I was having so much fun here in Sapporo, that I completely forgot to do the last blog post! As they always say, time flies when you’re having fun.
In week 3-4, we had the opportunity to visit a school in Tomakomai, a different city. We talked and played games with junior high school students. They especially enjoyed playing duck duck goose and beavertails! From the school, we then went to Upopoy, The National Ainu Museum, which is in Shiraoi. I learned so much about the history of Hokkaido and the Ainu people. I also had so much fun chatting with the tutors, and have become such good friends with them! It is sad to think that I probably won’t be able to see them after TAB ends, but that is all the more reason to treasure our time together now. That was the highlight of those two weeks for me!
I feel like I have adapted to living in Sapporo pretty well. I have a grocery store I frequent, I am getting better and better at remembering station names, and I am even beginning to grasp the layout of the enormous Sapporo station. Someone even asked me for directions the other day, in Japanese of course, and I was able to redirect them to Sapporo station. It got me feeling like a local!
September 30th marked the end of phase one of our program in Sapporo and the beginning of phase two, which is our practicums in schools! I’m placed at the HUE-affiliated elementary school, which is right beside the Sapporo HUE campus. It is a little far from where I am currently staying, so the transportation takes quite a while, but I enjoy the beautiful scenery that I see on the way there. It reminds me a little of Calgary!
In terms of the school, every day I spend there, I am more and more impressed with the teachers and the quality of education here. I had the opportunity to see a “Research Class”, which was basically a regular class but with the principal, a lot of teachers from the school, and student teachers from HUE watching, taking notes, pictures, and videos. The purpose is to assess the lesson and then get together afterwards to discuss what went well and what could be improved. When I asked if this something unique to this school specifically, I was told that it’s common for any school in Japan to do something like this. I thought that this showed how much care and effort Japanese schools put into lesson planning and education in general. It also helps with teachers professional development, and ensures that they are always improving on the job. I think that Canadian schools could definitely learn from this process.
Other than being at the school, I’ve been doing my best to see and experience as much as I can of Sapporo life. One resource that I found helpful is the Tourist Information Center in Sapporo station. There are a lot of pamphlets and posters that have information on events in Sapporo that you can’t find online. I have found the What’s on in Sapporo? monthly newsletters to be extremely helpful, as they have a list of events going on in Sapporo for the whole month. Definitely a resource to keep in mind, future TABers!
At first, two months seemed like a long time to me, but now I can’t believe that I only have two more weeks here. It feels like there’s still so much I have to do! Looking forward to new adventures next week.
またね！
Kawthar Mahdi