Well, let’s see what’s been going on. In no particular order at all:
1. I’ve been listening to a lot of NPR. I like to stay posted on current events.
2. I’ve been reading too many books at one time. Currently I’m swapping between Dickens’ David Copperfield, a Sookie Stackhouse novel, a children’s manga series called Ochibi San, a Julio Cortázar short story in Spanish, and Stephen King’s Four Past Midnight. I like diversity in literature.
3. I’ve been watching a lot of movies, namely, Paranormal Activity, which made me think my apartment was inhabited by demons and prevented me getting any good sleep for about a week. But then I realized that things weren’t moving around by themselves, so I calmed down a little bit.
4. I’m taking the JLPT on December 4, this time Level 3. I’m planning on failing, which means I’m not studying nearly as much as I should be. I just find it impossible to inhale as much kanji and vocabulary as I need in order to pass it. But, like they always say, ganbarou……ne?
5. I want to go look at autumn leaves! I just haven’t gone yet.
6. Since the weather is so nice, I’m riding my bike to school more often. I say hello to Kohei and Ryosuke every morning as I cycle by their house. At the traffic light, I usually run into Misaki, and from Mitsudera Park to the school there’s a steady stream of students to say good morning to. I don’t know why they still act surprised when they see me, though. . . I’ve been riding my bike off and on for months.
7. One terrible thing happened today that I didn’t find out about until later. A 2nd grade student, a fellow member of the track-and-field club, got hit by a car on her way to school this morning! She is OK, but her left arm and shoulder got hurt pretty badly and had to be put in a sling. She came back to school this afternoon (just to pick up her assignments with her mom) after spending all morning in the hospital. Needless to say, she was still a little shaken up, but seemed to be doing all right. I love that brave little Moe!
8. For the most part, school is going pretty well. My 2nd grade teacher had to suddenly resign due to health problems, which upset that grade a bit. She’s been replaced by an assistant teacher, who is slightly panicking but still doing a fine job. They say it’s just for a little while, but I also hear that it’s really hard to find a full-time English teacher mid-year. We’ll see if anything changes before the end of the school year in March. Some days I get upset at school because I have so much work to do, and some days I have time to tranquilly sip a cup of afternoon coffee while reading a book. It just depends on what week it is.
10. And last of all in my list of news, one of my Japanese friends is leaving on Sunday to go abroad to Canada for a year. We had a big farewell party for him with a lot of ALTs, which was both fun and depressing at the same time, as farewell parties are apt to be. Later, he told me, “It’s funny how one little incident can change the direction of your life. Two years ago Shinji invited me to have dinner in Shibukawa. If I wouldn’t have gone, we never would have become friends again. Then I wouldn’t have gone snowboarding. I wouldn’t have met Graham and Peter and Jacob and Kaitlin. And I wouldn’t have gone to Canada. And now I’m going to Canada. Just because me and Shinji went out for dinner.”
So now I’m thinking about those things, too, and tracing my life events back to their origins. Where would I be if things had been different?
Upcoming Events
November 13, International Bus Tour, hopefully to meet more Spanish-speakers
November 19, Wine Festival
November 22, ALT Thanksgiving Dinner
November 23, a day off (and my dad’s birthday)
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