Since the Sunday of graduation was technically a “work day,” I had Monday off. We didn’t do anything that morning, but since it was a nice day outside, I suggested that we see if anyone who also had the day off wanted to have a picnic in the park. Melissa was the only one who agreed, so we met her at the island park in the middle of the river in Hitoyoshi. Since it was such a nice day, there were lots of people at the park, and all of the parking spots were taken. Thank God we live in Asia, though, and it’s perfectly acceptable to make your own parking spot anywhere. I parked next to a concrete barrier, and maybe I got a little too close to it because Ian couldn’t open his door. It didn’t stop him from getting out, though. He said that he’d “NASCAR it” and get out through the window. Oh, my sweet goofy Ian! The sunshine was on us, so we stayed in the park all afternoon until we had to leave so that Ian could go to work. I once again went with him. I looked for my friend that I made the previous week at the riverside park, but she wasn’t there. Maybe next time!
Tuesday was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. It seemed like the heavens opened up and glorious golden light beams were shining upon me. The best part of the day was us selling our old car. For the past month it has sat in the back lot awaiting a new owner. We asked around, posted it online, and tried different ways to sell it, but nothing worked. Finally, FINALLY an ALT from Misato messaged me and asked if we were still selling the car. HECK YES WE ARE!!! We talked back and forth, and it wasn’t long before he committed to buying the car for ni man (about $200). He was pretty desperate and needed a new car ASAP since his old one crapped out on him, and he was currently having to pay for a rental. It was a win-win situation for both sides. Hurray! We arranged plans for Ian to drive the car up to him on Wednesday, and then he would drop Ian off at the Matsubase train station so that Ian could get home.
Another good thing that happened was that I got my days off for spring break. Hurray! Even though there are two weeks of “spring break” and there are no classes, I’m still required to come to work everyday. Since I’m leaving in August, I have vacation days to burn, so I wanted to have an actual spring break. I asked my supervisor if it was okay, and she said to ask all of my schools. Since there are no classes that week, I figured this wouldn’t be an issue. I asked my ES, JHS, and Yunomae nursery school if it was okay. All of them said yes. I asked Jikou nursery school last week, and the teacher told me to wait. I asked her again this week, and she apologized but said no. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat????? I’m only at that school for thirty minutes a week, and Heaven forbid if the kids don’t get to play duck, duck, goose with the foreigner that day! I resigned that I’d take Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off, work for an hour on Tuesday, and then take the rest of the day off. I emailed my supervisor and told her that all of the schools were OK with my vacation except for Jikou. She replied back with the same reaction I had, “Whaaaaaaaaaat????” and asked if I wanted the whole week off. I told her that it would be nice, but if it couldn’t work out, I understood. She told me that she’d call the nursery school and ask them to give me the day off, and IT WORKED!! I LOVE my supervisor! I now have the whole five days off. Woo-hoo!!
At Yunomae nursery school after I finished my lesson, the kids ran to the back of the room and gathered a box to present to me. Inside the box was one of the sweetest gifts I’ve received in Japan. It was a framed picture of me with the kids and a little #1 teacher ribbon and construction paper medal that the kids had made. It was absolutely too precious!!
I didn’t have a schedule for that week at my JHS, so I wasn’t sure how many classes I had that day. As it turns out, I didn’t have any, and (bonus!) my JTE wasn’t even there that day. He was away on business. Once I got to the JHS after my nursery schools, I had the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted.
The final awesome thing that happened was lunch time conversation. I ate lunch with my first graders at the JHS, and the three boys I ate with that day were fabulous. I asked the boy across from me if he got a hair cut, and he said yes. That led to a conversation about the boy next to him. Apparently he recently started shaving because the other two boys were telling on him. They pointed at their own upper lips and said, “He cut. He cut.” LOL! Somehow the conversation morphed into languages, and I told them that I could speak Spanish and German. One of the boys knew “hello” and “goodbye” in Spanish and German, so he kept saying “Adios” and “Auf wiedersehen.” They asked me to speak some Spanish and German, so I said simple sentences like “I have two sisters and one brother” in both languages, and they thought that I was the bee’s knees. They asked if I could speak Italian, French, Russian, Korean, and any other language they could think of. I said no, only English, Spanish, German, and a little Japanese. Once lunch was over and I was walking away, the kids said, “Adios!” (Bonus: After class today instead of everyone saying the uniform “see you” when I walked away, they said “adios” or “auf wiedersehen.” Internationalization at its best!!)
Since spring has finally come, Ian and I decided to put our futon away for a while and sleep on the twin bed instead. We don’t do it during the winter because it’s in the non-heated room and RIGHT next to the single pane windows that allow provide no protection against the cold. Ian and I had finally gotten tired of our futon laying out on the floor all the time and were ready for a change. Plus, the bed (although more cramped) is MUCH more cushiony and comfortable than the futon. Yay for spring finally being here!
Wow…..normally I procrastinate and put off writing these blogs, but I just powered through that and got it done in record time. Who’s got two thumbs and is super motivated? THIS GIRL!
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