What a difference sleep makes

Insect count: 0 (mmm)! Last night I was able to get into bed early. I was in bed about an hour and a half early and then was able to fall asleep about thirty minutes early. Totally worth it. I woke up shortly after sunrise (4:09 am), but I was able to go back to sleep. I felt much more rested when my alarm went off this morning. :) I got up, got ready, and got to the bus stop early. My bus ride was short and I was a few minutes early to the morning meeting. I understood a few things. "7:30, 6:50, 70% of rain, Hanamaki" (I guess Hanamaki doesn't count - but it's a city and I picked it out! So there!) As it turns out, there's a 70% of rain tomorrow. If it rains, we will have classes BUT they will start an hour earlier. o.0 If it doesn't rain, I will be sitting inside the school for a while. Hashimoto-sensei asked about me coming earlier. I told him, "I take the earliest bus. However, there are other buses I'm sure that pass Wano (that bus stop at which I dove chin-first off the bus about a month or so ago ~ ps my chin is ALMOST completely healed now) but I need to be told which bus to take and at what time and where." Hashimoto-s said, "Let's check your schedule." Since I wasn't teaching first period, he said, "Oh great! Just show up when you would!" So that settled that. I'm torn about tomorrow. I'm really hoping for rain because I love it. But I want my students to be able to go to their game (especially if they'll make life hard in the classroom because they COULD be at a game), but I also don't want to sit around all day at my desk again. In any case, after the main meeting, I made my copies and waited until it was class time as I was teaching first period. Today we had shortened classes but I figured that into my plan and was ready. My first class went really well. I was teaching present progressive again. I made the students laugh when I described the day before. I said, "It's Tuesday. I am sitting at my desk. *rest my chin on my hand and sigh* You? You are watching baseball! Me? I am still sitting at my desk. *changes hands on which I am leaning and sighs again* They really loved that. LOL Later, I heard this group of boys saying my name a few times so I decided to call them on whatever they were snickering about. So I approached them, "Yes?" And then one of them said to me, (and remember this is the worksheet in which they received the prompt: Ann is __________), "Ann is very cute!" "Aww! Thank you!" I responded. Then I told them, now doushi (verb)! Then my reluctant learner who used to put his head down all class period said, "Ann is look cute!" I again said, "Aww thank you! LookING cute!" He actually didn't end up writing anything down, however he THOUGHT of it so good for him! (This is the student that thought Friday was a month. So yay for him! :D)

My second class was ROUGH. I felt really embarrassed. Two boys covered their noses when I came near them so then I felt like, "Do I smell really bad?" I was just dismayed and embarrassed by the whole situation. After that class I went to the bathroom and tried to wash my armpits and then (lacking deodorant) reapplied some Bubble & Bee lotion I have (it's a lotion stick). I even put some on my shirt I was so worried about it. It was really mortifying for me. :(

I had made one worksheet between those first two classes and decided I would try to knock out the rest of my prep (with my computer because I brought it today) before and during lunch. Then I was asked to correct a speech (a composition that a student is going to present at the American Embassy). I did so as best as I could (some phrases I just didn't know what they were trying to say), and then got back to what I was doing. Then the student showed up and I talked to her about what she was trying to say. In any case, next thing I knew, the bell rang. At first I thought, "I better bolt down my lunch!" Then I realized I was teaching 5th period and it started in 4 minutes. *facepalm* So when I got to class, I told them that I had forgotten to eat. I made a big show of slapping my forehead and saying, "Doh!" Half the students were laughing really hard and the other half were watching me in amazement (and perhaps horror, lol). In any case, that class went really well. They really loved playing fruit basket and that made me happy. :)

Then I went straight to my next class, again lunchless. It was funny because around 11 am I was STARVING, but I was determined to eat my lunch at the right time so I wouldn't be starving when I got off work. So I waited. The nice thing was I wasn't starving while teaching 5th and 6th. I was a little hypoglycemic though. I was shaking and had this crazy, frenetic energy. I'm already energetic so it's no wonder my students were a little scared of me today, lol. In any case, the second lesson went really well too. My students are so great. Because we only had 2 minutes before the bell was going to ring I didn't set up the second game. I just had them play fruit basket again but I said this time I would play. When I said the first one, this girl stood up but didn't move away from her chair. I sat down behind her back (on her chair) saying loudly, "Arigatou!" Her friends laughed really hard. Then I got to do it again! LOL The students in this class would stand up and look around and wait til they saw an open seat to move. I was up and moving and seaching while I moved. I think they loved that I played with them. :) I would play in every class but when setting up a new game (and I taught them how to play it today), I need to be up front to help and referee and reinforce, etc. In fact, the last class (5th period) really understood the rules. They were to say a number 1-999 and then billion, million, or thousand (the students' words). Two students said only the keyword and their classmates refused to move until they did it right! HA!

After all that, I ate my lunch. A few teachers looked askance at me, but I was working hard dang it! I worked through lunch time and I needed foods. After I ate, I finished up my prep. The timing actually was almost perfect. I helped with cleaning time and then I worked on some things and then it was time to do. I was busy all day today. Thank goodness. I'm slightly worried though. I finished all my prep so tomorrow is going to be interesting... I don't want to take my guitar. But I will if I am teaching, but if I'm not I want to bring my computer.. I hope the weather forecast is easy to tell in the morning. Oh - while I was eating lunch I had a fun new experience. I was eating my grapefruit (plain like an orange as they should be eaten), and a huge squirt of grapefruit juice went right into my eye. I have composed a haiku about the experience: Ow ow sting ow burn / help ow youch ouch weep cry moan / wince agony death. :D (That was all on the fly too. What a talent! lol)

When I got home I had to print out a TON of stuff for tomorrow and Friday so I did that while folding socks. After that was done, I grabbed some dinner and then it was time to go to Taiko practice. I was nervous but I had practiced everyday so I knew I would at least do better than last week. Last week I could barely do anything. It was so frustrating I wanted to cry. We kept doing it over and over at the same speed and I just needed it slowed down! In any case, this week... BAM! I was able to do almost everything! I only was able to really get down the first 4 sections (of 5) during the week so the 5th section was the place where I struggled tonight. However, I was able to practice it slowly and I've almost got it (I keep missing this one beat so I need to slow it down). I felt so accomplished. I was grinning like mad the whole evening. :D YAY! My shoulders are already stiff and aching though. Still, means I got in a good workout. :D (Dancing with a drum strapped to me.. who'd have thought. New workout craze!? Yes please!) -- Oh! At one point tonight our regular teacher and this other guy who was helping today were talking to one another and suddenly in our next practice they were chanting together. (It threw me all sorts of off!) Afterwards I said, "Utau to ashi to taiko!?" They just stared at me. (Sing and legs and taiko!?) I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. So we may be singing/chanting as well as singing AND drumming. Oh man, I am going to be the most talented person ever! With lots of practice. Hope you all have a great whenever! XOXO, A (ps tomorrow is the eel "lunchon" so stay tuned!)

Looking up Odori (on the way to Taiko practice)