What's really going on...

Two days down! Over the last couple of days I have just observed the teacher I will be replacing, but today I get to teach my first real lesson. I'm pretty excited, but a little nervous of course. Since I've started working and observing the teachers at my school I've come to realize a couple of things. First of all, everything at our school is a lot more laid back and less structured than what they taught us in training. For instance, when I was at training we had daily dress code inspections to make sure we weren't wearing anything that would be considered inappropriate in Japan. Then I got to my school and the men never wear their jackets in the lobby (which was pounded into our heads during training), one of my male co-workers has an earing (another big no-no), and the first time I met the co-worker with the earing he took one look at me and said "Wow! You look so professional!". Well, yeah... I thought we were all supposed to look like that! But hey, I'm all for a more relaxed atmosphere and since he's been teaching for three years I figure he knows what he's doing.

Another major difference is the lesson plans. During training we were taught a very specific format for creating and teaching our lessons, I've come to find that this structure is also a lot more relaxed. The teacher who is training me never writes anything down on the board or on paper for the students to see. I find this frustrating at times because some people are visual learners and need to see the differences in what is being taught rather than just hearing the differences explained to them. I personally learn better by seeing information laid out in front of me, if you tell it to me I'll zone out and get confused. So basically, I need to figure out a way to mold what I've been taught in training to what the previous teacher does and what I want to do so that the students aren't completely weirded out (or bored) by the way I teach, but still learn in the best way possible. I think it's going to take a little time to figure out, but that's okay, I've got time.

I'm going to go out with my co-workers sometime in the next few days so I'm excited about that. When I went with my manager to get a thing called a gaijin card (foreinger card) she turned to me in the elevator and asked "Do you like meat???" for those of you who know me well, you all know the answer to that question, for those of you who don't, the answer is YES. I guess they're going to bring me to some sort of Japanese BBQ place to eat and, more importantly, drink (at least it's more important by Japanese standards).

Well, it's time for me to get ready for work. Today I'm going to bring my camera with me to the school because there are a few ridiculous things I need to take pictures of to post here. Until then, I hope you all have a fabulous night or day depending on your time zone!