Hello family and friends! It's been about a week since I've written in this blog, so let me get you up to speed! Another disclaimer. I know this is written really poorly, I tried fixing it like two times, while still making it sort of stream-of-consciousness. Didn't really work so I gave up, but please enjoy it still. Something's better than nothing when updating folks back home about my life here.
Monday, Oct. 5
I had my base school today. This is when I wrote my previous blog post. I didn't have any classes, so it was a pretty lazy day and I was just sitting at my desk all day.
Tuesday + Wednesday, Oct 6+7
Tuesday and Wednesday were a particularly good set of days. On these days, I was at elementary school and for the first time, the kids asked me to play Oni Gokko, which is Japan's version of tag. They picked me up at the Staff Room since they're required to clean the school after lunch for like 10-15 minutes. Once we got outside, the kids tugged at my arm, signaling that it was time to run as the oni counted to 10. As we ran across the field, this little 1st grader tugged at my arm, trying to compete for my attention and latched on to me, but sadly I couldn't stay since I already gave my time to the 5th graders. As lunch break continued, more kids joined in and I was basically lost as to who was playing and who wasn't.
As one would expect I got tired before the kids and I kept saying tsukareta to them to let them know that I was out of breath, but they just kept running on, taunting me to try and chase them since I became the oni. Luckily after sitting on the struggle-bus for a while, the bell rang and we head back inside. I returned to the office, drenched with sweat and very uncomfortable in my work clothes. It was time to leave anyways, so I packed up and headed for the bus stop.
That night, since I'm signed up to run a relay-12k (I'm running 3 of the 12 kilometers) I practiced and I was glad to find out that I was able to run 3k. (It's an accomplishment since I haven't run in a long time). I took it very easy after that.
On Wednesday, I worked with the 6th graders. None of the kids really asked me to play tag during lunch, so I left for the bus stop right after I finished eating. I was sort of relieved though, because it turns out I was kind of sore.... and I was starting to feel sick.
Thursday + Friday, Oct 8+9
On these days I was at my Visit Middle School. We did one-on-one Q and A tests for all the classes that I was scheduled for. It was basically a 2 minute quick session with each student, where I would ask them 3 questions, 1-2 of them being yes/no answers, and then I'd grade them based on how they responded.
Friday was a short day for us because both ALTs and JTEs were required to go to an event called Chu-Kyo-Ten. Chu-Kyo-Ten is basically an event made so that ALTs and JTEs can team teach better. The event concluded at about 1PM, so a few of us ALTs went out for lunch.
We went to the first place we saw, and it ended up being a hidden gem. There were about 5 of us foreigners and we walked into this small mom and pop restaurant. We were seated right away, and the woman who took our order was so kind!
First off, the prices were crazy -- we were able to get a Set Meal (Miso Soup, Salad, Pickles, +Entree) for only 500-600Yen!! She also gave each of us a pear towards the end of our meal, and some much needed coffee, free of charge. She was a very pleasant lady and told us to come back next time.
Later, I went to an ALT-organized Enkai (Work Party), which consisted of dinner at a local burger joint and Karaoke for (5,000Y). There were about 15 of us including our supervisor at the Board of Education and a few others. We talked and ate for a few hours before relocating to the karaoke place where beers, drinks, snacks and mixers were provided.
Starting Wed/Thurs I had started feeling sick, so throughout the Enkai I didn't feel too well, but I persevered. I only had a small headache and body aches, so it wasn't too bad.
Saturday
Saturday was a recovery day basically. Also, I had signed up to volunteer at a Aomori University event, so I had to make a poster. Another ALT from Hachinohe named Liz came to the city and spent the night at a friend's house and we all hung out while putting our posters together. It was a pretty lax day -- we had Indian food for dinner at a place called Tajis
Sunday
On Sunday, myself and a few others were driven to Aomori University in the morning to volunteer at their school's festival. We were in a room that was dubbed "English World on Campus" or something. There were some presentations about the UK, Romania, and Canada and afterwards we had small talk with Japanese people who wanted to know more about where we were from.
During lunch, our hosts took us around campus to get food from the stalls, and we were able to get a few free things, probably because we were foreign and the students were excited to see us. Regardless, it was a good time.
I talked with one guy who was in the Writing Club and wanted to study abroad in California since he was studying Sociology, but it was too expensive. I told him about California and we talked about movies based out of San Francisco as well as things to do in California and eventually the conversation led to Anime and so I told him about Avatar: The Last Airbender, and he introduced me to an anime called Tokyo Ghoul -- I only just started watching it. It seems pretty interesting.
Monday
Monday was definitely a lazy day. I didn't get up until 2PM. It was needed since I have been sick. I stayed in and watched some Netflix, then eventually went to an ALT neighbor's apartment to hang out.
That's pretty much it. Sorry for the wordiness....
As of now, I'm STILL sick. I don't have a headache / body ache like I did on Thursday, but I do now have a cold -- I've got a crazy runny nose and It's super annoying. I got two more classes with the second-year students, and it's almost lunch.... UNTIL NEXT TIME.
(Sorry this entry is pertty lame)
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