Old Man Winter made an appearance.

[aide]

Today was the first snow of the year.  It was falling quite heavily but it had already rained this morning and it wasn't cold enough to stick.  It dusted the trees and some cars a little but it'll be gone by tomorrow, or have frozen overnight.  Thank god it's Saturday tomorrow and I have no plans to go anywhere.  I thought about going to see about renting the other 2 discs of Cashmere Mafia but I was just too damn cold.  Now that I'm home with the AC on, I don't want to go out again.

I slept in real bad for the first time this year today (8:50!).  Luckily, I didn't have any classes.  The grade 6's send off assembly was supposed to be periods 2 and 3.  I felt bad because I was going to be late for that too but when I finally got to work at about 9:40 I found out that it had been cancelled!  Too many kids were off sick.  One class had 8 absent.  Dude, I don't ever remember that man people getting sick at once when I was in school.  Something is seriously wrong here.  Anyway, so I didn't have anything scheduled at all until after lunch so I joined 4-5's PE class (HOLY CRAP I'm out of shape!). 

I was going to do calligraphy with them in 3rd period but Kunii-sensei said she had a new student from the Philippines and wanted me to come chat with her.  Her name is Nicole Anne and she's a sweet kid.  Came to Japan about a month ago; dad is Japanese, mom is Filipina and has 5 brothers and sisters.  One is older (she said 30!) and just got married in Canada.  She speaks Japanese and her English is passing but far from perfect and Tagalog.  She's also learning Chinese now she says.  She was telling me she didn't have any friends in Manila and used to get bullied a lot; she even showed me scars.  She also finished four months of 3rd grade work in a month.  I don't know much about the school systems in the Philippines, maybe someone can elighten me?  Is this normal?!  Anyway, she said she's got some good friends already and likes Japan even though she misses her aunts and cousins. 

Comments

[sundaecone.livejournal.com]

How old is she and what grade and school did she go to last when she was here? If you can ask what school she came from, I think I'd be able to tell if she's a normal student or some sort of genius. Haha!

3rd grade here is ideally for 9-year-olds, though there are some 8-year-olds nowadays. They used to be really strict back during my time. Guh. I had to repeat a grade just because I'm not old enough. What kind of bullshit excuse is that? ;___;

[maiaide.livejournal.com]

I don't know what school but she said Manila and she's 9. She's been put in grade 4 here in Japan and she'll start grade 5 in April.

[sundaecone.livejournal.com]

It may depend on the school. Some schools here are crazy, they give extra subjects or advanced topics. When I was in my 2nd year of high school we had to take Biology and Statistics which was normal. But they also had us take Chemistry (intro) and Advanced Algebra. It. Was. INSANE. Mostly because I hate Biology and Chemistry. Haha

So, she may have gone to a school that does that kind of thing. And there's also the difference in the country's standard topics for each grade level.

Wow she used to be bullied, I didn't think girl-bullying here was that bad. I mean, I used to be kind of bullied but not to the extent that I get hurt physically. And I came from an all-girls-school which means... the girls are fierce. *shudders*

[maiaide.livejournal.com]

Yeah she said that some boy pushed her and she got a scrape on her knee and there were other scars (pretty big! like 3-4cm long and 1cm wide) on her shin. O_O Yeah.. I can''t make such grand assumptions about a country based on one kid and some schools are worse than others (like Justin's school compared to mine) but it was a bit shocking.

[swirlylollipop.livejournal.com]

Wow, snowww?? I envy you. Here in our country , it's as hot as hell. :|
It's almost summer, that's why. :|