The first days are going great...

I've got internet at home now!!! YAY! So to make up for lost time...here's a quick post about the last few days
Here's a picture of the school...

9/5/06
I got a phone call at 5 am from my mother…everyone was at the house for my father’s birthday dinner so I got to speak to folks and get a wake up call at the same time. Brent and I left the house at about 6:15 to catch the 6:39 bus. It started to rain as we were pulling up to the station. When he got off to transfer buses, I set the alarm on my phone and took a nap. I arrived in front of the school at about 8:00.

I introduced myself in Japanese to the teachers and staff in the teachers’ room (see photo on the right). Then I went to the library where all the students read before class starts. There I introduced myself in English. Today I gave the lesson for all three grades (1st, 2nd, and 3rd…It’s more like middle school than junior high...so that's 6th, 7th, and 8th). I made a PowerPoint presentation with pictures of famous people, food, and places in Georgia. The students really enjoyed it, especially the part about me not liking beer. They were shocked, as are most people here when I tell them that. After the classes I went to the teacher’s room to “prepare” for the next days lessons…a Phonics Review.

Lunch was at 12:45. The names of each student and teacher are written on small pieces of wood and placed on the tray where you are to sit. The students serve the food, announce the menu, and clean up afterwards. The school has one cook and she has an assistant, but there are no janitors because the students clean the school after school everyday!!! The school is spotless. For lunch we had fried fish, cabbage, vegetable soup, corn on the cob, bread, and milk. Yes, my lactose intolerant self had milk…and yes my lactose intolerant self had…well you get the point...lol!

Here's the view from the school's front window...Tomorrow I’m going to help the music teacher with the pronunciation of some French songs. Some ladies who were selling cosmetics came to the teachers’ room with catalogs…hahaha. Needless to say none of the shades compliment my skin but there were some shapes of eyebrows in the back…for the next time I get bored and decide to make a change. I got to leave at 2:30 since I had had “such a busy morning” and there was nothing for me to do for the rest of the afternoon. On the bus ride home a little old lady whose back was bent forward a whole 90 degrees slowly made her way onto the bus and inched up to the front. When it was time for her to get off, she turned around flashed me a big smile and waved. So I smiled and waved back and she inched her way off the bus. I know that the lack of calcium in your diet can mess up your bones severely but I wonder if she worked in a field or paddy for a long time (no I’m not stereotyping, that’s all there is up in the mountains where I teach—rice paddies and different kinds of fields for days!) It’s amazing how able these little old ladies around here are, even with severe back problems they ride bikes around town and move more quickly than some perfectly healthy people back home. Then a little farther down the road I had the honor (sarcastic) of witnessing an old man whip it out to relieve himself on the side of the road…I put my camera down for that one! For all intensive purposes, I now work in heaven...literally, look at the clouds...I work all up in that...that's the roof of one of the student's houses...lol

I went to the grocery store for a few things and discovered that the “Great Value” brand has snuck its way into Japan…you know, the brand at Walmart…but this stuff was not at the store (Trial) that’s owned by Walmart…and then there’s the Crunky chocolate…enough said…hahahaha! When I got home, I had a notice for packages from my parents…3 YAY!!! My shoes/purses/belts (lol), candy/spices/goodies, and my birthday box (so, I didn’t wait until my birthday…hehe)! I turned on some old school music and unpacked them…smile.

Notes to Self:
Eat breakfast

9/6/05
So I ate breakfast today…Royal Milk Tea, French butter bread with Nutella, and a Chiquita banana…Sooooo Gourmet! Ha! I was still starving by 11 am. It seems like I get hungrier earlier (long before lunch) when I do eat in the morning. The Vice Principal made a joke today in the teacher’s room about Natto being on the menu for lunch today (because he knows I hate it!) “Haha, Rotten Beans!!!” If we ever had Natto for lunch I would run across the street and jump in the Yabe River! So I chugged multiply little cups of green tea in anticipation of lunchtime wishing that I had grabbed some snacks on my way out of the door this morning. Here's a picture of the kids practicing for sports day...Yes, they're barefoot playing basketball in the gym! So formal...it was raining so they had to practice inside at the elementary school...Yes, this is the elementary school gym! So nice right?!

Question of the Day:
Why in the world are the cups around here so dog-on SMALL?!

Once again lunch was yummylicious...Beef Stew...rice...cabbage-ish salady stuff...a pear half...MILK!
Right before I left yesterday, I gave the English teacher, Principal, and Vice Principal their gifts. They all really appreciated them. The Principal gave me a wind chime and the English teacher gave me some honey. Today I facilitated the Phonics part of the lesson with the first graders (6th grade). It was fun. I really like the fact that the English teacher Ms. Hurukawa is so outgoing. She loves to talk and teach and it really makes a difference in the students who are used to sitting and not saying anything in class while listening to 50 minute lectures all day. And I came home early again today…

Now to the present...
The sun was shining today for the first time this week so I took some more pictures on the way to work...I taught one class again this morning...lunch was good again...seafood pasta (with shrimp and scallops...yeah, we got it like that!), salad, bread and apple jam...MILK! So unless we have something special I don't plan to comment on lunch everyday...We'll see if the glutton in me gets the best of me...Whoa...the boy who reminds me of Greg got the business slapped out of his arm by the gym teacher (I think he's the gym teacher...) for giving an unsatisfactory answer to whatever the teacher just asked him...and then he got his hair pulled b/c he keeps touching his head instead of answering the question...poor kid...students get the beat down in public schools here...Earlier,(after being asked for the second time in two days by the same person why I don't drink...lol) I discussed the special connection that Blacks feel to the south with the Vice Principal...He said that when he went to Iowa State University he interviewed some people for a project and all the older Black people said they wanted to move "back" to the south...so he asked me why...I said that I think that the connection may have to do with the fact that most African Americans can only trace their roots (he threw the word "roots" into the discussion...A+)to the South and so it's considered "Home" thanks to slavery...then I talked about how we're famous for our hospitality and the cost of living is cheaper in the south...He got it the point. That's a picture of me on the bus...not sad...just sleepy as all get out...just as I got good into my nap, the high school students got on the bus and one of the girls sat at the edge of the seat because the bus was filling up. I felt someone next to me so I woke up, scooted over, and motioned that she could sit back...then we laughed and she said "tired"...I said "yeah, tired"...and we laughed again...waking up at 5 am ain't no joke! Hence, the big ol monster bags under my eyes! (Them eyebrows look good though...haha!)

And guess who that is, outside picking weeds from the shrubs in front of the school...THE PRINCIPAL! I was so shocked when I realized who it was...AMAZING!

The commentary on my predecessor (all quotations...I kid u not!):
"...used to eat her breakfast during the morning meeting."
"...didn't like to clean."
"...could not cook. She was lazy, and she couldn't cook." (comment made in Japanese b/c I guess that makes it nicer than just saying it it English...hahaha!)

So needless to say, I'm learning by example. Even though my stomach screams at the top of its lungs by 10 am, I'm not going to eat in the office at all...not because I'm not supposed to, more because I haven't seen anyone else do it yet. It was evident that she was lazy and didn't like to clean when I set foot in my apartment...enough said. She must have been a good teacher b/c she was here for 2 years and the schools and the board of education have to approve of whether or not you can stay after you inform them that you would like to...or maybe they just didn't want to have to deal with having a new teacher...who knows...Right now I'm eating this super Yummy waffle looking cone type thingy that's filled with green tea ice cream and loving my camera...as I'm sure you could tell!!!