Hot and Cold

Hot during the day in the sun at least, and freezing at night, at least to me. Welcome to Autumn, though a teacher today claimed we are moving straight into winter after an extended summer (thanks GW... not George W, but Global Warming.... i can't help but think of that as more than a coincidence).

Sick and better and now sick again, but starting to feel better. My health hits the gamut, so does the weather... and the real reason for this blog, my experience an hour ago. I was asked to supervise a class, as the teacher was gone for the day. So I did it. It was awkward when I asked them to take out materials that they didn't have... because I was supposed to bring them! After 10 minutes and some searching all around, we found the stuff. And the students practiced their speeches in English, and taught me Japanese in the process too. This is after lunch and I am still in a food coma... but, wait, it continues...

Then, in the middle of the last period, i am doing work (for a teacher who has convinced me to do it for her) and two students come in and say they are supposed to have English class.... and they are! It got switched, but the teacher isn't there... so on the fly, I volunteered to teach... and got to class with a smile and a go-getter attitude. We had been discussing feelings, so I made them get up, get active and play "Feeling Pictionary." It was awesome... (I had played pictionary towards the end of the last class too) There you have it: Two in a row, on the fly and pictionary was the best wingman a teacher could ask for. Awesome. I was glowing, and of course I have to type it in my blog because its hard to elaborate in Japanese when I can barely describe what even happened... (but I did!). So here, it was one of the best feelings I've ever had, there i wrote it.

And of course, good feelings are strongly connected to bad ones... they go together, like hot and cold and healthy and sick. So, I saw two kids from my other junior high school at the vending machines while I was riding home... and they were buying cigarettes. Trying to be suspicious, but I saw them and they saw me too.

Later on the ride (DAVE, aren't you going to tell us what you did about the cigarettes?) I saw some elementary schoolkids... and they were playing with toy pistols... funny because guns are illegal in Japan. Period. And cigarettes are illegal for kids under 20 (same with drinking).

A two great uppers, based in the American English language and two dismal downers, based in American English culture. And me... and American English teacher... "Stuck in the middle with you."

I had to get that one out. What an "interesting" afternoon. Omoshiroi deshita.

(Am I going to finish the story?)

I finished the story.

Soon,