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 | May 21, 2007 | Holidays/Special Events, Scenery, Video, Wakakusa
If there’s one thing that Wakakusa English teachers will tell you about this program, it’s that you never know what amazing opportunities will come your way, and this past week was a great example. This Tuesday, 30 delegates from the city of Mansfield ,...
by Jen Costanzo | Apr 3, 2007 | Friends, Wakakusa
About 7 months ago, we bade farewell to dear family and friends and travelled 6000 miles away. Since that time, God has brought many new friends into our lives. We wish we could have a big party and introduce all our friends to each other! However, in lieu of that,...
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 | Feb 13, 2007 | Culture, Holidays/Special Events, Wakakusa
Last week we had one of the nicest surprises of our time here. Turns out that every year, the city of Tamura throws a big party to welcome all the foreigners from the surrounding areas. It’s called Heart-To-Heart, and it was a total blast. Besides all the fun...
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 | 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...
by Mike Costanzo | Oct 1, 2006 | Holidays/Special Events, Wakakusa
Today was possibly the biggest and most important day of the year at Wakakusa Kindergarten: the annual Kindergarten Sports Fest ( Undokai ). This is the day when all of the parents (who either never visit the school or usually only come to the school long enough to...
by Mike Costanzo | Sep 18, 2006 | Wakakusa
Many of you may have noticed that in the past month we’ve been posting lots of pictures of us, of our team, of local scenery, etc. But so far, we haven’t posted any pictures of our employers, and especially of Mr. Maki (we call him Encho-sensei), the...
by Jen Costanzo | Aug 19, 2006 | Day-to-Day, Wakakusa
We’re here! Yay! We arrived safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon. We were greeted at the airport by our employer and his wife. We stopped for our first official Japanese meal on the way home from the airport, and then were greeted at the school by the entire...
by Mike Costanzo | Aug 9, 2006 | Wakakusa
Well, here we are in the beautiful town of Mansfield, OH, just starting out week 2 of our two-week Japan orientation. What’s it like so far? Just like the rest of our life has been these past few weeks: crazy good!!! The first day we were here we got our own...
