A fall 2007 family news update

Hey everyone. It’s October 11th as I type this, and the weather outside in Toyama has FINALLY cooled down. The evenings, in fact, are downright cool. The other day I actually had to put on a long sleeve shirt at home in the evening- I hadn’t done that in a long while. Shinobu, of course, has been wearing winter-like clothes for weeks. She and I are really funny that way- our body sensitivities to heat and cold are TOTALLY different. In short, she’s way more sensitive to cold than I am, and while I can’t deal with heat at all, it’s no problem for her. Interesting!

Anyway, enough about the weather. I’ve been putting out some video clips and stuff recently, but for this post I just wanted to update you all on some family news. Nothing earth-shattering, mind-you- just some regular everyday kind of things that are filling our lives at the moment.

My Work

Work’s been going well overall. I just got through an insanely busy stretch, but I only have myself to blame for it. Here at TCFL I’ve been put in charge of making and maintaining our school’s promotional video (Click here to see a short version of it). This video is shown at events such as open houses and such. We had such an event recently, where a few dozen prospective students came by to check out our school and take some demonstration classes. I had all summer long to get the promo video updated with new footage, but of course I waited until the last minute to get it together. My bad! It was a weekend of work, then two consecutive “all-nighters” to get it done. Doh! It all went off well, but I won’t ever do that again!

In other work matters, we have just begun our second term at TCFL. Students are busy getting ready for our annual school festival at the end of the month. I’m helping out with the food committee this time. Classes are going smoothly, and I looking forward to a good 2nd half of the school year.

Other Career Stuff

In late November I’ll be traveling to Tokyo to attend the annual JALT Conference. JALT (Japan Association of Language Teachers) is the largest organization of English teachers in this country, and this event is a big one- anyone who’s anyone in the field of language teacher goes there. I’ve been going for years, often at my own expense, because it is really professionally stimulating and fun to be around other teachers who are serious about their craft and profession. This year, for the first time, I’ll be giving not one, but TWO presentations. The first will be on a topic near and dear to my heart- “Web 2.0 in the classroom: An introduction”. Here is the abstract:

Blogging, podcasting, social networking, YouTube, and Second Life: examples of new “Web 2.0” resources that language teachers are currently exploring. However, many teachers remain on the outside looking in- wanting to know more, but overwhelmed at the often confusing rapid pace of change. This workshop challenges assumptions that only those already in-the-know can keep up with educational technology, and seeks to provide clarity and direction for instructors new to the Web 2.0 revolution.

As you can gather, my goal here is to help make all these recent advances in Internet communications technology more accessible to fellow teachers, many of whom lack computer-skills confidence in this information age we’re in. In reality, however, I’m just trying to gain confidence in this area myself! I figure a great way to learn something is to teach it, so that’s what I’m planning to do.

My other presentation will be conducted with some fellow alumni from Aston University, the school where I got my MSc in TESOL via distance learning. A group of four of us will be giving short 25 minute talks on our Masters dissertations. This will give me a chance to revisit that project and help me gear up for its continuation at the PhD level. In case anyone’s interested, you can download a pdf version of that paper here. The topic involves an examination of a website created to archive academically-oriented discussions that took place on our program’s email discussion list.

All in all, I’ve got my work cut out for me over the next six weeks. I’m excitedly nervous, but in a good way. I’m convinced that many good things will come from attending this conference, and I’m looking forward to advancing my skills, knowledge, and career options.

Shinobu’s Work

Shinobu has really settled in nicely at her new job at the Yatsuo-machi B&G Pool. She still works for the same company (Yatsuo Service), one that acts as a sub-contractor for the town government, but once she finished her maternity leave in September, she was transferred to this pool. In a way, due to Shinobu’s heart condition (more on this in a bit), working at a pool could be considered cruel and unusual punishment. She is not allowed to go in the water at all. This must be rough for a former western Japan freestyle champion and former coach. Basically she sits in the main office doing this and that, mostly dealing with accounting tasks. Still, she often talks about how much better this job is to her previous post at the Yatsuo Sports Arena, where she had the chance to do training and teach aerobics. The big difference is business- Shinobu LOVES to be busy! She is a very extroverted person, so long stretched of down-time are killer for her. She needs to be around people, and at the B&G pool she certainly gets that. All sorts of folks are constantly coming and going, so there is always someone to talk with or help. In addition, due to her vast experience, Shinobu has been quickly given a lot of responsibility around the office. Her boss seems to like her, and that is a good sign.

Career-wise, Shinobu is aiming to get another credential soon. Next month she’ll be taking a test to get certified as a swim coach. She won’t be able to enter the water, but she’ll be allowed to do what she loves most- coaching kids (especially Luke and in a few years, Max). Before when she coached, she didn’t have a license to do so, but now she will. She’s currently studying hard for this exam, which won’t be an easy thing. She has to know all about the history of swimming and all that… It’s been pretty interesting to hear her talk about all the stuff she’s learned recently, such as the history of swimming, and why Japanese people were considered great swimmers at the turn of the 20th century.

Shinobu’s Health

As I mentioned, Shinobu is not allowed in the water at the pool where she works. Still, news from a recent heart check-up tells a brighter story: According to the data pulled from her implanted ICD device (that thing is so wicked cool), her condition seems to be stabilizing because very few instances of arrhythmia’s were recorded (irregular heart beats). Her doctor gave her the go-ahead to go swimming, but only at a slow pace, and only if she is supervised. This was good news. As a result, Shinobu’s been working out lightly these days at another pool at the Toyama Prefectural Health Park. This has allowed her to really ramp up her coaching sessions with Luke, whom she is determined to sculpt into a champion swimmer. So, while she still has to take meds each day and can’t work out unfettered, her progress since hear heart attacks has been very encouraging. We really hope it continues!

The Kids

What’s up with the little ones? Well, Luke is now six and is really growing fast. He’s in his last year at kindergarten. From next April he will move across the street and begin attending elementary school. Last weekend he participated in the annual Sports Day festival. This is a traditional event held at each school around the country, sort of an “on-campus Olympics.” Sports Days, and all the the work that goes into preparing for them, are really a part of the educational landscape of this country. I’ll have to edit together all the footage I took that day and do a podcast about it- it’s quite a spectacle.

Max is also attending day-care at the school. As I’ve mentioned before, she is the youngest in her class, and the youngest child ever this school has ever admitted. She’s doing great. Her calm, friendly manner is really winning over her teachers and classmates, and I only hear good things from them. This fills us with joy and pride. Oh, Max also participated in the recent Sports Day festivities… I’ll get some photos posted soon!

Some recent Luke news is that he has officially joined the Yatsuo Swimming Club. Twice a week, on Wednesday and Sunday evenings, he swims with the “C” team at the B&G pool. This team is made up of elementary school kids, so Luke is the youngest. He just started last week, and so far he’s been really enjoying it. Shinobu and I wondered if he would be able to swim for an hour straight, but so far he’s been enjoying himself. He seems to really like doing things on his own, of demonstrating his capability. It’s very inspiring to see! With mama giving him extra coaching on the side, we hope it won’t be long before he really gets good. I filmed his first practice, so stay tuned for that podcast.

Well, I’ve gone on enough, I think. Thanks for reading this far. I’ll try to put out these longer-style updates each season. The photos and videos I post tell our story in pictures, but it’s nice to get all the latest news in one go as well.

Take care! Don’t forget to leave a comment below! I LOVE reading them.

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