Saturdays!

(Beware: This is a bit of a rant!)

Back sometime in March or April, I wrote about having to work on Saturdays and how I wasn't looking forward to it. Some people commented that I should give it a chance as having Monday off is kind of a good trade sometimes. I'd like to say that my initial misgivings have been proven completely correct.

My Saturday routine: wake up at 6am, leave house by 6:25. Catch a 6:45 train. Ride train (primarily standing) for about 1 hour and 25 minutes. Walk to the convenience store and buy breakfast (usually bready thing, veggie juice and a small energy drink). Complete the walk to school. Arrive at 8ish. Eat breakfast. Plan lesson and make printouts for the lesson. Teach from 10 until noon. Eat lunch (bought at now open grocery store). Plan lesson for next class. Teach from 1:30-3:20. After class, try to sneak out since there is no more work OR be forced to stay until 5pm.

So, it may sound like I'm making a big deal out of nothing. The main problem is that in Japan there are many 3 day weekends built into the work calendar. I haven't had a 3-day weekend since I started working. I haven't even had a 2 day weekend because I teach a night class at a university on Mondays and the Monday holidays during the year don't count for my class. When you have no three day weekends or even very many two day weekends, it's awfully hard to plan a nice weekend away. With friends. With your boyfriend. With anyone! Recharging my "batteries" is nearly impossible because there just isn't the time.

I just needed to get all that off my chest! I only have a few more months (until March) of this schedule. I will be SO ready to be done with it when the time comes!!

Hope everyone else is having a lovely day!