Today is Sports Day. I have no class and the whole thing ends at 3:30. Very nice. This morning it was very cold out and I had to go back in and get a coat. I watched co-ed soft ball for the morning which I enjoyed. Instead of shaking hads at the end of the game, there is group downing followed by a rousing cheer of "Onegaishimasu!" Which roughly means lets do it together. I also watched s couple volleyball matches and had several cups of tea. The girls are often the pitchers here and they are usually quite weak but they have their moments. They don’t really run hard it seems. There is usually some limp looking non-commital running with the arms out like a mantis. Then I biked down to the Seiyu and bought some lunch and stopped by the other playing field and sat on a sunny hill and ate with some of the other teachers. I had a chicken cutlet that was deep fried in some kind of sesame sauce on top of some rice, a container of fried potatoes, a coke and a kit kat. It was lovely. I watched a softball game that was only girls. One girl got an infield home run (there are tons of errors) and she was thrilled. It won the game. After she got in, she ran up and told me that she hit a home run. It was cute. The students spell things out on fans to cheer for their team. These fans say something like Let's go 2-2! I went over and sat with the boys and watched the soccer. I biked back to the school around three because I really had to go to the bathroom and wanted to use a heated toilet. When I got back into the staff room Shirasawa-Sensei, the head teacher, gave me a bowl of Japanese curry and rice with a side salad. It was just what I needed to warm me up. When I was in the grocery story I saw the packs of adhesive heating pads that you can stick on your skin to keep you want. I should bought a ton of them. I could see my breath when I got out of the shower this morning. What's with the total lack of central heating Japan?
Since my last post, several people have asked me why I'm not coming home at Christmas. Well it's because I will be Thailand and Cambodia for three weeks. Sorry friends! During March break I have friends coming from Canada and in the beginning of August my Mom is coming over. For this reason, I am not coming home until the last week in August, barring some kind of disaster. It's not because I don't want to see you all, believe me! Thanks to Kate and Eric for sending me pictures of their cute little guy Ben. If anyone else has pictures of their recent events I would love to see them, please email them to me. My Mom sent me some great ones of the United Way water balloon pelting that took place at Onward. I print all the pictures you all send me and put them on my correspondence bulliton board at home with what ever letters I have received.
Well, the kids are all going home now so I will soon too. Have a good day and I will talk to you all soon.