Derniere Danse

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4

For school today, I wore my hair up. First, because my hair was a snarled mess after Monday and secondly because I'd forgotten until it was too late. Third because this late after Halloween (not that anyone in Japan, probably including the students I taught three days before) knows when Halloween is, so wearing the ears just felt odd. I missed having them on my ears, though, during the bike ride in. They'd kept them quite warm on Monday.

Classes were pretty well behaved and they all noticed my ears instantly. It gave a nice little commotion whenever I ended a classroom, which I enjoyed. Students were generally good and lessons were fun.

I spent what little free time I had in the teacher's room frantically trying to bang out a lesson on gestures. It proved difficult. I did some research online and came up with a nice list of gestures in English, but no activities and I know that my classes are much too lecture-based. (It's so much easier!) I was not happy with how not well this lesson was coming together.

After school, I talked with Sheila for a long time about gestures. I wanted to know if the students knew some, didn't know others and what she thought was a priority. I then put together some worksheets (that were not up to my usual quality, I'm sad to admit.) By this time, it was late enough that the copy machine room had been locked! I don't know why, as there were plenty of teachers still there. Neither Sheila or Aimee were still there, but another JTE, my supervisor at Kogyo took my papers for me and said she'd get them copied and distributed for me. I thanked her profusely and headed home, completely beat.

I watched THAT scene from UP on YouTube. It's amazing how even a YouTube video from Up can make me sob. I love that movie.