WHERE DO I ACTUALLY WORK?
I'll be teaching at 3 nearby Junior High Schools, Nagao, Izumi, and Imamoto. But, right now (August 26, 2003) the kids are on their summer break, so I'm "stationed" at City Hall. Everyday I have to be at the Board of Education Office at City Hall from 9:00 to 5:00 - but there's nothing in particular I really have to be doing. I guess the bosses figure if you're on the payroll, you need to be there even if you don't need to be. I don't mind though, as it is really helping me to pick up some of the Japanese language before I end up standing in front of students. There are alson two other ALTs there everyday (one from Hawaii and one from England), and some very nice Japanese women (that barely, barely speak any English), so we sit around and talk most of the time. I've been taking my laptop in and working away on another book, too.
The office is pretty much wide open, as we don't have cubicles or walls between us. Just a big room with lots of desks and file cabinets. We sit about 3 meters (10 feet) from the bosses and run our mouths all day - but so do they. They're actually very laid back and friendly. An interesting note: The "division" boss is called "Bucho", which means something approximate to big boss. You don't call him by his name, or mister, or anything else - you call him Bucho. Kind of like saying "Hey Big Boss" when you talk to him. Likewise, the "section" boss is called "Kacho", so you only call him Kacho (his name is actually Shinji Fujita). "Hey Boss."
Things will be changing very soon though, as I have meetings with some of the English teachers (the Japanese people that teach English) next week in order to prepare for classes. Then, every Monday afterwards we'll meet again to go over the lessons for the week. To tell you the truth, I'm ready to get going!