First Day of School, First Day of School, First Day of School!

Today was the first day of Spring classes. It was a lot of fun to meet the students today and start classes. I am happy to finally be here and do what I was hired for... To teach. It feels right.

Today I taught English Comprehension for two different class levels. I did similar activities in the classes, and with different approaches. It was interesting to observe the differences between the classes from the activities. The pictures are from today's classes. We played a variation of the game "Spoons." I used pens instead. I had sentences printed and glued on some cards, and students had to find a matching pair. As the students understood the game better after a few tries, they were really getting into it.

Yes, I did assign homework on the first day. Not everyone had their textbooks, and we will start it on Tuesday. I assigned vocabulary words from an article for one class, and the other class gets to choose five words they do no know from the books they started reading today. Now we'll find out if they do it by Tuesday's class!

Opening Ceremony [4.1]

We welcomed the incoming first year students dressed in regalia!  It was a new experience for me to be wearing a cap & gown to welcome students.   We walked through the front gate that was crowded with families and students.

I came across 2 former students that I taught in the American Studies Program (ASP) 2012 class in Salem.  One student hugged me, and the other student messed up my hair! ha!

I heard it is not common to be smiling at an event like this, and I was so happy & excited that I had a smile on my face the whole time. :)

After the Opening Ceremony in the gym, we scurried off to officially receive our contracts from Tokyo International University from Chancellor Kurata-san.  Yes, that's me receiving my official contract! Lots of bowing, which I'm not sure if I did correctly... I was nervous, and it went by fast!

We were very lucky with the weather.  The spring days keep switching from warm & sunny to cool & rainy. Today it's rainy... Yesterday it was sunny.  Now that we have officially accepted our new positions... time to start LESSON PLANNING! :)

Adventure Awaits...

Arrived 7:15pm Monday, March 25 to Narita Tokyo International Airport.  I flew Singapore Airlines from Los Angeles International Airport for 12 hours.  It was quite the journey... I spent my time watching movies. I saw... Life of Pi, Rise of the Guardians, Wreck-It-Ralph, Argo, & Amour. Great movies!

After I was able to go through Immigration and Customs, I was greeted by my colleagues and had my luggage shipped to the hotel in Kawagoe.  I was the first to arrive from my cohort of Global Teaching Fellows.

 Day 1: Tuesday, March 26th

We left the hotel near the airport to go to Kawagoe-shi.  We took the bus and it was about 2.5 hours ride. We passed around the main Tokyo area.  We were dressed to impress with our suits.

We were welcomed by the Chancellor and President of the university, and took a photo with other new faculty to Tokyo International University.  We settled a few things with housing, and our hankos.

さくら!

Sakura!

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and it is gorgeous. Spring time for new beginnings. 

Indeed it is a new life that I embark on in Japan.

New: teaching experience, living experience, language experience, eating experience, shopping experience, cultural experience...

personal & professional growth.

Cultural Exchange

Today we went to South Salem High School. Our students shared about Japanese culture, and South students shared their ethnic/ and American culture. All students shared and presented out loud in the library. They talked about differences and similarities in their cultures. They created a "cultural flag" as an end product. It was a great opportunity for our students to visit a public school in Salem. A different interaction than with Willamette students.

And... The sun came out today!

Keep calm and carry on $:)

"CAP"

Critical
Academic
Preparation


Indeed it was a CAP day!
Today, my fellow Global teaching fellows and I lead nine 30 minute sessions. Each of us taught a specific topic the whole day. My session was "Class Preparedness." We defined prepare, listened to a cloze activity, ran a relay for school materials, identified the first class tomorrow, and made a checklist of materials needed for each class. It was a fun and exhausting day. I met 121 students today from Tokyo International University who embarked on their 11 month journey abroad to Salem, Oregon. Majority of the students are Japanese and there are students representing China, Korea, and one with a dual citizenship.

It is brave of these students to go somewhere outside their culture and home bubble.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring classes! Let the adventure continue.

one week until the new class arrives!

Greetings!

Next Tuesday we will welcome the American Studies Program (ASP) Class of 2013. They will be arriving bright and early Tuesday morning from Japan. They will undergo orientation for a week until classes begin Tues. Feb. 12.

Many things to think about and do before they arrive.

I will be teaching Grammar for Section 3, as well as Listening & Speaking for Section 2 & 3. I will also be supporting the administration in the College Life Orientation Classes.

Countdown to Moving to Japan: 8 Weeks

"Don't be sad that it is over, be glad that it happened."

It is quite surprising how fast the semester goes by... Upon looking back, I rarely posted about the incredible events and moments that I would have loved to document on my blog. These moments will always be with me in my heart, and I would have been more grateful to have shared those experiences to the greater community.

The final weeks of the program were bittersweet. There were joyful and relieved faces that finals were done, yet there were melancholy faces that the study abroad experience was coming to an end... At the Graduation Ceremony this past Friday, 130 young adult Japanese college students finished an intensive 10 month American Studies Program in Salem, Oregon at Willamette University. Majority of the students flew back to their hometowns in Japan Saturday morning. Their experiences in the States will always be a part of them whether they are conscious of it or not. Their time in another country, culture, language allows them to grow and stretch in ways they would never have been able to do if they did not take that step to journey outside their safety box. I appreciate the bravery, creativity, and spirit of these students...