Dinner at a French restaurant at Haneda

I had awakened on time today, but had left the house late. I wanted to go to immigration to get my re-entry permit for my trip back to San Diego. But that failed because I didn’t realize the amount of time that it took to get to the office and then to get to work on time. I had miscalculated, so I figured that I would just go after my class. That plan backfired too because I wouldn’t have enough time to go to the immigration and then come back to school. That left me with no choice but to go the next day to immigration.

I only had one late class today, but had to stick around for the end of year party that is held for the teachers that went on a trip to Kyushu. The waiting around wasn’t so bad, in fact it was really quick. I had wanted to go to immigration to get my re-entry permit because I was planning to go back to San Diego for a little visit. I wanted to do this after my class, but that couldn’t happen because the dinner time had been moved up. I wanted to study a bit of Japanese during this time, but didn’t really do that since I was working with some students on their speeches. I mean time really flew by and everyone was leaving before us. I mean our car was one of the last to leave. I was riding with Mr. Koya.. We had two other people riding with us too. It was because the situation wasn’t volatile. But I did feel a little bit uncomfortable. They were all speaking Japanese, even though most of the people in the car were English teachers. But I heard many compliments from the back seat and I didn’t want them to get the wrong idea about me. So it was a bit awkward for me to see.

We arrived at the airport, which was just renovated. It really looks nice and since it was the first time that I was there, I had a good impression of it. We hung around a little bit before the teachers and students had arrived. The guy teachers, I’ve noticed hung out with each other. They tend to do that often. All the male teachers, except for one, ordered meat for dinner. We all questioned the boss why he had chosen fish. Just as a joke of course. This wasn’t the bad part, it was actually very nice.

The volatile part was when dinner started. We went to a nice French restaurant at the top level of the airport lobby. It was really nice and well decorated. I had to sit with the Chief of staff and her friends, all of which were provoking me to speak Japanese. I didn’t do such a horrible job, but it wasn’t the pleasant of experiences either. I had to do a little presentation for the returning teachers, as a good-will gesture; going around pouring everyone drinks and asking the Headmaster if he would allow me the pleasure of going on the trip next year. That is pretty cool that I get to go on this trip next year. I think it will complete my journey all throughout Japan. It wasn’t that bad and it is a good-will gesture for all the teachers who had to spend a week with many students, babysitting them.

The dinner was delicious, even though it was incredibly hard to eat considering my situation. I had some nice teachers sit next to me and helping me out. I let everyone know that I would be going back to America for spring break. I had let them in on a few more things so they are learning a bit more about me. They finally agreed to let me teach classes on my own too. So I think next year, will be an interesting year for me. They invited me to go to school tomorrow and join them watching movies and doing other things. But since I didn’t know about it earlier, I had to decline. I really needed to get my immigration things finished so I could pay for my ticket to go back home.

I caught a ride with Mr. Ko..no to go back home, even though the boss had assigned another person to take me home. But to my surprise, he had taken me directly to my house. Last time he dropped me off at a station, but this time he drove me to my front door. I was shocked. I mean it was nice since I didn’t have to walk really far. And I was sitting with the cool teachers. I really like them and get along with them. I was talking a bit more than I usually do.