Day 21, April 3 (Wed)

Has it really been 3 weeks? Since I left. Wow! 

After a slow, rainy morning, I talked to my parents on Skype, ate lunch, then went with Yuka and Casey to visit another couple elementary schools. The first was great, I got to meet all 3 6th-grade teachers, and the teacher who showed us around was super nice, she gave us a schedule of all the classes, and served us coffee and treats. It was also nice having Casey there because he knew all the questions to ask (having done this 2 years). The second school we got less information, and I only got to meet one of the teachers, but oh well.

By the way, here is my schedule. Kind of.

I made yakisoba for an early dinner. The night before I’d tried waiting to eat dinner until after classes — then my tummy was rumbling during class. Whoops. So I ate too much yakisoba, then went to the office to prepare. I was dreading both classes — the first was all boys who hadn’t behaved in the least, the second was entirely new and unknown (a new class altogether so there was no lesson planned or anything). I prepared what I could.

Surprisingly, both classes went well. The first class has one girl, and the boys were fine this time. The only problem was I tried to review what they’d supposedly already learned... and they didn’t seem to know it at all. But they did fine. The new material (the stuff I actually taught) they picked up quick.

The second class was 3 students, one who is actually signed up, and two sisters who were doing a trial class. I hope they come back. All 3 were super well-behaved. Shy and quiet, but good, and they seemed to know a lot and pick up on a lot. Also — it was nice not having the textbook, because I got to go over stuff I wanted to go over and that I thought would be more fun. 

After that, I sat in the office planning the next lessons, then I went with Casey and Nathan to Moss Burger for dinner. Yes, I already ate — but like 4 hours ago. We chatted for a while and that was fun. They recommend visiting the Science Museum in Osaka, Ginkakuji in Kyoto, and Casey says we should be in Sabae for the Bon firework festival. I’ll have to figure out the date (Bon week is the week I have off in August). They also explained to me some office drama and workplace stuff that’s good to know.

Speaking of festivals, they’ve started turning on the lights by the river.

But on Sunday, the day of the festival here, I guess we’re going to Costco. It’s a 3-hour drive *sigh*. I’d better put together a shopping list. However, Casey says this festival is a small one, and there will be tons to look forward to. Ok. I’ll be at peace with it.