Hey there,
Second post in a day! Guess that's what a desk job does to you! Actually I'm now at home fighting to keep my eyelids open, but I feel the desire to tell about my slightly crazy day.
The morning way pretty normal - staff meeting, two classes, some photocopying, etc. Other than the fact in the second class we spent the latter portion with the students teaching me a folk dance (named the Oklahoma mixup or something similarly traditional Japanese...).
After lunch the same teacher had organised for one of the PE teachers to also run me through the dance (I was under strict instructions to say the students taught me at LUNCHTIME, not during class!). That was a nice thought, but I fear the English teacher forgot the overwhelming seriousness of people who have sport as a way of life. Not only was I put through my paces on not just one but two different dances, but poor Wasada-sensei was too! She had only meant to take me down to the weights room to introduce me to the teacher, but she got roped into helping as my alternate partner, until finally the PE teacher decided I had the hang of the steps, so she focused on making sure Wasada-sensei got it too! We were both super sweaty and giggling by the time the PE teacher decided we were up to scratch and our dance lesson ended.
At the end of the lesson, as we passed through the PE teachers office, I finally gave myself the mental kick up the bum I've needed for a long time and asked about trying Kendo. The other teacher - a fresh-faced guy who turned 23 today - was one of the Kendo teachers, so he invited me to come along at 4pm to watch the students training.
That all sounded like fun and I was very excited, but just before 4pm I discovered the sapphire had come out of my engagement ring. I discovered this about ten minutes after the students had finished cleaning the school. I paled to think of my sapphire (ok, I'll put it out there, it's worth over a grand) in the bottom of a vaccuum cleaner or thrown into a bin by some student who made the safe assumption it was plastic. I remembered knocking my ring on the fan in Jinseki yesterday, but couldn't recall actually looking at the stone all day, so I had no idea when it would have come out. This meant it could have been in Jinseki, in my car, on any one of the four levels at school or down the drain from washing my hands. My response was the only suitable one - panic. Unfortunately, in one of those horrible bad timing situations, I found my stone was missing seconds before I was due to have my picture taken for the school magazine, so in my permenant school photo I will be looking like a startled rabbit, trying not to cry!
So I then spent a good while going up and down stairs, crawling round my classroom on my hands and knees and sticking my finger down the bathroom sink when I thought the students weren't looking (there was gunk. Gross, but it was plausible it could have caught my ring).
Finally, almost half an hour after I had promised to be at Kendo, I dragged the Kendo teacher out of practise to make him unlock the weights room for me, where we had been dancing. The Kendo teacher and I both did a couple of circles of the room looking for it and I had actually shrugged and said it wasn't here, we might as well lock up again, when I saw a small blue thing glinting in the centre of the wooden floor. Turns out the problem with circling the room is you don't check the middle! I was so happy to have it back I very almost hugged the teacher. Only, as I didn't even know his name yet and we had only met that afternoon, I didn't think it was the best way to make him feel comfortable round his new student. Instead I was so happy that - after a quick phone call to tell Jeff it was ok, it was FOUND - I went and spent almost two hours watching and talking to the Kendo students.
Now my Wednesday is truely a cultural experience. I will have Sports Festival, where I will be performing two American-style folk dances with hundreds of Japanese students, followed by my first Kendo lesson, where I can safely assume I will be hit over the head repeatedly with a bamboo sword (turns out that's what Kendo is!).
Next step is to also try Japanese archery (kyudo, I think it's called. Done with bows significantly taller than the students - a truly elegant sport) and tennis. Yes, you heard me, tennis. My theory is that if I'm making an ass of myself with my lack of Japanese and my lack of ability in traditional Japanese sports, I'm unlikely to make myself look any worse trying a sport we have at home. This could be my chance to stop being quite such a sporting retard... Of course, these are big words. Jeff keeps laughing at me for being so 'first year', with my excess of enthusiasm and plans to get involved in everything. So I'm not swearing on my hamster's life or anything, just telling y'all of my intentions...
Cheers,
Charly
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