Remember, Remember the Fifth of November...

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5

Today was a lot like Tuesday. I spent the day in the hallway freezing through students' speeches. Mama gave me her heavy coat to wear, insisting that I must be cold. It was quite generous of her, though it wasn't quite enough for sitting there unmoving for hours.

I'm getting much more comfortable grading, although I still feel like it's terribly subjective. So far, I've given out grades of anywhere between 1/10 and 10/10. The student who got 1/10 memorized just the first sentence of their speech. Then could not say a single sentence to describe the picture I pointed to (given to him, with example sentences to study ahead of time.) I felt bad, but I also had very little sympathy. It's not like they didn't have warning.

I spent any free time frantically working on my relationships lesson for Nishi. The Jeopardy! Game I was trying to work out just wasn't working, in part because I have NO IDEA about Japanese celebrities and my teachers are too old to confidently comment on who the students know. So, I threw together a game where the students must choose the celebrity. I don't know if it'll work or not, but it's frustrating and I needed to get the lesson to Tamora before the weekend, so she could give me feedback.

As it turns out, I left work and got home after 6pm. I sent the e-mail off from home to Tamora and hoped she'd get it. I didn't get a response that night, but figured I'd hear from her on Monday.

Spent the evening watching “V for Vendetta” thanks to the help of Marie's cousin, who sent me a link to the movie online. Remember, Remember the fifth of November... Seems like many people watched it in Madison, too.

The weekend was quite welcome. I spent the evening flipping through Lonely Planet deciding on what I'd do in Kyoto the following day. I had a big day ahead of me. As I was going in for the Gion Odori anyway, I figured I might as well make a full day of it, though I was unhappy about setting my alarm clock.