Today the exams started for my students, and for the teachers it was the first day of a relaxing week. I put in lots of study time in the morning, and after lunch the teachers went over to the gymnasium to play a few games of soft volleyball.
I was wearing some old leftover sweats and a T-shirt that I use for sports and it seems to me that I should probably have a little bit nicer clothes to wear when I’m exercising. That might be something I ask for during Christmas. I think I really stood out – everyone else was well dressed for the occasion.
The fun began with a speech and an opening ceremony, just like most things in Japan. The principal and vice-principal said a few words. They actually weren’t going to play because they had a business meeting off campus (which means they went out drinking). They asked a PE teacher to lead us in some warm-up exercises to get started. I thought it was funny to see them doing exercises with us, even in their suits and ties. There is always a sense of doing the same thing as the group here, and that was a great example.
There were three teams, not enough for a tournament, so the captains of each team played rock, scissors, paper to determine who would play first. We won the round, so we got to sit, and we automatically won second place no matter what.
The first two teams played three grueling games, each of them close, and they walked off the court exhausted. Our team rolled over and died and we lost two straight games. They awarded the winning team a case of beer in tall cans, and the second place team (us) got a case of beer (regular cans). It was strange to see that the other team won nothing, even though they won more games than we did. In fact, the only game we won was rock, scissors, paper.
After all the sweaty fun I headed home to take a shower and relax. I oooked up breakfast for dinner – scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, and fried potatoes with some fresh peppers that I harvested from my little pepper trees out on the patio.
Kuniko enjoyed the dinner, and she’s on the schedule to cook tomorrow. I wonder what it will be? Because we both have exams this week we have more free time, so she will be getting home at a reasonable hour.
The next two days after school we’ll be meeting in Kobe to have our pictures taken in various outfits. No digital cameras allowed, but maybe I can take a picture of a picture and do something with that on the website. No promises, though…
