Toji's Guide/Thoughts on Being an ALT

Ms. Baker (left) is best ALT waifu

In a rare change of pace, I'll be posting a kind of guide here today. I had actually written this up a few months earlier, but decided to hold off on uploading it until it was much closer to the end of my current ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) contract. I figured that since I'll be moving on to a new job at the beginning of next month, I should probably summarize what it's been like for me to be an ALT out in the woop woop parts (a.k.a rural) of Ibaraki  and things to be aware of, for anybody who is thinking of wanting to come to Japan to work. While some might think that ALT work is incredibly easy work, that's not always the case.

Note that these are purely from my own experiences only, and while some of these experiences and pointers may vary from place to place, other pointers are generally applicable to all schools.

1) ALT work does not pay much these days*. 

When I first started working as an ALT in Kamisu city back in mid-2016, I was earning about 13,000 yen a day - approximately 260,000 yen a month. However, after having to move to a different city, my pay was reduced to about 12,500 yen a day - around 250,000. In my current city now? I'm not even earning that. Due to some number manipulating on my employer's part, I'm earning about 12,000 yen a day - 240,000 yen a month. However, this includes the expenses to cover commuting to school. In my previous two cities, the commuting pay was separate from my regular pay.

Regardless of the company, anyone who has been an ALT will generally agree that these days, it's a race to the bottom for companies to pay as little as legally possible to ALTs. While it would seem at first glance that dispatch companies are being tight with money, it's more to do with the Board of Education being tight with the money - but not necessarily by choice. The problem is that the budgets assigned to them by their local/prefectural governments are getting smaller. Despite this, Boards of Education still want good quality ALTs, even if they can't/won't pay accordingly for said ALTs. Dispatch companies want to pay their ALTs more so they'll stay on, but they also want to win more contracts and build up their reputation throughout the country. So it's a snowball effect, starting with governments being stingy on children's education.

While I won't say avoid ALT work like the plague, I would advise that you carefully check how much you will get paid per day - or at the very least, per month. Some job advertisements will show the annual pay, but it seems to be an attempt to hide how little you will be paid. If you can, only take the jobs that pay at least 250,000 yen a month. Also, with the current situation of the CCP virus, dispatch companies are desperate for ALTs right now, and I would dare say that you might have a bit of room to negotiate. Just don't be too greedy if you do try negotiating.

This won't be a problem if you're only thinking of doing a year or two in Japan as an ALT, or using ALT work as a means to get a better job as soon as possible in Japan, but this is not the kind of work you would want to do long term. Some people can make this their living, but I've found those sorts of people tend to be few and far between.

*... However, this is from my experience working for a ALT dispatch company. Companies like Interac and Altia Central are examples of such dispatch companies. If you get lucky and work directly for a city's Board of Education, you will get paid significantly more (I spotted a job-ad not too long ago that was offering 290,000 yen a month), as there is no middle-man taking a cut out of your pay. However, from my own observations, it's rare to see a city's Board of Education advertise for an ALT. In my 5 years in Japan, I've probably seen only 2 - 3 positions advertised, and heard of a co-worker successfully get a direct-hire position. Also, you will most likely need a Japanese driver's license to be eligible for a direct-hire position.

2) Your role will vary depending on your schools. 

Officially, ALTs are there to assist the teacher in teaching English to students. In Junior High School and High School, this will generally ring true. At those schools, there will already be dedicated Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) to teach English. Your role there will usually be reading from the textbook, checking the students' work, and preparing any extra material that you think may be useful, such as English boards, worksheets and so on. Basically, you get the easy work, and it's no surprise that many ALTs would prefer to work at a JHS or HS. 

Elementary Schools on the other hand... well, that's a different story. Unlike JHS and HS, there's not always going to be a dedicated JTE at an elementary school. There will more often than not be at least one teacher there that can speak English, and therefore, your only point of contact if you have questions or concerns regarding day to day operations at the school (unless you've got some Japanese ability under your belt), but will either not be confident enough to run an English class, or may have other responsibilities running classes for their assigned grade. This means that you will more than likely be preparing the lessons, preparing the materials (assuming the previous ALT didn't leave any materials for you to use) and running the classes, with the homeroom teacher usually playing the assistant role. You may get lucky and have some teachers that will get involved in the lessons and planning process, but I have found that to be the exception, rather than the rule. If you're lucky to have a head teacher who has experience teaching English, and takes charge of lesson planning and running classes for some of the grades - enjoy it while you can. In my five years, I've only encountered two or three teachers who took the lead for the class; two of those teachers were involved in the planning process, while one planned the entire lesson, and kept me in the loop on what they would be doing for what lesson, occasionally asking for my input or ideas.

3) Not all students are created equal.

Presumably, if you're wanting to be an ALT, you should at least have a little bit of experience working with children, or at the very least have the patience to work with children. I mean, you are going to be working at a school after all. A school. Full of children.

While I have been very fortunate to have had pretty good students overall, that streak came to an end this year, with my 6th graders at my elementary school. One class is usually ok, but the other... fucking hell. I hate the class, and I have found that the source of why the class is so bad is down to most of the boys in that class being absolute pieces of shit - disruptive, won't listen, then complain they don't understand because they're disruptive and won't listen. You need to have patience with children, and if you don't have patience for children, or willing to learn patience, do not bother becoming an ALT. 
Generally 6th graders can be arrogant, because they are essentially the kings of Elementary school - of course this comes to a crashing halt the second they go in to Junior high school. But basically, you need to learn to keep your cool in front of the kids, regardless of what happens in the classroom.

In my experience, 4th graders can also be a handful. Oddly enough, despite my earlier comment about 6th graders being arrogant, my experiences have been generally positive aside from this year. The 6th graders I have worked with have mostly been shy, but rarely have they been disruptive. Though the 6th graders that I have worked with for more than 1 year I have found to be a bit more lively, but again, rarely are they disruptive, and I have found those kinds of students to be fun. 
This does carry on a little bit in to junior high school. The 1st graders are usually still full of energy and enthusiasm, though by the time they reach 3rd grade, it's pretty much non-existent - the weight of trying to pass their entrance exams to get in to their desired high school is on their shoulders, and I do not envy the kind of pressure that has been put on them. All I can do for them is help where I can. If they ask for my help, great. If they don't it, that's fine too.

More importantly, what you need to realize is that because you'll be working in a public school, not every student is going to be enthusiastic about learning another language, let alone English. Yes, you'll have a few that genuinely want to learn and improve their English, and in my experience - not just schools in Japan, but language learning in general - girls tend to take English (and language learning) more seriously than boys. That's not to say that there aren't boys who want to learn and improve their English, but you'll find it more likely that girls will be studying harder for English. So, if you aren't getting a good reaction from your students, it could simply be that they're not really in to English, and not necessarily a problem with you personally.
Of course, if you decide to work in an Eikaiwa, most of your students are there because they want to improve their English (or at least, their parents want them to).

4) Welcome to the rice fields, motherfucker. 

While you might get assigned to a major city, and be able to get by with zero or very little Japanese (more on that in the next section), chances are, you're going to be assigned to work in a rural city. Depending on your personal preference, this could be seen as a paradise of peace and quiet, or it could be absolute torture and boredom. If you're in the latter category, I'd suggest finding an apartment near a train station that can take you somewhere more lively for the weekend.

On the other hand, while it is possible to get to your school by bike or walking, having a driver's license from your home country will make you more appealing to ALT dispatch companies, as it means they can assign you to cities and schools where you might need a car. Most companies will provide a car  (for a certain monthly fee) to get to school and to allow you to go about your day to day business. If you do decide to go for a company car, the company will reimburse you for the daily cost of commutes to school, and will pay for the regular car inspections (the shaken/車検). In addition, they will cover any repairs to the car, provided it wasn't your fault. If you have a valid license from your home country, it means you have the opportunity to transfer it in to a Japanese driver's license. 

Also, being in a small rural town means news travels around fast. This also means that as an ALT, you could potentially face greater scrutiny if you're caught doing something you're not supposed to or, just as bad, be accused of something you didn't do (especially if you're a man). Potential punishment can vary between having to leave the city (and your employer having to assign you somewhere else quickly), to being outright fired by the company. I have known this to happen to some friends who are no longer ALTs, but have fortunately bounced back and are still living and working in Japan.

5) If you want better work in Japan, git gud at Japanese, gaijin.

While ALT dispatch companies will advertise that Japanese ability isn't required, it's partly true. While you might not need Japanese to teach English at your schools, you will definitely need Japanese ability to get by outside of school. If you happen to be assigned to a rural city as discussed above, Japanese ability is a must. Need to go to the doctor? You're going to need Japanese to adequately tell them what's wrong. Need to set up an account for your apartment's utilities or phone? You're going to need Japanese. Need to go to city hall for anything? You will need Japanese, but some city halls will have a booth dedicated to assisting foreigners, though I am not sure if this is standard across the country or not. Fortunately, some cities have night schools for learning Japanese, and it might be an idea to take it up if you're thinking of living in Japan long term.

Alternatively, you could work at an Eikaiwa school, which pays more than typical ALT work. However if you want a job in Japan beyond being an ALT or Eikaiwa instructor, you will need Japanese proficiency, along with physical proof of that proficiency. By that, I mean you need to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test - more commonly known as the JLPT (or 能力試験). Most non-ALT jobs these days will require that you at least have JLPT N2 certification, which is roughly the equivalent of advanced/business level Japanese, with N1 being considered the equivalent of native level Japanese. If you can at least get N2 certification, it will open up a lot more job opportunities for you within the country.

If you're intending to take the JLPT, there are plenty of textbooks available to purchase to cover vocabulary, grammar, kanji, reading and listening. The JLPT is held twice a year in Japan (first Sunday of July and December), whereas most other countries only hold it once a year in December. Registering for the test isn't cheap, but the benefit of having that certification is worth it.

6) The Summer Vacation - the good and the bad.

There are two things you need to be aware of concerning working as an ALT in public schools: Your schedule follows that of the school year, and you're paid based on the number of days you work each month. But the thing is, you will receive your pay the following month. For example, your pay for January will arrive in February. Since you won't be working in August because of the summer vacation, come September... see where I'm getting at here?

Some companies will pay between 50-75% of your regular monthly pay to help you get by until you receive your September pay in October. I believe Interac is one of the dispatch companies that does this. Unfortunately, my employer is not so gracious, though they do offer a little extra work during the summer break so I got a little bit of pay to get me through the following month, which was why I loved only having two weeks of summer vacation last year. In any case, it's recommended that before the summer break, you save up some money to help you get through September.

Also, be especially aware if you're starting in August (or even April), this is even more important, as your first pay won't arrive until two months later. Fortunately, my employer was upfront about this part before I moved to Japan to start work. At the very least, you should ask your employer what their policy is regarding pay for the summer break when factoring in the initial cost of moving to Japan.

In Conclusion

Those are my pointers for the moment, though I will be sure to update this post if there are any other key points that I think would be important for anybody who is wanting to become an ALT in Japan. However, due to the coronavirus, it's more difficult to enter the country at the moment, so you'll need to factor the cost of quarantine on top of everything else if you are able to get in to Japan

Lastly, while this post could be seen as hating on ALT work (and there are plenty of former ALTs out there who do hate the job with a passion), ALT work is not all bad. There is some joy in teaching students English, and see them improve over time. But as I mentioned earlier, this is not a long term job. At the very least, it's a good experience, and also a good way to move on to better jobs in Japan - provided you're willing to put that extra work in to be eligible for a better job. On top of that, though, you need to be prepared to accept that Japan is not exactly like what you see in anime and pop-culture. It's quite different from western culture in some ways, but in others it borrows a lot from it too, creating this weird fusion between old and modern. In any case, the first few weeks will be a little bumpy as you acclimate to your new environment, but if you're able to stick it out, you'll come out of it for the better.

At some point, I will probably shift this guide over to my main site, as this will probably get buried by future posts.

See, cos of the echo

When one of my JHS students tells me: "I like chairs, but I don't like China"

Completely random, but I found it hilarious for some reason.

Club Activity reforms?

 I came across this article on Japan Today. 

Working in Junior High Schools, I have come across this problem quite a bit. Teachers are being assigned to supervise clubs that they are not trained for. While some teachers that supervise do have some experience in their assigned club - I've seen some teachers really get involved in clubs such as softball and basketball, and the art club I was in last year obviously had the art teacher supervising. - I've also seen some instances, especially in my current school where that isn't the case. One of the teachers I regularly speak to ended up being assigned to supervise the baseball club, though he expressed that he really wanted to supervise the soccer club, as has experience coaching soccer when he was working in China. Unfortunately, he was asked by the principal to coach the baseball team. While he is able to provide advice to students on how to condition their bodies (especially doing exercises focusing on their arms and legs), he doesn't have knowledge outside of (presumably) the basics of baseball.

I am not quite sure the full details how things work when being assigned - it's not quite clear whether the teachers are able to put some sort of preference to what club/team they want to supervise, or whether they're simply assigned at random. This news does show some promise but admittedly, three years seems a bit too long for implementing reform. Hopefully, it will also allow for teachers (and students) to have the weekend to themselves. It would also be nice for reforms to allow junior high school students the option to take club activities. As it is now, they are required to pick a club to attend after school and Saturdays. For kids that are in to that, good for them. On the other hand, I don't believe that students who don't want to get involved should be forced to participate in something after school has finished for the day.

Working from home

With things starting to escalate in Japan over the CCP virus, and the number of infections in Ibaraki prefecture now over 100 people, it's reached a point now where we have received instructions from the city's BOE to work from home until May 7th, after Golden Week. My employer has guaranteed that we will be paid for working from home, on the condition that we submit either lesson plans/materials to prove that we have been working each day. Some of us ALTs have decided to pool together resources in to a group document, so it means that we aren't doubling up on lesson plans, and also gives an opportunity to share ideas/resources, especially for ALTs who may not have as much experience in either JHS or ES, or are newbie ALTs this year.

On one hand, it means that I'm not having to sit in the teacher's room pretending to look like I'm busy when I have finished my work for the day. On the other hand, I lose the opportunity to talk with some of the teachers, whether it be simple chit chat during lunch break, or a chance to coordinate lesson preparations. I had a chance to talk with one of my elementary school teachers about the first lessons for the 6th graders. Similarly, at one of my Junior High Schools, one of the English teachers asked me to help her in preparing materials, while another asked for my input on ideas for lessons, based on my experiences at Chikusei. Also, at that same JHS, a bunch of teachers decided to go play volleyball in the gym during lunch break, as they had pretty much finished their work for the day. There was also one student in attendance too, as the schools will remain open for students whose parents have to work during the day. In any case, it was pretty fun to just hang out with the teachers in a non-formal environment.

My girlfriend is still staying over for the moment, and even bought a bicycle that she can use to get around the city while I'm out. Considering that the nearest supermarket is about a 15 minute walk away, likewise with the train station, it was a good purchase. I am considering using the bicycle as well from time to time when she heads back to Tokyo - it would be a shame to let it just sit there and all that.

Anyway, that's all I have at the moment. Pretty much two weeks working from home until after Golden Week ends next month.

New city & Other topics

Just over a week ago, I moved to a new city. While I had no problem talking about the last city I lived in the last 3 years (hint: it was Chikusei), I feel it probably be better not to talk about my current city, especially what I'm aiming for (hopefully) next year regarding the company I'm working for. I will simply say that I have moved to a city that is south of Chikusei, and is about an hour away from Tokyo by train. However, given the whole coronavirus/CCP virus situation at the moment, heading to Tokyo isn't exactly an option right now.

This time around, I opted to rent an apartment independent of my employer. Again, it's a Leopalace apartment, and aside from a few small things, it's pretty much identical to my previous apartment. Though this time, I'm trying to take better care of this apartment compared to my last one - especially the kitchen. While I didn't destroy the last apartment in any way, I felt I could have done a better job looking after it. Well, it just so happens my girlfriend has been staying over for the past week, so there has been some incentive to keep the place as clean as possible (despite a whole bunch of packing boxes moved off to one side.
The reason she has been staying over lately, has been due to concerns that Tokyo may be put in lock down indefinitely, especially with the number of infections increasing on a daily basis in Tokyo. Combine this with the fact that Prime Minister Abe now has the authority to declare a national emergency. However, with the problem of the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to next year, and the potential economic damage such an emergency could do, Abe has been incredibly hesitant to make that call, despite Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike putting pressure on Abe to do so. Also, last week's call by Koike for Tokyo residents to stay home over the previous weekend prompted panic buying from Tokyo folk, clearing out supermarkets and convenience stores. Fortunately, my girlfriend and I stocked up early on food to last us about a month, so we've been living off that. In another stroke of good luck, it seems the panic buying hasn't reached out to this current city I'm in. While some supermarkets here have signs up about limits on certain products, there seems to be ample of products to go around. Unfortunately, we're still waiting on new masks to be produced, given that they've all been bought up since early last month. I have checked on Amazon Japan for masks, I notice that many of the masks on sale are from sellers located in China, which seems to match with China and the CCP's soft power plans to try and profit from this mess that they have spread (whether they caused it is up for debate, but their mismanagement and deception on this matter certainly didn't help in the early stages).

Anyway, I also visited my schools last week. Unlike my time in Chikusei, I will be working in three schools: one elementary school, and two junior high schools. My elementary school will be my main school (three days a week), and I'll be working one day each for my junior high schools. However, I've been told classes will not officially start until the 20th of this month, though I will still be going to school and getting paid for it fortunately. However, it seems that some students may still turn up to school during that time (due to working parents), so it will at least be an opportunity to meet some of the students and get to know them - and possibly join the JHS' art clubs and get back in to drawing, since I haven't done any since moving... and I'm currently waiting on a new touch pen to be delivered soon.

So that's about it for now.

(Unofficial) Last Day of School

Today was my (unofficial) last day of school. Technically, my last day was last Thursday, which was a sudden announcement by my employer. However, my school invited me to come in today for not only lunch and a proper farewell, but also to see the students, who have come to not only submit their three weeks' worth of homework, but also to get the results of their last test. It was also an opportunity to give a proper farewell to the students in the Art Club that I joined at the beginning of last year.

We all gathered in one of the spare rooms, where the head of the club gave a short speech, before her and each of the members one by one gave me a farewell letter that they wrote. I gave them a short speech in return - I told them the usual how fun it was to hang out with them and such, but the most important thing for me was thanks to them, I was inspired to get back in to drawing on a more regular basis, and helped kick my imagination back in to gear... that and having my tablet to draw certainly helped. Afterwards we headed outside in front of the blooming sakura, and with Mt. Tsukuba in the back where we had our photos taken. Some were taken on my tablet, and some were taken on the teacher's phone. I was worried that with the sudden suspension of classes, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to properly say goodbye to them. Fortunately, I had the chance, and have no regrets. I told some of the other students, but not all of them, but with kids being kids, the news will spread quickly before the start of the new semester.

After that, I had a bento lunch provided for me in the teachers' room. Though they also gave me a farewell send off, gave me some flowers - apparently they are called multiple fold Sakura - and I gave a quick speech. Then we had lunch. Shortly after lunch I decided to head off, but not before personally thanking the Principal, Vice Principal and Head teacher for the past three years (despite the principal and vice principal only being in the school for the past 1 and 2 years respectively, but anyway). Just as I was about to head off, the English teachers gave me a going away present and thanking me for assisting them - while most of the English teachers only started this school year, I have worked with one for the last two years, and the other teacher for all three years. The teachers were pretty nice, and it is going to feel weird heading in to new schools with uncertainty of how those teachers will be. Hopefully they'll at least be as nice as the teachers I have had until now.

After that, I headed to Abiko in Chiba to pick up the keys to my new apartment, and to sort out payment methods and parking, because the person I was speaking to previously in their International Support division has oddly gone dark and have not heard back from them regarding my payment and parking inquiries. Fortunately, I was able to get it all sorted it out, so I'm just about ready to go. However, due to how much stuff I have, I will be shifting some of my things in to my new apartment tomorrow morning, before the company comes to help me move the rest on Thursday.

Three Weeks of Nothing

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, Japan's Prime Minister has ordered that all schools be closed until the end of spring vacation. Naturally, many people are upset about the suddenness of the announcement, not to mention that Abe apparently did not bother to do any consultation or coordinate how to pull this off while minimizing the impact across the country.

I was more concerned about my fate in all this, and whether or not I will be working and or getting paid for March. Well, I received an email from my employer after school last Friday, and fortunately I will be going to school until the end of semester - regardless of the fact that there are no students, and no classes during that time. While I have been instructed to plan lessons and help the teachers, the fact that I'm out by the end of the semester has me feeling tuned out from all of this. Fortunately, I'm keeping myself busy at my schools.
At junior high school, I'm reviewing the new textbooks that 5th and 6th graders will be using at elementary school next year. In addition for 5th and 6th grade, English will be taught as a proper subject, as opposed to "foreign language activity" (外国活動）. Looking at the textbooks, there is certainly a lot more material compared to what they went through this year. In addition, it's feeling a lot like Junior High School level of content they're doing - at the very least JHS 1st grade levels.
At my elementary school, I'm pretty much tidying up my "English room," where I'm sorting out and organizing my flashcards so that they're easy to take back with me when it's my last day in two weeks time. Yeah, I'm not leaving much behind for the next ALT, but considering the flashcards were not made at school, and I forked out of my own pocket, they're mine to do with as I please. Also, learning from my experiences when I first started at this elementary school 2 years ago, and finding out there were no materials left by the previous ALT, I've decided not to risk assuming there will be materials for me to use at the next elementary school I might end up with. It will mean I'm better prepared, and I won't be caught on the back foot during the first few weeks of the first semester.

Yeah... that's pretty much it for now. Just counting down the days until I'm out.

An early end to the school year?

According to news that's springing up online just recently, Prime Minister Abe has ordered that all schools be closed from March 2 until the end of spring break:

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200227/p2g/00m/0na/101000c

This basically means that tomorrow is my last day at my schools. While the teachers know that I will not be the same schools next year, I haven't told them that I will be leaving the city. Guess I'll have to break that news to them tomorrow too.
This also means, that I will probably not get any work or pay for March. I have yet to receive any word from my employer on this matter, that I am sure we will be getting some sort of email from the company tomorrow. 

This also gives me plenty of time to pack up my things, and be able to get the keys to my apartment from the Leopalace office in Chiba on the 24th without having to ask for time off. Still, that little bit of convenience is not worth the trade off of having no work for the next 3 weeks. Hopefully, it will only last until end of spring break, and not be extended any further - otherwise, I (and many other ALTs) will probably begin feeling the pinch not long after.

I have my own thoughts on this whole Corona virus - WHO selling out to China, CCP not being entirely honest, Australia pretty much belonging to China at this point. I guess I'll save that for another time when I have collected my thoughts.

Joining Club Activities

Unlike the last two years at my Junior High School, I decided to participate and join in club activities this year. The reason I didn't get involved until now, has been because it's usually run after my scheduled hours are over. However, I decided to join the Art club specifically for two reasons:

1. To keep practicing my drawing on a regular basis. Ever since spring break, I've been admittedly slacking off on that part.
2. To try new things. Since I only draw things that I want to draw, joining the Art club has been a good chance to draw things I normally wouldn't draw.

The art club is admittedly small, and the majority of members are girls, and only one boy who is also the only 3rd Grader in the club.

Anyway, from what I understand Art club is usually broken down in to 3 sections (or 2.5, depending how you look at it)

• Quick sketching - A student poses in front of the club room, and everyone has to draw that student in 5 minutes. It is good practice for me to speed up on drawing the basic shapes before filling the details, as I usually only finish the basic frame by the time the 5 minutes are up. Depending on the pose the student does, I may be able to finish in time.
• Sketch your own hand - Self explanatory. I think it's a similar time limit. Fortunately, since it's only a hand, I can usually finish in time
• Drawing/Painting a poster - From what I understood, there were three themes we could choose. Two of them were relating to the upcoming local elections (I think), and feelings/emotions. I can't remember what the third theme was. In any case, I picked the feelings/emotions theme. At this point, all the 2nd and 3rd grade students (and myself) have finished the posters, so we're helping the 1st graders their posters.

Since joining the art club, I have been practicing both my pencil work and my digital work (I've also been bringing my tablet to school). I have to admit, I'm having a lot of fun in this club. The students are also supposed to be submitting sketches to use for the chorus contest that will be happening later this year. While the teacher in charge of the club, and the students don't mind me submitting something, I feel like it's kind of a dick move to do so, considering that the students are supposed to be the ones submitting the work. I don't mind drawing something, and I have put something together, but I feel like I shouldn't submit it. I spoke to my girlfriend about this, and she also agrees with this.

Unfortunately, I think interactive forum practice will be starting next month after Golden Week, so I don't think I'll be able to join in on club activities until after summer break. I'll see how it goes, as I'm definitely having fun, and the students enjoy having me there.

Playing teacher for a day at JHS

（分かった、分かった、五ヶ月ぶりだ。）

Due to the English teacher being absent for the past two days, and one of the first grade classes hasn't had an important English lesson this week, unlike the other first grade classes, I was asked together with another assistant teacher to run an English class today. 
What's different in this case, is that unlike normal circumstances where I will just hang back, and check students' work in class while they're doing worksheets and such, I was going to be running the class jointly with the other assistant teacher. Her English is pretty good, and she has had experience teaching English at other Junior High Schools in the past, but has never taught at this particular school. On top of that, she's only at this school for two days a week, so she's not too familiar with how certain things go in a typical English class at this school. So with my knowledge of how the class is run, and an idea of what they were supposed to be doing today, combined with her ability to properly convey and explain key grammar points in greater detail in Japanese, we managed to make it work.
Fortunately, today's class was fairly easy, as it was revision for their upcoming end of semester test. The worksheet was already prepared by the English teacher previously, and I had already helped go through the material with the other first grade classes. The teacher and I covered each section with the whole class and checking answers, along with explaining the grammar points, and pointing out where to be careful, such as spelling. On top of that, I think this class is better than the other classes, and they generally behaved themselves, so it worked out in the end.

While I'm ok with hanging in the background and helping where needed for demonstrations, it was a nice change to help run the class directly. Especially when you get to use Japanese to help explain why they should be careful on certain points (such as taking pictures vs. talking pictures). However news came that the English teacher is doing better and likely to return in the next few days. The assistant teacher talked to me about the possibility of coming in next week on the day that I'm usually at elementary school to help her out with running the class if the English teacher is not back by then. She also talked to the vice principal about it, and he said he'd talk to my elementary school about it if the situation required it. While I wouldn't mind doing it again for this particular class, some of the other first grader classes can be a handful. However, between the two of us, I think we could  make it work again.

Unrelated news, I passed my JLPT N4, and am currently preparing for N3

Preparing for the Interactive Forum

Recently, I have been asked by my Junior High School that I help students prepare for the upcoming Interactive Forum. For those that do not know, an Interactive Forum is basically a competition based on English conversation, and getting students to talk in English as much as possible for a set period of time, while judges assess how each participant did.

Considering that I was working at elementary schools in Kamisu, this is the first time that I've been involved in an Interactive Forum in some capacity. Despite the company doing a quick training session at a recent ALT meeting, I've kind of been going on the fly in helping students prepare for the upcoming competition. Fortunately, there are students that have actually been involved in the forum last year, so because they have a pretty good grasp of how things go down, I'm usually just trying to give pointers on not letting awkward silences happen, and just jump in at any time and just ask a question.
However, for 3rd Grade students, they are required to talk about their town - except it's not as clear cut as I thought initially. Apparently Chikusei is an amalgamation of several, smaller towns and because of that, they can't talk about Chikusei. They have to talk about their town where their junior high school is located. The thing is, according to the students and teachers, there is absolutely nothing of any real interest in the area - nothing for tourists to see at all. Consequently, this puts them at a major disadvantage. What I've tried to do, in order to compensate for the lack of variety in the town, is to explain to the students to try and talk as much as possible about the few things that are in the town. For example, there's a library, I try to get them to talk about why they go to the library, how often they go to the library, and what kind of books the like. By doing this, I'm hoping this helps them to just keep talking, despite the lack of things that are in the area. They seem to understand the idea, especially when we're practicing, although I occasionally need to prompt them to ask questions when there's that awkward silence.

Interestingly enough, I have also been invited to judge an Interactive Forum next month, together with a fellow ALT. This will be interesting to see how this turns out, as it is actually happening at a time I'm supposed to be at school. I guess we'll see how it goes - and hopefully, my students will do well.

Life in Chikusei: One Month Later

After nearly a month since I moved to Chikusei, I figured I should write on my thoughts of living in Chikusei so far, and how it compares to life in Kamisu.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my apartment is in a surprisingly convenient location for the daily necessities. From my apartment, I can walk to the supermarket, convenience store, city hall, a 100 yen store, bank, and even a train station that can take me to Tokyo (in 2 hours, but しょうがない ). Unlike my apartment in Kamisu, which was actually a shed converted in to an apartment, my Chikusei apartment is well insulated, so I'm comfortably warm in the winter. In addition, my apartment in Chikusei is furnished. The downsides I've found are that the kitchen is smaller (making storing everything troublesome), and since I'm renting this apartment through the company, rent is more expensive.

In terms of daily goods, Chikusei is straight up more expensive. While it is possible to find cheap things around when it comes to food, I find I have to look a bit harder for cheaper things. For example, I'll go to one supermarket for cheaper meat, but I will go to another supermarket (that is not too far away) for most other things since they usually sell most other goods cheaper. I am also paying more attention to specials and anything in the bargain bin. Actually, I bought two bags of cereal for a cost that is actually cheaper than buying 1 big bag of brand name cereal. Oddly enough, I can't find cheap 5 pack yakisoba like I in Kamisu. Apparently, ramen is the thing around here, as no matter what supermarket I go to, they have plenty of packs of ramen, but hardly anything for yakisoba. As a result of the increase in costs, I'm cooking more often and finding ways to make my meals last longer - though it does give me the opportunity to try and cook new things. Just recently, I tried cooking Jamaican style chicken curry. Eating it with a small amount of rice, I can make it last for three meals - a feat that is tied with the curry rice I some times cook.

For the schools I go to, there are some aspects between Kamisu and Chikusei that I like over the other. For example, I like that the elementary school I go to in Chikusei provides me with my own classroom, with plenty of materials, a computer, and a TV connected to it to use with the text books, though the students (especially the 6th graders) are a bit slow to get things done. The JTE has told me that the 6th graders are constantly being scolded by teachers for this, but it seems to have no effect. Whereas in Kamisu, I had no such problems, though I was constantly having to come up with my own material for lessons (hurting my wallet in the process). In addition, it was a much more casual atmosphere, though it was probably due to most of the teachers in my Kamisu schools being younger than me. For the Junior High School I go to in Chikusei, I have no point of reference to compare in Kamisu, as I was working at elementary schools for those 6 months, so I can't really say which is better. However, I will say that it is nice to be slipping in to the support role and helping answer students' questions, checking their work and whatnot, rather than coming up with lesson plans - though their lessons are a lot more thorough, as they not only learn vocabulary, but also grammar, reading, listening and writing.

In terms of recreation, I have not done all that much admittedly. However, I have been able to find a community center gym that I go to twice a week. I have tried out what seem to be the only two community center gyms available in Chikusei, according to the city's official website anyway. The first one I went to in Shimodate (下館) costs 300 yen per session, but I can work out for up to three hours. However, before that, I had to make a booking for a mandatory orientation session, and those only happen a handful of days in the month. The gym was good, though the lack of free weight equipment left me a little disappointed. However, that gym seems to be really popular, so there aren't many opportunities to use certain pieces of equipment for an extended period, especially if you want to do super sets. However, I went to another gym just recently in Kyowanomori (協和の杜). It's a little bit further from the one in Shimodate, but the best part of this gym is that is free of charge. Yeah, you read that right. Free. I was expecting that the gym would be run down or small, considering I'm paying nothing for it, but to my surprise, it does have a lot of equipment on offer. The equipment seems a bit older compared to the first gym and what I've used in Kamisu, though I will admit that the equipment is at least well looked after. Again, no free weights available, but given that most of the time I have the gym to myself, using equipment for extended periods for super sets has not been a problem, and there is enough variety of equipment to make up for the lack of bar bells and dumbbells. The opening hours are a bit weird though, in that it is open from 9:30am - 4:30pm, and then 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm. It makes getting to the gym after school impossible, but on the other hand, it gives me something to do on the weekend.

Finally, would be the other ALTs. I've only met the other Chikusei ALTs twice, though I have started catching up with one of the ALTs once a week, and helping him out wherever I can with logistics stuff. However, I still I try to keep in touch with some of the Kamisu ALTs. I caught up with one just before school started, and I asked him to let me know whenever he's planning basketball, as I'm always up for it (after doing a few games with him and other friends in Kamisu, and I've surprisingly improved a lot during those games, but that's a story for another time).

So the overall verdict? In terms of accommodation - Chikusei is the winner. In terms of the cost of living, and the schools - Kamisu. It is a shame I had to leave Kamisu, but sometimes these things cannot be avoided. Hopefully, I can go back to Kamisu someday, even if only for brief visit.

New life in Chikusei

Wow, it's been over 3 months since I last posted any entry for this blog. I could explain the various reasons for why I've not been updating, but I'll just skip to my current situation in Japan.

Just last week, I moved from Kamisu city to Chikusei city. The reason for this, was that I found out in early January that the Board of Education in Kamisu would not renew its contract with my employer. It shocked them, as they believed that they had a good chance of having another 3 years in Kamisu, but I heard that the past 2 were not exactly the best for the company and its ALTs in Kamisu. In any case, all ALTs working for the company had to move out on the 27th of last month. Some ALTs decided to return to their home countries at the end of the semester; others - including most of my friends - chose to find work in other companies in Japan (ALT or otherwise); while a few (including myself) opted to stay on with the company. In my case, I have only worked with the company for 6 months, and to take a chance to go with another company, and deal with all the costs associated with moving to wherever another company would place me, I felt it would have set all my plans back - including the decision to go back to my home country during the summer break, and to go to Kyoto during the winter break to visit my girlfriend.

Just before leaving Kamisu, the company offered me a few choices on where I could work. All of them unfortunately offered less pay than what I was receiving in Kamisu, though I ultimately decided on Chikusei. While the pay is still less than Kamisu's, it was probably the highest paying out of all the options that were given to me.

Despite only having been in Chikusei for over a week, and not having the chance to fully explore the wider area, I'm certainly happy with my apartment, and ease of access to most necessities from my apartment. Unlike where I was living in Kamisu, I can easily walk to a supermarket, city hall, post office, convenience store, and even a train station within 5 minutes of my apartment. The train station especially is convenient when I went to Tokyo for a week to see my mother, who was visiting. Because of this, I'm not having to use my car so much to get around - usually for getting to the two schools I'll be working at.
Speaking of which, I had the opportunity to visit the two schools. Unlike in Kamisu where I was working at elementary schools only, I'll be working at a Junior High School and an elementary school. The Junior High School staff seemed to be really busy in preparing for the opening ceremony happening either today or tomorrow, but the elementary school staff seemed nice. In addition, they seem to be really on board for the team teaching, in that they want to hold a regular meeting once a week so that we can plan the lesson together. I welcome this, compared to when I was in Kamisu where I was effectively given free reign on what to teach the children, using the Kamisu plan as a loose guide on topic ideas. Do not get me wrong, I have no hard feelings against those teachers, but for new ALTs, the kind of support that this school is providing would have really helped for those 6 months, though the teachers seemed to be really happy with my work, so it all worked out in the end.

I will be starting school next Monday. I am a little bit nervous, simply because I have never worked at a Junior High School before, though I have been told that it is vastly different compared to an Elementary School, where the ALT's role is more to support the teacher, rather than running the class. I will just wait and see how that goes.