Started teaching as an ALT for High School in Japan!

A little over a month ago, I came to Japan to be an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) for high schools in Okazaki, Japan. From what I have heard from Jr high school and elementary school ALTs, high school is a whole different ball game! It seems lessons are more so planned by the Japanese teachers for the younger students (especially Jr high) and the ALT acts more as a native tape recorder. For high school, I have to plan all my lessons and am basically told, "Do whatever you want" a lot. Which is actually very stressful at first when you have never taught before! But overall I think I am lucky that I was placed at high schools! Many of the kids are extremely interested in me and some have high English ability and want to talk to me between classes. :)

I had little training for high school during my training in Nagoya. I was the only one in my group who was going to teach high school so the focus was mainly on company policies, elementary school lessons, and middle school lessons. I basically felt like I was thrown into the fire for my first few days! Luckily, a lot of other ALTs in my area teach high school, so I was able to get some advice!

The English ability at the four high schools I teach at vary greatly. Two of my high schools are very high, one is pretty low but they try hard, and the last is extremely low. The extremely low level school was really shocking at first! I had only visited the top level school at the time so I was not expecting blank faces and the look of "wakarimasen. eigo kirai" on their faces. The first day I taught there it was a disaster! They didn't understand anything and couldn't ask me any questions. I learned from that and changed my teaching style and have had much more enjoyable days since. :) Basically we just play games and fun activities. Many of my schools also require me to be there for English Club that is after school for 1-2 hours. My work schedule was adjusted for this on some days.

For high school you do not have to eat school lunch with the children. However, you can purchase a pre-made bento lunch for about 220 yen that the other teachers buy, but I haven't bought it yet. I just been bringing my own lunches. Sometimes I just bring sandwiches!

I did have to buy indoor shoes for each of my schools. I decided to just buy some slip ons from the 100 yen store. I only have 1 pair of tennis shoes for the school I visit twice a week. The rest I just have 100 yen store shoes! They work fine! It is extremely expensive to start working in Japan. So buying 3-5 different shoes for indoor use isn't really practical!

So far I have experienced both culture day and sports day (what you see in anime). Culture day was extremely enjoyable! I loved it. The principal and one of the teachers of one of my schools bought me tickets to everything and I went around with three other teachers and tried all the food, watched the videos,  and played all the games. I also went into the ghost house, which was very well done! I laughed the whole time. A lot of the students wanted to take photos with me and called me cute.

One thing that surprised me greatly was how the students react to me when they first see me. In America, I am never called "cute," "pretty," "beautiful" or given such compliments so frankly! But as soon as I walk in the room or pass a group of students, they say "kawaii!" "bijin!" etc. Even boys will say so! I have to admit it made me feel better since I was so nervous at first. Also the first question in almost every class I get is, "Do you have a boyfriend?" If you do answer "yes," you may get many follow-up questions about your boyfriend!

I am still doing introduction lessons for many of my schools but I am looking forward to doing Halloween lessons soon!

R.a.a.g.f Bunny Cafe

I went to the famous rabbit cafe in Harajuku; however, of all the themed cafes I been to, I felt this one was the most disappointing. I have heard it is really busy and hard to get into without reservations; but my mother and I went during business/school hours in the early afternoon and just walked in. 

We each paid the 700 yen for the 30 minutes. Every guest gets a drink with his or her entrance fee. I chose milk tea. You are only allowed to pet or feed the rabbits. You cannot pick them up. Only one rabbit can be released in the room at a time because they will fight. You can open some of the cages and pet and feed the other bunnies though. My mom and I bought the snacks for the rabbits and feed them carrots and apples. They really LOVE the apples.

We tried to pet and to take photos of the bunny that was running around the room but it was too hyper so we didn't get many good photos. The one strange looking bunny was super soft though! It felt like velvet. 

If you love rabbits you may like this cafe more than me. But I felt the owl cafe was superior to it. The bunnies were cute and it was a fun way to fill up half an hour in Harajuku. 

Fukuro no Mise (Owl Cafe)

The owl cafe was by far the most entertaining animal cafe I have been to in Japan. It is located near Tsukishima Station in Tokyo. Exit the station at Exit 10 and then walk about two blocks up. I actually missed it at first. It is past the grocery store.

We arrived about an hour before it opened. About 15 minutes or so before the cafe opened the staff came out and asked everyone in line what time they like to come back. You are then put on the list. However, you must pay at this time. If you do not come back you will lose 2000 yen.

My mom and I came back at the appointed time. Native Japanese people and foreigners were split up once inside the cafe. Foreigners were placed at the counter and were given a small translation of what the lady was explaining, while the Japanese sat at the couches in the center. We were also given a drink such as lemonade, tea, or juice. Once the explanation was over, everyone stood up and picked an owl to hold. The owl I chose was named Baby. He was very cute! I also held one of the huge owls! They are very beautiful animals. I even put one on my head for a short time. I was afraid it would poop on me so I didn't want it on my head for long. :)

For about 50 minutes we took photos with the owls, petted them, and held them. When time was up we were each given a gift. You were asked to chose between an owl necklace, a small plush toy, a pin, and a few other items. I chose the necklace.

I really enjoyed going to this cafe! It was a completely new experience!


 

Yokohama's Cup of Noodle Museum

I went to Yokohama's Cup of Noodle Museum with my friends while I was in Japan this winter. I had actually walked by the museum many times without ever noticing it before! The sign on the side of the building is pretty small.

We arrived around 4:30pm and barely made it before they closed! Actually the only reason we were even allowed in was because I was a foreigner. My friend, Akane, asked if they could make an exception since I had came from America. The people behind the counter discussed it and decided to let us buy our tickets and let us in, thankfully! However, I saw that they turned away Japanese customers right after us and I felt bad...

The entrance fee into the museum cost only 500yen.

When you first go up the stairs into the museum you are surrounded by a display full of hundreds of Cup of Noodle packages with varying flavors and types. There are three walls in chronological order displaying every Cup of Noodle ever created. I was surprised by how many there are!

After the display, there is a small trick art room, followed by information on the history of the company written on the walls. The theme of "not giving up" and "thinking outside the box" to discover new things is receptively expressed.

After we looked around the "creative thinking" rooms for a bit we went to the main attraction—the factory room where you can make your own Cup of Noodles! You are allowed to purchase an empty container for 300 yen. You then are seated at a table where you are given markers so that you can decorate your package. My friends drew some really cute drawings on their's!

After you decorate your package, you stand in line to add the ingredients inside and seal your box. First the employee puts the dried noodles into your box and places it on a machine. You are asked to turn the wheel and the noodles are pushed firmly into the box. After the noodles are inside you are asked to pick from one of the four soup options. Next you are asked which four (out of 12) toppings you would like to add. I believe I chose chicken, peas, corn, and cheese. Your package with the ingredients inside is then put in another machine where the lid is sealed. Once the lid is sealed, your package is put inside a plastic wrapper and is then placed on a conveyer belt. It then goes through a machine that heats the plastic so that it forms to the shape of the Cup of Noodle box. Your own Cup of Noodles is finished! You can also make a carrying case for it afterwards.

I had a lot of fun at the museum with my friends. I hadn't really been interested in going before, but this time I wanted to see what it was all about! The museum was a fun and unique experience. I would like to take my friends or family there in the future if they visited me in Japan. Plus you get a unique souvenir!

You can find more information about the museum on their official website:http://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/index.html

ペンギンのいるバー Ikebukuro's Penguin Bar

I recently went to Japan again in December to visit my boyfriend for Christmas and New Year's. I had a great time and was so sad to leave.

I had wanted to go to the Penguin Bar in Ikebukuro the year before when I studied abroad and this time I had the opportunity to go! It wasn't as "fancy" as I had expected. But you did have to make reservations in advance. My boyfriend handled that and choose a time during 1 of the 2 penguin feeding times (about 7pm).

My boyfriend, our two friends, and I were seated at a table and were given warm napkins folded into Penguin shapes. They were very cute and I almost didn't want to take it apart to use!

While you can get a set course, we decided against that and just ordered the food we wanted. In the end it was still about 3000 yen ($26) each almost the same price as the course menus.

We all ordered our drinks and then ordered 2 dishes to share amongst the four of us. We got a pizza, a beef dish, and a veggie plater that had a delicious heated sauce to dip the veggies into. The carrots were cut to be penguin shaped. We later also ordered spaghetti since we were still hungry. The dishes were all a little small for four people to share, but probably 1-2 dishes would and been enough food for 2 people.

After we finished eating it was feeding time! We were sited in the front of the restaurant and thus the farthest away from the penguin tank. They would ask a few tables at a time to get up and get in line to feed the penguins. We were one of the last groups to feed the penguins. When I reached the front of the line, there was a lady with a bucket of fish who handed you tongs and told you (in Japanese) to grab the fish by the tail and feed it to the penguin. My boyfriend snapped a photo of me feeding the penguin. I held onto the fish longer than my companions did. Their fish were gobbled up before they could blink! After we fed the penguins we went back to our seats.

The Penguin Bar was fun and an interesting experience. The food was pretty good and about the expected quality of most izakaya (Japanese bars). I did feel the penguins were in a small tank and I thought the glass was extremely dirty. But maybe they are moved to a bigger tank when the restaurant closes and the glass is cleaned every night. While I hope that, I can't say I expect that since I have heard many bad things about animal rights in Japan...

The official website of the penguin bar can be found here http://www.penginbar.jp. 

フルーツサラダのレシピ

これは私の家族のクリスマスデザートです。毎年のクリスマスとサンクスギビングに作って食べます。日本にCool Whipを買わないから、ココナツのホイップクリームを使いました。

This is a dessert my family always makes for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Usually I use Cool Whip but Cool Whip is not sold in Japan, so I substituted it with coconut whip cream. This also makes it Vegan.:)

フルーツサラダの作り方

How to Make Fruit Salad

材料：

・バナナ２つ

・大きいリンゴ１つ

・みかん３つ

・クルミ

　・ココナツ

・フルーツカクテル

・砂糖

・バニラエッセンス

・ココナツミルク1缶(ココナツのホイップクリーム作り用

Ingredients:

-2 Bananas

-1 Big Apple or 2 small apples

-3 Cuties or 1 big orange

-Hand full of walnuts

-Shredded coconut

-Fruit Cocktail

-Sugar

-Vanilla extract

-Cool Whip and Sugar OR Coconut milk to make Coconut Whip Cream

リンゴ、みかん、クルミを小さく切って。

Cut the apple(s), orange(s), and walnuts into small pieces.

ボウルに入れて。

Put everything into the bowl.

それに、フルーツカクテルも入れて。甘いほう好きなら、砂糖も入れて。

Then add the fruit cocktail. If you want it sweet, add some sugar.

1.5個のバナナを切って。

Cut up 1 banana and half of the other. Save the other half for decoration.

バナナとココナツを入れて。

Add the banana and the coconut. 

混ぜて。

Mix everything together.

最後に、ココナツミルクも入れて、全部混ぜます。デコレーションのため、フルーツサラダの上にバナナを乗っけます。

Finally add the cool whip (or coconut whip cream) and mix everything together. Use the rest of the banana to decorate the fruit salad.

ココナツのホイップクリームを作る方法

１．ココナツミルクの缶は一日間冷やかす。
２．ミルクはすぐクリーミーになりやすいので、もうクリーミーになった方だけを取って、冷たいボウルに移します。
3. それが終わったら、砂糖１テーブルスプーンとバニラエッセンス１テーブルスプーンを加えます。
4.最後にふわふわになるまで混ぜてください。

How to Make the Coconut Whip Cream

1. Chill 1-2 cans of Coconut milk for a day.

2. The milk should had became harder and creamy. Use the non-liquid part and put it in a chilled bowl.
3. Add a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of vanilla extract.
4. Mix Everything until it is fluffy.