new friend

It is the week of midterms (already!) for the junior high and senior high kids. (Here in Japan, they get done with the school year in Feb/March.) With midterm exams on the schedule, I didn't have to go to my classes for couple of days and I only have one class for tomorrow! Yay for Fridays! :) So, one of the teachers in my department who is just 2 years old than me will take the other TA Hannah and I to the bank and the immigration office in the morning. :)

Hannah who graduated from St. Bens with me, works in the same school also. It has been very fun and I'm glad that our personalities clicked pretty well right away. Hannah and Ryan (SJU grad) came to Okinawa around the end of August, exactly one month before I did. So it was nice that when I first got here, she was able to show me around and brought me to her favorite malls and restaurants. It definitely took a long time for me, Hannah and the school to know when I could arrive in Okinawa with a legitimate work visa..., but now that we found each other to go on adventures together, this year will be very fun and enjoyable.

Hannah works in the junior high English department, while I work in the PR office and help with senior high school students. My office is on the 1st floor and hers is on the 2nd floor. The whole school has 6th floors and it's quite big because the junior high and senior high school buildings are connected.

Anyways, the big spacious office she works in has a lot more teachers there and she is surrounded by fun and nice English/Math teachers. It's pretty much the main staff room so sometimes they will have meetings there.

Fun fact: instead of signing in somewhere to the network when we arrive the school, or getting time card stamped by a machine...I sign in with my own wooden Inkan stamp (印鑑) in that same staff room.

My office the PR department has a quieter atmosphere, but I am slowly realizing that most of teachers are very funny and enjoy each others company very much. The PR office takes care of all the exchange and visiting groups that go out to America, Taiwan, Canada..etc...and helps preparing cultural exchange activities for the students. A group of German student group came last week, and there will be a another group of Vietnamese students coming in around November.