here so I spent most of my time reading The Economist online, which I recently subscribed to. I read it because it is full of world news and is a good resource for studying for the U.S. Foreign Service Written Exam. I still have a little time, since the test is on Apr. 8, but of course I am concerned about it. I still have to start practicing essay writing, though!
Journal for 2005-1-16 Mon.. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
This was a good Monday. Signe and I have been waking up together since the 10th because she has a full-time job now. Ever since before we were married our work schedules have never been in sync, so it is really nice to get up together and go to bed together finally. I really dig the DINK lifestyle!
Journal for 2005-1-13 Fri.. Weather: Rainy Plan: Akagi JHS
I registered for the US Foreign Service Written Exam yesterday, so I am taking it for sure now. I am a little nervous, but I'll do my best. I had to chose a career track when I registered, so I chose the management track. I have thought a lot about it and I think management is the track for me. I really like planning large events and the such, so it seems like a lot of fun. Even if I don't get in this year I will make it in one day for sure!
Journal for 2005-1-12 Thu.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akana Ele.
I love going to elementary schools. Just seeing all the little kids big grins and bright eyes makes me feel great. When I started as an ALT 2 years ago I was very nervous about teaching in elementary schools, but it turns out that making friends with kids is a lot easier than making friends with adults, so I have grown to like my days at the elementary schools. In fact I want to work solely at elementary schools for my next job!
Journal for 2005-1-11 Wed.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was an average day. I corrected the winter vacation tests for the 7th graders. It seems that over the 2 week vacation a lot of the students forgot the things they learned in the 2nd term. But then again, that happens with everybody. Nobody wants to study during a vacation. I only studied a little for my foreign service written exam over the break. I only have 3 more months to study.
Journal for 2005-1-10 Tue.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was interesting. Ms. Mishima showed me a poem a 7th grader made. I then translated the poem into English for her. I think that translating poetry is more difficult than ordinary text because you don't just translate the words, you have to translate the feelings of the poet as well. I was assigned to design this the award certificate for this week's Iinan Town Junior High School English Test today. It was really fun to do.
Journal for 2005-1-9 Mon.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was the first day of the third term at the junior high school. It went the same as any other first day here. We cleaned the school, had an opening ceremony, and ate a special lunch. We had sushi. Even though there was sea urchin sushi in it, I really liked having sushi for lunch. I don't really like sea urchin, but when it is fresh and in sushi I can tolerate it. I spent the rest of the time working hard to read and study the news. I have to be very focused this year!
Hello and welcome once again to your monthly Trev Report wherein you will find the general goings-on of Trevor R. Lalish-Menagh in the last month or so. Come in and enjoy!
Trev's Love Life ---------------- Signe just got a new full-time job! It turns out that the Assistant Language Teacher in a town very close to ours had a trauma in the family and had to leave her post early. This left her schools in a bad situation and Signe has a friend in that town's board of education that put in a good word for her. They interviewed her and she was a perfect fit! She quit her old jobs at the cram school two hours away in Hamada and the nearby high school and will be teaching at two junior high schools that are about a half an hour from here. The salary is the same as a JET participant's so we will be able to make a lot of headway on our debts and loans. She won't have to travel so far as well, which is an added relief. To celebrate we both got mobile phones, if you want our numbers or phone email addresses email me.
Trev's Work ----------- Work is going fine. Teaching junior high school and elementary school kids is more fun that I ever imagined it would be. At the end of the second term we had a year-end party in Hiroshima. It was a real good time. I usually dislike company parties, but I had a really good time at this one. I really like the staff at the junior high school. They are good people to hang out with.
Trev's Winter Vacation ---------------------- I spent most of the winter break relaxing at my house doing nothing much. For Christmas Signe and I went to a party being held in a town nearby for little kids that are part of a local English conversation school. I always like playing with kids, so I had a great time. We had some friends over for a few days and we just hung out watched movies and played games. Signe and I also went down to Hiroshima a couple times, which is rare for us, but it was necessary since she had to change her visa from a dependant (spouse) visa to a full working visa. So from this point on she can work in Japan as an instructor for the next three years before she has to renew her visa. After we got her visa we spent an entire day wondering around downtown Hiroshima having a good time. The snow has been crazy up here. In early December there was a huge snowstorm that dumped a lot of snow on us, a rarity this early in the season, so we spent a lot of time shoveling snow as well. On an up note, the sledding is great. Last weekend we went sledding up in the mountains with some friends and has a real fun time. All in all it was a good albeit uneventful vacation.
Trev's Computers ---------------- My computers continue to chug along. We recently bought an iPod for the car and for Christmas Signe's parents got us some gift cards for Apple's online music store, iTunes. It has been fun listening and buying new music from the US. Our favorite science fiction shows have started up again, so we will once again be using our computer to watch US TV, for better or for worse.
Trev's Studies -------------- I am still trying to beef up my knowledge of all things worldly for the upcoming April Foreign Service Written Exam in Osaka. I am starting to get nervous about it, but al I can do is to continue to keep abreast of the news, study US law and history and try my best to improve my essay writing skills. Which is something I am seriously lacking right now. I recently subscribed to The Economist, which looks like it will be helpful for slightly more in-depth world news coverage. As for my Japanese study I haven't been doing much. I didn't write on my Japanese journal over the break, so I might have become a bit rusty, but now that I am back at work I will get back in the habit of writing in it and posting it online, as well as practicing at least one new kanji (Chinese character) a day. I'll do my best!
Trev's One Point Japanese Lesson -------------------------------- So you want to learn Japanese? That is great! Last month we reviewed the polite form of verbs. Let's now tackle the short-form or dictionary-from of Japanese verbs. There are three types ru-verbs, u-verbs, and irregular verbs. Today let's talk about ru-verbs.
ru-verbs are called such because they all end in 'ru.' Some examples are tabe-ru (to eat), mi-ru (to see), and ki-ru (to wear).
To turn a ru-verb into the polite form that we previously learned all we have to do is replace the 'ru' with 'masu.' For example, tabe-ru becomes tabe-masu.
Conjugation of ru-verbs are pretty easy, too. The rule is you just replace the 'ru' as follows. Past tense ru becomes ta, present negative tense ru becomes nai, and past negative tense ru becomes nakatta. Here is an example: Present positive: tabe-ru Present negative: tabe-nai Past positive: tabe-ta Past negative: tabe-nakatta Try conjugating mi-ru and ki-ru yourself.
Keep up you studies. Japanese can be a fun a rewarding language to learn!
That's it for this time. If you have time, drop me a line. I always like hearing from you. Until next time, take care.
