First Day Back

Well it’s the first day back to the grind stone. I know I’ve only had 3 weeks off. But it has all gone by so quickly.

I thankfully arrived back in Japan with no problems, my flight wasn’t overbooked and I didn’t get delayed a whole day. The only down-side was that I wasn’t able to sleep as well as I would have hoped. I was one of the few who were fortunate enough to be sitting with an empty seat next to me. So after a while, I gave up trying to be polite and try to sleep in one chair. But I really needed to sleep to help with jetlag. It was just that finding a comfortable way to sleep was difficult. I was seated in the middle 4-seat width column on one side, while on the other side; the person didn’t seem interested in sleeping at all. He was far more comfortable reading his book with the light on. I think he did sleep for a little while, but it wasn’t very long. His light was bright and it didn’t help that I was sat near the toilet in the middle of economy. So I also had the light to show that the toilet was vacant or occupied shining on me. I didn’t really fancy wearing a night mask, so I tried blocking the light with my hands in front of my face or just throwing the blanket over me to dim it out. Overall, I think I got a few hours’ sleep, but it clearly wasn’t really enough. I slept more on the train from the airport to Ueno Station, the shinkansen and the bus from Morioka to Kuji. I guess I was more relaxed than on the plane even though I am sure that it would have been better to sleep on the plane because I didn’t have to worry about missing my stop. Oh well, it’s just one of those things I guess. I am just glad to be back in Kuji safely.

Friday was so hectic. It didn’t help that I had bad jetlag and felt dizzy most of the day. But in the morning I had to meet the new school principals and head of English, which finished at 11:40am. Then I had to go home and then go to Morioka for a health check and to sign my contract. When arrived at the office, I just saw a bunch of smiling faces and frantic hands waving at me. It was great to feel welcomed, but it seems that most of them wanted to talk to me. I didn’t get that finished until around 5:40pm. Then I really wanted to make the most of being in Morioka and near my favourite shop “The Body Shop”. Although google maps hated me and I almost went to the wrong Aeon mall, which was in fact a super market. But it took a fair bit of my petrol while trying to drive around on roads I don’t really know. But once I stopped at a Lawson, and managed to find where the right Aeon mall is. Once I got there, the mall was quiet and I was able to get what I wanted in the Body Shop and then I went to Tower records and found Super Junior M’s Swing mini-album. After that, I went to get a quick snack before the drive back to Kuji. Although, I tried to save the little battery power I had in my phone and not use the GPS to help me find my way back. But I was getting annoyed by the lights of the car behind me instead and ended up turning when I wasn’t meant to. Luckily I didn’t go far and was able to turn around and get back on route. I didn’t do too bad and got back to Kuji in two hours and thirty minutes. It would have been quicker if I had not taken the wrong turning and gotten stuck behind a really slow driver.

Thankfully Saturday was a little bit more relaxing. I did have an Eikaiwa (Adult English Conversation Class) in the morning. I felt a little bad by just leaving instantly. But I was given a Bagel to try and I really enjoyed it. Then I noticed someone was watching Finding Nemo, so I was intrigued to listen to it as it was in Japanese. Afterwards, I was finally able to go shopping and buy all the food and drink that I needed. I arrived too late on Thursday to go shopping and I was also exhausted. Then I definitely didn’t have time on Friday, so I just had to wait. When I got home, I was also finally able to clean the mess that I left before going on holiday.

 

As you can see, I really did leave it in such a state. In addition, as it was finally warm enough to sleep without using a heater on a timer, I could move my bed back into my tatami room and make way for getting a better sofa into my apartment. Even though I only moved my bed into the room just before Christmas, it was strange to be back into the tatami room.

Today was my first day at a new High School. It was really nerve wrecking to have to start all over again. There isn’t a teachers seating plan, so I can’t try to learn all the staff’s names as it’s a huge staff room and so many faces to put the names to. Luckily I only had two classes to teach today and the students were shy, but I think I managed to get them to open up, even if it was only a little. However, I am still nervous about teaching them from their text book. Although I might know the second years textbook as Taneichi is using the same book. I might be lucky and be able to use the same ideas for the different schools. I am hoping I can get away with that.