my first day of school!

.. was exhausting!! i taught 4 double free time lessons (80 min.) to 2 students each. a pretty standard day at okayama ecc, but a wild ride for me! it's clear that at this point the students are far more familiar with the procedures than i am.. every time i took creative license with the very standardized lessons, i would get a few sideways glances and small utterances of the japanese equivalent of "what the fuck did he just say?"

i showed up this morning about 2 hours early and beat everyone in! i met my director by accident (who would have thought she would be a young attractive girl named suki? "director" just sounds so angela lansbury to me..) it turns out there is only one other staff member besides her. they are both very nice and i can tell they run that school like a well oiled machine!

about half way through the day a very tall and very sharp tia carrere look-alike rolled in rawking knee-high boots and carrying a motorcycle helmet. she wore an ipod on her belt (which was the style at the time). the stopped and rolled her hips to give the camera a few seconds to pan up and the flash bulbs to pop before she tossed her hair and took off her sunglasses - slide guitar. she cursed in japanese and dropped her helmet on the counter. the now three japanese women laughed and chatted about in bird-like fashion before she shoved me a hand and a smile and introduced herself in perfect english. "hey, i'm Lola. i'm the other english teacher!" yikes. she teaches beginning students (adults) in the carpeted room. they leave a neat row of knee high boots just outside the door.

after work i ate and drank at a yakitori in downtown okayama. i had some fried wontons and rice and miso with muscles. i sat at the bar and the guys behind the counter were yelling a lot enjoying themselves! i got to use all the japanese i know and learned a little more.

i do it all again tomorrow! i think one of my pals from my training group is coming out to okayama to sub for a few days so we'll hang out and eat! i’ll take some food pictures for you guys!