6 September

Today, we took the free shuttle bus to 日本経済大学。Okay, I admit it, I copied these kanji from a piece of paper that was given to me––but I do know how to pronounce them (ish): Nihon Keizai Daigaku. That’s the name of the university we’re staying at this year, the Japan University of Economics.

At this point, it might be best to say a bit more about the scholarship scheme I and nine other students have been awarded with. Our year will be spent learning Japanese (15 hours a week) and helping out at an elementary and senior school that is associated with the university. This is all we knew when we applied, and, until today, we knew little else. What I had realised by now, however, was that this scheme was more than any of us had even dared to imagine: our accommodation is wonderful, the staff is incredibly forgiving and polite, and we don’t have to look for jobs but can pick the ones we like from a mass of private students, discussion groups and language schools.

With all this in mind, I was determined to pay back the favour and make a genuine effort at learning Japanese as we met our teacher, Ikahara-sensei, for the first time. Teachers are not called -san––the usual suffix for Mr,Mrs,Ms or Miss––but -sensei, a more respectful name that is reserved for teachers, and that we can expect to be called by our future students, too. Teaching in Japan, I’ve been told, is a very respected profession. Ikahara-sensei passed round five text books for each of us and gave us our first homework. I’m a little bit in love with text books, and so I cannot wait to start!

As we had another hour or so to kill until our next appointment, Seb, who runs this scheme at JUE, took us on a little trip in the mini bus. We drove to the top of a mountain and had a stunning view across Futsukaichi, Dazaifu and Chikushino City, all parts of the larger Fukuoka area (pictures 1, 2 &3). This mountain, we were told, was once prepared to be the last retreat from which the invading Koreans were to be fought off. Seb will be teaching us about Japanese history once a week and I can’t wait to learn more about it!

In the afternoon, we met the teachers at Linden Hall senior school. Linden Hall is an English immersion school, which means that all subjects are taught in English. Hence, most of the staff is English speaking, with Japanese teachers coming in to teach classes like arts and music. However, it is not an international school, which means that although classes are in English, exams will be in Japanese.

The school itself is beautiful. The teaching facilities––the arts, music and science rooms––are spacious, light and offer the most incredible view over the mountains surrounding Futsukaichi. The students seem very likeable, and even the “naughty” ones just giggle in the background and look a little shy. However, because this school offers a very new teaching concept, there are currently only two years with just under 20 students in this school which could comfortably accommodate hundreds of students.

The elementary school across the road, however, shows that the English immersion concept has the potential to fill the senior school in the years to come. The staff here––also all English speaking and so, so nice!––got very excited when they heard about our various university degrees, and got even more excited when we said we liked the mocha flavoured sweets and the vinegar drink (really very nice, although it sounds horrible). We got a tour of the school––and just knew that this scheme would be one of the best things that had ever happened to us. The gardens are huge, with a kind of adventure playground in the woods, a hill that pupils (and teachers, I made sure to check) can slide down on plastic sledges, a rice paddy, pottery room and tea room. Inside the school, the facilities were just as wonderful as the senior school rooms. We were told to use anything we want from the arts room and were shown the gym, which also has a huge stage and is used for the yearly Shakespeare performance (how cute is that going to be?!).

All in all, I cannot believe my luck, really. I can absolutely understand why so many previous scholars and JETs have stayed on to continue teaching at Linden Hall. Now I hope that I’m not a completely useless teacher...