My Day Off

Today was a holiday. I can't remember for what, but I never turn down a day of not working!

I went with my boss to an African Drums concert. She asked me a few days ago to go but I told her I didn't have the money. Tickets were around 3000 yen ($30). She told me not to worry about that and come, so I agreed. She called me this morning at 10am to tell me where to meet her so we could car pool to the concert. Since we hadn't talked about it since I had wondered if she had forgotten. I still wasn't sure if I would have to pay my own way or not, but decided a day of culture is well worth the money spent.

I dressed up really snazzy: platform shoes and a short-ish skirt. I completely forgot that her car is a jeep and really high up. I hope I didn't flash people too badly getting into it. >_<

We picked up two of her friends (One of which is an older student whom I adore. The lady that made me my lovely compact and cell phone case!) and went on to the concert.

At the concert hall we were in a room with no chairs. We were expected to sit on the floor. I looked down at my skirt and made a ;_; face. I have sat through long hours of enkais seiza-style, but they are never ever fun. One of Boss's friends was an older lady and she said she didn't know about me, but her knees couldn't take sitting on the floor, so she asked a young man to kindly fetch us some chairs. Yay to old ladies!

The concert was wonderful. Even if I had had to pay my own way (I didn't) they were worth every penny. The band was made up of two gentlemen from Guinea, a lady who was half, and their three Japanese friends. My god the show was awesome XD I loved the songs they sang and the two ladies danced wonderfully. Everyone looked like they were having the time of their lives, which is what every performer should look like when they are onstage.

Afterwards, Boss dragged us up to have our picture taken with them. I got a nice ego boost when one of the guys knocked the other one out of the way so he could put his arm around me for the picture XD Well worth dressing up. (I know I come across as horribly vain in my posts half the time, but you have no idea how much I need these little boosts to my self-esteem. I need to be reminded that even though I am getting older, I still got it!)

I Got Bitten by a Student

GAAAAAAAH!

Today was just a horrible, no good, very bad day >_<

I had the student from hell. He's a second grader and should know better. He's also the oldest kid in that class, all the rest being 1st graders. I had him last year too, so none of this is a "OMG NEW TEACHER!" thing.

Well, he kept acting up all through class: messing with the other kids, interfering with the game we were playing, and not sitting properly in his chair (Another teacher had a student break a chair by messing around in it so I am very paranoid about it.) I kept telling him to stop it and even the other kids were like "Dude, you're older than us. Act your age." I threatened to take his sticker from him (Each class the kids get a sticker to put on their attendance card. When they get so many they can get a prize.) and he did the "Oooooh, I am so scared!" thing.

I finally had had enough and just took his attendance card from him and told him if he was a good boy I'd give it back. He hit the roof. At first I just played keep away from him while calmly continuing to teach the class (I got complimented for my poise by the other children.) And then he got behind me and pulled my hair. Hard enough to yank my head back. I grabbed his wrist and told him he wouldn't do that kind of thing to me. Then I took the sticker off and told him if he sat down I MIGHT give it back to him.

Nope, that didn't work. He then tried to get the sticker from me, pulling up my sleeve and clawing at my arm. I finally got my cell phone out and threatened to call his mom. He then tried to snap my phone in half! I then had to try to wrestle my phone from this kid who was trying like hell to break it. I kept asking how he thought his parents would react if they had to pay for my phone if he broke it. He finally settled on ripping off and breaking all my cell phone charms. Only one survived >_< He also bit me. I got bitten by a 7 year old. He so should know better.

I ended class early so I could go down with them and wait for his mom. He tried to run away from me, but I caught him. He then decided to apologize to me, but too little too late bud! I called the office and told them what went down and asked them to talk to his teacher and to his parents. I made sure to do this in front of him. His parents pulled up and I realized I was still so mad I was shaking and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to talk to them right then (I had an image of me throwing my cell phone charms in her lap and screaming 'look what your son did!' Or if I did keep my cool, I'd end up snottily asking if there was something wrong with him mentally and suggesting he get checked out.) So I gave him a nasty smile and told him "Wait 'till the office calls your mom!" and went back upstairs to teach my other class.

I had to go to the office after work and show them my cell phone charms and have them look at my phone. They have to keep the charms to show his parents if it becomes an issue. Also one of the ladies at work makes jewelry as a hobby and she told me she can fix my Arashi (A band I like. I got the charms at their concerts)charms. Thank god. Those were the ones I was mourning the most!

I am still so furious at the little shit. If he did have something wrong with him mentally I would be more understanding, but I know he doesn't. He's just a spoiled little brat. And I am sure he's going to get nothing more than a slap on the wrist at home if he even gets that!

Also I am loving the other kids in the class which were my "bad" kids last year. They kept on playing the game calmly while all the drama was going on. One girl even offered to bring me the cell phone strap she got at Disneyland to replace the ones that were broken. I apologized to them after class that they had to sit through that and didn't get much of a lesson. They told me that they understood and were sorry I had to go through that and that they hoped my day got better. Awww.

Blah

I think my scale is lying to me. If it is I think I'll cry. I didn't weigh that little when I was in high school even! Thank you OCD that makes me jog every night to combat my anxiety issues!

I've also just realized that over half my hard drive space is taken over by things Doctor Who related. Me? Obsessed? No!

I think I'll slink out and get some grocery shopping done. I don't work until 8pm tonight and thus don't know what to do with my time.

I was going to go the driving practice place (You have to memorize the track before you can take the driver's test to get your license. Hence the practicing.) but it's windy as all get out and it's $40 a pop. I am also having problems setting up a date for the real test because the Japanese DMV says I need a document from the Tennessee DMV only the Tennessee DMV says that they don't know what the hell the Japanese DMV is talking about >_> So I don't really want to waste $40+ on taking practice runs if it turns out I can't get a license at all. And if I can't get a license at all, it means I'll probably have to look for a new job come September because one of the requirements for this job is that I can drive. (Am now using an International Driver's license which is only good for one year and non-renewable.)

Corrupting the Young

I spent the day reading Catcher in the Rye to five year olds O_O In my defense, they didn't understand a word I was saying. Some of the girls were poking through my bag and came across said book. They were impressed that it was entirely in English and that I could read AND understand it! >_> So they begged me to read a few lines. And then they begged me to read a bit more. And then I ended up reading the whole chapter to them.

I asked what they were getting from it, because my kids are good but they ain't THAT good. They told me they like how I read. I totally get it from my mom. We don't just say the words on the page we read them. We act it out. When a character is angry, we speak fast and harsh. When they are contemplative we speak slow and hesitant. You subtly change your voice for different characters. I remember being so sad when I was too old to have my mom read me bedtime stories because she made them so entertaining. I'm glad to find that I have the same talent that she does. They also told me my voice was pretty. Aw. Look at the little rascals trying to worm their way into my heart!

(And I did give the kids the roughest of overviews on what the story was about. The G version.)

Wheee 久しぶり White Russians for the win!

First Party! I Am All Kinds of Grown Up!

I had my first ever house party on Sunday! I finally have a place big enough to have a party in ^__^

It was only five people over and was a welcome/birthday party affair. I bought a cake for it and felt ever so grown up. My two really good Japanese friends, C. and M., brought over an okonomiyaki cooker and all the fixings for it. C. brought over a friend of hers (I think she was trying to get her set up with J.) The guy that moved near me recently, J., came with a co-worker of his.

There were a few awkward moments at the beginning where no one would talk to each other once J. arrived. (We had been squealing over a KAT-TUN concert DVD before he came over >_>) Then my newly found hostess powers kicked in and I started brokering conversations. "Hey, L. is from Canada! You used to live there, didn't you C.? Let's talk about it!" And then everyone loosened up and it was good time.

The food was wonderful and the look on M's face when we brought out the cake (and set off the little party poppers my mom had sent for my birthday.) was worth the $30 I had spent on it.

Stupid People

Japanese old guys suck. I just had some guy come to the door trying to sell newspaper subscriptions. As soon as he saw me he goes "Oh, you're foreign so you can't read newspapers." Which really upset me because I left reading my Japanese NOVEL to answer the damn door. I usually just smile and nod and quickly shut the door, but his assumption just really pissed me off so I told him "Actually I do read the newspaper, in Japanese, only I read it online."

This gave him pause. Then he asked me if my husband was at home and could he talk to him >_< I read the bloody newspaper! Not my non-existent husband! He then decided to go on with his spiel that if you signed up for a newspaper subscription you got free stuff. I told him no thank you, but I think he thought I was really refusing because I couldn't read Japanese. He was giving me very patronizing smiles. Grrrrr.

More Musicals

Hmmm Am I crazy enough to try to get tickets to Jesus Christ Superstar? They are using kabuki makeup for it XD I really should be trying to chip away at my debt...

Ah, Kids

I had a fun little conversation during class last night. I was with a group of kids around 8-10 years of age. We were learning countries. We show a bunch of photos that represent the country and then reveal which one it is. I showed them the photos for America, one of which was a dollar bill. They asked why money always had "old guys" on it and I explained that they were usually dead presidents. One boy proudly told me that he knew that the current president was Obama. Another told me he knew that the former president had been Bush. Then one girl asked if Bush was on any money yet, him being dead and all O_O

I told her that Bush wasn't dead. He just wasn't president anymore. No one believed me. "If he's still alive then how did Obama get to be president?" "He was so OLD!", ect. I told them that a person can only be president for eight years (Yes, I am over simplifying. I am not going to try to explain electoral procedures to 8 year olds. My sanity depends on it.) and then we have to change them. So Bush got replaced by Obama. At the end I still don't think they entirely believed me -_-

Saiyuki the Musical II: Dead or Alive

I went to see the second Saiyuki musical yesterday! They did a proper tour of it this time so I could see it in Osaka, which is a lot cheaper and easier for me to get to then Tokyo.





I was almost late to it. I was doing really well until I had to get on the Osaka Loop Line. I looped on the wrong loop, so had to jump off and go back the other way >_< As I was running for the other side of the tracks I did get a wonderful compliment from a little girl. I was wearing my black lacy skirt with the silver roses all over it. I heard a tiny voice yell "きれい！ママ、きれい！” (Pretty! Look Mama, pretty!) I glance behind me and there is a little girl of about 5 pointing at me. "She looks like a princess!" She then added. Aww. That made being almost late all worth it!

I made it to the station where my friend was waiting for me with saint-like patience. We made it to the theater with enough time for me to use the restroom. Which ended up in another semi-disaster. I left my ticket in the stall so had to wait outside of it like a complete pervert until the person inside of it got out. All the other stalls were empty too. I got weird looks. (No, it has to be THIS stall! It's the magic stall! Mwhahaha!) I got my ticket and made a run for our seats. We got there just a tad before the lights began to dim.

The Main Cast

Warm. Why is it Warm?!

I have the windows wide open and a fan on me. It's pleasantly cool in my apartment right now. I refuse to start up the air conditioner until it's really REALLY necessary. I just wish my apartment layout was flipped so my living room caught the really nice breeze from the mountains my front door gets.

There are two children in the parking lot below my balcony intensely cleaning something. I have no idea what it is, but they are having fantastic arguments on the proper ways of going about it. They are keeping me entertained.

I had lunch with a friend after my morning classes. She had to talk with the parents while I taught the kids. They are a good bunch of children, just I'm not up to their unlimited energy and kleptomaniacal ways so early on a Saturday morn >_<

But lunch was nice. I hope my friend realizes how much I like her. I think she misreads my expressions sometimes. I want to tell her that I am just shocked she likes spending time with me, not a hesitation on my part to spend time with her. We had made plans that I would come stay a night at her wonderful house in the mountains during Golden Week (A nice, long weekend of national holidays). She looked at the calendar and asked me to stay three days. I was like "Really?! Three days?! Wow!" And then she hurriedly told me I didn't have to spend all of them with her if I had better plans. It wasn't that! I was just flattered that she wanted me that long! I told her I'd live with her if she'd let me. I would gladly get adopted by her family! They are awesome people!

Company Trip

I looks like we've decided on our company trip. We will be going to Korea. It was a choice between Korea, Vietnam or Bali. We would have had to pay some of our own money to go to Vietnam and Bali and we'd get money BACK if we went to Korea, so Korea it was! I am glad because I was rather nervous at the prospect of going to Vietnam. Everyone I know who has gone there has gotten really horrid stomach things. Do not want.

Now I have to try to see what I want to do in Korea.

eep

I just had the lovely experience of translating my driving records into Japanese O_o I think it might be a good idea to get someone Japanese to look it over before I turn it in to try to finagle a Japanese driver's license...