The day I use a Japanese toilet

I wanted to name this post that.. and I can!! But more on that later...

P.S. (p means pre in this case rather than post..) It's crazy - I have a little over half the views on this blog compared to my last one and less than 15% as many posts (14.7 to be precise)! So thank you to my readers - it makes me feel like this endeavor is meaningful to more people than just me. Love you all!

This morning I woke up feeling very hopeful and am very grateful for that feeling (mmm). I got up, got ready, made sure to grab my ohashi, and went off the bus stop. Today was a beautiful day - by Ann standards! It was rainy, grey, overcast... I loved it. It, however, came with side effects. Being in Japan, on an island, humidity is a given. Today was the first day that the humidity was sort of choking me in the classroom. However, I said a quick prayer of thanks that I could handle it (it was hot and sticky but not unbearable) and kept teaching. In fact, now I know why the heater was left on during the warm months at Timpview! The Lord was preparing me for this. I was teaching on hot days in a room full of 40 students with no humidity in Utah. The sweat was pouring off me and it was miserable, but I found a way to cope. So now I feel slightly more prepared for summer here. Still, your prayers for cool weather and no spiders/insects would be greatly appreciated. So, back to the bus. I had lots of emails when I woke up but firmly left them alone so I wouldn't make myself miss my bus. So when I got on the bus I took the opportunity to write back and delete the spam and ads. I reached out last night to a couple friends from whom I haven't heard in a very long time. So I was pleasantly surprised to have an email back from Dagny! It was really fun to hear from her and I learned she and her husband have a little 2 year old boy and she is 3 weeks from giving birth to their second son. That's so crazy to me. My most salient memories of her include Brittany and getting ourselves in trouble in their basement! (When we were all little kids.) Then I arrived at the school.

At the school I discovered Hashimoto-sensei was in! I hope he had a word with anyone in authority who wondered about me getting there later than everyone else. I'm sort of stuck to the bus routes. :/ Then one of the teachers approached me and asked if I knew about the explosion in Boston - no I did not, o.0. I had an email from Joanna with a link that said something like that but as my internet is slow and I thought, "Bomb the Boston Marathon? Nooo.." She told me a little bit about it and said I should look it up. Well, if I had reliable internet I would do so! She said there were 3 dead and hundreds injured. I will pray for all those people. :/ I remember in my mission when I got an email from my parents who had been a little worried about me because of night club fires in Argentina. I had had NO IDEA there were fires in Buenos Aires and that's exactly what happened today. It's not as though I'm TRYING to turn my back on my former country of residence, I just get busy with life here and don't think to check the news. So that was a shock. And then I had another shock that was a bit closer to home, Hashimoto-sensei reviewed our team teaching schedule today and mentioned a class that isn't on my SLP. I was slated to teach 4 classes today and then suddenly I was slated to teach 5. I told him that the class hadn't been on my SLP and he said they had changed it that morning. Well protocol says they have to call Interac and Interac calls and informs me as Interac is my employer, not the school. I didn't have time to call Interac so after my first class I dashed into the women's locker room (for teachers) and sent an email to Tsukasa (the scheduler for NSs). Really, I could do the lesson and it was fine, but I wanted to follow protocol AND I wanted this to not happen to me again. I don't mind if the schedule changes, however last minute changes are hard for me. In any case, I taught every period today but one. It would have been two, but suddenly school was over earlier than any other day and I was totally confused and shocked. I walked over to Oikawa-sensei and asked, "Is school over?" -"Oh yes! Sorry! There are first club meetings today." Oooh. So I worked on some worksheets for a little while then asked if I could go hang out with the clubs. It was funny passing the kids in their club rooms. Some would wave energetically and many called out, "Hello!" I asked if I could sit in on Soft Tennis (Girl's Tennis). I have no idea what was going on other than introductions and even that.. I tried to catch a name and they spoke too quickly and softly. I stayed as long as I could then bowed myself out to get to my bus. I was so exhausted it was hard not to nod, but I'm so glad I got to go!

So, back to my classes today. I had 2 classes that were super calm. And then I had one class that was almost entirely composed of boys. Oh man.. It was great! They have so much energy. However, they talk and talk and talk. I stood and waited (refusing to shout over them) but then the JTE dashed up and down the rows shushing them. I had so much fun today. And it turns out that Hashimoto-sensei doesn't dislike me (at least I don't think so anymore), he's just very stoic and serious. That's fine, it's just not me. I made sure to pay special attention to what he did and how he interacted with the students and how he reacted to things that I did. Some things seemed to bother him so I made sure not to do them again later. I was still myself, but it's important to me to have a good relationship with the students and the teachers.

Lunch was great, teaching was great, the bus ride home was short though I was starving... I folded and put away my laundry when I got home, ate dinner, finished my book, got my omiyage ready for tomorrow and now I'm writing. :) (I find myself saying that and I know it's a given for you, but it's still the truth!) After I'm done writing I will make curry rice for my lunch tomorrow and hard boiled eggs for breakfast. YUM!

Funny moments:

One bright student asked me today, "Who is your favorite comedian?" I said, "Probably Bill Engvall, or Jeff Foxworthy." Ah dang it! I forgot Mitch Hedberg! Anyway, he then changed to "Japanese comedian." Ya, I admitted I didn't know any. Then he asked if he could do a short routine. "Sure!" He then recited a short sketch in Japanese that got a big laugh from the class. Ya... I have no idea what he said! But it ended in, "Madagascar!" LOL

I did this yesterday too and forgot to tell you - one of the things I did with most classes was a secret code name game. I had them write the alphabet on the board and then wrote 1, 2, 3 next to a, b, c and then gave them number codes to solve. I start with a Japanese person or character first, then I tell them my name is next and put up a superhero. I've used Wolverine, Spiderman, Superman, and Batman. Batman is my favorite to use thus far. I wait for them to figure it out and then I say, "Class, who am I?" -"Batman?" I then nod and say, "I am Batman!" I bring my forearm up across my nose then I say, "Please listen. *clears throat* Where is she!? (Batman - Christian Bale Batman - voice)" Oh man, only one class didn't respond to that. LOL One of my calm classes just blinked at me. The others have gone wild. They LOVE my Batman impression. One boy in one class went wide-eyed and said, "Yes! Batman!" It gets a big reaction and a big laugh. Also I used Superman today and got a great reaction. The class was awed and I pretended to fly and they all cheered. :D My job is so great!

You had to know this would be in funny moments: I used a Japanese toilet today! I couldn't hold it at school, and really I was eager to use the floor toilet so off I went to the bathroom during lunch. I took my pants completely off one leg as it wasn't worth risking peeing on my pants. Then I used their toilet! I managed not to pee on myself or the floor! This is a great achievement, I hope you know that. I was tempted to email everyone I know to tell them the good news. :D All I would have had to send to my family and close friends is, "Guess where I am!?" LOL Japanese toilet? Check! I came, I saw, I peed! WIN!

XOXO, A

Just in case you forgot what these look like - I conquered THAT! As a girl! (side note: this picture is from the interwebz, not the school)