Tidbits
As you can see, I changed my blog format. I also, finally, figured out how to add my display picture, which is why that damn cherry pic of me appears yet AGAIN. Sorry.
Today was fairly eventful. Jody called early in the day, while Tress and I were finishing up some cutting-and-pasting of Tanpopos' (3-age kids) art projects (since I didn't want them to do their own cutting), and suggested dinner. Since I had to go to Tsukuba this afternoon to meet with my private student, Yoshiko, anyhow, Tressa and Jody decided to come along. They shopped during my hour-long lesson and afterward we went to a Turkish restaurant. Mmmmm! The food was excellent! I had a falafel pita sandwich, a tomato kebab, and some chicken/tomato soup. Amazing. What's more, I got to watch my first music videos (current Western top 10's even!)
in nearly six months as MTV was being played on a big-screen at the restaurant! We then headed home and watched a few episodes of "Chappelle's Show," which Joey recently mailed to Tressa. Funny.So my lessons with Yoshiko are going tremendously well. I have found a website that is a terrific resource for lesson ideas and conversation topics/questions. Yoshiko seems to like the lessons as well, as she is constantly complimenting me on my teaching abilities. She is a 23-year-old student at the University of Tsukuba (one of the top universities in Japan), working toward her Master's Degree in Genetics. Crazy! She is a total sweetheart and speaks English quite well; our lessons are fun and she is easy to teach. Today Yoshiko presented me with a gift: a Japanese tablecloth (smallish, like a large doily) that had been hand-dyed with wasabi (yes, it is green). Very beautiful! The best part of these private students... earning close to $40. CN for one hour of chit-chat! Yee-haw!
So tomorrow is back to work. Tressa and I have been commenting on how little we have been working lately. After a lazy summer work schedule we had both geared ourselves up for full fall schedules, but there is still much free time; last week there were two stat.
holidays - Monday and Friday. Additionally, all of our Kindergartens are preparing for their annual Sports Days; this is basically a performance-based fun day where the kids show off their amazing marching band, human pyramid-building, and athletic abilities. Quite impressive at any age, let alone youngsters of 3-5 years old! In attempts to perfect their techniques, many classes are canceled or at least combined, making our daily schedules less full. What's more, we have some work days canceled altogether: this week I will work two full days, two days under two hours each, and have Thursday off completely. Livin' the life, livin' the life... I have included some previously taken pictures of me teaching, and of some of my kids (3-age, soooo cute!). You may have already seen these, but I thought this post needed some spice. Enjoy.
Post a Comment