Where I Intended to Be

All Good Days Start With Bayern Wins October 26, 2010

I firmly believe this, and it’s an official part of the “get at least eight hours of sleep and eat a good breakfast” dogma that surrounds my evening-to-morning behavior. Granted, getting up at 3:30 in the morning to watch Bayern win games often contradicts the “eight hours of sleep” part, but inconsistency is just one of those quirks that one learns to live with.

So, first of all, a Bayern win automatically necessitates showing this video/sound file:

And then this video shows us the much-exalted second goal. This video also shows why (as I have always maintained) Basitan Schweinsteiger is a demigod who breathes in oxygen and exhales awesome. Keep in mind that he was the player that got us the first goal as well.

So, it’s been about a week since I checked in. I apologize for the delay, although I did know that my schedule was going to get pretty rough. The end of this month is an extremely busy time for my junior high school, and then I’m also trying to pull together a Halloween event for one of my elementary schools. In addition, The Dance Troupe went to a festival, The Band has been recording and practicing new songs, life has been active at The Gym, I’ve finalized everything regarding the new car, and I’m nearly done with graduate school applications.

I think that things will probably settle down by mid-November.

So, briefly and in no particular order, here are 7 memories from the past 7 days:

1) The junior high school had a massive open-school event last Wednesday where all the teachers in our town came to inspect and comment on our lessons. By and large, the English lesson I did with the JTE was one of the favorites. I credit enthusiastic students and a few moments of well-executed improvisation on the part of the English teachers.

2) Clemente is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life. In the days leading up to to the open-school event, he helped me stay sane with wry and well-timed quips. He also continues to sing We Are the World at random moments, and it does my heart a world of good.

3) I’ve formed a connection with the sixth graders at Thursday’s elementary school over the system of cursive writing. For some reason, they are extremely taken with it and we’ve become Extremely Good Friends now that I’ve taught them how to use it to write their own names.

4) I met The Japanese Best Friend last Saturday and we had a long, leisurely lunch together. Plans are now in full swing for next month’s Thanksgiving shindig. Early reports suggest that The Mentor will be attending.

5) The Dance Troupe and I headed south on Sunday to attend the largest of the festivals that invite us to dance. We danced on three separate stages, with our last performance being the best. I got to enjoy The Celebrity Magic for most of the afternoon, which was mostly strange but it also had its entertaining moments.

6) Hermione and I had a conversation on Monday where she found out that I will “most likely” be leaving in March. She was not pleased, and although I want to talk about it with her on a more comprehensive level, I’m not sure that I’m allowed to do so. Japanese schools are very secretive and deliberate when it comes to teachers that are transferred at the end of the school year. Normally, this behavior doesn’t apply to ALTs, but I’ve been here so long and I’m leaving at such an unusual time, that I’ve been told by some Authoritative Powers that I need to keep my situation quiet for the time being. So, she is left with suspecting that I will leave but not knowing for certain. Either way she’s mad. -_-;;

7) I made a slideshow about  Halloween to show my students. It has Disney cartoons, lots of pictures, a time-lapsed video of pumpkin carving and a section that highlights Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It’s quite spiffy, if I do say so myself.

And on that note, I better be off. I have another four days of Spectacular Spectacles ahead of me and much to do.

Wo wird lauschent Angegriffen wo wird Täglich Spioniert?
wo ist Presse wo ist Rummel wo wird immer Diskotiert?