The First Day

I come to you now nearly one week after my escape from quarantine!  So much has happened in such a short time, so it’s difficult to pick what to say first.  But, in the words of Julie Andrews, I’ll “start at the very beginning–A very good place to start.”

My first day of freedom began with an anxiety-filled commute to the City Hall so that I could introduce myself formally to the Board of Education.  Thankfully, I had plenty of time during the quarantine to decide what I would say and how, as the introductions were to take place entirely in Japanese.

City Hall is fairly close to my apartment, as it’s only a ten minute walk.  I am but a lowly walking-commuter compared to the many people who ride bikes to get around.  It’s a little nerve-wracking to have people fly past you as though they are riding on the wind, but everyone is so skilled that there really isn’t a need to worry!

As for the introduction itself, Alexis and I gave our self introductions first to the BOE section of the office and then the entire floor.  While it could have been a traumatizing experience (standing in front of so many people and speaking in another language can be rather intimidating!), everyone was kind and welcoming, and I left the meeting feeling even more excited to work with and for this organization.  Of course, it helped to get to see this little supportive guy over in the corner:

For those of you that are looking to become an ALT, the introduction I created was pretty simple.  I introduced myself, stated where I was from, spoke about my major and how I wanted to become an ALT as a result of my love of Japanese, and then thanked everyone for making this dream a reality.  I highly recommend having a few things to say in addition to your name, as we were asked to speak a little about ourselves as part of the introduction.  To give you an idea, the speech I had prepared was: 皆さん、おはようございます。ショウ・メロディと申します。オーバン大学で英文学を専攻していましたが、日本語が大好きでALTになるという夢がありました。そして、皆さんのおかげでここにこられて、その夢が叶いましたね。手伝ってくれてありがとうございます、すっごく嬉しいです。これからも宜しくお願い致します。 It doesn’t have to be fancy, but having some quick facts about yourself can make conversations easier down the line, as there’s already an ice breaker involved!

The whirlwind continued as Alexis and I made our way to the bank to finish setting up our account.  While our supervisor was able to set up the basics during our quarantine, we needed to provide our signature and hanko stamp to finalize the process.  (What’s a hanko stamp?  Click here to find out!)

Thankfully, most of the heavy lifting was already done concerning the creation of the account.  There were a few hiccups along the way, but the whole process took about an hour total.  Truly all that we were needed for was our signature and stamp!  While I waited for the paperwork to finalize, I was kept company by yet another mascot:

After a quick 7/11 lunch, Alexis and I split and headed towards our respective schools to help with the students’ English Speech Contest practice.  This contest is a yearly event in which students memorize a speech, story, skit, or poem in English and then present it to a panel of judges.  The speeches range from two to five minutes, and some students employ elaborate hand gestures or movements to animate their stories.

I was assigned to Middle School 3 (shorthanded to 3中), which is about a thirty minute walk to the south of my apartment, so I tied my hair back, adjusted my tights, and set out to have my first day at school.

For those that are unaware, Japanese schools have a few key differences compared to American schools.  I will save most of those for a separate blog post, but I would like to mention here that students and teachers change into different shoes when they arrive at the school.  There is an entryway full of shoe lockers that students and teachers store their “outside” shoes in during the day, and everyone instead wears “indoor” shoes that haven’t been used outside.  These “indoor” shoes can be of any style, but I personally opted for some walking sneakers that had plenty of cushion, as I thought they would give my feet better support.  Any shoe is okay so long as they haven’t been used outside, but no one bats an eye at a suit accompanied by sneakers.  If you forget your shoes or don’t have any, there are some slippers available, but my understanding is that they are quite uncomfortable and slip off easily.

And let me tell you.  I was glad to have a change of shoe prepared, as my feet had been made rather soft after months of quarantine inside, and several blisters of the painful variety had started to form!

But any and all nerves I had dissipated as I met the English teachers that I would be working with that day.  Once again, everyone was welcoming and kind, and I instantly felt at ease as I followed one of the teachers to the classroom.  He introduced me to the students, who were all quite giggly, and then we waited for the clock to strike 1 so that we could officially begin.

I had brought one of my small plushies to hopefully help dispel any stage fright people might have had speaking in front of me, as I was to work with first, second, and third year students (the American equivalent of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders).  Each student would stand in front of the class, recite their speech, and then come speak with me one-on-one for specific advice.  Everyone’s speeches were delightful, and I felt thoroughly entertained the whole time!  

Linguistically speaking, I noticed that th was probably the most mispronounced sound among all of the students.  The sound was often substituted with a z sound in words like “the” and an s sound in words like “thanks”.  Given that Z is a voiced consonant (a sound from your throat is used in addition to your mouth) and S is an unvoiced consonant (the sound happens solely in the mouth), it was interesting to hear that these voiced and unvoiced substitutions were used in place of the voiced and unvoiced versions of th (“the” is voiced, “thanks” is unvoiced).  I am not sure if they were taught this kind of pronunciation or if they are subconsciously making these substitutions without realizing that the voiced and unvoiced patterns were there. I’d love to listen to students at the next few schools and ask about it!

The students themselves were wonderfully respectful and sweet.  Suggestions were heeded and criticisms accepted, and if anything, compliments sometimes caught the students off guard.  Perhaps it was the way I phrased the compliments, but the students I worked with were more interested in areas that they could improve in rather than places they excelled in.  I personally believe in leading with an approving point before suggesting fixes, as I feel like it keeps morale from falling too low, however.

Thus, after a few hours of hard work, the students were released to go home, and I made my way back, as well.  Oh?  “Was there a mascot at this school, as well?” Well, I didn’t see any fuzzy characters during my short time there, but I did see this creature cross my path on the way home…

This post has become much too long, so I will go ahead and leave you with that glorious image in your mind! 

Jokes aside, my first day was truly a whirlwind experience, but I wouldn’t change it at all.  I never once felt like an outsider, as each person was so welcoming, and while making the occasional mistake was embarrassing, no one ever laughed at the blunders.  As I sat down to eat my dinner that night, I couldn’t help but count my blessings once again.