The last two words of last night’s entry were “blissful sleep”. I can’t believe I said that. In the middle of the night I woke up with itches all over my arms and legs, and I had mosquito bites everywhere. When I rolled over and tried to sleep the whine of mosquitos buzzing around my ear would keep me from sleep. I tossed and turned, hiding under my sheet, and had the worst night of sleep in recent memory. I woke up this morning with two new words on my mind: “kill mosquito”.
At lunchtime Mr. Hayashi took me to the hardware store and we looked at the vast array of weapons of mosquito destruction. I could choose from several different ways to kill the little flying bastards. On Mr. Hayashi’s suggestion I got a nightlight thing that emits some kind of oil that is supposed to keep them away. I’ll try it out tonight. I hope it works! If it doesn’t, it might be mosquito netting for me. It’s only just the beginning of mosquito season around here – I’ve got a long way to go.
The big talk today at school was about bonuses. In Japan, all civil servants (that includes public teachers) get bonuses. I think that the bonuses come three times a year, at the end of each term. Also, to a certain extent, private companies sometimes follow this same schedule. Unfortunately for me, I am classified as a part-time employee, and so I’m not entitled to a bonus.
People were walking around talking about how much their bonus was, and it seemed like I was the only one who didn’t have a fat wad of cash to burn. The bonus varies based on experience, but it can be anywhere from $5000 – $9000. That’s right… big bucks!
I don’t mind not getting a bonus – these people work very hard and they are on a long, straight-forward career path that inevitably leads to mandatory retirement at age 60. They work tons of hours, with no overtime. My job by comparison is much easier, and so I don’t feel so bad. I remember my predecessor Andy getting a little upset by the lack of a bonus for my position.
Another big topic at school today was that the air conditioning was coming on. We’ve got air conditioning in only select rooms in the school – the teacher’s office is one of the rooms. There’s no rules about it, but they usually wait until July 1st to flip on the A/C. I guess it’s an effort to save money.
It was funny to hear the announcement that they were turning on the air conditioning at noon that day. Apparently it was an action of such consequence that a formal announcement was necessary. I was hoping for a speech or something, but no luck. Anyway, now it’s much cooler in the staff room.
For dinner I made some fried rice, with lots of veggies and shrimp mixed in. It was kind of like a chef salad of fried rice. Or something.
Off to bed – hope the mosquitos stay away!
