Back to school: Returning to ALT duties after Summer Vacation
- Chloe Cheng
- Oct 10
- 4 min read
I can remember that first day back at school dread like it was yesterday. Over the whole Summer holiday, that one day when my freedom would be snatched away loomed in the distance like a dark cloud.
I never really considered what it meant for my teachers.
Maybe I presumed they’d be happy to be back at school, seeing my lovely face every morning.
(This was definitely not the case.)
I now know that the gut-wrenching dread of the start of term is equally severe for students and teachers alike.
Most of my post-summer vacation anxiety upon returning to school was centred around finding my feet again, rather than the actual teaching aspect of my job.
As much as I'd hoped to learn the entire Japanese language through osmosis over the course of the summer, I was unfortunately unsuccessful. This meant two things:
It would still be a massive challenge to communicate with my co-workers beyond a brief and somewhat awkward semi-bow.
I'd still be in the dark about a multitude of events, assemblies, and evacuation drills since I can't read the notices in the staffroom.
The more time I spent away from school, the more I worried about having to start from step one again. It took a while for the staff and students to warm to me when I first arrived; what if they'd somehow forgotten I'd ever existed over the summer?
In a perfect universe, I'd be typing something here along the lines of 'I walked into school and everyone broke into applause for their favourite teacher's return'.
In truth, walking back through the school entrance felt alien to me all over again, like I'd stepped off my spaceship and landed bang-slap in the middle of a beehive.
One thing that hasn't changed over the break is how often students (especially in younger grades) will come up to me outside of class and spurt rapid Japanese sentences like I’m another one of their chums.
Not only am I:
A) not allowed to speak any Japanese back to them, but
B) I don’t understand or speak any Japanese, and
C) even if I did, I’m not sure I’d want to know what they’re saying half the time.
If I'm lucky, some students attempt to use some questionable English phrases when they catch me in the corridor, but it's usually disjointed internet jargon from whatever meme is currently circling.
I can't believe I really thought I was 'down with the kids', but at every turn, this job reminds me that I am, in fact, old and hopelessly out of touch with the trends of the virtual universe.
Also, teaching is absolutely knackering.
On average, I teach four lessons a day. Though this often reaches five or six. On my luckiest days, I have just two.
Coming into this job, I’d have thought that sounded like a breeze, but having to be on your feet for six gruelling hours, projecting your voice and using wild gestures like you’re a circus clown, really takes a toll on your body.
When I’m not teaching, I’m hand-making worksheets, planning classes, marking tests, making flashcards, or I’m being asked in very broken English to take pictures of the fifth graders hammering a sign into the playground (yes, this happened, and no, I never found out what it was for).
Each day brings a new mystery, and I’ve had to learn to adapt to the circumstances and be ready for anything.
Some days I’ll walk into school to find that two of my lessons have been cancelled. The next day, four lessons will have been brought forward by a day.
The day after that, there will be an intruder evacuation practice whilst I’m in the middle of teaching, and all the male teachers run past the windows with big, long sticks, whilst the kids huddle under their desks and giggle - I really wish I’d have known that one was coming.
Just the other day, two ginormous bouncy balls arrived in the playground during recess, and apparently, they're to do with sports day...
To be honest, I've learnt not to bat an eyelid at this point. I've seen stranger, and I'm sure I'll see even stranger.
Despite how I've made this whole post sound, I am still very much enjoying the experience of teaching here in Japan.
It brings a fair few challenges, but it has also been the most rewarding and heart-warming time.
I still feel like a bit of a celebrity walking down the hallway, especially at my kindergarten placement; it's definitely a nice way to be greeted.
It's bonkers to think I'm officially over halfway through my year in Japan. I already know I'm going to struggle saying goodbye to my school and all the staff and students who have made me feel so welcome.
The good definitely outweighs the bad here, and I know I'll look back fondly on this experience in years to come. But rather than skipping ahead too far, I'm eager to dive into this next semester and see how much more I can grow as a teacher.
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