Friday, March 7, 2003

What I did today Today, I... Went to Koyo Elementary School to record the third- and fourth years' songs for the children's CD; Went to Etajima Elementary School; Distributed more pamphlets for the Ogiri event to the JMSDF apartments in Washibe; Walked home from the office, calling into virtually all of the shops along the way to get them to put up posters for the Ogiri. Went to taiko practice.

I visited Koyo Elementary School again today, to record the third- and fourth-years' songs, as well as the remainder of the fifths' songs. The fifths got their songs onto MD in the end, although they were still not perfect on either; their pronunciations had barely changed from yesterday, so they were singing, for example, 'old MacDona had a far'. I know Japanese people have trouble with the consonants at the end of words- they either overpronounce them, or ignore them completely- but it's amazing how odd English sounds when these sounds are either too weak or too strong. Still, in the end, their singing was fair enough; I was a little disappointed, though, because I'd expected so much more of this class. The thirds and fourths, meanwhile, exceeded my expectations. I'd assumed that if any group would need more than one lesson to get their songs recorded, it would be the youngest years, but in fact they were good enough that we finished easily within 45 minutes. We even had time to listen to the recorded songs! Now all I have to do is transfer all of the recordings to the Mac, edit them, and burn them to a CD...

My last visit of the academic year to Etajima Elementary School was for lessons with the third- and fourth-years. Both classes had requested 'an indoor game' (no points for originality there, then), so with both classes I played colour bingo. The third years weren't bad, and at least there was a semblance of order (which is more than can be said for most lessons with these children). The fourth years, though, were cooperative and lively, and we had an enjoyable lesson. I wish the third-years could sit in on a fourth-year lesson; I'm sure they'd realise how much more fun they'd have if only they were prepared to cooperate a little more (which includes, of course, listening when I'm giving the explanations necessary for the game or whatever we're doing).

The Ogiri event really seems to be taking up all of my spare time at work at the moment. It's not so much that there's a lot to do- to be honest, most of the preparations for the day itself are best left until next week- but there's a great deal of planning, and thinking about the details. Although this is an International Club event, in reality, like all the International Club events, I'm responsible for the planning of the whole event, as well as for most of the preparation. If it goes well, I should get the credit, but equally I'll be taking the flak if it's a failure. With internationalisation in this town, for very much the most part it really is a case of the proverbial buck stopping right here. Anyway, this is my poster for the event:

Pick of the Photos Plum blossoms in Shukkeien, the Japanese garden in the middle of Hiroshima. In a way, I enjoy plum blossoms even more than the cherry blossoms; much more so than the cherry, it is the plum that signals that winter is drawing to a close.