New School!

Since returning to Kochi, I have started at a new junior high school. It's a large school, pretty similar in size to the school I was transferred out of, so I still have one small school and one large one. This is only my second week there, but it seems pretty good so far. The students aren't perfectly behaved, but they're reasonably good and a lot of them seem to be trying hard in class. They're also fairly friendly; many of them will greet me when they see me, and some of them will voluntarily engage in conversation with me. (Seriously, though, that's not especially common).

The English teachers have all been friendly and welcoming so far, and the classes I've been to have gone well. It's a little odd to me that I'm working with one teacher who is four years younger than me, but I suppose it's not really all that strange. The vice principal of the school is very kind and speaks English really well, and I've enjoyed talking with her between classes. I'm looking forward to the enkai coming up on Sunday.

Today I had my first English club. A lot of schools have an English club, but up to this point I'd only been to schools that did not have one, so I had never led one before. Apparently there are a total of 25 members, which is a LOT, but today only 8 came due to the 8th and 9th graders having additional practice for Sports Day or something. It was nice to start out with a smaller group, though the activity I planned probably would've been better for the 9th graders (who were absent) than the 7th graders (who were present). Still, I think it went well. We listened to, discussed and attempted to sing parts of "Dumb Ways to Die", an Australian song featured in a railway safety video. It's a pretty funny song, and the animation that goes with it manages to be both cute and slightly gruesome.

I wasn't able to show the video in class due to lack of technology (and probably questionable appropriateness, as well), but with words, drawings and gestures I managed to explain a few of the dumb ways to die. The students seemed to enjoy it once they got the idea, and the teacher thought it was really funny. I'm hoping to use more songs throughout the year, but I'll probably space them out so the students don't get bored of them. If you have any song recommendations, please let me know! It can be hard to find music that's easy to understand, classroom-appropriate, and also popular with teenagers.

This weekend the school will have its Sports Day, so I'll be going to work on Sunday. Most likely I won't have to do much more than watch and cheer on the students, though. Despite having been to a number of Sports Days by now, I'm still looking forward to this one. I've noticed the students practicing a yosakoi routine to "Call Me Maybe", which should be pretty entertaining, and the cheering event looks to be interesting as well. Plus there will be an enkai that evening, so maybe I'll get to know some of the teachers a little better.

Although I was not particularly eager to change schools, I'm enjoying this one so far and feeling hopeful for the rest of the year. It looks like I'll be busier than at the previous school, with 4-5 classes per day and English club once a week, and maybe that will be a good thing.