Sorry about the sad post. In a vacuum without friends or family around me, I'll be prone to emotionally venting on my blog. So, thanks for reading, sorry for bumming you out.
I'm two days into the marathon-style elementary school schedule. But, two days in a row is nothing compared to the next three weeks, of five-days-straight Japanese kids and lessons. Riding my bike up a long, steep hill on my way to two of the four schools, wasn't impossible, as previously assumed...but, it wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise, either.
On the plus side, the teachers have apparently actually researched the lessons. So, it comes to pass that my greatest fears about the new plan have been assuaged. ...At least for the first day, at 2 of the 4 schools I'm supposed to go to.
Honestly, after the emotional body-check I got last week, I'm just happy to get out of the house, on occasion. It's not a cakewalk, but it isn't impossible...so far. By the middle of next week, I may feel differently, but right now, it seems manageable.
I've had hard classes, and I've had great classes. It all depends on the mood of the students, and how active the teacher is being. Strangely, the worst class I've had so far was when I was teaching a lesson from the old books, when the teacher just left class at the beginning. She came back after around 10 minutes, but the class was unruly and unwilling to focus on the task at hand.
Explaining to teachers that since the textbook is all in Japanese, I don't understand the activities is still pretty funny to me. I'm glad I can approach it like that, and not twist my stomach up in knots about how to conduct class, as each school wants to emphasize different aspects of different chapters. I know I'll have some rough days, but my basic approach is to give a laugh and try to appreciate the humorous nature of my position - and not focus on the bad transit and exhausted state of my body at the end of each day.
As much as there are great things to enjoy about Japan, I can't kill the yearning I have for home. This is the longest I've been away from my parents' house, and certainly away from all my friends all over. Gah. I know I've written this all time and time again, and really I need to refocus the blog and write about new things I've doing/experience. It's just hard when you hit a bit of a snag like this; I don't think my desire to come home, though I am balancing it with my desire to stay in Japan, will decrease in the next six months. If anything, it'll just keep rising and rising until that wish is satisfied.
I'm confident that I can reacclimate myself to the isolated position I've chosen to put myself into .
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