So what's new?

Not much new here (hence the lack of updating). We are still muddling along.

Yesterday (Friday, December 1st) I had to give my fall semester final to my students at Nishi (West Izumo High). They didn't tell me that I had to give my final until the week before though. That was kinda dumb of them! But even dumber was the fact that they scheduled both my classes' finals on the same day in the same period. Gah! I ended up just having all the students (1st years and 3rd years) in one room and gave them the same final. It was pretty easy so I am hoping they did well. I gave them a test a couple of weeks ago and my seniors (3rd years) pretty much bombed it. I think they weren't taking the test seriously. They sure looked upset when I handed them back the grades though. Oh well. I am hoping that the finals yield much better results.

After my test, I had to give a private test in the nurse's because one of my students was sick. It turned out to be a fun trip. I gave the test and the student went to lie down. Then the nurses descended upon me and gave me tea and gross Japanese candy. I think I am becoming immune to my dislike of Japanese tea. I don't hate the tea anymore. I still don't like it, but I don't hate it. The nurses were interested in America and talking to me. It was a very enjoyable chat. I think I handled myself quite skillfully in Japanese. Maybe I spoke only basic Japanese, but I was always able to make myself understood. Woo. When they gave me the gross candy, I polite mentioned that I didn't care for it, so they gave me pumpkin flavored off-brand kitkats. They were pretty good. I ate two of them!

The day before my test, on Thursday, I had a good day at Nishi. I absolutely adore my 1st years. They are so...willing to go along with my stupid teaching plans. Unfortunately, I didn't actually plan for Thursday's class so I winged it (wang it? wung it?). It led to an amusing time. Our topic was ordering food at a fast food restaurant, so I wrote out a menu on the board and had the students come up to my podium-thing and pretend they were ordering. Heh. The kids were cute with it and played with me. It was all completely imaginary, but they did good. I am confident in their ability to order a hamburger from McDonald's in America.

As far as I can remember, that is pretty much all that has happened this week. Today was kind of a slow day, which is nice for a Saturday. After I got back from class, we had yummy grilled sandwiches (that I so totally made) and then rented some more X-Files and Lilo and Stitch. We watched Lilo and Stitch...and I have to say, I was expecting it to be a completely different movie. That is one of the saddest Disney movies I have seen! It's up there with Anabel's Wish. I promise! It was a very good movie, a little silly, but definately not as silly as the previews made it out to be.

And to top all that off, we had a marvelous American Style dinner. I cooked some Macaroni and cheese (thanks Mom and Jane!) and some mixed vegetables (with garlic, butter, and pepper...mmm!). Chris was the master chef though and cooked...steak! We got three small steaks (for $8.00! I know! So cheap) and Chris pan seared them to perfection! Very yummy! I like dinners like that. It always makes me feel like I actually know what I'm doing when I'm cooking. Plus, it helps with the homesickness.

Tomorrow we are going to see the new James Bond movie with some other ALTs...so that should be fun!

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and week!