Back to School

After THE BIG SHUFFLE, and after my Tokyo trip with Kieran, we came back up to Nanyo and I had to start work the following week. It was nice to go back to school after a bit of a break, having seen a few long-time-no-seen visitors in the gap. The first school was Nakagawa - it was the school with my favorite bunch of thrid graders, who would no longer be there anymore.

This was one of the things that made me a little bit anxious about going back to school, the big one being the results of the April shuffle. I had been told that all the English teachers were more or less the same, which was one good thing to know, but still, there would be lots of new faces around the schools. Perhaps there were some teachers that never really talked to me that wouldn't be there anymore, perhaps there were some teachers that talked to me lots, and wouldn't be there anymore. I prepared myself a little bit, for the realisation that I would have to get to know each school a little bit better again.

At Nakagawa - the principal had changed, and so I was more nervous about how he would feel about me and what kind of person he would be like. Turns out he used to be an English teacher, and a very nice guy - so he has been added to the list of teachers that talk to me from time to time! Great!

It was great to go back and see the kids again in their new grades. They all look a lot older, especially the 1st graders who when I first arrived looked very innocent and young, now they're more like full blown teenagers! There English has also improved too! You can definately tell - its a great and positive thing to notice, to think back to the time when the first years could hardly say anything, and now they (read: most!) can have a nice conversation with me in English, if they try hard enough!

Another positive thing of the second year, is that the students are all far more familiar with me by now. They seem to trust me a lot more, know me a lot more, are more chatty, and, perhaps because I'm more familiar with how to go about speaking with them, and helping them to speak, they seem to be a bit more confident around me! Great! Last week I played kickball with the 2nd graders at Ringo JHS - Ringo was initially, probably the quietest, shyest bunch of kids in Nanyo - but they seem to have come out of their shells! I wish they'd invite me to more things - I really do enjoy hanging out with them, its just a little hard to work out what they're doing sometimes - kind of like trying to crack a code or puzzle!

Here's to the second year then!