-
I have been stimulated.
Yes. I have effectively been stimulated by the Japanese government. My pay (as piddly as it was last month), has been boosted by half of my usual salary (so it became my usual salary + [(0.5)my usual salary.]). This is the first time I've ever seen so much money in my account. Wowzers. I was in shock as I walked back from the post office, and my ( Read more... ) -
A pleasant visit to my teacher's house.
So. Several months ago, my lovely English teacher Mr. Uekiyo invited me to come over his house sometime. We decided on a month, but I told him that it was up to his wife to choose the weekend. I didn't want to stress her out. (I've had experience with gatherings here, and there's always more work for the host/hostess. I guess that's obvious, though ( Read more... ) -
Eh? And oh, yes! It was my birthday!!!
I knew this day would come. The Kure BOE has done it now. I know that I would always complain about how they pay less and less each pay check (inching down dollar by dollar), but now they've gone and taken about $170 from our paychecks this month. What the hell? I have a feeling that the "stimulus package" people will be getting in a few weeks will ( Read more... ) -
Triple Whammy
La, la, la. Today marked the Yutaka Machi Sangyo Culture Festival, and all of my parts of the day went smashingly. For real, it was uncanny. I played the main drum part for the taiko performances, and didn't do anything overly embarrassing. We did a piece called "Thunder" for the opening ceremony at nine, and then did the same three pieces we ( Read more... ) -
A "Wow!" kinda afternoon
So, yesterday at Yutaka Elementary I (dare I say it?) "team-taught" with alternately the 5th grade homeroom teacher and sixth grade homeroom teacher during fifth and sixth periods. My ever-useful JHS teacher Mrs. Sakimori also came as our guest teacher. About six other grown-ups came to watch our classes, including the principal and the vice- ( Read more... ) -
Blah. Time moves ever so slowly when you watch ever second tick by.
Ugh. I'm feeling the "when will the school year be over?" blues. I'm actually feeling the "when will July come?" blues as well. Arghhh. I am mostly deadened to my softer sensibilities, at least when it comes to going that extra mile for Yutaka JHS. I can do it at Toyohama because the lessons are well done and taken care of by Uekiyo-sensei, but at ( Read more... ) -
Hmm, hmm.
I've been doing the same thing for so long, that the thought of going home for good (and what I'd be doing there once I got back) always seemed nebulous and undefined and scary. I feel like I'm finally winding down from my time as an ALT and that there's something better waiting for me once I return to United States. I'm looking forward to leaving ( Read more... ) -
The year ends and another begins.
Arrgh, indeed. Yohoho, indeed. Third semester (probably should be trimester, but oh well) of school has arrived. Sadness. All right, I'm not that sad. And I'm not dreading school starting as much as I probably did this time last year. It's all right. I'll make it through ( Read more... ) -
Connected to the outside world.
The bridge that took three years to make and slightly less time to pave has finally been opened to the public. The last day for the ferries that took people to and from the island to the mainland sailed their last journey on Tuesday the 18th. People have been able to go to work by car for two full days now, and we've had one accident since then. > ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
Ever since the election results were broadcast worldwide, people here have been coming up to me and saying, "Obama won!! Isn't that great!!" I'm hearing so many positive reactions from people in other countries, too. It's like this presidential victory was everyone's win. Way cool ( Read more... )