I was struck earlier by a very random thought concerning what I could do with my life. I can't even remember why it popped into my head.
I wondered if I could combine two of my passions - Japanese and geography. If you've read a lot of this blog, or even just a little bit, then you've probably noticed that I love talking about the weather (that's not just because I'm British), and earthquakes, volcanoes etc. I find it all fascinating, especially here in Japan, in the centre of all of these natural disasters.
If it's possible, it would be great for me to work at like a Meteorological Agency (気象庁, kishouchou) or something here. But I suppose I would need a degree in Geography for that, which I might be able to do at a Japanese University after my degree at Leeds.
Of course, all of this depends on whether my Japanese actually gets good enough or not, and whether I decide I want to move away from the UK! It's just in the "idea stage" at the moment, but I'm finding myself leaning more towards the business side of things than the teaching side at the moment. I might go back and forth for quite a long time!
Anyway, getting a bit ahead of myself there... First of all, I need to get the results back from my test this morning, and do my Speaking homework!
Showing posts with label plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plan. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Unprepared!
While I'm physically quite ready for Japan, except for actually packing everything up, mentally I'm not feeling prepared at all. It doesn't feel like I'll actually be going in nine days. It might be because I'm working full time (today is my only day off this week) until Saturday, so I don't have a lot of spare time to think through everything. That might be a blessing in disguise though, because it means I can't overthink and start to worry about every little detail, which I am prone to doing.
But what I really don't want to happen is that I'll arrive in Japan and be shocked that I'm there for a year. I usually use worry as a mental cushion so I feel prepared for things, but I don't think that will happen this time! I'll try to use the next week to plan things and hopefully that will make it more real. I also don't want to forget something important because I haven't thought about it thoroughly enough.
Last week I went down to Wiltshire to say goodbye to my grandparents, and some of my extended family and friends, with my youngest brother and that did help settle my mind a bit. It made it feel a little more real, as I was saying "goodbye and see you in a year" to everyone.
This morning I went through a box of everything I brought back from Japan last time and took out things I might need for this trip. It was stuff like my inkan name stamp, Softbank phone information, old bank book, and the lists of things I had to do when I first arrived last January.
I have Sunday to Tuesday to pack and sort everything out, and then we'll drive down to Heathrow airport on Wednesday lunchtime. Not long at all!
But what I really don't want to happen is that I'll arrive in Japan and be shocked that I'm there for a year. I usually use worry as a mental cushion so I feel prepared for things, but I don't think that will happen this time! I'll try to use the next week to plan things and hopefully that will make it more real. I also don't want to forget something important because I haven't thought about it thoroughly enough.
Last week I went down to Wiltshire to say goodbye to my grandparents, and some of my extended family and friends, with my youngest brother and that did help settle my mind a bit. It made it feel a little more real, as I was saying "goodbye and see you in a year" to everyone.
This morning I went through a box of everything I brought back from Japan last time and took out things I might need for this trip. It was stuff like my inkan name stamp, Softbank phone information, old bank book, and the lists of things I had to do when I first arrived last January.
I have Sunday to Tuesday to pack and sort everything out, and then we'll drive down to Heathrow airport on Wednesday lunchtime. Not long at all!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
First Job Interview at Gaba
There's me looking moody, ready for my interview!
I went over to Ebisu's Gaba Recruitment Centre for my first interview and Information Seminar this evening. I really need to start using a train guide for my journeys to find the best route - I'm just guessing really... (This was my busiest train journey yet - on the Yamanote line from Tokyo station to Ebisu station. It was about 5.00 and it wasn't shoulder-to-shoulder but it was quite crowded, but I was sitting.)
Well I found the place (the directions they gave me were quite good so it wasn't too difficult) and I got up to the sixth floor, was there at 5.45 for a 6 o'clock seminar. I'd been there about 30 seconds before a man came out and asked us to come into the presentation room, where we started to fill out forms.
It asked all the questions I didn't want to be asked. What is your phone number? Do you have a Japanese bank account? So I told the truth - phone number was pending, and I was planning to open a bank account as soon as I could either get through on the phone or find a branch of the right bank.
Then we had a 35 minute slideshow presentation about how flexible Gaba is and how it will work if we get the job. I had stumbled across a thread from Gaijinpot.com about Gaba earlier in the day, and it was not very positive at all, so I was a little worried about what it would be like if I actually got the job.
After the presentation, we were given a Post-Presentation booklet (basically a mini-exam) and they pulled us out a group at a time to be interviewed individually during the 40 minutes we had to complete the booklets (although we ran over slightly). I basically knew what to expect due to reading about a similar experience on Sum0's Japan Blog.
The first question asked us to complete this story. "Wonder Woman, Santa Claus and I were sitting on a park bench..." so I made up some tripe about us discussing who would win in a race, then Santa winning by using his sleigh (I'm sure I mispelled sleigh - is this one of those exceptions to the 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' rule?).
The second asked us to describe how we would explain the difference between "I like" and "I'd like" to a Japanese student of English. I used the "I like cake" and "I'd like cake" example.
Then there was a question that gave a student's profile, followed by an extract from a textbook about 'Causes and Effects' with sentences like "CAUSE - I was really hungry. EFFECT - I ate a cake". The question asked us to customise (spelt with a 'z' but I just can't bring myself to do that) the task for this man who sells home entertainment systems to US companies. So my answer went something like: Our system is good, so you will sell more. Because our system is good, you will sell more. Etc. etc.
Then there was a table with space to write different conjugations of 'to teach'. Stock up on your metalanguage (the language of language) before you go because you will need to know the past, present and future perfect and continuous versions of "to teach". I won't write my answers here because I'm sure I got them wrong (a vast hole in my knowledge for someone who claims to be an English student I know).
The last question was on idioms. It asked us to explain four idioms to a student and describe how we would teach the meanings. They were: 'on the ball', 'down to earth', 'out of the blue' and one other. Maybe somebody else who has taken this Gaba test could shed some light on it. Are there any other questions I've missed?
Well I found the place (the directions they gave me were quite good so it wasn't too difficult) and I got up to the sixth floor, was there at 5.45 for a 6 o'clock seminar. I'd been there about 30 seconds before a man came out and asked us to come into the presentation room, where we started to fill out forms.
It asked all the questions I didn't want to be asked. What is your phone number? Do you have a Japanese bank account? So I told the truth - phone number was pending, and I was planning to open a bank account as soon as I could either get through on the phone or find a branch of the right bank.
Then we had a 35 minute slideshow presentation about how flexible Gaba is and how it will work if we get the job. I had stumbled across a thread from Gaijinpot.com about Gaba earlier in the day, and it was not very positive at all, so I was a little worried about what it would be like if I actually got the job.
After the presentation, we were given a Post-Presentation booklet (basically a mini-exam) and they pulled us out a group at a time to be interviewed individually during the 40 minutes we had to complete the booklets (although we ran over slightly). I basically knew what to expect due to reading about a similar experience on Sum0's Japan Blog.
The first question asked us to complete this story. "Wonder Woman, Santa Claus and I were sitting on a park bench..." so I made up some tripe about us discussing who would win in a race, then Santa winning by using his sleigh (I'm sure I mispelled sleigh - is this one of those exceptions to the 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' rule?).
The second asked us to describe how we would explain the difference between "I like" and "I'd like" to a Japanese student of English. I used the "I like cake" and "I'd like cake" example.
Then there was a question that gave a student's profile, followed by an extract from a textbook about 'Causes and Effects' with sentences like "CAUSE - I was really hungry. EFFECT - I ate a cake". The question asked us to customise (spelt with a 'z' but I just can't bring myself to do that) the task for this man who sells home entertainment systems to US companies. So my answer went something like: Our system is good, so you will sell more. Because our system is good, you will sell more. Etc. etc.
Then there was a table with space to write different conjugations of 'to teach'. Stock up on your metalanguage (the language of language) before you go because you will need to know the past, present and future perfect and continuous versions of "to teach". I won't write my answers here because I'm sure I got them wrong (a vast hole in my knowledge for someone who claims to be an English student I know).
The last question was on idioms. It asked us to explain four idioms to a student and describe how we would teach the meanings. They were: 'on the ball', 'down to earth', 'out of the blue' and one other. Maybe somebody else who has taken this Gaba test could shed some light on it. Are there any other questions I've missed?
I'm sure Gaba won't be happy I'm revealing their test on the Internet but if they complain, I'll remove it. I want to help anyone else in my position as much as possible. It's not easy!
In my individual interview, I was told that my charcoal-grey suit wasn't black enough, and that my age was a problem. Being under 20 is turning out to be the biggest barrier of all here! I was told that I needed to open a Japanese bank account (which I already knew) and that, being under 20, I would have to have an interview with the big cheese of Gaba to make sure I understood enough business English. They invited me back for another interview on Tuesday, but I don't hold out much hope. I didn't in the first place, Gaba being one of the biggest schools in Japan, and me being an 18 year old with little teaching experience and no University degree. But it was an interesting experience, seeing an interview and understanding a little more about teaching English in Japan.
Because Gaba wants its teachers to commit to a long-term contract, working there would keep me in Tokyo for several months or so, and I'd much rather be able to stick to my original plan - find informal work at a smaller school or privately in Tokyo, and then move to Kyoto in April and do a similar thing there, then work my way down to Kyushu for the last month, before returning home in August. So we shall see. But I'm basically back to square one in terms of job hunting (I received an email from the other school saying that they were sorry but they'd already filled the position - grgh!).
On the plus side, I saw a poster for the Blue Man Group on the train home, I saw them at the Big Chill festival last year and they were great. Worth seeing...
In my individual interview, I was told that my charcoal-grey suit wasn't black enough, and that my age was a problem. Being under 20 is turning out to be the biggest barrier of all here! I was told that I needed to open a Japanese bank account (which I already knew) and that, being under 20, I would have to have an interview with the big cheese of Gaba to make sure I understood enough business English. They invited me back for another interview on Tuesday, but I don't hold out much hope. I didn't in the first place, Gaba being one of the biggest schools in Japan, and me being an 18 year old with little teaching experience and no University degree. But it was an interesting experience, seeing an interview and understanding a little more about teaching English in Japan.
Because Gaba wants its teachers to commit to a long-term contract, working there would keep me in Tokyo for several months or so, and I'd much rather be able to stick to my original plan - find informal work at a smaller school or privately in Tokyo, and then move to Kyoto in April and do a similar thing there, then work my way down to Kyushu for the last month, before returning home in August. So we shall see. But I'm basically back to square one in terms of job hunting (I received an email from the other school saying that they were sorry but they'd already filled the position - grgh!).
On the plus side, I saw a poster for the Blue Man Group on the train home, I saw them at the Big Chill festival last year and they were great. Worth seeing...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
