On Wednesday, I finally went to visit my future place of work! Next month, I will begin work at OASIS English School. It is a private language center, where I'll be teaching English classes to all level of students (mostly adults). And on Wednesday I had my first visit there!
OASIS school is in downtown Morioka, so it's a bit of a bus ride down there. My first great encounter of the day occurred at the bus station. There is a small kiosk at the bus station where you can buy bus cards. Mine was almost empty, so while I was waiting for the bus I went to buy one. I bought my bus card from the woman in the kiosk with my usual method of pointing and nodding. When I was putting my card in my passport holder, she pulled out a small card holder and asked me, "Card carrier?" and then something more in Japanese. I shook my head that I didn't need one, but she kept getsuring at it. "Present!" she said in English, and gave it to me! It was so sweet! Once she gave it to me, I could tell that it was handmade. It was pretty adorable. I have some Alaska pins that I like to take with me when I travel as small gifts for awesome people. When I was working in the visitor center in Alaska, some Canadians gave me one and I thought it was so cool that I wanted to do it too! So I dug one out of my backpack, went back up to the counter, and gave her a forget-me-not pin. "Present!" She was very happy too. It was a cute interaction.
Anyway, then I got on the bus and went to OASIS. It is a very small school; there are two other English teachers and one Japanese woman who is the administrator. Ryoko, the administrator, met me and we filled out some paperwork. Then the other teachers arrived and I met them. Some students came in from the highest-level class and we had a great conversation. I was really impressed with their English! One student, an older woman named Keiko, asked me all kinds of questions and started taking notes, so we joked that she was doing my job interview. I sat in on the highest-level class (which was only three students that day). It was great! Everyone there was very friendly and laid-back, which was kind of a relief, since Japanese society tends to be a little more reserved and formal in the workplace. It was also really nice to have so many people to speak English with!
I think I will be going back next week to observe more classes, even though I don't start work until I return to Japan next month. But I'm already looking forward to being at OASIS!
OASIS school is in downtown Morioka, so it's a bit of a bus ride down there. My first great encounter of the day occurred at the bus station. There is a small kiosk at the bus station where you can buy bus cards. Mine was almost empty, so while I was waiting for the bus I went to buy one. I bought my bus card from the woman in the kiosk with my usual method of pointing and nodding. When I was putting my card in my passport holder, she pulled out a small card holder and asked me, "Card carrier?" and then something more in Japanese. I shook my head that I didn't need one, but she kept getsuring at it. "Present!" she said in English, and gave it to me! It was so sweet! Once she gave it to me, I could tell that it was handmade. It was pretty adorable. I have some Alaska pins that I like to take with me when I travel as small gifts for awesome people. When I was working in the visitor center in Alaska, some Canadians gave me one and I thought it was so cool that I wanted to do it too! So I dug one out of my backpack, went back up to the counter, and gave her a forget-me-not pin. "Present!" She was very happy too. It was a cute interaction.
Anyway, then I got on the bus and went to OASIS. It is a very small school; there are two other English teachers and one Japanese woman who is the administrator. Ryoko, the administrator, met me and we filled out some paperwork. Then the other teachers arrived and I met them. Some students came in from the highest-level class and we had a great conversation. I was really impressed with their English! One student, an older woman named Keiko, asked me all kinds of questions and started taking notes, so we joked that she was doing my job interview. I sat in on the highest-level class (which was only three students that day). It was great! Everyone there was very friendly and laid-back, which was kind of a relief, since Japanese society tends to be a little more reserved and formal in the workplace. It was also really nice to have so many people to speak English with!
I think I will be going back next week to observe more classes, even though I don't start work until I return to Japan next month. But I'm already looking forward to being at OASIS!
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