Frustrating

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

Woke up and crawled under my kotatsu, which made it hard to get dressed or brush my teeth. This could cause problems.

At school, I was teaching my relationships lesson with Seth. As it turns out, Tamora had never given him the lesson plans so the first thing he said to me was, “So... what's the lesson for today?” Given that I have a first hour class with him and that Nishi doesn't have a homeroom before first hour, this gave us very, very little time.

Then, to make matter worse, I had to go print off my worksheets (as I have no printer in my apartment, obviously) so we could photocopy the sheets. The copiers were misbehaving (because Nishi photocopiers hate me) and it was just a stressful, disastrous morning.

I got up to class before Seth because he was still finishing some copying. I introducted the warm-up (which worked wonderfully at Koko) and the students just stood there, completely uninterested, although I know they understood because it was very, very simple. Rather than walk around the room and talk to people, some even sat down. Seth arrived with the worksheets and we started in on the core of the lesson.

Sadly, students weren't as excited about learning about relationships as I'd hoped. Some students found it vaguely interesting (and they enjoyed my acting) but they weren't enthusiastic. It makes me wonder if Nishi girls are EVER enthusiastic. Some did the worksheet (if they have to draw lines, they all pull out rulers to do it, rather than just draw a straight-ish line.)

During one class today, I watched a girl use a metal contraption to curl her eyelashes. My final class of the day, which is usually my worst, actually took to the lesson fairly well. Yes, there were many students who were not participating, but I had no students sleeping, which is stunning, in my mind.

I know I'm only there once a week, but I'm a little annoyed that the students still don't know my name.

I has a nice, broken chat in the tea/sink room off the teacher's room with a random teacher. It was enjoyable and left me in a good mood.

Seth and I talked a lot today and it was actually really, really good. It was the friendliest we've been. He gave me contact information so I can get lessons to him in the future.

I left at 4:25 and caught the rapid home.

I got together with Elizabeth in the evening for movies. She just got a new DVD player, so we ended up watching an episode of Mad Men and an episode of... I don't remember the other show. It was enjoyable. She doesn't have a futon for her kotatsu yet, though, so it was rather cold. I kept my hat and coat on. It's good to be able to talk to her – I can't imagine being as secluded as some JETs are. I think Elizabeth and I keep each other sane. She's wondering if she's starting Stage Two of culture shock (where you have Japan) and it's possible. We both get frustrated with things and it's good to have an outlet to vent so we can face things more positively later (and know that we're not alone.)

Her boyfriend loaned me some maps of Nara, as it's my plan to travel there this weekend. They recommended two days and staying overnight, but hostelworld says that they're all booked, so I'll just go one day.