Beurk

T5B: 1) It hurt my wallet, but I was able to get 3 months supply of Lunabell today. So that's 12 weeks I don't have to go to the hospital in the cold! 2) I finished a book today. 3) I got to message Jerod for a little bit. 4) I picked up my place a little. 5) I'm having lunch Saturday with my Oneechan and the elders. :)

basal temp: 36.54 (that's my body's new favorite!)

Morning:
- icky nightmares, it was hard to get up
- I drafted out three more worksheets
- I got one created

Notes: I was blessed with ideas for which I am very grateful. It just took a lot of research and will take a lot of putting together later for the last one.

Afternoon:
- got another worksheet with its additional materials done
- the teachers all went to a staff meeting so I did the trashes by myself (:) I wanted to serve)
- the VP figured out it was me (lol I don't know why I thought I was being so sneaky when I was the only one there! lol) he thanked me
- I made the VP laugh on the way out when I said goodbye in Samurai Japanese (saraba de gozaru!)
- the bus was HOT going home
- went to the hospital
- talked to Dr. Oyama (Rie)

Notes: As I said above, that third worksheet will take a few hours to put together (only the best for my students!). My meeting with Dr. Oyama was interesting. She apologized for not getting to warn me about the extra bleeding. She said it's likely to happen again. :/ Yay. She said it happens to some women and that's why they stop it. I asked her if she thought I should stop taking it and she said she wanted me to give it a chance. It's the closest to natural thing I've taken (after the Kampo that made me sick) so I acquiesced. It seems to have helped some with swelling so I'm hoping it will get better. In the meantime though, I took my last pill tonight which means my period will start tomorrow. That will make three periods in four weeks. :/ The doctor said it's not a true period but as far as I'm concerned, I'm bleeding, I'm in excruciating pain... it might as well be! The cramps are only slightly less painful. I can already feel that crippling pain coming on this evening. HOWEVER, there is one positive. I feel like my feelings of wanting to quit and having a major burnout have been MAJORLY amplified by my oncoming period. Of course the exhaustion has made things bad as well, but I'm fixing that little by litte. (Or at least trying!) Hope you are all well and in good health! XOXO, A

That's me!

I got so many compliments on this jacket today! (Ok two teachers, but still! That's two more than ever! - Also of note, my Maman gave it to me!)

Crackers and honey - mmm ;)

Cracker and cheese? (So I tried the mozz I bought at the farm - spot on, delicious. This stuff? *shudder* It tastes like bargain basement cheese and it was $7 for two tiny pieces! Oh well... live and learn and all that.)

Things are looking up

T5B: 1) I got to chat with Josué, Jerod, and Dre today! 2) I got better sleep again (improving little by little)! 3) I got 4 worksheets made and some other materials as well. 4) This break (exams for the students, no classes for me) came just in time! 5) My lunch was delicious.

basal temp: 36.26

Morning:
- it was hard to get up, but I DID sleep better
- the bus was warm, I got to chat with Jerod and my brother Josué
- I made 3 worksheets and some materials (and can reuse one lesson!)

Afternoon:
- lunch was delicious (yakiniku pork with veggies and rice that I made myself!)
- I got a nice picture of myself
- I made another worksheet and some more materials (only need to make 4 more worksheets!)
- I GOT OFF EARLY!! (14h30)
- I've made 129 worksheets!
- I cleaned some when I got home and put all my laundry away
- I got to message Jerod

Notes: It was nice to get home early and get some stuff done. I felt more capable since it was light.

Evening:
- I made dinner
- talked to Jerod some more (he's so wonderful!)
- taught a class (my part time job)
- read a little
- talked to Limor on the phone

Notes: Today was really cold (-2 when I left my place) but I survived! Thank goodness. I was pretty much in contact with Jerod most of the day - he was so sweet and so great today. :) I feel so blessed that we've worked everything out. I'm glad I got four worksheets made! Four to get done tomorrow... ganbatte! Hope you're all doing well! XOXO, A

Here you are - me NOT sucking in

The barriers they have here are so great! Here are orange monkeys! I've seen pink bunnies and blue crocodiles as well. :)

I need a break!

T5B: 1) I slept a little better last night. 2) I got to do some reading today. 3) Dinner was good. 4) I survived the school day. 5) I wasn't as cold at the school today as I was yesterday.

basal temp: 36.54

Morning:
- slept a little better
- read on the bus
1st-2nd - prep, filing
3rd - taught a new lesson, went very well (2.5)
4th - correcting wksts

Notes: Apparently I am not allowed to have a trash can! The teacher who sits by me took BOTH and put them on either side of her! Sheesh.

Afternoon:
- lunch was good
5th - my lesson went ok, two students were HIGHLY disrespectful (2.5)
6th-7th - planned, corrected wksts
- bus ride home was warm!

Notes: Oh man, I was so upset. I told this one girl to get to work (she was busy flirting). She sneered at me, turned up her nose, turned her back on me, then continued to talk and giggle loudly. I was floored! Then the guy with whom she was flirting refused to stand up at first when I was leaving. (All the students stand to greet the teachers and to say goodbye. EVERY teacher, EVERY class. That's how it is in Japan.) Well, this boy refuses to stand up. So I waited. Soon his classmates turned on him - and he gave ME a look of death. Ya dude, I am not the one disrespecting anyone. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to teaching that class next week. :/

Evening:
- got home
- made dinner
- did stupid stuff (work things)
- tried to destress from work, didn't happen

Notes: I am REALLY feeling like I'm nearing burn out. I'm feeling uninspired - in fact like I'm incapable of coming up with new ideas. I struggled on one worksheet all day and didn't get anywhere. I don't know how to stop it. And my ovaries (at least I'm assuming they're the culprits) have really been hurting today. :/ Two spots in my lower abdomen. Sheesh. I read scriptures this morning and I survived today. My sleep was a little better last night. I still had nightmares, but I only kinda wanted to cry when I woke up compared to yesterday morning's crying. :/ It's an improvement! Anyway, love you! XOXO, A

From my class - lol

Still pushing sleep deprivation

First of all, happy birthday to my brilliant and beloved Papa!!

T5B: 1) I got to msg Jerod today. 2) I made it through the day. 3) It was ok that I forgot my shoes and wore the guest slippers. 4) Tutoring was good. 5) Dinner was good.

Basal temp: 36.26

Old stories: Did I tell you I left my tupperware on the bus? *sigh* Dang it! -- One other quick funny story. A couple weeks ago I was teaching a "TV" lesson and we talked about genres and other things. Well, I printed out pictures of genres. I used paper that I had here (scrap) partially because I ran out of plain white paper and partially because I DO like to recycle. In any case, I used sheets on which I had written the "hard" French words from "Passe-Muraille" with an English translation. I found a group of my second grade boys with the paper looking up these French words in their English dictionaries. SO funny. From where they were pointing on the page, they'd looked up several and were completely lost. "Huransugo," I explained (French). They all looked immensely relieved and put the paper back. LOL

Morning:
- got ready, almost ran out of time
- got to the bus stop, no shoes DAAAAHHHH!!
1st - prep
2nd - prep and correcting worksheets from last week
3rd - taught a class, not good at all (1.6)
4th - corrected worksheets, brainstormed

Notes: Oh man the shoes. It was hard to convince myself not to panic. I'm so tired that I wanted to cry at the bus stop. Being this tired is NOT good for me (or anyone else I'm sure). -- My awful class? Turns out no one knows Battleship here and it's REALLY hard to explain with minimal understood English and a class that's yelling over you. Hosokawa-s got so angry he shouted at them. He scared even me!

Afternoon:
- lunch was great
5th - prep
6th - prep (or tried - I'm having trouble strining thoughts together since I'm so tired)
7th - taught another lesson, (1.4) not as big a bomb, but I didn't feel it was successful
- it was 3° when I left the school, but (mmm) the bus was one minute early (warmth!)

Notes: During my last class that one really weird student pointed at me and laughed and laughed in my face. It was unnerving and then all his friends laughed and it was just ... I felt bad and weirded out. It also snowed during that class period. So weird - Hashimoto-s told me MONTHS ago that historically it always snows on November 11th. Well, it did!

Evening:
- totally forgot tutoring and was 10 minutes late
- was distracted but answered all her French questions
- just so tired I don't feel like myself
- oh! got to message Jerod

Notes: I told Jerod, and it's true, that this sleep deprivation is making me feel like a very fragile glass sculpture. One wrong move and I will shatter. It's so tiring and I want to sleep so badly. Hope you're all doing well! Love you, XOXO, A

P.S. Maman - they only make four kinds of cheese at that farm: mozzarella, Gouda, halloumi and another I'd never heard of before that started with a C.

Fire breathing bird courtesy of one of my students

Look how wonky my temps have gotten! Double period messed me up big time!

So loved!

T5B: 1) It rained today. 2) I didn't get too wet riding home thanks to my new jacket. 3) I finished my book. 4) Both sets of elders called (I'm so popular!). 5) The host family loved me so much they wanted me to stay all day! They also gave me a gift of food!

basal temp: 36.02

Morning:
- much to my sadness, the real bed didn't improve my sleep deprivation :/ new place maybe
- got ready for the day
- breakfast was HUGE (turned down the coffee)
- after breakfast we chatted and I showed them pictures and they showed me pictures
- we had tea (macha this time - the fancy, tea ceremony stuff) and cake
- they dropped me off at the station, I rode my bike home in the rain

Notes: Holy moly - breakfast: sea grass (very slimy, hard to eat), baked salmon, miso soup, rice, umeboshi, something pink and white, brined cukes, eggs, a cabbage and green pepper salad, mugicha ... I think that's it. So much food again. I ate as much as I could! They told me their normal breakfast (for the parents) is coffee and cheese toast. For Mayu, rice and miso soup. I felt bad they went way out of their way to make a gigantic breakfast. I helped with the dishes and loaded the dishwasher completely wrong. The poor woman felt so bad fixing it and apologized to me. I assured it was completely ok and watched in fascination. I told her I wanted to learn Japanese cooking and she said on New Year's we would cook together! YAY! Oh also they gave me dried sweet seaweed for breakfast. It was delicious.

Afternoon:
- got home
- showered
- read and washed laundry
- made my lunches (all stuff I needed to do yesterday but didn't have time :/)
- made food when I was hungry

Notes: --

Evening:
- finished my book
- ate dinner (I made the same broc and beef from last week)
- caught my blog up

Notes: I am going to have some sort of beef dish each weekend (when I do my grocery shopping). I found out my grocery store ONLY sells that stew meat. That is, it's the only beef product available. There's TONS of fish, pork, a little chicken (way more chicken than beef) and then one selection of beef. I've got to get creative. (If I have the energy - I know how to cook, thank you Maman, I just lack will power on the weekends.) I am hoping tomorrow goes really well. I had a REALLY stressful evening and the week is just looming in front of me now. :/ I have an easy week though, so that helps. There's testing starting Wednesday so I will be super planning (trying to get way ahead in my lessons). Also two of my four classes were cancelled for tomorrow. I've only got 1.6 and 1.4. (1.6 is my toughest class but I have high hopes for tomorrow. I have been blessed, as usual, with ideas for lessons and with a great friend, Limor, who helped me with ideas last weekend.) Hope you're all doing well. All my love, XOXO, A

Mayu, Okaasan, and me

Now you can see the breakfast!

Japanese dishwasher - it's tiny!

Japanese Seventeen magazine

My favorite kimono I saw - I learned longs sleeves means unmarried

The whole magazine was like this until hair and accessories - no stories, nothing!

Tea time with macha!

The Mastumotos

The food and soap they gave me

My purchases from yesterday (cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese crackers)

The cheese senbei bag - artisan place we visited

Heavenly cheese!