Ok, today! Spoiler alert: today was amazing! So, woke up, got ready, had lots of time and got to the bus stop early. When I got to school I waited until the meetings were finished and then asked if I should change into my orange mini-dress (the tent shirt they convinced me I needed) then or later. I was told to go ahead and then we would have an opening ceremonies. When I think of opening ceremonies I think of the Olympics. I was excited to see what was in store. It was a lot of speaking in Japanese by different people and the end. Ah! No dancing, no music, no performances. I want my money back! ;) After that the games didn't start for 20-30 minutes so I went back to my desk and worked on some prep. I got involved in what I was doing and suddenly I looked up and realized I'd missed the first 30 minutes of the games. There was soccer outside, girls' tennis (I got asked AGAIN to do it, but I told them I didn't know how to play :/ I hope they're not upset I didn't play), boys' volleyball, boys' table tennis... I think that's it. Tennis and soccer were outside and as it was another 29 degree day I decided to attend the indoor sports (plus I don't have any sunscreen or a hat). I watched basketball first and cheered for various teams. I felt torn at first as they are all my students but then I went to the side with less people there to cheer each time. It was really fun to watch the basketball games. (Girls' basketball) While I was cheering one team the coach (one of the male students in the class) called a timeout and suddenly I was sitting in the middle of the team. It was great! I had no idea what they were saying, but I was in the huddle! :D I used my fan to cool down the girls who had been playing. After that I checked out table tennis. I stayed there for 20-30 minutes and then went back to basketball. I asked them where to find volleyball: upstairs in the second gym (above where they were playing table tennis). So I hiked up there. That was pretty much where I camped for the rest of the day. I love volleyball so much. I did the same thing as before, rotating to the team with less cheerleaders or if a student asked me to cheer for them, I would do so. (I still feel fairly guilty for choosing sides, but I thought I would cheer for the opposite team in their next game. Decisions, decisions!) One of the teams when I put a chair on the sidelines, they cheered that I was sitting on their side. One of the players ran off the court, ran up to me, stopped, bowed, then went back. I was very touched. :) After a bit I got very shaky and decided it must be near lunch. I stopped by the basketball gym and found out I was in time for the end of the women teacher's game. I sat down and started cheering, next thing I know, I'm tagged in! DAH! It was hard to play because I was all shaky and had low-blood sugar. I did my best though. We got STOMPED. LOL 24-0. I was there for the last three baskets made against us. I did my best to prevent them, but we had a sorry team. We even had one male (Mr. Hosokawa) since not enough women teachers would play. However, it wasn't so bad that I did horribly as our team was awful. LOL They were grateful that I played at all. So I'm hoping that redeemed me after turning down playing for tennis. I went back to the teacher's room and spent the next 20 minutes cooling down. My heart rate returned to normal quickly but the overwhelming heat really did a number on me. (*remembers she got out the water so she could drink it and takes a drink*) Then I ate my lunch and worked on a little more prep. After lunch I went to rinse my dishes and Kanamori-sensei was in the little kitchen place. I entered saying, "Shitsureshimasu" (as one should) and she turned around, speaking Japanese and stopped when she saw me. "I thought you were another teacher! I mean, a Japanese teacher! Your pronunciation is very good!" :D I thanked her profusely. One word down, how many to go? ;)
After lunch I went right back to volleyball. We have two courts and only one was being used so I got into a pick up game with some of my third grade female students. There were only 3 of us to each side so I tried to recruit some of the males. Over their dead bodies. Sheesh. lol Soon more girls joined and we had a good game going. They alternated calling me, "Sensei," "Ann," "Karairu-san," and I got an honorific! ("Okarairu") It was really fun! They seemed really jazzed that I played. It was also my first injury of the games. I dove for a ball and my knee went sliding across that gym floor and left the skin behind. Pretty sure I have the respect of those girls now, lol. I didn't do it for that, I was just running for a ball.. plus it was nice to get practice before I play for real tomorrow. I hope the other female teachers are decent players so we have a chance of winning. :) After a while the boys needed the court to warm up before their game. We took a seat on the sidelines and the girls starting chatting and taking pictures. They then asked if I would be in their pictures. I gladly accepted. :D YAY! It made me feel great! In the meantime I was spraying with my little sprayer and fanning myself. I also kept spraying my wound because it was stinging. Pretty soon the girls were asking what I had, "Mizu!" "Wataa?" I handed the bottle over then they started chasing and spraying each other with it. LOL All I care about is that they returned it. :) I went through a bottle and a half of water. Yesterday was 29 and so was today. Those are the two hottest days we've had so far.
All the students and most of the teachers have these matching jerseys. Each class had their own style and then (except for class 2.6) their class number on the back and a nickname. Their homeroom teachers also have a matching shirt. I was feeling all left out. I matched the vice-principals! And they are awesome guys, but I wanted to match the students. AND I want a shirt that FITS! In any case, I was determined to fit in a little and 30 minutes before I left the school I went looking for some students. I found a group of girls with whom I've chatted before and asked them for help. I asked them to come up with a nickname for me. They cycled through several and then decided I would be "Supaishi Kaan" (Spicy Corn) since I love spicy food and popcorn. :D I'm the next Spice Girl: Corn. AHAHAHA! I'm going to use masking tape to make the characters and add the nickname to the back of my orange shirt. Take that! :D
After that I worked a little more and found out that they changed one of my Friday lessons. Dang it! I was ready for that lesson! Oh well, now I have another lesson to plan. That's ok. I rode the bus home, sent some emails to people I love, and when I got off, I updated my passbook (my bank book). Then I went home, turned on the dehumidfier for ten minutes as I was OVERHEATING, then I ate, read a little bit and now I'm listening to music. My day was really fun and I hope yours was or will be as well! XOXO, A
Funny moments:
So, when I put on my orange mini-dress and checked myself out in the mirror, I found out it was totally see-through! Yay! I had worn my workout bra which is a dark, olive green. DAH! AND the one good thing about this huge shirt (it covered up the "Touch Down" printed on my bum ~ my sport shorts) was negated. Oh man... LOL
When I got back to the teacher's room the second time I wanted to show off my injury. So I said to Oikawa-sensei, "I already managed to injure myself despite the fact that Hashimoto-sensei said you didn't want me hurting myself!" He was all concerned, but I assured him I just wanted to show off and I was fine. Then I joked, "If he wanted me to keep to that maybe he should have put it in the SLP." :D
Right around the time the games were finishing up, the sky opened and suddenly it was pouring. I was in the teacher's room (this was after the above moment) and many teachers exclaimed, "Sugoi!" I yelled out, "Subarashii!" Oikawa-sensei BUSTED UP. He always doubles over when I yell something in Japanese. I defended myself, "What? I love the rain!" He just kept laughing. (I wasn't offended, I love to make people laugh.)
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| What my knee looks like without skin! |
Another injury!? That's it. You're grounded.
ReplyDeleteAww shucks!
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