Day 48, April 30 (Tues)

In the morning, a few of us went to observe one of Chris’ elementary school classes. It was a lot of fun (I mean, even for me), and it was nice to be able to see how someone else teaches. But next week people come watch ME teach. OH NO.

Then I had elementary classes, then nada. In the evening I went with Casey and Nathan to a couple shops then to dinner.

Look, Baumkuchen!! Why don’t we have this at supermarkets in Utah?

New words:

uranai (占い) = fortune-telling

tanpin (単品) = individual item (not part of a set)

amanatsu (甘夏) = a variety of pomelo, like an orange or grapefruit (except, not)

You would think was an orange. You would be mistaken.

Day 47, April 29 (Mon) - Showa no Hi

Today was a holiday! So me, Kaori, Nathan, Hugh and his girlfriend Mako, a UFO student Fuuko and her boyfriend, all went hiking up Monjuusan. We were gone from about 9:30-1:30, I estimate the hike was a 2.5 hr one, but it’s hard to tell. The people who make hiking trails in Japan don’t believe in switchbacks — the quickest way up is a straight line, ne?

Since it was an event, there were a lot of people. We had little maps that we got stamped when we reached checkpoints :)

Here we are, behind us a view of Sabae! (though you can’t see it)

I love the forests in Japan. The trees are huge and beautiful. Here there were tons of flowers too, especially tsubaki (camellia). 

On our return, we had a UFO barbecue. It was really nice. Ishimoto-sensei brought the grill and ingredients, Yuka cooked the meat, so we had lots of steak :) also yakisoba, hot dogs (well, sausages on rolls), tomatoes, onions, salad, chips, etc. That was pretty fun.

Afterwards, a few of us went for a walk, stopped by the river and ate snacks and watched the birds fly overhead and sun not sink down. (Time stopped?)

New words:

mabuta (瞼) = eyelid

mayuge (眉毛) = eyebrow

matsuge = eyelash

hiji = elbow

kiji (雉) = pheasant

kyouryuu (恐竜) = dinosaur (lit. fearful dragon)

dobu (溝) = gutter (also mizo)

doro (泥) = mud

kogeru (焦げる) = to burn (kagekusai = burning stench)

tokage = lizard

kamome = seagull (note to Mia: umineko is black-tailed gull)

Suddenly this children’s song makes much more sense:

Kamome no Suiheisan (Seagull Sailors)

かもめの水兵さん

ならんだ水兵さん

白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服

波にチャップ チャップ うかんでる

かもめの水兵さん

かけあし水兵さん

白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服

波をチャップ チャップ 越えてゆく

かもめの水兵さん

ずぶぬれ水兵さん

白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服

波でチャップ チャップ おせんたく

かもめの水兵さん

なかよし水兵さん

白い帽子 白いシャツ 白い服

波にチャップ チャップ 揺れている

Day 46, April 28 (Sun)

Plan: TKD, talk with A&A, get some computer work done, and maybe write? Please?

Reality: No TKD, short talk with Ari (and Dad), no computer work, no writing, lots of talking.

Kaori came over in the morning, and we chatted for a while, then went shopping for plants. I got thyme and chamomile, we’ll see if they survive. 

We got bento from the supermarket for lunch. I forgot to take a picture *sad face*

But here is a picture of a beautiful reminder of home: Myrtle!

Eating outside was nice, and we followed lunch with a walk. Later we walked to the Nakano Jinja (the nearby shrine). Take a look at the detailed feathers here:

Eventually we headed over to her house.  We cooked donburi (stuff on rice). Another new recipe!

But I am sick again. Trying to ward it away †.

Hey, I’ve passed the 6-week mark! This is officially the longest... I’ve been in Japan.

Day 45, April 27 (Sat)

Lightning storms resumed during the night. I was startled out of my sleep by a loud burst, and brought entirely out of my slumber by an amazing flash of light that struck so close by the sound was immediate. 

Clouds poured themselves out, and the following day was beautifully sunny. Most things went well today, but I carried with me some stress that I fear is causing me to feel sick (again), and a short walk in the sunshine was somewhat relaxing. Observe, blue sky,

and flooded fields.

The frogs remind me it is already past my bedtime. So much to do, so little time to do it.

Day 44, April 26 (Fri)

No elementary school classes today, just a day of freedom... chained to my computer........

It drizzled in the morning, as I walked among rice fields,

and in the afternoon I met the torrential rains. It was cloudy, but pleasant, when suddenly there was a loud BOOOM and huge drops began to furiously pound. 2 minutes later, it stopped. This happened on and off until evening, when it rained and thundered non-stop. 

The sakura is almost gone, but other trees are blooming.

For lunch I had a 'bacon cheese' bread. Kind of. These kinds of breads are common in the bakeries, not much meat, mostly bread, but it was fresh.

Home-made chicken wings:

This weekend marks the start of Golden Week (kind of -- it actually starts on Monday). 

Did you know, it's a common belief that the average body temperature of Japanese (or Asian) people is lower than that of westerners? Whether this is true or not, I don't know. Google wasn't very helpful. A teacher here did remark every time he's gone to the doctor here they think he has a fever. 

Day 43, April 25 (Thurs)

Frogs and insects have collected, and during the night they sing their symphony. In the morning the pheasant crows.

All around, flowers are blooming, by the riverbanks, by the fields, and in the trees. 

Crops begin to grow tall.

The rice fields are plowed, some are flooded to be pockets of lakes between buildings, reflecting the clouds by day and city lights by night. 

This morning I played with little kids and made them laugh.

New words:

Kokki = (national) flag

Banri no Choujou (万里の長城) = Great Wall of China (lit. 10-thousand-league long castle)

Day 42, April 24 (Wed)

It rained all day. 

Morning classes weren’t any work, which was nice, but also I didn’t feel like I did much. And (for shame) I even started yawning. But I like the teachers and kids at this school.

In the evening I had the dreaded class. I don’t know what to do to get this kid to respect me, for he obviously doesn’t in the slightest, in fact I believe he insults me (I’m 95% sure), and how he talks the whole time is distracting for the other students. 

After that was the class of one student. Always good.

Following was my private class with Miki. I like these classes because they’re easy and entertaining. I do some prep beforehand but mostly because I want to, it only takes a few conversation topics to keep us going. It goes late though.

Today we talked about food. Kyuushoku = school lunch, and Miki says they are oishii (yummy). I forgot to tell her of school food reputations in the U.S. She told me every time she goes to New York, she eats fried corn (on the cob, with cheese and chili powder). 

Newish words:

shachi = orca

suki kirai (ga ooi) = likes/dislikes = picky

kyuushoku = school lunch

myouji = surname

jougi = ruler (measurement)

jambo = hello (in Swahili)

hyvaa pyvaa = hello (in Finnish) alt. ‘hei’

zdravstvuj = hello (in Russian)

nasu = eggplant

Here is a picture of bitter chocolate. This one is actually kind of bitter. But still good.

Day 41, April 23 (Tues)

Well, today I taught more classes. (Shock!) The school classes went OK but I had to have the kids cut out alphabet cards and that was boring and mendoukusai for me and most of the kids. The resulting game was fun though. The evening classes went superdity-duper. 

Found out today the registration for the marathon (they do call it a marathon) is closed. I’m not sure why. We might do it anyway :p

Failing anything really interesting to tell you (I mean, there are things I could say, but do you really want to hear about that?), I present these beautiful doctored photos of parts of my neighborhood. Not the immediate neighborhood, if you remember, as our immediate neighbors are mostly rice fields.

Dinosaur mountain in the background.

Despite lack of space, several houses have really cool gardens.

Here’s me and a chicken. Or, my shadow and a pheasant. Or something.

Day 40, April 22 (Mon)

I wrote a letter, posted it, bought tomatoes, tried Yukimidaifuku (vanilla ice cream in mochi), 

practiced tkd, did laundry, washed dishes, changed my light bulb, walked through Nishiyama park, booked hotels, bought more cds (I went to look for dvds, I swear...), saw a fluffy doggy and got homesick, ate a big sandwich for dinner (meat only goes bad when you live by yourself and buy from Costco...), imported cds, and did random stuff.

I might be running out of things to say.

Day 39, April 21 (Sun)

I slept a bit long, ate a leisurely breakfast, then drove with Kaori to Tsuruga, which is in the southernmost part of Fukui-ken, on the ocean. We went for a sort of crafts exhibition, which was pretty fun. Kaori has many craft skills, making jewelry, clothing, and all sorts of other things, so she really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it for her. 

We walked around the port a little, stopped by a couple tiny museums. Tsuruga is proud of its part in the Trans-Siberian train route. The first museum had some information on the trains, which was actually pretty cool (old maps and things),

the second museum was all about how Tsuruga helped Polish orphans (from the Siberian war in the 1920s-ish) and Jewish refugees (from the 1940s). I guess because of the train route, fleeing to Japan was easier than going other places? Not sure. Or they fled everywhere.

We stopped on the way back at a view point where the ocean stretched out before us under the clouds and occasional rays of sun. 

On returning, we picked up some snacks, then sat in my room and chatted, went for a walk, then sat and chatted some more until the daylight had gone. 

New words:

suisen = narcissus

suzuran = bell lily (lily of the valley)

tanpopo = dandelion

satsumaimo = sweet potato

hazakura = young leaves with cherry blossoms

harinezumi = hedgehog
umami = flavor

Day 38, April 20 (Sat)

The morning proved colder than before, and by afternoon it was raining. I had one less boy in my baby-sitting class, but the other boys were wild enough to make up for it. My afternoon classes were cancelled so it was nice to have a day to myself. 

I vacuumed and did dishes, went to the bank, got gas. Exciting.

But I also had the chance to walk along the river, and I saw that the lanterns had just been taken down. How sad am I that the kirameki river is ended. However, the riverbank is turning green with the succession of spring.

In the evening Kaori came to visit for a few hours, we chatted, tried to come up with ideas for stuff to do for Golden Week. Not a lot presented itself, but we decided to train for a 5 kilo marathon in May that Hugh is doing. Just because.

We ate nori potato chips and these, I don’t know what they are [okaki] but they’re tasty (soy sauce crackers):

Day 37, April 19 (Fri)

Was able to sleep in a little bit, then went to Miyazaki Elementary with Hugh. I have both 5th and 6th grade here (and sometimes 4th), and I enjoyed both classes. I wasn’t always entirely sure what the teachers wanted of me, but they had a pretty good plan, and that made me happy. The 5th-graders were super genki and really happy I brought pictures of my cats. They were so cute!

Meeting right after that, got my schedule for next week, I planned my next classes, then I had a bit of a break to get some other work done.

Evening classes went well. After this month I won’t have these evening classes, but right now I’m helping out Casey since he has extra classes.

As suddenly as it was warm, today was cold. It’s windy!

Yet still blossoms remain.

Day 36, April 18 (Thurs)

Nursery school classes went ok, but 2 kids cried. I have no idea why. On the brighter side, I was forced to make up a new game on the spot — I had thought to play ‘fruits basket’* with shapes, only to realize that they don’t have any seats, duh — and it was wildly popular. 

I divided the kids into 3 groups, circle heart and star (and there were kids with hearts and stars on their shirts, which was extra fun), then we practiced, me calling a shape and the kids raising their arms. I could see this was lacking in excitement (though they thought it was ok) so I had them walk around, and when I called their shape, all members of that group had to pose. They really enjoyed it, happily for me :)

*I played Fruits Basket for the first time yesterday, when the 6th-grade teacher had the class do Animal Basket and we joined in. :) Fruits Basket is like musical chairs, kind of. Everyone is assigned an animal (er, fruit), more than one kid per fruit, and everyone is sitting but the person in the middle. The middle person calls out ‘elephant’ (er, apple?) and all the ‘elephants’ have to switch seats. The last one left becomes the new person in the middle. Multiple fruits can be called, and the middle person can also call ‘fruits basket’ where everybody has to change seats. 

I had my first set of ‘second’ elementary school classes today. They went fine, but I need to get the teachers involved more, because I don’t want to do it all myself. It gives me freedom, but I really need the teachers to participate, and they’re probably more likely to participate if they know what’s going on. 

Then I had the private class at the temple. The class went pretty good, considering the kids much rather wanted to play with the ball than practice English, but I got them doing stuff and speaking English so I consider it a success. Afterward, the mother invited me again to have some tea, so I chatted with them for about an hour. 

I barely made it back in time for my dictation role in the evening class, then I worked out lesson plans until Casey’s class was finished, and a few of us went out for dinner. I ate this:

It is a ‘mochi cheese hamburger’. I got it because I couldn’t imagine what mochi-cheese might be, and now I know. It’s like mochi, only with the texture of cheese. 

Thursdays are definitely a ‘long day’ for me — even if I didn’t get up at 6:30 for tkd lessons. 

Ciao.

Day 35, April 17 (Wed)

Despite the long drive — and there was construction — I think Itou will end up being my favorite school. It’s a pretty place, and the teachers were great. I actually felt like an Assistant teacher, which is what I’m supposed to be. The kids were cute and well-behaved. 

On my return, I stopped by Genky to buy a lightbulb, then I went to Hard Off to look for a cord. They didn’t have the cord I needed (so I got it on Amazon), but I conquered another 3 bookcases of 250¥ cds :)

It took great self-control to stop there. Must. Save. Some. For. Later.

Here’s a picture of a kite (if that’s what the big brown hawks are). This one circled right over my head. He may have been going for my ponytail.

Day 34, April 16 (Tues)

I’m far too tired to write anything today.

I had 5 6-grade classes then 2 classes at UFO. I’m tired. And sleepy.

Here’s a field of nanohana. They’re all over.

Day 33, April 15 (Mon)

Yuki helped me jump-start my car and I drove it to Kaori’s place, they replaced the battery so now I have a working car. I cleaned out the ashtray and threw the cushions and stuff in the wash so it almost feels cleaner.

I did some lesson planning, then back to my apartment for various stuffs. It was a sunny day and there I was inside. So very sad.

Overcome by this sadness, I decided to go out, but at this point it was cloudy. I practiced TKD in one of the classrooms. It was nice having space, but I winced every time I jumped or set down hard in my stance because the whole room shook :p

While dirty, I took the opportunity to clean my car, and take my garbage to the collection area, which is a few blocks away.

Then I did accounting and scanned my receipts. I could give you a picture. Oh — here’s my supermarket receipt for today.

Day 32, April 14 (Sun)

The morning began with a lovely walk in the singular warm day, followed by a TKD class, followed by a sandwich, followed by skype with my family (+1). It was so nice to see everybody! I’m beginning to get homesick.

Chris, Tomoe, Casey, and Nathan invited me to go with them to lunch in Fukui. I’m not quite sure why we went all the way to Fukui for lunch but I can’t pass up chances to hang out with people. 

Then I helter-skelter’ed to get ready, stopped by the gas station to vacuum out my car because it’s filthy (next step, wash cushions and clean out ashtray and wipe everything down with cleaning solution), then I picked up Kaori and we went to meet Sasaki. First we went to a cafe, it was pretty cute. I had an expresso, one of those that came in a tiny little cup — though, really, not that much smaller than the other coffees, because this is Japan, and everything is small. Funnily enough Kaori told me her first impression of America when she went was how big everything was, especially shopping carts. :)

Bigger IS better! Doncha know?

After that... we had time to kill... so we went to Nishiyama Koen. The sakura is still there mostly, we walked around, then.....

wait for it...

..

..

my car wouldn’t start. Dead battery. Hah. That’s my luck.

However —

by pure coincidence

and lucky chance

and all amazing things

someone Kaori knew drove by that very instant, he stopped to help, and — lo and behold — he had jumper cables. We got the car started in a flash.

...

That’s my luck... I guess? I didn’t even have to pray to the spirits of the earth this time.

Not knowing if it would start again once stopped, we drove back to UFO to drop of my car (and no, it wouldn’t start again, so good choice), and Sasaki drove us to Fukui. We went to ramen, (we all got karamiso, spicy miso ramen, I forgot to take a picture before I mixed it all up):

then we went to to a bar for the live performance.

The first band had a singer, who was good, they played songs like Smoke on the Water, they were pretty good but I couldn’t really understand the (English) lyrics (though I knew the songs). Here's a picture to prove I was there:

The second band was just the drums, guitar, and double-keyboard. They were really good, I enjoyed watching the keyboardist though we really couldn’t see him.

The end was like clash of the Titans, with everybody playing kinda mix stuff that was only kinda music, and by this time I was super tired.

Luckily, Kaori’s friend had come to pop in at the end, and offered to drive us home, so Sasaki didn’t have to drive us back south to Sabae before going home north of Fukui. That works.

But I’m so tired I’m reading the clock wrong. Time for bed! Tomorrow I gotta take the car in to Kaori’s motor shop.

Oyasumi nasai.

Day 31, April 13 (Sat)

This morning’s class is the ichiban taihen. The kids are wild. I must execute a strict regimental plan or I’ll lose control of the area.

The afternoon classes, which are normally good, weren’t great either. Discipline is required.

But today was mostly sunny!

As you can see, the sakura blossoms have lived a short life and quickly chiru (fall).

Except on this tree.

Ijou desu.

Day 30, April 12 (Fri)

Ah, no classes until evening! Finally a chance to get some stuff done! I slept in because it was warm in bed and freezing out of it. It’s been raining the last 3 days.

Here is the waterlogged yet lovely view from my window. 

Caught up in doing said stuff, I forgot about the staff meeting. Tomoe called me 5 after 1 — luckily I had been about to go over to the office anyway! 

It stopped raining for a bit, so I went for a short walk. I was almost roadkill. If I die any way here in Japan it will be vehicle-related. I must not trust pedestrian ‘walk’ lights (I never do — why did I this time?). 

I ate an early dinner, then Hugh and I carpooled to Fukui for classes. He came rather early and I stayed late after but it was kinda nice. 

When I got home I had hot soy milk to try and warm myself up before bed, because it’s cold again.

Faire de beaux reves.

Day 29, April 11 (Thurs)

This day went very well. I fretted over my set of classes today — not to say I fretted needlessly.

First I had the nursery school classes. This time they were much better. I concentrated on saying the words a lot and in funny ways, and in doing lots and lots of game-like things that have them moving about. I might get the hang of this.

I had my first elementary school classes today, at Sabae Higashi. Two sets of 5th-graders, so I could do pretty much the same thing with both of them, although the second teacher helped out a lot and the first didn’t do much at all, but it was an intro lesson so that’s ok.
A boy from one of my other classes is in one of my classes at this school. Another boy from another class is in... one of Chris’s classes. After class, the kid came to say Hi to me, and brought me to his classroom to meet his teacher. How cute!!!! I just love some of these kids.

Next I had the private lessons up the mountain. In a temple. It’s a cool house and the people seem really nice. I teach 3 boys, one is the son of the priest, the other two are brothers. 7 and 9 years old — but only 3 of them. They were a little wild at a couple points, but I think it will be fine, in fact I enjoyed myself.
After the lesson, the mother invited me to sit down for tea and cake. It was really nice of her, and she speaks some English, so I chatted with the mothers for a bit and for the father a little bit. But I couldn’t remember (if I had learned it) if the guest or the hosts usually say something about the time so I didn’t know if I was imposing or what, so I finally said I had to be going. I hope I didn’t give the impression I hadn’t enjoyed sticking around :)

The drive home was no trouble. I forgot to mention, but when Yuki drove me there yesterday, our way home was impeded by a driver who drove too close to the edge. Luckily the hillside edge and not the stream-side edge. The truck she’d been trying to give room for stopped to help, he had a rope and attached it somehow to the front of her car, and Yuki and I pushed, and the car was freed. I was reminded of this past winter.

But! That shall not happen to me. I drive cautiously. 

Normally I would have an evening dictation session thing at UFO Academy, but the class hasn’t settled yet so I didn’t need to be there. So I was almost late except I wasn’t for lack of a thing to be late for.

I finished the third book in the Secret Country trilogy and recommend it again to Ari and then to Mia. I miss its concise descriptions and warm dialog, now reading Dragonspell.

I have no pictures to share today, only much text.

Well. Here’s a picture of a crow I took a while back. In the background is UFO Academy on the left, the green building is the apartments. 

Day 28, April 10 (Wed)

I had a lovely morning, talked on skype, then went with Yuki to learn the way to the Miwa household where I will be teaching tomorrow. It’s a bit of a drive, and apparently pretty dangerous in the winter. 

I made orange chicken for lunch/dinner. 

My evening classes were ok. The group of boys were loud and uncooperative. I feel bad for the other students because I can’t do anything with them like that. I need new ideas.

The next class is just one kid, the other 2 girls didn’t come. He seems to learn fast but I’ll need lots more ideas for that too. 

I created a script and wrote up conversation questions for my private lesson with Miki. I think it went well, although I found it hard to describe ‘at least’. A simpler script next time, I will do!

The drive back was late and in the rain. It is far, far past my bedtime, and sleep yet I cannot.

When do I have time to think up ideas? Ah.....

Day 27, April 9 (Tues)

I took a long leisurely walk along the river, viewing the sakura...

the sakura...

the sakura...

and getting sunburnt.

I went to the bank, supermarket, then stopped at a convenience store on my way back to pay my cell phone and power bills. The bills have barcodes, so she rang up both bills and my anpan and I paid for it all at once :)

In the evening I had 2 classes. Both went well, though we finished everything with time to spare and I had to think up backup stuff — in the second class, I for some reason thought the class went til 7:15, and it wasn’t until like 7:10 that any of the kids said anything and I realized duh, it only went to 7. Oops! Sorry guys. Though they seemed to be having fun, as much as I can tell anyway. 

After that, Kaori came over for a bit. I made tea and had snacks I picked up earlier, so we sat on my futon and chatted. It’s fun to have someone to talk to, and since she lived in America for like 15 years she’s comfortable talking in English. 

Here are the mini choco buns:

And the anko mochi (I think), which I love:

Goodnight!

Day 26, April 8 (Mon)

I let myself sleep in, and had a constructive yet leisurely morning.

I ate this raisin thing. 

I didn’t like it much. Too much weird doughy stuff, not enough raisins (if they are raisins). 

In the afternoon, I went with Hugh and Yuki to Miyazaki Elementary (I won’t forget the name anymore) to say hello and meet the teachers. Except this one was an actual meeting. Hugh had prepared a lesson plan (based on ‘The lesson plan’), we met in a meeting room with the 3-4th grade teachers, then with the 5th-grade teachers, then the 6th, to plan out the first lesson. 

On one hand, their dedication was nice to see, and getting the lessons worked out is super helpful, on the other hand, I hope I have some leeway with the classes. 

Yuki took us for ice cream after that, then it was back home. I walked to the supermarket for dinner supplies and made miso soup and yakisoba. 

After dinner, I accompanied Hugh to his Judo class. I wanted to go and watch :) The sensei invited me to join in, but I declined, though part of me really really wanted to. 

The kids class and adult class go on simultaneously, so I watched the kids through their warmups and ‘sparring’ exercises, and watched the adults through their exercises. It was fun! I believe Taekwon-do takes a lot of its Ho-Sin-Sul (self-defense) from Judo. Their falling techniques and some of the grips and throws I recognized. But of course the bitty white-belt kids can do all of it at least 10-times better than I can!

The hour wears on, I must be abed.

Day 25, April 7 (Sun)

Guess what? It’s bad to put regular gas in a diesel engine. 

Today I went to Kobe!

For Ikea.

And to Kyoto!

For Costco.

It was painful to be visiting these cities and not see any of the sights. We passed Osaka and saw the top of Osaka castle but that’s about it. 

Tomoe was using her dad’s van, which fit everybody and everything we might get. Chris drove. Nathan and I sat in the roomy backseats. It was about a 3-hour drive to Kobe, and we were at Ikea for like 3 hours. It was crowded. 

Then it was a short drive (maybe an hour?) to Kyoto and the Costco. I think we were at the Costco for about 2 hours, maybe longer. It was crowded. 

They have escalators for the parking garages. The wheels on the carts lock so they don’t roll.

Anyway, we were all set to be back in Sabae by around 8 or 9... unfortunately, when we got gas, Tomoe didn’t remember it was diesel, and we made it about 10 minutes away before the car stopped and we were stuck on the side of the expressway. Happily, Chris didn't panic when the gas stopped working, and we were good 'n off to the side. Luckily, it broke down before the tunnel. Unfortunately, the expressway is not the most convenient place to be.

What do you do when your car breaks down on the Hokuriku expressway in Japan?

First, a cop came, talked to Tomoe and helped her figure out what to do, and left a flare behind the van. Tomoe contacted a tow service and the gas station. Then we waited an hour for the tow truck — and were towed!

The gas station we’d filled up at had offered to keep their office open to wait for us, so we towed back there. Then we waited in tense anticipation to hear if they could get the car working....

...

...

And eventually, it was ok to drive. It still must be serviced, but at least we could get it and ourselves back to Sabae by 1am. 

So after unloading, we went to bed.

Day 24, April 6 (Sat)

A drainy, rainy day. Little kids in the morning. The trouble-kid was actually better than usual, but all the rest followed whatever he did and thus all were trouble. Lesson plan? Hah.

The other lessons were fine I guess.

Oh, here's my updated schedule:

In the evening, Nathan and I went to Yuka’s for a bbq. They were originally planning hanami but since it was cloudy and rainy, no go :(

Yuka lives above a restaurant she runs with her boyfriend. It’s actually an old house, with nice hallways and tatami mats, so that was cool. Most people who showed up were the local gaijin (foreigner) population, which was interesting. 

I tried liver and little fried fish. They may have been these ones. I dunno.