やっと週末だ ・ Thank you Jesus for weekends

English below, if for no other reason than that I've started thinking in Japanese first...

ワ～・・・週末だ！やった！

＊踊っている＊

月曜日は休日だったから普通より短かったが普通より忙しかった。そして風邪はまだ治っていないから結構疲れた。実は昨夜（金曜日）にこの日記を書くつもりだったがエネルギーのタンクは空っぽだった。

結果として、今日は珍しくに午前11時まで寝て、ちょっと元気になった。やっぱ週末って最高ね。

どれどれ・・・今週に面白かったことあったかな～

火曜日：一日中○○中学校で2年生のインタービュー・テストだった。同じ質問を何回も訊いたし、風邪はまだまだだったから正直にちょっと辛かった。「What's your name? Which do you like better...dogs or cats? Who's your favorite singer? When is your birthday? How old are you?」みたいな中学生レベル質問ばっかり。たまに「アーッ・・・だれか殺してください」と思った。分かったこと：①殆どの女子中学生は「花より男子」と言うテレビドラマが好き。②「I」先生（○○中学校の英語の先生）は英語を喋ると、ルーニー・チューンズの「Elmer Fudd」と同じくらいの発音がある（「Pwease tew me, when is youah buhfday?」とか）。昼からちょっと暇がありましたから道内住んでいる外国人・英語指導助手メールリストで「僕以外、ミクシィをやっている人いないのか？」のメッセージを送った。結局以外にいるからちょっとびっくりしたけど新しいマイミックいっぱいゲットしちゃった。そして夜に、大好きな「Southern Culture On The Skids」と言うバンドのミクシィのコミューも見つけた！「あるわけない」と思ったから超嬉しかった！

水曜日：バレンタイン・デイとインタービュー・テスト二日目。ありがたいことにギリチョコを貰わなかった（すごく嫌な感じだから）けど4人の教え子から手作りチョコを貰った（やった！）。

久しぶりに野球少年団段練習に行ったけど「K」先生は会議に出席していたから一人で指導した。準備体操の時に「じゃ皆・・・音楽を聴きたい人！」と訊いて、皆の子供達は「は～い！」・・・だけど再生したCDの曲はハードコアーラップ（50 Centとか）と「F・ワード」を使っているやつばっかり。子供たちはもちろん歌詞を分からなかったし、楽しく踊ったけどやっぱり僕は地獄に落ちる。

家に帰った時にサープライズが待っていた・・・奥さんは手作りチョコをいっぱい作ってくれたし、アメリカの両親から「バレンタインと誕生日ボックス」が届いた！

　　
（アメリカのバレンタインお菓子）　　（奥さんの手作りチョコ）

両親から届いた包みはアメフトのスーパー・ボールのビデオも入っていた！いいね・・・すごく愛されているを感じましたから最高なバレンタイン・デイだった。

木曜日：「小さな田舎の田んぼの中」小学校で授業を教えた。町の学校の中では、この小ちゃい、小ちゃい、児童9名しかいない学校は一番好きだ。1年生が一人。2年生が一人。3年生が二人。5年生が二人。6年生が3人。本当に「家族」みたいな雰囲気だ。給食を食べる時に、皆（校長先生、教頭先生と二人の担任の先生も）が一緒に食べるから他の学校と全く同じ給食なのに、他の学校の給食より100倍くらい美味しいだ。昼休みでも校長先生と担任の先生達は子供たちと一緒に遊ぶ。

残念ながら人数が少ないので4月に閉校となる。本当に寂しいです。今日は低学年の二人と一緒の最後の授業だったからお礼の手作りカードとチューリップが与えられた。泣きそうだったがチビ達の前で元気な顔をしなくちゃから我慢した。

その後、中・高学年の授業で数字を教えて、ビンゴ・ゲームをした。彼らは英語の1から10まで知っていたから今日は11から100までを教えた。他の学校では、クラスの人数は多すぎるからこういう風なレッソンは45分の間に無理だけどこの学校の児童はものすごく頭がいいし、勘がいいので3年生の二人でも全然問題がなかった。

給食と掃除が終わったら、昼休みの間ミニ・バレーを遊んて、あっという間に帰る時間になった。来週は中・高学年の最後の授業だからあまり楽しみにしていないっすね。:..(

金曜日：花金！先週の木・金曜日に風邪で休んだからその授業は今日の午前中を教えた。ハイテンションの授業しかできないし、3・4年生だったし、風邪はまだ100％治っていないから1・2・3・4時間目の授業が終わったら、声がつぶれて、かなり疲れた。

放課後に日教組の会議の陰様で野球少年団練習がなかったから旭川に行って、ちょっと買い物をした。腕時計のバンドは壊れたから「買い物公園」の時計屋さんで修理をさせて、近くのゲームセンターに首を突っ込んだ。珍しくに「太鼓の達人」を遊ばなかったが新しいNOVAの英語能力ゲームを一か八かやってみた。結果は全国の参加者の80％よりよくできたが母国語は英語だから正直にちょっとガッカリだった。

任天堂Wiiが欲しいし、「中古あるかな？」と思ったから帰る途中にリサイクルショップに立ち寄った。Wiiがなかったけど小売価格より高い中古PS3を見つけた。はぁ？お断りです。

土曜日：上に書いた様に、寝坊した。最近8時間以上あまり寝られないので僕にとってちょっと珍しい。「小包みが届いたよ!」を知らせる為に、アメリカに住んでいるママとパパにスカイプして、1時間半くらい話した（ところで・・・スカイプはすごくない？）。両親と話すと、彼らはいつも「いつ帰国して、大学院に入学するの？」。去年、「2007年の夏アメリカに帰る」と言っちゃったけど奥さんと話し合って、教育委員会の希望を配慮したら、実はもう一年間（2008年まで）日本にいることを決めた。奥さんと僕のアメリカに帰ることにつてすごく楽しみにしていたから僕は「今年じゃなくて、来年に帰国する」と言ったら、向こうはウェブカメラがないのにすぐガッカリしたが分かった。父ちゃん、母ちゃん、ガッカリさせちゃってごめんね・・・けどいつも、何でも、どこでも応援してくれてありがとう。

ここまで読んでくれたら、本当にお疲れ様でした。今回の日記はもちろん長すぎだけど色々について書きたかった、途中に止められなかった。もっと短い日記を書いたら読んでくれる人はもっとコメントを書いてくれるかな?

皆さんの一週間はどうでしたか？教えてね!

コメントを書きたいなら下へ・ホーム・メール
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Yeah, baby! The weekend is here!

*Hokkaido Hillbilly does a little dance*

Although it was a bit shorter week than usual thanks to a holiday on Monday, I was busier than usual. Add that to the fact that I'm still not over my stupid cold, and by the time Friday night rolled around, I was shot. I had actually planned on writing this post last night (Friday), but by the time I finally sat down in front of the computer, I was running on fumes.

As a result, I ended up sleeping in...like really sleeping in, until 11AM today, so am thankfully feeling a bit more recharged. Oh, how I loves me some weekends.

Well, let's see...what all interesting happened this week...

Tuesday: Personal interview tests w/ the 8th graders at ○○ Jr. High pretty much all day. After asking the same questions over and over and still trying to deal w/ a nasty cold, I was hurtin'. Basic 8th grade English questions like, "What's your name?" "Which do you like better...dogs or cats?" "Who's your favorite singer?" "When is your birthday?" "How old are you?" No idea how many times I thought to myself, "Oh God...somebody please kill me. Now." Things I learned out of this ordeal:

1) The favorite TV show of 99.9% of the 8th grade girls is "Hana Yori Dango", some teeny bopper drama featuring a bunch of rich, dreamy boys, i.e. hormonally challenged teenaged girls are the same everywhere.

2) Mrs. I, the 8th & 9th grade English teacher at this school talks like, and I kid you not, Elmer Fudd. "Pwease tew me when is youah buhfday?" I kept waiting for her to bust out with, "Kiew da wabbit, kiew da wabbit!" but unfortunately she never did.

3) Asking kids when their birthdays are isn't a problem, but most can't tell you how old they are. Student: "I'm...13...no, 14? 13......" (looks quizically at English teacher in a desperate bid for help). Mrs. I/Elmer Fudd: "Eyaz owd". Student: *unintelligible muttering*.

4) While the Jr. High kids have a bigger vocabulary, in general, my elementary school kids have a much better grasp of English.

In the afternoon, I had a bit of free time, so put out a message on the HAJET listserv asking, "Anybody besides me here do Mixi?". Amazingly enough, there's quite a few o' my fellow foreign barbarians up here in the Great White North w/ Mixi accounts, so I was a bit surprised but ended up with quite a few new friends. Later on that night, I was on Mixi again and just on a whim, figured I'd see if there was a Southern Culture On The Skids community, not really expecting many Japanese folks to be into surf-punk-rockabilly, but lo & behold, there're actually SCOTS fans here! Sweet!

Wednesday: Valentine's Day & interview tests day 2. As I wrote about a few days ago, I can't stand the whole idea of giri-choco ("obligation chocolates"), so thankfully I didn't get any...but I did get some goodies from 4 of my students (score!)!

Went to baseball practice for the first time in nearly a week, and since Coach K had to be at a meeting, it was just me in charge. During warm-ups, I asked the kids if they wanted to listen to some music, and they were up for it, so I popped in a CD and off we went. Oh, but this wasn't just any old CD...no, I just had to pick one consisting of mostly un-edited club type songs. 50 Cent in all his glory and other tunes with, shall we say...very colorful language. The kids (all 2nd & 3rd grade little boys) were all getting their grooves on and seemed to really like it, and I know that there's no way they could actually understand the lyrics, but yeah...looks like I'm defo going to hell.

Once practice was over & I got home, there was quite the surprise waiting...M had spent all day making me chocolates and Mom & Dad's Valentine/Birthday care package had arrived!


(US Valentine's Goodies) (M's Homemade V-Day Chocolate)

Not only that, but M&D put a tape of the Super Bowl in with the rest of the stuff! An overall 1st class Valentine's Day & I really felt loved.

Thursday: Taught classes at "Little BFE Surrounded By Rice Paddies" Elementary. Of all the schools in town, this one is by far the smallest, w/ only 9 kids and my absolute favorite. 1 1st grader. 1 2nd grader. 2 3rd graders. 2 4th graders. 3 6th graders. One teacher teaches the 2 little kids and another teaches the remaining 7 all in one class. Total family type of atmosphere and they treat me like a complete rock star whenever I go there. Instead of each class eating separately like at other Japanese schools, everyone there eats lunch together, including the Principal, Vice-Principal & both teachers. Even though it's the same school lunch that's delivered to every other school here in town, it always tastes about a million times better here (especially when one of the staff makes jam or pickles and brings it for everyone to share). After lunch and the kids've cleaned up the school (yeah, no school janitors on this side o' the pond...the kids do it all), even the Principal plays with the kids during recess.

Unfortunately, however, due to a lack of bodies and money, the town board of education is gonna close this wonderful little school down at the end of the school year, i.e. the end of next month and ship all the kids to the biggest school in town. This sucks big ol' donkey balls and I know it from personal experience, as my high school was closed down after I finished 10th grade. I hated having to drive 20 miles to school and I hate that these kids have to leave such a wonderful environment...but I digress.

Today was my last class with the 1st & 2nd grader, but we still managed to have a great time. These are fabulous, smart little kids and they've already pretty much mastered the alphabet...both upper & lower case, even! This may not seem like much to those of you outside Japan, but just keep in mind that 99% of Japanese aren't even introduced to roman letters until they're in 4th grade, and most of my Jr. High school kids still don't have a handle on lower case. See why I'm so proud? Anyway, we played ABC bingo and a "match the lower case letter to the upper case letter" puzzle and at the end of class, the 1st grader & the 2nd grader each gave me a card and a tulip. I really wanted to cry, but managed to hold it back and we all ended in smiles. :)

Next up were the 3rd, 4th & 6th grade kids & we played number bingo. The kids already knew 1-10 in English, so we flew through 11-100 and they devoured it like champs. In just about any of my other schools, it'd be impossible to teach this subject and play a full round of bingo in only 45 minutes due large class sizes and especially to lower grade levels, but not here. These're truly bright kids who pick up new concepts quickly, even the 3rd graders.

After lunch, we all played a spot of volleyball but before I knew it, it was time for me to leave, even though I didn't wanna go. Next week will be my last class here with the middle & upper grade kids, and even though I'll see them all again in April when they transfer to other schools in town, I'm really not looking forward to it 'cause I really don't wanna cry in front of 'em.

Friday: Taught make-up classes all morning at my base school for the ones I missed last week when I was home sick. Seeing as a) I'm completely incapable of doing a laid-back, low key lesson, b) I was teaching a bunch of noisy, rambunctious 3rd & 4th graders (who by the way are starting to have absolutely, amazingly beautiful pronunciation better than the Jr. High English teacher) and c) I'm not completely over my cold yet, my voice was just about gone and I was shattered by the time lunch rolled around.

Thanks to the teachers having some sorta union rally after school, Coach K canceled baseball practice so I headed into Asahikawa to do a little shopping. The band on my watch was broken, so after getting it fixed at a repair shop downtown, I poked my head into the nearby arcade. Didn't go for my usual round of "Taiko Drum Master", but I did decide to give a new English Challenge game a go. Took like 20 minutes to play, and I supposedly scored better than 80% of all the people in Japan who've played it, but...80%? And I'm a native English speaker? Hmm...maybe I have been here a tad too long...

I've been wanting a Nintendo Wii, so on the way home, I stopped at my favorite second-hand/recycle shop thinking they might have a used one. No Wii love, but they did have a used PS3 that was 3,000 yen more expensive than a new one. Huh? Um...thanks but I think I'll pass on that one.

Saturday: Like I said above, slept in. Recently, I physically can't sleep more than 8 hours so I was obviously a bit more tired than I thought. Hadn't let the 'rents know that their package'd arrived yet, so Skype'd (ain't Skype just a kick in the pants, BTW?) them and we had a good blather for nearly an hour & a half. Whenever I talk w/ my parents, the conversation eventually comes around to, "When're you gonna come home & get your MBA?". Up until last year, the answer had been "Probably summer of 2007", but after talking it over w/ M, taking into account how much the town board of education wants me to stick around another year and a whole helluvalot of soul searching, today's answer was, "Well, um...not this year, but summer of next year. While they don't have a webcam on their end yet (something they've been procrastinating about buying for the last year, no doubt in a ploy to get me come home & see them in person), I could hear it in their voices how disappointed they were. I hate feeling like I've let someone down and I defo felt that today. Mom, Dad...if you're reading this, I'm sorry I've dashed your hopes on the jagged rocks below, but I know you always support me wherever and whatever I do, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please believe me...M & I will be home soon enough. :)

Well dear reader, if you've gotten this far w/o saying "To hell w/ it" & clicking off somewhere else, you're a better person than I. I know this post is way too long (and it sure as hell took long enough to write in 2 languages), but once I got started stuff I wanted to write about just kept pouring out and it was like I couldn't stop typing.

Hmmm...there's a thought. Maybe if my blog entries were a tad bit shorter, people'd be more inclined to leave comments? (hint, hint)

Anyhoo, how was your week?