Today I got a late start for school because my bed felt so good. The good news is that my late is still other people’s early, and I had plenty of time to spare.
At school I got a chance to chat with Ms. Miyake, who is always fun to talk to. After giving me some advice about proposing to Kuniko, she’s been dying to tell people about it. I’m a little worried that she might let it slip. Talking today she told me that she almost told Andy’s (my predecessor) wife Michelle about it. Andy is still in touch with lots of teachers here, so that will almost certainly spill the beans. I explained that we’d like to keep it under wraps for just a few more months, and I hope she’ll be able to do it.
Because we had exams for some of the students, I had only one class today. I spent most of my time preparing for tomorrow’s busier day. After lunch I had finished what I needed to do, so I spent the second half of the day, about four hours, studying Japanese.
I also got to chat with one of the part time teachers that I don’t know very well. I haven’t talked to her since well before summer, and she mentioned that she thought my Japanese had improved since last time we talked. I was happy to hear that – lots of hours without some positive feedback once in a while is tough. It occurred to me today that I’ve been studying Japanese for two years now. That seems like a long time, considering I still can’t speak it very well.
After school I caught the train home, and then knocked on my neighbor’s door. During the typhoon lots of their junk blew onto my patio, so I put it all in a box and delivered it to them.
The funny thing about knocking on a door in Japan is that people will ask who is there and want to know more information before opening the door and greeting you. The result is that part of your conversation is clearly heard by your neighbors.
Anyway, the wife speaks a little English, so we chatted in English for a while. She was excited to get the chance to talk. I still can’t get over how great it feels to be able to make so many people happy by doing something as simple as smiling and chatting.
It was leftover night tonight, but tomorrow is my last Japanese class at the YMCA in Kobe. I don’t have lots of money to buy a Kobe steak to celebrate, but maybe I’ll get the big bowl of ramen instead.
