10-minute Update!

Hokay, so I have my laptop at work and I have about 10 minutes before it’s Cleaning Time. So, Imma try to do a little update for ya’ll.

So…what to write about…

Well, I haven’t been up to much aside from work. Am I a workaholic? Hmm…definitely seems like it at times…but really it’s just that this is one of the busiest times of the year for Japanese schools (or at least for my school).

Anyhoo, I’ve been prepping lessons, discussing them with teachers, teachin’ and playing with the students in the English Club. Compared to other schools, my teaching schedule is really odd and irregular. The only thing that has been staying is my bi-weekly 3nensei writing class. It’s not tough to teach but I have to ready to deal with translation variations and to give other examples or expressions on the spot. It’s not something I’m very good at so I’m always preparing for these lessons.

The 1nensei have all these orientation meetings, camp, physical examinations and summer uniform fittings to go to and so my lessons have been pushed and pushed back. At least I’m doing some teaching. Otherwise I’m just brainstorming and prepping for future lessons (a lesson well learned after my first year. Always have a lesson ready. For random “Can you teach this class now?” moments.

And soon it’ll be my school’s Culture Festival. There are soooo soooo many events going on those 2 days that I’ve never been able to attend all of them (it’s heart-breaking when you have groups of students begging you, and sometimes pulling you, to go check out their class’s program.) And prepping for it will start in about 2 weeks. If things go like they did last year, I’ll be uber busy again. So…I may disappear off the edge of the world for a bit. Haha. :P

(But I’ll give ya’ll a little chisme…I *might*, just *might*, play the piano for my school’s festival. That is, my skillz haven’t gone completely down the drain…)

Outside of the work-realm, I do have a trip coming up. It’s been a long-awaited, long-planned trip with my Oxy Ohana!!! And this time, we’re going overseas~~ We’re going to the land down under. But I still need to pack and prep for this trip…so I highly doubt I’ll be able to write again before the trip. So, I’ll see ya’ll in about a week or so~

Hmm - Food For Thought

Ever since high school, I’ve liked to bake something for the holidays and for my friends for their birthdays. And I’ve still continued to do so. But lately, I’ve been told a lot that my cakes/chocolates seem like 売り物. Which means they can see it being sold in a bakery/store. Now add this to the “seeds” one of my friends has “planted” in my brain…and my mind begins to wonder beyond the daydreaming realm and into the possibility realm. I mean, I already enjoy baking stuff. So...why not have my own bakery/cafe???

Ideas Ideas.

But can we pull it off?




(Now, before ya’ll start to freak out and overanalyze “we” there, (*ahem, cheese-monkey, ahem*), I’m saying “we” because there’s someone, who makes fantastic coffee that could be combined very well with my “specialty” carrot cake, that I’ve been talking about this with)

New Beginnings

For the new readers:
In Japan, the school starts in April. So a couple of weeks ago, some teachers got shuffled about (it’s very common in Japan) and my new 1st years (what we’d call sophomores) have come back from “camp.” “Camp” at my school means that for 3 days, they go to a large campsite, learn the school rules, learn the school song, get to know each other, build bonds, discuss their goals for the year/high school life and get yelled at a lot. I’ve yet to go to one but from what I’ve gathered, that seems to be what goes on. They do come back more “high-school-student-ish” than “junior-high-school-student-ish.”

Anyway, so some teachers got shuffled about. Luckily, it wasn’t a huge blow as it was last year when half the English Department got transferred! It felt as though 1 teacher from each department was transferred. But I still find it a sad and unsettling time. What bummed me out this year was that my vice-principal, who was very 元気 and used to be an English teacher, got transferred after 1 year!!! Usually teachers don’t get transferred until they’ve at least been at a school for 3 years. However, some teachers end up staying a school for a really long time (Like my recently transferred 書道 teacher who managed to stay at my school for 22 years!!!)

Now, because I mainly teach the 1st years, I don’t get many opportunities to talk with the newly-transferred-teachers who are teaching the 2nd and 3rd years. But among the newly-transferred-teachers in my grade, one of them speaks Italian! He lived in Italy for 6 years so we can kinda communicate using Italian and Spanish. And I believe another teacher is a graduate from my school. Haha. It’s funny how many of them end up teaching here.

And it looks like I'll be teaching more classes this year! Woohoo~
Not only do I get to teach the 3rd year Writing class again, but I might get another 3rd year class to teach!!! Now, if I can find a way to enter the 2nd year classes...muahahahahahaha!

News~

So, the news has changed a bit. A couple weeks ago is was pretty much nothing but HUGE BOLD headlines about the earthquake, tsunami and the of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Now, of course there are still articles about all of them but there seems to be less (And that’s because I’m not much a newspaper reader…or news watcher…).
In terms of the news in Fukuoka, it seems to have calmed down. I hear less talk about it and it feels like things at work have gone into full throttle with the usual hussel and bussle of the beginning of the new school year.

So, everyone back at home/other side of the world. I’m still OK and there’s not reason to worry. ^^v (I’m also not lacking a lot of sleep. So I don’t need an intervention either. ;P)