by Mike Costanzo | Mar 11, 2008 | Mike, Teaching, Wakakusa
This past Friday, I (Mike) had my best day ever since coming to Japan. It was my last day of teaching at Takine Elementary School. Now pretty much every time I teach at an Elementary School, I have what I call an “Edward Bloom” day—a day where you get to...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 15, 2007 | Holidays/Special Events, Missions, Teaching
For the most part, opportunities to talk about God or share one’s faith are rare in the job of an ALT. The reason has less to do with religion in public schools (many students have Shinto charms on their bags or pencases) than it does with the fact that everyone...
by Mike Costanzo | Oct 28, 2007 | Teaching, Video
Last year, Jen and I attended Takine Junior High School’s school festival . Even though it was on a Sunday, we decided to go, partially because that was the expectation, and partially because we kept hearing about how important this event is to the students. But...
by Mike Costanzo | Sep 24, 2007 | Missions, Teaching
Yesterday was Shuubun no Hi (the Autumnal Equinox, one of the two days in the year when the day and night are equal in length). These two days, together with Obon (the day when the spirits of departed ancestors supposedly return to earth) mark the three biggest days...
by Mike Costanzo | Jul 20, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Teaching
Today was the last day of classes before Tamura City’s summer break, which goes until August 26th or so. Thus, I (Mike) am officially on vacation, but Jen’s Wakakusa classes will run for another week, and resume on the 15th–bummer! 🙁 Over summer...
by Mike Costanzo | Jun 3, 2007 | Holidays/Special Events, Missions, Teaching
Today we had our long-awaited Easter Program, and praise God, it was a smashing success!!! Thanks to all of you who prayed for this event; everything went smoother than we ever thought possible. There were no accidents, no major spills of Easter Egg dye, nobody got...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 30, 2007 | Jen, Teaching, Wakakusa
Although junior high classes have been over since last Friday, Jen’s Wakakusa English School classes went through this past Tuesday. This made for a crazy few days for our Jen; not only did she have end-of-the-school-year reports to write, but she also had to...
by Jen Costanzo | Mar 22, 2007 | Teaching, Video, Wakakusa
This past Monday, the kindergarten where I sometimes teach English held their annual graduation ceremony. The day found me reflecting wistfully on my own childhood. My own Kindergarten photo is below. Can you tell where I am? (Incidentally, I think you can click on...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 16, 2007 | Holidays/Special Events, Teaching
As we mentioned in our last entry, April is the month of new beginnings, and March is the month of conclusions and endings. Well, it’s also the month for graduation ceremonies, and for us English teachers that means a lot of sad goodbyes. You see, in Japan, you...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 16, 2007 | Mike, Teaching
Yes, as many of you already know (and the rest of you have already figured out by reading the title line), the Japanese school year is finally drawing to a close. It will resume again in April, the month of new beginnings (and the month where the sakura (cherry...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 3, 2007 | Mike, Teaching
When I (Mike) first arrived at Takine Junior High School (my primary school), I have to admit that I had a hard time fitting in. In fact, for the first couple of months, I didn’t really feel like I connected with anyone (teachers or students), and when I would...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 18, 2007 | Scenery, Teaching
So far, Jen and I have been pretty lucky weather-wise this winter–this has been an unusually warm season. All the locals have been going on and on about how much warmer it’s been than it last year (which was one of the coldest winters for years). So our...
by Jen Costanzo | Feb 1, 2007 | Cooking, Jen, Teaching
This month, I’ve been singing the song “Peanut… Peanut Butter… and JELLY” with my 6th grade students. So, on Monday we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together. The kids did great spreading the peanut butter. And of course the...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 27, 2007 | Mike, Teaching
Hello, world. Mike here. Thought I would take you on a little mini-tour of my day yesterday. Come along, now, come along… The day started with an unexpected trip to the Wakakusa English School to pick up teaching materials. After said materials were in hand, I...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 24, 2007 | Japanese Food, Teaching
One of the perks of working at a public Junior High School is the school lunch. In America, from what I remember, public school lunches were nothing special, just the same old mass-produced, high-fat content stuff over and over again (pizza, corn dogs, fries,...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 20, 2007 | Mike, Teaching, Wakakusa
Today I (Mike) would like to share a few random snapshots from the wild and occasionally wonderful world of Teaching English In Japan. Firstly, I’d like to take you on a brief multimedia whirlwind tour what it’s like to teach in Mike’s school. To...
by Jen Costanzo | Dec 17, 2006 | Cooking, Holidays/Special Events, Teaching
THE LAST OF THE BIG PARTIES This afternoon, our house was filled with the sounds of kid’s laughter, and the smell of melted marshmallows. Mike and I had my fourth grade students over for a Christmas party, and we kept them busy from start to finish. We played...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 8, 2006 | Missions, Teaching
Today I (Mike) taught at Hirose Elementary School, and before I went into work, I prayed–a lot. Today was a wonderful and perhaps unique opportunity to share a little bit about Jesus– in school . This week’s syllabus requested that I ” talk...
by Mike Costanzo | Oct 28, 2006 | Holidays/Special Events, Teaching
Last Sunday was Takine Jr. High’s school festival. Apparently, every Japanese school has one of these, and they’re big deals. So we were excited to be able to see what all the hype was about. Jen was allowed to come both days, and got to meet the principal...
by Jen Costanzo | Oct 6, 2006 | Jen, Teaching, Wakakusa
Hey there! It’s Jen — I’m finally getting a chance to write a little bit about my new job here in Japan! I teach 10 English classes to kids of all different ages. Shown here is one of my second grade classes. They are a fun bunch! I use a...
