Life as a Kitakyushu City JET
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 10:35
Hi, my name’s Laura, and I’ve been an ALT (assistant language teacher) for almost three years. I started straight after graduating university and had no idea what to expect from my first real job, especially when you throw living in Japan and teaching into the equation! But I’ve had an awesome time and I want to tell you a little about life as a Kitakyushu city JET.
Firstly, unlike Fukuoka prefecture JETs, we don’t go to our schools during summer. As the Board of Education (BOE) is our employer, Kasahara-sensei (our supervisor), Fujita-san (our Japanese Prefectural advisor) and Christine (our ALT Prefectural advisor) look after us during our first month or so. In my first year, during the vacation we had time to practice our self introductions for school and ask any questions. Some of us had the chance to work at an International friendship camp, where you do activities like rock climbing or kayaking with children who have some kind of international background. I really recommend this; I went twice and loved it each time. One summer we had Japanese lessons for a week, and we also had time to study by ourselves. It’s also a great opportunity to get to know the ALTs you will be living with for one year or more. After school starts we have bimonthly meetings together where we swap activity ideas, hear announcements from the BOE and check up on how everyone is doing.
My school is called Numa Junior high school and it’s a 30 minute bus ride from my house. I only have one school, but many ALTs have two. I do go to a special needs school once a term and teach English there. At Numa, I teach 1st grade (12-13 years old), 2nd grade (13-14 years old) and 3rd grade (15-16 years old). In the whole school there are 16 classes and three JTEs (Japanese teachers of English), although this varies from school to school. In my case there is one JTE per grade. There are 6 classes a day, but I teach between 5 and 20 classes a week. I have very few during exam periods and school events. When I don’t have class I usually study Japanese or prepare activities for future classes. I also join in with preparation for school festivals like taikutaikai (sports festival) or bunkasai (culture festival). I always join in with the girl’s cheerleading dance on sports day (and the hours of practice I desperately need to do in the days beforehand), and last year I sang (badly) during culture festival.
At Junior high we always teach with a JTE, never by ourselves. We provide the students and teacher with an example of natural English, and communication activities to practice speaking, listening, reading and writing. A good way to get more involved is to help with elective lessons that all grades have, or maybe start an English journal.
I’ve had a wonderful time as an ALT and I’m really going to miss Japan and my students. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
Kitakyushu city
If you’re a city lover I’m sure you were crossing your fingers to be placed in Fukuoka City. But if you landed in Kitakyushu City don’t despair, it’s a great city to live in. It has a population of about one million and covers an area of 483 km². Kitakyushu City is split into five wards, Kokura-ku, Moji-ku, Tobata-ku, Yahata-ku and Wakamatsu-ku. Each of these wards feels like a separate town, with it’s own shopping and entertainment districts. However most people go to Kokura-kita for shopping and nights out. It’s easily reachable from Kokura-minami by train or monorail, and by a 20-minute train ride from Kurosaki. It only takes 5minutes by train from Moji or Tobata. You’ll find familiar shops like GAP and Uniqlo, three big shopping centers, plenty of restaurants, karaoke joints and bars, and a nightclub or two. The last train from Kokura station to Tobata, Yahata and Kurosaki is at 11.26pm, the last train to Moji is at 11.34pm, and the last monorail to Kitagata is at 11.35pm on weekends and 11.55pm on weekdays. If you don’t want to end the night early there are always plenty of taxis, or the floor of your Kokura-kita dwelling friend!
Despite Kokura having pretty much everything you need, sometimes you want to go to Fukuoka City for music concerts, clubbing or just for a change. Luckily it’s easy to get to Fukuoka City, or further afield. Kokura is on the shinkansen line so Japan is your oyster travel wise From Kokura station you can reach Fukuoka City (Hakata station) by shinkansen (bullet train, 15 minutes), sonic (express train, 50 minutes) or local train (80 minutes). The cheapest option will only cost you 1,250 yen, and the last train from Hakata to Kokura is not until 12.10am. You can also take a highway bus straight to Tenjin (the entertainment area of Fukuoka City). Kitakyushu airport has regular domestic flights and is only a 40-minute bus ride away.