Here is day two of my incredible blog bonanza. For some reason I can't post pictures but there aren't that many from these days. i will try again tomorrow. I am here during school vacation which is unusual. Apparently all AET’s (assistant English teachers) before me have had these two weeks off because there are no classes and they cannot participate in teachers meetings. I think it is good to be here though because I can start thinking about some great projects that I would like to put into motion in the coming year. I felt like I have just been going with the flow at work these past months and now it’s my chance to start a lot more of my own initiatives in curriculum and student activities. I will never have this kind of freedom again to set my own plans so I should really take advantage of it. Now here is how the rest of my week with Lauren went:

After we returned to Shiojiri, I had to go back to work. Because this was the last week of school, there were a lot of wrapping up activities. My students made speeches to me in their final classes about how they have enjoyed working with me and will try to work harder next year. I got a little teary eyed even though I knew their home room teacher probably made them do it. I know how they stress about speaking English is public. That night we went to the children’s illustration museum in Okaya. I have been there before but they are featuring a different collection right now so it was good to see it. Then we went out for Mos Burger for dinner. It is a pretty good burger there. Lauren isn’t too big on Japanese food and I can’t say I blame her. I remember when I first got here and didn’t want to eat anything. It is only in the last few months that I have got into my food groove although school lunch is still capable of throwing me some curveballs. After that we went shopping back in Shio. Then we went out to Kurage (our local bar) with Gisela and the other Lauren from Kiso valley.

Then on Tuesday, we went into Soga Shougakko (elementary) for a day of team teaching. Lauren helped me teach all my classes that day. Because they knew there would be an extra teacher they tried to combine as many classes as possible so we saw a lot of kids. We ate lunch with the grade one class and they were really excited to know about Lauren’s grade one class back home. It was cute. They thought we were twins, largely because we are both tall and white. The grade five girls told Lauren she had a good sense of style. Thanks girls! It was great to show Lauren the best part of my job even though it was at my worst elementary school. It was my co-workers Suzuki Sensei’s last day but I think I will see her one more time. After school went shopping for gifts for the folks back home and had a quick dinner at the Royal Host before my Ekaiwa class (conversation class). Those ladies are so great! They really like meeting new foreigners and we got to joke around with them for a while. We also taught them to play MASH.

Then on Wednesday, I went back to junior high and passed a very boring day. We had closing ceremonies in the freezing cold gym and then we cleaned the school for a very long time. I studied Japanese for the rest of the day. Then after school, we went to Matsumoto for a little sight seeing and shopping tour. We had dinner at that great Mexican place I tried last time. We got home around 9:30 and watched season 3 of Futurama. Lauren gave it to me as a gift before I left for Japan and I said I would wait for her to watch it. It was something we always did together as roommates in college.

Well that is just three days of out week together. I could do another whole post on graduation because I have never experienced anything like it. I think I will save that one for tomorrow. Karen and I are doing well; she is out touring around on the guest bike. I had better get the seat lowered for her! I should also make her wear the very dorky bike helmets we have here, they look like less cool motorcycle helmets! But hey, safety first ;o)