It was as if I made a loud announcement during a teacher’s meeting. “Hello everyone, I have Tuesday off!” Within minutes of walking through the door Mr. Yamamoto asked me if I could take two more classes, effectively killing my free day on Tuesday. I put on a jovial face as I accepted the extra work. I’d have probably been bored anyway.
Our first year students came in today for the opening ceremony, and like the graduation ceremony it was full of speeches, standing up, sitting down, and repeat. I sat with Mr. Komuri who alternated between telling me rude jokes in English and sleeping, all this right in front of the very earnest parents of the new students. He’s close to retirement, so I don’t think he worries too much about making a great impression anymore.
I passed the time making faces at a little kid that was sitting with her parents, and she seemed to get a kick out of a foreigner with a sense of humor. It was fun.
After the ceremony we had a free bento lunch that was pretty good, but they did have a little paper cup full of tiny fish – their little eyes all staring in different directions and their little spines starting to bend. I call them “bent fish” because I don’t know what the real name is, and it’s one food in Japan I don’t plan on eating. The sashimi was good, though, and there were plenty of fried things to keep everyone happy.
School finished up and we took a group picture in front of the school. Once that was finished, we all took off. I went home to cook up a quick meal before Yasu came over. Kuniko had gotten him some omiyage at Tokyo Disneyland and I wanted to give that to him sooner rather than later. We used the occasion to drink beers and practice English – it was a lot of fun.
I’m bushed now – I’m heading to bed. Tomorrow is Friday and I’ve got some shopping to do – I may be cooking dinner for Kuniko on Saturday night.
