June 11, 2009 10:06 JST

Yesterday was another full day. We learned and went over how tot teach parts of a children’s lesson in the morning and then taught adults a different type of class again in the evening. It all went pretty well I think. I think I had performed somewhat better than the day before for the students but I still need to slow down. It is a problem I think will be more solved by time rather than my willpower (as the past has shown), but I will be making any possible changes nonetheless to get my speed right. Other than that, I got really good feed back from my trainer and it was super encouraging. I can’t let it go to my head though. I noticed something about my peers in training though. It seems a good portion of them have gotten way caught up in all the processes we have been taught and are overlooking the student care aspect. I think it is a minor function of the intense training we are going through, but nonetheless, it seemed as if the these teachers were robots going through their motions and not being aware or sensitive to the atmosphere the were making in the classroom. It was a bummer to watch but, like I said, will go away when what they are doing becomes more natural. I hope.

The reason I noticed this is that the students I have worked with thus far are super motivated and enthusiastic about what they are doing. In class they consistently exceed and think beyond the help and support the book and teachers provide. This makes me want to be perfect for them. They are trying so hard and I want them to get as much out of their efforts as they can. They are really inspiring. I hope my students in Nakayama are the same for the most part.

After work I hit the Internet café for a short bit and then went to this wonderful restaurant where we got some Okonomiyake. It’s cooked like a pancake in that it has egg and batter to make its form, but there are also vegetables, meat/seafood, and whatever else you want on the inside. The manager of the restaurant prepared them for us at our table in front of us and talked to here a bit in our broken Japanese. It was actually really pleasant. She was so sweet and even gave some extra ingredients and gave 80 円 off our bill. We also talked to one of the servers there that was in college and had been studying English for 6 years. It was a fun chat and he was also really nice. I want to go back to that place again soon >_<

Afterwards it was homework then bed. Then today I woke up cleaned a bit and did the rest of the homework. Now I need to change and have at it. We get a free lunch today, so I am looking forward to that =P I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

The lunch was awesome!