I slept well last night and felt a little better today. I had a full slate of classes today, and they all went very well. The lesson I’m doing is on clothing, and all there are a couple of places to get some easy laughs from the kids.
Tomorrow exams start for the students, and they look pretty nervous. It’s easy stuff for the teachers, we have no lessons, just sitting around and then grading the exams afterwards. I am exempt, since the regular English teachers do all the examinations. Easy!
In mid-November there is a conference for all ALTs, and I am required to attend with a teacher from my high school. Mr. Hayashi was all set to go, but he was reassigned to go with the 1st year students to Universal Studios Japan, and so they need another teacher to go with me. Mr. Hayashi told me at lunch that all the other teachers were drawing straws – none of the other English teachers are particularly good at speaking English, and they are afraid of being embarrassed in front of all the other teachers. I didn’t hear who lost, but I’m not thrilled about going either – I’m missing a free trip to Universal Studios for this!
At lunchtime I kidnapped Miss Kageyama and had her translate the lunch menu in the cafeteria for me. There were all kinds of interesting things on the menu – now I have a few more options if I eat in there.
After school I came home and roasted the jalapenos and habaneros that Sara sent me last week. I skinned them and then sauteed them separately in garlic and olive oil. My mom had suggested freezing them afterwards and so I put them into ice cube containers – little frozen chunks of deadly heat. Now I can use them through the upcoming winter!
I cooked up curry tonkatsu tonight – a fried pork cultlet on a bed of rice with curry sauce on top. I added a little more heat, and now I’m sweating away the cold.
My mom had stayed up late in the United States to call and let me know that my grandmother passed away today. Her health was deteriorating steadily over the last week, so it wasn’t a surprise, but it was still sad to hear. One of the problems with being so far away is that I have limited options when it comes to being with friends and family back home. The picture below was taken on Thanksgiving last year.
