Company Meeting: The Other ALTs

On Thursday, there was a meeting for all the other company ALTs working in Kamisu. I have been told that this is a monthly thing, but more importantly, it was an opportunity to meet the other Kamisu ALTs that work for the company. Before this, I had only met two that lived next to me, and one other I met at the ALT barbeque that was held just before the semester began.

While it was mostly an introduction session for the new ALTs (specifically me, and one other person), it was also gave an insight as to what everyone did during the summer break. Some went back to their home countries to visit family and friends, some traveled to other parts of Japan, while others just stayed in Kamisu for whatever reason. In addition, I was able to speak to some of the ALTs as to their thoughts on the company and working as an ALT in Kamisu. Most were critical of the company as a whole, but had no problem with the current coordinators for Kamisu - I agreed with them regarding the coordinators, as they come across as being particularly friendly people, and easy to approach for any questions that I had. 

I also had a chance to speak with ALTs who used to work at the schools that I am working at now. One of the schools I work at 3 days a week, one ALT said was a pretty good school, and very few troublemakers. However, the other school where I work 2 days a week didn't get such praise, something I started to take notice of when I was teaching there earlier that day. I found that the home room teachers were either busy doing their own thing, or were just not in the classroom. In any case, I was left to run the entire class on my own, with little assistance - and this did become a little problematic when trying to demonstrate a game to the students, and despite being able to speak Japanese, I am not allowed under any circumstances to speak it while running the class - that responsibility is left to the teacher that is supposed to be there. Fortunately, I was able to make do with what I had.  In any case, I suspect it's not because they don't like me personally (I've only been there for a total of 3 days so far), but it seems it's more of a case of being cautious of ALTs in general. I have heard both from Japanese teachers and fellow ALTs that earlier this year, there was a high turnover of ALTs, which has led some schools to be bit wary of incoming ALTs. I have noted that at the 2 day a week school, I do not feel welcome. Of course, there is the typical Japanese polite to your face act that I'm familiar with, but I feel that behind that, the teachers just do not want me around. This is completely the opposite to the 3 day a week school, where some of the teachers will come up and talk to me and ask how things are going, and generally just want to get to know me, and usually stay in the classroom, follow the lesson, help me out when I ask, and translate my instructions in Japanese for the students so they understand. After these 6 months, I would gladly stay on at the 3-day a week school if given the offer. However, for the 2-day a week school, I have no problems going to a different school if given the opportunity. 

After the meeting, I decided to go hang out with some of the ALTs for food at Gusto, and just chatted about general things. However, they did give me some advice about the shower in my apartment, which has proven to be problematic with hot water. Turns out I need to completely max out the hot water before slowly introducing cold water. Yesterday, I had the first comfortable shower since arriving in Kamisu 3 weeks ago.

Being able to meet the other ALTs proved to be a good experience. On top of meeting new people, I also got a better understanding of life in Kamisu, and some useful tips on work and living matters.