Rehearsed Presentations

My students have been preparing for this day for weeks. Today, over 50 English teachers from all over Gunma came to observe my sannensei class. Apparently, this is a workshop for the teachers to learn more about how to teach English. When my JTE (again, Japanese Teacher of English) told me that people were going to come to observe the students' presentations, I had no idea that there were gonna be soo many of them, and that they would be all dressed up and stuff. Luckily, I didnt wear my track suit today. Wait a sec...what track suit? I almost forgot that I'm a gaijin and I have to dress up to school. Good thing, b/c one of my JTEs even put on a tie for today.

Anyway, everything was rehearsed. The students knew what to say, how to comment, and what questions to ask. I guess I would prepare everything well in advance too...if I knew I would have 50 experienced English teachers observing my class. I guess my JTE, Hashiba sensei, is recognized as one of the best out there...her English is soo good...she studied at SDSU (San Diego State University)..random! She told me 5 minutes before the class..."Before we begin the presentations, I will ask you if you were surprised by anything when you first came to school in Japan. You were surprised that all the jr. high school kids have cell phones, right? I'm sure you were. So yes, I think we should talk about cell phones." I was like..."Um, right..I was surprised. Okay, I GUESS we can talk about that. Sure." See what I mean by rehearsed?

My other JTEs, Watanabe sensei and Sasaki sensei, kept asking me if I was nervous. I was thinking..."No, b/c I speak English and I'm not running the show." Well, that's not exactly what I said but yeah...I was more nervous for the students who were outnumbered by the teachers.

In the end, everything worked out very well. The students did a great job with their presentations and everyone seemed happy. Well, with the Japanese you can never tell...but they seemed okay? Anyway, as I walked back to the office, I thanked the teachers for coming to observe our class when one of them actually responded with more than a nod. He asked me about Kizaki Jr. High School and how I liked it. It turns out that he was the JTE here three years ago, before Hashiba sensei! He is older (Ann, I'm sure you'd like him) and very handsome as well. Damn, I came 3 years too late!

Anyway, last night we had another Ota potluck..this time at Pete's. More eating and more drinking...at least for some. It was really cool...as usual. I do have to agree with Jeff...I LOVE MY OTA ALTS!!!

Thought of the day:

Am I going bald?? Girls, please tell me if you've been losing as much hair as I have while living in Japan?? I know Ann complains of hair loss as well so it's not just me. It's very scary. I need to find out what is causing this or else...omg...I'm too scared to think about it.