This weekend is quickly drawing to a close, so I thought I’d sit down and write it up. Saturday morning Kuniko had to go in to work, so I just slept in and then cleaned up the house a bit. By the time Kuniko made it back after work she was tired out, so she took a nap.
At the end of the day I went out to meet Miyake sensei and Nozaki sensei at the train station. They looked just the same – nobody had changed at all. We talked and laughed on the way back to my place, and we settled in for some drinking and eating. They got us caught up on everything at Takasago Minami, and we told them what we’ve been doing. We looked at our vacation pictures briefly, and drank lots of wine, ate lots of cheese, bruschetta, salad and lasagna. Kuniko really went all out cooking and we ate as much as we could. We also had lots of desserts, so we kind of pigged out. It was the first time for Kuniko to meet Nozaki sensei, and I was happy to see that they got along really well.
We got to talking about the Wii, and of course they wanted to give it a go. They were both playing tennis, and then we all played a round of bowling. It was a lot of fun – the Wii is great for parties, and it really is interesting for all ages. To see Miyake sensei bowling like a professional was a real treat.
Nozaki sensei and I talked a little bit about her school, too. She runs a school from her home, and she has about 70 students from elementary to junior high school age that come in the evenings to take English lessons. Right now she has a Japanese lady that is teaching them English, but that lady is leaving for another job. Nozaki sensei had arranged for a friend of hers from America to come and do the job, but that fell through. She had asked me a while back if I knew anyone who was interested, and at the time I couldn’t think of anybody.
Now my contract is drawing to a close, and the staffing company hasn’t told me anything at all about the next contract. I have a feeling that they won’t have a contract at another school for anybody, so my job search had just begun. I’ve also been really hoping for an opportunity to study for my master’s degree, and so the idea of working for her was really appealing.
There are pros and cons, but overall it sounds like it will be good. The job is a part time job, four hours a day Monday through Friday. It is in the evenings, so I’ll have time in the mornings to study and work on my degree. Because it is only a part time job, the money isn’t as good as what I’m making now at a full time job. When you break it down by the hour, I am doing OK. Still, the overall family budget will take a hit, and combined with the cost of grad school we’ll have to get used to a little less money laying around.
Kuniko and I had talked it over beforehand, and everything sounded good, so I went ahead and told her that I’m interested. She was really happy, I was really happy, and I think it’ll work out great. It doesn’t start until the beginning of April, so I’ll have a month of unemployment. I need to think about a way to stay out of trouble until April.
Even then, the next semester of grad school doesn’t start until September, so I’ve got to figure out something to do in the mornings for six months. I can do some pre-studying, but I’d like to find a way to earn a little more money, too.
Between all the wine, all the Wii, and the good conversation, everyone was a little tipsy. We walked them back to the train station around 10:30, and then came home a organized a little bit before bed. It was a great evening, and I think I’ve got something interesting job-wise in the near future, which is a big relief. What better way to get a job than to drink a couple of bottles of wine with your future boss?
