End o' term

That's another term finished...again, it felt very sad to say goodbye to my classmates...even though I'll see most of them next term in one form or another, people seem to have a nasty habit leaving just as I feel I'm getting to know them (the term system here works on a 3 monthly-basis and you can do as many or as few as you wish - so there are always people leaving at the end of each term).

It has, however, meant that I have been able to have a nice restful day of doing absolutely nothing for the first time in I can't really remember when (in reality, about a month or so, has just felt like much longer). No work today as the school isn't running classes for some undisclosed reason. Tomorrow is my last day, as I think I mentioned earlier I'm quitting to do private lessons, also to get my weekends back (I feel my relaxation and study levels suffered heavily last term as a result of my work). It's by no means been a bad job or a bad place to work; I just get into this huge nervous mess over it every weekend, and I'm feeling completely burnt out from it.

Still, my birthday was a lot of fun. It was a former classmate's birthday on the same day so a large group of us went bowling in nearby Anjo and then returned to Okazaki for beer & food with a couple of our teachers (photos by my classmate Zoe, cheers!). Thanks to all back home for presents/cards/well wishings etc. as well.



My oldest sister is getting married right about now, which obviously sucks for me as I am on the other side of the globe. My accursed lack of money and time strikes once again. Still, all the best to Nic and Gareth (kumbyah!, and various other bastardizations to the happy couple).

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今学期、おわったね～；＿；。　すごく早かった。　そして、「さよなら」と言う事はいつも大変だな。。。じゃ、みんな、がんばりなさい。。。

私の姉へ、「おめでとうございます」。　今日は姉の結婚式です。　しかし、私は日本にいますから、私では大変です。　日本へきた時はちょっとふべんですねえ。。。かなしくなりましたね。。。

それに、　私は家族の一人独身になりました。　私、恋人がないし。。。もうさびしくなりましたね。。。いつも、日本語で、本当の気持ちを言い表せない。。。

しかし、友達がいますから、幸せです。　私とマリエさんの誕生日パーテイはとても楽しかったです。　みんなさん、ありがとう。。。

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Template change

I changed the template because the last one kind of...disappeared. どうして？　わからない。。。

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あ、涼しい～♪

夏がやっと終わったようです。　涼しくなって、気持ちがもう少しよくなりました。　今週、雨が降って曇りでしたので、　イギリスと少し同じだった　へ＿へ

先週は今学期の最後の週間です。　悲しくて、終わりたくないのに、少し休みは必要だと思います。　それから、二週間休みを楽しみにしている。　ゆっくり休んだり、少し働いたり、勉強したりしようと思っています。　そして、１０月の始めるのに、イギリスの友達（ポールさん）は日本へ来ます。　面白そうです。

先週は私の誕生日です。　２７歳になります。。。時間は、どこへ行きましたか。。。

今週、ある羽田先生の授業は俳句についてでした。　昔買ったドラえもんの詩本を思い出しました。

俳句の本じゃなくても、役に立つでしょう。　少なくとも、可愛いね。









ですけど。。。これ、少し怪しいでしょう。。。

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Hassles from The Man

Something mildly strange happened the other day: I was cycling across town in a completely normal and inconspicuous manner when I was suddenly questioned by a policeman while waiting at a crossing. He started asking me if it was my bike, where I got it from, if I had the keys etc.; I answered all his questions and he gave me the "please go away" hand signal, which I took to mean that I was off the hook. I just can't help thinking - why? Because I'm a foreigner, did he assume that my bike was stolen? Even though my bike is a pile of ass that no-one would ever bother to steal? Either way, I got to feel briefly like a repressed minority! Now I can understand what all those NWA songs are about! A young brutha got it bad coz I'm white!

Still busy...end of term rapidly approaching + increasing amount of teaching work = aneurysms aplenty. Next week is my birthday though, yippee. Don't know what I'll be doing, don't really care just so long as it involves drinking substantial quantities of beer.

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Had kind of a sucky weekend all in all, really. On Saturday night, I got completely idiotically lost going from the school I teach at to the station, consequently missed the last train home, and was forced to spend the night in Toyohashi. Huge chunks of my weekend disappeared, I got tired and stressed out, missed my former-classmate's sayonara party, and I got hardly any study done. The lessons on Sunday went well though and it actually felt as though my students were learning the things I've been trying to teach them, which is a great feeling. Still, I've been thinking about quitting the school job and sticking with private students for the time being. It's an OK gig but Toyohashi is too far away, teaching children makes me too nervous, and it's having a derogatory effect on my studies and my energy levels.

So yeah, just tired and busy really (again). Have developed a strange craving for a soft drink named Calpis (pronounced Cal Piss, unfortunately). It's a slightly sticky white liquid (get that smirk off your face) with a sweet, fruity kind of taste. Hard to describe, but it's somehow very nice. There's also Diet Calpis, which doesn't taste half as bad as I was expecting it to (the main attraction of Calpis is the huge amount of sugar it doubtlessly contains).

土曜日の夜、仕事をする学校から豊橋駅まで行く時に、道が迷った。　それから、さいしょの電車に遅れました。　すごくバカですね。　豊橋に止まらなければならないので、　つかれて悲しくなりました。　大変でしたけど、大丈夫です。　

しかし、先週末の私を教えたじゅぎょうはよかったと思います。　でも、学校でつずけるかどうか、考えて、分かりません。　豊橋も遠いし、子供もこわいし、勉強するのは少ししかできないし。。。それから、当分、自分と勉強する事のために、ポライバットじゅぎょうだけを教えるのほうがいいと思います。

さいきん、私では、カルピスがとてもおいしくなりました！　どうして？　分からない。。。

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