Friday

It’s December!! It’s December!? My mind is still back in October thinking it’s November. Woke up at 7:15am, had a mandarin and rice for breakfast, and then drove to school. Today my school was having their marathon (it’s super cute – they go to a park nearby to run, and 1st and 2nd graders run 800m, 3rd and 4th graders run 1km, and 5th and 6th graders run 1.5km which seems so little compared to what we ran in NZ!) so the teachers were all running around the staffroom in the morning. It feels a bit funny to just sit there at your desk while all this activity is happening around you. At first I wasn’t going to see the marathon because no one had said anything about me going, but 5-1’s homeroom teacher (he’s usually in charge of the sports stuff and he’s really cool) asked me if I wanted to go, then he asked the principal and sorted it all out, so I got to go too yay! Still had class in period 1 before the marathon though. We did a summary test with 6-1 for the “What time do you get up?” unit and most of them finished the test alright – a few kids couldn’t do some of the questions because they said they couldn't read and write the words, but a lot of the other kids were fine. Also noticed that practically all the girls in the class got everything done on the test, whilst a few of the boys struggled with the reading. We played Fruits Basket as per their request for more games after the test, and it was really fun! They were seriously so cute, like excited little 1st or 2nd graders playing a game, it was adorable. After seeing their happiness my JTE and I decided we would play games at the end of every lesson if we have time.

All the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders and their teachers set off for the marathon venue together at 10:00am. The park was seriously close to the school, so we all walked there together. First the 4th grade girls ran, followed by 4th grade boys, 5th grade boys, 5th grade girls, 6th grade girls, and finally 6th grade boys. While each race was being run, all the other kids waiting would line the course pavements cheering the runners on. It was seriously so heartwarming to see. They would call each runner by name and yell out encouragement and clap and cheer, and the kids running were seriously running so hard! Their faces were all flushed red and expressions of desperation and effort. It’s seriously pretty amazing, the attitudes that Japanese kids have. Every single kid was trying their hardest, the slower chubbier kids weren’t left out and got the same level of cheering and encouragement, and it just felt so nice and positive. The kids hardly walked as well and would run the whole course. 6th grade boys were seriously fast, as were 4th grade girls. It was funny to see them all sprint hard out at the beginning though, when they should be pacing themselves, but kids will be kids! I also got to talk a lot with a lot of kids, mainly 6-2 kids and 4th graders. They all seem to talk a lot more outside of class, which I guess is to be expected. The 6-2 girls have started a thing with me now with getting me to read kanji. On the way to the park, they were pointing out signs and getting me to (try) read the kanji. I guess they find it interesting seeing how much kanji a foreigner knows! This carried on back to the classroom where after the lesson, they’d be like “Jaime Jaime what’s this (kanji)?” and I would try (and usually fail a lot of the kanji) to read them. The 6th graders are so sweet and full of personality, I’m going to miss them a lot! I really regret not asking about the marathon beforehand, otherwise I would’ve worn sports clothes and ran with them today!!! If I’m still at this school next year, I’m definitely going to run with the kids.

After the marathon finished we walked back to school. On the walk back the principal started up a conversation about Japanese food with me, and the kids walking around us all joined in. It was pretty funny – the principal was talking about how he’s eaten snake, raw shrimp that’s still alive (!), chicken liver, etc. and the kids listening in were all like EHHHHHHHH. Back at school I did the English broadcast, and printed out all the new stuff for the Christmas themed English board. Cleaning time was easy today, and they’re speaking more English than ever. The final two classes for today were also really fun. 5-1 in period 5 and we started off with playing しりとり (word chain game) instead of the usual jingle, and they were great! One kid really surprised me by saying “noob” when the letter was “n”, and I was just like “what!?”. But it turns out he learnt it from gaming, and he also knows GG…oh dear haha. They really liked playing it though, so I’m definitely going to play a lot more of しりとり and less jingles. We then did a listening activity, and the recorded voice said the subjects really quickly so it was pretty hard, but I think it’s good to give them a challenge – especially for the quieter kids that don’t usually speak up, but are actually working hard at English. The kids then wrote up their dream schedules which they would present in the next lesson, and a lot of their schedules were P.E. for all periods, every single day, with sprinklings of art, home economics, and calligraphy (with bits of English here and there yay).

Last period with 6-2 and it was another fun class. They did the test alright too, but again a few kids struggled with matching the vocab with the pictures, and again it was because they couldn't read the words, and like 6-1 they were all boys. They can recognize the phrases if I say them out loud for them, so I went round saying phrases out loud for a few kids. Most of the kids in 6-2 could do the test perfectly though, I think a bit more than 6-1. 6-2 also selected to play Fruits Basket, and again they were like little happy 1st graders. Both 6-1 and 6-2 struggled much more than I thought they would with saying the months, even though we ask them to say the full date every lesson! Guess they’re just not used to saying it by themselves. Got off work at 16:15 and drove home.