Yakumo Brass Band Concert

So I went to the brass band concert tonight. It was pretty much all that I did. I talked to some friends and family, but that was for like 20 minutes. I really woke up a bit late, around 2pm and needed to leave around 4pm. I finished off my food from before, so that I wouldn’t let it sit out for a very long time and go bad. It was incredibly cold last night and it was again today. So I wore a suit with a thick overcoat, and it was still cold. I’m really glad that I decided to wear it though since it was really really cold. I thought it would rain too, but it didn’t.

It took me a little while to get there, but I got on all the right trains and everything. I made it to Shibuya at exactly 5:45pm, which was the time I was supposed to meet CP in front of the Keio Inokashira gates. We went in and saw many students and former students, but the train was packed so we thought we would go on another train. Little did we know, because we both weren’t paying attention and just talking to each other, we jumped on the express train. We ended up passing the station by like 5 stations. So we had to backtrack for a little while. It was a good thing that we decided to go early otherwise we would have been late.

I didn’t get a really good seat either. I mean it was good, but not for taking pictures. I was in the third row from the front and center. So I was pretty close to the action, but I was too close to take any good pictures because I couldn’t fit everyone in the shot. So I didn’t take any pictures, which was a waste. I met a lot of former students there and I was sitting next to CP and another English teacher that I have started to talk to a lot recently. She was really tired and both were a bit sleepy. MTra or Tanechi just came back from our Hakone residence with the 7th grade and 9th grade students today, so it must have been really hard for her.

The concert itself was great. They were really really good. I really like going to their concerts because it really was good. The sound was very clear and it was powerful. Really great! The concert lasted for about 2 hours, which did go by really quickly. It was weird seeing all the students wear makeup and out of uniform. But it was interesting to see how they dress on their off times.

After the concert, I got some news about what has been going on at school. I learned that most of the teachers got moved around and jumped grades and I’m sure that there will be a lot of movement in the teacher’s office. I also learned that I really don’t get much of a say in what I will do next year. I know that I will be leading and probably be the only teacher of the 11th grade, which is something I like. The other classes that I teach will be sprinkled around much like it was last year. I would like to be able to pick some classes that I could teach and I think that it depends on who I will be partnered with too. Most of the decision making is out of my hands, but at least I know one thing for sure that I will be leading and taking care of the 11th graders. I’m a bit excited about that since I didn’t teach them much last year and it’s a high school class.

I also learned a few other things that I need to look out for next year. The schedule hasn’t been revealed yet, so no one knows what’s really going on, but at least I have an idea now. I heard about some homeroom teacher shifts and I really feel sorry for a new teacher since she will be leading, probably, the most difficult group of girls. Last year 9th graders Ran and Yuri were difficult apart, but next year, they are going to be combined… so that is just problems in the making and with a first year homeroom teacher. That’s just a formula for disaster. I know it sounds weird, but I think I would like to try to lead that class… I think I could be gutsy about it and get control.

On the train ride home, I was thinking a lot about what I wanted to do for the 11th graders. I have already made a tentative plan for them, so I think that I will be a step ahead before we meet on the 10th of April to punch out all the details. I’m also planning to make my own textbook for the students because I hate the way that textbooks are made with things that are irrelevant. So I’m going to do one that gets to the core of what I want to cover and what they should learn. I think I could manage it, but I have to get started on that right away and make sure my plan is detailed perfectly. But that’s hard to do since I know the schedule will change a few times and things won’t always be perfect. So I have to factor that in too.
I had dinner at Jonathons tonight and got Tonkatsu since I have been craving that. I didn’t get home till around 11:30pm, which is a bit late to be honest with you. I sat there having dinner and working out my plan of what I wanted to do based on the new information I got tonight. So I think that once I get home, I will start working on putting things together and making things work with my plan and the syllabus that has been created.