Another week almost done. I was supposed to be paid today, and that didn't come through, but we had been warned it wouldn't. Hopefully we'll get it by Friday.
I had my crazy kid class today. I'm actually liking most of the kid classes because they're a refreshing change from the repetition of the day. The one today has two kids (Yuuta and Ryou) that just don't settle down and are running around the entire time. My Sunday class has this one kid (Yuuya) who is seriously one of the smartest kids I've ever met. He's only 8 or something, but he picks things up super fast, and his English is better than a lot of the adults I have to deal with.
One of the best things about dealing with different students every day is that you can pick up so much information about Japanese culture in the process. A lot of it is just small things like how they think of things differently than us. On a related note - the top 10 travel destinations of people I've talked to, in descending order: Hawaii, Australia, China, Korea, mainland USA, Europe (often a bunch of countries at once), Guam, Thailand, Canada, Russia.
I had heard that one of the regular students, an older guy named Izuta, was a big fan of go/igo. Today I had him, so I asked him about it at the end of class. Now he wants to take me to one of the go places he frequents and introduce me to everybody and teach me. He says he's around 5 dan, which is miles and miles beyond me, but I think it's great and hopefully next time I see him we can work out some details about it.
Hmm, what else... oh, I found a place in Diamond City today that has lychee bubble tea, so I hooked myself up with some of that. Adapting to dealing with a different language is an interesting process. Learning bits and pieces of Japanese is definately a help, but I find that learning what English to use with people is even more important. For example, if I ask a student what their interests are, they look at me blankly, but if I ask what their hobbies are, they know immediately what I mean. Likewise, they don't know "Have we met before?", but a simple "First time?" and they know what you mean. They just seem to pick up on certain key words, which is especially useful at restaurants and shopping.
I missed the Saijo sake festival because of work, but from the rumors of the fallout from that, probably a good thing I did mess it.
I've kind of decided what I'm doing for my days off, but it's going to remain a mystery for now. My clue is that it continues my current theme of interesting experiences on a low budget.
Anyway, unless something relevant happens tomorrow I'll probably write next at some point over my days off.
4 comments:
I enjoyed hearing about some of your students, kids and adults. I can certainly relate to the kids that don't settle down and just run around. I'm looking forward to hearing more about Izuta and your first go experience.
I wonder how long you will continue to be willing to work without pay. I think if you don't get paid in the next two weeks you might want to call it quits regardless of what you are being promised. Its really easy to keep promising and not paying and see how many people will continue working forever.
Hi Richard,
Hope you soon get paid...It must be frustrating for you to be on hold when you've obviously working so hard.
it's good to know, though, that you're getting on with so much other stuff and making an effort to make the most of your time...and profit from your experiences.
I hope your new "GO" connection turns out to be rewarding and I'm sure it will..
You might even think about writing a book about "Surviving in Japan on less than $5.00 a day" There's a whole series like this about visiting europe etc...
We still look forward to your messages and pictures.
Have you ever got your SKYPE working?
How about, "What do you do for fun?" You always have to say "hobbies." Ive tried to tell some students we dont use the word hobbies in America. Takes about 10 minutes per lesson just to talk about that.
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