Tokyo Friday

Woke up at 7:10am, had bread and a café latte for breakfast, threw out the trash, then drove to school. An extremely relaxed day today since I only had one class, and then I took annual leave for the afternoon (since my JTE had, leaving me with no afternoon classes) so that I could head to Tokyo early since my dad is here visiting! Spent the spare first period making and printing the worksheets for Grade 3’s alphabet lesson on Monday. 6-1 in period 2 and we did a summary test on the jobs unit, and also checked their alphabet writing since it’s still a little iffy, even though they’re going to enter junior high school soon. A few kids were struggling with the test, so I spent most of the hour helping them out. All they needed was a little attention and detailed help, and they can do it. I was glad I could spend this hour giving them the help they needed. Japan’s education system is very collectivist and they have the idea that everyone should be on the same level, rather than separating kids into groups depending on their learning ability/speed. I remember in psychology that the same level system is actually better for learning (or at least that’s what research showed – rather than separating kids into level groups, when they all learn together they learn better) but as a teacher with many kids to watch, you do feel bad when you see struggling kids and you don't have time to help them because the rest of the class is surging forward. But I felt this hour was very well spent because I could give concentrated attention and help to those kids who struggle with English. Most of the other kids are absolutely fine and they were doing the test with no problems.

Spent the spare 3rd and 4th period photocopying the worksheets for Grade 3’s Monday lesson, and then just spent the rest of the time reading. Lunch today was rice with whitebait mixed in it, this tofu veggie thingy, soup, and salad. After lunch I quickly told Monday’s lesson outline to one of the 3rd grade teachers and then got off work early using annual leave because my dad was already here in Tokyo! It was pretty funny as I was leaving, because it was during lunchtime and the kids were all out, and they were all waving enthusiastically and being like “Wow!! You can drive?!” and also being like “いいなー” when they heard that I was going to Tokyo. Drove home to drop off my laptop and get my bags for the weekend, and then headed to the station! Slept on the train and arrived at the hotel we were staying at in Tokyo at 16:00 on the dot. My dad had booked the hotel using his Asia Miles points, so it was a really fancy hotel with a really nice view of Tokyo Skytree! After I dropped off my bags, we took the train to Ueno, which is a neat shopping street area with a variety of stalls and shops. I was a bit hungry so I got a crepe, and then later on a croissant taiyaki to try – I have always wanted to try this croissant taiyaki (basically taiyaki made with croissant pastry instead of the normal paste) since I saw it when I was on exchange, but just never seemed to get round to actually trying it. It was super delicious! I like it a lot more than the normal taiyaki because the croissant pastry makes it just that much more delicious. After we finished browsing Ueno we went back to our hotel area (Ryōgoku) for dinner at my favourite yakitori chain 鳥貴族! Since I don't have to drive in Tokyo I can drink, so I ordered the yuzu honey, but I must have drank it too fast and not had alcohol in too long cause I got dizzy and had to take a mini nap at the table! But it passed and I was able to finish dinner safely. Went back to the hotel (the night view was super stunning with Skytree lit up!) and went to bed.

Hotel room views!

Hotel room night views!