Flying business class to Tokyo then being put up in one of the best hotels in Kobe. Not bad, and a bit of a contrast to the last few weeks sat around working from home! The flight across was free with the miles I’ve accumulated, and as it was full they upgraded me to business class! It’s the first time that’s happened and it’s really strange having a bed on a plane, and a steak for dinner!
Then I arrived in Kobe for the JET Conference tomorrow ( sponsored by the Ministry of Education & the Council for Local Authorities for International Relations ) and no sooner had I set foot in the hotel then I was bumping in to people I know. It’s strange how this conference has changed over the years, from attending it as a JET, to taking the overnight ferry and having to crash in people’s rooms, to now having an official workshop and being put up for the night. Shame I missed all the parties, let’s hope I can actually do a JET workshop without a hang over - I think it will be the first time!
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Today is a funny day, it was supposed to be packed with family arriving from the States. But their plane got cancelled, and I now have a whole free day! Which is bad, but means I have a whole day free - ooo.
Been updating lots on the site this week, all the themes now have the worksheets and minicards accessible from the theme’s page, which should be easier to use. There are a couple of new ideas on the readers games page and I’ve started a monthly Mini-Lesson on the Kids Page It’s always a bit of challenge trying to balance out what to give away free with the site, and what to charge for, but hopefully everyone should be happy with a changing monthly lesson!
I’ve also had some really good emails this week, and they’re all like buses, one person writes and then I get similar questions several times in a row! One popular one is about using Movies in the classroom ( I wonder if Star Wars has anything to do with it??), and I’ve had some great emails about using TPR. I think I should push this a bit more on the website, as it really is a great way to teach - have a look at the TPR Warm Up game for starters.
After moving onto another server last week, I had another go at trying the discussion board. But getting it to work securely just didn’t work.
OK, now back to work on my secret new projects - stay tuned, they’re gonna be cool!
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Without the discussion board I’ve no where to put up cool links that I find, so I’ll put them up here!
This is a great site run by the Japanese Government for kids abroad to learn about Japan. One of the best sections is one on “What’s cool in Japan?” which has recent additions on Mushi King and Kaiketsu Zorori. Great, I’ve been wanted to do something on pop culture for a while, so it’s great that someone else has done it. Have a look at Kids Web Japan.
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Yes it is a good as all the hype! Can’t wait to see it again. And now I want to get back to Japan to play the Star Wars game!!! I think I’ll try it out in Tokyo.
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A couple of years ago I was half joking that with all the flights I pay for within Japan it would be cheaper to buy my own plane! ( Actually some months it probably would be true).
But anyway today was my day off and my Mum and brother wanted a day out before I head off back to Asia next week. So we we’re driving along and my brother said he wanted to have a look how much flying lessons were. We popped in to have a look and they’d bought me one as a surprise birthday present! A little late ( 3 months - hence the surprise!) but pretty cool!!
So I got up in the air, started flying around ( I can’t believe how green England is!), and controlling it myself was great. Then some news started coming in over the radio that a commercial plane had crashed on the runway and we couldn’t land!! Nobody was injured, so it was OK, but it meant we had to fly off to another airport! So instead of just looping round and popping back to Leeds ( probably a bit boring), we really had to go somewhere. So the instructor was like “OK, I’ll have a look at the map, you just keep flying down the A1!”. Just like Grand Theft Auto!!
We landed at a grass runway airstrip a fair way away, had a coffee and a chat, then after a while got a call ( thank goodness for mobile phones), and could finally head back to the mini-runway at Leeds. So I got another flight, and again rather than just going round in circles I actually had to fly somewhere. Brilliant. So that was a pretty good day out to say the least!!
Now if only I could get more gigs up and down Japan, imagine if I really could justify getting my own plane!! : )
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I do need to get back on the road! Seeing all the VE day celebrations and stuff really brought back the importance of what we do here, education is the cure to most of the World’s problems and it has to be fun and relevant for kids. The thing is that that’s not always that easy to see doing the “nuts & bolts” work behind the scenes! But it is important and there’s still a lot more people to be genkified!!
I’ve been giving the website it’s yearly overhaul, and the site is also on another new server, last month was the most popular yet with nearly 5,000 people a day, and I’ve also introduce secure forms for the normal orders and the CD Owners Club membership.
The main part of being here is to record a new set of materials for Japanese adults. I’m not sure how this will work, but I’ll get as much recorded as I can over here and then actually make the product ( either a CD or webpage) when I get back to Japan.
Some great new games have been sent in and I’ve got a whole load more of my own games to go up once I get the Japanese proofread. Mind you I have a feeling the top game this month will be Star Wars! I wish I could have got down to the premiere in London yesterday, but all the tickets were sold out in 5 minutes! Still only 2 days to go for the rest of us! Now can you tell while I scheduled my trip to the UK this month?
And something I read the other day, What’s the best translation of “Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu”? The answer? “May the force be with you!”
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