Ohayou Gozimasu...
Ok so today wasn't exactly filled with energy and laughter as you can probably guess from the title. I had fun today but the night before was a horrible night for getting sleep so I woke up pretty late and feeling pretty run down. Today we were in the High School, which would mean some serious teaching work (not the best thing for a sleep deprived teenager) however when we arrived at the High School we were told that they'll be only one class for the day as the others are on a school trip to Kyoto (Lucky buggers). Since the other classes were out, we had two hours to kill in the library.
Now... I may or not may have.. depending who you ask, fallen asleep in the library for those two hours. Thankfully I was informed that no one came into the room and the whole time I had paper underneath my arms and I was holding a pen so anyone looking in would hopefully assume I was just writing. Whilst it's pretty bad I did fall asleep, we thankfully didn't have anything else to do, so nothing was wasted.
However, the two extra hours sleep really did help as once I was awake again and back to life, I was filled with my usual energy and excitement for the day. We finally settled into the classroom and this time we did the usual repeat the following phrases but then we got asked more questions by the class. At first the questions came in English and it was the usual stuff about where we want to go, our favourite foods and hobbies but after the students clicked that I was understanding their Japanese slightly, they requested I ask them questions... only in Japanese.
Now, my Japanese is rough at the best of times but having been put on the spot in front of a class of 8 - 15 teenagers who all speak native Japanese; it becomes a tiny bit more daunting. I tried my best and asked things such as:
どこにすんでいますか。Doko ni sunde imasu ka? - Where do you live?
なんさいですか。Nan sai desu ka? - How old are you?
しゅみは何をしますか。Shyumi wa nani o shimasu ka? - What hobbies do you do?
Needless to say, they were very impressed when I managed to stutter out the questions. Every time there would be a massive chorus of: oooooooo or sugoii (amazing) which was really flattering yet embarrassing at the same time. Still it was fun and it lead to a few laughs at me trying to crawl my way through the most intense Q&A of my life.
Once it was over we headed back to the Sogo center as we were to be leaving for Onsen elementary school soon where we would meet with Stephanie (The American ALT living in Abuta) We were to be teaching an elementary class together in the fancy building that does not have many students in it. But anyway; when we arrived Stephanie was running late by no fault of her own, so we were taken into the class room by ourselves where yet again we had to introduce ourselves in Japanese and then English. I think I need to refresh my memory on my introduction because it's really getting sloppy these days.
The class were talking about countries they'd like to visit and what they'd like to eat and see while they are there. We helped them with pronunciation before they stood in front of the class and presented their big poster with the information written on it. The class were really good at English and were using some seriously complicated country names such as Argentina and Venezuela. Plus they included native dishes to those countries, or well I hope they did and they didn't just make such a bad mistake that we couldn't interpret what the food actually was.
When Stephanie arrived we kind've got replaced by her but that's fine, the kids are more comfortable with her and she really is great with them plus she's been here for a couple of years now. I hope later in the year I can have a similar relationship with the children which I am sure I will if I keep giving it my best. Once the day was finished we were to go to yet another place: Onsen after school club.
This after school club is probably the smallest out of them all but boy the children again are very lively. They tricked us pretty good as well, when we first went in we sat down and had snack time as they do everywhere and then they all went over to the books and began reading books.. it was pure heaven and relaxation for us.... or at least it was for about 10 minutes, then chaos ensued. We began chasing the children around as they climbed on our legs and tried to drag us to the floor.
All of the children at the club are boys so it tends to be a bit rougher than the other places. Eventually we managed to channel the energy into the most disorganized soccer game ever which allowed them to use up some energy. Though, that being said: I'm fairly certain the children here are solar powered because they just don't stop. Soccer turned into dodge ball about half way through with an entirely different rule set to the other after school clubs, making it difficult to try and understand.
Later on it became a game of catch and then finally a little more relaxing (though equally confusing) version of Hide and Seek. At the end of it all I was so exhausted and my legs were killing me. Though I make sure never to show the children that I am exhausted. We all sat down and watched some Tom and Jerry before we were picked up and taken back to the house.
Sadly, the day was not over yet as tonight I had Yosakoi dancing which is something I am definitely going to keep doing. I have now been told that my official debut performance will be on the 23rd of November and for those of you that don't know, that my friends is both the date of the towns culture festival where lots of people will come to watch, but also the day of my 19th birthday. SO! Yet again, I am on stage doing a performance on my birthday, though thankfully this time I wont be in make up and a dress. (Pantomimes... enough said.)
By time I got home I crashed into bed with my sore legs as I had practiced extremely hard tonight, barely taking any breaks as I was determined to learn the routine and be ready for next month. I'm really excited for the performance and I can't wait. That's all for today, it was definitely a busy one and I am sure I will wake up with sore legs yet again, but alas I do not care. Tomorrow is a desk day with barely anything to do so I can sit and relax for the most part.
Oyasuminasai!!~
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