With the big ramp up to the Culture Festival capturing everyone’s attention, it was a miracle that we actually had some classes today, too. I studied in the morning, and then taught a class during fourth period. The classes in the afternoon were cancelled so that there was plenty of time to set things up.
My fourth period class was interesting because Mr. Hayashi wasn’t there. In fact, this is the second time that he’s missed this particular class. The students did OK, but they definitely aren’t getting the full experience. I write my lesson plans with two teachers in mind, and so it gets awfully awkward when a teacher decided to bail out on me. I got through this one, but if this becomes a routine we could have some problems down the road.
To help out with preparations I attached more balloons, helped arrange a giant dragon float, and folded newspapers for my ESS club. All the students were really appreciative, and many took the chance to talk to me. Tomorrow I’m hoping that it will be more of the same.
After school I went over to Tsuji-san’s place, and we chatted for about an hour about all kinds of stuff. Then we went over to Daniel’s house and picked him up. Daniel is Tsuji-san’s other foreigner student from England. They study together once a week, and I have met him once before. He’s leaving the country in another month or so, and we thought it would be a good thing to all get together and have dinner.
We went out to a sushi/tempura/teishoku place and ordered up a round of beers. It was fun to switch in and out of the different languages depending on your mood, and it added a whole new layer of subtlety to the conversations. Tsuji-san was really funny – her face reacts to everything she hears, so she’d be terrible at poker.
I ate sushi and they had tempura, and once we finished up Tsuji-san and I split the bill to say goodbye to Daniel. He was a nice guy to chat with. He’s very soft-spoken, and it sounds like he’s in a tough teaching situation. I hope that he finds something that interests him back in England.
Now I’m back home and getting ready for the festival tomorrow. It’ll be hot and humid inside the gymnasium – I learned that from last year. This year I’ll be a little more prepared.
