haibarasan (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} haibarasan) wrote,@ 2007-09-08 09:33:00 |
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| Current location: | My thinking chair |
| Current mood: |  lethargic |
| Current music: | Queen - We Will Rock You |
| Entry tags: | jet, thinking out loud |
Scratchy throat, upset stomach.
Ugh. My first week of the second semester of school is finally over. I thought it would never come. Let me give you a run-down of my schedule and how it went. Well, first, how about a little background? Yes, all right.
From last September and up to this July, I was a two-school woman. The nearby island where my friend and fellow JET Vanessa lived had a similar arrangement.I had three days of my island JHS, and two days of elementary school. It was a sweet setup. However, the advent of the 2007-2008 re-contracting year for JETs in the Kure area brought some changes. The Kure BOE decided (probably as early as this time last year) that they would not be hiring anyone to replace the JET who left one of the far out island--meaning me or Vanessa. The remaining JET would cover all four schools (two JHS and two elementary schools) in the area. My supervisor Mr. Sakata mentioned this plan to me in January or February of this year--just around the time that we would be turning in our Re-Contracting Forms.
Upon hearing this, I remember saying that whoever had to do that (take over the neighboring JET's schools) would definitely need a vehicle to get back and forth. There is one bus per hour that goes either way between my island and the neighboring Toyoshima island. It's ridiculous to expect a person who's commuting back and forth two to three times a week to rely on an once-an-hour bus. If that bus is missed, I'd either have to wait another hour for the next one (and be even later to school) or find alternate transportation (ie. hitch a ride) to the other island. When the request for leave to acquire a vehicle was shot down at that Jan-Feb one-on-one interview, I remember sarcastically responding, "What? You expect me to ride the bus back and forth to school?" But that's exactly what Mr. Sakata and his BOE supervisors expect. Too bad the Japanese don't much understand sarcasm. So, I am opposing this suggestion (or order, or whatever you want to call it) and looking for a vehicle to get me between both places.
Since that meeting with my supervisor at the beginning of the year, I have mentioned my searching for/intent to search for a vehicle twice in person: once in June, then again in early August. The first time I mentioned it to him in June, Mr. Sakata's face broke--broke as in he dropped his "pleasant" mask and mean-mugged me. This did express his displeasure well. The second time I mentioned the car thing in August, he kept his composure and only said, "Please let me know when you get a car, and I'll notify my supervisors." Which seemed like a big turnaround from his Demon Spawn look and attitude from before.
A couple of teachers have actually called to the BOE about helping me look for a vehicle and be succinctly told that the BOE does not want me to have a car. One of those people was the vice principal at Vanessa's school (Toyohama JHS). I asked him about helping me some three or four months ago. I asked him to keep an ear out for a decently priced rental or used car, but up until yesterday, I hadn't heard much about it from him. He has called the BOE at least twice about the car situation (I guess to ask "permission"?), and been told the same the each time, probably--that it was "dame" and that they're not condoning me purchasing a vehicle. When he told me yesterday (Friday) afternoon after lunch, I was really pissed. Well, before that he said that whatever place he'd called about a rental car would take not less than 200,000 ($175-ish) a month. Over the course of a year that would be...$2100, give or take a few tens or twenties. WTF? Might as well get a piece of car for that much.
So, anyway. Mr. Takemae said that rental shit, and then that the BOE still says car purchasing wasn't allowed. Which isn't want the contract I signed last year (and the one I just signed last month) say. They said it's perfectly all right for JET to use his or her vehicle to commute to and from school--which is just what I'll be using it for. Really makes me want to slur the character of people associated with posturing and being jerks at the BOE. But there's no use trying to appeal to them to see sense. I really didn't want to go against the "will" of the BOE with this car thing, and I was waiting for them to see the light about how necessary it was for someone commuting twenty minutes by bus every day to have her own mode of transportation, but that'll never happen. I'll just have to do what I need to and get what I need myself. But I'm too ineffective to work this out alone.
I know that the fact that I don't have a car right now is my own fault. I'm not assertive enough/confident enough to go onto car lots and look for what I want. I just thought that someone would be able to help me. But since the BOE is against a car in the first place, I can't ask anyone at work (at none of the four schools) to help me out. One teacher at my original elementary school said that I should enlist the aid of my helper lady, Umesako-san, at the town hall to look for a piece of car that's somewhere close-by on the island. This as opposed to me looking for one on the mainland and having to ferry it back. My cooking teacher, Etsuko, also said that she would look around for a vehicle for me, and that would be great if it worked out. Time will tell.
As it is, I don't think I'll ever get enough sleep for worrying about missing the damn bus in the morning and ruining one of my many school schedules. I have a feeling that I'll have a breakdown about this running back and forth between schools thing sometime soon, either emotionally or physically. I already made myself a little sick this week (the first week, at that!) with getting up at 5:30 and worrying that I'd miss the 6:00 bus to Toyoshima, or forgetting something that i needed for school. If I hadn't been taking vitamins and protein and stuff that I've gotten from my mom and host mom, I think I would have fallen gotten sicker even faster.
By the time Thursday night and my English conversation class rolled around, I was in a really snappy mood. It didn't help that two students who hadn't showed up in ten months and three months, respectively, decided to come to class. One was already a horrible student, and the other wasn't that much better in the first place when she was coming regularly. I guess that why I got really pissed when the below-mediocre student couldn't grasp what I meant when I said, "How was Shizuoka?" or wherever it was that she said she'd gone on vacation. It really angered me.
The actual class wasn't any better. Last week, I'd promised a dialogue arranging exercise for my one diligent student, Sanae-san. I guess she had such a good time in our class last week that she decided to call the delinquent students. I actually wasn't happy to see them. I knew that it would be harder with people who hadn't been coming to class lately, and didn't appear interested in learning English in the first place. (When people spend more time looking at the ceiling or checking the condition of their hands than trying to participate in the activity in front of them, I think that indicates disinterest in the activity at hand.) It shortened my temper significantly, and I kept sneaking furtive glances at my watch in hopes that time was still flowing. I didn't even realize that I was overly stressed until people started mentioning that I looked tired. Then I felt it myself. I just thought I was in a bad mood. Even though I got to sleep in a bit more (till 6:15 or 6:30, I think) thanks to the ride to Toyohama JHS that I got from Sanae-san's son, it still wasn't enough. I was told that I looked tired by a couple of ladies in the office, and I think even Uekiyo-sensei noticed. I'm not sure, though. He said that he would make sure the our classes were arranged after second period so that I would have time to take the late bus (7:45 from my stop, and arrive at school at 8:20). I'll be grateful for those days I can sleep in until seven, that's for sure.
Before I forget, here's my basic schedule for this school year:
- Monday - Yutaka JHS/Toyohama JHS (alternates weekly)
- Tuesday - Yutaka ES
- Wednesday - Yutaka JHS
- Thursday - Toyoshima ES
- Friday - Toyohama JHS
There's more work on my plate because I'm effectively doing the work to two ALTs. This schedule might be the most effective way for me to be at all of the schools in one week and still be able to plan for the next day of classes at that school. If I only went to one JHS per week, I'd never know where the other school would be when I next came to visit. In theory. I've got to do something about my sleeping schedule (11:30 is too late for most of these days now) so that I can wake up properly and be effective at school. But I also need to make sure I get my assignments for school finished. And I need to eat properly (doing okay so far). And I need to evaluate my evening commitments (cooking lesson, taiko, English conversation class). I know I don't want to take on anymore activities in the evening. I've got to have chill out time during the week. (Right now I've got Mondays and Fridays and every other Wednesday to myself.) We'll see how these first few weeks go. Even though I've mellowed out a lot when it comes to helping the kids since I first came to Japan, I think I try too hard sometimes.
Sorry about that. This post turned into a cathartic writing exercise instead of an update. I'll try again when I'm more cheerful.
