Today I was scheduled for three classes, all of them with Mr. Hayashi. As it turns out, two of them had exams, so I was only on the hook for one class – the last one of the day.
Mr. Hayashi had some bad news over the weekend – his German shepherd came down with some kind of sudden illness, so today it was in surgery at the veterinarian. Mr. Hayashi really loves his dog, so I could tell he was really concerned, even though he was smiling the whole time he told the story. I think Mr. Hayashi would be smiling if he was telling someone their grandmother died, it’s just how he talks, at least in English.
Since I had pretty much the whole day free I could prepare for some lessons later in the week, and also do some socializing with other teachers. I chatted with all of the teachers that we partied with on Saturday, and they all said they had a good time. We’ll get to party again on Friday, so that should be fun.
Watanabe sensei said that she really enjoyed meeting Kuniko, and could see why I was so in love with her. I gave her a long list of reasons why I was in love with her – she’s not just a pretty face.
Later I realized that I was doing all these conversations in Japanese, and it surprised me. I study and I study and it’s sometimes hard to see progress. It’s like owning a houseplant – you see it every day, and it seems the same size, but one day you notice that it seems bigger.
There’s a new journal low point – a houseplant analogy.
I finally had my class in the afternoon, and it was shortened significantly because the new students had to undergo a listening exam. It was really nice to get in front of some students again, and unlike other classes with Mr. Hayashi, I was running the show. That meant that I really focused on getting the students to speak English, and I tried to create a relaxed atmosphere.
The students pick up pretty quickly that this class will be totally different, and they react to that in different ways. Some see it as an invitation to screw off, and others see it as a way to finally break out and speak English. If that ratio is only 50%, I’m happy. The screw-offs I can deal with, and I really enjoy seeing the light dawning on the students when they realize they can understand what I am saying in English.
After class I went to the staffroom to chill out, and one of the janitors came by to empty our trash. Usually we have the students do it, but when they have some kind of assembly or exams, the janitor does it. He seems like a nice old guy. A little strange and really hard to understand, but nice.
We chatted about the good old days when he was in high school and he went on a high school trip to Okinawa. He told me the beer in Okinawa was a little better than the beer here, but I was unclear if he had made that determination during his high school trip or not. He said plenty of other things, but I just shook my head when I didn’t understand. That didn’t seem to stop him, though. I get the impression that he doesn’t have a lot of people that will listen to him as attentively as I did – I was leaning forward hanging on every word trying to figure it out.
I found out today that we have at least two new ESS students, and I got to say hello to them. I’m hoping for some more, but that may be it. The existing members will be happy to have some new members to boss around.
I left school and went to the train station, and while there I bumped into a few of our first year students who I’ve not met yet. They know me, though, and so I exchanged a few waves and hello’s. Before the train came one of the new teachers at my school came up and sat down with me to wait.
This guy is interesting – he looks like a combination of Stephen King and Neil Diamond and he usually wears black – all black. Gothic black. He’s really quiet, but he speaks fairly good English. I enjoy talking with him because he’s really low key and friendly to me. I think he probably had a good relationship with the ALT at his old school, because it didn’t take him long to come talk to me. I’m not sure what his name is yet – I checked the seating chart but I can’t read the Japanese characters. Anyway, we talked about his hobbies, and he said he really enjoys reading. His favorite author – yep, Stephen King.
I stopped in at Ito Yokado for groceries and made a vegetable and chicken rice dish that was easy. I got carried away and made too much, so now I’ve got lunch for tomorrow.
This evening I’ll just relax, listen to Japanese CDs, and do a little light reading. Tomorrow it’s back in front of some new students, and I can’t wait to meet them all.
