So It Begins

The First Day

Keep in mind every time I say we entered the Kids Room we had to take our shoes off then put them back on before going to do the next thing.

We left the apartment at 10 in the morning – Joel, MIA Ray, and myself – for a 12:30 start. Obviously, we wanted to give ourselves enough time to get to work on the first day and prepare for any possible mishaps. Additionally, we had to obtain a pass for Ray that morning and when Joel and I got ours, we waited about 45 minutes. So, the three amigos headed off to the station, excited and ready to take on the world. We arrived at the station and headed for ticket sales. Luckily, when we arrived, there were only two people in front of us. Needless to say, we were over prepared in regards to our time frame. So, at 10:30 we decided to head towards our branches. Joel took the subway, Ray and I the JR line.

We ended up spending an hour in Starbucks to kill some time while Ray enjoyed a cream puff he grabbed when we got off the train. First cream puff ever for Ray and it was a Japanese one as well. Anyway, we headed into the branch and were directed upstairs; we met Helen and Josh, our trainers for the day. Also, we met the only other trainee at our branch, Cydonnia. Cydonnia is from Australia and her mother is an aborigine, her father a typical Aussie. She seemed very friendly, outgoing, and was excited to be there.

We started off in the Kids Room, not teaching kids but just doing basic paper work. Took a break, headed out of the Kids Room for about 5 minutes then back in again for our basic training. The lessons themselves seem pretty simple and it will just take some time before I and everyone else gets acquainted with the structure. So, our first task, introductions. Pretty easy but there are a lot of little things you need to do and incorporate, a lot more difficult then you might think, trust me. Regardless, after about two hours we were supposed to sit in on a lesson and conduct the introduction. For some reason, there were only two lessons at the time so I was chosen not to give an introduction. I got to watch Cydonnia instead.

Back to the Kids Room we went after the lesson to learn about the next process – the application. The application is pretty much where you set up a scenario and allow the individuals to talk amongst themselves. Once again, sounds simple, but no so easy when they are not English speakers.

Back to the Kids Room, more training training, off to dinner (we went to a bakery, the three newbies), and then back to the Kids Room.

Nevertheless, about 40 minutes after dinner we were off to teach another part of a lesson, this time the introduction as well as the application. Luckily I got to participate this time with Josh and for my scenario, two individuals pretended they were out at a store and one sorry fool forgot his/her money at home and had to politely ask to borrow money from the other individual. Overall, went pretty well, a little short, but that will come with experience. After the application I give feedback, areas of improvement, etc. After that, you wrap up the lesson and iterate what it was you taught today, ask if they have any questions, say thank you, and then you are done.

Back down to the Kids Room, briefing, a bit more training. Last lesson of the day I was with Dave, teaching pretty much half of the lesson. We had a one on one lesson as individuals can pay for private tutorials. We entered and Dave put me at ease from the start. He told the student from the start that I was the supervisor, watching him to make sure he was doing everything correctly. And away we went. Lesson ended, went pretty well, Dave had to help me a bit only because I did not have enough material but once again, it was a learning experience and something I will pick up over time. During the day, we found out that Cydonnia lived in the same building as us so we all took the train back. I stopped at the Family Mart on the way back to the place and picked up a beer for myself and Ray. The rest of the evening was spent sitting out front the apartment, hanging out, drinking a few beers.

Some things I realized from training:
1) I am the expert, I have been speaking this language my whole life. No need to get worried.
2) The most difficult part in oversimplifying instructions. The simpler, the better. I feel like I am talking to Gavin sometimes.
3) The book is just a guide, a lose structure to follow. As long as you hit the aims of the lesson, whatever way necessary, you will be just fine.
4) Once I get the hang of it, I should be good to go.
5) I really wasn’t that nervous, especially compared to Ray and Cydonnia. Overall, it was a fine first day.

Hope everyone is doing well.