Journal for 2006-5-31 Wed.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
I wrote a time schedule program in Excel for Ms. Mishima today. She had been putting the teachers' schedules and the class schedules for the kids in by hand until now, so checking that the two schedules coinside was not easy. I made a system that automatically checks to make sure the schedules sync up. All she has to do now is enter in the teachers' schedules and the class schedules are automatically filled in. Since there are a lot of different rules as to when certain teachers will teach certain classes, the rules are hard to remember. When my system is used, there is no need to remember all the rules.
This is an article I wrote in my typically bad Japanese for the town newsletter introducing Signe as the next LAT for the Akagi part of Iinan. 40 points to the first person that translates it and posts their translation.!
Journal for 2006-5-30 Tue.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
Last weekend I had an interview for a private ALT position. Signe and I wet to Hiroshima City to meet up with Craig from Altia Central. We talked over lunch at our favorite garlic restaurant. Afterwards we went to Starbucks and talks some more over coffee. It turned out to be over 5 hours, and the longest interview I have ever had! When it was all over, I got the thumbs up, so starting this September I plan on working in Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Journal for 2006-5-24 Wed.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
I started planning for my next job today. I had a phone conversation with a man from a private ALT company called Altia Central that serves Miyoshi, Hiroshima. I have an interview with him on Saturday in Hiroshima City. There is probably no problem with hiring me, but they have to have the interview nonetheless. I have been offered an Elementary School ALT position in Okuizumo, Shimane, but Okuizumo is about an hour and a half away from here, so the private position in Miyoshi, which is much closer, is looking better. If I end up not going to Okuizumo they wil have nobody to replace me there, so I feel a bit bad for them.
Journal for 2006-5-23 Tue.. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
The days have been going by fast these days. The first semester midterm tests are this week. Ms. Mishima and I recorded the listening section of the test for the 8th graders. It is easy to make CDs using the computer. I used the same software I use to record this podcast for recording, then I used a CD-making software we have at the Junior High School to put it on CD. It was pretty fun.
Journal for 2006-5-22 Mon.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
We found out where Signe will be placed starting in August. She is going to be my successor. We were very surprised. It is a good situation, but if I take an elementary school ALT position in Shimane Prefecture, Signe and I will not be able to live together because the closest town with an elementary school position is an hour and a half away by car. That doesn't seem to be a problem for most Japanese people, but it is a problem for us, so I will probably turn down the elementary school position. In its stead, I want to start working as a private ALT in the same place Signe is working right now...if I can.
This is the first installment of This month's Trev Report. This is a special Trev Report detailing our Golden Week adventures and is well over 10,000 words. That being the case, it will be released in weekly installments every Friday starting today. Please enjoy!
Hello everyone reading this. This is Trevor from the past reporting live to you, in the future, about myself in the even more distant, but not extremely distant past. And now, without further adieu, on with the report and the future!
Trev's Love Life ---------------- I am still in love with my wife, Signe. Our fourth wedding anniversary is on May 25th, but since the first week of May is a series of holidays allowing for a long vacation, we opted to take a week-long anniversary trip, even though it is a bit early. What follows is an account of our travels (photos are available at Signe's Flickr account, http://flickr.com/photos/ginshari-san/sets/72057594129458296/, for public consumption).
Trev's Note on Golden Week -------------------------- First a note on the so-called "Golden Week" holidays. The "week" consists of 4 holidays packed closely together. It is said that the term "Golden Week" was created by movie theater operators after 1948, when the laws creating the holidays went into effect, to increase theater attendance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_%28Japan%29).
First is "Greenery Day" which is being changed to "Showa Day" in 2007. This is August 29th, falling on a Saturday this year it was nonetheless an official holiday. It was the Emperor Hirohito's birthday and celebrated as such until his death in 1989 when the holiday's name was changed to "Greenery Day" in honor of the Emperor's love of nature. Next year (2007) the name of the day will change to "Showa Day" in honor of the emperor himself. This is a controversial change and is seen by some in the government as an ongoing move towards a more nationalistic society. Other moves that have received international attention as of late include the recent bill introduced to the Japanese Diet to mandate 'patriotism' in schools (read more at http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060429TDY04004.htm) and the changing of school textbooks declaring firmly that the "Takeshima" ("Dokdo" in Korean) islets are and always have been Japanese territory, despite the Koreans having laid claim to the islets prior to the 1910-45 occupation of Korea by Japan (A Korean perspective is at http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2006042221708).
Next up on the holiday docket is Constitution Memorial Day on May 3rd. This is the day the 1947 Japanese Constitution, written by the U.S. Occupational Forces, came into effect as law. It is also the only day of the year that the Japanese Diet Building in Tokyo is open to the public. This year the hot topic issue of the day was Article 9 of the constitution, the so-called "No War" clause that renounces war and the formation of a military, although self-defense forces (SDF) were eventually allowed. Many politicians are being pressured to revise the article to allow Japan once again to have a proper military and declare war once again, but others fear that Japan's violently militaristic past could return with the abolition of the law. Public opinion is torn between those that want a change (http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200605040088.html) and those who oppose any change (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060504a6.html). I am of the opinion that the Japanese SDF is a good defense force and the 61 years since the end of Japanese militarism has been an overall success for the country. To succumb to the global tread towards nationalism would be a drab step backwards for a country that has come so far on the merits of peace.
Our second to last holiday, on May 4th, is simply called a "National Holiday," or "Between Day" since it has no meaning except to bridge the gap between the holiday on the 3rd and the holiday on the 5th. Starting in 2007, though, this oddity is being remedied by replacing this meaningless holiday with "Greenery Day," formerly August 29th.
The final holiday is "Children's Day" on May 5th. Although it would be more accurate to call it "Boy's Day" since is primarily celebrates the male children in a family usually by displaying large carp flyers outside houses and samurai dolls within.
If you are looking at a calendar right now you will notice that May 1st and 2nd are not holidays, but many people, although not teachers, take these days off to have an extended vacation. This is exactly what Signe and I did this year.
Journal for 2006-5-18 Thu.. Weather: Rainy Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was busy, but not very interesting. Everyone was energetic in class, but the subject matter was dull. Anyway, when I was in the teacher's room I spend some time looking into the U.S. Democratic Party. I believe in libertarianism. There are some groups in the Democratic Party that also believe in libertarianism, so I have joined the party. The Republican Party has more libertarian groups, but I think the Democratic Party is more trustworthy.
Journal for 2006-5-17 Wed.. Weather: Rainy Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was a stressful day, so I suppose it was good timing that there is a class on stress for the entire school today in 6th period. My classes today were no problem, but another problem all together was born. Signe and I do not know about our next jobs, but that is at the core of the new problem. When this problem is solved, someone will be hurt. Let us hope it is not us.
Journal for 2006-5-16 Tue.. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
Today was an average day. English class was good, but we didn't do anything special. The rest of the time I continued writing The Trev Report. I have written 18 pages so far, but I'm still not done. I intend to post this month's report in one-week segments since it is so long. I doubt that anyone would actually read a 20+ page report all at once.
Journal for 2006-5-15 Mon.. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
This weekend was fun. Signe and I went to Matsue, the capital of Shimane. I had a meeting of the JET Arts Group Shimane (JAGS). I am the treasurer so I am always worried about money, but this year is better than last year. After the meeting we went to a 1980's Party. We raised 50,000 yen for JAGS! We danced the night away!
Journal for 2006-5-12 Fri.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
I had my interview for the Elementary School ALT position yesterday. I arrived about 2 hours early so I took a stroll around the Matsue Castle Park and read the news to pass the time. My interview was at 2:50, but as I was reading I lost track of time...or so I though. I looked at my watch and the small hand was on 2 and the big hand was on 55 minutes, so I thought, "Holy crapinpants! I'm late!" I ran as quick as I could into the interview room and promptly apologized, but it was actually only 1:55. I made a mistake! It wasn't a problem, but I was quite embarrassed. Anyway, the actual interview, which was completely in Japanese, went really well, I think. I'll get the results in about 2 weeks. I hope I make it.
Journal for 2006-5-10 Wed.. Weather: Rainy Plan: Akagi JHS
Today went by fast. I only had two classes to teach, but I have been worrying about my Shimane Prefecture Elementary School ALT Interview tomorrow. I have to speak in nothing but Japanese in the interview. If I fail the interview, I will have to find a private ALT job by August. Signe is for sure going to be placed in Shimane, but we don't know where yet. We don't know what our future holds yet, either.
Journal for 2006-5-9 Tue.. Weather: Cloudy Plan: Akagi JHS
Since I only had one class today, I spent all day writing my next Trev Report. The main theme this month is the week long trip we took over Golden Week (the first week in May). I haven't finished writing yet, but I have written about 10 pages so far. I am, perhaps, around half way through the trip. This will be the longest Trev Report yet. I wonder who will read it all... Well, even if no one reads it, I will still keep writing!
Journal for 2006-5-8 Mon.. Weather: Sunny Plan: Akagi JHS
I read a sentence written by a junior high school student today that read "eigo ga kirai. nihonjin dakara." Translated that means, "I hate English because I am Japanese." If a student in the U.S. were to say, "I hate Japanese because I am American," I believe that the student would most likely get a lecture on racism from their teacher. But here in Japan there are many teachers that think there is nothing wrong at all with this line of thinking. The average Japanese person is like the average American in that the idea that only one's mother toungue is of any importance. This is a dangerous mistake, no matter if you are in the U.S. or Japan.
