At my school, most teachers basically shun the bad students if they can help it. They try not to talk with them or otherwise interact with them. I perfectly understand that and expect that to happen, because some of those kids are a real handful (not to mention their parents).
What I didn't expect was how much effort teachers put into interacting with the good students.
When teachers walk through the hallways at school, making their way through the sea of students, they usually have their eyes focused straight ahead, trying not to notice most of the students. But if they happen to see some of the good students, they will stop immediately and chat, sometimes to the point of having to run to make it to their next class on time.
But there's more than that. I've seen teachers compete against each other to get in the good students' good graces! The students stop by the teachers' office to chat, and a teacher will come up and chat with them. A few minutes later, another teacher will butt in, and before you know it, several teachers are around, trying to win their affection. In addition, some teachers are lurking in the background, hoping the first teachers clear out soon so that they can move in and have the students to themselves.
I guess that shouldn't be surprising. After all, teachers are supposed to like students, and good students make that a lot easier to do. Still, the sheer difference in behavior towards the good students, as opposed to the not-so-good students, is quite interesting.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
15 September 2010
11 August 2009
Reviving the blog... once again
There's really no excuse.
Yeah, since my new job started in April I've hardly had any time to work on my blog (and believe me: with the way I want my blog to be done, it comes close to work). I spend more hours at work than my previous job. At home, my wife dominates the computer, spending hours looking for travel deals and ways to get frequent flyer miles. (Where would I be without my honey?)
So what this means is that it's hard to write regular blog posts. But that shouldn't be an excuse. I'm sure I can do at least one post a week if I put my mind to it.
I haven't been completely out of the World Wide Web since April. A few months ago, I decided to try Facebook. Through that I've been able to contact people from college and high school - people I haven't spoken to for years. That's a good thing. The problem is that Facebook isn't so good for writing the long posts I need to write every now and then.
And this Mafia Wars thing on Facebook... I still don't get it.
I'm not giving up on Facebook just yet. But I will spend less time there and more time working on my blog.
Yeah, since my new job started in April I've hardly had any time to work on my blog (and believe me: with the way I want my blog to be done, it comes close to work). I spend more hours at work than my previous job. At home, my wife dominates the computer, spending hours looking for travel deals and ways to get frequent flyer miles. (Where would I be without my honey?)
So what this means is that it's hard to write regular blog posts. But that shouldn't be an excuse. I'm sure I can do at least one post a week if I put my mind to it.
I haven't been completely out of the World Wide Web since April. A few months ago, I decided to try Facebook. Through that I've been able to contact people from college and high school - people I haven't spoken to for years. That's a good thing. The problem is that Facebook isn't so good for writing the long posts I need to write every now and then.
And this Mafia Wars thing on Facebook... I still don't get it.
I'm not giving up on Facebook just yet. But I will spend less time there and more time working on my blog.
31 May 2009
Life In the Happy Lane
Before I begin, I must apologize about the long hiatus. I've spent the last couple of months getting used to my new job, which I'll talk about in a moment. The new job means I have less time on the computer, which means I've had to prioritize other things over this blog. From this point in time, I'm going to try to dedicate more time towards this blog, but we'll see what happens.
My new job is going well so far. I now work for the prefectural government board of education as a native-speaking English teacher (as differentiated from regular English teachers, who are all non-native-speaking Japanese). I teach at a school in the southern part of Osaka prefecture.
Before I started work there, my predecessor gave me a sort of "transition call" to explain about the school. He said the kids were downright terrible, and the teachers just go through the motions. That scared me a bit; it reminded me of my time at a similar school a few years ago. However, once I started working there and teaching classes, I began to think that my predecessor was wrong, or at least the school wasn't a good fit for him. It certainly seems to be a good fit for me so far.
How is it different from the school from a few years ago? First, I have my own classroom - a "language lab", they call it, complete with a computer system, projector, sound system and monitors for all the students. I don't have to go to the homerooms and wade through hair curlers or manga. Second, at this school the students actually call me by my own name! At the old school, they called me anything but my name. Third, while the teachers do have a hard time with some students, overall there isn't the depression and sullenness that was prevalent among the staff at the old school. The teachers at the new school are friendly, bright and generally happy.
The students themselves are quite friendly. When I see them on the train or in the hallways of the school, they greet me and usually chat a little bit - usually in Japanese, but sometimes in English. I can't say that about the old school; the only time the students talked to me was when they were making fun of me.
That said, the educational level of the school is quite low, and it will be a struggle to get them to learn any useful English for communication. But so far I'm off to a good start.
My new job is going well so far. I now work for the prefectural government board of education as a native-speaking English teacher (as differentiated from regular English teachers, who are all non-native-speaking Japanese). I teach at a school in the southern part of Osaka prefecture.
Before I started work there, my predecessor gave me a sort of "transition call" to explain about the school. He said the kids were downright terrible, and the teachers just go through the motions. That scared me a bit; it reminded me of my time at a similar school a few years ago. However, once I started working there and teaching classes, I began to think that my predecessor was wrong, or at least the school wasn't a good fit for him. It certainly seems to be a good fit for me so far.
How is it different from the school from a few years ago? First, I have my own classroom - a "language lab", they call it, complete with a computer system, projector, sound system and monitors for all the students. I don't have to go to the homerooms and wade through hair curlers or manga. Second, at this school the students actually call me by my own name! At the old school, they called me anything but my name. Third, while the teachers do have a hard time with some students, overall there isn't the depression and sullenness that was prevalent among the staff at the old school. The teachers at the new school are friendly, bright and generally happy.
The students themselves are quite friendly. When I see them on the train or in the hallways of the school, they greet me and usually chat a little bit - usually in Japanese, but sometimes in English. I can't say that about the old school; the only time the students talked to me was when they were making fun of me.
That said, the educational level of the school is quite low, and it will be a struggle to get them to learn any useful English for communication. But so far I'm off to a good start.
22 March 2009
Moving On To Another Job
Starting in April, I will have a new job. I will work full-time as a senior high school assistant language teacher.
For the past five years, I've worked for the outsourcing division of a well-known foreign language teaching company in Japan. I had a hybrid job; half the week I was teaching at public and private schools, and the other half was spent working in the personnel department of the outsourcing division. I enjoyed most of those five years. I enjoyed both teaching and personnel work.
However, I think it's about time for a change. I still like teaching, despite the various troublemakers I've had in my classes over the years. Personnel work, however, has started to affect me, I think. Personnel work is always stressful, but I think I'm becoming less tolerant of stressful situations. Maybe getting into teaching full-time will help me out... I'm hoping.
Anyway, I'm excited about my new position, and I hope it works out for me. I'll keep you updated.
For the past five years, I've worked for the outsourcing division of a well-known foreign language teaching company in Japan. I had a hybrid job; half the week I was teaching at public and private schools, and the other half was spent working in the personnel department of the outsourcing division. I enjoyed most of those five years. I enjoyed both teaching and personnel work.
However, I think it's about time for a change. I still like teaching, despite the various troublemakers I've had in my classes over the years. Personnel work, however, has started to affect me, I think. Personnel work is always stressful, but I think I'm becoming less tolerant of stressful situations. Maybe getting into teaching full-time will help me out... I'm hoping.
Anyway, I'm excited about my new position, and I hope it works out for me. I'll keep you updated.
26 October 2008
Work Week Recap (Ho-Hum)
This past week was only ordinary. At the junior high school I work at...
Oh yeah. I need to think of a nickname for that school as well, to compliment Controlled Chaos Senior High School. Well, the junior high students I teach are, for the most part, very smart, and many will go on to some of the best universities in Japan. However, they are 13 years old, and they have been pressured to study, study, study and be good students and good Japanese children. So some of those kids tend to lose it every now and then, and that includes in my class. So, let's call this school Wild Brainiacs JHS.
OK, now where was I...
At Wild Brainiacs JHS, things were easy. We just gave back the midterm exams and went over the answers. An easy two days for me.
At Controlled Chaos SHS, things were... well... chaotic. There were prospective students showing up in class unbeknownst to me (sometimes while I was teaching), there were students who usually don't come to class coming to class, students who usually come to class not coming to class, students who usually come to the morning class switching to the afternoon class all of a sudden... you get the idea. The nice curriculum plan I worked out at the beginning of the term is completely shredded now. A rough two days for me.
At the HR office, things were easygoing, but we did receive a teacher resignation, meaning I am going to have more work to do on my office day for the next couple of weeks. A not-so-interesting day for me.
Oh yeah. I need to think of a nickname for that school as well, to compliment Controlled Chaos Senior High School. Well, the junior high students I teach are, for the most part, very smart, and many will go on to some of the best universities in Japan. However, they are 13 years old, and they have been pressured to study, study, study and be good students and good Japanese children. So some of those kids tend to lose it every now and then, and that includes in my class. So, let's call this school Wild Brainiacs JHS.
OK, now where was I...
At Wild Brainiacs JHS, things were easy. We just gave back the midterm exams and went over the answers. An easy two days for me.
At Controlled Chaos SHS, things were... well... chaotic. There were prospective students showing up in class unbeknownst to me (sometimes while I was teaching), there were students who usually don't come to class coming to class, students who usually come to class not coming to class, students who usually come to the morning class switching to the afternoon class all of a sudden... you get the idea. The nice curriculum plan I worked out at the beginning of the term is completely shredded now. A rough two days for me.
At the HR office, things were easygoing, but we did receive a teacher resignation, meaning I am going to have more work to do on my office day for the next couple of weeks. A not-so-interesting day for me.
19 October 2008
Weekend Recap
Recaping the weekend, on Saturday I did a little training in preparation to occasionally do young kids' English classes on weekends. My company has a division that has a few young childrens' schools and several in-home schools. I'll keep you posted on how those go.
Today, we did basically nothing except watch a few Grey's Anatomy episodes and some soccer. A nice weekend overall.
Today, we did basically nothing except watch a few Grey's Anatomy episodes and some soccer. A nice weekend overall.
17 October 2008
Controlled Chaos
Strange things keep happening at the senior high school that I talk about.
I'll get to that in a moment, but isn't it confusing that I talk about the senior high school I go to part of the week, and the junior high school the rest of the week? I need to think of some good nicknames for them... let's see...
Okay, the senior high school is now called Controlled Chaos SHS. That is how I will refer to it in my blog posts. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...
You might remember my English Buddy post and how I tried to make a challenging lesson for the new morning class student, but it was way too easy for her. One of my co-workers at the company office yesterday handed me a book with conversation ideas and role-play topics - perfect for students with a high level of English. I thought of a good high-level lesson and prepared it. All seemed well.
This morning, I went to class confident in my lesson, but when I got to the classroom, the girl wasn't there. Instead, there was another girl, another new student! After talking to this girl for a few minutes, I knew that there was no way she could do the lesson I prepared. I had no choice but to think of a lesson out of my head. I thought of as many games as I could to do with her for the first hour, until we took our 10-minute break and I could sneak up to the office and grab a more suitable lesson.
During that first hour, I felt so underprepared, with no lesson plan to refer to. I'm sure the games I did had no connection, but the girl was a good sport, participated well and had no complaints.
I suppose the problem is this: It seems that at Controlled Chaos SHS, it's okay if the staff brings a new student to my class, introduces him/her to me, and expects me to take care of him/her for the next two hours without any prior preparation. Handling classes containing students with varying levels of English ability, I need to be more prepared than I would at, say, a public senior high school.
Yeah, Controlled Chaos is a good nickname for this school.
I'll get to that in a moment, but isn't it confusing that I talk about the senior high school I go to part of the week, and the junior high school the rest of the week? I need to think of some good nicknames for them... let's see...
Okay, the senior high school is now called Controlled Chaos SHS. That is how I will refer to it in my blog posts. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...
You might remember my English Buddy post and how I tried to make a challenging lesson for the new morning class student, but it was way too easy for her. One of my co-workers at the company office yesterday handed me a book with conversation ideas and role-play topics - perfect for students with a high level of English. I thought of a good high-level lesson and prepared it. All seemed well.
This morning, I went to class confident in my lesson, but when I got to the classroom, the girl wasn't there. Instead, there was another girl, another new student! After talking to this girl for a few minutes, I knew that there was no way she could do the lesson I prepared. I had no choice but to think of a lesson out of my head. I thought of as many games as I could to do with her for the first hour, until we took our 10-minute break and I could sneak up to the office and grab a more suitable lesson.
During that first hour, I felt so underprepared, with no lesson plan to refer to. I'm sure the games I did had no connection, but the girl was a good sport, participated well and had no complaints.
I suppose the problem is this: It seems that at Controlled Chaos SHS, it's okay if the staff brings a new student to my class, introduces him/her to me, and expects me to take care of him/her for the next two hours without any prior preparation. Handling classes containing students with varying levels of English ability, I need to be more prepared than I would at, say, a public senior high school.
Yeah, Controlled Chaos is a good nickname for this school.
14 October 2008
English buddy
It was a dark and stormy night...
Nah, I'm just pulling your leg. But it was raining today.
As with every Tuesday, today I worked at the small private high school in Osaka city I told you about before. In that post, I also told you about the infamous morning class. That class had a new student today, a 17-year-old girl with amazing English skills! I guess living abroad for several years will do that to you.
I was actually at a loss as to what to do in that class. I prepared a lesson I did previously with other students, but made it a bit harder for her (I had some knowledge of her level before class, but obviously not enough). That lesson was way too easy for her, and she finished it up only halfway through the class. I was left with nothing to do except talk, which she had absolutely no problems doing in English.
But I wonder if I actually taught her anything, or if I was just her "English buddy" for the day.
This small senior high school is really keeping me on my toes, I tell you.
Nah, I'm just pulling your leg. But it was raining today.
As with every Tuesday, today I worked at the small private high school in Osaka city I told you about before. In that post, I also told you about the infamous morning class. That class had a new student today, a 17-year-old girl with amazing English skills! I guess living abroad for several years will do that to you.
I was actually at a loss as to what to do in that class. I prepared a lesson I did previously with other students, but made it a bit harder for her (I had some knowledge of her level before class, but obviously not enough). That lesson was way too easy for her, and she finished it up only halfway through the class. I was left with nothing to do except talk, which she had absolutely no problems doing in English.
But I wonder if I actually taught her anything, or if I was just her "English buddy" for the day.
This small senior high school is really keeping me on my toes, I tell you.
10 October 2008
My Life Unplugged
In order to keep this blog active, I'm going to (try to) talk about something that happens to me every day, whether or not it is interesting. So get used to it, Bub!
Today, like every Friday, I worked at a small private high school owned by the same company that owns the outsourcing division I work for. By small, I mean VERY small: there are probably 30 students total in that school. It's a sort of alternative school, attended by kids who want to or need to be challenged in their studies. I teach two English conversation classes there. The classes are formerly called Gaikokujin Eikaiwa ("Foreigner English Conversation"). Not so subtle, huh? Can you imagine a class in the U.S. called "Foreigner Spanish"?
Anyway, the morning class consists of two students. One of them, a boy, has only shown up twice since the start of the academic year in April. The other, a girl, does not want to be the only student in class, so she often does not come to school for my class. That was the case today - or so I thought at first. After waiting 20 minutes for students to show up for the morning class, as is protocol, I went down to the staff office and discovered that the girl was talking with one of the staff members, who didn't seem to be in a hurry to shoo the girl upstairs to my classroom.
That's not the first time that kind of thing has happened there. Back in May, there was a student coming to the morning class, and unbeknownst to me he was not supposed to be in the class. One day, a staff member came up to my classroom, apologized to me first, then turned to the student and quietly told him in Japanese, "You are not supposed to be in this class." The boy, who is very good at speaking English, turned to her and cursed at her in English, using some choicy four-letter words. I don't know if the staff member understood, but she abruptly left the classroom, leaving me to teach a boy that was not supposed to be a student of mine.
Today, like every Friday, I worked at a small private high school owned by the same company that owns the outsourcing division I work for. By small, I mean VERY small: there are probably 30 students total in that school. It's a sort of alternative school, attended by kids who want to or need to be challenged in their studies. I teach two English conversation classes there. The classes are formerly called Gaikokujin Eikaiwa ("Foreigner English Conversation"). Not so subtle, huh? Can you imagine a class in the U.S. called "Foreigner Spanish"?
Anyway, the morning class consists of two students. One of them, a boy, has only shown up twice since the start of the academic year in April. The other, a girl, does not want to be the only student in class, so she often does not come to school for my class. That was the case today - or so I thought at first. After waiting 20 minutes for students to show up for the morning class, as is protocol, I went down to the staff office and discovered that the girl was talking with one of the staff members, who didn't seem to be in a hurry to shoo the girl upstairs to my classroom.
That's not the first time that kind of thing has happened there. Back in May, there was a student coming to the morning class, and unbeknownst to me he was not supposed to be in the class. One day, a staff member came up to my classroom, apologized to me first, then turned to the student and quietly told him in Japanese, "You are not supposed to be in this class." The boy, who is very good at speaking English, turned to her and cursed at her in English, using some choicy four-letter words. I don't know if the staff member understood, but she abruptly left the classroom, leaving me to teach a boy that was not supposed to be a student of mine.
16 February 2008
Gettin' Stress Off My Chest
This past academic year (April of last year to now) has been stressful for me for some reason, more so than usual. Little things that I used to be able to brush off have recently started to really make me irritated. The high school that I work at has always had its fair share of bad kids, but while the crap they always pull (calling me names, throwing things in class, etc.)was easy to combat in the past, this year it has irritated me to the point where just looking at them makes me angry. I come home at night, trying to relax after dinner, and I'm still thinking about crap the students did at eight in the morning that day. I'm sure they weren't thinking about me, but I was thinking about them.
Not only that, but I also had to deal with crap at the company office as well. Again, I brought that stuff home with me, letting it stew in my mind and giving me stress. This has gone on all year, and recently it started to affect my marriage. Last night I had a senseless argument with my wife, taking out my frustrations on her. She still hasn't forgiven me, and rightfully so. It took that for me to realize that I need to seriously find a way to get rid of my stress.
This morning, I thought back to college, when some roommates of mine had an idea for getting rid of stress. They had various problems, so they decided to take an aluminum baseball bat and take turns whacking a telephone pole outside. They hit the thing so hard that the end piece on the bat flew off in rage. They laughed and named the bat "Liberty Bat". They were free from their stress.
With that in mind, this morning I took a few pillows from the bedroom, grabbed a stick, and started hitting the pillows as hard as I could. I visualized the faces of all the people, students, and idiots that did me wrong over the past year, and hit the crap out of them as hard as I could. Man, what a feeling! I felt much better after that.
My advice to you if you have stress: hit something. Don't hit somebody; that would give you more stress. But hit something.
Not only that, but I also had to deal with crap at the company office as well. Again, I brought that stuff home with me, letting it stew in my mind and giving me stress. This has gone on all year, and recently it started to affect my marriage. Last night I had a senseless argument with my wife, taking out my frustrations on her. She still hasn't forgiven me, and rightfully so. It took that for me to realize that I need to seriously find a way to get rid of my stress.
This morning, I thought back to college, when some roommates of mine had an idea for getting rid of stress. They had various problems, so they decided to take an aluminum baseball bat and take turns whacking a telephone pole outside. They hit the thing so hard that the end piece on the bat flew off in rage. They laughed and named the bat "Liberty Bat". They were free from their stress.
With that in mind, this morning I took a few pillows from the bedroom, grabbed a stick, and started hitting the pillows as hard as I could. I visualized the faces of all the people, students, and idiots that did me wrong over the past year, and hit the crap out of them as hard as I could. Man, what a feeling! I felt much better after that.
My advice to you if you have stress: hit something. Don't hit somebody; that would give you more stress. But hit something.
10 January 2007
Office Mace
WARNING: Long post ahead.
One of the reasons why I started this blog a while back is to give me an avenue to vent. Which leads me into something that happened at the company office last week... (Guys, forgive me for this.)
Friday, about 2 PM Japan time. I'm working at my desk when one of the office full-time teachers (let's call him Guy A) comes over with two other full-timers for some small talk before they headed out for lunch. As usual at this time of year, the subject comes to what is going on with possible contracts for the next academic year. While talking about that, Guy A says that our company won't have a contract with his assigned schools' city board of education next year.
"Really?" I said. "I haven't heard anything about that BoE's plans. You probably know more than I do about that, then."
"Come on," Guy A says. "I thought you were the senior guy here. I thought you live here! You're out of the loop! What's going on?"
At that moment, I get really ticked off. And usually at the moment I get ticked off, I can't speak straight. So I let out a shocked "What?!?"
Then Guy B, who's standing next to Guy A, chimes in. "He's right... you are the senior guy here."
Now I'm fuming. These guys were berating me! "You are the senior guy... " I'm really pissed now. But like most of you know, I'm not one for open confrontation when I'm upset, so I just turned back to my computer and ignored the guys until they left for lunch.
That was a pretty busy day at the office, so I didn't give it any other thought the rest of the day. But during the weekend, my stupid brain reminded me of the incident, and I dwelled on it all weekend. I couldn't get it out of my head: "You are the senior guy... you live here!"
First of all, I don't like being mocked. Yeah, some guys do it as a joke, and that's cool. But they usually accompany the insults with a laugh or some expression or gesture that lets you know, "Hey man, I'm just playing with you." None of that occured.
Second, what does being the "senior guy" have to do with anything? I am the senior guy... of the native English teachers. That means jack on my company's totem pole. You guys who are former co-workers of mine, you know the deal. As the personnel coordinator, I have one role, other than teaching. My boss tells me what positions we have available, and I find teachers for them. That's it. I have nothing to do with my company's negotiations with school boards. Apparently Guy A thinks I should know everything about anything about the company.
Third, "You live here..." If working two days a week at the company office means living there, then I must be hibernating at the high school I work at for 3 days a week.
Then again, I should have expected something like this from Guy A, who, just 2 months into his employment here, listened to me offer someone a position, then proceeded to criticize me and tell me what I should do better (things that, by the way, goes against the company philosophy). Now, I'm not a human resources expert by any means, but if someone has been at a company longer than I have, I'm not about to give that person any advice on how to do their job unless they specifically ask for it.
Now, the main thing I dwelled on over the weekend was not that, but whether or not I should have told him off at the time of the incident. Part of me said, "You should have said something to shut him up!" But the other part said, "You know what... you did the right thing by ignoring them. Like your family always said, you start arguing with them over nonsense, you come down to their level. You don't want to look like them, right? Plus, you have other avenues for venting, like blogging."
If you're reading this, I'd love to hear your comments on this.
One of the reasons why I started this blog a while back is to give me an avenue to vent. Which leads me into something that happened at the company office last week... (Guys, forgive me for this.)
Friday, about 2 PM Japan time. I'm working at my desk when one of the office full-time teachers (let's call him Guy A) comes over with two other full-timers for some small talk before they headed out for lunch. As usual at this time of year, the subject comes to what is going on with possible contracts for the next academic year. While talking about that, Guy A says that our company won't have a contract with his assigned schools' city board of education next year.
"Really?" I said. "I haven't heard anything about that BoE's plans. You probably know more than I do about that, then."
"Come on," Guy A says. "I thought you were the senior guy here. I thought you live here! You're out of the loop! What's going on?"
At that moment, I get really ticked off. And usually at the moment I get ticked off, I can't speak straight. So I let out a shocked "What?!?"
Then Guy B, who's standing next to Guy A, chimes in. "He's right... you are the senior guy here."
Now I'm fuming. These guys were berating me! "You are the senior guy... " I'm really pissed now. But like most of you know, I'm not one for open confrontation when I'm upset, so I just turned back to my computer and ignored the guys until they left for lunch.
That was a pretty busy day at the office, so I didn't give it any other thought the rest of the day. But during the weekend, my stupid brain reminded me of the incident, and I dwelled on it all weekend. I couldn't get it out of my head: "You are the senior guy... you live here!"
First of all, I don't like being mocked. Yeah, some guys do it as a joke, and that's cool. But they usually accompany the insults with a laugh or some expression or gesture that lets you know, "Hey man, I'm just playing with you." None of that occured.
Second, what does being the "senior guy" have to do with anything? I am the senior guy... of the native English teachers. That means jack on my company's totem pole. You guys who are former co-workers of mine, you know the deal. As the personnel coordinator, I have one role, other than teaching. My boss tells me what positions we have available, and I find teachers for them. That's it. I have nothing to do with my company's negotiations with school boards. Apparently Guy A thinks I should know everything about anything about the company.
Third, "You live here..." If working two days a week at the company office means living there, then I must be hibernating at the high school I work at for 3 days a week.
Then again, I should have expected something like this from Guy A, who, just 2 months into his employment here, listened to me offer someone a position, then proceeded to criticize me and tell me what I should do better (things that, by the way, goes against the company philosophy). Now, I'm not a human resources expert by any means, but if someone has been at a company longer than I have, I'm not about to give that person any advice on how to do their job unless they specifically ask for it.
Now, the main thing I dwelled on over the weekend was not that, but whether or not I should have told him off at the time of the incident. Part of me said, "You should have said something to shut him up!" But the other part said, "You know what... you did the right thing by ignoring them. Like your family always said, you start arguing with them over nonsense, you come down to their level. You don't want to look like them, right? Plus, you have other avenues for venting, like blogging."
If you're reading this, I'd love to hear your comments on this.
29 September 2005
It's So Hard To Say Goodbye...
I was walking back from the restroom at my company's office, heading back to my desk when all of a sudden, I meet with our receptionist, who tells me that this week would be her last week working for us. Since I'm working at the high school tomorrow, that meant that today was the last time to ever see her, which made me sad. You see, this woman is very kind and friendly, and in a frustrating environment, many times she cheered me up with her smile and great attitude. It's going to be hard to replace someone like her.
Later on, while I'm clocking out, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to say goodbye to her. I'm terrible at goodbyes in English; I didn't know how I was going to pull off a good one in Japanese. The best I could think of was iroiro arigatou gozaimashita (Thank you for everything). Apparently that did the trick, because as I waved goodbye for the last time, tears started rolling down her face. Oh great, I thought. I made the woman cry in front of her co-workers. Way to go. The moral of the story: Even a few kind words can make someone's day.
Later on, while I'm clocking out, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to say goodbye to her. I'm terrible at goodbyes in English; I didn't know how I was going to pull off a good one in Japanese. The best I could think of was iroiro arigatou gozaimashita (Thank you for everything). Apparently that did the trick, because as I waved goodbye for the last time, tears started rolling down her face. Oh great, I thought. I made the woman cry in front of her co-workers. Way to go. The moral of the story: Even a few kind words can make someone's day.
09 September 2005
Between Some Crap and a Hard Place
When I'm not teaching at high school, I'm working at my outsourcing company's office 2 days a week as the human resources/recruiting head. Although it is sooooo tempting to talk about my experiences here on my blog, I won't, because my job is considered a "management" role (even though I certainly don't get paid like it). There's a lot of trust involved, and I've worked hard to establish that, so I'm not going to undermine that.
That said, I've been frustrated lately at the office. Don't get me wrong - I love my job (not as much as teaching, but nevertheless). My frustrations have nothing to do with my duties. I'm frustrated about other happenings in the office. Without going into detail, there's been some friction, some schisms, and just plain not seeing eye-to-eye. You might think, "Herman, if this has nothing to do with you, then why are you letting those things get to you?" Well, you know... I'm in an HR role. I wonder if the problems I'm talking about are not as serious as I think or if they are. I wonder if I'm supposed to step in and try to smooth things out as much as I can, or just sit back, do my specified duties and hope it all goes away. That's the frustrating thing. If I can do something about it, I want to, but I don't know if I can or can't.
You know, I'm probably just overreacting. After all, no office can be a utopia. Yeah, you're right... I probably shouldn't let it get to me. Actually, I feel better already. Someone once told me that we have to vent every once in a while to clear our heads. Writing's my way of venting. So if you were completely put off by this post, I'm sorry. But take pride in knowing that you helped me feel a lot better.
That said, I've been frustrated lately at the office. Don't get me wrong - I love my job (not as much as teaching, but nevertheless). My frustrations have nothing to do with my duties. I'm frustrated about other happenings in the office. Without going into detail, there's been some friction, some schisms, and just plain not seeing eye-to-eye. You might think, "Herman, if this has nothing to do with you, then why are you letting those things get to you?" Well, you know... I'm in an HR role. I wonder if the problems I'm talking about are not as serious as I think or if they are. I wonder if I'm supposed to step in and try to smooth things out as much as I can, or just sit back, do my specified duties and hope it all goes away. That's the frustrating thing. If I can do something about it, I want to, but I don't know if I can or can't.
You know, I'm probably just overreacting. After all, no office can be a utopia. Yeah, you're right... I probably shouldn't let it get to me. Actually, I feel better already. Someone once told me that we have to vent every once in a while to clear our heads. Writing's my way of venting. So if you were completely put off by this post, I'm sorry. But take pride in knowing that you helped me feel a lot better.
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