Learning how to teach after quitting the job as a teacher

Today, in the morning, I worked in my field. When it comes to growing vegetables in this autumn season, there is not much thing remaining. But I still have one thing to do. That is to plant onion’s seedlings and garlic’s bulbs. In order to plant them, I need to make one more ridge in the field. It will be five meter long; three meters for onions and two meters for garlic. What is tough is to get rid of roots of weeds from the place for the ridge and furrow. Since the place had been untouched for two years, now weeds’ roots in the ground are like spaghetti.

I worked in the field from 8 to 9:30 am. and then I got shower. From 10, I was watching a DVD that is about teaching Japanese as a second language. Actually, I had brought those DVD with me to the campus during the years I was teaching in a university. Watching the DVD today, I regret that I should have watched while I was teaching in the university. There are a lot of tips for teachers to teach a foreign language. For example, there is a concept of MMC for beginner’s level; the first M is mechanical training, the second M stands for meaningful training, and C for communicative activities. Did I do that? Usually, I didn’t extend my teaching to communicative activities. And there was no clear distinction between mechanical and meaningful trainings in my teaching. I would like to improve my teaching skill, but I don’t see any chance to apply improvements to my teaching in the future. I have already retired from the job as a Japanese teacher.

I had planned to go shopping in the afternoon. But it was hot like 34 Celsius degrees. So, I didn’t go to a supermarket, but continued to watch the DVD about teaching Japanese in the afternoon. I practiced my piano from 4 to 5 pm, cooked a supper from 5, had the supper at 6:30, and then I went shopping. I got back home at 8 pm, and started writing this.

What I Bought Tonight

Walking along Rice Fields in Niigata Plain in Early September

The mountain is Kakuda-yama whose altitude is 482 meters.

As the rice grows, the top becomes downward due to the weight.

People always say that Japan is small. But I think the Niigata Plain is very wide area.

Red cockscombs are blooming by the Rice field. Farmers like to plant flowers at the spare area.

The train has only 2 cars, because it is a local train in rural area.

My Residence in the Campus; I had left there in July

I can’t get things in the past back. Most of the memory is just in my head. Some are still vivid, some have disappeared already. But here are some digital photos which I took in September 2019. I just upload them, because I haven’t been outside today due to rain nor took any photos.

Residence for International Students and Foreign Teachers

Living Room

Kitchen

Washing Machine and Bathroom

Bed room

Office

Though I hadn’t lived there for three and a half years because of the Pandemic, the rooms were mine for six years. While I was a Japanese company employee, I had moved so many times from city to city with interval of two to three years. So, six years in one place is a long experience in my life.

I think I was privileged because there was an air-conditioner in my bed room. We had many hot days in June and July. But unfortunately, there is no air-conditioner in the rooms of student’s dormitory. I feel sorry about that.

40-Minute Walk under the Strong Sunshine in the Afternoon

Trumpet Flower(ノウゼンカズラ)

It is better to lock me up in the air-conditioned room, but I just wanted to check my bank accounts. Where I live is a small town, so, there are a few financial institutions only, like a bank, credit union, post office, and Agricultural Association. I picked up two deposit passbooks, and headed to two places in order to print the record onto the passbooks. It was just to insert the books into an automatic teller machine (ATM).

Crape Myrtle Flower(サルスベリ)

On the way back, I walked a path along riverbank, though it was a detour to my home. There was a small Shinto shrine. There are some shrines in my small town. They were the playground for kids when I was a child a half century ago. I don’t believe Shinto, but I admit that Shinto shrine (Jinja) is deeply rooted in Japanese psyche, tradition, and habit.

Big Tree at Shrine

Tree Trunk

The explanation board in the Shrine says the shrine was established in 1639. Probably that big tree has also been standing there for centuries.

Can’t see well due to backlight

Night Shopping; I walked all the way, Carrying Foods

The highest temperature was 32 Celsius today. It was 4 degrees lower than yesterday. Still it was hot, but looking at weather forecast, it seems that the highest temperatures from today are going to be slightly lower than that in August and until yesterday.

In the morning today, I had planned to go to a supermarket to buy food in the afternoon. But it was still hot and sunlight was strong in the afternoon. So, I changed my mind and decided to go shopping in the night as usual.

I got out of my house after the supper. The night air was cool. I felt good. In the supermarket, I found that bread and pork were already sold-out. I thought I was going to bake pancake tomorrow morning instead of bread, and I bought a little more expensive beef instead of pork.

The distance from the supermarket to my house is 1.3 kilometer, a little shorter than one mile. I hung two carry-bags from my both shoulders, and walked all the way home. I got to my home a little before 8pm.

Pictures of Five Years Ago; It seems to have had a Rainfall

I have got another hot day today. Highest temperature of the day was 35 Celsius degrees. I worked in my garden at 5 a.m. and planted seeds of green vegetable this morning, but other than that, I had spent most of the time in house, turning on the air conditioner.

Since some of my students take a look at this blog, I think it would be better for me to take pictures and upload them so that my students could know what my current life is like. But it was too hot to go outside to take pictures these days. The followings are photos that I took five years ago.

Main Dish of Breakfast on August 30, 2020

Two Tomato

Zinnia Flower after Rain

Morning Glory that is close to the Original Species

Swallowtail Butterfly

Pictures of Ten Years Ago; Rice Fields were Turning to be Yellow

Month of September started today. But I didn’t take any pictures today, so, I just upload pictures that I took ten years ago. It’s not exactly 10 years ago, because I took the following pictures on September 3rd in 2015.

I saw Lotus Flowers in the Pond that is Located Northeast of the Campus

Today’s post is not about today, but about what I saw in the last days of my staying in the campus. At that time, I walked around the campus and took a lot of pictures. There is a pond at the northeast of the campus. When I went there on July 14th, I saw some lotus flowers.

Tomorrow is the first day of the school year 2025-2026. I just imagine that Japanese major students whom I know are coming to the classroom as they did in the last semester.

Very Few Sprouts Came out from Cabbage Seeds; Germination Rate was POOR

I planted seeds of cabbage ten days ago. But I was disappointed by the result. As shown in the photo, I got very few sprouts. Although I want to plant those sprouts in my garden, they are insufficient in number.

Cabbage Seeds Resulted in Poor Germination Rate

So, I went to a different shop today, and bought another package of cabbage seeds. It costed 440 JPY, not cheap. I hope this time I could get more sprouts.

Not having been posting for Three Weeks; my students no longer take a look at My Blog

I hadn’t written a blog post for three weeks from 4th to 24th this month. During those days, I was making a system of microphone, amplifier, and speaker so that my mother can talk to me from the first floor to the second floor in my house. Making it from the scratch is impossible. I just connected several circuits that were already assembled.

Not only because I was making this, but I had to get rid of weeds and to cultivate the soil in the garden, and I had to bear the severe heat of the level of disaster. These are the reasons why I could not post anything these three weeks.

And I realized that I had lost viewers from the country where my students are. From coming Monday, they are going to the classroom again. But they will not see me there. I am wondering if some of them would remember me, or just forget because I will not be there.