Random Funny Story of the Day

Just to preface this story, it may not be funny to anyone that doesn't understand the kid and the situation but I thought I'd share anyway. I think all my teacher friends have had a student that just kind of is in their own world half the time. This student kinda does things and you wonder "did you think this thing through?" Today, our school was cancelled for students because of the typhoon. Basically, its been wind and rain nonstop all day. Us teachers still had to be there for a while as a work day. About 20 minutes before school normally starts, I get a phone call.

One of my students was dropped off at school. Upon hearing the name, I kind of understood. Luckily, she went to the office and her mother came to pick her up. Not before she did a sweet yet misguided thing.

Quick back story, this girl is very nice but is rarely ever there and almost always late. I pray for days that she will come early so that I can spend time with her to get her caught up. The fact that she actually came before class started on the one day she didn't have to be there was hilarious in itself.

Anyway, she shows up to my class and obviously must realize that no one is there.  All the lights are off and all the rooms are empty. You'd think she must have thought something was up but it was a little bit before school started and as I said she never comes early. She took it upon herself to set up my classroom. She put out the tables, set up the chairs, opened it to my whiteboard, took out my library books, basically set up everything as I would have done. She even turned on the AC. I really wish I could have saw a video of her doing all of this while the building was empty. Not sure what her mom was thinking, but I guess there wouldn't be anybody outside in a typhoon so she must have assumed that everyone was in their classrooms.

Because of this nice gesture, I had to leave the confines of our dry warm office to battle a typhoon and put away everything she set up. I share the room with a Japanese kindergarten teacher so I need to leave it empty. Though it was a pain, the story definitely made my day. 

Matsushima: My First trip to the Pacific after the earthquake

Today we had a random holiday. If I wasn't so ignorant I could tell you what it was for. All I know is that I got to spend a Monday without working. A few friends and I decided to make the about an hour trip to Matsushima. Because of the major earthquake and tsunami, I haven't had much of a chance to make it to the Pacific Ocean. 7 months later I finally got my chance to see it. Matsushima was actually relatively well off even though its right on the coast because there is a bay that blocks it off from a straight hit from the ocean.

Before going, a part of me expected to see a random boat sitting in the middle of the town still. In reality, its amazing what 7 months can do along with tireless effort. If you hadn't known there was an earthquake there, you wouldn't have noticed. There were random buildings closed and open lots that I assume were once occupied. But this town and its life are pretty much back to normal. Of course, this town is just a small beautiful town, thats not reflective of the rest of the coast. I hear there are still areas that may never be the same. But I'm glad this town had a chance to.

We spent most of the day gazing out at the mini islands  much like you'd see around Krabi, Thailand where I spent part of my summer. The rest of the town is full of tiny shops and touristy stuff.

Earquake! Tsunami comes! Immediately evacuate quickly. 

My Monday Routine

I thought it would be helpful to give a schedule of my mundane Monday's I have every week. Generally, its the exact same thing every time. No matter where you live Monday's still suck. Here it Goes:

4:00 Wake up and curse the Land of the waaay to early Rising Sun, put the pillow over my head and fall back asleep. (the sun always seems to rise at 4:00AM no matter what time of year it is).

9:00 Wake up and get ready for the day and head to Japanese Class.

10:00 Show up to class. My general goal is to learn something mildly inappropriate in Japanese each week. For example, o nara means to pass gas.

12:00 I head to lunch and realize Japan doesn't really know what lunch is. I then head to the store and buy random meat products to make my own lunch.

1:00 I go to work. I don't have to be here till 2 usually but I always want to be a go getter and get things done. I generally use this time wisely by doing nothing/ zoning out/ arguing the lyrics of Alanis Morrisette.

2:00 I have my planning time. Most teachers would be jealous. I have over 2 hours of planning time for a 2 hour and 25 minute class. You'd be surprised how quickly it goes.

At 3, I hike up Mt. Maruyama, to get to my classroom and set up. Kids start to trickle in at about 3:45. Usually they play the piano. Pretty much all my kids are piano prodigies, no joke. I start playing "Mary had a Little Lamb" and they jump into Tchaikovsky while holding a conversation with me about their day.

4:20 Class starts. Students do stations ( a bunch of different English activities and skills), then move on to writing and then start our GrapeSeed Curriculum. We are basically the laboratory for this world renowned program. From here we do phonics and teach reading comprehension.

5:45 is playtime. This is not your teacher hold a clip board while kids run around time. We jump right in and play with the students. Its used as an extension of practical English.  

6:10 We come back finish up Curriculum and work on our theme. 3rd grade studies different parts of the world. We are currently learning about early America.

6:45 We dismiss and wave kids off at the buss. This is something that I think is lacking in a lot of American schools. We tend to dread having "pick up duty." Here all teachers wave and say goodbye to their kids and the kids seem to love it.

From here I head to dinner  and set up for high school.

High School comes around 7:30

7:50 I start teaching high school. Usually, they are a lot more awkwardly quiet because they don't have as much English vocabulary as my 3rd graders. At 8:45 we have play time, which I utilized to teach them the basics of American or as I like to call it "Real" football.

9:00 PM I clean up and head home.

If you actually read this far you can see that, A. I have no life and B. I wouldn't have it any other way.