My days are getting busier and busier, but still not nearly as difficult as last year’s schedule. Today I had only two classes, both with the new first years. These classes are a lot of fun, because I get to make a first impression on a bunch of new students.
The students this year seem even more friendly than last year, which is saying a lot. I’ve got them speaking in class already, and some of the students stuck around to chat with me after class, which is always a big surprise.
I caused a big stir in the staffroom at lunch when I cooked up my leftover Korean rice dish from last night in the microwave. Everyone was sniffing around my desk, asking questions about who made it, why I’m not eating at the cafeteria, etc. I ate a little early, around 11:30, and I noticed that once the smell got around the staffroom, lots of other people broke out their lunches. The power of Korean rice!
Also I had a nice chat with Watanabe sensei. She is in charge of the shogi (Japanese chess) club. She has no idea who is going to show up or how many members it has, so she wasn’t sure what to expect. I told her that my club, ESS, only had seven members, so it’s a fun thing for me to do. Last year at this time we only had two or three members that would participate, so I was happy when we got four new students last year.
Today we had the deadline for students to join clubs. Mr. Hayashi said we had to wait in the ESS room, so he and I sat around waiting for someone to show. Finally we had two new first year students come in and sign up. We also had a third year student join up. She is a little out-of-control behavior-wise. She spent the sign up time joking with Mr. Hayashi in Japanese and slapping him on the rear end when he said something particularly funny. They seemed to be getting along just fine – the only problem is that Mr. Hayashi doesn’t really participate in ESS – it’s usually just me and now the new advisor, Matsubara sensei. I hope she doesn’t expect to be slapping my ass every Thursday.
After another fifteen minutes we gave up on new members, locked up the ESS room, and I went back to my desk. On the way there I stopped by Matsubara sensei’s desk. I told her that we waited for almost thirty minutes, and we only got a few new members. She gave me a strange look and explained to me that the new members were supposed to go to another classroom, where she and some of our existing members had been taking sign ups. Oh, I see. I guess Mr. Hayashi didn’t read that memo. I guess neither did the three students that showed up in the ESS room.
Then the real stunner – there was a lot of interest in ESS. She signed up 13 new members! Now all together we have around 20 members – one of the bigger clubs in the school. Holy crap! The new members aren’t just first years – lots of second year students signed up, too. I was really surprised in the jump in interest – a year ago I was thinking that we might have to abandon the club for lack of interest. Now I’ll be working with a whole squad of kids every Thursday.
Luckily, Matsubara sensei is new to the school and really energetic about working with the club. Maybe together we can put together some fun activities for these guys.
On the way home I chatted with three of the parking guards at Ito Yokado. I was feeling more confident with my Japanese, and the parking guys really like chatting with me – it’s a good break from their routine. One guy had heard that I’m getting married in November, and he told me that his daughter was getting married in October. We exchanged congratulations and I went on to the next parking guy to chat with him. They have funny nicknames for each other, so I’m just figuring them out.
I made some real Kraft macaroni and cheese for dinner (SpongeBob Squarepants shaped – Kuniko bought them for me from an import foods store in Osaka) and not long after, the bookstore over at Ito Yokado called me to let me know that a Japanese textbook I had ordered had arrived. I went over there and took a look at it, and whoah, it’s all in Japanese. I talked with the clerk about it, and he figured it would be an OK level for me, but maybe he just wanted to sell the book. I picked it up, and did a few more other things before heading back.
Tomorrow is a busy day with four classes, and three of them are new lessons for the second year students. Supposed to be raining, too – yuck!
