Week 40: It's JUNE!

Well, look at that. Another month gone by.

Isn't it weird, sometimes, how time...passes?  I mean, it always does, but part of you still doesn't expect it.

Been a good week!  Lovely weather!  Which surprised me a little, because everyone has been saying "oooooh, rainy season! It's coming! Be prepared!" And then this last week was just BEAUTIFUL.

Not too hot, cool breeze, nice mix of sunny and cloudy... really nice.

Of course, I DID get sick for about 24 hours. I know it wasn't a 24 hour flu, because I've had those. I felt like death.  It was more like a 24 hour cold.  Unplesent, but livable.  The Tuesday school was having their week long field trip for the 5th graders, (this is a thing they do here!) into Osaka, I didn't teach them on Tuesday. Instead I did short lessons for the 2nd graders, which was good because 1) they're cute and 2) shorter lessons than I would have given the 5th graders.

Thursday was an adventure!  So...Thursday school is the farthest school, a little over 3 miles away.  I could ride the train there, but biking is easy and fun, so I do that.  Only THIS time, about a mile into the trip, the chain came off my bike!

I ride a commuter bike, not a gear bike, so the chain is tight on, and doesn't have the little spring thing gear bikes have to make 1)changing gears possible and 2)putting the chain back on easy.

I couldn't remember how to put the chain back on without tools, so I (first called work to let them know I'd be late) thought I'd drop the bike off at the nearby train station and ride the train into work.  Only this train line didn't go near my work.

So I figured I'd drop into a bike shop. Japan is a biking country.  There are THREE bike shops in a 2 bock radius of my house.  

There are no bike shops in the 2 mile walk to my school.  ::sigh::

So I ended up walking all 2 miles, only being 15 minutes late to work, and the vice principal was nice enough to fix my chain. :)  (I'm gonna make him cookies)

And my first lesson didn't start until 2nd period.

Thursday was ALSO interesting because I got to see an annual tradition at..well, most schools!  The cleaning of the pool!

the empty pool!

All the schools I've been to so far have had a pool.  This one is on top of one of the buildings, obviously to save space.

They keep it full of water through the winter (not sure why) and it gets really gunky.  So cleaning is needed.  And who better to clean the pool than our local slave labor?!

look at them go!

That's right, the students!  Every year, the 5th and 6th graders scrub the pool and its surrounding areas!

They're like little worker ants!

I watched them, they did a very good job.  With...minimal water fights. :)  And it was a perfect day for it, so that was nice too.  They're very excited for swim lessons.

I chatted with my principal about the swimming, she says she has a lot of trouble being calm during swim season, because of course, something might happen.  I can understand.  On the bright side, members of the community can use the pool as well, as long as there is someone keeping an eye on everything.  It's like gym time in Alaska.  You just need some adults there to be in charge. :)

I have to wonder if the 5th graders were camping, because I saw these

How to build a fire

posted up.  I gotta say, I think it's great to show the science of how fire building and heat works! :)

Friday, my chain came off the bike again, but I remembered how to fix it, so I didn't have to walk, and I wasn't late. I need to take it in to get it tightened.  :)

I stopped by a store and saw some interesting things.  For instance, with the change in weather, everyone is BIG on gardening.

very traditional looking.

baby rakes!

And of course, you know it's gonna get warmer, so there are bamboo pillows,

it allows air flow.  I gotta get one.

And the strawberries are still coming out.

they're so tiny!

But as they're still expensive, I don't tend to get those.

Saturday was a grown up day.  I cleaned, I did laundry, I went shopping, I cooked lunches for the next week... in the evening, I was going to go to a Bali dance festival, but it started raining.  So here is a dramatic re-enactment of what I did instead.

The Koala is playing the part of me.