Who loves hot muggy weather!
......
Me either, yo.
I figured I should send out an email, since it's been a while. Have all the Japan people settled in nicely? I hear we're getting paid soon, I'm very excited about that. My MC (managing consultant) recently gave me some instructions on how to cook, since apparently fifty-five straight days of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is cause for concern. So at least I have something to experiment with now, yeah? Now if I could just figure out how to send money home to pay my student loan off...
any ideas?
I don't actually have anything about life in general to report, really. I'm just letting everyone know I'm still alive. And that I'd kill for some apple cinnamon muffins, if anyone has any means to make them and get them to me. I did finally get an umbrella though! It was very exciting. Since the weather here went rainy and windy as hell for a couple of days, my JHS teachers felt sorry for me and directed me to the hidden treasure room of shit people have lost or abandoned. I have a really nice umbrella now. :)
Anyway, life for me is pretty basic. I don't really teach much, just stand in the classroom and let the kids climb on me. Well, the junior high kids don't really climb on me. That would involve an actual sign of life, you know? Though they're friendly and cheerful enough outside of the classroom, I can't help but wonder if the teachers beat them when I'm not looking. I wonder if they'd let me help...
Is anyone out here (in the general vicinity of, you know, japan) in a similar situation? Where the teachers only really tell your schedulers what classes you'll be in, but save any sort of information like what the lessons are or what they want you to plan or bring until you're actually walking into the classroom? When it's sort of too late to do anything but pull something out of your ass? Is anyone else's ass starting to hurt? Anyone? I really like my one elementary school that has their own lesson plans, and the teachers tell my schedulers which ones they'll be using, and my schedulers translate them for me, and I arrive at school with the translated lesson plans, and then in the actual classroom the teachers - each and every single one - do something completely different. Because they "improved" it. And each teacher does this, in totally different ways, so that when I finally get a teacher that follows the plan to a letter I have no idea what the hell is going on. Once you've grown accustomed to chaos and confusion the sudden appearance of order and structure will make your head explode. At least the kids are cute.
My language is deteriorating though. I now think in Japanglish. Not Engrish. Japanglish. There's a difference. Alas and alack. Sports day is coming up, and I'm hoping I'll get to go and watch the games and everything. Then I'll have something to write home about finally. It's kind of sad that my life mostly consists of me going to school and then coming home to work some more. One of these days I'm going to go somewhere.
What are everyone's plans for summer? Anyone going anywhere interesting? I'm going to try and get home this winter for Christmas, I'm in serious withdrawal from my coffee shop and my father's cooking. Daddy? I want chicken rice and mushroom gravy for Christmas, kay? Please? Pretty please? And apple cinnamon muffins? 'Cause you love me?
And...that's it for me. I still live. I have not thrown myself under a train yet, nor starved, nor contracted any manner of horrible diseases. Though I did contract one minor disease. I managed to kick it with tea and honey. Since I have no idea where medicine is out here, what it looks like, how to find it, or how to use it. Tea and honey is just safer.
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