Things are ramping up at school – the exam period is over for the third year students, so now they can come and go as they please. Their school responsibility is over until graduation. Still, some students are still looking for some guidance, so they’ll be around now and then.
Since their exams finished they let the students back into the staffroom, and that livens it up a whole lot. I’m looking forward to having more visitors at my desk to chat with.
I had two classes today and I helped out Mikyake sensei with some dictation that she did, so I was fairly busy. I spent a bit of time getting ready for tomorrow’s lessons – two new ones for the second year students.
One of the first year teachers, Yamamoto sensei, came by and chatted with me for a while in English. This is a pretty rare thing – he’s not very confident in his English. He seems to be getting comfortable with me, though, and more and more he comes by to say hello.
Today he told me that he told his homeroom class about how hard I study in the staffroom, and the unique way I learn vocabulary – by using the handheld computer. He said that his students seemed pretty impressed. A couple of students asked me about it later, so I think it made an impression.
Now that I’m using the handheld computer instead of flashcards, I can’t imagine ever going back. My big fear is breaking or losing the handheld – if that happens I’ll still have the data backed up on my computer, but I wouldn’t be able to memorize anymore. I’ll have to think of a plan just in case, and be really careful.
Tonight Kuniko and I are going to try to organize a trip to Hokkaido in the beginning of March. Neither of us has been yet, and we want to go enjoy the snow, the crab, the scenery. It’s supposed to be beautiful up there.
