Graduation Speech: Desk Warming

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Today I’ll be writing about something different. I don’t usually blog about my job, and if I do it’s usually very positive things either raving about how awesome it is to live and work in Japan or how fun my students are. All of those things are beyond true but of course everything can’t just be roses and butterflies right? There are also pitfalls.

What is Desk Warming?

I feel like recently I’ve been trapped in the typical ALT conundrum: desk warming. Desk warming is basically just sitting at your desk with nothing to do. This happens mostly during Summer, where all of our students have a full month of summer vacation but the teachers still have to come in (one thing I still never understand about Japan’s schooling system). If your a privately contracted ALT, you’ll most likely …show more content…

This one is great if you’ve been siting in front of a mountain of papers and books. Besides organizing your desk you can go even deeper and color code your team teaching lessons with different colored files and so on. I also tend to clean around the teachers room when I have nothing to do and am bothered by the grimy sink or disgusting cabinet that hasn’t been dusted in years. Your co-workers will really appreciate the help and you’ll most likely get comments like “ERAI!” “ARIGAOU” “SUGOI” which is a confidence booster and a way to talk to some co-workers you may not have been able to talk with before.

Tip 5: Plan/Do Your Own Creative Endeavor. I think for the most part, the reason why I blog is because I desk warm so much, and blogging has actually become a passion of mine. I don’t think I would have even found this creative outlet if it hadn’t been for nothing to do. Desk warming is a perfect time to find yourself. To find exactly where you want to be and what you want to do now or in the future. If you want to be a writer, why not write as much as you can every day? If you want to go into business why not take a course online and learn about