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sublingua | |||||
| The heart with a mind of its own.(Be present.) | The mind with a heart of its own.(It's past.) | The dream that is your waking life.(Go there now.) | |||
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You've Got Questions? We've Got Answers.
Sorry about the delay... It's been several days since my last entry and I meant to write about the individual interview with Sachiko. But, man, I'll tell you, having to pretend to be hireable (is that even a word?) is exhausting. I mean, my sleep schedule is still all mucked up from the crazy interview weekend. That, and I took a regular (non-introductory) yoga class last night with my usual instructor, and today? My shoulders and back have had a few things to say about those backbends. They're, like, all, Why didn't you warn us? But anyway...So, yeah, the individual interview. Miss California Roll Is My Favorite Japanese Food got a callback, as did the young man who thinks he gonna be Japanese. I got to sit in the hotel lobby with that guy, who is planning on selling all of his things and moving forever to Japan if he gets this job. And I was, all, remember the JET interview you screwed up? Well, keep that in mind before you advertise your tired, old futon on e-bay, baby. Because that guy? Was very. Very. Well, you know. He's the guy who wants to be Japanese. Which is something that you, baby, will Never. Be. Amanda and Sachiko came down into the lobby to collect me and Mr. Robato. We all shook hands and made some intense eye-contact, my face already set in a big, friendly smile. The elevator was out of order, so we had to climb the stairs to the second floor. One of the bellhops had parked a big luggage cart in the stairwell, and so we had to go single file past it. Instead of trying to prove himself a gentleman, Mr. Robato tried to push me out of the way to get ahead of me. I was, like, uh. He was a total Augustus--remember him from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?--just a fat-fingered little man intent on getting ahead of the quote-unquote competition. When I said, "Excuse me," he said something like, "Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I thought we'd both fit in that space." And then Sachiko said to come with her, so I did. We talked about various things. She asked me to critique my own lesson and then gave me her critique of the lesson. I had focused on grammar, and she reminded me that Japanese students had about eight years of English grammar under their belts by the time they left high school and didn't need grammar coaching, but rather wanted to learn conversation. Then she gave me a page from a textbook used by the Kaisha and said I had ten minutes to plan a ten minute lesson. She said, "It's okay to use the board and to move furniture around." (Hint. Hint.) She then left me alone with the page and a worksheet that asked the date, my name, the grammar point being made by the text, and then asked for various things like how many minutes I'd spend on each section and what I'd do for each section. (How much time on reviewing the grammar point, how much time with the dialogue, how much time talking to the student.) She came back in and acted like a "typical" Japanese student. Typical Japanese students are apparently very polite and eager to please, but hesitant. I got high marks for encouraging remarks, for not spending too much time on reviewing grammar, and for using the board and moving the furniture. After that, I had a couple of minutes to fill out a self-evaluation, then we talked about her evaluation and I had nailed my own self right in line with her eval. We talked about the concerns I had put on my survey, and reviewed the "considerations" that she and Amanda had introduced the day before. They ranged from health to personal to financial considerations. She showed me a typical schedule, told me about the campaigns run by the Kaisha every year, reminded me about the dress code and that they had no janitorial services and that I would have to pitch in and help keep the offices clean, etc. After, she asked for questions, then the interview was over. Questions? My shoulders say it's time to stop typing now, but I'll write more later...
More lies:
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