The Final Goodbye

It's my last night tonight. I had a lesson with Miss Kei. It is also our very last lesson together. When I told her that I was quitting, she immediately sent an e-mail to our office and said that they should stop me from quitting. How sweet of her...

And now I am quitting. She normally doesn't turn on her video. Since it is the last night together, she opened her video when we were saying goodbye. She was teary eyed.

I will miss her-- Miss Kei. I will also miss other students: Mr. Yoh, Miss Lin, Miss Ellen, Miss Eri, Miss Miyo, Mr. Mits, Mr. Ats, Miss Masumi, and many more! I will also miss my other co-teachers. Though actually, I'm only acquainted with some. I will miss this job. A home-based job, a comfortable job but not a ho-hum.

Tomorrow is the real world. I've felt it already but I will feel more of it. Goodbye....

Good Bye Another Time

If you have read my previous posts, you will know that I will leave this home-based online English teaching job very soon. I will end on the 9th of this month. It's next Monday already. I still teach for the remaining lessons which are very few already.

And I guess, with my resignation as a home-based online English teacher, this blog will come to an end soon also...

It's sad to say good bye but I have too.

More Goodbyes

Yesterday, I received more goodbye messages and wishes from my avid students. Let me share it here. One of my student, Mr. Yoj, told it to me in person during our last lesson yesterday. He said:

Today is the last day... I should say something. Thank you for the lessons. You are one of my favorite teachers. Ganbatte for new job.

The rest are already through chat message.

I got your message. I'm sad but at the same time I'm glad to know you could find another job. Your experience at GNA will help you with your job. I was really happy to talk with you in the lessons.
See you someday. Thank you a lot. --Miss Ellen

It's surprising for me to resign you GNA. I hope you will be happy. Thank you for every lessons. good-bye. ;(---- Miss Masumi 

Thank you for your message.I'm very sad not to see you anymore.I'm very happy to meet you.Good luck and see you in somewhere in the world!--- Miss Miyoko 

Thank you for your good-bye message! I really enjoyed with your lesson. I miss you. I hope your good future, Thank you so much, again.---From my newest student, Miss Kayoko 

Oh... I will miss being a Home-based English Teacher.

Goodbye Again

Unfortunately or fortunately, it's not my last of my teaching nights yet. The management would not let me go handling too many replacement of reservation in their hands. I have to help with that too because my offer has been very abrupt.

Anyway... I have told some students about my resignation. Most of them are sad. Some teachers who are also close to me are also sad about the sudden news.They knew from the students whom I sent a message to. I will miss them all!

Some students whom I gave messages replied to me. Fortunately that the first class doesn't have any students so I was able to cater all questions, students and co-teachers alike. Let me post some of their sad replies with my aliases for them:

I miss you I sent a mail to CNA..".I have a question. Does teacher Zed will leave GNA? I'm very shock! Please stop! She is a good teacher."I don't want to say good-bye.But I had no chice. I waiting for next lesson.--Miss Kei

ohh, I am so sad to hear that ;(.   in the other hand what winderful news to hear you have a new job, I am also very happy to hear that, congratulations !!! (F)--Miss Lin

hi! Congratulations! (clap)However, I am slightly lonely. ;(Please try even the next job hard. Please take care.thank you. (bow) :D (highfive)-- Mr. Melancholic Eyes.

Thank you for your message.
I was surprised that you would leave GNA suddenly.
I have always enjoyed your kind lesson and thanked your friendly personality.
I wish your success in your new job.
I will miss you. --Miss Eri.

I guess I can expect more of this.  Miss Kei's message hit me hard. I hope to see them, somehow.

A Very Insightful Message

I have a student who is a volunteer worker in their local library.  I asked her about her job and good thing, she was enthusiastic enough to share about it. I told her that I envy her.

A part of me wanted to be a librarian. For the fact that I just wanted to sit around and check all the books. And also to work with books and be with books Mondays to Fridays. I guess I can say that I am more in love with books than with humans. From a bird's eye view,  but in reality, it's not. Being a librarian is actually a science.

So, when I told my student that I envy her work as a librarian, she told me, "You should have taken the librarian license?" And there was an eye opener for me.

Good Schedule!

Hi y'all! I feel so happy today because the schedule that I have is very suitable for me. It took me awhile to realize that.

Recently, I am on the job hunt. Having a late afternoon schedule for my online teaching job is good to compromise with the job hunt. I guess I have not talked about my schedule before, right?

Well, when I started, my schedule starts from 1500-2100. This was from a year ago during my first six months. I remember I applied to some job openings and the having interviews with that kind of schedule is not a good combination. In my next six months, I changed my schedule to 1400-2000. It's an earlier schedule because I need to compromise with what happened here at home. My mom had an accident so I need to help more with the house. And with this second schedule, having some interviews still did not go well because it covers a lot of time during the day. The third schedule that I have now is better because I start late, however, I end late. It is from 1630-2200. It's a better schedule than the previous two because it doesn't cover a lot of time during the day and I can do job hunting freely in the morning.

So, now I just realized that my current schedule perfectly well. It compromises well if I have some impromptu interviews and I don't need to block out our replace many time slots.It's good!

Annoyed

I don't know I've written something like this... but here it goes.

A student stressed me out a lot today. I thought we will have a fun lesson together but in the end, it came for the worse. I guess she was not that as enthusiastic as before. Perhaps, I have forgotten how irritable she is when she can't get what the words mean. Or maybe I expected so much of her because I know she knows a lot of words and reads between the lines and can understand even the strangest expressions. As always, in the end, she apologizes about that. But the hurt has already been inflicted.

I got annoyed. I almost lost my cool. I believe I have forgotten about handling those kinds of people.
And maybe, after a year and six months of teaching, I still don't know how to teach. Sigh.

I guess I do.

I am now on the point where I am to lax in my job--where the room of improvement is there but I'm not budging any step to take initiative and do it. I have gotten to lazy, pre-occupied of some thoughts. I was very different when I was just starting out as an HBOET. There was a drive to be better but now, I don't know.

There is something wrong with my outlook and there is something wrong now on how I look on things. I guess I need help on how to do this improvement. Another job perhaps? Or maybe teaching in our company office? I don't know. I'm constricted with my time and my mind wants to stay in this constricted mind.

Exerpts from: 'Fat pride' challenges supersize stereotypes.

I want to share an interesting article that I used in some of the lessons that I had a couple of days. I'll just share the parts where I used for the discussions.

Exerpts from: 'Fat pride' challenges supersize stereotypes
Lifestyle Jul.14, 2012 -07:15AM JST (47)
WELLINGTON —
Cat Pause proudly describes herself as “fat,” can live with euphemisms like “curvy,” “chunky” or “chubby,” but baulks at what she believes are value-laden labels such as “overweight” or “obese”.

The U.S.-born academic is a pioneer in the emerging field of fat studies, organizing New Zealand’s first conference on the topic at Massey University’s Wellington campus on Thursday and Friday.

Fat studies, she explains, is an academic discipline just like history, English or political science, but it examines attitudes towards fat people and challenges the assumption that anyone with a bulging waistline is unhealthy.

At the conference, scholars from as far afield as the United States and Australia discussed papers such as “Fat hatred and the Left in the time of ‘the obesity epidemic’” and “The role of diagnosis in marginalizing corpulence.”

“One of the reasons we’re so fearful and hateful of fat is that we believe we can read people’s bodies,” Pause told AFP.

“So when people look at a fat body like mine, it tells them I’m unhealthy and that this is a diseased body. It tells them I don’t ever exercise and eat nothing but junk.”

Pause said the reality is that some people are just bigger than others and fat studies highlighted the need for society to accept the fact, rather than constantly judging fat people and pushing them to lose weight.

Click here for the whole article.

A Lesson With A Choppy Line

Stude: You have daughter right?
Me: Yes.
Stude: How old is she?
Me: She'll turn two this 25th!
Stude: (wasn't able to hear) What will she turn into?
Me: :DD

August Holidays--OFFICIAL

Just hot off the press! This is our official schedule of the APPROVED HOLIDAYS FOR AUGUST!


AUGUST 19 =  KADAYAWAN [Davao Holiday - Special non-working Holiday]

AUGUST 20 =  EID UL FITR  [ Legal Holiday ]

AUGUST 21 =  Ninoy Aquino Death Anniversary [ Special non-working Holiday]

AUGUST 27 =  National Heroes Day [ Legal Holiday]

I'm so HAPPY that it can't be contained with caps!

Nicknames

When I ask students if they have nicknames, they will always say "Nothing" or a short version of their names. I already know that but it's interesting to know their answers. In rare case, though, some will say they have nicknames.

One of my students last night will go to Thailand within this year for business. I told him that Thais like to have nicknames. (I got the information from one of my other students. He was given a nickname by his Thai friends when he was working there.) I also told him that Filipinos like to have nicknames. So, if he would come here his nickname would be No-no, taken from his real name. He smiled at the suggestion and asked, "If Thais will ask me what's the meaning of my name, I cannot explain it." "Just say, no, no," I told him. He laughed.

Generally, students say that nicknames in Japan are only for children. Well, except in some rare cases like those two students mentioned. I remembered that one of my elementary teachers said, the sweetest name one can have is your own first name. I guess somehow, that's the way for Japanese....

Sigh For The Rain

It's June again... time for the torrential rains to start. I suppose, it already has started at the end of May. For online jobs, I believe rain means intermittent connection, slow connection, choppy calls, or no connection at all. I believe I can also say that it applies both to wired and wireless connections. 

I just had a share of mishaps in my schedule. Since we had bad weathers, I experience such and sometimes to a point where my lessons had to be replaced because of a bad connection. 

Internet connection is a very important tool when working online. It is the base of your bread and butter. No internet connection= no work= no pay. It is very different here in the Philippines. As would some people say, internet connection here is like a dial-up connection in first-world countries.  Unless, you would want to pay a hefty price for your sole internet connection. It's impractical for home users to pay such.

We're strongly considering now to change our provider. But we cannot just do that since I don't want to be absent even for a couple of days. Sigh.

If you think working online and home-based doesn't give you any stress, sometimes it can. 

A Present

Right now I'm posting through my mobile phone. I have become this lazy... not really. I just have no time I guess.

Anyway... one of my avid students just surprised me with a good news! She's going to send me a Totoro item. She showed it to me. It was a small Totoro towel. How cool is that?!

Actually, around second week of this month, we talked about Ghibli films. She said Ghibli films are good films to show for children because of the themes and lessons they can get from it. She mentioned about Naushika or Nausicca Valley of the Wind as her favorite Ghibli film and wants to show it to her nephew. And I also shared to her that one of my favorite Ghibli film is My Neighbor Totoro. Surprisingly, she likes Totoro too!

With the exchange of delight about our favorite Ghibli films and characters, I came about mentioning that she's lucky to be in Japan where Totoro items can be found and bought. She said nonchalantly that she can buy one for me if I want to. And I went speechless.

I didn't know that she's serious, really. That's why she surprised me with the Totoro towel that she found for me. I was so speechless that I just requested her to type her email so I could give her my address. And since we had a lesson together yesterday, she told me that she will just let me know about how long it would take for the parcel would arrive. She really is serious and she left me speechless.

Putting aside the excitement, I was kind of worried if this breaks ouur school's rules. Hmmm... I believe it hasn't. If the theu found out about this conversation through the recording, then I should just stand and defend myself.

Nonetheless, I'm already excited even it's just a towel. I'm already giving a thought on surprising her with a return present.

I hope the parcel will arrive safe so I can immediately send a return present. I will always be so surprised and very thankful of her. She definitely made my week.

posted from Bloggeroid

Bitter Sweet

Hi! Nice to see you again! Maybe you'd think that I have resigned from being an home-based English teacher or HBOET already. Fortunately, not yet. I'm still here! I have just been lazy or there isn't any news to share lately, good or bad. Well not today. :)

On the lighter note

So today is the second day of the second half of the Golden Week in Japan. The first half started last April 28th until April 30th. The second half started yesterday, May 3rd, until this Sunday. The Golden Week is a (sometimes) week long holiday in Japan because it consists of national holidays consecutively and sometimes happen in a week, including Saturday and Sunday. It's a good chance for Japanese to travel, relax, and take lessons on the Golden Week. It's a good chance for teachers too because there are a lot of reservation in these days.


On the darker one

I have lost another avid student again. He is a beginner student but has a great enthusiasm when learning English. He struggles sometimes when talking but he always say the English is a hobby for him and enjoys it. He was always kind of down during his last days in our online school. His last day in our online school was on the 30th (of April) and he said that he would be back after everything is fine.


The Golden Week is ending. A student leaves... and another student comes. Let me tell more about it soon. :) This is it for today.

3/11- A Year From Now

Last Sunday was the anniversary of the the mega quake that hit the eastern side of Japan. It has been a year and wounds have not scarred yet, nor even heal. It still saddens me to see images or read news about it.

I asked some of the students on their experiences about the earthquake and it was all scary for them. I did not have the chance to have a lesson with a student who lives in Sendai, which is one of the areas that was devastated by the earthquake. It would've have been memorable if we had a lesson together.

Although, we did not experience the huge earthquake here, we were also terrified by the students reaction. Some were stranded in stations, some were not answering the calls, some did not logged in. It was a small chaos among us and we were worried too.

Japan has not fully recovered yet and their wounds are still yet to heal. But slowly, they are fighting the pain and the suffering and looking out into the future positively. I know Japan can do it... like they have always done before.

New Sched Again!

I have a new schedule again!

I start late and end late now. I start at 1630 JPT and end on 2200 JPT. It's a very laid-back schedule because it gives my more time to do all the things I want before the lesson. But, I already get sleepy and sooo hungry when 2100 strikes.

For the compensation part, hmmm, it seems the same with the last schedule though. But I hope there would be some improvements.

The good thing about this schedule is that I can meet my old students before and get to know some more! There are more men in the late schedule hehehe.

I guess I'm loving it. XD

Japanese Men

Maybe around last week, one of my students and I talked about the men in Japan. I asked him what kind of man he is, he said he is an herbivore man. Sounds strange right?

I learned from students that there are different types of men in Japan. The basic two types of men are carnivorous men, which they call Nikushoku Danshi and herbivorous men, which they call Soshoku Danshi. From the terms themselves, you can guess what kinds of men they are. Carnivorous men or Nikoshoku Danshi are the aggressive type. On the other hand, herbivorous men or Soshoku Danshi are the shy type of men.

I also learned from an article of Japan Today the exact characteristics of these two types and the different sub-levels of these two types.

Here it is:

Nikushoku Danshi (Carnivorous Men)

“Nikushoku Danshi” refers to men who are active in seducing women. Young Japanese women are said to be attracted to this type of guy whom they find strong and reliable.

Soshoku Danshi (Herbivore Men)

“Soshoku Danshi” are passive types who are shy about relationships. Many do not have a girlfriend and are content just to be friends. According to marriage consulting company PARTNER AGENT’s survey of 400 single men who are around 30 years old, 75% said that they think they are “Soshoku Danshi.”

“Gyoshoku Danshi” (Fish-eating Men)

“Gyoshoku Danshi” are not as aggressive as “Nikushoku Danshi.” They tend to be very patient and will wait until the woman they are attracted to starts to love them. They are usually smart and calm. There are various sub-categories for “Gyoshoku Danshi”—men who have bit of a wild streak are called the “Grilled fish with salt type;” men who think of themselves as all-knowing are the “Teriyaki type;” men who are patient are the “Boiled fish type;” while the narcissists are the “Meuniere type.”

“Rolled cabbage Danshi” (Rolled cabbage Men)

“Rolled cabbage Danshi” look like “Soshoku Danshi” and have a low-key fashion style and appearance (they like to wear cardigans and sneakers). However, their personality is actually “Nikushoku Danshi”—sort of like a hamburger in a cabbage roll. When women get close to them and they go out for a drink together, the men turn into “Nikushoku Danshi.”

“Creamy Danshi” (Creamy men)

“Creamy Danshi” have a sweet smile, beautiful skin and mainly black hair. They are hard workers. They care about a woman’s feelings, are good listeners and give good responses. Though their appearance is soft and sweet, they have a masculine personality also, so they can be relied upon to support women if something happens. They “heal” women like sweets, hence the term “Creamy Danshi.”

“Rikei Danshi” (Science Men)

“Rikei Danshi” think things out logically like scientists. They are defined as telling old jokes, inflexible, thinking logically, not good at relationships with people, and not good at gossip conversation. Their communication is usually predictable and they treat jokes logically, analyzing them. They are not used to communicating with women and don’t keep up with trends and fashion, so they are not good at humorous conversation.

“Biyo Danshi” (Beauty Men)

“Biyo Danshi” are fastidious about their hairstyle and skin. They are defined as loving themselves the best, their way of communication is a little childish, they are moody and carefree about time. They also care how other people think of them.

“Culture Danshi” (Culture Men)

“Culture Danshi” like subculture. They are defined as bookworms, like indie films and minor things, they are not good in public, and care about their individuality. They’re into literature, films, music and the humanities. They are happy when someone sympathizes with their feelings. Japanese actor Joe Odagiri is an example of “Culture Danshi.” He is a scriptwriter and director of the 2009 movie “Sakurana hitotachi” (Cherry blossom like people).

“Fashion Danshi” (Fashion Men)

“Fashion Danshi” love brand new trends and rare items. They are defined as caring how they look, narcissistic, being too proud, chasing ideals, having information and knowledge about cutting-edge fashion and love temporary things such as accessories. They get new things sooner than other people and like to be the first ones to wear or own them.

“Ryori Danshi” (Cooking Men)

“Ryori Danshi” love to cook meals and prepare bento (boxed lunches). They are defined as perfectionists, dislike being conspicuous, have a good planning ability, and work hard little by little. Many of them started to cook to learn better nutritional habits and save money. Now they love cooking. They have various menu repertories, especially for bentos.

Actually, men who make their own bento are called “Bento Danshi.” Japanese actor Mokomichi Hayami is an example of “Ryori Danshi” and he has his own cooking show section “MOCO’S Kitchen” in the TV program “ZIP!” on NTV. He has published cookbooks such as “Hayami Mokomichi ga tsukuru 50 no recipe kimi to tabetara, kitto oishii.” (50 recipes from Mokomichi Hamami that are delicious to eat together) and “MOCO meshi kimi wo egao ni suru ryouri” (MOCO meals to make you smile). Actor Osamu Mukai is another example of “Ryori Danshi.” He plays a French chef in the Fuji TV drama “Hungry!”

“Outdoor Danshi” (Outdoor Men)

“Outdoor Danshi” love outdoor activities and being in touch with nature. They are defined as being strict on themselves, doing things without saying much, good at cooking, and often dress in sports wear. “Outdoor Danshi” include sociable people who enjoy camping, hiking in the mountains and like the sea. They usually can do things by themselves, so they don’t rely on women much. Japanese actor Eita is an example of “Outdoor Danshi.” He says he has liked communing with nature from childhood and mountain climbing since last year.

“Otaku Danshi” (Geek Men)

“Otaku Danshi” are maniacs about their hobbies. They don’t pay too much attention to their appearance, are a bit shy, speak passionately about their interests and talk faster than others. They like to hang out with people who have the same hobby. They are not good at communicating with women unless the woman can talk about his hobby.

“Otomekei Danshi” (Girly type Men)

“Otomekei Danshi” love sweets and pretty things, just like a girl. They are defined as loving sweets, having girly hobbies, neutral appearance, having pretty accessories, and the opposite personality of “Nikushoku Danshi.” They are mild-mannered.

Here, we also have some different types of men but not really categorized interestingly like the Japanese men are. So guys, which type of Japanese man are you? Girls, what type of Japanese man do you like. :D

Taken from: Japan Today Lifestyle

Love Letter

Today, I received a letter of an apology for being absent from one student. I usually get those kinds of letters written in their broken English. Sometimes, they send it to me directly and sometimes they send it through the office and the staff sends it to me. But this letter today is different.

Here it is:

こんにちは。

今日の１６：００のレッスンで、応答がこないと思っていたら・・　ワイアレスのスイッチが

オフになっている事に、旦那さんが帰ってきてからわかりました。

私が　パソコンがあまり使えないので・・。

先生に　またまた　申し訳なかったです。

すみませんでした。

I consulted Google Translate with this and it said:

Hello.

Wireless switches · 4:00 PM I thought today's lesson, the childdoes not respond and

Was found to be turned off, comes back from her husband.

I can not use PC-much.

I did not apologize once again to the teacher.

I'm sorry.

Even though with the translation from Google Translate, it still doesn't make sense to me. I can read some of the characters so I know she is sorry. And I guess, she also said that she knew that the lesson will be at 1600 but the connection was not responding. And she found that their wireless switch was turned on but she still needs to wait for her husband to return. She doesn't use the PC so much, so, she doesn't know about it too well. She also mentioned that she didn't apologize to the teacher, so for that, she is very sorry. Isn't it sweet?

I hope I can read Japanese well so I don't have to consult with translators anymore. Translators can be handy sometimes but not so good with complex sentences. So, still the best resort is to learn Japanese. It can be helpful for students like her and it can be easier to explain English terms exactly.

So, in response to her letter, I gave her private message in English. That will serve as her homework. :D

It's always nice to receive apology emails/ private messages from students who miss your lessons. It makes you feel important and it really shows their eagerness to have a lesson with you. It gives you more inspiration to improve your teaching skills and interaction with the student. And you'll know for sure that the student will definitely book you again the next time.

Another New Sched

I've said before that I have been teaching for a year already. I thought that one year as a teacher equates to popular. Actually, NO. :D

I still get some lazy days, like today. I only have a total of three lessons for the first half of my working time and later, another three. Sigh.

With that, I requested to change my schedule again. It was actually approved around last week and it will be effective on the second day of March. So, from the 1400-2000 JPT schedule, I will work from 1630-2200 JPT.

The new schedule will help entertain interviews and it will also give me chance to handle some night classes. There will be no differences with the compensation though. In fact, it will be 10 bucks short but that's okay. I believe, I will get a higher guarantee of getting fully booked everyday because of the late schedule. And the feeling of the workload is not so heavy since it's just five hours compared to the six hours. I hope I made a good decision on that.

I don't normally inform my avid students about my new schedule. The first schedule was unnoticeable since it only revolves on almost the same time slots. So, no information on that. Only a little later when some students asked whether or not I teach at night. But with this second change, I already informed one because he also informed that he might not be able to reserve me. Thus, making me inform him about my new schedule. And I guess, he had some high hopes on seeing me again. (#^o^#)

Again, I do hope that I made a good decision on the new schedule. I have to adjust on this drastically because it's a whole new change. I hope I can deal with that.

As of now, my current schedule is blah. I get a lot of unreserved times, which is very bad, except on weekends.

And with that, let me take my break. See you!

The Weather

One of my students today showed a scenery of his backyard.

It's like looking at a postcard. Don't mind the face.

If I could just go through the video cam to my student's backyard, I'd endure the cold just to escape today's humidity.

Weather is the common icebreaker that I always use to start my lessons. I get bored using it but it still doesn't fail to spark the interests of my students. Ironically, for today, it sparked on me.

My usual spiel goes like this:

How about in your area? What's the weather there today? ^_^