The Witless Clunkery of a Third-Rate Mind

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

2 Months ... sorry!

Sorry I haven't posted anything for 2 months. Some people were worried about me, so thanks. But I'm okay. I haven't been particularly busy, just not a whole lot of stuff to talk about.

School finished. It was a tough semester, in some ways. The students at the school are a bit of a handful sometimes - crazy, rowdy behaviour, but no enthusiasm for the material. Plus, teaching 6 40-minute classes a day is tiring, in a different way that teaching 3 90-minute classes a day (like I was doing before) is tiring.

I'm going back to the same school in the fall, though, and hopefully we're going to take some of the things we've learned about the students and the program, and make some adjustments, and make the whole situation a bit better. Plus, I know the students now, and they know me, so everything should run a bit better.

For the last week or so, since classes finished, I have been working in the Tokyo office. Although the commute is kind of miserable (90 minutes on a full - but not packed! - train) working in the office is actually kind of fun. Compared with the school, where there were only 4 of us stuck off on our own in a neglected wing of an underused, old building, the office seems like a very bright and cheerful place. There's a lot going on, there are other people to talk to; it feels more stimulating. And, it's a change from the school. For one week, that's pretty good. (I'm also going back to the office for a few weeks in September, when I come back to Japan.)

SO, the big news is that I'm coming back home for the month of August! It will be a hectic month and it's going to fly by, I'm sure. I'm aiming to spend roughly half of the time in Ontario, and half in New Brunswick. I'm REALLY looking forward to spending some time at the cottage, as I didn't get too many days there last year. But even one or two days this summer will be fantastic.

Other than that, I have no plans. I'm going to be lazy, study some kanji, read some novels, watch some movies, eat some real Canadian pizza and chicken wings (Japanese pizza tends to have a lot of corn, mayo, and tuna on it - I don't mind it, but it's just not the same, is it?) and just generally take it easy and try not to run out of money too quickly.

So, anyway, if you're reading this, I'm probably going to see you very shortly! I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are too.