Onto the Weekend

The gang at the cave

So I know it seems like I have been going out every weekend (and I have) but as exhausting as it is, I feel as though since I spend the week pretty much alone (except for my runs with K and run-ins with S) I should be having fun on the weekends. Friday night I went out with K to a local bar were we sang karaoke and met some local young people (finally!). When the bar closed were took a taxi to the local Denny’s equivalent (Joyfull) and hung out for a while until we decided to call it quits and went home.

Although I vaguely remember telling K I wanted to run Saturday morning, when she called me at 7AM telling me she was on her way I about cried. LOL. I ended up getting up to her banging on the door (apparently I had fallen asleep) and went running. We had decided it would be our long run of the week and so we took a foreign route. It turned into an hour and a half long stroll (6K of which I managed to run) wherein we suffered brutal sunshine and overwhelming heat. I tried to cancel out the discomfort by reminding myself of the beauty of the mountains rising behind the rice fields but it was a constant struggle. Next time it will be earlier to avoid the tortuous sun!

Paradise?!

Not long after the run I grabbed S and we headed to Bungotakada for a beach excursion with B. There was a group of ten of us of whom 9 are ALTs. We took the same bonnet bus B and I had taken to the temples and took off for the beach around 11. I am turning into a broken record but it was GORGEOUS! The sky was clear and the ocean looked amazing. I think it was a combination of the green cliff faces and the lush plant life that caused the scene to strike me as something out of Planet Earth. The pictures can’t begin to show you the scene but I will post them anyway.

After hanging out at the beach for a while and exploring a cave we stopped at the shrine (or temple?) that hosts the god women pray to for luck finding a mate. I went in and did some ablutions (as I usually do at temples and shrines since I feel otherwise I am offending someone) on my way down the cliff face for yet more photo opportunities. Again - the beauty was awe-inspiring. Makes me wish I could paint!

Saturday night I had a date and it was really nice. He’s a 23 year-old college student in Oita city and he’s Japanese. The language barrier wasn’t too much of a problem since my Japanese is actually getting really good and he did a 10 month study abroad in England so he knows quite a bit of English. What we couldn’t figure out we looked up and it turned into a really nice night. He took me to a candlelight festival then to the top of a mountain overlooking the entire Oita peninsula, which it turns out if one of the top one hundred views in Japan. I am still talking to him so I guess it went well?

Jurassic Park anyone?

Sunday I spent relaxing and trying to catch up on sleep. The typical Sunday stuff really - laundry, dishes, lesson plans, etc.

Monday I did my first full day of classes (four of them!) and they went varying levels of OK. The first class was 1^st and 2^nd graders and I had to use a lot of Japanese because the teachers didn’t speak English and the students just kept staring at me blankly when I spoke :-X. Hopefully when we start doing set lessons instead of my self-introduction things will go better. My second class was the fifth graders who, despite having an amazing teacher, are all very timid and quiet! I tried my best to get them up and moving as did the teacher but the lesson did not go very well. The principal came in to watch that one and she kept shooting me looks of sympathy. My third class went the best and I taught 6^th grade. They were so excited and curious and asked a ton of questions when I was finished. Some of the best ones were: ‘Were you born with that hair color?’ ‘Why is your skin white?’ ‘Why are your teeth so nice?’ My favorite though, was when the 11 year old hit on with this line: ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’ ‘No’ I replied. ‘Do you want one?’ ‘Maybe’ I said. ‘How about me?’ I couldn’t help but giggle a little and after class he held my hand while we walked to recess together. So romantic! LOL. Makes me miss being a kid!

The students tried to teach me how to unicycle after lunch (turns out all the elementary school children here can unicycle to some degree) although I was one - wearing a skirt and two - typhoon winds kept knocking me off. Let’s just say I hope I will have better luck next time. :-) Most of the 3^rd and 4^th graders who I taught after lunch had already watched me fail in my attempts to conquer the unicycle so they were very receptive to me being there. It went really well and the kids seemed pretty confident in their English.

The Peninsula by night

Did some more running in the evening and went to bed early, which of course caused me to wake up early this morning to a very strong wind and the rattling of my doors. Went to middle school today and did my first teaching there with the 3^rd year students. The first class (ni kumi) was rough. I think it is a combination of the fact that they are the lower level students and that there are 38 of them shoved into a classroom. Let’s just say my pictures weren’t quite big enough.

Second class was the other group of third years all of whom were much more receptive and the class went much better. I also managed to worm my way into one of the first year classes for a mini-meet and greet during their phonics lesson. Today was a lot of practice for the school sports day and so afternoon classes were cut to make room for instruction about how to properly enter and represent your group. They will do a walk reminiscent of Nazi Germany to enter the field and I don’t know how I feel about that. :-X

Well, off to my first Judo practice and hopefully a relaxing night! Love.