The last two words of last night’s entry were “blissful sleep”. I can’t believe I said that. In the middle of the night I woke up with itches all over my arms and legs, and I had mosquito bites everywhere. When I rolled over and tried to sleep the whine of mosquitos buzzing around my ear would keep me from sleep. I tossed and turned, hiding under my sheet, and had the worst night of sleep in recent memory. I woke up this morning with two new words on my mind: “kill mosquito”.<\/p>\n
At lunchtime Mr. Hayashi took me to the hardware store and we looked at the vast array of weapons of mosquito destruction. I could choose from several different ways to kill the little flying bastards. On Mr. Hayashi’s suggestion I got a nightlight thing that emits some kind of oil that is supposed to keep them away. I’ll try it out tonight. I hope it works! If it doesn’t, it might be mosquito netting for me. It’s only just the beginning of mosquito season around here – I’ve got a long way to go.<\/p>\n
The big talk today at school was about bonuses. In Japan, all civil servants (that includes public teachers) get bonuses. I think that the bonuses come three times a year, at the end of each term. Also, to a certain extent, private companies sometimes follow this same schedule. Unfortunately for me, I am classified as a part-time employee, and so I’m not entitled to a bonus.<\/p>\n
People were walking around talking about how much their bonus was, and it seemed like I was the only one who didn’t have a fat wad of cash to burn. The bonus varies based on experience, but it can be anywhere from $5000 – $9000. That’s right… big bucks!<\/p>\n
I don’t mind not getting a bonus – these people work very hard and they are on a long, straight-forward career path that inevitably leads to mandatory retirement at age 60. They work tons of hours, with no overtime. My job by comparison is much easier, and so I don’t feel so bad. I remember my predecessor Andy getting a little upset by the lack of a bonus for my position. <\/p>\n
Another big topic at school today was that the air conditioning was coming on. We’ve got air conditioning in only select rooms in the school – the teacher’s office is one of the rooms. There’s no rules about it, but they usually wait until July 1st to flip on the A\/C. I guess it’s an effort to save money. <\/p>\n
It was funny to hear the announcement that they were turning on the air conditioning at noon that day. Apparently it was an action of such consequence that a formal announcement was necessary. I was hoping for a speech or something, but no luck. Anyway, now it’s much cooler in the staff room. <\/p>\n
For dinner I made some fried rice, with lots of veggies and shrimp mixed in. It was kind of like a chef salad of fried rice. Or something.<\/p>\n
Off to bed – hope the mosquitos stay away!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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