Random thoughts - May 2006

I've been busy lately. School is back in full swing and it seems I have more classes than last year. I'll soon start visiting elementary schools again too, so my days will remain full until the summer break in late July.

July will bring new friends in the form of a new crop of JETs coming to Izumo and Shimane, but it will also see some of my good friends depart. A few have decided to stick around for a third year like me, but it seems two years was enough or just right for many of the JETs that first arrived with me back in 2004.

I've really been trying to come up with new lesson plans and games for my Jr High classes - half to keep myself interested and also to give the kids something new - by now many of them have played some of my more reliable games many times. I also decided to start an English language 4-page newsletter for each grade level - made by me of course. The first issue for my 7th graders was well-received, so I'll try and get the 8th and 9th grade editions out soon.

I've always considered myself pretty handy with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc, but the interface on the school computer is all in Japanese and I have an Apple laptop, so my desktop publishing options are a bit limited.

I've also got two mini-projects going on in May - one is a yearbook/annual for all the Shimane JETs that I'm helping a friend edit. We've been gathering submissions and will soon compile the book - a keepsake for all the leaving JETs and cool memory item for the other JETs.
I've also been selected to give two short presentations at a JET conference in Kobe next week for other ALTs who have decided to stay for a 2nd year. I have to speak on using audio/visual aids in the classroom - not a topic I'm 100% confident I can speak about for 70 minutes, but I'm sure it'll be good. I did a similar thing all through college - worry about a presentation/paper/test right until the last minute and then generally pull it off better than I'd hoped.

And of course I'm coming home everyday to watch the current sumo tournament - good stuff this time as the dominant champion - Asashoryu - is out with an injury, so it's opened up the field a bit and about 6 wrestlers could pull out a victory.

After almost two years of faithful service - my washing machine broke last week - it's developed a leak. So I've been going to a coin-op laundry over in Izumo - not a bad place, but a little pricey. I'll have to talk to my supervisor about getting it fixed, since it's owned by the city - but that means breaking out my dictionary and looking up all the words I'll need for the conversation. One of my car headlights is out too. My mom always said these things come in "threes" so I'm waiting for something else to break.

For my yearbook piece, I'm gonna do a rif on the famous questionaire made popular on Inside the Actor's Studio.

How would you answer these questions?...

01. What is your favorite word?

02. What is your least favorite word?

03. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

04. What turns you off?

05. What is your favorite curse word?

06. What sound or noise do you love?

07. What sound or noise do you hate?

08. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

09. What profession would you not like to do?

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Hope all is well in your corner of heaven.

-Jason