Part-timer

So moving your life into a new apartment across the state involves a lot of work, and things are still not running smoothly, but I felt like posting--finally. ^^;

The job searching is going well, I'd say. Jeremy and I went through some employment guides/free papers and made some calls, applied here and there. He found some 9-1-1 dispatcher jobs we're still waiting to hear from, but in the meantime he was hired almost instantly at two apartment complexes in the area which are managed by the same company. It's not the best job in the world, but it's better than flipping burgers, I assume. Besides, if MY job hunt goes well, he'll be able to quit. (: Here's hoping.

So I found a few online/in-home tutoring places to apply to, but I haven't heard back from them. I heard about a Japanese/English language school in the area, too, and saw on their website they were looking for teachers. Hot dog! I submitted my resume, got an e-mail in a few days, then set up an interview, and pretty much walked out of there with a part-time job--starting the next day!

It's called the Koby Language Center (KLC), named after it's founder, Mr. Kobayashi. He opened one first in Ann Arbor, about 40 minutes from where we live in Novi. The Novi center was opened only late last year, but it's a really great area for a school like this, since there are a lot of Japanese and other foreigners living here--so an English school is in high demand. I was asked to begin by giving private lessons to a young boy--they've been going alright, but only because his English is pretty much fluent already! He's been here for 9 years, and is actually very advanced for his age. I haven't quite figured out why he's still enrolled in courses...

That was Wednesday and Thursday. The following week (this past one), I was asked to teach a "Grammar and Writing" class and a "Kid's English" class. The first one is a bit of a challenge for me: there are five students of various levels, and I haven't had any training as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. I'm having a hard time figuring out what I should teach them, what they need to know before enrolling in school this year... Actually, three of them have already BEEN to an American school... so they can function pretty well in English, just need some help with vocabulary improvement and basic English grammar instruction. The other two have recently come to the U.S. and rely heavily on Japanese... but they have both had SOME English instruction... thank God! It's hard enough to teach English grammar in ENGLISH, let alone Japanese... u_u

But the Kid's English class has been fun. My only student is an adorable 5-yr old girl. She's so sweet, but still very quiet. She's a good student, though: she wants to try and she wants to do well. She has some basics (she can write her name in English and knows other letters than just her name's, and knew most of the colors before our lessons began), but I was advised that getting her to follow commands and get used to hearing English without understanding 100% is going to be a big goal. It's realistic, right? It's going to be tough for her (and the other two students in my GW class), but the director, Mr. Kobayashi, says it's a natural step for children in situations like this and they are just going to have to live through it--and be stronger in the end.

I feel that he's right... there's not much I can do to make them fluent before school starts! ^^; But I hope I can give them some new words, and at the very least, some confidence in speaking English so that school won't be such a scary thing.

So, looking over my old notes/blogs, I see that I didn't really write about the day at the Michigan-Shiga Exchange Program orientation! >_< Well, the most exciting part of that day was meeting Jackie Riley, a teacher at a school in the area. She told me she was a French/Spanish/Japanese teacher and, when I mentioned I was looking for a job, she said she had a proposition for me! She was looking to move up to a dean position at the private school she teaches at and wanted someone to take over her more advanced classes because she felt she didn't have the 'spontaneous conversation skills' the kids could really benefit from. I couldn't believe it! It was like serendipity that we met there that day...

Well, it's taken a while, but things finally have gotten rolling on that end! (The orientation was in early March!) It was only recently decided that she WOULD get the dean position, and so she would have three classes to pass on to someone--hopefully me! In the time since the orientation, I had had my interview at Pontiac, and was actually offered the position (which, following a strange and frustrating series of events, I suppose I turned down since they never contacted me back)... I contacted Jackie's school, Detroit Country Day School, to let them know the news and to share that I had passed the MTTC for Japanese. Well, not a whole lot happened until last Thursday. Jackie called while I was on my way to one of the private lessons at Koby and asked if I was contracted anywhere and, if not, still interested in DCDS. ( squee! XD ) I told her I was just working part-time for Koby and was very interested in the DCDS position, even part-time. So we set up an interview and I went in this last Monday. ^_^

I think it went really well. I met Jackie there, the Languages department head and the headmaster of the DCDS schools. I got a nice tour of the awesome Upper School (9-12th grade, about 600 kids). There were outstanding art projects displayed in the hallways, and the headmaster was kind enough to show the auditorium to me (wow!! Such a cool facility!!). I think they both (the headmaster and department head) really respect Jackie, and her opinion of me, so I'm really hopeful that this will work out. ^_^ Legally, the job needs to be posted, and they have to review any submitted applications--but I'm hoping that I will still stand out in the end and be a for-real teacher by the start of August. XD

So... that's basically what I've been up to. ^^; It's quite a bit, it seems... doesn't it? It's strange though, that in the few weeks we've been here, I feel like I've found so many more opportunities--even jobs!--than I ever found in three years in Kalamazoo. :P I guess it was just meant to be. I tend to believe that things happen for a reason--and right now I fee like my three years subbing in Kzoo were just to keep me busy until I was needed at DCDS. ^.^ hee hee