Bryan Saves the Day!

Today was fairly rough. It started out well. I got to the bus in good time. I had everything I needed. I was planning on working out after work and feeling good about that. I took my computer and was planning on working on lesson plans.. everything was going my way! I got on the bus and headed toward school. It was crazy because today, for the first time since I started working at Morioka Minami, I was the only one on the bus to get off at the high school. Since it's the last stop, I was the last one on the bus for a while. I'm glad the driver saw me though (mmm) and didn't skip that stop! I got into the school, went up into the teacher's room and it was eerily silent. All the first year students were gone to a competition so the first year teachers were gone as well. I got all of the rest of my grading done in my first two periods as they were prep (hallelujah) and started working on a lesson plan for my second graders. It then occurred to me that I wasn't teaching the second graders this week. As tomorrow the second and third graders have a test all morning, my morning classes were cancelled. So I changed the first year worksheet I had been making (actually I did that before the second grade worksheet) and left a note for Hashimoto-sensei about the changes. Shortly after I realized I could work on other lesson plans I WOULD be teaching that week, the second grade teacher approached me and told me that my schedule for tomorrow had changed. They cancelled both my classes tomorrow and added a new second grade class. So tomorrow I will be doing a self-introduction lesson and she asked me to also talk about superstitions. Cool! So tomorrow is planned and I have one lesson plan to write for Thursday and a complete revamp of today's lesson because...

The first class I taught today seemed very bored. They kind of glared at me, sighed, rolled their eyes...I tried to make the worksheet fun but I also had to include the things the JTE asked me to include. Class was a bit of a torture for us all. :/ I was thinking of what I could do to make it more fun (since I was teaching the same thing in 10 minutes) when suddenly I was verbally attacked by the teacher. (I think you all remember with whom I teach on Tuesdays.) He yelled at me in front of the staff and the vice-principals. He told me I made the worksheet too hard and I refused to help the students and he ALWAYS tells me these things (not so - he always says, "Thank you." and that's it), I don't care if the students succeed or fail... it was UGLY. It was so ugly that everyone avoided eye contact with us. So no one jumped in and spoke for me, I defended myself as best I could and I was yelled over. It was AWFUL. I wanted to sob my eyes out. Only... I was teaching a class in 5 minutes... with this guy. Then he starts talking about me in Japanese with another teacher. Thanks. So I waited for him (as we always go to class together) and he told me to go without him and he would come later. ... So here I am, trying not to cry... show up to class... alone. I completely changed what I did and tried really hard to make it understandable. I'm not an uncaring teacher. If I had KNOWN the students didn't understand, I would have DONE something about it. I don't speak Japanese! In any case, he kept undermining me in front of the class and making me look like a fool. He put the class right in the middle of it. He would say to them, "Do you understand?" *the kids eyes darted back and forth between us* One kid: "No." Him to me: "You SEE! You don't help them!" It was BRUTAL. Well after that, luckily, came lunch. I headed straight to my desk, grabbed my phone, and went to the bathroom. I messaged my best friend, I messaged my mom, and I messaged Limor. All the while, I was sobbing my eyes out in a bathroom stall. Limor suggested I get in touch with the office (as I work for Interac and not the school - and the proper procedure is for any complaints to go to Interac), and so I went up to the female teachers' locker room and called the office. Bryan was very supportive and kind. He asked if there were any witnesses, "Uh.. yes. The entire teaching staff." He said he would take care of it and in the meantime, I had to get control of myself to teach another class with this same teacher. Oh man. I didn't eat lunch (I was too upset anyway), and actually I realized I had left some of my materials in the other class. So I ran and got those and went to class. Pretty sure my students knew I had been crying. They were so sweet to me today. They were very kind and attentive and tried really hard. I don't know if the word spread, or it was just my red eyes/nose, but .. they were great. The lesson went REALLY well... and then after class the teacher comes up to me again, "The lesson is too easy for them. You're not challenging them." ....!??!? Finished. Just.. finished. (And by that I mean: fsssshhhhdd! - the ASL sign) Then I start working on that lesson plan I need for Thursday and Oikawa-sensei comes up to me. He tells me, "Bryan is here." Oh no.. my heart just dropped. I don't want a scene. I don't want MORE resentment. I just want to be able to do my job. The other teacher was called down first and then I was called down. One of the vice-principals was there. I was told the ways I can improve (and not in a yelling manner - which helps me a lot) and I was told that the other teacher was handled. I hope everything is ok from now on... I don't feel like going back to the school. I was humiliated in front of everyone.. unjustly.. and I just ... I just don't want to go back. Bryan offered me a ride home (which I REALLY appreciated) and so I said my goodbyes and got to go home early.

As soon as I got home, I changed (grabbed something at the store), and went down to the gym. I didn't feel like working out, but I figured just as it is with prayer the less you want to do it, the more you need it. So off I went. The training room was HOT. It was steamy and sticky and nasty. However, I needed to work out and I was going to get that way anyway... so I worked out and did my thang! It was funny, I kept catching people staring at me. I don't know if it was the fact that I'm not Japanese, or the fact that I'm a woman (there were only 2 other women there), or the weights and machines I was using. In any case, it made me laugh and lifted my spirits even more. On the way home, I got a text from Limor asking me to let her know when it would be a good time to call (she'd said she would talk to me this evening). I was about 5 minutes out from my place and let her know I was biking home. As soon as I got home, I changed and called her. I JUST got off the phone with her. We talked for more than 2 hours. I'm so glad to have a good friend here! She was so sweet to talk to me and then we talked about our days and lesson planning and a ton of other stuff. It was nice to just talk in English about whatever! Then I sat down to write this. (I ate dinner as I talked to her -- oh and actually I had some lunch before I went to work out since I was feeling better when I got home and was STARVING.) Hope YOUR day was much better than that -- but that being said, Bryan DID save the day. And my mum is going to skype me in a little bit. And I got to talk to my best friend. So the day was a crap sandwich and luckily the bread is made of wonderful people (mmm). XOXO, A

Oh! Also, the day started out amazingly because Abbey messaged me last night and she and Tara are trying to come visit me in the summer. All of a sudden I have hope again! I'm so excited to have friends come here. I hope they can make it! :D (Oh mom! I'll ask them if they have any extra room in their suitcases if they can bring some of that stuff. Then you won't have to ship it!) --Also this makes 60 days I've been here in Japan. Crazy!

Funny moments:

This is a story from a couple weeks ago and I don't believe I wrote it up. On the way to class one day, one of the teachers (a male) asked me, "You know diarrhea?" -"Uh.. what?" (I figured I had misheard him.) "Diarrhea." "Yes..?" "What is the opposite of that?" "Constipation." "Oh, I have constipation.. FOUR DAYS!" "... I'm sorry!" LOL I was like... I thought the Japanese were reserved!?