goings on

Well, another week has passed in Japan. We have not been hopping busy, but time is going along at a pleasant pace. The weather is cooling a bit, thanks in part to the rain, in part to it now being September. My heat rash from the first week has now been replaced with super fun mosquito bites all over my legs. Those buggers just love me, and it makes me nuts. I'll just have to start leaving my bug repellant in my bike basket, just in case we go somewhere where I may need it again.

Let's see, what else has been going on? Yoga with Sarah last thursday. That was pretty good. A little challenging and not nearly as relaxing when you have to be craning your neck to look at what's going on instead of doing stuff with your eyes closed. Only thing I was able to understand were left and right directions. It was a decent work out for my arms, but I'm ready for some harder stuff. Bring it on!

Had dinner on friday night with Maurice's Tachibana (?) elementary school coworkers. We went to an all you can eat (for 2000 yen - ouch) place and then had a follow up at another place. Really enjoyable evening, but the biru and sake made it impossible for my brain to retain the Japanese words they were trying to teach me. Oh hilarity ensued... for them at least. I did make a new friend though. One of the young teachers there has pretty decent English and we chatted up a storm. She also wants me to help her with your English. Cool.

Yesterday I got to go to said school with Maurice to see his first class with the second graders. I goofed up when I saw the young teacher again and addressed her only with her first name. Big no no apparently. I forgot how different people are expected to act in and out of the work place. I'll have to discover what it is I'm supposed to call her at school... as yet, I only know her first name.
Anyway, they held a short assembly for us so we could be introduced (apparently they want me to go with him pretty much every time, at least for awhile) and then we shook the hands of evey student in the school. Fortunately it's not a very big school, so it didn't take too long. Some of the kids were really into it with a good strong handshake and fairly clear 'how are you', but others scampered by as fast as they could. There was one little boy in special education who thought it was hilarious to kowtow (is that the right term still?) everytime he saw us.

The lesson was pretty fun though and consisted of family introductions, favorite animals, food, etc, and waaaay too much excited shrieking. Little balls of energy, every single one!! Good times though, and at the end of the lesson the kids played a game similar to red light green light, where instead, Maurice was a bear to whom the children would ask 'how are you?' and could take a step forward with every answer until he said 'I'm hungry' where they would then have to run away to home base. The kids caught had to do a brief introduction and hand shake.
They loved it.

The excitement of his first real day back at work with the kids put Maurice in an extremely goofy mood last night. He can get a mite squirly with the right set of ingredients. It's pretty funny. Also really fun to watch him with the kids. It's pretty obvious he loves his job when he's with them, and they love him right back.

I also get to, thanks to Karen, have my first little job this thursday. Yesterday Karen drove me out to this little after- school school building, where I met the woman I will be helping out. There will be four or five 2nd and 3rd graders in my class, and there will be two classes this thursday and the third thurs of the month. Michiyo showed us all the games she had created to help the kids learn English. Really young kids too! They can apparently read and everything. I was very impressed, and am really look forward to it. I'm not too nervous because she will create the lesson plans and it seems I'll just be helping. When I have to create my own plans... that's when I'll get nervous. My other job starts some time in October I believe. That maybe prove to be more difficult. I don't know though... keeping little kids calm enough to learn but interested enough to pay attention?... this may prove to be challenging as well. I know I'm up for it though.