This is not actually my area. This is a picture of Hamamatsu from the news. But still.
But, like bus cancellations back home, teachers are still expected to be there. I don`t even know how to check this, so I didn`t have an inkling that classes were delayed until I got to the point in my walk when I should have started seeing students and didn`t see any students... My "rain" jacket that I bought for Norway is useless in the heavy rain here, but I found a sturdier one that actually fits me (and reaches to my knees) in the closet, so I wore that. I tucked my pants into my boots, and off I went with my umbrella. The problems: a) the jacket I found goes down to my knees, yes, but obviously the buttons don`t go down that far, so it flies open and most of my pants are exposed at the front; b) there was so much rain that the exposed parts of my pants were so incredibly soaked, my socks and boots were wet inside just from the water dripping down; c) capillary action means that the excessive amounts of water also travelled up, so I was soaking wet basically from the waist down. And had to sit like that in the staff room all day. Between the bottoms of my pants and my socks, my indoor shoes ended up soaked, so those had to come home with me to be stuffed with newspaper.
My work that I had yet to finish for Thursday next week`s lessons only took me until around 11 (it required creativity, but most of my brain was focused on how uncomfortable I was, otherwise it probably would have taken 20 minutes), so the rest of the day was spent alternating between looking up recipes, reading awful fan fiction, and typing out Beauty and the Beast in its entirety (because, you know, that`s a thing I can do...). It wasted time. I could have been printing out stuff for the rest of my lessons this week, but the good printer was being fixed, and I refuse to use the awful printer and photocopier unless I absolutely have to (translation: it`s 30 minutes before class and I`m desperate).
Thursday you`d never have known there was a typhoon if you hadn`t actually experienced it. It was warm and bright and relatively cloudless. I will never understand weather. I also, for reasons unknown, had Call Me Maybe stuck in my head all day. There are probably not that many songs I hate more than that one, and yet there it was. All. Day.
You're welcome. If I had to suffer, so do you.
My first class that day was fourth period, another first year English class. These ones were actually really good at English and focusing, so we made it through all of my material in one class! Then after lunch was my double-period third year English conversation class. I like this class for a couple reasons: a) it`s an elective course, so the kids in that class actually want to learn English, and b) there isn`t a strict "they need to know this and this and this in this particular unit," so I have more freedom to make my own materials, like the texting worksheets I was talking about before (I showed them to Morita-sensei and she was impressed, so I`m really happy; I think it would have broken my heart if she thought it wouldn`t work). There`s a particularly loud girl in this class, so I`ll have to work on finding the line between reining her in and just ignoring her. She was excited for class, though, so maybe I can harness her loudness for class purposes? I`m not above exploiting my students a little bit for the purpose of a lesson.
Today (Friday) was my last day of new classes (barring that one on Wednesday that was cancelled because of rain). They were all first year classes, first, second, and fifth periods. First period was okay, but again, most of the students didn`t really speak much. Second period class had great English, and they weren`t as shy as the other classes at participating (though they weren`t as boisterous as the sports class; no one is as boisterous as the sports class). Fifth period was really quiet. And I got the boyfriend question in all three classes. Seriously, I`m going to start a drinking game.
Well, after all that, I think I can safely say this will be a fun job. I`m glad I don`t have to teach grammar, or I would like this job a lot less.
I got the results of my health exam today, too. My love of this country immediately died. I have to go for further examinations and testing because I`m fat (Dear Japan, I`m aware that I`m not one of the tiny 52kg women in your country. Go die in a fire. Love, Mel) and my heart rate was high. Yeah, heart rate. That part where they shoved me in a room with someone who doesn`t speak English and clamped me to a table. Gee, I wonder why my heart rate was high?!
But that`s it for now. I`m heading with a group to Ise tomorrow for shrine and fireworks! Yay!
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