First Day of Work

9th January 2007

First Day of Work

Today was my first official day of work. I had to be at school by 8am so I needed to catch a 6:57am bus into the city to then catch the 7:31am train to get to my school. Now I thought that I had to leave early in Adelaide leaving at 7:20am – this is even earlier! I got up today at 5:45am to make sure that I was ready on time – I’m sure as the days go on I will get up later and later. Still I reckon 6am will be the latest! Thankfully I remembered the route to school and no troubles getting there. That was a big relief! My buddy teacher seemed impressed that I made it to work (I don’t know what that is trying to say!) He asked me if I had prepared a speech and I pulled out my piece of paper. He didn’t tell me that I had to write one but because all the others had been told I figured I had to do one to so when I pulled mine out he seemed really happy because he thought that he was going to have to quickly write one for me. He read through what I had written and he said it was perfect. He then gave me a little present and asked me if I knew what it was. I had no idea and said no sorry what is it – he told me it was a plug for my sink which was really nice because when I first met him I asked about plugs and told him that my sink had no plug so that’s why he bought me one. He is a very nice guy. At 8:30 there was a short staff meeting. The staff consists of around 58 teachers. I had to read my little prepared speech in front of them all. I felt very nervous because I didn’t even really understand what I was saying. They were all smiling at me though and were encouraging me which was nice. After I read it my buddy teacher (Ken – a shortened name for me to use) said that I said it perfectly. Some other teachers also came up to me and said that my Japanese was really good. I think that they were just trying to make me feel better. I then had to read it again in front of all the students. I think some of them were laughing at me but oh well. I was glad when that was all over and done with! The corridors here are absolutely freezing and the classrooms are even worse. There is no heating or cooling in the schools which I find very hard to believe. In the staff room there is only 1 computer hooked up to the net. And in the classrooms they still have blackboards. This is very hard to believe considering Japan is way more advanced in technology than Australia. I don’t know how I will cope with the cold – I’m sure I will figure out a way. You should see what I am wearing – forget jeans and tack pants. It is suits and skirts here. All the teachers are very well dressed. It is unbelievable! All the teachers seem really nice, some come up and say hello and try to talk to me and others just go about their business. The principal is very formal. The teachers are afraid to talk to him. After assembly the students had to get their uniforms checked by the teachers and this is just a public school. After assembly we had another staff meeting which was all in Japanese – so I had a lot of hope understanding that one! After the meeting we were given lunch which was a Japanese lunchbox with a variety of things inside. It was ok but there was lots of it which I just couldn’t bring myself to eat. One thing when I bit it actually made a squeak noise which made want to puke so I had to secretly spit in out into a tissue. There was some rice on it which is always a safe and filling option. After lunch people just seemed to look busy so I had to do the same. I asked my buddy if I could get the internet plugged into my laptop so I could sit at my desk and use it instead of having to share one computer with 58 staff. So he got the tech onto it – but he was having trouble finding a cable long enough to plug me in. I felt really bad asking but they were really nice and kept on trying until they eventually got it working for me. They are very nice people. The principal then gave my buddy some phone cards to give to me as a present. I wanted to thank him and take him a present so I asked my buddy to take me to his office. He was really packing it because he was nervous going into his room. I didn’t understand the problem. The principal seemed ok. I left school at 4:10 and made my way home which I thought would be a piece of cake. I found my way to the train station and as I went to cross it the lights started flashing. I had already started crossing so I continued walking to the other side when the beams started coming down. Now in Adelaide it wouldn’t matter because there is always that little gap that you can squeeze through – well not in Japan. The beam came down and I was stuck inside the track. There were some school girls on the other side watching and laughing at me. They told me to get through but I was a bit frazzalled and couldn’t work it out so I put my bag over and kind of stepped to the side and tried to fit through this tiny gap which was impossible for me to get through. The girls then ran over to me and told me to climb under the beam. You can imagine me in my skirt and boots going under this beam. Don’t ask me why I didn’t think of it myself but you know what it’s like when you get all frazzalled!! Then I got my ticket and wasn’t sure which side of the track I had to be on and which way train I was meant to catch to get back home. I asked about 5 people before I could get a response and even then I wasn’t 100% I was heading in the right direction. I hopped on the train anyway and hoped for the best. Thank goodness I found somewhere familiar and could navigate my way home from there. What a day – I wonder what tomorrow will bring!