Today Kuniko had to leave early for work, so I left our house at the same time and ended up arriving at school before even the janitor got there. I had to open the door myself which is a very rare thing.

Exams started today at my school, and so I had a lot of free time. I spent almost 30 minutes in my classroom folding a paper airplane for my extra lessons next week. I’m going to do a paper airplane lesson, and I want some examples to show the students. I found the plans for this one of the internet, and it took some work but it came out pretty well.

I flew it around the classroom, but it became apparent quickly that I needed more space for this one. I took it out in the hallway, but it often hit the walls, so that was a problem.

Then I had the bright idea to take it up to the fourth floor and throw it out the window. That side of the school had no students – they were all in the other side taking tests. I opened the window, and hesitated for a little bit. I don’t know why, but I felt a little guilty. Here I was a 34 year old worried about whether I was going to get caught throwing a paper airplane out the window. I looked around, and the coast was clear. Finally I just chucked it out the window.

It flew really well. Lucky for me it flew in a huge circle, eventually coming back towards the school instead of continuing on to the school swimming pool where it would meet a watery end. It drifted for quite a long time, and it really was a good paper airplane. I went out and recovered the plane, and then brought it back inside and stashed it away for next week. Nobody saw me – mission accomplished!

My school principal was on a business trip, but he called in and asked for me. He had talked to Hasegawa sensei, and he wanted me to get in touch with him. I sent an email to Hasegawa sensei and got an answer in Japanese. The gist was that Hasegawa sensei had opened up a dialog with a private high school, but some circumstances changed and it looks like they aren’t looking for an ALT anymore. He asked me a question at the end of the message, and I am a little stumped about what it might mean. I’ll check with Kuniko when she gets home tonight.

I’m leaving school every day this week at noon, because of the exams. I came home today and then went over to the eye doctor to check on contact lenses. We did an eye exam, and then found some contacts that seemed to work for me. They gave me a free set to try for two weeks, and then I’m going to go back and do another check. It’s a nice deal, and I want to take advantage of these kind of things before my insurance expires at the end of my job contract.

I also did some packing this afternoon. I’ve carved out a little corner of our bedroom to start putting stuff away. I don’t think we have that much to deal with, but I’m trying to get a jump on it since this month will be busy anyway.

Kuniko will get back a little late tonight, and the plan is to cook up a little spaghetti for us when she gets home. Tomorrow is another half day, and it will likely be more of the same.

Kuniko and I got up early today – 3 a.m. One of Kuniko’s students was on an early flight back to Canada, so I decided to join Kuniko on her trip to the airport. It is a long, boring drive, and even more boring that early. We got all ready and then hit the road, and the biggest delays were the traffic lights getting to the freeway – they were on a timer that seemed to last forever to switch over.

We made the long drive there and met up with another teacher at Kuniko’s school, Hakogi sensei. We all stood around waiting for Haley to show up, and when she did there were endless pictures. Haley’s friends from school were there, her host family, some Rotary representatives, and us. Everyone had to be in the picture, and everyone had brought cameras so every combination of person and camera had to done.

There were lots of tearful goodbyes, and Haley got to the security gate with minutes to spare for her flight. Soon after we waved goodbye Kuniko and I were at McDonald’s for breakfast, and then back on the road home. We got back around 9 a.m., and we both crashed right out to sleep.

Fast forward to about 2 p.m. and we woke up and got organized. Now I’m typing this up and soon we’ll be heading to Kuniko’s folks for dinner.

Next week my exam period starts, so I’ll get half days all week. I plan on doing some things that I haven’t been able to do because of work. I’ll go to have my eyes checked out, do some packing at home for the move, and take care of paperwork and other fun stuff. Time is really starting to fly, now.

I woke up with a slight hangover but nothing too bad – just the result of combining beer, wine and tequila with lots of hot sauce. Kuniko and I got organized and we were out the door and off to the train station.

We caught a train all the way to the outskirts of Kyoto to meet up with some of Kuniko’s old college friends. The plan was to do a BBQ, and so we met up at the Nagao train station, and looked up at the cloudy sky with a little bit of trepidation.

We decided to go ahead with the BBQ despite the scary weather, and so we went to a shopping center for supplies. On the way there we got to see some firefighters practicing ropework, and it was cool to see how fast they could cross between buildings just climbing ropes.

After we got all our supplies we went to a park and got set up. We put the BBQ under a tree for some shelter, and there was even a fold out picnic table to sit around. The weather finally crapped out on us and it started to sprinkle, and then rain. Fortunately the tree protected us pretty well, and the big umbrella over the picnic table did a good job, too. The rain never really came down very hard, and by the time we finished eating it had stopped for good.

Hanging out with everyone gave my Japanese skills a good workout, and it was a challenge to keep up with the conversations. Everyone was nice enough to chat with me a little bit, and I had met everyone before so it wasn’t like a bunch of total strangers.

After spending quite a while relaxing and talking we packed things up and headed back to the train station. From there it was a two hour ride back, but we went beyond the expected and stopped in Sannomiya to do some shopping at the Bargains there.

The Bargains are really just controlled riots in stores. The more people mob up the more other people think there is a great deal, and the more people mob up.

Whenever I go shopping with Kuniko I get lots of looks from people as we walk around, but try walking around with a white T-shirt with splatters of BBQ sauce. That is a double-whammy-attention-getter.

We were out shopping late enough for me to get hungry again, so we stopped in a conveyor sushi place and ate a snack. It wasn’t so good, though, and we left a little unsatisfied. After we got home, Kuniko had some stomach problems, but I didn’t – even though we split each plate of sushi right down the middle. She was OK after a little while, though – maybe it was just eating too much today.

There are pictures from today in the gallery. Tomorrow we have early morning plans – it should be an interesting day!

Friday I was busy during the day finishing up the interview tests for my first year students. Technically today was the last day of classes for me, but I’ll still have some filler classes the week after next, so that is something to look forward to.

In the evening we had Yasu and his mom come over. Kuniko split from work early, and so together we got everything ready and served up tacos. It was a first for them, but everyone seemed to enjoy them. They came to the house loaded with presents – farewell gifts. It was a big surprise to us – we weren’t expecting a gift exchange and as such were totally unprepared.

We drank a bottle of wine, several beers, and Kuniko and I even got a little bit into the tequila. After two tacos each everyone was full, but we dug into some dessert that Kuniko brought from Kobe, so it was a gutbuster evening. After they left we opened the presents, and Yasu got me a earthenware sho-chu server with two big glasses, and his mom got Kuniko a new train pass case. She also gave us some money as a gift – it was all really too much.

Drunk and full of food, we took off to Ito Yokado after they left to do some late night shopping, but I’m happy to report that we didn’t come home with a new widescreen TV or anything.

Kuniko and I were on garbage station duty again today. This is another rotating responsibility at the apartment complex were we live. Usually they skip the foreigners, but since Kuniko moved in we are now stuck with the duty like the rest of the people that live there (except for Jane). It’s not too difficult, just collect the public trash and put it out in the morning. An interesting rule is that you are supposed to clean up the trash area as soon as the truck leaves to take care of any spills or leftovers. Of course we both work, so we can’t do that. Most people here have a wife that stays home all day, so it usually isn’t a problem. Kuniko is a very rare exception.

I had a pretty easy day at school – only two classes and a session with Miyake sensei. The classes went pretty smoothly. In between I had time to study and also to clean up some of the junk that has collected around my desk over three years. I’m going to have to clean it up really well for the next person. It is covered with textbooks that I am going to have to gradually shuttle home.

Speaking of the next person, Miyake sensei and I talked for a long time about her. Miyake sensei is eager to talk with another person from America. She wondered aloud if she is a “typical” American. Apparently she sees me as a very unusual American. She says I am quiet and modest, which goes against what she sees Americans as. She says that Japanese people feel more comfortable with me than with most Americans. I don’t know about that, but it was an interesting insight from someone that is used to dealing with different cultures.

Today was hot, just like yesterday. Everyone was sweating in the classrooms, and in the staff room too. I saw an interesting situation develop in the afternoon – something I might have missed if I didn’t understand Japanese.

One of the teachers was talking to another teacher, and he motioned to the air conditioners sitting idle in the hot room. He asked in a lightly sarcastic tone, “What are those for?” Everyone around him laughed, and he smiled and then walked over and turned them on. This is a big deal – apparently we are not allowed to use the air conditioners until a certain date dictated by the board of education. The idea I guess is to cut energy costs. Usually that date is around the first of July, but that is about a week away.

Once the teacher turned it off, other teachers helped him close the windows in the area, and then we sat around and enjoyed the cool air.

It got interesting when one of the administration teachers came in and noticed. He asked the nearest teacher why it was running, and the teacher explained that he had nothing to do with it and it sure is kind of early for air conditioning isn’t it? He didn’t sell out the guy who turned them on, though. The admin teacher left them running, though. The weirdest thing is that my side of the staffroom was being air conditioned, but from the administration teacher side to the end of the staff room they were sweating in their chairs with the windows wide open – doggedly observing the board of education regulations. Over in my section it was like a party, everybody sitting around and eating snacks and talking.

Antoine told me that in his first year there he just walked over and turned the air conditioning on, and screw the rules. Nobody knew what to do, so they left it on. I think it is a yearly tradition for his school, now. Their aircon goes on when Antoine feels hot. I’m not sure, but that’s the way I remember his story.

This evening I’ve been doing lots of research into next steps, both in my job and my career. There are a lot of interesting trends out there. It looks more and more like to take the next step I will need some more education. It makes sense – I’ve been teaching without any kind of credentials and it is fair to expect a future employer to ask for something more than a deep interest in teaching.

One thing I really am interested in is something called “Computer Assisted Language Learning” (CALL). It is concerned with the idea that you can use computers/internet/technology to more effectively learn a language. I have really seen the advantage in my own study of Japanese. I carry every word I’ve ever memorized in my handheld computer, I practice writing Japanese characters with my Nintendo DS, and also by writing emails in Japanese to Kuniko and other people via my cellphone. I am always searching for new tricks and tips online, and now I can’t imagine learning a language with just a textbook and a CD.

Anyway, it is fun to do the research into what is going on out there. Whether I can leverage my interest in this field into a job that I love – well, that remains to be seen. I remember singing this same song years ago leaving the winery to jump into the computer industry.

Kuniko is getting home late tonight, and so I’m going to cook up some somen noodles to serve ice cold when she arrives. Tomorrow is Friday and we’re having taco night with Yasu and his mom, and then on Saturday depending on the weather we might head to Kyoto for a BBQ with a bunch of Kuniko’s old college friends. I’m hoping for sun!

Sometimes Wednesday can be a busy day for me, but today it was pretty mellow. I had just two classes instead of the customary four – two classes were dedicated to preparation for exams next week.

I used my free periods to do some research on the web, some revisions for the upcoming listening test, and to dodge the history teacher.

The classes I did have were interview test classes, and those went pretty smoothly. I can’t say enough how much fun those classes are. I know the students dread them, but it is great to talk to everyone.

In every class of students I have some favorites. They are the ones that I talk with in the hallways between classes or have impressed me in the past with their confidence or bravery. Today I seemed to be interviewing lots of my favorites, and they all responded well with a good score.

I had lunch in the cafeteria today with Moriguchi sensei, a new math teacher that is kind of a young guy, and Nozaki sensei. We talked in Japanese since Moriguchi sensei doesn’t speak any English. He seemed more than a little interested in the new ALT, especially when he heard that she is female. I don’t know what’ll happen, but she may be in for a warm welcome.

Nozaki sensei wanted to look over the application of the new ALT (Brenda). She looked it over and said that she writes like a young person, and I can see what she means. My experience over the phone with her gave me the idea that she is a lot younger than she looks in her picture. I hope she’ll be fine with the job, though – hopefully the teachers will be patient with her.

At the end of the day there was a staff meeting, but I heard it was about the schedule for August and September, and since I’m going to be gone by then I wondered out loud to key people if it was absolutely necessary for me to be there. Turns out that the key people thought it might be OK for me to skip it, which was big progress. As soon as everyone went up to the staff room I made a dash for the door and got out of work 30 minutes early.

The key to a good escape is to do it without attracting a lot of attention, but as I left all the students leaving outside were shouting out “Goodbye Bryan!” as I walked away – the bad news is that the teacher’s meeting was being held in the second floor right above the students, and since it is hot all the windows were open. I fear it was not the most inconspicuous exit I’ve ever made.

I got home and took care of some chores, and then walked over to Carrefour to do some shopping for a little Mexican party that we are going to have with Yasu and his mom on Friday night. I got back home with some marked down cheese, but Kuniko called at 8:45 saying that she was stuck at work, so I ate it alone while watching the Tigers game.

Tomorrow I have day two of the presentations, and just one other class so it should be a light day. Kuniko will get home pretty late tomorrow as well. I hope she’ll be able to get free for the party on Friday…

The rain let up today, replaced with heat and steam. The humidity was so high that we couldn’t scoot the desks around the classroom because of the thin film of condensation over everything. It was a very wet day.

My first class was a preparation class for students that are going to take the upcoming STEP test. I started by doing a practice interview with one of them, and then we had kind of a group discussion. I had them sit around in a circle and I asked them questions – all in English. It was actually kind of fun, and everybody was fairly relaxed. I told a few stories and hopefully it will build their confidence just a little bit for the interview test.

The next class was with Tsutsumi sensei. We’ve been working on doing presentations, and today was the first of two days of the actual presentations. Each presentation was supposed to be five minutes long, with a sheet of paper as a visual aid. Most students cut out pictures from magazines and pasted them on their paper – some of them looked really good.

About half the students did their presentation today, and the results were mixed. Most lasted about 3 minutes, some were five plus minutes, and a couple were just over one minute. I had all the other students grading the speaker, and their scores were averaged and combined with Tsutsumi sensei and my score to create a final score which will be their final exam for my part of the class.

I think it was overall a success, but some people didn’t put much effort into it. The good news was that other students gave them a hard time for flaking. One student forgot her paperwork, so she got a flat out zero for the project. Tsutsumi sensei is pretty strict sometimes. But we did warm them every class for the past three weeks, so what else can you do?

My final class was in the afternoon, and it was another interview test. I’ve got lots of these coming up. It went a bit smoother than yesterday, and everyone was so nervous they were jumping around and couldn’t really sit still. My students did well, once I got them to relax. I really enjoy doing interviews because it is my chance to sit down and speak with the student, and they can’t really run away. If that sounds sinister I don’t mean it that way – it’s just a rare chance.

I was out the door right on time and headed to the train station. Today for some reason there were lots of my students around the station. With the exception of a few they try not to sit anywhere near me, because they feel like they’ll be obligated to speak English, and also because they want to use their cell phones, and my status as a real teacher is a little unclear. They aren’t supposed to use them at school, but of course everyone has one, and I’ve never given any students a hard time about it.

I’m back home now and chilling out. Today I reserved the last hotel room for the trip to Europe – a really simple-sounding place in Dijon, France. We’re going to have a day of walking around eating and relaxing in Dijon right before we get on an overnight train to Venice, Italy.

Tonight’s menu depends a lot on when Kuniko gets home – we are thinking about skipping somen tonight in favor of butakimchee (pork and kimchee), if Kuniko gets home at a decent hour…

The rain kept on falling all day today, and everyone is saying that it will be a regular feature for the next few days. I plodded to school in the rain under a big green umbrella that I mistakenly took leaving a restaurant drunk a couple weeks ago. It is bigger than the umbrella that I unintentionally left behind in trade, but it tends to want to unfold by itself, so I have to keep a close eye on it.

At school I had just one class in the afternoon, so the rest of the day was spent doing preparation for the upcoming exams, and writing a couple of last minute lesson plans. I did get almost two hours to study, so I caught up on all the vocab that I didn’t deal with over the weekend. I’m getting in a bad habit of skipping my vocab over the weekends, and catching up on Monday.

My class today was the first set of students to undergo the interview test this term. They did really well, but at first they couldn’t understand what was going on. I put up a big group of numbers on the board, and everyone thought it was were they were supposed to sit. Yamamoto sensei was shouting at them to sit in their regular seats, but they weren’t listening to him. He finally lost it and told them they should learn to listen in Japanese, and then we’ll worry about listening in English. They finally settled down, and we explained the procedure and got going.

Part of the interview test this year is new. Mori sensei asked that we request that the students make a short speech, on any topic they like. It is a good chance for them to use English in a free form, and for the most part the students did well. Some students froze up and didn’t say anything, but most said at least something. One student of mine went on and on in English about how much he likes the class, and how he hopes to travel overseas someday and that is why he is studying English so hard. It was really good, and I couldn’t believe that my students were speaking so much English at once.

When I got home today I cooked up somen noodles and had them all ready to go when Kuniko got home. They were really good, and very healthy. Unfortunately our health plans went awry when Kuniko brought some goodies home from shopping. We had some Frankfurt flavored potato sticks that could not be considered even remotely healthy, and followed that up with some Japanese desserts and chocolate mint bon-bons. When we flunk a diet, we do it right.

I heard back from a recent job prospect, and they are passing on me. It was one of those jobs that sounded great in the posting, but the more I found out about it, the worse it sounded. I was almost relieved to hear that they didn’t want to hire me, although I was hoping to at least get a chance to practice interviewing with a Japanese company. The school was a night school, and they are in the boonies a bit. The advertisement said west Kobe, which is close to where we will be living, but upon further communication it turns out there are two school locations and one is in the boonies up north where no trains go. Sneaky. Anyway, the search continues, but most people now are looking for someone to start in July or the beginning of August, and both of those times are not good for me.

I woke up late on Sunday with a slight headache and a giant vibrator next to the bed. Actually, it is a back massager, and this morning we tried it out a little bit. It seems to work pretty well, especially around the shoulders. I think I prefer the manual massage better, however.

This morning we spent time cleaning house, taking long leisurely baths, and doing laundry. Kuniko and I even had time to take a nap in the afternoon for an hour or two. It was nice to rest up after all the fun yesterday.

I talked on the phone with my successor on the JET program, Brenda. She sounds like a nice enough girl. The thing that struck me most was that she sounded so young. She was giddy with excitement, though, and it made me think back to when I was in the stage she is in, about to leave on an unknown adventure. It’s a great time, and I hope she can savor the moment and enjoy it.

Kuniko had to leave for a school party around four. I made some reservations for our Europe rail passes, and spent lots of money on our transportation for the trip. It looks like it will be a lot of fun.

Since Kuniko is gone for dinner I thought I’d make the trip to the yakitori. I haven’t been in a few months, and I want to check in with the gang there. I get the impression that my successor won’t be visiting that kind of place very much.

Tomorrow it is back to work, and I’ve got lots of interview tests to do for the first year students. It’s also somen week – every night, noodles!

This morning we got up fairly early for Kuniko to hit the road and teach a couple of classes at her school. I spent the morning getting ready for Tsuji-san’s wedding at noon – I had to find just the right clothes to wear, you know.

My folks called just before I left, so we chatted for a while. My mom did a very brave thing at work, and we talked about it – I was impressed. We couldn’t talk very long, though, and soon I was out the door and headed to Takasago. I met up with Alexis on the platform in Takasago, and together we took the next rapid train to Himeji.

We were a little early arriving in Himeji, so we went over to the Starbucks to hang out and have a quick pre-wedding snack. We had a chance to talk about what Alexis will do (and what she wants to do) after she goes back to the US next month. She is realistic about it, and I hope she finds something cool when she gets there.

We caught a taxi from there and headed to the wedding place. It was only five minutes away, and it looked deserted when we pulled up. Luckily there was some activity inside, and we got directions and headed upstairs to wait in a reception area. We got a lot of looks from the large group of older people. We definitely didn’t fit in, but I sat down with Alexis and I smiled at people and they seemed nice enough.

Soon after we arrived Tsuji-san’s dad came by and thank you for coming. He looked a little nervous but I could tell he was happy, too. We said thank you back and we each did a bow, and before we knew it, it was time to head outside and see the wedding.

The ceremony took place in kind of a courtyard garden, complete with waterfall and ferns. It was a nice place to hold the wedding – really pretty and private. The ceremony went pretty quick, and I took lots of pictures and was only rewarded with the back of people’s heads. I didn’t want to run around and take pictures – it seemed like a very big distraction.

After it was over we joined a lineup to say congratulations. From this point on, Tsuji-san’s new name is Okamoto-san, so I’ve got to take care to call her that. They both looked very happy, and they gave us a small parting gift before they headed into the studio for lots of pictures with family.

Alexis and I split from there, and walked back to the station. She decided to go home in the gap between the wedding and the second party, so I hung out in Himeji for about 90 minutes until Kuniko arrived. I read some books for free in the air conditioned bookstore.

Once Kuniko arrived we walked around doing some shopping, eating snacks, and drinking a green creme soda with a big scoop of ice cream inside. It was a great way to kill time, and soon we met up with Alexis and headed to the second party. We caught a shuttle bus near the station, which was also being boarded by a slew of old people.

Old people in Japan both annoy and scare me. They annoy me because they act like they are entitled to everything without having to repect anything, and they scare me because I don’t want to end up like that. There was a slight disturbance when one of the old guys started pulling at one of the old ladies, trying to get her to do something she didn’t want to do. I watched in fascination as the drama unfolded, but things calmed down quickly as no doubt one of the participants forgot what the big deal was all about in the first place.

We arrived at the Himeji Castle Hotel and went inside to the restaurant – that was the location of the party. At the registration desk one of the groom’s friends asked me in English “Do you speak Japanese?”, and I gave him a big smile and returned “Do you speak English?” His friends all laughed at him, and we got all set up and went inside.

Kuniko and Alexis and I all sat together and Alexis enjoyed a vegetarian meal while everyone else had a wide variety of foods – pizza, tofu, fried shrimp – there was a lot of food and beer.

The second party was one of those very organized affairs with an emcee who did lots of games and contests. I’m not a big fan, because it gets in the way of meeting people and drinking together, but apparently it is the normal deal at second parties in Japan. They had a portable pedestal that was called the “Party Dam 30”. It had all kinds of activities built into it: karaoke, bingo, music, you name it.

Alexis and Kuniko got along really well and so it made the table really fun – we were joking around most of the time and we were kept entertained despite the “Party Dam 30”.

We played bingo, and I was lucky enough to win once again – I’m 2 for 2 at wedding second party bingo. I scored a giant green and black vibrating back massager. It was quite big, and due to the amount of alcohol I had consumed at that point I was fond of calling it a vibrator.

One of the groom’s friends was doing a lot of camera work, and I had noticed at the wedding that he looked a lot like a young Don Johnson, of Miami Vice fame. I tried to explain this to Alexis earlier, but Miami Vice is a little old for her. She asked me if Don Johnson was Asian – because if he isn’t how the hell can this guy look like Don Johnson. Good point, but for some reason this guy really reminded me of him. I took a bunch of pictures in an effort to catch an image of him to compare later – you can see the fruits of my labors in the picture gallery.

Finally the party wrapped up, so we lined up and said goodbye to the Okamotos. They handed over more gifts and the groom gave me his brightly colored plastic Hawaiian lei, so I wore that the whole way home. I noticed that when you are drunk you don’t seem to care about wearing a bright yellow lei and carrying around a giant vibrator in public. It’s just not a big deal.

It was a good time, and we split up with Alexis in Takasago and headed home from there. I was really bushed – I had been walking the streets of Himeji all day long, so we headed straight to bed. It was a really fun day, though – and I can’t wait to hear how the Okamotos new life goes. Check out the pictures from the day.

Friday I had a busy morning doing catch-up classes to make sure that all my first year students finish up at the same time. The morning was really busy, and then in the afternoon I had lots of free time to grade papers and get organized for next week.

I was walking around the school at one point in the afternoon and I walked by the gymnasium. I looked inside as I walked by, and there was a class of boy students all laying on the floor sleeping. It looked like it was an organized activity. Maybe they were supposed to be meditating, but they were all sleeping soundly. I just shrugged and moved on – who knows what that’s all about…

When I got home I cooked up a nice easy (and healthy) dinner of somen for me and Kuniko. It was delcious – so good, in fact, that we declared next week somen week and we’re going to eat it every night for dinner.

I sent off the money for the new apartment today, so it should be official – we’ll be moving around July 21st. It is a relief to at least know where we’ll be living, and it will help me while I continue my job search. Progress!

When I was a kid my parents took me and my brother to Universal Studios in Hollywood. There were a lot of amazing things, but the thing that stayed with me to this day was a show, based on the character of Conan made popular by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The show itself was so-so, but as the audience came into the auditorium at the very beginning of the show, the stage was shielded by a curtain of water. The water fell in streams from the ceiling into a small moat that separated the audience from the stage. It was noisy and it made the air humid but there was something exotic about it that IÂ’ll never forget.

That is why I donÂ’t seem to mind the rainy season in Japan. Outside right now it is exactly like a curtain of water, and the air is wet and warm and it reminds me very much of that day at Universal. Some teachers said that it may last all week and weekend.

My first class today was a lecture on international understanding, and I spoke with seven students who had different reactions to what I was talking about. I lectured on trying to keep an open mind about different cultures, and I told them what things Japanese people do that would be considered crazy in America, and also what Americans do that would be considered strange or rude in Japan. We watched parts of the movie “Mr. Baseball”, and I tried to get them to point out behavior that they thought was abnormal. Overall I thought it went better than last weeks lecture, and I hope the students will remember that there are other cultures walking around Japan besides their own.

I worked with Miyake sensei on her listening skills just before lunch. We had a good talk about her weekend, and we’ve been talking about current events and politics more to expand her vocabulary a little bit more. She’s getting quite good at expressing her thoughts in English. She’s dying to speak more, though, and she really enjoys studying English. It is a good combination – and it is showing some results.

In the afternoon I had a class with Tsutsumi sensei, and we talked about how the new ALT will be fitting in, and how she will work the class once she arrives. It is becoming apparent that it will be a challenge for everyone at first, but I think it is a good thing to shake up the teachers a little bit. It will be tough at first on Brenda (the new ALT) when she gets here, though.

I came home in between rain showers, and spent around two hours looking at jobs and careers on the internet. There are a lot of jobs out there, but only occasionally does the perfect-sounding one show up. I’m keeping an eye out – hopefully something will show up.

Kuniko and I bought sausages at Carrefour last night, so I’m getting everything ready for when she gets home. She has to work the study room tonight, so she won’t be home until after nine. Tomorrow is Friday, though, so there is an end in sight.

Today I did the last two lessons about money, and it was nice to finish that off. The students are all complaining of the heat, and people are a little resistant to getting up and doing anything in class. Summer is the toughest time to get people moving and learning.

After school we had an ESS party. The students wanted to have a party as a farewell to me, but I ended up organizing the whole thing, buying the snacks, and carrying them all back to the school from Seiyu. The students mostly just joked around and I used the opportunity to introduce the information I had about the new ALT, Brenda. They were slightly interested, but a little concerned that Brenda doesn’t speak Japanese. They might actually have to use English in English club!

We watched a movie (Corpse Bride) and because of it got out a little late. I got home after Kuniko, which is very rare indeed. Kuniko made a really good shabu-shabu salad for dinner, and soon after we went to Carrefour in a vain search for a wedding present for Tsuji-san. I think I will end up giving her cash – nothing jumped out at me as totally appropriate for her in Carrefour. One tragic thing we say there was that the Starbucks was torn out and gone. It was there just a few days ago, but that makes it another of the peripheral stores at Carrefour that has sunk. The place is really starting to clear out, and I fear that someday Carrefour itself will go under. Then where will I get my Mexican food supplies?

Today I was in a rush to leave this morning and I totally forget my cellphone and my handheld computer at home. That meant that I couldn’t do flashcards, and I was out of contact with people all day. It was kind of refreshing.

I had an appointment to return a book to Tsuji-san in the morning, so I went over there and she looked nervous about the upcoming wedding. She gave me some presents to say thank you for helping her with her English, and her parents even came out and admired my Japanese and to say thank you. It was the first time that I could speak to her father for an extended period of time. He is a stern looking guy. Her mom is always smiling, though. I’ll probably have some pictures of them after the wedding on Saturday.

Classes went smoothly today, and since I wasn’t cramming vocab into my head I spent time looking for good hotels in Venice and Florence. I also spent a while writing emails to Brenda, who will be taking over my position at the school. I detect just a little concern about the protocol among the teachers, and one teacher asked me hopefully if I could be around to help out with the transition. I said that if I was free I would be happy to, but of course if I’ve got a paying gig somewhere else I’ve gotta do that.

I was home at a reasonable hour today, and surprisingly so was Kuniko. She cooked dinner for us, and in the evening I watched “Mr. Baseball” in preparation for a class that I am doing on Thursday. The class is about cultural differences and culture shock, and that movie is full of them. I recommend the movie if you get a chance to see it. It was a lot more surprising when I saw the movie years ago – now Japanese baseball is not so unusual.

Since Sunday when we went to the crazy apartment company, they have called every night to let us know what is going on. They call and urgently ask for Kuniko, and even if she is right next to me I hem and haw and subject them to my bad Japanese, play stupid sometimes, and generally just frustrate the guy. Then when they call back later Kuniko gets on the phone and it turns out they are just letting us know the status of the process. Relax guys, we trust things are going fine.

I’m off to bed a little early tonight. Tomorrow I’ve got lots of flashcards to do to make up for my forgetfulness today.

Today I got up early and made lunch for Kuniko and I, and then jumped in the bath. Once I finished I did a little bit of studying until Kuniko woke up. She had trouble again sleeping last night, so it was a challenge to get up and ready on time. We had a quick breakfast and then hit the road.

Today at school I spent a couple hours pondering my future instead of pondering Japanese vocabulary, and organizing my thoughts. Despite how I felt yesterday, I already have a general sense of what I want to do; it is just a matter of carving out a path in that direction. And, do a better job of communicating it to the people around me.

In the late morning I got a big package of papers from Yamamoto sensei – it was the information about our next ALT that will replace me in August. It’s a 20-something year old woman from Minnesota! More American accents for our students to pick up.

I went through the paperwork and it was in a way retro-embarrassing. I’m sure three years ago Mr. Hayashi and my predecessor Andy leafed through all my personal information trying to get an idea of what kind of person I am. I read through her application, her school transcripts, her passport photos, letters of reference, everything. I remember well pulling together all that information and getting it to the embassy in time.

Yamamoto sensei will be her supervising teacher, so we spent a little time talking about what we should do from here. I sent off an introductory email to her, and we’ll see what kinds of questions and issues she will have.

Other than that it was a pretty quiet day. I spent more time planning and thinking, less time studying, and hopefully the kick in the pants that I got yesterday will keep me working hard for a while.

I got a sad e-mail from Antoine, apparently he and his girlfriend finally had the big fight that broke them up. We’ll see if that holds, but Antoine sounded pretty sure that it was over. I think there probably is a lot of pressure on Antoine to get a job and stay in Japan, and maybe start thinking about a future together with Miwako. Maybe that pressure finally got to them.

I headed home right on time, and walked to the train station in the heat. It is starting to really warm up now, in between rain storms. Today I was hoping for air conditioning in the office, but I think it is still two weeks away.

I did a little shopping at IY for some basic supplies, and then headed on home. Kuniko should be home pretty soon, so I’m just hanging out until she gets back. I’m doing a little bit of research on the web, and trying to stay cool. It’s going to be another warm evening.