So far, I’ve been going to the Board of Education office on weekdays for work. Classes start on the 17th, so soon I’ll actually go to classes. At the BoE, I’ve mostly been familiarizing myself with the textbooks the English classes use.
Some of them are... not great.
What is a circle pie? Nobody says circle pie. And it encourages the incorrect pronunciations of Thursday and circle (saazudei, saakuru). Tuesday also does not sound like soup.
I visited the schools to meet the principals and some teachers. They all seem nice. I’ve been told my Japanese is very good by many people, but it really isn’t. It’s just something Japanese people say to foreigners, like complimenting my chopstick ability (don’t they know China uses chopsticks?) or asking if I’ve ever seen snow before.
I also met the town mayor. The press was there. When I said I was interested in Japanese culture, they asked if I liked anime. When I said I’ve seen a few, they asked what my favourite one is. I went with the safest possible answer and said Studio Ghibli movies, so I'm somewhat dreading the inevitable “New English Teacher LOVES Ghibli!” newspaper article.
Luckily I also get to write my own self-introduction for a town newsletter, so I’ll try to avoid any nerdy subjects there.
https://goo.gl/images/ljmEot
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