My schedule today was mixed up and so I had a really tough lineup at school. I had four classes in a row with just 10 minutes in between, from the first period to the fourth. Luckily I had done a lot of planning yesterday, so it went pretty smoothly.
Matsubara sensei was gone today, so I taught her class solo. It went pretty well, and I only had to break into Japanese once or twice. All of the students were impressed, and I think they paid just a bit more attention.
After my run of four classes finished up, I was able to relax, have a leisurely lunch, mail some letters, go to the convenience store for some cold beverages, and generally just kick back. I studied kanji in the afternoon, and then went to a very boring staff meeting in the afternoon.
The purpose of the staff meeting was to introduce a goal-oriented system to the educational system at our school. It was mind-numbingly boring, and it was met by some resistance from the teachers. From what I can tell they are going to give it a try for a year and see how it goes.
Finally, I chatted with the vice principal about taking time off for the wedding. He signed off right away for the five days leading up to the wedding, but he seemed surprised that I wanted to take three days off the next week. He said that we’ll talk about that in the beginning of November. I’m thinking that he’ll let me take it, and even if he doesn’t the teachers have a plan in place to do my classes without me, so I might call in sick three days in a row. Like I said before – there’s no reason to save my capital… I’m gone in August.
Tonight I got home and went out with Yasu for dinner at Denya. It’s a good chance for Yasu to use his English, and we had a good time talking about all kinds of things. I gave him an invitation to the wedding, and we talked about his future. He went with his brother to a fortuneteller and I guess he found out some opportunities will be coming his way in November. He told me that he doesn’t believe in it, but now he’s paying a little more attention.
Now I’m back home and Kuniko will be getting here soon. I brought back some yakitori for her just in case she missed dinner. Tomorrow I have a comparitively easier day, and Friday should be pretty easy as well. Once I get past Monday I can just cruise into the weekend.
