Catching Up....

Sorry I have not written in a few days.  I meant to write yesterday, but ended up getting wrapped up in cleaning my apartment and reading ^.^  

I cannot believe it is already Sunday afternoon and that I have to go back to work tomorrow.  Time is starting to fly again, which makes me sad.  That is the bother with getting older, time just moves forward faster and faster.

Any way.  

Thursday I went to work and taught three classes at my Junior High.  The first class was either very unmotivated or very shy (maybe both).  Either way, they did not respond much until I set them to work on their own and then walked around the class to provide help where I could.  The first student I approached to introduce myself to, and gain her name, refused to speak to me.  I just smiled, and said "Ah! It's a secret" and moved onto the next student.  Other than that, the day went very well.  

After school, instead of going home I stayed an extra two hours to watch the club activities.  When I entered the gym, I heard my name being called from both sides of the room.  Some of the basketball players came up to me and started asking me questions, like if I played basketball, if I had a boyfriend, if I drove a car, what my favorite color was, if I spoke Japanese and so on and so forth.  Apparently the students are a lot less shy outside of the classroom.  Some of the girls from my first class waved excitedly at me.  I think they were all excited that I came to watch their teams.  The girls basketball team had a match against the other school that occupies our building, and when I left, our school was losing =(

Friday was another one of my Elementary schools.  I think I did much better this time around than I had last Friday.  I ate with the fifth graders this time, and was told that every Friday my schedule will be the same: sixth grade during second period, lunch with the fifth graders, and fifth grade during fifth period.  I feel bad because my lack of Japanese makes it hard to communicate with the Vice Principal, who keeps trying to tell me things but does not have the English to accomplish the task.  I did manage to have a small conversation about the koi (こい) flags hanging outside of the school.  He told me that Children's Day is 5 May, though as I understand it, it is actually Boy's Day.

During the fifteen minute recess that follows lunch, I stepped outside to watch the kids play when the same group of girls I had played Frisbee with last week came running over to me and asked me to play tag with them.  I love that I was able to understand purely through their gestures what it is that they were playing.  While I was glad I was not wearing my suit again, I did have on my brown slacks and brown boots, which were not much easier to run around in. 

I inadvertently stayed an extra hour and forty minutes after school because the teachers had a meeting and I did not want to be rude and disrupt it by my leaving, so I tried to study Japanese and work on lessons.  It was a little uncomfortable, and when I finally left, I had only enough time to run home and change before going to the Ohanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing Party).

As usual, Nikki and I talked on the phone for a moment after we had both gotten off of work.  She was headed to an enkai, and I was headed to the ohanami, so we did not talk long.  Both of us have been feeling pretty tired this week, and were grateful for the weekend.

One note about clubs: here in Japan, they are mandatory, unlike in the States where they are optional.  I find this interesting because a lot of people ask me what club I was in when I was in school.  I tried out for basketball once, but did not make the team, and a dislocated knee prevented me from joining track in middle school.