A Cautionary Tale for Achievers.

I was going to name this post "How to go to a job with no concept of it's content and put in a passable effort," but I think that title is too long. Also, you would then be disinclined to continue reading if you planned on always being prepared and giving 110% effort. Go away, over achiever.

This morning when my alarm clock went off (I wish I could download a clip of what it sounds like and insert it here.) I rolled myself into the shower so I could be bright and awake for my first teaching job in Japan since my last teaching job in Japan! Woot. Choosing an outfit was particularly important this morning. I was to be teaching two classes and hopefully making some important business connections among my students. I put on my black business pants-suit.

On the train ride over, I reviewed the schedule I had inherited from the last teacher, a so-called "Justin."
Hello Song - 5 minutes
ABC game - 5 minutes
running game - 5 minutes
clock game - 5 minutes
number pronunciation - 5 minutes
number song - 5 minutes
animal and fruit pronunciation - 10 minutes
color game - 8 minutes
goodbye song - 2 minutes

I could tell they ran a tight ship, but I'm no sailor.

When met at the train station by a lovely young woman I'm going to code name Mrs. Robinson, I asked how old these students were. I could tell by the itinerary they weren't the average middle-aged house wives. It turns out they weren't even the unaverage middle-aged house wives. They were one, two, and three year olds. Two things immediately came to mind:
1. These business connections were going to be very difficult to relate to.
2. I'm glad I wore my purple shirt. Maybe that will help them relate to me.

It turned out, they hadn't learned the word "purple" yet. So I didn't make any important business connections, but I did learn quite a bit:

- These two groups of toddlers were very well behaved.
- I learned the "Hello song," "1234567 song," and the "Goodbye song" (sung to the tune of the international hit "London Bridge").
- The trains are crowded in the morning outside Tokyo, but still not rush-hour-in-London crowded.
- The pants from my black business pants-suit sit too low (my undershirt kept popping out), I need knee-highs that will stay up, and a black business pants-suit is much too hot to play the running game in.
- When teaching a group of babies English, you cannot expect them to learn a lot. Trying to get them to repeat after you is as pointless as shovelling snow in a thunderstorm. You can however expect their mothers to learn a lot and teach their children later through repetition.

In conclusion, this day has taught me a lot about me. Mostly that I somehow always hop into this job thing without a parachute. Or proper jumping shoes. On the plus side, this has worked for me so far, if I count this time and last time. Now that I'm somewhat prepared, the thrill may not be there next week, but I think that this is the sort of chance all of us "Job People" have to face. Maybe I'll wear my green pants and purple shirt next time...