Exams are over, and for the students it’s a big sigh of relief. For the teachers, it’s back to work. Not really – most of the teachers at my school have been working hard preparing and then marking the exams, and they don’t have a light schedule like I do. Everyone is looking forward to getting back into a routine.
The history teacher was walking around today with a plastic plug in his nose, ostensibly to keep blood in, but it sure draws a lot of attention. Today he was asking me about the historical significance of Gurkhas in American education. He is a history teacher, and he is shocked that I’m not thinking about Gurkhas more often. You never know quite what to expect with the history teacher.
I sailed out the door at noon and made some ramen at home for lunch. The day was threatening rain but it never really showed up. I studied flashcards, flashcards, flashcards, and listened to some Japanese CDs full of simple sentences that I struggled to comprehend.
A highlight of my day was a text chat with Kuniko in Okinawa. She’s doing well and enjoying the trip. It’s the rainy season there, so we’re hoping she gets a little sunshine while they are there. She sent me a photo from her hotel and it has a beautiful view of the ocean – they must be right on the beach. Lucky!
In keeping with the listening comprehension theme I watched the entire Hanshin Tigers baseball game, struggling to understand the announcers. It might be useful to pick up some baseball lingo – I only know “strike out”.
Tomorrow I’ve got lots of classes, included one solo class, so I’m looking forward to that. Today the schedulers noticed that I would be going it alone, and they asked me if I was cool with that. I’m cool with it now – ask me again after the class.
