2 day English Camp (June 13-14)

I left early this morning for Isahaya station where I met up with some other ALTs and a Japanese English teacher. From there, we headed to this camp area where we stayed for a couple of days.

The school organizing this event was Nishi Nagasaki High School. The results of prefectural tests always put this high school way above all others, so as a result the entrance to this school is very competitive.

There was one section of 1st year students (1-1), 8 ALTs, a Japanese English teacher, and couple of other teachers. Each ALT was assigned to a group of 5 or 6 students. We did many kinds of activities, played games, put on skits, sang the camp song etc. It was a lot of fun, but also very tiring.

Around 9:45pm, the organized activities were done for the day. The students then went to a classroom to study. Around 10:15pm they had to write a test. They cannot afford to spend one day not studying just because they're at camp. That's just wrong to have to write a test in the evening while you're at camp!

The day before arriving at the camp, I received an email from the Nishi Nagasaki ALT saying that everyone can bring their own beer for the evening, after the kiddies are put to bed. I was a little surprised..thinking that it was just among the ALTs, I thought it's probably not such a great idea to be promoting drinking at a school event..what if teachers found out. But once at the camp, I found out that it's very common for all the teachers to get together and have a drinking party later in the evening.

When I got back to my school, I was telling Fukuda sensei that I was surprised that drinking at a school event is ok. At the start of the year, all the first year students and teachers will spend 3-4 days together at a camp. During this time, homeroom teachers and students will get to know each other, school rules are explained and enforced (greetings, how to behave etc..). She said that often, the parents of students will send along drinks for the teachers as a thank you present for looking after their kids while at camp. What kind of example does that set for the students?...

It was a fun couple of days, but at the same time really exhausting! I had a good group, the students worked well together, so it made my job really easy.

At the end of the camp, the students gave me a nice thank you card!

Tomorrow, I have many classes because I will be away from school again on Friday. I'm looking forward to getting some sleep!