Culture Festival Day 1

Today I was just a tour guide for EK at the school festival. We did a lot of walking around today and took the time to look at most of the decorations and on all of the floors. We saw all the rooms and then we saw the two performances today too of the 9th grade dramas for Annie and the Wizard of Oz. EK saw how popular of a teacher I am at the school since every student kept on calling my name and wanted to talk to me, they were a bit curious as to who the other person with me was. The funny thing about it was that they didn’t think that EK was Japanese, since he spoke English with me the whole time. He was late this morning too, when I told him not to be, and I didn’t get a chance to work in the ECC room. I felt really bad for the students because the layout of the room changed last night and none of them knew and were shocked to see it changed this morning. I think that the stress level was running very high today. I just needed to get my mind off of things. The girls today were very interesting and very energetic. I found some old students that I had recognized and they were surprised that I recognized them too. Actually I am too and surprised that they could speak English fairly well. It’s very encouraging for me and for them I’m sure. There were a lot of game rooms and many things to keep busy with so that was fun and giving the tour also gave me the excuse to go around instead of sitting in one room helping out. Since it’s a two day festival, I think that one of the days I could just go around and the other I could help out more.

I think that it was a bit of a hassle to take EK around today, but it wasn’t something that was so hard for me. I just felt as if I was letting some of the students in the English club down since they said they needed my help, but I’m sure that they didn’t. I will help them more tomorrow since I saw all the exhibits today. They were pretty good today and everything worked out perfectly. It was supposed to rain today in the afternoon, so we were a bit worried about the things that were going to go on outside like the field show and all the cheerleading performances. The band played some good songs that got stuck in my head afterwards and I asked around to find out the names so I could get the songs later. We didn’t have much to clean up since there would be another day for tomorrow too. I left a bit early after the event was over. I think that the students just checked the exhibits and to make sure that everything was in working order for the next day.

But now the next thing that is bothering me is my computer situation. We then went to Shibuya to check out the Apple Macintosh store there. I was really tempted to buy a PowerBook, but still hindered with the incompatibility with my windows stuff. They are very stylish and have a lot of the technology that I’m looking for in a computer. It’s mobile and packs some power, plus there’s that new little mouse. They just released their tiger OS too, so they have many points that are good. But the reason that I’m holding back is the software package. I already have a lot of Microsoft products and I would hate to have that all go to waste since I’d be switching platforms and they don’t have any that I truly like either. I’d have to buy all the software at a later date, which isn’t very appealing to me.

Then, after we left the Apple store, we ate at an Italian restaurant in the Seibu shopping store. We had pizza and pasta set. It was ok, probably wouldn’t go there again. It wasn’t something that was incredibly special and the service was less than average. I think we got a deal on it though, so that was a good point to point out. There was a travel agency on the same floor and they had some brochures that I haven’t seen before that I thought would be a great addition to the collection that I have for the 11th grade students to plan their going abroad trip. Some included many African countries. I think that would be eye-catching for the students and it will expose them to a different kind of experience to think out of the box. I’m not sure any student would pick it, but I think that if they have the option, they’d look at it and have their eyes and minds open to new things. That’s the point and purpose of the lesson. It was a long trip back home since I live far from Shibuya. But it was a good day and it will probably be the same for tomorrow too, but hopefully it won’t rain like it did today.