Day 30: "Adjust We Must"

This morning I had breakfast with my new host family, the Otsuki's. Yoko shocked her parents by showing up to the dining table in her school uniform. They told me that she usually just sits down in less appropriate clothing for breakfast with the family. They thanked me because they think that I am the reason Yoko dressed nicely this morning. I thought it was pretty funny, but we all probably act a little differently when we have guests.

Hiroshi walked Mayuko and I to the bus stop. We were actually a couple minutes late for the bus, but fortunately another Notre Dame Elementary parent asked the bus driver to wait for us. Mayuko and I made it on the bus for a short ride to school. No matter what mode of transportation one takes to Notre Dame in the morning, they are bound to see other Notre Dame students along the way. The bus Mayuko and I were on picked up several children dressed in their Notre Dame Elementary School uniforms.

This week will be another week in which Chuck and I will take over all of Mr. Yukita's English classes. First thing this morning I prepared some word cards for an activity I created, which I will explain further. The lesson for today focused on numbers, and phrases dealing with time. I started the lesson with a greeting and then a prayer in English. Then, we moved on to numbers. I focused mostly on the difference between _teen and _ty. Most of the English lessons include a lot of recitation and question/answer activities for the students, but I also try to design activities that are more fun and engaging. After Chuck Sensei introduced counting up to one trillion, I had only limited time for the activity I had planned. I designed a game for the students to play and review phrases like, "I study math at nine o'clock." I wrote the phrase on the blackboard and left spaces for the students to place the word cards I created. The students asked me questions like, "What do you do at ten o'clock?" Then I would reply with something like, "I study science at ten o'clock," and the student-volunteers would have to complete the statement on the blackboard. I wanted the students to review the phrases, but I also wanted them to get used to the activity so that I can use it for introducing past tense phrases in our next lesson. Most classes only had about ten minutes to play the game, but at least they will be familiar with the format for next time.

The big adjustment that I had to make today was switching from the fourth grade classes to the first grade classes. After lunch, I helped Afrela Sensei with the first grade English classes. Miko Sensei, who usually teaches with Afrela, was absent today. The younger grades are so much fun to teach! We celebrated the June birthday's with singing and having them blow out candles on a fake birthday cake. Afrela and I constructed a family tree on the blackboard and reviewed family names with the students. We also introduced three new terms: aunt, uncle, and cousin. Afrela told the students to close their eyes and put their heads down while I removed one of the family members from the family tree. The students had to figure out which person was missing and say, for example, "My uncle." We also sang a few songs with the students, reviewing body parts, months of the year, and family. I played the guitar for a couple songs. The last class of the day Afrela had some trouble setting up the computer, and I improvised with some guitar and the students were laughing and dancing around to my melodies; it was hilarious.

Mayuko took me to the bus stop with her after school. I follow really close when going new places, because I have no idea where I am going. Mayuko's friend also came home with us looking to play with "the American." The three of us walked to a nearby park and played baseball with some of the other neighborhood kids. The first time I was at bat I whacked the tennis ball clear out of the park with the plastic bat they gave me. I didn't think it would really go very far, but the kids were amazed. I had fun playing with them. It is times like that that I make myself take a long look around and realize that I am in Japan. It is still crazy being here and living the Japanese life.

Back at home we had Yakiniku for dinner. Yakiniku is really good, consisting of grilled beef and vegetables mostly. I was planning on sharing my photo album with the Otsuki's, but we ended up just talking for a while. The kids brought out movie magazines to share with me. When you go to a movie here in Japan they sell magazines or guides for the movie you are going to see. They have all seen the Davinci Code, which I want to see but probably wont until I am back in the United States.