Souken Training-Part 2

Wednesday, April 15

Today we didn't go to Souken for training.  Instead, we were split up and shadowed other (obviously veteran) AETS at their schools in order to see what an average day on the job looked like.  Elena and I took a taxi to Mito 1st Jr. High and met Laura, whose day didn't quite end up going as she had hoped.  The only class she had ended up being cancelled, so we weren't able to actually observe her in her own class.  She did the next best thing she could, though, and had us crash a few other English classes, so we at least got to see how an AET interacts with a Japanese English teacher.  She gave us plenty of pointers and tips and explained how a typical day goes.  Although her schedule had gotten a little thrown off, it gave me a lot of insight on what to expect of a Jr. High school.  

Now I don't know whether I'm excited or nervous.

Thursday, April 16

Fourth day of Souken training.  I saw my first bento truck, so I thought that was kinda cool.

After a few hours of training, we played a game of Japanese culture Jeopardy.  I only got the Yokai Watch answer (the orange cat character) because Taylor had pointed out how popular it is with elementary school kids these days.  Yokai Watch characters are EVERYWHERE.  They're even more popular than One Piece and Pokemon (which are around 10-15 years old).  

Bradley Collier is our AET representative at Souken.
He coordinates with our boss, Hosoya-san, who is in charge of the AET program. 

Guys, if you see this picture and hate it, I'm sorry.  I think it's great.