Today is officially the first day of the state of "my not having a bike"-ness sucking. I had one of my longest days here today. I left the house at 10:15, got to Mak about an hour later after my walking-train-train-walking extravaganza that is my commute. I got home about quarter past ten, oh, look 12 hours later. I was at the school the whole time, I only taught 5 and a quarter hours, and yet I was on premises for 10 and a half hours. The same amount of time to plan per class as the actual class takes. Unbelievable. The good news...I have Kenichi again!!! He was so surprised when he saw me, and then even more floored when I made it evident that I was his "new" teacher...again. His mum was so excited when I saw her after class. Both the other teacher and the receptionist said they had never heard that class so quiet. They were astonished. It's 3 very obnoxious, very active 8 year old boys. I loved it. We threw some stuff, we played some games. They hated doing the text work, but when it came time to do their workbook I'd worked them over on everything else, plus threatened them with taking away their English Challenge if they spoke any Japanese (stamps which they can then "buy" cool stuff with like fun erasers or trading cards from the school), that they settled right down and did wonderfully well. It's not like I ever have to take away their EC, I don't actually want to, but if pushed, I will do it to assert my authority, and then I back down from it. It usually works really well to keep a balance of trust and confidence with authority and respect. I certainly don't ask for any more respect than I give the kids. I treat them like people, as opposed to the little rug rats that they are (!!!), and they usually give it back. Except that one girl on Thursdays. But she's a special case. I don't know what her drama is, but I think she hates me more than I hate "THE MOUSE"...and that's saying a lot. A heck of a lot.
Thought for the day, by Kent Runge over at the BHT:
When your nation's your messiah it's axiomatic that your president's your pastor.
I'll just leave that with you for a while. Mull that one over, and all it's subtleties, it's beautiful.
