Mid-November Update
The title's not very exciting, I know, but neither is studying 6-7 hours a day for a test, which is what I've been doing for the better part of the last three weeks. I'm not quite sure how to measure progress on this, but I'm guessing it's slow. All in all, the whole act of trying to cram a year's worth of studying into a single month is a little bit absurd, and if you've taken Level 1 of the JLPT or at least tried, you're probably well aware, as I am, that this is all an act in futility. But I press on, as much for the challenge as for the simple fact that I've got nothing else on the go this month.
With the CELTA course out of the way, and knowing fully that I can't study from sun up to sun down every day, I have slowly been getting back into doing other things. Last week I was able to get back on to the volleyball courts for the first time since leaving Japan, and the exercise sure felt good. Living in the suburbs of a city that's flat and devoid of nature, it's amazing how quickly you can fall into a sedentary lifestyle unless you make the effort to get active. I was itching to get back to volleyball, so I decided to check out the drop-in slot at the community centre. Not exactly convenient with the Wednesday 10pm-12am slot, but since the alarm doesn't call me that early in the morning, it doesn't matter much to me. It does, however, to others I guess, since just the same 6 or 7 guys show up every week, which isn't even enough to get a 6 on 6 going. Last week we were able to play 4 on 4 and still had a good time. The level's comparable to what I was playing in Japan, though the net's a bit more of a challenge here, being set at the regulation 245cm.
For the past couple of weeks, I've also been getting out to a weekly event called JAPANADA. Hosted at a Second Cup on Yonge near St.Clair, it's kind of a Japanese-Canadian meet and greet over coffee type thing that was set up about a year ago by the young manager of the place, himself a Japanophile. It seems to have become really popular, especially with the Japanese students studying English here in Toronto. The place is always packed and you have to arrive early to get a seat. Lately it's been spilling out on to the patio... a little chilly now that winter's coming, but they say they're going to get a nearby second location and split the crowd. It's a great way to get to know new people and make some Japanese friends. The only thing that's weird is figuring out what language to speak in. While there are usually informal staff there to pair you up with one or two members of the opposite nationality, the languge choice up to you. And therein lies a little problem because while each person obviously goes there with the hope of practicing the language they're learning, they're also cognizant of the fact that their partner is hoping the same. And you'd be hard pressed to find two cultures more polite and considerate than Japanese and Canadians, so this kind of mix usually means you'll find the Canadians speaking English to be considerate of the Japanese, and the Japanese speaking Japanese to be considerate of the Canadians, and so no one gets what they want, or else you get some weird kind of patchy conversation that slips continuously from one language to the other. It's fun nonetheless.
Last but not least, a short comment on the new Bond flick, which I saw on Friday. Good job. It was nice to once again see a Bond movie that wasn't just a string of far-fetched stunts dotted sparsely with cheesy dialogue, which is what the last few had degenerated into. Daniels was a breath of fresh air as a less pretentious, more athletic Bond, and the movie was a lot simpler while still having great action scenes, good dialogue, and just the right measure of humour thrown in. Bond is back on track.
There was one more thing. Oh yeah, teacher's college. So sitting on my desk is a printout of the application guide for OISE. The deadline is 10 days away. I can't count the number of times I've said that I don't want to be a teacher (even more if I count the thoughts) and yet here I am, certain to at least submit the application so that I have more doors open come next year. I have my own reasons for thinking it's a good idea, ironically none of which involve actually teaching in an Ontario school. It would certainly open more doors to teaching overseas, is a prerequisite for UofT's M.Ed in Second Language Education, and would also be good to have as a backup for any point down the line, should I want to settle down and do that in Toronto. The pension plan they have sure doesn't hurt either.
At this point though, I don't have a very strong desire to teach Canadian kids. I actually like teaching ESL...it's just a shame that it pays shit no matter where you are in the world (unless you're lucky enough to get a tenured university job, but then that's kind of boring, too.) Sure I could teach ESL in the public school system here, and who knows, one day it may come to that, but I don't think that time is yet. Anyway, for now the application is going in. Of course, there's enough indecision with that alone. Junior/Intermediate or Intermediate/Senior? And what teachables? I hear you can get pigeon-holed if you choose the wrong ones. Damn. More life decisions. What am I going to choose?
I'll let you know when I know...
With the CELTA course out of the way, and knowing fully that I can't study from sun up to sun down every day, I have slowly been getting back into doing other things. Last week I was able to get back on to the volleyball courts for the first time since leaving Japan, and the exercise sure felt good. Living in the suburbs of a city that's flat and devoid of nature, it's amazing how quickly you can fall into a sedentary lifestyle unless you make the effort to get active. I was itching to get back to volleyball, so I decided to check out the drop-in slot at the community centre. Not exactly convenient with the Wednesday 10pm-12am slot, but since the alarm doesn't call me that early in the morning, it doesn't matter much to me. It does, however, to others I guess, since just the same 6 or 7 guys show up every week, which isn't even enough to get a 6 on 6 going. Last week we were able to play 4 on 4 and still had a good time. The level's comparable to what I was playing in Japan, though the net's a bit more of a challenge here, being set at the regulation 245cm.
For the past couple of weeks, I've also been getting out to a weekly event called JAPANADA. Hosted at a Second Cup on Yonge near St.Clair, it's kind of a Japanese-Canadian meet and greet over coffee type thing that was set up about a year ago by the young manager of the place, himself a Japanophile. It seems to have become really popular, especially with the Japanese students studying English here in Toronto. The place is always packed and you have to arrive early to get a seat. Lately it's been spilling out on to the patio... a little chilly now that winter's coming, but they say they're going to get a nearby second location and split the crowd. It's a great way to get to know new people and make some Japanese friends. The only thing that's weird is figuring out what language to speak in. While there are usually informal staff there to pair you up with one or two members of the opposite nationality, the languge choice up to you. And therein lies a little problem because while each person obviously goes there with the hope of practicing the language they're learning, they're also cognizant of the fact that their partner is hoping the same. And you'd be hard pressed to find two cultures more polite and considerate than Japanese and Canadians, so this kind of mix usually means you'll find the Canadians speaking English to be considerate of the Japanese, and the Japanese speaking Japanese to be considerate of the Canadians, and so no one gets what they want, or else you get some weird kind of patchy conversation that slips continuously from one language to the other. It's fun nonetheless.
Last but not least, a short comment on the new Bond flick, which I saw on Friday. Good job. It was nice to once again see a Bond movie that wasn't just a string of far-fetched stunts dotted sparsely with cheesy dialogue, which is what the last few had degenerated into. Daniels was a breath of fresh air as a less pretentious, more athletic Bond, and the movie was a lot simpler while still having great action scenes, good dialogue, and just the right measure of humour thrown in. Bond is back on track.
There was one more thing. Oh yeah, teacher's college. So sitting on my desk is a printout of the application guide for OISE. The deadline is 10 days away. I can't count the number of times I've said that I don't want to be a teacher (even more if I count the thoughts) and yet here I am, certain to at least submit the application so that I have more doors open come next year. I have my own reasons for thinking it's a good idea, ironically none of which involve actually teaching in an Ontario school. It would certainly open more doors to teaching overseas, is a prerequisite for UofT's M.Ed in Second Language Education, and would also be good to have as a backup for any point down the line, should I want to settle down and do that in Toronto. The pension plan they have sure doesn't hurt either.
At this point though, I don't have a very strong desire to teach Canadian kids. I actually like teaching ESL...it's just a shame that it pays shit no matter where you are in the world (unless you're lucky enough to get a tenured university job, but then that's kind of boring, too.) Sure I could teach ESL in the public school system here, and who knows, one day it may come to that, but I don't think that time is yet. Anyway, for now the application is going in. Of course, there's enough indecision with that alone. Junior/Intermediate or Intermediate/Senior? And what teachables? I hear you can get pigeon-holed if you choose the wrong ones. Damn. More life decisions. What am I going to choose?
I'll let you know when I know...
posted by CHRIS at 11:20 p.m.
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