Been neglecting this thing. Back to work.

School has now been in session for me for just over two weeks. It's a new year with many changes.

I now have two Monday schools, Minobusan and Tokai. At Minobu I still teach with the same guy and have only two classes but now I teach both classes twice. So really I have four periods of teaching instead of the two I had last year. I teach the second year students, who are all new to me, the two periods before lunch, and then I teach the third year students the two periods after lunch. I had those guys last year. I'm not exactly happy about the increase in my teaching time as it means I have to catch a later train, but I really can't complain. I am home by about 5:30pm and then have to head out for my Japanese lesson.

My other Monday school is the new one. Tokai. I've only been there once so far and I can't say I was all that impressed. It's a large high school and on my first day I had four classes of kids who seemed not to give a damn that I was there. I taught with four teachers who all seemed nice enough but one of them, I can already tell, is going to be a pain in the ass to "teach" with. After I did my short introduction she had the students say two or three sentences each to introduce themselves to me. First, those not speaking to me were speaking to each other and I had trouble hearing what was being said to me. Second, many of the students simply wouldn't speak in English and the teacher had to do it for them. And third, instead of telling the others to shutup she finally asked me if I would come into the rows and stand next to the students talking so that I could hear what was being said. It was pathetic and I didn't feel it was my job to shut the little shits up as it was my first day there. Anyway, this class might prove to be the low-point of my life here. Course, if that's the low-point then life must be pretty good for me.
The other classes were fine but not all that fun. Hopefully it gets better.
After school I was asked if I could stay for the English club thing and a whole one student showed up. So it was me, a teacher and a student. It wasn't bad and we had a nice half hour conversation.

Tuesdays are also split by week, as they were last year, with me going to Sundai Junior High the first the third Tuesdays of the month. This school is fun and I still have three classes consisting of about 44 second year students each. They are fun and we have a good time. Unfortunately I don't teach with Yamashita anymore as he followed my last year students up to the third grade level, but it's not that big a deal as I now teach with a nice young lady named Kiyanagi.

The second and forth Tuesdays of the month I head out to Shizen Gakuen. I still teach with a lady named Shindo and have two classes. My first class has a grand total of two students and my second class has twice as many. These days are dragging on me in terms of the two hour commute out there and then the two back, but once I'm there I enjoy the kids and the teacher. All are extremely nice.

Wednesdays are at Yuda, the all girls school, and I still have three classes. I still teach with Yazaki but don't with Fujishima nor Tanoguchi (the old guy). I am rather bummed about not teaching with Tanoguchi but on the bright side I now teach with Miki Nishijima who happens to be a rather nice looking 24 year old girl. Ok, she's better than "rather" nice looking, she's actually quite beautiful and very nice and kinda shy. All in all quite sexy if you ask me. But I am a taken man, so Matt, if you are reading this, get your butt over here and I'll introduce you to her.
I also teach one other class with a lady who has been at the school since at least last year, but whose name I have never learned. She seems nice enough but when I did my introduction to her class and they asked me about my hobbies I noticed that she purposely left out the part about making beer in her translation.

Thursdays are still spent at the Japanese Aviation Academy and I still teach with all the same teachers. And I still have no idea what classes I'll be teaching till I get out there. Very confusing, that place, but I really like the students and teachers I work with.
They've hired a full-time native English speaker, too. David is his name and he used to be a JET. Has now lived in Japan for eight years and is from Salinas, CA. Small world, aye? Anyway, seems like a nice guy but the other day at lunch one of the teachers told me that he and I are very different both in the classroom and out of it. They think he's a bit strange but they like him. Makes me wonder what they think of me.

And last comes Friday and Yamanashi Gakuen. I teach the junior high first and second graders here still. Two classes of each. Between this school and Sundai, I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy the junior high students much more that I do the high school kids. The kids here are great and we have nothing but fun. They are energetic, willing to try most of the time, and seem very happy when I walk into the room. Too often, the high school kids don't give much a damn that you're there, are afraid to try to speak to me, and some act like they are just too cool to pay much attention. I don't blame them too much for this as I still remember being what it was like to be in high school, but with them the days and the classes are much more hit and miss in regards to good days. With the junior high kids it is always fun.
Anyway, at this school I teach with two of the three teachers I did last year and also with a new guy. Negishi is the new guy and he seems really nice, laughs at my jokes, and seems willing to allow me to run the show. In fact, on Fridays I run all four classes with very little help from the teachers. They like it that way and although it require more prep work from me, it is fun.

So that's the wrap-up on the new school year. I'd say I have about 75% new students and 50% new teachers to work with. Fun fun.