Seiritsu International Education

Laurence here!


My second month in Japan is coming to an end and while I was very busy with moving into my new apartment, buying furniture and settling in, there were a few highlights that made this month truly memorable for me.


First was the rice harvesting trip I went on earlier this month. It had already been postponed once because of bad weather conditions, so even though it was raining cats and dogs that morning, we still had to go.





I was a bit worried at first because of the rain, but it turned out to be a really fun trip! Everyone was in a good mood and motivated despite the weather and rice harvesting in itself is definitely an interesting experience.



Cutting the rice and tying it is not especially hard, but it you want it done quickly and well, teamwork is the key. The students were especially nice to me (they thought I was a student at first,which might have helped) so it went very smoothly. It was exhausting work of course, but definitely a satisfying experience.





The other very important event this month was the school’s bunkasai, or culture festival. The international department also had to prepare a room, so it kept us very busy the week before.





We had a lot of work to do in the time frame we had, but we still managed to get it all done just in time! Along with the displays in our room, we also had a fortune telling booth and candy that definitely helped bring more people in.





It was fun playing fortune teller for two days. We had lots of guests coming into our room, including lots of potential students and younger kids, whose English was surprisingly good; we even had a few votes for the best room of the festival, so I’m pleased to say it was a success!





Now that our schedules are starting to be more final, my workload is only going to increase from here, so I’ll do my best to keep up and become a great assistant teacher!
See you next month!


Laurence