Spring Break!

(fyi, I wrote this last Thursday and forgot to post it.  I'll update with details about this weekend later)

Unluckily for me, my supervisor thinks it's a good idea for us to "work" during spring break.  Usually I have no problem working during vacation time (for those of you who know what I did my last three spring breaks at Willamette, you know what I'm talking about), but I have NOTHING to do.  Technically, we're supposed to be planning lessons, which is a problem if I don't even plan lessons during the school year.  I could prepare a schedule for my elementary school lessons, but the last I heard from them is that they weren't even sure when I would be going to elementary school, and "they'd contact me" when they knew what was going on.  Furthermore, at junior high school, my co-teachers really take the "A" part of "ALT" seriously.  I don't mind because this makes my role less formal, which in turn makes it easier for me to talk with the students.  True, I have more free time on my hands, but they're so new at English and the Japanese system emphasizes grammar (which I can't teach in Japanese). 

Anyway, long story short, I had tons of free time during school, and now I have even more.  What this means is, if I have something to write about, there will be more posts.  :)

Yesterday was the last day of school.  Classes actually ended on Tuesday, but learning in classes ended long before that.  On Monday, my co-teacher invited me to join his classes for "TT" (team-teaching) in the gym.  I changed into workout pants and went to the gym to find the students (in their matching track suits) dividing themselves up for basketball.  I'm not a very good basketball player, but I figured I could probably hold my own against kids who were (mostly) smaller than me.  Not that I really had a choice because they had previously assigned me to a team.

However, before we cranked out the basketball hoops, we played dodgeball to warm-up.  American dodgeball, as popularized in the film starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and (my favorite) Justin Long, is very different from Japanese dodgeball.  American dodgeball is played with many balls, Japanese dodgeball is played with one; American dodgeball is played in a rectangular court with a line down the middle, Japanese dodgeball is played on a rectangular court with an inner rectangle and a line down the middle; "out" players in American dodgeball sit on the side and do nothing, "out" players in Japanese dodgeball actively participate.  Anyway, it took me a while to get the hang of it, but now I believe Japanese dodgeball to be far superior to American dodgeball.

Basketball was fun because I actually played pretty well.  I think it's mostly because I'm used to playing with guys who are bigger/more aggressive/far superior players than me.  Also, after 90% of the girls just stood there and did nothing, my co-teacher declared that a basket made by a girl would be worth 10 points.

On Wednesday, after a short, uneventful closing ceremony, I visited Dojin Gakuin, a children's home located a few minutes away from my train station.  It was a lot of fun and the kids were really sweet. When we were playing, somehow the conversation shifted to zombies.  By the end of the day, we were all joking with each other that we were going to eat brains.  I don't think they really believed me because the director invited me to come back and play with the kids again since I live so close.

After udon and McDonalds coffee, I raced home to prepare good-bye gifts for the teachers that were changing schools.  Initially, I only planned to give a present to the art teacher (who always goes out of his way to talk to me) and one of the office ladies (who is super nice and brought me an Eiffel Tower keychain from Paris).  However, of course, if I give a present to two people, I have to give a present to the others.  As it happened, I wasn't listening carefully enough to the principal's speech and it turns out the art teacher wasn't really leaving.  Furthermore, I forgot the office lady's present in my apartment.  whoops.

Anyway, dinner was at this great little French restaurant in Hanno.  My vice-principal's brother-in-law owns it, so we rented out the whole restaurant, and my VP kept bragging that he helped to design the menu and chose the champagne, red, white, and "sparkling apple" wine that accompanied dinner.  I usually prefer white wine to red wine, but last night's red was perhaps the most delicious wine I've ever had.  One of the teachers took a sip then said she was worried that it was so easy to drink because that meant she would be getting drunker.

There was a nijikai (literally, "second party") after dinner, but I chose to pass.  I was offered a ride home (which means I wouldn't have to walk back from the train station).  Furthermore, they all could stumble into school at any time today, while I had to report to the BOE bright and early.

Anyway, that brings me to now.  I'm writing emails, updating my blog, etc, all without the wonderful blessings of wireless internet. boooo...