May: May 15 - May 22

May 15, 2017

Not much to report today.  I’m still sick, I went to get groceries today and I headed off for work like normal.  After a shaky week after the holiday, I’ve hit my groove again and today was much easier, even with some problem students.  I found that the plans and layouts I created helped me to plan classes better and while the execution isn’t perfect by a long shot, I feel like I can at least take pride in striding forward again.  I’m working towards success and I’m finding the job less stressful.  Having more students in class helps because it means you have more ideas to bounce around and more variance to work with when practicing.  I feel like now I can finally move forward with a plan for how each of my classes must progress, though I worry that once the Eiken season ends that may fade away, since the Eiken dictates to a degree what some of the higher level students are meant to learn.

I’m feeling more comfortable in this position and while being sick sucks, today at least I didn’t worry about my future.  It seemed as if this place would be my home for a while yet.  Hoping those feelings continue as I progress forward. I really love Natori.  It’s convenient, but also has a lot of its own charms.  That said, I did drop a pretty penny today on food and utilities.  Almost a hundred dollars all told.  Still amazes me you can pay for utilities at the convenience stores though.

Feel like I should add that I had a few more office tasks in between classes today.  Haha, my great gift and my great curse is that if I have time, I love helping people, so I won’t say no if someone asks for help.  I don’t mind though.  I prefer people to be polite and ask me for help rather than outright telling me to do something.  As they say, you get more flies with honey.  Ironically, the only exception to this rule is if my honor supersedes it.  It was frustrating working at my last job to not be able to help students in some ways, like giving them access to the material we worked with, however my previous company was clear that…yeah, don’t do that, so…honor and my work binds me.

May 16, 2017

I think, once again, my new planning system has paid in dividends as I was more prepared for my classes lately and it has given me a more concrete road map for future development.  That said, I have still seen at times my ideas be de-railed.  One class I was with wanted to focus on anime to the exclusion of the lesson’s principals.  I could definitely get them to use some of the language, but the longer the class went on, the more I lost them.  Sure, they were tired and goofy, but I need to be better at maintaining control.  A big thing to remember is it’s okay to like and be friends with the students, but when class starts, they need to be ready for the effort required.  It’s something I know and have practiced in China and stateside, but I need to be more strict about it here, especially when everyone is tired and we just want to be goofy.  Well, at least in these classes we can still get some practice in.

I still marvel at how much I like this town, because it’s been ages since I’ve been able to say I really love the town I live in.  Oh, I’ve loved being close to friends or family, but not the town itself.  Natori is great.  That said, I should probably complain about some of the issues I’ve had and will have.  Apparently rainy season is moldy time, so I need to get a fan for drying my clothes and I need to get stuff to dehumidify the air in my home.  Probably need to also get stuff that will make insects stay away.  I have only seen one or two in my time here, but I don’t know how they got in and I don’t want them making a home here.  More than that, humidity is their breeding season and I will not have a repeat of the fruit fly incident I dealt with stateside…that was a nightmare.  Also, my hot water stutters and decreases in pressure for some reason until I twist the facet to a certain degree.  It’s annoying. And I’m a tad worried.  It’s just that in most of my homes I come home and there is a smell.  When you can identify it, that at least makes it understandable, but I come home after my work day and there’s a smell…it goes away after a few minutes and with my A/C on, so nothing’s dead, but…hmmm…could be the tatami, still, not sure.

Well, my concerns aside, it was a good day for connecting with friends and family.  I managed to talk to my best friend this morning, though I feel like I run out of things to talk about at times, which is sad because I could just spend an hour saying I miss you and I want you to come visit.  Well, I also got a letter from another traveler.  Say hey to the elephant for me.  It was nice getting the letter and when I have some time, I need to send a return one.  We’re going to be both online pals and pen pals, hehe.

May 17, 2017

Not much to report today.  I had to catch myself for a moment with something small.  I’m used to people being snide and mean about me.  It’s something I’ve dealt with since I was a kid.  So much so that it’s hard at times to tell where wholesome criticism ends and snarky elitism begins.  Today, I just needed to remind myself that regardless, it doesn’t matter.  Take the critique for what it is.  If it’s anything more than that, it doesn’t need to affect you.  You’re better than that and better than holding grudges or letting people rattle you.  It’s just an interesting thing I need to remind myself off.  I find it interesting because I have to pep talk myself, like you might see in anime, like where Piccolo tells himself he can do it in DBZ.  For me, it really helps, but I tend to leave that to when no one is around.  People are welcome to think I’m strange, but I’d rather at least get my class planning and material creation done with the minimum of questions.

I also did some house cleaning today.  I got a bit of a scare last night about how futons left out, like I do, can get dust mites or whatever if you don’t air them out in the sun.  So, I did that while I was swiffering and vacuuming my house. I’ll probably try to do this every month or so.  It takes about an hour to two hours to clean my home, what with the airing out, so…not too bad.

Aside from that, class planning is much easier for me now that I’ve laid out the path I need to take with teaching students.  It’s easier to drill both elementary and high schoolers and while I need to make new materials if I want to help out my students, some helpful fact sheets for tenses or ideas would be nice, things are going well.  I must say though…the kindergarten kids can wear you out.  Hooooo boy, am I tired.

May 18, 2017

Hard to put feelings into the proper place today.  I’m doing fine and my curriculum is shifting to fall in line with what is needed here.  It’s still a bit rough, however.  I’m not as good as my peers, as we’ve discussed and I really need to stop comparing myself to others.  Today, if nothing else, has helped me realize that my way is not their way and that doesn’t need to be a bad thing.  Either way, just tired from…personal stuff.

I had some good classes today.  I always get a kick out of my students who are really driven, either to learn or to have a conversation.  Because that energy helps to feed your own desire to teach.  Some of my favorite students have this and while Thursday is a late night for me, very exhausting, it tends to have my favorite students as well, so…it’s been a good day. 

That said, I’m super tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night…the new Gwent Open Beta…oh man, the news…and I felt a bit bad for not getting all my writing done.  I got a pittance done, maybe 30 minutes worth?  I’m falling behind because I’ve been sick and exhausted.  Still, like I’ve said before, gotta take care of your body some days.  Hoping to talk to my family tomorrow with a special guest.

May 19, 2017

Not too much to say today.  Fridays are always a bit weird because while the day itself is pretty easy, it’s that last guffaw of work before you have the sweet release of home.  Anyway, I built a few worksheets to help with comparatives, using the adjective pictures we have as a base.  Not sure if they work super well, since I only used them with one class, but hell, give the students something to take home.  It will help them study.  Hoping to set up a time to play mahjong with one of the other teachers, as it’s something I know how to play, but I’ve never been able to understand in terms of scoring, so…we’ll see.

Talked with my god mom and family as well today.  It was really nice, since I love and miss them all.  They helped me feel better about my situation and they’re proud of me, which always feels nice.

After lessons, I went to a yakiniku bar I’d found while searching online.  I got horumon, grilled intestine, and carrot.  It was a bit nerve wracking since you cook these things right in front of you on a grill that is gas powered and you know how I feel about gas.  Still, while the horumon was a bit too chewy for my liking, it was…a nice slice of Japanese culture, since they had enka in the background.  I might go back again.  I want to try some of their other stuffs, since the sauce was really good.  I’ll head out next Friday, maybe, and see how it goes.  I should just accept something for myself that will be fun once or twice even during the work week.

Today, I also finished my favorite game ever, ODIN SPHERE SO GOOD, and got to talk to some of my favorite people.  Despite the stress and challenges of my job, it was a very good day.

May 20, 2017

Headed into the mountains today.  Not much to say.  I followed the road up until it started to go down and after pushing my bike all the way up, decided I didn’t want to go down, then push it up again to get back home.  Beautiful mountains though.  I took a few pictures, but not many.  Either way, I headed back to the bathhouse.  It’s an expensive treat for me but I do enjoy it.  I discovered the boiling urns and the frigid pools today.  See, bathhouses have pools of varying temperatures and purposes.  I’ve been in the sauna-like pools and the jet pools and the warm to hot still pools, but I haven’t been brave enough to try the boiling urns yet, which is not the real name but shut up, where the water is super hot and always overflowing.  I did try the frigid pool today and after a hot soak, wow…it was a bit painful.  I got soba afterwards which was surprisingly good.  Soba is cold noodles, though you can get it hot, and it’s refreshing after a hot soak.  I should also mention that, while I have been keeping a food diary, since these entries are so much more detailed, I may let that fall off, since I seldom ever do it the day I eat the food, so it’s all from memory.  Anyway, I headed home after that and decided to veg.

I’m thinking that my weekends will always have me going out for something, either a short ride for food or an adventure, but it will seldom ever be all day.  2-3 hours is a good time to be out and about, the rest of the time, I would rather rest and enjoy life in the quiet of my home with the joys of my games and my good friends online(also family.) Also, I think I god sunburned on this journey.  Yaaaaay.

May 22, 2017

Ugh…somedays, brain no work well.  I know I need to cut down on my Japanese in class, but at times when you get overwhelmed by so much from your students, you just default to it. I don’t consider it a big deal, since my drills, exercises, etc. were all in English, however I hate making that mistake.  I didn’t have this issue later in the day, but it’s frustrating when you stumble.  Aside from that, little else to report. I feel like I might be becoming the serious teacher due to my focus on grammar in my later classes.  Still creating some new materials and I’ve gotten good news from my bosses saying I haven’t been complained about yet, which puts my mind at ease, somewhat. Today, the students started to freak out about a teeny tiny bug and…I just squashed it.  Because in NC, we have palmetto bugs a few inches long.  Harmless, but creepy.  This bug is nothing.

It's starting to heat up here and I have to admit, I don’t care for it. Might not go out for as many trips on the weekends, however whatever.  As long as I can enjoy life here, it’s no big deal.  I can still make my home cool.  And I’ve run out of things to say…so I may space out my publications of blog posts in the future.  Life has hit regularity here, hehe.