Wow, what a day. At one point I had to sit and write down all the things that were going on so I wouldn’t forget to write about them tonight.
I got to school and had some paperwork on my desk. One paper was the official acceptance of my contract for my third and last year. That was good to see. Over the vacation Kuniko had the great idea to chat with the vice principal of my school to get some advice on how to handle telling everyone about our upcoming marriage. I got some time with him today, and told him everything. He was really happy, and we talked about next steps. He understood that there may be some potential fireworks with Mr. Hayashi, and he very graciously offered to handle anything that might happen if anyone gets upset.
Today was also a big day because they announced who was being transferred from our school. It was a long list of eight teachers. I was pretty bummed out – one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Komuri, is being transferred. He was pretty bummed out, too. He asked if maybe I could transfer with him. There was a 30% chance that the history teacher would get transferred, but he made the cut and I’ll have to deal with him for another year. Another one of my favorite teachers, Yoshizumi sensei got transferred.
One of our English teachers is getting transferred – Terano sensei. That means that the new teacher will have to come in and take over the ESS club management. I heard that the new English teacher is a 35 year old female, a former student of our school. That fact alone has convinced Mr. Hayashi already that she won’t be able to do a good job. I’m reserving judgment until I meet her.
We had a big cleaning day today, and Mr. Hayashi went up to my classroom with me. I was shocked to see that the classroom was completely stripped. Everything had been torn off the walls, all my maps and postcards and decorations, everything was gone. The books were all gone, even the bookshelf was gone. Why? Mr. Hayashi’s explanation was that one of the students is wearing a diaper now and he needed the room. Huh? I decided to take it in stride and to use the opportunity to get a fresh start for next year.
More excitement – our girls Kent team is going to the Japanese National Finals. That means fame and glory, and so we had a big assembly to send them off, and lots of members of the community and the PTA were there to wish them good luck. The girls looked a bit overwhelmed, but I hope they do well.
Mr. Hayashi took Mr. Komuri and me to lunch. We drove out to northern Takasago for a lunch special that Mr. Hayashi was excited about. It was really good – I was glad to be eating Japanese food again. Mr. Komuri was recognized by one of the waitstaff. He tried to pretend that he remembered her from his class, but she corrected him and told him that it was her daughter that was in his class. Whoops – busted.
Mr. Hayashi got a phone call during lunch that his father was taken to the hospital nearby. After lunch we headed over to the hospital to check in on him. While we were driving I was stunned to see a California Highway Patrol car drive by. It was an older one, maybe from the early 90’s, but it was completely intact – black and white with the CHP logo still on the door, lights and sirens on the roof, everything. How it came to be driving around Japan I’ll never know.
Mr. Hayashi’s father was stable but not doing great, and Mr. Hayashi just checked in with the doctor. After a few minutes of waiting around, we went back to school, and I spent the afternoon studying. I spent lots of time passing out omiyage to everyone, and the reactions from people were great. Some wondered where I was, some I could tell were jealous that I was gone before vacation had really started, and some thought that I was no longer in the JET program for some reason. Anyway, everyone was really happy with their gifts.
After school I walked out to Azusa’s house for her last lesson, and it went really well. We had some great conversations and at the end of it she and her mom not only paid me, but they gave me a bonus – a little Starbucks coffee maker and a bad of ground coffee. Azusa and her mom were really nice to me – I can only hope all students will be like that. I said goodbye to them for the last time, and came home.
Now I’m just getting caught up with everything. I’ve still got lots to do, but I hope by the weekend things will be getting under control!
