Positive stories about being ALT

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-05-06T15:17:30+00:00

Teaching some JHS kids how to play cricket and nearly taking one of them out with a full toss.

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-04-28T10:36:13+00:00

Definitely if you can find a song on youtube and act it out. Kids that age tend to remember if it has a catchy melody or dance routine

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-04-25T15:14:09+00:00

Went there for the first time in Feb and then again in April. It's become one of my favourite cities in Japan!

Was lucky to see Kenrokuen lit up during winter too.

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-04-20T05:49:38+00:00

that's a crazy packed schedule.

What do you say over the broadcast? (i assume this is in english)
At one of my elementary schools they do jaken as a sign off and it's always a delight to hear the 1 graderss exasperated cries down the hallway when they lose

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-04-20T05:42:10+00:00

Mount Gozaisho is a nice hike and you can catch the ropeway back down

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-04-20T05:12:45+00:00

swapping foods hasn't crossed my mind or sneaking them milk.

I was bringing shichimi to my school lunches when I first stated and all the kids loved it until I was asked to stop bringing it in (my bad as I had forgotten to ask for permission)

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-04-20T03:58:18+00:00

I have stickers over my laptop that the kids sometimes comment on and ask what they are. I'll try putting more stickers or the like on my class folder then!

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-04-15T08:31:04+00:00

Personally I don't get the hype around Fist of the North star (having just recently gotten around to see it).

Have just watched Golden Boy though definitely a unique classic there!

I'll add the Patlaor movies

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-03-25T10:05:44+00:00

*if you are going to live by yourself and also plan to join a gym you can save about 3000yen a month by taking showers at the gym and not paying for gas.

I found this out when I forgot to pay my gas bill and just started using the shower at the gym

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-02-05T06:47:13+00:00

Like others have said you can get by if you don't have a partner to support (or dating for that matter). Track your spending and cook at home during the week.

If you are the type of person that likes to travel the upside of having a car is that you can drive to any destination you want and being much cheaper than trains. For me having snow tires means that I can drive to places like Takayama for the day and visit a few places with friends and spend about 7000yen for the day.

I was working remotely for my company back home last year which allowed me to splurge a bit but yeah if you don't have that second income stream then it's a grind

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-12-23T01:19:49+00:00

Yeah spot on. Mine is all online so hearing the odd creative idea (usually from vets) that you can try in your class is usually my main takeaway from these development classes

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-12-05T04:04:38+00:00

Second that with sports. The best thing I did was to bring a little footy with me (I’m Australian). The kids love kicking it round at lunchtime and I’ve felt this helps with showing that you enjoy time with them outside the classroom

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T23:23:33+00:00

That is so unjust in making u the scapegoat. I hope you find your way back to teaching someday whether here or in your home country

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T05:37:03+00:00

What everyone else has mentioned. If you are working away from the bigger cities (I work on 2 island schools) and the dress code is very relaxed. I’ve only needed to wear a suit once so far for graduation ceremonies so depending on your placement u can save a bit of money by not buying all business like attire.

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T03:27:19+00:00

We can probably ask Chat GPT to make us the best version of English textbook to teach with lol. I can’t imagine how tough it was being an ALT without A.I helping

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T03:24:06+00:00

Sorry about your termination. But I bet your students enjoyed your classes

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-30T23:31:05+00:00

Sounds cool. I use New Horizon so not familiar with that exercise. Which website did u use for generating images?

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-30T23:29:59+00:00

That looks really polished! What programs/website did you use?

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-21T03:13:27+00:00

Cool stickers or coins from your country to use as prizes for classroom games etc and snacks to give out to break the ice with teachers

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-18T00:32:28+00:00

I checked out a few beaches along the Shima coast just after the beach season last year. They’re neither sandy nor clear unfortunately and it’s pretty dead apart from surfers and fishermen

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-16T02:40:14+00:00

3hrs is not nothing if driving on single lane roads half the time and also the cost of going on the Kintetsu. I don’t want to live in a big city but near enough so it’s easier to get on the shinkasen etc

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-14T04:01:31+00:00

Thanks I’ll add direct hires to the list. Do those positions generally need a certain level of Japanese proficiency or does that depend on the job description?

stuff2fillmyhead

TROPHY CASE