New Teachers, New Situations

Well...April 1st. The big day of yearly change. The day before, I found out that the teacher that I've been sitting next to for a year is getting his desk changed, and he's going to be the new homeroom teacher of a class. I gave him a clap and congratulated him and he shook his head and was like,"No, no, no. That's a bad thing. It's too much work being a homeroom teacher," then I chuckle a bit and point out that at least he'll be out of the stifling vice principal's office. He agreed, but he said it wasn't worth having extra loads of work and responsibility. He's right though, being a homeroom teacher means that you've essentially become the parent of 40 students. They have to make sure that they're eating right, they're not getting in fights, they're studying, etc. If they do a bad job and the student does something bad, the first person they're going to blame is the homeroom teacher, NOT the parents. That's why teachers always have to find out bad things first before parents. The homeroom teacher's responsibility was a bit exaggerated, but has it down in a drama and anime called "Gokusen," you should watch it.

So, I won't be around that guy anymore, which I'm quite happy about and won't miss. I mean, he had a bit of interesting things to say, but the fact that he believes such dumb things about Americans (as if Americans are only one ethnicity) despite meeting a bunch, doesn't make me want to talk to him now that we don't have to sit next to each other anymore. That's all well and good to me, because even he would put pressure on me because I was in the vice principal's office, so I'd get double of that on any given day. That's not the way I want to spend my time here in Japan, so I'm unbelievably happy for that change. So, I'll stick with my original desk, and wait for a new guy to come, and hope that he and the vice principal are nice guys. Then he randomly says to me, "Oh by the way...you might be moved to a new office," like what? oh thanks for the tip...will I or won't I? He said that he didn't know, but whatever. I'll find out eventually, like most things.

The problem with that office is that it's filled with old men who are stuck in their ways and think everyone is below them, Japanese women and younger Japanese men included. However, my desk and the decently sized cabinet behind me is filled with years old ALT crap, that it'd just be too much of a hassle to move. In any case, I wait for lunch time, like I usually do on days that nothing is going on, and as I'm about to leave for lunch the guy next to me finally says, "Oh...yeah you're going to be moved to a new office where two other teachers of English are." So, I was a bit shocked, and a little annoyed, not because I didn't want to move, but because I'd have to move all that crap by myself by the end of the day. So, I smile, nod and say okay, then leave for lunch. I come back and just sit around for a bit. Then I decide to move all that crap. I started at like 2:30, and as 3:30 hits, I realize that I might not be able to move this all in time. It wouldn't have been too much of a hassle, but I wasn't feeling well at all, so I was getting more and more annoyed about more of the crap I uncovered that was left from past ALTs.

Even while I'm packing up and stuff, one of the guys that I knew from last year (old guy of course) was talking to me and was explaining that it was nothing personal....but once the guy next to me leaves, no one else will be able to speak English...so he thought this was best and how I should come visit every now and again. I mean, it was obvious that it was ultimately his say in my switch because he's the head of the office when the vice principal isn't there, so I'm guessing he was feeling guilty. I didn't give a damn. Also, like yeah...being interrogated and talked down upon is my definition of fun...stfu. I was just concerned about getting all this crap moved in before I give up because of how I was feeling.

So while I'm standing there, glaring at all this crap, one of the new teachers come to me and offers to help. The first time I didn't take it (since you're not supposed to at first), but then he insisted so I pretended to reluctantly give in; it's a strange dance of insisting and denial, then finally accepting the help I wanted from the start...that's just how things work here. So I finally get help, with my very small basket, a long thin basket, and 10+ years worth of ALT crap. So I pack everything in the baskets and give him the heaviest things of course, and pretend to be amazed about how strong he is. I mean I appreciated the help and I thought he was just being nice...until I find out that he was helping me along BECAUSE he's taking my seat, lol that prick...but whatever, I ended up finishing my move by 3:50 and had enough time to sit around before I was able to go home.

Before that however, when I was still getting a bit more stuff together, the guy that I no longer sit next to is still there chatting away with the other old men, then he puts out a giant collection of English games and books, and he happily points out that those belong to me because they're for the ESL club and how I need to get those out. I calmly state that I have no space in my cabinets for anything else so he needs to do something about them, then I leave it at that. Then like 10 minutes later when I came back to take the last remaining stuff, while making sure everything is cleared out, the guy who decided that I was moving and get his reason why, finds MORE ALT related crap in a big cabinet on the other side of the office. Then the guy that I no longer sit next to, looks me and goes "Oh look, there's more things for you here to take with you," by now I'm still feeling really bad from running back and forth everywhere, and how it seems like every movement makes me feel even more terrible until I stop, and even up to that point they still talk down to me and say things in ways that they I won't understand, I understand perfectly and curtly reply,"...Didn't know about it, didn't know it was even there, never used it, not my problem," it gets chuckles out of the younger teachers that were there talking to the vice principal because they thought I was joking, but just like that giant collection of games, I left that shit right where it sat. Well, I got my new desk, in my new office, let's see how things work out.