Friday 21 May 2010

What a way to make a living

Let's updating more! Jeez I really have been quite slack with posting recently. The main reason being that I have another job! I'm now officially a pre-school teacher! 9-3:30 Monday to Friday with the occational meeting or afterschool club thrown in afterwards. I work for an international school which means I don't have to know any Japanese at all, but most of the other teachers are fluent which means they can talk to parents more easily and answer emails in Japanese.

I must admit I was pretty daunted when I went to my interview and the director was telling me about the curriculum and I was like....I have to actually TEACH these kids?! Bearing in mind I have no degree and no real childcare experience. But regardless I accepted the job and went to work the day after Golden Week and I absolutely love it! We have between 7 - 10 kids in every day and they're all adorable!! They're aged between 1 - 3 years old, some of them are little shits but I love them anyway and most of them aren't fully toilet trained so yes that means I have to deal with changing nappies, but even thats ok! The staff are lovely too, of course I'm still the new girl so there's a certain adjustment period to go through, I'm not in the crew just yet which, I'll be honest, is a bit weird considering I came from a job I was at for 3 years where I felt like my coworkers were like my brothers and sisters! But just like when I started that job it took me a while to really interact with the staff. But I'm feeling more and more comfortable everyday, and I'm begining to accept my role as a real teacher, not just a classroom assistant who helps the kids go potty. I'm expected to come up with lesson plans and ideas for the weeks themes aswell as help adjust the curriculum based on the class's achievments and level of progress. I also have to write weekly reports to the parents and administration. It's a real learning experience for me and I guess my first "real" job where I have a sense of real resposibility. I think it's a great oppotunity for me to grow and learn how to cope with such things on my own.

I found it a bit weird that I was lucky enough to find 2 jobs in 3 weeks with no degree or tefl course qualifications or anything. Every job I looked at on the internet required me to have a degree and most people I talked to told me the same but the reality is that if you put in the leg work, are flexable with your hours, have good interview skills and really want to work in this country you shouldn't have much of a problem. Of course it also helps if you're British :3
I feel like I've always been lucky when it comes to getting jobs, I've always seemed to be in the right place at the right time so I don't really have to go through any real stress or pressure. If you are thinking about moving to Japan to work just be prepared to do some legwork and explore every option because you never know what oppotunities could come your way.

I have to say I'm feeling pretty proud of myself right now, I can't believe that just 6 weeks ago I came to this country to live for a year with barely £700 to my name and now I'm managing to make a real life for myself out here. I have very little money left now but I'm more than capable of budgeting so I have enough to last me until next pay day. Over the last 6 weeks I have realised alot about myself, about how I love to feel settled in one place rather than the "backpacky" lifestyle people my age seem to be so fond of, how I love to have a space to call home - Of course my real home will always be with my family but even out here I like to feel like my bed is MY bed...not like I'm just renting it out, and also how I like routine. I need to feel like I'm being productive, I couldn't bare it if I was on holiday for this long, even if I could afford it. After I started work I felt so much more at ease with myself and also about living here, like it wasn't just an idea anymore, it was a reality.

Next time : TOKYO BIG SIGHT (prepare for lulz)