Being an ALT #10: More School Hopping

In the last installment of our Being an ALT series, we discussed how some ALT jobs cover more than one school and how hopping between schools can affect your experience as a teacher in Japan. This time we'll continue that discussion and look particularly at how an ALT's time is split between multiple schools and the ways that can increase or decrease your workload.

WS: "He/She Was and They/We Were (Not)" 2nd G JHS

This is a game using was, was not, were and were not. It's a variation of a classic ALT activity which has been kicking around for decades. All the versions I've found elsewhere look like they were designed on a 1980s word processor, so I've completely remade it from scratch. The game is called Hello Kitty Murder.

How to Not Sweat Like a Beast in the Summer

You have probably never heard of the demoniacally named Driclor before. It's a roll-on treatment for hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating. It works. Unbelievably. If you use it for a couple of weeks, you will not sweat in the applied areas. This is perfect for the viciously hot and humid Japanese summers.

It's normally prescribed, but is available without a prescription. Read on for how to get hold of some in Japan.

Disaster Donation Opportunity: Clothes

A friend of mine passed on this address which is accepting clothes donations.

989-2393 "Wataricho"
Miyagi ken, Watarigun
Watari cho Aza kyuukan 62-1
Sato kinen Taiikukan

９８９−２３９３宮城県亘理郡　
亘理町字旧館６２番地１
佐藤記念体育館

Their number is 0223-34-0505

They're looking for high quality spring and summer clothes with little or no signs of wear. They don't need winter clothes because they can't store them, or underwear as the shops there are starting to reopen.

Exclusive Preview of New JHS Textbooks!

Here at AccessJ we're always one step ahead of the game. We tear the competition in two with our cut-throat professionalism and unstoppable momentum. Out of the way "Gumper ALT Life Stories" and "JipanGU" sites, AJ gone crazy.

Anyway, so we got hold of a copy of next year's JHS textbooks (at least, for selected schools). It's a reworked version of New Crown - that series I got so angry about last year with my "5 Most Annoying Pages in New Crown", "4 Stupidest Characters in New Crown", and "3 Appalling Stories from New Crown" posts.

Here's your chance for a sneaky peak before 2012!

Being an ALT #9: Hopping Between Schools

In some ALT positions, you will teach at not just one school, but instead rotate through a set of assigned schools. This is especially common among junior high school and elementary school ALTs, but even high school ALTs may find themselves covering a few small, rural high schools or trucking out to a special needs school once every couple weeks.

This game of musical workplaces can be good or bad, depending on your preferences. Over our next two Being an ALT posts, we'll discuss some of the pros and cons of this arrangement. First, we'll look at some of the interpersonal impacts of having more schools to visit, and next time we'll consider scheduling issues it might provoke. If you're considering a move to a multi-school job, we hope these posts will provide you some food for thought.

WS: "Are You From Vatican City?" 1st G JHS

This week's worksheet is for the early days of first grade junior high, and covers the "Are you from..." grammar.

Getting an ETC Card Reader

In order to use an ETC card on the express-ways of Japan, you nearly always need to have a machine to wirelessly communicate with the toll booth.

We will covered how to get an ETC card very soon, which is significantly more difficult for foreigners (especially the military), but now let's look at getting the box installed.

Abbreviations in Furikomi

Take a deep breath... this is dry but useful information.

When making a bank transfer (振込, furikomi) in Japan, information regarding the transfer can only be sent using single-bit (half-width) katakana characters, Latin alphabet letters, numbers, or a small subset of punctuation. When you make a furikomi at a bank or ATM, the system will properly annotate information about the bank and branch you want to transfer to. However, properly entering the beneficiary's name is up to you.

(By the way, spaces are also valid in furikomi data. They count as one character.)

Applying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test

Recent changes in the JLPT mean that it's now easier to take the test in Japan than it previously was. You can now take any level test twice a year (previously only the two highest levels were available twice). In celebration, here's a brief guide on how to apply.

WS: "Was and Were" JHS 2nd G

This Sunday's worksheet is a nice little story knocked together by my talented 婚約者, Laura. It makes use of a typically English scenario (easily converted to your home country) to practice the appropriate use of "was" and "were".

Japanese Ability to be Linked to Visa Extensions?

This article is a bit dated, but I only stumbled across it fairly recently: In May of 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hinted in a press conference that it would like to start taking Japanese language ability into consideration when issuing visas to or renewing landing permissions for foreign residents.

(A Youtube video of the press conference is also available; there's no particular variation between it and the written record, but of additional interest on Youtube are the scathing comments in Japanese about former Minister of Foreign Affairs Masahiko Komura and his "antinational" proposals.)