week of june 27 to july 1st

Monday

I had no classes today, and because it was SO hot (and there is still no aircon in the staffroom) I just moved as little as possible. So I didn’t encounter many students.

Tuesday

Back to the grind! Supposed to have 5 classes today, but thankfully, I only have 4 cuz Mizushima-sensei cancelled one.

1^st period was 2-2 with Shigeki, and it went fine and the kiddies enjoyed the game. 2^nd period was 2-1 and Ryo & Rei were acting crazy again but it was fun. Ayumu was surprisingly quiet, and the most troublesome ones where mini-gyaruo and his friend in the back. They wouldn’t shut up. A fun thing that happened was that, when I went over to watch Ayumu’s team, the little boy sitting next to him (I forget his name…) was trying to put the elastic in his hair… so I went “give it to me” and gave him a little front ponytail. lol. It was hilarious and he was soooo cute!!! Even the girls on the team were squealing “kawaiii!!” and he kept it like that for like a good 5 minutes. lol. He’s one of the minis. At the end of the class, Wataru came over and quietly helped me take my pictures off the board. he is sooooooo cute!!! XD

Class with 3-2 was really good. I wanna go “yappari” I love this class best. Even though they were all obviously super tired cuz of the heat, they participated and tried hard. At the beginning of the class, Daisuke came over to chat and showed me his face and went “oh no!” He’d gotten a sunburn on his cheeks and nose and the skin was all peeling and pink stuff. I forget the word he used but I was like “peel, peel. Your skin is peeling” and he went “yes, yes”. And then he went on “lady gaga!” and I’m like “no, we’re not listening to lady gaga today” and he goes, “no no… here, Japan!”. “Lady Gaga’s in Japan?”. “No! cry!” me: “huh? lady gaga is crying? why?” and he goes “tohoku!” lol. I guess lady gaga made a video for the victims of the tohoku earthquake or something… anyways, he seemed to be touched by it and I thought it was funny.

6^th period was class with 3-1. It was actually my FIRST TIME to have a music lesson with them because their class was always getting cut cuz of the schedule changes. Minami was a bit bummed because I wasn’t doing Justin Bieber, but she got over it. They seemed to enjoy the listening part, giggling like little idiots when Shigeki-sensei said that the translation for “I can’t stand it” was “gaman dekinai”. Now, that’s actually fairly accurate, but in Japanese, when you say that, it kinda has a sexual connotation. Like boys will say that when they are making out with a girl or something and they wanna have sex… it’s kinda like “I can’t hold it” or something… Anyways, I forgot to mention it, but every single class giggled at this. Then, when we got to the song, it started playing for like 20 seconds before my ipod died on me. I had stupidly forgotten to charge it this morning so it was kinda inevitable, but I felt kinda bad since it was their first lesson and they didn’t even get to listen to the song! but Minami yelled at me “Don’t mind!”

Oh yeah, before class, Nami was standing outside the classroom, looking dazed as usual (what is up with that girl these days?!) and I asked her “what’s up?” and she told me that she wasn’t very genki because she didn’t have a boyfriend anymore (she was dating Dan, remember? my black fan-boy with the hair?) and she asked me if I had a boyfriend and I said no and we commiserated together. I think she’s gonna be another one of “those”… like Miho last year, and Maki before that… always worried about boys, aah, poor thing.

Oh hey, btw, I have chalk girls this year! They are two 3^rd year girls, and they’ve been coming up to me during cleaning time to get chalk for about a month now, I think. (They showed up in the staffroom and I was the only one there… now they come straight to me) Anyways, they come over “Vanessa, white chalk please!” and so I get up to go over to where the chalks are, and as we’re walking one of them asks me “Vanessa, boyfriend?” and I’m like “no no no…” and they say “Paul wa?”… see, yesterday, a friend of mine (named Paul) came to teach a lesson to the 3^rd years because he teaches high school and a bunch of teachers from various high schools were coming to do demo lessons to entice the kids to go to their school… he also happened to tell them how old I was! damn him! But never mind that, I said “no no, we’re just friends” and they went like “yeaaah, he said that too…” looking all disappointed. lol. Then they said, “but we saw the purikura of your boyfriend last year”… and so I replied that people break up, you know! I dunno why the kids are so interested in my love life…

Wednesday

At the morning meeting earlier, Kyoto-sensei made a little speech about the aircon, and told us that he knew it was hot but that we should “mou chotto gaman shite ne” (bear it a little bit longer). Well fuck, how long is “a little bit more”?! *grumbles*

First period was with 1-1 and it went well. I really like this class. Ayaka’s brother (I should really remember his name) was especially cute and genki, along with the usual

On the way to class with 1-3, I ran into Minami, who proudly told me that she’d been chosen as one of the group leaders for Sports day. It’s a big deal, and usually mostly boys get chosen. Basically, the whole school will be split into 6 groups (1-1, 2-1, 3-1 together… 1-2, 2-2, 3-2 together, and so on) and they have sports competitions all day, and a “cheering” choreography… and each group has a “leader” and it’s a big deal. Anyways, I gave her a high-five and told her I was proud.

Class with 1-3 was a pain. They were dead and stupid. I dunno if it was the heat that was making them stupid, but how hard is it to say “3 o’clock” in English, really? For fuck’s sake….

Right after that, I had class with 1-2, which was enjoyable, and the kids were much more genki (except for the one I think is related to Tetsuya and Tatsuya… he was being a little dick). At the end of the class, this one kid at the front, Kengo, was pulling stunts and the kids around him told me “he is Lady Gaga”. And then Yuka showed up and she said the same thing. She said “he is Lady Kengo.” and I’m like “you can’t call him lady, he’s a boy!” so I whipped out a bunch of random silly names til I came up with “Mister Gogo” lol. And they all loved it and she promised to call him that from now on…

Thursday

Fuck it’s hot today… well, again. Actually, it’s not as hot as yesterday, but more humid. I don’t have classes until 4^th period today because Shigeki-sensei is absent (he’s at the hospital for some reason… for tests and stuff) today. I am NOT complaining because I am supposed to have 5 classes today.

lol. Domoto-sensei just came over as I was just staring at the screen, looking like a limp noodle, and he stopped in front of my desk and gave me the usual “good morning!” with his big dorky smile. That’s probably the only English words he knows. Anyhow, he was holding this big laminated paper in his hand and started fanning me with it! going “atsui desu ne” (it’s hot isn’t it) and my reply was a pained “atsui yo!” with pleading eyes that I hoped expressed my desire for aircon… anyhow. It was just so random that he started fanning me…. he left like 5 seconds later…

Class with 3-4…. well…. first of all, you KNOW that’s not my favorite class to teach, but today was worst than usual. Everybody was just dead from the heat – the baseball boys most of all, who were all passed out on their desks. I can’t be mad at them for it cuz it really is fucking hot and it’s cruel and inhumane to expect us to work (and kids to study) in these conditions. Plus, the kids had club yesterday after school, and it was super sunny and 35C+ and the baseball kids always get worked the hardest, and I just felt so bad for them. Most entertaining thing that happened was me drawing a little heart on Ryouga’s face while everybody else watched and giggled and he totally did not wake up. He had to be shoved awake when we did aisatsu (greeting) at the end. lol.

Class with 1-5 went really well, but there were a bunch of parents and little grade 6 kiddies prowling the hallways and popping in and out of class, which was annoying. Then I had class with 2-6, which also went well. The funny bit was when I asked 2 kids to come up and demo the game with me, nobody volunteered and Mizushima-sensei picked these two kinda shy boys to come up, and their responses were just so funny and delayed, everybody cracked up, but they were actually pretty good little assistants. Everybody was just dying from the heat though, and this class doesn’t seem to get as much “wind” as the others, cuz it’s in the corner of the building and the fans are in weird positions… anyways..

Oh yeah, something funny did happen earlier. I think when I was on my way to class for 3-4. The kids from 3-2 were all coming down the stairs (and I was going up) to go to P.E. or something, and some of the boys were walking down 3-by-3 taking the whole length of the staircase. Dan was right in front of me and I kept going up thinking “he’ll move”, but he didn’t and then he parked in front of me, one or two steps above, making this gesture, pointing pretty much from his crotch to my face, back-n-forth, going “my way! my way!” I was kinda confused for a while, but I’m not sure if he meant anything sexual by it… Anyways, I told him I was the teacher so he had to move, and he kept going “my way! my way!” but finally moved, while I chuckled up the stairs. lol. What’s his deal.

Friday

Thank god it’s Friday! This week has been so horrible and hot. It’s a bit cooler today, but mostly due to the fact that it’s not sunny. Oh and I also finally learned why we are not getting aircon… apparently it’s because, since the renovations of the school, the 1^st year teachers’ room doesn’t have aircon, and it wouldn’t be fair to them if the rest of us had it. Supposedly, they are supposed to fix that? Eventually? Fuck. What do I care about fair?? They can come work in here… *sigh*

Anyways, today I have 3 classes, all in the morning. Not really up to it. 1^st and 2^nd period were 1-6 and 1-4, and they both went well, and mini-kid Hideki decided he was having a good day today and wasn’t grumpy. lol. I have to stop myself from going “aaaaaawww!” every time I see him, cuz he’s too freakin adorable.

Last class of the day was 2-5 and it went very well. I felt a bit bad showing them pictures of amazingly delicious-looking food just before lunch, but what can you do?

So. I’m sorry if it seems nothing much is happening these days… it’s just so hot that I think nobody has the energy to be funny. Now on that note… TGIF, bitches!

Week of June 20 to 24

Monday

1^st thing in the morning, I had to record the 3^rd year listening test with Hasegawa-sensei. Nothing too exciting.

Second period was 2-4 and I was kinda dreading it but Masaya was actually quite well behaved today. Wonder if anything happened or if he just had enough of me ignoring him. On the way to class, I saw some 3^rd year boys (Koudai and Kota) climbing up the stairs sloooowly, holding their backs like they were little old men. I asked one of them what was wrong and he went “oshiri itaiiiiii….” (my butt hurts) and kept on moaning. lol. I don’t wanna know what they did in P.E. class… :/

After that I had a reading test with 3-1, which was fine, and sometimes hilarious. I was surprised that Minoru (this dorky kid who used to get bullied) did the whole thing flawlessly and I gave him a perfect score. I suspect him of going to juku, or be getting special eikaiwa lessons or something… he didn’t use to be that good… in other matters, Minami, Nao (I always call her “Mao”!!) and I spent most of the break discussing piercings (again) lol. Oh and at the end of class, Minami asked me what was my next class and I said “break”. She then asked me “what do you do when you have no class?” and I told her I slept. Her eyes went wide and she went “majiiii?!!” lol. I love that she is so gullible… then I said no, I drink coffee and work on my computer. :p

In the hallway, the two girls in charge of English for 3-2 caught up to me and there was a very confusing conversation about me having to go there next class. When I finally understood that they wanted me to go there NOW, I told them they should talk to mr. Mizushima because it wasn’t on my schedule. They thought that since our sentaku class had been cuz last week (cuz of tests), I would come this week. honestly, I wanted to, cuz I love that class, but I just wanted my chair and my coffee at that point… if I had known in advance, I might’ve said yes (and Mizushima probably wouldn’t have minded) but I played the lazy ALT for the day. There you have it.

So, hum, yeah, I just went down from 2 to 1. Apparently… schedule changes. I have stopped caring. Eh. Off I go to my only class of the day then… for a reading test… EXCITING!!

Tuesday

This morning is horrible. I mean, yesterday was pretty humid too, but since I’d had a good night’s sleep, it wasn’t so bad at school. My aircon unit at home is OLD and completely busted, and it only works when it feels like it… apparently last night it didn’t feel like it because it kept blowing room temperature air at me, and so I slept horribly and woke up all sticky. I shiver to think at what’s gonna happen when it actually gets HOT (on top of just humid) and it makes me wanna cry… of course, there is no A/C at school, so I am stuck here in my chair, sweating.

When I got here this morning, there was a not on my desk from Hasegawa sensei, saying that our 5^th period class with 3-2 was cancelled. So I’m going from 3 to 2 classes today. Let the fun begin!

Aahh… *big sigh* things are just not going my way this week. Class went fine, and most kids did okay on the test, but then I finished early and came back into class and the JTE was giving them a pop-quiz or something, and I noticed Kazuma was just sitting as far away from his paper as he could, not writing. I went to poke him to work, and in my wake, the teacher went over to scold him and I knew it just made him more annoyed. It made me wonder if he’s like that in his other classes as well, or just English cuz he doesn’t understand. I think it might be the latter. I wish I could help him. so I went to suggest (like I do every year…) to Hasegawa-sensei if we could set up some sort of program to help the weaker kids, cuz they just can’t catch up in this system (unless they go to juku) and she’s like “yeah, sounds nice, but we can’t force them, and they have club after school”. *sigh* CAN’T you force them? You’re teachers!! What’s more important, club? or kids’ grades? Of course, club is more important, right? :/

Anyways, ran into Daisuke on the stairs and he went “ha! ha!” at me. lol. So I just repeated it to him, and he paused, and instead of spewing his usual “you’re a crazy girl!” he went “long time no see!” and it just made me smile. Indeed, because of schedule changes and stuff, I haven’t seen his class for about 2 weeks now. cutie! ^_^

Just ran into some 3^rd year boys down the stairs (that pretty one on the student council, and the one with the freckles… although fuck me if I can remember their names…) and one went “hello!” and the other went “harro” and the one who said it wrong said to the other “heeello janakute, harro ja…” (it’s harro, not hello) and it just cracked me up so I turned around to correct them… lol. Freckle-boy’s hair was all wet and so I asked him if they were coming back from swimming class, which put pretty-boy in stitches, “no, no! not swim! P.E.! P.E.!” apparently playing dodgeball was intense for that kid. I reiterate… Japanese P.E. classes = scary!!

Wednesday

This morning, I am not feeling so good. in fact, I would have actually called in sick (I almost never do, even with migraines, if that gives you an idea) but since the BoE said they’d send someone to look at my (broken) aircon this morning, I figured I had best not be there (lying sick in bed half-naked) when they came. So I dragged my sorry ass to school. 1^st period was supposed to be 1-1, but apparently there is a meeting for all the 1^st years during that period, so no class. I was SO thankful, you can’t even imagine. I came back to the staffroom, sat down and held my head in my hands with my eyes closed. til I couldn’t stay up anymore and I just lied my head down on my arms right on my desk. Bear in mind that the staffroom was still full of people, and no one said anything for a good long while, bout 20 minutes in fact, when the nurse came over to ask if I was ok, and Hasegawa-sensei said I would have to give the reading test without her during second period. Why? Apparently Kazuma (yes, mr. I’m-always-sleeping) didn’t come home last night, and now they found out where he is and they’re going to fetch him… eeeeh…

So I ended up going home after 2^nd period. I was in such bad shape… I couldn’t stand up cuz I was so dizzy, then if I sat down I got queasy, so I got back up again… getting through the reading test was horrible – I’m pretty sure the kids noticed there was something wrong with me, and even though I finished about 10 minutes before bell, Hasegawa-sensei told me to go home. So I went down chasing Aoshima-sensei to tell him that I wouldn’t be in class and only found him just before the period started, and he seemed a bit startled, but said ok.

On the way I ran into Manaka, this little 2^nd year girl, who is so tiny and delicate, but I know she has ALL the boys in the year under her finger. lol. Like, she bullies them like no other and could probably kick all their asses. Anyways, recently, she’s started telling me I’m so “kawaii” every time she runs into me. It’s kinda funny. and that time as well, she was walking next to me and as I’m feeling like death and just wanna crumple on the ground and cry, she tells me again that I’m so pretty. Aaah, bless them.

Also funny thing that happened was running into a group of 3^rd year boys on the way back, and Dan going out of his way to say “hello!” to me, but raising his arm and flexing his muscles in front of my face. As dead as I felt, I just could stop laughing. Also, it’s like the 3^rd time today that he’s come over to say hi (exaggeratedly) to me. Something’s up.

Thursday

Somehow, a miracle happened and I am better today. Thank god!!! There was a morning meeting first up, which I knew about because someone had kindly written on the schedule board that yesterday was “asauchiawase NASHI” in big red marker and underlined it, and it said that there was one today. Apparently, there is also one tomorrow, which is lame.

Anyways, because everyone is having tests, I should have the whole day free, but I don’t because somehow the 1^st years don’t have tests, and anyways, the rest of the students have classes in the afternoon, so I have period 5 and 6. But anyhow, I had to help Shigeki-sensei with the listening test again during first period. all went well, but for some mysterious reason, the hot teacher who never talks to me was watching over us in the broadcasting room the whole time… random.

I started feeling sick again by the middle of the afternoon, so I left after 6^th period, making some excuse to Kyoto-sensei.

Friday

Woke up with my head pounding and called in sick.

sorry it wasn’t a very exciting week…

Week of June 13 to 17

Monday

Excerpt from family papers I had the 1^st years write. Mizuki from 1-7:

“This is my father, Hiroshi. He is a mother fan.”

Meaning her father loves her mother. cute!!!

Class with 1-7 was good, but my activity was just way too short and we ended up with a bunch of free time at the end… Aoshima-sensei just had them get started on their homework, but I thought it was a bit lame… One funny bit… after the game, Eitaro hadn’t gotten a sticker and he was pestering me for one. Since he’s always asking me to sing, I told him that if he sang me a song, I’d give him a sticker. He was like “nan ko?” (basically “how many will you give me?”) and I said one, and he sat there pondering it very seriously while his girlfriends were all laughing at him. And then he bursts out into the Japanese national anthem. rotfl!! And he went on for quite a while before I made him stop and gave him a sticker. Cutest thing ever. And then as the girl next to him is going “iiii naaaa” (basically she’s jealous), I hear him tell her “well go on then, you just have to sing a song and she’ll give you one too!” all matter-of-factly. lol. She never did though.

Then it was sentaku class with 3-3 and I’m doing a song by Simple Plan this week. It was a ballad too so it would be slower and they could catch the words more easily. But I guess the expressions were kinda difficult to understand. Well anyhow, even though a lot of kids did really well on the listening quiz (finally!), it kinda bombed and it made me a bit sad. They said they didn’t like the song, and that the band wasn’t cool. :(

After that it was the same lesson with 3-6 and Mizushima-sensei, which went down better, but they did worse on the quiz. At least they said they liked the song. I dunno what those kids did last weekend, but half of them were falling asleep on their desks. It was a bit depressing.

After I got back to the staffroom, shigeki sensei came over to tell me, in a very stressed voice (like, he is pissed but trying not to show it) that I should’ve shown him the handout before class because there were very many difficult words and he didn’t know how to translate them. It wasn’t that big a deal, honestly, nobody would judge you for not speaking English well because you don’t know the meaning to metaphors in pop songs… seriously! But no, his pride was all wounded and he was pissed. Fine, I’ll give you one next time, but I only finished the handout this morning so it’s not like I could’ve given it to him earlier anyhow. Besides, it’s the 3^rd lesson that I do that has the EXACT SAME PATTERN. How was I to guess that he would get pissed this time when the last two were fine? *sigh* oh well. It just rubbed me the wrong way… I mean, these lessons are the only free reign I have at all in my pitiful life as an ALT so, FUCK OFF!! (Yeah, I’m cranky…)

lol. My kyouto-sensei (vice-principal) is really funny. But he’s really sarcastic-funny, which is VERY rare amongst Japanese people… since most of them wouldn’t know sarcasm if it hit them in the face… conversation between me and kyouto-sensei:

(Note before you read, the post office is right behind the school)

Me: kyouto-sensei, can a go to the post office for a little bit?

KY: itterasshai (Japanese expression, means “go and come back”)

Me: ok

KY: Be careful. cuz, you know, it’s really far. How many minutes does it take? Really far. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt.

Me: (laughing) yes sir. ittekimasu! (What you answer to “itterashai”. Means “I’m going but I’ll come back”)

I dunno… was it funny? I thought it was funny… I guess you had to be there. Also, I guess I get happy when I can have conversations in Japanese with people here… it happens so rarely.

After school, when I’d almost gotten home after getting off the train, I ran into 2 of my ex-students, Doi and Yuka… they were super excited to see me, but although we were walking towards each other, and I thought I recognized Doi for a bit, I wasn’t sure until they were really close and I waved at them and they went “yappa!” (I knew it!) and Yuka was like “yeah, we recognized you from waaaaaaaay over there and were wondering if you were gonna recognize us!” aww… of course. we chatted for a bit – there was another girl with them who wasn’t one of my ex-students and she looked kinda bored, but she did tell them a few time “eigo sugoi”, which made me wonder how much English SHE could speak, because both girls were talking to me in a terrible mixture of butchered English and Japanese…

Tuesday

Today I have 5 classes. I’m gonna die. I just want this day to be over…

First period with 2-2 went well. But now I can’t remember anything that happened… except that the fat kid who smells like pee was absent, so I could stand by the window and it was actually pleasant. (I kid you not, there is a fat kid who smells like pee, and it’s terrible cuz no one is doing anything about it… but when he’s there the whole class smells FOUL).

Anyways, then it was class with 2-1, and I went in there right after first period cuz I didn’t wanna go back downstairs, and Wataru was sleeping on his desk. I went over and sat at the desk in front of him and put my head on my arms like an inch away from his face. He opened his eyes sleepily and saw me looking at him and went “oooh, bikkurishita!” (oh, I’m surprised!) but super quietly and sleepily… kaaaaaaaaaawaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!! and then he went back to sleep. lol. I swear if I ever have babies, I want them to look just like him cuz he is so darling adorable! Oh, and later on he came to show me that he was reading Snoopy comics, and that they were in English, but with Japanese translations, eheh. Class itself was normal. Actually, they were much more well-behaved than usual. Rei was spewing answers at me the whole time. lol. Ayumu kept making me hit him with his pen… he must have M tendencies….

And guess what? My big 5 class day turned into… 2 classes! And I’m done! I’m a little bit freaked out cuz, seriously, how did that happened? Apparently there is a mysterious schedule change (that everyone but me knew about) because there’s going to be a demo lesson for BoE people during 4^th period. And also, there’s no 6^th period today. Huh…. I guess, I am super happy about it, cuz I did not have the energy for 5 classes today, but it’s like some kind of awesome miracle, and whenever does that happen???

Plus my kids are totally digging my sideways braid today. I’m hearing way more “kawaii”s than usual :p

Wednesday

Morning. Today was the weekly morning meeting, and man… it was weird. first, they said congratulations to this one teacher who just had a baby, and he was all happy and stuff… then Kouchou-sensei made this speech, that I didn’t really understand except that it involved some guy who died of drunk driving (I think)… I’m not quite sure what the point of the story was, except he was crying and the room was dead quiet, and it was just kinda awkward for me cuz I had no idea what was going on. After that, they introduced a new teacher, who will apparently teach swimming to the kids. First, wtf do we need a special swimming teacher for?? And second, he’s all old and gangly, and it’s creeping me out that is job is watching little kids in swimming clothes… :/  but whatever. Anyhow. Off for a busy morning of 1^st year classes!

Class with 1-1 was fun although nothing really memorable happened. Except at the beginning of the class, this little girl was passing out the name-cards and she went “Kaishi-tte dare?” (who is Kaishi) but she was misreading the name that said “Kaisei” and he’s the first boy in front, so both me and the girl next to him went like “that’s Kaisei!” pointing to him. Then I added, “Kaisei is the most popular boy in AAA-shou” (AAA-elementary school) and he waved his hand “no, no, no!” and the girl next to him debated that Daiki was (which really surprised me). So I said (in Japanese) “oh really? I remember in Grade 5, when all the girls were ‘Kaisei! Kaisei!’ all the time”, and I laughed and he went beet red. CUTIE pie!! Honestly, that’s why he is one of the only 1^st years whose name I remember.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but recently, there is a teacher, Miwako-sensei, (I don’t even know what subject she teaches) who is the homeroom teacher for 3-1, who comes and asks me to check the diary or this one girl who decided she was gonna write her diary in English. In case you don’t know, JHS students here have to write a diary (in Japanese) every day, that their homeroom teacher looks at and… well I’m not quite sure what they do with it. I guess it’s to keep a link with the students in their homeroom. I think it’s quite a good idea. Anyways, Miwako-sensei is this really cute little woman, and every time she comes up to me, she goes all shyly “Vanessa….. kyou mou, onegaishimasu” (today too, please) and it just kinda makes me smile.

During class with 1-2, Yuka just basically needed to use the whole class and I just helped her out and it was chill. The kids had to write a small text, introducing one of their friends, and they all had pictures, and so it was fun looking at their pictures. One of the boys was introducing Eitaro! and so I told him “I love Eitaro!!! I am an Eitaro fan!” and they all just burst out laughing, they thought it was hilarious. One of the girls mentioned something about a “rival” but I have no idea if she meant that I had a rival for Eitaro’s love, or that Eitaro was now the rival of some other kid, because I was needed elsewhere. Still. It was funny.

Also, Yuka asked me to try and go probe this one girl to work. She told me she was a problem student, and that she (the kid) hated her (Yuka) and never listened to her no matter what she did. So I went and tried to coax the little girl to work, and I failed :/  To be honest, it’s kinda hard to have these kinds of interventions when your j-skills are shit. But I was like “don’t you have your picture? I really wanna hear your story” and she was sulking to my face but then she started looking for her picture, and another kid needed my help. At the end of the class, she still hadn’t done fuck all. After class Yuka asked me “so?” and I shook my head and she sighed. She told me that something was wrong with the girl and that she had met her mom and her mom had said she’d taken her to a mental hospital. Really? wtf?! I mean, sure, she might be a bit slow in her social growth or whatever, but there is nothing retarded about that kid. Again, it baffles me how Japanese society doesn’t know how to deal with anything psychological… or learning disabilities and stuff… *sigh*

Oh!!! When I got to the station after school, there was a girl in a purple t-shirt chilling there and when she saw me, she ran over and squealed “VANESSA!” I recognized Yume, one of my best girls from two years ago (even though she went “Yume! Yume! Remember me?”) and I was so excited to see her that I gave her a great big hug. Which is totally not normal for Japan. lol. If it was any other kid it might’ve been weird, but since Yume is such a genki girl she kinda laughed and hugged me back (a bit awkwardly, but still). I asked how was school and she said she was going to the one nearby, but that she was going on an exchange to the States for a year from this coming July! I was so excited for her! and I was so happy to see her and she was so happy to see me. It’s moments like this that actually make my life awesome. Totally brightened my day.

Thursday

Ok, I wrote on my facebook this morning “Today, I have 5 classes for real!” but, hum… I guess not? I was just told that my first period class was changed to 6^th period… I’m supposed to have class with 2-6 on 6^th period, but apparently that doesn’t get switched to replace 1^st period cuz it’s only my class and one class taught by kyouto-sensei that got switched? I’m so confused with these random schedule changes that I’m not told about. Even for my school, this is a LOT, and it’s weird. But hey, I’m not gonna complain on having 1^st period off!! and 4 classes are better than five! XD

3^rd period with 2-4 was ok, with minimal annoyance from Masaya…. I think ignoring him works well on him… once he’s calmed down, I’ll be his friend again. Then it was 4^th period with 3-4, and I dunno. It was weird. I mean, they were better behaved and more communicative than they have been in the previous music lessons, but more than half of them didn’t bother trying to answer the quiz or find the missing words. And it wasn’t THAT hard since many kids in other classes have said this lesson was easier. They seemed to like the song though. Also, Bad Ryota was singing. lol. Some made-up Japanese words, but he was singing along to the beat and it was funny.

Oh, and on the way to 2-4, I ran into the kids from 1-1 going to their music class, and got another proof that Johnny has a crush on me…. I was walking along with some kids, and when they saw me they went “Soma! Soma!!” (that’s Jhonny’s name) to make him turn around so he would look at me being there. When he did, they all giggled and he made this face like he pretended it wasn’t a big deal. pwah! Cute.

During class with 1-5, I learned that Akane (the kid who greeted me by showing me her ViViD pictures on the first day) was Ayane’s sister! (again, parents… a golf clap for originality in naming your kids…) Ayame was the only kid who liked VK in school for the last two years… me and her used to chat about Alice9 and I’m actually the one who made her discover ViViD cuz she didn’t know them before. I guess it makes sense that her kid sister likes VK too then. She was like “sensei! How do you write visual kei?” lol.

Then in class with 3-5, it was okay but they were kinda listless… Kazuma was sleeping on his desk the WHOLE time, and grunted “not another music lesson!” when he saw me taking out my ipod at the beginning of the class. Well first of all, I TOLD you all that sentaku classes were gonna be music for the WHOLE YEAR. (I guess he was sleeping when I said that too) and my music lessons are cool!! *sulks* Anyways, after class was over he woke up yawning and I was like “did you sleep well?” and he nodded with a huge sleepy grin. Later, he was washing his face at the taps or something and I was like “you’re ALWAYS sleeping!” and he just nodded and grinned this super cute smile at me! aaaargh! I can’t hate on him when he is being cute, dammit!

Oh yeah, and during class, again, all the students giggled when I said “Sebastien”, introducing the band members, so I finally asked “ok, what’s so funny?!” (cuz it had happened in every single class) and apparently there is a character called Sebastian in Doraemon… who knew? ;p

Friday

Morning! Today shall be very relaxed so I’m quite happy about it. The schedule is all crazy again so I shall have one class – maybe two. But I’m not sure about the first one cuz the schedule says 1nensei have no class today, but then I checked in one class yesterday and it was only 3^rd and 4^th period. Bah. I’m just gonna sit here and see if someone comes to tell me that I should be somewhere else :p

Huuuh… guess what… I guess I have no classes today! I just went to see Mizushima-sensei and he asked me to please not come again… I guess it’s kinda bad cuz it’s the second week in a row but… whatever. I know the tests are coming up next week and they are stressed. meh.

Well it’s now past 3pm and I can tell you that absolutely nothing exciting happened today. Bah. On to the weekend!!!

Week of June 6 - 10

Monday

Urgh… sooo sleepy today!! had a very eventful weekend – in which I didn’t get much sleep – so I would kinda rather be in my bed right now, but whatever. Gaman!

First period was 1-6 with Yuka, and we did the “guess who” game. They are the first class to have guessed that the picture in the middle was me. Good on them! Then, when we got to Avril Lavigne pictures, they were chatting with each other going “maybe this is Vanessa’s sister?” lol. Bless. Also there was one kid who was REALLY excited that there was a Pikachu picture in there, but he likes Kirby more, and he told me that next time, I should include a picture of Kirby. lol.

Second period was 2-4, and in my tired state, I was kinda dreading it, considering how insane Masaya had been last week. Sure enough when I walked into the class he made a big show of going “oh no!!”, but mostly I just ignored him (ok, I admit it, I threatened to throttle him a few times) and it was fine. I got kinda pissed at Shigeki-sensei for translating everything I was saying, because honestly, what is the fucking point of a listening activity if you’re just gonna translate it all?

Then, third period was 3-1 and I showed up to class to have the kids tell me that English was 4^th period. Sweet! I thought, I can sit down and rest. so I went back to the staff room, fetched some coffee and got ready to settle down when Hasegawa sensei came to see me saying we had class, and there was a big commotion with some of the other 3^rd year teachers, and it turns out the kids had just written the schedule down wrong and we did have class. Well fuck. False hope. So I trudged on back upstairs for class, which was boring and uneventful except for Ikuto acting the clown. He’s less creepy these days and more funny, which is good. At the end of the class, Minami asked me if I went to see Golden Bomber at the local mall. I said no, but I wondered why she was asking me cuz it’s kinda random since she doesn’t like Visual Kei. Then she told me her high school friend likes them and showed me the birthday card she was making for her. We chatted and Nao was there too so I asked her if she was excited about the new Harry Potter movie coming out soon, and of course she said yes, but Minami butted-in saying she wanted to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean’s and I said I wanted to see Paradise Kiss. I told them I’d read the manga when I was younger and Minami went “eeeeeeeh...! manga yomeru?!” (you can read manga?!) and I explained that I read it in English, and she was just completely baffled that there was such a thing as English Japanese manga. lol.

Tuesday

Morning! I am sooo sleepy today again, seriously. wtf. I even have an eye twitch. Although to be honest I’ve had it for at least 3 weeks now and I have no idea why. Anyhow, today shouldn’t be so bad, I have only 3 classes. Supposed to have 4 but during 2^nd period, the student teacher (whom I haven’t mentioned because he looks like an uber nerd, is super shy,  and hasn’t even said 3 words to me) is going to be teaching the lesson, and I don’t need to be there. Also, most likely, my being there would probably freak him out, so I am GLAD to oblige and not show up.

Class with 1-7 was fun! They are a really cute group of kids. I had them write a mini speech about their family and draw a picture. They know almost nothing so it’s really hard for them. They had to write something like “this is my mother, Natsuko. She is a Matsujun fan” or something… anyways, at first it was really quiet in the classroom, but then they started chatting and the vibe got really good. One kid, Ryunosuke, who is a funny brat and I taught him in elementary school, asked me how to write “I am my own fan”, lol. One kid wrote “this is my sister, she is a money fan”, that made me laugh. Then when I was explaining something to this one girl, with my head kinda bent over her paper, I looked up to see the kid sitting in front of her, with her face an inch away from my head, trying to pluck my bangs or something. She flashed me a huge embarrassed smile and she went “konnichiwa!” like, super politely. I laughed and turned back to the other girl and I turn around and she’s doing it again! and then she goes to her friend “sugoi, kinpatsu!” (basically “wow, it’s so blonde!”) It was cute :p then later Eitaro and the girl next to him were talking in Japanese and wondering if you could say “I am a –person’s name– fan” and I butted-in going “sure, Eitaro is a Vanessa fan” and the girl laughed, and he said “itsu kara?” (since when?) and I answered “ima kara” (since now) and he laughed. Then I added “I am an Eitaro fan” and they all went “eeeeeh?!” and I ruffled his hair and went “cuz he’s so damn cute!” and all the girls laughed going “kawaii! kawaii!!” In Japan, boys usually don’t like being told they’re kawaii. It’s more of an adjective used for girls and undermines their manliness or something… not that there is anything manly whatsoever about Eitaro though… he’s so wittle!! *kyaa!* :p

Oh, and then on the way out of class, these two little girls were kinda walking behind me, giggling and I turned around and told them “I’m so sleeeeepy!” and they both nodded and one of the girls went “me mo” It totally cracked me up! “Me” was English, and “mo” was Japanese for “too”, so she’d just spewed her answer in half Japanese/half English.

Something funny happened during class with 3-2 (besides Daisuke incessantly trying to dry his pants… because apparently Imari had dropped water on him or something….) when I went over to try and help Ayumi with her diary entry. She just wrote “these days, I’ve been very sad” and I’m trying to explain to her that she has to write “why” and she tells me “kareshi wa... tsumetai” (my boyfriend is cold) and at first I’m like “oh, he’s not nice”, but then I’m thinking “oh, you can use “cold” to mean the same thing in English too”, so I say it to her. At the same time, Daisuke and Ayane, the row behind her, are being loud and laughing and he’s written on his paper that he’s happy cuz he has a new girlfriend. I get confused and think they are talking about Daisuke, so I ask “he’s cold? Daisuke is cold?” and Ayane goes “No! He’s hot! Very very hot!” and Ayumi nods and I just burst out laughing. But apparently I laughed out so loud and so suddenly that everybody else in the room just stopped talking and turned to look at me. Hasegawa-sensei even turned to look at me and asked why I was laughing, but it was a bit difficult to explain on the spot right there so I said I’d tell her later (which I did). After class, I went to see Daisuke and explained to him that saying a boy was “hot” in English meant “sexy”, and that’s not the meaning they were aiming for :p

Class with 2-6 was funny. and man, when they repeat after me, they are fucking screaming out the words! lol. I guess it’s because they got scolded last time, but it’s still kinda weird, considering that some classes you have to coax them into even doing it at all… at the end of the class, there wasn’t enough time for them to do the pair work, so I just told them that as a group, they should give me directions to draw a funny picture on the board, and they were pretty good at it! Afterwards, when I was walking down the hallway, Kazunari greeted me loudly and then he went “hello, Tanessa!” and I’m like “Tanessa? is that my new name?” and he went “yes!” and Daiyu, who was running in the hallway, on some errand just repeated “yes!” as he ran, and Kazunari laughed, and mumbled in Japanese that he (Daiyu) didn’t even know what we were talking about…

Wednesday

Super sleepy again this morning. You know you are sleepy when you open your shoe locker and go “wtf, why are there already shoes in my locker?!” before you realize that they’re your own inside shoes… yeaaaah…. let’s get these classes over with quickly!

First period with 1-1 was fun. I think we can safely dub Mr. Johnny my new perv! Although not really, cuz he is super sweet, and my old pervs weren’t sweet, they were just pervy and unsubtle. But yeah, he was always staring at me the whole time, and calling me over to ask me random questions, and then when I mentioned another kid’s sister was “a Vanessa fan”, he went “Vanessa fan!” and I asked him “are you?” and he was like “Yes! No, no… he is Vanessa fan!” pointing to his friend. His friend then pointed to him and went “he is body fan”. LOL! Hilarious. Then later, I was helping this kid in front of them and I could hear them talking about (bra) cup sizes and I turned glanced over at them and smiled and one kid went “oh shit, she heard us!” and at that I turned my head and stared fixedly at him and he went “kowai!” (scary!) lol. So I asked him “I’m kowai?” and he said “yes!” giving me the thumbs up. As I walked away and I heard him arguing with his friend, “no, cute! cute!” lol.

Also, Daiki (who used to be a huge brat in elementary school… and still is) was especially pleasant and chatty, and seemed to really enjoy me saying that I really hated AKB48… he also asked me if I knew Greeeen! and how many e’s there were in the band’s name, and then he was all impressed when I said there were 4 e’s cuz there were four members in the name… yeah, I learned that last year doing research for a pop-culture game… lol! Oh, and also, Kaisei has a dog named Queue. In Japanese they call her “kuu” but since he knows I speak French, he asked me wait it meant and I said it meant “tail” (also I kinda giggled because in Quebec, it’s slang for “cock” but I didn’t tell him that, obviously…) and then he was all disconcerted, and the girl next to him was laughing, saying the dog was “kawaisou” (basically means “poor dog!”).

Second period was with 2-1, my favorites with the minis, and it was kinda funny cuz Masaki, this super delicate, adorably cute, quiet boy, was made to stand up and read the dialogue with his friend, and he really didn’t want to, and when he was reading he was so super shy and kept rubbing his throat all delicately, and read in a quiet, super high-pitched voice, stopping intermittently to giggle quietly. Poor thing!!!! But the whole time I just wanted to squeal “KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!” and go give him a hug cuz he was so darn adorable! The rest of the class was just normal fun, except Ayumu kept pestering me and demanding my attention… (although I guess that’s now become normal…) Then while I was explaining something, I looked up at him and jumped back squealing, cuz he’d turned his eyelid inside out and it was super gross. and then of course he laughed at me.

Coming down the stairs after class, I ran into Imari and some other boys, and of course he went “hello, Vanessa!” with a cheerful smile and I said hi back. Then I noticed he had bandages on his wrists and I asked “what’s that?!” and he explained to me that he had injured himself trying to do a handstand. ouch! granted he has bony little limpy wrists, but P.E. in Japan is HARSH! I remember how much I hated P.E. when I was in school (being a fat kid and all) and it’s NOTHING compared to what these kids have to do! I would really hate to be a fat kid in Japan… especially when they start training for sports day….

4^th period was with 1-3 and it went well but was uneventful. Just before, when I was on my way there, all the kids from 1-1 passed me, going to art class, and Daiki went “YEAH!” and raised his hand, so I gave him a high-five and a bunch of them laughed. Seeing that, a few steps behind, Johnny did the same thing, and was all chuffed when I gave him a high-five too. Now, after class, I ran into them again, coming back, and seeing them coming, I see/hear Johnny’s friends go “look, look, it’s Vanessa, come on, come on…” and he raised his hand again so I just slapped it and he grinned like an idiot… lol. Having a 12y.o. in love with you is funny.

Sometimes I love the school nurse. She has the most annoying voice, is ugly as fuck, and very often inappropriate, but every so often, she just randomly tells me how nice I look. I just ran into her, coming out of the toilets and she went “Vanessa, recently, you’ve gotten so slender!” (and there is obviously something wrong with her eyes, because I have GAINED weight recently, but whatever, I’ll take it!) and then she goes on “and your face is all thin… and your skin’s so pretty too… sugoii!” (and obviously I’m translating for your benefit here cuz the nurse doesn’t speak a word of English, but…) LOL! Hey… flattery is never turned down!!! ^___^

Thursday

Okay, WHY is there a morning meeting this morning? There was one yesterday!!! I showed up to school at my normal time, and I couldn’t even fucking get in cuz of all the 1^st year teachers had chairs in front of the door… grrr… now I look late and stupid. Moreover, it’s really hot this morning and I’m sweating like a pig. Actually, scratch that, it’s not hot. It’s only about 26C outside, but it is ridiculously humid. Also, that makes me the only person sweating, while everybody else is going “samui”…

1^st period was class with 1-2, nothing much happened… except that I played the game with this one little boy, who looked really “slow”, but he totally understood how to play it, so it made me really happy ^_^ also this one kid, Youhei, is really genki and cute ^_^ it’s always weird with the 1^st graders because it takes a really long time for me to a) remember their names and b) notice any kind of personality in them, because (with a few exceptions) they are all so similar.

And holy shit, did the hot teacher just say good morning to me?! Like, with no prompting?? Where the fuck did that come from?! He never talks to me!!

Had 4^th period with 3-4, and they were their usual unresponsive self, although better behaved than usual. Bad Ryota did fuck all, even when prompted, and had this big bandage on his hand like he’d broken a finger. Shiomi-kun was actually polite to me, and Ryouga was actually good, reminding me of his old self. It’s kinda funny cuz his eyes lit up when I said I’d give stickers to people who had written a good text, and then he started working really hard. awww…

5^th period went fine, and 6^th period with 3-6 was uneventful except that one of the soccer boys (I am bad and can’t remember his name) kept fussing with his shoulder the whole time, cuz they’d had P.E. before, and every time I’d be looking at him, he’d look up and stare at me and I would break into giggles. I swear it happened like 15 times or something. Retarded. Maybe he has a “Vanessa-is-looking-at-me” radar like Ichiro used to have… ooh, you guys don’t know Ichiro, he was one of my favorite kids to graduate two years ago. He had this “radar” to know whenever I happened to be looking at him, even – say – in a gym full of 600 kids, and his head would flip around to stare at me. lol. Anyhow, so that was my entertainment while they were doing their stupid test paper, and then after, I was having them write a diary entry and they had to write “I’ve been tired” or “I’ve been busy” or something like that, and I’m walking around and notice that Taisei has written “These days, I’ve been sad” on his paper. and I’m like “why are you sad?” and he goes on to explaining that he’s sad because he had to cut his hear, and I just broke into laughter. Taisei is the soccer boy with the most “fashionable” hair. It’s longish and styled in a mini Mohawk on the top and shaved on one side… anyways, I know that some sports team in Japan have a thing where, when they lose a game, they have to cut their hair. It’s especially evil for the soccer boys, since they are so vain. Anyways, I went “oh, cuz you lost a game?” and he nodded and Hasegawa-sensei was all surprised cuz she didn’t know about that tradition. After the bell rang, Taisei was still talking about his hair and I went “soccer boys loooooove their hair! like girls!” and he laughed.

Friday

wwwwtf??! My school loooves randomly messing with the schedule for no valid reason (I mean, I know there are reasons, but honestly, they’re very stupid…) and so every week there are random schedule changes here and there, and after 3 years here I know enough to notice them on the board even though I can’t read much Japanese, and so I’m usually ahead of things. This morning, 1^st period is changed to 5^th period schedule. On my schedule, it says I should have class with 1-5, 5^th period, so it means I should have 1-5 now. Fine, I go there and the two student teachers for social studies are there, the kids all have their social studies books out, and oh look, it says “social studies” on their schedule board. Huh? I guess I’m not meant to be here. So I go back to the staffroom, take out my weekly class schedule, and check – but no, there it is, 1-5, 5^th period. wtf? Maybe it was some special change for the student teachers but hum… thanks for telling me!!!

Anyhow, I don’t really mind cuz it means I went from having 4 back-to-back classes this morning to a free period and then 3 classes. It’s kinda awesome. I just wish I coulda known in advance, eh? oh well…

I had class with 2-2, but I can’t remember…. In class with 3-3, I was talking with some of the girls at the back, and one of the girls had a hello kitty charm on her pencil case. I said it was cute and asked what it was for, and she explained it was for school, for helping with your studies. I asked if they’d gotten good grades since getting them (the other girl in front also had one) and they started shaking their heads energetically, going “totally!! it’s so working!!” lol. As if your silly charm is giving you better grades. You’re just studying harder! Still, I thought it was cute. :p also, Koudai CRACKS ME UP because he keeps wriggling his eyebrows at me like he’s hitting on me… it’s totally not a Japanese thing so I dunno if he’s aware of what he’s doing… I think he isn’t and it keeps making me laugh everytime he does it… lol.

anyhow, 4^th period was supposed to be 2-5, but I went up to Mizushima-sensei and he told me that, since they were behind, I should “please not come”. yay!! Another free class! This day is turning out great! Oh and, speaking of which, there was natto in the school lunch today… which made me groan and grumble as I went to fetch my lunch tray. As I’m leaving, Domoto-sensei walks into the kitchen and sees my abandoned natto pack and goes “you’re not eating it?” laughing, knowing obviously that I never eat the fucking natto. anyways, I walk back into the staffroom (through the far door cuz it’s near my desk, and Domoto-sensei’s already back inside and he’s given the natto to another teacher, who apparently loves it. said teacher is so happy that he gives me his frozen jelly in exchange. wtf?! yay! ^_^

Week of May 30th to June 3rd

Monday

So, even though everyone was all in a huff over this typhoon we were supposed to be having, it’s now bright clear skies outside and I even see a little bit of sunshine peeking through. It only rained about long enough for me to get off the train and walk to school, which SUCKED cuz I only had my small portable umbrella and I still got kinda wet. Well, nevermind. At least I was greeted by the sight of the hot new teacher running inside the school dripping wet… I was TRYING to keep an indifferent scowl, since he is kind of a jerk, but yeah, you might’ve had to wipe the drool of my face…

Anyhow, first class this morning was with 1-7 and it went extremely well, so I was kinda happy. I did a “guess who” game with a bunch of famous people/characters’ faces, and I put my picture in there and the kiddies were like “ano hito, dare?” (who’s that person?) lol. Then there was a picture of Avril Lavigne and, sure enough there were a few “matta Vanessa?” (Vanessa again?), even though they didn’t even know who she was. Which surprised me, but they are kiddies still so they don’t know much besides Arashi and AKB48.

During break, I was then told that there was no school lunch today. It had been cancelled because everyone was expecting there to be no school because of the typhoon. Well damn that typhoon for not showing up, eh? So now I have to go buy lunch somewhere (I can’t even go and eat out) and the nearest combini is like a 15 min walk away from here. Meh. Oh well, at least it’ll kill time a bit. My schedule is a lot lighter than usual this week, cuz the 2^nd years are gone on a camping trip.

3^rd period was sentaku with 3-6, and I was doing my 2^nd music lesson, featuring Avril Lavigne. Now I don’t know if it was just because Mizushima-sensei wasn’t there or what (he’s a 2^nd year teacher so he’s gone on the trip as well) but they seemed just sooo jaded the whole time. Even like the 3 kids who won a sticker were like “oh, no that’s ok” like my stickers weren’t good enough for them! (Although I think it’s more that they were embarrassed that there were only 3 of them). Then later, when they were listening to the song and I was walking around, I noticed a strip of purikura in this one girl’s pen case and I smiled at her and went for it and she pulled her pencil case away and gave me this utter death look of hate. And I was really shocked. And hurt. I’m always poking in their shit and looking at their puri (I mean sure, I really have no business doing it, but still, I’ve been doing it for ages and they never cared before) so I dunno what the big deal was. I mean, ok, so maybe it was some puri with her bf, but whatever. Don’t just leave it there if you don’t want people looking at it! I think she may have felt bad about it afterwards because she kept trying to catch my gaze and then gave me a big smile. Meh. Oh, also, fun part, at one point I was explaining what the point of the song was “she is saying to the boy “your gf is stupid, your gf is ugly! you should pick me instead”.” and Taisei was like “hidoi! kowaii!” lol. (basically “this girl is so mean! scary!”) it really made me laugh. I mean, that song is pretty harmless as far as English lyrics go…

Tuesday

Today is one of those very rare days where I DON’T have to teach 1^st period, and let me tell you, I am relishing it. Got one class in the morning and one this afternoon. This is the life.

lol, Minami just caused a traffic jam in the stairway, when she (and of course that means the rest of her posse) stopped to tell me that they were gonna play Lady Gaga at lunchtime today, and then she was holding my hand and telling me that I was “kawaii” and wouldn’t let go of my hand, and literally, like 30 kids were standing in the stairway waiting for her to release my hand so they could go down the stairs. pwaha.

Just had my first class of the day with 3-2, and even though they are my best 3^rd year class, it was a bit less fun than usual because I had to teach it by myself since Mizushima-sensei is off camping with the 2^nd years. Since we’re listening to songs, there is a lot of stuff that goes over their heads, and sometimes I need the JTE to translate stuff in Japanese… I mean, try as I might, I couldn’t manage to gesture well enough what “wrapped around my finger” meant… *sigh* at the beginning of the class though, everybody was ooh-ing and aah-ing at my headband, saying I was “kakkoii” and “oshare” (cool and fashionable) and Imari was like “ime-change!! sugoiii!” lol. (Ime-change is what Japanese people say when you change your appearance drastically. a friend of mine explained (made me realize) that Japanese people usually have one hairstyle and stick to it and they don’t really change it daily like we do, so it’s a big deal when they do) so anyways, they were all impressed. I get similar reactions when I show up wearing my glasses (I’m super blind but wear contacts everyday). Oh and of course, as I was passing the papers, a few of them went “is that Vanessa?” seeing the pictures. *sigh* maybe I should just give up and change my name to Avril Lavigne, eh? Seriously… I look NOTHING like her!!!

Oh, and on the way to class I ran into Minami & co. again and they were having an argument so she asked me “Vanessa, which do you like better, “Telephone” or “Pokerface”?” and I said telephone and the other kid went “ha!” and Minami looked surprised. But then I told her that my favorite song was actually “Bad Romance” and her face kinda went blank, then she turned to her friend and asked her if that song was on the cd, and she nodded. I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, but then when the radio turned on at lunchtime, I recognized “Bad Romance”! awww, sweetheart made the request just for me! ^_^

Aww… it’s now 3:30pm and most of the kids and teachers are out during “cleaning time” and Imari just popped into the staffroom, but from the other door that is way at the other end, and I think he wanted a key, but anyways, I was reading a blog or something and he was talking to another teacher so I was only vaguely aware that he was there, but then as he left, he put his head back through the door again and waved at me going “Bye bye Vanessa!” lol. It was the cutest thing ever! and so totally random! haha…. LOVE that kid… :p

Wednesday

On Wednesdays we have the weekly morning meeting. It starts at 8:05am, and since that’s usually the time I get to school at (I start at 8:10), I usually take the earlier train on Wednesdays, so I don’t crash the meeting. Anyhow, that means that when I show up to school, there are still a few kids dicking about in their year’s hallway, and every once in a while, some of them spot me coming in and wave at me from the windows. This morning was such a day. When Minami saw me walk through the gates, she opened the window as wide as it would go and shouted “VANESSA!!!” in a big voice, waving at me. It really warmed my heart, considering that I’m not in the best of moods, due to personal reasons. I love my kiddies.

1^st period was class with 1-1. Cute as buttons, all of them, but nothing special happened.

3^rd period was 1-3 and the first thing I noticed is that the kid who transferred from Okinawa last week is gone. wtf?! That didn’t last very long.

Then, in 4^th period, Yuka wanted her kids to do skits with intro speeches (“hi, I’m… nice to meet you. This is my friend…”) but as anytime you ask Japanese kids to come in front of the class and “act”, it failed miserably. They were super excited during the preparation time. A lot of them had brought props and costumes, and some of them had made their speeches very funny, but as soon as they came to the front of the class, they froze up, and what came out of their mouths was a quiet, boring, drone. Shame. Oh! But me and the Yuka made a date to go see Paradise Kiss together this weekend, and bitched about life. Fun times!

Thursday

Hmm… schedule changes again that I wasn’t aware of… I was supposed to have sentaku class with 3-5 this morning, but when I saw that all but one of the 2^nd year teachers were not there, I figured something was up and Shigeki-sensei was probably not there, so did this mean that I didn’t have class? Went to ask Hasegawa-sensei and she went “oh sorry! There was a schedule change, I should’ve told you!” hum… indeed you should have! But, I’m not gonna complain, this means I have the whole morning to dick around and plan lessons for tomorrow. When my head is migraine-free, news like this are awesome.

Fun fact, there is a “TV screen” outside the staffroom, that shows pictures of whatever school events have happened recently, and now it’s showing pics of the 2^nd year camping trip. Well, Minami and co. were standing in front of it watching the pictures and seeing if they could name all the cute 2^nd year boys… *shakes head* No wonder that kid likes me so much… she’s gonna be a cougar, just like me!

Mizushima-sensei just came to tell me that he might be late to class because one of the kids from his homeroom was caught smoking, and he and some other teachers had to go scold him. First of all, he teaches 2^nd year… so young!! and second, this is my yanki teacher we are talking about. The same one who made a class shake in terror because they weren’t repeating after me quick enough. I really kinda pity the poor kid. I would NOT wanna be in that room when Mizushima-sensei starts yelling at him!!

So today I am wearing this long (like calf-length) black-n-white cardigan that kinda trails behind me when I walk, and as I was walking down the stairs earlier, one of the tiny ichinensei girls went “oooh, oujo-sama mitai”, talking about my clothes. Basically, “looks like a noble lady” or something. It cracked me up!

Class with 3-4… oooh boy… well, mostly they were like zombies because it was in the afternoon, and Ryouga was terrible. TERRIBLE! What happened to him, seriously?! He was such a brat, the whole time… he kept pulling bits of fleece from his damaged “earthquake pillow” and dropping it on the head of the boy in front of him – delicately, so he wouldn’t notice – while everybody snickered. And when he wasn’t doing that, he was exchanging “rabu-rabu” glances with Shiomi-kun (I suspect he’s the perpetrator of Ryouga’s downfall into brat-dom). But mostly I had to tell him to can it like a million times and he just wouldn’t stop. I was also surprised that Mizushima-sensei didn’t do anything about it, but I guess he doesn’t give a shit since they aren’t really “his” students… oh well. Surprisingly, Bad Ryota was really good and again seemed to really enjoy the “song” part of the lesson. I’m so glad since he never does anything in regular English class. Then after my lesson was over, there was about 10 minutes left and Mizushima-sensei told them they could work in their books in groups. So of course, Ryota, Shiomi and Ryouga gathered together in the middle of the class, book-less, and did fuck all. I went to chat with them a bit and they would laugh when I was standing behind Shiomi. I realized later that (I think) it was because my boobs were just behind his head, and if he were to move his head back, well you know… contact would happen. They were like “abunai!!” (which means “dangerous!” or “warning!”). So anyhow, that’s fine but Shiomi mumbled that I was “kowai” (scary) and then I looked him in the face and asked “I’m kowai?” and he nodded, and he was just not kidding at all, and I was kinda hurt and upset, and all the other kids were laughing *sigh* seriously, I love all those kids but this is the worst pairing EVER!! They should not be in a class together… *sigh* anyhow. AFTER class, when the bell rang, Shiomi started attacking Ryouga, who was laughing and squealing for him to stop at the same time, and then they chased each other around the classroom for a bit, and then Ryouga fell down, and Shiomi started laughing, but his laugh was such a high pitched squeal, it sounded like a mouse. Seriously, it was the oddest thing I ever heard, and of course everyone in the room started laughing too. When I left they were still chasing each other around, and continued throughout the whole break :/

Afterwards I had the same lesson with 3-5 and it went much better, even though they understood less (their English ability is a lot weaker) but I think it’s because Shigeki-sensei seemed more into it than Mizushima-sensei was… He translated a bit more for them (which in this case – not regular class – was ok) and explained the basic meaning of the song. Also, when I was passing the pictures around for the kids to look at them, there was a general chain reaction of blushing boys and giggles. One of the pictures of Avril Lavigne is kinda sexy… and by that I mean you can see cleavage. Well, I guess it goes to show that they’ve never seen boobs before! It was pretty funny. Oh and at one point, I was chatting with some of the kids and I told them that people in Japan often told me I looked like Avril Lavigne, but that it wasn’t true. Now, I really shouldn’t have said that because they all started looking at their papers, then looking back at me and going “honto da” (it’s true!). dammit. And then later on, when I was talking, explaining something, the same group of kids were all holding their papers in front of their faces and looking at me over it. I was like “what are you doing?!” and turns out they were comparing the pictures to my face again, and giggling, going “niteru” (you look like her). *rolls eyes* Anyhow. None of them got the quiz right, and none of them found all the missing words in the song (there’s 4 :/ ) and so it made me a bit sad. But I realized that the pace of the song was way too fast for most of them to follow… oh well!!

Friday

I ran into nebocchan on the train this morning!!! (If you don’t remember, he graduated last spring) I kinda freaked out cuz he was wearing normal clothes and looked like a man more than a kid, it was so weird. We just kinda stood there staring at each other. lol. I waved and said hi, but I totally didn’t know what to say! lol. Then the door opened and it was my stop. Shame. I should’ve said something more. It’s so weird cuz just the other day, I was thinking about him – I forget why. Funny! I do miss that kid though…

Urgh, I had 4 classes back to back, and though interesting things have happened in all of them, I’m so frickin dead and tired, I can’t remember. I can tell you that when I walked in to 2-1, Ayumu was being so freakin’ cute again, going “hello, My name is Ayumu!” and I was answering “I know!” and he laughed his cheerful kiddy laugh… he was making tons of little origami animals out of tiny origami papers, and I said that he should teach me. He was gonna but then the class started. The only thing I know how to make in origami is a little box thing, that you blow into and it makes like a paper bubble. but I kinda can’t remember how to make it, so for the first half of the class (when Shigeki-sensei was just lecturing and I was just a classroom prop), I tried to remember how to make the paper bubble, and a few of the kids in the back chuckled at me, especially when I tried to blow air into the bubble. lol. It kinda worked, but I know I did it wrong. Meh. Oh, and also, later, when they were drawing pictures in groups, Shigeki-sensei wandered over to the “bad boys” group (Ryo & co.) and he laughed and when I walked over he told them to erase it quickly. I was kinda cranky cuz I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have cared, but then he (the teacher) also refused to tell me what the kid had drawn there. At the end of the class, I went to see Rei and asked him “Rei-chan!” (and one of the other boys asked why I was calling him that, lol) “Rei-chan, if you tell me what the other boy drew, I will give you a sticker!” We all know how greedy he is for stickers, so his eyes grew all big and he was like “boy and girl.. hmm… nandake…” and then Ryo showed up behind him and went “play?” and I was like “huh?” and then another boy said something else, but they were all skirting around saying one word that would have made it really obvious (which I found terribly funny) and then I finally got it and went “Oh! He drew people having sex!” and they all freaked out that I’d said it and started to giggle, before they all extended their hands begging for a sticker. Suddenly there was like 10 of them.

Afterwards in 2-3, I had the same lesson with Mizushima-sensei, and I dunno if those kids are just smarter or what, but they were really good at playing the game and drawing really interesting pictures. Daiyu was acting super cute, trying to show off, and a few of them greeted me with “I am Vanessa too” again, but I think it’s getting old, so hopefully they’ll lay off soon.

I thought that the next class was 3-2, but that since I’d already been to their class this week, I wouldn’t have to go… but no! It was only Tuesday schedule until 3^rd period! After that, things returned to the normal Friday schedule and that meant I had class with 2-5. I was kinda devastated cuz I hadn’t even copied enough papers for an extra class, and I was so tired… I had to spend the break copying papers in haste, and spent most of the class yawning and trying to do so not too obviously. The kids were super sweet and into it, and again they drew really nice pictures. Shinji really freaked me out during the activity because he was spewing directions for his friend to draw things in a perfect American accent. I don’t know why this kid talks like that. It’s really weird. I know he’s half-Brazilian, but he can’t speak English at all – well, no more than the other kids his age anyways. BUT! His accent is perfect. Even last year his accent was amazing. I have no idea why. How can he have a perfect accent if he can’t even speak it? It’s sooooo odd. But he is a really adorable kid. Over-achiever type.

anyways, it’s time for the weekend folks! oh, on the way out of school, Hyougo (kid who graduated last April) passed me on his bike along with 3 or 4 other high school boys. he shouted at me as he was still pedaling “Vanessa, hello! I am Takuya!!” and I shouted “I know!” and laughed, and his friends laughed too, but none of them stopped so I just shouted “see you!” after him. it was cute.