My introductory speech to all the teachers in the staff room
Hajimemashite
Yip Siew Min to moushimasu
Singaporu kara kimashita
Singaporu dewa watashi wa chu gakko de chiri o oshiete imashita
Nihon ni kuru no wa hajimete desu
Hetana nihongo de sumimasen
Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu
My introductory speech to the whole school
Hajimemashite
Good morning!
My name is Yip Siew Min.
Please call me Siew Min.
I am the new "Anna" but I am not American.
I come from Singapore, a small country in Southeast Asia.
This is my first time in Japan.
I am very happy to be placed in Yahata Minami Senior High School.
I am poor in my Japanese but I will try to do my best.
Please talk to me anytime, anywhere.
Over the next year, let's study English and Japanese together.
I hope we will have fun.
Thank you.
Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Finally a new post! (photos to be added later)
Hi everyone!
I finally found some time to type out a blog entry.
I am settling into my new town pretty well.
It’s been kinda crazy from Tokyo to Fukuoka and to KitaQ with so many new things and experiences that I barely had time to sit down to think.
Tokyo was packed with seminars and workshops where basically, I was stuck in the hotel room. The only time to see Tokyo was during dinner time where we walked out to explore interesting areas, with the help of Xianna for the first night where we checked out Kabuki-cho. This was a street famous for its many lady’s shops. Lol. Kinda realized what I have gotten myself into when we were about to order our dinner and I can’t read the menu! Yvonne had to go over to ask Xianna for help. It was funny. And whatever that came, was not what I had in mind but it was still good. Haha…
So then the next day, it was the start of orientation programme where we reported to our respective prefectures etc etc and attended all the briefings and workshops.. Kinda boring but necessary part of the Tokyo Orientation programme. And here’s my Fukuoka prefecture group photo of the participants in Group B orientation. (There are so many JET participants every year that the orientation programme is divided into 2 main groups so that the logistics will not be so crazy!)
At night I was really dead tired from the workshops! So we only walked around Shinjuku area… had dinner at a shop with a vending machine to purchase meal coupons and order our food (their version of fast food).
Walked around a supermarket and jaw dropped at the prices… Eg. 1 box of grapes for S$115. Any takers?
And finally to a nearby electronics department store where I bought the English-Japanese dictionary software for my Nintendo DS. Getting to the section to buy that was another set of challenge itself because the electronics store was so big, it had sooooooo many sections and not within one building but all around the streets! Luckily I had my friends who are more fluent in Japanese to help me! That’s when I realized I am so dependent on my Singaporean friends! =x The Nintendo section was big and filled up with interesting games. That’s when I was thinking that Xiangjun will go crazy in the shop! Lol.. especially with the crowd of guys standing outside the shop playing free game demos on the wifi network!
The 3rd day’s early morning at 5am, I met Shane, Yihua and Anne to check out the famous Tsukijishicho (Tsukiji Market).
Interesting place where we missed the live auction of really huge slabs of tuna by 10 minutes as the market was huge and we were trying to find the place.
We kept taking photos of everything! It was really interesting.
And then, for the first time, I had sashimi at 7am in the morning! But it was realllly yummy. My fav dish will be tuna with egg yolk and sesame oil. Totemo oishi desu ne! (Really very delicious!)
In the late evening, I met Rita & her family for drinks and snacks @ a nearby Krispy Kreme! =) I finally fulfilled my promise to visit them in Tokyo. =p
At night, we attended a dinner hosted by the Singapore embassy where all of us ended up smelling like beef as it was a beef tepanyaki restaurant. Food was good but all of us were choking from the smoke… teary eyed welcome dinner. Lol. Check out the before and after photos.
But it was a good gathering.. last night to see each other before we departed for our respective prefectures! Most of us attended the dinner and it was a good catching up opportunity.
And on the 4th day, I bade farewell to my Singaporean friends and headed for Fukuoka prefecture. Thus, if you ask me what’s my impression of Tokyo… I can’t tell you much because I didn’t get to see much.. other than there are lotsa bright lights and people!
Upon arrival in Fukuoka Airport, all of us were bundled off in various cars by our supervisors. My supervisor, Yasuki sensei seems very nice! We spent an hour to drive to my school in KitaQ City and I was introduced to the vice principal etc. Then my supervisor brought me around the neighborhood so that I will memorize the route home and where to buy groceries and we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant which was opened… by Chinese. =)
Then back to my new apartment. Frankly speaking, it looks really old and spooky from the outside. Especially the rusty playground with the lonely tree and the building opp which is due to be torn down and really looks like it’s been abandoned for a long long time. View of the playground from my apartment.
In my building, there’s space for 16 families but to date, we only have around 10 apartments that are used. I do not dare to imagine what lurks in the empty apartments. Yikes!
But on the inside, my apartment is great… comfy bed and air con! That’s enough for me! =p
My apartment is on top of a hill. So it is quite a challenge going up and down the hills which are nicknamed “death hills” by the current ALTs staying in the building. They are all really very steep!! The photos look deceptive!
My school is just beside my apartment… 5 mins down one of the steep death hills and I can reach it pretty fast. This is a view of my school from my balcony.
But it is now summer holidays in Japan and many of the teachers are on leave. Thus, I’ve been just sitting in the staff room and doing reading and typing this. All the teachers will be back by next Monday for extra lessons. Hopefully I can help out more next week!
My neighbors are pretty nice. Just watched Harry Potter 1 again with Lori & Cecilia since we have nothing much to do anyway. Quite funny. I’ve been meeting people and going out for dinner every night since I reached KitaQ. And I have taken express buses, “baby trains”, subways, JR etc… learning in progress but it was all fun and I will need to take some time before I can figure out the complicated train system!
I’ll type more next time… a little tired already. Counting down… 30 more minutes left to stay in the staff room… Can’t wait to get home to meet the internet man who will get my internet up and ready!
I finally found some time to type out a blog entry.
I am settling into my new town pretty well.
It’s been kinda crazy from Tokyo to Fukuoka and to KitaQ with so many new things and experiences that I barely had time to sit down to think.
Tokyo was packed with seminars and workshops where basically, I was stuck in the hotel room. The only time to see Tokyo was during dinner time where we walked out to explore interesting areas, with the help of Xianna for the first night where we checked out Kabuki-cho. This was a street famous for its many lady’s shops. Lol. Kinda realized what I have gotten myself into when we were about to order our dinner and I can’t read the menu! Yvonne had to go over to ask Xianna for help. It was funny. And whatever that came, was not what I had in mind but it was still good. Haha…
So then the next day, it was the start of orientation programme where we reported to our respective prefectures etc etc and attended all the briefings and workshops.. Kinda boring but necessary part of the Tokyo Orientation programme. And here’s my Fukuoka prefecture group photo of the participants in Group B orientation. (There are so many JET participants every year that the orientation programme is divided into 2 main groups so that the logistics will not be so crazy!)
At night I was really dead tired from the workshops! So we only walked around Shinjuku area… had dinner at a shop with a vending machine to purchase meal coupons and order our food (their version of fast food).
Walked around a supermarket and jaw dropped at the prices… Eg. 1 box of grapes for S$115. Any takers?
And finally to a nearby electronics department store where I bought the English-Japanese dictionary software for my Nintendo DS. Getting to the section to buy that was another set of challenge itself because the electronics store was so big, it had sooooooo many sections and not within one building but all around the streets! Luckily I had my friends who are more fluent in Japanese to help me! That’s when I realized I am so dependent on my Singaporean friends! =x The Nintendo section was big and filled up with interesting games. That’s when I was thinking that Xiangjun will go crazy in the shop! Lol.. especially with the crowd of guys standing outside the shop playing free game demos on the wifi network!
The 3rd day’s early morning at 5am, I met Shane, Yihua and Anne to check out the famous Tsukijishicho (Tsukiji Market).
Interesting place where we missed the live auction of really huge slabs of tuna by 10 minutes as the market was huge and we were trying to find the place.
We kept taking photos of everything! It was really interesting.
And then, for the first time, I had sashimi at 7am in the morning! But it was realllly yummy. My fav dish will be tuna with egg yolk and sesame oil. Totemo oishi desu ne! (Really very delicious!)
In the late evening, I met Rita & her family for drinks and snacks @ a nearby Krispy Kreme! =) I finally fulfilled my promise to visit them in Tokyo. =p
At night, we attended a dinner hosted by the Singapore embassy where all of us ended up smelling like beef as it was a beef tepanyaki restaurant. Food was good but all of us were choking from the smoke… teary eyed welcome dinner. Lol. Check out the before and after photos.
But it was a good gathering.. last night to see each other before we departed for our respective prefectures! Most of us attended the dinner and it was a good catching up opportunity.
And on the 4th day, I bade farewell to my Singaporean friends and headed for Fukuoka prefecture. Thus, if you ask me what’s my impression of Tokyo… I can’t tell you much because I didn’t get to see much.. other than there are lotsa bright lights and people!
Upon arrival in Fukuoka Airport, all of us were bundled off in various cars by our supervisors. My supervisor, Yasuki sensei seems very nice! We spent an hour to drive to my school in KitaQ City and I was introduced to the vice principal etc. Then my supervisor brought me around the neighborhood so that I will memorize the route home and where to buy groceries and we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant which was opened… by Chinese. =)
Then back to my new apartment. Frankly speaking, it looks really old and spooky from the outside. Especially the rusty playground with the lonely tree and the building opp which is due to be torn down and really looks like it’s been abandoned for a long long time. View of the playground from my apartment.
In my building, there’s space for 16 families but to date, we only have around 10 apartments that are used. I do not dare to imagine what lurks in the empty apartments. Yikes!
But on the inside, my apartment is great… comfy bed and air con! That’s enough for me! =p
My apartment is on top of a hill. So it is quite a challenge going up and down the hills which are nicknamed “death hills” by the current ALTs staying in the building. They are all really very steep!! The photos look deceptive!
My school is just beside my apartment… 5 mins down one of the steep death hills and I can reach it pretty fast. This is a view of my school from my balcony.
But it is now summer holidays in Japan and many of the teachers are on leave. Thus, I’ve been just sitting in the staff room and doing reading and typing this. All the teachers will be back by next Monday for extra lessons. Hopefully I can help out more next week!
My neighbors are pretty nice. Just watched Harry Potter 1 again with Lori & Cecilia since we have nothing much to do anyway. Quite funny. I’ve been meeting people and going out for dinner every night since I reached KitaQ. And I have taken express buses, “baby trains”, subways, JR etc… learning in progress but it was all fun and I will need to take some time before I can figure out the complicated train system!
I’ll type more next time… a little tired already. Counting down… 30 more minutes left to stay in the staff room… Can’t wait to get home to meet the internet man who will get my internet up and ready!
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