Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was my Halloween party for my Saturday English School. It was a roaring success. I invited all the Izumo area ALTs to the party so my students would have an opportunity to talk to foreigners who aren't me. My goal was to make it simulate a normal Halloween Party for older people in America, rather than the goofy children's party most Halloween parties are in Japan. These kids are 14 and 15 years old, I figured they were beyond learning Halloween vocabulary and bobbing for apples.

So anyways, I got to the classroom at 9:20 and then Miymi and I went out to buy some snacks. We went to the Good Day (grocery store chain) with the good import items. I love this Good Day because it is the one with Mexican food (flour tortillas and taco mix! Woo!) and imported potato chips. So we picked up some Texas Barbecue Ruffles and Nacho Cheese Doritos for the party. I also got a coke. Then we headed back to do some decorating.

Last Saturday, my students made decorations for the party. They were really creative and nice looking. So I kinda pointed where things should go and made a mad dash for the bathroom. The ALTs (guests of honor) were due in 10 minutes and I had to get ready! You see, for the first time in my life, I made a Halloween costume. It was kinda crappy...but I made it. I went to the party as Sailor Moon! Heh.

Around 10:00, everyone showed up. There were 8 ALTs in all! AND, all but 2 came dressed in Halloween costumes!! It was so nice of them. For the party, everyone just mingled, ate snacks, and spoke English to the students. It was really cool. Jason brought a few Halloween party games so we did those for a little bit. The students really seemed to enjoy it and the ALTs said they enjoyed it. So I feel the party was an overall success. I do not have any pictures because I forgot the camera so...sorry. I know some people had cameras and I am sure they will send me some pictures, but at the moment I don't have any.

After the party we hung around the apartment and at 6:00 we went to a Taiko concert. Taiko is a type of drum in Japan and the concert was awesome. It was so interesting to hear the concert. It's a music style that is very traditional to Japan and parts of the concert even had some costumes and stuff. Ang was in one of the groups and she did very well. I didn't know she was performing so it was a nice surprise to see her.

We didn't actually stay for the whole concert because the room was very hot and giving me a headache. I was a little disappointed to leave early but it was probably for the best. I hope to attend another concert in the future. Maybe this time I will take a camera and some pictures!

On another note. I should give the results of the tape concert, yes? The results are in and the votes are tallied and!

...

You all lose! No one sent me a tape. It's ok, I understand. I just listen to my MP3 player now. But I had a couple people ask me about it so I thought I would post an update about it!

Happy Halloween!

License to Kill!!

Er...or at least...licensed to drive in Japan! Woo! I now have my Japanese driver's license or should I say untenshu mekyoushyou. I am pleased. I passed my driver's test on the first go! But let's start from the beginning.

Last month, during the beginning of September, I had to go in and take this dumb interview at the driving center. I had to take a translated copy of my license (which is why I couldn't go ahead and get a new one while I was in America) to the driving center in Matsue and sit through an almost pointless interview. During said interview, they asked me about every piece of information on my driver's license (including what the peaches were and why they were on my Georgia license!). Go ahead, look at your license. See if you can say what every last bit on information (front and back!) means. Honestly, there are some things that I lied about because I had no idea what it was for. After I explained my license, I then got asked about my experience driving. I got asked normal questions like "when did you take your test?", "did you take a class in school?" , and "how long have you been driving" and stupid questons like, "how much did it cost for your test?", "was the written test a true/false test or multiple choice?", and "how long did the test take?" There were some tough things to explain because, of course, Hiawassee is so small and backwater that we don't have a permanent DMV. It comes through town once a month and that's when people take their tests. I had a tough time explaining that one! But, Mihara-san was there so she helped translate everything.

Anyways, so that was then. Today, I actually went in to take my tests. The first thing I had to do was wait until 1:00. We got there at 12:55 and went to the window and they fussed at us and made us wait until 1:00. Stupid. At 1:00 *rolls eyes* they told us we had to go to another window to buy a form or something. Bah. DMVs! They are all the same. After that, I had to wait another 10 or 15 minutes before I was called into a room to take the written test.

Now...I know most of you know that I am a very smart person. Genius some say. However, I have a lot of problems with the evil True or False tests. I overthink them and pysch myself out. This test, of course, was a true or false test. Egads! Not only that, but the questions were translated really really poorly. Like REALLY bad. They also didn't make much sense. To make matters even more tense, there was this grumpy looking old guy watching me take the test (he was turning the pages because apparently I am too inept to do it myself). Now, I agonize over the answers of True/False tests because I always feel like the world is trying to trick me. So today's test was no different. I fussed with each answer; grumpy guy looking on the entire time. After I went through the test twice, I gave up and handed the grumpy guy my answer sheet. He nodded and showed me the door. I was a little depressed because I really though I failed the test. Mihara-san was with me and she just looked sympathetic. No one fails the written exam! I would have been the first. Now the cruel part comes in. I had to wait 40 minutes! 5 other people had to take the test, too. Even though it was just a 10 question test and the guy could grade it as I wrote...I still had to wait for everyone to finish. I was almost sick with nerves by this time.

Finally, after 40 minutes, grumpy guy comes out and announced that everyone passed. Hooray! The mexican guy, me, the 2 brazillians, and the one chinese dude all passed! Nice. Then, grumpy guy hands out the sheet with the layout of the course we have to drive and barks at us to go to the observation deck and study the sheet. Way to make me nervous, grumpy dude! So Mihara-san and I make our way to the observation deck. It's now 2:00 (we left my apartment at 12:00 to give you an indication of time). This is important! You see, it was a dark and dreary day. It was raining on and off but the sun was out, too. So when we looked out on the driving course, there was a BEAUTIFUL rainbow arching across the entire course. I pointed it out to Mihara-san and she smiled. She said that it was going to be lucky because 'rainbow' in Japanese is niji and 2:00 in Japanese is also niji. So it meant I was going to be lucky.

Around 2:15, the grumpy guy comes back holding a huge folder. He calls our names and puts us in order of driving. I was number 3 of 5 (which is really the best place to be, I got to see two people do it but I didn't have to wait and really make myself nervous). He gives us instructions and made sure we understood them because they are very important. Some of the instructions were: you get a practice loop to get used to the car, you can go 50 kph in a certain zone, if you touch a pole you automatically fail, and if you go into the ditch, if you back up to right before you went in the ditch, you can try again. This is important because if you remember, Chris failed his driving test the first time because he went into the ditch (the ditch is only like 2 inches deep, btw). No one bothered to mention that you could back up and try again and you wouldn't fail because if you didn't back up and try again, you automatically failed.

So I watched as person number 1 went (a Brazillian). His driving didn't look so bad. When it was number 2's turn, I got to ride in the backseat to observe the course from there (very helpful!). Unfortunately, this guy wasn't a good driver and was making me even more nervous. I don't think he drove very much prior to the test. He was really jerky and nauseating. Then...it was my turn! Dun dun duuuuuuuuun.

I started off fine. I was going a little quickly, but I have been driving awhile and I felt comfortable not going at a snail's pace. I went around the saw horses like a pro and just killed at the stoplight (I'm a very good stopper...you know...ever since I ran that stop sign during my first driving test in America and failed miserably!). Then it got to the tricky part. A narrow 's' curve (really narrow). I blew through that. I went really fast around it...but I've been driving in the mountains and dirt roads of North Georgia. Curves won't stop me now! Then came the crank turn. Now, the crank turn are turns at 90 degree angles (one to the left and one to the right). This is tricky but I did it no problemo! Or so I thought...but you see, the crank turn is a little tricky because you THINK that it's only 2 90 degree angles but it's really four. You have to do a crank turn into the section, and one back out. The one into the turn isn't so bad. The one out of...well...that's where Chris went into the ditch. He got over-confident after doign the cranks so well that he didn't pay attention and went into the ditch. That's why he failed his first test (well that and the fact that he didn't know that you could back up and do it again).

And...I did the exact same thing. I wanted to swear. But instead, I calmly backed up until the tester (did I mention that it was grumpy guy?) told me I was ok. And man did I back up perfectly. I didn't go back into the ditch to back out, I just smoothly backed into the area...I'm a terrible backer...it came as a surprise to me, too. Anyways, I went back out and relaxed. You see, I figured I had failed the test. Even though they said we could back up, I knew Chris failed and others for doing the same mistake so I just calmed down because I figured the rest of the test didn't matter. I didn't make anymore mistakes. In fact, my grumpy tester even chatted a bit about the signs!

So by the time my test was over, it was about 3:00. I then had to wait for the rest of the people to finish their tests. It took FOREVER. I was so nervous but I kept telling myself to chill out because I failed and it wasn't a big deal. So we waiting until about 3:20 and then they took us back to where we took the written test and had us wait (poor Mihara-san...she was so bored and kept dozing off). And we waited and waited and waited. At 3:50 they finally called each person to the window to discuss the test. The first person...failed. The second person...failed hard. The third and most beautiful person...passed! "Holy crap!" was the first thing I said (but in Japanese so it was more like "honto!?" which isn't really Holy Crap but close enough). How exciting!!! I was really happy. So he told me I should use my blinkers earlier but everything else was fine since I backed up and corrected my mistake. The other 2 people passed as well.

Then...MORE WAITING (this story is quite facinating, isn't it?). At 4:30...I finally walked out of the DMV $40 lighter and with a shiny new license! I would post a picture but since it has all my personal information that seems like a dumb idea. We got home around 5:50. What a long and boring task. At least I got a license out of it.

And so...that's how you get a driver's license in Japan.

in case you are wondering, I wasn't driving illegally on an American license, per se, it was just a better idea to get a Japanese license...just in case...

Oops

I never updated about the cake. Well, in my defense, I was rather depressed about it. So I finished the cake and it didn't turn out well. You see, I don't have an oven like an American oven. I have a toaster oven, but you really can't make a cake in that. At least not the mix I was making. However, our microwave has two functions. It does the normal microwavy thing like you would expect. It also can serve as an oven. It's kinda like a highpowered Easy Bake Oven in that it has a lightbulb in the top and you can set it too many temperatures, all the way up to 200 degrees celcius. So that is what I used to make the cake.

Unfortunately it didn't rise. I guess because the bulb is on the top, it cooked the top solid really early on during the baking process so the bottom couldn't rise. It wasn't terrible. The top was really dense and it was really flat, but the bottom was moist and tasty. Unfortunately, I ended up tossing it out. How dissappointing. I cannot bake until I leave Japan. Oh well. :-(

Speaking of baking. I have to teach my Saturday English kids how to make peanut butter cookies one weekend. I will have 3 large American-sized ovens, though. So I know I can do it! However, I need a recipe. I know Nana has a smashing recipe for peanut butter cookies, but anything will do. I have access to all ingredients except for crunky/chunky peanut butter. Just smooth. So if anyone could give me the heads up on a good recipe, that would be wonderful!

Nothing else has really happened this week. The reason I haven't updated is because I am bad. We got in the 2nd season of Lost and have been watching that. We have only been waiting a year to see it. It's so good! No spoilers! Isn't that terrible? I kept meaning to update. So let's see what I can remember about happenings.

Tuesday was pretty cool. I woke up in a foul mood because I don't really like Tuesday mornings. It's not that I have to get up early. I don't mind getting up early. I just HATE HATE HATE having to teach the senior students. They are so awful to me. It makes me dread waking up. After I got done with Nishi, things got a little better. Tuesday was the first day with a new class at Enya. You see, we switch classes around every month and a half or so. So I got switched to the 2nd class in Enya. Unfortunately, they are a very rowdy bunch and that's kinda poopy. They aren't bad kids...just hyper. Too hyper maybe. Anyways, that class was pretty good.

The cool part of my Tuesday came during tutoring. I had been asking Mishima-san (our tutor) about where to find a yukata in my size. See, even though they were uncomfortable, after wearing one at the parade, I was really interesting in having my own. They are so pretty and if you get one that fits, it's not so bad. Anyways, she said she would ask her mother about it. So when I show up to tutoring she rolls out three different types of fabric and asks me which one I like? I point at a pretty blue one and she tells me that if I will pay for the fabric and a little extra for her mom, that her mom will make me a yukata. How spiffy is that!? I haven't had anything hand-made for me to my measurements since my mom made me a dress when I was like 7 or 8 or something. So I think its really cool. I'm really excited about it. I know at least one other person is getting one made, so maybe we can have a yukata party when it's finished. Hooray!

Wednesday was 'meh'. I went to Kisuki (where the English school is) around 3:00 to hand out flyers to elementary students. Man, kids are annoying in packs. I am interesting to them because I am a strange foreigner who they have never seen. That serves in my favor. So I handed out a ton of flyers (getting mocked, abused, and complimented) to them. I stood under a buggy tree so there were these tiny little bugs flying all around. Annoying little things. After that I did some prepwork and reading and then class. My girls, they are rambunctious. There are still only two students (though I was just told we are probably going to have 3 more in December!) I like my girls though. I think they like me which is cool. That was wendesday. Not very interesting.

Absolutely nothing of note happened on Thursday. Friday, same thing. Really. I just worked on cleaning the house or laundry and went to class.

Saturday was cool because we are making decorations for our Halloween party next weekend. The kids are so excited. I made a killer paper chain. It was so good. I am not really creative to draw decorations, so that chain is my contribution. Woo! I am so excited for the party. I think it will be very good for the kids. I hope it goes well and people come! After the party we got a package! Hooray! We have actually been waiting for this package for two months so it was spiffy to get it. It had Hamburger Helper in it! I have been dying for Hamburger Helper! It's such a simple and tasty meal. Woo! That was a happy thing.

Today, Sunday, was ok. I had to get up super early because I promised to go to Halloween party. I figured it was just to stand around, mingle with the children and hand out candy. So I went out to Hirata (nearby town) and turns out I actually had to do stuff. Heh. Wah! I just wanted to stand around and smile. Oh well. It was easy and the kids had a blast. They all dressed up in some spiffy costumes too. They don't really sell costumes much in Japan so the mommies had to make then all. They sure were cute though. I felt a little guilty that I was just wearing a skirt, polo shirt, and tiara. Don't ask me...I was like sporty princess or something. I dunno. I dont really have a Halloween costume (though I think I have to make one for the party this weekend).

And thats it. That's all that has happened lately. I hope you are having an interesting weekend!

What a nice weekend.

Well, we sure had a nice weekend. Friday was kinda cool. I went to Enya and played a game with my 6th graders. It was PTA Parent Day so I had to teach in front of all the students parents. I hope they enjoyed seeing me teach. We have a big important parents day in December coming up so I think this was a good warm up. The upcoming parent's day is kinda overwelming to think about because we are starting to plan for it now. I am not sure what's up. Im going to talk to Mihara-san on Wednesday and see what she has to say. I bet she would be willing to help me (since I have no concept of Parent's Day in Japan).

Saturday was a really fun and LONG day. I woke up around 8:30, got ready for Saturday English Class, kissed my husband good-bye, and headed off to a really fun class. You see, we have a Halloween part coming up on the 28th where we are going to decorate, make and wear costumes, and chat to foreigners. But to do that, we have to invite the foreigners! So it was the day to make invitations. It wasn't the most fun class we had, but it was pretty close. Chatting with the students and making stuff.

After class, Chris met me at Sea Jack (sushi restaurant) and we had some yummy sushi. I picked this weird crableg sushi thing. It was REAL crab. Unfortunately, it was RAW crab. Bleh. That was pretty gross. It would have been much better if it were cooked. It wasn't..so bleh.

After that we watched a little bit of Season 1 LOST and then napped because we were anticipating a busy weekend. You see, we had organized a game night. We sent out a mass email to all the Izumo area ALTs (including the townlets attached to Izumo) and some English School teachers and invited everyone to come play boardgames and poker with us. In also mentioned that they could invite friends. Last year, we had a few of these game nights and they went really well. So we wanted to get that going again. So we went to the Friendship House party room and cleaned up and got everything set up.

At 8:00 people started to trickle in slowly. Miymi (my friend and teaching partner from Saturday English class) came which was a real treat for me. We started up a game of Apples to Apples (a word/party game) and played for about an hour. It was pretty fun but everyone was chatting and not paying so much attention to the game. Ang won. The guys started up poker in the other room. Jason is kinda the Poker Master so we let him lead the poker room since he seems to know what he's doing.

Around 9:00 there were a LOT of people there. The English School People came. Every ALT showed up. And some friends that had been invited showed up. Also, they ALL brought snacks and drinks. Heh. There was a lot of food and stuff around.

The reason poker/game nights were so successful last year, was because there were enough people to fill out the poker room and there were enough people to get a board game going. However, it just doesn't work if there are too many people there! It was so crowded. It was hard to play games because there were so many people. One room was a poker room and the other room kinda turned into a small party room. We got a game of Settler's of Catan off the
ground, but it wasn't so great. No one really played games while there was a mass of people around.

Around midnight, people started heading out. Even though they didn't get to play games, everyone seemed to have a good time. After a big hunk of people left, things quieted down. We got to play a couple other games and it seemed to be a really good way to wind the evening down.

Chris was successful in poker. He didn't win any cash, but he came out with exactly what he put in. So hurray for having fun and not losing any money. One guy lost about $20 but someone made out very well. He's a good poker player though. I think I would rate the evening as a successful even though it got a little stressful for me when so many people showed up. People had fun and that's what it's all about really. I think people want to get a bi-weekly poker game going so thats kinda cool.

We ended up getting home around 2:15 am. Yikes thats a lot of gaming! Since we organized it, we felt we needed to stay to the end. We actually ended up leaving before the last game was over but that's because it was SO LATE and I was too tired to stay up much longer.

Sunday was nice and relaxing. We didnt' do anything. It was good rest from the night before. We've been rewatching the first season of LOST because we were expecting to get Season 2 in soon. And indeed, we got Season 2 yesterday! Woo! So we are trying to book it through the first season so we can go ahead and see the next. We also got season 2 of House, M.D. Hooray!

Today is rather nice, as well. I had tea and four people showed up. We discussed what we could do to make the tea even better and more helpful towards their goals of speaking English. So thats exciting for me. I may try to get a second tea going on Wednesday. Right now, Im baking a cake!

No really! I am! It has 4 minutes left before it done. I will edit this and post a picture if it looks like its going to be a yummy cake. Cross your fingers for me! It smells yummy. :)

Boring

Wow, absolutely nothing has happened this week.

• No high school classes because they were cancelled due to midterms.
• Enya elementary has been the same and Im just finishing up this class (I switch to a new 6th grade class next week).
• My English School class went the same as it always goes. I can actually tell the girls are learning though and that is kinda heartening.
• No tea this week because it was a holiday on Monday

Yeah. That's it. That's all I did. Chris wasn't even super busy at school. I think its just the middle of the semester and people are just doing routine things now that our last holiday is over (until mid/end of november). I dunno.

Hey, good news! After 6 or 7 years, I finally got to see the episode of Friends where Monica and Chandler get married! It was very sweet. Also, we finished the 5th Season of West Wing. Woo.
I cleaned the apartment! That's always good. Like, I cleaned it for real, instead of just moving all the piles and clutter into the spare room. I put things away and cleaned the spare room. I vaccummed several times.

But yeah...honestly. That's it. I should have more interesting things to talk about after the weekend.

What a spiffy weekend!

And it ain't even over yet!

So yesterday (Saturday, the 7th) was our aniversary. We spent the day relaxing and doing things we enjoyed. For dinner, we went to this sweet little bistro downtown and had a romantic and very yummy dinner. Then we got some parfaits and giggled to each other over them. Also, very tasty because of all the yummy whipcream!

The giggling actually came because there was a young daddy eating dinner with his two daughters. One daughter was around 5 and the other had to be no older than 3. Daddy had to get up to get a drink at the drink bar. While he was gone, the littlest one decided to eat her plate of french fries. But...she's 2, so she doesn't really 'get it'. So he picks up her plate and tries to shove the entire plate of fries into her mouth. She manages to get 2 of the 20 fries into her mouth...the rest? Dumped on the floor. The older girl tries to get Daddy but neglects to mention why she wants him. He just sighs (like only a parent with small kids can do) and continues to get his drink. While he's doing this, the littlest one sees that she's out of fries...sooooo...she simply drops the plate to the ground. When the daddy finally gets back he sees the plate and makes a frustrated 'oooh!' sound. The little 5 year old was more than happy to point out the fries. When he sees the fries all over the ground he makes an even louder and grumpy noise as he has to pick up a bunch of fries. Heh. It was just really cute. Cute family. It's rare to see daddies out alone with their kids without mommy around. Just a sweet family.

Anyways, after the parfaits we rented some nerd movies and came home and watched them. All in all, it was a very nice aniversary. :-)

Sunday was neato for a different reason. We were invited to dance in a parade for the Izumo Dream Festival. It was so cool. They dressed us up in yukata and taught us the Orochi Odori (Dragon Dance). There were several other ALTs there. It was a trip though.

First, they had to put us in the yukata. Now. The yukata, much like every cultures fasion, were MUCH more comfy for boys than girls. The boys tied them around loosely and their obi (belts) were worn loosly. For the GIRLS...we had to get the yukata tied tightly around us, they were then folded to make them the exact right length (except mine because Im a tall lady), then they tied various small belts around our waists very tightly, and THEN put the obi on us. The obi were just mean. They pull them really tightly around the waist (they are wide too) and then put into a cute bow (which I forgot to get a picture of) and THEN a piece of cardboard is slipped in the folds to keep it stiff. You cant bend. You cant sit. And you are forced to remain in good posture. Boo! They were uncomfortable. But still...it was cool.

Chris and I in our yukata. There was also a red sash tied around our shoulders and backs to hold the wide sleaves of the yukata out of the way.

This was taken after the parade. I was hot and very tied. But wow do my boobs look big. (inappropriate comment!) Unfortunately, my obi was tied tighter than most people. It's a one size fits all obi and I am on the bigger end of the Japanese scale. Crap. It was uncomfortable. When tying my obi, the women were clucking frustrated and talking about how my obi was going to be difficult because I was wide. Boo. Oh well...Im just a curvy lady. Also, I didn't get to wear the cool shoes and socks because my feet were too large. While all the other ladies wore tabi (socks with indent for the thong to go for a flip-flop) and getas (uncomfortable wooden shoes), I got to wear my normal shoes and socks. It looked kinda dumb. Oh well. I was more comfortable most!

Here are some more pictures:





This was a big dragon that they ran around the street. It's eyes flashed and it even roared. It was really cool to see them running it around. It seemed so strategic...and heavy. This was at the end of the parade. After we had already done our dance.



These are just some random pictures taken before we had to do the parade. Just to show some different outfits of the dancers. Each group was dressed differently, but we all did the same Dragon Dance. We were with the City Office group. The boys wore yellow and the girls wore blue.

The parade was cool but long. It was only two blocks long, but it was sooooo slow. It took everyone about an hour to get down the two blocks. Because we had to dance down it, and it was a slow dance. The second half, you didn't even move forward. During the dancing, a lot of attention was tossed our way. We were the only group who had foreigners in traditional dress, doing a very traditional dance. I had so many pictures taken of me. Not to brag, but I think I stood out a lot because of my hair and very un-japanese like appearance. Everytime I looked, there was a camera in my face snapping pictures.

Chris and Ewan were also getting a lot of pictures. Ewan is one of the newbies and he is a 6'3" sctosman. He definitely stands out above the rest. There were also drunk men yelling at him 'helping' him do the dance. Counting for him and whatnot. Fun times.

All in all, we ended up standing around wearing the yukata for about 3 hours. We were definitely tired when we managed to take them off. Up in the women's room, everytime someone took off the obi and the little belts, you could hear a great sigh of relief. Why is women's fasion always more uncomfortable than men's clothes?

And now, for the grand finale, I reveal Mihara-san!

This is Chris's supervisor and the woman who has gone far out of her way to help us out since we have been here. She's the person who got us married, who gets us cars, fixes our apartment screw ups, and takes care of every other detail that we can't do because of our lack of Japanese or the knowledge of how things work in Japan. She is one of my absolute favorite people here. She's very small but impressive. She speaks fluent english, has four kids, and has a job at the board of education that is way more than any ONE person should have to do (she's in charge of a lot of the english programs in the Izumo area AND in charge of baby-sitting all the foreigners who come to be ALTs and their spouses (me!)). Please, a large round of aplause for Mrs. Mihara. I also thought she was a good example of what you are supposed to look like when dressed up in yukata. Heh.

So thats that. After the parade, we came home and took a super long nap and then watched some more movies. What an interesting day!

I hate the rain

It's raining today and I had to go to Nishi! Boo! I hate the rain. I wasn't really too put out in the beginning. It wasn't raining that hard and the rain just helped to keep me cool. So going to Nishi was nice. Class wasn't so great because I have problem giving directions and now I have to TEACH it? Boo. I can't remember left from right without thinking about it really hard. So anyways, the lesson was tough. Oh well.

I did find out that I don't have any highschool classes next week! Hooray! Thank goodness for midterms. Heh. Only two classes for Enya Super English too. Although, one is parent's day and that kinda sucks a bit. Oh well. Hopefully it will go ok. I will have to think of something really keen to do!

So anyways, on the way home it started raining harder. Like...it started raining REALLY HARD. GAH! I was absolutely miserable. Not only was it raining hard, but the wind picked up so it was a little tough to bike into the wind. The wind also kept blowing off my hood, so I had to just ride without it. Meh! I was really damp. Also, it turns out that I pulled a muscle in my leg a little so it was also painful! It wasn't a bad pull/strain or anything. But it did hurt everytime I had to pedal with that leg. *sigh*

It was pretty miserable coming home. Chris was at home when I got home, so the sweetheart got me a towel and helped dry out my bags and coat. What a nice fellow. It stopped raining so hard, but now that I have to go back out to Enya, of course the rain has started up again! Oh well. I shouldn't complain because, honestly, out of riding my bike to school for 9 months, I have only been drenched twice. I have been really lucky when it comes to riding in the elements. It follows that I would get rained on a few time. Even the rainy season wasn't that bad for me riding bikes. So...bad Susie! No more complaing!

Speaking of my sweetie. Isn't he cute?
This was taken yesterday, right before his haircut. His hair was REALLY long and had gotten curly.

This was him today, right before he left to go to school. It was taken in a dark hallway with a crappy light so the poor fella looks really pale. And surprised. Heh. But his hair looks nice, doesn't it? He really needed it cut. Now its back to being simply 'wavey' rather than 'curly'.

He's so dreamy!

No haircut for me! As stupid as this is, Im growing it out for the winter. It does, in fact, keep me a little warmer to have longer hair. I shall have it cut in spring. It will be so long!

So thats that. Im sorry I complained so much. I promise not to complain in the next few entries. It's no fun just to read about someone whining. I hope I will have interesting things to write about after this weekend. I'm expecting a fun time! :-)

Slow week

It's been a slow week so I don't have much of anything to talk about.

Yesterday I was absolutely furious with my seniors (high school students, not old people). They were terrible. I may have bellowed at them. You see, three tuesdays ago, I assigned them a project. I wanted them to put together a 5 minute-ish mini-drama to present to the rest of the class on October 3rd. I told them many many times that the presentations were going to be presented on October 3rd. They just laughed and sat around in the two class periods I gave them to do it.

So Tuesday rolls around. I stand in front of the class and simply say, "Happyou shimashyou!" (let's do presentations!) They all start laughing and smirking. None of the groups were finished. Some of the groups had barely STARTED. I ask, quietly, each of the groups if they are finished. Each one giggles and says no. So I say, "Fine. Then everyone loses 10 points from their grade." They giggle and talk amongst themselves until some guys goes, "matte...jyuu ten mainasu?" (wait, minus ten points?) I nod and continue to frown. The class errupts into upset. Students are whining and calling me strict.

This is were the bellowing starts, in half english, half awful Japanese. I yell at them that if they do not do their projects today, they lose 10 points. And IF they do not do their projects next week, they get a zero. The class panics. Someone asks if they can do their project today but at the end of class. I stare at the clock pointedly and simply say, "you have 10 minutes to finish."

Boy, howdy! Did my class ever start busting their asses to finish. All of them got some crappy thing done in 10 minutes. I made each group show me their project (where they wrote the 'script') and told them that if they made it longer, I would let them present the following week with no minus 10. They are all still going to get poor effort points because of the craptastic effort they put in, but at least they don't lose 10 points.

I was furious and they knew it. If they pull this with me again, I'm just going to give zeros. I wont have it! They think they can screw me over because I am a foreigner and young and not strict. But when they fail Oral Communications, I guess they will learn. Heh. I bet my evaluations aren't going to be so high this semester. Oh well. Moral of the story: "don't make Susie-sensei mad."

The rest of the week has gone normally. I saw one of my highschool students in the grocery store. She is my best sophmore students. However, she hasn't been in class for the last few classes. I asked her why and she simply replied, "I'm not going to school anymore. I will go to Tokyo" and then nodded. I nodded back. Highschool is so strange here. Apparently, you can just stop going if you want to or have something else to do. Whatever. It does mean there is now an even number of students in class and that is really helpful.

Today I go to Kisuki (in fact, I need to go in about 10 minutes!). I hope my girls are learning. I still only have two students but maybe more will trickle in. I also went to the Board of Education earlier today. I had to plan Saturday English class with Miymi (Mikako is her real name). We are goign to throw a Halloween party on the 28th and it should be a barrel of fun. The next two classes are going to be preparation classes for it. The students are going to make decorations and costumes. They are also going to make invitations for the JETs I will invite. How fun! I hope it works really well. It should be fun!

No Saturday English this saturday. It's a holiday or something. However, good for us because...1 year aniversay on Saturday! Yay! We are going to go to Matsue and have a nice dinner and maybe go to the mall. Something. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to it.

Chris is currently at the haircut place. I will post a before and after picture of his hair. Its gotten SO LONG! You would be amazed!

Well, thats it. Hope this wasn't too boring! I was feeling chatty.