Thursday, June 29, 2006

of .... not sure.

So yesterday we had this thunderstorm. It wasn't so bad for what I'm used to, but being away from West Texas for a while put my guard down a bit I guess. All of a sudden, the rain just turned on. It was fine one second, and the next it's just dropping sheets of rain. Then like 5 mins later the hail starts. Now the church I work at has lots of big windows. Let me tell you, it was loud. It started just in time for one of my students to get completely drenched leaving class. I feel sorry for him. I kinda wished I had ended class for him like 2 mins early, but how was I to know? Anyway, I had less than an hour break until my next class. Well, this terrible, loud thunderstorm was over in plenty of time for my next student to come regardless. Too bad, I was kinda hoping to cancel class. I'm a terrible teacher. :-P

Anyway, apparently this is typical of Japanese thunderstorms. They come, rage and then are over in less than an hour and you continue with your day. How strange. I'm used to them lasting so much longer. Ahh, the adjustments.

So today I ended up with a bit of a surprise. The hazards of my job. I decided to dress a bit down today, it was a little hot, so I went sleeveless. Not my most flattering choice lately. Well, of course today was the day I got a surprise observation. Not just one kid, but two (siblings) AND their mother wanted to watch class too! AHHH! My previous class had been a bit late getting out, and then I find this mother and two new kids standing around and I didn't know they were coming (apparently this had been real last minute.) Well, recently I don't really "plan" so much for my classes. Yeah, it's sad, but well, I'm good at winging it. Well, this caught me off guard, so I had to "plan" a really good lesson for two new students (who I didn't know their English level) and have their mom watch the whole process. Ick. Fortunately it went pretty well. I'm good at faking it. ;-) The kids left saying it had been a fun class. I was surprised. Not bad for on the fly teaching.

But it made me realize how much Japanese I've been using in class lately, just because it's easier. Most of the time the moms want us to only use English, but that's hard sometimes. But having the mom watch makes you really self-conscious. It was interesting, but the boys were pretty good and didn't have so much trouble keeping up. If they join, that'll bring that class up to 6 kids. My kids classes have been getting a bit larger this year. I guess that's good. But it does change how I plan er... "plan" lessons. Fun fun stuff.

And randomly, I've discovered a cute new hair style. (I'm constantly changing my hair style depending on season and length of hair) I cut it pretty short last October, and now, just in time, it's long enough to put up again. Not so long, but at least long enough to keep off the back of my neck. Well, I've discovered this "messy bun" look. I put up most of my hair in a messy pony tail with little bits left trailing out. The humidity works for me here and those stray pieces become nice and curly. The rest, I kind of just pin up wherever. The result is this really cute messy look. I like it and it's cool. So I'll probably wear it for the rest of the week. Until I get tired of it. Unforunately, I think I look better with my hair down, but I pretty much can't stand to have it down in the summer, so it'll probably be various up-do's for a while. That's ok, I like up-do's.

Well, tomorrow is Friday. I like Friday classes. They are always fun. Then comes Saturday, which will include a Bible Study, and then I get to go to the band "concert". Yep, fun stuff. Time flies though. I can't believe it's that time again. Wow. But I totally understand the people who live for the weekend now. I might become one of them soon. ;-)

And you know, Kids are great confidence boosters. I have this class of four little girls today. They are super cute. And they love me. It's great. Took forever for them to warm up to me, but now I'm happy. Yeah, I eat it up. I love it when the kids love me. Hehehehehe. The middle schoolers don't seem to care one way or the other, but oh well, you can't win them all. I'll take what I can get.

Ok, I think that's all the random rambling for now. I should go to bed because I have to get up early for prayer meeting tomorrow. I have to figure out when I'm going to do my Japanese homework too. Hmmm... That's what I get for procrastinating.

Ok, later.

Oh yeah, this is post 105. If you break it down, that's my birthday. 10-5. Hehehe. Yeah, totally random and meaningless. Kinda like my life. Yeah, I shouldn't try to make deep connections after work. ;-)

1 comment:

Vivacious said...

Wheee! I'm glad you were able to plan quickly for that impromptu lesson. I would be SO nervous with the mother watching me too. x_X But I'm glad it went well.

So some instances you're allowed to speak Japanese to your students and in others not? @_@

And you didn't get drenched by the rainstorm thankfully. XD