After we had about 5 days to settle into Japan and our apartment, little did we know the following days would be so intense.
Aug. 28th was our first day of on the job training (OJT). Day one was soooooooooooo long and for the most part boring as heck. It just so happened that the guy Luke we met at YVR was also in our training group. It was only him, Jame and myself. This day consisted mainly of administrative stuff and an introduction to the curriculum. We taught one lesson that day and were observed. It was really weird having someone watch you, but it went ok. After 9 hours we went home and crashed.The next day we learned the second half of the curriculum and had to prepare ourselves to teach 3 full lessons while once again being observed. Again, the day was loooonnnnngggg. I have never really had any formal training for any job I've had in the past, so being picked over with a fine-tooth comb was very different. In my opinion, Jame did very well considering he has never had any experience teaching ESL, so I was very proud of him. Me on the other hand, it took a while for me to get used to the way they want the classes to be led. I was quickly referred to as "the loud one" by the rest of the teachers!! I found this quite humourous because I was always known at CSLI for being "loud" {right Anna & Nicolle ;)}. It wasn't meant to be a bad thing. The trainer pointed out I was very relaxed in the class, but should tone down my "excited methods" as the rooms are FAR from sound proof!
One day 2 we checked out this pasta place for lunch. It was pretty cheap and tasted AMAZING!! I had the tomato shrimp dish and it was probably one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. Check out how short the tables are and how small the chairs are. I don't know, maybe it is too hard to tell in this picture?!?!?
Day 3 seemed to go by pretty quick. I think it was because we sort of had a grasp on the lessons. This time we taught 4 full lessons and were of course once again observed. Day 3...whatever....I was so sick of them I didn't really care. Ha ha ha!! Needless to say all three of us did well.
That night our trainer (Danielle), the assistant area manager (Karen) and the titled instructor from Jame's school (Tim) went out for a beer with us. Luke had to make a quick pit stop at home to drop his stuff us, so we all headed to the bar first. We went to a "gaijin" (foreigner) friendly bar close-by. It is a pretty cool little joint. The bartenders are super cool and super hot!!!!!! The food is great and the beer is cheap!!!
About 30 minutes after later Luke showed up still in his shirt and tie with his bag. He lost his keys and none of his roomies were home! Oops.....1 XL beer for Luke please!!!!
A couple of hours and a few beers later we left Tins with the hopes of catching the last train. As soon as we walked out of the bar, Luke's roomies were heading our way. Since he no longer needed a place to crash, we all parted ways.
We had Thursday off, but spent the day running errands. We FINALLY got a bank account and FINALLY got our cell phones. I say FINALLY because it took us quite a while to do these things.....the language barrier had proved to be a huge obstacle. Before we knew it, it was bedtime and the next day we had kids training.
On the first of Sept. we had a different form of training. The first 3 days we learned how to teach adults and this time we had to learn how to teach the kiddies. NOVA has 3 different kids groups -- Kinder (4-6yrs.), Junior (7-9yrs.) and Senior (10-12yrs.). This training day went by super quick because the trainer Chris was wicked. The curriculum and its layout is very different and a first glance at the lesson plan is very overwhelming!!! We didn't teach any lessons this day and were not observed on anything. I was a bit nervous because the next day was all of our first days on the job and I knew my school was predominantly kids....I still had the first few days off OJT running through my head in addition to this new kid stuff!!!!
Jame and I both got through our first day without a hitch...well sort of! The adult lessons were super easy, but I had my first kid class (junior). Oh my.....it was a gong show!! Jame's school doesn't have kid classes--only 1-on-1 lessons if any, so he didn't really understand my hectic day. I look back on it now and laugh. We were trained, but the real thing had NOTHING on training day. Since then, I have had a few more kids classes and I have taken the time to familiarize myself thouroughly with the lesson plans so I know what the heck I am doing. I 've learned throuhg experience and reflection!!! Ha ha ha!!! That is my UBC education coming out! :)
So ya.....we have worked about 8 days straight and are looking forward to our days off! We aren't used to these kind of work weeks as back home were spoiled and only worked 4 days a week! Once more day of work to go and then we have our 2 days off.
We are planning to head to Nara where my friend Yumi is going to show us around. She has a job as a tour guide, so it should be really good!
PS - Luke didn't lose his keys...they were on his kitchen table the whole time!
September 5, 2006
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