Meeting the English teachers.... what not to do

I went to one of my schools today and met with some of the teachers that I'll be working with. Although it got off to an awkward start (I very accidently wore my outside shoes inside) the day went really well and I'm looking forward to working there.

So, do you want to know how I committed one of the worst faux pas possible?

I started off wrong by entering through the carpark which leads to the back entrance. There were no cars in the car park and I was actually wondering if anyone was around when a group of boys showed up and lead me to the staff room. As I followed them I somehow had crossed from outside to half outside (inside shoes are required here too) without realising and then suddenly I was inside and in the staff room! Half outside is the area between buildings, where plastic turf has usually been laid down.

I think I got a few laughs from the boys before they disappeared. So there I was in the staff room, in my outside shoes trying to figure out where I had gone wrong. I know these rules, I was being careful, but somehow it just happened!

I said hello to a lovely teacher who teaches art, then asked her where I could put my shoes. She had some difficulty understanding until I pointed to my shoes (still on my feet) and said somewhat apologetically, "Outside shoes."

She nearly fell over! "Outside shoes?!!" She quickly disappeared and returned with a pair of generic plastic slippers.

She relaxed considerably after they were on and took me to the front door and gave me a shoe locker.

Apparently I didn't damage relations because after that she brought me a cup of coffee (good thing I like it strong, black with no sugar because that's what I got; they generally don't ask - just give!) and showed me around.

When I left I noticed that my name was on the shoe locker!

I guess that she'll be telling some stories at home tonight.

I've been so careful about not wearing shoes inside but it just happened so fast!!! Opps!


My Japanese English Teacher arrived once the shoes had been sorted out! He was really friendly and introuced me to the other teachers there. Neither the principal or vice principal were in, but I was able to meet a lot of the staff. I spent most of the time working on an introductory lesson where I introduce myself to the class. I then printed some pictures that I'm thinking of using. Seeing as a few of the teachers were interested in the pictures, I'm hoping that the students will be too! The teachers all knew Ian Thorpe and with a bit of prompting recognised Steve Irwin, although they didn't recognise Hugh Jackman (X-men), hopefully the younger ones will. The teachers knew Crocodile Dundee, but I thought this might be a bit old for the students.

Since I've been in Japan the most common question that I've been asked is if I like vegemite. At first I would give a general, "yeah, it's ok," but I've decided that it's just easier to say "yes!" or "It's really yummy on toast for breakfast!" People also ask me if I like Tim Tams and eat them all the time or by sucking coffee through them. Vegemite and Tim Tams both feature in my presentation.

My school is pretty small - 218 students in years 7, 8 and 9. I'll be there one week a month and assist in teaching in all classes while I'm there. There are 7 classes all up - 3 year 7 classes and 2 classes for both years 8 and 9.

One thing that keeps coming up is how limited I feel because of my limited Japanese language skills. I'm currently investigating a few classes so that I can really start improving my Japanese.