Another Invader... Takuro... started the hat trend! 

The Great Debate!

"We're thinking of getting pink hats," said the track captain at my junior high... this one statement sparked the great debate!

That day I tried to convince the guys (yes, you heard right - the boys!) that pink was a weak color... remember pink = fluffy bunnies, rainbows and unicorns...

Well, yesterday, the debate raged on... So, instead of me trying to convince the boys that pink is weak... we went for the polling method... all teachers and students (particularly boys) were subjected to the question "好きな色は何ですか？" (what color do you like?) and then "ピンクは好きですか?" (do you like pink?) It was great... the more I asked boys, the more weird "Of course I don't like pink" faces I got!! Until after about 10 minutes... when I asked the Assistant Kendo Captain... and Ken responded with a resounding "NO!!"

I wheeled around and yelled "ピンク負けた!!" Meaning... pink loses!! Which was still greeted with some objections... but HOLY COW was it funny!!

Anyway... it's been settled officially... but watch... I'll be harassed about pink again this coming week!!

I LOVE OUR NEW KOCHO!!!

I've just had the most encouraging "talk" with our new kocho-sensei (principal). He was walking past my desk and spur-of-the-moment like asked if I was busy. I said no and followed him to his office... wondering what this was all about.

He proceded to ask how many classes I have a week... and I said that today and yesterday I'll have 5. Was still unsure as to where the conversation was headed... turns out he things that I should be teaching a LOT more and he's going to talk to the English teachers about getting into more classes!! How COOL!! I came out of that impromptu meeting with the biggest grin you've ever seen!!

What a good day!?:^)

An Invader... surely shouldn't be this cute!!! Should he??? And he's wearing MY hat!  

INVASION!!!

Yesterday, after clubs were over, the expected shout of "ALISHA!!" came as per normal. This time there were more kids... and they INVADED!! While I was showing SOME of them my garden... 4 others were hiding in my genkan! Holy cow!! I opened the door... surprised the pants off them... and was then greeted with "ojamashimasu" (which is the typical thing Japanese people say when entering a house... means "sorry, I'm being a pain!") and off they went to inspect my house.

Well, just like curious kids... they went everywhere... even though I told them that my house was a MESS!! And it is... partly because I'm moving... and partly because I've been lazy.

Everything was "sugoi!" to them... I don't think they've ever seen the inside of a house that wasn't run in a Japanese manner. Obviously there were some things that were VERY Japanese, like the wa-fu rooms upstairs... but the fact that there were pictures on the walls and a computer (Yasushi LOVED that!!) just blew them away.

Man, I LOVE Japanese kids... I would LOVE for these guys to come visit my home in Alaska... it'd blow their minds!! Haha! I LOVE JAPAN!!

Sunny Days...

Today is going down as one of my BEST days in Japan ever!! Even though I didn't teach a single class!

Yesterday when I was at elementary school one of the kyoto's said there was sports day... fastforward to today around 2nd period. BORED!!! So, I walked home, got on my bike and headed for the festivities! How fun... the kids were going nuts... and I got to see all sorts of little kids doing track events... and even joined in the cheering (Ike, ike, ike, ike yon sho!!) and took loads of silly pics. Then I went home for lunch, but decided to come back for the last events... the tug-o-war and the relays. My fave sho (shhhh, don't tell!!), 4sho, won the tug of war... and two of the four relays! WAHOO!!

During that time I was majorly distracted by two of my fave kids younger brother. He's 3 and has more energy than any kid I've ever seen!! I didn't mind chasing after him at all... was a pleasure.

Then I came back to junior high to finish the day... with a warm welcome from my boys (the student council pres included!)... I got into a conversation with about 10 of my boys about the color pink. Now this all came about because my track and field captain said they might be getting hats that color before the big meet next month. I expressed some distress at that point and had to settle on telling them that pink is a weak color to convey my meaning (I couldn't translate that pink makes me think of rainbows, unicorns and fluffy bunnies!!).

All in all the sports day and the talking with my kids today just made the day worth it! Hope you had a great day too!

Averting boredom...

That's the goal for today... I don't have a single class today, but one of my kyoto-senseis told me about elementary school sports day that's going on today. I may have to make an appearance.
:-)
Then I have to try to find a place to live in Hawaii next year AND find some way of funding my stay in Hawaii as well. Wheee!! Wish me luck, things will come together but it'll take some serious planning!

A better ending...

So, yesterday I was bored out of my mind... but luckily the day ended on a good note!!

I got home yesterday, flopped down on my bed to relax and do a bit of reading... when all of a sudden I heard "ALISHA!!" I poked my head out my window and there were two first year kendo boys standing there. So, from my window we had a mini-conversation and then they decided they wanted to come IN my house... well, that's a no-go because it looks like a tornado has hit!

I rushed down the stairs and held them off... but then we got to chatting about random stuff: the English test today, English in general, girls, etc. It was very enlightening!! :-) They also thought my garden was something to be reckoned with... the enormous amount of mint that I have growing intrigued them (it was all my predecessor's doing!!) and Mizuki grabbed some to take home. Haha!

Anyway, after the incredibly BORING day I'd had... it was so much fun! Hope ya'll are having a great day. :-)

shoot me - please!

Today... this is a chronicle of what I've done...

- came to work to find my desk a complete MESS! cleaned desk (took 5 minutes or so)
- looked at schedule, which showed that there are two days this week in which I will have not one single class (today is one of those days)
- wish I were at Tachikawa this week
- stare into space
- find that the internet is up... check email and news (takes about 25 minutes)
- update cover letter to send to Interac
- look up housing options for Hawaii
- get bored and angry (angry because at least at Tachikawa I would be bored... but I'd also be in class!!)
- somewhere between the staring and anger was lunch
- more staring...
- a tiny bit of Japanese study
- and I'll have at least one more class period to TRY to figure out something to do (read: will continue to stare into space...)

DOOM!!! Death! Distruction!

Weekend Review!

This weekend was a good one... not overly busy, but not boring either.

Friday, I caught up on TV at Lauren's as kendo was cancelled that night we got an earlier start on it than usual.

Saturday, I got up at the buttcrack of dawn (which on a Saturday is around 7) to take my car for an oil and tire change. My car is very happy with me because both were LONG overdue. Then Lauren and I headed to Sakata for a MEGA kendo tournament. The Fujishima girls ended up in the final... losing to Yuza (my Tachikawa girls lost to Yuza in the previous round) and both our boys teams lost to Yuza as well (her boys in the semis and mine in the final). Both of us couldn't help thinking... DOWN WITH YUZA!!!! I also got the distinct pleasure of seeing A LOT of my former students play... Crazy Seiya was the lead off man for his school and almost the entire Sakata East high school team were former students of mine. Was really cool!
After kendo I was determined to get the CD player finally put in my car... and now I'm in love!! Why I didn't do it sooner you ask?? Because normal gas stations (that do oil changes and everything) won't actually put a stereo in a car. I've tried to get them... but to no avail.
Lauren and I went to Kim and Peter's for a little driving test meeting and then headed to karaoke...

Sunday, I watched baseball (my boys ROCK!!) and then went to a beautiful Japanese garden and sushi with the Ota's. Man, I LOVE sushi!! It was amazing... I just wish I had a sushi buddy...

There's the weekend... hope yours was good too!

BTW... I found out that I was accepted to the Univ. of Hawaii. Cross your fingers for a tuition waiver!

Coup d'etat!

All week I've been struggling with one thing: how can I save my kids from being turned off English because they're teacher is boring them to tears (among other things...)? Well, I figured it out... it's all about being a BOYSCOUT!! Always be prepared!! I came to school OVERLY prepared for school... and when it came to his plan, I just kept suggesting other (read: better) things to do in class. And for the first time this week... I've felt like I've scored a major victory. Now, if I can help keep this momentum up through the weeks when I'm the absentee teacher... (change back to my base school starting monday) Wish me tons of luck... I'm going to need it if I want to pull off another coup like I did today! :-)

STRESS... it's a killer!*

And don't I know that's the truth! Yesterday was probably one of my most stressful days in Japan yet! EEEEK! I taught a 3nensei class that was absolutely a BOMB. Oh man... and it wasn't my fault. My teacher (who will renamed un-named) took the text, flew over the bit that could have been interesting (speaking practice) and moved right into the boring grammar (for 25 minutes!!). While both Tomomi-sensei and I stod by in SHOCK! We couldn't believe what he'd just done...

At Hayashi's later in the afternoon, I prattled on about how I didn't know how to save English for my kids... because this teacher is killing it... and not in a nice quiet way, OH NO!, he's killing it by making it as boring as possible... and eventually it will just die. I'm freaking out because the kids that loved English last year are quickly losing any interest in the subject at all. We've fought to make the English program a good one... and now it's dying... anyway... I just needed a vent before I went in to wage war today! Have a good one.

*Lauren, where's the quote from??

HELP!!!

Am dying for ANY advice... I've gotten good advice so far, but I need a bit more. Here's the scenario: I have to work with a teacher who has two problems (big ones anyway) he patronizes his students and his students hate him... oh, and the fact that he has absolutely NO talent for teaching...

Now, I'm doing everything I can to try to reverse his effect on his students... but it only works about half the time. And I'm not at the school everyday... PROBLEM!! How can I combat his ability to KILL English for his students?? Any ideas?? Suggestions?? Anything!?!

And the Winner of the First Annual, Tachikawa SLANGfest is...

Today Tomomi and I were trying to figure out more interesting ways to say that you've had fun than "That was great!" or "I had fun!" And we decided that I should introduc basic slang... all with the meaning of having had fun.

We got to class and got started with a ROUSING game of shiritori (a game where you begin with a word and the last letter of tha word must begin the next word... etc etc etc) and then we started on the slang. Now... if you've ever been in a Japanese junior high classroom you know what I mean when I say that sometimes... kids lack enthusiasm... and at times it's even hard to get them to depart from monotone.

So, I'd had it... we were going to get this kids to put feeling into what they were saying if it's the last thing I did... so, row by row I made it a contest... the liveliest person in each row won the chance to get in front of the class and get judged by their peers. We had 3 boys and 2 girls... as an aside... one boy is actually a student from China, his mom is married to a Japanese man, and he has the best pronunciation of ANY of my students...

so it came down to the wire... TAKUYA is the winner, with "That's COOL!" I have to say I wasn't quite in agreement, mainly because Ryu (chinese kid) has better pronunciation, but I guess I'm the only one who can hear it! :-)

the weekend review...

After much anticipation... and more than one attempt to post this... here it is!

Friday: I had a great day! I was back at Tachikawa... that school is like my second home... being there just feels more natural than Amarume. Shhhhhh! It's a secret!
After school, I took a nap and got ready for kendo. But when I walked over there with all my gear... there was no kendo. Boo! Was quite bummed, but that did mean I got to spend some time getting ready for a party that a fellow teacher was having.
Lauren and I showed up sometime around 9:30... and left around 11. It wasn't that the party wasn't fun... it's that we've grown out of those kind of parties. Sitting around drinking and trying to make mindless conversation isn't as much fun as it once was. So... we ditched as soon as we could politely do so... and another girl ditched with us too... she needed to get home in the morning and my town has a station.

Saturday: Lauren and I got up around 9 to go watch basketball... there was a big practice tournament in my town. My team's pretty good and there were a bunch of teams from around Shonai and then there were teams from other places in northern Japan as well. My boys did fairly well... tying a team they should have beaten (grrrr.. they led th WHOLE game!!!). Then I saw my Tachikawa team... last week one of the boys told me that Tachikawa was a really weak team... but I only half believed him. Apparently he was right, because their team only came to help... to watch and to keep score!! Poor babies... gotta love that... how precious! Around 1 we left... because we had ALT sports day!

Saturday afternoon, in beautiful weather, we had an ALT sports day. Played ultimate and soccer. Now, I'm not a huge fan of ultimate... but I actually had fun. Soccer was fun as well... but I didn't get to play my position... bummer! After the soccer, we headed to an onsen (we were stinky... and sore! a nice hot bath will fix that!) and then on to the indoor events... pool and bowling. I was realy off on the pool... but I did manage to win one game. Ian shot the 8 ball in... and boy did I relish my victory... I jumped up and down and said "I won, I won!" I couldn't help myself. After that, Lauren and I had a date with Orlando... so cut out early.

If you get a chance, go see Kingdom of Heaven... I really enjoyed it, not just because there was beautiful scenery. It makes you think about things today... a little bit anyway.

After the movie we dropped in on the music party that was completely packed!! So we stayed for a little while (15 minutes or less!) and headed out again... only hitch... one of my shoes had managed to go missing. Now, this may sound crazy... but there were a LOT of shoes and we scoured them over and over... I seriously thought I was losing my mind... until someone came back inside... with MY SHOE!!! He'd worn two different shoes out... baka!! But at least I wasn't crazy. :-)

Sunday: I woke up early to head to a baseball game. My Tachikawa boys were playing baseball from 9 in the morning. So I headed up there... I got there a bit after 9. But was excited to see baseball still happening... I got to see about an innings worth of baseball and then it started to rain... first it was pretty light, but within minutes it turned into a MASSIVE downpour! Eeeek! After about 10 minutes of waiting for it to let up, the officials called the game! I was so bummed...grrrr... So I headed out to run some errands... and then headed to Lauren's to watch a bit of TV and then we headed to lunch.
We had lunch at the S-mall... where I managed to see TONS of my old students. One had a part-time job at one of the stores... I saw some of my old girls... and I saw Toshiaki!! Now, Toshiaki is special... last year, I played the Black Eyed Peas during class... and instead of just sitting and doing his work... he busted a move right in his seat!! It was hilarious. So, I caught up with him and it sounds like high school is going well for him! Yay!
After that, we had some time to kill before Lauren and I headed to dinner at Kim and Peter's. So, we karaoked!! We figure that if we do all the things we love enough times before we leave... we won't miss them aas much when we go home... or something like that. :-)

Anyway... there's the weekend!

best and worst

Yesterday I had the best afternoon... after running with my kendo first years for about 45 minutes... I decided to go "watch" the soccer kids for awhile... well, I ended up crashing practice. Man... was it ever fun!! I want to be an assistant coach... pretty please. Great time.

Today I had some really sad news. For the last few years, my fave kid from the 2nd elementary school area has been Inoue Retsu. He's such a cutie! I just love this kid. And I went looking for him Tuesday... and the kids said he wasn't there. I just thought he was absent... until today. The kids told me he's not here... because he's moved. His dad's a police officer and he got moved in April. It was all I could do to keep from crying in the middle of school, surrounded by 20-25 little kids. I had to stare at the ceiling and take deep breaths just to keep from crying. The goodbyes have begun... only I never got to say mine.

There's my best and worst for this week.

Best indirect compliment of the day...

So during cleaning time I was talking to some of my boys... the ones that are usually "bad" and don't clean, but talk to me instead! :-) Heehee... Well, one asked if I had a boyfriend... I said that indeed, I did not. And he and his friends all responded with "USO!!!" which basically means "you're lying!!" Now this may be a funny thing to take as a compliment, but man... if something thinks I'm lying about not having a boyfriend... then they obviously think that I should have one. Which means, that I'm NOT the leper that my mind's eye (along with the effects of three years in Japan) has turned me into!

A stretch maybe... but I did say it was indirect...

More from Tokyo...

So, I've been back for almost a week... but I figure I should finish my Tokyo adventures before expanding on anything else... so here goes... the abbreviated version...

Saturday: I got up early and went to class... it took me about 45 minutes to get from Kim's house to where I was taking class... it made me feel like I was an actual Tokyo commuter... the only difference?? Since all but one day was a national holiday... the trains weren't crowded. :-)

After class, I met up with Kim and Tatsuya and we headed out to Odaiba on the monorail. Odaiba is a giant, American-style shopping mall. There was EVEN a Cinnabon in the food court. I didn't get one because I had eaten a biggish lunch and wasn't hungry. :-( Next time... We had a great time playing in the Sony Plaza area... they had the best, blow-you-away surround system on display! It was so cool... we hit VenusFront after that... it's designed to feel like Italy, but to me it feels like Caesar's in Las Vegas.

The best thing from Saturday... after dinner we had the most amazing matcha soft serve ice cream! It was GREAT!!

Sunday: By this time I had the commute to class all sorted... even had my headphones and MD player out... like a true Japanese commuter! Our class was starting to move along and we had inside jokes starting and everything...

After class, Kevin and I went to Shkibuya. Basically, neither of us wanted to eat alone and look like the sad cases we actually are. Haha! So, we ended up in this nice-ish Italian place in Shibuya... and we chatted about all sorts of stuff... sports, politics, etc. Was just nice to talk to someone different and interesting.

After that we searched for and ATM (ran out of cash!!), then I headed home and he headed to his hotel.

Then Kim and I spent the evening watching American Wedding and she showed me a DVD a friend of hers (James) had made about leaving Japan. He'd been a JET for one year and had all the same experiences that I've had. I BAWLED!!! Facing leaving Japan has NOT been a happy prospect for me at all... I get choked up for no reason at all... and this DVD brought it all home. (If you're interested, you can find it at www.hindsightproject.com it's the video called "Statement of Agreement") Anyway... wow!

Monday: Class was CRAZY! We had to do all sorts of role-playing practice... and everyone got really into their roles. I got to play the tough Kocho-sensei, Kevin played the evil teacher (and landlord too!), Drew was our dad, Jackie was our mom and Anna was the nice lady at the reception desk at a gym. And the Oscar goes to... Kevin for his portrayal of a VERY strict teacher! hahaha...

After that I went in search of a big koi windsock! For Children's Day in Japan, people put up these HUGE carp windsocks up. And I wanted one... too bad I headed to Harajuku when I was tired-ish and HUNGRY! I couldn't be bothered to look for very long... so I headed back toward Kim's after picking up the nicest umeboshi/wasabi onigiri (haven't managed to find that kind again!). I was on my way there when I realized I could go out to the big shopping center out near Omiya (one stop before)... it has a Lush! So I headed out there... and ended up spending WAY too much! Got some stuff at Lush... but then found the COOLEST hat ever... and found the cute Lego shop... in under an hour... I spent around 6,000yen... I headed back to Kim's after that.
She was on her way out to meet James... and I just sat for a bit and then did some repacking. James and Kim returned. He's the nicest guy... it's amazing how easy conversation is when you've got cool/interesting people to converse with. Our plan was then to wait for Tatsuya and then go for yaki-niku at Gyu-Kaku... I couldn't wait because our local Gyu-Kaku had been closed a while ago.
So, my last night in Tokyo was perfect. Out with friends just having a laugh and some good food! Great time had by all.

Tuesday: Last class. It was hilarious! Had such a good time just joking around and learning of course. After it was all done, I was really glad I'd gone to it. :-) But leaving was bad because I learned that Kevin was headed out to a Mexican place! ARGH!!! I could't go because I had a train to catch. Bah!
The train ride was great... nice and smooth. Then I had an hour wait in Niigata. I was sitting on the platform when I realized that I was being watched. I looked up and there were three high school boys staring at me from the train on the opposite tracks from me. So, I looked up and smiled and waved. They laughed and waved back. Basically we had the grown-up version of peek-a-boo going on for about 45 minutes while I waited for my train and they waited for theirs to depart. We waved, gave thumbs-up, made faces at each other... and then when their train eventually left... I waved as if we were all old friends. Man, I LOVE JAPAN!! ;-)

Ok... so there's the end of my Golden Week adventures... sorry it took so long... yesterday, I lost this post and had to do it over again today... sorry for the delay!

TOKYO!!

Well, I'm in Tokyo... and there's loads to tell... Not sure where to begin... but I'll just go day by day...

Friday morning: I arrived in Shibuya around 6:30am, put my suitcase in a locker, then went looking for the Starbucks (I went out the wrong exit!). While waiting outside the Starbucks I was approached by two random foreign guys... turned out they were Marines. Haha... well, they provided me with far too much entertainment... on everything from the pros and cons of the Japanese dating scene to what not to say if you ever meet someone Russian (ummm... have forgotten already... therefore will never say it!)

After too much laughter, a piece of yummy caramel cake and a macha Frappacino... I headed off to class.

Turns out... there are 5 people in my class, two from Tokyo, one from Tottori-ken, one from Tochigi-ken and me. Three of us are fairly high ability and the two others are well, they need some work (but are coming along). There's Kevin, Drew, Jackie, Anna and I. Anyway...

After class I headed to Kim's out in Warabi and ended up chilling, having a shower, going for hiyashi-chuka and hitting the foreign food store all before going to bed.

For now... I'm tired of typing... so will finish my Tokyo narrative a bit later... :-)

How FAB is today??

I woke up today... and the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and I'm happily sore! What a great way to start the day. :-)

This week has been awesome! I'm at my FAVE junior high. I love Amarume, but I don't have the bond with my students like at Tachikawa. The difference is in the size... I have almost 600 students at Amarume, but only 199 at Tachikawa. So, this week has been like a massive homecoming! And my kids have been awesome.

The new 1st years are SO cute! There are some super tiny kids, but there's also some REALLY tall kids. I'll never be able to explain why I have kids that are nearly 6' tall at 12 and then some who barely hit 4'. Bizarreness, eh?

One short bit about yesterday...
I planned a kendo extravaganza for myself. As I'll be in Tokyo for awhile (starting Thurs.), I wanted to get a good bit of kendo in before I went away. So, I went to club practice after school yesterday. I LOVE going to Tachikawa practice. The kids are helpful, they're encouraging, and they like that I'm there! And yesterday was no different. I had a GREAT time! I got home just past 6... and had just a little over an hour to wait before I went to kendo with Amarume. And that was great too!! I felt like I got a really good workout... and at the end I was BEAT!! Totally and completely. Thus the soreness when I woke up this morning... :-)

YAY!!! Today's going to be GREAT!

It's MONDAY alright...

Have you ever noticed that no matter how well the day starts out... Mondays ALWAYS seem to drag?? This is coming from the person who had a GREAT morning... 2 classes and they both went really well... had a great time with the chiddlies!

But somehow.... the mondays always getcha! I've managed to do a bit of studying... interspersed with several bouts of staring at my keyboard without really knowing what to do with it...

BUT, instead of moaning about Mondays I'm going to talk about my weekend...

Friday was great... did a bit of kendo, did a lot of drinking and singing (izakaya and karaoke!!!) and then headed back to Lauren's. The original plan was to be able to get up to watch some morning kendo (there was a big kendo thing going on in Fujishima [Lauren's town] on Saturday...)... but as we didn't get rolling out of our futons until noon... there was barely enough time for breakfast and a shower before going over to Kim and Peter's.

Kim's birthday was yesterday... so as a birthday surprise Peter got Lauren and I to come watch Soren for the night while mom and dad got away. We had a great time with the baby and it sounded like they had a great time just the two of them. :-)

Then yesterday was the Sakura Marason! I did a 5k... which would have gone a bit better if I'd not been out until 4:15 on Friday night/Saturday morning. All in all it went alright and I'm getting geared up for the next one!

And now I've killed more Monday time... just a few minutes before play... erm... cleaning time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... part 2!

Yes, in Japan we all get 2 part birthdays because of the time difference. :-) Added perk of being away from friends and family on your birthday... you get TWO!!! So on this, my second birthday, I woke up to emails from a bunch of my friends at home who remembered that today was my birthday!! Thanks guys... I feel loved.

And an added bonus... I've already gotten to go to one class this morning! And it's only the second day of school... I've never gotten into the classroom this fast before. Boo... it would have to start right when I'm about to leave Japan, eh?? Why am I going home again?? Oh, yeah... I have to! ;-)

Anyway... tonight it's girl's night on the town... Lauren, Kirsty, Chisato (cool Japanese friend who's birthday is the 13th), and I are going out for drinks and karaoke. But first Kirsty and I are doing a bit of kendo... we have our priorities!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

Today's been GREAT!! I was woken up this morning with a phone call... it was Lauren saying, I'm downstairs - let me in!!! She came bearing presents and pancake mix. While I showered she cooked me breakfast! What a great friend. :-)

I've gotten well-wishes from all over... thanks guys, I'm having a GREAT day!!!

One step further...

So, the boredom factor is at a boiling point...

- arrived at school... feeling fairly genki and humming "No More Cry"
- made several of my students say "good morning" instead of "ohayogozaimasu"
- 9.30... was still feeling genki... until I realized that I had HOURS to go before lunch rolled around!
- was saved from boredom for about 30 minutes because I texted with Robbie
- then I decided, I should really study Japanese... so I did, and then I realized why I get frustrated with Kumon worksheets... when am I ever going to need to use the verb "suspicious"?? when!?!?!??
- for the last hour I've been thinking how amusing it would be to non-fatally hurt myself (sprain an ankle maybe...) and have to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance... then at least I wouldn't be bored anymore...
- argh! I am loving Japan right now... but that bit has little to do with work... cuz work is going to suck for AT LEAST one more day!

BORED, BORED, BORED!!!

Yeah, that sums things up today. I'm going out of my head with boredom! First, I worked onmy taxes this morning... then I studied some Japanese... then I ate lunch... now in between those "thens" I checked my email far too many times, read some random, not very interesting celebrity gossip, and generally stared into space for long periods of time.

And I'm sorry to say that my boredom will not be satiated until Thursday because all of my students have tests starting tomorrow and running through Wednesday. Can I shoot myself? PLEASE!!!

On the less bored front, I went and messed around with my kids during lunch break-time... and I got to terrorize some of my new 1st years. They all know the answer to the question "How are you??" but getting them to use it... hahaha! Poor dears, it all must be very overwhelming for them! ;-) Gotta love 'em though.

Am off to try to not be bored... not holding out much hope!

It's A Happy Day!!

Today is the first day of school. We've had the "meet the new teachers" assembly and the "pep talk from kocho and homeroom teacher announcement" assembly. Now the class groups are meeting together...

I was afraid that things would be really bad today. That the kids would not be as cool or chilled-out as my kids that just graduated... SILLY ME!!!

During cleaning time this morning I talked with loads of my kids just chatting... it's amazing what moving up a year will do for 3nensei kids. They're so nice now!?! (A lot of them were little shits last year!) YAY!!! Big relief... though, I'm afraid that leaving in a few months will only be made that much more difficult. Oh, well... I'll cross that bridge later.

BEST Week!!

Ok... so this is a bit delayed, but last week was the BEST week ever!! I got to play with SO many of my former students!! That sounds a bit weird, but really it was play. ;-)

Wed. - Toru and Yuta... we met and did purikura and then a massive karaoke session!! See these two constantly fight about who's the bigger loser when they're around me! They try to put each other down in English. It's HILARIOUS!! That hilarity is compounded by the fact that Toru loves hip-hop... and calls himself... DJ TORU!!! I LOVE this kid!! ;-) Great day. At the end, I was given a pack of 4 MDs... all hip-hop, both Japanese and American. And... DJ Toru?? He can be my DJ anytime!!

Thurs. - I met Mio... she is one of my old eikaiwa kids from a few years ago. She's now in OT school in Yamagata City and was up for part of Spring Break. She's SO much fun. We had a nice chat... we'd not seen each other for about 8 months or more. So, we had loads to catch up on... plus, I know all of her siblings... so we chatted about them a bit as well. Esp. her little brother whom I still teach. He CRACKS me up! Then we went and tok purikura... SO fun!! Just the two of us doing it... was really hilarious... we laughed so much!!
After that I headed to kendo.... 2000 strokes... it was amazing. If you want more details... let me know. All I can say is... kendo is amazingly mental!!

Friday - Low key day... but on my way back from Kirsty's I got a text from one of my old students... and he said "are you free tomorrow? we can meet up!!" Now, this is one of my FAVE students of all time!! He's so cool... isn't a great English student, but just a really great kid. So, I was stoked about that!!

Saturday - Did some gardening... did some running... got a call from Daisuke around 2 saying, club's over... I'll go home and change then we'll come to your house. 3... Daisuke, Hisashi and me head for karaoke!! SO funny!! These boys just crack me up. Daisuke loves this group called "yuzu" and so... ended up being the self-proclaimed "yuzu baka" for the day.
After 4 hours (nearly) of karaoke, I had to take them home because I was meeting Lauren at 8 to see Roman Holiday. I love AUDREY!!! ;-)

Sunday - Saturday afternoon I got a text from my FAVE Ama-chu grad from this year... Kohei. He said, sorry I couldn't meet and do purikura the other day, wanna meet tomorrow. So... Sunday afternoon, I met Kohei in Sakata to do purikura. He's such a cutie!! He was all... this is funny, you're an adult. But I think telling him that I'm really not... and I'm a friend helped a bit. Silly boys! So, we did a bit of purikura... and then I drove him home since he'd just gotten done with hurdle practice. But had a great talk about running and English and stuff on the way back. MAN... I love that kid!!

Last night... Lauren and I did something really stupid! She mentioned that the foreign foods store has Boone's. So, being REALLY smart, we hopped in my car and got 4 bottles of Boone's and headed back to hers. The final conclusion: how did we EVER drink that stuff?? HOW?? The sweetness alone made us feel ill!!!

So... there's the grand update... hope this finds you all well!! :-)

Best compliment EVER!

Last night was the good-bye party for my teachers who are moving schools in April. I found a way that I wouldn't have to drink (I had kendo... no one bothered me about drinking when I said I was going to kendo!!) and so I did my rounds to all the leaving teachers and headed out the door.

Before I ran away though, I was given the best compliment EVER!
I was talking to Suzuki-sensei. He's been here since I came to Japan. He's taken care of me and made sure that I've known what's going on with everything in the staff room and all that. Really great guy. This past year I did a team-teaching demonstration class that went really well. Anyway, as I was getting ready to leave the party he says to me, "I've taught with many ALTs over the years. But you have been the best." I was so shocked. That's the nicest compliment that I've ever been given. I almost started crying right then and there!! But I didn't... and I ran off and had a great night at kendo.

I'll always remember that compliment... thank you Suzuki-sensei!

When you have to say goodbye...

Now for another round of goodbyes...

This time it's to teachers. And in my case it's to two teachers who really mean a lot to me and have been really important to me in the last few years. See... Japan has an antiquated system of moving teachers every few years... without warning most of the time. So, this time two teachers have fallen victim to the system. One teacher I knew about (Suzuki sensei, his son is coming to junior high and doesn't want his dad around) and the other came as a complete shock (Musaka-sensei has only been here a year!). Needless to say this is added stress to me and I'd rather NOT have this... but there you go, I'm being selfish again! Oh, well... even the best of us are selfish sometimes.

In other goings on...

The Spring holidays have been going well.　But for the obvious missing ingredient... SPRING!!! We had snow last Friday... so it's not really an exaggeration about spring being a bit delayed.

We had a nice Easter the other day... with baskets and everything. Church, lunch and everything else. Even had a massive J-drama session... ended up running out of my house at 10 to locate the last installment of said drama. After two stops and about an hour of looking, we found our drama!! Yup, we're silly girls. ;-)

Hope all's well. Talk soon!

Hahaha...

Now, for the past week or so... I've been a bit sad about my kids graduating. I snapped out of it a bit on Friday (had a really great I LOVE JAPAN night!), but managed to get back in the funk... well... I think it's over! I had a reassuring experience with some students today...

My house runs along a main road (you'd laugh if you saw the road!) that my kids use when they're going to school. So, it was sunny outside and I hung my head out the window. I was saying hello to a few of my kids... when some 2nensei boys rounded the corner and yelled hello.

Well, I figured that was an invitation to go have a chat... I got my shoes on and walked over to where they were. It was hilarious... they both thought I was an absolute NUTTER because I was in shorts and a t-shirt (had just returned from running)... and they'd just finished with their practice. So, I'm sitting there asking them how they've been when I realize one of the boys has bobby pins in his hair. Yep... I checked a second time... they were bobby pins alright.

So, I took a step closer, pointed and said "doshta no?" which basically means, "what's up with that?" He never did answer... but I had his friend in stitches... he knew, like I did, boys don't wear bobby pins!! Haha...

Then they were off to do MORE training... but that little exchange has given me a bit of faith that the new 3nensei may be cool afterall. :-) Yay for that!

BTW can anyone think of a reason boys would wear bobby pins??

This is my fave pic of the week! Makes me happy... and helps me try to forget that my fave kids are all gone. :-( This is Kohei... again. Look how great he is!  

OUCH!!!

Today I did something very silly... I went skiing without sunscreen. Now this may seem like a harmless activity... but it wasn't. The sun was insanely bright and I didn't have any cover on my face (mom would be yelling at me right now if I were home). SO... I have the worst non-summer snow/sunburn that I've ever had. My EYELIDS are even burnt. Yuck!! I look a sight. I'd take a pic, but then I'd scare everyone. Blah! Am hoping I look a TINY bit better in the morning. Wish me luck!

Anyone have any aloe?? They don't sell it here in spring.

Unexpected

I experienced an unexpected emotional response just now...

I walked over to the 3rd year classrooms where the 2nd years were finishing up the clean-up process before the end of the year (officially today!). All of a sudden I was hit by the sadness of it... even though I know the kids are really all graduated and gone... I half expected to see them goofing around their classrooms again. Yes, it might be weird... but it was really empty and sad going near those classrooms again. Until the classrooms get a massive makeover at the beginning of next term they're going to be a sad reminder of my kids who are gone.

At least I'm on vacation from today.

Too cool for school!! Shohei (left) and Toshinari... Toshinari's going to be an absolute STUNNER when he grows up!  

Here's Mami... she's taught me kendo... she's always genki... and always up for English!! I need more students like her! 

Shuya... what a sweetie!! The only one of my boys to willin take a picture with me. He's such a great kid. 

This is my Kohei... I LOVE this kid! He's going to the Olympics someday... just you watch. ;-)  

Graduation...

Well, my babies graduated... and I only used 2 tissues! (They were quite wet...)

I got up early, got my hair in order and headed to Nami's where her expert mum dressed me in kimono! I love wearing kimono. It makes me feel realy special... kind of like dressing up when I was a kid.

When I got to school... most everyone was arriving... the lady homeroom teachers (bar one...??) were in kimono as well. One had the most amazing dark torquoise kimono on! Wow! I've never seen a kimono that color really amazing.

The ceremony went off without a hitch and I got pictures of all my favourite kids!! (I had to chase one down!!!) But the most exciting (in a bad way) event of the day was an almost fight between one of my graduates and a 2nd year student. I have no idea what happened... but all of a sudden Shuya (who I love!!) had a kid by the collar. It was crazy... I never did get what was wrong... but I did get a picture with him. He's one of the only kids that doesn't mind having his pic taken.

Anyway... will post pics later... going to go drink with the parents now!

Chagrine to admit...

So, back in my Truman runnings days... I hated it when we got honked or whistled at. "How degrading?" was always my comment...

Fastforward to my life in Japan... the life in which men never look at me twice.

So... I was running today. And ended up finding myself running alongside a construction site. And what do I hear, a little beeping sound... didn't notice at first, and certainly didn't think it was directed at me. But I turned my head, and sure enough there were a few construction worker types looking in my direction... one eventually waved and yelled "hi!"

I don't think I can express the delight of being honked at! I grinned the entire way home. Oh man!! I was a big "YOSH" moment... And lots of giddiness to follow. Yeah... so there's the highlight of my day... who'd a thunk it??

The Weekend...

For once, I stuck by my goal of getting some sleep this weekend!! YAY! I only had one late night and 2 early-ish ones. How's that for good?? :-) This statement will probably go in the "you know you're getting older..." category, but man... I really enjoyed not really having any big plans. Just kind of going with the flow. It was really nice... yeah, now I'm officially old.

In FANTASTIC news... the Nanooks (my home hockey team...) swept Bowling Green this weekend (both games 6-3!) and are headed to the Super Six in Detroit!! Yay... at least there'll be some hockey in the Joe this year. :-D Gotta love that it's my 'Nooks too!!

Other weekend goings on... Friday: Lauren and I did a girlie movie night in... perfect!! Saturday: went to lunch with my friend Nami, went to my Japanese lesson, had sushi (yummy!! just simple kaiten though...), went and bought a new keikogi (really nice one for during warmer weather), and rented some Japanese dramas to help with my listening comprehension. Easy-peasy...

All in all... nice and relaxing!

Great KENDO!!

So, I've been a bit apprehensive about kendo in Amarume lately... mostly because I've just been sick of the students. (Not something I say very often...) But last night, I remembered why I LOVE kendo!

I got to kendo, got changed and put on my bogu. My buddy Mayuko showed up (YAY!!) and then Shinko-sensei and her daughter, Mami also walked in. I haven't been able to work with Shinko-sensei in ages, so that was great! Also, Kazuki... who is legendary in Amarume... was there. He makes me nervous... because he's so good and I'm crap. Plus, he's really gorgeous! (eeek...)

So, I got warmed up... was feeling, if not quite perfectly on, pretty good. Got to go through the works with Mayuko (tired), then Shinko-sensei (very tired)... then I was sitting there trying to decide who to go up against next, when Kazuki walked over and motioned to follow him. EEEEEK!!

Aside, now Kazuki is about 6'1". I haven't practiced with anyone that tall before... that made me nervous... and then, just the fact that it was him made me nervous.

So... I did men-uchi (smacked him on the middle of his head) once... he gave me a bit of advice (found a way that actually strengthens my left hand-hold on my shinai)... then I had another go. And another... and then he gave me the most useful advice yet... he said, "when you hit men-uchi you want to pretend like you're splitting my head in half, cutting it from the top to the chin..." And that illustration just made things click. I had an ah-ha moment!! Yay!!

So... what next?? Lots and lots and lots of practice!!! Because I finally have some things sorted in my head! Yay.

Sorry if this is awfully boring... but you know what? Last night was great... totally exciting and exhilirating!! Lately I've had a bit of apathy toward my kendo practice... but last night just made it all new and exciting again. :-)

Good Morning, Miss Price...

Yes, I've been watching too much Mansfield Park as of late...

I was just thinking of ways to try to fill my time... I have 3 classes today, but not until later. I have to plan one of those classes... and am really leaning toward doing the Hokey-Pokey. How could that go wrong?? :-)

But despite the weather... and despite the fact I'm tired... I'm starting to perk up! I get to teach a bit today!! Wheee!! I have Spring Vacation stuff to plan... I have kendo to go to tonight! How could it go wrong?? It couldn't!!

Wow! I've not been this optimistic in a really long time. Now, the key is to keep this optimistic as I wait for my life to fall into place. Here's to having a go at that... :-) Yes, my friends... the glass is once again half FULL!!

One of these days...

I'm going to get some sleep!! I promise. I keep saying this... and yet somehow every weekend I end up having at least one late night... and then my sleeping schedule is all screwed up still!! If all else fails, I can catch up when we go on holiday from school in a few weeks. Let's just hope I can make it that long. :-)

The weekend was great... watched some good TV, went ice skating, did a bit of karaoke... was stupid enough to see a scary movie against my better judgement! In no way will I ever be a scary movie fan. Nope, I've just decided that. It's just kind of one of those things that I can live without. Yep.

Yesterday I ran in shorts for the first time since I was in New Zealand (during summer remember...). It was great! I even got a bit of sun on my face too!! :-) Wahoo... bring on the sakura!! I'm ready for the snowiness to go away... I mean it this time.

This week's going to be excruciating!! Tomorrow won't be too bad, but Wed and Thurs I have one class each day, first period, and then I get to sit the rest of the day... I will go insane!! I'm predicting that right now... either that or I'll be climbing the walls. Either prospect isn't really that great... wish me (and my sanity) luck!! ;-)

When?

For weeks people have been saying that spring is right around the corner... but I'd like to know how far away that corner is!? I've already spent a fortune on kerosene this year (prices went up yet again!) and there's still snow falling from the sky! How can this be?? I want it to be over...

Today's been a great day... though I'm going to cry... next week, when I was supposed to have classes with my third years, I don't get to have any because they have to prepare for the high school tests. Grrrrrrrr... bloody let the kids get an education if they want one and stop putting so much pressure on them. At least that's what I say!! Not like anyone listens to what I say though...

I'll be happy when the day's over... I'm tired of being at my desk with nothing to do. It's almost as tiring as DOING something. Ha! Sounds like I have the life?? Wrong... there's something particularly aggravating about being hired to do a job and then not being fully utilized in doing it. The life of luxury it's not.

Anyway... there's my thoughts for the day! I took some really great pics of my elementary kids. And since I love them SO much... I'm going to have to post them later on. :-)

An introduction in Ketchup, Mayonnaise and Wasabi!!

ARGH!!!

About 2 weeks ago I asked my Mum a favor. I asked her if she could get me some posters for the Advanced English classroom. I sent her an email list and also talked to her on the phone about it... she said she'd be willing to help me. I asked for posters of movie stars, sports stars, music groups, maybe some hockey posters from UAF, and maybe a picture of the northern lights. I was really excited... this is going to be SO cool... so I thought.

Fast-forward to yesterday.

The posters had come in. I went after school to pick them up. Ran home to open the package... finally got it open... and out slid 3 posters. (I wanted somewhere around 9-10 posters.) Two posters of grizzly bears and one of the northern lights. That's it. The last thing I asked for... I got. And that was all.

Now, I'm not sure what to do. Take the really crap posters (they're pretty, but at 14 who wants to look at posters of bears??) for what I need. I'm at a complete loss...

Anyway... I suppose this teaches me... never expect that parents listen when you talk to them. Because likely as not... they're busy doing something else at the same time and are ignoring what you're saying. And they're just nodding and saying "uh huh, uh huh" over and over again.

You know it's cold when...

Yesterday afternoon I realized it was cold when I had my heaters on for over an hour and the temperature had not budged from it's 10 degree (C) mark... and the only way I could keep warm was by turning my electric blanket on and crawling into bed. At which point I fell asleep... only to be awakened by the fact that my nose was about to detach from my face because it was frozen!! ;-) Or something like that...

This morning wasn't much better... but we have high hopes for some warmth today. Unfortunately it seems as though mother nature has no intention of throwing any warm weather our way in the near future (read: in the next 5 minutes). My only hope?? Lots of tea and lots of sitting under my kotatsu.

Stay warm out there folks.... :^)

To Lauren... our favorite person was walking slowly past me as I wrote this blog... I'm sure the next thing I get reprimanded for is misuse of the computer!! Just watch...

Life's small pleasures

So after a very mediocre week, kendo tonight had been cancelled and my plans for coffee with my friend Nami also fell through, I met Lauren at Jusco for dinner. We had a nice dinner of curry katsu om-rice and then headed for coffee afterwards.

As we sat talking and looking at pictures of Lauren's kids... I looked over to my left and my favorite little boy, Yusuke, and his family were walking past. I gasped when I saw him, I was so surprised. I got up said hello and gave his older brother a high-5! I really wanted to give him a hug... but that might have scared his parents. I was SO chuffed!! He's such a cutie. Not 5 minutes later... one of his classmates, Yoshimitsu, and his family were riding up the escalator. How strangely coincidental that two of my favorite first graders were in Jusco at the same time as me? I waved at them and got huge smiles in return. Teaching here does have its rewards.

Then... to walk off our meal and coffee, Lauren and I went to Uniqlo. I found the PERFECT track suit! It's green... and great!

So... though tonight was entirely low-key... I managed to have a great night... because life has its own little unplanned pleasures to throw our way! :-)

Bored no longer....

Now, just when I thought that my boredom was going to last until the end of the day... one of my fave 3-nensei students walked into the staff room... Toru LOVES hip-hop music. Knows all the artists from the states, Jay-z, Eminem, Dr. Dre, etc. We talk about music all the time... Well, he just informed me that this weekend... Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, and he are doing a concert in Texas! Then asked how to spell "finest" because he's always telling me he's the "world's finest" rapper! Heehee... I can't get enough of this kid. Hilarious!

I'm bored...

Yeah, so I've had my one class today. And I've studied some Japanese... and now I'm bored. Maybe I've got some ADD tendencies, but man I just don't feel like sitting here anymore... but have no choice until I leave here for my Japanese lesson.

Ok, just found something to do while being bored... look up "bored at work"! Heehee... yeah, I'm bored.

Long week...

Not in terms of what I've been up to. In that respect it's been a spectacularly average week, but man, am I dragging! I can't stop yawning and I just want to stay in bed ALL day. Is this normal?? Don't know, but it sure feels weird because I'm not normally like this.

At least it's Thursday, right? Just two days until the weekend (I have to get through today first!). And then, I hope to relax a bit and do some snowboarding too. Should be good. Let's hope it's relaxing. I need it!

Yusuke. I LOVE this kid! He's coming home with me in August, I swear. How could you not love him??  

Makiko!! What a ham!?! A cutie nonetheless... she once told me that English was easy... and then told me how to say "apple." Gotta love that. ;-) 

The 6th year toughs... they crack me up! 

Two first years... also... cutie-pa-tooties!! 

My 2nd grade boys!! How sweet are they??  

Miho and I... she's one tall 12 year old! 

Here's one of my 6th year classes... it was my last day teaching them (as elementary school kids anyway...)!! :-( Sad, next time I see them, they'll be in uniform! 

I've given some of the kids in this class nicknames... the kid on the left - he's Ichiro! :-) 

GONE!!!

Yup... after a really LONG time... the cat has left me. boo-hoo.... Hahaha... I did something smart... maybe... I let it starve (or get to the VERY hungry stage), then when I went away for the weekend I left my garage door open just a tiny bit. And now?? I don't have a cat living in my garage. Now, it may not be the work of a master... but the cat's gone! :-D

The saga's over...

BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!

You think I've said this before... you think that really, it has to be a severe exaggeration. NOPE! This is completely true and completely un-exaggerated. I've just had the best weekend ever. Now for the details...

Friday, I had to go down early to take the GRE. Now, you're probably thinking... that sounds like a great start to a weekend... but you know what? I rocked that test! Increased my score on both verbal and math... so I was dancing as I walked out of the test center. :-)

That night, Lauren, Kirsty and I met up with my roommate from Tokyo orientation when I first came to Japan on JET. It was really good! She's a great girl and she's just gotten engaged to her Japanese boyfriend... which is so cool since they're such a good couple! We went to a nice place that was kind of izakaya and kind of a yaki-tori-ya all rolled into one. And being starving (I hadn't had anything to eat since 11.30 that morning and the girls were also starved from their train rides), we ordered a LOT of food! And what more do you want than a nice, big dessert course after you've had a huge dinner!?! Well, we did... especially since there was a TGI Friday's (they have awesome cocktails afterall...) on the 2nd floor of the same building. So, we headed there for drinks and dessert, I treated myself to a HUGE mudslide and dessert because of my GRE success!!

Just before we left, we started Lauren's birthday off right... we had the wait-staff sing happy birthday and embarrass her!! Heehee... they took a picture and everything. It was really funny!! And a great start to what would be the best Saturday on record!

Saturday morning we got to an early start and headed for Starbucks and Ueno park. (The Starbucks wa in Ueno station... perfect!) We went to the Tokyo National Museum and the Metropolitan Art Gallery. The special exhibit at the National museum was The Dancing Satyr... which will be on exhibition in Aichi-ken for the World Expo starting in March. Then we moved on to the other exhibits in the museum... there were some beautiful kimono on display as well as authentic samurai armor... some really exquisite painted screens... and loads of amazing china as well. After that we moved on to the Met... where there was a Mucha special exhibit. I didn't think I'd seen any of his stuff... but I have. It's very art nouveau, but really nice. The only problem was the number of people and an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia that I was feeling at the time.

Then it was time for the main event: KABUKI!!! It's funny... in Japan there are many things you hear about that are really amazing. But when you go to the particular festival, have the particular dish, etc... you are disappointed. The only thing that has definitely NOT been true for was the Sapporo Snow Festival I went to last year. And now, kabuki. There's no good way to describe kabuki. It's a traditional form of theater that developed during the Edo period. It's highly stylized theater where the actors are all men, the costumes are all elaborate and the stories are all well-known. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Even if I hadn't known what was going on (we got the English headsets), the colors and acting would have been enough. All I can say, is if you ever get to come to Japan... go to kabuki. It's worth every penny!

After we stopped gushing about kabuki (which took over an hour... ;-), we headed out for dinner and karaoke. Where we ate cheaply priced food, had some cheapish drinks, and sang to our heart's content! It was GREAT!! After that, we headed to Shibuya... in search of clubs and dancing. First we looked for a club that came recommended by a friend... and we couldn't find it. Then we tried to find the old stand-by, Bar Isn't it?, with no luck there. We were starting to get really cold... when we happened on a club... passed it a few times (passed the guy trying to lure us in as well) and finally decided the music that we could hear was acceptable to our ears. And if all else failed (and it sucked) we could go somewhere else. But luckily, it didn't suck. Far from it actually... it was AWESOME! The DJs were good (though I could have done without the techno entirely!) and the club was hopping. Cool Japanese people (some could actually dance...) and cool foreigners as well. It was a great night... ;-) So great in fact that we didn't leave until around 4.30... and didn't get to sleep until 5.30. Eeeeek!! But man, it was worth it.

Sunday... we slept, showered and were out on the streets before lunch. We stashed our stuff in lockers at the station we'd have to leave from that night, and headed out. We took a few pictures of the Imperial Palace grounds... then headed for coffee (by this time we'd already run across a closed Starbucks and a Dean & Deluca that wouldn't serve us unless we bought lunch!!) at Starbucks (Lauren badly needed her caffeine fix!) and then on to shopping in Shibuya. :-) And by the end... we'd found a great bookshop, good sports stores (was in need of some sports clothing... bought a cute running hat and some other essentials), and eventually ended up in purikura. ;-) Yay!!

So that was the weekend... I'm completely wrecked, but it was worth every second and every penny!

WISH ME LUCK!!!

Well, today's the day... I take the GRE today starting at 2. Whee... I didn't really get to study last night with packing and sorting all the stuff I needed out. I figure cramming isn't necessarily a good use of my time. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself... because I can't go back now. :-)

Heading out on the 7am train to Tokyo. I'll let you know how it goes....

Hokey Pokey time!!

That describes yesterday for me! At a loss for what I wanted to do in class on Tuesday, I had a brainstorm that I should teach parts of the body... since all the kids already know Head-Shoulders... I really wanted to do a new song. And thus, I chose the Hokey Pokey!

Like all good teachers... I waited until the last minute to download and burn a copy of the hokey pokey off the internet... (wait, real teachers plan ahead you say!?) etc.

I had 2 third year classes to teach. The first class... was genki enough. They were pretty good fun, but a bit shy. I was a little worried about the second class... silly me!

I wish I had pictures... the second class was great! They were superstar Hokey-pokey-ers by the end!! Man, I wish I'd had a camera... so wish I'd had a camera!! Maybe I'll do an encore with them tomorrow... just so I can get pictures.

After lunch I then played with the 1st graders... only problem?? The little girls all wanted to touch me (hold my hand, yank on the back of my sweatshirt, etc) and all I wanted to do was say "stop it!!" Finally I found one of my fave kids and ran around hiding behind him (he's only a few inches smaller than me)... the girls thought I was joking. Shhhh... don't tell.... they were driving me batty!!

Have a great day!!

Weekend Update and the Daily Show...

This weekend was a really good one... as 3-day weekends tend to be. :-) It was a nice girlie affair... had coffee, lunch, shopping and movies on Friday. The weather was too scary for boarding (really windy!). Saturday, weather be damned, Kirsty, Lauren and I were going boarding...

Saturday ended up being nicer than Friday. We put in a good few hours or boarding... it was great. I'm finally getting it! After threatening to quit altogether, Lauren's infinite patience won the day... and I ended up having a pretty good day. Had some really evil falls, but all in all I will conquer this front edge! I will.

Sunday... it was time for some serious exercise. SO... Lauren and I had lunch... and then hit the pool for a nice long swim. I love this swimming business... it's really fun to FINALLY know what I'm doing. Well, almost know what I'm doing. Being knackered I came home and zonked out in no time last night.

Today... Valentine's day!!

I hate this holiday, but you know what?? The kids were all so preoccupied with tests (they start tomorrow...) that no one even really mentioned the fact that it was V-day. Since I HATE this holiday... it was perfect for me.

I taught 4th years today. The first class... I could have smacked them ALL!!! Oh man... and I don't think I've felt quite that frustrated with Japanese kids before. I was really skeptical going in to the second class... they saved the day. They managed to really give the whole lesson a go... no pouting or sitting around not really doing anything. They were all into it!! Man, I love it when classes make my day. I really do!

Then I popped my head into the 1st years... more of my faves... Good day all around!

Went for a run... ended up biking... heading to the chiro tomorrow for the ol' knee. I've gotta get training for road races in the spring. :-)

There's the update... :-)

It's FRIDAY!

Well, not really, but it is our "Friday" in Japan. Tomorrow is Foundation Day (I think that has something to do with the Constitution here... but ya never know!?!) and therefore everyone gets a day off. SINCE it's snowing like mad all of a sudden skiing or boarding might be on the agenda for tomorrow. Although, a nice onsen and a book might also be equally as tempting. Oh, the choices!? ;-)

Today I'm going to teach 5th years. Now, I've not ever taught these kids before... but last week after having lunch with the 6th years I was stopped by a group of these kids. One decided that I should call him mayonnaise and another told me I should call her ketchup. Needless to say... I'm looking forward to class today!!

Hope your day is going as well as mine! :-D

A Really Great Day...

Today I was at Tachi-chu. I generally like the school, but recently the principal (kocho-sensei) has been making my life a bit difficult... despite that I had a great day!

I had one 2nd year class... basically we played games the whole time. The teacher's not got any command of his class... and so whenever I come we play games. Funny thing... the kids listen to me better than they do the teacher... the only use they have for him is as a translator. Anyway... we just got to playing games and having an overall great time... making teams is the best idea ever. Some of the games we'd tried before... without much luck... but as soon as we assigned points... we had their attention!!

After that major success, I headed over to teach elementary school... 3rd years. Oh man!! These kids are SUCH good fun. Both classes are wicked and they're super genki about English. The best was AFTER lunch... we played cops and robbers!! I haven't nearly made myself sick during recess since I was in Elementary school. But today... yup, I had a stomach cramp that was KILLING me by the time the bell rang. Heehee... gotta love that. I'll be playing again tomorrow as well... :-) I love the chiddlies!

The fun doesn't end... I went to the gym. Had a nice little run... did some speed work, just a little to try out the knee (which is good, until I'm trying to sit seiza... then it kills!!). As I was finishing up... one of my kids realized I was in there (he sprained his ankle so had to bike)... we had a chat about training and why he wasn't with everyone else. Then went on our way. Well, this kid (Toshiki) is quite a good student... and he came over afterwards and started asking about music and stuff. (He noticed I had my MD player...) It was so out of the blue... while he's a great student, he's also really shy. I was SO chuffed!!

So, even though today was really normal... it was really nice. I like Japan a lot... again. I think this love-hate thing with Japan goes in cycles... today's a love day!!

Ohisashiburi!!!

Or... long time no see...

Yeah, so since I had a bit of a computer problem last week (on top of the cat problem!!!)... I'm just now getting to update my blog. Heehee... gomen ne...

Well, last week was pretty good. I still really HATE (which is maybe strong, but I REALLY don't like...) the principal (kocho-sensei) at one of my school's. He's decided to be an absolute arse-hole as far as I'm concerned. Basically, he's old school... everything is really traditional and Japanese. And therefore, I have to do my best impression of being a Japanese teacher... which I don't appreciate because I'm NOT!!!! He's new this year and is basically a pain in my bum. 'Nuf said.

The cat. Is still here. I've decided that getting rid of the cat is a two person job. Why?? Because this silly bugger has decided to hide in the ceiling storage space in my garage. And THAT means I can't really see him/her/it to get rid of the bugger. Grrrrr... anyone want to volunteer for cat removal duty?? I'd REALLY appreciate it! :-D

Anyway... the end of the week consisted of a great Friday afternoon skiing with little kids at my friend Kirsty's elementary school... and onsening (hot springs) yesterday (the weather was SO crap!)... swimming this afternoon and the dinner at Hayashi-sensei's. Yummy tempura, shumai (chinese meat dumpling thingys), and rice. Yum!!! So... now I'm going to study some GRE algebra and head to bed.

Have a GREAT week!! :-)