Kid Drama, Jr. High Students

Yesterday I had time to do a little shopping in the morning, and then I came back and got ready for work. By the time I was ready to leave for work, it was starting to rain. Since I walk pretty much all the way to work, I grabbed an umbrella and headed out the door.

I had my usual set of three classes, and then a junior high class in the evening. The first three classes went pretty well – the students in those classes are still kind of getting used to me, but we’re getting close to starting with our textbooks, and that will give them a little bit of structure to work with.

My first class on Wednesday is going to be a little bit of a challenge. The students need a lot of discipline to stay on task – even if being on task just means sitting in one place. One boy likes to try to sneak up behind me for the “kancho”. The girls were having a minor drama session because the new girl was allowed to sit where someone’s former best-friend was sitting and that caused a big issue.

Other than that class it was no sweat. After the first three classes, I just had the junior high class to teach. This was with new students, so I was looking forward to meeting. Nozaki sensei made a mistake and told me that they’d be in at 7:30, but in fact they came at 7. No problem, sit on down and learn some English. I was a little surprised to find that these students were third year junior high students – everyone was much old than I expected. One standout from that class was Haruka – she had excellent pronunciation and I would guess that she has spent time in a foreign country.

After the class ended Nozaki sensei said that one of the mothers was outside in a car and heading to the station, so I could catch a ride with her. I gathered up my stuff and jumped in a car with a stranger, and she drove me five minutes to the station. On the way we talked about her experiences as a host mother for a French girl who insisted on eating only French bread and Evian water during her 10 days in Japan.

When I got home Kuniko was already there – all tuckered out underneath the kotatsu. I made up some udon noodles for dinner with ponzu and egg, and then finished up some studies and went to bed. Tomorrow is a normal three class day, and then an easy Friday at work and a meetup with Antoine Friday night.


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