First Class at the YMCA

Exams are continuing at Takasago Minami, and so the teachers are having it easy. Tomorrow the fun ends for me – the students are taking my test and I’m responsible for marking them. I should be fairly busy for a while. Luckily it means I’ll get to skip the softball tournament at the other school.

Today Mr. Hayashi took me and Mr. Komuri out to lunch at an okonomiyaki place. It was really good – they even had Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki… delicious! We sat and chatted about various things and relaxed, then when we got back to school Mr. Hayashi cut me loose for the day.

I went home and changed clothes, and then headed into Kobe to attend my first class at the YMCA. The teacher was very nervous – maybe it was her first time. They are rotating teachers to give everyone a shot, and so most of these folks haven’t taught before.

One interesting thing about the class is the students. There are about twelve students. There was two from California, one from New Zealand, two from India, five from China, one from Hungary, and one from Spain. Since very few people spoke English, including the teacher, we made do with Japanese. It was a weird experience to use Japanese to talk to a Hungarian, but it worked.

The class itself seemed a bit on the easy side, but maybe that’s just because it’s only just begun. I learned a few things and I made a few mistakes, so maybe it’s a good level for me.

One of the guys was raving about ramen during the class, so on the way home I stopped in at a noodle shop for some ramen. The bonus – all you could eat kimchee. Oh, yeah… I loaded up. The kimchee was really good, too. They were selling it in jars to take home, but I ate what was free and got out of there with a stomach full.

The class looks like it will be useful, and after all, the price is right. I’m hoping it will improve my Japanese even more!