Today was part two of our trial lessons to see where to put the new students entering the school. I met up with Miki sensei at Tsuchiyama station, and then we went from there to the classroom and got ready.
The usual protocol was that the kids came with their mothers (or grandmothers), and the they would sit in the back part of the room to watch me with the kids. Then, the kids would go through a very simple lesson on colors, emotions, or animals – sometimes all three depending on their age.
After watching for a little while, Miki sensei would talk to the mothers and answer their questions, and basically reassure them that I could speak Japanese and would be able to handle any issues that come up. I usually say hello to the mothers when they come in and goodbye when they leave. Today we had one mother who was my age, and that was a little bit of a shocker. Someone my age with kids? Impossible! She was actually blushing for some reason when I talked to her.
Today the lessons ended earlier than usual, so we were out of there before lunch. Miki sensei and I got in her car and went to catch some sushi for lunch. As we left the neighborhood mothers were out gossiping with each other and we waved as we drove by. Miki sensei told me that word on the street was that there was a hot foreign teacher working at Nozaki sensei’s school, and everyone is excited about it.
Japanese neighborhoods, especially those away from the big cities, tend to be pretty quiet and at least during the day they are dominated by the mothers staying home with nothing to do and the kids they are taking care of. That contributes to a lot of neighborhood gossip on the grapevine, and until they get used to me I’m going to be subjected to that for a while. I’ll have to watch what I do and how I act when I’m walking around that neighborhood.
Miki sensei and I had sushi at Sushi-ro in Futami (“Zurui!” Kuniko said later), and then she dropped me off back at Tsuchiyama station. I headed home and still tired from last night’s hike I hit the sack to take a nap. I had just settled in when Kuniko came home surprisingly early. It was perfect timing – I had the bed all warm and ready and she snuggled in with me and we slept through the afternoon.
In the evening we went over to Saty and Vivre for some shopping. Kuniko did most of the shopping, actually. She usually shops for several hours and finds one thing or nothing at all. Today was a real surprise – she scored a lot of stuff. Then it was dinner (special diet soup for Kuniko, mabodofu for me).
Not much else – I watched a lot of Japanese TV to try to improve my listening comprehension, and Kuniko caught up on the computer. Tomorrow I have the day off – no work for me until Monday. Kuniko has a regular workday tomorrow, but she should have some short days coming up on Friday and Saturday.
