Cook-ins and snakes

 

Since we took the extra futons off of our little twin bed so that they could dry out, I didn’t sleep very well on Sunday night.  Not only was my mind racing by making a mental tally of everything I need to do this week, but I forgot just how uncomfortable Japanese mattresses are.  It’s like sleeping on a slightly soft rock.  Whenever my alarm went off on Monday morning, I felt sleepy and even more unwilling to get up than normal!

My first class of the day was pretty amusing….at least it is now.  At the time it was ridiculously annoying.  I have no idea how it happened, but I had a gnat trapped in my blouse.  I thought that it was a loose hair at first.  Ladies, you can sympathize with me!  You know how BAD it is when there’s that one loose hair floating around the cleavage area of the inside of your shirt!  However, IT would move whenever I didn’t, so I knew that there was something alive in my blouse.    Since I was in the middle of class, I couldn’t exactly reach down my blouse and get it out, so I had to suffer with it there for a whole forty-five minutes.    After class, I went to the bathroom to dig whatever out.  I pulled out a gnat that had died in the sweat on my chest.  Yuck!

Ian had to work in Nishiki that day, and we had planned to go to Justine’s house for dinner.  As soon as work ended at 4:20, I had to rush to the train station to catch the 4:30 train.  I made it, but the whole time I pedaled there, it was threatening rain.  In the distance I even heard thunder!  By the time I got on the train it had started sprinkling, and within a few minutes, it was pouring.  Lucky timing!

For dinner that night (since it was Memorial Day) we couldn’t grill out, so we had a cook-in.  Justine has a nice big indoor flat grill that we set on the table and grilled cabbage, peppers, onions, pumpkin, eggplant, chicken, fish, and pork and ate until we were stuffed silly!  Even if we weren’t able to celebrate the holiday with BBQ, we definitely made due. 

Since I left my bike at the train station, I had to pick it up on our way into town and ride it home.  It was nearly 9PM and very, very dark outside.  I always park my bike on our back stoop, and as I rounded the corner, I noticed something out of the ordinary.  Sitting on part of the concrete stoop was what looked like a black fan belt coming from the crawl space.  It took a minute for me to register what it actually was, and when I did, I froze.  SNAKE!    I dropped the bike, screamed, and ran in the house.  I.  HATE.  SNAKES.  My number one fear is snakes.  I told Ian what was outside, and he said, “cool!”, rounded up his camera, asked for some tongs, and went out back.  UGH!  I was freaking out just knowing that it was under our house, and it took me a while to calm down enough to go next the window that overlooks our stoop.  I decided to get a shower, and even though it’s irrational, I was a little afraid that the snake was going to crawl through the pipes and get me.  *shudder* I freaking HATE snakes.

What could make that story any worse?  How about if there were TWO snakes!  Yesterday, I was riding my bike along the cycling road, and as I rounded one of the corners, there was a giant, black snake in the middle of the road.  I screamed (again!) and slammed on the brakes, far enough away to not hit it.  I think the snake knew that I was afraid of it because we were playing this twisted game.  I wasn’t going to go until it got off the road, and it wasn’t going to move until I passed.  I tried shouting and clapping loudly at it to get it to move.  I seriously considered turning around, but it finally slithered off the road.  *shudder*  I felt disgusting for the rest of the night.

Yesterday when I got to the JHS, there was a cookie on my desk.  It had yellow stripes in it, and I thought it was a lemon cookie.  I’m not that big of a fan of lemon flavored things, but sometimes it’s a very refreshing flavor.  I waited until mid-morning to have it, and when I bit into it, I realized very, very quickly that it was NOT lemon.  UGH!  It was spicy mustard.  I didn’t even swallow it.  Instead I went to the kitchen and spit it out, tossing away the cookie as well.  It was DISGUSTING!    Who makes spicy mustard cookies?!?!  Later that morning, my vice principal asks if I liked the cookie.  She was the one who set it on my desk.  I thanked her and told her “of course!  It was delicious!” while still remembering the dreadful taste in my mouth.   

I know this seems random, but I’m going to get my TEFL certificate.  What’s that, you ask?  It’s an acronym for Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  While it doesn’t allow me to teach in public schools in the States, if I want to continue teaching abroad, it’s a very good thing to have.  Ian and I haven’t decided where we’ll go after Japan, but a TEFL certification could come in pretty darn handy if it’s somewhere abroad.  The JET Program is offering 15,000 yen grants for applicants who want to apply, and the total cost of the program is about $190.  Therefore, I’d only have to pay about $40 out of pocket.  The program is 100 hours long, and it’s all online.  Even if I don’t use it until later in life, it’s a good thing to have on a resume!  It honestly seemed like too good of a deal to pass up, so back to school I go!     

I feel extremely busy this week.  I’ve got a list of things to do that’s about a mile long.    I have to finish applying to the TEFL grant by Friday and turn in the information to my supervisor, plan lessons, work on and hang up my June English board, revise my short story, and since our driver’s license test is next Friday, I need to read over ALL of the information again and know what to do right to pass it.  (Don’t worry…..I’ll still fail.)  Even though I have all of this to do, what did I do last night?  ……watched Grimm with Ian.  We started watching it, and it’s an awesome show!  It reminds me of grown-up combination of Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time.  To be fair, I did cut out and write all of my captions for my English board while watching Grimm.  All I have to do now is hang it up tomorrow!

That’s all for now.  Please continue to read!