Week 54: Back to School!

Well, it's been an entertaining week!

First of all, I went back to teaching, which was nice, because I really do better with some sort of schedule and routine.  And I missed teaching.  It was also hard, because it's a change in energy output and it was hard to adjust back to teaching, so I was tired at the end of each day.  :)

I also had something to do after school most days!  In fact, this started on Sunday, when, after church, a bunch of us got together and had dinner!

I just had to show you this. doesn't it look like something out of a painting?

He always plays guitar for us. Our favorite this time was a rock version of "Book of Mormon Stories"

Then on Monday, after school, I headed to the Chiropractor.  You know how I've been trying to do pushups?  I was doing really well, but had to stop after a while, because it was really messing up my shoulders.  Mom helped a lot when she visited, but...just a constant pain.  So I finally found a Chiropractor.

This is harder than it looks.  First of all, Chiropracty isn't regulated in Japan, so I found a list of WHO certified Chiropractors, THEN I had to find one near-ish me.  THEN I had to find one who spoke enough English to make an appointment.

It was LOVELY.  I'm gonna try push-ups again, and hope that regular Chiropractor visits will help put my shoulders back in place enough between push-ups that I can grow the muscle needed to NOT mess up my shoulders...

Tuesday was English class again.  I gave the missionaries copies of the family version of "Called to Serve".  I like spreading it around. :)

Wednesday, I got a hair cut!

before

after

I really like this guy, he's really good at this!  He's also moving this week.  ::sigh::  Glad I got it when I did!

Thursday, as mentioned on Facebook, was entertaining because the weather finally got tired of me making fun of it and dumped a LOT of rain in me on my way to school.  I mean...fooosh.  I had my rain jacket, so my top was ok, but no rain pants, so my pants were soaked.  And my shoes. And socks. and my little towel.  When I got to the school, my mind had done that kind of shut-down that's like "I'm SO wet. What do I take care of first?"  And I ended up wandering around a little, doing one thing at a time.

I carry an extra pair of socks in my briefcase (because you never know) and I had inside shoes for school, so that took care of the feet problem.  Someone loaned me a towel, so I went into the bathroom and wrung out my pants as much as possible.  And the principal was like "I'm really sorry...but you're scheduled to teach first period."  and I was like "you know, this is actually fine, because I don't really want to sit down right now."

And so I taught first period while wearing wet pants.  They were the skirt/pants I got at the beginning of summer, so they actually dried off really well, and by the end of first period, I was all good.

Except my shoes were still wet by the end of school, so I had to bike home with bare feet.  :P

Friday, I was so tired from the week in general, that I hid in my room and watched movies.

School has been fun!  Some of the 6th graders are learning "giving directions" so we built this little town with the places they're learning the names of "flower shop, post office, school, etc."  and they have a little one for their desks, and I have a big one for the blackboard.  And we played "where's my cat?"  Where you have a little figure wander around the town (one person giving directions "go straight one street, turn right") looking for the cat, which is a drawn picture under one of the cards representing the businesses in town.  I did a big demonstration on the blackboard for the class, so they knew what we were doing, and it started out a little slow, but after a few false guesses, the kids were all interested in WHERE that dumb cat was HIDING.  (one class didn't get him until the VERY LAST card, and I was thinking "I DID draw a cat, didn't I? wouldn't it be awful if I forgot to?)   :D

Saturday, I tried to go to a festival with a new friend.  Turns out we need to work on our coordination.  We decided to meet at Nakatsu station.  Turns out there are THREE of them.  We were at two different ones, we were communicating online, and I couldn't get a decent connection and her GPS wasn't working and finally I just went on my own, and we'll work it out better next time. :P

It was a fun festival!  Fiesta Mexicana!  (I still have the mariachi music in my head)

the determination with which they threw their skirts around!

It was much smaller than the Cinco de Mayo celebration, and only focused on Mexico this time.

they had balloon animals

and a VW bug.  Yeah.

and shopping stalls

And I decided to try a taco again!  Will I ever learn?  I cheated this time.  I saw one of the Mariachi players eating one and asked him which one he chose.

It was actually pretty darn good.

It needed lime, but, hey!  Not too shabby!

Not much happened for a little, so I just hung out and people watched (and read)  Though there were little breaks like a dance lesson.

because everyone must know the macarena

And I joined in some dancing off to the side with a bunch of clowns.

no, really, clowns.

they were fun!

and then they performed. it was very silly.

Then the Mariachis got up and performed (think they were from Guadalajara, could be wrong)  and I stood off to the side and danced a little on my own.  Some of the festival people saw me, and came over to talk to me.  Their English was pretty bad, and my Japanese is worse, so we spoke Spanish!  There's a culture change for you.

People kept complimenting my dress. I think they thought I had gotten it at the festival or something.

can't imagine why.

No, I'll admit, I wore it on purpose. :)  Though the main reason I got it was it's a good summer dress.

There was more performance dancing.

And then there was some join in dancing.

the view from the stage.

And there is nothing quite like seeing a little old Japanese lady in a Traditional Mexican dance outfit doing the Macarena.

so there you are.

They had an "oji-chan" or "grandpa" wandering around, mostly for picture opportunities.

he really played it up! it was great!

And people dressed up their dogs.

this is for you Katie!

And as it got later, part of me was like "eh, I could go home now" and the other part was "and what will you do at home?!  Sit around!  At least here you get fresh air!"  That part of me nags a lot.

I'm glad I stayed, there was more shows, and then the dancing started again!

of COURSE I joined in!

For the last Mariachi song, they said "who wants to dance?!"  and every one cheered, and some of us put up our hands, and then this guy behind me got up, walked past me and asked me to dance!  So I danced!  I always called it the "Mexican step dance" but Rachel has informed me it's the Marengue.  I will go with that for now.  It's really easy and lots of fun, but I haven't been dancing in a while and they played a medley that went on for over 15 minutes!  Yeesh!  by the end I was like "I can survive this!" :P

Then they started the DJ dancing and it got really nuts!  And of course I stayed and danced!  How often will I get the chance?  I even got asked to dance 3 more times after that!  I mean, REALLY?! how cool is that?!  :D  So, great night, lots of fun.

Everything hurts, but BOY it was worth it!