Getting into the swing of things...

This past weekend...
was so much fun. It started out with a JET P themed party where you wear something that starts with the letter P and bring something that starts with the letter P. I wore pajamas and brought these pea snacks (that I have to find once I get back to the States). ;-) On Saturday a group of us went to an event called Irie 365 - Reggae Bash. It was all these Japanese people representing Jamaica...very interesting but fun. My favorite artist was Sing J Roy who sings this song "Jamaica is island..." Us English teachers had to discuss that the article was omitted in that sentence...but it is a good song and we met him informally afterwards. There was a lot of interesting outfits at the bash. Anyways, afterwards a few of us went to a salsa dance (at the same place I take hip hop)...there was a lot of Japanese men moving their hips. And to think someone once told me that Japanese people can't dance! It was a lot of fun. They mostly played salsa, but a little bachata and merengue too. And on Sunday I met my host mom and her children. She was a very not stereotypical Japanese lady. She came up to me, was very excited and even gave me a hug! Her kids are 3 and 9 and have lots of energy so this should be fun!


School
So we are in the 4th official week of school and 3rd week of classes. I am getting in the swing of the schedule. The schedule that I am given changes often so for my sanity I am glad I am flexible. I have been lucky because each week we've had some sort of holiday or day off and so I am getting used to four day weeks...but need to prepare for five day weeks coming up...with days with four classes in a row. It will be exhausting. I am a little frustrated because we are so tied to lesson planning from the textbook and sometimes I feel like a human tape recorder. I am trying to find ways/activities that could be interesting to the students but that also fulfill the objectives that the teachers want (to prepare students for the college examination tests). This experience is making me really look forward to having my own classroom where I could adapt the content to student interests.

Autumnal Equinox Day
So, one of our holidays was yesterday...randomly in the middle of the week. It was nice to catch up on sleep and visit some friends in the southern towns of Sabae and Takefu. They took me to Tom's toast...this awesome restaurant with huge bread! (I had red bean paste and ice cream) and we also went to the coast. The weather is getting cooler...so I am glad we made it out there before it gets too cold.

Yuki's arrival
Yuki comes tomorrow and I am so excited. I will have to hold back my excitement of wanting to show him everything so he can rest/sleep from the jet lag. It will be nice to share this experience with him and even nicer when Maya comes and we are all together. My mom will come later in the year which I am looking forward to!