Last night it was pretty close to cool outside, and today the wind was blowing around nice cool air. I’m enjoying the change in temperature, to say the least. I don’t know how long it will last, so I’ve got all the windows wide open now cooling down the house.
I just had two classes today, and so I spent the morning studying and chatting with other teachers. I had a good conversation with Miyake sensei. She was talking to me about who I invited to the wedding, and she was concerned that I had invited the vice-principal without inviting the principal. Apparently that’s a slight breach of protocol. I told her that I talked it over the vice-principal, and we’re OK. I’m not doing it to secure my position in a company, I’m doing it because he’s a really nice guy and he’s helped me a lot in my time at Takanan.
My classes were a breeze, and the students were also very appreciative of the cooler weather. They seemed to have a little more energy, and I think they are really learning how to give directions. It feels good to see them step away from their worksheets and still be able to tell someone how to get somewhere in English.
There was a funny moment today when I was talking to Tsutsumi sensei about the next lesson for the first years. I had passed out the lesson (3 pages) to all the teachers yesterday, and when she came and sat down I realized that I had given them the wrong lesson – I had given them one for the second years. The funny part was that they were ready to go with the lesson. She said that she wasn’t sure how it was going to work, but she had confidence that I could pull it together. I printed out the correct handouts and re-handed them out. Embarrassing!
After school we had ESS, which was simply ten girls in a room giggling, gossiping in Japanese, and occasionally, reluctantly, speaking to me in English. Two girls in the club are determined to speak English with me, though, so I had a good chance to talk with them. Matsubara sensei was also trying to get them to speak English, but it wasn’t working. Finally we quit around five o’clock, and I went across the street to Tsuji-san’s place for some Japanese/English conversation.
I’m back home now and Kuniko is working late in preparation for their school festival on Saturday. It looks like it will be a late dinner. She’s going to be working late tomorrow as well, and then be at the school festival all day on Saturday. We might get some downtime on Sunday, but I think that we have a public holiday on Monday and so we should get a chance to catch up then for sure.
