I cranked myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 8:30 a.m., and took a nice leisurely breakfast of miso soup, rice, and pineapple juice. I’m really enjoying this abbreviated summer schedule at school, and since nobody is really around to keep track of me, I just wander in and out at will. This time last year I was stuck in Yashiro, so I couldn’t enjoy the freedom and time off that I get for free.
Once I got to school I worked on kanji practice. I reviewed earlier kanji to make sure that I could still write them. Once I learn a kanji I am very good at recognizing it and reading it, but I have trouble sometimes remembering how to write it. More review!
Kuniko had mentioned that had Tuesday off – kind of a reward for her hard work at her school for the last few days. Together we hatched a plan to spend Tuesday together. My plan was to ask for Tuesday off, and if I ask the right person they would just say “don’t worry about it, just take the day and nobody will notice.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find that person. Mr. Hayashi is still in Australia, the history teacher was stuck in a seminar, and so I only had a couple of teachers to ask. I ended up settling on Mr. Kimura, but he advised me to take the day off officially. Since I had already asked, that’s what I had to end up doing. I was a little bummed at first, but a day with Kuniko is pretty rare, and it was totally worth it. I wrote a note to the vice-principal telling him that I was taking the time, and I included lots of uncertainty in the note – I’m still hoping that he’ll take pity on me and tear up my request form.
Anyway, I took off around lunch time and went home to relax a bit and study just a bit more. In the evening I went to my Japanese class in Sannomiya, and had an interesting lesson. The students were especially active tonight, so it was a little more fun. I also found some information on continuing the classes after the “free offer” wears off. They are expensive, though, more than $150 a month. I’ll do a little research and look for some cheaper options.
After class I just got on the train going the opposite way, towards Osaka. On the train I met a nice lady that was seriously talkative. She is Japanese but she has been living in Seattle for the last 11 years. Now she’s visiting Japan, but it sounds like she doesn’t like it much. It was nice to talk to her, and she reluctantly let me get off at Kuniko’s stop. Within a few minutes I was knocking on Kuniko’s door.
