It's a Tuesday morning, and I am sitting in the teacher's room at one of my schools. They wanted me to arrive by 8:30 am, which I did, but I don't actually start teaching till 2nd period, which begins at 9:45. Um, thanks. Oh well. So this gives me some time to catch up on my journal.

Over the weekend, I attended two parties... one was a dinner party with my ikebana class, because the term has ended, so we went out to celebrate the completion of the class. It was a group of about five other students, the teacher, and me. I was a little apprehensive because I would be the only one who speaks English, and I figured I would sit there smiling politely as they all talked way over my head in Japanese... but as it turned out, this was the first chance they had gotten to really talk to me- in class, everyone just sits there and arranges their flowers... there isn't much chatter. So it turned into "international" night, with tons of questions about America, how I like Japan, praise for my use of chopsticks, inquiries about my wedding plans- the usual. It gets kind of ridiculous sometimes because gaijin always get the same questions over and over, but I really didn't mind... it was fun. I mean, yeah, I kinda wished the focus had turned to someone else a little more, but it's evident that they were enjoying the chance to chat with a foreigner, and it was also my first chance to really chat with them. So it was all right! And the food was good! But it was funny... every time the waiter brought a new dish, someone in the party would helpfully identify it for me. "Yakitori desu... sashimi desu... fried potato desu..." Mmmhmm, really. As if I hadn't seen those foods before? So amusing... they must think that foreigners who live in Japan eat at McDonalds all the time or something! But that's okay, they were just being friendly.

The second party I went to was a karaoke party with some student's from the UNESCO English classes that my co-worker AET, Peter, teaches. Since I had filled in for him when he was in Australia, some of the students know me, so I was invited along. It was fun- I sang my usual songs- but I was actually a bit tired for some reason, so I mostly enjoyed relaxing and eating while other people sang.

This coming weekend, Peter and I are supposed to go to an onsen with some teachers we work with... we've actually invited all the teachers we work with, in fact, but so far, practically nobody is going. You've heard of student apathy... I guess this is "teacher apathy." Ah well. If they don't come, I will still enjoy the onsen!

I guess that's about all for today...I am enjoying the warmer weather immensely. I can't wait till my parents come, it's only two weeks away now! Yay!

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