Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Yen - A Shadow of it's Former Self

August has come to a close and it's still annoyingly hot and humid here. Currently it's raining, which makes for all the more uncomfortable situation. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to fall's arrival. I miss the dry heat of California and next summer will be much different. That being said, I've pretty much decided that I'll ride out my current contract (which ends in June of 2014), and I'll return to California. That means I'll have spent two and a half years of my life here in Japan. Part of me thinks that isn't that long, but the other half can't quite believe I've been here this long. One huge disappointment is that the yen is so incredibly weak right now (and has been for the past half year), so sending money back to the States hasn't been as exciting as when I first arrived. I'm pretty much cutting even with what I send home but when I first got here back in 2011, I was getting a few extra hundred based on the strength of the yen. If only I had a crystal ball.

So with summer school a thing of the past, I now have to focus on parent observations, which start Tuesday. The parents observe the lessons, all except the grammar classes. I'm not sure what the reason behind that is; maybe it's too dry for the parents to give a crap. I'm not even nervous about these P.O.'s like I was in the past. I've realized they're definitely not a big deal. Most of the parents are either lost, focusing their child's siblings, or messing with their cell phones. I pretty much do my lesson as normal, albeit with a small speech beforehand to welcome parents, let them know about what's going on in the class and any other information they might need to know. This time around, with my friend's help, I've created a quiz about myself that I plan to give students and their parents, which they'll do together before the lesson begins. Basically, how well do you know Jason sensei!? They've had a couple of years now to get to know basic things about me, so it'll be interesting to see how well they do...at least for me anyway. With that, it's going to be a busy September, with the inclusion of me covering Japanese teacher lessons at two different schools the first week. My birthday lands on a Saturday this year, which would be cool except for the fact that it's also the same day as our September staff meeting. Maybe I can lay a guilt trip on everyone and get a free lunch out of it. ;0)

Maple and margarine hotcakes sandwich.

Basically meat and mayo shoved inside.

Red beans and mochi. One of my favorite Japanese treats.

Hot and spicy potato strips.

Terrible grape soda.

Best Doritos I've had here. Very hot.

...really satisfies you.

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