My First Day At My New Job

I just got back from my first day teaching English at Tokyo Woman's Christian University. It was so much fun!

I taught two 90 minute lessons, which is now my usual Friday slot. In the first one I had four students turn up, and we spoke about the change of healthcare in America, and debated the good and bad points. It was a really fun lesson, and the students made the time fly by.

Then I had lunch in the cafeteria, and not only was I the only foreigner there, I was the only male! I got so many stares. Then on the way out of the cafeteria I found a poster advertising my lessons. It felt so weird, almost like celebrity!

Then in the second lesson five students came, and we discussed the students' plans for Golden Week, and then debated whether or not money equates to happiness, which is something I stole from my Japanese lessons at ICU. And at the end of the lesson one of the girls asked to have a photo taken with me! It was so strange... I didn't realise I'd be such a point of interest!

It was a really fun day, and I'm really looking forward to teaching more classes there.

I Have A Job!

In a very surprising turn of events, a friend of mine from ICU told me about a job position at Tokyo Woman's Christian University (東京女子大学, Toukyou Joshi Daigaku) teaching English to students there.

I went to an interview on Tuesday and they hired me! Everyone there seems really nice, and they made me feel right at home. The University itself is really nice as well, but not as nice as ICU, it has to be said!

So starting tomorrow I'll be teaching two 90 minute lessons every Friday. And it's a short contract, just until the end of their term in mid-June, which works perfectly for me, as I'll be leaving for Britain on 10th July.

I'm really surprised I found a job! I'd resigned myself to not earning any money this year. But I'm very relieved! It will really help my money situation. The pay is quite good, Y2,500 per 90 minute lesson, and I'll be teaching two classes a week, so that's £35 per week more than I would get if I didn't have a job! Plus they pay for my transport. It's in Nishi-Ogikubo (西荻窪), which is just five stops away from my station.

I spent some of this afternoon making lesson plans for tomorrow, but they warned me that as I only went on the schedule on Wednesday it might turn out that no students come. But they did add that I'd be more likely to get students than some of the other teachers from ICU because I'm "an attractive guy". I thought they were joking! But they were completely serious. Uh oh, better try to be as good looking as possible then! But I still get paid if no students turn up, as long as I wait to see if anyone comes during the whole time. So I'll take my textbooks along, and might end up being paid for studying!

I'm a bit nervous, because I've only taught one student at a time before, at Gaba and private teaching in 2008, and if a lot of students turn up then I could be in charge of a class of 10 or 15 students. Scary! Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly...

Also, as a side note, I'm really sorry about the lack of posts about China and my brother's visit recently. The reason is that my Leeds exam is in two weeks (that's the exam I have to pass to continue my degree) so I'm studying around the clock trying to do ICU work as well as cram as much vocab and grammar, and as many kanji as possible, into my brain. I promise I'll catch up after the exam is over and I can finally breathe again!

My Brother's Visit: Airport Chaos!

This morning Dom and I went to Narita Airport. He had reached the end of his 9 day stay here. It was very sad on the Limousine Bus from Kichijoji, but we knew it was only 12 weeks until I'm back in the UK. I can't believe I have such a short time left in Japan!

It was a very scenic route to the airport. We passed Tokyo Tower...



... and went over Rainbow Bridge.



And then, after getting up at 5am for the 2 hour bus trip, and paying Y3,000 (£20) each to get there, we find all flights to the UK, and most of Western Europe cancelled.



This wasn't the biggest surprise. We knew there was a risk of delays and cancellations because of the news the previous day. But we'd checked online before we left and there wasn't a problem at 6am. Somewhere en route they'd cancelled all the flights!

The cancellations were due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption, which happened two days ago. I knew about it, but didn't quite believe that we'd actually be affected by it so badly.

We were three hours early for the flight, so we started to queue up at the check-in desk and waited until they opened. We were only a few people from the front as we were there so early.

TBS News were interviewing people in the line, but Dom and I weren't asked to say anything, but I think I may have been in the background of one interview.

They opened the desks on time, but we still had to wait for about an hour until we got any information. They were taking people who had been cancelled on yesterday, but were sending anyone who hadn't missed a flight yet away, saying that all the nearby hotels were full and people should return to their previous accommodation. Bit of a tall order! But I suppose their hands were tied.

We were advised to change our bookings online or on the phone, and try to get another flight for when the airports re-open.

As the morning went on, the lines got huge as more and more people found their flights had been cancelled. But every was very well behaved and well-humoured, except for one Japanese woman who kept huffing and puffing next to us in the line. I expected the British people to be causing trouble!

Dom and I had a sandwich in a cafe, and then got on the train and braved the two and a half hour train journey home. We were both exhausted, and were not expecting to have to do that at all! I rang our Mum and let her know what was happening, but then couldn't get through on the phone to Virgin Atlantic's Tokyo office until the evening. I changed Dom's flight to Monday 26th April, which was the earliest available flight. I can't believe it! He's doubled his stay in Japan! And he'll miss some school, but I suppose he has the best excuse there is - stuck on the other side of the world because of a volcanic eruption! I find it so ironic that he came to Japan, one of the most volcanic countries in the world, and then can't go home because of volcanic ash over Britain!

Well, I suppose Dom will get a much better idea of Tokyo life - he's going to be here for a while!

It's now 22nd April, and the airports are all open again, after a week of total closure. What a huge mess! We really are at the mercy of nature... But fingers crossed everything goes smoothly for his flight home on Monday. Adding his visit with my family in 2008, he's now been in Japan for over a month in his life! Madness!

I think we were quite lucky to get a flight as early as the 26th, because I rang back a few days after the initial cancellation and they told me that apart from Dom's secured seat on the 26th, the earliest available flight was the 2nd May! I'm so glad I was persistant in ringing them all day.

It's been lovely having Dom in Japan for so much longer than we first expected, but I think he's quite looking forward to going home. I have to leave him alone for so many hours every day while I go to lessons he must be bored stiff!

Now I just hope that the volcano doesn't decide to let another burst of ash out as a little surprise for Europe again!

My Brother's Visit: Arrival

This morning I went to Narita Airport to pick up my youngest brother, Dominic. He's come to Japan for a ten-day holiday, to spend some time with me in Tokyo.

I spent the night on the sofa at my old house in Chuo-ku, because it's a lot closer to Narita Airport, and it meant I could get out of Tokyo without hitting any of the morning rush hour trains.

I didn't have a great night's sleep, about four hours, but that was all forgotten once I'd met him and we started chatting. We took the train back to my guesthouse, which takes between 2 and 2 and a half hours. But it seemed to go a lot quicker with him there.

It's so nice to have him here! I get on very well with my brothers, so it's like having a friend stay with me.

He's absolutely exhausted right now, and I'm quite tired, so we'll have an early night, and then we're going to Kamakura to see the big Buddha statue tomorrow with some friends from ICU. And it should be lovely because the cherry blossom is still in full bloom! (And this is the second time in my brother's life that he's seen Japan covered in blossom, because he came in Spring two years ago as well! Not many 15 year olds can say that they've done that, especially coming on their own the second time...)

And of course I can't wait for my 21st birthday on Friday!