Full day then Omiya

First period today was with 7th grade fuji and we were working on body parts and animals. They have missed a few classes before since we have had a lot of breaks in between with finals and entrance exams. CP didn’t really know where we left off, so we sort of skipped a few steps to get to this point. We were working ahead of plan and since we will have a few more classes left, I think we will jump back. They were working on the body parts and crossword puzzles. They were able to finish that.

Second period today was with 11th grade kiku. It didn’t turn out very well. We played English Jeopardy, but they had a problem with not wanting to speak up. I think that it wasn’t too difficult for them, but the scores were also very lopsided. That is always bad since it is a game and I don’t want people to feel excluded. I think that more groups guessed and got more right, but it was still a blowout. I have been thinking that this type of game would be better for smaller groups instead of a big class or to have the more vocal students split up. I was a bit surprised at who were the ones speaking up and guessing. Things were a bit hard for me to get them going. I think that the enthusiasm for the game had died.

Third period was with 7th grade ran and we were doing where animals are from. We picked up right where we were supposed to. We started working on countries and continents. We were labeling where the animals are from and which countries and continents they are on. It was pretty interesting some of the responses we would get. At the end of the period, we got started on body parts. They didn’t get started with the crossword puzzle, but I would imagine that they would start that next class.

Fourth period was with 9th grade ran and we were working on tax and tip. We used the paper that I made, which was a bit difficult for them to do. They needed a lot of calculators to figure things out. They didn’t have a lot of calculators for them to use, but they understood, I think. It was hard to get them going since they were very loud and not really paying attention. They know that it is important, but they are at the point where they don’t want to do too much and are getting to that stage where they really don’t care about anything. It is near the end of the year, so I could understand their feeling. They will be going to America very soon, like in 6 days, so they do need to learn the information. We never really got started on the fast food part of the lesson, but covered most of the tip and tax part.

Fifth period was a “test” for the 10th grade yuri class. It really wasn’t much of a test since it was really just a game. I tried to explain what they had to do, but the other teachers got them started before I wanted them too. It really threw things off and they were a little bit confused, so instead we went around each group to tell them what they needed to do. I thought that was a waste, but they were into it and they did it well. They really liked it, I suppose since they were working on it and not goofing off. I was a bit surprised at that really.

Sixth period was with 9th grade kiku. We were working on the tax and tip paper. They understood it better than the last class and we working harder on it. They wanted to figure it out, but it was hard for some to figure it out. Most did the work without the use of a calculator, which really is amazing. They were working hard and it showed, but at first they weren’t really into much either. It was hard for them to understand what they had to do since it wasn’t explained that well, but I think that overall, they will be fine in the U.S. I really do hope that they will enjoy their trip that will keep them to learn and study English. I usually see that the 10th graders after they go there really do have a greater interest in it and especially with these 9th graders that since they will go to high school, they need to shape up their attitudes. I can only hope they will improve though since you never know what will happen.

After school, I was working on my schedule for March. They didn’t have an English version for me so I had to translate the matrix so that it would make sense for me when I looked at it. It turns out that I don’t have many more classes left for the year, but it’s still a faraway from being over. I think that once the new year starts, it will be much better for me. I also took some time to type up this entry so that I could at least get a jump start on it before I start to fall behind again. I got an email from my MTki that I got my package. I think that is early since I expected it tomorrow. I finally got my mouse that I ordered last week. I can’t wait to use it, but I will have to since I have to charge it before a day before I use it.

I stayed at school till around 5pm and then left. The teachers will do a little skit for the seniors going away celebration and I have a little part, but I don’t have any lines. I have to make it up on the spot, which I think is supposed to be part of the entertainment. It makes it a little hard for me to prepare for that and since I won’t go to any of the practices, I will really go into it not knowing anything.

Meeting up in Omiya and the people showed up really late. I think it was because they had work and came late because of that. We went around to many places to see if they had space for us. We had a group of 8 people, well around that. People would be coming later. We finally decided on eating at Gazen after going to a few other places. The other places were all full, which would probably be the case since it was a Friday night. I wouldn’t assume anything else. It was nice to see everyone there and I really liked seeing HY. She was cute tonight too, but I finally realized that it wasn’t in my best interest to pursue her. I can feel that she is distancing herself from me, so I think that I should just let it be.

I was quiet for most of the night and not talking to too many people since I wasn’t really close with them. I was talking to Daisuke a little bit. It was interesting and he was drinking a lot. He was smoking a little bit too, and that didn’t bother me as much as it would have before. I think that over all it was ok. This was when there were only 7 people there. When the 8th person showed up, I started talking and enjoying it more. It was someone I met recently, well about 9 months ago when I last saw CNto. His name is Mr. Kanno and he seems pretty cool. I’m glad that I had the chance to talk to him again. His Japanese was a bit fast for me, but for the most part, I understood what he was saying. I should have talked to more people though. That was the last time that I met up with them, so it didn’t seem that long, even though it was that long. He and I were talking a lot to each other and then we were talking to other people too. It started to be real fun after that. I really enjoyed it after that. I had to leave early like usual and left in such a hurry that I forgot my umbrella. I actually forgot both my umbrellas since I let one of the girls borrow mine while we were walking around looking for a place to eat. So I was umbrella-less. I didn’t need it in Omiya because it stopped raining, even though it was supposed to snow that night. It didn’t though, which was fortunate for me.

I was planning to take a faster route to get home because I didn’t know if I would have class on Saturday or not. So I expected to get home around 12:30am after walking home from Hongodai station. It turns out that I went past my Yokohama stop and ended up at Ofuna. According to the website where I get my train schedules, I should have gone to Ofuna and transferred to the Keihin-Tohoku line and gone 5 minutes back to Hongodai. But since the last trains usually go slower and wait past their departure times for those who are lagging, it ended up at Ofuna station about 30 minutes after I was supposed to arrive there. Therefore there were no more trains going on the Keihin-Tohoku line. That really made me mad because I had to walk an even further distance that I would have had to if I just had gotten off at Yokohama and taken the Keihin-Tohoku line from there. I would have saved time and money. So I learned my lesson and to go the way that I feel would be better instead of the one that the computer spits out at me. I got lucky that it didn’t rain because I didn’t have an umbrella and I was carrying my laptop. Although walking about 35 minutes with my laptop wasn’t very fun either since it was heavy as hell at that point. I got home later than I wanted around 1am, which I could have taken the Keihin-Tohoku line directly from Omiya and gotten there at the same time. I got lucky that I didn’t have class on Saturday so I could take the time to rest and get enough sleep.