Eigo Note

I had my first run with the new grade 6 textbook today. And the fancy e-blackboard. It's great, unless a kid knocks the table and then I have to recallibrate it. I think I might just do that after each lesson or two just for the sake of keeping things working properly. :/ Aside from a few minor technical difficulties, it was pretty good. Despite not having ANY materials before hand or knowing what the fuck what going to happen, I jumped right in. It helped that I was using the textbook last year. I enjoy the new technology because it means I don't have to make cards or posters or anything anymore. Each kid has a book so they can follow and have something to look at and I don't have to waste paper photocopying. I've even got my own classroom! Well, it's not mine, it's the conference room but I'm the only one using it for class. It's really bare and boring, so I asked if I can hang posters. They might move classrooms around but it will make things brighter. I should recruit kids to colour alphabet cards for me to hang in the room.

This year is going to kill me. I've got grade 6 on Thursdays (6 classes) and grade 5 on Fridays (5 classes) and English club every other week, though I don't know when that is going to start. I'm not going to get any time to rest during the work week at all if Toyoshiki throws 4-5 classes a day at me too. I think I am actually doing more work than an actual teacher. They have periods where the kids go off and do other things, like art or music or just self-study. I don't get those. I did get a raise this year, but it's not that much. Tomorrow is a bit of a respite because the grade 1's welcome assembaly is 2nd period and then something else is going on during 5th. I can use that time to make posters and pretty up the classroom.

Everyone liked the sweets I brought from Korea. :D I made a great impression on everyone. And one of the new teachers, Fuｔaba-sensei, is a cutie! The kids were all genki and into it but I need to get a bell to ring to make them shut up and save my voice. Maybe I should get a kitchen timer too. If I have to talk for 6 periods, 2 days in a row, I'm going to lose my voice pretty damn quick.

I'm a bonified resident of Kashiwa now; I got an invoice in the mail to pay residential tax. 12,000 yen. ;_;

Interesting...

I'm watching Tokyo Friend Park with the cast of Smile. It's interesting? strange? that it's Jun and two of the supporting cast members rather than Nakai Kiichi and Aragaki Yui. It's the chick who plays the lawyer, Koike Eiko, and Katsumura Masanobu, whose role I don't know. They are doing the soba run game this time and they even have a wind machine to blow Matsujun's mane. He looks good on a scooter though. ;)

The first episode of Smile is subbed. It's going to take 2 hours to download. I wonder if they will do torrents. They've transliterated Matsujun's character as "Vito". I'm sure that's what his mom intended by naming him after some European guy but there is no V in the Japanese language. If it was supposed to be Vito, it would be ヴィト not ビト. That's just me being picky.

Fuck that.

I can't believe I'm contributing to Himitsu no Arashi-chan's fucking ratings this week. What a bunch of lazy cunts! They don't have an episode for a month and then this week they just slash together previous episodes. They've played the same previews for next week's "special" about 5 times because they don't have enough shit to reply to even fill the 50 minutes! What a fucking rip off. I think there's barely been 15 minutes of new studio footage throughout the whole show. I am not impressed.

I really hope the announcer for this show gets paid big money. He talks more than anyone else on this damn show.

However, I am excited for the special next week. I want to see if Nino is as good at Mario as I am lead to believe a gamer of his calibre is.

Make that 6 times.